Westchester County, New York Records
Westchester County, New York (Map It) created on November 1, 1683 as One of 12 original counties created in the New York colony. The county was named for the city of Chester in England .
Westchester County is bordered by Putnam County (north), Fairfield County, Connecticut (northeast), Bergen County, New Jersey (southwest), Rockland County (west), Bronx County (south).
Westchester County Cities and Towns include Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, Peekskill, Rye, White Plains, Yonkers, Bedford, Cortlandt, Eastchester, Greenburgh, Harrison, Lewisboro, Mamaroneck, Mount Kisco, Mount Pleasant, New Castle, North Castle, North Salem, Ossining, Pelham, Pound Ridge, Town of Rye, Scarsdale, Somers, Yorktown. Villages include Ardsley, Briarcliff Manor, Bronxville, Buchanan, Croton-on-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, Elmsford, Hastings-on-Hudson, Irvington, Larchmont, Mamaroneck, Ossining, Pelham, Pelham Manor, Pleasantville, Port Chester, Rye Brook, Sleepy Hollow, Tarrytown, Tuckahoe. Communities include Amawalk, Armonk, Baldwin Place, Banksville, Bedford, Bedford Hills, Bedford Village, Chappaqua, Cortlandt Manor, Crompond, Cross River, Croton Falls, Crugers, Eastchester, Eastview, Fairview, Golden's Bridge, Granite Springs, Greenville/Edgemont, Hartsdale, Hawthorne, Heritage Hills, Jefferson Valley-Yorktown, Katonah, Lake Mohegan, Lincolndale, Millwood, Montrose, Peach Lake, Pocantico Hills, Purchase, Purdys, Salem Center, Scotts Corners, Shenorock, Shrub Oak, Somers, South Salem, Thornwood, Tompkins Corners, Valhalla, Verplanck, Vista, Waccabuc, Yorktown Heights.
MapGeeks.org has is a collection of old New York maps.
Westchester County, New York Courthouse Records
Westchester County, NY Courthouse
The Westchester County Courthouse is located in White Plains, New York. Also contact local Town Clerks. They are responsible for vast amounts of local information from deeds, property transfers, and genealogical materials. Research on place and road names, the history of property transfers and much more are available through your Town Clerk. They are a tremendous resources. Learn More About State of New York Court, Tax, Land and Probate Records.
The Clerk's Office DOES NOT DO RESEARCH. Most staff will assist people in finding the materials, but it is up to the individual to do the research.
The following dates indicates what vital, land, probate, and court records are in Westchester county. The date listed for each record is usually the earliest registration filed. The date does not indicate that there are alot records for that year and does not mean that all such events were actually filed with the clerk.
- Westchester County Clerk has Land Records from 1683, Court Records from 1683 and Naturalization Records. State court naturalization records remain in custody of the county clerks. Older court naturalization records have been transferred to the National Archives--Northeast Region. The County Clerk is the keeper of most civil and criminal trial court records for Supreme Court and County Court, naturalizations, marriages (1908–35), censuses (Some county clerks' offices hold duplicate copies of some of the State censuses taken periodically between 1825 and 1925 and copies of the federal census), as well as deeds and mortgages. Records, with indexes for 1680—1897, are held at the Records Center and Archives. Later deed records are with the county clerk.
- Westchester County Surrogate Court Clerk has Probate Records from 1775. The County Surrogate Court Clerk maintain records of wills, letters testamentary, letters of administration, orders and decrees, and appointments of guardians; and filed papers, including original wills, petitions for probate (gives date of death and lists next of kin), performance bonds, property inventories (seldom found after ca. 1900), administrator's or executor's accountings, etc. Surrogate's Courts create comprehensive indexes to records and files.
- Westchester County Treasurer is responsible for the collection of taxes.
- Westchester County Historian maintains archival holdings for virtually every facet of the county’s history. The county, town, city or village Historians may provide access to obituaries, vital records, church records, maps, and family files or journals. Some historians provide search services for their office records and others may refer you to local genealogists who research in the area.
In New York State Law: "§ 57.07. Local historian; appointment; maintenance of historical edifices.
A local historian shall be appointed, as provided in this section, for each city, town or village, except that in a city of over one million inhabitants a local historian shall be appointed for each borough therein instead of for the city at large; and a county historian may be appointed for each county."
Counties therefore are not REQUIRED to have an appointed county historian, but are ALLOWED to appoint such an historian. Cities, Towns and Villages "SHALL" appoint a historian, although there doesn't appear to be any dire consequence if one should fail to do so: the Village of Philmont in Columbia County, for example, has neglected to refill the office since the death of their last historian.
