Albany County, New York Genealogy

''This article is about an eastern upstate New York county in the United States. For other uses, including other similarly named localities, see Albany''.

United States New York  Albany

Historical Facts


At the time of creation it included all of the present Bennington County, Vermont, all of New York state north of the counties of Dutchess and Ulster, and theoretically stretched west to the Pacific Ocean.

Parent County
Albany County was one of the original twelve counties created by the Province of New York on 1 November 1683.

Boundary Changes

 * 27 May 1717: Albany County was adjusted to gain an indefinite amount of land from Dutchess County and other non-county lands.
 * 7 October 1763: King George III, King of England, as part of his proclamation, created new province of Quebec, implicity setting the northern limit of New York at the parallel of 45 degrees north latitude, from Atlantic-St.Lawrence watershed westward to the St. Lawrence River, but it was never mapped.
 * 20 July 1764: King George III established the boundary between New Hampshire and New York along the west bank of the Connecticut River, north of Massachusetts and south of the 45th parallel. Albany County implicitly gained present-day Vermont. Disputes broke out later and the dissatified colonists organized in opposition which led to the creation of Republic of Vermont in 1777 (lasted until Vermont joined in the American Revolutionary War.)
 * 13 July 1766: Cumberland County was partitioned from Albany County, covering all northern and eastern limits of the county, including what is now Windsor County, most of Windham County and parts of Bennington and Rutland counties in Vermont.
 * 26 June 1767: Albany County regained all of Cumberland County.
 * 19 March 1768: the county was repartitioned and Cumberland County restored.
 * 16 March 1770: the county was partitioned again to create Gloucester County (which includes all of present-day Orange, Caledonia and Essex counties, most of Washington County, parts of Orleans, Lamoille, Addison and Chittenden counties in Vermont.
 * 12 March 1772: Albany County was partitioned again, into Albany, Tryon (now Montgomery) and Charlotte (now Washington) counties.
 * 24 March 1772: a partition of 50 sq miles was handed over to Cumberland County.
 * 9 March 1774: Ulster County was set off from Albany County.
 * 1 April 1775: a partition of 60 sq miles was handed over to Charlotte County who then exchanged a like parcel with Cumberland County.
 * 15 January 1777: 300 square miles was lost to the Republic of Vermont.
 * 26 January 1781: Bennington County, Vermont attempted to annex a portion of Albany County (today's portions of Washington and Rensselaer counties) to form "The West Union." The Confederation (before there was the US Constitution) arbitrated this annexation, and condemned it, with Vermont ceasing the attempts on 23 February 1783.
 * 4 Apr 1786: Columbia County was set off.
 * 7 March 1788: New York refusing to recognize the independence of Vermont, with Cumberland County eliminated, tried to adjust the line that separated Cumberland County from Albany in present-day Vermont, but to no effect.
 * 7 February 1791: Rensselaer and Saratoga counties were set off. On the same day, town of Cambridge was transferred to Washington County.
 * 1 January 1795: Schoharie County was set off.
 * 5 April 1798: Ulster County took 90 sq miles to add to it.
 * 25 March 1800: Greene County set off.
 * 3 March 1808: Havre Island turned over to Saratoga County with no net loss of land.
 * 7 March 1809: Schenectady County set off. From this day Albany County exists in its present shape.

Bible Records

 * Brinkman, William A. Bible and family records. [Guilderland, N.Y.: s.n.], 1943. ..

Biography

 * George Rogers Howell, Jonathan Tenny, and John H. Munsell, Bi-centennial history of Albany, history of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609-1886: with portraits, biographies and illustrations (Microreproduction of original published: New York : W. W. Munsell, 1886). ..
 * The heroes of Albany: a memorial of the patriot-martyrs of the city and county of Albany, who sacrificed their lives during the late war in defense of our nation, 1861-1865. With a view of what was done in the county to sustain the United States government; and also brief histories of the Albany regiments ▲
 * Landmarks of Albany County, New York
 * Biographies of Albany County people - list of more than 1400 short bios of people from the county; via Albany Hill Towns wiki

Business Records and Commerce

 * Fifty years of service, 1874-1924 (Albany Co. Savings Bank)

Cemeteries
Cemetery records often reveal birth, death, relationship, military, and religious information. See the New York Cemetery page for further details.

Local Cemeteries


 * Some Albany County area cemetery records. The list of cemeteries available including links is about halfway down the page.
 * The Diocesan Cemetery Office for Albany County is at St Agnes Cemetery, Menands. Phone (518) 463-0134.


 * Albany County Jewish Cemeteries ($)


 * 1900-2002 Jewish People's Cemetery
 * 1850- 2001 Temple Israel, Sons of Abraham, Ohav Sholom Cemetery
 * 1894-2002


 * Wolf-Kemp Private Cemetery Courtesy Genealogytoday.com.


 * Early Settlers of New York State, Volume I including tombstone inscriptions for Bethlehem in Albany County.

Federal
1890: Loss of 1890 Census records

Court Records
Original court records are held in the office of the Circuit Court Clerk See New York Court Records for more information about using court records.

Copies of Original Records


 * 1652-1782 Court minutes
 * 1665-1685 Proceedings, justices of the peace
 * 1676-1695 Proceedings of commissioners, 1676-1680; notarial papers, 1660-1695
 * 1702-1849 Albany treasurer record, 1702-1712; ledger, 1808-1849
 * 1784-1880 Church patents, with index
 * 1827-1901 Lis Pendens, 1827-1901; index to maps, 1630-1904
 * 1849-1880 Judgement rolls
 * 1884-1919 Divorce decrees

Abstracts


 * 1648-1652 [Minutes of the Court of Rensselaerswyck] available at ancestry.com ($)
 * 1652-1656 Arnold J.F. Van Laer, Minutes of the Court of Fort Orange and Beverwyck, 1652 - 1656 (Albany, New York: Univ. of the State of NY, 1920) World Vital Records ($)
 * 1652-1660 New Netherland, Inferior Court of Justice (Beverwyck, New York), Fort Orange court minutes, 1652-1660 (Syracuse, New York: Holland Society of New York, c1990). ..
 * 1668-1685 Arnold J.F. Van Laer, Minutes of the court of Albany, Rensselaerswyck, and Schenectady, 1668- 1685 (Albany, New York: University of New York, 1926-1932). . . v.1 1668-1673 at World Vital Records ($)
 * 1797 Arthur C.M. Kelly, Book of the freeholders, 1797, Albany County, New York : persons qualified to serve for struck juries (Rhinebeck, New York: Kinship Books, c2000). ..

History

 * Helderberg Hilltowns - this wiki site contains a vast amount of history and information about Rensselaerville, Berne, Knox, and Westerlo towns in Albany County. It's collaborative so anyone can sign up to add more information.

Land and Property
Original land records are held in the office of the County Clerk. See New York Land and Property for more information about using land records. The Albany County Clerk allows Online Access to Deeds and Mortgages from 1980 to the present.

Freeholders List for the city and county of Albany for 1720. No further information is available except the name and place.

Copies of Original Records


 * 1630–1894 Index to Mortgages
 * 1652–1660, 1765–1894 Mortgages
 * 1630–1966 Index to State of New York deeds
 * 1630–1966 Index to State of New York deeds

Migration
Early migration routes to and from Albany County for European settlers included:


 * Hudson River pre-historic
 * Mohawk River pre-historic
 * Lake Champlain pre-historic
 * Richelieu River pre-historic
 * Saint Lawrence River prehistoric
 * Lake Champlain Trail pre-historic
 * Albany Post Road (or Queen's Road, or King's Road) 1669
 * Mohawk or Iroquois Trail 1722
 * Forbidden Path or Catskill Turnpike
 * Greenwood Road
 * Old Connecticut Path
 * Champlain Canal 1823
 * Erie Canal 1825
 * Chambly Canal 1843

Military
Civil War

Service men in Albany County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed companies formed in Albany County:


