Schoharie County, New York Guide

Schoharie county is bordered by Schenectady, Albany, Greene, Montgomery, Otsego, and Delaware counties.

County Formed: 1795

Parent County: Albany, Otsego

Daughter Counties: None

Major Land Transactions: None

 

Schoharie County Map
Map of Schoharie County 

 

Table of Contents

 

 

 

History

Schoharie County was occupied by the Mohawk Indians and, in its western region, the other four Iroquois tribes. Formed on April 6, 1795, Schoharie County was formed from Albany County and Otsego County and based its county seat in the village of Schoharie. Schoharie County’s name originates from a Mohawk word meaning “floating driftwood.” During European colonization of the Northeast, the Mohawks traded extensively with the French coming down from Canada.  In the 1720s and the1730s, Palatine Germans who had recently paid off their passage settled in this county. Also, Scots-Irish immigrants settled here before the Revolutionary War, especially near Cherry Creek.

 

 

 

Repositories, Resources, and Societies – County

Schoharie County Clerk

Website: ​Schoharie County Clerk

Address: 284 Main Street, Schoharie, NY 12157

Phone: (518) 295-8316

 

Schoharie County - Town and Village Clerks

Website: Schoharie 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 be held by municipal clerks. 

 

Schoharie County Surrogate's Court and Family Court

Website: Schoharie County Surrogate’s Court and Family Court

Address: Schoharie County Courthouse, 290 Main Street, PO Box 669, Schoharie, NY 12147

Surrogate's Court Phone: 518-453-6986

Family Court Phone: 518-453-6982

 

Schoharie County Public Libraries

Website: Schoharie County Public Libraries

Schoharie is part of the Mohawk Valley Library System. Many libraries maintain special collections relating to local history and genealogy.

 

Schoharie County Historical Society, Old Stone Fort Museum, and Old Stone Fort Library

Website: Schoharie County Historical Society, Old Stone Fort Museum, and Old Stone Fort Library

Address: 145 Fort Road, Schoharie, NY 12157

Phone: (518) 295-7192

Email: office@schohariehistory.net

 

Schoharie County Historian

Website: County Historian

Address: PO Box 394, Warnerville, NY, 12187

Phone: 518-234-7241

 

Schoharie 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.

 

Iroquois Indian Museum

Website: Iroquois Indian Museum

Address: 324 Caverns Road, Howes Cave, NY 12092

Phone: (518) 296-8949

Email: info@iroquoismuseum.org

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

Capital District Genealogical Society 

Website: Capital District Genealogical Society

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

Email: contactcdgs@gmail.com

 

 

 

Repositories, Resources, and Societies – Local

Alphabetized by location

Cobleskill Historical Society

Website: Cobleskill Historical Society

Address: PO Box 423, Cobleskill, NY 12043

Email: CHS@SchoharieHistory.net

 

SUNY College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill: Van Wagenen Library

Website: Van Wagenen Library

Address: 142 Schenectady Avenue, Cobleskill, NY 12043-1702

Phone: (518) 255-5841

Email: library@cobleskill.edu

 

Middleburgh Free Library: History and Genealogy Room

Website: History and Genealogy Room

Address: 323 Main Street, PO Box 670, Middleburgh, NY 12122

Phone: (518) 827-5142

 

Richmondville Historical Society

Website: Richmondville Historical Society

Address: The Bunn Mill, High Street, PO Box 316, Richmondville, NY 12149

 

 

 

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 Schoharie County Clerk’s Office (affected by 2011 floods): 1825*, 1835, 1855, 1865, 1875, 1892, 1905, 1915, 1925 (1845 is 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.
  • *1825 New York state census—only the indexes for the Towns of Paris and Western survive. The originals for these indexes are held at the Oneida County Historical Society. Microfilm is only available at the FHL.

 

 

 

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

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

 

Maps

 

Other Records

 

 

 

