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How are people able to do genealogical research in New York, when the state refuses to release birth/marriage/death certificates without court orders? I'm trying to get a copy of my father's birth certificate, as well as the marriage certificate of his parents, but my father and grandparents are deceased, as are any relatives who would have that information.
They were all Catholic, and I know my father was baptized and confirmed there, but I don't know what church it was, in order to find the information from the church records. The Archdiocese doesn't have a central filing system, so I'll have to write to all the parishes in the Bronx, and I'm not even sure that's where they were married, but I do know my father was born and grew up in that borough. At least I have all the dates. Wish me luck!
You may be able to use recent census records to get a location where they lived. Some census records give the street people lived on. Then research what churches were nearby.
Keep in mind that the vital records of the 5 boro's (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens & Staten Island) are held by the City of New York. The vital records of NYC are held totally separate from the State. NYC is the only city in the U.S. that does this.
You don't say what year he was born, but you can check here for NYC vital indices: www.stevemorse.org
If you give us more info, i.e. name, year of birth, perhaps we can help you.
The Municipal Archives has records of births reported in the five Boroughs of New York City (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Staten Island), prior to 1910; deaths reported prior to 1949, and marriages reported prior to 1930. For
Thanks SO much for those links and for the information about the NYC records being separate from the state. I had no idea. I think I'll be able to get my father's birth cert and his parents' marriage cert, since the marriage was over 50 years ago (1934) in Manhattan. I used the links and found the date and petition number of my grandfather's petition for naturalization in 1936. I'd still like to get copies of their Church records
I'm waiting very patiently for the 1940 census to be indexed. My grandmother came from Puerto Rico and is listed in the 1930 census in a boarding house in Manhattan, but my grandfather came from Cuba supposedly in 1930, but possibly missed the census taking. My father was born in the Bronx in 1940, so his parents should definitely show up in that census.
I'm hoping the 1934 marriage certificates show bride and groom's parents' names, as there is some question about the information I have for my grandmother's mother's name, and I"d like to trace her line back.
This is all part of a lifelong search into my family history. I was put up for adoption at birth in a State adoption in California (they still won't unseal the records to me, even though I have all the information), and have managed to get this far in my search. I was EXTREMELY blessed to have wonderful reunions with my birth families (my mother and father had separate families), and I'm having a blast doing the research. My adoptive brother, who I grew up with, has recently found his birthmother as well and had a great reunion with her. Our adoptive parents have been wonderfully supportive of our searches.
My hubby's family is from Puerto Rico, Caguas mostly, but a few other cities also.
The NYC marriage cert will ask parent's names.
If you're looking for a post-1924 passenger manifest you should try www.ancestry.com. Although it's a subscriber site many public libraries offer free access on their computers.
Ancestry has manifests going to the 1950's (maybe later.) I even found an airline manifest from the late 1940's showing my hubby as a little kid with his mom and siblings returning from Puerto Rico after a visit.
Also try www.familysearch.org. It's a free site and they have incredible records there.
Another site that I've found useful is www.fultonhistory.com It is a free site and has old digitized newspapers for NY. You never know what little interesting article you may find. I found a cool one about hubby's gf's 1913 divorce.
I am a member of ancestry.com and was able to find a manifest showing two of my grandmother's trips from Puerto Rico to New York. She apparently came alone once and once with her mother Julia. My grandmother was born in Naguabo, PR in 1905.
I browsed the fultonhistory.com site and did find someone I think is a cousin of mine, Charles Corpion, in the IRA Personals column carried in several newspapers. Thanks for the link
Did you know that prior to 1917 people born in Puerto Rico were not granted U.S. citizenship? My late mother-in-law told me that after the law went info effect in 1917 people born prior to 1917 could choose to be U.S. citizens or remain Spanish citizens.
My mother-in-law used to tell me interesting stories about growing up in Puerto Rico.
If you want check the county court house in the bronx for records.
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