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Saratoga County, New York

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Vital Records in New York State

Civil registration of births, marriages and deaths in the State of New York was first required by Chapter 152 of the laws passed in 1847. The record keeping under this law was to be done by the clerk of each school district, who would report these records to the appropriate town clerk who would in turn report to the county clerk. The records, or an abstract, would be then sent to the Secretary of State. The law was poorly written and not very easily enforced. On December 19, 1850 the Secretary of State wrote to all County Clerks:

SCAN of letter reading:  Dear Sir,  I have concluded not to forward the blanks for the Report of Births, Marriages and Deaths, until the law is so amended as to enable me to receive full and correct reports from the entire state.  Therefore all action under the law will be, for the present, suspended.

Although most action under this law seems to have stopped at the end of 1850, the actual law stayed on the books until 1885. In Chapter 270 of that year's laws, paragraph 9 repealed "Chapter one hundred fifty-two of the laws of 1847."

Another attempt by the state to collect death records was begun in 1864 in which the assessor of each town or ward was directed to accumulate the data. (Chapter 380) This law was repealed in 1865. (Chapter 723)

An improved law for vital records was not subsequently enacted until 1880, when registration was put under the jurisdiction of the New York State Department of Health.

Source: A Guide to Vital Records in the Collection of the Saratoga County Historian's Office , by Lynn Calvin.

Vital Records in Saratoga County

Bible Records

ALLEN Daniel and Minnie F. (Van Schaick) Allen (in Van Schaick Bible)
ANDREWS James M. and Rosanna (Brown) Andrews Bible Record
AVERY George H. and Cynthia (Badgley) Avery Bible Record
  John and Maria (Stevens) Avery Bible Record   (in Avery-Closson Bible)
BARNES Michael and Celia (Conlin) Barnes Bible Record
BOUK Jacob Bouk Bible Record
BRIGGS Joshua and Caroline (Rymph) Briggs Bible Record
BRYAN Alexander and Mary Elizabeth (Fake) Bryan Bible Record
BUCKBEE Mahlon and L. Matilda (Deyoe) Buckbee Bible Records
BURNHAM R. Jay and Elizabeth (Jones) Burnham Bible Record
BURNS John B. and Rebecca (Randal) Burns Family Record
CLOSSON Eli and Mary J. (Avery) Closson Bible Record  (in Avery-Closson Bible)
CONDE John T. and Frances L. (Curtis) Conde Bible Records
DEWEY David and Bethia (Larkin) Bible Record
ELMS Pardon and Ursley Elms Bible Records
FEAN J. Patrick and Margaret (Storan) Fean Bible Records
GRAHAM Benjamin and Betsey (Myers) Graham Bible Records
HERRICK George W. and Maria J. (Loversee) Herrick Bible Records
HOSKINS Thomas and Mary Hoskins Bible Records
HUMPHREY Henry Humphrey Family Records
KNOWLTON Alexander R. Knowlton Bible Record
  with inserted leaflet Lines on the Death of Mr. Joshua Brown
LATHAM George W. and Polly Ann Latham Bible Register
LAWRENCE Joseph Lawrence Bible Record
MABEE Albert G. Mabee Bible Record
MARSHALL William & Hannah (Fish) Marshall Bible Record
MILLERD Eleazar Millerd Bible Record
ORCUTT Luther B. and Elmina (Brown) Orcutt Bible Record
PIERCE Hugh and Mary (Rogers) Pierce Bible Record
QUACKENBUSH Adam and Jane M. (Delong) Quackenbush Bible Record
SAYRE Rev. Ezra and Sophia (Westfall) Sayre Bible Record
STRAIGHT Nehemiah Straight Bible Record
STURDEVAN James and Lydia (Shaw) Sturdevan Bible Record
THOMPSON Isabella C. Thompson's Family Bible Records
VAN BUREN Harman and Ruth (Millard) Van Buren Bible Record
VANDERWERKEN Peter and Sarah (Guffin) Vanderwerken Bible Record
VAN SCHAICK George W. and Martha (Dailey) Van Schaick Bible Record
WATERBURY Nathaniel and Catherine L. (Winney) Bible Records
WHEELER Francis D. and Abigail (Miller) Wheeler Bible Record
WILBER William Wilber Bible Record

Other Vital Records