New York Proposes Rate Hikes to Thwart Genealogical Research

Over the years I’ve written about the difficulties in obtaining copies of vital records from the State of New York. The only way to receive a copy is to print out and physically mail a request, remit $22, then wait a few years for Albany to send a copy.

My latest orders have not been fulfilled. One year for the Cummings and Grant orders; three years for the Sheehy order.

New York claims a backlog of over 10,000 orders and that fulfilling them is almost impossible.

New York was able to figure out how to open the envelopes and cash the checks within weeks.

I suggested making the records digitally available online, which is what is happening with New York City records.

New York has responded. Their solution is to raise fees.

Memorandum in Support of these changes to pertinent New York laws

It is puzzling why Part U- the genealogical section of the Memorandum in Support of the proposed changed is called "Digitize Genealogical Records." Why called digitize? What is being digitized?

Raising the fee from $30 to $45 is their solution to ending the backlog. This is the fee under Section 4174 of the Public Health Law. Is this for only certified copies, of which genealogical copies are not? The current fee is $22, not $30, according to the website of the New York State Department of Health. Is this wrong?

Genealogical copies of births, marriages, and deaths are $22 from New York State Department of Health.
The website should have a disclaimer that you will not receive anything.

Raising fees would do nothing to end the existing backlog; however, it would lessen the rate of growth of the backlog by discouraging people from requesting more records. What would really decrease the growth of the backlog would be printing a disclaimer, such as “Our staff will not fill your order, but they will cash your check. Donate $45 to the State of New York now.” The backlog will remain because the orders were not fulfilled.

Also proposed is a research fee of $50 per hour. I'm not clear on when this would be invoked. At present, no research is performed, as no orders are processed. How long could this research endure? For example, minimum research on the part of the New York State Department of Health would have clarified that the request for the death certificate of Edmond Sheehy (died 1893 in Amenia) was incorrectly transcribed in their index as Edward Sheeby. Ten years later and I am still waiting for the death certificate. That is a lot of time.

In comparison, I can retrieve over one hundred certificates from microfilm in an all-day session at the New Jersey State Archives.

Also nervy is changing the statute to dispense with the requirement to maintain indexes to save themselves money after fighting against the request of Reclaim the Records to release those indexes.

In contrast, New York City is digitizing and publishing online for free its vital record collection.

New Jersey began state-wide collection of births, marriages, and deaths in 1848. For thirty years, the information was entered into ledger books and is available on microfilm at the New Jersey State Archives, online at a Family History Center for free, or online at home but behind a paywall at Ancestry. Certificates from 1878 forward are obtainable in person at the Archives in Trenton with cut-offs of 1924 for births and later for marriages and deaths. Mail orders are $10 per certificate with a return time of a few weeks.

Florida costs $10 per certificate with a return time of two weeks- the last time I ordered. More recent years are available than in New Jersey.

If New York cannot copy these records and cannot do it for $10, something is wrong. Very wrong.

Please share this information online to let New York know that its war on genealogy and history is not acceptable.

PS- While we are on the topic, what is the processing time of Connecticut? $20 for a death certificate. Waiting 22 months and counting.

Proposed Rate Increases on Immigration Records

 A substantial fee hike is proposed for genealogical records within the custody of the United States Citizen and Immigration Services ("USCIS"). Your voice is needed.

An overview of the "Genealogy Program" of the USCIS can be viewed here.

You can read about the issues on the website of Records Not Revenue and watch a video by JewishGen.

Whether or not you plan on needing these records, this situation merits your action. Voicing opposition to the USCIS reinforces that people are aware of the holdings and obligations of this institution.

Visit this page at Records Not Revenue for the steps and links. They recommend writing in your own words, rather than using a form letter identical to submissions by others. The deadline is March 13, 2023.

About five years ago, New York City enacted further restrictions on obtaining vital records. This was after public outcry.

You can further push your impact by writing to your elected officials at the federal level. These would be your two state senators and one representative. (Residents of Washington DC, which is not a state, have no such recourse.) To identify these people and their contact information, visit the official website of Congress.

I live in the 11th Congressional District in New Jersey. The officials below are my designated contacts for federal issues. If you contact senators or representatives from other districts, you might receive a response redirecting you to contact the members of Congress for your district.

