Kings County (Brooklyn Borough), New York Guide

Kings County (Brooklyn) is situated on the western end of Long Island and shares its northeast border with Queens. It is bounded by the East River on the west and New York Harbor on the south.

County Formed: 1683

Borough Formed: 1898

Parent County: Original County

Daughter Counties: None

Kings County (Brooklyn) Map
Map of Kings County

 

Table of Contents

 

 

History

Kings County was formed November 1st, 1683, as one of the twelve original counties of New York State. The Borough of Brooklyn is identical to Kings County in terms of geographical area, and is one of the five boroughs that have comprised New York City since its consolidation in 1898.

This was first the land of the Lenape group of Native Americans. Dutch settlers arrived as early as the 1640s when the Dutch West India Company chartered towns in the area. The British seized control in 1664, with Kings County being one of the original counties of the Province of New York. Due partly to the Patriots defeat at the Battle of Brooklyn, the lands of Brooklyn remained in British hands during the American Revolution, making it a haven for Loyalists from throughout the American colonies. Today, Brooklyn boasts a number of immigrant group enclaves, including Hispanic, Russian, Greek, West Indian, Chinese, and Arab heritage.

The Fulton Ferry, a steamboat company established in 1814, was the beginning of transportation management between Manhattan, New York County and Brooklyn, Kings County. In 1883 the Brooklyn Bridge was opened; it was the longest suspension bridge in the world until 1903. Other bridges include the Verrazano, which connects Brooklyn to Staten Island; the Manhattan Bridge connecting Brooklyn to Manhattan’s Chinatown; and the Williamsburg Bridge from that section to the Lower East Side of Manhattan. If you prefer underwater travel, the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel links the Red Hook section to lower Manhattan.

Brooklyn has an extensive network of MTA (Municipal Transit Authority) subways and buses. It is also close to three major airports:  LaGuardia, JFK and Newark Liberty. And, of course, New York City is famous for its taxis.

 

For more information:

 

 

Repositories, Resources, and Societies – County

 

Kings County Clerk

Website: Kings County Clerk

Address: Supreme Court Building, 360 Adams Street, Room 189, Brooklyn, NY 11201

Phone: (347) 404-9772  

Holdings include court records, naturalization records 1856–1924 (a searchable index for 1907–1924 is at jgsnydb.org), and the New York state census for Kings County 1855, 1865, 1875, 1892, 1905, 1915, and 1925.

 

Kings County Surrogate’s Court

Address: Two Johnson Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201

Phone: (347) 404-9700

Holds probate records from 1787 to the present. FamilySearch.org “New York Probate Records” include wills 1787–1915, letters of administration 1787–1866, indexes to both 1787–1923; also some nineteenth-century proceedings, inventories, final accountings, administration records, and general card index 1787–1941. Also FamilySearch.org “Kings County Estate Files” 1866–1923. New York Public Library has microfilm of wills from years 1787–1881, letters of administration 1787–1866, indexes 1787–1923. The NYSA holds most probate records prior to 1787.

 

Office of the City Register, Borough of Brooklyn

Website: Office of the City Register, Borough of Brooklyn

Address: Brooklyn Business Center, Brooklyn Municipal Building; 210 Joralemon Street, Room 2, Brooklyn, NY 11201

Phone: (718) 802-3590  

Holdings include deeds and mortgages 1679 to date. FamilySearch.org “New York Land Records” has deeds 1679–1886, indexes 1679–1949, mortgages 1927–1945. NYPL has microfilm of deeds 1679–1850, indexes 1679–1950. The Queens office of the City Register holds Brooklyn Real Property books; microfilm/microfiche available at the Brooklyn office.

 

Board of Elections, Kings County

Address: 345 Adams Street, 4th Floor, Brooklyn, New York 11201

Phone: (718) 797-8800

Brooklyn voter registration records 1890–present. Record copies are made by staff and should be requested in advance.

 

Brooklyn Borough Historian

Address: Office of the Brooklyn Borough President, Brooklyn Borough Hall; 210 Joralemon Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201

Phone: (718) 802-3700

While not authorized to answer genealogical inquiries the borough historian can provide historical information and research advice. For personal contact information see the website of the Association of Public Historians of New York State. 

 

Brooklyn Historical Society 

Website: Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS)

Address: 128 Pierrepont Street at Clinton Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201

Phone: (718) 222-4111

Email: library@brooklynhistory.org  

The Brooklyn Historical Society was founded in 1863 as the Long Island Historical Society and renamed in 1985.  The holdings of its Othmer Library cover the full geographic extent of Long Island—Kings, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk counties—and include census material; Brooklyn and Manhattan city directories; family histories; maps and atlases; newspapers (Long Island Star 1809–1863; excerpts from the Brooklyn Evening Star 1809–1845); scrapbooks; vital statistics; will abstracts; and special collections, such as the Eardeley Genealogy Collection, which contains will abstracts 1787–1835 and research notes compiled by the prodigious genealogist William Applebie Daniel Eardeley. The website offers an online catalog, research subject guides, online exhibits, and a Brooklyn history timeline. See also Rawls’ Century Book of the Long Island Historical Society, Rodda’s Long Island Genealogical Source Material, and Moorhouse, “Eardeley Collection” and “Wardwell Collection.”

 

Brooklyn Public Library

Website: Brooklyn Public Library (BPL)

Address: Grand Army Plaza, Central Library; Brooklyn, NY 11238

Phone: (718) 230-2762

The Brooklyn Public Library is entirely separate from the New York Public Library. Its principal resources for family history research are gathered in the Brooklyn Collection, which is located in the local history division at the Central Library. It includes city directories; manuscripts and archives; maps; newspapers (1835–1999); photographs; prints; and yearbooks. Digital collections accessible on the website include City Directories 1856–1908, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1841–1955 (with excellent search and copy functionality), Brooklyn in the Civil War, and historical photographs. The website also gives access to an online catalog, finding aids to the collections, and a guide to genealogical resources in New York City.

 

 

Repositories, Resources, and Societies – Other

 

Brooklyn College Library: Brooklyniana Collection

Website: Brooklyn College Library: Brooklyniana Collection

Address: 2900 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11210-2889

Phone: (718) 951-5346  

Local histories, genealogies, maps, and professional papers; the Brooklyn Historical Photographic Collection; and the St. Francis College Local History Research Files.

 

Brooklyn Museum: Libraries and Archives

Website:Brooklyn Museum: Libraries and Archives

Address: 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11238-6052

Phone: (718) 638-5000  

Email: information@brooklynmuseum.org  

Digital collections accessible on the website include “The Brooklyn Bridge and the Brooklyn Museum: Spanning Art and History” and historical photographs of Brooklyn. Its Library and Archives hold materials that document the Museum’s history which dates to 1823, as well as material relevant to the history the City of Brooklyn and the role the Museum played in its development.

 

Erasmus Hall Academy Archives

Website: Erasmus Hall High School History 

Erasmus Hall Academy was founded in 1786 in Flatbush and is the oldest secondary school in New York State. Its original building survives and sits in the center of a contemporary public high school complex. The New-York Historical Society (see Citywide Resources) holds some records for the years 1775–1975; the Brooklyn Historical Society (see above) holds some records for the years 1787–1896, including an account book listing all students and tuition payments 1787–1792. The NYG&B holds some papers relating to the establishment of the school in its Lefferts Papers collection.

 

Friends of Historic New Utrecht

Website: Friends of Historic New Utrecht

Address: 1831 84th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11214

Phone: (718) 256-7173

Email: mail@historicnewutrecht.org

Holdings include archives and genealogical records of the historic town of New Utrecht.

 

Weeksville Society and Heritage Center

Website: Weeksville Society and Heritage Center

Address: 1698 Bergen Street, PO Box 130120, Brooklyn, NY 11213

Phone: (718) 756-5250

Email: info@weeksvillesociety.org

The Society documents the history of Weeksville, a 19th-century free black community.

