Essex County, New YorkEdit This Page

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Record Loss

Essex County New York Genealogy Resources

Bible Records

• 1581–1917 New York, Family Bible Records at Ancestry– ($); Index. Database is a collection of genealogically important records taken from the Bibles of colony and state residents. Reveals the Bible's original owner, brief record of descendants,and a particular event such as birth or marriage as recorded in Bible.
  

• Daughters of the American Revolution. Jane McCrea Chapter (New York), Bible and Cemetery Records for Warren and Essex Counties (Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1971). FHL film 860335 Item 3

Biography

Biographies for Essex County, New York are available at:

• Family History Library Catalog

Biographical Review Containing Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Clinton and Essex counties, New York (Boston: Biographical Review Pub. Co., 1896.) available FamilySearch Books Online - free; At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL film 599522 Item 1

Business Records and Commerce

Cemeteries

Cemetery records often reveal birth, death, relationship, military, and religious information.

Census

For information and tips on using and accessing online census records, see New York Census.

Federal

U.S. Census Mortality Schedules for New York, 1850-1880:

• Available online at Ancestry ($).
• Deaths are included for the 12 months prior to the census, 1849-50, 1859-60, 1869-70, and 1879-80 beginning 1 June and ending 31 May of the census year.^[2]
• Basic contents of the records include: Name, sex, age, color, marital status, place of birth, month of death, occupation, and cause of death. 1870 also has parents' birthplace. 1880 lists how long a resident of the county.
• Also on FHL Films 1415128–42 which can be ordered through any Family History Center.

• The 1890 Census is lost. For a substitute, see directories.
  

State

New York State 1865 and 1875 Census Marriage, Mortality; and 1865 Soldier Mortality records:

• Images available online at New York State Census, 1865 and New York State Census, 1875. Click on the link to go to the page, then click on the ‘Browse through images’ link and select your county, then select an ancestor's town and browse to the end of the population schedule until you find the Marriage, Mortality, and 1865 soldier mortality schedules.
• Includes marriages and deaths for the 12 months prior to the census, ending 1 June of the census year.
• Marriage entry content: Husband's name, wife's name, ages and previous marital status, month and day and place of marriage, and church or civil ceremony.
• Death entry content: Name, age, sex, color, marital status, month and day of death, native state or country, occupation and cause of death.
• 1865 deaths of officers and enlisted men entry content: Name, age, marital status, citizenship status, enlistment date, original regiment, original rank, regiment at death, rank at death, promotions, death date and place, manner of death, surviving associates, and burial place.
• Also on microfilm. See the Family History Library line in the above State Census Chart. These can be ordered through any Family History Center.

Church Records

Church records are good substitutes for birth, marriage, and death information and are most often found on a local city/town or county level.  Published and manuscript church records can be found at public, university, and private libraries.

For a brief general history of denominations and a guide to finding various New York denomination's records, see New York Church Records Wiki page.

• 1732-1760 - Early U.S. French Catholic Church Records, Fort Frédéric ou Fort Beauharnois, courtesy: Ancestry ($).
  

• 1808-1877 - Bloomingdale Baptism Index, courtesy: New York State Historical Literature.
  
• 1853-1929 St. John's Church, Essex, Protestant Episcopal FHL film 17630 Items 2-4 Contents: v. 1. Vestry meeting minutes, 1853-1929 -- v. 2. Baptisms 1854-1876, confirmations, burials 1855-1875, marriages 1855-1875, communicants, offerings -- v. 3. History, families, baptisms 1878-1923, confirmations, communicants, marriages 1878-1923, burials 1878-1920, index to v. 3.
• 1853-1880 Parish, St. John the Baptist, Keeseville, New York, baptisms and burials, 1853-1880, extracted by Virginia Easley DeMarce FHL book 974.753 K28d Lists baptisms and burials. Keeseville is on the border of Essex and Clinton counties. Additional Church Records

Additional church records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Essex County, New York Church Records  in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
• Family History Library Catalog (For instructions see FHL Catalog Place-name Search).

Court Records

Ancestors may have also been involved in municipal, state, or federal court cases. See also New York Court Records and United States Court Records.

• 1799–1923 Index to Les Pendens FHL film 866317
  

• 1827–1876 Les Pendens FHL film 866316 and 866319
  

Directories

Ethnic, Political, or Religious Groups

Gazetteers

Genealogy

• Harold E. Hines, A Basic Guide to Genealogical and Family History Resources for Essex County, New York (Elizabethtown, New York: Essex County Historical Society (New York), 2004). At various libraries; FHL fiche 6008012, and book 974.753 D27h.
  