 * - 2nd Regiment, New York Infantry, Company H
 * - 3rd Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 7th Veteran Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 9th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 17th Veteran Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 18th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 20th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 22nd Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 30th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 34th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 43rd Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 44th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 61st Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 62nd Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 63rd Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 91st Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 93rd Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 104th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 113th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 138th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 148th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 175th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 177th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 179th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 184th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 186th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 188th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 189th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 192nd Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 194th Regiment, New York Infantry

Naturalization and Citizenship
The Albany County Clerk's Office has placed an index to Naturalization Records on line. The index is for naturalizations that took place in Albany County only. Records start in the year 1821 and run through 1991, when the federal government took over the recording process from local governments. Index may provide the following information:


 * Name
 * Period
 * Nation of Origin
 * U S Residence
 * Date
 * Petition No.
 * Book
 * Page

Probate Records
Index to wills and to letters of administration: index to wills from 1780 to Dec. 1, 1895 New York, Albany - Probate records – Indexes Family History Archive

Copies of Original Records


 * 1600s–1700s, 1700–1825 Original records of administrations of estates, inventories and accounts.
 * 1629–1828 Index to Record of wills recorded at Albany, New York
 * 1629–1802 Record of wills recorded at Albany, New York
 * 1691–1835 Wills
 * 1787–1796 Albany probate records
 * 1787–1902 Wills, letters testamentary, letters of administration, orders and index
 * 1799–1848 Wills proved and recorded

Abstracts


 * 1626–1836 Fernow, Berthold. Calendar of wills on file and recorded in the offices of the Clerk of the Court of Appeals, of the County Clerk at Albany and of the Secretary of State. Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1965, 1967.
 * 1681–1765 Pearson, Jonathan and Van Laer, Arnold J. F. Early records of the city and county of Albany and colony of Resselaerswyck. Albany, New York: University of the State of New York, 1869-1919. (Wills - translated from Dutch)
 * 1780 to Dec. 1, 1895 Conway, Martin. Index to wills and to letters of administration. [Albany?: s.n.], 1895.

Additional Resources

Additional resources for Albany County probates may be found in the topic page of the Family History Library catalog (FHLC). Copies of records on FHL microfilm and microfiche can be ordered for viewing at Family History Centers. Copies of books found in the FHLC may be found in WorldCat catalog and ordered from your local library through interlibrary loan. Explore how to search the Family History Library Catalog and the Worldcat Online Catalog.

Repositories
Most historical records for Albany County are at the Hall of Records.


 * Albany County Hall of Records
 * 95 Tivoli Street
 * Albany, NY 12207
 * Phone: 518-436-3663
 * Fax: 518-436-3678

Some helps for finding Albany County records are:


 * Historical Records, a complete listing of the historical records at the Albany County Hall of Records
 * Guide to Historical Resources in Albany County, New York, Repositories
 * Guide to Records in the New York State Archives
 * Inventory of the County Archives of New York, no. 01, Albany County (Albany) 
 * A Sketch of the Life of Horatio Seymour, 1810-1886, with a Detailed Account of his Administration as Governor of the State of New York During the War of 1861-1865 FHLC
 * World Our Fathers Made: a Survey of the Records of Local Governments in the County of Albany, New York, During the Constitutional Era, 1783-1815

Family History Centers
Family History Centers (FHCs) are branches of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, and are located all over the world. Their goal is to provide resources to assist in the study of genealogy.

The FHC for Albany County is located in Albany. Be sure to call and visit their wiki page for hours of service and other information.


 * Albany New York Family History Center
 * 411 Loudon Rd
 * Loudonville, Albany, New York, United States
 * Phone: 518-463-2566

For additional Family History Center addresses, search this online FHC directory.

Deaths

 * 1654–1883 Hannay, William Vanderpoel. Early Albany County NY death records, 1654-1883. Rhinebeck, New York: Kinship Books, 2000.

Divorces

 * 1884-1919 Divorce decrees

Websites

 * Albany County NYGenWeb Project queries and mail lists, cemetery and census transcripts, county history transcripts, county timeline, Albany City street name changes since 1890, and county genealogical books by repository. A member of the NYGenWeb Project.
 * Helderberg Hilltowns (Rensselaerville, Berne, Knox, Westerlo) wiki for history and genealogy including biographies and stories, cemeteries, churches, images, maps, and organizations.