Dutchess County, New York Guide

Dutchess County is located on the eastern shore of the Hudson River and is situated approximately midway between Albany and New York City.  Dutchess County borders Columbia County to the north, Massachusetts and Connecticut to the east, Putnam County to the south, and Ulster and Orange Counties across the Hudson River to the west.​

County Formed: November 1, 1683

Parent County: Original County

Daughter County: Putnam 1812

Major Land Transactions: Rombout Patent 1685 • Beekman Patent 1697 • Great Nine Partners Patent 1697 • Highland (Philipse) Patent 1697 • Kipsburgh Manor-Rhinebeck Patent 1697• Little Nine Partners Patent 1706 • Oblong (tract) 1731

 

Dutchess County Map

Table of Contents

 

 

 

 

History

Formed on November 1, 1683, as one of New York's original counties, Dutchess County is the namesake of Mary of Modena, Duchess of York and future Queen Consort of England, Scotland, and Ireland. The area was originally inhabited by Indians of the Wappinger Nation and was the site of dense forests. European settlers' corruption of a Wappinger word meaning "the reed-covered lodge by the little water place" became Poughkeepsie, the name of the current county seat.

Dutch immigrant Nicholas Emigh is traditionally considered the earliest European settler in Dutchess County, having arrived prior to 1685; his and his wife's child was the first European child born there. Between Emigh's settlement and the first decade of the 18th century, Dutchess County was inhabited by a small number of Dutch settlers and an even smaller number of Huguenots. The early settlers also included Quakers, who came from nearby areas of the Northeast, and Irish veterans of the Revolutionary War and their families.

Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the population of Dutchess County grew dramatically, fed by successive influxes of German and New England transplants. The area's rich soil supported a number of thriving agricultural communities. In the course of the 20th century, agriculture in the county waned, with many fields and farms giving way to suburban sprawl. The northernmost portions of the county, however, are still predominantly rural. 

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born in Dutchess County, and today his stately home in Hyde Park is a museum and national historic site. Bard College (founded 1860) and Vassar College (founded 1861) are also located in Dutchess County. 

Sources:

 

 

 

 

Timeline for Researchers

Use of Dutchess County records before 1788 requires an understanding of the county’s early subdivisions.

  • 1683  County created, but sparsely populated and administered as part of Ulster County. County seat at Kingston. Thirteen patents granted to individuals, but little settlement.
  • 1717  Dutchess County government established at Poughkeepsie
  • 1719  Divided into North, Middle, and South wards, with boundaries set only along the Hudson where most of the population concentrated
  • 1731  Narrow Oblong tract along eastern border, previously disputed with Connecticut, is ceded to New York and opened to settlement
  • 1737  Wards replaced by precincts following many of the earlier patent boundaries and called Rhinebeck, North, Crum Elbow, Poughkeepsie, Rombout, Beekman, and South precincts
  • 1743  Oblong tract divided between North, Crum Elbow, Beekman, and South precincts
  • 1746–1786 Some precincts divided, re-divided, or renamed, as indicated in column one of the gazetteer
  • 1788  Precincts converted into towns by New York State legislature

The first settlers were Dutch and other northern Europeans who settled along the Hudson. Beginning in 1709 they were joined, especially in the north, by Palatine Germans.  All these people migrated east as land became available, and were joined by New Englanders moving west and English and Dutch families moving north from other New York counties.

 

 

 

 

Repositories, Resources, and Societies – County

Dutchess County Clerk

Website: Dutchess County Clerk

Address: 22 Market Street, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601

Phone: (845) 486-2120

Court records, land records, maps 1822–present, marriage records 1908–1926 with indexes to 1935,  divorce records (closed), naturalization records 1800–present. Most older records are kept at the Dutchess County Archives but accessed through the County Clerk’s Research Room in this building.

 

Dutchess County - City, Town, and Village Clerks

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

Birth, marriage, and death records are maintained by the clerk of the municipality in which the event occurred.

