GUIDE TO ALBANY AREA GENEALOGICAL RESOURCES
Clifford W. Lamere Jul 1999
This Revision: 11 Dec 2006
This is a guide to 45 facilities which possess genealogical and historical records in Albany and nearby counties. It should be useful to genealogist who can visit the sites, but also to those who must do their genealogy using the internet, email, US mail, and telephone. Some of the information below is based on my personal experiences, but most of it is based on what employees or volunteers told me before 2004.
The counties covered in this guide are Albany, Columbia, Rensselaer, Schenectady, Greene and Montgomery, plus a US National Archives in nearby Massachusetts and a musum library in Vermont. The facilities are arranged by county (or state), and within the county they are arranged alphabetically by the most official name I could find.
Caution: Winter storm conditions can close local facilities, especially those using volunteers. Even in summer, a temporary shortage of personnel can result in a closing. Revisions to this webpage are only partial. I revise only the parts that I hear about. Some of the information is from 1999 and could be out of date. It is best to phone ahead, especially about hours and days of operation. Some facilities have even changed their locations since 1999. If you find any out-of-date information below, please write me using the email icon at the end.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS (not alphabetical)
ALBANY COUNTY
NEW YORK STATE FACILITIES (state offices located in Albany)
New York State Library - Manuscripts & Special Collections
New York State Department of Health - Vital Records
ALBANY CITY FACILITIES
Albany Bureau of Vital Statistics (city)
ALBANY COUNTY FACILITIES
Albany County Clerk's Office (Records Room) (in Albany)
Albany County Hall of Records (in Albany)
Albany County Surrogate's Court (in Albany; a state office despite its name)
Albany Roman Catholic Diocese - Archives Office (in Albany)
Albany Roman Catholic Diocese - Cemetery Office (in Menands) (has records for:)
Our Lady Help of Christians Cemetery, Glenmont
St. Agnes Cemetery, Cohoes
St. Agnes Cemetery, Menands
St. Patrick's Cemetery, Watervliet
Albany Rural Cemetery
(in Menands)
Bethlehem
Public Library (in Delmar)
Latter Day Saints - Family History Center (in Loudonville)
Rensselaerville Historical Society (in Rensselaerville)
Westerlo (Town of) Public Library (in Westerlo)
COLUMBIA COUNTY
Columbia County Clerk's Office (Hudson)
Columbia County Historical Society (Kinderhook)
Columbia County Surrogate's Court (Hudson)
Hendrick Hudson Chapter of the D.A.R. (Hudson)
GREENE COUNTY
Coxsackie Village Clerk's Office
Greene County Surrogate's Court
Greene County Historical Society (Vedder Memorial Research Library)
MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Montgomery County Department of History and Archives
RENSSELAER COUNTY
Castleton Village Clerk's Office & Genealogy Room
Albany Roman Catholic Diocese - Cemetery Office (Menands, Albany Co.)
St. Mary's Cemetery - Troy
St. Jean Baptiste Cemetery - Troy
St. John's Cemetery - North Troy
Rensselaer County Clerk's Office
Rensselaer County Historical Society
Rensselaer County Surrogate's Court
Troy City Hall, Vital Statistics Department
Troy Public Library (main branch)
SCHENECTADY COUNTY
Efner History Center & Archives for the City of Schenectady
Schenectady City Clerk's Office - Bureau of Vital Records
Schenectady County Clerk's Office
Schenectady County Historical Society
Schenectady County Surrogate's Court
CEMETERIES
Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery, Niskayuna (also has records for:)
Most Holy Cross Cemetery, Rotterdam
St. Anthony's Cemetery, Glenville
Sts. Cyril & Method Cemetery, Rotterdam
St. Mary's Cemetery, Schenectady
MASSACHUSETTS, BERKSHIRE COUNTY
National Archives and Records Administration
VERMONT (BENNINGTON)
Bennington Museum's Genealogy/History Library
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ALBANY COUNTY - one of the original counties of New York State which formed in 1683. It was
much, much larger than at present.
NEW YORK STATE ARCHIVES
(518-474-8955) [Cultural Education Center, Albany, NY 12230] (Located on Madison Ave. at the Empire State Plaza) Hours: M-F 9-4:45.
The NYS Archives is located on the 11th floor of the same building as the NY State Library.
On microfiche they have indexes to birth, death, and marriage records for the whole state except for New York City. The non-Soundex early microfiches contain a name, date, place and state certificate number (this number only applies at the state level). No spouse is mentioned, but later Soundex marriage fiches list the first few letters of the spouse's surname. The Soundex death fiches also include the age at death. When in use, the Soundex system lasted only a decade or so.
Once you have the name, date, and place, you can fill out an application right there, staple a check to it, put it in an envelope (no postage needed) and drop it in a box. A money order would probably be acceptable as well, but cash is not. You should receive a copy of the handwritten original certificate in about 2-3 weeks. If, instead, you apply for the typed certificate in the locality where the event occurred, it takes about the same amount of time. However, if you should decide to mail your application to the New York State Health Department Vital Records (see that write-up) as of Feb 2006 it will take about 6-8 weeks for the certificate to arrive (was 7-13 months in 2004-2005).
Because of a state law passed in 1880, vital records began to be submitted to the state in 1881 (there are just a very few death records for 1880). Albany (1870), Yonkers (1875), and Buffalo (1878) had begun their record keeping earlier and were not required to submit records to the state until 1908 for marriages (covered today under Domestic Relations laws) and 1914 for births and deaths (covered today under Public Health laws). You would have to contact those three cities for vital records before those dates, because they are not on the microfiches mentioned. The Vital Records webpage of the Archives (see below) has this statement. "Some upstate cities began recording some vital events a few years prior to 1880: Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, Elmira, Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, and Yonkers. For further information contact the city clerk's office. Some county clerks hold marriage records for the period ca. 1908-35." I mentioned 3 of the 10 cities above. The other 7 did not turn their earlier records over to the state. They may issue certificates for those earlier records, or they may be only available to onsite researchers.
