The Upstate New York index, 1685–1910, can help you find references to an ancestor in published Hudson River Valley genealogy journals. Use the free form below to request a search for one person, then follow the source reference to learn more about the record.
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What this index covers
The Upstate New York index draws on church records, military rosters, Bible records, and other material published in four quarterly journals: The Capital, The Columbia, The Mohawk, and The Saratoga. These publications cover families and records from the late 1600s through the early 1900s.
The collection focuses on Albany, Columbia, Fulton, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, and Schenectady counties. Its broad date range does not mean that every community or year has equal coverage. A missing name may reflect a gap in the published sources rather than an absence from the region.
Find the journals and books
Explore the original journal collections at the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society:
- The Capital — Albany and Rensselaer counties
- The Columbia — Columbia County and nearby areas
- The Mohawk — Montgomery and Schenectady counties
- The Saratoga — Saratoga County
To find books to purchase, browse the Kinship Books catalog or search the Kinship Books surname index.
Kinship also sells Query Index to Valley Quarterlies, Volumes 1–15. This book indexes reader queries from the four journals; it is a separate resource from the broader Upstate New York database searched through this form.
How to use a possible match
Start with the ancestor’s name and the town or county where you expect to find them. Add an approximate date, a spouse’s name, or another detail that can distinguish people with the same name. Include spelling variants if you already know them.
A reference in the Upstate New York index is a research lead. Compare its place and date with your existing evidence before adding a relationship to your family tree. Next, locate the cited journal entry and note the record or document on which it relies.
When you obtain the full entry, keep the journal title, volume, issue, and page with your notes. That citation will help you return to the source and explain how you reached your conclusion.
Please read the free lookup guidelines before submitting. Requests are for an index search for one ancestor.
Learn More
Explore more state record lookups or see this week’s free genealogy lookups.