Madison County, New York Guide

Located in the center of New York State, Madison County is bordered on the north by Oneida County; on the east by Oneida and Otsego; on the south by Chenango; and on the west by Onondaga and Cortland counties. Oneida Lake, the largest lake contained entirely within New York State, lies at the northern edge of the county. 

County Formed: 1806

Parent County: Chenango

Daughter Counties: None

Major Land Transactions: Chenango Twenty Townships 1789–1794

Indian Territories: Oneida Reservation (1788-present)

Suffolk County Map
Map of Madison County

Table of Contents

 

 

 

History

Madison County was not established until 1806, although counties existed in the New York area as early as 1683. The delay in establishment was due to the presence of the Oneida Nation, a member of the Iroquois Confederacy. The nation dominated the area and hindered the efforts of English colonists for expansion. Once the American Revolution began in 1776, however, the Oneida Nation decided to aid the colonists. In exchange for its help, the Oneida Nation was promised land near Oneida Lake.

In 1788, New York’s governor, George Clinton, convinced the Oneida Nation to forfeit and sell the southern portion of the Oneida Reservation. The area given up by the Oneida Nation was later called The Twenty Townships, or Clinton’s Purchase. The sale was never ratified by New York State, and later declared unconstitutional in a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in the twentieth century. Legally, New York State had not had the legal right to negotiate with the American Indian tribes after the Revolutionary War had ended and the United States had been created.

Once Clinton had obtained the land, the area began to be divided. This continued for years, with more and more counties being created. At last, Madison County was created on March 21, 1806, from Chenango County. The county was named after James Madison, then the Secretary of State. He later became President of the United States, though he is most famous for being the “Father of the Constitution” and the “Father of the Bill of Rights.”

For the first few years of its existence, Madison County did not have a county seat. Court proceedings were held in a variety of locations, ranging from schoolhouses to taverns. In 1811, the town of Cazenovia became the first county seat. The town was located on the far west side of the county. In 1815, in an effort to move the county seat to a more centralized location, the county voted to establish Morrisville as the next county seat.

The county soon began to change, as the creation of the Erie Canal and the rise of railroads transformed the Madison’s society. Immigration increased and the northern part of the county grew. The village of Canastota had access to the Erie Canal and New York Central Railroad. Oneida, too, had access to the railroad. On the other hand, Morrisville had no access to canals and was ignored by railroads. These reasons prompted Canastota and Oneida to try and win the county seat.

In 1900, Canastota, Oneida, Earlville, and Cazenovia all tried to win the county seat. However, they split the vote and the county seat remained in Morrisville. It had been suggested that the village of Wampsville become the county seat, but it also lost. The city of Oneida and Canastota began to work together in order to prevent the county seat from staying in Morrisville. Because of their efforts, in 1907, Wampsville had enough votes to finally win the county seat.

Sources and Additional History:

 

 

 

Repositories, Resources, and Societies – County

Madison County Clerk

Website: Madison County Clerk

Address: 138 North Court Street #4, Wampsville, NY 13163

Phone: (315) 366-2261

New York state census for Madison County 1855, 1865, 1875, 1892, 1905, 1915, and 1925; court records; deeds and mortgages; naturalization records; school records; books; and miscellaneous records of Madison County. 

 

Madison County - City, Town, and Village Clerks

Website: Madison 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.

 

Madison County Surrogate's Court

Website: Madison County Surrogate’s Court

Address: 138 North Court Street, PO Box 607, Wampsville, NY 13163

Phone: (315) 366-2392

Holds probate records from 1806 to the present.

 

Madison County History and Archives

Website: Madison County History and Archives

Address: 138 North Court Street #4, Wampsville, NY 13163

The Archives are located in the County Clerk’s office and include archival documents, census records 1800–1870, cemetery incorporations 1874–1951, court records 1853–1985, deeds 1806–1920, journals 1892–2005, marriage licenses 1908–1926, mortgages 1806–2008, naturalizations 1852–1953, school records 1826–1953, and military records. A selection of records (including naturalization index, some census, deeds, mortgages, and school records) and photographs is available on the website, along with abundant information on the county’s history.