Map of the 11th Congressional District in New Jersey
with the corresponding Members of Congress

Aside from this federal issue, you can use this strategy to try to ease access to records in your home state. New Jersey is home to millions and is one of the thirteen original colonies, thus rich in records of value to genealogists and historians. Those of you who attempt research in this State quickly find out that records are mostly not online.

At the official site of the New Jersey State Legislature, you can find your elected officials in the Senate and Assembly. I reside in the 40th District.

Map of the 40th Legislative District of New Jersey
with the corresponding senator and assemblymen

Trend is to Release Records, Not Restrict

New York City is seeking to limit public availability of birth and death records to 125 and 75 years after the event, respectively, according to a news action email I received from the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society.

I sprang into action and so can you. I signed the petition to not further limit access.

I also wrote a letter. A form letter is already drafted.  I modified it to suit my needs, which swung much further than the NYG&B Society.

I requested:

- A free, online, public index of births, marriages, and deaths within one year of the event.

- Digitization of individual certificates of births, marriages, and deaths and digitization of the indexes and older ledger books AND free, online, public access with some restrictions on recent births and marriages.

I don't think this is shocking or unreasonable in today's digital age. People who do not do genealogy are horrified when I describe what I have to go through, in terms of traveling and paying, to obtain a vital record. You have to pay for a vital record in New York. At least in New Jersey I can browse rolls of microfilm (remember the 1960s? I don't because I wasn't born yet) for free, snap a picture with my phone, and then hurl the image six decades ahead into the year 2017. Too bad if you can't visit Trenton.

Navigation skills required to find marriage certificates in New Jersey microfilm

Back to New York City. The web address keeps changing for the Municipal Archives. Below is a screenshot of what records they will provide. The cost is $15 per record, plus $2 for each additional year or borough searched. The birth records have remained steady at "before 1910" instead of one hundred years. Reclaim the Records plans to file for the release of the birth certificates for the years 1910 through 1917.

Ironically, Ancestry.com recently released an index of births of New York City for the years 1910 through 1965. Some of the images are of very poor quality, so I recommend looking at the actual images of the index and not merely relying on Ancestry's index of the index.

If you think that this is shocking to release a "recent" index of births, it is not unusual.  Here is California's index of births, marriages, and deaths through 1980 at Ancestry.com. The images link to the index, not the actual certificates.

Pennsylvania released its actual death certificates through 1964. No need to travel to Pennsylvania and sit at a microfilm reader. No need to pay for a certificate, wait months, then find out it's the wrong person and try again. This is fantastic.

Am I really asking for the moon for New York City (and New York State and New Jersey) to digitize and release its birth, marriage, and death records? I think not. The information is creeping out there through many outlets. Genealogists need legitimate, reliable resources for our work in the form of official government documents. We have online obituaries with loads of information, such as decedent's date of birth, spouse, and the names of living children and grandchildren. Find A Grave is another growing resource whose only requirement for posting is that the person is dead (and not a duplicate memorial).

Maybe there is hope for my home state. Reclaim the Records has secured and released the New Jersey index to marriages from 1901 through 2016. Yes. Through last year.

https://archive.org/details/NJ_Marriage_Index_2016

23andMe Price Reversion

The DNA genealogy testing company, 23andMe, has lowered its price back to $99 (US dollars) after doubling it to $199 one year ago.  This fee is for the genealogy portion of the site only.  To receive "health reports" and information on your traits, you need to pay the full $199.  You can opt out of the genealogy section at any time (or stay in and then complain that DNA cousins contact you).

For $99, you are matched with other testers who share pieces of DNA with you, indicating that you share a common ancestor back in time.  You also receive an estimate of your inherited ancestry.

This price reversion is a step in the right direction.  The site recently overhauled its layout and offerings and I am displeased and frustrated by the new format.

This same DNA genealogy test (autosomal) is currently priced $79 at FamilyTreeDNA and $99 at Ancestry.

You may have seen 23andMe kits sold in drugstores for a low price of $30.  This does not include the lab fee of $169, which brings the price to $199.  Be aware that this is the same price as ordering online.  This is convenient if you unexpectedly meet up with a relative whose DNA you need to collect immediately.

For $5 (US) you can upload the DNA file from any of these three companies to Promethease for health and trait information.

For free you can upload to GedMatch for enhanced ancestry calculations.  You will also be matched to DNA cousins from the other companies as well as WeGene, a Chinese DNA testing company.

