Genesee County, New York Guide

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.​

County Formed: March 30, 1802

Parent County: Ontario County

Daughter County: Allegany 1806; Cattaraugus 1808; Chautauqua 1808; Niagara 1808; Livingston 1821; Monroe 1821; Orleans 1824; Wyoming 1841

Major Land Transactions: Morris Reserve 1791;  Holland Land Company Purchase 1792–1796

Genesee County Map
Map of Genesee County

Table of Contents

 

History

Genesee County was created in 1802 from part of Ontario County. The land officially had no borders, so Genesee County encompassed all of Western New York (7,100 square miles) when the county was first created. As the years went by, Genesee County became smaller, as other counties were formed from partitions of Genesee. By 1841, Genesee County’s 7,100 square miles of land had been reduced to nearly 500 square miles.

Genesee County was located in a valley created by the Genesee River. The majestic nature of the valley captured the attention of the Seneca Indians inhabiting the region, who proceeded to name the valley “Gen-nis'-hee-yo,” a word meaning “beautiful valley.” The name stuck, and when the land officially became a county, Genesee was the top choice. The land was purchased by Joseph Ellicott, an agent for the Holland Land Company. His original purchase consisted of nearly 3.5 million acres in Western New York, and included parts of Pennsylvania, Lake Ontario, and Lake Erie. However, the land was slowly partitioned off, until Genesee county resembled what it looks like today.

The Genesee River formed a river valley that provided lush fertile soil that would shape the economy of the county for years to come. More soil was uncovered as a result of timbering operations. Combined with the temperate climate, these factors served to make Genesee a leader in State agriculture. Grain became the leading crop of the land. Many fruits are planted in the county as well.

However, there is a notable exception to this agricultural trend: the city of Batavia, the county seat. When the Erie Canal was completed in 1825, Batavia was bypassed. Instead, towns such as Rochester and Buffalo had better access to the canal, and were able to quickly become industrial cities. Batavia grew slowly at first, but was aided by the construction of railroads. In 1915, Batavia was incorporated as a city.

Genesee County plays a large part in historical research, as well. Byron, a town located in Genesee, is home to the Hiscock Site. The Hiscock Site is an archaeological site that has produced a bounty of fossils and artifacts over the years. Ranging from the remains of large elephantine mastodons to ancient stone tools used by prehistoric peoples, the materials excavated from the site have proven to be immeasurably important in the fields of both paleontology and anthropology.

Sources

 

 

Repositories, Resources, and Societies - County

Genesee County Clerk

Website: Genesee County Clerk

Address: County Building I, 15 Main Street, Batavia, NY 14020

Phone: (585) 815-7802

Email: coclerk@co.genesee.ny.us

Land records; deeds 1802–present; naturalization records 1834–1962; marriages 1908–1934; and the New York state censuses for Genesee County 1875, 1892, 1905.

 

Genesee County - City, Town, and Village Clerks

Website: Genesee 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. For holdings of vital records in towns, see www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nygags.

 

Genesee County Surrogate’s Court

Address: Genesee County Courts Facility, One West Main Street, Batavia, NY 14020

Phone: (585) 344-2550 ext. 2240

Probate records from 1802 to the present. See also chapter 6, Probate Records.

 

Genesee County Public Libraries

Genesee is part of the Nioga Library System; see www.niogalibrary.org to access each library. Many hold genealogy and local history collections, including books and newspapers.  Also see listing below for Richmond Memorial Library.

 

Genesee County Historian and History Department

Website: Genesee County Historian and History Department

Address: County Building 2, 3837 West Main Street Road, Batavia, NY 14020

Phone: (585) 344-2550 ext. 2613

Email: history@co.genesee.us  

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 historian’s website includes a list of municipal historians.  A selection of holdings from the Department’s collection is available online.

 

Genesee County - All Municipal Historians

Website: Genesee 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. See, the Government Appointed Historians of Western New York and the Association of Public Historians of New York State.

 

Genesee Area Genealogists

Website: Genesee Area Genealogists

Meetings held at the Richmond Memorial Library. Website includes a list of surnames currently being researched by members.