 

Madison County Public Libraries

Website: Madison County Public Libraries

Madison is part of the Mid-York Library System. Many hold genealogy and local history collections, including maps and newspapers. 

 

Madison County Historical Society, Cottage Lawn Museum, and Mary King Research Library

Website: Madison County Historical Society, Cottage Lawn Museum, and Mary King Research Library

Address: 435 Main Street, Oneida, NY 13421

Phone: (315) 363-4136 or 361-9735

Email: history@mchs1900.org

Library holdings include family histories, newspapers, and vital records. A comprehensive list is available on the website, along with newsletter archives.  Annual journal, Heritage, 1977–present.

 

Madison County Historian

Website: County Historian

Street Address: 138 North Court Street #4, Wampsville, NY 13163

Mailing Address: PO Box 668 • Wampsville, NY 13163

Phone: (315) 366-2453

 

Madison County - All Municipal Historians

Website: Madison County 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

 

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

 

Lorenzo State Historic Site

Website: Lorenzo State Historic Site

Street Address: 17 Rippleton Road, Cazenovia, NY 13035

Mailing Address: The Friends of Lorenzo, PO Box 4, Cazenovia, NY 13035

Phone: (315) 655-3200

Holdings include cemetery, land, and other records from Madison and Chenango counties.

 

 

 

Repositories, Resources, and Societies – Local

Alphabetized by location

Town of Brookfield Historical Society Museum and Giles School

Website: Town of Brookfield Historical Society Museum and Giles School

Museum Address: 10556 Skaneateles Turnpike Road, Brookfield, NY 13314

Society Address: 10556 Main Street, PO Box 214, Brookfield, NY 13314

Phone: (315) 899-3333

Email: brookfieldhistorysociety@gmail.com

Books and genealogies, cemetery records, maps, local newspapers 1875–present, paintings, and artifacts. The Society maintains the 19th-century Giles Schoolhouse.

 

Canasota Canal Town Museum 

Website: Canasota Canal Town Museum

Address: 122 Canal Street, Canasota, NY 13032

Phone: (315) 697-5002

Holdings include memorabilia, art, and historical material, including newspapers (Canasota Bee-Journal).

 

Cazenovia Public Library: Archive Room and Museum

Website: Cazenovia Public Library: Archive Room and Museum

Address: 100 Albany Street (Route 20), Cazenovia, NY 13055

Phone: (315) 655-9322

Email: Cazenovia@midyork.org

Holdings of the Archive Room include family files, cemetery records, church records, maps, and newspapers the Pilot, 1808–present, and the Republican, 1854–present. The museum contains manuscripts and ephemera, papers and diaries, photographs, land deeds, maps, and artifacts from the Cazenovia area.

 

Erieville-Nelson Heritage Society

Website: Erieville-Nelson Heritage Society

Address: Town of Nelson Office Building, 4085 Nelson Road, Cazenovia, NY 13035

Phone: (315) 655-8045

Genealogies and family histories, local histories and biographies, assessment records 1900–present, land records, newspaper indexes, photographs, maps, scrapbooks, town board minutes, and vital records 1845–1847 and 1887 to the present.

 

Town of Sullivan/Village of Chittenango Collection

Website: Town of Sullivan/Village of Chittenango Collection

Address: Town of Sullivan Office Building, 7507 Lakeport Road, Chittenango, NY 13037

Phone: (315) 633-5344

Genealogies and family files, census records 1890–1930, church records, government records, newspapers 1831–1850 and 1870–present, obituaries, photographs, and information on local historical businesses and industry.

