Local Genealogical Gems : NYSL Church Records for Palatine Germans

This week's set of records is located in the New York State Library (NYSL). The library holds many church book records from throughout the state. Today we are focusing on records from Dutchess and Columbia Counties. These church books are essential for researchers who are tracing their Palatine German ancestors. This list is by far from exhaustive. It is a small sample of church books that will be found in the NYSL. These are sources that I am using for tracing my Palatine ancestors.

St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Wurttemberg, NY
(Dutchess County); Multiple Volumes
Call Number: 974.733 fW95l9 

Records of Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Peter the Apostle, The Stone Church, Rhinebeck, Dutchess County, NY; Multiple Volumes
Call Number: H974.733 R31h9p q 1965

Baptism and Marriage Records of the Reformed Churches of Upper Red Hook, Tivoli, Mellenville, and Linlithgo, 1766-1899
(Columbia & Dutchess Counties); Multiple Volumes
Call Number: H 974.739 q L 78l 1ba 

Baptismal Record of the Reformed Church of West Copak, NY, 1783-1899 (Columbia County)
Call Number: 974.739 qW522w5

Records of St. Paul's (Zion) Evangelical Lutheran Church at Red Hook, NY, 1730-1905
(Dutchess County)
Call Number: 974.733 fR31L9   

Records of St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Rhinebeck, NY
(Dutchess County), Multiple Volumes
Call Number: 974.733 fR31l9p

Information gleaned from most of these baptism records will include:

• child's name
• date of baptism
• names of parents
• names of sponsors/witnesses

Baptism record for William Edward Reiffenberger
baptized: 27 November 1811
parents: John Reiffenberger & Elisabeth (wife)
sponsors: John Crusius & Atoinna Eckert
Wurttemberg, St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran

Local Genealogical Gems : American-Canadian Genealogical Society Book Series

This week's local resource of the week is a couple of days late. Snow and work got in between my genealogical pursuits. The American-Canadian Genealogical Society (ACGS) has assembled numerous local church records into book form along with many other items.

The ACGS was founded in 1973 in Manchester, New Hampshire. Individual membership is $35 per year. Contact information for the society is below.
American-Canadian Genealogical Society
PO Box 6478
Manchester, NH 03108-6478
Phone: 603.622.1554
Email: acgs@acgs.org

The Albany church books are available for researching at both the New York State Library and also Pruyn History Room in the main branch of the Albany Public Library. Call numbers are not provided. Below is a small listing of church records that were transcribed and printed in book form.

Albany:

Our Lady of the Angels, Albany, NY 3,687 Marriages (1867 - 2004)

Our Lady of the Angels, Albany, NY 11,953 Baptisms (1867 - 2005) 2 vols.
Our Lady of the Angels, Albany, NY 9,017 Burials (1867 - 2005)

Sacred Heart, Albany, NY 1,981 Marriages (1874 - 2009); 2,020 Burials (1938 - 2010)

Sacred Heart, Albany, NY 5,906 Baptisms (1874 - 2010) 

St-George, Albany, NY 876 Baptisms (Apr 1917 - Dec 1998); 233 Marriages (Aug 1917 - Aug 1996); 398 Burials (Mar 1917 - Feb 1989)

St-Joseph, Albany, NY 24,969 Baptisms (1843 - 1992) 2 vols.
St-Joseph, Albany, NY 7,006 Marriages (Jun 1843 - 1992); 3,676 Burials (Jul 1922 - Oct 1974) 2 vols.

St-Patrick, Albany, NY 4,379 Marriages (Aug 1859 - Jun 2006)
St-Patrick, Albany, NY 12,800 Baptisms (Aug 1858 - Jun 2006) 2 vols.
St-Patrick, Albany, NY 4,000 Burials (1923 - 2006)

Cohoes:

St-Joseph, Cohoes, NY 7,770 Burials (1868 - 2003)
St-Joseph, Cohoes, NY 4,453 Marriages (18 Oct 1867 - 30 May 1999)

St-Joseph, Cohoes, NY 14,308 Baptisms (Sep 1868 - Aug 2005) 2 vols. 

Menands:

St-Joan of Arc, Menands, NY B-M-D (1927 - 2005) Various end dates.

Rotterdam:

Our Lady of the Assumption, Rotterdam, NY 1,518 Marriages (Dec 1933 - Jun 2002) 

Our Lady of the Assumption, Rotterdam, NY 4,406 Baptisms (Oct 1933 - Jun 2002) 

Our Lady of the Assumption, Rotterdam, NY 1,981 Burials (Oct 1933 - Jun 2002) 

St-Gabriel, Rotterdam, NY 2,445 Baptisms; 837 Marriages; 1,244 Burials (Nov 1957 - Apr 2006

St-Mary of Cortona, Rotterdam, NY 1,120 Marriages (1904 -2011); 1,599 Baptisms (1903 - 2010); 556 Burials (1926 - 2010)

Schenectady:

Sacred Heart, Schenectady, NY Marriages (1903 - 1998) 

Sacred Heart, Schenectady, NY 3,750 Baptisms (25 Oct 1903 - 30 Jun 2001) 

Sacred Heart, Schenectady, NY 2,701 Burials (Mar 1904 - Jul 2001)

St-Anne, Schenectady, NY 4,182 Marriages (Oct 1916 - Jun 2006) 2 vols.

