FamilySearch Wiki:WikiProject New York/Tasks-Repositories Town Clerk and Historian

WikiProject New York Progress Chart  Tasks - Repositories: Town Clerk and Historian

Description
The purpose of this task is locate the town clerk and the town historian for each of the towns or cities (NOT the villages or communities) in a county and list their contact information or any genealogical collections.

Instructions
1. Go to http://www.nytowns.org/web/2008/09/new_york_towns.aspx Your town should be listed here. If not, go to New York State Agency Guide. Click on the county.

The town clerk and historian information may be hidden under the following headings:


 * Town information
 * Municipal information
 * Government
 * Departments
 * Town hall
 * Agencies
 * Officials
 * If you can't find the clerk or historian on their website, google "[name of town] town clerk New York" or [name of town] town historian New York"

2. Go to (or create) the town page by clicking on the town link in the "Places" box at the bottom of the county page. Once on the town page, add a Heading 3 called "Repositories" and add the information about the town clerk and historian using the format given on this page.

3. Some of the town historian websites also include information about the town historical society and library collections. You may want to add the society to the town page as well. Be sure to include information collections.

4. For each town clerk and town historian, add the following:


 * Name. If the town clerk or historian has a website, add the link to the name of the town clerk/historian. See the example below. If there is no website link, bold the name instead.
 * Address
 * Phone number
 * E–mail

5. If the town historian website describes any collections, add one or two sentences that discuss the strengths and peculiarities of the databases or collections.

6. If you copy a link and add it to the wiki page, make sure the link works. Do not add any broken links.

7. Indicate if there is no further information about the town historian except for a name and suggest contacting the county clerk for futher information.

Addtional suggestions for locating a town website:

8. Consult the Elizabeth Petty Bentley, Genealogy Address Book (Genealogical Publishing Company: Baltimore, Maryland, 2009) for Internet addresses and street addresses for town historians and clerks. Try to compare with Internet information, call or e-mail the historian or clerk to confirm current town officials.

If you use this guide, add the following reference: Elizabeth Petty Bentley. Genealogy Address Book. Genealogical Publishing Company: Baltimore, Maryland, 2009, p. [page no.].

Copy the reference. Open the page in wikitext. Paste where you want the footnote to appear. Remove the words page no. and insert the correct page no.

9. Many New York towns use one of the following Internet address sytles:

www.town.floyd.ny.us/content

www.townoffenner.com

Substitute your town name in the url.

Town Clerk
Town Clerk

Also appointed Registrar of Vital Statistics

Beverly Merriman PO Box 310 Westmoreland, New York 13490 Phone: 315–853-0001 ext.2 E–mail: [mailto:wmorland@dreamscape.com wmorland@dreamscape.com]

Town Historian
Town Historian Nancy Pritchard 5746 Shed Road Rome, NY 13440 Phone: 315-337-5566