Rensselaer County
Wills and Probate Records

This page was last updated 23 Feb 2016


In this section of our GenWeb site are transcriptions and abstracts of wills of Rensselaer County, NY residents that have been contributed by people like you. Below our list of testators, you can also find information about where to find wills recorded after 1791, wills recorded from 1787 to 1791, and wills recorded prior to 1791. We also provide some relevant offline links for you.

If you would like to transcribe and contribute wills to this website, they would be very welcome! You may send them to me, Debby Masterson, in plain-text form in the body of an email.


Wills and Probate Documents
Name Date written/probated Residence
AKIN, Aaron B. 1857/1858 Clinton [now East Greenbush]
ALLEN, Benjamin, intestate 1866 Troy
ALLEN, Morgan L. 1851/1857 Petersburgh
ALLEN, Samuel 1816/1816 Hoosick
ALLEN, William 1850/1850 Petersburgh
ARNOLD, George 1826/1829 Stephentown
ARNOLD, Stephen 1810/1810 Stephentown
BARINGER, Peter 1816/1817 Brunswick
BARRINGER, Henry 1859/1864 Brunswick
BARRINGER, John D. 1860/1877 Poestenkill
BATEMAN, Hart [Mrs] 1828/1843 Nassau
BETTS, Bathsheba [Wright] 1842/1856 [North] Greenbush
BETTS, Peter 1835/1842 Greenbush
BLOEMENDALL, John 1833/1833 Greenbush
BLOOMENDALE, Peter 1828/1830 Greenbush
BORNT, Lodewick 1817/1818Brunswick
BROCK, Daniel M.* 1867/1868 Grafton
BROCK, Francis 1823/1825 Grafton
BRUST, Amos 1854/1854 Lansingburgh
BRUST, Henry 1887/1888 Brunswick
BRUST, Henry 1888/1893 Brunswick
BRUST, Jacob 1832/1832 Brunswick
BRUST, Matthew 1827/1835 Brunswick
CAMEL, John 1818/1818 Grafton
CAREY, Michael 1910/???? Troy
CAREY, Patrick 1860/1861 Troy
CAREY, Patrick 1882/1883 Troy
CARPENTER, Joseph 1796/1797 Stephentown
CARPENTER, Timothy 1787/1806 Pittstown
CASSIN, Dennis 1852/1852 Greenbush
CHAPMAN, John 1817/1817 Hoosick
CHAPMAN, John, Jr. 1848/1854 Hannibal, Oswego Co, NY
CHAPMAN, Mary [Nichols] 1853/???? Pittstown
CHAPMAN, Waity 1837/???? Pittstown
CIPPERLEY, Ada C. 1952/1954 Sand Lake
CIPPERLY, Bertha 1926/1931 Poestenkill
CIPPERLY, Jacob 1811/1811 Schaghticoke
CIPPERLY, Harry E. ----/1950 Hoosick
CIPPERLY, Michael 1790/1791 Schaghticoke
CIPPERLY, Lillian E. 1906/1927 North Greenbush
COON, Joseph 1810/1821 Hoosick
COONRADT, Adam 1815/1816 Brunswick
COONRADT, Philip 1815/1815 Brunswick
