Orange County, New York Genealogy

United States New York  Orange County

Parent County
Orange was one of the original New York counties formed in 1683.

Neighboring Counties
Dutchess· Putnam· Rockland· Sullivan· Ulster· Westchester· New Jersey counties: Passaic· Sussex· Pennsylvania county: Pike

Record Loss
Courthouse fire, 1774

Historical Signpost: "A log structure, with whipping posts and stocks was erected on this Tappan green c. 1691. Here justice was administered to all of Orange County, which then included present Rockland. A more permament courthouse and "gaol," built in 1739, was destroyed by fire in 1774. New City became the seat of government when the County of Rockland was set off from Orange in 1798.

Bible Records

 * 1581–1917 New York, Family Bible Records at Ancestry– ($); Index. Database is a collection of genealogically important records taken from the Bibles of colony and state residents. Reveals the Bible's original owner, brief record of descendants,and a particular event such as birth or marriage as recorded in Bible.

Cemeteries
Cemetery records often reveal birth, death, relationship, military, and religious information.

Some cemetery records are also available at Heritage Quest (LAR).

Individual cemeteries in Orange County:


 * Pinehill Cemetery, Middletown BillionGraves
 * St. Francis Cemetery, New Windsor BillionGraves
 * Wallkill Valley Cemetery, Walden on BillionGraves

Census
For information and tips on using and accessing online census records, see New York Census.

Church Records
A few church records have been transcribed and posted at the Orange County NY GenWeb site. Heritage Quest (LAR) has a good collection of digitized transcribed church records from Orange County. Linkpendium identifies several church record collections available online.

Registers of the Reformed Church at Deerpark begin in 1716.

Evangelical Lutheran (Harrison Meeting) Church Records (1750-1798): Among the first settlers in the Towns of Montgomery and Crawford, then in Ulster County, but now in Orange County, New York were a group of German settlers. They organized a Lutheran church and built a log building in which this congregation met. The building burned down in the late 1700’s and the members of the congregation migrated to other nearby churches. However, a historical marker has been placed at the site of the old church and a few headstones, mostly unmarked, can still be found at the site located south of the Village of Montgomery near the junction of New York Highway 211 and Orange County Road 416. Images of the records of this church can be found on microfilm in the Family History Library, and are also available online at Urthman's Genealogy Blog.


 * 1800s-1820s - Early Marriages Bethlehem Church, courtesy: NYGenWeb - free.


 * 1829-1858 - Early Records of Marriages Dutch Reformed Church, Montgomery, NY 1829-1858, courtesy: NYGenWeb - free.

Land and Property
The USGenWeb Archives includes abstracts of the following:


 * 1695-1802 - Deed Books A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H.
 * 1765-1785 - Mortgage Books A, B, C.

Military
Civil War

Available towns. Registers are available for: Blooming Grove· Chester· Crawford· Deerpark· Goshen· Greenville· Hamptonburgh· Minisink· Monroe· Montgomery· Mount Hope· Newburgh· Wallkill· Warwick· Wawayanda.

Regiments. Service men from Orange County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were formed in Orange County:


 * - 3rd Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 5th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 7th Veteran Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 9th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 18th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 36th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 56th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 65th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 70th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 93rd Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 98th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 115th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 124th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 153rd Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 156th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 164th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 168th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 176th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 179th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 192nd Regiment, New York Infantry

Source Informaiton:

See "The Ruttenber collection"with Manuscripts of Civil War materials on Orange County collected by E.M. Ruttenber.

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1824–1941 at FamilySearch Historical Records – free; Index.


 * 1917-1950 at FamilySearch Historical Records – free; Index.

Indexes

 * 1792-1989 Index to Petitions for Naturalization filed in New York City, 1792-1989 at Ancestry ($). This database is based on NARA's Soundex Index to Petitions for Naturalization filed in Federal, State, and Local Courts located in New York City, 1792-1989. All 5 boroughs are included.

