Cemeteries
SLCHA has bound copies of surveys for most county cemeteries. Some of these contain information on burials that was not available when later surveys were done. Online resources can be consulted at
Newspapers
Digitized versions of many northern New York historical newspapers are provided by the Northern New York Library Network to enhance access to the region’s unique local history. The online collection consists of more than 11 million pages from all over NYS.
Several newspapers from St Lawrence County can also be searched at the Fulton, New York History site.
Town Historians
Town historians maintain collections of records and other materials related to their particular village, town or city.
The contact information for the County Historian and Town Historian can be found in this document published by the St Lawrence County Clerk’s Office.
Vital Records
County birth, marriage and death records are maintained by the various town clerks. Since New York State only mandated that vital records be kept by the towns in 1880, towns generally have few records prior to that year.
The contact information for the County Clerk and Town Clerks can be found in this document published by the St Lawrence County Clerk’s Office.
St Lawrence County Clerk, Surrogate Office
Many documents useful for genealogical research pertaining to St Lawrence County are available at the County Clerk’s Office in Canton and at the Surrogate’s Office.
St Lawrence County Clerk
48 Court Street
Canton, NY 13617
315-379-2217
- Various censuses for county towns: 1905, 1915, 1925 (partial 1845, 1865)
- Naturalization records
- Marriages 1908-1935, 1912-1934
- Divorces
- Land and tax records (starting in 1802): deeds, mortgages, indices of grantors and grantees
- Convictions books
Free digitized versions of many of the above resources may be consulted online at the Family Search.
Surrogate Clerk’s Office Surrogate Clerk’s Office
Surrogate Clerk
48 Court Street
Canton, NY 13617
315-379-2217
- Wills (1830-1916)
- Probate information (bonds, letters of administration, minutes).
Most of the documents are also available online at Family Search.
Other Recommended Websites
Births, Deaths, Marriages from Gouverneur, NY Herald, St. Lawrence County, NY (approx. 1864-1904)
Northern New York SAR/DAR Joint Patriot Project
is a joint effort of the Thousand Islands Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution and three chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the LeRay de Chaumont Chapter, Watertown, the Nihanawate Chapter, Potsdam, and the Swe-kat-si Chapter, Ogdensburg. Between Jefferson and St Lawrence counties there are approximately 800 burials of Revolutionary war veterans. … The goal of this project is to find and mark these graves.
St Lawrence County GenWeb – The GenWeb project covers much of the world. St Lawrence County GenWeb is part of New York GenWeb, which in turn is part of the US GenWeb. The programs, run by volunteers and hosted by Rootsweb, collect data and links from a variety of sources and post them in the appropriate spot.
St Lawrence Valley Genealogical Society – Serving the needs of genealogists since 1983, with newsletters, free queries, research library, social events, business meetings, workshops, advice and assistance, and access to several useful sources.
St Lawrence University Special Collections contains over 175 manuscript collections, many of them relevant to genealogical research. Examples are: