BuffaloResearch.com--Genealogical Records in Buffalo, NY: A

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Genealogy & Local History in Buffalo, NY

Genealogical Records in Buffalo & Erie County: A Quick Guide

Welcome to our guide to 36 kinds of sought-after records in Buffalo & Erie County, NY! Please don't skip over these pointers.

Most of these records are offline, usually on paper or microfilm. This will not change soon.

No institution can guarantee access or results when searching for records. Not every institution has enough staff to undertake research & look-up requests. Fees and/or privacy restrictions may apply. Out-of-towners may wish to consult researchers for hire.

If an institution's holdings could be described with simple date spans or place names, we entered them into the appropriate cell. Otherwise, this checkmark indicates that they own it.

Wherever possible, date spans and checkmarks are linked to more in-depth descriptions.

Microfilm must be searched in person by you or a researcher you hire.

Our detailed Vital Records guide lists records not shown below.

Here's a history of vital record-keeping practices in New York State, written for genealogists

		A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I
		Buffalo History Museum	BECPL & WNYGS	Buffalo City Clerk & Inactive Records Center	Erie County Clerk	LDS Family History Centers	Town & Village Clerks	UB Libraries	Other Reposi- tories	Online Versions & Links
1	Adoption & Orphan Home	Adoptions are sealed forever under NY State Law. A few records were filmed or indexed (see row 2) before being sealed.
2	Adoption Indexes	1836-1939 1865-1961				1874-1890			1874-1900
3	Almshouse / Poorhouse								Erie County Home NYS Archives
4	Architectural Plans & Drawings
5	Bank- ruptcies								US Bank- ruptcy Court
6	Births			1878 to present	1881-1913				NYS Dept. of Health
7	Border Crossings		1902-1954							1895-1956
8	Business Records								NYS Dept. of State
9	Cemetery Records
10	Census - Federal, on film	1790-1880 1900-1930	1790-1880 1900-1930	1850-1920		1790-1880 1900-1930		1820-1880 1900-1930
11	Census - State, on film	1855-1925	1855-1925	1855-1925				1855-1925
12	Census Indexes		1790-1880 1900,1910					1855, 1875
13	Church Records
14	City Directories	1828-2001	1828 to present	1856-1985				1828 to present	Offline Directories
15	Court Records								NYS Unified Court System
16	Deaths			1852 to present					NYS Dept. of Health
17	Divorces	Sealed for 100 years except to the parties involved & their attorneys			1830-1963				NYS Dept. of Health
18	Genealogies in book form
19	High School & College Yearbooks
20	Land, Deeds, Property Transactions				1808 to present			1808- 1964
21	Land, Deeds - Indexes	1804-1835 1800-1830	1804-1835 1800-1830
22	Marriages	1811-1884 1840-1880		1877 to present	1878-1935				NYS Dept. of Health
23	Medical Examiner / Autopsies	1878-1898							Erie County Medical Examiner
24	Mortgages					1808-1877		1808- 1964
25	Natural- izations				1827-1929				US District Courthouse
26	Natural- izations - Indexes		1906-1966							1906-1966
27	Newspapers	1811 to present	1830s? to present					1842 to present	NYS Newspaper Project
28	Obituaries	1811-2001				1812-1985
29	Passenger Lists on Film
30	Passenger Lists - Indexes
31	Tax Records	1846-1865	1856-1857	1815-1997				1846-1866		1800
32	Telephone Directories	ca. 1903- to present	1886 to present							1915
33	Vital Record Indexes
34	Voter Registrations	Buffalo Erie County	Buffalo Erie County
35	Wills, Probate, Estate Papers								Surrogate Court NYS Archives
36	Wills (etc.) - Indexes	1808-1819	1800-1929
		Buffalo History Museum	BECPL & WNYGS	Buffalo City Clerk & Inactive Records Center	Erie County Clerk	LDS Family History Centers	Town & Village Clerks	UB Libraries	Other Reposi- tories	Online Versions & Links
		A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I

Updated 25 April 2013

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