Welcome to Holly’s webpage featuring links to Columbia County free genealogy resources. Be sure to bookmark this page so you can use it as a research guide. To stay informed about updates to this page, you are invited to join the Columbia County Genealogy Group on Facebook, where announcements will be made about the new resources that are added.
Some of the collections included are from the FamilySearch library catalog and are browsable only. This means they are not electronically indexed. They are digitized images from microfilm collections. For the browsable-only collections, the links provide the image number(s) of the pertinent records.
Scroll down to view all of the resources, or jump to a specific category by clicking one of the links below.
Categories
Bible Records
Typed transcriptions of family bible entries
Elting Family Bible, Collection [of cemetery records], Image 170
Hallenbeck Family Bible, Collection [of cemetery records], Images 157-158
Kipp Family Bible, Collection [of cemetery records], Image 166
Lasher, Savage, Starkweather Families, The Columbia, 1985 (volume 1), issue 2
Peterson Family, The Columbia – 1985 (Volume 1), issue 3
Shaffer Family Bible, Columbia County, New York, cemeteries private and scattered, Images 161-165
Stone Family, Collection [of cemetery records], Images Images 159-160
Taylor, Palmer Families, The Columbia, 1985 (volume 1), issue 1
Van Valkenberg Family Bible, Collection [of cemetery records], Image 167
Winslow Family Bible Records, Collection [of cemetery records], Images 168-169
Cemetery Inscriptions
Typed transcriptions listed alphabetically by location
Austerlitz, First Austerlitz Cemetery, Columbia County, New York, cemeteries private and scattered, Images 5-12
Austerlitz Village Cemetery, Columbia County, New York, cemeteries private and scattered, Images 13-22
Austerlitz, Green River Cemetery, Columbia County, New York, cemeteries private and scattered, Images 23-30
Chatham, Various Cemeteries, The Columbia, 1985 (volume 1), issues 1-4
Claverack, Dutch Reformed Church, Gravestone inscriptions in Columbia County, New York
Craryville, Unnamed Cemetery, Cemetery inscriptions of New York and Pennsylvania, Images 1020-1022
Ghent (West), Dutch Reformed Church, Gravestone inscriptions in Columbia County, New York
Ghent, Transcriptions of Private Cemeteries on the Farms of John Bartel, Irving Kittle and Everette Ostrander – Cemetery inscriptions, Ghent, Columbia County, New York, Images 455-459
Greenport, Cemetery of the Mount Pleasant Dutch Reformed Church, Collection [of cemetery records], Images 91-124
Harlemville, Unnamed Cemetery, Cemetery inscriptions of New York and Pennsylvania, Images 1023-1026
Harlemville German Lutheran Cemetery, The Columbia, 1985 (volume 1), issue 4
Hillsdale, Krum Church Cemetery, New York, Cemetery Abstracts, 1800-1965
Hillsdale Methodist Episcopal Church Cemetery, Cemetery inscriptions of New York and Pennsylvania, Images 1011-1014
Hillsdale, Bell (Old Methodist) Cemetery, Cemetery inscriptions of New York and Pennsylvania, Images 1015-1019
Malden Bridge, Chatham Union Cemetery, The Columbia
Philmont (Hamlet of Mellenville), Union Cemetery, Cemetery inscriptions of New York and Pennsylvania, Images 1027-1029
Spencertown Cemetery Records, Columbia County, New York, cemeteries private and scattered, Images 31-80
Various Locations, Multiple Cemeteries, Gravestone inscriptions, Columbia County, New York, copied and edited by Milton Thomas
Various Locations, Multiple Cemeteries, Columbia County, New York, cemeteries private and scattered, copied by Harriet H.K. van Alstyne
Various Locations, Multiple Cemeteries, Gravestone inscriptions in Columbia County, New York copied and compiled by Gertrude A. Barber
Census Records and Tax Lists
Early tax lists
1720 List of the Freeholders of the City and County of Albany – Page 372 includes individuals from Kinderhook, Livingston and Claverack. An additional transcribed list can be found through NYGenWeb.
