Seneca county is bordered by the counties of Wayne, Ontario, Cayuga, Yates, Timpkins, and Schuyler.
County Formed: 1804
Parent County: Cayuga
Daughter Counties: Tompkins, 1817; Wayne, 1823
Major Land Transactions: New Military Tract 1782-1791
Table of Contents
- History
- Cities, Towns, and Villages
- Repositories, Resources, and Societies – County
- Repositories, Resources, and Societies – Regional
- Repositories, Resources, and Societies – Local
- Civil, Public, and Vital Records
- Federal Census Records
- State Census Records
- Other Online Resources
- Selected Bibliography
History
In the 14th century, in the land area that is now Seneca County, the Iroquois culture emerged, building on earlier Native American cultures, such as the Owasco. Formed on March 24, 1804, Seneca County was formed from Cayuga County and named after the Seneca Nation, whose name means “great hill people.” Seneca County’s seat is situated in the Village of Waterloo and the county is divided into ten towns that contain five villages, and a piece of the City of Geneva. Seneca County ceded land to new counties in New York State such as Tompkins County in 1817 and Wayne County in 1823. From 1782-1791, in place of getting paid for their service, war veterans were given tracts of land that had been previously owned by Native Americans in the New Military Tract. Other important land transactions include the treaties of 1795 and 1807 that made the Cayuga cede all their territory to New York State. The New Military Tract essentially opened the land for white settlement and within a short period of time, Seneca County was quickly occupied. In 1870, 14% of Seneca’s County was foreign-born, many coming from Germany and Ireland. In addition, Dutch and other ethnic groups from New Jersey settled throughout the county, but were concentrated in the three southern towns. Other notable migrants include Quakers settling Junius and Germans from Pennsylvania settling Fayette. During the 19th century farming was central to the economy, with grain, fruits, vegetables, and dairy dominating the market.
Repositories, Resources, and Societies - County
Seneca County Clerk
Website: Seneca County Clerk
Address: Seneca County Office Building, One DiPronio Drive, Waterloo, NY 13165
Phone: (315) 539-1771
Seneca County - Town and Village Clerks
Website: Seneca 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. For contact information, see website
Seneca County Surrogate’s Court
Address: 48 West Williams Street, Waterloo, NY 13165
Phone: (315) 539-7531
Seneca County Public Libraries
Website: Seneca County Public Libraries
Seneca is part of the Finger Lakes Library System; see website to access each library. Many hold genealogy and local history collections such as local newspapers.
Seneca County Historian
Website: Seneca County Historian
Address: Seneca County Office Building, One DiPronio Drive, Waterloo, NY 13165
Phone: (315) 539-1785
Seneca County - All Municipal Historians
Website: Seneca County – All Municipal Historians
See contact information at website or see the website of the Association of Public Historians of New York State.
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
Central New York Genealogical Society
Website: Central New York Genealogical Society
Address: PO Box 404, Colvin Station, Syracuse, NY 13205
Email: cnygs@yahoo.com
Repositories, Resources, and Societies - Regional
Central New York Genealogical Society
Website: Central New York Genealogical Society
Address: Central New York Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 104, Colvin Station, Syracuse, New York 13205-0104
Email: cnygs@yahoo.com
Repositories, Resources, and Societies - Local
Alphabetized by location
Interlaken Historical Society
Website: Interlaken Historical Society
Address: Interlaken Public Library, 8389 and 8395 Main Street, PO Box 270, Interlaken, NY 14847
Phone: (607) 532-8899
Email: museum@interlakenhistory.org
Lodi Historical Society
Website: Lodi Historical Society
Address: 8297 North Lower Lake Road, PO Box 279, Lodi, NY 14860
Phone: (607) 582-6077
Email: info@lodhihistoricalsociety.com
Waterloo Library and Historical Society
Website: Waterloo Library and Historical Society
Address: 31 East Williams Street, Waterloo, NY 13165
Phone: (315) 359-0533
National Memorial Day Museum
Address: 35 East Main Street, Waterloo, NY 13165
Phone: (315) 539-9611
Civil, Public, 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:
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State Census Records
- County originals at Seneca County Clerk’s Office: 1905, 1915, 1925 (1825, 1835, 1845, 1855, 1865, 1875, and 1892 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.
