Lewis County, New York Guide

Lewis County is bordered by St. Lawrence, Jefferson, Herkimer, Oneida, and Oswego Counties.

County Formed: March 28, 1805

Parent County: Oneida

Daughter Counties: None    

Major Land Transactions: Macomb Purchase 1792

 

Lewis County Map
Map of Lewis County 
 

Table of Contents 

 

 

 

History

Lewis County was formed from Oneida County on March 28, 1805, and named after Morgan Lewis, the incumbent governor of New York. Oneida County had been incorporated as part of Herkimer County until 1798 and Herkimer had previously been part of Montgomery County until Montgomery was heavily divided in 1791. These county divisions were occurring at a time when Upstate New York was experiencing significant growth due to an increase in demand for viable farmland and the discovery of valuable minerals in the mountain regions, including iron ore.

The Lewis County area was relatively inactive during the American Revolutionary War, as most British Loyalists had fled the region for Canada prior to 1776. However, the land was used as a staging area for the American invasion of Canada between 1775 and 1776. Also, one of Lewis County's parent counties, Montgomery County, was named in honor of General Richard Montgomery, who was killed during the invasion of Quebec. General Montgomery's namesake was used to replace the name of Tryon County, named for the last, and widely despised, British provincial governor of New York, William Tryon (r. 1771-1780).

Lewis County was included in Macomb's Purchase of 1791, when merchant Alexander Macomb purchased nearly four million acres of land in western and northern New York from the state during a period of financial insecurity. The amount of land purchased - nearly one-eighth of New York’s land area - and the low price at which Macomb made the purchase (approximately eight New York Pence per acre) aroused suspicion in the New York State Legislature. Although numerous inquiries, hearings, and investigations were made by the legislature, no criminal activity was discovered. However, Macomb was unable to sell his land fast enough to finance the massive purchase and was forced to declare bankruptcy only six months later. He went to debtors' prison and was forced to sell his land to other wealthy merchants to pay off his liabilities. 

 

Further Resources

 

 

 

Repositories, Resources, and Societies – County

Lewis County Clerk

Website: Lewis County Clerk

Address: Lewis County Court House, 7660 State Street, Lowville, NY 13367

Phone: (315) 376-5333

Email: clerk@lewiscountyny.org

Deeds 1805–present, some marriage and death records, naturalization records 1808–present, and Lewis County originals of New York state censuses for 1825, 1835, 1855, 1865, 1875, 1892, and 1905.

 

Lewis County - Town and Village Clerks 

Website: Lewis County – 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.

 

Lewis County Surrogate's Court

Website: Lewis County Surrogate’s Court

Address: Lewis County Courthouse, 7660 State Street, Lowville, NY 13367

Phone: (315) 376-5368 or (315) 376- 5344

Holds probate records 1805 to the present; 1970–2000 available online.

 

Lewis County Public Libraries 

Website: Lewis County Public Libraries

Lewis is part of the North Country Library System. Many hold genealogy and local history collections, such as local newspapers and ephemera. 

 

Lewis County Historical Society

Website: Lewis County Historical Society

Address: 7552 South State Street, PO Box 446, Lowville, NY 13367

Phone: (315) 376-8957

Email: lewiscountyhistoricalsociety@gmail.com

Notebooks containing transcripts of church and cemetery records, genealogical charts, chronological lists of marriages by town and village, and obituary notes from newspapers 1933–1950; files on Lewis County families containing genealogies, narrative family histories, research notes, genealogical correspondence, copies of family records, articles, and clippings 1871–1985; Cutter’s index (Coast Guard), farm records, immigration cards, military records, local newspapers on microfilm (Northern Journal, Black River Gazette, Lewis County Democrat, Journal & Republican, and Adirondack Mountain Sun), an obituary index, and photographs. The society publishes Artifacts, Lewis County Historical Society Journal.

 

Lewis County Research Center

Website: Research Center

Address: 7552 South State Street, PO Box 446, Lowville, NY 13367

 

Lewis County - All Municipal Historians

Website: Municipal Historians

While not authorized to answer genealogical inquiries, 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

The 4 River Valleys Historical Society 

Website: The 4 River Valleys Historical Society

Address: PO Box 504, Carthage, NY 13619

Phone:  (315) 773-5133

Documents the history of the Beaver, Black, Indian, and Deer River valleys, covering Jefferson County and part of Lewis County. It maintains the late Woolworth Memorial United Methodist Church, which includes a Heritage Room of documents. 

