Wyoming County is bordered by Genesee, Livingston, Erie, Cattaraugus, and Allegany Counties
County Formed: 1841
Parent County: Genesee
Daughter Counties: None
Major Land Transactions: Morris Reserve 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
- Online Resources
- Selected Bibliography
History
Used by the Seneca Nation as a hunting ground until the Treaty of Big Tree in 1797, Wyoming County was one of the last places in New York to be extensively settled by Europeans. It was formed on May 19, 1841 from Genesee County, with its county seat in the Village of Warsaw. The name “Wyoming” comes from a modified Delaware Indian word meaning "broad bottom lands." Major land transactions include the Morris Reserve purchase of 1791 and the Holland Land Company Purchase of 1792–1796. Notable industries in the county have included grain, cattle, and sheep farming, salt production, and textile manufacturing.
Repositories, Resources, and Societies - County
Wyoming County Clerk
Website: Wyoming County Clerk
Address: 143 North Main Street, Suite 104, Warsaw, NY 14569
Phone: (585) 786-8810
Email: county.clerk@wyomingco.net
Wyoming County Town and Village Clerks
Website: Wyoming 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.
Wyoming County Surrogate’s Court
Address: Wyoming County Courthouse, 147 North Main Street, Warsaw, NY 14569
Phone: (585) 786-3148
Wyoming County Public Libraries
Website: Wyoming County Public Libraries
Wyoming is part of the Pioneer Library System. Many hold genealogy and local history collections, including books, newspapers, and gazetteers. See also listing below for Warsaw Public Library.
Wyoming County Historian
Website: Wyoming County Historian
Address: 26 Linwood Avenue, Warsaw, NY 14569
Phone: (585) 786-8818
Wyoming County All Municipal Historians
Website: Wyoming 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.
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
SUNY Fredonia: Daniel A. Reed Library: Archives & Special Collections
Website: SUNY Fredonia: Daniel A. Reed Library: Archives & Special Collections
Address: Fredonia, NY 14063
Phone: (716) 673-3184
University of Rochester: Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation
Website: University of Rochester: Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation: Manuscript and Special Collections: Rochester, Western New York, and New York State
Rush Rhees Library, Second Floor, Room 225, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627-0055
Phone: (585) 275-4477
Western New York Genealogical Society
Website: Western New York Genealogical Society
Address of Library: Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, Grosvenor Room, One Lafayette Square, Buffalo, NY 14203
Phone: (716) 858-8900
Address of Society: PO Box 338, Hamburg, NY 14075-0338
Email: info@wnygs.org
Western New York Heritage Press
Website: Western New York Heritage Press
495 Pine Ridge Heritage Boulevard, Cheektowaga, NY 14225-2503
Phone: (716) 893-4011
Email: emaillist@wnyheritagepress.org
Repositories, Resources, and Societies - Local
Alphabetized by location
Arcade Historical Society and Gibby House
Website: Arcade Historical Society and Gibby House
331 West Main Street, Arcade, NY 14009
Phone: (585) 492-4466
Email: office@arcadehistoricalsociety.org
Attica Historical Society and Museum
Website: Attica Historical Society and Museum
130 Main Street, Attica, NY 14011
Phone: (585) 591-2161
Bennington Historical Society
Website: Bennington Historical Society
211 Clinton Street, Cowlesville, NY 14037
Phone: (585) 591-2601
Castile Historical Society and Museum
Address: 17 East Park Road, Castile, NY 14427
Phone: (585) 493-5370
Email: castilehistory@peoplepc.com
Middlebury Historical Society and Middlebury Academy Museum
Address: 22 South Academy Street, PO Box 198, Wyoming, NY 14591
Sheldon Historical Society and Museum
3859 Main Street, PO Box 122, Strykersville, NY 14145
Phone: (585) 457-7033
Email: Sheldonhistoricalsociety@hotmail.com
Warsaw Historical Society, Gates House Museum, and Research Library
Website: Warsaw Historical Society, Gates House Museum, and Research Library
15 Perry Avenue, Warsaw, NY 14569
Phone: (585) 786-5240
Email: gateshouse@basicisp.net
Warsaw Public Library: Local History, and Genealogy Resources
Website: Warsaw Public Library: Local History and Genealogy Resources
130 North Main Street, Warsaw, NY 14569
Phone: (585) 786-5650
Email: warsawlibrarydirector@owwl.org
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.
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 Wyoming County Clerk’s Office: 1875, 1915, 1925 (1845, 1855, 1865, 1892* and 1905 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.
- 1892 New York State census is lost with the exception of the schedules for the Town of Orangeville.
