The June P. Zintz Memorial Library of the Western New York Genealogical Society

The Society Library, named for WNYGS founder June P. Zintz, is located in the Grosvenor Room (formerly the Special Collections Department) of the downtown Central Branch of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library on Lafayette Square in Buffalo, New York. The Grosvenor Room hours maintained by B&ECPL are Monday through Saturday 10:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M., Thursday 10:00 A.M. to 8:00 P.M. and Sundays from 1:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. during the winter. Check the B&ECPL website for the current hours.

The Western New York Genealogical Society maintains an expanding Reference Library of over 3000 books, more than 700 rolls of microfilm, a number of periodicals and several card catalogs as a repository of genealogical information pertaining to the area and its early settlers. Primary interest is in the eight counties of Western New York: Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans, and Wyoming. However, there is much information on the remainder of New York State and New England, as well as most of the other states, and many foreign countries. In addition the collection includes many family histories.

The Library was established to facilitate research by anyone interested in their family history. It is located within the Grosvenor Room of the Downtown Central Branch of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library (B&ECPL). As a reference library the materials are not circulated or removed from the premises. Neither the staff nor the Society is equipped to conduct research for patrons. The Society has knowledgeable volunteers on duty several times a week. You can call the Grosvenor Room to find out if a volunteer is scheduled to be on duty.

The library catalog is now available online as a Microsoft Excel file or as a web page.

Books are arranged in a "modified" Dewey Decimal Classification system which is easily understood and usable. Items are catalogued in a card file by Author, Title and Subject. Other card files are the vital index and Bible records index.

A photocopy machine and reader-printers for microfilm copies (all copies are currently 20 cents a copy) are located in the department. There is a time limit on using the reader-printers if people are waiting.

Among the Society's library holdings are the following which complements the B&ECPL Grosvenor Collections:

  • ATLASES, GAZETTEERS, GUIDES & INDEXES
    • Miscellaneous gazetteers, guides, and a few atlases
    • Various genealogical indexes

  • DIRECTORIES & HISTORIES
    • Buffalo City Directories from 1832 on
    • Miscellaneous volumes of other town & city directories
    • Many town & county histories

  • BIBLE, BIRTH, BAPTISM, CHURCH, MARRIAGE, BURIAL, CEMETERY & DEATH RECORDS
    • Numerous published & unpublished manuscript records

  • VITAL INDEX OF EARLY WNY FAMILIES
    • Card files of approximately 120,000 cards from 75 sources of Births, Deaths, & Marriages of early Western New York families

  • CENSUS RECORDS
    • Printed Federal Census indexes 1790 - 1870
    • 1790 - 1930 Federal census for the eight WNY counties
    • All available 1855 - 1925 state censuses for the WNY counties
    • Miscellaneous other special censuses

  • ANCESTOR CHARTS, BIOGRAPHIES, FAMILY HISTORIES & GENEALOGIES
    • Notebooks of members' Ancestor Charts
    • Numerous published & unpublished family histories

  • FOREIGN
    • Germans to America, from 1840 complete to date
    • Passenger & Immigration Lists Index, complete to date
    • The Famine Immigrants, complete to date
    • Numerous other foriegn research aids

  • MILITARY RECORDS
    • Numerous military research aids
    • Microfilm of miscellaneous Revolutionary War Pension records

  • PERIODICALS
  • HOW TO BOOKS
    • Numerous help books for various aspects of doing research

  • MICROFILM
    • Census, Church Records, Cemetery Records, Erie County Surrogate Records, Miscellaneous Military records, Erie County Marriage & Buffalo Birth Records, etc.

The WNYGS has neither the facilities nor personnel to handle genealogical questions. It is suggested that those seeking information of this kind consult the researchers who advertise their specialties. The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library maintains a list of researchers for hire, but neither the B&ECPL nor the WNYGS can recommend any of them.

See the Society JOURNAL for other library acquisitions.

Last updated: Sunday, November 21, 2010