 

The Wyckoff House and Association

Website: The Wyckoff House and Association

Address: 5816 Clarendon Road, Brooklyn, NY 11203

Phone: (718) 629-5400

Email: info@wyckoffassociation.org

The Association documents the history of the Wyckoff family and maintains a 17th-century farmhouse as a museum. Genealogical services are available to members.

 

 

Civil, Public, and Vital Records

Civil Records are those created, recorded and/or maintained by a governmental body and include births, marriages, deaths, censuses, property, and probate. NB: The New York State government began collecting vital record data in 1880. Birth, marriage, and death records from New York State (excluding the five boroughs of New York City) after 1880 on can be obtained from the New York State Department of Health.

For vital records previous to 1880, consult the municipality in which the event took place.

Learn more about New York's vital records in our online guide.

Kings County has extensive town and city records, but only small fragments of them have been published or made available online. The original records are preserved and available on microfilm at the Municipal Archives of the City of New York (MUNI). The microfilmed records cover Bushwick, Flatbush, Flatlands, Gravesend, New Lots, New Utrecht, and Williamsburg, as well as the City of Brooklyn. See detailed lists in Estelle Guzik’s Genealogical Resources in New York and B-Ann Moorhouse’s “Kings County Records from the St. Francis Collection.”

 

 

Federal Census Records

Population schedules: 1790-1940 (except 1890).

Online at Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org, and Findmypast.com (free to NYG&B members).

Access on Findmypast:

1790

1800

1810

1820

1830

1840

1850

1860

1870

1880

1900

1910

1920

1930

1940

 

 

 

 

State Census Records

  • The 1698 and 1731 censuses for the entire county are in Edmund O’Callaghan’s Documentary History of the State of New-York. See also Harry Macy Jr. and Henry Hoff’s “ ‘1738 Census’ of Kings County Was Actually Taken in 1731.” Citations for both titles are below.
  • County originals at the Kings County Clerk: 1855, 1865, 1875, 1892, 1905, 1915, and 1925; 1825, 1835, and 1845—except Flatbush—are lost; microfilm at MUNI, which also has original 1845 census for Flatbush
  • State originals at the NYSA: 1915, 1925
  • Microfilm at the FHL, NYPL, and NYSL
  • Many years are online at FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com.

​

 

Online Resources

 

Civil Records

​Ancestry.com

There are vast numbers of records on Ancestry.com that pertain to people who have lived in New York State. A search of the online card catalog by county may reveal lesser known resources that pertain to a locality, such as town records, abstracts, transcriptions, city directories, and local histories.

FamilySearch.org

FamilySearch has extensive collections of New York records, including religious records, which are searchable by name and location, but not by county.

Brooklyn Genealogy Information Page

The website has assembled a large number of digital resources for Brooklyn research, including links to city directories; birth, marriage, and death indexes and extracts; cemetery information; residency lists from the early 1700s; jail, asylum, school, and convent census abstracts; history of local post offices; information on fire companies and the police force; military information; orphanage information; teacher appointments, school graduate lists, and information on schools; society and club member lists; historic maps; and ward boundary maps.

 

 

Deaths and Burials

 

Military Records

 

Newspapers

  • Old Fulton New York Postcards The website provides free access to a vast collection of digitized New York newspapers, including seven titles for Kings County.

 

Religious Records

 

Other Records

 

Ethnic Groups and Organizations

 

Maps

 

Transportation

 

 

Selected Bibliography

 

