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.

Error on Marriage Certificate

Samuel Schwartz and Hani "Annie" Perlstein settled in Jersey City, New Jersey after their arrival from Hungary in the 1880s. I wanted to know the names of their parents and their hometown. A marriage record is a great place to possibly find this information.

No match was found in the indexes of New Jersey, New York state, and New York City. However- there was an entry for Samuel Schwartz and Amelia Friedman in 1889 in New York City. Samuel and Annie's first child, Edward, was born in 1890 in Jersey City. In general, to find a marriage record, begin with the birth of the first child and work backwards.

Index of New York City marriages at Ancestry

New York City vital records are being digitized and are available for free on the website of the New York City Department of Records and Information Services.

The Certificate of Marriage is two pages. The first page lists the groom as Samuel Schwartz and the bride as Amalia Friedman. This is consistent with the index at Ancestry.

Certificate of Marriage, New York City
Samuel Schwartz and Hani Perstein married January 20, 1889.
In error was written "Amalia Friedman" as the bride's name.

The second page reveals that there is an error on the first page. The bride was Hani Perlstein, not Amalia Friedman. The author wrote the name of the groom's mother instead of the name of the bride. The document is written with two different colors of ink- blue and black. This could reveal that the document was completed at a later time, resulting in confusion.

Certificate of Marriage, New York City
Samuel Schwartz and Hani Perstein married January 20, 1889.
Groom's parents- Pincus Schwartz and Amalia Friedman.
Bride's parents- Adolph Perlstein and Lina Perlstein.

I will also note that the difference in the color of the ink would not have been known if this document was not digitized in color!

To solidify that we have the correct couple, the death certificates were obtained from the New Jersey State Archives. Samuel Schwartz died in 1958 in Jersey City at the Hebrew Home for Aged. On this document his father was Pincus Schwartz and his mother was Miriam Friedman. This is a good match for the marriage record from 1889.

Death Certificate, New Jersey
Samuel Schwartz died April 17, 1958 in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey

Annie Schwartz died in Atlantic City in 1940 from a stroke. Her residence was in Jersey City. Atlantic City is a popular vacation spot in New Jersey, so perhaps she was on a trip when suddenly struck. Her parents were listed as Abraham Perlstein and Unknown. (My least favorite name.)

Death Certificate, New Jersey
Annie Schwartz died January 23, 1940 in Atlantic City, Atlantic County, New Jersey

After collecting the death certificates to confirm that the entry in the index was for this target couple, I submitted a correction to the erroneous entry for Amelia Friedman in the index at Ancestry. The correct name of the bride, Hani Perlstein, was added. Amelia is not really wrong- it is the bride's name on the first page. Now, if someone searches for Hani, she can be found.

Corrected entry for Hani Perlstein in the 
index of New York City marriages at Ancestry

No hometown in Hungary was given in any of these records.

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.

Married Twice Eight Years Later

While figuring out the connection with a DNA match, I came across two marriage records for a couple.

On September 12, 1942, Joseph De Figlio (1920-1984) and Anita Whitley (1924-1998) were married in Irvington, Essex County, New Jersey. "Remarried 7-15-50 Newark" was written on this Certificate of Marriage. The officiant was William Lawrence Siebert (1876-1949), a German Evangelical Lutheran minister.

Joseph DeFiglio and Anita Whitley married September 12, 1942 in Irvington, Essex County, New Jersey.
Groom's parents- Anthony De Figlio and Mary Cavateca.
Bride's parents- William Whitley and Mary Shalvoy.
Witnesses- Henry Bosset and Mrs R L Russomanno.
Officiant- William L Siebert.

Reverend William L Siebert in the 1942 Newark city directory, 42 South 12th.

Five children were born to this couple in the 1940s.

The remarriage was on July 15, 1950 in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey. They were both listed as single, never married before. The officiant this time was a Catholic priest, John D Kearney (1909-1989).

Joseph C De Figlio and Anita C Whitley married July 15, 1950 in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey.
Groom's parents- Anthony De Figlio and Mary Caropezza.
Bride's parents- William Whitley and Mary Shalvoy.
Witnesses- Wilbur Leicht and Mary Leicht [born Whitley].
Officiant- Dr John D Kearney, OP.

Why did they remarry? Did they need to have a ceremony in a Catholic church? Renewing vows?

Note the remark on the first record from 1942, that the couple remarried. Where was this document kept that someone was able to return to it and write a note about the second ceremony?

Also note the file number. It begins with the number 9. The index of marriages is available on Ancestry and Internet Archive (thanks to Reclaim the Records), but the certificates are not. It is helpful to know that remarriages are given file numbers that start with the number 9.

Index of Marriages, 1950 New Jersey.
File numbers beginning with 9 indicate a remarriage, though not necessarily to each other.
Place of marriage is not the zip code. See Bring Out Yer Dead for the legend.

