Livingston County, New York Guide

Livingston County is home of the 14,350-acre long Letchworth State Park and is located in the Finger Lakes region of Western New York. Livingston borders Monroe County to the north, Ontario County to the east, Allegany County and Steuben County to the south, and Wyoming County and Genesee County to the west.​

County Formed: 1821

Parent Counties: Genesee, Ontario

Daughter Counties: None

Major Land Transactions: Phelps and Gorham  Purchase 1788, Morris Reserve 1791

Suffolk County Map
Map of Livingston County

Table of Contents

 

History

After the American Revolution, many people from New England, Pennslyvania, and Maryland came to the Genesee River Valley to settle. They brought along their knowledge of farming from their previous homes and created the foundations of a great agricultural community on the banks of the Genesee. These settlers first established flour and grist mills on the small streams in the valley, which was then considered a part of Genesee County. However, on February 23, 1821, this region broke apart from Genesee County, combined with parts of Ontario County, and formed what is now known as Livingston County.

In the mid 1800s, work began to build the Genesee Valley Canal. Upon the completion of the canal in 1872, the population suddenly grew significantly. Then, after expansion of the railroad systems later that century, there was another population boom. What was once a small, agricultural village had now become a bustling community.

Nowadays, Livingston County has maintained the tradition of its initial inhabitants and continues to thrive on an agriculture-based economy, producing mainly wheat, potatoes, and dairy products. The salt industry has become very popular in the region as well in recent decades, and Livingston County now boasts the largest operating salt mine in the United States.

Further Reading

  • Doty, Lockwood L. A History of Livingston County, New York: From its earliest traditions, to its part in the war for our Union: with an account of the Seneca nation of Indians, and biographical sketches of earliest settlers and prominent public men. Geneseo, NY: Edward E. Doty, 1876.
  • Smith, James H. History of Livingston County, New York: With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers. Syracuse, NY: Mason & Company, 1881.

 

 

Repositories, Resources, and Societies - County

Livingston County Clerk

Website: Livingston County Clerk

Address: 6 Court Street, Room 201, Geneseo, NY 14454

Phone: (585) 243-7010 or (585) 335-1712

Court records; land records 1821–present; naturalization records 1860s–1954; and county originals of New York state censuses 1855, 1865, 1875, 1915, 1925.

 

Livingston County - Town and Village Clerks

Website: Livingston 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.

 

Livingston County Surrogate’s Court

Address: 2 Court Street, Geneseo, NY 14454

Phone: (585) 243-7095

Probate records 1821–present.

 

Livingston County Public Libraries

Website: Livingston County Public Libraries

Livingston is part of the Pioneer Library System. Many hold genealogy and local history collections.

 

Livingston County Historical Society and Museum

Website: Livingston County Historical Society and Museum

Address: 30 Center Street, Geneseo, NY 14454

Phone: (585) 243-9147

Email: town@geneseony.org

Holdings include research materials and artifacts.

 

Livingston County Historian

Website: Livingston County Historian

Address: 5 Murray Hill Drive, Mount Morris, NY 14510

Phone: (585) 243-7955 or (585) 335-1730

Email: Historian@co.livingston.ny.us

Local histories; family files; cemetery survey conducted in 1885; census materials 1790–1930; directories; gazetteers; newspapers 1824–2000s; maps and atlases early 1800s to 1900s; military records; naturalization records 1821–1954; photographs and postcards. Website includes a “search records” feature. Publishes a quarterly newsletter.

 

Livingston County – All 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. See contact information at www.co.livingston.state.ny.us, www.gahw ny.org/p/livingston.html or at the website of the Association of Public Historians of New York State at www.aphnys.org.

 

 

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 Wyoming) and includes books, maps and atlases, 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.

 

 

Repositories, Resources, and Societies - Local

 

Alphabetized by location

Avon Preservation and Historical Society

Website: Avon Preservation and Historical Society

Address: 23 Genesee Street, Avon, NY 14414

Phone: (585) 226-2425 ext. 22

Website includes a photograph collection, newsletter archive, and history of local schools.

 

Big Springs Historical Society Museum, Collection & Archives

Website: Big Springs Historical Society Museum, Collection & Archives

Address: 3095 Main Street, Caledonia, NY 14423

Phone: (585) 538-9880 

Email: bigspringhistoricalsociety@yahoo.com

Holdings include photographs, genealogical material, and archives. Collections include military artifacts and memorabilia; American Indian artifacts; paintings and folk art; and costumes and textiles.

 

Lima Historical Society and Tenny Burton Museum

Website: Lima Historical Society and Tenny Burton Museum

Address: 1850 Rochester Street, Lima, NY 14485

Phone: (585) 624-1050 

Email: president@limahistorical.com

Materials date back to the 1790s and include books, census materials, letters, maps, newspapers (Livonia Gazette, 1875–1965), town and village records, and yearbooks.

