New York County Court, Probate, Tax and Other Miscellaneous Records

American court files mirror U.S. history. Buried away in courthouses and archives everywhere are the dreams and frustrations of millions of citizens. The chances are great that your ancestors have left a detailed record of at least some aspects of their lives in court records.

Most of us don’t think of court records as the rich source of personal history that they are. But America’s English heritage established a tradition of court processes in which the people have a right to participate actively—and we always have. With relative freedom from royal supervision and with court enforcement of religious as well as civil laws, American courts tried many matters that were not subject to court action in other parts of the British empire and that are now considered too minor to warrant criminal action.

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When a person dies, every state has laws that provide for public supervision over the estate that is left, whether or not there is a will. The term “probate records” broadly covers all the records produced by these laws, although, strictly speaking, “probate” applies only when there is a will.

Family historians use probate case files far more than any other kind of court record. Probate case files are logical sources because they tend to include so much personal data, and because Americans have depended on the courts to settle their estates since North America was colonized. According to Val Greenwood in his Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, “All records which relate to the disposition of an estate after its owner’s death are referred to as probate records. These are many and varied in both content and value, but basically, they fall into two main classes: testate and intestate” (page 255) . Probate case files generally provide names, addresses, and biographical data for the deceased, but frequently provide the same information for other relatives named in the papers. Relationships, maiden names of wives, married names of daughters, past residences, and place of origin in a native country are just a few of the details that can be discovered in probate files. And probate files can be found in courthouses and archives across the United States.

When requesting probate information from the county clerk, it is important not to limit yourself by asking for a person’s “will.” The clerk will usually take you at your word and not copy other papers in the probate file that may have equally important information if there is no will.

Even if your ancestor is not mentioned in a probate case, consider all of the other procedures which might have resulted in him or her appearing in court records:

New York Court Records

See Also Research In State Court Probate - Even today, few people escape mention in court records at some time during their lives as witnesses, litigants, jurors, appointees to office, or as petition signatories. However, Americans of a few generations ago also expected to attend local court proceedings when they were in session. It was a civic duty-and they could be fined if they did not attend......

The county clerk is the keeper of most civil and criminal trial court records, naturalizations, marriages (1908-35), censuses (county copies of the federal census and the state censuses), as well as deeds and mortgages. Estate matters are recorded with the clerk of the county surrogate court , but before 1847 cases involving property of minor heirs and incompetents were often heard in the Court of Chancery. Unpublished material, excluding that for the five counties of New York City, is at the New York State Archives.

Much state court record material is at the state archives and the Old Records Division of the New York County Clerk's Office. Federal court records are at the National Archives-Northeast Region, covering the U.S. district and circuit courts in New York for various periods from 1789 to 1967 and early admiralty courts from 1685 to 1838.

• New York Court Books at Amazon.com
• New York Marriages to 1784: This database constitutes marriage bonds from the State of New York prior to 1784, with the earliest record dating to 1664.
• New York Marriages, 1600-1784: This database is a collection of marriage records from the state prior to 1784.
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New York Probate Records

See Also Research In State Probate Records - Probate records include a variety of documents created to support court proceedings in the settlement of an individuals' estates. The number and type of probate records created may vary over time in different jurisdictions and due to the amount of real and personal property involved. The various documents generated in the probate process are rarely filed together......

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.

The Archives also has small groups of wills probated by the higher State courts prior to 1847; and out-of-state wills filed in the Secretary of State's office, 1823-1966.

Probate records in the State Archives are a rich source of genealogical and historical data. The records contain information on the property of decedents, the relationships of heirs, controversies over wills, and the settlement of estates. Of special interest for social history are the many wills made by women; wills bequeathing or manumitting slaves; and wills and estate inventories listing personal property such as clothing, furniture, and tools.

Prerogative Court (1686-1783); Court of Probates (1778-1823)

Between 1665 and 1686 wills were usually proved (determined to be authentic), and administration granted in a local court of sessions or the mayor's court in New York City, or by the governor. After 1686 the royal governor possessed final jurisdiction in probate matters. The provincial secretary or his deputy served as the governor's delegate or "surrogate" and presided over what was called the Prerogative Court. After 1670 wills and grants of administration were required to be recorded in the secretary's office. A 1692 act exempted from this requirement wills for estates valued at less than £50, and located in counties "remote" from New York City. All wills from New York, Kings, Richmond, Westchester, and (until 1750) Orange County were to be recorded in New York City. Starting in the early eighteenth century a deputy surrogate was appointed in each county to perform routine duties in relation to settling estates.