 

Richmond Memorial Library: Local History

Website: Richmond Memorial Library: Local History

Address: 19 Ross Street, Batavia, NY 14020

Phone: (585) 343-9550

Email: webbtv@nioga.org

Books, periodicals, church records, tax records, census materials, directories, and newspapers. Holdings include cemetery records and photographs.

 

 

Repositories, Resources, and Societies - Regional

Milne Library at SUNY Geneseo: Special Collections: Genesee Valley Historical Collection

Website: Milne Library at SUNY Geneseo: Special Collections: Genesee Valley Historical Collection

Address: One College Circle, Geneseo, NY 14454

Phone: (585) 245-5194

Documents the local histories of eight counties (Allegany, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Steuben, and Wyomong) and includes books, maps and atlasas, videos and sound recordings, pamphlets and ephemera, and newspapers. Website includes Local History Subject Guide. Library houses Wadsworth Family Papers, Carl Schmidt Collection in Historic Architecture, and Walter Harding Collection.

 

SUNY Fredonia: Daniel A. Reed Library: Archives & Special Collections 

Website: SUNY Fredonia: Daniel A. Reed Library: Archives & Special Collections

Address: Fredonia, NY 14063

Phone: (716) 673-3184​

Special collections include Local History (state census microfilm, cemetery records, church records, vital records, newspapers, and histories); an American Indian Collection; and records and maps of the Holland Land Company. 

 

University of Rochester: Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation

Website: University of Rochester: Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation: Manuscript and Special Collections: Rochester, Western New York, and New York State

Address: Rush Rhees Library, Second Floor, Room 225, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627-0055 

Phone: (585) 275-4477 

The University's collection of Rochester, Western New York, and New York State material includes local histories (more than 1,500 volumes), broadsides and circulars, Farmers' Library of Wheatland manuscripts 1805-1870, maps, newspapers 1820-1870, photographs and postcards, prints, stereo views, and upstate imprints.

 

Western New York Genealogical Society

Website: Western New York Genealogical Society

Address of Library: Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, Grosvenor Room One Lafayette Square, Buffalo, NY 14203

Phone: (716) 858-8900

Address of Society: PO Box 338, Hamburg, NY 14075-0338

Email: info@wnygs.org

Documents genealogy and history of Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans, and Wyoming counties. The June P. Zintz Memorial Library of the Western New York Genealogical Society is located in the Grosvenor Room of the downtown Central Branch of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library and contains atlases and gazetteers; directories (including Buffalo City Directories 1832–present); histories; Bible, birth, baptism, church, marriage, burial, cemetery, and death records; a card file vital record index of early Western New York families; census materials for the eight Western New York counties (federal and state); ancestor charts, biographies, family histories, and genealogies; immigration lists and indexes; and military records.

The Society’s projects include a Church and Cemetery Records Microfilming Program, which funds the microfilming of records from Western New York and makes them available to researchers at the Zintz Memorial Library.  A complete list of records that have been microfilmed is available on the Society’s website. The website also contains a list of surnames currently being researched by its members, partial indexes for the 1865 state census , and a limited amount of transcribed records.

The Society has published the Western New York Genealogical Society Journal since 1974, which includes unpublished records, book reviews, and research advice. A list of article titles from 1998 to 2010 is available on the website.

 

Western New York Heritage Press

Website: Western New York Heritage Press

Address: 495 Pine Ridge Heritage Boulevard, Cheektowaga, NY 14225-2503

Phone: (716) 893-4011

Email: emaillist@wnyheritagepress.org

Publishes original research on Western New York, including Heritage Magazine.

 

 

Repositories, Resources, and Societies - Local

 

Alphabetized by location

Tonawanda Reservation Historical Society

Address: PO Box 516, Basom, NY 14013

Phone: (716) 542-4370

The Society offers genealogical research services for a fee.

