Help!
I am trying to find the certificate numbers for the marriage certificates for
- my gt, gt aunt, Catherine Louisa Polley, who married Charles William Heynen in New York City on July 21, 1842; and
- my gt, gt uncle, Francis Belman Polley, who married Ellen LeFevre Comstock in New York City on Nov 18, 1857 and who later married Cornelia Richardson in Dec. 1866, also in New York City.
- When I tried the search option of this site, all I got were citations where Catherine is listed as the mother of the brides and groom for three of her children. I know the dates, spouses and locations are correct. Is there some other site that I should go to? My email is [email protected]
Answers
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New York City marriage records from that early will likely be church records, not registered with the city.
Did your family marry in Manhattan? For the dates you listed, New York City was only Manhattan. The other boroughs (Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Staten Island) became part of New York City in 1898. Before 1898, the records for the other boroughs will be New York State records.
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Aine,
actually, they aren't state records. New York State does not maintain marriage records before 1900. They are kept at township level, with exception of Kings, Richmond, Manhattan and Queens which maintained county level records and these counties can be searched along with the Bronx at https://www.germangenealogygroup.com/
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My point is that there are unlikely to be civil registration records. And I was making the point about the changes to New York City.
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Actually these are civil registration records for New York City's boroughs with exception of the Bronx which wasn't created until just before 1898 (it's being part of Westchester County).
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I believe all three weddings were in Brooklyn.
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John,
Have you tried the website I posted?
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I tried, using both exact and sounds like, but had no luck.
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John,
What years were the supposed marriage dates? Contact me direct (just click my name and you will be able to PM me.)
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In that time, Kings County had many different small towns, not yet annexed by the City of Brooklyn, with town records, some of which have never been digitized.
As I said in the beginning, it is highly likely that the records are church records only, with no civil registration. In that case, you are unlikely to find them online. In many cases, if the church still exists, the records will still be held by the church.
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Aine,
if before 1867, they are at town level, usually church records.
After 1867, civil registrations were collected into single databases.
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They lived in Williamsburgh.
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If you're doing much New York research, I would suggest you learn about the many different jurisdictions and changes over time. Understanding the history of the jurisdictions is essential to working in the location.
The NYG&B has some excellent research guides as well as offering regular free online presentations on the subject. https://www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org/resources/essential-reading/birth-marriage-death-records
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