Clinton County, New York Guide

Clinton County was formed in 1788 from Washington County. 

County Formed: 1788

Parent County: Washington

Daughter Counties: Essex 1799; St. Lawrence County 1802; Franklin 1808

Major Land Transactions: Beekmantown Patent; Canadian and Nova Scotia Refugee Tract 1784; Old Military Tract 1786

 

Clinton County Map
Map of Clinton County

 

Table of Contents

 

 

 

History

Clinton County was formed from Washington County in 1788 and was named after Governor George Clinton. The Earliest European settlement occurred in the 1730s by the French. After 1783 most settlers came from Quebec, the Hudson Valley, and New England. By 1870 a third of the population was foreign born. A small portion of the population were African American, first bought as servants of French and British military personnel, and by American personnel after 1800. There were many abolitionists in the County, and it is said there are underground railroad stations in Clinton.

The Encyclopedia of New York State, 351-354.

 

 

 

Repositories, Resources, and Societies – County

Clinton County Clerk

Website: Clinton County Clerk

Address: Clinton County Government Center, First Floor, 137 Margaret Street, Plattsburgh, NY 12901

Phone: (518) 565-4700

Email: countyclerk@clintoncountygov.com

 

Clinton County - City, Town, and Village Clerks 

Website: Clinton County – City, Town, and Village Clerks

Birth, marriage, and death records are maintained by the clerk of the municipality in which the event occurred; see Introduction to County Guides for details of other records which may also be held by municipal clerks.

 

Clinton County Surrogate's Court 

Website: Clinton County Surrogate’s Court

Address: Clinton County Government Center, 137 Margaret Street, Plattsburgh, NY 12901

Phone: (518) 565-4630

 

Clinton County Public Libraries 

Website: Clinton County Public Libraries

Clinton is part of the Clinton-Essex-Franklin Library System. Many hold genealogy and local history collections. 

 

Clinton County Historian

Website: Clinton County Historian

Address: Clinton County Government Center, Suite 105, 137 Margaret Street, Plattsburgh, NY 12901

Phone: (518) 565-4749

Email: historian@co.clinton.ny.us

 

Clinton County - All Municipal Historians 

Website: Clinton County – All Municipal Historians

While not authorized to answer genealogical inquiries, city, town, and village historians can provide valuable historical information and research advice; some maintain collections and webpages which may include transcribed records, local histories, and other genealogical material.

 

Clinton County Historical Assocation and Museum

Website: Clinton County Historical Association and Museum

Address: 98 Ohio Avenue, Plattsburgh, NY 12903

Phone: (518) 561-0340 

 

Northern New York American-Canadian Genealogical Society/Clinton County Genealogical Society

Website: Northern New York American-Canadian Genealogical Society/Clinton Count Genealogical Society

Mailing Address: NNYACGS, PO Box 928, Dannemora, NY 12929 

Phone: 518-492-4142 

Email: nnyacgs@gmail.com

 

 

 

Repositories, Resources, and Societies – Regional

Adirondack Genealogical-Historical Society 

Website:Adirondack Genealogical-Historical Society

Address: 100 Main Street, Saranac Lake, NY 12983 

Region includes Clinton, Essex, and St. Lawrence counties. Offers research services at the Saranac Lake Free Library: The William Chapman White Memorial Room: Adirondack Research Center.

 

Adirondack Experience Museum Library

Website: Adirondack Experience Museum Library

Address: 9097 NY-30, Blue Mountain Lake, NY 12812

Phone: (518) 352-7311

 

The William Chapman White Memorial Adirondack Research Room at the Saranac Lake Free Library:

Website: William Chapman White Memorial Adirondack Research Room at the Saranac Lake Free Library ​ 

Address: 109 Main Street, Saranac Lake, NY 12983

Phone: (518) 891-0807

Email: sllibrary@adelphia.net

Village of Saranac Lake shared with Franklin County. Books, manuscripts, periodicals, newspapers, and pamphlets; federal and state census microfilm for Essex, Franklin, Clinton, and St. Lawrence counties 1850–1925; church records; obituary index; maps, gazetteers, and atlases 1869, 1876; photographs and postcards; cemetery inscriptions published by the Adirondack Genealogical and Historical Society; county, town, and municipal histories; genealogies and biographies; high school yearbooks and school attendance records; and early tuberculosis patient history from the Trudeau Sanatorium.

