On 5/21/03 (12:55:37 PM MDT), Ed ([email protected]) asked, "Where can I write to request a death cert. for someone who died in Suffolk (possibly in Blue Point) in March 1970?" Blue Point is a hamlet (an unincorporated community) in the Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County. I'll explain why this is important a bit later in this eMail. The collection of Vital Records in New York State begin in 1881, and are required to be kept by the city or town, as the case may be, in which the event (birth, death, marriage) occurred and by the state (Albany). Some of the larger villages do maintain these records, but not all villages do as they may voluntarily waive their right to do so and make it a responsibility of the town(s) in which the village is (are) in. If the place where the event occurred is in a village, the Town Clerk will tell you if the village or the town maintains the record. Currently, there are 10 towns in Suffolk County: Huntington Babylon Smithtown Islip Brookhaven Riverhead Southold Southampton Shelter Island East Hampton There are 2 cities (Glen Cove and Long Beach) and 3 towns (Hempstead, North Hempstead and Oyster Bay) in Nassau County. In this regard, please remember that it is very important to know in which city or town (or village) the event took place and the city or town (or village) could be different from the city or town (or village) where the individual may have resided. As I wrote, Blue Point is a hamlet in the Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County. There are 8 villages (incorporated municipalities) and 36 hamlets (unincorporated areas) all or partly in the Town of Brookhaven. Which means you would first want to contact the town clerk for the Town of Brookhaven: Town Clerk Town of Brookhaven 205 South Ocean Avenue Patchogue, NY 11772 Tel: 631/654-7827 Fax: 631/654-7888 fax eMail: [email protected] http://www.brookhaven.org/departments/town_clerk.asp?dept_id=15&page_id=15 I hope this information is useful or, at least, interesting. Walter Greenspan