Albany County, New York Genealogy

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

County Courthouse
Office of Albany County Clerk 32 N Russell Road Albany, NY 12206-1324

History

 * At the time of creation it included all of the present Bennington County, Vermont, all of New York state north of the counties of Dutchess and Ulster, and theoretically stretched west to the Pacific Ocean.
 * Named for the Duke of Albany who later became James II, King of England

Parent County

 * Albany County was one of the original twelve counties created by the Province of New York on 1 November 1683.

Boundary Changes

 * 27 May 1717, Albany County was adjusted to gain an indefinite amount of land from Dutchess County and other non-county lands.
 * 7 October 1763, King George III, King of England, as part of his proclamation, created new province of Quebec, implicity setting the northern limit of New York at the parallel of 45 degrees north latitude, from Atlantic-St.Lawrence watershed westward to the St. Lawrence River, but it was never mapped.
 * 20 July 1764, King George III established the boundary between New Hampshire and New York along the west bank of the Connecticut River, north of Massachusetts and south of the 45th parallel. Albany County implicitly gained present-day Vermont. Disputes broke out later and the dissatified colonists organized in opposition which led to the creation of Republic of Vermont in 1777 (lasted until Vermont joined in the American Revolutionary War.)
 * 13 July 1766, Cumberland County was partitioned from Albany County, covering all northern and eastern limits of the county, including what is now Windsor County, most of Windham County and parts of Bennington and Rutland counties in Vermont.
 * 26 June 1767, Albany County regained all of Cumberland County.
 * 19 March 1768, the county was repartitioned and Cumberland County restored.
 * 16 March 1770, the county was partitioned again to create Gloucester County (which includes all of present-day Orange, Caledonia and Essex counties, most of Washington County, parts of Orleans, Lamoille, Addison and Chittenden counties in Vermont.
 * 12 March 1772, Albany County was partitioned again, into Albany, Tryon (now Montgomery) and Charlotte (now Washington) counties.
 * 24 March 1772, a partition of 50 sq miles was handed over to Cumberland County.
 * 9 March 1774, Ulster County was set off from Albany County.
 * 1 April 1775, a partition of 60 sq miles was handed over to Charlotte County who then exchanged a like parcel with Cumberland County.
 * 15 January 1777, 300 square miles was lost to the Republic of Vermont.
 * 26 January 1781, Bennington County, Vermont attempted to annex a portion of Albany County (today portions of Washington and Rensselaer counties) to form "The West Union." The Confederation (before there was the US Constitution) arbitrated this annexation, and condemned it, with Vermont ceasing the attempts on 23 February 1783.
 * 4 Apr 1786, Columbia County was set off.
 * 7 March 1788, New York refusing to recognize the independence of Vermont, with Cumberland County eliminated, tried to adjust the line that separated Cumberland County from Albany in present-day Vermont, but to no effect.
 * 7 February 1791, Rensselaer and Saratoga counties were set off.
 * On the same day, town of Cambridge was transferred to Washington County.
 * 1 January 1795, Schoharie County was set off.
 * 5 April 1798, Ulster County took 90 sq miles to add to it.
 * 25 March 1800, Green County set off.
 * 3 March 1808, Havre Island turned over to Saratoga County with no net loss of land.
 * 7 March 1809, Schenectady County set off. From this day Albany County exists in its present shape.

Neighboring Counties
Columbia | Greene | Rensselaer | Saratoga | Schenectady | Schoharie

Web Sites

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