 

Dutchess County Surrogate's Court

Website: Dutchess County Surrogate’s Court

Address: 10 Market Street, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601

Phone: (845) 431-1770

Holds probate records, early 1700s–present. The NYSA holds most probate records prior to 1787. Many probate records  have  been filmed and are accessible at FamilySearch.org; see Additional Online Resources. Abstracts have been published in The Dutchess and in books by Canfield, Cowen, Sypher, and others.

 

Dutchess County Archives & Records Management

Website: Dutchess County Archives & Records Management

Address: 170 Washington Street, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601

Phone: (845) 486-3677

Documents  stored at the archives  include  the  state  census  for Dutchess County 1865, 1875, 1892, 1915, and 1925; the Supervisors tax lists 1717–1779; early county court records 1721–1862 including the Ancient Documents collection of loose case papers for the Court of Common Pleas, General Sessions, and 18th century court records— including arrest warrants, debts statements, bonds, naturalizations, and jury lists. Most of the court records have been microfilmed by the FHL and much is now online at FamilySearch.org (browsable images—not indexed). See The Dutchess for a surname index published in more than 50 installments, starting with vol. 21, no. 2. See Clifford Buck in bibliography for index for to 18th century tax lists. Requests to view the collections must be made at the County Clerk’s Research Room on Market Street.

 

Dutchess County Public Libraries

Website: Dutchess County Public Libraries

Dutchess is part of the Mid-Hudson Library System. Many libraries hold genealogy and local history collections  including maps and  newspapers. For example, Grinnell Library Association, Howland Public Library, and Millbrook Free Library hold local history collections including photographs, and Amenia Free Library holds the Harlem Valley Times, 1913–1988 (with gaps). 

 

Poughkeepsie Public Library District: Genealogy Room and Local History Room

Website: Genealogy Room and Local History Room

Address: Adriance Memorial Library, 93 Market Street, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601

Phone: (845) 485-3445 x3350

Email: localhistory@poklib.org 

Central library of the Mid-Hudson Library System. Local History Room and Genealogy Room hold collections 1700s–present and  include books and periodicals; census materials; church records; histories and genealogies; immigration records; newspapers (Poughkeepsie Journal, 1785–present); maps; records of local organizations; obituary index; Supervisors tax lists microfilm (1717–1719); Ancient Documents on microfilm and the index published in The Dutchess. 

 

Dutchess County Historian

Website: Dutchess County Historian

Address: 22 Market Street, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601

Email: (845) 486-2381

Works in conjunction with county clerk to help maintain and research county-level collections, including a rich collection of court records, tax rolls, deeds, etc. In-person research is conducted from the County Clerk’s reading room. The historian will field inquiries from the general public, and help guide individuals to the correct county department or specialist when needed.

 

Dutchess County - All Municipal Historians

Website: Dutchess 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. 

 

Dutchess County Historical Society (DCHS)

Website: Dutchess County Historical Society (DCHS)

Street Address: The Clinton House, 549 Main Street, PO Box 88, Poughkeepsie, NY 12602

Mailing Address: DCHS, PO Box 88, Poughkeepsie, NY 12602

Phone: (845) 471-1630

Email: contact@dchsny.org

Materials date from the 1600s to the present and include Bible, cemetery, and church records; architecture and landscape survey of Dutchess County 1600s–1940; county and family histories; genealogy files; maps and atlases; Justice of the Peace records; photographs and postcards; wills; artifacts; and yearbooks. Its published Collections include church and cemetery records and newspaper extracts. The Society publishes the DCHS Year Book of local history scholarship, 1914–present, and the newsletter Dutchess Historian, 1976–present. Website has an index to journal articles, a description of holdings, and lists of local historians, historical societies, and historical sites.

