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Where to Write for Vital Records This page was last updated 17 March 2008. |
Birth, Death and Marriage Records OBTAINING RECORDS FROM THE TOWN CLERK OR
EQUIVALENT -
In 1880 the state government of New York began requiring the keeping of vital records. This
law is the basis for the recording of births, marriages and deaths (B, M or D) in New York today. The
original record is made in the town, village or city in which the event took place, and
a copy of the record is sent to Albany. The system did not become fully comprehensive
for several years. Nevertheless, it is still worth checking to see if your ancestor who
died in the early 1880s might be among those whose birth, marriage or death was recorded.
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Rensselaer County Clerk Records Room Department  County Court House Annex 105 Third Street at corner of Congress Street Troy, NY 12180
Tel: (518) 270-4080 |
City, Town and Village Clerks
| Berlin Town Clerk Anne Maxon Berlin Town Hall 26 South Main Street Berlin, NY 12022 Phone: (518) 658-2633 |
Brunswick Town Clerk Paula M. Monahan Brunswick Town Office 308 Town Office Road Troy, NY 12180 Phone: (518) 279-3461, Ext. 103 Fax: (518) 279-4352 Website: http://www.townofbrunswick.org |
Castleton-on-Hudson Village Clerk Donna Mesick P. O. Box 126 85 South Main Street Castleton-on-Hudson, NY 12033 Phone: (518) 732-2211 Fax: (518) 732-1550 |
| East Greenbush Town Clerk Joan T. Whipple East Greenbush Town Hall 225 Columbia Turnpike Rensselaer, NY 12144 Phone: (518) 477-7145 Ext. 215 Fax: (518) 477-4508 Website: http://www.eastgreenbush.org |
Grafton Town Clerk Suzanne Putnam Grafton Town Hall 2379 NY State Highway 2 P. O. Box G Grafton, NY 12082 Phone: (518) 279-3565 Fax: (518) 279-3685 |
Hoosick Town Clerk Susan Stradinger Hoosick Town Offices New York State Armory 80 Church Street P. O. Box 17 Hoosick Falls, NY 12090 Phone: (518) 686-4571 Fax: (518) 686-5304 |
| Hoosick Falls Village Clerk Ann M. Bornt Hoosick Falls Village Hall 24 Main Street Hoosick Falls, NY 12090 Phone: (518) 686-7072 Fax: (518) 686-4902 |
Nassau Town Clerk Rita M. Labrum Nassau Town Hall 29 Church Street Nassau, NY 12123 Phone: (518) 766-2343 Fax: (518) 766-4422 |
Nassau Village Clerk Margaret H. Van Deusen Nassau Village Hall 40 Malden Street Nassau, NY 12123 Phone: (518) 766-3044 Fax: (518) 766-2939 |
| North Greenbush Town Clerk Kathryn Connolly North Greenbush Town Offices 2 Douglas Street Wynantskill, NY 12198 Phone: (518) 283-4306 Fax: (518) 283-7621 Website: http://www.northgreenbush.net |
Petersburgh Town Clerk Barbara K. Snyder Petersburgh Town Hall 65 Main Street P. O. Box 125 Petersburgh, NY 12138 Phone: (518) 658-3777 Fax: (518) 658-3770 |
Pittstown Town Clerk Michelle A. Hoag Pittstown Town Hall 123 Tomhannock Road Valley Falls, NY 12185 Phone: (518) 753-4222 Fax: (518) 753-6160 |
| Poestenkill Town Clerk Vivian Kelly Poestenkill Town Offices 39 Davis Drive Poestenkill, NY 12140 Phone: (518) 283-5119 Fax: (518) 283-7500 |
Rensselaer City Clerk Maureen G. Nardacci Rensselaer City Hall 505 Broadway Rensselaer, NY 12144 Phone: (518) 462-4266 Fax: (518) 462-0890 |
Sand Lake Town Clerk Christine Kronau* (see below) 8428 Miller Hill Road Averill Park, NY 12018 Phone: (518) 674-2026 Fax: (518) 674-0441 |
| Schaghticoke Town Clerk Janet Salisbury Schaghticoke Town Hall 290 Northline Drive Melrose, NY 12121 Phone: (518) 753-6915, Ext. 101 Fax: (518) 753-6918 |
Schaghticoke Village Clerk  Cheryl L. Jackson, Registrar P. O. Box 187 Schaghticoke, NY 12154 Phone: (518) 753-6100 Fax: (518) 753-7441 |
Schodack Town Clerk Donna L. Conlin Schodack Town Hall 1777 Columbia Turnpike Castleton, NY 12033 Phone: (518) 477-7590 Fax: (518) 477-2439 |
| Stephentown Town Clerk Patricia Gallup Stephentown Town Hall 26 Grange Hall Road Stephentown, NY 12168 Phone: (518) 733-9195 Fax: (518) 733-6492 |
Troy City Clerk Ms. Flora O'Malley Troy City Hall 1 Monument Square Troy, NY 12180 Phone: (518) 270-4634 Fax: (518) 270-4639 Website |
Valley Falls Village Clerk Janet Weber 55 State Street Valley Falls, NY 12185 Phone: (518) 753-6131 Fax: (518) 753-6230 |
re-created only in the 1990s, I hope this won't be too much of an omission.
