Columbia County was a part of Albany County from the late 1600s to 1786 and is bordered by Albany, Rensselaer, Greene, Dutchess, and Ulster counties, Massachusetts and a small part of Connecticut.
County Formed: April 4, 1786
Parent County: Albany County
Daughter Counties: None
Major Land Transactions: Rennselaerswijck, 1629; Livingston Manor, 1686.
Table of Contents
- History
- Cities, Towns, and Villages
- Repositories, Resources, and Societies – County
- Repositories, Resources, and Societies – Regional
- Repositories, Resources, and Societies – Local
- Civil, Public, and Vital Records
- Federal Census Records
- State Census Records
- Online Resources
- Selected Bibliography
History
Columbia County was one of the first counties to be settled by European colonists. As more Dutch settlers arrived and bought land in the county in the mid-seventeenth century, development slowly increased. In 1710, Robert Livingston, a Scottish colonist, sold 6,000 acres of property in present-day Columbia County to the Queen of England, to be used for work camps and housing for around 1,200 Palatine German refugees. However, it was a part of Albany County from the late 1600s to 1786 (just after the Revolutionary War), when it was created in its present name. Until the 19th century, the main industry in Columbia County was agriculture, namely grain production. Later industries included iron mining, stone quarrying, shipbuilding, merino wool, and dairy production. But despite the wide variety of fields, many of these industries were relatively small-scale and short-lived. However, the factory work brought in many Irish and African-American immigrants, with lesser numbers of people from Italy, Poland, Hungary, and Ukraine.
References:
- The Encyclopedia of New York State
- Columbia County Government
- Columbia County History
Repositories, Resources, and Societies – County
Columbia County Clerk
Website: Columbia County Clerk
Address: 560 Warren Street
Phone: (518) 828-3339
Columbia County - City, Town, and Village Clerks
Website: Columbia County – City, Town, and Village Clerks
Columbia County Surrogate's Court
Website: Columbia County Surrogate’s Court
Address: Columbia County Courthouse, 401 Union Street, Hudson, NY 12534
Phone: (518) 828-0414
Columbia County Historical Society, Museum, and Library
Website: Columbia County Historical Society
Address: 5 Albany Avenue, PO Box 311, Kinderhook, NY 12106
Phone: (518) 758-9265 •
Email: cchs@cchsny.org
Columbia County Public Libraries
Website: Columbia County Public Libraries
Columbia County - All Municipal Historians
Website: Municipal Historians of Columbia County
Clermont State Historic Site
Website: Clermont State Historic Site
Address: One Clermont Avenue • Germantown, NY 12526
Phone: (518) 537-4240 or (518) 537-6622
Email: info@friendsofclermont.org
Shaker Museum and Library
Website: Shaker Museum and Library
Museum Address: North Family, Mount Lebanon Shaker Historic Site, 202 Shaker Road, New Lebanon, NY 12125
Library and Administrative Offices: 88 Shaker Museum Road, Old Chatham, NY 12136
Phone: (518) 794-9100
Email: contact@shakerml.org
Livingston Manor
Website: Livingston Manor
Address: PO Box 122, Livingston Manor, NY 12758
Archival material related to Livingston Manor and the Livingston and related families are held in various locations including Columbia University, Butler Library: Livingston Family Papers, 1787–1893; N-YHS: several Livingston collections; University of Michigan, Clements Library: Wilson Family Papers, 1704–1884 (agents); Princeton University, Firestone Library: Edward Livingston Papers; Gilder Lehrman Institute: Livingston, Family Paper . . . Livingstone-Redmond Papers; NYPL: Gilbert Livingston Papers, 1711–1862; NYSL: Henry Livingston Collection, 1751–1833.
Repositories, Resources, and Societies – Regional
Bard College Archives and Special Collections
Website: Bard College Archives and Special Collections
Address: Stevenson Library Archives and Special Collections, One Library Road Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504
Phone: (845) 758-7396
Email: archives@bard.edu
Categories include Hudson Valley Archives (local history materials), Tivoli Photograph Collection, historical journals, and Bard College history. Complete list of holdings available on website.