For privacy reasons, many recent years of state vital records are not available to the public. Here is the part of the index which can be viewed:
Birth - 1881-1931 (75 years hidden) Read special note above for Albany, Buffalo and Yonkers
Marriage - 1881-1956 (50 years hidden) Read special note above for Albany, Buffalo and Yonkers
Deaths - 1880-1956 (50 years hidden) Read special note above for Albany, Buffalo and Yonkers
Duplicate sets of the vital records microfiches are presently available at:
1) National Archives--Northeast Region, 201 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014. Phone: (212-337-1300)
Email archives@newyork.nara.gov
2) Rochester Public Library, 115 South Avenue, Rochester, NY 14604. Phone: (716-428-8440)
Website: http://mcls.rochester.lib.ny.us/central
3) The Onondaga Central Library at the Galleries of Syracuse, 447 S. Salina Street, Syracuse, NY 13202-2494.
Website: http://www.ocpl.lib.ny.us/website/Central.htm
4) The Central Library, headquarters of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library system, Buffalo, NY. Location: 1 Lafayette Square, Buffalo, NY 14203.
Website: http://www.buffalolib.org/events/pr/pr_20040527_vitalrecords.asp
The Archives also has military records. Most of the Revolutionary War records were lost in a fire. Civil War records are on microfilm. World War I service records are on cards and have extensive information. Ask for an archivist to help you.
Searches: none
Photocopies: $.10 per microfilm frame, $.25 per page of other references
Website: http://www.archives.nysed.gov/
Webpage about Vital Records: http://www.archives.nysed.gov/a/researchroom/rr_family_vitalstats.shtml
Email: archref@mail.nysed.gov
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NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY
(Genealogy desk 518-474-5161 and Microforms section 518-474-3092 are now located at the same desk. Reference desk phone is 518-474-5355.) [Cultural Education Center, Albany, NY 12230] (Located on Madison Ave. at the Empire State Plaza) Hours: M-F 9-4:30.
The library is on the 7th floor of the Culteral Education Center. This building has unique architecture. The NYS Archives and NYS Museum are located in the same building. The library has a huge genealogy area, including resources for all counties of NY State. However, for some counties such as Columbia and Montgomery, county facilities have much more complete records. There are two employees and a volunteer genealogist on duty at all times to help direct the visitor to resources.
This library is the most complete single genealogical resource available in the Albany area. It has an impressive number of books including genealogies of various surnames, books of church and cemetery records, county histories, a complete collection of DAR books for New York State, the New York Times Obituaries Index (1858-1978), and U.S. census indexes for 1800-1870 (all in book form). There is an important separate county section to their card catalog which contains references to county cemeteries, etc. that you will not find in the remainder of their card catalog. It lists many articles that are only a portion of a book and would not appear in the catalog otherwise. Most of the Kinship books of Eastern NY church records transcribed by Arthur C.M. Kelly and Lawrence V. Rickard are there. There is also a computer equipped with LDS CDs (Ancestral Files, Social Security data, etc.). Internet access is available.
On microfilm, the library has all of the NY and US censuses for the state. It has over 20 microfilm readers, and some printers. It has a huge microfilm collection of NY newspapers, and a large collection of city directories on microfilm.
Searches: none
Photocopies: $.10 per page or microfilm frame. There is a $1 and $5 bill changer.
Websites: http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/ (catalog)
http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/index.html (main website)
http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/gengen.htm (genealogy webpage)
Email Reference Requests: http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/refserv.htm
In May 2000, their online catalog was not useable by people whose internet service provider is AOL, CompuServe, or Web TV (hopefully, that situation will be corrected by the time that you read this). However, there is an alternate method that will solve the problem, although the screen that you then use will be black-and-white and difficult to work with (keystrokes for correcting a misspelled search entry would be very difficult to guess). See instructions at my website, titled
NYS Library Catalog - Access for users of AOL, Compuserve and Web TV .
For a MAP of the location of the NYS LIBRARY and NYS ARCHIVES and nearby parking areas check out:
http://www.ogs.state.ny.us/parking/parkingmap.asp
PARKING beside the building costs $7.00 for a full day (until 2:00 when it becomes free).
You
pay for the day and get a refund if you don't stay the whole time. Other options are to park several
blocks away and walk a long distance, or park nearby underground (not easy to get to, and is often full).
The library is in a government complex of buildings (the Empire State Plaza), so street parking is
very limited. If you aren't familiar with the streets, some of which are one-way, you would be
better off paying to park. The Library has two lots, one on each side of the front of the building,
but the Cathedral Parking Lot on the eastern (downhill) side (on the left as you face the front of
the building) is more likely to have available spaces. Unfortunately, sometimes both lots are full.
Check the parking map for other options which can be difficult to access if you
are not familiar with the streets.
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NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY - MANUSCRIPTS & SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
(518-474-6282) [Cultural Education Center, Albany, NY 12230] (Located on Madison Ave. at the Empire State Plaza - on 11th floor, in same room as the NYS Archives) Hours: M-F 9-4:30.
They retrieve records from a different floor and will only do it twice a day, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Holdings: maps, selected church records, private papers of families, donated genealogies, rare books (NY history & culture), etc. In the office, they have a catalog of their holdings.
Searches: none
Photocopies: $.25 per page
Website: http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/mssdesc.htm
Email: mscolls@mail.nysed.gov
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NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH - VITAL RECORDS
(518-474-2005) [800 N. Pearl St., Albany, NY 12204] Hours: M-F 8:30-4:30.
Copies of birth, marriage and death certificates cost $22 each and an application mailed to this office will mean a wait of about 6-8 months before receiving the certificates (see NYS Archives above for the years for which these records are available to genealogists, even if you are not related to the person, and to see the option of personally filling out a certificate application there). When an application is filled out at the NYS Archives, the records will be received in about 2-3 weeks. Local municipalities also issue certificates and they mail them out in 1-4 weeks.
