New York Ignores Record Requests

The State of New York is years behind in fulfilling orders for genealogical copies of vital records.

Years.

This is a problem because the only way to obtain vital records is from the New York State Department of Health, Office of Vital Records in Albany.

According to their website, the wait is eight months or longer. "Longer" is more correct.

The records are not online. They cannot even be ordered online- you have to submit the fee and a paper form via postal mail, then wait. And wait. And wait. You cannot send someone to Albany and you cannot go yourself.

They are not free. The cost is $22 per record- if you know the year of the event.

CBS News of Albany, New York ran a short video about this issue on December 10, 2024. The current link is here. The site is slow with a lot of ads and pop ups.

Short video clip CBS6 Albany

The reporter interviewed New York State Assemblyman Scott Bendett (R,C-Sand Lake), who said he would look into the issue.

CBS News followed up with another video featuring a response from Health Commissioner Dr James McDonald. Dr McDonald explained that they have staffing issues and are looking at technological solutions. He added that local jurisdictions may have the same information.

In my opinion, if historical and genealogical requests are unimportant to the Department of Health, it is time to turn over custody of the records to the Archives. Even better, scan them and put them online for free, like New York City is doing. New York will have to change some laws and procedural rules, but it is time.

WHAT IS IN THE COLLECTIONS AND HOW TO SEARCH

Recording of births, marriages, and deaths in the modern individual certificate format began around 1881 at the state level. There is a short index of deaths for the year 1880. Compliance was not 100% in the early years.

The cities of Albany and Buffalo have separate record-keeping systems. The City of New York is also separate.

New York State Archives has indexes, but not the actual certificates. (For comparison, the New Jersey Department of Health has a schedule to turn over certificates to the Archives. Do they comply with this schedule? No. But there is access in New Jersey.) The indexes were available for in-person use at the Archives.

New York was so vehemently opposed to genealogical access to records that legal action was needed to make the indexes public. Thank you Reclaim the Records.

The indexes are available for free on Archive.org and New York Family History. Ancestry has its own search feature through a pay wall.

Again- these are the indexes, not the records.

CURRENT LINKS TO FREE INDEXES

Births

Marriages

Deaths

LINKS AT ANCESTRY.COM

These are searchable, but check the actual images for correct spelling, certificate numbers, dates.

If you do not see a particular name, check the images line by line.

New York Birth Index 1881-1942

New York Marriage Index 1881-1967

New York Death Index 1852-1956

New York Death Index 1957-1972

MY EXPERIENCES

Both sides of my family lived in New York in prior generations.

This year, I requested three death certificates for Cummings/Grant branch. The envelopes were mailed to Albany on February 9, 2024. Someone received these requests as evidenced by the checks being cashed on July 30, 2024.

In 2022, almost three years ago, I ordered the death certificate of Edmond Sheehy. The envelope was mailed to Albany on March 1, 2022. The check was cashed April 2, 2022. This record was originally requested in 2015, but the State did not locate the record because the name was misspelled in the index. When the index was published on the internet, I found the correct entry and resubmitted the request.

There are many more birth, marriage, and death certificates that would greatly aid genealogical pursuits. Under the current scheme, the price and process are prohibitive.

As Dr McDonald stated, a duplicate record may have been filed with the local registrar. Their fulfillment time may be shorter than the State. I did this for Edward Sheehy, who died in 1893 in Amenia, Dutchess County. The Town clerk sent me a copy of the obscured ledger book. Missing was the date and the names of his parents. The entire page is necessary for proper evaluation of the record. 

The localities will not provide copies of the certificates.

So no, Dr McDonald, identical information is not available from the local towns. The State will need to release the certificates.

MY OPINION

In light of the release of records by other states, in addition to technological advances beyond microfilm, plus New York's refusal to comply with its own practice of orders for a fee, New York should make its records available for digitization and public access.

New Jersey should also do this.

Pictures on Gravestones

Gravestone of Di Agostino family:
Anna, Constandino, and their daughter Mary

Ceramic pictures occasionally appear on gravestones. Photographing them helps preserve these images.

These images of Anna Picone (1875-1958) and Constandino Di Agostino (1877-1936) are affixed to their gravestone in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in East Orange, Essex County, New Jersey. As time passes, these pictures will become worn. They might fall from the stone or go missing.