Abstracts, Indexes & Transcriptions

  • Barber, Gertrude Audrey. “Deaths Taken from the Brooklyn Eagle, 1841–1880.” 19 vols. Typescript, 1963–1966. NYPL, New York.
  • Barber, Gertrude Audrey. Index of Wills Probated in Kings County, New York: From January 1, 1850 to December 31, 1890. Salem, MA: Higginson Book Co., 1997. For later years, see Thomas below.
  • Barber, Gertrude Audrey. “Marriages Taken from the Brooklyn Eagle, 1841–1880.” Typescript, 1962–1966. NYPL, New York. [Ancestry.com]
  • Barber, Gertrude Audrey. “Miscellaneous Vital Statistics Other Than Death and Marriage Notices Taken from the Brooklyn Eagle.” Typescript, 1963. NYPL, New York.
  • Biebel, Frank A. Methodist Protestants and the Union Cemeteries of Brooklyn, 1844–1894. New York: New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, 2007. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Cohen, Minnie. “Greenwood Cemetery Inscriptions.” 3 vols. Typescript, 1932. Brooklyn Historical Society, New York. The inscriptions on some of the monuments differ from the cemetery’s burial records.
  • Cropsey, Frances Bergen, and Harriet M. Stryker-Rodda. “Records of the Reformed Dutch Church of New Utrecht.” NYG&B Record, vol. 112 (1981) no. 3: 130–134, no. 4: 205–211; vol. 113 (1982) no.1: 10–14, no. 2: 74–80, no. 3: 169–173, no. 4: 220–222; vol. 114 (1983) no. 1: 36–39, no. 2: 86–92, no. 3: 131–136, no. 4: 220–224; vol. 115 (1984) no. 1: 19–22, no. 2: 88–90. Includes transcriptions of baptism records, 1718–1741, 1786–1879; marriages 1835–1880. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Eardeley, William Applebie. Cemeteries in Kings and Queens Counties, Long Island, New York: 1753–1913. Brooklyn: n.p., 1916. Covers three Brooklyn cemeteries—Humboldt Street; Canarsie; Bay Ridge.
  • Frost, Josephine C. “Genealogical Gleanings from Book No. 2 of Conveyances, Brooklyn, Kings Co., N.Y.” NYG&B Record, vol. 54 (1923) no. 2: 105–111, no. 3: 241–251, no. 4: 303–319. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Gohari, Carol Elaine. “Historical Forfeitures of Land in Kings County, NY.” Brooklyn Record,  April 9–15, 2002.  A photocopy of the article is at the NYPL.
  • Hagemeyer, Frank E. “Seat Owners, Brooklyn Dutch Reformed Church, 1769/1778.” NYG&B Record, vol. 141, no. 2 (2010): 129–132. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Hoff, Henry B. “1761 Assessment List of Flatbush, Kings County.” NYG&B Record, vol. 137, no. 3 (2006): 188–190. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Hoff, Henry B. “The 1781 Tax List of Flatbush, Kings County.” NYG&B Record, vol. 137, no. 4 (2006): 291–293. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Hoff, Henry B. “Some Kings County Marriages 1694–95.” NYG&B Record, vol. 132, no. 1 (2001): 27. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • McQueen, David. “Kings County, N.Y., Wills.” NYG&B Record, vol. 47 (1916) no. 2: 161–170, no. 3: 227–232. Wills, 1650–1707, Deeds, Book No. 1 of the Conveyances, Brooklyn, Kings Co., N.Y. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • McQueen, David. “Kings County, New York, Deeds.” NYG&B Record, vol. 48 (1917) no. 2: 110–118, no. 3: 291–298, no. 4: 355—361. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Moorhouse, B-Ann, and Joseph M. Silinonte. Kings County, New York, Administration Proceedings, 1817–1856. New York: New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, 2006. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Nash, Edward W. Kings County Genealogical Club Collections. Vol. 1, nos. 1–6. Brooklyn, 1882–1894. Includes gravestone inscriptions from Reformed Dutch Church cemeteries in New Utrecht, Flatlands, Gravesend, and Bushwick.
