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Delaware County New York Genealogy and History

County seat: Delhi

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Search Free Delaware County New York Genealogy and Family History Records Online including census, cemetery, vital, military and other genealogical and historical records that can be used for your family history research.

Delaware County, New York genealogy and family history page is a place where you can come in and research your genealogy and family history. We also do our best to provide a history of the area, to provide you with an overview of the time in which your ancestors lived.

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Delaware County History

When counties were established in New York State in 1683, the present area of Delaware County was divided between Albany and Ulster Counties.

Albany County was an enormous county, including the northern part of New York State as well as all of the present State of Vermont and, in theory, extending westward to the Pacific Ocean. This county was reduced in size on July 3, 1766 by the creation of Cumberland County, and further on March 16, 1770 by the creation of Gloucester County, both containing territory now in Vermont. On March 12, 1772, what was left of Albany County was split into three parts, one remaining under the name Albany County. One of the other pieces, Tryon County, contained the western portion (and thus, since no western boundary was specified, theoretically still extended west to the Pacific). The eastern boundary of Tryon County was approximately five miles west of the present city of Schenectady, and the county included the western part of the Adirondack Mountains and the area west of the West Branch of the Delaware River. The area then designated as Tryon County now includes 37 counties of New York State. The county was named for William Tryon, colonial governor of New York.

In the years prior to 1776, most of the Loyalists in Tryon County fled to Canada. In 1784, following the peace treaty that ended the American Revolutionary War, the name of Tryon County was changed to Montgomery County to honor the general, Richard Montgomery, who had captured several places in Canada and died attempting to capture the city of Quebec, replacing the name of the hated British governor.

In 1789, Montgomery County was reduced in size by the splitting off of Ontario County. The actual area split off from Montgomery County was much larger than the present county, also including the present Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Orleans, Steuben, Wyoming, Yates, and part of Schuyler and Wayne Counties.

In 1791, Otsego was one of three counties that were split off from Montgomery (the other two being Herkimer and Tioga Counties).

Ulster County was an original county of New York State, considerably larger than the present Ulster County, and at the time that Delaware County was created it still contained most of its original area.

Delaware County was formed in 1797 by combining portions of Otsego and Ulster counties.


Delaware County New York Genealogy Records Online

Delaware County New York Cemetery Records

Delaware County New York Church Records

Delaware County New York Cities & Towns

Delaware County New York Military Records

Delaware County New York Newspapers

Delaware County New York Obituaries

Delaware County New York Vital Records

Delaware County New York Wills and Probate Records


Genealogy Research in Delaware County, New York

Delaware County Clerk
Court House Square
Delhi, NY 13753
Phone: (607) 746-2123
Website: http://www.co.delaware.ny.us/departments/clerk/clerk.htm


Adjacent counties