This article describes the use of three separate resources to augment information about an ancestor, including approximate date of residence in a specific locale, addresses and general lifestyle (in this case down to the type and number of underclothes the woman owned!). These are the New York Times database, the New York Regional Archives and Records Center (for bankruptcy filings) and the New York County Clerk’s office database of legal cases. Although these examples employ New York City resources, a genealogist may pursue similar research for any American urban area for which the ProQuest Historical Newspapers subscription database includes an online newspaper. Alternatively, the researcher can skip ProQuest entirely and go straight to the regional archives to search—without knowing if a newspaper article exists about the ancestor being researched.

New York Times Database Search

“This article describes the use of three separate resources to augment information about an ancestor.”

Begin by entering the names of ancestors resident in the United States into The New York Times database at a local research library, using the ProQuest Historical Newspapers subscription database service, as discussed in “Internet Subscription Databases for Genealogical Research,” AVOTAYNU, (Vol. XVIII, No. 3, Fall 2002). The New York Times makes a database in a different form available free online, but it apparently is less comprehensive than the subscription service version.

Few women were the subject of news articles in the 19th century, so I was surprised when my great-great-great-grandmother’s name, Caroline Marks, appeared in an article. Because hers was a relatively uncommon name, I was fairly certain that it was she. The article was a legal notice of the filing of a voluntary bankruptcy petition. The U.S. federal bankruptcy law of March 2, 1867, (and possibly earlier and later federal laws on bankruptcy) required the publication of notification of any bank­ruptcy in at least two specified newspapers in a given area. For New York City (until 1899, meaning only Manhattan), the two newspapers were the New York Times and the New York Commercial Advertiser. The same notice appeared in both newspapers on almost the same date. The U.S. Library of Congress (and many other reference libraries) makes available the online New York Times as a subscription service and as microfilm copies. The Library of Congress also has the New York Commercial Advertiser in hard copy. The New York Public Library has an almost complete set of the Advertiser on microfilm.

New York Regional Archives and Records Center Search

Armed with the bankruptcy information, visit the New York Regional Archives and Records Center (201 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014-4811; telephone (toll-free): 1-866-840-1752 or 212-401-1620; fax: 212-401-1638; e-mail: newyork.archives@nara.gov). For a list of this and other regional archives, see .

I visited the archives in person, but staff might be willing to do an index search for a researcher who calls or writes. It was necessary to retrieve the index number of the record from a large old index book. That index record led to Caroline’s petition of bankruptcy. The petition itself is stored in a remote location rather than at Varick Street, so personnel had to send for it. Photocopies, for which I paid a small fee, were mailed at a later date. The petition and attached schedules led to the ancestor’s address; dates of contracting debts; whether lawsuits were pending on those debts; the date of discharge in bankruptcy (proving that the person was alive on that date); the relative level of wealth; with whom business dealings had occurred, including relatives; and even what her wardrobe consisted of, including the underwear she owned.

Caroline scheduled personal items of this sort in order to exempt them from being turned over to her creditors for sale to pay her debts. In return, she was discharged of her obligations to pay by turning over the remainder of her property. A bankruptcy petition and attached schedules provide a clear snapshot of how a person lived and with whom he or she had business dealings at that time. For example, it appears that Caroline could not read or write for she signed with an “X”. The petition recites that she was a citizen of the United States (bankruptcy law provided that only citizens could file for voluntary bankruptcy). The 16 various schedules attached to the ancestor’s petition caused her, in seeking discharge, to lay out virtually all of her economic life at the time, thereby disclosing many other details of her life as well. [For more about Caroline Marks, see Ask the Experts, this issue—Ed.]

Entering the name of a collateral relative in the New York Times ProQuest Historical Newspapers database, I found a bankruptcy for him as well. An affidavit in that petition, also held in the archives in that bankruptcy filing, is from a brother explaining the money advanced to his bankrupt brother. The affidavit is signed, so I have an autograph of my ancestor and confirmation in the schedules of some family members (as well as others) with whom his brother did business.

New York County Clerk’s Office Search

Armed with the bankruptcy information, I decided to see what I might learn about the court cases. Although not every court case is a state court case—some might be federal cases—in those listed in the bankruptcy petition, I turned to a newly available resource to do a search of those court cases in Manhattan (New York County). For the first time, an efficient strategy can be implemented to search the New York County court records to find plaintiffs and defendants—prior to 1911 in most cases and prior to 1925 in the case of naturalizations. The Division of Old Records, New York County Clerk’s Office (31 Chambers Street, Room 703, New York, NY), has a new index database to search for some of its holdings. The databases are intended for internal use onsite; no plan currently exists to put them online.

The databases were created by scanning index cards, most of which were arranged alphabetically by name of plaintiff (the party initiating a court proceeding). Because the earliest records are arranged only by file number, the database represents a great improvement over the index cards. Moreover, since most of the original index cards were arranged only by plaintiff, researchers now, for the first time, also may search by the name of defendant (party being sued). Use of the databases also allows researchers to check several record indexes simultaneously—by name of both plaintiff and defendant at the same time. Information is limited, however, to the names of the parties and the dates of filing of the litigation; it is not possible to search by subject. Information describing the nature of the litigation is available from the records themselves.

Database access is available only at 31 Chambers Street. Photo identification is required to enter the building, which is open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Send brief queries about searches by letter or e-mail to Assistant Archivist Bruce Abrams at <baabrams@courts.state. ny.us=””> and make an appointment if planning to visit in person. Telephone inquiries are not accepted.

