Niagara County NYGenWeb Project:
Niagara County Genealogy Resources

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Research assistance

• Niagara County genealogy research lists at RootsWeb — talk to hundreds of other folks researching ancestry in Niagara County!
  (NYNIAGAR concentrates on genealogy, including name-place-date queries, and Niagara County local history; NYNIAGAR-FOLKS is for those interested in sharing more details which flesh out their family stories.)
• The RootsWeb Surname List — check your Niagara County surnames
• The WorldConnect Project at RootsWeb — find others researching the same Niagara County ancestors here!
• TNG Network — uses the GENDEX genealogical indexing method, another way to connect with researchers of the same folks you're looking for

Genealogy resources — New York and general

• Records in the New York State Archives Useful for Genealogical Research describes holdings of vital records indexes, military service records, census records, Indian records, property transfer and tax records, court records, naturalization records, marriage records, prison/reformatory records, poorhouse censuses, maps, and microfilmed local records.
• The New York State Library (housed in the same building as the Archives) holds printed histories on individual families; surname records; vital records; city directories; and a collection of lineage and vital records compiled by the DAR.
• The Family History Library's New York Research Outline is required reading for all New York genealogists.
• Cyndi's List — New York. Simply the most comprehensive list of links imaginable, all neatly categorized by type; don't miss this page.
• Dick Hillenbrand writes a regular, and very informative, Upstate New York Genealogy Blog.
• United States Resources: New York (from the ROOTS-L folks)
• The NYGenWeb Project is our parent site, and has more state-wide resources this page can't begin to list.

Genealogy resources — Western New York

• Cynthia Van Ness's Roots: The Buffalo, New York Genealogy Forum (covers the eight counties of Western New York) — this is a don't-miss site!
• Rick Huff's Western New York State Genealogy Research: Frequently Asked Questions
• Doing Genealogy Research in Western New York: Resources & Organizations, from the Western New York Library Resources Council
• The Seneca Nation of Indians: Genealogy Information

Genealogy resources — Niagara-specific

• The LDS Church's Family History Library Catalog: New York, Niagara — hundreds of microfilmed documents from Niagara County, available for borrowing by researchers!
• RootsWeb's resource page for Niagara County, NY — links to a variety of databases
• The USGenWeb Archives Project — Niagara County, NY

Baptismal lists

• St. Mary's German Church, Lockport, NY

Cemeteries

• Niagara (County), NY Cemeteries (describes locations of dozens of cemeteries; organized by town)
• The Political Graveyard: Niagara County, N.Y.

Niagara County cemeteries online

• Oakwood-Presbyterian-Municipal, Village of Lewiston
• Good Shepherd RC, Pendleton
• St. Patrick's, Town of Hartland
• Mt. Calvary, Lockport
• Stahler, Lockport


• Interment.net has Niagara County cemetery transcriptions (many of them partial) — all of which can be checked for a given surname with one search. Cemeteries with at least some names transcribed include:
  
  Acacia Park & Resthaven; Bear Ridge Evangelical; Budd; Cold Springs; Corwin; Dickersonville; Gate of Heaven; Glenwood; Greenwood; Hartland Central; Hillside; Holy Trinity; Lakeview; Molyneaux; Mount View; Niagara Falls Memorial Park; North Ridge; Pekin Pioneer; Phillips; Pomeroy; Royalton Mountain Ridge; Saint Charles Borromeo; Sawyer Homestead; Skinner; West Somerset; Wrights Corners.

Other cemetery resources

• Erie County, New York Cemeteries Past and Present
  
• Saving Graves: New York
• Cemetery Junction: New York
• Veterans Affairs National Cemeteries in New York

Census records

Federal

Niagara County has a wealth of census records available for research. Since its formation in 1808, the county has participated in all federal censuses, so every decennial census from 1810 to 1920 is available (except the 1890, which burned). A few supplements to the federal census are also available for Niagara County:

• 1820: industrial schedules
• 1840: Revolutionary War pensioners
• 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880: agricultural, industrial, and mortality schedules
• 1890: Union Civil War veterans

Aside from the usual federal census indexes, there is an 1880 index done specifically for Niagara County; it can be borrowed on microfilm through an LDS Family History Center. (In 2001, the LDS church also published a national index of the 1880 census on CD-ROM.)

State

In addition, many New York state censuses are available for Niagara County: these were done in 1855, 1865, 1875, 1892, 1905, 1915, and 1925 (links are to transcription forms listing the information found in each census). The 1855–75 censuses (according to the Family History Library catalogue) include marriages, deaths, churches, schools, newspapers/periodicals, military records — as well as population, agriculture, and industry.