Microfilm containing marriage records, 1950 New Jersey.
Remarriages were filmed together and begin with the number 9.
Available at the New Jersey State Archives for in-person viewing.

Adopted Daughters of Philip Duryee and Mary Amelia Brown

I found these flat markers for Clara Dunlap (1885-1966) and Edgar N Dunlap (1878-1955) in Mount Hebron Cemetery in Montclair, New Jersey.

flat marker
Clara L Dunlap 1885-1966

flat marker
Edgar N Dunlap 1878-1955

The woman on this stone is Clara Louise, the adopted daughter of Philip Duryee (1848-1936) and Mary Amelia Brown (1852-1931). Most of the prior generations were buried at Grove Church Cemetery in North Bergen, Hudson County, New Jersey.

Here they are in the 1900 federal census at 400 Columbia Street, Town of Union, Hudson County, New Jersey. Philip and Amelia have two daughters: Luela (or Lulla?) Duryee, age 14, and Mary Hazard, age 12.

1900 federal census for Town of Union, Hudson County, New York:

Philip Duryee, head; born Sept 1848 in New Jersey, age 51; married for 12 years.

Mary Duryee, wife; born Nov 1852 in New Jersey, age 47; married for 12 years; has two children, both living.

Luela Duryee, daughter; born Oct 1885 in New Jersey, age 14; single.

Mary Hazard, daughter; born Nov 1887 in New Jersey, age 12.

Anna Jacob, boarder; born Dec 1882 in New York, age 17.

Clifford Morton, boarder; born Jun 1875 in Pennsylvania, age 24.

(The Town of Union was dissolved in 1898. Don't quote me on this, but I think that Columbia Street became 21st Street, then 66th Street, in the Town of West New York.)

In the 1910 census, "Lula" is the adopted daughter, while Mary retained the surname Hassard.

1910 federal census: 400 Columbia Street, Union City, Hudson County, New Jersey.

Phillip Duryee, head; age 61; married for 22 years.

Mary A Duryee, wife; age 57; married for 22 years; no children.

Lula Duryee, adopted daughter; age 24; single.

Mary G Hassard, cousin; age 22; single.

Philip Duryee was discussed in an earlier post. He disappeared before his wedding ceremony in 1887. He returned and married Mary Amelia Brown, daughter of James Nathan Brown and Charlotte Amelia Gardner (1826-1891).

At first, I did not know how these two children related to Philip and Amelia. I found no birth record for Luela or Lulla Duryee circa 1885 and none for Mary Hazard circa 1887.

After happening upon the gravestone of Clara, I renewed efforts to uncover the identity of these two "adopted" daughters. 

New Jersey has indexes online for its marriages. One of the issues is the 1920-1929 index, which spells out a bride's name but only includes initials of the husband. The marriage certificate is not online, so you cannot immediately confirm the groom from home.

New Jersey, U.S., Marriage Index, 1901-2016
Ancestry.com

1922 marriage record
Clara Louise Hassard and Edgar Newton Dunlap

In 1922, Clara Louise Hassard married Edgar Newton Dunlap. She listed her parents as William R Hassard and Clara Sears. Philip Duryee was a witness.

1925 marriage record
Mary Gardner Hassard and James Aloysius Bergin

In 1925, Mary Gardner Hassard (died 1973) married James Aloysius Bergin (1887-1958). She listed her parents as William Hassard and Clara Sears.

Thus, the parents of these two adopted children were identified.

I did not find a marriage record for William Hassard and Clara Sears. William died in Jersey City in 1889 from meningitis. He was 34 years old.

Clara Sears died in the Town of Union in 1893 from pulmonary tuberculosis. She was 36 years old.

Luella, who became known as Clara Louise, and Mary were the only children of this couple who survived their parents.

Mary Amelia Brown, the wife of Philip Duryee, was a first cousin of William Hassard, the father of Luella and Mary. The common ancestors were James Gardner and Mary Earle, born around 1790 in New Jersey.

Married twice in 1929

In my research, finding two marriage ceremonies for the same couple is no longer unusual. I think this is thanks to indexes becoming more readily available online for New York and New Jersey.

In some instances, the reasons may not be apparent on the face of the documents and the length of time between ceremonies.

For Theodore Marmorstein and Rose Roth, the purpose of their double nuptials was clear- they were married in a civil ceremony and then a religious ceremony in May of 1929 in New York City.

The civil ceremony was at the municipal building on May 4th.

The religious ceremony was performed by Rabbi B M Klein on May 9th.

These images are available for free online through the New York City Municipal Archives.

