New York State did not begin to collect vital records data until 1880,
leaving genealogists seeking earlier records with incomplete, unpublished, and
scattered substitutes. For this reason any reliable collection of early vital
records is especially valuable. The Vosburgh Collection, containing over 100
volumes of transcriptions of Protestant church records, is such a resource. The
collection was commissioned by the Library of Congress and other institutions,
and compiled between 1913 and 1928. Royden Vosburgh, archivist and historian of
the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, transcribed many of the
volumes and edited nearly all of them. In spite of its size, the Vosburgh
Collection cannot be considered a statewide database. The emphasis is on early
congregations, rather than early records. The churches included are located
almost exclusively in the valleys surrounding the Hudson and Mohawk rivers,
where the earliest settlements in the state were located. However, many of the
transcriptions extend into the twentieth century. The collection has been
microfilmed and is available in the NEHGS library, the library of the New York
Genealogical and Biographical Society (NYG&BS), the New York State library,
and in some public libraries. Films are available at the Family History Library
(and local Family History Centers).
Royden Woodward Vosburgh became archivist and historian of the New York
Genealogical and Biographical Society in 1913. The following biographical
information was extracted from an obituary published in the New York
Genealogical and Biographical Record in 1932.[i]
Royden Woodward Vosburgh, a Life Member of the New York Genealogical and
Biographical Society, died … on May 18, 1931. … Mr. Vosburgh was born Feb. 5,
1875, at Buffalo, New York, the son of William Henry Vosburgh and his wife
Caroline Estelle Woodward. … He was educated at the Brown and Nichols School in
Cambridge, Massachusetts, and at Harvard University, 1893-1896. … In 1913 Mr.
Vosburgh became the archivist of the New York Genealogical and Biographical
Society, and devoted much of his time to make carefully prepared copies of the
church records of the State of New York. His services enriched the Society with
the records of 92 churches, occupying 101 volumes. … In the Records for
Jan. 1918 (Vol. 49, pp. 11-16) and April, 1921 (Vol. 52, pp. 152-157) are listed
the church records copied by Mr. Vosburgh. … Mr. Vosburgh was connected with the
Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences, and edited for that Society nine
volumes of Staten Island church and gravestone records.
The NEHGS library holds a copy of the thirteen-reel NYG&BS filming of the
collection. Its call number is F118/V67/1913. While there is no index to the
collection, the NEHGS library has a copy of A guide to Vosburgh church
records on microfilm, by Robert M. Murphy (Microtext REF F118/M86/1999). The
majority of the records begin in the mid to late eighteenth century. Some
records cover a relatively short time span, such as Round Top Lutheran Church of
Pine Plains in Dutchess County (1760-1788). Other records extend into the
twentieth century, such as First Lutheran Church of Albany (1774-1901) or First
Reformed Church of West Coxsackie in Greene County (1738-1918).
The catalogue entries at the Connecticut State Library for this filming are
particularly complete. For example, the entry for the Reformed Dutch Church of
Stone Arabia, in the town of Palatine, Montgomery County, contains the following
description of the contents:[ii]
Contents v. 1 : Baptisms and births, Oct. 14, 1739-Jan. 31, 1796.
Marriages, Oct. 16, 1739-1795. Register of members, Jan. 13, 1739-1795. Elders
and deacons, 1788-1796. Copy of the charter, 1791. Death register, 1787-1795.
Seat owners, 1790. Seat regulations and transfer. -- v. 2 : Births and baptisms,
1796-1824. Marriages, 1796-1821. Register of members, 1796-1830. Death register,
1796-1823. Miscellanea, dismissals, etc. Abstracts from the minutes of the
consistory, 1789-1850. List of the church officers, 1743, 1788-1849.