1744 Kinderhook Tax List – NYgenweb
1763 Census taken as part of Albany County – Genealogy Trails
1766 Claverack Tax List – New York History and Genealogy Network
1767 Claverack Tax List – New York History and Genealogy Network
1779 Claverack District Tax Lists – The Columbia, 1985 (volume 1), issues 1-4; 1986 – (volume 2), issue 1
1779 Kinderhook Land and Personal Tax Lists – Empire State Society, Sons of the American Revolution, March 1779 and October 1779
1779 Tax List for King’s District (Canaan and New Lebanon) – USGENWEB
1797 Hudson Tax List – New York History and Genealogy Network
1801 Chatham Roads Tax List – The Columbia, 1985 (volume 1), issues 1-4; 1986 – (volume 2), issues 1-2
State Census Records
Church Records
Typed transcriptions listed alphabetically by location
Ancram, St. John’s Lutheran Church, 1835-1881 – Collection of Rhinebeck, New York, records Baptisms, marriages and deaths, Images 191-226
Canaan, Records of the Congregational Church and Society of New Canaan, at Canaan Four Corners, in the town of Canaan, Columbia County, N.Y – Includes family record of births 1740-1805; baptisms 1807-1858, 1868-1876; members; marriages 1807-1829, 1848-1856; deaths 1807-1835; pew lists.
Canaan, Records of the First Presbyterian Church of Canaan at Canaan Center in the town of Canaan, Columbia County, N.Y. – Includes baptisms 1830-1843, marriages 1830-1836, members 1830-1854, members received and dismissed.
Camp German Reformed Records, 1723-1793 – Collection of Rhinebeck, New York, records – Baptisms and marriages, Images 105-118
Chatham, Chatham Center Methodist Church Marriages, 1877 to 1900
Chatham, Marriages of Columbia County Residents at the Reformed Dutch Protestant Church of Chatham, 1843-1873
Chatham, The records of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Chatham, Columbia County, New York, 1843-1901
Churchtown Records, 1729-1848 – Collection of Rhinebeck, New York, records – Baptisms and marriages, Images 104-113
Claverack, Records of the Reformed Church at Claverack, New York, 1726-1881 – Microfilm of photocopy of original handwritten records (5 v.) made by the New York State Library in 1938 in possession of the New York State Library, Albany, New York.
Copake Methodist Church, 1853-1868 – The Columbia – Marriage records, 1986 – (volume 2), issues 1-2
Germantown, Records of the German Reformed Church of The Camp, now Germantown, Columbia County, N.Y. : commencing September 7, 1729 and ending February 5, 1849 – Contains baptisms with birth dates, 1729-1849, marriages, 1736-1849; members, 1739-1844; pastors, 1728-1842.
Ghent, Christ’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Cemetery inscriptions, Ghent, Columbia County, New York – Birth, baptism, marriage, death records, church history and administrative records, 1801-1910, Images 3-252
Ghent, Dutch Reformed Church, known as Christ Church, Cemetery inscriptions, Ghent, Columbia County, New York – Birth, baptism, marriage, death records, church history and administrative records, 1775-1919, Images 253-454
Green River Congregational Church, 1792-1852 – The Columbia – Baptisms, membership lists – 1985 (volume 1), issues 1-4; 1986 – (volume 2), issue 1
Greenport, Members of the Mount Pleasant Dutch Reformed Church – Record of Deaths and Dismissals, Collection [of cemetery records] Images 125-144
Hillsdale, Baptismal Records for Nobletown and Hillsdale, 1770-1793
Hillsdale, Baptisms performed for Nobletown (Hillsdale) residents by Rev. Roger Viets of the Episcopal Parish St. Andrew’s Church in Simsbury, Connecticut, 1764, 1766
Hudson, First Presbyterian Church, 1799-1845 – Births/baptisms and deaths – The Columbia: 1985 (volume 1), issues 2-4; 1986 – (volume 2), issue 1
Hudson, Some Early Marriages From the Records of the Methodist Church, 1822-1838
Hudson Quaker Records, 1793-1838 – Marriage and removal records – The Columbia, 1985 (volume 1), issues 1-3
Hudson – Marriage ceremonies [1831-1849] performed by Rev. C.F. LeFevre – The collection contains marriages performed by Rev. LeFevre in multiple cities, including Hudson between 1840 and 1844
Kinderhook Reformed Church, 1716-1758 – Listing of heads of families (1729 only), Membership lists, 1716-1758 – The Columbia, 1986 – (volume 2), issues 1-2
Kinderhook Reformed Church, Births or Christenings, 1718-1864 – New York, Church Records, 1660-1954
Linlithgo Records, 1724-1856 – Baptisms and marriages – Collection of Rhinebeck, New York, records, Images 93-103
Livingston Manor and Greenbush now called Mount Ross Reformed Dutch Church – Includes baptisms, 1748-1872, marriages, 1768-1870, and lists of members. Originated in 1748 as Reformed Protestant Dutch Church in the Town of Ancram and rebuilt in 1823 as Gallatin Reformed Church. Also known as Stissing, Livingston Manor, Greenbush and Vedder.
