I offered to buy a computer for a Catholic cemetery that I deal with in Philly. They graciously said no. There records are kept in small metal boxes so you have to know exactly the date someone died if you want an answer. regards donna luzzi -------------- Original message from HeirLinesNY@aol.com: -------------- > Years ago I offered to volunteer at the NYC Archives and at Calvary Cemetery > once per week to search for records. Both entities told me they would not > accept my offer, because I was not an Archdiocesan employee.

Letter I meant to send this spring but never did. Your thoughts, please? Dear Bishop ____, Thank you for your reply to my e-mail correspondence of 3/29 and a request package. I wish the archdiocese were more interested in reforming and updating the search and retrieval of sacramental records. I did want to mention that the updated website does not allow the vicariate search by map that the packet specifically details. This should be updated. Also, it would be a good idea to detail in the packet that the pastor can use his discretion to perform the search. It clearly says there will be an additional fee but it does not spell out that a pastor can choose to not search it at all. A person could choose the $100 whole Archdiocese search option, pay the appropriate fees for all the parishes and if the pastor where the event took place chooses to not search, have absolutely nothing to show for it but a big drop in the savings account. I would like to reiterate that these records are not getting any younger and the time is now to microfilm or digitize them whether or not those records are available to public perusal. This is the proper care of historical records that the Church has been known for over the centuries. Several other dioceses have chosen this option and I implore the New York Archdiocese to consider it. The historic reality of marriage laws and conflicts between Church officials and civic authorities in Europe is interesting history but beside the point. If all the Catholic pastors had followed the laws in the 19th century New York then these marriages would be indexed and available from the Municipal Archives or the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. It is very sad that because the priests in the 19th century chose to ignore the law and their 21st counterparts are understaffed, that many researchers will most likely never find an actual date of marriage for their ancestors. The date, location of the marriage and the witnesses could be very crucial in the research process. Please reconsider my suggestion about at least creating an index. Index information would require each parish to go through their records and make a notation listing the essential information that would enable the researcher to contact the appropriate parish. In all honesty the creation of this index would not take a huge amount of time and would save the secretaries time in the future retrieval of records. It would take minutes a day to index a page. In two or three years with just 10 minutes a day the index would exist. Asking confirmation candidates to perform the task as a Christian service would make it take that much less time and no cost. Joseph Cassidy married Margaret McKeon on 25 Nov 1878 at Immaculate Conception in Manhattan. For the proposed index the only information needed would be: 11/25/1878 Cassidy, Joseph-McKeon, Margaret Immaculate Conception, page ___. Please note the index would not require the witnesses’ names, the notations or the priest’s name. Mary Cassidy was baptized at Immaculate Conception 4 years after her parents’ marriage. The index would show 12/24/1882 Mary Cassidy (McKeon) Immaculate Conception, page _ Jotting these quick notations would take some time but it would not be expensive. Once you create it, it would save a monumental amount of time. Proper preservation of the records on microfilm or computer would be best but creating an index would reduce the wear and tear on the books and possibly raise revenues for the parish. It is very surprising that all of the Catholic registers through 1881 at least are filmed in Ireland and available to the public in Dublin and Belfast. It clearly is a matter of administrative choice and not theological requirement that the NY archdiocese has not filmed the records. Making the marriage and baptismal records more accessible would be greatly appreciated by the family historians and a great act of good will by the archdiocese. It was not the priest’s obligation to report a birth to the city when he performed an infant baptism but with the marriage many priests did not comply with the law. It is hollow that no effort whatsoever is made to report these events even 100 years late. One would assume that if the marriage registers were turned over to the city they would be microfilmed at public cost and the originals safely archived. That would eliminate cost for the archdiocese and preserve the records for posterity. Should the originals need to be viewed they would be in archive. Please randomly select 25 pastors in Manhattan and have them search just 10 marriages from their registers between 1866-1900. How many of them are right in front of their eyes in the book but do not show up in the city’s marriage index? These can be searched online at www.italiangen.org The number of Catholic marriages that went unreported is very high. Since they are not public we do not know for sure. Out of the total of 1,508 weddings listed in the marriage register at St. Raphael’s between 1886-1908, only 480 were also registered with the NYC Department of Health; this is a mere 31.8%. During the first 7 1/3 years not a single one of St. Raphael’s weddings was recorded with the city. Please let us know your concerns so that all of them may be addressed.