New York City Municipal Archives – Good Egg Award

I have been waiting since September for the death certificate of Kate Nunn Preiss (or letter stating “Not Found”) from the New York City Municipal Archives. My check of late July had been cashed, so I know they had received the request form and SASE.

This week I decided enough additional time had gone by that I should contact them to see where my request was in the queue.  To my surprise, my email was answered the very next day. The note implied that something had been sent, though further communication revealed that my request was probably lost. 

In spite of this I am giving the New York City Municipal Archives the Good Egg Award, because they not only answered my query, they immediately searched through the April 1928 deaths for Kate.  

Alas, Kate was not found.  But the archives informed me of the newly updated German Genealogy (and Italian Genealogy) databases that I could search for vital records myself from home. I have used these databases for years through SteveMorse.org, but the links the archives gave me sends me to the updated sites.  I was told if I found Kate listed, let them know and they would send the certificate.  Needless to say I am impressed by the customer service, not something I expected.

I searched the updated database, expanding the boroughs, expanding the years and found nothing for Kate or Carl Preiss. Sigh. Not surprising this family continues to give problems.  I thank the archives for alerting me to the updated website and for honoring my check for a future search for Kate. 

I hope the database will prove useful in searching more of my German relatives.