Subscription lists, 1821. -- v. 3 : Births and baptisms, 1824-1911. Death
register, 1851-1856. Marriages, 1844-1895. Register of members, 1826-1912. List
of families, 1851. Deaths, 1872-1880. Minutes of consistory. The history of the
Reformed Dutch Church of Stone Arabia, Gravestone inscriptions. Stone Arabia
Reformed Burying Ground. Catalogue of books and documents
While it is true that the records of some of the churches in this collection
were published elsewhere (with indexes), researchers are urged to consult the
Vosburgh collection as well. Most of the published sources transcribe only the
vital records; as the description above suggests, Vosburgh includes much
additional information. He carefully describes his sources and includes many
notes, such as the following: “Note. three blank pages follow in the original
record, after which comes the page inscribed: “RECORD OF BAPTISMS CONTINUED by
Jno. J. Wack.”[iii] The following extract from the introduction to his
“Abstracts from the minutes of the consistory” gives some idea of how extensive
this additional material can be.
Taken as a whole, this abstract with the
notes, gives every fact worthy of note, concerning the history of this church
for three score years. It contains all the documentary data relating to the
building of, and the repairs made, to the present church edifice; the
consecration of the church, its admission to the Classis[iv] of Albany; and
presents authoritatively for the first time, the facts concerning the suspension
and deposition of the Rev. John J. Wack. [Rev. Wack was accused of repeated
drunkenness and profanity.] This latter phase of the church history is in
itself a most interesting study, and it shows that the members of the Classis of
Montgomery, by whose acts the Stone Arabia Church became independent for about
ten years, were the same band of malcontents who finally organized the True
Reformed Dutch Church. In short, what follows presents the primary sources of
information from which the history of the church must be written.[v]
The version available at the Family History Library presents the same
information in sixty-one reels instead of thirteen. The Family History Library
does not have a copy of Murphy’s guide, but does have an Index to the
Vosburgh collection of the early church records of the state of New York
(#1697744, item 27). The FHL catalog entries list the names of the churches
included in each of the sixty-one reels.
The following table lists the relevant congregations, collected by county,
together with the dates for which records were transcribed. From this a
researcher should be able to evaluate the relevance of this collection to his
work.
Table I: Churches Forming the
Vosburgh Collection[vi]
County
|
Location
|
Congregation
|
Dates
|
Albany
|
Albany
|
First Lutheran
|
1784-1900
|
|
Albany
|
First Presbyterian
|
1785-1870
|
|
Berne
|
Reformed Dutch Church of the Beaver Dam
|
1763-1877
|
|
Berne
|
St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran
|
1790-1875
|
|
New Scotland
|
Presbyterian
|
1787-1893
|
Cayuga
|
Fleming
|
Reformed Protestant Dutch Church at the Owasco Outlet
|
1807-1886
|
|
Owasco
|
Reformed Dutch
|
1799-1834
|
Columbia
|
Canaan
|
Congregational Church and Society of New Canaan
|
1740-1884
|
|
Canaan
|
First Presbyterian
|
1830-1854
|
|
Chatham
|
Congregational Church of New Concord
|
1781-1854
|
|
Claverack
|
St. Thomas Evangelical Lutheran
|
1760-1905
|
|
Germantown
|
Christ’s Evangelical Lutheran
|
1746-1859
|
|
Ghent
|
Christ’s Evangelical Lutheran
