The information on these pages is constantly being updated with information obtained from vital records offices and other genealogists. Birth and Death records are filed with the Clerk of the city, town or village in which the event occurred and, normally, with the New York State Bureau of Vital Records . A marriage license may sometimes be obtained from the town or city clerk who issued the license. Since 1847 divorce actions in New York have been handled in the supreme court for the county in which the divorce was heard. New York divorce files, however, are sealed for one hundred years.
Counties keep land transfer records, wills, probates, etc.
An index to genealogy records is available for searching at the State Archives , located at the Empire State Plaza in Albany. The indexes at the New York State Archives in Albany, NY do NOT include those for the boroughs of New York City. This collection of birth and baptism records was compiled from the New York church registers of 1660-1916 by Arthur C.M. Kelly. Containing over 75,000 records from Dutchess, Greene, Putnam, Rockland, Ulster, and Westchester counties. All vital records for the 5 boroughs of New York are handled in the Manhattan office of vital records.