Cortland County, New York Guide

Cortland County was formed in 1808 and is named after Pierre Van Courtlandt, the first Lieutenant-Governor of the State of New York. The county is situated in the west of the center of New York, located south of Syracuse and north of Binghamton.

County formed: April 8, 1808

Parent County: Onondaga County

Daughter Counties: None

Major Land Transactions: New Military Tract 1782-1791; Boston Ten Towns 1787.

 

Cortland County Map
Map of Cortland County

 

Table of Contents

 

 

 

History

On April 8, 1808, four and a half townships were taken from the county of Onondaga to form the new county of Cortland. Despite the difference in spelling, the county was named after the first Lieutenant-Governor of the State, General Pierre Van Courtlandt. The county of Cortland is about 26 miles long, with a total area of 502 square miles.

The main stream of the district is the Tioughnioga, which served as an entry way to the county in the early days, and later, as its main highway for trade. In the year 1814, the Tioughnioga was officially established by the Legislature as a public highway. The Tioughnioga, it is believed, played an important role in drawing the pioneer to Cortland.

The settlement of Cortland was relatively late, with no permanent settlers before 1791. Rhonda Todd Beebe, her husband Joseph Beebe, and her brother Amos Todd built the first homes on the Tioughnioga that year. They had migrated from New Haven, Connecticut to Windsor, Broome County, New York just two years prior to their settlement in Cortland. They chose a site just north of the village of Homer for their primitive home, which was composed mainly of poles and was, perhaps, twelve by fifteen feet in its dimensions. In 1792, John Miller, his wife, and his two sons constituted the third family to settle in Cortland.

The county of Cortland experienced significant growth following its first settlement in 1791. The first school was opened in 1798 with Joshua Ballard as its teacher. Religious services were held in Cortland as early as 1794, and in 1801, two church organizations were formed. In 1808, the year in which Cortland County was formed, a medical society was founded.

Between the years of 1830 and 1860, most of the towns of the county reached their highest populations. The population of most rural towns began to decline in 1870, when farm boys and farmers were attracted by city opportunities and left for city jobs. However, with the coming of the railroad in 1854, and a second line in 1871, Cortland area industries were revitalized by easier access to raw materials, fuel, and new markets.

Today, Cortland County's present reflects its past with its flourishing agricultural industry. The county is also noted for the production of CNC milling machines, hospitality supplies, medical instruments and components, textiles, electrical components, and plastic consumer goods, among others.

 

Sources:

  • Smith, Henry Perry. History of Cortland County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Syracuse, NY: D. Mason & Co., 1885.
  • Hope Farm Press: Early Cortland County History

 

 

 

Repositories, Resources, and Societies – County

Cortland County Historical Society

Website: Cortland County Historical Society

Address: 25 Homer Ave., Cortland, NY 13045

Phone: (607) 756-6071

Email

Founded in 1925, the Kellogg Memorial Research Center at Cortland County Historical Society’s extensive holdings include family files and genealogies, diaries, scrapbooks, general files, photos, local histories, maps, cemetery records, census records and more.

Cortland County Historian

Website: Cortland County Historian

Address: 60 Central Avenue, Cortland, NY 13045

Phone: (607) 753-5360

The Cortland County Historian oversees the Cortland Record Center. The Historian’s website contains a list of municipal historians and  a  list  of  historic  sites  in  Cortland  County. The  Historian’s Facebook page provides news  and  trivia related to the history of Cortland County and information on the historian’s projects; visitors can ask research questions.

 

Cortland County - All Municipal Historians

Website: Cortland 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. 

 

 

 

Repositories, Resources, and Societies – Regional

 

Central New York Genealogical Society 

Website: Central New York Genealogical Society

Address: PO Box 404, Colvin Station, Syracuse, NY 13205 

Email: cnygs@yahoo.com

 

 

 

Repositories, Resources, and Societies – Local

Alphabetized by location

Taylor Historical Society

Website: Taylor Historical Society

Address: 3245 Chenango Solon Pond Road, Cincinnatus, NY 13040

Email: info@taylorhistoricalsociety.com 

The Society has undertaken an oral history project and is planning to make oral histories available on its website. Its publication, Taylor Town History, documents the town’s history and genealogy. Select photographs can be viewed on the website.

 

Cortland Free Library

Website: Cortland Free Library

Address: 32 Church Street, Cortland, NY 13045

Phone: (607) 756-6071

Email: cortlandlib-ref@twcny.rr.com

Library maintains a local history section, including local directories (beginning in the 19th century), the Cor tland Standard on microfilm (beginning in the early 1900s), and yearbooks.

 

Glen Haven Historical Society

Website: Glen Haven Historical Society

Street Address: 7325 Fair Haven Road, Homer, NY 13077

Mailing Address: Glen Haven Historical Society, PO Box 293, Homer, N.Y. 13077

Email: glen_haven_historical@hotmail.com

Holdings include family files, photographs, books, and manuscripts.

 

McGraw Historical Society and History Room

Website: McGraw Historical Society and History Room

Address: 5 Main Street, PO Box 537, McGraw, NY 13101

Phone: (607) 836-6537

Email: mcgrawhistoricalsociety@yahoo.com​

Society’s Local History Room is located at the Lamont Memorial Free Library. Holdings include scrapbooks, newspapers, photographs, postcards, and memorabilia. Special collections include New York Central College Archives and the collection of Daniel S. Lamont who was NYS Governor, Secretary of War, and personal friend to President Cleveland.

