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NYGenWeb: MORRISANIA, NY Genealogical Resources
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NYGenWeb
Westchester County, NY


MORRISANIA
Formerly of Westchester County


This page was last updated: Thursday, 05-Apr-2012 09:39:18 MDT

«History» « Vital Records » « Historical Society »  «Churches and Synagogues »
 «Cemeteries » « Maps » «Library » « Census » « Directories »
 «Bibliography » « Cultural and/or Historical sites » « Renowned Residents »
 «Surnames » «Other Institutions of Genealogical Interest » «Military info » «Loyalists»
«Picture Gallery»  « Surname Query and Links»


History

Morrisania was originally included in Westchester County as a manor. The grant for the manor of Morrisania was issued in 1697. It was annexed to New York City in 1873 and in 1898 it became part of The Bronx County. When looking for vital records for Morrisania, you will need to check both counties. Depending on the time period, you may also wish to see the records at the Eastchester Historical Society.

THE MANOR OF MORRISANIA AND THE EARLY MORRISES The Morris Manor: an address delivered at the fifth annual meeting of the New York Branch of the Order of Colonial Lords of Manors in America, December 9, 1916. Original 26 pgs.

Read the following article which explains the change in boundaries and governmental jurisdictions. Before the Five-Borough City: The Old Cities, Towns and Villages That Came Together to Form "Greater New York" by Harry Macy, Jr., F.A.S.G., F.G.B.S, Originally published in The NYG&B Newsletter, Winter 1998

Vital Records

See also the early records for Eastchester.

Also, see if there is any additional information on the Vital Records page at this site.

Historical Society

Eastchester Historical Society

Westchester County Historical Society

The Bronx County Historical Society

Churches and Synagogues

Local Catholic Church History and Genealogy Research Guide and Worldwide Direct

http://home.att.net/~Local_Catholic -- There are currently 72 RC parishes in the Bronx, 25 in the South Bronx. Site also gives history of some local parishes, NY cemetery information and links to many other related sites.

Roman Catholic
Roman catholic churches in Westchester county are under the juridiction of the Archdiocese of New York. You can search their parish listing at the following web page: http://www.ny-archdiocese.org/pastoral/parishes.cfm
Episcopal Churches -- New York
See a list of Episcopal Churches in New Yorkhttp://www.episcopalchurch.org/webpages/p2.html#NewYork or use their Parish Finder search engine.

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Cemeteries

See the above entry under churches.

Woodlawn Cemetery is one of the largest cemeteries in what is today The Bronx County. Check the "current cemeteries" list on the attached page for their address: cemetery listing.

Transcribed Cemetery Inscriptions

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]

Horton, William P. Cemetery Inscriptions of Westchester County, NY. [Peekskill, NY: 1928] Copy available at New York Public Library's Genealogical & Local History Room.

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.

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. Also check with the local historical society for information about the above cemeteries.

Have you looked at the cemetery listings here at the Westchester NYGenWeb site?

Maps

The Map Division of the New York Public Research Library, which is located in Manhattan, has an extensive map collection.

Many town historical societies also hold maps of their vicinities, including copies of the Sanborn insurance maps. 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. 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.

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Library

The New York Public Library Genealogical and Local History Room of the Research Division is one of the foremost genealogical libraries in the country.

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Census Information

Local Census

New York State Census

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.

Federal Census

Fuller, Elizabeth Griffen. Index to Westchester County Names in the Federal Censuses, 1790-1840 [Elmsford: Westchester Cty. Historical Society] 1994.

Federal Census: 1790
Morrisania

Some census information for Westchester county can be found at the Census page.

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Directories

Curtin's Westchester County Directory for .... [New York: D. Curtin, 1868--]. Microfilmed copies for the years 1868/69, 1869/70, 1870/72, 1872/73 are available at the New York Public Library. Includes Morrisania.

Morrisania (New York) -- Directories [Morrisania, NY] for 1853 is on microfilm at the New York Public Library.

Also see the City Directories page on this Westchester Site.


Annotated Bibliography

Akerly, Lucy Dubois. The Morris Manor: address delivered at the Fifth Annual Meeting of the NY Branch of the Order of Colonial Lords of Manors in America, December 9, 1916 [Baltimore, MD: s.n., 1916] Copy available at the New York Public Library's Genealogy and Local History Room.

Fuller, Elizabeth Griffen. Index to Westchester County Names in the Federal Censuses, 1790-1840 [Elmsford: Westchester Cty. Historical Society] 1994.

Mancini, Anthony. The Miracle of Pelham Bay Park. [New York: E.P. Dutton & Co.] c. 1982.

Morris, Gouverneur (1813-1888). Morrisania and Upper Morrisania. Abstract of Title, 1849. [New York, 1849] Copy available at the New York Public Library's Genealogy and Local History Room.

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

Scharf, J. Thomas. History of Westchester County, New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms which have been annexed to New York City. [Philadelphia: L. E. Preston & Co.] c. 1886. 2 volumes. NOTE: Since republished by the Westchester County Historical Society which has copies for sale. For an index of personal names to this work, see the entry under "Fuller, Elizabeth G." found above.

For other books with information relating to this town but covering a county-wide level, see the County section of the Bibliography page.

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Cultural and/or Historical sites

Museum of Migrating People

Renowned Residents

If you know of any notable residents from this town, please please contact the county coordinator for this web site.about adding them to this section and please identify when the person resided here as well as why you consider them to be notable.

Other Institutions of Genealogical Interest

Westchester County Genealogical Society

The Westchester County Genealogical Society has been publishing a series of articles in their monthly newsletter for some time which gives an overview of each town within the county. This Focus on (town name) [WCGS Newsletter, ] series includes a brief history of the town, a listing of some houses of worship, some cemeteries and often a bibliography. See the information about ordering back issues of the newsletter.

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Military Info

See the Military & War Links page for more information.

As we find information relating specifically to this town, we'll post it here. If you have any such information or know of other web pages to link to, please please contact the county coordinator for this web site.with particulars.

Loyalist Info

Have you a Loyalist in your family tree? If so, the Loyalist page may be of interest to you. If you have any specific information relating to this town and loyalists, please contact the county coordinator for this web site. about adding the information to this page.

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Picture Gallery

See the article entitled "Annexed to New York" found in the 1873 issue of Harper's Weekly.

If you have a scanned picture relating to any location within Westchester and would like to add it to this site, please please contact the county coordinator for this web site.with particulars.

Some Surnames associated with this town

The following are some links to surname web pages of researchers in Westchester but none specifically associated with this town/city/village. https://sites.rootsweb.com/~nywestch/surnames.htm

Query & Message Boards

Rootsweb.com has Some Query boards where you can post a query for others to view. Or join the Westchester mailing list and correspond with other Westchester researchers.

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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.

NYGENWEB's Westchester County URL: https://sites.rootsweb.com/~nywestch/