Certificates are available from this office for the entire state outside of New York City.
Searches: For genealogical copies of certificates they charge as follows for a single name search (which includes the certificate if the person is found): 1-3y = $22, 4-10y = $42, 11-20y = $62. Add $20 for each additional 10 years you want them to search. They do not return your money if the search fails, but if they find the person early in a 20 year search, for example, they return some money. They only charge for the work that they actually do.
I would recommend that you avoid mailing requests to the NYS Dept. of Health, but if you should decide that the Dept. of Health is your best option, a genealogy request form can be downloaded from their website. Before doing so, read my Final Notes at the end of this webpage.
Website
(genealogy application form): http://www.health.state.NY.US/nysdoh/vr/forms/genealogy.htm
Website (main): http://www.health.state.NY.US/nysdoh/consumer/vr.htm
Email: vr@health.state.ny.us
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ALBANY BUREAU OF VITAL STATISTICS (city)
(518-434-5045) [Room 254M, City Hall, Albany, NY 12207] [Located at the corner of State and Eagle Streets, diagonally across from the State Capitol building] Hours: M-F 9-5.
The Albany Bureau of Vital Statistics has BIRTH and DEATH records for the city of Albany for 1870 to the present. They hold no marriage records. City of Albany marriage records for 1870 - 1953 are stored at the Albany Co. Hall of Records. The Albany City Clerk's Office keeps the marriage records for 1954 to the present (these can only be obtained by a very close relative).
Albany's birth, death and marriage records for Sep 1870-1913 are not available from the NYS Dept. of Health and are not indexed at the NYS Archives. After you give the Albany Bureau of Vital Statistics a full name (you should include spelling variations for best results) and an approximate date, or a reasonable range of dates, they look up the birth or death on a microfilm index. But from 1870 to about 1910, there is only a surname and page number recorded. So then they have to go to another microfilm, put it on a printer-reader and look at every entry for that surname until they find the person you are researching. These microfilms are not available to the public. A copy costs $22. A failed search costs the same.
You can no longer get a copy of the original record. You get a typed transcription. The Bureau is trying to get a State grant to microfilm the originals so they can avoid the errors which come with interpretations of old handwriting.
Ignore parking signs in the city of Albany at your own peril. Parking is very difficult in this area. Check right in front of City Hall for one hour free parking for a few cars. There are two expensive parking garages nearby (about $12.50 per day) east of City Hall. A little further away (south of State St.), there is one that charges $8.50 per day. Expensive short term meter parking is available ($.25 per 12 minutes in 2003), especially north of the building (on the street that goes up and down the hill). Temporary free parking on the street is sometimes possible alongside the capitol building on Washington Ave. **Abide by the time limits in all of these areas. They check often. The fines are high.
Website: http://www.albanyny.org
Email: None
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ALBANY CITY CLERK'S OFFICE
(518-434-5090) [Office of the City Clerk, Room 202, City Hall, Albany, NY 12207] Hours: M-F 9-5.
They have MARRIAGE records for the city of Albany from 1954 to present, but not for genealogical research. A NY law prevents them from giving out marriage records for genealogical research for the most recent 50 years.
Searches: $10 for 3 certified copies
Website: http://www.albanyny.org
Email: None
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ALBANY PUBLIC LIBRARY (city)
(518-449-3380) [161 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12210] Hours: M-Th 9-9, F 9-6, Sat 9-5. Sundays they are open 1-5 from Oct-May plus part of Jun and Sep.
The library has a new genealogy room as of 1999. Ellen Gamache is Local History/Genealogy
Librarian (518-427-4327 for her desk, 518-427-4303 for the Reference Desk). The library has no church or cemetery records. Here are some of the
resources to be found in the library.
Albany City Directories (1813-present)
Troy City Directories (1829-1901)
Albany County censuses - NY censuses (1855-1875 & 1905-1925) and US censuses (1790-1920, except 1890) on microfilm
Rensselaer County US censuses - 1790-1920, except 1890
US census NAME INDEX to New York State for 1790-1860
Albany newspapers (1813-present) - most are on microfilm
Computer terminals with internet access are available .
Searches: No research is done for a fee, although they will do the normal sort of quick lookup that the average library reference section does. But, if you have an actual date of death, they will look for the obituary if it is likely to have been published in an Albany newspaper. At this revision (2002), there is a large backlog of letters to be answered. You should get a quick response to your email, but any research may be months away.
Photocopies: $.10 per page or microfilm frame
Website: http://www.albanypubliclibrary.org/gendocs.html
Email: gamachee@uhls.lib.ny.us (genealogy questions)
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ALBANY COUNTY CLERK'S OFFICE (Records Room)
(518-487-5120; FAX for County Clerk: 518-487-5099) [MOVED in 2005 to 32 North Russell Rd., Albany, NY 12206-1324 (off of Central Avenue, next to Westgate Plaza) ] Hours: M-F 9-4:45.
They have deeds and mortgages back to 1600's, powers of attorney, Certificates of Partnership, DBAs, divorce proceedings (sealed forever), and liens. They also have NYS Supreme Court and Albany County Court case files.
Parking and parking fees are no longer a problem. To view a map of their new location go to the website below and click on County Clerk, then on Map.
Searches: "Each name and each category searched for each two year period $5.00"
Photocopies: $.65 per page with a $1.30 minimum per item to be copied.