23andMe Non Update

To celebrate DNA Day, FamilyTreeDNA and AncestryDNA had brief sales on their kits.  Their autosomal DNA testing kits regularly cost $100 as of this writing.

23andMe moved in the opposite direction and doubled its price in October of 2015 to $199.  The price was reduced temporarily by $50 a few times since then.  To celebrate Mother's Day, the $50 price drop is available to some customers through May 8, 2016.  (If you are not in the United States, you see a different version of 23andMe with different pricing structures.)

What bothered me was the rest of this email, in which I was again promised the "migration to the new 23andMe experience."  I have been waiting since November, when anonymous DNA matches were supposedly being phased out.  My ancestors took less time to migrate across the Atlantic Ocean in dinky ships.

I can see new matches.  Am I not seeing all of them?  Did an unknown close relative test but is blocked from view?  Some matches have full names while others have initials or partial names.  These profiles I can contact to request to "share genomes," which simply means we will both be able to view the shared segments of DNA to possibly assign to a common ancestral branch.  But I still have many anonymous matches, people with no identifying information and no way of being reached.

23andMe.com:  As of November 11th [2015], some aspects of DNA Relatives have been modified in preparation for the transition to the new 23andMe experience.  Pending introductions have been canceled.  Anonymous participants will only be able to receive messages from users that have been transitioned to the new experience. . .

Based on the amount of shared DNA, these genetic cousins are likely not closer than third cousins.

With the "old" site, I could request sharing of any match, though most did not respond.  Responses were often bizarre and irrelevant.  Maybe one day I will feature the most notable in a blog post.

Buy more kits from a site that has been stuck for almost six months?  No thank you.  My latest autosomal tests have been at FamilyTreeDNA and uploaded to GedMatch.

23andMe Price Increase

After years of decreasing prices for DNA testing for genealogy, I am sad to write that the price has increased.

23andMe is reviving its DNA-based health related testing, doubling the price for a kit from $99 (US Dollars) to $199.

The autosomal DNA test from the two other major genetic genealogy testing companies, FamilyTreeDNA and AncestryDNA, remains $99.

The frustration in using 23andMe for genealogy is that a lot of consumers tested their DNA for health purposes, not genealogy.  You choose which part you wish to participate in- genealogy or health or both- but family researchers are plagued with DNA cousins with no interest in communicating who posited themselves in the genealogy pool.

The effect of this price increase may drive genealogy DNA customers away from 23andMe to one of the other companies.  If you are serious about finding relatives, your DNA needs to be at all three companies anyway.  But frustration will increase as more people test for health and not genealogy, artificially increasing the genealogy pool available at 23andMe.

Holiday Access to Ancestry.com

From July 1 - 5, 2015 Ancestry.com offers free access to help you celebrate the 4th of July.  Go to the homepage, click on the "Search Free" box.

I entered "Ezra Dunn" for the name and "New Jersey" as the birthplace.  This brought me to a darkened page of results, asking for my email address so that I could be issued a username and passcode.  I clicked "No Thanks" and the list of results brightened.  There were 27 records, most from New Jersey, and just a few with the first name "Ezra."

I clicked on the first record and was brought to the page below, requiring registration to view the record.  Again I clicked "No thanks," but was returned to the list of results and not the actual record.

With my paid account, I searched for "Ezra Dunn" born in New Jersey and returned over seven million records.  (Over 99% of those records are irrelevant, so more specific search parameters would be more helpful.)

If anyone tries out this free access, please let us know what record types from which countries result.  Someone told me that a credit card is required for Free Access, which people are understandably hesitant to provide for a free service.

If this is truly free access to all of Ancestry.com, then you have a great opportunity to explore the site to see if continued access via paid subscription could help your research.

23andMe DNA Kits- Price Reduction Again!

I didn't think we would see a sale at 23andMe so soon after their massive price reduction, but to my surprise, kits are on sale!

The first kit is still $99, but additional kits are 20% off!

Just after I purchased several kits without the sale.

Time to purchase more . . .

Current pricing for autosomal DNA kits
23andMe.com

Ancestry Offers This Year's Records Free

A little year-end gift from Ancestry.com to you:  free access to the collections new in 2012.  Included are vital records for Massachusetts, church records for Pennsylvania, New York immigration records from the early 1900s, the New York state census of 1892, and more.  You can't beat free, but remember the goal is peak your interest so that you want more records that are in the subscription-only area.

