CENSUSES
New York
City residents were enumerated in federal, state, and municipal
censuses. They were also counted in other records, such as "juror
censuses" and tax lists.
FEDERAL POPULATION CENSUSES
Federal
population censuses that include New York City were done in the
decennial years beginning in 1790. The latest federal population census
currently available is the one taken in 1930.
In 1870, New York
City residents were enumerated twice, due to dissatisfaction with the
results of the first counting. The First and Second Enumerations can
both be searched and compared. The Second Enumeration contains addresses
of residents; the First Enumeration does not. Heads of households in
the 1870 census are searchable on HeritageQuestOnline.
Ancestry.com has
completed an all-name index.
The Family History Library’s
every-name index and abstracts of the 1880 federal census is searchable online. Subscribers to Ancestry.com can link from the
abstracts to the census images.
The 1890 federal census was
almost completely destroyed. Only fragments remain and none from New
York City. But the 1890 Census of Union Veterans still survives.
The
1910 census is searchable online at Ancestry.com and
HeritageQuestOnline as well as on microfilm with the aid of a street
index on microfiche listing the enumeration districts for addresses in
Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, and Staten Island: Cross Index to
Selected City Streets and Enumeration Districts, 1910 Census [HA201/1910/M1283
Microfiche].
The 1930 federal census is searchable online at
Ancestry.com. The census can also be searched by address on microfilm by
finding the E.D. of an address in the street index finding aid
available at the National Archives Northeast-Region (NYC) or through
Family History Centers. Or use Steve Morse’s "Obtaining
E.D.s for the 1930 Census in One Step." The National Archives has a
"1930 Census
Microfilm Locator."
Microfilm copies of the federal
population censuses in New York City are widely available and can be
searched at various repositories, including all National Archives
branches, the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society Library,
New York Public Library, Brooklyn Historical Society, through Family
History Centers, and online at Ancestry.com, Genealogy.com, and
HeritageQuestOnline. As well as the online indexes, some with soundex
capabilities, there are book indexes to these censuses.
NEW
YORK STATE CENSUSES
New York State censuses, taken in years
between federal census years, are currently not indexed and must be
searched by address. Various maps and other finding aids are available,
depending on the census year and locality. New York State censuses of
New York City are widely available on microfilm at various New York City
repositories and through the Family History Library. Original census
schedules are kept at the County Clerk’s office in each county. State
censuses are not available at the National Archives.
State
censuses are extant for the following years and New York City counties.
Some of the various finding aids are noted. Ward maps are available for
most years.
Manhattan/Bronx: (until 1914, Bronx was part
of New York County)
1855
1905
1915
1925
A map
created in 1862 ("Map of the City of New York, City Directory Ofc, 50
Greene St.") is available at the New York County Clerk’s Office/
Division of Old Records, the New York Genealogical and Biographical
Society, and the New York Public Library. It can be used to narrow the
area searched in the 1855 census to a specific ward and election
district.
A street index available on microfilm, "Card Index to
Street Names and House Addresses in New York County," for the New York
State censuses for 1905, 1915, and 1925, facilitates the search.
Addresses in the Bronx are included in the 1905 street index, but not
for the years 1915 and 1925.
Brooklyn 1855
1865
1875
1892
1905
1915
1925
Joseph Silinonte compiled the Street index to the 1892 New York
State Census, City of Brooklyn. This book makes searching for the
location of an address in this unindexed census a snap.
A street
index for the 1915 New York State census of Kings County was compiled by
Lois Owen and Theodore R. Nelson and facilitates finding persons when
the address is known. It is available through local Family History
Centers and at the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society.
Queens1892
1915
1925
Among the finding aids are an Index
to Street Addresses for the 1915 and 1925 censuses.
Richmond:
1835
1855
1865
1875
1915
1925
A ward map for
1925 shows the wards, assembly districts, and election districts for
this census.
COUNTING AT THE MUNICIPAL LEVEL: JUROR
"CENSUSES," TAX LISTS, AND THE 1890 POLICE CENSUS
Censuses of
the residents of New York City were taken during various years from
1795 through 1829 to assess who was a viable juror. Several electoral
censuses were also taken from 1790 to 1821. Portions of these censuses
survive from 1816, 1819, and 1821. (See Roger D. Joslyn’s article, "New York City Censuses of 1816, 1819, and 1821.")
As
noted above, the 1890 federal census was destroyed. But because New
York City was dissatisfied with the 1890 enumeration of its inhabitants,
the city took its own 1890 census in Manhattan and the western Bronx.
