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New York County

- New Amsterdam -

New York, USA

 

Introduction

Gen Tool-Kit

Researching by Surname

Ancestral Gen-Sites

Researching by Location

Website Resources

Image Gallery

Contact Information

 

 

Introduction

 

     Manhattan is one of the five boroughs of New York City.  Located primarily on Manhattan Island at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York. It consists of Manhattan Island and several small adjacent islands: Roosevelt Island, Randall's Island, Ward's Island, Governors Island, Liberty Island, part of Ellis Island, and U Thant Island; as well as Marble Hill, a small section on the mainland adjacent to the Bronx. The original city of New York began at the southern end of Manhattan, and expanded in 1898 to include surrounding counties. It is the smallest, yet most urbanized of the five boroughs.

     New York County was created in 1683 and formed as an Original County. New York County was named for King James II of England, who was Duke of York and Albany prior to ascending the throne, Duke of York having been his English title and the County Seat is New York City.

     Counties that lie adjacent to New York are: Bergen County, New Jersey—west/northwest; Hudson County, New Jersey—west/southwest; Bronx County, New York (The Bronx)—northeast; Queens County, New York (Queens)—east/southeast; Kings County, New York (Brooklyn)—south/southeast; and Richmond County, New York (Staten Island)—southwest.

 

NEW AMSTERDAM

A permanent European presence in New Netherland began in 1624 with the founding of a Dutch fur trading settlement on Governors Island. In 1625 construction was started on a citadel and a Fort Amsterdam on Manhattan Island, later called New Amsterdam (Nieuw Amsterdam).  Manhattan Island was chosen as the site of Fort Amsterdam, a citadel for the protection of the new arrivals; its 1625 establishment is recognized as the birth date of New York City.  Peter Minuit is credited with acquiring Manhattan in 1626 from Native American Lenape people in exchange for trade goods worth 60 guilders, often said to be worth 24 dollars.

      In 1647, Peter Stuyvesant was appointed as the last Dutch Director General of the colony.  New Amsterdam was formally incorporated as a city on February 2, 1653.  In 1664, the British conquered New Netherland and renamed it "New York" after the English Duke of York and Albany, the future King James II.    

 

 

Gen Tool-Kit

gen tool-kit

     Our “Gen-Tool Kit” has been primarily designed for those researchers who may be traveling to this location to perform on-site studies of their family history, or to just visit some of the interesting historical sites located in the area.  It can be very satisfying to mix research with sightseeing at historical and scenic spots.  Such activity not only gives you an understanding of the land but a needed break from intense research sessions.  When visiting an ancestral county for genealogical research we’ve found that the three most important places to visit are the county courthouse; the county library; and the county historical and/or genealogical societies.  It is also good to plan ahead by contacting any site you intend visiting in order to ascertain where it is and when it will be open.  This is especially true with regard to historical and genealogical societies.  We hope that the following information will provide you with a better idea of what resources are available, within this county, to the family historian.

County Court Records 

·         New York County Clerk has Land & Court Records from 1654 and is located at 60 Centre St., Rm. 161, New York, NY 10007; Phone: (212) 374-8359, Fax: (212) 374-5970. At the City Register's Office, Rooms 203-205, 31 Chambers Street, New York 10007. Early records of the County are in the Division of Old Records, 7th Floor.

  • Marriages Prior to 1784 couples intending to marry were required to obtain licenses from and file bonds with the provincial secretary, if the impending marriage was not announced in a church. These Marriage Bonds were mostly destroyed in the 1911 Capitol fire. Published abstracts are available in Names of persons for whom marriage licenses were issued by the secretary of the province of New York, previous to 1784. (Albany: 1860; repr. with supplements 1984); and in New York Marriage Bonds, 1753-1783, comp. Kenneth Scott (New York: 1972).
  • Naturalization records are created by the Federal and State courts. State court naturalization records generally remain in custody of the county clerks. Older Federal court naturalization records have been transferred to the National Archives. Photocopies of naturalization documents and indexes for New York City for the period 1792-1906 (both Federal and State courts) are held by the National Archives--Northeast Region, 201 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014.
  • New York County Surrogate Court Clerk has Probate Records from 1665 and is located at Courthouse, 31 Chambers St., NY, NY 10007; phone:(646) 386-5000 . Pre-1830 surrogate files are not known to have survived. Extant early inventories are at the Surrogate's Court, the New York Historical Society, and the New York Municipal Archives. .