The Family History Library has also acquired this comprehensive index for the years 1792 through 1906 on microfilm:. The courts this index covers are:


 * City Court of Brooklyn, 1836-1894
 * Kings County Court, 1806-1906
 * New York City Marine Court, 1806-1849
 * New York County Common Pleas Court, 1792-1895
 * New York County Superior Court, 1828-1895
 * New York City and County Supreme Court, 1868-1906
 * Queens County Court, 1799-1906
 * Queens County Surrogate Court, 1888-1898
 * Richmond County Court, 1869-1906
 * U.S. Circuit Court Southern District, 1846-1876
 * U.S. District Court Eastern District, (Kings, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties), 1865-1906
 * U.S. District Court Southern Court Southern District, (New York, Bronx and also Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Richmond, Rockland, Sullivan and Westchester counties), 1824-1906

Probate Records
Online Abstracts and Indexes


 * 1787-1846 - SAMPUBCO Browsable index of testators of wills.
 * 1787-1835 Abstracts of Wills, Administrations and Guardianships in NY State, 1787 - 1835 at New York Ancestors ($); includes.

Online Probate Records

Original New York, Orange County Probate Records, 1787-1938 (actually 1830-1931) are available free online at FamilySearch. To browse these records, click Historical Records below, then click "Browse through 359,950 images". Then select the time period and volume of interest.


 * - Orange County: Probate of wills, 1830-1931

Probate Records on Microfilm


 * 1787–1941 Index to Surrogate's Records
 * 1785–1797 Orange County Wills, Transcribed
 * 1787–1916 Probate Records

Repositories
Cornell University, Guide to Historical Resources in Orange County, New York Repositories. ([Ithaca, New York]: New York Historical Resources Center, Olin Library, Cornell University, 1989). ; . Includes index. Includes references to some family histories and genealogies.

Courthouses
The Orange County Clerk's office has marriage, divorce, court land and census records. The Surrogate Court has probate records. For further information about where the records for Orange County are held, see the Orange County Courthouse page.

Societies

 * Central New York Genealogical Society Box 104, Calvin Station Syracuse, New York 13205 E-mail: [mailto:CNYGS@yahoo.com CNYSG@yahoo.com]


 * Member queries; surname research list; online resources; six meetings/year; publishes Tree Talks  quarterly with annual index.


 * Counties served: Albany, Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Chemung, Chenango, Clinton, Columbia, Cortland, Delaware, Erie, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Genesee, Greene, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Livingston, Madison, Monroe, Montgomery, Niagara, Oneida, Onondaga, Ontario, Orange, Oreleans, Oswego, Otsego, Rensselaer, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins, Washington, Wayne, Warren, Wyoming, and Yates.


 * Orange County Genealogical Society 101 Main Street Goshen, New York 10924 Email:nhsip@frontiernet.net Publishes The Orange County Genealogy Society Quarterly


 * The Society has a very large collection including:
 * County Histories
 * Biographical information on local residents and published genealogies
 * Orange County church records and cemetery listings
 * City directories for Middletown and Newburgh 1899 - 1950's
 * Whig Press deaths and marriages 1851-1865
 * Vertical files of family folders - over 3,000
 * Well known quarterlies
 * Military records
 * Maps
 * Microfilm of various Orange County records including marriages, naturalization, deeds, newspapers and more.


 * The Hudson Valley Institute 3399 North Road Poughkeepsie, New York 12601-1387 Phone: 845-575-3052 Email: hrvi@marist.edu

Birth
Birth Substitutes


 * 1640–1962 at FamilySearch Historical Records – free; Index.


 * 1847–1849 Jeanne and Less Krish, Official Vital Records from the Various Towns of Orange County, New York, Births, Deaths, and Marriages 1847-1849: with a Supplement of Additional Marriage and Death Returns (Goshen, New York: Orange County Genealogical Society (New York), 2003). ; . Includes indexes.


