A List of Books about Chautauqua Co., NY

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Donna Mills has provided the following list of books published concerning Chautauqua County.

1). Young, Andrew W., History of Chautauqua County, New York from its First Settlement to the Present Time, Matthews & Warren, Buffalo, 1875 Also contains many Biographical and Family Sketches. [commonly known as Youngs History] This work has been indexed seperately in 1992. CCGS
2). A Centennial History of Chautauqua County : A story of 100 Years of Development, 2 vol., Chautauqua Historical Co. Jamestown, 1904. An excellent reference to early settlers. Biographical sketches on settlers and organizations. Seperate index being prepared 1996. CCGS
3). Taylor, H.C., MD, Historical Sketches of the Town of Portland, comprising also the Pioneer History of Chautauqua County, with biographical sketches on the Early Settlers. W. McKinstry and Sons, Fredonia, 1873. If your ancestors resided in Portland this book is a must. Seperately indexed in 1990. CCGS
4). Warren, Emory F., Sketches Of The History Chautauqua County. J.W. Fletcher, Jamestown, 1846.
5). Edson, Hon. Obed, History of Chautauqua County, Georgia D. Merrill, ed., 2 vol., W.A. Fergusson, Boston, 1894.
6). Dilly, Butler F., Biographical And Portrait Cyclopedia Of Chautauqua County, New York., J.M. Gresham, Philadelphia 1891. Guide to early county residents and their families, highly selective. Seperate evername index by Fenton Historical Society- 1974.
7). Downs, John P., History of Chautauqua County N.Y. and Its People, 3 vol., Am. Historical Assoc., Boston, 1921. Index in third volume.
8). Guide To Historical Resources in Chautauqua County, New York, Repositories, Cornell University Library, 1982.
9). Cutter, William B., Genealogical and Family History in Western New York, 3vols 1912. This set concentrates on prominent families and their contributions to the developement of the region. Alphabetical Name Index in Vol. 3.
10). Doty, William J. Historic Annals of Southwestern New York. 3 vol., 1940. The third volume contains biographical information on prominent families and personalities who resided in Southwestern New York. Name Index- vol 3.
11). Index of 1855 New York State Census. A Government Project for office of the Aging. Fenton Historical Society 19--. Divided by Towns; each town has seperate index. Gives place of birth- either county in NY or State or Country. Also how long individual has been in this county. Every person named and relationship to Head of House. Adoptions are noted.
11). Stewart, William New Topographical Atlas of Chautauqa County, New York- 1867. an everyname index giving town, page number and lot number for each person was published by CCGS.
12). Beers, F.W. & Co. Illustrated Historical Atlas of the County of Chautauqua, New York. From actual surveys- 1881. An everyname index similar to above for 1867 is being prepared for publication by CCGS.
13). Palmer, Joseph W. A Guide to Local History, Oral History, Audiovisual Histories in Public Libraries and Historical Societies in Cattauraugus and Chautauqua Counties, New York. This guide suuplements the Cornell University Guide- # 8 above.
14). The Men of New York: 1898 2 vols. State-wide biographical source. Contains several men from Chautauqua County. The "w" code in the alphabetical synoptic index (vol 2), refers to western New York.
15). Turner, Orsamus Pioneer History of the Holland Purchase of Western New Yrok 1849. reprinted 1974. Filled with facts, quotes, sketches and personal stories about events and people. Reprint contains everyname index.
16). Livsey, Karen E. 1991 Western New York Land Transactions 1804-1824. compiler Karen Livsey, working from microfilm, has extracted all useful genealogical data from the Land Tables of the Holland Land Company. For each of the more than 30,000 transactions she supplies name of purchaser, date of transaction, location of land, type of transaction and a reference to the original source and micro film.
17). Livsey, Karen E. Western New York Land Transactions 1825-1835 Karen continues her extractions from the Holland Land Company records. This book contains over 70,000 more extractions. These books are a "must have" for everyone searching for ancestors who may have traveled through Western New York and whose names were never recorded in official county land records.
All of the above named books are available at most large genealogical libraries and at all of the repositories listed on this page in Chautauqua county.

Chautauqua County Source Books - Individual Towns

1). Darrow, Floyd L. History of the Town of North Harmony, Chautauqua County, NY. Published by Town of North Harmony 1953. Contains biographical sketches, land records, newspaper obits; and other useful genealogical information.
2). Taylor, H.C. MD Historical Sketches of the Town of Portland. W McKinstry & Sons, Fredonia, 1873. History of the settling of Portland, wonderful biograpical sketches span two to four generations of the pioneer families. If your people were early in Portland- they are in this book!
3). Berndt, Catheryn Stockton, Through the Rear View Mirror. Town of Stockton, 1987.
4). Piersons, Helen Town of Stockton 175th Anniversary Memory Book 1821-1996. History of settling of Stockton- photos, selected family histories and genealogies. Helen Pierson is the Town Historian.
5). McCutcheon, Marie B. Golden Glow of History Past. Ripley, Chautauqua County, NY 1995 selected stories about pioneers and residents of early Ripley. Marie McCutcheon is Senior historian for Town of Ripley.
6). Anderson A.W. The Conquest of Chautauqua- Jamestown and Vicinity, as told by Pioneer Newspapers and Persons. 1932. a detailed account of the development of the southern part of the county. Ethnic chapters include- Swedish, Italian and early Blacks. General Index.
7). Crocker, Elizabeth L. Yesterdays, In and Around Pomfret. 5 small vols. a collection of newspaper articles by Miss Crocker, who is the county and town of Pomfret historian. Published 1954-1959. Seperate everyname index. Many first events are featured in these vols. Biographies of early settlers and factual vinettes of early events.
There are many commemoritive booklets on various towns which were published to celebrate an anniversary. These are usually kept in the vertical files of the various repositories throughout Chautauqua County.
There are also several good books dealing with various ethnic groups within the county.
A good source are village and city DIRECTORIES. The largest collection of these is at the SUNY college Reed Library in the Special Collections room. Available on microfilm.