(Holy Sepulchre lies in East Orange and Newark. This gravestone is in Newark.)

Some poking around at Ancestry revealed that someone else took pictures of these photographs, but now they are preserved in additional locations online.

Obituary of Anna Di Agostino, born Picone.
May 8, 1958. Newark Star Ledger newspaper.

Anna's obituary references a tunnel leading to parking area. Anyone know what or where this is? Is it South Orange Avenue (County Route 510) as it passes under the Parkway? Section V, where this gravestone resides, is close to the Garden State Parkway. It is visible from the northbound lanes. The Parkway was nearing completion in 1958, when Anna died.

Picture taken standing in Section V and the Parkway
Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Newark, New Jersey

The southbound lanes border another side of the cemetery. Below is an undated earlier aerial picture of the Parkway and the cemetery on both sides of the road, followed by the modern-day Google aerial map.

Historical photograph of the Garden State Parkway.
This section lies in Newark, New Jersey.
The Parkway does not run through West Orange.

Same view of the Parkway and Holy Sepulchre Cemetery modern-day

Two Sisters, One Husband

While researching my Duryea roots, this family popped up.

John Duryea, born about 1842 in New York (Manhattan), and his wife, Lizzie White. Only one child, Agnes, was found in records, born about 1871 in Manhattan.

1880 census. New York City.
Household of Albert White, including married daughter Lizzie
with her husband, John Duryea, and their baby, Agnes.

I don't think that this John Duryea is descended from the original Duryea immigrant, Joost. Joost arrived in the United States one hundred years before it became the United States. He lived in what is now called Brooklyn or Kings County, New York by the 1670s.

In contrast, John Duryea's parents, according to the 1880 census, were born in Germany. His wife's parents were from Baden and Prussia. They may have adopted the Duryea surname or shared an ancestor before Joost. I have not located the death certificate of John Duryea. The names of his parents could be on his death certificate.

Agnes Duryea married John Joseph Lee (1864-1938) and had eleven children from 1892 through 1908 in Jersey City. (I have not located a marriage record.)

1910 census in Jersey City
John Lee and household
Deceased children were Mary (1892-1893) and Annie Ida (1900-1900)

This branch is notable because two of the daughters married the same man. This was not unusual, but can be a bit tricky to figure out.

Loretta (also spelled Lauretta in records) Lee married Henry Treichel (also spelled Trieckel) in Jersey City in 1916.

1916 marriage certificate
Henry Treichel and Loretta Lee married January 26, 1916
in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey

Their first child, Ruth Elizabeth, arrived the same year.

1920 census. Jersey City.
Loretta died two months after this census was recorded.

The next child, Loretta, arrived March 27, 1920. Mother Loretta died two days later from pneumonia, with pregnancy contributing.

1920 death certificate
Loretta Trieckel died March 29, 1920 in Jersey City

The following year, 1921, Henry remarried to Irene Lee- a sister of his deceased wife.

1921 marriage certificate
Henry Trieckel and Irene Lee married February 8, 1921
in Jersey City

Henry and Irene had two children, Anna Marie born in 1926, and Henry William, born 1932.

Henry died in 1956 and was buried with his first wife, Loretta, in Holy Name Cemetery in Jersey City. The name was spelled Trieckel by this time. Loretta's parents, John Joseph Lee and Agnes Duryea, are also in this plot, but are not on the gravestone.

The Elusive Parents of Jane Bell

 As I seek possible records for Reuben Bishop (1804-1855), finding his marriage record to Susan C Bell (1817-1888) would possibly help. Locating young Susan and her parents could help identify Reuben's place of origin. Marriages were between local people.

Family tree of Susan C Bell (1817-1888)
showing parents, spouses, and children

The name's of Susan's parents are from the record filed with the State of New Jersey for her third marriage in 1888 to Edward Prime DeGroot (1819-1884). Her father was listed as John Bell and her mother as Jane Bockover. Edward and Susan were married in the city in which she resided, Newark, Essex County. He resided in Morristown, Morris County, which is where Susan had raised her children.