 

Livonia Area Preservation & Historical Society and Maurice F. Sweeney Museum

Website: Livonia Area Preservation & Historical Society and Maurice F. Sweeney Museum

Address: 10 Commercial Street, Livonia, NY 14487

Phone: (585) 346-4579

Email: laphs@localnet.com

Holdings include bound volumes of the Livonia Gazette (1875–1970), books, and artifacts. Published Gazette News quarterly.

 

Nunda Historical Society, Nunda, Museum & Rose Shave Gallery 

Website: Nunda Historical Society, Nunda Museum & Rose Shave Gallery

Address: 24 Portage Street, PO Box 341, Nunda, NY 14517  

Phone: (585) 468-5420 

Email: nundahs@localnet.com

Documents history of Nunda and Dalton. Website includes photographs, links to cemetery information, and some documents including Civil War letters, maps, military lists, and town meeting minutes.

 

Springwater-Webster Crossing Historical Society 

Website: Springwater-Websters Crossing Historical Society

Address: PO Box 68, Springwater, NY 14560

Phone: (585) 669-2545

Holdings include photographs of local families. The Society can assist with genealogical research.

 

 

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 Livingston County Clerk’s Office: 1855, 1865, 1875, 1915, 1925 (1825, 1835, 1845, 1892, 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

 

 

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 Livingston to view the available records sets.

 

NYGenWeb Project: Livingston 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 28 titles for Livingston County.

 

General Resources

 

Deaths and Burials

 

Military Records

 

Newspapers

 

Religious Records

 

Ethnic Groups and Organizations

 

Maps

 

 

Selected Bibliography

Abstracts, Indexes & Transcriptions

  • Cemetery Records of  York, Livingston County, New York, and Togglestown, Livingston County, New York. Buffalo: 1933. Toggletown located in Town of Caledonia.
  • County of Livingston 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 below.
  • Decker, David E. Gravestone Inscriptions: Town of Ossian, Livingston County, New York. The Author, 1996.
  • Decker, David E. “Oakland Cemetery, Town of Portage, Livingston County, New York.” Typescript, 1997. Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County, Rochester, New York.
  • Douglas, Mary T. “Livingston County Cemetery Records, York Township.” Typescript, 1928. Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County, Rochester, New York.
  • Dows, Marjorie S., and Virginia Moscrip. “Cemetery Inscriptions: Livingston County, New York State.” Typescript, 1980. Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County, Rochester, New York.
  • Kelly,  Arthur C. M. Index to Tree Talks County Packet: Livingston County. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 2002.
  • Livingston County, NYG&B Church Surveys Collection. NYG&B, New York. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Steitz, Jessie H. “Inscriptions from Tombstones, in the South Avon Cemetery, Livingston County, New York.” Typescript, 1943. Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County, Rochester, New York.
  • 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. Includes listing of cemetery, church, towns and other records transcribed by the DAR.

Other Resources

  • American Agriculturist Farm Directory and Reference Book, Monroe and Livingston Counties, New York, 1917: A Rural Directory and Reference Book including a Road Map of Monroe and Livingston Counties. New York: O. Judd Co., 1917.
  • Beers, F. W. Atlas of Livingston County, New York: From Actual Surveys. New York, 1872.
  • Biographical Review: This Volume Contains Biographical Sketches of the Leading Citizens of Livingston and Wyoming Counties, New York. Boston, 1895.
  • Cook, William R. Celebrating Our Past: Livingston County in the Twentieth Century. Geneseo, NY: Q Publishing, 2000.
  • Doty, Lockwood L. A History of Livingston County, New York: From Its Earliest Traditions, to Its Part in the War for Our Union, with an Account from the Seneca Nation of Indians, and Biographical Sketches of Earliest Settlers and Prominent Public Men. Geneseo, NY, 1875.
  • Doty, Lockwood R. What the Livingston County Historical Society Has Done in Collecting and Preserving County History. Geneseo, NY, 1910.
  • Fay, Loren V. Livingston County, New York, Genealogical Research Secrets. Albany: L. V. Fay, 1983.
  • New York Historical Resources Center. Guide to Historical Resources in Livingston County, New York, Repositories. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 1981. [books.FamilySearch.org]
  • Pierce, Preston E. Western New York Oral History Collections in Livingston County, Monroe County, Ontario County, Wayne County, Wyoming County. Fairport, NY: Rochester Regional Library Council, 2009. http://rrlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/dhp_Oral-History-Inventory.p…
  • 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.
  • Root, Mary R. History of the Town of York, Livingston County, New York. Caledonia, NY: Big Springs Historical Society, 1940.
  • Smith, James H. History of Livingston County, New York: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Syracuse, 1880.
  • Stetson, G. Emmet, comp. New Gazetteer and Business Directory for Livingston County, N.Y. for 1868. Geneva, NY, 1867.
  • Turner, Orasmus. History of the Pioneer Settlement of Phelps and Gorhams Purchase and Morris’ Reserve. . . . Rochester, 1852.

 

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.