Capital District Genealogical Society
Website: Capital District Genealogical Society
Address: Empire State Plaza Station, PO Box 2175, Albany, NY 12220
Email: contactcdgs@gmail.com
Repositories, Resources, and Societies – Local
Alphabetized by location
Austerlitz Historical Society and Museum
Website: Austerlitz Historical Society and Museum
Address: 1550 State Route 22, PO Box 144, Austerlitz, NY 12017
Phone: (518) 392-0062
Email:oldausterlitz@fairpoint.net
Roeliff Jansen Historical Society and Museum
Website: Roeliff Jansen Historical Society and Museum
Address: 8 Miles Road, PO Box 172, Copake Falls, NY 12517
Phone: (518) 329-0652
Email:roeliffjansenhs@gmail.com
Germantown History Department
Website: Germantown History Department
Address: 51 Maple Avenue, Germantown, NY 12526
Phone: (518) 537-3600
Email: germantownhistory@gmail.com
Hudson Area Library: History Room
Website: History Room
Address: 400 State Street, Hudson, NY 12534
Phone: (518) 828-1792
Robert Jenkins House
Website: Robert Jenkins House
Address: 113 Warren Street, Hudson, NY 12534
Phone: (518) 828-9764
Livingston History Barn
Website: Livingston History Barn
Address: County Route 19, Livingston, NY 12541
Phone: (518) 851-7637
Email: livingstonhistorybarn@hotmail.com
Riders Mills Historical Association and Schoolhouse
Website: Riders Mills Historical Association and Schoolhouse
Address: 142 Riders Mills Road, PO Box 1, Old Chatham, NY 12136
Phone: (518) 794-7146
Email: info@ridersmillsschoolhouse.org
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. Learn more about New York's vital records in our online guide.
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:
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State Census Records
- County originals at Columbia County Clerk’s Office: 1845, 1855, 1865, 1875, 1905, 1915, 1925 (1825, 1835, and 1892 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.
- 1845 census is lost except for the City of Hudson; NYSL has microfilm.
Online Resources
General Resources
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.
The website provides access to a selection of searchable archives, transcribed records, gazetteer excerpts, historical photographs, bibliographies, and other links.
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
Hudson River Valley Heritage (HRVH)
The HRVH website provides free access to digital collections of historical material from more than 40 organizations in Columbia, Greene, Dutchess, Ulster, Sullivan, Rockland, Orange, Putnam, and Westchester counties.
NYGenWeb Project: Columbia County
Part of the national, USGenWeb volunteer initiative, the website provides information and resources for county research.
Maps
- New York, Land Records, 1630–1975 - Includes land and property records.
Other Records
- New York, Probate Records, 1629–1971 - Includes wills, letters of administration, and guardianship papers.
Selected Bibliography
Abstracts, Indexes & Transcriptions
- Barber, Gertrude Audrey. “Abstracts of Wills of Columbia County, New York.” Typescript, 1935–1947. 8 vols. Information taken from Surrogate’s Court original records (1786–1851) at Hudson, NY. Indexed. Vols. 1–4 (1786–1828). [books.FamilySearch.org]
- Barber, Gertrude Audrey. Index to Abstracts of Wills of Columbia County, New York, Volumes 1-4, 1787-1827. Pittsfield, MA: Berkshire Family History Association, 2001.
- Barber, Gertrude Audrey, and Minnie Cohen. Gravestone Inscriptions in Columbia County, NY. 12 vols. New York, 1935–1941. Includes inscriptions from Reformed Dutch Church Cemetery at Claverack, NY; Reformed Church Cemetery of West Ghent, NY; and Hudson City Cemeter y. [Ancestry.com (vols. 1–3 only)]
- Berkenmeyer, Wilhelm C., and Justus Falckner. Baptismal Register from the New York Lutheran Church Book. Athens, NY: 1936. Includes baptismal, marriage and death records 1704–1737 from Ancram, Claverack, East Camp and Queensbury (now Germantown), Kinderhook, and Taghkanick.