1929 marriage record of Theodore Marmorstein and Rose Roth
Civil ceremony May 4

1929 marriage record of Theodore Marmorstein and Rose Roth
Religious ceremony May 9

The record for the second ceremony explains at the top of the page, "Married civilly at Municipal Building NYC 4th of May. Number of marriage certificate 165972."

Questions:

1- What does certificate number 165972 reference? The number on the first ceremony is 11233.

Married civilly at Municipal Building NYC 4th of May.
Number of marriage certificate 165972.

2- What does the stamp and handwriting on the reverse of the first certificate indicate?

Order No 368739
Date 10-10-42
Number Issued 2
Searcher
Photo OP M R

Observation: 

Marriage records are great because the subject of the record, the bride or the groom, oversees the information written on the document.

The spelling of Rose Roth's mother differs slightly on both documents. Rose Roth's birth certificate is available on the Municipal Archives website. Rose was born on June 1, 1907 in New York City. Her mother's name was recorded as Annie Buchholz on this birth certificate. This is consistent with other records for Annie. I don't know why Rose listed her mother as Helen on both marriage certificates.

Birth certificate of Rose Roth, June 1, 1907 in New York City.
Father- William Roth (1869-1936). Mother- Annie Buchholz.
[Accessed online New York City Municipal Archives]

What became of this couple?

In the 1930 census, Theodore and Rose were living together on East 66th Street in New York City. I found two children born to them in 1930 and 1937.

By 1940, Rose was residing at the Hudson Valley State Hospital in Dover, Dutchess County, New York. This was an inpatient facility for the treatment of mental health issues. In the 1950 census, Rose was still a patient at this facility.

1940 United States Federal Census
Dover, Dutchess County, New York
Hudson Valley State Hospital
Rose Marmorstein, patient; age 32; married; born in New York.

There is an entry in the New York State Death Index for Rose Marmorstein in 1964. The residence was New York City. Remember that New York City's records are not housed with the rest of the state. An entry for Rose in the state's index could indicate that she was still a patient at Harlem State. The address in New York City was likely a relative's home.

New York State index of deaths
Rose Marmorstein died March 3, 1964

Theodore Marmorstein remarried in 1954 to Hedwig "Hedy" Erger. He and Rose must have divorced. This marriage record is not yet available on the website of the Municipal Archives.

New York City index of marriages
Theodore Marmorstein and Hedwig Erger
License issued 1954

Theodore died in Hawaii in 1992. Hedy died in 2002.

Two More Marriage Ceremonies

Another couple had two marriage ceremonies.

Louis Kossuth Goldberger (1887-1971) and Celia Schlesinger (1887-1962) were married in New Jersey on October 31, 1910. They married again in New York City on April 9, 1911.

Any guesses why this was done? 

Marriage record for Louis Goldberger and Celia Schlesinger
October 31, 1910
Woodbridge, Middlesex County, New Jersey

Marriage Record for Louis Goldberger and Celia Schlesinger
April 9, 1911
New York City

His parents were Herman Goldberger and Rosa Balogh. Hers were Moritz Schlesinger and Mary Spitzer.

Records using the surname Goldberger stop in the 1930s. They changed their name to Dormont.

1940 United States Federal Census for Brooklyn, New York
Louis Dormont with wife, Celia; and children:
Paul, Richard, and Miriam

Research Notes:

New York City records of certain years can be searched and downloaded for free on the website of the New York City Department of Records and Information Services.

New Jersey records 1878 forward are not online, but indexes exist. The years 1920-1929 only have initials of the groom, so if you do not have the name of the bride, you may not find your person of interest in the index. The certificates are filed in the State Archives by year in alphabetical order for the years 1904 forward, so you can search year by year if you only know the groom's name.

New Jersey Vital Records Index 1901-1903 is Online

Indexes for New Jersey records are online for the early 1900s!

A year ago I wrote about the efforts of Reclaim the Records to obtain copies of indexes for New Jersey vital records in the custody of the State Archives.  The group received microfilm rolls of the indexes for:
-Births 1901, 1902, and 1903
-Deaths 1901, 1902, and 1903
-Groom index 1901, 1902, and 1903
-Bride index 1901 through 1914.

Previous acquisitions of New York City records appeared (for free) at Archive.org.

This New Jersey collection is also at Archive.org; however, I found the collection on Ancestry.com also.

To view the vital records indexes at Archive.org, you need to browse page by page to find a desired entry.  Ancestry.com has indexed the names- an index of the index.  (Records earlier than 1901 are indexed at FamilySearch.org.)

Remember that you are viewing an index and NOT the actual record of birth, marriage, or death.  To acquire a copy of the certificate, you need to order it (for a fee) from the Archives in Trenton.  (You can place your order online for records through 1915.)  Also remember that indexes are not exhaustive and names may be spelled as interpreted by the typist.