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.
NYGenWeb Project: Wyoming County
Provides information and resources for county research
Maps
New York, Land Records, 1630-1975, includes land and property records
Newspapers
Old Fulton New York Postcards, a vast collection of digitized New York newspapers, including 14 titles for Wyoming County.
Other Records
New York, Probate Records, 1629-1971, includes wills, letters of administration, and guardianship papers
Selected Bibliography
-
Bannister, Doris A. Wyoming County Vital Records, Deaths, 1847–1851 & Warsaw Deaths, 1863. Wyoming, NY: Doris A. Bannister, 2008.
- Barber, Gertrude Audrey. “Cemetery Inscriptions, Wyoming County, N.Y.” Typescript, 1931. NYPL, New York. Includes Curriers Corners and Old Strikersville cemeteries. [NYG&B eLibrary].
- Barber, Gertrude Audrey. “Gravestone Inscriptions of Wyoming County, N.Y: Including Cemeteries in Sheldon and Bennington, N.Y.” Typescript, 1933. NYPL, New York. [NYG&B eLibrary].
- Barber, Gertrude Audrey. “Gravestone Inscriptions of Wyoming County, N.Y: Including Cemeteries in Silver Springs, Hermitage, and Genesee Falls.” Typescript, 1932. NYPL, New York.
- Barber, Gertrude Audrey. “Gravestone Inscriptions, Sundry Cemeteries in Cattaraugus, Erie and Wyoming Counties, NY.” Typescript. NYPL, New York. [NYG&B eLibrary]
- Barber, Gertrude Audrey. “Wyoming County, N.Y., Cemetery Inscriptions.” Typescript, 1930–1932. NYPL, New York. Includes cemeteries in Pike, Java, and Weathersfield. [NYG&B eLibrary].
- Barber, Gertrude Audrey. “Wyoming County, N.Y., Cemetery Inscriptions.” Typescript, 1931. NYPL, New York. Includes cemeteries in Orangeville and Strikersville. [NYG&B eLibrary].
- County of Wyoming 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: Wyoming County. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 2002.
- Samuelsen, W. David. Wyoming County, New York, Probate Records, 1841–1900. Salt Lake City: Kokaubeam Company, 1988.
- Wilson, John G., and Anita Ripstein, eds. “Town of Orangeville—1892 Census.” Historical Wyoming, vol. 31 (April 1985) no. 4: 109–111; vol. 32 (January 1986) no. 3: 84. This is a partial transcription of the schedule of the Orangeville 1892 New York state census.
- 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.
- Wyoming County (NY) Board of Supervisors. List of Names of the Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines of Wyoming County, NY in the World War of 1917–1918. Attica, NY: Attica News, 1919.
- Wyoming County, NYG&B Church Surveys Collection. NYG&B, New York. [NYG&B eLibrary]
Other Resources
- Beers, S. N., and D. G. Beers. New Topographical Atlas of Genesee and Wyoming Counties, New York. Philadelphia, 1866.
- Biographical Review: This Volume Contains Biographical Sketches of the Leading Citizens of Livingston and Wyoming Counties, New York. Boston, 1895.
- Child, Hamilton. Gazetteer and Business Directory of Wyoming County, NY, for 1870–1. Syracuse, 1870.
- Douglass, Harry S. Famous Sons and Daughters of Wyoming County, New York. Warsaw, NY: Wyoming County Newspapers, 1935.
- 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.
- Historical Wyoming. Warsaw, NY: Wyoming County Historian, 1947–present, quarterly. Indexes to articles 1947–2008 at http://wyoming.bettysgenealogy.org/hw.htm. Many issues online at www.fultonhistory.com. Published census transcriptions include 1810, 1820, and 1830 for various towns and a partial transcription of the 1892 census for the Town of Orangeville, see Wilson and Ripstein above.
- History of Wyoming County, NY: With Illustrations, Biographical Sketches, and Portraits of Some Pioneers and Prominent Residents. New York, 1880.
- New Century Atlas of Wyoming County, New York, with Farm Records. Philadelphia: Century Map Co., 1902.
- New York Historical Resources Center. Guide to Historical Resources in Wyoming County, New York, Repositories. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 1983.
- 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.
- Western New York Genealogical Society Journal. Hamburg, NY: Western New York Genealogical Society, 1974–present. [wnygs.org]
- Wyckoff, William. The Developer’s Frontier: The Making of the Western New York Landscape. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988.
- Young, Andrew W. History of the Town of Warsaw, New York, from Its First Settlement to the Present Time: With Numerous Family Sketches and Biographical Notes. New York, 1869
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.