New York Colonial Records

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Colonial Records

Online Records

Many records from the colonial era in New England were kept at the town or county level. Search the catalog at the town or county level to locate those records.

• 1701- 1774 - Records of the Vice-Admiralty court of the Province of New York - images only.
• 1701-1847 - Chancery minutes and orders - images only.
• 1730-1786 wills 1664-1683 - Probate records - images only.
• 1749-ca.1830 - Escheated land records - images only.
• 1649-1912 - Patents of the state of New York - images only.
• New York church records : Vosburgh collection - images, some searchable.
• Digital Colonial Records from the New York State Library.
• Dutch Records - New York State Archives

History

A Dutch trading post at Fort Nassau built in 1614, was the first permanent European settlement in New York. A charter was granted the Dutch West India Company in 1621, and settlers arrived in the area called New Netherland in 1624. During the 1640s, English Puritans from the New Haven Colony in Connecticut established several communities. Great Britain conquered New Netherland in 1664 and divided it into New York and New Jersey. The Dutch reconquered the land for a short time in 1673 before control returned to the British. New York was one of the original 13 colonies of the United States.

Earliest Church Records	Earliest Land Records	Earliest Court Records	Earliest Newspapers
1639	1630	1624	1725

Resources

Church Records

• Guide to vital statistics records of churches in New York State (exclusive of New York City). (Albany: Historical Records Survey, 1942).
• Guide to Local Church Records in Archives of the Reformed Church of America and to Genealogical Resources in the Gardiner Sage Library, New Brunswick Theological Seminary by Russell L. Gasero. (New Brunswick: Historical Society of the Reformed Church in America, 1979).
• Inventory of the Church Archives in the City of New York. 9 Vols. (New York: Historical Records Survey, 1942).
• Inventory and Digest of Early Church Records in the Library of the Holland Society of New York. (New York: Holland Society of New York, 1912).

Court and Legal Records

• Calendar of council minutes, 1668 - 1783 compiled by Berthold Fernow ; preface by A.J.F. Van Laer ; introduction by Peter R. Christoph. (Harrison, New York : Harbor Hill Books, 1987).
• Calendar of New York colonial commissions, 1680-1770 abstracted by Edmund B. O'Callaghan. (New York, New York : New York Historical Society, 1929).
• The Colonial Laws of New York from the Year 1664 to the Revolution: Including the Charters to the Duke of York, the Commissions and instructions to Colonial Governors, the Duke's Laws, the Laws of the Dongan and Leisler Assemblies, the Charters of Albany and New York and the Acts of the Colonial Legislatures from 1691 to 1775 Inclusive. 4 vols. (Albany: James B. Lyon, State Printer, 1894).
• Courts and Lawyers of New York: A History, 1609-1925 by Alden Chester. (New York: American Historical Society, 1925). Digital copies Vols. 1, 2, and 3.
• Dongan papers, 1683-1688 : Admiralty Court and other records of the administration of New York Governor Thomas Dongan edited by Peter R. Christoph. (New York, New York : Holland Society of New York, 1993).
• Duely & constantly kept : a history of the New York Supreme Court, 1691-1847 and an inventory of its records (Albany, Utica, and Geneva Offices), 1797-1847 by James D. Folts. (Albany, New York : New York State Court of Appeals and New York State Archives and Records, 1991).
• Inheritance and Family Life in Colonial New York by David Narrett. (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1992).
• List of Pre-1847 Court Records in the State Archives by New State Archives. (Albany: Office of Cultural Education, 1984).
• Wills of Early New York Jews by Leo Hershkowitz. (New York: American Jewish Historical Society, 1967).
• Wills of Early Jewish Settlers in New York by Lee M. Friedman. (Reprinted from Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 23, 1915).

