New York State did not begin to collect vital records data until 1880, leaving genealogists seeking earlier records with incomplete, unpublished, and scattered substitutes.  For this reason any reliable collection of early vital records is especially valuable.  The Vosburgh Collection, containing over 100 volumes of transcriptions of Protestant church records, is such a resource.  The collection was commissioned by the Library of Congress and other institutions, and compiled between 1913 and 1928.  Royden Vosburgh, archivist and historian of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, transcribed many of the volumes and edited nearly all of them. In spite of its size, the Vosburgh Collection cannot be considered a statewide database.  The emphasis is on early congregations, rather than early records.  The churches included are located almost exclusively in the valleys surrounding the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, where the earliest settlements in the state were located.  However, many of the transcriptions extend into the twentieth century.  The collection has been microfilmed and is available in the NEHGS library, the library of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society (NYG&BS), the New York State library, and in some public libraries.  Films are available at the Family History Library (and local Family History Centers).

Royden Woodward Vosburgh became archivist and historian of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society in 1913.  The following biographical information was extracted from an obituary published in the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record in 1932.[i]

Royden Woodward Vosburgh, a Life Member of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, died … on May 18, 1931.  … Mr. Vosburgh was born Feb. 5, 1875, at Buffalo, New York, the son of William Henry Vosburgh and his wife Caroline Estelle Woodward. … He was educated at the Brown and Nichols School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and at Harvard University, 1893-1896. … In 1913 Mr. Vosburgh became the archivist of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, and devoted much of his time to make carefully prepared copies of the church records of the State of New York.  His services enriched the Society with the records of 92 churches, occupying 101 volumes. …  In the Records for Jan. 1918 (Vol. 49, pp. 11-16) and April, 1921 (Vol. 52, pp. 152-157) are listed the church records copied by Mr. Vosburgh. … Mr. Vosburgh was connected with the Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences, and edited for that Society nine volumes of Staten Island church and gravestone records.

The NEHGS library holds a copy of the thirteen-reel NYG&BS filming of the collection. Its call number is F118/V67/1913.  While there is no index to the collection, the NEHGS library has a copy of A guide to Vosburgh church records on microfilm, by Robert M. Murphy (Microtext REF F118/M86/1999). The majority of the records begin in the mid to late eighteenth century.  Some records cover a relatively short time span, such as Round Top Lutheran Church of Pine Plains in Dutchess County (1760-1788).  Other records extend into the twentieth century, such as First Lutheran Church of Albany (1774-1901) or First Reformed Church of West Coxsackie in Greene County (1738-1918).

The catalogue entries at the Connecticut State Library for this filming are particularly complete.  For example, the entry for the Reformed Dutch Church of Stone Arabia, in the town of Palatine, Montgomery County, contains the following description of the contents:[ii]

Contents  v. 1 : Baptisms and births, Oct. 14, 1739-Jan. 31, 1796. Marriages, Oct. 16, 1739-1795. Register of members, Jan. 13, 1739-1795. Elders and deacons, 1788-1796. Copy of the charter, 1791. Death register, 1787-1795. Seat owners, 1790. Seat regulations and transfer. -- v. 2 : Births and baptisms, 1796-1824. Marriages, 1796-1821. Register of members, 1796-1830. Death register, 1796-1823. Miscellanea, dismissals, etc. Abstracts from the minutes of the consistory, 1789-1850. List of the church officers, 1743, 1788-1849. Subscription lists, 1821. -- v. 3 : Births and baptisms, 1824-1911. Death register, 1851-1856. Marriages, 1844-1895. Register of members, 1826-1912. List of families, 1851. Deaths, 1872-1880. Minutes of consistory. The history of the Reformed Dutch Church of Stone Arabia, Gravestone inscriptions. Stone Arabia Reformed Burying Ground. Catalogue of books and documents

While it is true that the records of some of the churches in this collection were published elsewhere (with indexes), researchers are urged to consult the Vosburgh collection as well.  Most of the published sources transcribe only the vital records; as the description above suggests, Vosburgh includes much additional information.  He carefully describes his sources and includes many notes, such as the following: “Note. three blank pages follow in the original record, after which comes the page inscribed: “RECORD OF BAPTISMS CONTINUED by Jno. J. Wack.”[iii]   The following extract from the introduction to his “Abstracts from the minutes of the consistory” gives some idea of how extensive this additional material can be.

Taken as a whole, this abstract with the notes, gives every fact worthy of note, concerning the history of this church for three score years.  It contains all the documentary data relating to the building of, and the repairs made, to the present church edifice; the consecration of the church, its admission to the Classis[iv] of Albany; and presents authoritatively for the first time, the facts concerning the suspension and deposition of the Rev. John J. Wack. [Rev. Wack was accused of repeated drunkenness and profanity.]  This latter phase of the church history is in itself a most interesting study, and it shows that the members of the Classis of Montgomery, by whose acts the Stone Arabia Church became independent for about ten years, were the same band of malcontents who finally organized the True Reformed Dutch Church.  In short, what follows presents the primary sources of information from which the history of the church must be written.[v]  

The version available at the Family History Library presents the same information in sixty-one reels instead of thirteen.  The Family History Library does not have a copy of Murphy’s guide, but does have an Index to the Vosburgh collection of the early church records of the state of New York (#1697744, item 27).  The FHL catalog entries list the names of the churches included in each of the sixty-one reels. 

The following table lists the relevant congregations, collected by county, together with the dates for which records were transcribed.  From this a researcher should be able to evaluate the relevance of this collection to his work.

Table I: Churches Forming the Vosburgh Collection[vi]