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.

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.

Civil War, 1861-1865
The New York town clerks kept a bound register of all soldiers serving from their town in the Civil War. Registers are alphabetical by county, then alphabetical by name of town. Not every town has a register that still exists. The registers include an index at the beginning of the start of a town record.

The originals of these registers are housed at the New York State Archives and Records Administration in Albany, New York. Microfilm copies of these registers are found. These Civil War town registers are also found at Ancestry.com($) and are indexed.

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

The Town Clerks registers include: Chesterfield, Crown Point, Elizabethtown, Lewis, Minerva, North Elba, St. Armand, Schroon, and Westporttowns.


 * Civil War 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

 * Italian Genealogical Group Essex County 1836-1906

Newspapers

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

Probate Records
SAMPUBCO - Browsable index of testators of wills.

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


 * Member queries, surname research list, online resources, publications, six meetings/year.


 * 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
Substitute Birth Records


 * 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.

Marriage

 * 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.

Substitute Marriage 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.


 * 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
Substitute Death 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.


 * 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.

Divorce
Additonal 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.