CRAVER, Johannes 1799/???? Greenbush
DECKER, Henry 1799/1801 Schodack
DECKER, Jacob 1827/1827 Schodack
DEFREEST, David 1857/???? North Greenbush
DERICK, Charly [Karel] 1812/1813 Brunswick
DERICK, George 1858/1862 Brunswick
DOUGHTY, Ezra T. (abstract) 1843/1843 Troy
DOWW, Hendrick 1749/1751 Rensselaerwyck Manor
DREW, John 1854/1856 Schodack
DUBOIS, Cornelius 1862/1868 North Greenbush
DWELLY, Abner ????/1803 Schaghticoke
EARING, Charles 1846/1850 Greenbush
EARING, Johannes 1815/1824 Nassau
EARING, Karel 1798/1798 Greenbush
EARING, Michael 1804/1804 Schodack
EARING, Peter 1849/???? Greenbush
EARING, Samuel 1832/???? Greenbush
FELLER, Nicholas 1798/1800 Greenbush
FELLER, Philip 1812/???? Greenbush
FOLLETT, William (abstract) 1808/1808 Pittstown
FRAZEE, Henry 1867/1876 North Greenbush
FROST, Thomas 1818/1820 Schodack
GERMOND, Smith 1840/1841 Lansingburgh
GREEN, James (abstract) 1838/1840 Pittstown
GREEN, Benjamin (abstract) 1797/1797 Stephentown
GREEN, John (abstract) ????/1841 Berlin
GREEN, John G. (abstract) 1843/1850 Berlin
GREEN, Pamelia Farnam (abstract) 1833/1841 Troy
GREEN, Richard (abstract) 1805/1805 Schaghticoke
GRUNMAN, Jonathan 1813/1813 Stephentown
HAMMOND, William 1801/1810 Pittstown and Hoosick
HICKOK, Ezra 1802/1807 Lansingburgh
HOAG, Thomas (abstract) 1842/1843 Nassau
HYDORN, Conrad 1806/1812 Brunswick
HYSER, Jeremiah 1873/1880 East Greenbush
IRELAND, Thomas 1811/1812 Schaghticoke
JEROME, Augustus 1817/1817 Berlin
JOHNSON, Rufus (abstract) 1831/1837 Hoosick
JOSLIN, Potter 1829/1830 Hoosick
KINNEY, Alonzo N. 1869/1893 North Greenbush
KOON, Delia (Sharp) 1887/1889 North Greenbush
LOHNES, John Nicholas 1786/1792 Rensselaerwycke
MCCHESNEY, Samuel R. 1814/1814 Brunswick
MERCHANT, Abel 1820 Schodack
MILLARD, Elijah 1821/1821 Berlin
MILLER, Francis (abstract) 1843/1843 Schodack
MINICK, Jacob 1879/1887 Poestenkill
MOFFIT, Hosea 1825/1825 Stephentown
MORRIS, Darius 1848/1858 Schodack
MORRIS, William H. 1875/1887 Schodack
NICHOLS, Asa C. 1885/1893 Hamilton County, Nebraska
NICHOLS, Rowland 1812/1813 Essex County, NY
OSTRANDER, Jacob 1787/1789 Manor of Rensselaerwyck
PHILLIPS, David 1897/1908 East Greenbush
PHILLIPS, Dorcas (Vickery) 1813/1813 Greenbush
PHILLIPS, Roswell (abstract) . Schodack
PHILLIPS, Timothy (abstract) 1847/1848 Schodack
POWERS, Polly 1871/1880 Petersburgh
ROGERS, Joseph 1798/1800 Stephentown