• Rootsweb message board for Essex County has many information threads about families that resided in that county. There is a search engine that allows you to search by surname and topic.
  

Guardianship

• 1847–1902 Guardianship Records FHL film 866342

• 1869–1910 Guardianship Orders FHL film 860897

History

Histories for Essex County, New York:

• Family History Library Catalog

Fort Ticonderoga is known for nearby battles in French-Indian War and the American Revolutionary War.

Land and Property

Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. Land records include: deeds, abstracts and indexes, mortgages, leases, grants and land patents.

See New York Land and Property for more details, especially about the papers generated in New York State by large speculative land companies.

Original land records in Essex County, New York began in [?dateyear?]. These records are housed at the [?repository?] in [?town?].

Online

Microforms

• 1799-1864 Deed Records FHL film 871817 (first of 92 films) - Index included: 1799-1873
  
• 1789-1867 Mortgage Records 1799-1867 FHL film 871819 (first of 17 films - Index included: 1789 - 1860
  
• 1799-1923 Lis Pendens 1827-1876 FHL film 866317 (first of 3 films - Index included: 1799 - 1923
  

Books

Additional land records can sometimes be found using these catalogs:

• WorldCat using the search phase: Essex County, New York deeds. (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog.)
• Family History Library Catalog using the search phrase: 1, New York - Land and Property. (For instructions see FHL Catalog Place-name Search.)

• 1739-1802 - Landholders of Northeastern New York 1739-1802, courtesy: Ancestry ($); World Vital Records ($)
  

• 1789–1860 Mortgage Record Index FHL film 871819
  

• 1799–1867 Mortgage Records FHL film 871820 (first of 16 films)
  

• 1799–1864 Deed records FHL film 869045 (first of 30 films)
  

• 1800–1873 Grantee and Grantor Indexes FHL film 871817-8
  

• 1820–1904 Sheriff Certificate of Sales, indexed FHL film 866328–0
  

• 1837–1914 United States Deposit Fund Mortgages FHL film 866318. Loans made to citizens of Essex County, by the Commissioners for Loaning Certain Moneys of the United States. Includes index.
  

Additional resources

Additional resources for Essex County, New York land records may be found in the Essex County, New York – Land Records topic page of the Family History Library Catalog (FHLC). Copies of records on FHL microfilm and microfiche can be ordered for viewing at Family History Centers. Copies of books found in the FHLC may be found in WorldCat catalog and ordered from your local library through interlibrary loan. Explore how to search the Family History Library Catalog and the Worldcat Online Catalog.

Maps

Migration

Military

Civil War

Town registers. The New York town clerks kept a bound register of all soldiers from their town serving in the Civil War 1861-1865. Registers are arranged by county, and town. Some town registers are missing. The registers include an index at the start of each town.

Content. Many register entries include full name, residence, date and place of birth, parents names, marital status, date of enlistment and muster and rank, discharges, death, or promotion.

Access. The original registers are at the New York State Archives in Albany, New York. Microfilm copies are found at the Family History Library (FHL Film 1993401-37) and can be ordered for viewing at your local Family History Center. They are also indexed and available at Ancestry.com ($).

Available towns. Registers are available for: Chesterfield, Crown Point, Elizabethtown, Lewis, Minerva, North Elba, St. Armand, Schroon, and Westport.

Regiments. Service men in Essex County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county.^[3]

- 118th Regiment, New York Infantry

- 153rd Regiment, New York Infantry

Naturalization and Citizenship

• 1799-1906 Petitions - Essex County (NY) Clerk's Office The National Archives at New York City (Northeast Region)
  

• 1836–1906  - Essex County (NY) Clerk's Office Italian Genealogical Group - index only
  

• 1856–1906 Register of declarations of intention - Essex County Supreme Court, Oyer and Terminer Court FHL film 1029747 Item 1
  

• 1903–1906 Naturalization of Aliens: final orders - Essex County Court FHL film 1029747 Item 2
  

• 1907–1911 Declarations of Intention - Essex County Supreme Court FHL film 1029747 Item 4
  

• 1907–1913 Naturalization records - Essex County Supreme Court FHL film 1029747 Item 3
  

Newspapers

Search historical newspapers 1844-2007 for Essex County at Northern New York Historical Newspapers:

• Adirondack Record-Elizabethtown Post, 1917-1971
• Elizabethtown Post, 1882-1920
• Essex County Republican, 1844-1973
• Lake Placid News, 1914-1951
• Ticonderoga Sentinel, 1874-1950
• Saranac Lake Adirondack Daily Enterprise, 1948-1976

Obituaries

Periodicals

Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

Probate Records

Probate records including original estates and wills for New York are held in the office of the Essex County, New York County Surrogate Court beginning in 1787, or when the county was formed. Prior to 1787, most are housed at the New York State Archives. See New York Probate Records for more information about using probate records.
Content:  Probate Records may give the decedent's date of death, names of his or her spouse, children, parents, siblings, in-laws, neighbors, associates, relatives, and their place of residence.
Record types:  Wills, bonds, petitions, accounts, inventories, administrations, orders, decrees, and distribution.