St-Anthony, Schenectady, NY 13,693 Baptisms (Sep 1912 - May 2007) 2 vols. 

St-Anthony, Schenectady, NY 5,242 Burials (Oct 1916 - Jun 2007) 

St-Columba, Schenectady, NY Marriages (1908 - 19740
St-Columba, Schenectady, NY 5,146 Baptisms (Dec 1907 - Nov 1974) 

St-Columba, Schenectady, NY 2,028 Burials (May 1909 - Nov 1974) 

St-John Baptist, Schenectady, NY 4,949 Marriages (May 1854 - Jun 2009) 2 vols.
St-John Baptist, Schenectady, NY 14,436 Baptisms (Oct 1854 - Jun 2009) 2 vols.
St-John Baptist, Schenectady, NY 11,242 Burials (Jan 1886 - Jun 2009) 2 vols. 

St-Joseph, Schenectady, NY 7,043 Baptisms (Jun 1861 - Nov 2005)

St-Joseph, Schenectady, NY Marriages (28 Aug 1862 - 31 Dec 2000) 

St-Joseph, Schenectady, NY 4,100 Burials (Nov 1862 - Feb 2006) 

St-Luke, Schenectady, NY 2,840 Marriages (Jan 1917 - 2003)
St-Luke, Schenectady, NY 8,930 Baptisms; 3,893 Burials (1916 -2003) 

Troy:

Holy Trinity, Troy, NY 704 Marriages; 1,974 Baptisms; 949 Burials (Nov 1908 - Jun 1998)

St-John Baptist, Troy, NY 1,677 Marriages (15 Aug 1852 - 31 Dec 1970); 2,705 Burials (Oct 1875 - Dec 1970) 

St-John Baptist, Troy, NY 5,961 Baptisms (Aug 1852 - Dec 1970) 

St-Joseph, Troy, NY 23,337 Baptisms (1848 - 2007) 2 vols. 

St-Joseph, Troy, NY 5,420 Marriages (1849 - 2004)

St-Lawrence, Troy, NY 1,370 Marriages; 4,552 Baptisms; 920 Burials (Oct 1868 - Nov 1983)

St-Mary, Troy, NY 9,790 Marriages (Aug 1844 - Dec 2006) 4 vols.
St-Mary, Troy, NY 24,040 Baptisms (Sep 1844 - Apr 2007) 3 vols.
St-Mary, Troy, NY 5,591 Burials (Aug 1844 - Apr 2007)

St-Patrick, Troy, NY 3,917 Marriages (Sep 1872 - Jul 2000) 2 Vols. 

St-Patrick, Troy, NY Burials (Jul 1919 - Apr 2004)
St-Patrick, Troy, NY Baptisms (Sep 1872 - Apr 2004) 2 vols. 

Waterford:

St-Anne, Waterford, NY 693 Marriages (Nov 1908 - Jul 2002); 791 Burials (Jan 1925 - Jun 2002
St-Anne, Waterford, NY Baptisms (Jul 1887 - Jun 2002)

Local Genealogical Gems : John M. Foll Funeral Home Records

This week's local genealogical gem is the John M. Foll Funeral Home Records. These ledger book records are housed at the Albany County Hall of Records. The books are a great find for those who are searching their "South End" Albany ancestors/relatives; especially those with German ancestry. It appears that Foll catered to the large German population within the "South End." His business locale was in the heart of Albany's Germantown, situated at 434 South Pearl Street. Records for later burials are much more detailed than earlier entries, see examples below.

Title: John M. Foll Funeral Home Records, 1891 - 1951
Compiler: Foll Funeral Home
Repository: Albany County Hall of Records
Boxes: 10
Inventory Numbers: 1204172000, 1204173000, 1204174000, 1204175000, 1204176000, 1204177000, 1204178000, 1204179000, 1204180000, 1204181000

The Albany County Hall of Records is located at
95 Tivoli Street, Albany, NY 12207
Phone: 518.436.3663
Email: achor@albanycounty.com
Hours: 8:30 am - 4:30 pm

Henry Albert funeral expenses 1895

Lucy van Wagner funeral expenses 1933 

Local Genealogical Gems : Old Fulton New York Postcards

The resource of the week is the Old Fulton New York Postcards website. Do not be fooled by the title of the web site. There are postcards on the site but it is mainly a searchable web site for researching newspapers within New York and elsewhere.

The convenience of this site is enormous. Imagine researching obituaries from a newspaper out of the area. No traveling and no searching through microfilm rolls. Now it must be said that although there are many newspapers that can be searched; the site does not hold every newspaper within New York state.