ROGERS, Stephen 1791/1791 Hoosick
RYAN, Edward 1822/1823 Pittstown
RISEDORPH, Margaret 1812/1812 Greenbush
RYSDORPH, Laurence 1792/1813 Greenbush
SCHERP, Peter 1780/1782 The Camp, Albany County, NY
SCRIBNER, Samuel 1820/1825 Hoosick
SCRIVEN, Zebulon 1820/1821 Grafton
SHARP, George 1813/1815 Greenbush
SHARP, Nicholas 1802/1802 Greenbush
SHARP, Peter 1800/1807 Greenbush
SHARPE, Jacob G. 1846/1850 Greenbush
SHEPARD, Hazael 1816/1819 Pittstown
SIMPSON, John 1860/1860 Hoosick
SIPPERLY, Bernhart 1804/1809 Troy
SLEAD [SLADE], Philip 1803/1803 Pittstown
SMITH, Paul . Brunswick
SNIDER, Christopher ????/1815 Pittstown
SNYDER, Christopher 1811/1821 Greenbush
SPOTTEN, William 1815/1815 Lansingburgh
SPRINGER, Jacob 1815/1818 Brunswick
STITT, James 1817/1817 Pittstown
STROPE, William 1838/???? Greenbush
SWIFT, Jack 1811/1817 Schodack
TAYLOR, Elianor 1787/1815 Lansingburgh
TEELIN, Alexander 1826/1828 Greenbush
TOWNSEND, Sally (abstract) 1842/1843 Troy
TRAVER, Emma Elizabeth (Phillips) 1892/1902 East Greenbush
TRAVER, Margaret E. (Hyser) 1896/1897 East Greenbush
UHLEIN / ULINE, Bernhard 1804/1804 Greenbush
VAN ALSTYNE, Barbary 1840/???? Troy
VAN BUREN, Abiather 1903/1913 Schodack
VAN BUREN, Cornelius H. 1810/1811 Greenbush
VAN BUREN, Henry P. (abstract) 1841/1843 Schodack
VAN BUREN, Hiram 1882/1883 Schodack
VAN BUREN, Jan 1795/1796 Greenbush/Troy
VAN BUREN, John M. 1799/1799 Schodack
VAN BUREN, Peter 1805/1814 Schodack
VAN BUREN, Tiney, spinster 1841/1848 Schodack
VAN BUREN, Tobias 1805/1814 Schodack
VANDER COOK, Simon 1826/1829 Pittstown
VAN DEUSEN, Mary E. 1890/1892 Troy
WEATHERWAX, Andrew 1810/1810 Schaghticoke
WEATHERWAX, Elinor 1819/1819 Lansingburgh
WEATHERWAX, David 1830/1831 Peru, Clinton County, NY
WEATHERWAX, Peter, intestate (inventory only) 1805 Schaghticoke
WEATHERWAX, Johannes 1814/1818 Schaghticoke
WEDERWAX, Andrus 1821/1824 Greenbush
WEIDERWAX, Ann 1890/1893 Nassau
WETHERWAX, Myron B. 1884/1887 North Greenbush
WIDDERWAX / WEATHERWAX, Andreas 1780/1784 Tomhannock, Pittstown
WITBECK, John W. 1863/1865 East Greenbush
YATES, Jacob1831Schaghticoke
YATES, Peter1807Schaghticoke
YATES, Stephen1842/1861Schaghticoke
* The Daniel M. Brock will is a scanned image, so it will take some time to download and
is not accessible by any search engines, including our own site search engine.


