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Tips on Genealogy Research in Troy, New York |
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Tips on Genealogy Research in Troy, New York |
1. Troy Public Library
Troy Public Library
Telephone: (518) 274-7071
This imposing white marble building was donated by Mary E. Hart in memory of her late husband, William Howard Hart. Opened on May 12, 1897, the building is in the American Renaissance style and was designed by the New York City architectural firm of J. Steward Barney and Henry Otis Chapman. The library has a wonderful Tiffany stained-glass window and an impressive carved fireplace.
The Troy Genealogy Room on the first floor is a great place for your family research. Here are just some of the great resources at the library:
There is an extensive collection of Troy City Directories. These books are great for tracking down a family name. The earlier books do not list the wife's name but will show the names of widows. In later years, the city directories start reporting the first name of the wife. Also, the early books will give an exact date of death. The newer books, for the 1970s onwards, stop reporting the date of death; the individual is just deleted from the book. You will also find notations on individuals who relocate to another area or state, which will be identified. The Troy books include West Troy (now Watervliet, a city in Albany County, NY), Lansingburgh (in Rensselaer County, NY - now part of the city of Troy), Cohoes (a city in Albany County, NY), Waterford (a village and a town in Saratoga County, NY) and Green Island (a village in Albany County, NY). There are also some directories for some of the neighboring cities and towns. The following listing identifies the years that the Troy directories cover and also includes the much smaller collection of city directories for some of the surrounding cities, towns and communities near Troy. As you can see, the town locations included in these directories change from year to year.
Troy: 1829-1994
Troy-Rensselaer County: 1998
Troy-Rensselaer: 1999, 2001-2003
Greater Troy & Vicinity Cross Reference: 1972-2003
Albany: 1889
Albany-Rensselaer-Bath: 1898, 1899, 1901
Albany-Rensselaer: 1902, 1904-1906, 1908, 1909, 1911, 1913-1915, 1917-1930,
1933-1961, 1964-1979, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988-1993
Colonie, Bethlehem, Guilderland: 1958, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1965-1967,
1969-1973, 1974, 1976
Hoosick Falls, Mechanicville, Town of Hoosick, Cambridge, White Creek, Johnsonville,
Schaghticoke, Valley Falls, Stillwater: 1940
Hoosick Falls, Town of Hoosick: 1912, 1919, 1926
Hoosick Falls, Town of Hoosick, Cambridge, White Creek, Salem, Shushan:
1929, 1931, 1934
Hoosick Falls, Town of Hoosick, Cambridge, White Creek, Greenwich: 1937
Mechanicville, Stillwater, Greenwich, Schuylerville: 1930
Mechanicville, Stillwater, Schaghticoke: 1936
Mechanicville, Stillwater, Schaghticoke, Valley Falls, Ballston Spa, Hoosick Falls,
Town of Hoosick: 1949
Mechanicville, Stillwater, Latham, Newtonville: 1952
Mechanicville, Ballston Spa: 1920, 1926, 1928
Bennington, Shaftsbury, & Arlington, Vermont, Hoosick Falls, Town of Hoosick: 1949
Bennington & Shaftsbury, Vermont, Hoosick Falls, Town of Hoosick: 1952
Bennington, North Bennington & Shaftsbury, Vermont, Hoosick Falls, Town of Hoosick:
1960, 1965
Bennington, Shaftsbury & Arlington, Vermont: 1925, 1930
Ballston Spa, Saratoga Springs: 1942, 1944, 1946, 1948, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1956,
1960, 1964
Glens Falls, Hudson Falls, South Glens Falls, Fort Edward: 1932-1942, 1944, 1946,
1948-1950, 1952, 1954, 1957, 1959, 1980
The genealogy room in the Troy Library has a 3 x 5 CARD FILE which at different times
was compiled by library staff from the Troy daily newspapers. Each card shows an
individual's name, the date of an event, the date of the newspaper, the page number
for referenced items and in some cases the column number of the newspaper.
Other libraries may have similar card files, so inquire when you are there.
Deaths:
Births:
Marriages:
Weddings:
Microfilm copies of the Troy newspapers are located on the second floor of the library.
These are great for the detailed information provided on the deceased and his family.
When looking at the microfilm for an obituary, remember to look for three separate items:
The small obit, which is no longer printed in today's papers, may list the names of
grandchildren, whereas the formal obit may just say six grandchildren. Some relatives
are mentioned in one obit and not in the other. The funeral notice, in addition to
giving the name of the organist and the soloist, names of songs, etc., will have the
names of the pall bearers and sometimes will give their relationship to the deceased.
There is a large cabinet of microfilm records, census records, etc., in the first-floor
Genealogy Reference Room. The most important microfilms for researchers are
the three rolls of microfilm on
Troy Deaths and Burials. The three rolls of film
in the library are:
a. Burial Records from March 1, 1833 to September 2, 1867
If you are not in the Troy area and want to order the film on Troy Deaths
and Burials from the LDS Church's Family History Library in Salt Lake City,
the numbers required for ordering at your local LDS Family History Center are these:
a. 1434103
The handwriting, for the most part, is beautiful to read, but it may help to have some
idea of what you are looking for.
