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Basic Guides to New York Research There is nothing more helpful that a handy reference book with information specific to the area you are researching. I've listed below those that I know about.
All of the three books listed below have a small section covering each state that includes maps, historical information, vital records coverage and a bibliography of resources for that state.
Here are some books specific to New York research:
Periodicals
Online... bookmark or print out these FHL documents:
Gazeteers, Maps and Atlases:
Sites that cover all or multiple counties of New York -- usually each county is a separate section.
Libraries, Archives and Societies
County and Town Historians, Clerks and Resources
New York has a system of county and town historians that often serves the genealogical and historical researcher very nicely. This article describes how the system works.
In addition to county historians, there are village, town and municipal historians. Some are very active and helpful, some inactive and unhelpful -- and many somewhere in between.
- Find a New York state historian -- right now the site is in transition, but they promise it will be updated within the month (4/25/2011)
- List of websites of County Historians, supplemented by links to other information of note.
- Between the years 1976-1993 the New York Historical Resources center, then affiliated with Cornell University, published a series of guides for each county in New York. Each guide attempted to locate, identify, describe and report all of the manuscripts and archives materials in New York State repositories. This was a very thorough search and accounted for materials in almost 3000 repositories.
- All of these guides were published in paperback, with red covers. To find one in a library near you, use "find in a library" and search the title: Guide to Historical Resources in Younameit County Repositories, naming, of course, the county you want.
- These red cover guides can be purchased from the New York State Archives.
- Book: Remington. New York State Towns, Villages, and Cities: A Guide to Genealogical Sources [Paperback] 2002 (find in a library)
Records:
Cemetery * Census * Court & Legal * Immigration and Naturalization * Newspapers * Vital Records
You will want to see what records are available through the Family History Library, bu searching the FHL Catalog. Remember: "view related places" to see what is available at the town or village level, as well as the county level.
Cemeteries: for general information on cemetery records, see guide to cemetery records, this website.
Book: The Graveyard Shift: A Genealogist's Guide to New York City Cemeteries (note this is only NYC and is research aid, not a compilation of transcriptions.)
Search these online cemetery transcriptions
Census; for general information on using and finding census records, see guide to census records, this website.
The FamilySearch Wiki has a very helpful chart of New York census records, with availability online noted and links included.
- New York Genealogy: Census also contains links to online census records, including those available at subscription databases.
- Find other online census records and more census information at these sites. They will almost certainly duplicate each other, but you might find a cemetery in one that is not listed in another.
- In addition to federal census records, there are state census schedules for New York .
Court & Legal
Land & Property: For general information, see guide to land records, this website.
New York land records provide some special challenges. In addition to the original transfers of land from the colonial or state governemnts, land was given or as payment for military service, both as set of from the military tract of lands set aside for that purpose and by confiscating the land of loyalists and selling it to patriots. Much land was sold in very large amounts to individuals or land companies, who then sold or leased the land; those records being a part of the papers of that enterprise. And finally, land is sold as we know it, by deed, individual to individual. New York Land Records -- an overview New York is one of a few states that uses both metes and bounds and townships to identify pieces of land.
Newspapers
Probate Records: For general information, see guide to probate records, this website.
Immigration and Naturalization
If your ancestors came into New York through Ellis Island, you will want to search the Ellis Island site. Prior to it was Castle Garden.
There are some online searchable New York naturalization records and indexes.
If you had ancestors in New Netherlands, you will be interested in work of the New Netherlands Institute. (Note -- when searching the project, you an truncate the search with an *. For example van keu* finds pages with the word van and any word that starts with keu. But if you use quotation marks "van keu" will find onlypages containing a word that begins with those 6 letters.
Work with others Leave a query on a New York county message board or see if one of the volunteers at Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness: New York can help you.
Other links:
Now look for more helpful New York links:
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