|
1801-1901
|
|
Ghent
|
Reformed Dutch (known as Christ Church)
|
1775-1919
|
|
Hillsdale
|
Reformed Dutch
|
1776-1849
|
|
Kinderhook
|
Reformed Dutch
|
1716-1864
|
|
Manorton (Livingston)
|
St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran
|
1764-1848
|
|
West Copake
|
Reformed Church of West Copake (formerly Reformed Church of
Taghkanick)
|
1783-1856
|
Delaware
|
Harpersfield
|
Presbyterian Congregation
|
1787-1837
|
|
Moresville (Roxbury)
|
Reformed Dutch
|
1836-1889
|
|
Stamford
|
First Presbyterian
|
1834-1882
|
|
Stamford
|
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Hobart
|
1794-1907
|
Dutchess
|
Pine Plains
|
Round Top Lutheran
|
1760-1788
|
Fulton
|
Broadalbin
|
First Presbyterian
|
1799-1895
|
|
Johnstown
|
Presbyterian
|
1785-1867
|
|
Johnstown
|
St. John’s Episcopal
|
1815-1862
|
|
Mayfield
|
Reformed Dutch
|
1792-1821
|
|
Perth
|
First Presbyterian Church of West Galway (formerly First
Presbyterian Church in Galloway)
|
1793-1912
|
|
Perth
|
United Presbyterian Church of Broadalbin
|
1821-1918
|
Greene
|
Catskill
|
Reformed Dutch
|
1732-1833
|
|
Durham
|
First Presbyterian
|
1792-1857
|
|
Durham
|
Reformed Dutch Church in Oak Hill
|
1794-1832
|
|
Durham
|
Second Presbyterian
|
1816-1872
|
|
Prattsville
|
Reformed Dutch
|
1798-1896
|
|
West Coxsackie
|
First Reformed
|
1738-1918
|
Herkimer
|
German Flats
|
Reformed Protestant Dutch
|
1763-1848
|
|
Herkimer
|
Reformed Protestant Dutch Church
|
1801-1848
|
Montgomery
|
Florida
|
United Presbyterian
|
1743-1861
|
|
Florida
|
Reformed Protestant Dutch
|
1808-1918
|
|
Fonda
|
Reformed (formerly Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of
Caughnawaga)
|
1758-1858
|
|
Glen
|
First Reformed Protestant Dutch (formerly First R.P.D. Church at
Charleston)
|
1805-1882
|
|
Minden
|
St. Paul’s Lutheran (otherwise known as the Geisenberg Church,
formerly at Hallsville)
|
1792-1836
|
|
Minden
|
Reformed Dutch Church at Fort Plain (formerly Reformed Calvinist
Church at Canajoharie)
|
1788-1850
|
|
Palatine
|
Lutheran Trinity Church of Stone Arabia
|
1751-1866
|
|
Palatine
|
Reformed Dutch
|
1739-1912
|
|
St. Johnsville
|
St. John’s Dutch Reformed
|
1788-1878
|
New York
|
|
Christ Protestant Episcopal
|
1793-1848
|
|
|
Reformed Dutch Church at Greenwich [Greenwich Village]
|
1804-1859
|
|
|
Madison Avenue Reformed (formerly Reformed Dutch Church in Sugar
Loaf Street, and North West Reformed Dutch Church in Franklin Street)
|
1808-1850
|
|
|
South Reformed Dutch Church ("in Garden Street" to 1835, "in
Murray Street" 1837-48)
|
1812-1853
|
Oneida
|
Clinton
|
Congregational Church (also known as the Society of
Clinton)
|
1788-1846
|
|
New Hartford
|
Presbyterian Church (formerly the First Religious Society in
Whitestown)
|
1791-1887
|
|
Paris
|
Congregational Church (also known as Paris Religious
Society)
|
1795-1855
|
|
Utica
|
First Presbyterian
|
1797-1852
|
|
Whitestown
|
First Presbyterian Church of Whitesboro
|
1795-1898
|
Oswego
|
Oswego
|
First Presbyterian
|
1832-1870
|
Otsego
|
Cherry Valley
|
First Presbyterian
|
1799-1849
|
|
Cooperstown
|
Presbyterian
|
1800-1869
|
|
Springfield
|
First Baptist
|
1787-1852
|
Rensselaer
|
Brunswick
|
Gilead Evangelical
|
1777-1859
|
|
East Greenbush
|
Reformed Protestant Dutch
|
1787-1910
|
|
Hoosick
|
Reformed Dutch Church of Taishokeat Buskirk (formerly Buskirk’s
Bridge, or Tiossick)
|
1792-1873
|
|
Lansingburgh
|
First Presbyterian
|
1804-1827
1833-1858
|
|
Nassau
|
Reformed Dutch
|
1804-1878
|
|
North Greenbush
|
Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Wynantskill
|
1794-1889
|
|
Schodack
|
Reformed Dutch Church of Schodackat Muitzeskill
|
1770-1832
|
|
Troy
|
First Presbyterian
|
1793-1864
|
|
Troy
|
Second Street Presbyterian
|
1834-1911
|
|
West Sandlake
|
First Evangelical Lutheran Church (formerly the Zion Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Rensselaerwyck and Greenbush)
|
1785-1868
|
Richmond
(Staten Island)
|
New Springville (in former Town of Northfield)
|
Asbury Methodist Episcopal (formerly M.E. Church in Town of
Northfield)
|
1802-1809
1856-1881
|
|
Port Richmond (Northfield)
|
Reformed Protestant Dutch Church on Staten Island
|
1790-1871
|
|
Richmond (Northfield)
|
St. Andrew’s Protestant Episcopal
|
1808-1875
|
|
Rossville (Westfield)
|
St. Luke’s Protestant Episcopal
|
1844-1877
|
|
Tompkinsville (Castleton)
|
Reformed Protestant Dutch (in 1922 the Reformed Church of
Brighton Heights)
|
1823-1871
|
|
Tompkinsville (Castleton)
|
St. Paul’s Protestant Episcopal
|
1833-1876
|
|
West New Brighton (Castleton)
|
St. Mary’s [Protestant Episcopal]
|
1849-1875
|
|
Woodrow (Westfield)
|
Woodrow Methodist Episcopal
|
1798-1876
|
Rockland
|
Kakiat
|
Reformed Dutch
|
1774-1864
|
Saratoga
|
Ballston
|
First Presbyterian
|
1783-1865
|
|
Charlton
|
Freehold Presbyterian
|
1800-1861
|
|
Charlton
|
United Presbyterian Church at West Charlton
|
1794-1858
|
|
Clifton Park
|
Reformed Dutch Church of Amity
|
1802-1856
|
|
Schuylerville
|
Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Saratoga
|
1789-1857
|
|
Stillwater
|
First Congregational
|
1752-1849
|
|
Stillwater
|
First Presbyterian
|
1791-1904
|
Schenectady
|
Duanesburgh
|
Reformed Protestant Dutch
|
1798-1804
|
|
Niskayuna
|
Protestant Reformed Dutch
|
1783-1861
|
Schoharie
|
Blenheim
|
Reformed Dutch
|
1797-1831
|
|
Cobleskill
|
Union Reformed Dutch
|
1827-1848
|
|
Cobleskill
|
Zion’s Evangelical Lutheran
|
1795-1871
|
|
Gilboa
|
Reformed (formerly the Reformed Dutch Church in Dyse’s Manor in
Broome)
|
1801-1885
|
|
Middleburgh
|
Reformed Dutch
|
1786-1865
|
|
New Rhinebeck
|
German Reformed (later the Reformed Church of Lawyersville in
Cobleskill)
|
1788-1882
|
|
Schoharie
|
Reformed (formerly the High and Low Dutch Reformed
Congregation)
|
1730-1892
|
|
Schoharie
|
St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran
|
1728-1882
|
Washington
|
Cambridge
|
First United Presbyterian Congregation
|
1794-1869
|
|
Cambridge
|
Protestant Presbyterian Congregation
|
1791-1886
|
|
Easton
|
Reformed Protestant Dutch
|
1803-1909
|
|
Greenwich
|
Reformed Dutch (formerly Reformed Dutch Church of Union
Village)
|
1809-1879
|
Bennington
(Vermont)
|
Sandgate
|
Congregational
|
1782-1835
1860, 1867
|
Warren
(New Jersey)
|
Johnsonburg
|
Hardwick Friends Meeting
|
1803-1822
|
[i] New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. 76 (1932), pp.
185-6.
[ii] http://csulib.ctstateu.edu/search/a?SEARCH=Vosburgh,+Royden
[iii] Vosburgh Collection, reel 12, item #1, p. 141.
[iv] Classis: “In certain Presbyterian churches; an inferior judicatory
consisting of the elders or pastors of the parishes or church of a district; a
presbytery. Used in England under the Commonwealth; and subsequently in certain
Reformed churches of the continent, and America. A district formed by the
parishes so united.” Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, prepared by
J.A. Simpson and E.S.C. Weiner, Clarendon Press, Oxford.
[v] Vosburgh Collection, reel 12, item #1, p. 153.
[vi] http://www.nygbs.org/info/articles/vosburgh.htm