Marriage record filed with State of New Jersey
Edward P Degroot married Susan C Bell, widow of Whitehead,
February 14, 1881 in Newark.
(Enos Littell Whitehead died February 2, 1880 in Newark.)

In the Morristown and Morris Township Library, while reviewing records for Evergreen Cemetery in Morristown, I checked out the family history books. There is a Bockoven family genealogy book compiled by Mrs R Vanderhoff of Bernardsville, New Jersey. This family lived in Somerset and Morris Counties, New Jersey.

Cover page
Bockoven book by Mrs R Vanderhoff

The Bockoven book lists the original immigrant as George Bockoven (1734-1814) of Alsace. George first married Mary Whitenack (1740-1806). Their children were born from 1759 through 1786.

After Mary Whitenack died, George Bockoven remarried to Jane Bell or Ball- a widow.

George Bockoven and his first wife, Mary, were buried in the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Basking Ridge, Somerset County.

Bockoven  Bell of Somerset County, relocated to Morris County, sound like Susan C Bell should fit in with this familial group. But she is not mentioned in the book.

1812 map northern New Jersey
Baskenridge in Somerset County is less than
ten miles south of Morris in Morris county.
(Rutgers Map Collection)

A copy of this bible is also available at the New Jersey State Archives in Trenton via the bible collection of the New Jersey Genealogy Society.

Bockoven bible printed in the Bockoven Book by Vanderhoff

Bockoven bible printed in the Bockoven Book by Vanderhoff

More research is needed, this time in Somerset County.

The Unknown Origins of Ruben Bishop 1805-1856

Who are the parents of Reuben Levy Bishop, my fourth great grandfather? He died in Morristown, Morris County, New Jersey in 1856, age 52.

In the prior post I demonstrated why the father of Reuben is likely not Stratton Bishop (1760-1823) of Bridgeton in Cumberland County, New Jersey.

Reuben Bishop married Susan C Bell in the 1830s. Her parents were John Bell and Jane Bockoven- according to her 1881 marriage record to Edward deGroot.

From this union five children have been identified:

1. Mary Jane Bishop, born about 1836, died in 1910. Married Edward Skinner in 1854.

2. Emma Louisa Bishop, born about 1839, died in 1888. Married Silas Totten in 1856.

3. Julia Bishop, born about 1841, died in 1902. Married George Joseph Ward and William Condon.

4. William Reuben Bishop (my third great grandfather), born about 1842, died in 1915. Married Susan Jane Marsh.

5. George F Bishop, born in 1848, died 1919. Married Mary E Frances Garrabrant.

In the 1840 census, "Rheubin" Bishop was enumerated in Morris Township, Morris County, New Jersey. Two adults, one male and one female, resided with two female children under age 5. These were probably Mary Jane, born around 1836, and Emma Louisa, born around 1839. 

1840 United States Federal Census
Morris Township, Morris County, New Jersey

In 1850, Reuben Bishop was enumerated in Morris Township with his wife, Susan Bell, and all five of their children.

Reuben Bishop, age 8, is William Reuben Bishop

Register of Marriages and Deaths, Morris County, New Jersey, 1848-1867.
Volume Z.

When Reuben Bishop died in 1856, New Jersey was not issuing individual certificates. A record of his death was entered as a single line in a ledger book. (This ledger book, Volume Z, appears at Ancestry in the collection titled New Jersey, U.S., Death Index, 1848-1878, 1901-2017.) His occupation was listed as Hostler. This was someone who either tended to horses or transported cargo.

His birthplace could hold the best clue. Reuben was born in "one of the Eastern States." Hmm. So not New Jersey? We will return to this.

Places of burial are not listed on this page in the death ledger. A cemetery is also omitted from the death notice in the local paper. A possible match is in Evergreen Cemetery in Morristown, Morris County, New Jersey.

findagrave.com/memorial/173374681/

The date of death is off by one day. Curiously, the burial date was years later in 1873.

I called and visited Evergreen Cemetery. The records, if any exist, cannot be shown to me. The staff did kindly bring me to this site in Section O. There is no marker for Rueben Bishop.

Site of burial of "Rueben" Bishop in 1873, next to Jane Totten.
Evergreen Cemetery, Morristown, Morris County, New Jersey.
The grounds are beautifully maintained with historical and military sections throughout.
The records, however, are not available to the public.

I wrote to the creator and manager of this memorial on Find A Grave, but have yet to receive responses. How did this person access this record? Where was Reuben from 1856, when he died, until 1873, when he was buried at this location? (I submitted updates to other memorials managed by this person. The changes were made on September 14, 2024. Thus, someone is monitoring the account.)

Materials for Evergreen Cemetery are available for in-person use at the Morristown and Morris Township Library in the Caroline Rose Foster North Jersey History and Genealogy Center. Among the items are maps, section maps, transcriptions of gravestones, and published books.

Section map of Evergreen Cemetery, Morristown, New Jersey
available at the Morristown and Morris Township Library

Section O map, Evergreen Cemetery, Morristown, New Jersey.
Ruben Bishop owned plot 53.

What is lacking in these materials are records of burials. They might only be at Evergreen Cemetery, which forbids access. Because Rueben Bishop has no stone, he does not appear in the transcriptions of stones.

I need to know where he was originally buried. This could reveal family connections. Why was he moved to (or within) Evergreen Cemetery in 1876?

Two other Bishops, William and Reuben, lived in Morris County.

1- William Bishop (1768-1844) and his wife, Susan Scofield (1773-1852), were buried at First Presbyterian Churchyard in Morristown. They were from Connecticut.

Bishop family grave at First Presbyterian Churchyard,
Morristown, Morris County, New Jersey.

William Bishop and Susannah Scofield married March 31, 1796
in Stamford, Fairfield County, Connecticut.
Transcription.
Collection at Ancestry

Was my Reuben from Connecticut also? Is this why his death record listed his birth as "one of the Eastern States?"

My Reuben named a son William.

2- An earlier Reuben Bishop of Morris County.

In 1829 Reuben Bishop sold property in Chatham to Vincent Boisaubin and Dr Henry Prentiss Green.

Reuben Bishop appeared on an 1814 tax list in Chatham. He owned one horse.

3- Levi Bishop and family were enumerated in the 1855 New Jersey State census in Chatham. Only heads of household are named. In this residence were an adult male and female, two female children, and two male children.

I wonder if this is my Reuben Levy Bishop listed by his middle name.

Next research strategies:

---Continue searching for records in Morris County and neighboring counties in New Jersey.

---Research these Bishop families in Connecticut.

---Mine the DNA matches

Stratton Bishop, father of Reuben, died 1823

Reuben Levy Bishop was my fourth great grandfather. He died in Morristown, Morris County, New Jersey in 1856 at the age of 52.

I have found no documentation about his possible parents.

A father of Reuben Bishop is suggested at Ancestry: Stratton Bishop, who lived in Bridgeton, Cumberland County, New Jersey from about 1760 until 1823, when his will was proven.

Possible ancestors appear in yellow boxes in family trees at Ancestry.

In Stratton's will, he left a life estate to his wife, Lydia. He left land in Bridgeton to his two daughters, Ruth, wife of Samuel Souders, and Lorana (1781-1863), wife of Hosea Nichols (1780-1849).

He also left land to the son of his son Reuben, "if he returns from Europe," and the two sons of his other son, John. The first names of these grandsons were not provided in Stratton's will.

Viewable at FamilySearch.org

I do not think that Reuben, the son of Stratton Bishop, is the same person as my fourth great grandfather, Reuben Levy Bishop.

My Reuben was born around 1804/1805. He was likely not old enough to have a son in 1823.

I have not been able to trace the sons of Stratton Bishop, but his daughters appeared in other records, from which we can glean their birth years. Lorana and Ruth were born in the 1780s. We do not know if Stratton's sons were from a subsequent marriage, but they were both old enough to have their own children when Stratton wrote his will. This makes it unlikely that Stratton's sons Reuben and John were born past 1800.

Stratton and Lydia have memorial pages on Find A Grave
at the First Baptist Church Cemetery in Bridgeton, Cumberland County, New Jersey.

Typed transcripts of Cohansey Baptist Church are viewable on Ancestry. Stratton Bishop died March 14, 1823. Lydia, his wife, died a few months later in October, thus ending her life estate and freeing the land to transfer to the grandsons- subject to the ten year time limit extended to Reuben's unnamed son to return from Europe and assert his claim.