Whether by e-mail, surface mail or in person, a search is for one name in all of the databases or limited to those databases specified by the researcher. Abrams will respond to a request for a maximum of three search names per letter or e-mail request, as time permits. Currently, there is no charge for this limited service. Requests for photocopies are limited to five documents per letter or e-mail request. Photocopies must be prepaid in the form of a money order or certified check made payable to “New York County Clerk.” Send postal inquiries to New York County Clerk, 60 Center Street, New York, NY 10007. Payments in cash are accepted only in person. Visitors may use the office photocopying machine if the document is in sufficiently good condition. In person, the current price is $.25 per page, using coins. By mail, the charge is $8 per document regardless of the length of the document. Case files rarely contain much personal information. Do not send money until notified that documents have been identified and located.

Available Databases

The Historical Records I Database includes three indexes:

• Parchments. Court records, primarily of the New York Supreme Court, 1691–1846 (mostly debt cases; 1780s–90s, for anywhere in New York State)
• Mayors Court/Court of Common Pleas. Judgments in civil cases, 1786–1895, New York County (Manhattan) only; mostly debt cases, but some change-of-name cases, 1870s–95; and some divorce cases, 1847–95
• Superior Court of the City of New York. Judgments in civil cases, 1828–95, New York County (Manhattan) only, mostly debt but some divorce cases for the period 1847–95.

The Historical Records II Database includes five indexes

• Pleadings. For 1754–1837 records, these are miscellaneous records of civil and criminal cases throughout the State of New York; for records from 1847–1910, the data consists only of complaints and defendants’ answers in civil cases in files that did not result in judgments. The second group of pleadings begins in 1838. Unlike the first group, it is arranged by year. Since the database will return responses regardless of how the data is arranged in hard copy, the arrangement is important only if searching manually
• Commission for Depositions. For the Mayors Court and Court of Common Pleas, 1800–46, and for Supreme Court, 1847–1910, orders to take testimony and transcripts of testimony of witnesses who lived outside of Manhattan
• Writs. Orders of the Supreme Court for various civil and criminal proceedings, especially appeals and writs of habeas corpus, 1830–1910
• Special Proceedings. Non-adversarial proceedings in the Supreme Court concerning widows, children, non-profit organizations requiring court approval to sell or mortgage real estate, as well as commitment for “lunacy” and compensation for eminent domain, 1847–1910
• Equity Judgments. Cases of equity jurisdiction, such as foreclosure, divorce, accounting or application of a subpoena or injunction to a common law case in the Court of Chancery, 1754–1846, and in the Supreme Court, 1847–1910
• Law Judgments. Judgments in common law civil cases in the Supreme Court, 1799–1910, mostly debt cases
• Matrimonial Cases. Records of divorces, annulments, legal separations in the Court of Chancery, 1754–1846, and in the Supreme Court, 1847–1910. Note: A New York State law restricts access to the records for 100 years, so full access to the collection will not be permitted until the end of 2010.

The one index database not yet available, but that will be accessible soon, is for naturalizations that occurred in the New York State courts (not federal courts) for New York County (Manhattan) only (not federal courts) for 1907–24. Only the index will be searchable with this database, not the records themselves, which must be separately sought, based upon the index database search results.

If a researcher comes to Room 703 in person during business hours, Abrams will show him how to do the research using the online database, and the researcher may then proceed without charge. Abrams will retrieve requested records as time permits and allow reading of each folder without charge, (although photocopies will cost the standard fees). The amount of time that Abrams can devote to helping researchers depends upon other demands on his time. Frequently, no other person is available to help the public, so no access is possible when Abrams is out of the room, such as when he is at lunch or on vacation. It may be wise to write in advance to arrange a meeting time. Other staff members sometimes are available to show researchers how to conduct a search.

The Division of Old Records, which holds the above databases, also holds the New York State Census for New York County (Manhattan) and is a part of the County Clerk’s Office in the same building as the Municipal Archives, on the corner of Centre and Chambers Streets. There are many subway and bus stops near this location. The office is open Monday through Friday, telephone: 212-374-4376. The following New York State census records for Manhattan are available:

• 1855, unindexed, organized by ward
• 1905, 1915, 1925, the last one indexed by residential address, but no name index. Some online finding aids exist. For the 1855 census for New York County, see <www. bklyn-genealogyinfo.com/Ward/1855.St.ward.html>. For 1905, 1915 and 1925 New York State census records, see <http://stevemorse.org/NewYorkCity/nyc.php>. Neither find­­ing aid is an index of the names of individuals, but it does help if the researcher already has a specific street location, because streets are indexed.

Other Genealogically Useful Holdings
In the Division of Old Records

Resources, including some not in the index databases but available in Room 703, include:

• Naturalization records (from state courts, 1794–1924)
• Change of name petitions and orders, 1848–1934
• Civil case records for various New York State courts, (some restrictions may apply)
• Business records. Single proprietorships (1900–24), corporations (1804–1946), limited partnerships (1822–1948)
• Miscellaneous information, such as registered name of a single proprietorship; names/addresses of corporations and officers; names/addresses of partners of limited partnerships, purpose of business and other related information.

For additional reference, see “Basic Guide to Family History and Genealogy Research in New York County Clerk’s Office,” The County Clerk and Clerk of the Supreme Court, leaflet, 1 sheet, October 2002.

Avotaynu 2007; 23(4):17-19
DOI: 10.17228/AVOT20070417
Copyright 2008 Avotaynu, Inc.