Genealogy & Local History in Buffalo, NY
Genealogical
Records in Buffalo
& Erie County: A Quick Guide
- Welcome to our simplified guide to the most sought-after records in Buffalo & Erie County! Please don't skip over these pointers.
- Most of Erie County's records are offline. They are still on paper or microfilm, usually in government offices. This will not change soon.
- Links on the top & bottom rows give contact information, hours, addresses, etc. for each institution.
- No institution can guarantee access or results when searching for records. In some cases, fees and/or privacy restrictions may apply. Not every institution has enough staff to fill look-up requests.
- 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 of specific records or collections.
- Microfilm must be searched in person by you or a researcher you hire.
- This table is by no means comprehensive. See our full-length, detailed Vital Records guide, which lists records & institutions not shown below.
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A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | |
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& WNYGS |
Town & Village Clerks |
Other
Reposi- tories |
Online Versions / Links |
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| 1 | Adoption Records | Sealed forever under NY State Law. A few records were filmed or indexed (see below) before being sealed. | ||||||||
| 2 | Adoption
Indexes |
1857-1876 1874-1900 |
1874-1890 |
1900 |
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| 3 | Architectural Records | |
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| 4 | Births
/ Baptisms |
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1878
to present |
1881-1913 |
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NYS Dept. of Health | |
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| 5 | Border Crossings | 1902-1954 | |
1895-1956 | ||||||
| 6 | Business Records | |
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| 7 | Cemetery
Records |
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| 8 |
Census - Federal, on film |
1790-1880 1900-1930 |
1790-1880 1900-1930 |
1850-1920 |
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1790-1880 1900-1930 |
1820-1880 1900-1930 | |
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| 9 |
Census - State, on film |
1855-1925 |
1855-1925 |
1855-1925 |
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1855-1925 |
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| 10 |
Census Indexes |
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1790-1880
1900,1910 |
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1855, 1875 |
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| 11 |
Church Records |
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| 12 |
City Directories |
1828-2001 |
1828
to present |
1856-1985 |
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1828 to present | |
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| 13 | Court Records | |
NYS Unified Court System | |
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| 14 | Deaths |
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1852
to present |
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NYS Dept. of Health | |
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| 15 | Divorces | Sealed by NY State Law for 100 years except for the spouses involved and their arrorneys | ||||||||
| 16 |
Genealogies in book form |
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| 17 | High
School & College Yearbooks |
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| 18 |
Land & Property Transactions |
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1808
to present |
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| 19 | Land & Property - Indexes | 1804-1835 1800-1830 |
1804-1835 1800-1830 |
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| 20 | Marriages |
1811-1884 |
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1877
to present |
1878-1935 |
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NYS Dept. of Health | |
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| 21 | Natural- izations |
1827-1929 | US District Courthouse | |||||||
| 22 |
Natural- izations - Indexes |
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1906-1966 |
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1906-1966 |
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| 23 |
Newspapers on Microfilm |
1811
to present |
1830s?
to present |
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1842
to present |
NYS Newspaper Project | |
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| 24 | Obituaries |
1811-2001 |
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1812-1985 |
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| 25 |
Passenger Lists on
Film |
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| 26 | Passenger
Lists -
Indexes |
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| 27 | Tax
Records |
1846-1865 |
1856-1857 |
1815-1997 |
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1846-1866 |
1800 |
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| 28 | Telephone
Directories |
ca.
1903- to present |
1886
to present |
1915 |
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| 29 |
Vital Record Indexes |
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| 30 | Voter
Registrations |
Buffalo Erie County |
Buffalo Erie County |
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| 31 |
Wills,
Probate, |
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Surrogate
Court NYS Archives |
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| 32 | Wills (etc.)
- Indexes |
1808-1819 |
1800-1929 |
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| BECHS |
& WNYGS |
Buffalo City Clerk & Inactive Records Center | LDS
Family History Centers |
Town & Village Clerks |
UB
Libraries |
Other
Reposi- tories |
Online
Versions / Links |
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| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | ||
Updated 25 January 2012