"I give and bequeath the said house and lot of land above described at the decease of my wife in the manner following viz to the son of Reuben Bishop my oldest son the back half part of said lot provided he shall within ten years from the death of my said wife come to this country he being at this time in Europe and take possession of the same but if he shall neglect so to take possession of the said premises then it is my will and I do order that the beforementioned back half part of said lot shall go to the sons of my son John Bishop to be equally divided between them share and share alike."

Three of Stratton's grandsons, John, Henry, and Stratton Bishop, inherited the property. A guardian, Daniel M Woodruff, was appointed in 1831 after an action was brought by their uncle, Hosea Nichols. They were under the age of fourteen.

In a deed dated June 5, 1832, their guardian, Daniel M Woodruff, sold the property to Hosea Nichols. It is not clarified if they are sons of Reuben, John, or both. These are probably children of John, not Reuben because of the exception noted in the wording: "subject however to the lawful claim of --- Bishop, if any he has of in or to the same . . ." Most unfortunately this other grandson is not named. It would seem that this grandson of Stratton Bishop either remained in Europe during the ten years following Lydia's death, or he was unaware that he needed to reach out to the Orphan's Court in Cumberland County, New Jersey.

The land conveyed in 1832 is the same piece of land described in Stratton Bishop's will in 1823. There was no division to convey the "back half part" to Reuben's son, residing in Europe.

Sketch of Stratton Bishop's land described in wills and deeds.
1 chain = 100 links = 66 feet

On the west side of Cohansey Creek and bounded as followeth:

Beginning on the south side of main street at the North west corner of Philip Souders lot
thence bounding on the same South twenty degrees west five chains to a corner
thence bounding on George Burgins lot North sixty nine degrees and fifty minutes west fifty seven links to a corner
thence north twenty degrees east four chains and sixty two links to a corner
thence south sixty nine degrees and fifty minutes east seven links to a corner
thence north twenty degrees east thirty eight links to main street aforesaid
thence bounding thereon south sixty nine degrees and fifty minutes east fifty links to the place of beginning containing forty four perches and seventeen hundredths of a square perch of land.

I have not found records on my Reuben Levy Bishop that indicate any ties to Europe. Aside from the name Reuben, the only other similarity is that Reuben Levy Bishop's son, George (1848-1919), named a daughter Lorena (1880-1973).

Thus I do not see, at this point, that Reuben Levy Bishop of Morris County is the same Reuben Bishop, son of Stratton Bishop, of Cumberland County.

The hunt for the parents of Reuben Levy Bishop continues.

Pending Orders

 Below is the list of records not available online that were ordered and not yet fulfilled.

The last published list was on June 22, 2024.

Death certificate of James Cummings, 1912

Requested of the New York State Department of Health. Form DOH-4384 mailed February 9, 2024.

$22 check. (Died in Catskill, Greene County, New York March 11, 1912.) Check cleared July 30, 2024.

Death certificate of Jane Cummings, 1899

Requested of the New York State Department of Health. Form DOH-4384 mailed February 9, 2024.

$22 check. (Died in Catskill, Greene County, New York July 7, 1899.) Check cleared July 30, 2024.

Death certificate of John Grant, 1882

Requested of the New York State Department of Health. Form DOH-4384 mailed February 9, 2024.

$22 check. (Died in Catskill, Greene County, New York December 27, 1882.) Check cleared July 30, 2024.

Probate records of Jonas Long, 1837, and William Owens, 1853

Requested of the Richmond County, New York Surrogate's Court. Email dated June 25, 2023.

No fee at this time.

Death certificate of Mollie Schwartz, 1925

Requested from City of Bridgeport and State of Connecticut. Forms VS-39DST mailed April 6, 2023. (Same form number on both town and state forms.)

$20 each via money orders.

Update: April 20, 2024 received document from State of Connecticut. Still waiting for the copy from the City of Bridgeport.

Death certificate of Edward Sheeby [Edmond Sheehy], 1893

Requested of the New York State Department of Health. Form DOH-4384 mailed March 1, 2022.

$22 check cleared April 2, 2022.

Originally requested in 2015.

Town of Amenia provided an obscure ledger entry in 2023.