The enumerators were police officers, and this census became known as
the "Police Census." Fortunately, most of that enumeration survives.
Searchable by address and listing the names, genders, and ages of New
York County residents, this municipal census can be viewed on microfilm
at various New York City repositories, and through Family History
Centers. Parts of this census are available online at Ancestry.com.
Howard
Jensen’s three volume Aid to Finding Addresses in the 1890 New York
City Police Census greatly facilitates finding which
microfilm to search when an address is known and indicate which of the
records were lost.
Tax lists, from colonial times into the
twentieth century are also of interest to the genealogist. Among these
are the tax lists of 1793, 1795, and 1796 at the New York Historical
Society and New York Genealogical and Biographical Society; Annual
Record of Assessed Valuation of Real Estate, 1789-1988, available at
the New York City Municipal Archives; and Internal Revenue
Assessment Lists for New York and New Jersey, 1862-66 (M603),
available at the National Archives Northeast-Region (NYC).
CEMETERY RECORDS
Find a New York City
death listed in a death register or on a death certificate, and the name
of the cemetery should be listed.
To locate a cemetery and its
contact information, one book to consult is The Graveyard Shift: A
Family Historian's Guide to New York City Cemeteries, by Carolee
Inskeep [F128.61/A1/I57/2000 also LOAN].
If a death certificate
from 1868 or later names no cemetery, or if the cemetery is identified
as City Cemetery, the person was probably buried on Hart Island, New
York City’s potter’s field from 1868 forward. Records can be accessed
for most years at the New York City Municipal Archives. For more
information, see my article, "New York City’s Potter’s Field: A Visit to Hart Island’s
City Cemetery in Bronx County."
Extant cemeteries keep their
own records and must be contacted directly. Interment lists are provided
for a fee. Cemetery staff will not view or photograph grave markers.
Books and manuscripts of tombstone inscriptions exist for some
cemeteries, including:
- Tombstones of the Irish Born:
Cemetery of the Holy Cross, Flatbush, Brooklyn, by Joseph M.
Silinonte [F128.61/C46/S5/1992 also LOAN].
- Old
Calvary Cemetery: New Yorkers Carved in Stone, and Second Calvary
Cemetery: New Yorkers Carved in Stone, by Rosemary Muscarella
Ardolina [F128.25/A73/1996].
- Gravestone Inscriptions
of Trinity Cemetery, New York City, New York, compiled by Ray C.
Sawyer.
Some New York City cemeteries have websites that
give names of the persons buried in their grounds. The cemeteries’
offices can be contacted for additional information. Some cemeteries
with helpful websites are:
MILITARY RECORDS
From colonial times
forward, military records available to New York City researchers are
plentiful, whether published or in their original form.
A
handful of the many sources are:
- Muster Rolls of New
York Provincial Troops, 1755-1764, Edward F. DeLancey ed. Volume 24
of the NewYork Historical Society Collections
- Revolutionary
War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900.
National Archives microfilm M804
- Genealogical
Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Files, by Virgil D. White.
(Data taken from National Archives microfilm M805.)
- "Guide to Records Relating to the Revolutionary War in the
New York State Archives"
- Index to War of 1812
Pension Application Files, National Archives microfilm M313
- Index
to War of 1812 Pension Files, transcribed by Virgil D. White. 2
volumes.
- Index of Awards on Claims of the Soldiers
of the War of 1812. New York Adjutant General’s Office (also
searchable at Ancestry.com). The original records are in the New York State
Archives.
- Military Minutes of the Council of
Appointment of the State of New York, 1783-1821, 4 volumes.
- Daniel
Lorello, comp., The Union Preserved: A Guide to Civil War Records in
the New York State Archives, Harold Holzer ed.
- Index
to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in
Organizations from the State of New York. National Archives
microfilm M551
- 1890 Veteran’s Census Index, New York
- New York Civil War Database, compiled by the
New York State Archives.
- General Index to Pension
Files, 1861-1934 (National Archives microfilm T288)
Original
pension files are available at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
and can be requested with NAFT Form 85. Images of the index cards are
found at Ancestry.com.
- Military Census of
1917, New York. Registers are at County Clerk’s offices. Each man is
listed with address, date of birth, occupation, whether any previous or
present military service, and if exempt.
- World War I
Selective Service Draft Registration Cards, 1917-18: New York City.
National Archives microfilm M1509 Partially indexed on Ancestry.com
- "Records Relating to World War I at the New York State
Archives."
