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Birth, Death and Marriage Records
OBTAINING RECORDS FROM THE TOWN CLERK OR EQUIVALENT - Old records held by the clerk of the town, village or city in which the event took place do not always survive today. In those local authorities which do still have some sort of record, many have only an entry in a crumbling old register book. In this case, the Town Clerk's office or equivalent is unable to supply you with a photocopy of a B, M or D CERTIFICATE. Instead, they will look in their register and record what they see there -- sometimes accurately, sometimes not accurately. They will then type up this information and send it to an applicant as a modern "certification". The main advantage of applying to a Town Clerk or equivalent for a B, M or D record is speed -- they often can respond to your request in a week or two. It is also possible to find out over the telephone whether a B, M or D record for someone of the same name as your ancestor is in fact your ancestor or someone else. HOWEVER, Town Clerks do not regard it as an obligation to share information with genealogical researchers by telephone, and the reaction you will get will vary from tremendously kind and helpful to downright rude. Since we cannot pick and choose what town, village or city our ancestors were born or married in or where they died, if the clerk of that location turns out to be one of the uncooperative ones, you have our great sympathy here on the Rensselaer Co. NY GenWeb site, but I'm afraid that there is little that can be done about it. In any case, the fee for obtaining whatever kind of record a Town Clerk or equivalent will send you is $22.00 per document, the same as the fee for obtaining one from the NY State Dept of Health.
In 1880 the state government of New York began requiring thekeeping of vital records. This law is the basis for the recording of births, marriages and deaths (B, M or D) in New York today. The original record is made in the town, village or city in which the event took place, and a copy of the record is sent to Albany. The system did not become fully comprehensive for several years. Nevertheless, it is still worth checking to see if your ancestor who died in the early 1880s might be among those whose birth, marriage or death was recorded.
| Albany County Clerk Bruce A. Hidley Albany County Court House, Room 218 16 Eagle St. Albany, NY 12207-1077 |
City, Town and Village Clerks
| Albany City Clerk Nala Woodard City Hall 24 Eagle St., Room 202 Albany, NY 12207
Phone: (518) 434-5090 |
Altamont Village Clerk Patty Blackwood 115 Main St. PO Box 643 Altamont, NY 12009
Phone: (518) 861-8554 ext. 10 |
Berne Town Clerk Anita C. Clayton Town Hall P.O. Box 57 1656 Helderberg Trail Berne, NY 12023
Phone: (518) 872-1448 |
| Bethlehem Town Clerk Nanci Moquin Bethlehem Town Hall Room 112 445 Delaware Ave. Delmar, NY 12054
Phone: (518) 439-4955, ext. 1183 |
Coeymans Town Clerk Diane Millious Coeymans Town Hall 18 Russell Ave. Ravena, NY 12143
Phone: (518) 756-2100 |
Cohoes City Clerk Lori Yando Cohoes City Hall 97 Mohawk St. Cohoes, NY 12047 Phone: (518) 233-2141 |
| Colonie Town Clerk Elizabeth A. DelTorto Memorial Town Hall 534 Loudon Rd. Newtonville, NY 12128 Phone: (518) 783-2734 |
Colonie Village Clerk Pat Hurley Colonie Village Hall 2 Thunder Rd. Albany, NY 12205
Phone: (518) 869-7562 |
Green Island Village Clerk Anne M. Strizzi 20 Clinton St. Green Island, NY 12183
Phone: (518) 273-2201 |
| Guilderland Town Clerk Jean Cataldo Guilderland Town Hall – 2nd Floor P.O. Box 339 Guilderland, NY 12084
Phone: (518) 356-1980 |
Knox Town Clerk Tara Murphy Knox Town Hall PO Box 116 Knox, NY 12107 Phone: (518) 872-2551 |
Menands Village Clerk 250 Broadway Menands, NY 12204
Phone: (518) 434.2922 |
| New Scotland Town Clerk Diane Deschenes New Scotland Town Hall 2029 New Scotland Rd. Slingerlands, NY 12159
Phone: (518) 439-4865 |
Ravena Village Clerk Annette Demitraszek 15 Mountain Rd. Ravena, NY 12143
Phone: (518) 756-8233 |
Rensselaerville Town Clerk Victoria Kraker Rensselaerville Town Hall 87 Barger Rd. Medusa, NY 12120 Phone: (518) 797-3798 or (518) 239-4225 Fax: (518) 239-6339 |
| Voorheesville Village Clerk Linda Pasquali PO Box 367 Voorheesville, NY 12186 Phone: (518) 765-2692 |
Watervliet City Clerk Jeremy Smith Watervliet City Hall 2 Fifteenth St., Suite B Watervliet, NY 12189 Phone: (518) 270-3800 x115 |
Westerlo Town Clerk Kathleen Spinnato 933 County Route 401 Westerlo, NY 12193
