Research

The New York State Archives maintains microfilm copies of selected local government records. Many of the records were filmed during the period from 1974 to 1976 by the Office of State History as a project of the New York State American Revolution Bicentennial Commission. The 250 reels of microfilm produced by the project were given to the State Archives in 1976. These records date from 1650 to 1975, with the bulk in the 1800-1850 era and only a few after 1900.

The Archives holds a Census of Inmates in Almshouses and Poorhouses, 1826-1921, bulk 1875-1921 (A1978). This series contains some personal data on residents of county and city poorhouses. It is arranged by county and institution, then by admission date. The series is not indexed. Archives staff will search the censuses only if name of resident and place and dates of residence are provided.

The chief fiscal officer for each county has custody of real property tax assessment rolls; most counties have these records commencing about 1850. The State Archives has available on microfilm Tax Assessment Rolls of Real and Personal Estates, 1799-1804 (B0950) for the whole state except New York County (Manhattan).

The Archives holds the original schedules of the State population census for 1915 and 1925 (series A0275, A0276). The schedules are not indexed, and Archives staff will not search them except to provide legal proof of age. The schedules are fragile, and therefore use is restricted.

The Archives holds many records of New York's higher trial and appeals courts prior to 1847, and of appeals courts from 1847 to the present. Of special interest to genealogists are records of the Court of Chancery (1704-1847) and the Court of Probates (1778-1823) and its colonial predecessor, the Prerogative Court (1686-1783). These records are described in Records Relating to Criminal Trials, Appeals, and Pardons.

The State Archives holds about 80,000 maps in various formats, dating from the 17th century to the present. Among the maps are surveys of lands granted by the Colony and State of New York, but these maps do not show occupants of lands. The principal index to early manuscript maps created or filed by State agencies is David E. E. Mix, Catalogue of Maps and Surveys, in the Offices of the Secretary of State, State Engineer and Surveyor, and Comptroller (Albany: 1859; repr. 1981).

The Basic Educational Data System (BEDS), created by the New York State Education Department (SED) Information Center on Education, contains statistical data on the pupils, staff, and facilities of every local school district, school building, and intermediate district (Boards of Cooperative Educational Services--BOCES) in New York.

BEDS consists of two files

The Governor's Office of Employee Relations (GOER) created the Grievance Tracking System to collect information on employee grievances and grieved disciplinary proceedings from all New York State Executive Branch agencies from 1984 to 1990. The system contains two master files, the Grievance Data File and the Discipline Data File. Personal identifiers have been suppressed in each file type.