Overview: Most vital records for the five New York City boroughs are kept in repositories in lower Manhattan. Older records are kept at the Municipal Archives; Newer records at the New York City Department of Health and the City Clerk's office. Because Queens and Richmond Counties were not part of New York City before 1898, their certificates (and indexes to same) for the years prior to consolidation (1880-1897) are exceptions. These certificates are available in Albany, and registers in Manhattan. The New York State Archives in Albany has a Summary of the availability of vital records in New York State. Please note that the only sections of New York City that these indexes apply to are Queens and Richmond Counties. For a good overview of existing indexes for the other boroughs of New York City see this page posted by the NYG&BS |
| Years | Type of Information (on microfilm unless noted) |
Reposi- tories (key below) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| DEATH INDEXES Note that there are two separate sets of indexes and death records for Queens during the period 1880-1897 | |||
| 18??-1897 |
Card Index to deaths in old town registers - microfilm - not all towns and periods.
By town, name. Provides date and register line number.
(Note that the card indexes use a separate numbering series from the
New York State certificates held in Albany for this period.
The LDS does not have the Albany index, but has some of the old Town indexes)
For their usual fee, the Municipal Archives will provide lookup
and printout of the register page
or a transcript of the individual record.
Note that many deaths in this period were NOT recorded.
Long Island City (Astoria, Hunters Point, Ravenswood) A-B 1871-97 - FHC# 1378903 Item 2 C-Keyes 1871-97 - FHC# 1378904 Keyser-Puetz 1871-97 - FHC# 1378931 Puetz-Z 1871-1897 - FHC# 1378905 Item 1 Village of Flushing 1889-1897 A-Z - FHC# 1378869 Item 3 Town of Flushing 1889-1897 A-Smith, Robert - FHC# 1378869 Item 4 Town of Flushing 1889-1897 Smith, Ruth E.-Z - FHC# 1378870 Item 1 Village of College Point A-Z 1889-1897 - FHC# 1378869 Item 2 Village of Far Rockaway A- W 1889-1897 - FHC# 1378870 Item 2 Births and deaths 1881-1898 - FHC# 1376367 Items 2-3 |
Muni, FHC | |
| June 1880-1897 |
The microfiche index to certificates held at the N.Y. State Dept of Health
in Albany is available in three places:
New York State Archives in Albany,
NARA Northeast Regional Center
on Varick Street in Manhattan,
and Rochester Public Library.
The indexes are available for public viewing but not searchable by mail request.
None of these repositories have certificates.
The New York State Dept of Health, Albany, has indexes and certificates. Neither are available for public viewing, but a request for a certificate does not require the cert# in advance. DOH staff will do a two year search for the base fee. | NYS Arch, Varick | |
| 1898-1965 |
Microfilm of published all-borough New York City death indexs - 19 reels.
By year, borough, name. Provides age, date, cert#. LDS has indexes to 1965, though their certificates end in 1919. Municipal Archives has death indexes and certificates to 1948. | Muni, FHC | |
| 1898-1982 |
All-borough death indexs. NYPL has the published indexes to certificates
in book form as well as on microfilm and microfiche for different time spans.
See a librarian in Local History and Genealogy Division for details. The NYPL does not have certificates. |
NYPL | |
| 1898-1948 | Online NYC death index
This is an ongoing digitizing project of the
Italian Genealogical Group.
As I write (Nov 2012), it covers the years 1898-1948 for all boroughs, with earlier entries
for Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Search NYC Death Index or use this more flexible input form created by Steve Morse |
IGG | |
| DEATH REGISTERS AND CERTIFICATES | |||
| 1871-1898 | Individual Old Town registers - some towns/some periods | ||
| 1847-1849 | Individual Old Town registers - some towns/some periods
Flushing 1376367 Item 4 |
Muni | |
| 1871-1898 | Individual Old Town registers - some towns/some periods | Muni | |
| 1880-1897 | Queens death certificates, or those that exist for this period, are at the N.Y. State DOH. After Queens was annexed by New York City in 1898, it no longer filed death certificates with the state. | NYSDOH (Albany) | |
| 1898-1949 | Death certificates - 248 reels. The first film number in this group is FHC# 1323384. Plug that into the film/ fiche# search to locate the film group. | FHC | |
| 1898-1948 | Death certificates | Muni | |
| 1949-present day | Death certificates | NYCDOH | |
| BIRTH INDEXES Note that there are two separate sets of indexes and birth records for Queens during the period 1880-1897 | |||
| 1871-97 1847-97? 1881-97 1889-97 1897-98 1889-97 1889-97 |
CARD INDEXES to Old Town registers (name, date & line number) LIC : 4 reels 1880-1893 - FHC 1376364 Item 3 1893-1897 (incl Deaths (no. 6300) 1881-1892 FHC 1376365 Jamaica: 2 reels Flushing (also 1847-48): 2 reels Whitestone: 1 reel Rock: 1 reel Far Rock: 1 reel College Pt: 2 reels | Muni, FHC | |