 

Libraries, Museums & Archives

American Family Immigration History Center 
Archives & Special Collections 

Barnard College Archives 
Carnegie Hall History, Rose Museum, and Archives 
Castle Clinton National Monument 
The Center for Jewish History Genealogy Institute 
The Centro Library and Archives 
The Century Association Archives Foundation 
The City College of the City University of New York 
Columbia University Archives 
& Columbiana Library
The Cooper Union Library 
The Cooper Archives
Digital Metro New York 
Dyckman Farmhouse Museum 
Manhattan, New York
Family History Library Holdings     

Family History Library Holdings 

Frances Tavern Museum 
Fraunces Tavern Museum 

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History 
Gotham Center for New York City History 
Jósef Pilsudski Institute of America 
The Jewish Museum New York 
Jewish Theological Seminary 
Archives
Leo Baeck Institute 
Lower East Side Tenement Museum 
Major Repositories in NYC for Genealogical Research
Manhattan Borough Historian 
Manhattan College Archives 
Merchant's House Museum 

Morris-Jumel Mansion  Historic Harlem Heights
Museum of Chinese in the Americas 
Museum of Jewish Heritage 
Museum of the City of New York 
NARA's Northeast Region (New York City) 
National Museum of the American Indian 

The New York City Police Museum 
New York City Resources - Manhattan     

New York County Libraries     

New York Hungarian House 
The New York Public Library 

NYC Department of Records 

Old York Library 
PERiodical Source Index Search 
New York Co. NY
The Pierpont Morgan Library 

Rediscovering New York History and Culture 

Rediscovering New York History and Culture 

The Romanian Cultural Institute in New York 
Scandinavia House 
The Nordic Center in America
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture 
South Street Seaport Museum 
Special Archives and Collections 
NYU Libraries
Special Collections in the St. Mark's Library 
Trinity Church Archives 
The Ukrainian Museum 
USGenWeb Archives     
Yeshiva University Libraries 

YIVO Institute for Jewish Research 

 

Historical & Genealogical Societies

1st New York Continental Chapter - NSSAR    

The American Irish Historical Society 
American Jewish Historical Society 
Archivists Round Table 
of Metropolitan New York
Hispanic Genealogy Center 

The Holland Society of New York 
Jewish Genealogical Society 
Lithuanian American Community 
New York District
Mary Washington Colonial Chapter  - NSDAR
Metro New York Genealogy & Computer Group 
The Netherland Club of New York 

The New England Society  in the City of New York

New York Caledonian Club 
New York City Chapter  -    NSDAR
New York City Chapter -
United States Daughters of 1812)
The NYC City Landmarks Preservation Commission
New York Irish History Roundtable 

New York Metro Chapter  Assoc. of Professional Genealogists
Roosevelt Island Historical Society 
Roosevelt Island Historical Society 
The Saint Nicholas Society 
of the City of New York
Securities & Exchange Comm. Historical Society 
St. George's Society of New York 

 

Historical Places

Your LINK to the Historical Places and Districts in NEW YORK County

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

National Park Service

National Historic Landmarks

National Battlefields

National Historic Sites

National Historical Parks

National Memorials

National Monuments

surnames

Researching
by Surname

The following are names of persons, found within our databases,

as having been either born, married or died in this location.

To find out more about each surname listed above click on the corresponding Link.

McVicker; Moreland; Pinnell; Scruggs and allied families

Van der Voort (Vanderford)

Bozarth; Peiffer; Quigley; Rhubart and allied families

 

Dellinger; Knecht; Pfeffer; Silar and allied families

Additional information regarding these and other surnames may also be found at:

Surname Locator Resources

Free Genealogy Surname
 Search From Google

Use this free genealogy site to help you get the best genealogy searches from Google™ by using your family tree, for your research. It will create a series of different searches  using tips or "tricks"

that will likely improve your results. The different searches will give you many different ways of using Google and the Internet to find ancestry information about  this  or  any  other  Surname. 

