New York Sources
By Susi Pentico

New York Sources

I am going to give a list of URL's and some names of books that many people seem to bypass in research. Not everything is on the internet. More is coming on line all the time, but some very good sources are older history books, biographies, school yearbooks and newspapers. Newspapers go back to the 1700's. They have to be hunted for but some are kept. Some college libraries have them on microfilm.

Town Council meetings are another very good source for information. Old Tax lists for the roads, schools, agriculture, land and probate are also good resources.

Another little used and often not found resource are City Directories.

I hope that all people doing research have joined at least one Genealogical or Historical Society in the area of research in which they are bogged down, or have just started research in. Some very good source material comes from their newsletters, quarterlies and sources made available to members.

I rotate my joining of societies every so often if a name is not one I am currently working on. I also tend to believe in going with the flow. In other words, if the name I am researching is not producing anything, positive or negative, it is time to change. I move to another name that people ask about or I see posted on the surname files or roots lists.

The Newspaper archives is a new online source for data. The site is still under construction but worth a visit.
http://www.newspaperarchives.com

Index of names that were presented in early historic newspapers can be found at
http://theoldentimes.com/index_of _names.html

Slaveholders and African Americans 1860-1870. ( a must for research)
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ajac/

New England Indians (A real plus if doing research on Indians in New England)
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~massasoit/

Federal Judiciary History, Biographical database of Federal Judges for all the judges who served on the U.S. District Courts, U. S. Circuit Courts, U.S. Courts of Appeals, and the Supreme Court since 1789.
http://air.fjc.gov/history/index_frm.html

Map site worth looking at
http://fermi.jhuapl.edu/states/states.html

DO not forget to use AOL.com and go to keyword: ROOTS (On AOL Only), and see what is listed in the libraries, resource centers, surnames and query areas. Sometimes five years later you get a email that connects to more of your family.

Also use USGenWeb.org as a site for each state and almost all of the counties. Anyone having data to share with these states should contact that USGENWEB, co-ordinator to have data included on the site and expand the data in the area. Many times we forget after we do our research to share with the county or state some of the data we learned. This curtails other family members from finding you.

Sharing that Ancestry.com has all the censuses scanned and on line up to 1930. This is a paid site, sometimes you must use a reader, but if you are handicapped and housebound, this site is worth what you get in return. Also for many people who do not feel safe wandering iced roads and snowy highways, this group has much to offer. It comes in second after using the Golden Gate Genealogy Forum's (FREE) site.

There is nothing like talking with others, exchanging thoughts on where to look, what to try next, what ideas are more successful than others and learning of sites and information that will help you learn about the state or states you're researching and maybe even finding another person posting a same name in same place, LIVE online and ready to exchange data and maybe complete another part of your genealogy puzzle.

Book Sources

Some of these are what I call "everyone should have if searching in earnest". Yes, there are better ones and more expensive but these really help you to understand what your looking for.

William Dollarhide's Map Guide to American Migration Routes 1735-1815. available by Heritage Quest and many other book sources.

Native American Directory, Vital Records of Maine, Massachussetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and Wisconsin. by Lorriane (Rainwaters) Henry by Heritage Books.

New York Genealogical Research by George K Schweitzer, Ph.D.Sc.D. He has a series of books for many states. I have several of them.

The Source by Ancestry

Printed Sources edited by Kory L Meyerink; Ancestry

The Handy Book for Genealogists ( later editions always best) Publishers by Everton Publishers, Inc.

Resources to look at in Libraries

New York Historical Manuscripts, English Edited by Peter R Christoph, 5 vols, Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Company 1980 Published under the directions of the Holland Society of New York.

Andros Papers, 1674-1680 Files of the Provincial Secretary of New York During the Administration of Governor Sr Edmund Andros 1674-1680. ( with Translations from Dutch) 3 vols NY Holland Society of NY 1989, 1991.

Collections of the New York Historical Society, 60 vols, New York, New York Historical Society, 1876-1927


By Susi Pentico aka HOST GFS Susi

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