Saratoga County, New York Guide

Saratoga County is bordered by Hamilton, Warren, Washington, Fulton, Montgomery, Schenectady, Albany and Rensselaer counties.

County Formed: 1791

Parent County: Albany

Daughter Counties: None

Major Land Transactions: Saratoga Patent 1684, Kayaderosseras Patent 1708

Saratoga County Map
Map of Saratoga County

 

Table of Contents 

 

 

 

History

The Mohawks utilized the lands of Saratoga County for hunting and fishing grounds and gave the area the name “Sarach-togue,” meaning ‘hillside of a great river’ or ‘place of swift water.’ Though it played a significant role in the Revolutionary War as the setting for the Battles of Saratoga, it was not until February 7, 1791 that Saratoga County was formed from the much larger Albany County. The county seat is the village of Ballston Spa. Major land transactions include the Saratoga Patent of 1684 and the Kayaderosseras Patent of 1708. Both the Champlain Canal, situated on the Hudson River, and the Erie Canal, on the Mohawk River, run through Saratoga County. The business produced by these two waterways drove immigration to Saratoga County for much of its history, though recently it has become a center of New York’s modern Tech Valley.

 

 

 

Repositories, Resources, and Societies - County 

Saratoga County Clerk

Website: Saratoga County Clerk

Address: 40 McMaster Street, Ballston Spa, NY 12020

Phone: (518) 885-2213 

 

Saratoga County - City, Town, and Village Clerks 

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

 

Saratoga County Surrogate's Court

Website: Saratoga County Surrogate’s Court

Address: Municipal Center, 30 McMaster Street, Ballston Spa, NY 12020,

Phone: (518) 451-8830

 

Saratoga County Public Libraries 

Website: Southern Adirondack Library System

 

Saratoga County Historical Society and Brookside Museum 

Website: Saratoga County Historical Society and Brookside Museum

Address: 6 Charlton Street, Ballston Spa, NY 12020

Phone: (518) 885-4000

Email: info@brooksidemuseum.org

 

Saratoga County Historian

Website: Saratoga County Historian

Address: Municipal Center, 40 McMaster Street, Ballston Spa, NY 12020

Phone: (518) 884-4749

Email: historian@saratogacountyny.gov

 

Saratoga County - All Municipal Historians 

Website: Municipal Historians

 

Heritage Hunters of Saratoga County 

Website: Heritage Hunters

Address: PO Box 270 • Saratoga Springs, NY 12866-0270

Phone: (518) 587-5852 

 

Skidmore College: Lucy Scriber Library Special Collections: Anita Pohndorff Yates Collection of Saratogiana

Website: Anita Pohndorff Yates Collection of Saratogiana

Address: 815 North Broadway, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

Phone: (518) 580-5509  

 

 

 

Repositories, Resources, and Societies - Regional

Adirondack Experience Museum Library

Website: Adirondack Experience Museum Library

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

Phone: (518) 352-7311

 

 

Capital District Genealogical Society 

Website: Capital District Genealogical Society

Address: Empire State Plaza Station, PO Box 2175, Albany, NY 12220

Email: contactcdgs@gmail.com

 

Fulton-Montgomery Community College: The Kenneth R. Dorn Regional History Study Center at the Evans Library

Website:  The Kenneth R. Dorn Regional History Study Center

Address: 2805 State Highway 67, Johnstown, NY 12095

Phone: (518) 212 - 7685

Email: libinfo@fmcc.edu

 

Gerald B. H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery

Website: Gerald B. H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery

Address: 200 Duell Road, Schuylerville, NY 12871-1721

Phone: (518) 581-9128

 

Central New York Genealogical Society

Website: Central New York Genealogical Society

Address: CNYGS, P.O. Box 104, Colvin Station, Syracuse, New York 13205-0104

Email: cnygs@yahoo.com

 

 

 

Repositories, Resources, and Societies - Local 

Alphabetized by location

Ballston Spa Public Library: Local History Collection

Website: Local History Collection

Address: 21 Milton Avenue, Ballston Spa, NY 12020

Phone: (518) 885-5022

 

Charlton Historical Society and Museum 

Website: Charlton Historical Society and Museum

Address: 2009 Maple Avenue, Charlton, NY 12019

Phone: (518) 399-3797

 