Spencertown Methodist Church – Baptisms (1867-1868); Marriages, 1838-1843 –The Columbia, 1985 (volume 1), issue 4
Spencertown – The records of St. Peter’s Presbyterian Church of Spencertown, Columbia County, New York, 1827-1918
Valatie, First Presbyterian Church, 1872-1891 – Baptisms
Directories And Gazetteers
1789-1886, Civil list of Columbia County, and official hand-book…
1813, A gazetteer of the state of New York
1844, Catalogue of the Officers and Students of Kinderhook Academy
1850-1900, Hudson City Directories
1871-1872, Gazetteer and business directory of Columbia County
1876-1877, The Hudson directory, for 1876-7 : containing the names of the inhabitants, business directory
1880-1881, Lawrence & Co’s Columbia County directory
Family Papers & Records
Wilson Family Papers, 1790-1859 – This resource contains a list of individuals included in the Wilson family collection, who were authors of letters or those who signed documents. There is no particular alphabetical or chronological arrangement. Although transcriptions of the list in later issues do seem to have some sort of alphabetical order. The Columbia: 1985 (volume 1), issues 1-4; 1986 – (volume 2), issues 1-2
Hallenbeck Family of Greenport – birth and death information 1835-1932, Images 148-156
Van Allen Family Papers – Tracing the Van Allen family line from the earliest recorded generation in the 1690s up to the early 1900s.
Genealogies/Biographical Sketches
“American ancestry : giving the name and descent, in the male line, of Americans whose ancestors settled in the United States previous to the Declaration of Independence, A.D., 1776“. This 12-volume set published in the 1880s highlights Columbia County in volume 2 and is arranged alphabetically by surname.
Best: The Family of Best in America of Holland Descent
Brown: A newsletter from the Brown Family Genealogical Society. This newsletter includes some information on Brown family members in Columbia County.
Palmer: Palmer family genealogy, 1621-1957
Rees/Race: The Rees/Race family in America : descendants of Andries (Race) Rees and Celitje Jans
Son: The Son Family of Columbia County, New York and Wisconsin
Ten Broeck: The Ten Broeck Genealogy
VanDeursen: The Van Deursen Family
Van Rensselaer: Genealogy article in American Historical Magazine
Waltermire: Waltermire family tree : the descendants of George (Jury) Waldenmeyer, emigrant to America
Wilkenson: Memoirs of the Wilkenson Family in America
Histories
The parsonage between two manors; annals of Clover-Reach (Claverack)
A History of Old Kinderhook from Aboriginal Days to the Present Time
History of the City of Hudson, New York
Land Records
FamilySearch is in the midst of a multi-year indexing project for all New York State land records. As of December 2020, Columbia County records have not been electronically indexed. However, there are digital copies of the original handwritten index ledgers.
Deed records, 1772-1925. This collection contains:
- Original Deed Index Ledgers (divided by grantee and grantor), 1772-1925
- Original Deeds, 1786-1900
Maps
1756, Division of the Great Kinderhook Patent
1829, David H Burr’s Atlas of New York State
1873, Atlas of Columbia County New York
1886-1913, Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
Military
Revolutionary War Soldiers Buried in Columbia County, New York
Naturalization Records
1916-1932 Naturalization Records
This collection is a part of the larger, New York State naturalization collection available on FamilySearch.
