Patti and others, have I got good news for you!! First, the bad news: Official death certificates didn't begin until 1881 in NY state, so if you wrote to the state of NY or to a county or town in NY asking for them, they wouldn't be able to help, and they might or might not write back to tell you so. However, you are in luck in that the people you are looking for lived in Troy and may have died there. Here is what I highly recommend that you do: Find your nearest LDS Church's Family History Centre, and through it order this microfilm: LDS Microfilm 1434103: "Book of Records, Names Interments &c. &c., Troy March 1st 1833, S. E. Gibbs Superintendent". This is a burial log for Troy, Rensselaer Co NY. These burial records run for many decades starting in 1833. They have THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of names, all in a great ledger. Some eras the record keeper was quite meticulous, while in other eras the clerks were a bit slap-dash. At the very least, though, you can find the decedent's name, the date of death, where he or she was buried and age at death -- and usually marital status. Many of the entries also give cause of death, exact place of death (street address), place of birth, names of parents, name of informant, place of residence, attending physician, how long the decedent had been ill and so forth. It is a WONDERFUL resource, and yet most people don't even know about it. Good luck! Lin P. S. A rather alarmingly large number of babies died from "teething" in the 19th century, these records show. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% >At 09:03 09/05/2001 -0400, Patti Smith <PSmith@fmd-inc.com> wrote: >I can not locate my ancestor's after the birth of their 2 children in Troy, >NY (1842 and 1848 are the birth years). Can I write the clerk of the courts >for Rensselaer County and ask if they have death certificates on the >parents? I am wondering if they died shortly after the birth of the >children. I haven't found a church yet that has records of any of the >family members. > >Did Rensselaer County/New York keep death records that early? Can I ask for >a search for the years 1848 through say.....1855 or 1860? >I am at the proverbial "brick wall". >Thanks, >Patti