OBTAINING RECORDS FROM THE NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH - The copy of a B, M or D record that has been sent to the state government is now held by the New York State Department of Health. If you apply, and if your application is successful, the Dept of Health will always supply a photocopy of the original B, M or D certificate, and not a modern "certification". Application to obtain a photocopy of an original B, M or D certificate should be made on a printed application form, and in September 2006 the fee was $22.00 per document. You can print off an application form by visiting the website of the New York State Department of Health Vital Records Section. That website will also tell you what information you need to supply in order to apply, and whether you qualify for an exemption from the 50-year and 75-year embargo of records. There are two ways to obtain B, M and D certificates from the Dept of Health: by mail or in person.
BY MAIL - The backlog of requests by mail at the NY State Dept of Health is such that the waiting time was said in December 2002 to be about five months. Even this is an improvement, as a few years ago the waiting time was as long as two years! To apply by mail, send your completed application form and your check for $22.00 to this address:
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New York State Department of Health Vital Records Section Genealogy Unit P. O. Box 2602 Albany, NY 12220-2602 |
IN PERSON - Alternatively, you may call in person at the New York State Department of Health's premises. You will still need to fill in the form (obtainable at this office) and pay $22.00. This office will take your application and put it into a "fast track", and you will receive the photocopy of the requested document by mail seven to 10 days later. Here is is the location of this office:
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New York State Department of Health Vital Records Section Genealogy Unit 800 North Pearl Street Menands, NY 12204 |
WHAT IF I DON'T KNOW THE YEAR OF MY ANCESTOR'S B, M OR D? There is good news and bad news. The good news is that wonderful, WONDERFUL New York State Births, Marriages and Deaths Indexes exist. They include every B, M or D record in the NY State Dept of Health's possession from the first ones in 1881 until the latest year that has come into the public domain -- i. e., up to 50 years before the present time for marriages and deaths and up to 75 years before the present time for births. Each index entry gives the full name of the person; the exact date of the event; the town, village, hamlet or city in which the event occurred; and the number of the certificate in the Dept of Health's records. A few of the years also give ages. Some years are arranged in Soundex order; most years are in ordinary alphabetical order. A few years in the marriages index name the spouse; most years don't. The bad news is that this index can be viewed ONLY in person at the New York State Archives, located on the third floor of the New York State Museum Building. If you go there in person, you can search year by year until you find the index entry for your ancestor. To look for a single event for a single individual, you can easily search 20 years in 10 minutes. There is a search service available, but if you have no idea when an event occurred, this search service can be very expensive -- and it might not even yield a result. If you have MANY people you want to look up, you might want to consider going to Albany to do this yourself -- it might even be cheaper. Details of the search-service fees can be found on the website of the New York State Department of Health Vital Records Section.
Divorce Records
Since 1847 divorce actions in New York have been handled in the Supreme Court
for the county in which the divorce was heard. New York divorce files, however,
are sealed for 100 years. In colonial times, petitions for divorce had to be
made to the governor or legislature, and only a few were granted. The Chancery
Court granted divorces from 1787 to 1847. These older records are in the state
archives.
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New York State Archives New York Department of Education Room 11D40 Cultural Education Center Albany, NY 12230 Tel: (518) 474-8955 |
Naturalization Records
Anne Kiely kindly informs us by email that naturalization records are available
at the Rensselaer County Clerk's office.
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Rensselaer County Clerk Records Room Department County Court House Annex 105 Third Street at corner of Congress Street Troy, NY 12180
Tel: (518) 270-4080 |
Send additions, corrections, comments or suggestions to:
Lin Van Buren