Westchester County, New York Census Records
- Learn More: State of New York Census Records
- U.S. Federal Population Schedules: 1790, 1800, 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 (free index), 1890 (fragmented), 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940
- U.S. Census Reconstructed Records: 1660-1820
- State Population Schedules: 1855, 1865, 1875, 1892, 1905, 1915, 1925
- Other State Census Schedules: Census of Inmates in Almshouses and Poorhouses, 1830-1920, Census Mortality Schedules, 1850-1880, Non-Population Schedules 1850-1880
- U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules: 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880
- Selected U.S. Federal Census Agriculture Schedules: 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880
- Selected U.S. Federal Census Industry Schedules: 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880
- Union Veterans Schedules: 1890
Westchester County, New York Vital Records
- Learn More: State of New York Vital Records
- Birth and Death Records: from 1880 to present
- Marriage Records: from 1880 to present
- Divorce Records: from January 1963 to present. Earlier Records are in the County Clerk's Office.
- Locations: New York State Dept of Health, Vital Records Section
- Vital Records Online: USAVital or Social Security Death Index
- Vital Records by Mail: Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate, Divorce Certificate, Death Certificate, Genealogy Applications.
- In Person: New York State Dept of Health, Vital Records Section, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12237; (518) 474-3077, (518) 474-3038 Information
Westchester County, New York Resources
- State of New York Archives and Societies
- RAOGK Volunteers for New York
- Westchester County Historical Society
- Westchester County Genealogical Society
- Westchester County Historical Society Library
- Westchester County Records Center and Archives
- Westchester Library System, Mount Vernon Public Library
- New York Genealogy Research Community
- Westchester County, New York Message Boards
- Westchester County, New York Genealogy Boards
Westchester County, New York External Links
- New York Historical Newspapers - Newspapers.com
- Historical Newspapers from New York (1719 - 1992)
- Westchester County, New York Books - Amazon
- New Rochelle, New York deaths, 1853-1881
- Amawalk, Westchester County, New York, Friends Monthly Meeting records: births, marriages and deaths, 1724-1908
- Records of the town of New Rochelle, 1699-1828
- Early wills of Westchester County, New York : from 1664 to 1784
- Old wills of New Rochelle
- The minutes of the Court of Sessions (1657-1696), Westchester County, New York
- Records of the town of Eastchester, Westchester County, New York
- New Rochelle tombstone inscriptions
- Inscriptions copied from gravestones in Yonkers, N.Y.
- Inscriptions copied from gravestones in Beechwoods Cemetery, New Rochelle, N.Y.
- Inscriptions from the graveyards in New Rochelle, N.Y.
- Inscriptions copied from tablets and memorial windows
- The old Dutch burying ground of Sleepy Hollow
- Tombstone records of eighteen cemeteries in Poundridge, Westchester County, N.Y. : fully indexed
- Inscriptions from graveyards in Yonkers & Inwood, N.Y.
- The Jay Cemetery, Rye, New York : established 1815, incorporated 1906 under New York law as a family cemetery corporation.
- Sleepy Hollow Cemetery at Tarrytown
- St. Mark's Episcopal Cemetery, Mt. Kisco, N.Y.
- Burials in and around Pound Ridge, N.Y.
- Cemetery inscriptions of Westchester County, N.Y.
- New Rochelle, New York, cemeteries
- Inscriptions copied from the gravestones in St. John's Cemetery, Yonkers, N.Y.
- Inscriptions copied from graveyards in Bedford, Westchester County, New York
- The old Dutch burying ground of Sleepy Hollow, in North Tarrytown, New York
- Names on stones in Quaker Cemetery on Post Road, Larchmont, N.Y.
- Westchester Co., New York - FindaGrave
- Purchase, Westchester County, New York, monthly meeting of Friends
- Poundridge Presbyterian Church, Westchester County, N.Y.
- Purchase Monthly Meeting, Westchester County, New York: Quaker Records
- Chappaqua Monthly Meeting, Westchester County, New York: Quaker Records
- St. Paul's Church, Eastchester N.Y.
- Chappaqua, Westchester County, New York Quaker Records
- Chappaqua, N.Y., Quaker records
- Records of the town of Eastchester
- Biographical history of Westchester County, New York
- Westchester County in history
- Katonah, Westchester Co., N.Y.
- Westchester County, New York Links - Cyndi's List
- Westchester Co. NYGenweb
- Mt. Vernon, New York Directories, 1889-91
- Gopsill's Westchester County directory
- Dobbs Ferry guide and directory, 1929
- Westchester County, New York Ancestry Database Collections
- New Rochelle, her part in the great war : historical and biographical sketches of individuals and organizations who rendered va
- Peekskill in the American Revolution
- Westchester County, New York Military Records