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image of old photograph of Buffalo New York waterfront and Erie Canal

Waterfront - Buffalo, New York

Source: Library of Congress Digital Collections

1865 New York Census 

 WNYGS Index for Erie County

As one of its many service projects, WNYGS organized the preparation of an amended index of the 1865 New York State Census for Erie County.  Many dedicated volunteers worked on this project over a number of years. While originally collected and documented on index cards, the society later created a digital version that now resides here for genealogical researchers.

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Index Overview

Each town or city was indexed by town/city, ward, district, family number in order of visitation, and includes surname, given name, age, relationship to the head of household, place of birth and notes (if applicable). Notes may include alternate spellings of the surname, institutional residence, military affiliation, or other items noted by indexer.

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Simply select your town of interest and click the link to download a copy of the [read-only] Excel file.

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Abbreviation Key:

w - wife
hus - husband

mo - mother

fa - father
ch - child

son - son

dau - daughter

step or stp ch - step child
step or stp dau - step dau
step or stp son - step son

a. or adpt - adopted

bro or brother - brother
sis - sister
svt/servt - servant

bodr - boarder

Index Availability by Location

Note: For partially completed cities and towns, the "D" indicates the Enumeration District number.

Completed & Partial

Aurora [Partial]  D2

Amherst  Complete

Boston  Complete

Brant  Complete

Buffalo Ward 1  Complete

Buffalo Ward 2  Complete

Buffalo Ward 3  Complete

Buffalo Ward 4  Complete

Buffalo Ward 5  Complete

Buffalo Ward 6  Complete

Buffalo Ward 7 [Partial]  D1,D3

Buffalo Ward 8 [Partial]  D2

Buffalo Ward 10 [Partial]  D1

Buffalo Ward 11 [Partial]  D1

Clarence  Complete

Colden  Complete

Collins  Complete

Concord [Partial]  D2-D3

East Hamburgh (Now Orchard Park)  Complete

Elma  Complete

Evans  Complete

Grand Island  Complete

Hamburgh  Complete

Holland  Complete

Marilla  Complete

Newstead  Complete

North Collins  Complete

Tonawanda  Complete

Wales  Complete

West Seneca  Complete

Not Available

Alden 

Buffalo Ward 9 

Buffalo Ward 12 

Buffalo Ward 13 

Cheektowaga 

Eden 

Lancaster 

Sardinia 

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image of old photograph of boat in harbor, Buffalo New York waterfront

Source: Library of Congress Digital Collections

Need help visualizing Ward locations?  

Visit BuffaloResearch.com to view "Ward Map of Buffalo for Census Years 1855-1890".

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