 

Adirondack Experience Museum Library

Website: Adirondack Experience Museum Library

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

Phone: (518) 352-7311

 

SUNY at Oswego: Local History Collection

Website: SUNY at Oswego: Local History Collection

Address: Penfield Library, Special Collections, Oswego, NY 13126

Phone: (315) 312-3537 

Email: archives@oswego.edu

 

 

 

Repositories, Resources, and Societies – Local

Alphabetized by location

Harrisville-Bonaparte History Association

Address: 8286 High Street, Harrisville, NY 13648

Holdings include an obituary index, selected birth records, and scrapbooks. Subjects documented include local pioneer family histories and community history.

 

Lyons Falls Free Library

Website: Lyons Falls Free Library

Address: 3918 High Street, Lyons Falls, NY 13368

Phone: 315-348-6180

Holdings include local histories and genealogies, cemetery records, and photographs

 

Lyons Falls History Association and Museum

Website: Lyons Falls History Association and Museum

Address: PO Box 1, Lyons Falls, NY 13368

Email: LyonsFallsHistory@gmail.com

Holdings include books, photographs, and artifacts. 

 

Martinsburg Historical Society

Website: Martinsburg Historical Society

Address: PO Box 17, Martinsburg, NY 13404

Phone: (315) 376-0156

Holdings include artifacts, photographs, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, and town records.

 

Port Leyden Community Library

Website: Port Leyden Community Library

Address: 3145 Canal Street, PO Box 97, Port Leyden, NY 13433

Phone: 315-348-6077

Email: plylib@ncls.org

Holdings include local histories, cemetery records, maps, photographs, and scrapbooks.

 

 

 

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 Lewis County Clerk’s Office: 1825, 1835, 1855, 1865, 1875, 1892, 1905, 1915, 1925 (1845 is 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.

NYGenWeb Project: Lewis 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

 

Religious Records

 

Transportation

 

 

 

Selected Bibliography

Abstracts, Indexes & Transcriptions

  • Barnello, Kathleen, Maria J. Eisenberg, Betty Emery, Harriet Hall, and Joyce Mason.  Abstract of the 1825 New York State Census of Lewis County, New York. Syracuse: Central New York Genealogical Society, 1990. Originally published in Tree Talks, vol. 30, no. 4 (1990): 1–26, population enumeration abstract by Kathleen Barnello with Betty Emery, Harriet Hall, and Joyce Mason. Index, 27–34, introduction (by Marcia J. Eisenberg with Harriet Hall) and maps: iii–xii.
  • County of Lewis 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.
  • Kelly, Arthur C. M. Index to Tree Talks County Packet: Lewis County. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 2002.
  • Pierrepont, William C. The Taming of the Wilderness in Northern New York: Records of the Land Purchases of Early Settlers for 1826 for Lands in Jefferson, Lewis, and Oswego Counties. Sandy Creek, NY: Write to Print, 1993.
  • Samuelsen, W. David. Lewis County, New York, Will Testators Index, 1806–1870. Salt Lake City: Sampubco, 1996.
  • 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

  • Beers, D. G. Atlas of Lewis County, New York: From Actual Surveys. Philadelphia, 1875.
  • Bowen, G. Byron. History of Lewis County, New York, 1880–1965. Lowville, NY: Board of Legislators of Lewis County, 1970.
  • Child, Hamilton. Gazetteer and Business Directory of Lewis County, N.Y., for 1872–3. Syracuse, 1872.
  • 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.
  • Hough, Franklin Benjamin. A History of Lewis County, in the State of New York: From the Beginning of Its Settlement to the Present Time. Albany, 1860.
  • Hough, Franklin Benjamin. History of Lewis County, New York: With Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Syracuse, 1883.
  • Landon, Harry F. The North Country: A History, Embracing Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Lewis, and Franklin Counties. 3 vols. Indianapolis: Historical Publishing Co., 1932.
  • New York Historical Resources Center. Guide to Historical Resources in Lewis County, New York, Repositories. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 1987. [books.FamilySearch.org]
  • Northern New York Library Network. Directory of Archival and Historical Document Collections. 2011–2013 edition; published digitally at http://nny.nnyln.org/archives/ArchivalDirectory.pdf. Online indexes at http://nny.nnyln.org/archives/page01.html. Describes collections held by organizations in Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis, Oswego, and St. Lawrence counties.
  • Williams, Emily, and Ethel Evans Markham. A History of Turin, Lewis County, New York. Lakemont, NY: North Country Books, 1974.
  • Yousey, Arlene. Strangers and Pilgrims: History of Lewis County Mennonites. Croghan, NY: A. R. Yousey, 1987.

 

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.