New York Genealogical and Biographical Society Family Files Collection

Search New York Genealogical and Biographical Society Family Files Collection

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Do you have relatives that were members of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. They may have donated their personal research files and family histories to the Society’s library. Search through these records to uncover significant details about your ancestry.

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What can these records tell me?

It was a longstanding tradition for members of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society to donate their research files and published family histories to the NYG&B’s library. Today, NYG&B members are invited to donate their digital family histories to the NYG&B’s online Family Files collection. Interested members should contact [email protected].

The inclusion of material in the Family Files collection does not constitute an endorsement of its content or accuracy. Please send any additions or corrections to [email protected].

These records contain PDF images of the original family history files. The available information will vary from document to document, but you may be able to discover the following:

  • Family lists
  • Information pertaining to military service, immigration, and education
  • Family trees
  • Family photographs
  • Bonds and business-related correspondence
  • Personal letters, wedding announcements, and other ephemera
  • Local histories

In the Useful Links & Resources section you can access a browse-only version of these records. There you can filter by title and flip through the images as you would a book.

Titles within these records

  • Ancestors of Alida May Carpenter
  • Ancestors of Bessie Emogene Baker
  • Ancestors of Elizabeth Lincoln Rowe
  • Barlow Family History
  • Descendants and Antecedents of Dr. Wayne Smith & Elizabeth Bell and Richard Alfred Bury & Elida Maud Morden
  • Garthwaite, Smith, and West Families File
  • Hix-Megill Collection
  • Origins: The Lives of my Parents, Lorrel Brayton Nichols and Carolyn Merriam Hone, and their Nichols, Heyl, Hone, and Merriam Ancestors
  • Pasquale Felitti & Nicoletta Trimarco: Story of a New York City Family and Live on East 114th Street
  • The Garthwaite, Smith, and West Families: A Genealogy
  • The Maritime History of the Vernon H. Brown Family
  • The Meyers from Westerkappeln