Early History and Manuscript Collections

• Annual Report by New York State Historian. (Albany: Synkoop, Hallenbeck, Crawford, State Printers, n.d.).
• Calendar of historical manuscripts, relating to the war of the revolution, in the office of the Secretary of State, Albany, N.Y. 2 Vols. (Albany : Weed Parsons & Co., Printers, 1868).
• Curacao Papers, 1640-1665 by Charles T. Gehring. (Interlaken, NY: Heart of the Lakes Publishing, 1987).
• Colonial New York: A History by Michael G. Kammen. (White Plains, NY: KTO Press, 1987).
• Documents Relating to New Netherland, 1624-1626: in the Henry E. Huntington Library by Arnold J. F. Van Laer. (San Marino, CA: Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, 1924).
• The Documentary History of the State of New York by E.B. O'Callaghan. (Albany: Weed, Parson, Public Printers, 1849).
• Early New York State Census Records, 1663-1772 by Carol M. Meyers. (Gardena, CA: RAM Publishers, 1965).
• The French Occupation in the Champlain Valley from 1609 to 1759 by Guy Coolidge. (1938. Reprint. Harrison, NY: Harbor Hill Books, 1979).
• A Guide to Dutch Manuscripts Relating to New Netherland in United States Repositories by Charles T. Gehring. (Albany: New York State Library, 1978).
• History of New Paltz, New York, and Its Old Families, from 1678 to 1820, Including the Huguenot Pioneers by Ralph Lefevre. (1903. Reprint. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing CO., 1973).
• Lists of Inhabitants of Colonial New York: Excerpted from the Documentary History of the State of New York, by Edmund Baily O'Callaghan. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1979).
• New York Historical Manuscripts (English period) by Charles T. Gehring. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1977).
• Records of the chancery court, province and state of New York : guardianships, 1691-1815 abstracted by Kenneth Scott. (Middletown, New York : Holland Society of New York, 1971).
• Southeastern New York: A History of the Counties of Ulster, Dutchess, Orange, Rockland and Putnam by Louise Hasbrouck Zimm. (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing, 1946).

Dutch Colonization

• The Dutch Founding of New York by Thomas A. Janvier. (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1903).
• History of New Netherland, Or, New York under the Dutch by E. B. O'Callaghan. 2 Vols. (New York: D. Appleton, 1846-1848).
• New Netherland Roots by Gwen F. Epperson. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing CO., 1994).
• New York Historical Manuscripts: Dutch. Council Minutes, 1652-1654 by Charles T. Gehring. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1983).
• New York Historical Manuscripts: Dutch. Delaware Papers (Dutch Period) by Charles T. Gehring. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1981).
• New York Historical Manuscripts: Dutch. Land Papers, Volumes GG, HH, and II by Charles Gehring. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1980).
• New York Historical Manuscripts: Dutch. Register of the Provincial Secretary, 1638-1660 by Arnold J. Van Laer. 4 Vols. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1974).
• "Passengers to New Netherland: List of Passengers, 1654-1664" by J. F. Van Laer in Year Book of the Holland Society of New York (1902).
• Translation of books of Dutch patents by New York Secretary of State. (Albany : Weed, Parsons and Co., 1864).

Other

• The Albany Protocol, Wilhelm Christoph Berkenmeyer's Chronicle of Lutheran Affairs in New York Colony, 1731-1750 by John P. Dern. (1971. Reprint. Camden, ME: Picton Press, 1992). Digital images of the book.
• Genealogical data from inventories of New York estates, 1666-1825 by Kenneth Scott and James A. Owre. (New York, New York : New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, 1970).
• The German Emigration from New York Province into Pennsylvania by George K. Schweitzer. (Knoxville, TN: The Author, 1995).
• Guide to Records in the New York State Archives by New York State Archives. 2nd ed. (Albany: The Archives, 1993).
• Landholders of Northeastern New York, 1739-1802 by Fred Bowman. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1983).
• Landlord and Tenant in Colonial New York: Manorial Society, 1664-1775 by Sung Bok Kim. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1978).
• More Palatine Families: Some Immigrants to the Middle Colonies 1717-1776 and Their European Origins Plus New Discoveries on German Families Who Arrived in Colonial New York in 1710 by Henry Z. Jones. (Universal City, CA: The Author, 1991).
• Moravian Journals Relating from New York Province into Pennsylvania by Matthias Henry Richards. (Syracuse, NY: Dehler Press, 1916).
• Moravian Journals Relating to Central New York, 1745-66 arranged and ed. by Wm. M. Beauchamp, for the Onondaga Historical Association, 1916. (Syracuse, N.Y. : Dehler Press, 1916).
• New York Marriages Previous to 1784: A Reprint of the Original Edition of 1860 with Additions and Corrections Including: Supplementary List of Marriage Licenses; New York Marriage Licenses by New York Secretary of State. (1860. Reprint. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1968).
• The Palatine Families of New York: A Study of the German Immigrants Who Arrived in Colonial New York in 1710 by Henry Z. Jones. (Universal City, CA: The Author, 1985).
• Scotch Emigrants to New York 1774-1775 by Viola Root Cameron. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing CO., 1966).
• Select Patents of New York Towns by Frederick Van Wyck. (Boston: A. A. Beauchamp, 1938).