New York is “The Empire State”. It is where the Empire State building is located. Ellis Island, located very near New York, was a gateway for millions if immigrants who came to the United States between 1892 and 1954. Are you looking for more information about ancestors who lived in New York? If so, then here are several New York genealogy resources that can help you.
Ancestry.com has a page that is filled with links to all of their New York genealogy collections of records. In order to access these collections, you must have an Ancestry.com membership. Sometimes, a collection might be offered for free. Return to their page often. Ancestry.com does a great job of letting people know when a collection is new, has been updated, or is being offered for free.
FamilySearch has a Wiki page about New York. There are links to FamilySearch Wiki pages about each of the counties in New York. There also is a pretty full list of major repositories of New York records. Click on the links for each one to learn more about it. You can find a few links to more FamilySearch Wiki pages about specific FamilySearch New York collections.
Facebook has a Community page for FamilySearch Genealogy Research. This is a good resource for genealogists who want to connect with other genealogists who are also working on New York genealogy. You can also find posts that will inform you about relevant FamilySearch collections.
GeneaLinks has a search engine at the top of their page. Put the name of your ancestor into it. Choose which type of record to search through: vital, birth, death, marriage, divorce, or “Genealogy”. GeneaLinks has helpful information for genealogists who are beginners at New York genealogy. Did you know that the majority of records in New York date back to the late 1880’s?
Internment.net has cemetery records online. Start by using the search engine at the top of their page. Put the first and last name of your ancestor into it. Or, you can start by selecting one of the many counties in New York. Almost all of them have a link that will connect you to information about records from cemeteries that are located within that county. If you are seeking information about Fulton county, sorry, Internment.net doesn’t have those.
Cyndi’s List is, quite possibly, the most comprehensive list of links to genealogy resources online. If it exists on the internet, then Cyndi’s List probably has a link to it. They have a page called “United States – New York”. Start by selecting a category to browse through. Choose from: “Birth, Marriage, Death”, “Census”, “Counties”, “Military”, “Newspapers”, and many more!
Image by Bobby Hidy on Flickr