The Prerogative Court continued to operate in British-occupied New York City, Long Island and Staten Island during the Revolutionary War. In 1778 the State Legislature established a Court of Probates, which assumed most of the colonial governor's powers in probate matters. A 1787 statute established a Surrogate's Court in each county. The Court of Probates' jurisdiction was limited to hearing appeals from the Surrogate's Courts; supervising estates of New York residents who died out of state, and of non- residents who died within the state; and issuing certain types of orders. The Court of Probates was abolished in 1823, and its remaining jurisdiction was given to the Surrogate's Court. Between 1823 and 1847 appeals from the Surrogate's Court went to the Court of Chancery. Since 1847 appeals from orders and decrees of the Surrogate's Court have gone to the Supreme Court.

The pre-1787 records of the former Prerogative Court and the Court of Probates were divided in 1802: original wills and other filed papers relating to the "Southern District" (New York, Kings, Queens, Suffolk, Richmond, and Westchester Counties) and all record books were transferred from Albany to the New York County Surrogate's Court. (The records sent to New York City included series J0038-92 and J0043-92, described in this leaflet.) Other filed papers of the Court of Probates remained in Albany. After the court was abolished, the Albany records passed into custody of the Secretary of State (1823-29), the Court of Chancery (1829-47), and the Court of Appeals (1847+). These records were placed on deposit at the Historical Documents Collection, Queens College, CUNY, in 1973, and transferred to the State Archives in 1982 and 1985.

Surrogate's Court (1787+) (New York County)

Certain New York County Surrogate's Court records were located at the Historical Documents Collection, Queens College, CUNY, between the mid-1960s and the late '80s, and after that at Queens Borough Public Library. Inventories and accounts for 1783-1844 were transferred to the New York City Municipal Archives in 1990. Recorded and original wills (series J1038-92 and J1043-92, below) were transferred to the State Archives in 1992.

Supreme Court of Judicature

Between 1786 and 1829 the Supreme Court and the county courts of common pleas shared with the Surrogate's Courts the power to prove and record wills devising real property, and also wills whose witnesses were unable to appear in court. In addition, between 1801 and 1829 the Supreme Court had the exclusive power to prove and record wills devising real property located in several counties. (Wills proved in the courts of common pleas were recorded by the county clerks. The record of wills proved in the Supreme Court at New York City, 1787- 1829, is in custody of the New York County Clerk's Office.) After a will was proved and recorded in the Supreme Court or a court of common pleas, the Surrogate's Court supervised the administration and disposition of the estate.

Estate records have been handled in New York in the surrogate's court since 1787 when a system of county surrogate's courts was established. Prior to that time most estates were handled in New York City, the capital until 1797. Abstracts of most of the earlier records are found in Abstracts of Wills on File in the Surrogate's Office, County of New York, 1665-1800, in volumes 25-41 of the New-York Historical Society Collections (New York, 1892-1909), usually referred to as "New York Wills,". These includes letters of administration, but contains errors. Many original wills are available on microfilm at the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society.

Before 1787, some wills were recorded in the counties and occasionally in town records. Better abstracts of the Westchester County wills are found in Pelletreau's Abstracts of Wills on File. Other early New York wills have been published in The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, such as those for Kings County mostly from deeds, 1684-1719, in volume 47; Queens County wills from deeds, 1683-1744, in volume 65; Dutchess County wills in volume 61; and Westchester County wills in volume 55. For the period 1688-90, New York was part of the Dominion of New England, and during that time estates valued at over £50 were to be probated in Boston. Seventeen wills of New York residents were brought to Boston, and abstracts of these are found in volumes 12 and 13 of The American Genealogist.

Beginning in 1830, a New York law required that the petition for probate include a list of each legal heir-whether or not there was a will, and whether or not he or she was named in the will-his or her relationship to the deceased, and his or her residence. This is often the single most important document in an estate file, but it is not generally found in the record books until modern times.

Most counties have consolidated indexes to all estate matters including wills, administrations, guardianships, and so forth. In some counties, however, the types of estates may be indexed separately. Likewise, all the documents pertaining to a particular estate may not be filed together but separately according to type of action such as bonds, accounts, and inventories, and thereunder by date of filing. Many counties have particularly separated the original wills-many early ones are not on file-from the rest of the documents pertaining to an estate. Some early letters of administration give the relationship of the administrator to the deceased, and some early letters of guardianship provide the date of birth of the minor.