Newspapers
Old Fulton NY Postcards – Contrary what the name implies, this site is actually a historic newspaper website that contains archives of over 1,000 New York newspapers, along with collections from other states and Canada. This site is a phenomenal resource, but can be a bit difficult to navigate. For an alternative search interface, you can utilize the search engine at FultonSearch.org. Old Fulton NY Postcards contains the following Columbia County newspapers, however the site does not necessarily have every issue within the date spans indicated.
| Chatham Courier (1867-1967) | Kinderhook Advertiser (1917-1942) |
| Chatham Republican (1886-1903) | Kinderhook Herald (1825-1830) |
| Columbia Republican (1887-1923) | Kinderhook Rough Notes (1830,1831; 1854-1879) |
| Hudson Daily Star (1851-1875) | Kinderhook Sentinel (1836-1854; 1940-1941) |
| Hudson Evening Register (1867-1944) | Philmont Sentinel (1882-1926) |
| Hudson Weekly Star (1858-1875) |
NYS Historic Newspapers – The New York Historic Newspapers project exists to digitize and make freely available for research significant runs of historic newspapers for every county in the state. The site contains issues of the following Columbia County newspapers (as of March 2022).
- Chatham Courier (Chatham Four Corners) 1862-1903
- The Chatham Courier (Chatham) 1907-1967
- The Chatham Republican (Chatham) 1886-1918
- Chatham Semi-Weekly Courier (Chatham) 1903-1907
- The Columbia Republican (Hudson) 1881-1923
- The Columbia Washingtonian (Hudson) 1842-18??
- Kinderhook Herald (Kinderhook) 1825-1832
- Northern Whig (Hudson) 1809-1827
Roeliff Jansen Community Library Digital Newspaper Archives:
- Hillsdale Harbinger (1887-1915)
- Hillsdale Herald (1880-1887)
Hudson River Valley Heritage Historical Newspapers has digital images of over 1,000 issues of the Chatham Courier between 1862 and 1923 and more than 150 issues of the Chatham Republican, spanning between 1886 and 1895.
Probate Records
Abstracts of Wills of Columbia County, New York, 1786-1828. The available dates cover the four volumes (of an eight-volume set) available digitally on FamilySearch.
Guardianship Papers, 1802-1812 – The Columbia, 1985 (volume 1), issues 2-4; 1986 – (volume 2), issues 1-2
County Surrogate’s Court Records, 1786-1920, containing:
- 1786-1904 – Wills
- 1788-1966 – Index to Wills and Letters
- 1787-1904 – Letters Testamentary
- 1802-1898 – Guardian Bonds & Papers
- 1822-1920 – Minutes of Court Proceedings
- 1827-1880 – Administration Papers
- 1830-1880 – Estate Papers
- 1880-1939 – General Index
- 1880-1901 – Decrees on Settlements of Accounts
- 1890-1903 – Administration Bonds
This probate collection is currently not electronically indexed on FamilySearch. However there are digital copies of the original handwritten will index ledgers. An easier option is to use the SAMPUBCO (short for Samuelsen Publishing Company) website to conduct an electronic search of Columbia County will indexes.
Most, but not all, of the FamilySearch probate records are available through Ancestry.com, in their New York Wills and Probate collection. So, if you have an Ancestry subscription, that is your best bet for searching the broadest possible set of electronically indexed probate records available online.
Vital Records
10,000 Vital Records of Eastern New York, 1777-1834
Austerlitz marriage records, 1847-1848 – The Columbia, 1985 (volume 1), issue 3; 1986 – (volume 2), issue 2
Death notices, Dutchess and Columbia County, New York, 1859-1918 from Red Hook newspapers
Hudson, N.Y. deaths and marriages, 1840-1846 : from Rural repository
New York, Birth Indexes outside of New York City, 1881-1942
New York State Marriage Index, 1881-1964
New York State Death Index, 1880-1956
Before you go…..
If you have any questions about the Columbia County free genealogy resources you find through the links on this page, be sure to send Holly an email inquiry.
Also, before you go, remember to:
- Bookmark this page for future reference
- Come back to leave a comment if you make any family history discoveries!
- Join the Columbia County New York Genealogy Facebook Group if you are interested in getting involved with an online community of family history researchers
- View the other pages on Holly’s website to learn more about her research specializations and services