 

Tromptown Historical Society and DeRuyter Museum

Website: Tromptown Historical Society and DeRuyter Museum

Address: 712 Utica Street, PO Box 176, DeRuyter, NY 13052

Holdings include a collection of the local newspaper, the DeRuyter Gleaner. Website contains information on recent exhibits and local history books. The Society maintains the 19th-century Seventh Day Baptist Church of DeRuyter.

 

Earlville Free Library: Local History Collection

Website: Earlville Free Library: Local History Collections

Address: 6 North Main Street, PO Box 120, Earlville, NY 13332

Phone: (315) 691-5931

Email: earlville@midyork.org

Local histories, cemetery records, newspapers (Saturday Utica Globe, 1909–1916), obituary index, photographs, and scrapbooks. The library’s local history and genealogical materials are searchable via its online catalog.

 

Colgate University Libraries: Special Collections and Archives

Website: Colgate University Libraries: Special Collections and Archives

Address: 13 Oak Drive, Hamilton, NY 13346

Phone: (315) 228-6175

Extensive local collections, including family histories, family papers, letters, the Andrew J. Russell Photographs (Civil War), railroad collection, local newspapers on microfilm, American Indian collection, Victor B. Goodrich Collection (vital statistics, etc., for Madison County). Website contains digital collections.

 

Hamilton Historical Commission

Website: Hamilton Historical Commission

Address: Hamilton Public Library, 13 Broad Street, Hamilton, NY 13346

Phone: (315) 824-3060

Holdings include local histories, census indexes, cemetery listings, newspapers, and photographs.

 

Fryer Memorial Museum

Website: Fryer Memorial Museum

Address: PO Box 177, Munnsville, NY 13409

Phone: (315) 495-6148

Family histories, Bible records, cemetery records, local American Indian history, newspapers, and obituaries.

 

Oneida Public Library: Local History Room

Website: Oneida Public Library

Address: 220 Broad Street, Oneida, NY 13421

Phone: (315) 363-3050

Genealogies and histories, cemetery records, census microfilms, immigration records, local directories, material on the Oneida Community, maps, newspapers (Oneida Daily Dispatch and others, 1800s–present), photographs, and the genealogical collection of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Skenandoah Chapter (Oneida, NY).

 

Peterboro Area Historical Society and Museum

Address: 4608 Peterboro Road, PO Box 42, Peterboro, NY 13134

Phone: (315) 684-9022

The museum building is the late-19th-century schoolhouse of the Madison County Home for Destitute Children; the Society maintains its records (1871–1926).  Additional holdings include genealogies, Bible records, cemetery listings, church records, the Freeholder (selected issues, 1808–1811), school records, and veteran information.

 

 

 

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 Madison County Clerk’s Office: 1855, 1865, 1875, 1892, 1905, 1915, 1925 (1825, 1835, and 1845 are lost)
  • State originals at the NYSA: 1915, 1925
  • Microfilm at the FHL, NYPL, NYSHA, 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.

Madison County, New York

Extensive collection of useful links, online information and documents including: burial listings, genealogies, wills, family Bibles, local histories, and transcribed books including Claude Nicholls’ Sullivan in History and William Tuttle’s articles for the Oneida Democratic Union, which describe the families of the 1802 land purchase.

NYGenWeb Project: Madison County

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

 

Deaths and Burials

 

Maps

 

Military Records

Civil War Soldiers in Madison County

Sue Greenhagen, librarian at Morrisville State College, has created a database of more than 5,000 names: Civil War Soldiers in Madison County: A Constantly Expanding List of Those Men Who Served in the War or the Rebellion, 1861–1865, and Were Born in, Lived In, Enlisted In, Died In, and/or Are Buried in Madison County, New York. Information might include: name, age, where the soldier was from, rank and unit, brief details of service, and place of burial.