Website: http://www.albanycounty.com
Email: None
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ALBANY COUNTY HALL OF RECORDS
(518-436-3663, ext. 203) [95 Tivoli St., Albany, NY 12207] Hours: M-F 8:30-4:30
Their holdings include Albany City Directories (1830-1994), NY census records conducted by the state (1855-1925, including an alphabetical index to 1892 on index cards), Declarations of Intention 1821-1906 (an index of over 7,000 names was completed May 2003. Sep 2003 it was being put online), Naturalizations (index of 61,000 naturalizations which occurred in Albany Co. 1827-1991 is online), Indexes to Deeds (1630-1940), full Marriage Records for the City of Albany (1870-Apr 1950 as of Jun 2001, they include names of parents, etc.), vital records for a few churches in Albany Co. (and some outside the county), and many kinds of Historical Records (a list is on their website). Records of Slave Manumissions (releases from slavery) for 1800-1828 have been prepared for posting online (May 2003). They have original Albany Co. wills 1691-1765, plus microfilms of the same. They have a microfilm index of Albany Co. wills 1691-1893, and a book index to wills 1780-1895 which can be found at the Albany Co. Surrogate's Court. Unless things have changed from 2001, don't believe everything in their brochure, on their website, or on any list of items you might see while you are there. All of those contained errors which they did not change in a year even though I alerted them to the problems (I did so because an introductory form said that they wanted to know about errors.).
The microfilms of the City of Albany marriage records cover about 7 years
each. In 1999, I could not read the one that I looked at.
It was a "negative" copy (black background with white handwriting) and was so
faint that even a single, complete record would be impossible to decipher on
many of the pages. I have been told that some original books have faded
handwriting, but the book that the unreadable microfilm was made from was quite
readable. The first 44 years of marriages from 1870-1913
are not available for viewing anywhere else. The NYS Archives, NYS
Department of Health, and even the City of Albany don't have them for those years.
Searches: $20.00 per hour, a minimum of a one-hour search. Search includes
uncertified copies, transcribed copies, or notification of no record.
Photocopies: $.50 per page or microfilm frame (some microfilms are
at NYS Library at $.10 per page)
Website: http://www.albanycounty.com/achor
Email: mwallen@albanycounty.com
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ALBANY COUNTY SURROGATE'S COURT
(518-487-5393) [Room 125, Albany County Court House, Albany, NY 12207] Hours: M-F 9-5.
They have probated wills, letters of administration (when there is no will), and guardianship papers. The wills are recorded in large will books, and they also have some of the original wills, which date back to 1787, maybe back to 1730. There is a book index which gives the name of the testator and the file number. The old original wills have to be requested the day before because they are stored above a courtroom and can only be retrieved before court begins at 9 a.m. Newer originals are stored in a basement from which they can be retrieved twice a day. I couldn't find out the years for either area. (See Albany Co. Hall of Records for original wills 1691-1765, and indexes to wills 1691-1895).
Searches: The statewide fee is $90 for the search by a Surrogate's Court for any document over 25 years old, and $30 for a document 25 years old or less. A failed search costs the same. The photocopy fee is extra. Original wills and large books of handwritten copies of wills can be viewed at the Surrogate Court, but there are no public photocopiers.
Certified photocopies of wills ($6 per page) can only be made from an original will, not from a copy in a book. The state did not set a fee per page for uncertified copies, so Albany is charging $6 per page for that as well. Surrrounding counties charge $1 per page.
The $6 fee per page is charged for any document copied by the Surrogate Court. For wills, following the search they will give you the following information about it: name, date of death, name and address of attorney, date of probate, date and type of letters (testamentary, administration, or voluntary), and name and address of the fiduciary (executor or executrix). Then, you decide which pages you want copied.
Photocopies: $6 per page for certified or uncertified copies. There is no public copier.
Website: http://www.nycourts.gov/courts/3jd/Surrogates/Index.htm (general information)
Email: None
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ALBANY ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESAN - ARCHIVES OFFICE
(518-453-6633) [Archivist of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, 40 No. Main Ave., Albany, NY 12203] Hours: M-F 9-4.
Holdings: Records of the baptisms at Brady Hospital, which opened 1915 and closed 1966. 82,000 births occurred there, but not everyone was baptized there. The present diocesan offices (about 300 employees) and the archives are in that old Albany building. The archives also has lists of orphans in all closed Catholic orphanages in the cities of Albany, Troy and Rensselaer. They also have deeds to church properties and lists of priests and other officials.
An appointment is needed before going to the office for information. The records cannot be viewed because they contain information about adoptions and illegitimate births; that information is never given out. Mail-in requests for information are accepted. Information about baptisms, marriages and confirmations is available directly from the individual parishes in the 14 county diocese. The archivist can tell you who to contact in each parish, or you can use the phone number in the list of parishes in the diocese.
Fees: none
Website for the Archivist: none
Website for the Diocese: http://www.rcda.org/parish.htm
Email: none
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ALBANY ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESAN CEMETERY OFFICE
(518-463-0134) [Albany Diocesan Cemetery Office, 48 Cemetery Avenue, Menands, NY 12204] Hours of Office: M-F 8:30-4, Sat 8:30-12. Hours of Gates: 7:30 a.m. - 8 p.m. This office is located at St. Agnes Cemetery in Menands.
The Albany Roman Catholic Diocese services 14 counties in upstate New York. The cemeteries in those counties are either managed by this cemetery office (12 cemeteries in 3 counties) or by the local parish (87 cemeteries). In the following list of counties, the number in parentheses is the number of parish run cemeteries in each: Albany (7), Columbia (8), Delaware (4), Fulton (4), Greene (4), Herkimer (7), Montgomery (11), Otsego (4), Rensselaer (9), Saratoga (9), Schenectady (4), Schoharie (1), Warren (5), and Washington (10). Information about who to contact for a particular Catholic cemetery in any of these counties can be obtained from the Albany Diocesan Cemetery Office. All parish run Catholic cemeteries should have lot cards and interment cards located either at the cemetery or at the parish.
The records for the 12 cemeteries managed by this office are divided between two offices. The records for Albany Co. and Rensselaer Co. are held by this office in Menands, and the records for Schenectady Co. are maintained in that county. The table of contents at the beginning of this webpage lists the 12 cemeteries and the office that holds the records for each.
