Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book for the purposes of review and I have received other books from Genealogical Publishing Company, also for review. However, my opinions are my own and not influenced by outside sources.
To begin, I have no ancestors living in New York in the 1600s, with the excepton of the Opdyke/Updike family, who moved on to Rhode Island long before 1698.
However, seeing Kory Meyerink’s new book, a compilation of all New York residents in 1698, certainly makes me wish I had some early New Yorkers in the family tree.
The book is presented in a very straightforward manner, beginning with the map on the cover. When I think of New York, I think of its shape and square miles found on today’s maps.
The 1698 map puts its people in perspective with most of the upstate area quite devoid of European settlers. It also points out just how massive Albany County was, too. By the way, there is a duplicate image of the map just after the title page which isn’t glossy, for those who might prefer it.
This book is pretty amazing with 394 pages, an excellent index and more types of lists than you can imagine. As the title indicates, it is not just census and tax records.
The Table of Contents provides a clear summary of what is included for each county in existence at the time. Remember, New York had but ten counties back then.
Furthermore, each county has an introductory page which includes supplemental details, when pertinent to the county history, such as Original Publications, Original References, Reformatting Notes, Statistical Recap, Comments, Soldier Lists and a list of references provided For Further Research.
If you are really lucky your county of interest includes the surviving 1698 census. For example, the 1698 Hempstead (Queens) enumeration included not only the head of household, but the names of everyone living there. No ages are provided, but since New York has few vital records, especially covering the 1600s, the 1698 census is about as good as it gets for identifying family groups.
Also, in spite of the book title stating 1698, some counties have further information. For example, Jamaica in Queens County is titled “Jamaica Residents About 1700” and includes commentary from church records from 1688 to 1715.
The index is a whopping 77 pages long with names of every spelling variation, as they are found in the original records.
This book will only appeal to those who have ancestral lines in New York in the late 1600s. However, anyone who has such lines, especially multiple family lines living there, should have this book on their reference shelf. It is an encyclopedia of biographical data for new York at the turn of the 18th century.
Kory Meyerink has compiled an absolutely fabulous reference book.
New York in 1698: A Comprehensive List of Residents Based on Census, Tax, and Other Lists by Kory L. Meyerink, AG, FUGA can be purchased online from Genealogical Publishing Company for $59.95. By the way, it’s less expensive to buy the book from the publisher than on everyone’s favorite shopping website.