| 1881-1897 | Index to New York State certificates - not all towns, mail-order search not available | NYS Arch, Varick | |
| 1898-1909 | Published indexes (soundex) to New York City certificates (all boroughs) By year, soundex code, date. Provides borough, certificate#. | Muni | |
| 1898-1982 | Published Indexes (soundex) to New York City certificates. NYPL has some periods in book form as well as film and fiche. The Family History Catalog has birth indexes to 1965. | NYPL, FHC | |
| BIRTH RECORDS | |||
| 1847-1849 | Individual Old Queens Town registers -some towns/some periods | Muni | |
| 1871-1898 | Individual Old Queens Town registers
-some towns/some periods
|
Muni, FHC | |
| 1881-1897 | New York State birth certificates for this period can be found at the State Dept of Health in Albany. Note that after Queens was annexed by NYC in 1898, it no longer filed certificates with the state | NYSDOH | |
| 1898-1909 | New York City Birth certificates - 21 reels | Muni, FHC | |
| 1910-present | New York City Birth certificates 1910 to present day are available at the Dept. of Health. Access to certificates is restricted. (Indexes to these restricted records are available at the New York Public Library.) | NYCDOH | |
|
MARRIAGE INDEXES Note that there are two separate sets of indexes and marriage records for Queens during the period 1881-1897, and also 1908-1937 | |||
| 1881-1897 | Groom Index to town registers - 1 reel, FHC# 1908328
Though the FHC's title for this film is "Index to grooms (Queens) 1881-1897 (arranged by towns of Flushing, Jamaica, College Point, Whitestone, & Long Island City,)" Long Island City entries actually cover the early 1870s |
Muni, FHC | |
| 1881-1897 | Groom Index to NY State Dept. of Health certificates. No mail-order access | NYS Arch, Varick | |
| 1905-1937 | Bride Index to NYC Dept. of Health certificates - 7 reels | Muni, FHC | |
| 1898-1937 | Groom Index to NYC Dept. of Health certificates - Typeset indexes by year, borough, name. Provides date, cert#. | Muni, FHC, NYPL | |
| 1908-1929 | Groom/ Bride Index to New York City Clerk licenses -
Handwitten indexes. Each borough has its own film series, arranged by year,
month and first letter (or two letters) of surname.
Grooms and brides are listed separately, though within the same section. The index provides date and City Clerk license#. The indexes are arranged by date within first letter of surname, rendering a blind search laborious. For this reason, the Municipal Archives will only provide a license index lookup if you provide a date. Hint: use the certificate indexes to find the date (if prior to 1937). Then use the date to search the license indexes. Licenses were filed in the borough in which the bride resided. This could be different from the borough in which a DOH certificate was filed. |
Muni only | |
| 1908-1936 | Online NYC Groom index
This is an ongoing digitizing project of the
Italian Genealogical Group.
As I write (May 2005), it covers the years 1908-1936 for all boroughs, with some earlier entries
for Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Search NYC Death Index or use this more flexible input form created by Steve Morse |
IGG | |
| MARRIAGE RECORDS | |||
| 1871-1881 | Marriage registers - some towns, some periods | Muni | |
| 1881-1898 | Individual town marriage registers - 1 reel - Flushing, Jamaica, Richmond Hill, College Point White Stone, Rockaway, Far Rockaway, Newtown & Ll City, with many gaps | Muni | |
| 1881-1897 | New York State Dept. of Health marriage certificates | NYSDOH | |
| 1898-1937 | New York City Dept. of Health marriage certificates - 56 reels | Muni, FHC | |
| 1908-1929 | City Clerk marriage licenses - Set of marriage license records kept independently from N.Y.C. records by the Queens Marriage License Bureau. These are now held at the Municipal Archives and not available through the FHC. Indexes are separate from certificate indexes. The years 1930 forward are held at the Office of the City Clerk. Access to records less than 50 years old is restricted. | MLB | |
| CODE | REPOSITORY link brings you to local description of repository & hot links |
|---|---|
| FHC | The Family History Catalog of the Church of Latter Day Saints |
| MLB | City Clerk's Office - Marriage License Bureau |
| MUNI | N.Y.C. Municipal Archives, Manhattan |
| NYPL | New York Public Library, 42nd Street, Manhattan |
| NYCDOH | New York City Dept of Health, Division of Vital Records, Manhattan |
| Varick | NARA Northeast Regional Center Manhattan |
| NYG&BS | The New York Genealogical & Biographical Society, Manhattan |
| NYSDOH | New York State Dept of Health, Albany |
| N.Y. State Arch | New York State Archives, Albany |
| Online indexes |
The Italian Genealogical Group has been digitizing the New York City death and marriage indexes.
Queens records are included in these databases from 1898 forward.
Deaths | Grooms | Brides Alternate input forms to all IGG online indexes can be found at stevemorse.org New York City Births, 1891-1902, a subscription database on Ancestry.com, includes four years of Queens births. |