The New York State Archives in Albany, New York holds the indexes to the New York Vital Records Indexes for the entire state except for New York City and the former city of Brooklyn. The statewide collection of death information began in 1880 and the statewide collection of birth and marriage information began in 1881. Despite the requirement to collect vital records information in 1880-1881, compliance was incomplete until 1900 or later. Marriages in Albany, Buffalo, and Yonkers were not recorded until 1908. Births and deaths in those three cities were not recorded until 1914.
Indexes to births are only available after 75 years, and indexes to marriages and deaths are only available after 50 years. Therefore, the vital records indexes for Albany, New York are available as follows:
Births: 1914-1934
Marriages: 1908- 1959
Deaths: 1914-1959
While I was in Albany last week, I searched the vital records indexes for the surname Lather, and found a number of Lathers in the New York vital records indexes. The number in parentheses following the entries is the New York State file number.
BIRTHS
Lather, William C., born 29 Jun 1909 in Saugerties (29450)
Lather, Herbert C., born 25 Sep 1915 in Greenville (74623)
Lather, Mary, born 01 Oct 1918 in Stillwater (90581)
Lather, Charles B., born 03 Mar 1922 in Albany (17721)
Lather, John W., born 09 Jun 1928 in Albany (40779)
Lather, Robert J., born 10 Sep 1928 in Santa Clara (68818)
Lather, George J. Jr., born 01 May 1930 in Colonie (53877)
Lather, Lois M., born 14 Jan 1931 in Albany (74)
Lather, Adelia, born 11 Aug 1934 in Albany (49334)
Lather, Gerald W., born 15 Sep 1934 in Albany ( 56834?)MARRIAGES
Lather, Howard S., married 09 Aug 1917 in Albany (16133)
Terwillinger, Rozilla, married 09 Aug 1917 in Albany (16133)Lather, Esther W., married 15 Jun 1918 in Albany (10743)
Lather, Laura, married 30 Jun 1920 in Albany (10027)
Russell, Henry J., married 30 Jun 1920 in Albany (10027)Lather, Florence A., married 06 Jun 1923 in Albany (11617)
Van Amburg, Henry L., married 06 Jun 1923 in Albany (11617)Lather, August G., married 30 Sep 1925 in Albany (20413)
Lather, Fred J., married 25 Jun 1928 in Walton (17567)
Dean, H. Elizabeth, married 25 Jun 1928 in Walton (17567)Lather, George J., married 14 Jul 1930 in Albany (19397)
Sullivan, Mary E., married 14 Jul 1930 in Albany (19397)NOTE: I did not inspect marriage indexes prior to 1908 or after 1949 and, since the marriages are indexed separately for brides and grooms, I could only find the spouses for Lather marriages where I already knew the surname of the spouse.
DEATHS
Lather, George, died 03 Mar 1914 in Albany (12527)
Lather, George, died 23 Apr 1917 in Oneonta (26062)
Lather, Oscar L., died 23 Feb 1919 in Santa Clara (12842)
Lather, John G., died 30 Nov 1929 in Albany (67147)
Lather, Clare, died 20 Sep 1930 in Troy (53995)
Lather, Adela, died 11 Aug 1934 in Albany (46597)
Lather, John E., died 12 Jan 1936 in Albany (74)
Lather, Anna M., died 22 Sep 1946 in Albany, age 7 mo. (50509)
Lather, Rozilla T., died 11 Dec 1953 in Albany, age 70 yr. 1 mo, cause 420Â (74824)NOTE: I did not inspect the death indexes prior to 1914.
I can obtain uncertified, genealogy copies of these records for $22 each, but I am only allowed to obtain these records if the subjects of the records are known to be deceased (not a problem for death records). Delivery time of the certificates requested from the state is about 5 months.
Cities and counties in New York often have vital records for earlier time periods than does the state. For example, the City of Albany began keeping vital records on 01 Sep 1870, while the state copies of vital records for the City of Albany began in 1908 for marriages and 1914 for births and deaths. Copies of vital records requested from city and county offices may be delivered sooner than those requested from the state.
Copyright © 2009 by Stephen J. Danko