Probate Petitions

In 1830, state law required the Surrogate Court clerk to issue a probate petition for a deceased individual with property. This petition, unique to New York, usually lists the deceased's death date. It also lists the heirs, their relationship to the deceased, and their residence. ^{[4] [5]}

These petitions are often found in the estate files and can be obtained from the Essex County Surrogate Court.

Online Probate Indexes

• 1787-1835 Abstracts of Wills, Administrations and Guardianships in NY State, 1787 - 1835 at New York Ancestors ($); includes Essex County, New York.^[6]
  
• 1803-1904 SAMPUBCO - Browsable index of testators of wills (1803-1904). FHL Book 974.753 P22s
  
• 1803-1842 - Essex Co., NY Probate Wills Index Books A and B (1803-1842), courtesy: NYGenWeb. (opens as a PDF file)

Online Probate Records

Original county-by-county New York, Probate Records, 1629-1971 are available free online at FamilySearch. To access these records, click Historical Records below, then click "Browse through 1,630,900 images". Then select the county name, and then the probate records and time of interest.

• Historical Records - Essex County: Guardianship orders, 1869-1910; Guardianship records, 1847-1902; Letters, 1831-1902; Will and Letter index, 1799-1938; Wills, 1803-1904

Probate Records on Microfilm:

The probate records described above may also be on microfilms like these:

• 1799–1938 Index to Probate FHL film 866336 Item 2
• 1803–1910 Probate Records FHL film 866330 (14 films)

Additional Probate Indexes and Abstracts

Additional probate indexes or abstracts can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Essex County, New York probate wills in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
• Family History Library Catalog (For instructions see FHL Catalog Place-name Search).

Public Records

• 1799–1879 Index to miscellaneous papers filed or recorded in Essex County, New York FHL film 866325–7
  

Repositories

Cornell University. New York Historical Resources Center, Guide to Historical Resources in Essex County, New York Repositories. ([Ithaca, New York]: New York Historical Resources Center, Olin Library, Cornell University, 1987). At various libraries; FHL Book 974.753 A3g and fiche 6049417. Includes index. Includes references to some family histories and genealogies.

Archives, Libraries and Museums

Clinton Essex Franklin Library Systemconsists of 34 public libraries in the counties of Clinton, Essex, and Franklin. Each library has access to genealogical databases - especially newspaper sites.  Many are accessible with your library card from home. A list of the libraries in this system and their website and contact information is found here.

Essex County Historical Society
Brewster Memorial Research Library and Archives
Adirondack History Center Museum
7590 Court Street
P.O. Box 428
Elizabethtown, NY 12932
Phone: 518-873-6466
Open by appointment only Cemetery index, special collection library, some census on microfilm, maps, photographs, newspaper collection, and biographies.

Fort Ticonderoga/Thompson-Pell Research Center
Fort Road
Ticonderoga, NY 12883
Phone: 518-585-2821
Collections are accessible by appointment only Has 18th century military war maps, photos, and manuscripts that focus on campaigns in Champlain Valley. Special emphasis on French and Indian Wars and the American Revolution.

Keene Valley Library Archives
1796 NYS Rt. 73
Keene Valley, NY 12943
Phone: 518-576-4335
Open Tuesday and Thursday, 9 to noon.
Local genealogy and cemetery information.

Lake Placid Public Library
2471 Main Street
Lake Placid, NY 12946
Phone: 518-523-3200
The Village of Lake Placid/Town of North Elba Historical Collection in the the Archival Room of the library.

Penfield Foundation Museum
Ironville Road
Crown Point, NY 12928
Genealogical resources: Vital records, cemeteries, family files, censuses, church records, military records. A detailed list of family files is available online. A research request service is available for a fee.
Open June thru Mid-October Thursday thru Sunday or by appointment.
Genealogical and military records for Hammondville, Ironville, and Crown Point.

Sherman Free Libary
20 Church Street
Port Henry, NY 12974
Phone: 518-546-7461
Offers workshops on genealogy, Reverand Woodbridge Scrapbooks from 1880s to 1895, maps,atlases, and local histories.