- Bussing, Carol W. “Records of the Reformed Church of Linlithgo in the Town of Livingston, Columbia County, New York.” Typescript, 1949. DAR Library, Washington, D.C.
- Columbia County, NYG&B Church Surveys Collection. NYG&B, New York. [NYG&B eLibrary]
- County of Columbia Abstracts. Syracuse: Central New York Genealogical Society, 2000. Abstracts for a range of genealogical records originally published in the quarterly Tree Talks.
- 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.
- Divine, Albert L. Columbia County, NY, Gravestone Inscriptions: A Guide to Understanding Them, with a Comprehensive Family Name Index. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 1991.
- Divine, Gerda E. Old Tombstones and Unusual Cemeteries in Columbia County, New York: A Collection of Inscriptions from Old Tombstones, and Descriptions of Hard-to-Find and Unusual Cemeteries in Columbia County, New York State. Hillsdale, NY: Graphos, 1973.
- Herrick, Margaret E. Marriage Notices, Dutchess and Columbia County, New York, 1859–1936: Notices Compiled from the Red Hook Journal, Red Hook Times-Journal, Red Hook Advertiser, and Rhinebeck Gazette. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 1991.
- Hudson Monthly Meeting (Society of Friends). Quaker Records of the Hudson Monthly Meeting, Columbia County, NY, 1793+. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 1999. Indexed by Arthur C. M. Kelly.
- Kelly, Arthur C. M. The Columbia. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, quarterly 1986–1998, annually 1999–2001.
- Kelly, Arthur C. M. Deaths, Marriages, and Miscellaneous from Hudson, New York, Newspapers: The Balance and Columbian Repository, 1802–1811 [and] the Rural Repository or Bower of Literature, 1824–1851. 2 vols. Rhinebeck, NY: The Author, 1980.
- Kelly, Arthur C. M. Index to Tree Talks County Packet: Columbia County. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 2002.
- Kelly, Arthur C. M. Old Gravestones of Columbia County, New York. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 1996.
- Kelly, Arthur C. M. Valley Quarterlies. Directory of articles (vols. 1–15) andevery-name index to the Capital, the Columbia, the Mohawk, and the Saratoga. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, CD-ROM, 2000.
- Losee, John. Death Notices, Dutchess and Columbia County, New York, from Red Hook Newspapers. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 1992.
- Luckhurst, Charlotte T. “Columbia County, New York, Cemetery Records. Albany, NY, 1931.” Typescript, 1931. NYPL, New York.
- Phillips, Ralph D. “Inscriptions from the Graveyards in the Northern Part of Columbia County, New York, in the Vicinity of Chatham, New Britain, Malden Bridge, etc.” Typescript, 1936. [Ancestr y.com]
- Thomas, Milton. Gravestone Inscriptions, Columbia County, New York. 5 vols.Troy, NY: M. H.Thomas, 1920.
- Vosburgh, Royden Woodward, ed. “Records of the First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan.” Typescript, 1920. NYPL, New York. [NYG&B eLibrary]
- Vosburgh, Royden Woodward, ed.. “Records of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church at Manorton, in the Town of Livingston, Columbia County, NY.” Vol. 2. Typescript. NYPL, New York. [NYG&B eLibrary]
- Vosburgh, Royden Woodward, ed. “Records of the Congregational Church and Society of New Canaan at Canaan Four Corners in the Town of Canaan, Co- lumbia County, NY.” Typescript. NYPL, New York. [NYG&B eLibrary]
- Vosburgh, Royden Woodward, ed.“Records of the Reformed Dutch Church of Kinderhook in Kinderhook, Columbia County, NY.” Typescript. NYPL, New York. [NYG&B eLibrary] 2 vols.
- Worden, Jean D. “Book 1, Subject Index.” In Revised Master Index to the NewYork 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.
Other Resources
- Beers, D. G. Atlas of Columbia County, New York: From Actual Surveys and Official Records. Philadelphia, 1872. [NYPL Digital Gallery]
- Biographical Review Publishing Company. Biographical Review: This Volume Contains Biographical Sketches of the Leading Citizens of Columbia County, New York. Boston, 1894.