  • Nichols, Joan M. “Oaths of Intention to Become Citizens, Kings Co. Court of Common Pleas 1821–49.” NYG&B Record, vol. 123 (1992) no. 2: 75–78, no. 3: 148–152. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • O’Callaghan, Edmund B. Documentary History of the State of New-York. 4 vols. Albany: State of New York, 1849–51. See vol. 3, pp. 133–138, for the 1698 and 1731 censuses for the entire county.
  • Scott, Kenneth. “Manumissions in Kings County, NY, 1797–1825.” National Genealogical Society Quarterly, vol. 65, no. 3 (1977): 177–180.
  • Scott, Kenneth. “Slave Births in Kings County, after 1800.” National Genealogical Society Quarterly, vol. 66, no. 2 (1978): 97–103.
  • Silinonte, Joseph M. Bishop Laughlin’s Dispensations, Diocese of Brooklyn, Genealogical Information from the Marriage Dispensation Records of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn: Kings, Queens and Suffolk Counties, New York, Volume 1 1859–1866. Brooklyn: The Author, 1996.
  • Silinonte, Joseph M. Tombstones of the Irish-Born: Cemetery of the Holy Cross, Flatbush, Brooklyn. Concord, ON: Becker Associates, 1992.
  • Sisser, Fred, III. “Brooklyn Residents of May 1713.” NYG&B Record, vol. 117, no. 4 (1986): 225–226. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Sisser, Fred, III. “Flatlands Church Bell Subscription List of 1686.” NYG&B Record, vol. 120, no. 3 (1989): 148–149. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Stiles, Henry R. Brooklyn in 1796, or the First Directory of the Village. New York: By Subscription.
  • Stillwell, William H. History of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Gravesend, Kings County, NY. Brooklyn, 1892.
  • Stryker-Rodda, Harriet M., “Gravesend 1762–1763 Baptisms.” NYG&B Record, vol. 119, no. 1 (1988): 5. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Stryker-Rodda, Harriet M., and Kenn Stryker-Rodda. “Records of the Reformed Dutch Church of Flatlands 1737–1914.” 3 vols. Typescript, n.d. NYPL, New York.
  • Stryker-Rodda, Kenn. “Extracts from Acmon P.  Van Gieson’s Journal [1856–57].” NYG&B Record, vol. 114, no. 1 (1983): 29–35. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Stryker-Rodda, Kenn. “Marriages by a Brooklyn Baptist Minister, 1866–1887.” NYG&B Record, vol. 116 (1985) no. 2: 94–99, no. 3: 132–140, no. 4: 220–228. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Thomas, Milton Halsey. Index to the Wills, Administrations, and Guardianships of Kings County, New York, 1650–1850. Washington: C. Shepard, 1926. For later years see Barber above.
  • Van Buren, DeWitt. Abstracts of Wills of Kings County, Recorded at Brooklyn. 1934. Reprint, Dublin, PA: Bergen Historic Books, 2005. Covers the years 1787–1843.
  • Van Cleef, Frank L., “Records of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Flatbush.” Typed by Josephine C. Frost. 5 vols. Typescript, 1915. NYPL, New York. Including baptisms 1722, 1725, 1750–1754; marriages 1742–1757; and marriage and burial fees collected by the deacons, churchmasters, ministers and trustees 1663–1741; scattered entries 1763–1786.  [Microfilm at the FHL] See also Voorhees, below.
  • Van der Linde,  A. P. G. Jos. Old First Dutch Reformed Church of Brooklyn, New York: First Book of Records, 1660–1752. Baltimore:        Genealogical Publishing. Co., 1983. (The version of these records in 1897 Year Book of the Holland Society of New York is available online but is very unreliable.)
  • Voorhees, David W. Records of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Flatbush, Kings County, New York. 2 vols. New York: Holland Society of New York, 1998–2009. Vol. 1, 1677–1720, contains baptisms, marriages, and membership for the vier dopen, the four villages of Flatbush, Brooklyn, Flatlands, and New Utrecht. (The version of these records in the 1897 Year Book of the Holland Society of New York is available online, but is very unreliable.) Vol. 2 contains Midwood Deacons Accounts 1654–1709.  Holland Society has photocopies of the original records and Van Cleef’s transcripts/translations for later years; see also Van Cleef, above.

