New Yorkers can now search for their roots in the newly indexed 1940 U.S. Federal Census for New York and three state censuses dating to 1892, exclusively on Ancestry.com.
PROVO, UTAH – (June 6, 2012) – Ancestry.com, the world’s largest online family history resource, has announced an exclusive offer for New Yorkers to jump start their family history research. Starting today, a valuable select group of record collections, provided through a partnership with the New York State Archives and Library, are now available free to New York state residents at www.ancestry.com/newyork.
The new records include the first available online index for the 1940 U.S. Federal Census for New York which includes more than 13 million resident names with details including age, birthplace, street address and residence in 1935. These records reveal a unique snapshot of the state as it emerged from the Great Depression, providing a valuable gateway to New York family information in the years leading up to World War II.
To complement the 1940 Census records, Ancestry.com is offering a bevy of additional records with its New York collection, including two state censuses never before released in digital form and a dozen other relevant collections spanning nearly 400 years of state history.
Ancestry.com has partnered with the New York State Archives to publish the 1925, 1915 and 1892 New York State censuses. Both the 1925 and 1915 censuses are digitized and available for the first time online, and along with the 1892 state census, provide the next step for discovery beyond the revelations of the 1940 Federal Census. These censuses are unique because they fall in the interim years between federal censuses, providing additional insight into population and societal trends in the state. For example, between the 1910 and 1920 federal censuses, New York experienced a population surge of 1.3 million residents due to heavy immigration (14 percent growth). The 1892 state census provides information that was lost when the 1890 U.S. Federal Census was damaged and destroyed by fire in 1921. New York state residents can access these special New York collections with a simple zip code verification process.
Like many from the Empire State, former New York City Mayor and native New Yorker, Ed Koch, and his family are found throughout many records held at Ancestry.com, including some of the New York collection. Koch’s father, Leib, first appears in a 1910 New York Passenger List when he immigrated to the United States from Ukraine alone at the age of 16. The 1915 New York State Census shows Koch’s father living with his sister in the Bronx. Edward Koch first appears in the 1925 New York State Census, which records him as an infant having been born in the Bronx in 1924. Koch appears again in the 1930 U.S. Federal Census as “Edwin”, residing in an Eastern European Bronx neighborhood where he lived with his parents and brother in a $75/month apartment.
“Like so many New Yorkers, I am extremely proud of our great state and am excited to have the opportunity to access these digitized records with others in the state,” said Koch. “With such a wealth of information now available for free online at Ancestry.com, citizens past and present have the opportunity to embrace their connection to New York.”
The 1940 U.S. Federal Census features Ancestry.com’s new groundbreaking Interactive Image Viewer that has been designed to enable even the most novice family historian to easily peruse document pages. The new feature adds highlights, transcriptions and more, right on the census page so that users can access the small details by scrolling over the sections to clearly see what was recorded by census takers. With the ability to zoom into individual records, these new features should dramatically improve the usability of the 1940 Census, which previously only included images of the paper records. This experience will be available throughout the entire 1940 U.S. Federal Census when it is fully indexed later in the year.
In addition to the New York census collections, Ancestry.com is also offering New York residents free access to more than a dozen state records collections through its partnership with the New York State Archives and Library. These records span from 1600 through the 1960s and include titles such as WWII Enlisted Men Cards, WWI Veterans Service Data and Town Clerks' Registers of Men Who Served in the Civil War.
“Ancestry.com has worked tirelessly to be the first company to fully index the 1940 New York Federal Census, while maintaining our commitment to provide the best experience possible ,” said Tim Sullivan, CEO of Ancestry.com. “As a native New Yorker myself, I understand the pride residents have for our great state and am excited to be able to offer such a wealth of history to each and every New Yorker.”
All New York records are available at: www.ancestry.com/newyork. Visitors will be required to submit their New York state zip code to access the records collections.
About Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com Inc. (Nasdaq:ACOM) is the world's largest online family history resource, with 1.9 million paying subscribers. More than 10 billion records have been added to the site in the past 15 years. Ancestry users have created more than 34 million family trees containing approximately 4 billion profiles. In addition to its flagship site www.ancestry.com, Ancestry.com offers several localized Web sites designed to empower people to discover, preserve and share their family history.
FamilySearch International is pleased to announce that Dennis C. Brimhall has taken over as chief executive officer, succeeding Jay L. Verkler. FamilySearch thanks Jay for his years of devotion to the department, and gives a warm welcome to Dennis!
On Monday, April 2, 2012, the 1940 U. S. Federal Census records were released to the public! 
Whenever we talk about old books or old documents, it is a good idea to focus on the difference between old and valuable. Everyone has a different perception of what is an old book or document. Just because a book is “old” does not mean that it has any value. All you have to do is go to a local used book sale and see what “old” books sometimes sell for. Old documents are in the same category; age does not confer any particular value to a document. The real issue is scarcity and desirability. Both of these issues can be highly personal. For example, you might have a family history book written in the 1800s. I may attach a great value to the book because it is your family. To someone who is not related, the book may have no interest or value at all. The key here is to not confuse old with rare or limited edition books. Books that fall into the collectable category are always going to have a higher market value than books that are old but common and not viewed as collectable 
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