Essex County, New York Genealogy

United States New York  Essex County

Parent Counties

 * Created 1 March 1799 from Clinton and Franklin counties.

Neighboring Counties
Clinton· Franklin· Hamilton· Warren· Washington· Vermont counties: Addison· Chittenden

Cemeteries
Northern New York TombstoneTranscription Project- Essex county index

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

Church Records

 * 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.

Genealogy
Rootsweb message boardfor 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.

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



Land and Property

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

Military
Civil War

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.


 * - 118th Regiment, New York Infantry
 * - 153rd Regiment, New York Infantry

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1836–1906 Italian Genealogical Group

Newspapers

 * Northern New York Historical Newspapers Search historical newspapers for Essex Co., years ranging from 1844 - 2007.

Probate Records

 * 1803-1904 - SAMPUBCO - Browsable index of testators of wills (1803-1904).
 * 1803-1842 - Essex Co., NY Probate Wills Index Books A and B (1803-1842), courtesy: NYGenWeb. (opens as a PDF file)

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.

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 Box 104, Calvin Station Syracuse, New York 13205 E-mail: [mailto:CNYGS@yahoo.com CNYSG@yahoo.com]


 * Member queries; surname research list; online resources; six meetings/year; publication: Tree Talks  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.

Birth
Birth Substitutes


 * 1640–1962 at FamilySearch Historical Records – free; Index.
 * See Town Clerks' Registers of Men who Served in the Civil War in Essex County in the Civil War section of Military for birth information.

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.

Marriage

 * 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($); ; . Marriage bonds issued in the State of New York prior to 1784, and the earliest record dating 1664.
 * 1866–1870 Record of marriages 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.
 * 1908–1923 Marriage Records Microfilm of original records in the Essex County courthouse. Includes indexes.


 * Marriage Substitutes


 * 1686-1980 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 (Balitimore,MD: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1987). Ancestry($); ; . Abstracted from newspaper marriage and death columns.
 * 1800–1855 New York Marriage Notices at Ancestry– ($); Index. This database is a collection of marriage notices published in newspapers around the state. Contains name of bride and groon, marriage date, marriage location, residence, and newspaper found in.
 * 1801–1880 Barber Collection- Newspaper Marriages at Ancestry– ($); Index. Information extracted from the "Brooklyn Eagle" and the "New York Evening Post."
 * 1856–1863 Index to Marriages and Deaths in the New York Herald at Ancestry– ($); 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.

Death
Death Substitutes


 * 1777–1834 Fred Q. Bowman,10,000 Vital Records of Eastern New York, 1777-1834 (Balitimore,MD: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1987). Ancestry($); ; . Abstracted from newspaper marriage and death columns.


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


 * 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

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.