Other Resources

  • Abelow, Samuel Philip. History of Brooklyn Jewry. Brooklyn: Scheba Publishing Company, 1937.
  • Abromovitich, Ilana, et al. Jews of Brooklyn. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England for Brandeis University Press, 2002.
  • Armbruster, Eugene L. The Eastern District of Brooklyn. New York: n.p., 1912.
  • Bergen, Teunis G. Register in Alphabetical Order of the Early Settlers of Kings County, Long Island, New York: From Its First Settlement by Europeans to 1700. Baltimore: Clearfield, 1997.
  • Bishop, William G. Map of the Consolidated City of Brooklyn, for Bishop’s Manual of the Corporation. 1859. [NYPL Digital Gallery]
  • Bromley, G. W., & Co. Atlas of the Borough of Brooklyn, City of New York (Volume One). 1907. [NYPL Digital Gallery]
  • Brooklyn Daily Eagle Almanac. Published annually 1886–1929. Contains a wide variety of information on Brooklyn, the other boroughs, and Nassau and Suffolk counties. Many issues are accessible for free at HathiTrust.org. For a sampling of its contents see below for Harry Macy Jr., “The Brooklyn Eagle Almanac.”
  • Brooklyn, the Home Borough of New York City: Its Family Life, Educational Advantages, Civic Virtues, Physical Attractions, and Varied Industries. Brooklyn: Municipal Club of Brooklyn, 1912.
  • Citizens Committee for New York City. The Neighborhoods of Brooklyn. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1998.
  • Dikeman, John. The Brooklyn Compendium. Brooklyn, 1869. Book includes Common Council manual, election returns for 1869, election districts, local judiciary, constables, commissioners of deeds, fire dept., buildings department, park commissioners, police department, city court, water department, City Court, almshouse, valuation of property and rates of taxation, county government, etc.
  • Ditmas, Charles Andrew. Historic Homesteads of Kings County. Brooklyn: The Author, 1909. Includes biographical information on original/early residents.
  • Historical Records Survey. Inventory of the County Archives of the City of New York, No. 2, Kings County. New York: Work Projects Administration, 1942. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Landesman,  Alter F.  A History of New Lots, Brooklyn to 1887, Including the Villages of East New York, Cypress Hills, and Brownsville. Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, 1977.
  • Macy, Harry, Jr. “Before the Five-Borough City: The Old Cities, Towns and Villages That Came Together to Form Greater New York.” NYG&B Newsletter (now New York Researcher), Winter 1998. Updated June 2011 and published as a Research Aid on NewYorkFamilyHistory.org.
  • Macy, Harry, Jr. “The Brooklyn Eagle Almanac.” New York Researcher, Winter 2005. Published 2011 as a Research Aid on NewYorkFamilyHistory.org.
  • Macy, Harry, Jr. “Brooklyn/Kings County Church Records Since 1783.” NYG&B Newsletter (now New York Researcher), Summer 2000. Updated June 2011 and published as a Research Aid on NewYorkFamilyHistory.org.
  • Macy, Harry, Jr. “Kings County’s Colonial Church Records.” NYG&B Newsletter (now New York Researcher), Winter 1997. Updated June 2011 and published as a Research Aid on NewYorkFamilyHistory.org.
  • Macy, Harry, Jr. “Provost’s Early Settlers of Bushwick.” New York Researcher, Winter 2006. Updated June 2011 and published as a Research Aid on NewYorkFamilyHistory.org.
  • Macy, Harry, Jr., and Henry B. Hoff. “ ‘1738 Census’ of Kings County Was Actually Taken in 1731.” NYG&B Record, vol. 123, no. 2 (1992): 85–86. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Ment, David. The Shaping of a City: A Brief History of Brooklyn. Brooklyn: Brooklyn Educational and Cultural Alliance, 1979.
  • Mills, Thomas. Rediscovering Brooklyn History: A Guide to Research Collections. Brooklyn: Brooklyn Educational and Cultural Alliance, 1978.
  • Moorhouse, B-Ann. “The Eardeley Collection at the Brooklyn Historical Society.” NYG&B Newsletter (now New York Researcher), Fall 1995. Published 2011 as a Research Aid on NewYorkFamilyHistory.org.