Wills recorded after 1791: Rensselaer County, NY was created on 7 February 1791 from Albany County, NY. Wills and probate documents recorded after that date for people who resided in Rensselaer County or who had resided in what later became Rensselaer County were recorded in the Surrogate's Court of Rensselaer County, the address of which is given below. You may research their records in person during normal office hours without making an appointment, but a word of warning: photocopies cost $1.00 per page, and some probate files run into well over 100 pages.

Wills recorded from 1787 to 1791: Wills and probate documents recorded between 1787 and 1791 for people who resided in what later became Rensselaer County were recorded in Albany County; the address of the Albany County Clerk's office is given below.

Wills and probate records from both Rensselaer County, NY and Albany County, NY can also be accessed through the LDS Church's network of Family History Centers (FHCs), and if you have in mind to copy every page of a lengthy probate file, you can save yourself quite a bit of photocopy money by going through one of the LDS FHCs. You do not have to be a Mormon to use their genealogical collection, which is the world's largest. If you do not yet know where your nearest local LDS Church FHC is, it's high time you discovered it! You can search for your nearest FHC as well as for much, much more at the LDS Church's genealogy website, https://www.familysearch.org.

To enable genealogical researchers to find the wills on this GenWeb site more easily, we have introduced "alternative search values" into the bottom of our will files. We prefer to present the wills themselves verbatim, but often, a testator will say, for example, "to my daughter Mary wife of John Smith". A researcher might know her only as "Mrs Mary Smith" because he doesn't yet know her maiden surname. He might key in "Mary Smith" as a search value on a search engine such as Google - but were it not for the alternative search values, the search engine's list of hits would not include this will page, because nowhere does the will say "Mary Smith". The alternative search values add the phrase "Mary Smith" at the bottom of the page, so that the search engine WILL include this page on its hit list, and the researcher will learn, from this online will transcription, the name of Mrs Mary Smith's father. If you have any questions, please email me, Debby Masterson.

For a list of some Rensselaer County, NY testators, click here.

For a list of which will books and which probate files cover which years, click here.


Where to Find
Wills and Probate Documents

1791-present1791 and earlier
Rensselaer County Surrogate Court
Rensselaer County Courthouse
Second Street at Congress Street
Troy, NY 12180

Tel: (518) 270-3725
Fax: not published
Email: not published

Albany County Clerk
32 North Russell Road
Albany, NY 12206-1324
(off Central Avenue, next to Westgate Plaza)

Tel: (518) 487-5100
Fax: (518) 487-5099
Email: countyclerk@albanycounty.com

RENSSELAER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: Stacy Pomeroy Draper, Curator of the Rensselaer County Historical Society (RCHS), emailed the following to me: "I don't know if you are aware that RCHS has the residual files of the [Rensselaer County, NY] Surrogate Court from 1791 to 1915. We maintain a name index and the original file number from the court, as well as over 31,000 estate files. As you know, these are phenomenal research records, and they are used on a regular basis. The court continues to keep the files from 1916 on and the bound books of wills from 1791 onward. The microfilm is wonderful as well, but there are times when people want access to the actual document. We can provide that access for onsite users or for mail/email requests. We will do look-ups in the index to see if there are any pertinent files, at no charge. If people come onsite, there is only the $7 ($6 for seniors) admission fee, plus any copying costs (25 cents a page). Email or written requests for pulling records are $30, which includes photocopying all material in file and mailing costs. Prices subject to change. If people want to contact us via email, they can send requests to research@rchsonline.org. Please feel free to add that info to your page." Thank you for this, Stacy!

STEPHENTOWN TESTATORS: Tina Ordone's Stephentown Genealogy website has a long list of abstracts of wills by testators who had lived in Stephentown, Rensselaer County, NY.

BARBARA JEFFRIES: Barbara Jeffries, for many years a generous contributor to the Rensselaer County GenWeb site, abstracted and compiled many Rensselaer County wills and made them available online at her excellent website. She no longer maintains her website. From time to time, it can be accessed through such conduits as the Wayback Machine, but it would appear that someone is regularly blocking these conduits. If I should find a new way of accessing what she posted online, I'll post it here.

SAMPUBCO: David Samuelson's Sampubco performs a fee-based service that provides photocopies of wills from the will books of many counties in many states. You can see the full index of the will books so far covered by visiting the Sampubco website, http://www.sampubco.com. For a list of some of the Rensselaer Co NY testators whose wills are available from Sampubco, click here.

BILL MCGRATH'S SURROGATE COURT TIPS: Bill McGrath writes, "If you are researching relatives who died in Rensselaer County, the Surrogate Court in the Court House on Second Street near the Troy Library 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
1794-1873One book covers A to Z
1874-1881One book covers A to Z
1881-1916One book covers A to K, and another book covers L to Z

Index Cards Are in Drawers by Years
1917-19281929-19451946-19591960-1969
1970-19791980-19891990-19992000-present

Index cards are 4 x 6 and are color-coded:
Yellow cards - testate (there was a will)
Pink cards - intestate (there was no will)
Green cards - small estate

An Index to the Rensselaer County Surrogate Court Records is now available at the Troy Irish Genealogical Society website.

Records on cards and in books have a volume and page reference which directs you to copies of legal documents in bound books on the shelves. Assistance is required if you need photocopies [Note from Lin Van Buren: See above re the cost of photocopies.].



Send comments or suggestions to:
Debby Masterson

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