- World War II Selective Service Draft
Registration Cards, 1942, for men ages 45-64. Part of National
Archives Record Group 147. Available only at the National Archives
Northeast-Region (NYC). Currently being microfilmed by the Family
History Library.
NEWSPAPERS
New
York City has published a vast array of newspapers, with a wealth of
data for the genealogist.
Major newspaper collections can be
found at the New York Historical Society and New York Public Library.
Other institutions with strong collections are the Brooklyn Historical
Society, Queens Borough Library’s Long Island Division, Bronx Historical
Society, Brooklyn Public Library, and Staten Island Institute of Arts
& Sciences.
Book and manuscript indexes to various
newspapers, such as the annual The New York Times indexes, The
New York Herald, 1835-1918, and the indexes to the Brooklyn
Daily Eagle, 1891-1902, are also available. Many libraries have
created their own manuscript and card indexes to local papers, such as
the Queens Borough Library’s Long Island Division’s master card
catalogue index of marriages and deaths from the Long Island Star,
1809-1845. The Brooklyn Division also has the Brooklyn Daily Eagle’s "morgue" (clippings of
articles).
Abstracts of newspaper notices also abound and are a
boon to the researcher. Among them are James P. Maher’s Index to
Marriages and Deaths in the NY Herald, 1835-70, Vital Records
from the Long Islander, 1847-1870, by Harriet Stryker-Rodda, and
Gertrude Barber’s abstracts (some noted in the section about Vital
Records).
More databases of full-text New York City newspapers
are becoming available online, the most notable of which is the
every-word-searchable ProQuest Historical Newspapers database of the
complete The New York Times, 1851-2001. It is available onsite at
the New York Public Library and via remote access for members of the
New York Genealogical and Biographical Society Library. (For research
tips, see this page.)
Of equal importance is the online
database of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 1841-1902, which is
searchable at no cost. The database was created by the Brooklyn Public
Library. As funding permits, the rest of the newspaper will also be made
available online.
MAJOR LIBRARIES
( Partial
list)
American
Irish Historical Society991 Fifth Avenue
New York,
NY 10028
212-288 2263
Bronx
County Historical Society, Research Library and Archives
3309
Bainbridge Avenue
Bronx, NY 10467
718-881-8900
By appointment
only
Brooklyn Historical Society (formerly
the Long Island Historical Society)
128 Pierrepont Street
Brooklyn,
NY 11201
718-222-4111
Brooklyn
Public Library, Brooklyn Division
Grand Army Plaza
Brooklyn,
NY 11238
718-230-2483
Center for Jewish History
- American Jewish Historical Society
- American
Sephardi Federation
- Leo Baeck Institute
- Yeshiva
University Museum
- YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
15 West 16 Street
New York, NY 10011
212-294-8301
Family
History Center
125 Columbus Avenue, New York, NY 10023
212-873-1690
The Center for Jewish History and the New York Genealogical and
Biographical Society are also designated Family History Centers, where
microforms can be ordered and viewed.
Holland
Society Library
122 East 58th Street
New York, NY 10022
212-758-1675
New York City Department of Records and Information Services
City Hall Library (formerly The Municpal Reference
and Research Center
31 Chambers
Street, Room 112
New York, NY 10007
212-788-8590
New York Genealogical
and Biographical Society Library
122 East 58th Street
New
York, NY 10022-1939
212-755-8532
New-York
Historical Society Library2 West 77th Street, 2nd floor
New
York, NY 10024
212-873-3400
New York Public Library
Humanities
and Social Services Library (formerly Central Research
Library)
476 Fifth Avenue (at 42nd Street)
New York, NY
10018-2788
212-930-0830
Irma
and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and
Genealogy|
212-930-0828
Dorot
Jewish Division
212-930-0601
Schomburg
Center for Research in Black Culture515 Malcolm X
Boulevard
New York, NY 10037
212-491-2200
Queens Borough Public Library, Long Island Division
89-11 Merrick Boulevard, 2nd Floor
Jamaica, NY 11432
718-990-0770
Staten Island Historical Society LibraryP.S.
28, 276 Centre Street
Staten Island, NY
Mailing Address: 441
Clarke Avenue
Staten Island, NY 10306
718-351-1611
Staten Island
Institute of Arts & Sciences (SIIAS)
History
Archives and Library
75 Stuyvesant Place
Staten Island,
NY 10301
718-727-1135, x 21
May your research for New York
City ancestry be enjoyable and successful!