This database contains 2,223 will abstracts and more than 40,000 additional indexed names within the abstracts for wills on file in New York City for residents of New York County and some surrounding counties including Bronx, Kings, Queens, and Richmond.
The earliest records date to 1662, while a majority of the records fall between 1782 and 1801. These five volumes (11-15), originally published as "
Abstracts of Wills on File in the Surrogate's office, City of New York" complement the records in the existing NEHGS database
"Abstracts of Wills, Administrations and Guardianships in NY State, 1787-1835 by providing access to records for New York City which are not available elsewhere.
The volumes included in the database are:
Vol. 11: Unrecorded wills, prior to 1790
Vol. 12: June 17, 1782-September 11, 1784
Vol. 13: September 3, 1784-June 12, 1786
Vol. 14: June 12, 1786-February 13, 1796
Vol. 15: February 15, 1796-January 14, 1801
The testator of any given record is indicated as record type "will" and can be searched by using the record type filter. Other names mentioned in wills are indicated by record type "record."
The publication used to create this database was
New-York Historical Society Collections, The John Watts de Peyster publication fund series, volumes 25 through 41. Search New York: Abstracts of Wills, 1662-1801, New York County