Where in the World do These
 Surnames Come From?

Click on the LINK to the right to see more information about the World distribution of any surname.  You can

get greater detail for any of the maps by clicking on the area, i.e state, county that you are interested in.

Ancestral 
Gen-Sites

ancestral gen-sites

Map of the County

Family History Notes

Gen-Site Profiles

Map of the county

Map of the County

The Red Starin the map designates the location of the seat of government for this county.  Yellow Stars designate seats of government in adjacent counties.   A Purple Dotshows the location of identified ancestral Gen-Site(s).

NOTE: for a better view of this map use the following ZOOM feature -

from the keyboard you can increase or decrease the zoom value in 10% increments.

To zoom IN, press Ctrl and the  + (plus) button. To zoom OUT, press Ctrl and the - (minus)  button.  To restore the zoom to 100%, press Ctrl and the 0 (zero) button.

Family history notes

Family History Notes

     There is no definitive record of Michael Pauluzen Van der Voort’s presence in New Netherland until his marriage, on November 18, 1640 under the auspices of the New Amsterdam Dutch Church.  The marriage was among the first seven to be recorded in New Amsterdam, founded in 1625. Michael married Maretje Maria Rapelje, a daughter of two of the earliest settlers on New Netherlands.  Between 1642 and 1658 Michael and Maretje had nine children, not all of whom survived to adulthood or had children.   

 At one time Michael owned several lots on Pearl Street (which still exists in downtown Manhattan) and built a house on one of the lots, (see image below).       Michael and Maretje probably moved to the Wallabout Bay area of Brooklyn in about 1647, following Joris Rapelje who had bought land there in the 1630’s.   In 1660 Michael, his wife Maria, and their seven living children removed from New Amsterdam and relocated to the eastern shore of Maryland.

     The following gen-site(s) have been identified as places located within this county where our direct ancestors are known to have been, born, married, died or resided.

Gen-site profiles

Gen-Site Profiles

New Amsterdam

New Amsterdam

LOCATION:  Country: United States;   State: New York;   County: New York (Manhattan);  

Place: New Amsterdam; Coordinates/Map: 40° 43′ 42″ N, 73° 59′ 39″ W

Map of New Amsterdam as it was in 1660

 

Click on thumbnail

 for larger image

DESCRIPTION:   New Amsterdam (Dutch: Nieuw-Amsterdam) was a 17th-century Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. It later became New York City.  

ANCESTORS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS GEN-SITE:  see history notes above

INTERNET WEB LINK(s):  The New Amsterdam Trail;  Nieuw Amsterdam to New York;

New Amsterdam;  New Amsterdam Images Online 

 

LOCATION:  Country: United States;   State: New York;   County: New York (Manhattan);  

Place:; Coordinates/Map:

 

 

 

 

Click on thumbnail

 for larger image

DESCRIPTION: 

ANCESTORS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS GEN-SITE:  

INTERNET WEB LINK(s): 

populated places

Researching
by Location

Gazetteer of Places in This County

Link to State-Wide Resources

Where in the World

are My Ancestors?

gazetteer

Gazetteer of Places

The list below will assist in your research regarding the matching of your ancestor’s birth, marriage, death dates and the place(s) within this locality at which these events may have occurred.

 

Map of New York County New York

New York County Physical, Cultural & Historic Features

New York County ZIP Codes | Area Codes

New York County Land - Property, Farms & Ranches

Profiles for 66 cities, towns and other populated places in New York County New York

 

