Our friends at the German Genealogy Group made some fantastic updates to their free online databases this past month.
Over a quarter-million records were added to their already extensive collection (which includes all backgrounds, not just German), including marriage, crime, death and biographic records. Read on to see what they added and how to access it.
Bodies in Transit (New York City): Added August 24th
The GGG added 60,478 death records from the "Bodies in Transit" collection at the New York City Municipal Archives. These records were generated between 1859 and 1894 when registration of all human remains entering or exiting the city was required (for public health reasons).
Records in this collection include date, cause and place of death, place of interment, age, and birthplace. Many Civil War soldiers can be found in here, and even the body of President Abraham Lincoln.
More information on the Bodies in Transit collection can be found in our recently released guide to the New York City Municipal Archives.
Search the Bodies in Transit
Federal Criminal Records (New York): Added August 24th
Also recently added is a 194,063 entry index to criminal cases in the New York Federal District Court from 1831-1959. The index on their site contains the name of a person or company, the date of the case, the case number, and sometimes even a brief description of the case.
To find out more about these records or how to obtain copies, contact the National Archives at New York at newyork.archives@nara.gov.
This database is part of an entirely new section on the German Genealogy Group website - they added a new Federal Records section, along with 7 new databases back on August 15th. Included in the section:
- Military Letters, 1863-1865
- Navy Enlistments, 1864-1865
- Lusitania Claims
- Titanic Claims
- Civil War Prize Case Files
- War of 1812 Prize Case Files
- Civil War Recruits Medical Exams
Search the Index to Criminal Records, New York Federal District Court
Long Island Biographies: Added August 24th
This collection of "mug books" from the Suffolk County Historical Society contains thousands of short biographies of residents all over Long Island (Kings, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk are represented) - some entries even have images of the person described.
Entries mostly cover the late 19th and early 20th century period. If you find your ancestor in this index of nearly 18,000 names, you will be able to see the page and book their entry is on. You can then contact the Suffolk County Historical Society at librarian@schs-museum.org.
Search Long Island Biographies Index
Richmond County Marriages, 1882-1897
The German Genealogy Group has a collection of early marriage records from Kings County (Brooklyn) and Richmond County (Staten Island) before they were incorporated into New York City in 1898.
The database contains records from the following Richmond County towns:
- Castleton (1889-1897)
- Edgewater (1884-1897)
- Middletown (1882-1897)
- Northfield (1882-1897)
- Port Richmond (1888-1897)
- Southfield (1884-1897)
- Tottenville (1890-1897)
- Westfield (1882-1897)
The same database also contains records from Flatbush, Flatlands, Gravesend, New Lots and New Utrecht, all located in Kings County.
Search Early Kings and Richmond County, New York Marriage database
The German Genealogy Group is an award-winning society that has is an amazing digital resource. They have many other collections that are vital for all researchers to know. Make sure to spend some time exploring their databases!