 

Dutchess County Genealogical Society

Website: Dutchess County Genealogical Society

Address: 204 Spackenkill Road, PO Box 708 • Poughkeepsie, NY 12602

Phone: (845) 462-4168

Email: soprano@hvc.rr.com​

The Society’s library shares space with the local LDS Family History Center. Archival and published holdings include vital records; census microfilms;  church  records; cemetery  transcriptions; immigration records; military records; tax lists; county, town, and village records; city directories; newspaper clippings; obituaries 1849–1949; records of  Dutchess  Quaker  Meetings; family  histories  and  biographies; gazetteers, atlases and maps; histories of Palatines and Huguenots; local histories of Dutchess and Putnam counties; reference books; research guides; and bibliographies. An extensive catalog of holdings is on the website. Publishes The Dutchess, 1973–present, a quarterly journal of essential genealogical information with indexes to state and federal census records and court records, including the Ancient Documents; transcribed town records; abstracts of vital records from churches, newspapers, Bibles, and family records; residency records from store ledgers, tax lists, and membership lists of churches. 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum

Website: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum

Address: 4097 Albany Post Road, Hyde Park, NY 12538

Phone: 1 (800) FDR-VISIT or (845) 486-1142

Email: Roosevelt.Library@nara.gov. 

Holdings include papers of the Hall, Delano, Livingston, and Roosevelt families; 17th–20th century papers on the Quackenbush, Van Gaasbeek, Van Wyck, Depew, DePeyster, and other families; the Coxsackie Town Record of Freeborn Slaves and some town records of New Paltz. 

 

Historic Hudson Valley (HHV)

Website: Historic Hudson Valley (HHV)

Address: 639 Bedford Road, Pocantico Hills, NY 10591

Phone: 914-631-8200

Holds papers related to the Delafield Family and their Montgomery Place estate.

 

Hudson River Valley Institute 

Website: Hudson River Valley Institute

Address: Marist College, 3399 North Road, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601-1387

Phone: (845) 575-3052

Email: hrvi@marist.edu

Publishes the semi-annual journal, Hudson River Valley Review, and manages a digital library of regional resources. Coverage area includes Albany, Columbia, Delaware, Dutchess, Fulton, Greene, Orange, Putnam, Rensselaer, Rockland, Saratoga, Schenectady, Sullivan, Ulster, Washington, and Westchester counties, as well as New York City. A menu of article, books, bibliographies, and historic documents is accessible on the website.

 

Princeton University: Department of Rare Books and Special Collections at the Firestone Library

Website: Department of Rare Books and Special Collections

Address: 1 Washington Road, Princeton, NJ 08544-2098

Phone: (609) 258-4820

Email: rbsc@princeton.edu

The Edward Livingston Papers collection contains extensive material pertaining to the Livingston, Beekman, Montgomery, Davezac, Barton, Hunt, and Delafield families, as well as John Cox, Jr. and Benjamin French, and their land holdings in Dutchess County. The Dyckman and Martine Family Papers also include material relevant to Dutchess County.

 

Vassar College Libraries: Archives & Special Collections

Website: Archives & Special Collections

Address: 124 Raymond Avenue, PO Box 20, Poughkeepsie, NY, 12604-0020

Phone: (845) 437-5799

Email: spcoll@vassar.edu

Manuscript holdings include Dutchess County Loyalists Papers, 1776–1922; Federal Writers Project Records for Dutchess County; and various family papers, business records, correspondence, land records, and maps. 

 

 

 

 

Repositories, Resources, and Societies – Local

Alphabetized by location

Amenia Historical Society

Website: Amenia Historical Society

Address: PO Box 22, Amenia, NY 12501

Phone: (845) 373-9376

Historical Society Email:  mmoore1776@aol.com

Genealogical Inquiries: strausshouse72@gmail.com

Books and pamphlets; information files; Amenia Precinct record book 1762–1800; Amenia District Poll Lists (District 1, 1876 and 1896; District 2, 1896); assessor’s records 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890, 1900, 1910; Amenia Town Supervisor’s Book 1888–1915; Amenia Precinct Book for the Poor 1760–1797; Town Clerks Record Book 1755–1809; indentures 1799–1830; Town Accounts 1817–1820; mortgages 1850–1912; Registry of Electors 1894, 1900, 1910, 1911, 1914, 1915; and family files.