I already found an entry for a marriage certificate from 1908 that should help a brick wall.  The bride's name is listed in the index as "Blaney."  If I have the correct couple, the name should be "Birney."

Finding Entries using a Flawed Index

When you cannot locate someone in an index, try searching with only a first name or view every name in the entire location.  Depending on the commonality of the name and the size of the potential search area, this may be a cumbersome task, but when a thorough researcher needs a record, this is the technique.

Patrick Joyce and his first wife and children were finally located in the 1865 New York State Census without using their last name.

The criteria was to search Pawling, Dutchess County, New York for this family:
- father Patrick
- mother Mary or Margaret
- and at least two children, Mary and Adelia or Delia.

The index at Ancestry.com produced only 1,694 people living in Pawling in 1865.  I forwarded to the J surnames in hopes that at least the first letter was recorded correctly.

Found them!

The Joyce surname was transcribed for the index as JAIN.  When you view the actual record (always look at the record, not just the index!), the name was probably spelled JOICE, a variant of Joyce.

It is great to get another glimpse of Margaret Campbell, wife of Patrick Joyce.  She died in 1870  when her skirt was caught as she stepped from a moving train to not be separated from her child.

Adelia was listed as Cordelia.  In the 1870 federal census, she was Adelia.  In the 1875 New York State census, she was Delia.  My grandmother referred to her as Delia Joyce, her paternal grandmother.

Family Tree Repair

John R Winterton was born around 1831 to Samuel Winterton and Sally Ann Johnson in New York City and died February 18, 1890 in Keyport, Monmouth County, New Jersey.

Here are the possible matches at Ancestry through Family Tree Maker:

Entries with a green arrow are dates of death consistent with the death certificate.

These are all derivative sources.

With the prior date of death from Find A Grave, 13 February 1896, I searched for a death certificate at the New Jersey State Archives and found none.

The memorial page for John R Winterton shows a side view of a stone that is not easy to read.  This is why you should transcribe a stone while physically accessible, and not later by looking at a picture of the stone.  The font shapes all of the numbers the same and differentiates them with a small piece missing.  It is very easy to mistake one number for another.

I visited Green Grove Cemetery in Keyport and took frontal pictures of the stone.  The date of death is etched as Feb. 18, 1890.  The lettering is not easy to read in the best of the pictures.

This date led me to a death certificate an an obituary in the Red Bank Register.

The death certificate is not easy to read.  The "body was found" on February 18, 1890.  This must have been an unwitnessed death, likely a heart attack.  He was 58 years old.  It may be possible that John died the previous day, did not come home, so a search party was sent out at daybreak on February 18th.  None of this is stated on the death certificate or newspaper obituary, so we'll go with a date of death on February 18th- when the body was found.

John R Winterton, a farmer living near Matawan, was found dead beside the railroad track near that place on Tuesday of last week.  He had fallen dead from heart disease.

I contacted the person managing John R Winterton's memorial page at Find A Grave.  The date of death was corrected.  I contacted the owners of the family trees who used the erroneous date.  So far, only one changed the date.  The other two continue to use the incorrect date of death.

The collection at Family Search -  New Jersey, Deaths and Burials Index, 1798-1971 - has the correct month and day, but the year is off by one.  This is an ongoing issue with this particular index and serves as a reminder that indexes are not primary sources.

An index for deaths is being created at the Archives.  Their index has the correct date of John R Winterton's death.

You need to be very cautious when straying from primary sources.

Look Alike, Transcribe Alike

Here's another one about finding the original record and not relying on an index.

The surnames DWYER and DURYEA look very similar in script.

Some years of New Jersey deaths, 1878-1892, are indexed online at the website of the State Archives.  (The web address keeps changing.  The current site for indexed records, which is free, is http://www.nj.gov/state/archives/searchdatabases.html)  (You can also find indexes for New Jersey's births, marriages, and deaths at FamilySearch.org for free.)

In the search box I entered "Durye" to bring up both spellings- Duryea and Duryee.  An entry for the death of Mary Duryer, age 50, appeared for Jersey City in Hudson County, one of my geographic target areas.

Deaths for July 31, 1889 through June 30, 1890 are on one microfilm.  47 is the place code for Jersey City.  Records for Jersey City are separate from the rest of Hudson County.  The certificate is D87; D for Duryea.

The death certificate was for Mary Dwyer, not Duryer or Duryea.

My family tree contains a Duryea-Dwyer marriage.  You can imagine the transcription errors.  So always seek the original record and do not stop with the index.

Birth certificate for Agnes Duryea, born July 4, 1907 in Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey.
This baby lived just a few months and died on October 29, 1907.
Daughter of John Duryea and Katharine Dwyer.
Number 11- but not the last child born to this couple.

Also note that the birth certificate for Agnes Duryea was created March 31, 1908--- five months after her death.  I wonder why.