You can search within the free records of 2012 and see the index and actual images.

The Pennsylvania collections features a record from a neighboring New Jersey family.
Excellent example of looking to neighboring jurisdictions for records.
Ancestry.com Pennsylvania Church and Town Records 1708-1985

23andMe DNA Kits: Dramatic Price Reduction

In case you have not heard, 23andMe and drastically lowered the price of a DNA testing kit from $299 to $99.  There is no subscription fee.  I do not know how long this price will last.

This test is for autosomal DNA, which seeks to identify the pieces of DNA you carry from all of your ancestral lines.

I have several people in mind that I wish to test.  The key to successful use of these DNA testing sites is to test family members from different branches of your tree.  To date, I have tested myself, both parents, my mother's brother, and two of my father's cousins.  Coincidentally, both of my father's cousins matched my maternal side- one to my mother and the other to her brother.

Hope that I am able to find a part-time job to cover the costs.

Also, please bear with me.  I am using a new computer with Windows 8.  Very confusing at present.

Albany Research Day 1

Today was the introduction to the New York State Archives and Library by the helpful staff.

I concentrated on vital records indexes.  New York City records are kept in New York City.  Beginning in 1881, the rest of the counties were supposed to report births, marriages, and deaths to the State.  Compliance was spotty at first, so I did not find a lot of records.  At least I was able to look for myself to make sure.

Indexes to New York State vital records.  Microfiche.

Each calendar year contains an alphabetical listing of names.
Counties are combined.
These are deaths for the year 1900 reported to the State of New York.
The number in the right column is the certificate number.

Once you have located a potential record of interest in the index, you cannot readily obtain the corresponding record.  You need to submit a completed application and $22 to the New York State Department of Health and wait for the certificate to come in the mail.  This costs time, money, and effectively prohibits you from exploring common names.  As an alternative, you can try the registrar of the county or the town where the event took place and see if they can provide the record faster or at a lower cost. 

If you cannot find a record at the state level, you will want to try the local registrar anyway.  Not all counties and cities reported events to the state in any particular year.

This is a nifty paper I saw hanging.
The genealogy of New York Counties.  Great resource.

DNA Testing Sale

DNA testing kits at Family Tree DNA are on sale!  If you were waiting to test your DNA, a sale is the perfect time to order.  The sale ends tomorrow, so hurry.

Family Finder Testing for $199 is autosomal DNA testing.  All of your ancestral lines are captured- half from your mother, half from your father.  This is the same testing that 23andMe offers, called Relative Finder.  Their current, non-sale price is $299.

Oprah Magazine Explores Ancestry's Free Trial

The August 2012 O, The Oprah Magazine features the article "Up A Tree" by Leslie Larson about genealogy!  I love to see our passion portrayed in a mainstream magazine.  Ms. Larson writes about her tense experience with Ancestry.com's free 14 day trial.  She sorted out a lot of the mystery behind her muddled ancestry, discovering that the stories of her inheritance did not align well with the documents she uncovered.

You can also sign up for a free trial.  As a tip, make sure that your schedule for those 14 days is relatively free of other commitments.  Every clue leads to more clues and the possibilities multiply exponentially.  You can easily spend hours and then days pursuing these avenues, forgoing sleep and non-essential activities, as detailed in the article.  Some have written to me that they are put-off by the requirement of a credit card for the free trial.  I have not heard any complaints that Ancestry charged people an unwanted subscription fee.  I think that it is silly to require a credit card for the free trial.  Ancestry can easily cut you off after 14 days and then ask for a credit card to continue.  You can maintain a free membership to Ancestry and access the free databases and indexes, but your ability to research will be very limited.  The larger libraries subscribe to Ancestry, so you may continue your research there, but you should not wear your pajamas in public.

Hobby versus Career

Thomas MacEntee over at GeneaBloggers is posting several articles about money and genealogy. 

People have asked me and I have asked myself, "Why don't you do this professionally?"

I am not sure.  My day job as a nurse pays the bills, but it's not as glamorous as what you see on television.  People do not place a high monetary value on genealogical research.  They do not realize the time, effort, travel, and reading required to uncover a scattered or elusive lineage.  People also feel that the records should be of little or no cost, while we know that states charge upwards of $30 for a vital records certificate.  People often email me (often with misspellings and without providing their name) asking me, "Can I have all your research on this line?"  As if I didn't spend years crawling through cemeteries, sneezing over moldy record books, and straining my eyes deciphering grainy microfilm to reach the point where I am in my research.  If I wanted my research online for anyone to take and credit themselves, I would have already done that.

