County Tips

The place in which ancestors lived is key to finding records and information. In New York, we often start with the county in which they resided. New York has 62 counties, and many New York record sets are found at the county level. Let’s look at a few fundamental record sets organized by county.

Monroe County was formed on February 23, 1821.  Located in Western New York, Monroe is bordered on the north by Lake Ontario, and further surrounded by the counties of Wayne, Ontario, Livingston, Orleans, and Genesee.

Around 3500 B.C., Native Americans were the first to make their home in the area that would become Cayuga County, settling on the banks of Cayuga Lake. By 1000 A.D., the descendants of the first inhabitants had developed agriculture, a practice they supplemented with hunting and gathering.

Franklin County was formed on March 11, 1808, from Clinton County, and named for Benjamin Franklin. The county seat is in the Village of Malone.

Modern Essex County formed in 1799 after separating from Clinton County.  It is named for the city of Essex in Great Britain.  The county is located in northeast New York, the eastern border formed by Lake Champlain and the New York/Vermont border.  It is the second largest and most mountainous county in New York, l

Happy 200th anniversary Hamilton County!!

Delaware County is located in south-central New York and is part of the Catskill Mountain region. The county gets its name from the Delaware River, which constitutes its western border and separates the county from Pennsylvania. The east and west branch of the Delaware run through the center of the county.

Clinton County is situated in the extreme northeastern part of New York State. The county is bordered by Quebec, Canada to the north, Vermont and Lake Champlain to the east, Essex County to the south, and Franklin County to the west.

Tioga County is located in the south-central part of New York State, along the border with Pennsylvania. Tioga County is bordered by Tompkins and Cortland counties in the north, Broom County to the east and Chemung County to the west.

Partitioned from Albany and Ulster Counties in 1800, Greene County lies in eastern New York and is located approximately 120 miles north of New York City.