 

Beacon Historical Society

Website: Beacon Historical Society

Address: PO Box 89, 17 South Avenue, Beacon, NY 12508

Phone: (845) 831-0514

Documents history of Beacon, Fishkill Landing, Matteawan, and surrounding areas. Website includes photographs. Monthly newsletter. Dutchess County

 

Town of Hyde Park Historical Society and Museum

Website: Town of Hyde Park Historical Society and Museum

Address: 4389 Albany Post Road (Route 9), PO Box 182, Hyde Park, NY 12538

Phone: (845) 229-2559

Holdings include local history artifacts and books. Society does not offer genealogical services but possesses some material that may be relevant to genealogy researchers.

 

Akin Free Library

Website: Akin Free Library

Address: 97 Old Quaker Hill Road, PO Box 345, Pawling, NY 12564

Phone: 607-684-3785

Holdings date from the 1700s and include family histories and genealogies, books and periodicals, land records and maps, rare books and ledgers, newspapers, photographs, and Quaker records (Quaker Hill, Oblong Monthly Meeting, and more).

 

The Historical Society of Quaker Hill and Pawling

Website: The Historical Society of Quaker Hill and Pawling

Address: John Kane House, 126 East Main Street, Pawling, NY 12562 

Phone: (845) 855-9316

The Society is custodian of three historic sites. Its research collections are held at the Akin Free Library.

 

Little Nine Partners Historical Society (L9PHS)

Website: Little Nine Partners Historical Society (L9PHS)

Address: PO Box 243, Pine Plains, NY 12567

Email: l9phs.webmaster@verizon.net

The society documents the history of the Little (or Upper) Nine Partners Patent of 1706, which lies in the vicinity of Milan, Pine Plains and the northern part of Northeast. Holdings includeRichter/Righter family papers, hotel registers, newspaper clippings, and vertical files. A catalog is on the website, as are a bibliography of research resources, select genealogies and histories, maps, and photographs. The society is custodian of the Historic Graham-Brush House. The website provides some information pertaining to the Great (or Lower) Nine Partners Patent of 1697 (Clinton, Pleasant Valley, Stanford, Washington, Amenia, Hyde Park beyond the Crum Elbow Creek, and the southern part of Northeast), but the society does not assist with research on this subject.

 

City of Poughkeepsie: City Clerk

Website: City Clerk

Address: 62 Civic Center Plaza, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601

Phone: (845) 451-4276

Holdings for the City of Poughkeepsie include birth and death records 1882–present and marriage records 1882–present.

 

 

 

 

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 Dutchess County Archives and Records Management: 1865, 1875, 1892, 1915, 1925 (1825, 1835, 1845, 1855, and 1905 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.

 

 

 

 

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.

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: Dutchess County

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

 

Deaths and Burials

 

Ethnic Groups and Organizations

 

Maps

 

Military Records

 

Newspapers/Books

Kinship Books

Based in Rhinebeck and operated by Arthur C. M. Kelly, a prolific transcriber of New York records, Kinship Books has published more than 130 volumes of church, cemetery, newspaper, town, and other records. Dutchess County is extensively covered, and only a few representative titles have been included in this bibliography; a catalog is on the website.

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.

Old Fulton New York Postcards

The website provides free access to a vast collection of digitized New York newspapers, including 16 titles for Dutchess County.

 

Other Records

 

Religious Records

 

Transportation

 

 

 

 

