Most of New York's probate records are maintained by the Surrogate's Court, which was established in each county in 1787. However, the New York State Archives holds two large groups of probate records: wills, inventories, and other documents recorded, filed, or maintained by the colonial Prerogative Court, 1686-1783, and its successor, the State Court of Probates, 1778-1823; and wills from the New York County Surrogate's Court, 1787-1879.
This bibliography does not include citations to published works mentioned earlier in this leaflet.
Arlene Eakle and Johni Cerny, eds., The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy (Salt Lake City: 1984). (Comprehensive guide to genealogical research; see Tracking Immigrant Origins, pp. 452-517.)
Marcia Eisenberg, Immigration and Naturalization Records as Genealogical Sources, Tree Talks [newsletter of Central New York Genealogical Society], 21:1 (March 1981), 3-13.
The U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service holds duplicate copies of naturalization documents filed after September 26, 1906. Inquiries and requests for a search form should be addressed to: U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service, 425 Eye Street NW, Washington, DC 20536; telephone (800) 870- 3676.
The New York State Archives holds only a few hundred naturalization documents. All were performed by the higher state courts operating before 1847: the Supreme Court of Judicature (at terms held in Albany, ca. 1799-1812, and in Utica, ca. 1830-38) (record series J5011, J9013); and the Court of Chancery (mostly during the period ca. 1830-47 in the court's fifth, sixth, and eighth circuits, located in central and western New York) (J1061).
New York State courts that performed naturalizations during the nineteenth century included the county courts of common pleas (pre-1847); the county courts (post-1847); the Court of Chancery; the Supreme Court; the higher city courts in New York, Brooklyn, Albany, Rochester, and Buffalo; and (rarely) the county surrogate's courts. After 1906 only the New York Supreme Court could perform naturalizations, and in most counties it has ceased doing so.
Below is a listing of records cited in the descriptions above. This guide is meant for quick reference. The researcher should carefully read the brief descriptions of record series in this leaflet. Fuller descriptions are available in the Archives' finding aids.
A0453 Record of Deeds (Miscellaneous Records, 1652-1884 (43 vols.)
Many immigrants to New York legally changed their names in order to simplify the spelling, or to adopt an American -sounding name. Prior to 1875 a change in a personal name could be accomplished through a special act of the Legislature. In addition, an 1847 statute authorized a court proceeding for the same purpose. Any person over age 21 could petition a county-level court to issue an order changing his or her name.
The New York State Legislature passed hundreds of special acts enabling individual aliens to acquire, hold, and dispose of title to real property. These acts date from the late 1780s through the early 1870s; however, relatively few of them date after 1830. A general name index to most of them is found in General Index of the Documents and Laws of the State of New-York (Albany: 1842), pp. 198- 233; updated editions of the index to laws (including references to acts enabling individual aliens to hold real property) were published in 1850, 1859, and 1866.
Reception and supervision of immigrants are functions of the federal government, specifically the U.S. Customs Service and the U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service or their predecessor agencies. Customs passenger lists (1820-97) and immigration passenger lists (1896-1957) for immigrants arriving at New York City (and partial indexes to the lists) are held by the National Archives; most of the lists are available on microfilm.
The National Archives at Philadelphia holds the older naturalization records from federal courts in New York, as well as photographic copies of naturalization records from state and federal courts in the counties now comprising New York City and from state courts in two upstate counties. Following is a summary of the National Archives' holdings of naturalization records for New York State, along with microfilm copies of indexes:
The New York State Archives is part of the Office of Cultural Education, an office of the New York State Education Department.