 

Holland Land Office Museum

Website: Holland Land Office Museum

Address: 131 West Main Street, Batavia, NY 14020

Phone: (585) 343-4727

Email: info@hollandlandoffice.com

Museum is in a former office of the Holland Land Company and houses the artifact collection of the Holland Purchase Historical Society. No research holdings.

 

Byron Museum

Address: 6407 Townline Road  Byron, NY 14422

Phone: (585) 548-2302

Cemetery records, census materials, family Bibles, local organization membership lists, obituaries, phone books, photographs, tax books, and voter registration lists.

 

Pembroke Historical Association

Address: 1145 Main Road, Corfu, NY 14036 

Phone: (585) 599-4892 ext. 30  

Email: historian@townofpembroke.org

History room with changing exhibitions. Pembroke historian’s office located in building—has family files, genealogies, indexed birth, marriage, and death information extracted from local newspapers, and cemetery records.

 

Historical Society of Elba 

Website: Historical Society of Elba

Address: Maple Avenue Ext., PO Box 24, Elba, NY 14058

Phone: (585) 757-9094

Email: historicalsocietyofelba@yahoo.com

Holdings include family files.

 

LeRoy Historical Society, Historic LeRoy House, and Jell-O Museum/Gallery

Website: LeRoy Historical Society, Historic LeRoy House, and Jell-O Museum/Gallery

Address: 23 East Mail Street, PO Box 176, LeRoy, NY 14482

Phone: (585) 768-7433

Email: jellodirector@frontiernet.net

The Society has a genealogical library containing files and archives.

 

Stafford Historical Society and Museum

Website: Stafford Historical Society and Museum

Address: 6684 Randall Road, LeRoy, NY 14482-9316

Holdings include domestic and agricultural artifacts, school records, and documents.

 

Oakfield Historical Society

Website: Oakfield Historical Society

Address: PO Box 74, Oakfield, NY 14125

Phone: (585) 948-5901

Holdings include census material, cemetery records, and family histories. The Society offers help with genealogical research in cooperation with the town historian. The society publishes a monthly newsletter.

 

Town of Alabama Historical Society and Museum

Website: Town of Alabama Historical Society and Museum

Address: Alabama Town Hall, 2218 Judge Road, Route 63, South Alabama, NY 14125

Phone: (716) 948-9773

Located in the former Alabama School House #12. Holdings include artifacts, diaries, photographs, school minute ledgers 1839–present, voter records, property assessment logs, and notes about the town (1880–1887 and 1910–1921). The Society does not accept genealogy research requests.

 

 

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:

1790

1800

1810

1820

1830

1840

1850

1860

1870

1880

1900

1910

1920

1930

1940

 

 

 

 

 

 

State Census Records

  • County originals at Genesee County Clerk’s Office: 1875, 1892, 1905, 1915, 1925 (1825, 1835, 1845, 1855, and 1865 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.

 

 

Other Online 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:

“New York, Land Records, 1630–1975.” Includes land and property records.

“New York, Probate Records, 1629–1971.” Includes wills, letters of administration, and guardianship papers.

For both collections, choose the browse option and then select Genesee to view the available records sets.

 

​NYGenWeb Project: Genesee County

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

 

Old Fulton New York Postcards

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

 

Town of Alabama, New York, Historian’s Page

The website provides information and links relevant to genealogical research in Genesee County.

 

USGenWeb: Genesee County New York Archives

The website provides access to a selection of transcribed records, including cemetery, land, census, and probate. 

 

General Resources

 

Deaths and Burials

 

Military Records

 

Newspapers

 

Religious Records

 

Maps

 

Transportation

 

 

Selected Bibliography

Abstracts, Indexes & Transcriptions

  • Cooley, La Verne C. Tombstone Inscriptions from the Abandoned Cemeteries and Farm Burials of Genesee County. Batavia, NY: n.p., 1952. [HathiTrust.org]
  • County of Genesee 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 Jean Worden’s index for a listing by county of the New York record sets that were transcribed by the DAR before 1998.
  • Dows, Robert H., and Marjorie S. “Gravestone Inscriptions, E. Bergen Cemetery, Genesee Co., N.Y.” Typescript, 1986. Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County, Rochester.
  • Kelly, Arthur C. M. Index to Tree Talks County Packet: Genesee County. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 2002.
  • Russell, Marian A. Cemetery Records, Genesee County, New York. Salt Lake City: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1984.
  • Sutton, Leola Crane, and Charlotte L. Greening. Elmwood Cemetery, Harvester Avenue, Batavia, NY, volumes I, II, III, IV. New York: Daughters of the American Revolution, New York, 2006.
  • 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.