- Bradbury, Anna R. Histor y of the City of Hudson, New York: With Biographical Sketches of Henr y Hudson and Rober t Fulton. Hudson, NY: Record Print and Publishing Co., 1908. Book includes biographical sketches of other prominent residents.
- Capital District Genealogical Society Newsletter. Albany: Capital District Genealogical Society, 1982–present. [capitaldistrict- genealogicalsociety.org]
- Child, Hamilton. Gazetteer and Business Director y of Columbia County, NY, for 1871–2. Syracuse, 1870.
- Collier, Edward A. A Histor y of Old Kinderhook from Aboriginal Days to the Present Time; Including the Stor y of the Early Settlers, Their Homesteads, Their Traditions, and Their Descendants; with an Account of Their Civic , Social, Political, Educational, and Religious Life. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1914.
- Columbia County Histor y & Heritage. Kinderhook, NY: Columbia County Historical Society, 2002.
- Ellis, Franklin. Histor y of Columbia County, New York: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Philadelphia, 1878.
- Foley, Janet W. Early Settlers of New York State: Their Ancestors and Descendants. 9 vols. Akron, NY: 1934–1942. Reprint, 2 vols. Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Co., 1993.
- Hacklett,W. V. The Hudson City and Columbia County Director y of the Year : With an Appendix Containing a Record of the Soldiers of the City and County, and a Variety of Useful Information. Albany:W. V. Hacklett, 1862–1901. Published annually, not all years survive.
- Howell, Mary. Livingston: Then and Now. Ghent, NY: Published by the Town of Livingston, 1988. Book includes family history.
- Hudson River Valley Review:A Journal of Regional Studies. Poughkeepsie, NY: Hudson River Valley Institute at Marist College, 2002–present. [hudsonrivervalley.org]
- Hughes,Thomas P. American Ancestr y: Giving the Name and Descent, in the Male Line, of Americans Whose Ancestors Settled in the United States Previous to the Declaration of Independence, A.D. 1776; Vol. 2 (local series): Columbia County, State of New York, 1887. Albany, 1887.
- Hunt, Thomas. A Historical Sketch of the Town of Clermont. Hudson, NY: The Hudson Press, 1928. Reprint, Rhinebeck, NY: Palatine Transcripts, 1984.
- Kelly, Arthur C. M. Settlers and Residents [of Germantown/ Clermont/ Livingston]. 3 vols. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 1973-1989.
- Lant, J. H. Columbia County Director y, 1878–9: Containing the Names and Post Office Address of the Inhabitants of the County, Together with a Business Director y of the City of Hudson, and Other Miscellaneous Information. Hudson, NY, 1878.
- Lawrence & Co.’s Columbia County Director y for 1880–1 . . . .Newburgh, NY, 1880.
- Maynard, Mary S. A Guide to Local Histor y and Genealogical Resources in Columbia County, New York, at Public Libraries and Other Locations. Brookville, NY: M. S. Maynard, 1979.
- New York Historical Resources Center. Guide to Historical Resources in Columbia County, New York, Repositories. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 1987. [books.FamilySearch.org]
- Piwonka, Ruth. A Por trait of Livingston Manor, 1686–1850. Clermont, NY: Friends of Clermont, 1986.
- Raymond, William. Biographical Sketches of the Distinguished Men of Columbia County: Including an Account of the Most Impor tant Offices They Have Filled in the State and General Governments and in the Army and Navy. Albany, 1851.
- Saums, Dorothy D. A Histor y of the Roeliff Jansen Area: A Historical Review of Five Townships in Columbia County, New York. New York: Roeliff Jansen Historical Society, 1900. The Roeliff Jansen Area consists of Ancram, Copake, Gallatin, Hillsdale, and Taghkanic.
- Silvernail, Peter. Southern Columbia County, New York, Families: A Genealogy. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 1996.
- Smith, Henry P. Columbia County at the End of the Centur y: A Historical Record of Its Formation and Settlement, Its Resources, Institutions, Its Industries, and Its People. 3 vols. Hudson, NY: Record Printing and Publishing Co., 1900.
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.