Since New York State, and therefore Jefferson County, kept no official vital statistics until 1880 (except for a brief trial 1847-1849) we must turn to other souces for this information for the black or blank years. While these we present are not all officially vital statistics, they are the best substitutions we can find, and some will be accepted by those societies demanding authoritative dates and places. As always, we advise you to see the originals, wherever possible, and keep in mind that whenever a record is copied, there is opportunity for mistakes, typos, and misreadings. Unfortunately, most of the sources quoted below have disappeared with time, and the best we can offer is copies of copies.