Erie County Obituary Records
Erie County obituary records cover the most populated region in western New York, centered on the city of Buffalo. Death records in Erie County are split between multiple offices, which can make searching more involved than in smaller counties. The Erie County Clerk holds some birth records but does not have death records available for research. Instead, death certificates must be obtained from individual city or town clerks, the Erie County Health Department, or the New York State Department of Health. The Buffalo and Erie County Public Library's Grosvenor Room houses an extensive collection of obituary indexes and historical death-related materials for researchers.
Erie County Clerk and Vital Records
The Erie County Clerk's Genealogy office is at 92 Franklin Street in Buffalo. Call (716) 858-8785 for inquiries. The office holds birth records for the City of Buffalo only, covering September 17, 1881, through December 15, 1913. These birth records have no index. You must search them in person. Death records are not available at the Erie County Clerk's office at all. This is a common point of confusion for people looking for Erie County obituary records. The clerk does hold marriage records from 1878 to April 29, 1935, and divorce records from the early 1800s, though divorces are sealed for 100 years. Naturalization records from 1827 to 1929 are also available and can help with genealogy work.
The Erie County Clerk offers an Online Public Record Search that lets you search land records and some court documents remotely. While this database does not contain death records directly, it can be useful for finding references to deceased individuals in property transfers, estate filings, and court cases. The system is free to search, though copies of documents may have fees attached.
Where to Get Erie County Death Certificates
Death records in Erie County must be obtained from the specific city or town clerk where the death occurred. For deaths in the City of Buffalo, records from 1886 onward are available from the City of Buffalo at 1302 City Hall, 65 Niagara Square, Buffalo, NY 14202. The Erie County Health Department at 95 Franklin Street, (716) 858-7690, can also assist with death certificate requests. The Buffalo Health Department at 462 Grider Street, (716) 898-3326, handles vital records for the city specifically. For other towns and cities in Erie County, contact the local town clerk.
The New York State Department of Health holds copies of Erie County death records as well. Under Public Health Law § 4174, you can request a certified copy for $30 if you have a direct and tangible interest in the record. This route works best when you are unsure which specific municipality in Erie County the death occurred in, since the state maintains a centralized index. Processing times at the state level can be slower than at local offices, so plan ahead if you need the record quickly.
Obituary Research at the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library
The Grosvenor Room at the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library is the main hub for obituary research in Erie County. The library holds vital records research guides that walk you through the process of finding death information across the county's various offices. Their collection includes Erie County Poorhouse Ledgers, which document deaths among indigent residents, and Coroners' Reports from 1878 to 1902, which provide details on investigated deaths in Erie County during that period. The Buffalo History Museum Obituary Index is also accessible through the library and covers a wide range of published obituaries from Erie County newspapers.
Local newspapers are a primary source for Erie County obituaries. The Buffalo News and its predecessor publications have printed obituary notices for well over a century. Library microfilm collections include back issues of these papers. Online databases like Ancestry, FamilySearch, and the NYS Historic Newspapers project also contain digitized Erie County death records and newspaper obituaries. For more recent deaths, many Erie County funeral homes publish obituaries on their websites, and online aggregators collect these listings in searchable databases.
Legal Framework for Death Records in Erie County
New York's Public Health Law § 4140 requires local registrars to maintain death records. In Erie County, each town and city clerk fills this role. The law mandates that deaths be registered within 72 hours of occurrence. Under § 4147, copies of all locally filed death records must also be sent to the state. This dual filing system means that Erie County death records exist in at least two locations, which gives researchers a backup if one office cannot find a record.
Access to Erie County death records is restricted to qualified applicants. New York law defines who can request a certified copy. The spouse, parent, child, sibling, or legal representative of the deceased person generally qualifies. For genealogy purposes, you may be able to get an informational copy that contains the same data but lacks legal certification. Older Erie County records, particularly those from before 1914, may have more relaxed access since they fall outside the state's centralized system. Cemetery records, church death registers, and newspaper obituaries from Erie County are not subject to these access restrictions and can be viewed by anyone.
Cities and Towns in Erie County
Erie County contains several large communities, each with its own clerk handling death records. Buffalo is the county seat and by far the largest city. Hamburg is another Erie County community with its own page on this site. Each municipality maintains its own death registration files, so you need to identify where the death occurred before making a request. The Erie County suburbs and towns outside Buffalo have their own clerks as well. Cheektowaga, Amherst, Tonawanda, and other communities each keep separate death records. For obituary searches, the local newspaper serving that part of Erie County is often the most direct route to finding a published death notice.