Access Clinton County Obituary Records
Obituary records for Clinton County cover deaths in the northernmost reaches of New York State, along the Canadian border and Lake Champlain. The county seat is Plattsburgh. The Clinton County Clerk at 137 Margaret Street explicitly states that they hold no records of births or deaths. All vital records in Clinton County come from town clerks, who serve as local registrars for their respective jurisdictions. Researchers seeking Clinton County obituaries and death records can use the Clinton County Historical Association, the County Historian, and the Plattsburgh Public Library as key starting points for their search.
Clinton County Death Records and Town Clerks
The Clinton County Clerk at 137 Margaret Street, Plattsburgh, phone (518) 565-4700, has been clear: the office does not hold birth or death records. Do not call the county clerk for a death certificate. It is not there. Death records in Clinton County are maintained by individual town clerks across the county's fourteen towns. Under Public Health Law § 4140, these town clerks register all deaths that occur in their jurisdictions.
Clinton County town clerks who hold death records include the clerks for Altona, Ausable, Beekmantown, Black Brook, Champlain, Chazy, Clinton, Dannemora, Ellenburgh, Mooers, Peru, Plattsburgh, Saranac, and Schuyler Falls. Each of these offices maintains records for their own town only. If someone died in Plattsburgh, you contact the Plattsburgh town clerk. If the death happened in Champlain, you contact the Champlain town clerk. You need to know the specific town to get the right office.
The New York State Department of Health provides an alternative route under § 4174. Certified copies from the state cost $30. The state can search by name across Clinton County without you needing to specify the exact town, which is an advantage when the place of death is not known. Under § 4147, all Clinton County deaths are reported to the state, so their records should be comprehensive for the period after centralized filing began.
Clinton County Historical Association
The Clinton County Historical Association is located at 98 Ohio Avenue, Plattsburgh, and can be reached at (518) 561-0340. This organization maintains archival collections that include materials relevant to Clinton County obituary research. Family papers, photographs, local publications, and community records in their holdings sometimes contain death notices, funeral records, and memorial information. The association is particularly strong on Plattsburgh history and the military heritage of the area, including the War of 1812 battles that took place in Clinton County.
For genealogists tracing Clinton County deaths, the historical association can provide context that official records lack. They may have information about churches, cemeteries, and funeral customs in Clinton County that helps locate specific death records. The association also connects researchers with local experts who have deep knowledge of Clinton County families and communities.
Clinton County Historian
Anastasia Pratt serves as the Clinton County Historian and is available at (518) 565-4749 on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 AM to 5 PM. The county historian's office is a public resource for anyone researching Clinton County obituary records and death information. Historians in New York are appointed to help with historical and genealogical research, and the Clinton County Historian may be able to locate obituaries, point you to the correct town clerk, or provide information from compiled records.
The historian has access to files that include obituary clippings, vital records notes, and correspondence from previous researchers. These compiled resources can save significant time. If you have been unable to find a Clinton County obituary through other channels, the historian's office should be your next step. The limited office hours mean you should plan ahead and call during the available times to make the most of the visit or phone consultation.
Northern New York Genealogy Resources
The Northern NY American-Canadian Genealogical Society, based at PO Box 928 in Dannemora, serves researchers with French-Canadian ancestry in Clinton County and the surrounding area. This is a significant resource because much of Clinton County's population has French-Canadian roots, and many families crossed the border during the 1800s. The society maintains records that bridge the US-Canadian divide, including church records from both sides of the border. Death records for Clinton County residents who were born in Canada often need to be cross-referenced with Canadian vital records, and this society can help with that process.
Clinton County's location on the Canadian border means that some death records may be complicated by cross-border family ties. A person who died in Clinton County may have been born in Quebec, with baptismal and family records held by Canadian parishes. The genealogical society's expertise in navigating both American and Canadian record systems makes them valuable for Clinton County obituary research involving families with Canadian origins.
Plattsburgh Public Library
The Plattsburgh Public Library at 19 Oak Street holds local history materials and newspaper archives useful for Clinton County obituary searches. The library has microfilm of Plattsburgh newspapers that published death notices and obituaries for Clinton County residents over many decades. The Plattsburgh Press-Republican and its predecessors are the primary newspaper sources for Clinton County obituary records. Online access may be available for some years, but the full archive is on microfilm at the library.
Clinton County state census records survive for 1892, 1905, 1915, and 1925. The earlier censuses for 1825 through 1875 are lost. These surviving censuses, available on microfilm at the library and through FamilySearch, can help establish when a Clinton County resident was still alive and narrow down the date of death. Some Clinton County documents are also available online through SearchIQS.com, where the county clerk has posted digitized records. While these are primarily land and court records, they can sometimes reference deceased parties.