Tompkins County, New York

Boundary Changes

Record Loss

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.
  

Biography

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.^[3]
• 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.

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.

First Presbyterian Church of Ulysses, East Main Street, Trumansburg (Tompkins County, New York).jpg

• 1840s-1850s - Pastor's Hand Book, Book A, courtesy: NYGenWeb - free. Marriages.
  

• 1840s-1860s - Original Marriage Records of Rev Levi Pitts, courtesy: NYGenWeb - free.
  

• 1850s-1880s - Pastor's Hand Book, Book B, courtesy: NYGenWeb - free. Marriages.
  

• 1854-1855 - Tompkins County Members of the New York Baptist Union for Ministerial Education 1854-1855, courtesy: NYGenWeb - free.
  

• 1870 - The Tabernacle Baptist Church, courtesy: NYGenWeb - free. Includes membership list.
  

• 1880s-1940s - The Snyder Hill Free Will Baptist Church, courtesy: NYGenWeb - free. Includes membership list.
  

• Gross, Edna May. Unpublished Records of Births, Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, Deaths. Ithaca, N.Y.: unknown, 1986. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
  

Cornell University's Study Center for Early Religious Life in Western New York has an online guide to Tompkins County church records in their library.

Additional Church Records

Additional church records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Tompkins 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.

Crime and Criminals

Directories

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups

Gazetteers

Genealogy

• Rootsweb message board for Tompkins County, New York 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.
  

History   

Tompkins Co area NY-1796map.jpg

Tompkins County was formed by an act of the legislature, April 17, 1817 - taken from Cayuga and Seneca Counties. Its lineage extends back to Onondaga, Kerkimer, Montgomery, Tryon and Albany counties. It was named in honor of governor Daniel D. Tompkins. The county of Tompkins when formed contained the towns of Hector, Ulysses, and Covert taken from Seneca County, and the town of Dryden and a part of the towns of Locke and Genoa from Cayuga County.

Tompkins County, as originally formed, had within its limits a good portion of Cayuga Lake and extended westward to the Seneca Lake. Tompkins County is bounded on the north by Cayuga and Seneca Counties, on the east by Cortland and Tioga, on the south by Tioga, Schuyler and Chemung, and on the west by Chemung and Schuyler.  Its county seat is Ithaca.

The County of Tompkins consists of nine townships: Caroline, Danby, Dryden, Groton, Enfield, Ithaca, Lansing, New field and Ulysses, along with many villages and hamlets.

Some of the finest farming lands in the state are found in Tompkins County on the eastern and western shores of Cayuga Lake.^[4]

Addtional Resources:

For more information and family name details, see the book,"An outline history of Tioga and Bradford counties in Pennsylvania, Chemung, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins and Schuyler in New York : by townships, villages, boro's and cities".

Another excellent history of Tompkins County is found in"Landmarks of Tompkins County, New York : including a History of Cornell University by W.T. Hewitt", and FHL US/CAN Film.

See the Family History Library Catalog for more historical entries for Tompkins County, New York.

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

Online

Microforms

Books

Additional land records can sometimes be found using these catalogs:

• WorldCat using the search phase: Tompkins 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.)

• 1817-1860 - Index to Deeds Tompkins County, NY 1817-1860 Inclusive, courtesy: NYGenWeb.

Additional resources

Additional resources for Tompkins County, New York land records may be found in the Tompkins 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

Early migration routes for European settlers to and from Tompkins County, New York included:^[5]

• Catskill Turnpike, trail 1760s; turnpike 1804, from Catskill, New York to Bath, New York with extensions to Buffalo, New York, or Erie, Pennsylvania

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: Caroline · Danby · Dryden · Enfield · Groton · Ithaca · Newfield · Ulysses.

Regiments. Service men in Tompkins County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county.^[6]

- 109th Regiment, New York Infantry

- 137th Regiment, New York Infantry

- 138th Regiment, New York Infantry

- 143rd Regiment, New York Infantry

Naturalization and Citizenship

Newspapers

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 Tompkins 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. ^{[7] [8]}

These petitions are often found in the estate files and can be obtained from the Tompkins County Surrogate Court.
The petitions for Tompkins County, New York are also available on microfilm at the Family History Library and its centers:

• 1818–1900 Listed as "Petitions, proof of wills, letters of administration, and estate papers" FHL Film 869195 (59 films).
  

Online Probate Abstracts and Indexes

• 1787-1835 Abstracts of Wills, Administrations and Guardianships in NY State, 1787 - 1835 at New York Ancestors ($); includes Tompkins County, New York.^[9]
  
• 1817-1903 - SAMPUBCO Browsable index of testators of wills.
  

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 - Tompkins County: Administration bonds, 1890-1903; Bonds, 1896-1901; Decrees, Minutes, Orders, 1831-1914; Dower records, 1817-1882; Executor records, 1862-1910; Final settlements, 1868-1907; General index, 1818-1951; Guardianship records, 1817-1913; Letters of administration, Letters of testamentary, 1823-1904; Letters of testamentary, 1869-1904; Sales, 1831-1907; Will index, 1910-1936; Wills and Administrations, 1850-1891; Wills, 1817-1903; Wills, Administrations, Petitions, 1818-1900.

Probate Records on Microfilm

The probate records described above also may be among those on microfilm including:

• 1817–1932 Index 1818–1951, Probate Records: Wills 1817–1903, Index to wills 1818–1936, Minutes 1831–1914, Guardian 1829–1916, Letters of administration and testamentary 1823–1904 FHL Film 853116 (48 films)
• 1818–1900 Petitions, proofs, estate papers FHL Film 869195 (59 films)

Additional Probate Indexes and Abstracts

Additional probate indexes or abstracts can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Tompkins 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).

Repositories

Cornell University, Guide to Historical Resources in Tompkins County, New York Repositories. ([Ithaca, New York]: New York Historical Resources Center, Olin Library, Cornell University, 1983). At various libraries; FHL Book 974.771 A3g. Includes index. Includes references to some family histories and genealogies.

Archives, Libraries and Museums

Tompkins County Museum
401 East State Street
Ithaca, NY 14850
Phone: (607) 273-8284
FAX: (607) 273-6107

County Historian's Office

Courthouses

The Tompkins County Clerk's office has marriage, divorce, court and land records. The Surrogate Court has probate records. For further information about where the records for Tompkins County are held, see the Tompkins County Courthouses 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 for family history research.

The main FHC for Tompkins County, New York is the Ithaca New York Family History Center. For additional nearby Family History Centers, search online in the FHC directory.

Societies

Finger Lakes Genealogical Society^[10]
PO Box 581
Seneca Falls, New York 13148

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

Tompkins County is considered a consolidated county because birth and death records were collected from the towns, cities and villages and are on file with the Office of Vital Records in Ithaca. See this link for information about obtaining copies of birth and death records for most towns from 1880 to the present. Towns with records beginning later than 1880 are listed on the Office of Vital Records website.

Records may be ordered from the Tompkins County Office of Vital Records and must be requested by mail. Fees apply for both a record search and for a document copy. There is a 50-year restriction for deaths and a 75-year restriction for births. The restriction is waived if the applicant can prove the relationship to direct-line ancestors. Copies are also available at the New York State Department of Health in Albany. See New York Vital Records Wiki page for more information about ordering records from Albany.

Marriage records are usually found at the office of the town, city, or village clerk where the marriage license was issued. See the heading Places on this wiki page for links to local community wiki pages and their available records. Limited consolidated Tompkins County marriage records 1908-1935 are available at the Family History Library. 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.

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.
However, birth records were collected and consolidated from the town records by Tompkins County. See the Tompkins County Health Department for information about ordering records. Most town records begin in 1880.

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.
  

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 Tompkins County, New York clerk starting in 1908 and go until 1934.^[12]

• 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 or 930131 Item 2. Marriage bonds issued in the State of New York prior to 1784, and the earliest record dating 1664.
  

• 1908–1935 New York, County Marriages 1908–1935 at FamilySearch Historical Records – free; FHL Film 1008784 (first of 12 films); FHL Film 853063 (first of 7 films).
  

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.
  

• 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 groon, 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."
  

• 1820s-1900s Miscellaneous Marriages of Tompkins County 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.
  

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.
However, death records were collected and consolidated from the town records by Tompkins County. See the Tompkins County Health Department for information about ordering records. Most town records begin in 1880.

Death Substitutes

• 1795–1952 New York Deaths and Burials, 1795-1952 at FamilySearch Historical Records – free; Index. The entries are primarily from the IGI along with some entries derived from compiled and original records such as Family Records, Church Records, and Civil Registration. There may be entries that cite a specific source.
  

• 1801–1890 Barber Collection- Newspaper Deaths at Ancestry– ($); Index. Information extracted from the "Brooklyn Eagle" and the "New York Evening Post."
  

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

• 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.
  

• See Town Clerks' Registers of Men Who Served in the Civil War in the Civil War section of Military 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 Tompkins County births, marriages and deaths may be found in the New York, Tompkins– 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

Websites

Places

References

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