County Historian's Office

Essex County Historian
Adirondack Center Museum
PO Box 428
7590 Court Street
Elizabethtown, NY 12932
Research Queries Email: research@adkhistorycenter.org

The County Historian may provide access to obituaries, vital records, church records, maps, and family files or journals. Some historians provide search services for their office records and others may refer you to local genealogists who research in the area.

Courthouses

The Essex County Clerk's office has marriage, divorce, probate, court and land records as well as the state census. For further information about where the records for Essex County are held, see the Essex County Courthouse page.

Family History Centers

Family History Centers (FHCs) are branches of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, and are located all over the world. Their goal is to provide resources to assist in the study of genealogy.

The closest FHC in Essex county is the Plattsburgh New York Family History Center. For additional Family History Centers, search this online FHC directory.

Societies

The Adirondack Genealogical – Historical Society - they have an obituary database extracted from the Adirondack Daily Enterprise and will search for you by phone. They also have some church records, census records on Essex and surrounding counties, local directories, and cemetery information up to 2000. Phone: 518-891-0807.

Essex County Historical Society/Brewster Memorial Research Library Archives
Adirondack History Center Museum
7590 Court St.
P.O. Box 428
Elizabethtown NY, 12932
Phone: 518-873-6466

Call for hours. Holdings include vertical files (biography subject oriented), newspaper collections, photographs, manuscripts, maps, cemetery index, some census on microfilm only, special collection library, historical documents relating to the history of Essex County. There are no birth, death, or marriage certificates. Research room rules, access regulations and fees for use of library apply

Central New York Genealogical Society^[7]
Box 104, Calvin Station
Syracuse, New York 13205
E-mail: CNYSG@yahoo.com

Member queries; surname research list; online resources; six meetings/year; publication: Tree Talks (At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 974.7 B2t) quarterly with annual index.

Counties served: Albany, Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Chemung, Chenango, Clinton, Columbia, Cortland, Delaware, Erie, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Genesee, Greene, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Livingston, Madison, Monroe, Montgomery, Niagara, Oneida, Onondaga, Ontario, Orange, Oreleans, Oswego, Otsego, Rensselaer, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins, Washington, Wayne, Warren, Wyoming, and Yates.

Social Groups Online

• New York Genealogy Research Community (FamilySearch on Facebook)

Taxation

Town Records

Town records in New York may include early births, marriages, deaths, divorces, local histories, selected military records, and town meeting minutes. For further details, try the links to individual town Wiki pages found in Places. See also:

• Gordon L. Remington, New York Towns, Villages, and Cities: A Guide to Genealogical Sources (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2002). NEHGS online edition; At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 974.7 D27r. Alphabetical list including date founded, if a town history exists, church and cemetery sources, and if a Civil War register (TCR) exists.

Vital Records

Vital records of birth, marriage or death were first recorded at the local level in the village clerk, town clerk, or city clerk’s ledger book. If you know where a birth, marriage or death took place, a copy of the certificate or record may be obtained by writing to the town, village or city clerk.

See the heading Places on this wiki page for links to local community wiki pages and their available records. See New York Vital Records for a discussion about beginning dates and availability of vital records in New York.

Use substitute records for birth, marriage, and death information. These substitute records include Bible Records, Cemeteries, Church Records, Newspapers, and Probate Records.

• 1831-1864 Births, Marriages, and Obituaries Extracted from Essex County, New York Newspapers at NYGenWeb - free.
  

• 1835-1850 - 1,100 Vital Records of Northeastern New York 1835-1850 on New York Family History - $^[8]

• 1844-2005 Northern NY Library Network Newspaper Search. Includes Adirondack Record-Elizabethtown Post (1917-1971), Elizabethtown Post (1882-1920), Essex County Republican (1844-1973), and Lake Placid News (1914-2005).
  

Birth

Early births were recorded on the town level and the years vary by town. (List of towns) The New York State Department of Health (state level) began recording births in 1881. Births were not recorded on the county level.

Birth Substitutes

• 1640–1962 New York Births and Christenings, 1640-1962 at FamilySearch Historical Records – free; Index.
  

• See Town Clerks' Registers of Men who Served in the Civil War in the Civil War section of Military for birth information.
  

• 1847-1849 Essex Birth Records at NYGenWeb - free.

Hazel Mary Thew(1900) and Walter John Haselton (1893)(married 1927).jpg

Marriage

Early marriages were sometimes recorded on the town level and the years vary by town. (List of towns) In 1880, town clerks were to record the marriage and a copy was sent to the New York State Department of Health (state level). Town clerks continue to record marriages. Marriages were recorded by the Essex County, New York clerk starting in Essex and go until 1908.^[9]

• 1664–1784 New York. Secretary of State, Names of Persons for Whom Marriage Licenses Were Issued By the Secretary of the Province of New York, Previous to 1784 (Albany, New York: Weed, Parsons and Co., 1860). At Cornell University digital library-free; Internet Archive - free; Ancestry edition($); At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Film 514675 Item 1. Marriage bonds issued in the State of New York prior to 1784, and the earliest record dating 1664.
  

• 1866–1870 Record of marriages FHL film 29089 Item 7 Microfilm of original records in the town hall, Williston, Vermont.These marriage records were written August 14, 1936 by W. E. Ferguson, town clerk of Williston, Vermont, from records created by Rev. A.D. Barber. Contains a few records of marriages performed by Rev. A.D. Barber in Willsboro, New York, 1866-1870.
  

• 1908–1935 New York, County Marriages 1908–1935 at FamilySearch Historical Records – free; Index.
  

• 1908–1923 Marriage Records FHL film 1029747 Item 5–1029749 Microfilm of original records in the Essex County courthouse. Includes indexes.

Marriage Substitutes

• 1686-1980 New York Marriages, 1686–1890 at FamilySearch Historical Records – free; Index. Index entries derived from digital copies of original and compiled records.
  

• 1777–1834 Fred Q. Bowman,10,000 Vital Records of Eastern New York, 1777-1834 (Baltimore,MD: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1987). Ancestry($); World Vital Records($); At various libraries; FHL Book 974.7 V2bfq. Abstracted from newspaper marriage and death columns.
  

• 1800–1855 New York Marriage Notices at Ancestry– ($); Index. This database is a collection of marriage notices published in newspapers around the state. Contains name of bride and groom, marriage date, marriage location, residence, and newspaper found in.
  

• 1801–1880 Barber Collection- Newspaper Marriages at Ancestry– ($); Index. Information extracted from the "Brooklyn Eagle" and the "New York Evening Post."
  

• 1847-1849 1847-1849 Essex County, New York Marriages at NYGenWeb - free.

• 1856–1863 Index to Marriages and Deaths in the New York Herald at Ancestry– ($); Index. These newspaper notices refer to people up and down the East Coast as well as midwesterners and persons from as far west as the State of California. Also browseable.
  

• 1864-5, 1874-5 See Marriage Schedule information in the State Census section of Census for marriage information for 1864-5, and 1874-5.
  

• 1882–1914 Schroon Catholic Church Marriage Records at Rootsweb - free. These are extracted marriage records. Grooms and Brides are listed on one list by surname.

Divorce

Divorce judgment papers often include date and place of the marriage and the names and birthdates of any children. Local newspapers may publish notices of divorce actions.

Death

Early deaths were recorded on the town level and the years vary by town. (List of towns) The New York State Department of Health (state level) began recording deaths in 1881. Deaths were not recorded on the county level.

Death Substitutes

• 1777–1834 Fred Q. Bowman,10,000 Vital Records of Eastern New York, 1777-1834 (Baltimore,MD: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1987). Ancestry($); World Vital Records($); At various libraries; FHL Book 974.7 V2bfq. Abstracted from newspaper marriage and death columns.
  

• See Town Clerks' Registers of Men Who Served in the Civil War in the Civil War section of Military for death information.
  

• 1847-1849 Essex County Deaths at NYGenWeb - free.
  

• 1849-50, 1859-60, 1869-70, 1879-80 See Mortality Schedule information in the Federal Census section of Census for death information.
  

• 1864-5, 1874-5 See Mortality Schedule information in the State Census section of Census for death information for 1864-5, and 1874-5.
  

Additional Resources

Additional resources for Essex County births, marriages and deaths may be found in the New York, Essex– Vital Records topic page of the Family History Library Catalog (FHLC). Copies of records on FHL microfilm and microfiche can be ordered for viewing at Family History Centers. Copies of books found in the FHLC may be found in WorldCat catalog and ordered from your local library through interlibrary loan. Explore how to search the Family History Library Catalog and the Worldcat Online Catalog.

Voting Registers

Essex County New York Places

Essex County New York Genealogy Websites

• The Essex County NYGenWeb Project, an member of The NYGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
• The USGenWeb Archives Project for Essex County.
• The USGenWeb Archives Project for Essex County. (Mirror site)
• New York Heritage Digital Collection. Includes a digital copy of Willsborough Town Book.

Essex County New York Genealogy References

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