For example, I was looking for my great-grandmother
Mary Carroll and her daughters Margaret and Catherine, who were on Ida Street in the
1880 US Census and then disappear from all records. The first record I found was
"Wife of Mr. Carroll" on Ida Street, who died on March 11, 1881 of smallpox.
The next record I found was "Child of Mr. Carroll", who died in the Troy Hospital
on March 15, 1881 of smallpox. Based on the age shown for the child, I knew it was
Margaret. I am still searching for Catherine and assume she also died of smallpox.
By the way, no one in my family ever knew of the existence of Margaret and Catherine,
and I only found out about them through the
1880 US Census records.
These Death and Burial records are an important reference for Troy researchers, since
many of the entries predate the 1880 New York State law requiring the reporting of deaths.
Individuals who died outside of Troy are listed IF they were buried in Troy.
Some years of these records are now available on line on this GenWeb site; see
Troy Burial Records.
There are a number of reference books in the Genealogy Room on local church and
religious cemeteries. The Troy Library has recently added books covering some
records of St. Patrick's Church, Troy and of St. Jean Baptiste, Troy.
These alphabetical records were compiled from the church records by the
American-Canadian Genealogical Society of Manchester, New Hampshire.
The records at the Troy Library are as follows:
St. Patrick's:
St. Jean Baptiste: (now closed)
(Note: The Canadian Genealogical Society is currently working on a number of other
Catholic churches in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy area.)
There are literally hundreds of other reference books available in the
Genealogy Room at the library. If in Troy, spend some time at the library looking
at these various sources of information that may prove useful to you in your research.
Hart Memorial Building
100 Second Street
Troy, New York 12180
Website: http://www.uhls.org/troy
Early years are heads of households only. Later years show name of spouse.
Some years show date of death. Most books include Watervliet (West Troy),
Green Island, Waterford and Cohoes.
This covers the two cities of Rensselaer County, i. e., Troy and Rensselaer.
Albany is, of course, a city in Albany County, NY, and is the capital of New York state.
Bath, formal name Bath-on-the-Hudson, was a village in the town of North Greenbush,
Rensselaer County, NY until
it was absorbed into the city of Rensselaer in 1897.
All three of these are towns in Albany County, NY.
Hoosick Falls is a village in the town of Hoosick, Rensselaer County, NY.
Mechanicville is a city in Saratoga County, NY. Cambridge and White Creek are towns in
Washington County, NY. Johnsonville is a hamlet in the town of Pittstown, Rensselaer
County, NY. Schaghticoke is both a village and a town in Rensselaer County, NY. Valley
Falls is a village in the town of Pittstown, Rensselaer County, NY. Stillwater
is a town in Saratoga County, NY.
Salem is a town in Washington County, NY, and Shushan is a hamlet in that town.
Greenwich is a town in Washington County, NY.
Schuylerville is a village in the town of Saratoga, in Saratoga County, NY.
Ballston Spa is a town in Saratoga County, NY.
Latham and Newtonville are hamlets in the town of Colonie, Albany County, NY.
Bennington, Shaftsbury and Arlington are towns in Bennington County, Vermont.
North Bennington is a town in Bennington County, Vermont.
Saratoga Springs is a town in Saratoga County, NY.
Glens Falls is a village in Warren County, NY. Hudson Falls and Fort Edward are villages
in Washington County, NY. South Glens Falls is a village in Saratoga County, NY.
1882-1899
1975-1979
1980-1984
1985-1987
1980-1984
1882-1899
1900
1975-1979
1985-1988
(1) the formal obit, which usually details occupation and work history;
(2) the small obit, found on the bottom of the same paper; and
(3) the write-up on the funeral, which will be found in the paper published on the
day of the funeral or a few days later.
b. Burial Records from August 14, 1867 to June 27, 1882
c. Burial Records from June 8, 1882 to February 27, 1891.
b. 1434104
c. 1434105
Rensselaer County Court House
(corner of Congress and Second Streets, just north of the Troy Library)
If you are researching relatives who died in Rensselaer County,
the Surrogate's Court in the Court House is a great source. They allow you to see
the files in the basement on Rensselaer County Decedents. Records are either on
4 x 6 cards or in bound books, as follows:
Books:
Index Cards
Index cards are in drawers by years:
1917-1928
Index cards are 4 x 6.
Yellow cards - testates (there was a will)
Records on cards and in books have volume and page reference which direct
you to copies of legal documents in bound books on the shelves. Assistance
is required if you want photocopies.
Wear old clothes when researching these bound books, since the leather covers
are in bad shape and you get covered with a red powder. You also have to pass
through a metal detector to access the building.
80 Second Street
Troy, New York 12180
1794-1873 One Book covers A to Z
1874-1881 One Book covers A to Z
1881-1916 One Book covers A to K - Other Book covers L to Z
1929-1945
1946-1959
1960-1969
1970-1979
1980-1989
1990-1999
2000-present
Pink cards - intestate (there was no will)
Green cards - small estate
3. Troy City Hall
Troy City Hall
(on the east bank of the Hudson River)
Copies of birth and death records, if the event occurred in Troy, are available from:
Bureau of Vital Statistics
Telephone: (518) 270-4587
The cost of birth and death records for genealogy purposes is $22.00.
