With so many new genealogy records coming online around the web, it can be hard to keep up!
Here is our roundup of some notable New York records that have debuted around the web this November and December.
If you know of any other new records we should let share, please send us an email and we'll make sure to include them in an upcoming update.
Buffalo History Museum's Obituary Index, 1812–1985
These card files, created by the staff at the Buffalo History Museum and now online at FamilySearch, contain about 95,000 names listed in obituaries from Buffalo newspapers.
The collection was first created in the 1900s by the museum staff and was microfilmed by the LDS Church in 1986. The microfilm images are now available to browse online. It is not a searchable database, but images are listed alphabetically so researchers can easily navigate the material.
Please note that the collection contains primarily obituaries; newspaper death notices were typically not cataloged while creating this card file.
The collection can be found here: Card file of death records from news clippings, 1812-1985. A free FamilySearch account is required to view images.
Once an index entry is found, we recommend using "Chronicling America: Newspaper Title Directory" and other online resources listed in our New York Historial Newspapers Online guide to find out where to access the desired publication.
Veterans Buried in New York (Nationwide Gravesite Locator)
The Nationwide Gravesite Locator is a database of information and burial locations of United States military veterans and their family members who are buried in VA National Cemeteries.
This new collection on the NYG&B website contains all database entries for veterans and their family members buried in New York State.
There are nearly 700,000 names in this database. Entries include birth and death dates, family relationships, military service information, and burial information (including cemetery address/website and exact headstone locations).
There are seven VA National Cemeteries in New York State:
- Bath National Cemetery – Bath, NY
- Calverton National Cemetery – Calverton, NY
- Cypress Hills National Cemetery – Brooklyn, NY
- Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery – Schuylerville, NY
- Long Island National Cemetery – Farmingdale, NY
- Woodlawn National Cemetery – Elmira, NY
- Albany Rural Cemetery Soldiers’ Lot – Albany, NY
The collection can be found here: Veterans Buried in New York (Nationwide Gravesite Locator).
New York Land Records, 1630–1975
Digitized land records from all over New York State have been available on FamilySearch for some time, but they have not been indexed. We have a blog article and webinar that will help you make the most out of your image browsing, but even better news—the records are being indexed!
We have partnered with FamilySearch and our volunteers have been contributing to the New York Land Records Indexing Project since 2018 (we're not finished yet so if you're interested, click the link to learn how to get involved).
The project is not yet complete but amazing progress has been made: FamilySearch has been adding entries to the index, and made another major update this fall. Millions of land records can now be searched by name, place, and date.
We recommend selecting the "Any Place" filter from the search screen and entering your county of interest, along with names and any other details relevant to your search:
While we do not have exact numbers of indexed records for each county, our testing indicates there is a substantial amount of indexed records for at least 40 of New York's 62 counties. According to our analysis, the top 10 counties by number of indexed results are:
- Westchester County
- Steuben County
- Saratoga County
- Dutchess County
- Rockland County
- Niagara County
- Orange County
- Kings County (Brooklyn)
- Cattaraugus County
- Wayne County
The collection can be accessed here: United States, New York Land Records, 1630-1975.