New York State's Progress on Releasing Historical Records

We have some great news from the State of New York.

No, they are not fulfilling genealogy requests of birth, marriage, and death records.

The Assembly and Senate both passed bills to amend the mental hygiene law to designate certain records as historical, thus allowing access to records if the subject has been deceased for at least fifty years.

Pending paragraph added to the mental hygiene law (§33.13) of New York

The next step is for Governor Kathy Hochul to either sign the bill into law, or to veto it.

Advocacy must continue to advise the governor's office on the importance of accessing these records for genealogical purposes.

Follow Ryan Thibodeau for additional updates and information.

I first became aware of this plight through the blog The Inmates of Willard.

1880 Census and More

In 1880, the decennial federal census was recorded. This was the first census that provided the relation of every member of the household to the head.

Did you know that additional information was recorded on people who had special needs and/or lived in institutions because of these needs? The database at Ancestry is titled U.S., 1880 Federal Census Schedules of Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Classes. Let's use the term "supplement to the census."

I just discovered this and thought I'd share my findings.

Please note that the terms used for these people and institutions were standard for the year 1880. Most have fallen out of use today and seem archaic or degrading.

Searching the 1880 census will not give results in the supplement to the census. These are separate databases at Ancestry. A potential match might appear in the "Suggested Records" column if you click on an entry in one database.

How would you know to look for someone on the supplement to the census? Either because they are enumerated as an occupant of an institution or because they answered in the affirmative to the questions about health.

1880 federal census questions about health

Question 15: Is the person [on the day of the Enumerator's visit] sick or temporarily disabled, so as to be unable to attend to ordinary business or duties? If so, what is the sickness or disability?

Question 16: Blind,

Question 17: Deaf and Dumb,

Question 18: Idiotic,

Question 19: Insane,

Question 20: Maimed, Crippled, Bedridden, or otherwise disabled.

Words or a slash mark in these columns merit a visit to the supplement to the census. Additional information was collected about the nature and length of the condition. This may or may not be accurate.

Specific to Newark, Essex County, New Jersey were several institutions, triggering the residents to appear on both the 1880 federal census and the supplement:

-Newark City Alms House on Elizabeth Avenue. Date of admission is on the supplement.

-Home for the Friendless on South Orange Avenue. Date of admission and number of brothers and sisters is on the supplement.

-Essex County Asylum for the Insane on Camden Street. Supplement includes illness, length of current attack, number of attacks, and age at first attack.

-Protestant Foster House on Belleville Avenue. Supplement includes date of admission and circumstances of birth.

Information, including spelling and indexing, can vary from the census to the supplement. The correct person can be confirmed because the enumeration district, page number, and line number of the census are included in the supplement.

Mary Staats (1840-1892) has possibly four entries in the 1880 census and supplement.

1880 United States Federal Census
476 Mulberry Street, Newark, New Jersey

In the 1880 federal census, Mary was enumerated at 476 Mulberry Street in Newark with her husband, Abraham, their two children, and a servant. [Indexed as Stadts at Ancestry.] For the question about occupation, "keep house" is scratched out and "insane asylum" written above. The box for "insane" is ticked.

1880 Federal Census Schedules of Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Classes.
Enumeration District 65.

Mary is listed in the supplement. We know this is Mary because of the enumeration district, 65, in the upper left corner. Next to Mary's name is the page number, 15, and line number, 43. [Indexed as Staats at Ancestry.] Additional information is that Mary suffers from mania, which struck for the first time one year ago when she was 39 years old. Also, she is currently housed at Newark Asylum.

So I checked for her in the 1880 census in the Asylum, Enumeration District 68.

1880 Federal Census
Essex County Asylum for the Insane, Camden Street, Newark, New Jersey.
Enumeration District 68.

In the 1880 census, there is a woman named Mary Staats listed at the Insane Asylum. [Indexed Stoats at Ancestry.] But her age was given as 68 years, birthplace New York.

1880 Federal Census Schedules of Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Classes.
Essex County Asylum for the Insane, Camden Street, Newark, New Jersey.
Enumeration District 68.

The supplement provides a few more details. Still 68 years old, married but also widowed. Suffering from her first bout of mania for four months.

The information provided about Mary in her home is probably more accurate and reliable because a family member spoke with the enumerator. At the institution, the enumerator did not speak to every inhabitant because of efficiency and because most occupants may have been too incapacitated to relay accurate information. The informant at the institution would not have personally known the accuracy of any specifics.

The takeaway is to look for additional information in the supplement if someone answered yes to a health question in the 1880 census, or if they resided as a pauper, orphan, or mentally or physically impaired person in an institution.

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.