Other Resources

  • The Architectural Heritage of the Genesee County, New York. Batavia, NY: Landmark Society of Genesee County, 1988.
  • Beers, F.  W.  Gazetteer, Biographical Record: Directory of Over 10,500 Names, Occupations, Genesee County, NY, 1788–1890. Knightstown, IN: Bookmark, 1977. First published 1890.
  • Beers, S. N. New Topographical Atlas of Genesee and Wyoming Counties, New York. Philadelphia, 1866.
  • Child, Hamilton. Gazetteer and Business Directory of Genesee County, NY, for 1869–70. Syracuse, 1868.
  • Conklin, Susan.  A Guide to Genesee County, New York, Cemeteries and Burial Sites: Bicentennial Book, No. 2. Batavia, NY: Genesee County History Department, 1997.
  • Everts, Ensign & Everts. Combination Atlas Map of Genesee County, New York. Philadelphia, 1876. [NYPL Digital Gallery]
  • 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.
  • Genesee County Business Directory Embracing Common Business and Social Forms, and Containing Sketches of the Early Pioneers of the Holland Land Purchase. Buffalo, 1882.
  • Genesee County Rural Index and “Compass System” Map with Almanac. Ithaca, NY: Rural Directories, Inc., 1939.
  • Genesee Valley Historians Association (NY). Genesee County, New York: 20th Century-in-Review and Family Histories. Nashville: Turner Publishing Company, 2004.
  • Hedtke, James R. Civil War Professional Soldiers, Citizen Soldiers, and Native American Soldiers of Genesee County, New York: Ordinary Men of Valor. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2006.
  • McCulley, Mary, ed. History of Genesee County, New York, 1890–1982. Interlaken, NY: Heart of the Lakes Publishing, 1985.
  • McEvoy, Ruth, M. History of the City of Batavia, 1915–1980. Batavia, NY: Hodgins Print Co., 1993.
  • New Century Atlas of Genesee County, New York, with Farm Records. Philadelphia: Century Map Co., 1904.
  • New York Historical Resources Center. Guide to Historical Resources in Genesee County, New York, Repositories. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 1982. [books.FamilySearch.org]
  • North, Safford E. Our County and Its People: A Descriptive and Biographical Record of Genesee County, New York. Boston, 1899.
  • Noyes, J. O. The Genesee Valley of Western New York: A Virtually Unknown, Rambling Account of Life and Times in Upstate New York. Ovid, NY, 1857.
  • O’Keefe, Rose. Historic Genesee County: A Guide to Its Lands and Legacies. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2010.
  • Paolo Busti Cultural Foundation, ed. The Legacy of Italian-Americans in Genesee County, New York. Interlaken, NY: Heart of Lakes Publishing, 1992.
  • Rand McNally & Company’s Map of Genesee County, New York. New York: Rand McNally & Co., ca. 1918.
  • 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.
  • The Sesquicentennial of Genesee County, 1802–1952. Batavia, NY: Sesquicentennial Committee, 1952.
  • Western New York Genealogical Society Journal. Hamburg, NY: Western New York Genealogical Society, 1974–present. [wnygs.org]
  • Williamson, Charles., and Robert Munro.  A Description of the Genesee Country, in the State of New-York: In Which the Situation, Dimensions, Civil Divisions, Soil, Minerals, Produce, Lakes and Rivers, Curiosities, Climate, Navigation, Trade and Manufactures, Population, and Other Interesting Matters Relative to that Country, Are Impartially Described; To Which is Added, an Appendix, Containing a Description of Military Lands. New York, 1804.

 

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.