 

SUNY Plattsburgh: Special Collections

Website: SUNY Plattsburgh: Special Collections

Address:101 Broad Street, Plattsburgh, NY 12901

Phone: (518) 564-5206

Email: kimokdm@plattsburgh.edu

 

 

 

Repositories, Resources, and Societies – Local

Alphabetized by location

Champlain Memorial Library

Website: Champlain Memorial Library

Address: 148 Elm Street, PO Box 279, Champlain, NY 12919

Phone: (518) 298-8620

Email: champlib@primelink1.net

 

Alice T. Miner Museum: Colonial Collection

Website: Alice T. Miner Museum: Colonial Collection

Museum Address: 9618 U.S. 9, Chazy, NY 12921

Mailing: PO Box 628, Chazy, NY 12921

Phone: (518) 846-7336

Email: director@minermuseum.org

 

Anderson Falls Heritage Museum and Society

Website: Anderson Falls Heritage Museum and Society 

Address: 96 Clinton Street, Keeseville, NY 12944

Phone: (518) 834-9219

 

Plattsburgh Public Library

Website: Plattsburgh Public Library

Address: 19 Oak Street, Plattsburgh, NY 12901-2810

Phone: (518) 563-0921

Email: PPLInfo@cityofplattsburgh-ny.gov

 

 

 

Civil, Public, and Vital Records

Civil Records are those created, recorded and/or maintained by a governmental body and include births, marriages, deaths, censuses, property, and probate. NB: The New York State government began collecting vital record data in 1880. Birth, marriage, and death records from New York State (excluding the five boroughs of New York City) after 1880 on can be obtained from the New York State Department of Health. For vital records previous to 1880, consult the municipality in which the event took place. 

 

 

 

Federal Census Records

Population schedules: 1790-1940 (except 1890).

Online at Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org, and Findmypast.com (free to NYG&B members).

Access on Findmypast:

1790

1800

1810

1820

1830

1840

1850

1860

1870

1880

1900

1910

1920

1930

1940

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

State Census Records

  • County originals at Clinton County Clerk’s Office: 1892, 1905, 1915, 1925 (1825, 1835, 1845, 1855, 1865, and 1875 are lost). State originals at the NYSA: 1915, 1925
  • Microfilm at the FHL, NYPL, and NYSL
  • Many years are online at FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com.
  • Most of the 1855 New York state census for Clinton County are lost; the information for the Town of Clinton was published by Valley Quarterlies in The Capitol, vol. 4 no. 2, 1989.

 

 

 

Online Resources

 

General Resources

Ancestry.com

There are vast numbers of records on Ancestry.com that pertain to people who have lived in New York State. A search of the online card catalog by county may reveal lesser known resources that pertain to a locality, such as town records, abstracts, transcriptions, city directories, and local histories.

FamilySearch.org

FamilySearch has extensive collections of New York records, including religious records, which are searchable by name and location, but not by county. The following collections include record images (browsable, but not searchable) that are organized by county.

NYGenWeb Project: Clinton County

Part of the national, USGenWeb volunteer initiative, the website provides information and resources for county research.

 

Deaths and Burials

 

Maps

 

Military Records

 

Newspapers

New York Heritage Digital Collections: New York State Newspaper Project

The website provides links to digital newspapers collections in 26 counties (currently) made accessible through New York Heritage, New York State Historic Newspapers, HRVH Historical Newspapers, and other providers.

 

Other Records

Clinton County Naturalization Records, 1865–1906 

Volunteers of the Italian Genealogical Group have created a searchable database of these records, which is accessible for free on their website.​

 

Religious Records

 

Transportation

 

 

 

Selected Bibliography

  • County of Clinton Abstracts. Syracuse: Central New York Genealogical Society, 2000. Abstracts for a range of genealogical records originally published in the quarterly Tree Talks.  A name index is on the CNYGS website.
  • Daughters of the American Revolution, comps. New York DAR Genealogical Records Committee Report. Since 1913 DAR volunteers have transcribed many thousands of unpublished cemetery, church, and town records throughout New York. The reports are at the DAR Library; copies are at the NYSL and the NYPL. The DAR has a searchable name index to all the GRC reports at http://services.dar.org/Public/DAR_Research/search/?Tab_ID=6. See Jean Worden’s index below for a listing by county of the New York record sets that were transcribed by the DAR before 1998.
  • Kelly, Arthur C. M. Index to Tree Talks County Packet: Clinton County. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 2002.
  • Samuelsen, W. David. Clinton County, New York, Will Testators Index. Salt Lake City: Sampubco, 1995.
  • Worden, Jean D. “Book 1, Subject Index.” In Revised Master Index to the New York State Daughters of the American Revolution Genealogical Records Volumes.
  • Zephyrhills, FL: J. D. Worden, 1998. The Subject Index includes a listing by county of the cemeteries, churches, towns, and other sources of records transcribed by the DAR.

 

The materials above are a compilation of resources available, with an emphasis on online resources, which might be useful to someone doing research within this county.  The inclusion of a link does not constitute an endorsement of its content or accuracy.  Please send any additions or corrections to webmaster@nygbs.org.