Clifton Park-Halfmoon Public Library

Website: Clifton Park-Halfmoon Public Library

Address: 475 Moe Road, Clifton Park, NY 12065

Phone: (518) 371-8622

 

Corinth Town Museum

Website: Corinth Town Museum

Address: 600 Palmer Avenue, Corinth, NY 12822

Phone: 518-654-2862 

Email: info@townofcorinthny.com

 

Edinburg Historical Society and Museum

Website: Edinburg Historical Society and Museum

Address: PO Box 801, Edinburg, NY 12134

Phone: (518) 863-2034

 

Halfmoon Historical Society 

Website: Halfmoon Historical Society

Address: 2 Halfmoon Town Plaza, Halfmoon, NY 12065

Phone: (518) 371-7410 ext. 2332

 

Saratoga Springs History Museum

Website: Saratoga Springs History Museum

Address: One East Congress Street, PO Box 216, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

Phone: (518) 584-6920

Email: info@saratogahistory.org

 

Saratoga Springs Public Library: Saratoga Room

Website: Saratoga Room

Address: 49 Henry Street, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866-3271

Phone: (518) 584-1957 ext. 255

 

Waterford Historical Museum and Cultural Center

Website: Waterford Historical Museum and Cultural Center

Address: 2 Museum Lane, Waterford, NY 12188

Phone: (518) 238-0809

Email: info@waterfordmuseum.com

 

 

 

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 Saratoga County Clerk’s Office: 1845*, 1855, 1865, 1875, 1892, 1905, 1915, 1925 (1825 and 1835 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
  • 1845—only the original statistics pages survive. The county historian’s office has an undated typescript for the Town of Hadley which lists the names of head of household and the number in people in each family.

 

 

 

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

Saratoga County Archival Records Interactive Index

Searchable database of historical repositories in Saratoga County with information about their holdings, created by the Saratoga County Clerk and New York State Archives.

 

Maps

 

Other Records

 

 

 

Selected Bibliography

Abstracts, Indexes & Transcriptions

  • Becker, Edith V., Melvin W. Lethbridge, and Leslie A. Frye. Cemetery Records of Saratoga, Herkimer, and Hamilton Counties. New York Montgomery County (NY) Department of History and Archives, 1939. Includes index.
  • Calkins, H., Jr. “An Exact Copy of the Records of the Congregational Church of Greenfield, Saratoga Co., N.Y.” NYG&B Record, vol. 34 (1903) no. 2: 141–143, no. 3: 212–216, no. 4: 284–288; vol. 35 (1904) no. 1: 29–33. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Cormack, Marie N., and Katherine A. Furman. “New York State Cemetery Inscriptions: Albany County, Herkimer County, Montgomery County, Saratoga County, Schenectady County.” Typescript, 1940. [microfilm at FHL, NYSL]
  • County of Saratoga 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://www.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.
  • Dunn, Violet B., Robert S. Hayden, and Clayton H. Brown. Saratoga County Heritage. N.p., 1974. Durkee, Cornelius E. “Index to Marriage and Death Notices in the Saratoga Sentinel: 1819–1837.” Typescript, 1919. New York State Library, Albany.
  • Dunn, Violet B. “Saratoga County, N.Y. Epitaphs.” NYG&B Record, vol. 44 (1913) no. 2: 177–184, no. 3: 177–184, no. 4: 389–396; vol. 45 (1914) no. 1: 81–89, no. 2: 126; vol. 47 (1916) no. 3: 233–240, no.4: 403–409; vol. 48 (1917) no. 1: 15–19, no. 2: 185–190, no. 3: 245–250. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Ellsberry, Elizabeth P. “Cemetery Records of Saratoga County, New York, Vol. I.” Typescript, n.d. New York State Historical Association Library, Cooperstown, NY. A database of the records is at www.Ancestry.com.
  • Ellsberry, Elizabeth P. Will Records of Saratoga County, New York, 1796–1805.Typescript, 1965. New York State Historical Association Library, Cooperstown, NY.
  • Federal Writers’ Project, Works Progress Administration, State of New York “Sweetman and West Charlton Cemeteries: Saratoga County, New York.” Typescript, 1938. NYPL, New York. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Harris, Edward D. “Grantors in the Registry of Deeds of Saratoga Co., NY: As Contained in Libers A–S, 1792–1831.” Typescript, 1903. NYPL, New York.
  • Keefer, Donald A. “Cemetery Records of the Town of Charlton, Saratoga County, NY.” Typescript, 1971. NYPL, New York.
  • Kelly, Arthur C. M. Index to Tree Talks County Packet: Saratoga County. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 2002.
  • Post, Paul. Soldiers of Saratoga County: From Concord to Kabul. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2010. Book includes cemetery records, military lists, award recipients, genealogies of military families, casualties of war, etc.
  • Register of Revolutionary War Soldiers in Saratoga County, New York. 3 vols. N.p.: Sons of the American Revolution, n.d. Book includes birth/ death dates, burial place, tombstone inscriptions, service records, family descriptions.
  • Ritchie, Henry C. “Saratoga County, NY, Miscellaneous Cemetery Inscriptions.” Typescript, 1943. NYPL, New York.
  • Samuelsen, W. David. Saratoga County, New York, 1799–1921: Index to Will Books. Salt Lake City: Sampubco., 1992.
  • Saratoga County, NYG&B Church Surveys Collection. NYG&B, New York. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • University of the State of New York. Division of Archives and History. The Records of Ballston Spa, Saratoga County. Albany: University of the State of New York, 1921.
  • Vosburgh, Royden Woodward, ed. “Records of the United Presbyterian Church at West Charlton, in the Town of Charlton, Saratoga County, NY.” Typescript, 1921. NYPL, New York. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • 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