Selected Bibliography

Abstracts, Indexes & Transcriptions

  • Baldwin, Evelyn Briggs. “Dutchess County (N.Y.) Cemetery Inscriptions.” Typescript, n.d. NYPL, New York. With an index by Beverly Kane. [FHL microfilm]
  • Barber, Gertrude A. “Index of Wills of Dutchess County, New York: 1812–1832.” Typescript, 1950. [Ancestry.com]
  • Barber, Gertrude A. “Index of Wills of Dutchess County, New York: 1834–1839.” Typescript, 1944. NYPL, New York.
  • Buck, Clifford M., and William McDermott. Eighteenth-Century Documents of the Nine Partners Patent, Dutchess County, New York. Vol. 10, Collections of the Dutchess County Historical Society. Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1979.
  • Buck, Clifford M., Arthur C. M. Kelly, and William W. Reese. Dutchess County, New York, Tax Lists, 1718–1787: With Rombout Precinct by William Willis Reese. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship Books, 1990. Index to the tax lists for all wards and precincts.
  • Buys, Barbara Smith. Old Gravestones of Putnam County, New York, Together with Information from Ten Adjacent Dutchess County Burying Grounds: Eleven Thousand Eight Hundred Inscriptions of Persons Born up to and Including 1850. Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1975. Index available from Berkshire Family History Association.
  • Canfield, Amos. “Abstracts of Wills Recorded at Poughkeepsie, Dutchess Co., New York.” NYG&B Record, vol. 61 (1930) no. 1: 6–13, no. 2: 119–126, no. 3: 257–263, no. 4: 381–386; vol. 62 (1931) no. 1: 58–59. Covers Libers A and AA (1752–1805). [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Cowen, Minnie. “Abstracts of Wills of Dutchess County, New York.” 13 vols. 1752–1839. Typescript, 1939–1941. [Ancestry.com]
  • 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.
  • Daughters of the American Revolution. Enoch Crosby Chapter, Helen G. Daniels, Florence D. Hopkins, and Harriet Akin Ferris. “Historical Records of Enoch Crosby Chapter; Putnam, Dutchess and Westchester Counties, New York.” 3 vols. Typescript, 1944–1959. DAR Library, Washington, DC. Includes indexes. [Microfilm at FHL]
  • Doherty, Frank J. “Col. Jacobus Swartwout’s Dutchess County Regiment of Minute Men.” NYG&B Record, vol. 120 (1989) no. 2: 65–71, no. 3: 165–169, no. 4: 226–228; vol. 121 (1990) no. 1: 38–45, no. 2: 83–86, no. 3: 153–156, no. 4: 212–215. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Dutchess County. “Ancient Documents (Dutchess County, New York), 1721–ca. 1862.” Manuscript of original records in the Dutchess County Courthouse. Poughkeepsie, New York. [Microfilm FHL] Online at FamilySearch.org. Includes probate records, warrants for arrest, court cases, statements of debt, and bonds.
  • Dutchess County. Book of the Supervisors of Dutchess County, N.Y. A.D. 1718–1722. Poughkeepsie, NY, 1907.
  • Dutchess County. Old Miscellaneous Records of Dutchess County (the Second Book of the Supervisors and Assessors). Poughkeepsie, NY: Vassar Brothers Institute, 1909. Apprentices contracts, assessor’s assessments (tax lists for three wards 1718–1736), administration, elections, treasurers’ receipts, roads, supervisors’ proceedings, wills, Great Nine Partners Patent documents, and more. Index available from Berkshire Family History Association.
  • Dutchess County Historical Society. Collections of the Dutchess County Historical Society. 13 vols. Poughkeepsie, NY: The Society, 1924–1992. Record abstracts include gravestone transcriptions; town records for Clinton and Hyde Park; newspaper notices of marriages and deaths; Reformed Dutch Church (Hackensack) records; Nine Partners Patent, Rombout Patent and Precinct, Town of Fish Kill, and Crum Elbow Precinct.