 

Newspapers

 

Other Records

 

Religious Records

 

Transportation

 

 

 

Selected Bibliography

Abstracts, Indexes & Transcriptions

  • Atwell, Christine O. “Revolutionary Soldiers and Descendants of Madison County, New York State.” Typescript, 1930. NYPL, New York.
  • Bracy, Isabel. Records of Revolutionary War Veterans Who Lived in Madison County, New York. Interlaken, NY: Heart of the Lakes Publishing, 1988.
  • County of Madison Abstracts. Syracuse: Central New York Genealogical Society, 2000. Abstracts for a range of genealogical records originally published in the quarterly Tree Talks.  A name index is on the CNYGS website.
  • 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: Madison County. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 2002.
  • Madison County’s Welcome Home for Her Sons and Daughters Who Served in the World War from 1917–1919:  With a Complete Roster, a List of Golden Stars, and Special Articles. Oneida, NY: Madison County (N.Y.) Welcome Home Committee, 1919.
  • Meyer, Mary K, and Joyce C. Scott. Cemetery Inscriptions of Madison County, NY. Westminster, MD:  Willow Bend Books, 1997.
  • Smith, Mrs. E. P., Joyce C. Scott, and Mary K. Meyer.  Deaths, Births, and Marriages from Newspapers Published in Hamilton, Madison County, NY, 1818–1886 Inclusive. Mt. Airy, MD: Pipe Creek Publications, 1991.
  • 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.​

Online Resources

  • Beers, D. G. Atlas of Madison County, New York: From Actual Surveys. Philadelphia, 1875. [NYPL Digital Gallery]
  • Biographical Review: This Volume Contains Biographical Sketches of the Leading Citizens of Madison County, New York. Boston, 1894.
  • Bracy, Isabel. Immigrants in Madison County, New York, 1815–1860. Interlaken, NY: Heart of the Lakes Publishing, 1990.
  • Central New York Library Resources Council. Guide to Historical Organizations in Central New York. (Onondaga, Herkimer, Oneida, Madison) Digitally published May 2009. [www.clrc.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DHPHistGuide09b.pdf]
  • Child, Hamilton. Gazetteer and Business Directory of Madison County, N.Y., for 1868–9. Syracuse, 1868.
  • 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.
  • Fay, Loren V. Madison 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., 1941. Contains biographies. Index available from Berkshire Family History Association.
  • Giambastiani, Barbara J. Country Roads Revisited: The Cultural Imprint of Madison County. Oneida, NY:  Madison County Historical Society, 1984.
  • Ingalls, Anita M. Guide to Madison County Cemeteries. Oneida, NY: Madison County Historical Society, 2009.
  • Lehman, Karl H. Madison County Today. Oneida Castle, NY: Karl H. Lehman, 1943.
  • Madison County Heritage. Oneida, NY: Madison County Historical Society.  Annual publication of the Madison County Historical Society.
  • New York Historical Resources Center. Guide to Historical Resources in Madison County, New York, Repositories. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 1982. [books.FamilySearch.org]
  • Nichols, Claude A. Sullivan in History: Interesting Events and People Contributing to the Development of the Township of Sullivan, Madison County, New York. Chittenango, NY: McHenry Press, 1939.
  • Smith, James H. History of Chenango and Madison Counties, New York: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Syracuse, 1880. Separate index by John Tyne, Interlaken, NY: Heart of the Lakes Publishing, 1974.
  • Smith, John E. Our Country and Its People: A Descriptive and Biographical Record of Madison County, New York. Boston, 1899.
  • Teeple, John B. The Oneida Family: Genealogy of a 19th Century Perfectionist Commune, Containing Original Community Photographs and Drawings. Oneida, NY: Oneida Community Historical Committee, 1985.
  • Tuttle, William H. Madison County, New York Soldiers in the War of 1812. Mt.  Airy, MD: Pipe Creek Publications, 1994.
  • Tuttle, William H. Names and Sketches of the Pioneer Settlers of Madison County, New York. Interlaken, NY: Heart of the Lakes Publishing, 1984.
  • Whitney, Luna M. Hammond. History of Madison County, State of New York. Syracuse, 1872. Index available from Berkshire Family History Association.

 

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.