The Link family originated in the German Palatinate, coming over in the 1709-10 migration to America. (Learn more about the migration of Palatine Germans.) In the early records the surname was generally spelled Linck. Information about early Link immigrants can be found in the History of Rensselaer County, Part 3, Page 231. There is also some information about Links in Eagle Mills, NY in this book. The family genealogist, Paul Prindle, compiled the family tree in 1956, but had a difficult time figuring out where our ancestor, Helmus, was from. The most plausible answer is that he was the son of William and Maria Link who lived in Center Brunswick, who had moved north from Livingston Manor, a community in Columbia County near the Dutchess County line.
Passage from Anderson's Landmarks of Rensselaer County
Roscoe and Lottie Link, ca. 1890?
Helmus Link, a son of William and Maria Link, was born May 5, 1765 in Livingston Manor, Columbia County, NY and died June 2, 1852 at Brunswick. He married Esther Betts on November 1, 1815. Esther Betts was born on March 21, 1800 in Brunswick and died November 1, 1882 in Lansingburg. She was the daughter of Thomas and Catherine (Wheeler) Betts of Brunswick. Helmus and Esther Link had 11 children: Thomas Betts, Maria B., Jeremiah, Catherine Ann, Edward, Burwell Betts, Martha, Azubah, William Nelson, Rachel Caroline, and Alonzo. Thomas Betts, born June 19, 1817, married three times. His third wife was our ancestor, Sarah Jane Rogers, born September 18, 1861. Notice the major age difference. I could not find a marriage date. They had three children: Lottie, Roscoe, and Mabel. Lottie's birthday was March 25, 1885. There were 16 other children from Thomas' first marriage. Thomas Betts died on January 28, 1902 and Sarah Jane Rogers died July 8, 1939. There are two pictures of her on the Oscar & Lottie page.