  • Earderley, William Applebie. “Dutchess County, New York, Cemeteries: 1733–1907.” Typescript, 1917. NYPL, New York. [Microfilm at various libraries] Book includes marriage notices, church records, and other material.
  • Fisher, Floyd. They All Rest Together: Burial Sites of Early Settlers—Southern Dutchess and Putnam Counties. Holmes, NY: n.p., 1972.
  • Frost, Josephine C. Quaker Meeting Records, State of New York: Ulster County, Columbia County, Albany County, Clinton County. Brooklyn: The Author, n.d. Includes Dutchess County records of the Oblong Monthly Meeting (Quaker Hill), Nine Partners Monthly Meeting (Washington), and the Creek Monthly Meeting (Clinton). [books.FamilySearch.org]
  • Grundset, Eric G. “Officials of Poughkeepsie Precinct, Dutchess County, New York, 1775–1783.” NYG&B Record, vol. 143, no.2 (2012): 147–153. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Herrick, Margaret E. Marriage Notices, Dutchess and Columbia County, New York, 1859–1936, Compiled from the Red Hook Journal, Red Hook Times-Journal, Red Hook Advertiser, and Rhinebeck Gazette. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 1991.
  • Kelly, Arthur C. M. Dutchess County, NY, Probate Records, 1787–1865: Registers of Wills and Letters Testamentary and of Administration in the Surrogate’s Office, Poughkeepsie, NY. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 1997. Index of wills and letters of administration.
  • Kelly, Arthur C. M. Early Records of Matteawan Methodist Church, Beacon, Dutchess County, N.Y., 1862–1920: Members 1862–1920. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 2006.
  • Kelly, Arthur C. M.  Early Records of North East Baptist Church, Millerton, New York, Dutchess County, 1751–1910. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 2008.
  • Kelly, Arthur C. M.  Marriage Record of the Four Reformed Congregations of Old Rhinebeck, Dutchess County, New York, 1731–1899. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship,1971.
  • Kelly, Arthur C. M. Records of Lutheran Churches of Rhinebeck, Dutchess County, NY Area: Members, Confirmands, & Family Lists, 1734–1889. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 2000.
  • Kelly, Arthur C. M. Red Hook Undertaker’s Records, Dutchess County, NY, 1874–1936. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 1999.
  • Kelly, Arthur C. M. Vital Records of Presbyterian Church, Pleasant Valley, New York, Dutchess County, 1793–1947: Baptisms 1793–1830, 1869–1947: Marriages 1793–1947. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 2007.
  • Kelly, Arthur C. M. Vital Records of Smithfield Presbyterian Church, Amenia, Dutchess County, NY, 1787–1942: Baptisms 1810–1937, Marriages 1823–1891, Deaths 1890–1893, Members 1787–1942. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 2004.
  • Koehler, Linda. Dutchess County, New York, Churches and Their Records, an Historical Directory. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 1994. Churches listed by denomination and chronology of Dutchess County patents and civil divisions.
  • Losee, John. Death Notices, Dutchess and Columbia County, New York, from Red Hook Newspapers. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 1992.
  • Meyers, Carol M. Early New York State Census Records, 1663–1772. Gardena, CA: RAM Publishers, 1965. Has an index to the 1740 census.