 * See Town Clerks' Registers of Men who Served in the Civil War in the Civil War section of Military for birth information.

Marriage

 * 1664–1784 New York. Secretary of State, Names of Persons for Whom Marriage Licenses Were Issued By the Secretary of the Province of New York, Previous to 1784 (Albany, New York: Weed, Parsons and Co., 1860). At Cornell University digital library-free; Internet Archive - free; Ancestry edition($); ; . Marriage bonds issued in the State of New York prior to 1784, and the earliest record dating 1664.


 * 1908–1933 at FamilySearch Historical Records – free; . Index is through 1933, but licenses are to 1932

Marriage Substitutes


 * 1686-1980 at FamilySearch Historical Records – free; Index. Index entries derived from digital copies of original and compiled records.


 * 1800–1855 New York Marriage Notices at Ancestry– ($); Index. This database is a collection of marriage notices published in newspapers around the state. Contains name of bride and groom, marriage date, marriage location, residence, and newspaper found in.


 * 1801–1880 Barber Collection- Newspaper Marriages at Ancestry– ($); Index. Information extracted from the "Brooklyn Eagle" and the "New York Evening Post."


 * 1828-1831 Barber, Gertrude A. Orange County Patriot: A Newspaper Published at Goshen, N.Y.: Marriages and Deaths from May 1828 to Dec. 1831. 1990. Digital version at Ancestry ($).


 * 1847–1849 Jeanne and Less Krish, Official Vital Records from the Various Towns of Orange County, New York, Births, Deaths, and Marriages 1847-1849: with a Supplement of Additional Marriage and Death Returns (Goshen, New York: Orange County Genealogical Society (New York), 2003). ; . Includes indexes.


 * 1856–1863 Index to Marriages and Deaths in the New York Herald at Ancestry– ($); Index. These newspaper notices refer to people up and down the East Coast as well as midwesterners and persons from as far west as the State of California. Also browseable.


 * 1864-5, 1874-5 See Marriage Schedule information in the State Census section of Census for marriage information for 1864-5, and 1874-5.

Death
Death Substitutes


 * 1795–1952 at FamilySearch Historical Records – free; Index. The entries are primarily from the IGI along with some entries derived from compiled and original records such as Family Records, Church Records, and Civil Registration. There may be entries that cite a specific source.


 * 1801–1890 Barber Collection- Newspaper Deaths at Ancestry– ($); Index. Information extracted from the "Brooklyn Eagle" and the "New York Evening Post."


 * 1820-1857 Weller, Caroline Still. Orange County, New York Deaths: From the Independent Republican, Goshen, New York. 1967. Digital version at Ancestry ($).


 * 1828-1831 Barber, Gertrude A. Orange County Patriot: A Newspaper Published at Goshen, N.Y.: Marriages and Deaths from May 1828 to Dec. 1831. 1990. Digital version at Ancestry ($).


 * 1847–1849 Jeanne and Less Krish, Official Vital Records from the Various Towns of Orange County, New York, Births, Deaths, and Marriages 1847-1849: with a Supplement of Additional Marriage and Death Returns (Goshen, New York: Orange County Genealogical Society (New York), 2003). ; . Includes indexes.


 * 1849-50, 1859-60, 1869-70, 1879-80 See Mortality Schedule information in the Federal Census section of Census for death information.


 * 1856–1863 Index to Marriages and Deaths in the New York Herald at Ancestry– ($); Index. These newspaper notices refer to people up and down the East Coast as well as midwesterners and persons from as far west as the State of California. Also browseable.


 * See Town Clerks' Registers of Men Who Served in the Civil War in the Civil War section of Military for death information.


 * 1864-5, 1874-5 See Mortality Schedule information in the State Census section of Census for death information for 1864-5, and 1874-5.

Additional Resources

Websites

 * The Orange County NYGenWeb Project, an member of The NYGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.