Finding New York State Vital Records on FamilySearch.org

Finding New York State Vital Records on FamilySearch.org

This guide will walk you through the process of locating birth, marriage, and death records for New York State within the FamilySearch.org website.

Step 1: Access the FamilySearch Records Search

• Go to FamilySearch.org and log in to your free account.
• From the top navigation bar, click on "Search".
• From the dropdown menu that appears, select "Records". This action will take you to the main historical records search page.

Step 2: Specify Location and Filter for Vital Records

• On the "Find Historical Records" page, locate the "Place" field.
• Type "New York, United States" into the "Place" field and select the auto-suggested option that appears.
• Next, you have a few options to narrow down to vital records:
  • Option A (Browse Categories): Scroll down the page and look for the "Browse by category" section. Click on categories such as "Birth, Marriage & Death" or "Vital Records" if they are prominently displayed.
  • Option B (Filter by Collection Type): Scroll further down to the "Browse all published collections" section. On the left side, find the "Filter by collection type" dropdown menu. Click it and select "Birth, Marriage & Death". This will display all New York vital record collections.

Step 3: Browse or Search Within Collections

• After filtering, you will see a list of relevant New York vital record collections. Examples include: "New York, County Marriages," "New York, State Death Index," "New York, New York City Births," etc.
• To search a specific collection: Click on the name of a collection you wish to explore (e.g., "New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949"). On the collection's dedicated page, you will find specific search fields (e.g., "First Name," "Last Name," "Death Year"). Enter the information you know and click "Search".
• To browse images (if available): For some collections, particularly older ones, you may see a "Browse through images" link instead of or in addition to search fields. Click this to navigate digitized microfilm images page by page. You will typically select the county, then the town, and finally the record type or year range to begin browsing.

Step 4: Review Search Results and Record Details

• When you perform a search within a collection, your results will appear as a list of entries.
• Click on a name in the search results to view the "Record Details". This page displays the transcribed information from the record.
• Always look for a camera icon or a link labeled "Image" or "View Original Document" next to the record details. Click this to view the digitized image of the original vital record. The original image often contains more information than the transcription and helps verify accuracy.
• Carefully examine the image for details such as full names, dates, places, parents' names, and occupations.

Step 5: Utilize the Catalog for Deeper Search (Alternative Method)

• If you haven't found what you need through the "Records" search, or prefer a different approach, go back to the "Search" menu at the top of FamilySearch.org and select "Catalog".
• In the "Place" field, type "New York, United States" and click "Search".
• This will display a list of all records and resources organized by locality for New York. Scroll through the "Topics" list and look for entries like "New York - Vital records", "New York - Vital records - Births", "New York - Vital records - Deaths", or "New York - Vital records - Marriages".
• Click on a relevant topic to see available microfilm and digital collections. Items marked with a camera icon  indicate that the images can be viewed online.