Union Obituary Records

Obituary records for the Town of Union are held by the Town Clerk and the Broome County Clerk's office. Union is the most populous town in Broome County, sitting just west of Binghamton in the Southern Tier of New York. The town clerk maintains vital records for events within Union, and the Broome County Clerk handles county-level records including deeds, wills, and court files. The Broome County Public Library Local History Center offers additional obituary research resources. Researchers looking for Union obituary records can draw on town, county, and library resources to trace family members in this part of New York.

Union Town Clerk

The Union Town Clerk maintains vital records for events that took place within the town. The clerk holds birth, death, and marriage records. If someone died in Union, the death certificate was filed with this office.

Genealogy searches cost $22. This fee covers the staff time to search the files, whether or not a record is found. Birth, death, and marriage certificates each cost $10. You can request records in person or by mail. Include the full name of the deceased, the approximate date of death, and your relationship to the person.

For older records, the town clerk may refer you to the Broome County Clerk or the New York State Department of Health. Some early records are held at the county level. The town and county offices work together, so a referral is common and should not delay your search much.

Broome County Clerk

The Broome County Clerk is at the Edwin L. Crawford County Office Building in Binghamton. Call (607) 778-2256 for information. The county clerk handles a range of records that support obituary research in Union.

County-level records include deeds, court files, naturalization papers, and other documents. These may not directly contain death dates, but they help place a person in Union at a specific time. If someone owned property in Union, the deed records show when they bought and sold it. When combined with death records from the town clerk, these files build a fuller picture of a person's life.

The county clerk also handles Surrogate's Court filings. Wills and probate records often confirm the date of death and name surviving family members. If you cannot find a death certificate, a will or probate file may be the next best source for Union obituary research.

Broome County Public Library Local History Center

The Broome County Public Library Local History Center is at 185 Court Street in Binghamton. This center holds local history materials, newspaper files, and genealogical resources that cover the greater Binghamton area, including Union.

Newspaper files are key for obituary research. The Binghamton Press and Sun-Bulletin carried death notices for Union residents over many decades. The library may have these papers on microfilm or through digital subscriptions. Staff can help you search for specific names and dates.

The local history center may also hold cemetery records, church records, and city directories for the Union area. Cemetery records confirm burial locations. Church records sometimes list cause of death and surviving family. City directories show where people lived year by year, which helps narrow the time window for a death search.

New York State Obituary Record Laws

Under Public Health Law Section 4174, certified copies of death certificates are available to people with a direct and tangible interest. Spouses, parents, children, and legal representatives qualify. Genealogy researchers may get uncertified copies of older records.

Public Health Law Section 4140 requires death registration within 72 hours. The funeral director or physician files the certificate with the local registrar. In Union, records flow from the town clerk to Broome County and then to the state. This means Union death records end up in multiple offices.

Online Resources for Union Obituary Records

Digital tools can speed up Union obituary research. FamilySearch.org has indexed some Broome County death records and makes them free to search. Ancestry.com covers New York vital records in its collections. Both sites are worth checking since each may have different records indexed.

Newspaper archive websites carry obituaries from Broome County papers. The Binghamton Press and Sun-Bulletin archives may have digital versions of obituaries from Union residents. Some archives require a subscription. Others offer limited free access. The Broome County Public Library may provide free access to certain databases with a library card.

For recent deaths, funeral home websites and Legacy.com carry obituaries for the Binghamton area, including Union. These cover roughly the last 20 years. For older records, the town clerk, county offices, and library archives are more reliable.

Older Union Death Records

New York did not require statewide death registration until 1880. Before that date, record keeping in Union was less consistent. Some early records survive at the town and county level, but gaps are common.

For deaths before 1880, try these approaches:

• Church burial records from Union congregations
• Cemetery interment logs from local burial grounds
• Early newspaper death notices from Binghamton-area papers
• Broome County Surrogate's Court records for wills and probate
• Federal census mortality schedules from 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880

The Broome County Historical Society may also hold materials that predate the modern vital records system. Their collection includes manuscripts, family papers, and local records from the early days of Union and the surrounding area.

Union Genealogy Research Tips

Union includes the villages of Endicott and Johnson City. Many residents identify with these village names rather than the town name. When searching for Union obituary records, try the village name as well as the town name. A death that took place in Endicott is part of the Town of Union. The same goes for Johnson City. Newspaper obituaries may use the village name instead of "Union," which can make searching tricky if you only use the town name.

The Binghamton area has a strong immigrant history, with Italian, Irish, and Eastern European communities that settled in Union during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Church records from ethnic parishes can be especially helpful for this period. Catholic, Orthodox, and other congregations kept detailed burial records that sometimes include details not found on the civil death certificate.

Nearby Cities

The closest major cities with obituary record resources are Syracuse and Troy. Syracuse is about 75 miles north in Onondaga County. Troy is in Rensselaer County to the northeast. Both have their own vital records offices and genealogy collections. If your ancestor moved between the Southern Tier and other parts of New York, checking records in multiple locations can help fill gaps in your research.