Under New York state law, a birth certificate must not be issued until 75 years after
the event UNLESS you can document that you are a direct-line descendent.
In the case of a death certificate, it must not be issued until 50 years after the
event, UNLESS you can document that you are a direct-line descendent.
1 Monument Square
Troy, New York 12180
1 Monument Square
Troy, NY 12180
4. Rensselaer County Clerk's Office
Rensselaer County Clerk's Office
(directly behind the Court House)
The County Clerk's Office has a number of records of interest to genealogy researchers.
Request to see the records in the basement, and you will be granted access.
There are shelves and shelves of immigration books, many of which have a photograph of
the individual. A number of these records have been rebound, and the pages are covered
in a plastic sleeve. Record series are as follows:
Naturalization and Petition Certificates 1844-1949
There are several volumes of a marriage index which cover the period 1908 to 1935.
The index has a reference number which will help you find a complete record in the
marriage book, which has a tremendous amount of useful information. Also available,
using the same reference number, are the original signed marriage permits.
There are a number of volumes of census records.
105 Third Street
Troy, New York 12180
Declarations of Intent 1844-1949
5. Online Genealogy Help
A number of tools useful to genealogy researchers are available using the internet.
Here are some to consider:
Go to http://www.rootsweb.com to see the wide
assortment of mailings lists that are available through Rootsweb. At the present time
(July 2005), there are over 29,000 lists categorized in these groups:
a. Surname
When you click on a state, you then get group categories:
a. General Interest
Join the lists for your surnames and the states and counties you are interested in.
You never know what helpful response you will receive to the postings you make on
these lists. (Note: Join a particular list and post a message offering something
in return. I joined the Erie County list and sent a message offering to do lookups at
the NY State Archives in Albany in exchange for a newspaper obit from a Buffalo newspaper.
The person who replied sent me the newspaper obit, went to the cemetery and copied dates
from the headstone, and even called the funeral home for details.).
Would you like someone to help you get a copy of an obituary from a newspaper in
another state? Check out Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness at:
http://www.raogk.org. This volunteer movement
will do a research task in their local area as an act of kindness. The cost to you
would be reimbursing the volunteer for expenses (video tape, copy fees, etc.).
Another site for finding obituary lookup volunteers is
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~obitl/. (Note: I found volunteers on
this list in Syracuse, NY, in Rhode Island, in Florida and in Oregon who tracked
down newspaper obituaries for me.)
Visit Pat Connors's website at
http://www.connorsgenealogy.com. Pat has a tremendous amount of Troy, NY data posted,
including online name-searchable databases for the 1880 and 1900 US censuses for Troy,
as well as immigration records for Irish immigrants to the Capital District Area.
The Social Security Deaths Index is a great resource for finding not only a date of death
but also a date of birth. There are many online sites where you can use the
Social Security Deaths Index for free. One site I use is
http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com.
You will find a lot of Rensselaer County data (births, deaths, etc.) on this website,
run by Cliff Lamere. The website address
is
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~clifflamere.
The search engine I use the most in researching is Google, at
http://www.google.com.
Here is a suggestion you might not have thought of. When you find a date of death
through the Social Security Deaths Index, you also get a zip code, city and state of
residence. I then use Google to find a library in that area and send them an email
asking for help in getting a copy of the obituary. This has worked many times, and
the library sends the obit eith online or in the mail.
Here is a great site that shows the names of 41 cemeteries in Rensselaer County and
is linked to Mapquest, which will give you a map to each cemetery. The address
is:
http://home.earthlink.net/~vozkev/cems_rns.htm.
(Note: I am familiar with St. Joseph's Cemetery in Troy, as that is where many of
my relatives are buried. If you are visiting this cemetery, you should follow this
procedure:
1. Call St. Joseph's Rectory on (518) 274-6720 and ask for the plot records
for your family name. They can tell you the grave location (section, row, etc.)
and identify who is buried in the plot and when. The dates will generally be
interment date and not the date of death.
The New York State Library in Albany has a fantastic microfilm collection of
New York State newspapers. Go to
http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/nysnp,
where you can review the collection by county or city locality and then by the name
of the newspaper. If you are in New York state, you can have your local library
request the microfilm (five rolls at a time) without charge. You will need to
provide the call number of the microfilm, which is available on the website.
(Note: In the past several weeks, I have requested over 20 rolls of the Norwich, NY
Sun - call number NY 73 Norwich 93-32043. The film is delivered to my local
library within a week, and I have been able to find many obituaries for my Dunn
relatives. It is also possible to have your local library order microfilm from
another state (for out-of-state newspapers), but there will be a charge for postage.
b. USA-States
c. International
d. Other
b. Counties, Boroughs & Districts
2. There are no markers at St. Joseph's Cemetery showing sections.
Stop at the garage at the right side after the entry gate and look for Jason.
Jason can show you where to find the gravesite.
Bill McGrath
July 2005
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