Other Online Resources
General Resources
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 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 Seneca to view the available records sets.
NYGenWeb Project: Seneca County
Part of the national, USGenWeb volunteer initiative, the website provides information and resources for county research.
Selected Bibliography
Abstracts, Indexes & Transcriptions
-
Anhalt, Edith Pratz. “Birth Records of Fayette (1882–1884) and Burial Records of Waterloo, Seneca County, New York.” Bound typescript, 1959–1960. NYPL, New York.
- Anhalt, Edith Pratz, and the Daughters of the American Colonists, Ga–Ha–Da Chapter. “Cemetery Records, Bible Records of Seneca County and Schuyler County, New York.” Bound typescript, 1961. NYPL, New York
- County of Seneca 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.
- Delafield, John. A General View and Agricultural Survey of the County of Seneca: Taken under the Direction of the New-York State Agricultural Society. Albany, 1851.
- Finch, Jesse H. Vital Records from the Ovid Bee: Published at Ovid Village, Seneca Co., NY, 1822–1869. New York: The J. Finch Committee, 1971.
- Fischer, Carl W. “Index of the 1850 Census of Some Towns of Tompkins and Seneca Counties.” Typescript, 1966. NYPL, New York.
- Kelly, Arthur C. M. Index to Tree Talks County Packet: Seneca County. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 2002.
- MacRae, Cameron F. “Inscriptions from the McNeil Cemetery, Ovid, Seneca County, New York.” NYG&B Record, vol. 101 (1970) no. 4: 230–234; vol. 102 (1971) no. 2: 118–121, no. 3: 175–178, no. 4: 228–230. [NYG&B eLibrary]
- Seneca County, NYG&B Church Surveys Collection. NYG&B, 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
- Becker, John D. A History of the Village of Waterloo, New York: And Thesaurus of Related Facts. Waterloo, NY: Waterloo Library and Historical Society, 1949.
- Brigham, A. Delancey. Brigham’s Geneva, Seneca Falls, and Waterloo Directory and Business Advertiser for 1862 and 1863: Including the Towns of Phelps, Flint Creek, Seneca Castle and Stanley Corners, with Histories of the Towns from Their Earliest Settlement. Geneva, NY, 1862.
- Child, Hamilton. Gazetteer and Business Directory of Seneca County, NY, for 1867–8. Syracuse, 1867.
- Child, Hamilton. Reference and Business Directory of Seneca County, NY, 1894–5. New York, 1894.
- 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.
- History of Seneca County, New York: With Illustrations Descriptive of Its Scenery, Palatial Residences, Public Buildings, Fine Blocks, and Important Manufactories. Ovid, NY: W. E. Morrison, 1976. Reprint of the 1876 edition.
- New York Historical Resources Center. Guide to Historical Resources in Seneca County, New York, Repositories. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 1980. [books.FamilySearch.org]
- Nichols, Beach. Atlas of Seneca County, New York: From Actual Surveys by and under the Direction of Beach Nichols. Philadelphia, 1874.
- Portrait and Biographical Record of Seneca and Schuyler Counties, New York: Containing Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the Counties. Together with Biographies and Portraits of all the Presidents of the United States. New York, 1895.
- 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.
- Spafford, Horatio G. The History of Seneca County, New York, 1786–1876, with Illustrations. Ovid, NY: W. E. Morrison, 1976.
- Waltrous, Hilda R. The County Between the Lakes: A Public History of Seneca County, New York, 1876–1982. Waterloo, NY: Seneca County Board of Supervisors, 1982.
- Willers, Diedrich. Centennial Historical Sketch of the Town of Fayette, Seneca County, New-York, 1800–1900. Ovid, NY: W. E. Morrison, 1982. First published 1900 by W. F. Humphrey.
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.