Documenting Small Businesses
Advice from the Central New York Library Resources Council
Public
Census Indexes at the Buffalo History Museum: A List
These print indexes help you find a name in federal and state census records on microfilm. All are owned by the Buffalo History Museum and must be consulted in person.
Learn About An Ancestor's Business
A how-to article from Family Tree magazine, 2009
Journal of Negro History
Several early volumes are now online in full text.
Sketches in the history of the underground railroad
The full text of the book (1879) by Eber Petit, a Fredonia native. It is highly anecdotal and omits the details that historians depend on, such as full names, dates, and places.
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Rev. J.W. Loguen, as a slave and as a freeman: a narrative of real life
The full text of a memoir (1859) by an underground railroad leader from Syracuse
Forest Lawn: its history, dedications, progress, regulations, names of lot holders
Full text of the book published in 1867
Catalogue of the Exhibition of Fine Arts
The full text of the book by David Gray
Annual Report of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, Buffalo, NY
Full text of volumes 1-12, 1885-1897.
Around the "Pan" with Uncle Hank
The full text of the book by Thomas Fleming, a humorous, illustrated look at the Pan-American Exposition
Peter B. Porter Papers: An Inventory
Porter served as quartermaster general of the New York State Militia during the War of 1812. His papers are in the collection of the Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society and are available on microfilm. This is a guide to his papers.
University of Buffalo Studies
Early 20th century scholarship in a variety of areas from UB
Buffalo Area Church Records in Print
A list of print and paper-based records at the Buffalo History Museum. They are not digitized and must be used in person.
Index to certified copy of list of American prisoners of war, 1812-1815 : as recorded in General entry book, Ottawa, Canada, list of American prisoners of war, who died at Princetown, Dartmoore, England, 1812-1815
Title is pretty self-explanatory
Records of Eggert Road cemetery, Eggertsville : Staley family cemetery, Grand Island, and St. Paul's cemetery, Tonawanda, in Erie County, New York
Inscriptions typed in 1948
1820 Pension List
Presumably lists War of 1812 and Revolutionary War veterans
Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, 1901, May 1 to November 1
Full text of the souvenir guidebook
Erie County Real Property Information
Look up the current owner of any address in Erie County
City of Buffalo Property Database
Look up the current owner of any address in the City of Buffalo. Please be forewarned that the date built is often a year ending in zero and is often inaccurate.
Erie County of Letters Testamentary, L-Z
A list of names
Erie County Letters of Testamentary, A-K
A list of names
1698 Census
Copy of the census taken in 1698, the original of which is kept in the New York State Library. Includes only the eastern portion of New York State.
Marriage Certificate Request from the City of Buffalo
How to request a copy of a marriage certificate from the Buffalo vital records office.
Western New York Land Transactions, 1804-1824
Searchable database taken from Karen Livsey's index of Holland Land Company buyers. You get low-resolution snippets showing last name, first name, and date of purchase, but anything beyond that requires a paid Ancestry subscription.
Border Crossings from Canada to U.S., 1895-1956
Also known as the St. Albans lists. You get first & last name and port of arrival, but any information beyond that requires a paid subscription to Ancestry.com.
1930 Census, Erie County
Scans directly from the microfilm, with no name-search capability. Finding a person means reading page by page.
WNY Marriages
About 300 couples from Buffalo, Amherst, and Lockport
1935 Marriages Buffalo, Erie Co, NY
Almost 800 couples
Index to Marriages Performed by The Rev. Alfred J. Wilcox in Chautauqua & Erie Counties 1851-1890
About 600 names