Albany, NY -- The New York State Archives and the New York State Department of Health have worked together to place an important genealogical resource in Watertown. A copy of the Vital Records Index -- which provides information to help locate birth, death, and marriage certificates filed since the 1880s in New York State -- is available at the Roswell P. Flower Memorial Library at 229 Washington Street in Watertown.
The Vital Records Index is created by the New York State Health Department and enables people to locate certificate numbers for birth, death and marriage records, which then can be used to request a copy of the certificate from New York State. The index contains entries for marriage and death records filed from 1880 through 1956, and birth records from 1880 through 1931 outside of New York City.
In addition to Watertown, the Vital Records Index is available at the State Archives in Albany, Rochester Public Library, Onondaga County Public Library in Syracuse, Buffalo & Erie County Public Library in Buffalo, Steele Memorial Library in Elmira, and the Northeast Branch of the National Archives in New York City. Certificate numbers can also be obtained by writing the Department of Health and requesting a record search.
The Vital Records index will be housed in the Reference Department at the Roswell P. Flower Memorial Library. Because of access restrictions to these records, they will be made available under special security conditions. More information on these conditions and the Vital Records index can be obtained by contacting Yvonne Reff at the library at 315-785-7714.