New York Genealogy Facts
Giovanni da Verrazano, an Italian-born navigator sailing for France, discovered New York Bay in 1524. Henry Hudson, an Englishman employed by the Dutch, reached the bay and sailed up the river now bearing his name in 1609, the same year that northern New York was explored and claimed for France by Samuel de Champlain.
In 1624 the first permanent Dutch settlement was established at Fort Orange (now Albany). One year later Peter Minuit purchased Manhattan Island from the Indians for trinkets worth about 60 Dutch guilders and founded the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam (now New York City), which was surrendered to the English in 1664.
- New York entered the union as the 11th state on July 26, 1788 .
- New York has 62 Counties
- New York’s capital is Albany and the official state website is www.ny.gov/.
- New York is bordered by Vermont (east), Massachusetts (east), Connecticut (southeast), New Jersey (south), Pennsylvania (south), Canada (north).
- New York has a land area of 54,475 square miles making it the 27th largest state.
- New York’s 2010 population was 19,254,630 .
- New York largest cities (2010) are New York City, 8,143,197; Buffalo, 279,745; Rochester, 211,091; Yonkers, 196,425; Syracuse, 141,683; Albany (Capital), 93,523; New Rochelle, 72,967; Mount Vernon, 67,924; Schenectady, 61,280; Utica, 59,336.
- New York was named by the Dutch as “New Netherland” in 1664, and when the English took over they renamed it New York to honor the Duke of York (York is a city in England) .
- New York’s nickname is ” The Empire State ” .
- New York State Motto is ” Excelsior ” which means Ever Upwards.
New York County Genealogy
The county clerk is in charge of deeds, mortgages, copies of marriage records (1908–ca. 1935), divorces, court records, state censuses, and other records. The county Surrogate Court Clerk has court records. While most initial inquiries about records should be made with the county clerk and county Surrogate’s
clerk, the information sought might actually now be housed in
a county records center/archives.
Some New York counties have set up record centers or archives. Since 1919 New York has had a system of local historians who are appointed to collect and preserve old records. In most cases it is
best to start with the county historian, whose office may contain original or transcribed county, church, cemetery, newspaper, and other material, and in some cases, specialized indexes to these
and other types of records. A list of county historians can be found at the Association of Public Historians of New York State website.
Select a County Below
COUNTY PAGES UNDER CONSTRUCTION
New York has counties that no longer exist. They were established by the state, provincial, or territorial government. Most of these counties were created and disbanded in the 19th century; county boundaries have changed little since 1900 in the vast majority of states. These counties need to be looked at when doing genealogy research. Pay close attention where the courthouse records went to if the county was abolished or combined with another county.
- Charlotte County: Formed in 1772 from Albany County, Renamed in 1784 to Washington County
- Cornwall County: Formed in 1683, Located in Maine, this county became part of Massachusetts in 1686, but no longer exist in name.
- Cumberland County: Formed in 1766 from Albany County, disallowed the year after it was formed, Cumberland was re-established in 1768 and ceased to exist 1777-78 when Vermont declared itself a republic.
- Dukes County: Formed in 1683, became part of Massachusetts in 1692
- Gloucester County: Formed in 1770 from Cumberland County, ceased to exist 1777-78 when Vermont declared itself a republic.
- Tryon County: Formed in 1772 from Albany County, Renamed in 1784 to Montgomery County
New York Genealogy Links
See New York County Genealogy for County Links. These genealogy links fall into 3 categories: Commercial Sites, Personal Sites or Organization Sites. Some are have free access some require a payment. This is just a list that has been collected or submitted. I do not endorse or promote one genealogy site above another. Feel free to submit your own favorite genealogy or family history related sites.
- New York General Website Links
- Family History Library (familysearch.org) – The largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world.
- New York Historical Records (ancestry.com) – Databases include Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records; Birth, Marriage & Death Records; Voter Lists & Census Records; Immigration & Emigration Records; Obituary Records; Military Records; Family Tree Records; Pictures; Stories, Memories & Histories; Directories & Member Lists.
- Search 60 Years Of Everton Data (familylink.com) – For the first time ever you can get access to more than 150,000 pedigree files and family group sheets from Evertons.
- New York Genealogy Network (facebook.com)
- USGenweb – New York Genealogy (rootsweb.ancestry.com)
- The New York Family Group Sheet Project (fgs-project.com)
- Free GenForum Message Boards – New York (genforum.genealogy.com)
- Free Rootsweb Message Boards – New York (boards.ancestry.com)
- Cyndis List New York Links (cyndislist.com)
- New York Mailing List (rootsweb.ancestry.com)
- New York American History and Genealogy Project (usgennet.org)
- New York (wikipedia.org)
- Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK) – New York (raogk.org)
- New York Genealogy Look Ups (geneasearch.com)
- USGenWeb Archives Project for New York (usgwarchives.org)
- Background Sources for New York (ancestry.com) from Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.
- New York History Links Website Links
- History of New York Genealogy (ancestry.com) from Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.
- New York US Genweb County Site Links
New York State History
New York, a state in the Middle Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Québec on the north and by Lake Ontario and Lake Erie on the northwest and west. Pennsylvania lies west and south of New York, and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean lie to the south. On the east the state is bordered by Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont. Albany is the capital of New York. New York, commonly known as New York City, is the largest city.
New York has long been a leader in the political, cultural, and economic life of the United States. It has been called the Empire State since before 1800, a reference to its wealth and variety of resources and probably derived from a comment, attributed to George Washington, that predicted that New York would become the seat of the new empire. Although California surpassed it in population in 1963 and in manufacturing in 1972, choices made in New York influence much of the country’s commerce, finance, and the creative arts. Although New York City is the largest city in the country, much of New York is still rural.
New York is also rich in history, extending to when Native Americans first occupied its shores and river valleys. The state was named in the 1660s for the duke of York, later James II of England, though many place names are from the time when the region was a Dutch colony known as New Netherland. New York entered the Union on July 26, 1788, as the 11th of the original 13 states. The Erie Canal, now incorporated into the New York State Canal System, set the pattern of commerce early in U.S. history. The Statue of Liberty, in New York Harbor, was the first vision of America seen by millions of immigrants arriving at New York City. The United Nations, whose headquarters are located on Manhattan Island, works toward a future more peaceful than the past.
