Local History

Vital Records & Life Records

The New York State Vital Records Index is a comprehensive list of births, marriages, and deaths in New York State.  The Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County provides access to the microfiche index to the New York State Vital Records.  The New York State Bureau of Vital Records provides birth and marriage records from 1881, and death records from 1880; these records are indexed on the microfiche located in the Retrieval Room of the Central Library.

For information about vital records, visit the New York State Department of Health. For more information regarding confidentiality laws and resources pertaining to genealogical research, view the Genealogy Page from the New York State Department of Health.  An additional web site of interest pertaining to the vital records of New York State is the United States Vital Records Information online.

Life Records Database

Life Records is a project of Rochester Public Library.  The database consists of birth, death, and marriage indexes from City of Rochester newspapers. Please note that these newspaper indexes are not the same as Vital Records Indexes. New York State Vital Records indexes contain the names, places, dates and certificate numbers gathered on births, marriages and deaths in New York State beginning in 1880.

To learn more about or to search the Life Records Database, please click here.