Selected Bibliography

Abstracts, Indexes & Transcriptions

  • Barber, Gertrude Audrey. “Abstracts of Wills, Letters of Administration and Guardianship of Schoharie County, New York.” Typescript, 1938. NYPL, New York.
  • Barber, Gertrude Audrey. “Cemetery Records, Schoharie County, New York.” Typescript, 1932. NYPL, New York.
  • Barnello, Kathleen, Joan Green, Harriet M. B. Hall, and Joyce Mason. Abstract of the 1825 New York State Census of Schoharie County, New York. Syracuse: Central New York Genealogical Society, 1994. Originally published in Tree Talks, vol. 34, no. 4 (1994): 1–47. Index: 49–66, introduction: i–vii.
  • Cady, Henry. “Schoharie County Genealogical Records.” 10 vols. Manuscript, n.d. NYPL, New York. Manuscript ledger books containing transcriptions of birth, marriage, death, census, and cemetery records of Schoharie County.
  • Cady, Henry, and Charlotte T. Luckhurst. Deaths and Burials in Schoharie County, NY. Salem, MA: Higginson Book Co., 2007.
  • Cohen, Minnie. Vital Records of the Gilboa Reformed Church, Gilboa, Schoharie County, NY: Baptisms 1801–1882, Marriages 1803–1884; and the Blenheim Reformed Church, Blenheim, Schoharie County, NY, Baptisms 1797–1839. Indexed by Lawrence V. Rickard in 1999. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 1999.
  • County of Schoharie 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.
  • Davenport, David. The 1855 Census of Schoharie County, New York: An Index. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 1988.
  • Kelly, Arthur C. M. Index to Tree Talks County Packet: Schoharie County. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 2002.
  • Kelly, Arthur C. M. Schoharie County, New York, Early Records: Family Lists, Marriages, Deaths, 1730–1904. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 2001. Book includes records of the Schoharie Lutheran Church, Cobleskill Lutheran Church, and the Schoharie Reformed Church.
  • Lamb, Jr., VanBuren. “Small Cemeteries of Schoharie Co., NY.” Typescript, 1957. NYPL, New York. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Rickard, Lawrence V. Records of the Rev. John Daniel Shafer, Schoharie County, New York: Baptisms 1819–1838, Marriages 1830–1838. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 2000.
  • Schoharie County, NYG&B Church Surveys Collection. NYG&B, New York. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Spencer, Frances B. “Cemetery Inscriptions in Schoharie County, New York.” Typescript, 1959. NYSHA, Cooperstown, NY.
  • Vosburgh, Royden Woodward, ed. “Records of St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Town of Schoharie, Schoharie County, NY.” Typescript, 1914–1915. NYPL, New York.
  • Vosburgh, Royden Woodward, ed. “Records of the Reformed Church in the Village of Gilboa, Schoharie County, NY, Formerly the Reformed Dutch Church in Dyse’s Manor, in the Town of Broome; and Records of the Reformed Dutch Church in Blenheim, in the Old Village of Blenheim, Schoharie County, NY.” Typescript, 1918. NYPL, New York. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Vosburgh, Royden Woodward. “Vital Records of the Lawyersville Reformed Church: Lawyersville, Schoharie County, NY.” Typescript, 1915. NYSHA, Cooperstown, NY.
  • 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

  • Adams, Arthur G., ed. The Catskills: An Illustrated Historical Guide with Gazetteer. New York: Fordham University Press, 1990. First published 1975.
  • Beers, S. N. New Topographical Atlas of Schoharie Co., New York. Philadelphia, 1866. [NYPL Digital Gallery]
  • Brown, John M. A Brief Sketch of the First Settlement of the County of Schoharie. Schoharie, NY, 1823.
  • Cady, Henry. Genealogical Notes of Schoharie County, NY, Families. Retyped and indexed by Frances B. Spencer. Middleburgh, NY: 1959–1960.
  • Capital District Genealogical Society Newsletter. Albany: Capital District Genealogical Society, 1982–present. [capitaldistrictgenealogicalsociety.org]
  • Child, Hamilton. Gazetteer and Business Directory of Schoharie County, NY, for 1872–3. Syracuse, 1871.
  • Cornell, Fanchon D., and Alicia T. Cornell. Blenheim History, 1710–1991, Schoharie County, New York: With a Brief 1994 Update. Albany: Fort Orange Press, 1994.
  • Greene, Nelson. History of the Mohawk Valley, Gateway to the West, 1614–1925; Covering the Six Counties of Schenectady, Schoharie, Montgomery, Fulton, Herkimer, and Oneida. Chicago: S. J. Clarke, 1925.
  • Kelly, Arthur C. M. The Mohawk. 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.
  • Luckhurst, Charlotte T. “Schoharie County, NY, Families.” Typescript, 1922. NYPL, New York.
  • New York Historical Resources Center. Guide to Historical Resources in Schoharie County, New York, Repositories. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, c. 1983.
  • Noyes, Marion F. A History of Schoharie County. Richmondville, NY: Richmondville Phoenix, 1954.
  • Rockwell, Charles. The Catskill Mountains and the Region Around . . . . New York, 1869.
  • Roscoe, William E. History of Schoharie County, New York: With illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 1994. First published 1882.
  • Sias, Solomon. A Summary of Schoharie County, Giving the Organization, Geography, Geology, History. Prepared at the Request of the County Teachers’ Association. Middleburgh, NY: P.W. Danforth Press, 1904.
  • Simms, Jeptha R. History of Schoharie County: And Border Wars of New York, Containing Also a Sketch of the Causes Which Led to the American Revolution and Interesting Memoranda of the Mohawk Valley . . . . Albany, 1845.
  • Sloughter’s Instant History of Schoharie County, 1700–1900: With a Few Folk Tales, Maps, and Illustrations Thrown in for Good Measure and Good Reading. Schoharie, NY: Schoharie County Historical Society, 1988. Compiled from Brown, Simms, Roscoe, Warner, and Hagan, the Schoharie County Historical Review, and other published works.
  • Van Schaick, John, Jr. The Little Hill Farm; or, Cruisings in Old Schoharie. Boston: Universalist Pub. House, 1930.

 

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.