Besides the information that the website says that the office will release, it will also release birth information if it is available.
Holdings: Interment cards for individuals, and also lot cards. As of August 1, 2003 the cards can no longer be examined by visitors to the Albany Diocesan Cemetery Office located at St. Agnes Cemetery in Menands. It has records for the following seven cemeteries in Albany Co. and Rensselaer Co. Records for the three cemeteries in Rensselaer Co. were maintained by St. Mary's Cemetery (in Troy) until 2 Jan 2004.
ALBANY COUNTY
St. Agnes Cemetery - Menands
St. Agnes Cemetery - Cohoes
St. Patrick's Cemetery - Watervliet
Our Lady Help of Christians Cemetery - Glenmont
RENSSELAER COUNTY
St. Mary's Cemetery - Troy
St. Jean Baptiste Cemetery - Troy
St. John's Cemetery - North Troy
Fees: For genealogy requests at the Albany Diocesan Cemetery Office, fees have been instituted as of 1 Aug 2003, the purpose of which is to free up office personnel for other cemetery business. There is no fee for directions to a gravestone in any of the seven cemeteries for which this office has records (see list above).
Written requests : $10 for 1-5 records [See webpage.]
Walk-in requests for genealogical information: $10 for 1-5 records. "The information requested may be
researched at the time of the request by the office staff or researched as time permits by the office staff and
returned by mail." Walk-ins can be assured of getting immediate genealogical information only on Thursdays
2-3:30 (phone ahead to make sure someone will be available to help you). The office understands that long
distance visitors not familiar with this policy may have special needs and will try to accommodate them.
Lot cards: No charge for copies.
Appointment with staff researcher: $30 per hour, 1 hour minimum.
Website: http://www.rcdacemeteries.org/ourcemeteries.html (for map & information on 12 diocesan cemeteries)
Website: http://www.rcdacemeteries.org/generalinformation.html ( for the 3 main diocesan cemetery offices)
Website: http://www.rcdacemeteries.org (general)
Email: rick.touchette@rcda.org (Richard N. Touchette, Director)
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ALBANY RURAL CEMETERY
(518-463-7017) [Cemetery Avenue, Menands, NY 12204] Office hours: M-Th 8:30-4:30, Fri 8:30-4, Sat 8:30-12. Cemetery gate hours: Summer: 7:30-7 p.m. After the clock moves back in October, 7:30-4:30.
The main cemetery entrance is located on Broadway (Route 32) in Menands, just north of the city of Albany. Earliest recorded burial was 1845, but many other cemeteries had their occupants transferred to Albany Rural as the cemetery property was put to other use. Some of those people died earlier. On individual file cards, the office has records for about 101,000 graves. You will be allowed to look at the cards. There are also plot cards that list everyone buried in the plot (valuable for finding relatives with an unexpected surname) and also plot diagrams. As the city of Albany grew, many of its cemeteries in the business district were evicted. A great number of the remains were removed to Albany Rural Cemetery, even Catholic cemetery remains.
Fees (by mail): $2 for photocopy of a single card, front and back. $1 per individual thereafter.
Photocopies (in person): $1 for 1-4 cards photocopied both sides.
Website: none (but webpages have been made about the cemetery)
http://home.flash.net/%7Eleimer/albany.html
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Dunes/6663/ many photos of tombstones
Email: none
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BETHLEHEM
PUBLIC LIBRARY
(518-439-9314) [451 Delaware Ave., Delmar, NY 12054] Hours: M-F 9-9,
Sat 10-5. Sun 1-5, but closed from Father's Day to Labor Day.
Has a very nice collection of genealogical materials for Albany Co. including censuses of the Town of Bethlehem. Also has indexes to: census, land, immigration and military records. If you visit the site, be sure to look at both sides of the free-standing shelves.
Photocopies: $.10 per page
Website: http://www.bethlehempubliclibrary.org (you will be trapped in frames while at this site)
Email: watsona@uhls.lib.ny.us
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LATTER DAY SAINTS - FAMILY HISTORY CENTER
(518-463-2566) [411 Loudonville Road (Route 9), Loudonville, NY 12211] (About a mile north of Albany. It is located on the east (right) side of route 9 between the first and second traffic lights north of Memorial Hospital, which is very near the northern border of Albany. The church is barely visible from the road if leaves are on the trees. Turn at the low, red-brick framed sign on the lawn, but not at the road's edge. The facility is about four miles from the NY State Library. Coming from Latham, it is about 3 miles south on the left side of route 9, about 50 yards or so past the traffic light at Osborne Rd.)
Hours: Tue & Thu 10-8. Wed & Fri 10-2 (no longer open on Sat). History Center is closed every year from about the last week of June through the first week of July. Not open when winter weather conditions are hazardous. Closed unexpectedly at other times. Staffed by volunteers. Always call ahead, although if they are closed, you won't get a message saying so (Nov 2002). Alternate phone numbers listed for other offices in the church: 434-6931 and 463-4581.
On CD: The LDS Ancestral Files (wonderful collection of data), a catalog of microfilms available for rental from the headquarters in Utah, Social Security records, some passenger lists, a few Family Tree Maker CDs (including NY marriages, Ontario census index for 1871, British Isles marriages and births)
On microfiche: records for many foreign countries.
They have reasonably priced forms used by genealogists, research guidelines for beginners, research outlines for various states, and more. Their book collection is small, made up mainly of donated books.
