Bronx Borough, New York Genealogy

United States New York  Bronx

Borough
The Bronx does not have a county government. The county is part of the greater New York City, as a borough. The borders are common to The Bronx borough.

Parent County
1 January 1914: Created as a county despite being a borough of the Greater New York City before the date.

Origins and name of the Bronx

 * The Bronx was called Rananchqua by the native Siwanoy band of Lenape ("the Delawares" to Europeans), while other Native Americans knew the Bronx as Keskeskeck. It was divided by the Aquahung River.


 * Jonas Bronck (died 1643), a Dutch sea-captain born in Sweden (about 1600), entering New Netherland in 1639, became the first recorded European settler in the area. He leased land from the Dutch West India Company on the neck of the mainland immediately north of the Dutch settlement in Harlem, and bought additional tracts from the local tribes. He eventually accumulated 500 acres (about 200 hectares, 2 square km, or 3/4 of a square mile) between the Harlem River and the Aquahung, which became known as Bronck's River, or "the Bronx". Dutch and English settlers referred to the area as Bronck's Land.


 * The Bronx is referred to, both legally, and colloquially, with a definite article, as The Bronx. (The name of the coterminous Bronx County, or more formally the County of Bronx, does not include a the, nor does the United States Postal Service in its database of Bronx addresses.) The name for this region, apparently after the Bronx River, first appeared in the Annexed District of the Bronx created in 1874 out of part of Westchester County and was continued in the Borough of the Bronx, which included a larger annexation from Westchester County in 1898. The use of the definite article is attributed to the style of referring to rivers. Another explanation for the use of the definite article in the borough's name is that the original form of the name was possessive: The Bronck’s or The Broncks’ (referring to the family).

Before 1914


 * The development of the Bronx is directly connected to its strategic location between New England and New York (Manhattan). Control over the bridges across the Harlem River plagued the period of British colonial rule. Kingsbridge, built in 1693 where Broadway reached the Spuyten Duyvil Creek, was a possession of the lords of Philipse Manor. The tolls they charged were resented by Bronx farmers with crops and cattle to sell in New York. It was angry farmers who built a "free bridge" across the Harlem River which led to the abandonment of tolls altogether.


 * The territory now contained within Bronx County was originally part of Westchester County, one of the 12 original counties of the English Province of New York. The present Bronx County was contained in the town of Westchester and parts of the towns of Yonkers, Eastchester, and Pelham. In 1846, a new town, West Farms, was created by division of Westchester; in turn, in 1855, the town of Morrisania was created from West Farms. In 1873, the town of Kingsbridge (roughly corresponding to the modern Bronx neighborhoods of Kingsbridge, Riverdale, and Woodlawn) was established within the former borders of Yonkers.


 * The consolidation of the Bronx into New York City proceeded in two stages. In 1873, the state legislature annexed Kingsbridge, West Farms and Morrisania to New York, effective in 1874; the three towns were abolished in the process.[20][21] In 1895, three years before New York's consolidation with Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, the whole of the territory east of the Bronx River, including the Town of Westchester (which had voted in 1894 against consolidation) and portions of Eastchester and Pelham, were annexed to the city. City Island, a nautical community, voted to join the city in 1896.


 * 1 January 1898: The consolidated City of New York was born, including the Bronx as one of the five distinct Boroughs. (At the same time the Bronx's territory moved from Westchester County into New York County, which already contained Manhattan and the rest of pre-1874 New York City.)


 * 19 April 1912: Those parts of New York County which had been annexed from Westchester County in the past decades were newly constituted as Bronx County, the 62nd and last county to be created by the state, effective in 1914. Bronx County's courts opened for business on January 2, 1914 (the same day that John P. Mitchel started work as Mayor of New York City). Source:

Federal
Before the annexation, see Westchester County.

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

Migration
Early migration routes to and from Bronx County for European settlers included:


 * Ellis Island, Castle Garden, etc.
 * the Atlantic Ocean
 * Long Island Sound
 * Hudson River with connections to:
 * Mohawk River
 * Lake Champlain with connections to Richelieu River, Chambly Canal &amp; St. Lawrence River
 * Lake Champlain Trail pre-historic
 * Champlain Canal 1823
 * Erie Canal 1825
 * King's Highway (or Boston Post Road, or New York-Philadelphia Post Road) 1664
 * Albany Post Road (or Queen's Road, or King's Road) 1669
 * Hudson River Path
 * Great Shamokin Path
 * Delaware and Raritan Canal 1834

Civil War
Civil War service men in Albany County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county.


 * -135th Regiment, New York Infantry

Courthouses
The County Clerk's office has marriage, divorce, court and naturalization records. For further information about where the records for Bronx County are held, see the Bronx County Courthouse page.

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Bronx New York Family History Center

Web Sites

 * The Bronx County NYGenWeb Project, an member of The NYGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Bronx County.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Bronx County. (Mirror site)
 * Family History Library catalog for Bronx County