New York City Vital Records
New York City is a unique place to research. The records are unique and enormous numbers of people lived and passed through the area. Many immigrants came through New York City, and immigration research is one of the most difficult kinds of research. New York City vital records play an important role in this research.
This lesson covers a few key principles as we dive deeper into these vital records. Remember as we look at these records, we are looking at birth, marriage, and death records that were created by the local department of health. These aren’t church records. Also, when we are talking about New York City, we are talking about the five boroughs of New York City: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. They originally kept their records independently, but now they are all kept by the New York City Municipal Archives.
First, we need to think about who holds the original records and who created the record. When we research, we need to know whether the record was created by the city, the county, or the state. If it wasn’t created by a government agency, was the record created by a church or other organization? This not only helps restrict our search, but helps us if we need a copy of the document. Not all documents have been digitized, so sometimes, to look at the document, we have to order it from the repository who holds the original.
Second, it’s important to know different indexes for the record. A person will only have one death record, but it may be indexed on several different websites. Indexes are created by people reading the record, and because of this they could interpret the handwriting in different ways. If you have a hard time finding your ancestor, and you believe they should be in the record, it can be helpful to search multiple indexes. There are many indexes for these vital records, and we are going to discuss four of those. By going through each index you can see the difference between them.
Third, it is important to note that the indexes don’t always cover all of the records in the original repository. If you can’t find your ancestor in an index, you can check to see if the index is complete. Sometimes indexes are published while they are still being made.
Finally, this record is an important example of searching an individual collection instead of doing a general search of many collections. We are sometimes lucky to find the information we want through general searches. Our more elusive ancestors often need a more focused search to find them. When you are searching an individual collection or even a single film, you have the ability to try more variations with your search without having to sort through records that don’t apply to what you are looking for.
In the following video, you will see a search that takes you through the catalog on FamilySearch.org. This is a strategy that we will be using often in the different lessons in order to do a very focused search. It also helps us know what records are digitized and indexed. If you aren’t familiar with FamilySearch and the Family History Library, this may seem like a strange search. It is helpful to understand some of the background.
FamilySearch is the name of a non-profit genealogical organization, and it is also the name of their website. The main library in Salt Lake City is the Family History Library. You can learn more about the organization here. Over the last hundred years, the Family History Library has microfilmed original records throughout the world. It has been an amazing work of collecting and preserving history. The library has over 1.6 million rolls of microfilm in their collection, and they are actively working on digitizing their records.
Many of the digital records on FamilySearch.org come from those microfilms, and they are available to anyone for free. You need to register for the website, and some digital records are restricted so you have to be at a FamilySearch Center to view them, but they are still free. Due to Covid-19, FamilySearch Centers are closed, so please keep that in mind.