  • New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. “Baptisms of the Dutch Reformed Church of Rhinebeck, Dutchess County, New York.” NYG&B Record, vol. 94 (1963) no. 1: 51–54; vol. 96 (1965) no. 1: 28–39. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. “Baptisms of the Dutch Reformed Church of Rhinebeck Flats, Dutchess County, New York.” NYG&B Record, vol. 84 (1953) no. 1: 40–52; vol. 88 (1957) no. 1: 22–34. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. “Baptisms of the German Reformed Church of Rhinebeck, Now St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Red Hook, N.Y.” NYG&B Record, vol. 96 (1965), no. 2: 102–115; vol. 100 (1969) no. 2: 119–122, no. 3: 154–160. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • O’Callaghan, Edmund B. Documentary History of the State of New York. 4 vols. Albany, 1849–1851. Vol. 1: 368–369, list of inhabitants and slaves, 1714; vol. 4: 205–208, list of freeholders, 1740; vol. 3: 851–852, 1755 census of slaves.
  • Poucher, J. Wilson, and Helen W. Reynolds. Old Gravestones of Dutchess County, New York: Nineteen Thousand Inscriptions. 1924. Vol. 2 of Collections of the Dutchess County Historical Society. [books.FamilySearch.org] Reprinted with new index, Poughkeepsie, NY: Dutchess County Historical Society, 1998.
  • Reynolds, Helen W. Notices of Marriages and Deaths, about 4,000 in Number, Published in Newspapers Printed at Poughkeepsie, New York, 1778–1825. Vol. 4 of Collections of the Dutchess County Historical Society. Poughkeepsie, NY: The Society, 1930. Index available from Berkshire Family History Association.
  • Roosevelt, Franklin D., ed. Records of Crum Elbow Precinct: Dutchess County, New York, 1738–1761, Together with Records of Charlotte Precinct, 1762–1785, Records of Clinton Precinct, 1786–1788, and Records of the Town of Clinton, 1789–1799. Vol. 3 of Collections of the Dutchess County Historical Society. Poughkeepsie, NY: The Society, 1928.
  • St. Paul’s Lutheran Church (Wurtemburg, New York). “Records of the Evangelical Lutheran Church called St. Paul’s in Wurtemburg, Rhinebeck, Dutchess County, State of New York, 1760–1874.” Manuscript photocopy. NYSL, Albany, NY. [Microfilm at FHL]
  • Spies, Francis Ferdinand. “Inscriptions from Quaker Burying Grounds with Notes: Purchase, West Chester Co; Chappaqua, West Chester Co.; Pawling, Dutchess Co. (Quaker Hill); Bethel, Dutchess Co., Index.” Typescript, 1923. [Ancestry.com]
  • Tower, Maria Bockée Carpenter, ed. The Records of the Reformed Dutch Church of New Hackensack, Dutchess County, New York. Vol. 5 of Collections of the Dutchess County Historical Society. Poughkeepsie, NY: The Society, 1932.
  • Van Alstyne, L. Burying Grounds of Sharon, CT, Amenia and Northeast, NY:  Abstract of Inscriptions from 30 Places of Burial. Interlaken, NY: Heart of the Lakes Publishing, 1983. First published 1903 by Walsh, Griffen & Hoysradt, Printers.
  • Vosburgh, Royden Woodward, ed. Round Top Lutheran Church in the Town of Pine Plains, Dutchess County, NY. Transcribed and published by the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, 1921. Reprinted with an introduction by Isaac Hunnting in the NYG&B Record, vol. 114 (1983) no. 2: 66–69, no. 3: 164–172, no. 4: 216–220. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Wheeler, Glendon E. Town Records: Frederickstown to Kent, 1788–1841, Dutchess/Putnam Counties, New York. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 2002.

