A question, is it possible to go to the NY State Records, which I think is in Albany, and search the Birth/Marriage and Death indexes like we do over here in England. The indexes provide only a little detail but once you have identified a likely candidate, you can then order a copy of the certificate, be it Birth/Marriage or Death. Have just been looking at the State website and to be honest its not cheap so was looking to see if its possible to search the records first, before committing money to the Records office. Regards Mike Greatorex Harrogate, England Looking for all Greatorex's from North Nottinghamshire, Sheffield, Orange Co, NY, USA, Florida and Alabamha, USA. http://www.freewebs.com/greatorexfamily/

Mike Greatorex, You can go, or have someone go to the New York State Archives to look them up but bear in mind the NYS index starts in 1880. There were no laws previous to that date that required vital records to be recorded. There is one exception in that they tried to implement a VR program in 847 but it is very spotty, and lacking. The ones that do exist only span 1847, 1848 and 1849 and they are scattered hither and yon. You have to search for them at the county level. The Onondaga County Public Library in Syracuse, New York has a copy of the microfiche index set of the master statewide VR index, and they have offered to do free look ups with some limitations. I wrote about it on my blog that you may read here: http://www.unyg.com/blog/index.php/tag/nys-vital-records/ Hope that helps. Dick Hillenbrand Upstate New York Genealogy www.unyg.com On Fri, Jan 22, 2010 at 2:01 PM, Mike Greatorex <mgreato@jmgreatorex.freeserve.co.uk> wrote: > A question, is it possible to go to the NY State Records, which I think is in Albany, and search > the Birth/Marriage and Death indexes like we do over here in England. The indexes provide > only a little detail but once you have identified a likely candidate, you can then order a copy > of the certificate, be it Birth/Marriage or Death. > > Have just been looking at the State website and to be honest its not cheap so was looking to > see if its possible to search the records first, before committing money to the Records office. > > Regards > > Mike Greatorex > Harrogate, England > Looking for all Greatorex's from North Nottinghamshire, Sheffield, Orange Co, NY, USA, Florida and Alabamha, USA. > http://www.freewebs.com/greatorexfamily/ > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NYORANGE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Yes, you can look at the microfiche indexes free in Albany and several other cities around the state, including New York City, but you must go in person or hire someone to look for you. I made the trip and was impressed by the facility but unfortunately didn't find what I was looking for. -----Original Message----- From: nyorange-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:nyorange-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Mike Greatorex Sent: Friday, January 22, 2010 3:02 PM To: NY Orange Co List Subject: [NYORANGE] NY State Records at Albany A question, is it possible to go to the NY State Records, which I think is in Albany, and search the Birth/Marriage and Death indexes like we do over here in England. The indexes provide only a little detail but once you have identified a likely candidate, you can then order a copy of the certificate, be it Birth/Marriage or Death. Have just been looking at the State website and to be honest its not cheap so was looking to see if its possible to search the records first, before committing money to the Records office. Regards Mike Greatorex Harrogate, England Looking for all Greatorex's from North Nottinghamshire, Sheffield, Orange Co, NY, USA, Florida and Alabamha, USA. http://www.freewebs.com/greatorexfamily/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NYORANGE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Hello, again! Read this blog, the associated comments, and links. You'll get a good overview of NYS vital records; it isn't the easiest state in which to get them. http://ny-genes.blogspot.com/2008/02/how-to-obtain-copies-of-vital-records.html Also, once you are ready to order a document, you'll see why it's a waste of money to request an abstract from a local Town Clerk and why you should order the records from Albany in spite of the longer wait. I don't know if the info about getting index look-ups still pertains, but perhaps you could ask a favor from a list person who lives near a library that holds the index or use a Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK) request. http://www.raogk.org/ Best of luck - I really admire your persistence from afar! Julia --- On Fri, 1/22/10, Mike Greatorex <mgreato@jmgreatorex.freeserve.co.uk> wrote: ...NY State Records...Birth/Marriage and Death indexes... Mike