Where do you find your ancestors New York birth, marriage, or death certificate? You will be able to better answer this question if you have an understanding of how vital record keeping has evolved throughout the history of New York State.

Engagements, marriages & deaths among employees at the Curtiss-Wright factory. Courtesy of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library

Includes births, marriages & deaths among employees at Bell Aircraft. Courtesy of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library.

Courtesy of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library

Transcribed by Buffalo Public librarian William Ives (1817-1916), "The Why of This Book" compiles records of marriages and deaths which occurred in Buffalo and surrounding communities from 1811-1833, as transcribed from newspaper notices.

In this video, we will show you how to create a free Ancestry New York account. We will also show you how to access the records that are freely available to ...

Several New York repositories have formed a partnership with Ancestry.com to digitize family history records and make them available on line for free. The list of records available is located in the bottom right corner of the Ancestry.com New York web page.

What researchers need to know about getting copies of birth, marriage, or death records for genealogical purposes. This facility houses records for birth, marriages, or deaths that occurred within the city limits of Buffalo, NY. If the person was born, married, or died elsewhere, you must contact the appropriate town or village clerk.

Shows when each town and village in Erie County, NY began keeping birth (B), marriage (M), and death (D) records

Names of those who died in 1850, as reported to federal census enumerators

A guide to the best online sources. Courtesy of BuffaloResearch.com

Brought to you by Buffalo State College

Deaths that occurred in Buffalo, Yonkers, and Albany are not included until around 1914. Towns & villages outside of the City of Buffalo should be included here. Courtesy of Reclaim the Records.

Index of Cholera Deaths, 1854, kept by Dr. James W. Newman, Buffalo, NY. The original ledger is in the collection of The Buffalo History Museum. Indexed by Roseanne Higgins, PhD, September 2016

This book is not online and can be found in several libraries

This index is provided by the NY State Department of Health and is also available on their website at https://health.data.ny.gov/Health/Genealogical-Research-Death-Index-Beginning-1957/vafa-pf2s. It contains information on decedents, date of death, gender, age at death and NYS file number that will allow the public to search for individuals if on file for at least 50 years.

These records are on microfilm and are not online. They must be searched in person at The Buffalo History Museum.

Names of Buffalo police officers who lost their lives in the line of duty

A few dozen names

About 400 residents who died prior to 1901.

A few dozen names

A few dozen names

A few dozen names

A handful of names

A handful of names

A handful of names

A handful of names

A handful of names

A handful of names