Other Resources

  • Bailey, Henry D. B. Dutchess County: Local Tales and Historical Sket-ches. Fishkill Landing, NY, 1874.
  • Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Dutchess and Putnam, New York: Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens and of Many of the Early Settled Families. 2 vols. Chicago: J. H. Beers, 1897.
  • Conklin, Henry S. “Maps of Lots Sold by the New York Commissioners of Forfeitures, 1779–1786.” Drafted by Henry Conklin, 1885, held by the Putnam County Historian, Brewster, NY.
  • Doherty, Frank J. The Settlers of the Beekman Patent, Dutchess County, New York: An Historical and Genealogical Study of All the 18th-Century Settlers in the Patent. 11 vols., ongoing. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1990–2013.   [www.beekmansettlers.com]
  • Dutchess County Genealogical Society. The Dutchess. Poughkeepsie, NY: The Society, 1973–present.
  • Dutchess County Historical Society. Year Book. Poughkeepsie, NY:  The Society, 1914–present. An annual publication of scholarship on local history.
  • Fay, Loren V. Dutchess County, New York, Genealogical Research Secrets. Albany: L. V. Fay, 1984.
  • Finkel, Charlotte C. “Some Sources for Research on the History of Southern Dutchess County, New York.” Typescript, 1962. [Ancestry.com]
  • Fredriksen, Beatrice. The Role of Dutchess County during the American Revolution. Poughkeepsie, NY:  The Author, 1976.
  • Ghee, Joyce C., et al. Transformations of an American County: Dutchess County, New York, 1683–1983: Papers of the Tercentenary Conference, April 23 and 24, 1983. Poughkeepsie, NY: Published by Dutchess County Historical Society on Behalf of the Dutchess County Tercentenary Advisory Committee, et al., 1986.
  • Goldin, Eva Effron Acker. The Jewish Community of Poughkeepsie, New York: An Anecdotal History. Poughkeepsie, NY: Maar Print Service, 1982.
  • Herrick, Margaret E. Early Settlements in Dutchess County, New York. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 1994.
  • Historical and Genealogical Record, Dutchess and Putnam Counties, New York. Poughkeepsie, NY: Oxford Publishing, 1912.
  • Hudson River Valley Institute at Marist College. Hudson River Valley Review: A Journal of Regional Studies. Poughkeepsie, NY: The Institute, 2002–present. [hudsonrivervalley.org]
  • Koehler, Linda C. Dutchess County, NY, Churches and Their Records: An Historical Directory. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 1994.
  • MacCracken, Henry N. Blithe Dutchess, the Flowering of an American County from 1812. New York: n.p., 1958.
  • MacCracken, Henry N. Old Dutchess Forever! The Story of an American County. New York: Hastings House, 1956.
  • Matthieu, Samuel A., and Frank Hasbrouck. The History of Dutchess County, New York. Poughkeepsie, NY: S. A. Matthieu, 1909. Index available from Berkshire Family History Association.
  • McDermott, William P. “Colonial Land Grants in Dutchess County,  NY:  A Case Study in Settlement.” In Hudson Valley Regional Review. vol. 3.(September 1986) no. 2.
  • McDermott, William P. Dutchess County’s Plain Folks: Enduring Uncertainty, Inequality, and Uneven Prosperity, 1725–1875. Clinton Corners, NY:    Kerleen Press, 2004.
  • Morse, Howard H. Historic Old Rhinebeck: Echoes of Two Centuries:  A Hudson River and Post Road Colonial Town: When, Where, and by Whom Settled and Named, the Whys and the Wherefores, Who’s Who and Was. Rhinebeck, NY: The Author, 1908.
  • New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. Dutchess County Church Surveys. Digitally published by New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, 2012. Identifies records held by eleven churches in Dutchess County, ca. 1900. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • New York Historical Resources Center. Guide to Historical Resources in Dutchess County, New York, Repositories. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 1990. [books.FamilySearch.org]
  • Polk’s Poughkeepsie (Dutchess County, NY) City Directory . . . Including Arlington and Fairview: Containing an Alphabetical Directory of Business Concerns and Private Citizens, a Directory of Householders, Occupants of Office Buildings and Other Business Places, Including a Complete Street and Avenue Guide, and Much Information of a Miscellaneous Character: Also a Buyers’ Guide and Complete Classified Business Directory. Boston: R. L. Polk, 1936–1948.
  • Reed, Thomas H. Map of Putnam County. Carmel, NY, 1876.
  • Smith, James H. History of Duchess [sic] County, New York: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Syracuse, NY: D. Mason, 1882. Index published by Heart of the Lakes Publishing, 1980. [FamilySearch.org]
  • Smith, Philip H. General History of Dutchess County from 1609 to 1876 Inclusive. Pawling, NY, 1877.
  • Swain, Charles B. Toward Equal Partnership: Black History in Dutchess County, 1683–1983. Poughkeepsie, NY: Mid-Hudson Library System, Resource Center for Library Materials and Services, 1983.
  • Town of Stanford. “Town Book, Town of Stanford, Dutchess County, New York, 1793–1825.” Typescript (carbon copy). NYPL, New York. [Microfilm at FHL]
  • United States. Census Office. Special Schedules of the 11th Census (1890) Enumerating Union Veterans and Widows of Union Veterans of the Civil War New York, Bundle 109 (Columbia, Dutchess, Putnam, and Westchester Counties). Washington: National Archives, 1948.
  • Zimm, Louise Hasbrouck. Southeastern New York: History of the Counties of Ulster, Dutchess, Orange, Rockland, and Putnam. 3 vols. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing, 1946. 

 

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.