Photocopies: $.25 per page from books or microfilm; $.10 per computer page
Website (national): http://www.familysearch.org
Email (local) none
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RENSSELAERVILLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
(518-797-3194
to contact Janet Haseley / 518-797-3724 to contact Edith Kuhar) [P.O. Box 8,
Rensselaerville, NY 12147.] (Location: in the Rensselaerville Grist Mill at
the bridge in the hamlet of Rensselaerville, 27 miles southwest of Albany at the
end of Rt. 85. Turn right and grist mill is on the left just before the
bridge.) Hours: Wednesdays 10-3 (mid-May through
mid-October). Saturdays 2-4 (Memorial Day through Labor Day)
Research Collection
(click on name for more details): They have about 50 looseleaf notebooks of handwritten
genealogy information and many miscellaneous notes on present and former residents of
the Town of Rensselaerville. There are twelve handwritten looseleaf notebooks
containing information on people buried in local cemeteries. Seven "Deeds and Leases" notebooks have information on
property transfers and "Great Lot" numbers with dates and names of owners.
These latter are not complete for all owners or all years, however.
The collection also includes many boxes of clippings, programs, ledgers and much
miscellaneous information on the present and past history and culture of this rural Hilltown area which was settled in 1787.
Mill Tours: available for individuals and groups.
The
Grist Mill is the only remaining water-powered mill of many that once served
this area. It was built in 1880 on the site of the first mill built in 1789.
There a scenic 100-foot Rensselaerville Falls nearby on the E.N. Huyck Preserve.
The entire hamlet of Rensselaerville is on the State and National Registers of Historic
Places.
Searches: There is no specific charge for research done on your behalf. It is, however, customary to make a donation. There is no daily use fee for visitors.
Photocopies: $.15 per page (next door at the Edmund Niles Huyck Preserve office, open weekdays only)
Related Websites: http://www.uhls.org/NICHE/RvRsrchColl.htm
http://www.uhls.org/NICHE/RvOnline.htm
Email: Edhase@aol.com (to contact Janet Haseley)
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WESTERLO (TOWN OF) PUBLIC LIBRARY
(518-797-3415) [P.O. Box 267, Westerlo, NY 12193] (See website for directions to library.) Hours: Mon 2-6, Tue 2-8, Wed 9-2, Thu 3-6, Sat 9-2.
Holdings: Binders of nearly complete cemetery records transcribed from existing tombstones by Thurman Bishop, Jr. (earlier cemetery records were lost in a fire). There are family folders and incomplete birth and marriage records. There are school records (trustee and commissioner reports, etc.) which contain names of teachers and other adults, but apparently not of students. There are some records put together for the period around 1892 when NY did a skimpy census that missed most rural communities like Westerlo. There are some earlier census information as well (no microfilms). There is information from a 1916 farm directory.
Robert M. Duchow (pronounced Duco) is the current Town Historian (518-797-3624, P.O. Box 215, Westerlo, NY 12193). He has his own collection of records which he is willing to share with researchers who would like to meet him at the library. Special hours can sometimes be arranged.
Research Fees: Requests for information are turned over to the Town Historian.
Photocopies: $.20
Website: http://www.uhls.org/uhls/wstr.html
Email : none
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COLUMBIA COUNTY - formed in 1786 from Albany Co.
COLUMBIA COUNTY CLERK'S OFFICE
(518-828-3339) [560 Warren St., Hudson, NY 12534] Hours: M-F 9-5
Holdings: Censuses (1790-1925), old atlases containing names of property
owners, deeds and mortgages, some immigration records, veterans'
discharges, five books of mg. records 1908-1934, DBAs, incorporations,
judgements, liens, county court proceedings. Birth, marriage and death
information is kept at the Town, city or village level.
Searches: none
Photocopies: $.25 per page
Website: None
Email: lewicki@govt.co.columbia.ny.us
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COLUMBIA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
(518-758-9265) [5 Albany Ave., P.O. Box 311, Kinderhook, NY 12106] (It is about 22 miles from Albany, located in the same building as the Columbia Co. Museum.) Hours: May-Nov open M-F 10-4, Sat 1-4. Dec-Apr closed Tu & Th.
They have excellent resources for the county, but no census records or microfilm readers or computers. They have about 70 books of church baptism and marriage records (some for adjoining counties).
They have a huge Master Index for the majority of the 50 books of cemetery records. The index lists the book and page number for each person included. It is spelling specific. This is a real time-saver. However, be aware that the master index was made by combining indexes that had been made on computer for books that did not have their own indexes. Books which had their own original index are not included in this master index.
There are file cabinets of vital records on 3X5 cards. Some of this material is from newspaper marriage announcements or obituaries from long ago and can't be found in any book (they are sometimes difficult to interpret). Especially valuable are the several hundred surname folders which contain correspondence from interested researchers and sometimes even family trees that have been submitted by the researchers or constructed by CCHS volunteer genealogists.
Searches: There is no standard fee, but it is customary to make a $15-25 donation for the services.
Photocopies: $.20 per page for non-members, $.10 per page for members.
Website: http://www.berk.com/cchs and
http://www.cchsny.org/coll_links_genealogy.html
Email: cchs@berk.com
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COLUMBIA COUNTY SURROGATE'S COURT
(518-828-0414) [401 Union St., Hudson, NY 12534] Hours: M-F 9-5
They have wills, letters of administration, letters testamentary,
and guardianship papers.
Searches: The statewide fee is $90 for the search by a Surrogate's Court for any document over 25 years old, and $30 for a document 25 years old or less. A failed search costs the same. The photocopy fee is extra. Original wills and large books of handwritten copies of wills can be viewed at the Surrogate Court, but there is no public photocopier.
Photocopies: $1 per page for uncertified copies of any document. There is no public copier.
Website: http://www.nycourts.gov/courts/3jd/Surrogates/Index.htm (general information)
Email: None
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HENDRICK HUDSON CHAPTER OF THE D.A.R.
(518-828-9764) [113 Warren St., Hudson, NY 12534] Hours: Sun-Mon 1-3 in July & August, and by appointment (other times and months). [For more information contact Dorothy Avery at 518-851-9049)]
This chapter of the DAR has records that are open to the public. They can be viewed in the Robert Jenkins House Museum and Library. There is no fee for the use of the library (donations are accepted). View the website to see the beauty of this building's interior.