Originals are at the Niagara County Historian's office (Civil Defense Building, 139 Niagara Street, Lockport); a second set of originals is available, for the 1915 and 1925 censuses, at the New York State Archives in Albany. All have been microfilmed (including the duplicates for 1915 and 1925), and can be borrowed through LDS Family History Centers (see below). Very few, however, have been indexed.

Roll numbers to order microfilms from the LDS Family History Library are as follows:

• 1855: FHL roll 1577674 (Hartland, Somerset, Newfane, Wheatfield, Cambria, Lockport, Royalton, Pendleton twps.)
• 1865: FHL rolls 1577675 (Lockport, Royalton, Cambria, Niagara, Wheatfield, Pendleton, Porter, Somerset, Hartland [part] twps.) and 1577676, item 1 (Hartland [part], Newfane, Wilson twps.)
• 1875: FHL rolls 1577676, item 2 (Hartland, Newfane, Wilson, Somerset, Porter, Niagara, Cambria, Lewiston, Suspension Bridge, Wheatfield [part] twps.) and 1577677 (Wheatfield [part], Lockport, Royalton twps.)
• 1892: FHL roll 878329.
• 1905: FHL rolls 878330 and 878331.
• 1915: FHL rolls: 875634, 875635 and 875636 (Niagara County Historian's set); 523311 [vols. 351-353] and 523312 [vols. 354-355] (State Archives set).
• 1925: FHL rolls: 875637, 875638 and 875639 (Niagara County Historian's set); 527135 [vols. 330-331], 527136 [vols. 332-333], and 527137 [vol. 334] (State Archives set).

Transcriptions and indexes

Few freely available census transcriptions are online for Niagara County. Exceptions include:

• 1810 Federal Census — Towns of Pomfret and Chautauqua, NY. (Pomfret is now in Chautauqua County, though it was in southern Niagara — which then included present-day Erie County — in 1810.)

A handful of census indexes have been made available for towns in Niagara County. These include:

• 1855 Index — Town of Hartland
• 1875 Index — Town of Newfane

For other partial (or fragmentary) census indexes between 1850 and 1875, see Niagara County, New York: Surname Census Index.

Genealogical societies

• Niagara County Genealogical Society
• Western New York Genealogical Society
• New York Genealogical & Biographical Society

Other genealogical societies, libraries, and museums, like the Niagara County Genealogical Society Research Library, are listed on the Niagara County genealogy society resources page. (For other types of libraries in Niagara County, see the "Historical resources" page.)

Home pages

• Genealogy-related home pages with Niagara County roots

Please contact niagara@unchi.org if you know of any home pages related to Niagara County that you would like to see linked from this site.

Land records/deeds

• Deed: The Holland Purchase of Western New York. From the 1850 book Pioneer History of the Holland Purchase of Western New York, by Orsamus Turner, this "reflects the majority of the land purchases sold by the Holland Company to various individuals in New York" from 1801 to 1806, with some later purchasers listed as well.
• Holland Land Papers at the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society

Ship passenger information

• Immigrants to Canada
• The Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild
• The ShipsList Home Page
• Cimorelli Immigration Manifests Online
• Immigrant Ship Information — ship descriptions

Stories of Niagara County people

• Kim Alexis (supermodel/actor, born in Lockport)
• Lou Rosselli (Olympic wrestler and coach, from Royalton-Hartland)

Do you have a story regarding a person from Niagara County to tell — past or present? Submit it today!

Vital Records

• Genealogy Records & Resources from the New York State Department of Health


• Niagara County Clerk
  By mail: P.O. Box 461, Lockport, NY 14094-0461
  In person: Courthouse, 175 Hawley Street, Lockport
  Telephone: 716-439-7022
  Fax: 716-439-7066


• Niagara Falls City Clerk
  745 Main Street
  Niagara Falls, NY 14301

As of mid-1998, the fee for a copy of birth or death records is $10. The Niagara Falls City Clerk's Office does not accept personal checks for copies of birth or death records — money orders only.

Wills

• SAMPUBCO provides photocopies of Niagara County wills (1820-1901) for as little as $8 per will. Check first to see whether a transcript has already been made and posted to the appropriate RootsWeb message board or USGenWeb Archive! Be sure, however, to read the search and order instructions carefully.

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Last major revision: August 2008 (still underway)
Links last checked: August 2008