Some of the local history and genealogy resources at the Central Library of the Schenectady County Public Library include:
- U. S. Census microfilm for Schenectady County from 1790 to 1930
- Area city directories
- High school and college yearbooks
- City and county government records
- Local newspapers dating back to 1822
- Atlases of the city and county of Schenectady
- Index of the Rolls of Honor (Ancestor's Index) in the Lineage Books of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution vols. 1-40. Pittsburgh, PA: Press of Pierpont, Siviter & Co., 1916. [R 369.13 D23i]
We also have numerous local publications of historical or genealogical interest. These include three of the Valley Quarterlies (Capital, Mohawk and Saratoga), the Schenectady County Historical Society newsletter, newsletters for the Lent and Pontius families, and assorted General Electric publications.
More details on the newspapers, magazines and government records will be added as I have time to collect them. You may also want to contact the City Clerk or the Schenectady County Clerk's office.
Vital Records
The library owns American Deaths and Marriages, two reels of microfilm which list (according to the index) "some 40,000 marriage and death notices which appeared in some sixty-five newspapers during the years 1784 - 1829. They cover not only New York State, but also the United States and Canada, as well as foreign countries… Both the death and the marriage notices have been supplemented by an index of persons other than the decedents, brides and grooms." The call number of the index is R929.3 G28.
One of our long-term projects is indexing obituaries and marriage and birth announcements. We have nearly complete coverage of papers from 1822 to 1862, and indexing of one paper for 1863-65, 1868, 1881-85, 1902-1907, 1909, 1913-16, 1918, 1975-date. Marriages for those years in the 1800s, 1902, and 1993-date are done but not yet printed. Some births have also been done.
Some of these indexes are available on our Vital Records page.
See our Research page for more information on services and fees.