  • Moorhouse, B-Ann. “Kings County Records from the St. Francis College Collection now at the Municipal Archives of the City of New York.” NYG&B Newsletter (now New York Researcher), Spring 1994. Published 2011 as a Research Aid on NewYorkFamilyHistory.org.
  • Moorhouse, B-Ann. “The Wardwell Collection of Genealogical Notes on Local Families at the Brooklyn Historical Society.” NYG&B Newsletter (now New York Researcher), Summer 1995. Published 2011 as a Research Aid on NewYorkFamilyHistory.org.
  • Neighborhood History Guides. Published by the Brooklyn Historical Society: Red Hook Gowanus, 2000; Williamsburg, 2005; DUMBO Fulton Ferry, Vinegar Hill, 2001; Greenpoint, 2001; Bay Ridge Fort Hamilton, 2003. Flatbush, 2008, and Park Slope, 2008 (Fort Greene/Clinton Hill audio tour online).
  • New York Historical Resources Center. Guide to Historical Resources in Kings County (Brooklyn), New York, Repositories. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 1987. [books.FamilySearch.org]
  • Onderdonk, Henry, Jr. Revolutionary Incidents of Suffolk and Kings Counties; with an Account of the Battle of Long Island and the British Prisons and Prison-Ships at New York. Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, 1970.
  • Ostrander, Stephen M. A History of the City of Brooklyn and Kings County. 2 vols. Brooklyn, 1893.
  • Provost, Andrew J. Early Settlers of Bushwick, Long Island, New York, and Their Descendants. Darien, CT: The Author, 1949. For contents see above for Harry Macy Jr., “Provost’s Early Settlers of Bushwick.”
  • Rawls, Walton H., ed., The Century Book of the Long Island Historical Society. Brooklyn: The Society, 1964.
  • Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. “Chronological List of Brooklyn Parishes, 1822–2008.” Available for download at dioceseofbrooklyn.org.
  • Scott, Kenneth, and Stryker-Rodda, Kenn. Long Island Genealogical Source Material. Arlington, VA: National Genealogical Society, 1962.
  • Stiles, Henry R. The Civil, Political, Professional, and Ecclesiastical History, and Commercial and Industrial Record of the County of Kings and the City of Brooklyn, NY, from 1683 to 1884. New York, 1883.
  • Stiles, Henry R.A History of the City of Brooklyn: Including the Old Town and Village of Brooklyn, the Town of Bushwick, and the Village and City of Williamsburgh. Brooklyn: 1869.
  • Vanderbilt, Gertrude Lefferts. The Social History of Flatbush, and Manners and Customs of the Dutch Settlers in Kings County. New York, 1899.
  • Van Wyck, Frederick. Keskachauge, or the First White Settlement on Long Island. New York: G. P. Putnam and Sons, 1924. Covers the area of Brooklyn that became known as Flatlands.
  • Walsh, Kevin. Forgotten New York: Views of a Lost Metropolis. New York: Collins, 2006.
  • Walter, John F. The Confederate Dead in Brooklyn: Biographical Sketches of 513 Confederate POWs. Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 2003. Book includes information on Confederate soldiers who died while being held as prisoners of war in the New York area and were buried in Cypress Hills National Cemetery in Brooklyn: summaries of military careers, corrections of names/units incorrectly given in cemetery records, causes of death, dates of death, etc. Book also includes appendices, bibliography, and full name index of individuals for whom biographies do not exist.
  • Wexelstein, Leon. Building Up Greater Brooklyn: With Sketches of Men Instrumental in Brooklyn’s Amazing Development. Brooklyn: Brooklyn Biographical Society, 1925.

 

The materials above are a compilation of resources available, with an emphasis on online resources, which might be useful to someone doing research within this county.  The inclusion of a link does not constitute an endorsement of its content or accuracy.  Please send any additions or corrections to webmaster@nygbs.org.