Erie County, New York Genealogy

United States New York  Erie County

Parent County
Created 2 April 1821 from Niagara County.

Neighboring Counties
Cattaraugus· Chautauqua· Genesee· Niagara· Wyoming· Ontario Canada counties: Welland· Lake Erie

Cemeteries

 * Erie County, New York Cemeteries Past and Present - Many Erie County Cemeteries Listed Online
 * List of Cemeteries in Erie County - Findagrave
 * Map of Cemeteries in Erie County - Findagrave

Census
For information and tips on using and accessing online census records, see New York Census.

Church Records
"Many Buffalo church records have been microfilmed and are available in the Special Collections Room at the main branch of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society research library and from any local LDS Family History Center."

Brief histories of local Catholic churches are available at Buffalo Roman Catholic Parishes, courtesy: NYGenWeb.

Cornell University's Study Center for Early Religious Life in Western New York has an online guide to Erie County church records in their library.

Directories

 * Fold3.com ($) has Buffalo City Directories 1828, 1861-1923 (1 yrs. missing) available online.

History

 * BuffaloRearch.com - How to Research Buffalo, New York, Ancestors, Buildings, Companies, and more.

Land and Property

 * 1804-1824 - Livsey, Karen E. Western New York Land Transactions, 1804-1824. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1991. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
 * 1825-1835 - Livsey, Karen E. Western New York Land Transactions, 1825-1835. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1996. Digital version at Ancestry ($).

Maps

 * Map of Erie County Towns - Regional Knowledge Network
 * Outline of Erie County Over Google Map - NY Home Town Locator
 * Map of Towns of 7 Western New York Counties apx 1825 - Downloadable JPEG - Stoneybrook University

Migration
Early migration routes to and from Erie County for European settlers included:


 * Great Genesee Road 1794
 * Erie Canal 1825
 * Lake Shore Path

Military
Civil War

Available towns. Registers are available for: Amherst· Aurora· Boston· Brant· Buffalo· Clarence· Colden· Eden· Elma· Evans· Grand Island· Hamburg· Holland· Lancaster· Marilla· Newstead· North Collins· Sardinia· Tonawanda· Wales.

Regiments. Service men served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were specifically formed in Erie County:


 * - 116th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 132nd Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 151st Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 155th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 160th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 164th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 176th Regiment, New York Infantry

Newspapers

 * Old Fulton Postcards - Free search-able web site which holds newspapers from upstate New York.

Probate Records

 * 1819-1865 - SAMPUBCO Browsable index of letters testamentary.

Repositories
Erie County has more than 25 intriguing historical societies, museums, and town historians. For a list, visit Erie County, New York Town Historians, Historical Societies and Historical Museums.

Courthouses
The Erie County Clerk's office has marriage, divorce, court and land records. The Surrogate Court has probate records. For further information about where the records for Erie County are held, see the Erie County Courthouse page.

Societies
Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society

Buffalo and Erie County Library

Western New York Genealogical Society

Central New York Genealogical Society Box 104, Calvin Station Syracuse, New York 13205 E-mail: [mailto:CNYGS@yahoo.com CNYSG@yahoo.com]


 * Member queries; surname research list; online resources; six meetings/year; publication: Tree Talks  quarterly with annual index.


 * Counties served: Albany, Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Chemung, Chenango, Clinton, Columbia, Cortland, Delaware, Erie, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Genesee, Greene, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Livingston, Madison, Monroe, Montgomery, Niagara, Oneida, Onondaga, Ontario, Orange, Oreleans, Oswego, Otsego, Rensselaer, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins, Washington, Wayne, Warren, Wyoming, and Yates.

Marriage
Names of Persons and dates of marriages from Elma, Erie County, New York website. Extracted marriages from the book “History of the Town of Elma, Erie County, NY, 1620-1901, Chapter XVII, Page 157.” Index gives: • Groom Name • Bride Name • Date

Divorce
Additional Resources

Websites

 * The Erie County NYGenWeb Project, an member of The NYGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Erie County.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Erie County. (Backup site)
 * BuffaloResearch.com - Buffalo Genealogical Data
 * Erie County Links - Erie County, New York Cemeteries Past and Present - More links than just cemeteries.