Phone: (518) 797-3111 |
OBTAINING RECORDS FROM THE NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH - The copy of a B, M or D record that has been sent to the state government is now held by the New York State Department of Health. If you apply, and if your application is successful, the Dept of Health will always supply a photocopy of the original B, M or D certificate, and not a modern "certification". Application to obtain a photocopy of an original B, M or D certificate should be made on a printed application form, and in September 2006 the fee was $22.00 per document. You can print an application form by visiting the website of the New York State Department of Health Vital Records Section. That website will also tell you what information you need to supply in order to apply, and whether you qualify for an exemption from the 50-year and 75-year embargo of records. There are two ways to obtain B, M and D certificates from the Dept of Health: by mail or in person.
BY MAIL - The backlog of requests by mail at the NY State Dept of Health is such that the waiting time was said in December 2002 to be about five months. Even this is an improvement, as a few years ago the waiting time was as long as two years! To apply by mail, send your completed application form and your check for $22.00 to the following address:
| New York State Department of Health Vital Records Section Genealogy Unit P. O. Box 2602 Albany, NY 12220-2602 |
IN PERSON - Alternatively, you may call in person at the New York State Department of Health's premises. You will still need to fill in the form (obtainable at this office) and pay $22.00. This office will take your application and put it into a "fast track", and you will receive the photocopy of the requested document by mail seven to 10 days later. Here is is the location of this office:
| New York State Department of Health Vital Records Section Genealogy Unit Walk-In Services 800 North Pearl Street Second Floor - Room 200 Menands, NY 12204 |
WHAT IF I DON'T KNOW THE YEAR OF MY ANCESTOR'S B, M OR D? There is good news and bad news. The good news is that wonderful, WONDERFUL New York State Births, Marriages and Deaths Indexes exist. They include every B, M or D record in the NY State Dept of Health's possession from the first ones in 1881 until the latest year that has come into the public domain -- i. e., up to 50 years before the present time for marriages and deaths and up to 75 years before the present time for births. Each index entry gives the full name of the person; the exact date of the event; the town, village, hamlet or city in which the event occurred; and the number of the certificate in the Dept of Health's records. A few of the years also give ages. Some years are arranged in Soundex order; most years are in ordinary alphabetical order. A few years in the marriages index name the spouse; most years don't. The bad news is that this index can be viewed ONLY in person at the New York State Archives, located in the New York State Museum Building. If you go there in person, you can search year by year until you find the index entry for your ancestor. To look for a single event for a single individual, you can easily search 20 years in 10 minutes. There is a search service available, but if you have no idea when an event occurred, this search service can be very expensive -- and it might not even yield a result. If you have MANY people you want to look up, you might want to consider going to Albany to do this yourself -- it might even be cheaper. Details of the search-service fees can be found on the website of the New York State Department of Health Vital Records Section.
Divorce Records
Since 1847 divorce actions in New York have been handled in the Supreme Court for the county in which the divorce was heard. New York divorce files, however, are sealed for 100 years. In colonial times, petitions for divorce had to be made to the governor or legislature, and only a few were granted. The Chancery Court granted divorces from 1787 to 1847. These older records are in the state archives.
| New York State Archives New York Department of Education Room 11D40 Cultural Education Center Albany, NY 12230 Phone: (518) 474-8955 |
Naturalization Records
Naturalization records are available at the Albany County Clerk's office.
| Albany County Clerk Albany County Hall of Records 95 Tivoli St. Albany, NY 12207
Phone: (518) 436-3663 |