  • Anderson, George B. Our County and Its People: A Descriptive and Biographical Record of Saratoga County, New York. Boston, 1899.
  • Beers, S. N. New Topographical Atlas of Saratoga County, New York: From Actual Surveys. Philadelphia, 1866. [NYPL Digital Gallery]
  • Brandow, John H. The Story of Old Saratoga: The Burgoyne Campaign, to Which is Added New York’s Share in the Revolution. Albany: Fort Orange Press: The Brandow Print Co., 1919.
  • Capital District Genealogical Society Newsletter. Albany: Capital District Genealogical Society, 1982–present. [www.capitaldistrictgenealogicalsociety.org]
  • Child, Hamilton. Gazetteer and Business Directory of Saratoga County, New York, and Queensbury, Warren County, for 1871. Syracuse, 1870.
  • 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.
  • Guide to Local Historical Materials: A Union List of Holdings of Public Libraries in Saratoga, Warren, Washington, and Hamilton Counties. Saratoga Springs, NY: Southern Adirondack Library System, 1977.
  • Hay, William. History of Temperance in Saratoga County, NY: Containing Biographical Sketches of Billy J. Clark, Rev. Lebbeus Armstrong, Mr. James Mott, Gardner Stow, Esq., and Hon. Esek Cowen; The First Four Having Survived the Last, and All Other Original Members of the Union Temperate Society of Moreau and Northumberland, Which Association Was Organized in April A.D. 1808. Saratoga Springs, NY, 1854.
  • Horne, Philip F. Genealogical Guide to Saratoga County, New York. Ballston Spa, NY: Saratoga County Historical Society, 1980.
  • Kelly, Arthur C. M. The Saratoga. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, quarterly 1986–1998, annually 1999–2001.
  • Kelly, Arthur C. M. Valley Quarterlies. Directory of articles (vols.1–15) and every-name index to the Capital, the Columbia, the Mohawk, and the Saratoga. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, CD-ROM, 2000.
  • New York Historical Resources Center. Guide to Historical Resources in Saratoga County, New York, Repositories. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 1983. [www.books.FamilySearch.org]
  • Stone, William L. Reminiscences of Saratoga and Ballston. New York: Worthington Co., 1988. First published 1875.
  • Sylvester, Nathaniel B. History of Saratoga County, New York: With Historical Notes on Its Various Towns. Chicago, 1893.
  • Sylvester, Nathaniel B. History of Saratoga County, New York: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Philadelphia, 1877. Index available from Berkshire Family History Association.
  • The Patents: The Northeastern New York Genealogical Society Newsletter. Queensbury, NY: Northeastern New York Genealogical Society, 1981–present [www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nywarren/community/nnygs.htm]

 

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.