NYGenWeb
Westchester County, NY
Westchester County, NY
|
Westchester County, NY |
This page was last updated: Thursday, 05-Apr-2012 09:39:28 MDT
The town of Greenburgh includes the villages of Ardsley, Dobbs Ferry, Elmsford, Hastings-on-Hudson, Tarrytown, and Irvington, as well as the hamlet/railroad station/post office of Hartsdale.
"The township of Greenburgh, which had previously been a part of the Manor of Philipsburgh, was set off and established with its present name and boundaries in the year 1788. The name is of uncertain origin. Two etymologies may be given, neither of which seems improbable. Its inhabitants at the time were largely of Hollandish descent, and in the language familiar to them the word groen, signifying green, and the words graan and grein, both signifying grain, might well, either the one or the other, have suggested the first syllable of the name, while the word burg, in the same language, signifying a borough, or an incorporated town or district of country, very evidently supplied the second. Green-district or Grain-district would thus express a prominent feature of the locality. The burg already belonged to it as part of its recognized title of Philipsburg, and when the Philipse proprietor and his family became Tories during the Revolution, and their property was confiscated at its close, the name Philipse naturally dropped out, and the descriptive term Green took its place. The fact that it has always been known as Green-burgh, and never as Grain-burgh, seems to determine its true etymology." [Source: Excerpt from Scharf's History of Westchester County,..., Volume 2, Chapter II, Greenburgh, page 172; published in 1886.]
For more information at a county level, see the NYGenWeb Westchester County Resources page as well as the main site page.
For an index of naturalizations within the county, see the web pages of the Westchester County Archives.
The web page for the New York State Dept. of Health can be found at http://www.health.state.ny.us/vital_records/. Also, check out the following web pages: http://www.vitalchek.com/ for a company which will obtain records for a service fee.
Dick Hillenbrand of Upstate New York Genealogy has posted on his web site an article entitled "How to Obtain Copies of Vital Records for Genealogical Purposes in Upstate New York." He also emphasizes that you will need to make sure to read the additional links that were added later because the Library in Syracuse has volunteered to do FREE LOOKUPS in the microfiche index for anyone, anywhere, anytime! They accept requests by phone, mail, email, or probably carrier pigeon too. They want to help and there is no charge to do the look up. However, be sure to thank them for whatever they do so as to ensure that they continue this free service!
Also, see if there is any additional information on the Vital Records page at this site.
Look at the pages for Dobbs Ferry, Tarrytown, Sleep Hollow and White Plains for some historicial societies.
Don't overlook the many resources held at the Westchester County Historical Society.
Carretta, Katherine A., compiler. A Guide to Listings of Old Cemetery Inscriptions and other Genealogical Aids for Westchester County, New York. [Westchester County Historical Society, 1977]
Eardeley, William A., compiler. Westchester County, New York, Cemeteries... 1704-1914. [Brooklyn, 1914]. Contains inscriptions on tombs from Armonk, Bedford, Westchester, Croton, Mt. Kisco, Chestnut Ridge, Harrison, Mamaroneck, and Eastchester. Copy available at New York Public Library's Genealogical & Local History Room.
Horton, William P. Cemetery Inscriptions of Westchester County, NY. [Peekskill, NY: 1928] Copy available at New York Public Library's Genealogical & Local History Room.
Kriger, Malcolm. The Peaceable Kingdom in Hartsdale. [Rosywick Press] c. 1983. regarding the pet cemetery.
Manville, Margaret. Revolutionary War Soldiers buried in Cemeteries in Westchester County, New York. [White Plains, NY: 1966] Copy available at New York Public Library's Genealogical & Local History Room.
Perry, William Graves. The Old Dutch Burying Ground of Sleepy Hollow in North Tarrytown, New York. [Boston, MA: Rand Press] c.1953.
Rankin, Rebecca. Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. Cemetery. Person (sic) buried in the cemetery on Ashford Avenue, opposite Mohican Park Avenue, Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., property of the South Presbyterian Church in Greenburgh.... [Dobbs Ferry, NY: 1956] Copy available at New York Public Library's Genealogical & Local History Room.
Spies, Francis F. Inscriptions copied from gravestones in West Chester County yards with genealogical notes. Copy available at New York Public Library's Genealogical & Local History Room.
The Westchester County Historical Society also has extensive manuscripts giving inventories of many old cemeteries located throughout the County.
Have you looked at the cemetery listing here at the Westchester NYGenWeb site?
The Sanborn Map Company has issued Insurance maps of the town of Greenburgh, New York (including Hastings, Dobbs Ferry, Ardsley, Greenville, and Hartsdale) , copies of which are available in the Map Division of the New York Public Library. Volume 2 includes Irvington, East Irvington, Elmsford, Glenville, and Tarrytown in the town of Greenburgh, also North Tarrytown and Philipse Manor in the town of Mt. Pleasant. Insurance maps were detailed to the point of showing each building on each street so that insurance companies knew what to pay the insurer in the event of fire or destruction.
Many town historical societies hold maps of their vicinities, including copies of the Sanborn insurance maps and of the Beers maps. Be sure to inquire at such institutions as well as at local libraries.
Also, see additional information on the Maps page at this Westchester site.
The only NY State censuses which survived are for the years 1905, 1915, and 1925. Check at your local LDS Family History Center for these films. If you are near Westchester county, the Westchester Family History Center in Scarsdale has the 1905 NY State census on permanent loan.
Some census information for Westchester county can be found at the Census page.
Fuller, Elizabeth Griffen. Index to Westchester County Names in the Federal Censuses, 1790-1840 [Elmsford: Westchester Cty. Historical Society] 1994.
Gotthelf, Peggy, and Richard Maurice Moss, compilers. Fairview Remembered: Oral Histories of the Fairview Vicinity [Greenburgh, NY: Greenburgh Preservation Commission, 1992]
Greenburgh, NY. Greenburgh, a Glimpse of Our Past: Town of Greenburgh, NY [Greenburgh Bicentennial Commission, 1988]
Hawke, Arthur R. History of Hartsdale [Hartsdale, NY: Hartsdale Times, 1948]
Pelletreau, William S., Am. M. Early Wills of Westchester County, New York 1664-1784 Pub. 1898. Cornell University Library has scanned this book and placed it on the web at the following address: http://moa.cit.cornell.edu/MOA/bookp.html
For other books with information relating to this town but covering a county-wide level, see the County section of the Bibliography page.
The Westchester County Genealogical Society has published a series of articles in their monthly newsletter for some time which gives an overview of several towns within the county. Their Focus on (town name) in the monthly WCGS Newsletter series includes a brief history of the town, a listing of some houses of worship, some cemeteries and a bibliography. See the information about ordering back issues of the newsletter.
See the Military & War Links page for more information.
As we find information relating specifically to this town, we'll post it here.
Penny Post Cards from New York
As we find pictures relating to this town, they will be posted here.
Return to Westchester County's Town Index page.
Return to the main page for Westchester County at NYGenWeb.
Return to the NYGenWeb web site.
© 1996-2012 Cathy Horn. All rights reserved.
This web site was designed by and has been exclusively maintained since November 1996 by Cathy Horn.