Resources: Marriages and obituaries have been retyped from Hudson newspapers (1842-1872) and indexed (to surname only). All cemeteries in Columbia Co. have been recently transcribed, thus adding much information to what was already known from the cemetery transcriptions of the first half of the 20th century. A surname index has been prepared. They have family genealogies and a library of books including transcribed church records for the county, histories of Columbia and nearby counties, and Roberts' "New York in the Revolution".
Searches: no charge, but donations accepted
Photocopies: $.25 per page
email: dottiea@mhonline.net
website: http://www.mhonline.net/~mhmjm/HENHUD1.html
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GREENE COUNTY - formed in 1800 from Albany; received part of Ulster counties in 1812
COXSACKIE TOWN CLERK'S OFFICE
(518-731-2727) [16 Reed St., Coxsackie, NY 12051] Hours: M-F 9-4.
They have birth and death records for the Town of Coxsackie, but not for the Village of
Coxsackie. They have marriage records for the whole Town, if a license was obtained at the
Town level (the Village does not issue marriage licenses). Their birth,
death and marriage records begin in 1884. For church marriages, they will have no record unless a marriage license was first obtained from
the Town.
Searches: $10 per record (genealogy) [30 Oct 2003]
Photocopies: no extra fee for copy
Website: http://www.coxsackie.org
Email: info@coxsackie.org
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COXSACKIE VILLAGE CLERK'S OFFICE
(518-731-2718) [119 Mansion St., Coxsackie, NY 12051] Hours: M-F 8-4.
Birth and death records begin in 1897 (prior records burned). No Marriage records.
Searches: $11 per record (genealogy) [30 Oct 2003]
Photocopies: no extra charge
Website: None
Email: None
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GREENE COUNTY CLERK'S OFFICE
(518-943-2050) [320 Main St., P.O. Box 446, Catskill, NY 12414] Hours: M-F 8:30-5.
Holdings: Has deeds, mortgages, censuses conducted by the state of NY, petitions for citizenship, and complete marriage records for the county for 1908-1934 and part of 1935. Vital records certificates are obtained from the individual Town, City, or Village in which the event was recorded (waiting time about 2 weeks) or from the NYS Health Dept. (waiting time about 6 months).
One complication is that the southern part of the county was formed in 1812 from Ulster Co. Deeds, mortgages, census data, etc. for the southern part of the county will be filed in Ulster Co. for the period before 1812.
Searches: none
Photocopies: $.25 per page
Website: None
Email: None
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GREENE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY (VEDDER MEMORIAL RESEARCH LIBRARY)
(518-731-1033) [Box 64, Coxsackie, NY 12051] (located just off Rt. 9W, 3 3/4 mi. south of NYS Thruway exit 21B. It is on Peter Bronck Rd which is about 1½ mi. south of where Rte 81 crosses Rte 9W.) Hours: Tue-Wed 10-4, 1st & 3rd Thu 7-9, 1st Sat 9-12.
They have surname folders, censuses on microfilm, church records, cemetery and undertaker
records, court records, etc. They have the county's wills (both originals
and the official books of transcribed wills) from 1800-1919. They have an
index of the county's wills from 1800-1930 or later.
One complication is that the southern part of the county was formed in 1812 from Ulster Co. Wills, deeds, mortgages, etc. for that part of the county will be filed in Ulster Co. for the period before 1812.
They have a large library of books which cannot be browsed. You must use card catalog to order a book, which is retrieved immediately.
Searches: $25 per search
Photocopies: $.25 per page
Website: http://www.gchistory.org
Email: info@gchistory.org
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GREENE COUNTY SURROGATE'S COURT
(518-943-2484) [320 Main St., Catskill, NY 12414] Hours: M-F 9-5.
Holdings: Index of wills for 1800-present, although they only have actual wills from 1920-present which can be viewed by the public. The Vedder Memorial Research Library (see below) also has the index for 1800-1930 or later, as well as the pre-1920 will books (libers) and books of Letters of Administration. Vedder can make copies for you at a much lower fee. Pre-1800 wills are filed in Albany Co., from which Greene Co. partially formed in 1800. The southern part of the county was formed in 1812 from Ulster Co. Wills for that part of the county will be filed in Ulster Co. for the period before 1812.
Searches: The statewide fee is $90 for the search by a Surrogate's Court for any document over 25 years old, and $30 for a document 25 years old or less. A failed search costs the same. The photocopy fee is extra.
Photocopies: $1 per page
Website: http://www.nycourts.gov/courts/3jd/Surrogates/Index.htm (general information)
Email: None
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MONTGOMERY COUNTY - Tryon Co. was renamed Montgomery Co. in 1784. Before
1772, it had been part of Albany Co.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND ARCHIVES (518-853-8186 or
fax 518-853-8392)
[P. O. Box 1500, Fonda, NY 12068-1500]
(located in the
Old Court House) Hours: for Sep-Jun, M-F 8:30-4. Jul-Aug M-F 9-4.
Holdings: Of the sites in this Guide, this one is second only to the NYS Library. It has a 169-page catalog
of its holdings ($10 plus $2 shipping), which covers counties all around the state. It has an impressive collection of
church and cemetery records which are made especially valuable by the indexes that were
created for books that lacked them. Their Montgomery Co. collection is
much better than that of the NYS Library. They also have very good
collections for Schoharie, Schenectady and Fulton counties. To see an
online list of some of their holdings, click here
and then choose Departments, then Dept. of History and Archives.
There are published genealogies and also family folders. The latter are not arranged
by surname and are not as good as at some other sites in this Guide. They have
1850-1860 census microfilms for almost the entire state outside of New York
City. They have an 1870 collection for nearby counties. For
Montgomery Co., the censuses include 1790-1925.
Indexes have so far been prepared for over 12,000 Montgomery Co. court documents. Every name mentioned in the documents appears in the indexes. The types of documents include guardianships, bail bond postings, arrest warrants, insolvencies, etc. (documents are from the County Court, Supreme Court, Court of Common Pleas, perhaps other courts). One volunteer has been working on this project for over ten years.
