Searching Reclaim the Records' New York State Death Index

Hooray for Reclaim the Records, which has once again, through legal cases and perseverance, forced the public disclosure of vital records that should be public. This time, the result is the disclosure of millions of historical death records from New York State, covering the years 1880 to 2017.

Our friends at Reclaim the Records created an innovative, easy-to-search website that also functions very well with natural language search queries. Here's the link to this new site.

Above, a screen shot of the home page, showing suggested natural language search queries. I tried this search: "Ruth Markell died in New Rochelle in 1941," referring to a 1c1r who died young. I have her obit but not her death cert. 

In a split second, I got a result. And when I clicked on that Ruth Markell result, I got a bit more detail PLUS an unusually helpful bonus: "People with the surname ____ who died nearby." Above, an excerpt from the bonus, showing this little girl's brothers, who both died in New Rochelle, New York in the 1970s. 

Do give this new database a try if you have New York State ancestors who died between 1880 and 2017. Thank you very much to Reclaim the Records!