Genesee County is located in Western New York. The county is bordered by Orleans County in the North, Monroe and Livingston Counties in the East, Wyoming County in the South, and Niagara and Erie Counties in the West.
The county derives its name from a Seneca Indian word meaning “the Beautiful Valley,” an apt description of the county’s splendor. The southern portion of the county includes a range of hills, which transform into low waves as one heads north. As of the 2010 U.S. federal census, the county had a population of 60,079, and encompasses 500 square miles of land. The county seat is Batavia.
When searching for records in Genesee County, a great countywide resource to check out is the Genesee County Historians and History Department.
Their holdings include books; genealogy files; federal censuses 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880; state census indexes 1905 and 1915 online; cemetery records; church records; directories 1869–1881; indentured servants records 1827–1899; maps and atlases 1854–1900s; marriages and divorces; military records and information; naturalization records 1849–1929; newspapers, Daily News, 1878–1974; photographs; obituaries 1891–1937, 1992–2007; slavery information; yearbooks; and deaths that occurred in the County Home.
The History Department’s website includes a list of municipal historians. A selection of holdings from the Department’s collection is available online:
Genesee County is also home to many local resources and repositories. The Le Roy Historical Society, for instance, has a genealogical library containing files and archives. (Le Roy is also the birthplace of Jell-O! While you’re there you can learn about the story of Jell-O, which was invented in Le Roy in 1897.)
NYG&B members have access to all our original county guides on our website. Each guide was created by experts in the field in order to direct researchers to these local, unique resources.
Additionally, last year we published the New York Family History Research Guide and Gazetteer, which is filled with gazetteers, maps, and research guides to each of New York’s 62 counties.
Good luck with your research!