Oswego County resident Tom Tryniski, is the brains behind this operation. He has been digitizing and scanning microfilm reels since 1999. He has a microfilm scanner and he puts new images up every week. Matter of fact, this one man show has managed to digitize upwards of 50 million pages. That is more newspapers than the Chronicling America program that is sponsored by the Library of Congress and the National Endowment of the Humanities.

The web site search screen can be a little "clunky" but go to the Old Fulton web site and start searching. You will be amazed at what you can find.

Below is a list of Albany newspapers that are searchable. The titles are not complete. There are holes within the run of these newspapers. Over time I am sure those holes will be filled in with new additions.

• Albany Argus
• Albany Evening Journal
• Albany Evening News
• Albany Morning Express
• Knickerbocker News
• Times Union

Local Genealogical Gems : Albany Hall of Records Naturalization Index

The naturalization index on the Albany Hall of Records website is this week's local genealogical gem. These records are only for naturalization that took place in Albany County between 1821 and 1991. The older records do not hold as much information as the newer ones.

The search window is simple to use. For example; one of my great great great grandfathers was Michael Behrhof. His surname was spelled many different ways over the years. In the search window the complete name does not need to be filled out. After many attempts of finding him in the index, he was found by simply typing Ba in the surname field and he appeared as Michael Barhoof. Awesome.

After finding your ancestor/relative in the index, write down the date, petition number, book, and page number. Now you can go to the Hall of Records and request the actual document or view it on their computer. Below is a scan of my ancestor's naturalization paper. His declaration of intent was filed on 11 July 1854 and he was naturalized and became a United States citizen on 24 October 1859.

The Albany County Hall of Records is located at
95 Tivoli Street, Albany, NY 12207
Phone: 518.436.3663
Email: achor@albanycounty.com
Hours: 8:30 am - 4:30 pm

Local Genealogical Gems : Website of Troy Irish Genealogy Society

This week's installment of local genealogy gems is the website of the Troy Irish Genealogy Society or TIGS. Do not let the name of this genealogy society fool you. It is not strictly about and or for Irish genealogy. The society has numerous transcribed records that are online assessable for free. Please check its website.

My three favorite record collections that are online on the TIGS website are:

• Transcriptions of marriages, deaths, and miscellaneous info from the West Troy Advocate newspaper. An old Watervliet newspaper. The New York State Library also has these records in book form.
• Index to Marriage Records, Rensselaer County, NY Records run from 1908 to 1935 and have over 60,000 names.
• Lost for many many years were the burial records of St. John's Cemetery in Albany on Delaware Avenue where the Spectrum movie theater is today. A few years ago the burial book was recovered and scanned. TIGS was able to transcribe the scanned images. Over 20,000 burial probably occurred in St. John's Cemetery. The book of interments runs from 1841 through 1887. But further burials occurred after 1887.

Please join TIGS to help support their projects. All transcription work is done by volunteers. Dues are only $10 per year. Check their website for further membership information.

BTW TIGS has upcoming record collections to be added at a later date.

Local Genealogical Gems : Geschichte der Deutschen in Albany und Troy

This week's hidden source is a book written in Deutsch, Geschichte der Deutschen in Albany und Troy. It is available for viewing at the Albany Institute of History & Art.

Title: Geschichte der Deutschen in Albany und Troy
Compiler: Albany Taeglicher Herold
Publisher Date: 1897
Repository: Albany Institute of History & Art
Repository Address: 125 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY
Call Number: 920.07473 GES

Brief Description: A book written for German-Americans by German-Americans in German; offering histories of the various institutions that Germans formed in Albany and Troy. Brief biographies are also give for prominent Germans from that era.

Descriptive Example of a Page:

Local Genealogical Gems : Prospect Hill Cemetery Records

Upcoming will be a weekly series that spotlights sources for genealogy records. Some of these records may be well known some may not be known at all. The title, author, repository location, call number, a brief description of the record, and an example of the record will be given for each source. The first installment will be on the records of the Prospect Hill Cemetery in Guilderland.


Title: Prospect Hill Cemetery Records: Albany County, Guilderland, New York, April 23, 1858 - September 30, 1902
Compiler: Mrs. Ralph E. Theobald
Publish Date: 1983
Repository: Guilderland Public Library
Call Number: LH REF 929.374 PRO

Brief Description: Compilation of interments in the Prospect Hill Cemetery on Route 20 in Guilderland, New York. Details of each burial vary. Some are more detailed than others.

Descriptive Example of an Entry: Prospect Hill Cemetery Records, Guilderland, New York, page 59

Time of Death: 20 March 1885
Name: Earle A. Male
Age: 1 yr, 10 m
Date of Interment: 22 March 1885
Decease: Congestion of Brain
Place of Birth: Albany
Late Residence:
Place of Death:
Married or Single: