Ontario County, New York Genealogy

This article is about the county in western New York state. For other uses, see Ontario (disambiguation).

United States &gt; New York &gt; Ontario County

History

 * This was an enormous county, including the northern part of New York State as well as all of the present State of Vermont and, in theory, extending westward to the Pacific Ocean. This county was reduced in size on July 3, 1766 by the creation of Cumberland County, and further on March 16, 1770 by the creation of Gloucester County, both containing territory now in Vermont. - Wikipedia
 * The original owners of this land were men of Massachusetts and Connecticut, Nathan Gorham and Oliver Phelps.
 * They were trustees for thirteen Dutch investors in Amsterdam. Trustees were needed because aliens were not then permitted to own land. This tract was later known as The Holland Purchase.
 * The legal transactions and recordings were conducted in Massachusetts by the General Court assembled and passed in that House of Representatives and Senate. It was approved by John Hancock, the governor of Massachusetts, before it was recorded in New York. Many transactions thereafter recorded include the grantors Nathan Gorham of Massachusetts and Oliver Phelps of Connecticut. A deed in 1817 from Oliver Phelps daughter, Mary, granted land to the school commissioner of Connecticut.

Parent County
27 January 1789: Created from Montgomery County.

Boundary Changes
Several counties set off and some take aways.


 * 1791: A part taken from Montgomery County.
 * 18 March 1796: Steuben County set off.
 * 30 March 1802: Genesee County set off.
 * 1814: A part taken from Steuben County.
 * 23 February 1821: Livingston and Monroe counties set off.
 * 5 February 1823: Yates County set off.
 * 11 April 1823: Wayne County set off.

Neighboring Counties
Livingston | Monroe | Seneca | Steuben | Wayne | Yates

Land

 * The indenture was procured from Chiefs and Warriors of the Five Indian Nations inhabiting this land by “fee or right of soil” in July of 1789. Nathan Gorham of Charlestown, Massachusetts and Oliver Phelps claimed title and began their development of this New York land from that date forward while never establishing residence in that State.
 * The original records for the Holland Land Company are in Holland. SUNY (State University of New York) at Fredonia microfilmed the records and they are in SUNY Brockport, New York.
 * Also available at familysearch.org "Holland Land Company Records"

Cities, Towns, Villages

 * Cities: Canandaigua . Geneva
 * Towns: Bristol . Canadice . Canandaigua . East Bloomfield . Farmington . Geneva . Gorham . Hopewell . Manchester . Naples . Phelps . Richmond . Seneca . South Bristol . Victor . West Bloomfield
 * Villages: Bloomfield . Clifton Springs . Manchester . Naples . Phelps . Rushville . Shortsville . Victor

Web Sites

 * FamilySearch.org catalog for Ontario County
 * The Ontario County NYGenWeb Project, an member of The NYGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.