A New York law permits clerks of the surrogate court to impose a stiff fee to search for an estate over twenty-five years old (Surrogate's Procedure Act Section 2402, item 14), and the cost of copies of the documents can be extra. Some indexes to wills, administrations, and guardianships, and some abstracts of these records for many counties can be found in the New York State Library, the New York Public Library, the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, and in other libraries. The indexes and abstracts serve as guides only and should be verified in the original record books and files. Abstracts of New York state wills to about 1830 with an all-name index by W. A. D. Eardeley at the Brooklyn Historical Society are also helpful. Abstracts of wills and letters of administration and guardianship have been published in such journals as Tree Talks, and The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record.

• New York Probate Books at Amazon.com
• New York Wills, 1626-1836: This database is a collection of New York citizens' wills from 1626 to 1836 that were recorded in the office of the clerk of the court of appeals, of the county clerk of Albany and of the secretary of state.

New York Immigration & Naturalization Records

See Also Research In State Immigration & Naturalization Records - Knowing the immigrant's birthplace or last place of residence before emigrating is essential to finding more information in the native land. Yet, unless the ancestors arrived relatively recently in the United States, family origins may have been forgotten. Because most foreign records are kept at the town level, discovering the name of a native town, county, or parish is an important goal. Without that information, it is impossible to know where to conduct research in the country of origin.......

Immigration: Microfilm lists of ships' passenger arrivals at the port of New York are at the National Archives-Northeast Region for 1820-1909 and 1943-52, and at the New York Public Library for 1820-1910. The archives has name indexes for 1820-46 and 1897-1948, and the public library has them for 1820-46 and 1897-1943.

Naturalization: County naturalization records are kept by the county clerk. U.S. court records are in federal buildings in Buffalo and Albany, with most downstate records to the 1940s or 1950s at the National Archives-Northeast Region.

At the latter is a microfilm of a WPA-created card index, arranged by Soundex, for all naturalizations (but not declarations of intention) performed in all courts in all five New York City boroughs, 1792-1906, together with dexigraphs (photostats) of the original records. Until the late 1800s and early 1900s, these records provide little information; upstate records up to the mid-1800s are generally more informative.

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• Soundex Index to Petitions for Naturalizations Filed in Federal, State, and Local Courts in New York City, 1792-1906: NARA M1674. The Soundex index to naturalization petitions filed in federal, state, and local courts in New York City, including New York, Kings, Queens and Richmond counties, 1792-1906.
• Index to the Naturalization Petitions of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Jul 1865-Sep 1906: NARA M1164. A card index to naturalization petitions filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York from July 1865 through September 1906
• Index to the Naturalization Petitions of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, 1906-Nov 1925: NARA M1164. A card index to naturalization petitions filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York from October 1907 through November 1925.
• Index to the Naturalization Petitions of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, 1865-1957: NARA M1164. A card index to naturalization petitions filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York from November 1925 through December 1957.
• Alphabetical Index to Declarations of Intention of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 1917-1950: NARA M1675. Alphabetical Index to Declarations of Intention of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, 1917-1950
• Alphabetical Index to Petitions for Naturalization of the US District Court [and Circuit Court] for the Southern District of New York, 1824-1941: NARA M1676. Alphabetical Index to Petitions for Naturalization of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, 1824-1941.
• Alphabetical Index to Petitions for Naturalizations of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York, 1907-1966: NARA M1677. Alphabetical Index to Petitions for Naturalizations of the US District Court for the Western District of New York, 1907-1966

New York Tax Records

See Also Researching in Tax Records - Things taxed have included carriages and watches, windows and whiskey, land and slaves. Taxes on documents and tea helped start a war. Arkansas Territory’s sudden tax on bounty lands in the 1820s was enacted and due before the news had time to reach out-of-state owners, permitting the quick seizure and sale of “delinquent” lands. As this variety suggests, name lists of such taxes must be used with a cautious understanding of who should be on the list and who should not...

Scattered town and precinct tax records for a few years in the 1770s and 1780s and nearly complete lists for the whole state, 1799-1804, are at the New York State Archives, although for the latter period the surviving 1804 rolls cover only delinquent taxes of nonresidents. New York City tax records are at the Municipal Archives.

Some early assessment rolls have been published in The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, such as those for New York City, 1730, in volume 95; New Rochelle, 1767, in volume 107; and Ulster County, 1709-21, in volume 62. See also volumes 43-44 of the New-York Historical Society's Collections for New York City assessments 1695-99.

A few counties such as Ontario have retained their early tax records, but most do not have them until about 1850 or even later. Many old tax lists are to be found in manuscript collections. Dutchess County is fortunate to have a long series of eighteenth century tax records. Some of the 1798 U.S. Direct Tax records survive for New York.

• New York Tax Books at Amazon.com