The NY State Dept of Health in Albany has no vital records for Manhattan. All extant Manhattan records for that era are kept at the NY City Municipal Archives. Registration of births in NYC was not mandatory in those days, and births of children at home were only infrequestly registered. "Dory Ann Skemp" <d.skemp@worldnet.att.net> wrote: >Hello, I am confused about how to search for certain records in New York >City -- or in Albany. I wrote for my maternal grandparents' death >certificates (in NJ) which verified what I knew about their births in >Manhattan in 1876 (Jan 1 and Jan 5). I then wrote to the Municipal Archives >at 31 Chambers Street in NYC and received back a notice of "no records >found." So, now what do I do? Should I write Albany? But do the Albany >and Chambers Street offices have the same records? Does Albany even have >the NYC records? How does one clearly know whether to write a town/city or >Albany? I came up with a blank once at Chambers Street before for my >paternal gg grandmother, too, on her death certificate even though I have >the exact date of death. Again, would Albany know? Thanks. Dory Skemp >dskemp@worldnet.att.net > > > >==== GEN-NYS Mailing List ==== >Have you considered joining the Rootsweb Genealogical Data >Cooperative? > http://www.rootsweb.com/