Internet Does not Have All Your Answers

I have been searching a long time for my husband's great grandfather who was from Sweden. I would love to know something about him, where he came from in Sweden, and his family. I learned from the census that he was a ship's captain. After he was married he lived in Brooklyn, NY, with his family. His wife was originally from Newburgh, NY. So I surmised that that was where he met and married her. I set about to search in Newburgh. Through the census and some death records, I found that they had had 3 children, but only two were living. I found the first son listed on a death register from Newburgh online. The second son, my husband's grandfather, was buried in the St. Patrick's Cemetery in Newburgh. I can't find any record of John in Newburgh. I started thinking that perhaps he sailed to Newburgh from New York. Therefore, I decided to write to the Newburgh City Historian. Sometimes, it takes a letter to communicate when you can't find something. People forget that that's how genealogists found information before the age of computers. That's how I found death records - through writing letters to cemeteries.