 

 

 

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.

Available Resources:

 

 

 

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 Fulton County Clerk’s Office: 1825, 1835, 1845, 1855, 1865, 1875, 1895, 1905
  • State originals at the NYSA: 1915, 1925
  • Microfilm at the FHL, NYPL, and NYSL
  • Many years are online at FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com.

 

 

 

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.

USGenWeb Archives Project

Includes the Sampubco indexes as well as abstracts of Intestate Records, Letters of Administration, Letters Testamentary, Court Contests, and Estate Appraisals.

Death and Burial Records

 

Ethnic Groups and Organizations

 

Maps

 

Newspapers

 

Other Records

 

Relgious Records

 

Transportation

 

 

 

Selected Bibliography

Abstracts, Indexes & Transcriptions

  • Cortland County Historical Society. Cortland County Chronicles: Being Papers from the Collections of the Cortland County Historical Society. 3 vols. Cortland, NY: Cortland County Historical Society, 1957.
  • Cortland County Historical Society. “Family Records.” Typescript, n.d. NYPL, New York.
  • Cortland County, NYG&B Church Surveys Collection. NYG&B, New York. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • County of Cor tland Abstracts. Syracuse: Central NewYork Genealogical Society,  2000. Abstracts  for  a range of  genealogical records originally published in the quarterly Tree Talks.
  • Crutts, Katherine W. “Cor tland  County  Cemetery Records, 1932–1933.” Typescript, n.d. NYPL, New York. Includes  cemeteries in  Blodgett  Mills, Cincinnatus, Cortland, Cortlandville, Cuyler, DeRuyter,  East  Freetown, Harford, Homer, Lapeer, Marathon, Preble, Scott, Solon,Taylor,Truxton, and Virgil.
  • 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.
  • Dexter, Mary L., Shirley G. Heppell, and Carolyn T. Ibbotson. Residents of Cortland County, NY, 1800–1810: A Finding List Compiled from Local Records. Cortland, NY: Cortland County Historical Society, 1971.
  • Eisenberg, Maria J., Robert Vasalius Moyer, [and members of the Central New York Genealogical Society]. Abstract of the 1825 New York State Census  of Cortland County, New York. Syracuse: Central New York Genealogical Society, 1985. Originally published in Tree Talks, vol. 25, no. 4 (1985): 1–26. Introduction, content and maps: i–xii. No index.
  • Kelly, Arthur C. M. Index to Tree Talks County Packet: Cor tland County. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 2002.
  • 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

  • Albertson, J. Donald, and Mrs. Clarence J. Varian. Historic Van Cortlandtville. Van Cortlandtville, NY: Van Cortlandtville Historical Society, 1976.
  • Biographical Publishing Company. Book of Biographies: This Volume Contains Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Cor tland County, NY. Buffalo, 1898.
  • Blodgett, Bertha E. Stories of Cor tland County. Cortland, NY: Cortland County Historical Society,  1975. Book includes  American Indian  history, Military Tract, early settlers, education, historical developments.
  • Child, Hamilton. Gazetteer and Business Directory of Cortland County, NY, for 1869. Syracuse, 1869.
  • Cornish, Cornelia B. The Geography and History of Cortland County. Ann Arbor, MI: Edwards Bros., 1935.
  • Cutter, William R. Genealogical and Family History of Central New York: A Record of the  Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Building of a Nation. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1912.
  • Everts, Ensign & Everts. Combination Atlas Map of Cortland County, New York. Philadelphia, 1876.
  • Fay, Loren V. Cor tland County, New York, Genealogical Research Secrets. Albany: L.V. Fay, 1981.
  • 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.
  • Galpin, William F. Central New York, an Inland Empire, Comprising Oneida, Madison, Onondaga, Cayuga,Tompkins, Cortland, Chenango Counties  and Their People. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1914. Contains biographies. Index available from Berkshire Family History Association.
  • Goodwin, Hermon C. Pioneer Histor y, or Cortland County and the Border Wars of New York: From the Earliest Period to the Present Time. New York, 1859. Book includes American Indian, French, and English history in the area; natural history; border wars and Sullivan’s campaign; migrations, Revolutionary War, Military Tract, institutions, town and county organization, legends, and biographical sketches.
  • Kurtz, D. Morris. Past and Present A Historical and Descriptive Sketch of Cortland, N.Y. Binghamton, NY, 1883.
  • McFall, Francis M. 1821–1921, History of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Cortland, New York. Cortland, NY: The First Methodist Episcopal Church, 1921.
  • New York Historical Resources Center. Guide to Historical Resources in Cortland County, New York, Repositories. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 1981. [books.FamilySearch.org]
  • Records of the Ithaca College Study Center for Early Religious Life in Western New York, 1978–1981. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections,  Cornell  University  Library. A  description  of  the holdings  for  each  county  is at http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/ eguides/lists/churchlist1.htm.
  • Smith, H. P., ed. History of Cortland County: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Syracuse, 1885. Book includes natural history, American Indian history, European exploration  and  settlement, formation  of county, military history, newspapers, local societies, town histories, biographical sketches and portraits.
  • Souvenir Book: Cortland County Sesquicentennial Celebration, July 20–26, 1958. Cortland, NY: Cortland County Historical Society, 1958.
  • Welch, E. L. “Grip’s” Historical Souvenir of Cortland. Cortland, NY, 1899.

 

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.