Records of all kinds are, of course, the main working material for genealogy.  Most of those records are not official government records. Records of Births, Deaths, and Marriages can be found in many places, including the official "vital records", church records, newspapers, etc.

Because official vital records were not kept in St. Lawrence county until the 1880?s [except 1847-50 partial], other sources are important for determining family groups and approximate birthdates.  Among the most important of these are Census records.

Other important records of life events are to be found in the Church records.

Land records can reveal much about ancestors, often including previous or future residences, and family relationships.

And, of course, at the end of life Wills and estate records can reveal much, including the residences of children; married names of daughters, often including spouses given name;  and household inventories, which can reveal much about the family's lifestyle.

The Queries, Etc. page provides a link to, and explanation of, the Message Boards which are available for posting [and reading others? postings] of such types of information as Bible, Biography, Birth, Cemetery, Census, Death, Deed, Immigration, Lookup,  Marriage, Military, Obituary, Pension, Queries, Wills.