New York Probate Records - FamilySearch Historical Records/Known Issues

Known Issues
NOTE: FamilySearch has made every effort to copy all available records. If a volume is found to be missing, contact the appropriate county clerk’s office to see if the records are available. The phone numbers and addresses of the offices can typically be found by doing an online search.

NOTE: To determine which digital records are likely to be found within a collection or to find missing images, see, Using Film Notes in the Catalog to determine the content of a final browse point in Historical Records (56000).

NOTE: Most missing records are available on microfilm. See Ordering a microfilm or microfiche (55678). To view films, see Finding a family history center near you (54018).

Question #1: Some records are missing. Where can the records be viewed? Answer #1: See answers below for information about known missing records and respective film numbers, if available, or alternate online location:


 * Dutchess &gt; Ancient documents 1721-1862 no 5425-5832 is missing images 173-1444 which contain the records 5464-5832. The images are located on Film 925809.
 * Dutchess &gt; Ancient documents 1721-1862 no 5833-6081, 6087-6130, 6082-6086, 6131-6223 is missing images 1202-1315 which contain the records 6191- 6223. The images are located on Film 925810.
 * Dutchess &gt; Ancient documents 1721-1862 no 7845-8216 is missing images 965-1454 which contain the records 8069-8216. The images are located on Film 925815.
 * Dutchess &gt; Ancient documents 1721-1862 no 11672-12004 is missing Images 365-1443 which contain the records 11773-12004. The images are located on Film 925826.
 * Dutchess &gt; Probates 1793-1868 packets 1080-1165 is missing images 276-891, which includes part of packet 1103 through packet 1165. The images are located on Film 925573.
 * Saratoga &gt; Wills, vol 7-9 1826-1836 can be found in Wills 1791-1799, 1826-1836 vol 7-9.
 * Wyoming &gt; Wills V. 1-2 1841-1859 is missing some pages which can be viewed on Film 817092.

Question #2: The Event Type and Year Range (browse point) title does not properly reflect the actual digital record content. How can I determine what digital records are likely to be found within a collection? Answer #2: The list of known browse point discrepancies describes the event type or year range existing in the collection:


 * Chautauqua &gt; Wills below should all be listed as Probate of Wills.


 * Wills, v. 3-4 1863-1872
 * Wills, v. 12 1891-1893
 * Wills, v. 5-6 1872-1879
 * Wills, v. 13 1893-1895
 * Wills, v. 7-8 1879-1884
 * Wills, v. 14 1895-1897
 * Wills, v. 9-10 1884-1889
 * Wills, v. 15 1897-1899
 * Wills, v. 11 1889-1891
 * Wills, v. 16 1899-1901


 * Dutchess &gt; Ancient documents 1721-1862 no 5833-6081, 6087-6130, 6082-6086, 6131-6223: The browse point should read as Ancient documents 5833-6081, 6087-6223.
 * Erie &gt; Estate index 1800-1929 A-B through Estate index 1800-1929 W-Z contain title boards that show both Niagara County Courthouse and Erie County Surrogate Court. The records are all from Erie County.
 * Monroe &gt; Letters below should all be located under Madison County.


 * Letters of Testamentary 1885-1894
 * Letters of Testamentary 1847-1870 vol B-C
 * Letters of Testamentary 1875-1885
 * Letters of Testamentary 1894-1899


 * New York &gt; Wills 1698-1703 vol 41035 should read as Wills 1698-1703 Vol 5-6.
 * New York &gt; Wills 1724-1733 should read as Wills 1724-1733 Vol 10-11.
 * New York &gt; Miscellaneous probate records 1800-1830 year span should be 1800-1839.
 * New York &gt; Letters of administration 1795-1798 vol 5 and Letters of Administration 1798-1800 vol 6 both contain the same set of records with a year span of 1795-1800.
 * New York &gt; Letters of Administration 1808-1811 volume 10 contain records from volumes 9 and 11. Many sections of the browse points for Letters of Administration contain files from other years. The misfiled letters are grouped together in chronological order. Search adjacent file folders. We apologize for any inconvenience.
 * New York &gt; Petitions and accounts 1803-1888 should read as Miscellaneous Probate Records surnames C, 1856-1865.
 * Schenectady &gt; Wills 1909-1917 vol Q should be listed as Wills 1909-1917 vol Q-S
 * St. Lawrence County contains three browse points below with the same images from Film 1571566.


 * Letters of administration, Letters of testamentary 1903-1905 vol 14,
 * Letters of guardianship 1913-1927 vol 6
 * Wills 1915-1916 vol 49.
 * Each browse point contains the entire film, subdivided as
 * Item 1: Wills, v. 49 (from p.50) 1915-1916 starting on image 3 to 328 of 939.
 * Item 2: Letters of guardianship, v. 6 1913-1927 starting on image 329 to 696 of 939.
 * Item 3: Letters test. &amp; admin. v. 14 (to p.472) 1903-1905 starting on image 697 to 939 of 939.


 * Ulster &gt; Wills 1787-1822 vol 1-2 are records from the Ulster County Surrogate Court, and not from Queens County.
 * Wyoming &gt; Will below are all the actual Original Wills, and not the Record of Wills.


 * Wills 1841-1866 vol 1
 * Wills 1866-1883 vol 1
 * Wills 1884-1885 vol 2
 * Wills 1885-1893 vol 2
 * Wills 1893-1894 vol 2
 * Wills 1895-1900 vol 3
 * Wills 1890-1900 vol 3
 * The other browse points marked Wills are Record of Wills which is a record of proceedings and transcribed wills, and is much more comprehensive with many recorded wills. The browse points entitled Petitions, Probate Records are Petitions, Proofs of Wills.

Question #3: How can I better view some images? Answer #3: Check to see if the image has been re-filmed. If not, order the microfilm. Other image problems and solutions include:


 * Ontario &gt; Wills 1795-1814 Vol. 1-5 were filmed in the original condition, with upside down pages, and pages numbered in reverse order.
 * Saratoga &gt; Wills for 1888-1890 images are very light. Use the zoom or image tools to make the image more legible.

Question #4: How can I best search through the records found in the Dutchess County browse points for the general indexes 1751-1934 A-Z? Answer #4: Each page’s image contains a portion of the previous or next page. The best way to search the general indexes is by looking at the page number found in either the upper left or upper right of the image, and compare with the previous or following image. The page numbers indicate whether the image is the left or right side of the record, or a duplicate page. Missing images are not available on the original microfilm.

Question #5: Can you clarify what the “Ancient Documents” are in the Dutchess County browse points? Answer #5: According to the Catalog, the Ancient Documents include probate records, warrants for arrest, court cases, statements of debt, and bonds. Some documents are filmed out of numerical order. Question #6: What are the different types of will records in New York County? Answer #6: Two types of will records are in New York County:


 * Wills and Administrations (New York County, New York), 1680-1804 in the Catalog are the original will books and are not complete. Browse points Included are:


 * Wills 1684-1694 vol 3-4
 * Wills 1698-1703 Vol 41035
 * Wills 1710-1716 Vol 8*
 * Wills 1724-1733 Vol 41193
 * Wills 1730-1740 Vol 11-13

New York &gt; Wills 1710-1716 vol 8 contains both types of records. The first images are Wills and Administrations with an index beginning at Image 228. The Records of Wills begins at Image 237.


 * Record of Wills, 1665-1916; index to wills, 1662-1923 (New York County) in the Catalog contains only wills, and no administration. The remaining browse points marked Wills are record of wills, and are more comprehensive with many recorded wills that are not found in other sets.

If additional problems are encountered with the collection, you can report them at [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org].


 * If browsing the collection: please include the full browse path you used to get to where the problem occurred. The browse path is located above the image viewer window. For example:New York, Probate Records, 1629-1971 &gt; Albany &gt; Wills 1929-1802 vol AA-AB &gt; Image 27 of 854
 * For technical issues: please include operating system and browser version.

Return to the New York Probate Records (FamilySearch Historical Records) article.

Return to the New York, Probate Records, 1629-1971 collection at FamilySearch.org.