Did I digress?  Pardon me.

I am enjoying Mr. MacEntee's articles and encourage you all to read them as well.

Me (left) and my sister Danielle (right) in 2004
at Holy Cross Lutheran Cemetery
Bushkill Center, Northampton County, Pennsylvania



DNA Testing Sale at FamilyTreeDNA

Hello Everyone.

As I mentioned in a comment to a post, I ordered DNA kits because of sales.  FamilyTreeDNA is having a sale.  Their autosomal testing kit, "Family Finder," is on sale for $199 through July 15, 2012.  Their usual price is $289.  In comparison, the autosomal test at 23andMe is $299.  This is a one-time fee.  FamilyTreeDNA offers additional tests that you can purchase later, if you so wish.

Autosomal testing will produce distant cousins who are descended from any one of your ancestors.  If you have been waiting to test, a sale is a great time to go ahead and order the kit.  You will naturally want to test yourself.  If your parents or grandparents are alive, test them.  If one parent is deceased or not available but the other is still living, test yourself and the living parent.  Cousins who match you but not the living parent are likely related through the untested parent.

FamilyTreeDNA.com
Sale on autosomal DNA test

Purchased AncestryDNA Kit

I logged onto my email tonight just in time to see the awaited announcement from Ancestry that I could purchase one of their new DNA kits.  The offer was good for only twelve hours.

Email from Ancestry.com received 9 June 2012.
Offer expires 9 June 2012.

I ordered one kit for $99 plus $9.95 shipping.  [On an aside note, I will get a percentage of the price credited to my Upromise account.  Another 27 years and those school loans will be gone!]

I returned to the Offer Page and tried to order another kit, but was denied.

This new offer from AncestryDNA is autosomal testing, meaning that the test captures DNA that you have from all of your ancestral lines.  [The trick is figuring out WHICH ancestral line you have in common with any one of your hundreds of distant genetic cousins.]  This is the testing offered by 23andMe and one of the tests available at FamilyTreeDNA.  This is not the same test that I did at Ancestry a few years ago for my father, his sister, and myself.

I now need to decide who to test.  I wanted to try the new autosomal testing at Ancestry.  I DO NOT want results for various family members scattered across companies.  I will not be able to compare genetic cousins against known, closer family members if I do not concentrate the tests at one company.

I will keep you posted . . .

Social Security Death Index

A great way of finding a date of death for someone in all states for recent times is the Social Security Death Index, which is available at Ancestry.com or Rootsweb.com (for free). Starting in 1937, certain employed people could participate in this federal retirement program. Based on certain conditions, some of these people made it into the Death Index. The point is that you will not find everyone in the Death Index. When you find someone in the Index, you will have a birthdate and a month and year of death, maybe even the day. You may also get one or two locations of death; one might be where the check was being sent; the other might be a residence.

Ancestry.com entry for the Social Security Death Index
James Earl Jones, 241-18-6528
Note the date of birth as 1921

If you find an entry for a person of interest in the Death Index, you can order the original application.  Ancestry will generate a letter for you.  The fee used to be $7. A few years ago, the fee jumped to $27. This is unfortunate, as the application contains great information, such as birthdate, place, and names of parents.

Note that the information in the Index lists the date of birth for James Earl Jones as 1921; but the original application has 1920 as the year of birth.  This is an interesting point and is why you need to order the original application.

Copy of the original application for a Social Security Number
James Earl Jones
Note that the year of birth he provided was 1920

Sometimes you may have a Social Security Number for someone who is deceased, but you cannot find the person or number in the Death Index.  For $29, you can request a search of the number.  I have tried this with a few people, but have not had success in locating a record with Social Security.

The death certificate of Nellie Duryea provides a Social Security Number.
The Number is not listed in the Death Index.

I requested a search of the Social Security Number listed on the death certificate for Nellie Duryea,
but the Social Security Administration reported not finding a record.

Upromise adds Ancestry.com

I was surprised this morning when I visited Ancestry.com and the Upromise banner appeared at the top of the page.

Upromise has added Ancestry.com to its stores.  Right now, purchases at Ancestry will earn you 20% back at Upromise plus an additional 11% (not the listed 1%) with the Upromise credit card.