Searches:
$20 per hour, plus cost of copies. There could be an 8-10 week wait due to a
backlog of requests.
Photocopies:
$.25 per page
Newest Website: http://www.co.montgomery.ny.us/historian/
Email: kfarquhar@co.montgomery.ny.us
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RENSSELAER COUNTY - formed in 1791 from Albany Co. (prior records are in Albany Co.)
There are four genealogical facilities in the city of Troy, all within about 100 yards of each other. There is a fifth just two blocks away.
BRUNSWICK HISTORICAL SOCIETY (518-279-4024) [Location: Garfield School on Route 2 in the hamlet of Eagle Mills (2-3 miles east of Troy). Mailing address: P.O. Box 1776, Cropseyville, NY 12052] Hours: Wed 12-2, Sat 10-3.
Operates a visitors center and small local history/genealogical reference library. Has many published family genealogies and local histories. Also has microfilmed Federal and State census records of the Town of Brunswick (and any other towns on the same films). There is a listing of many Brunswick cemetery burials, an extensive photograph collection, and a file of newspaper birth, death, and marriage notices beginning in 1960. For more information, see "Genealogy" on their website.
For a map to locate BHS, see their website. Choose Contact.
Searches: small fee
Website: http://www.brunswickhistory.cjb.net/
Email: szankel@aol.com
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CASTLETON VILLAGE CLERK'S OFFICE / GENEALOGY ROOM
(518-732-2211) [P.O. Box 126, Castleton, NY 12033] Hours: Tue 9:30-12 & 1-3
(for genealogy), or
M-F 9-3 (regular office hours).
Located in the Town of Schodack, about three miles from the Schodack Reformed Church
(Muitzeskill, NY).
They have surname folders for many Schodack families and Castleton censuses beginning in 1895.
The Castleton genealogist will be there to help you and to get materials for you.
There are no genealogy books.
Searches: Maria Rieben, the volunteer, will do searches in the surname folders. She will photocopy pertinent materials at $.25 per page and mail them
to you. After receipt of them, it is expected that you will reimburse the mailing and copying costs. It is also appropriate to make a $10-20 donation
depending on the extent of the help that you got.
Photocopies (onsite): $.25 for copies 1-9, $.10 for copies after the first 9
Website: none
Email: none
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NASSAU FREE LIBRARY
(518-766-2715) [P.O. Box 436, 18 Church Street, Nassau, NY 12123] Open M-Tu-F 2-8, Th 10-12 & 6-8, Sat 10-12.
Holdings: The Ralph Phillips Genealogy Collection
consists of four filing cabinets of about 1000 folders of surnames, specific
families, his correspondence, etc. Because of the filing system, a surname
name might be the subject of more than one folder, and be located in different
drawers and filing cabinets. A list of folders is
online. http://www.uhls.org/niche/NaGenealogy.htm
The library has a small selection of genealogy and local history books. They also have the 1876 F. W. Beers Atlas of Rennselaer Co. (showing houses and giving the surnames and initials of the owners) as well as copies of local church records and 5-6 notebooks of typed cemetery records (which may be included in the 93,000 online cemetery records posted on the Rensselaer Co. NYGenWeb site).
http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyrensse/cem1.htm
Jane Visconti, part-time employee of the library, owns the separate Robert Phillips Genealogy Collection. By appointment, she will bring selected surname folders or books to the library for your use. Ralph and Robert were identical twins.
Searches: contact the library for fees
Photocopies: $.15 per page
Website: http://www.nassaufreelibrary.org/
Email: Nass1@uhls.lib.ny.us
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OAKWOOD CEMETERY
(518-272-7520) [50 101st St., Troy, NY 12180] Office Hours: M-F 8-4:30. Sat 8-12, but closed July & August. Cemetery Gate Hours: 9-4:30 year round. The north gate is closed during winter, but the other two gates remain open. Make inquiries to Bernie Vogel.
Almost 60,000 graves. There are a main office and a crematorium on opposite sides of the hill on which this cemetery was built.
Fees: $2 per individual or plot diagram. Information is more than just the life dates. 1-1½ weeks waiting time. None of the records are open to viewing.
Note: At this price, it is probably best to just pay for the records you want. However, I should mention that the interments from 1851-1938 have been published in 1985 on five microfilms by the "Genealogical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah" and are present at the NYS Library (929.5097474 T864, 91-15255, reels 1-5). The contents includes an index, but my guess (based on what was described to me by the caretaker) is that all of the names beginning with a certain letter of the alphabet would be arranged chronologically rather than alphabetically. The microfilms are described in the library's online catalog as follows:
"Reel 1. Index of interments: A-Gemmill / Reel 2. Index of interments: Gemmill-Zwierzinski; Record of interments: v. 1 to v. 2, p. 369, 1851-1896 / Reel 3. Record of interments: v. 2, p. 370 to v. 3, 1896-1938; Plot books v. 1 to v. 2, p. 371 / Reel 4. Plot books: v. 2, p. 372 to v. 5 / Reel 5. Plot books: v. 6 to v. 7. "
Website: http://www.oakwoodcemetery.org
Email: none
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RENSSELAER COUNTY CLERK'S OFFICE
(518-270-4088) [105 3rd St., Troy, NY 12180] ( in the Rensselaer Co. Court House Annex)
Open M-W & F 9-5; Thu 9-7.
They have deeds, mortgages, naturalization records, divorces, and
court papers such as law suits and trial records, criminal records, and powers
of attorney.
They also have hard copies of censuses for 1850 and later. Some of them are falling apart. The books are very large and very heavy, and the photocopier is smaller than the books. Photocopying requires at least two people and is nearly impossible without doing damage to the books. It would be much better and easier to use the census microfilms at the Troy Public Library (within walking distance).
Searches: none