Ancestral Services Offered By Town Of Oyster Bay

OYSTER BAY, NY — Residents can now look up their family history through the Oyster Bay Town Clerk's office.

"In recent years, ancestral research has become one of the world's most popular hobbies and countless people around the world are actively engaged in some form of developing a family tree," Town Clerk Rich LaMarca said. "Whether it's to satisfy a curiosity about oneself, provide children with a sense of who their ancestors were, or to compile a medical history, people are trying to get in touch with their roots."

The Town maintains birth, marriage, and death records dating back to 1881. To protect the privacy of the living, officials say birth records will not be released unless they have been on file for at least 75 years and the person to whom the record relates is deceased. Additionally, marriage records will not be released unless they have been on file for at least 50 years and both parties to the marriage are deceased.

The fee for a genealogical search can range from $22 to $162, depending on the number of years requested to be searched.