Populated Places Within This County

Neighborhoods in the New York City Borough of Manhattan: Alphabet City, Battery Park City, Bowery, Carnegie Hill, Chelsea, Chinatown, Civic Center, Columbus Circle, Cooperative Village, Diamond District, East Village, Ellis Island, Financial District, Five Points, Flatiron District, Garment District, Governors Island, Gramercy, Gramercy Park, Greenwich Village, Hamilton Heights, Harlem, Hell's Kitchen, Herald Square, Hudson Heights, Hudson Yards, Inwood, Kips Bay, Koreatown, Lenox Hill, Liberty Island, Lincoln Square, Little Germany, Little Italy, Loisaida, Lower East Side, Lower Manhattan, Madison Square, Manhattan Valley, Manhattanville, Marble Hill, Meatpacking District, Midtown, Morningside Heights, Murray Hill, NoHo, NoLIta, Peter Cooper Village, Polo Grounds, Radio Row, Randall's Island, Roosevelt Island, Rose Hill, San Juan Hill, SoHo, South Street Seaport, Spanish Harlem, Stuyvesant Town, Sugar Hill, Sutton Place, Tenderloin, Theatre District, Times Square, TriBeCa, Tudor City, Turtle Bay, Two Bridges, Union Square, Upper East Side, Upper Manhattan, Upper West Side, Ward's Island, Washington Heights, West Village, Yorkville

Islands of New York City: Barren Island, The Blauzes, Broad Channel Island, Chimney Sweeps, City Island, Coney Island, Ellis Island, Governors Island, Hart Island, High Island, Hoffman Island, Hunter Island, Isle of Meadow, Liberty Island, Long Island, Manhattan, Mill Rock, North Brother Island, Prall's Island, Randall's Island, Rat Island, Rikers Island, Roosevelt Island, Shooters Island, South Brother Island, Staten Island, Swinburne Island, Twin Island, U Thant Island, Ward's Island

 

Find Physical Features* Within This County

* includes but not limited to Cemeteries, Churches, Locales,

Military Installations;  Populated Places, Post Offices, Schools, Streams, and Trails

Links to More About This U.S. State

State-Wide Resources

For more information about the U.S. State in which this county is located  click  on  these  LINKS:

 

Where in the world

Where in the World
are My Ancestors?

Resources which enhance our knowledge of the places inhabited by our ancestors are almost as important as their names. The LINK

MAPS

GAZETTEERS

to the right will take you to Maps, Gazetteers,   and other helpful  resources  that will assist you in discovering Ancestral Locations. 

resources Website
Resources

 

This search engine may

provide you with additional

information to assist with

your research about this topic.

General Resources

·         Our Genealogy Reference Library (USA Locations)

·         Genealogy Forum: U.S. States

·         Family Search, IGI Batches, Localities

·         Genealogy.com: Resources by county

·         Rootsweb.com – U.S. Message Boards

·         Cyndi's List - General U.S. Sites

·         Access Genealogy

Locality Specific Resources

·         New York County, Genealogy Forum

·         New York County, at Rootsweb

·         Cyndi's List - U.S. – New York - Localities

·         Linkpendium > Genealogy> New York County

 

Our Genealogy 
Reference Library

The following Link will take you to our library of genealogy reference books.   Here you may find books about the history and records of this county and other places such as towns and churches.  The collection also contains research works about military units and personnel during America’s wars, in addition too resource texts about the ethnic and religious groups who may have settled in this locality.

 

Research Library – Table of Contents

Gallery

Image Gallery

During our research we have collected images and photographs that are of general interest to a variety of localities.  Some of them are presented on this website because we believe they tend to provide the reader with additional information which may aid in the understanding of our ancestors past lives.

 

 

 

If you have any photographs or other images relating to this 
 county, we would greatly appreciate hearing from you.

 

Use the following LINK to ascertain whether we have any images that pertain to this location.

ANCESTRAL LOCATION PHOTOGRAPHS and IMAGES

 

Free Image Search
help from Google

Use the power of Google™ to find more interesting images about this topic. A Click on this button will link you to the Google Images Search  page.   Enter  the

topic you are searching in the box and click “Search Images”. At the “Images” display page you will see the image, as well  as the  website to  which it is linked.

 

Contact Information 

Contact information

Email

Snail mail:

Fred
889 Dante Ct.
Mantua, NJ 08051

USA

Email

Pony Express:

Tom
6484 Riverstone Dr

Sooke, BC V9Z 0Y7

Canada