Be sure to also view our Lookups page!
Government Historians Museums Books Newspapers County Clerk
The County Clerk has many documents of interest to genealogists including, but not limited to, Deeds and Mortgages, Naturalizations (1854-present), and some Vital Statistics and some Military Records. Please note, NYS counties were not required by the state to keep vital records until 1880. Most of these records are kept with the Town Clerk, but in some counties, the County Clerk also has a copy of some of the more recent vital records and sometimes some older vital records (prior to 1880). Also see Misc. Records of the Hamilton County Clerk's Office.
County Clerk
102 County View Drive, P.O. Box 204
Lake Pleasant, N.Y. 12108
(518) 548-7111 or 548-6204Town Clerks may also have information of interest to genealogists, especially older Vital Statistics and Military Records.
Town Clerks
Town/Village Address Clerk Phone # Town of Arietta PO Box 37, Piseco, N.Y. 12139 Kenneth F. Parslow (518) 548-7321 Town of Benson 2213 Co. Hwy. 6,PO Box 100, Northville, N.Y. 12134-0100 Judy Webber (518) 863-6904 Town of Hope P.O. Box 1312, Northville, N.Y. 12134 Marlene Dunham (518) 924-7308 Town of Indian Lake P.O. Box 730, Indian Lake, N.Y. 12842 Julie A. Clawson (518) 648-5211 Town of Inlet PO Box 179, Inlet, N.Y. 13360 Patty Wittmeyer (315) 357-5771 Town of Lake Pleasant PO Box 799, Lake Pleasant, N.Y. 12108 Deborah O'Rourke (518) 548-3625 Town of Long Lake 1130 Deerland Rd, PO Box 307,Long Lake, N.Y. 12847 Dixie Lee LeBlanc (518) 624-3088 Town of Morehouse PO Box 59, Hoffmeister, N.Y., 13353 Amanda Seeley (315) 826-7509 Town of Wells P.O. Box 205, Wells, N.Y. 12190 Mari Wilson (518) 924-7911 Village of Speculator Village Hall, Elm Lake Road, P.O. Box 396, Speculator, NY 12164 Bonnie J. Page 518) 548-7354 Area Zip Codes
Amsterdam 12010 Lake Pleasant 12108 Blue Mountain Lake 12812 Long Lake 12847 Cold Brook 13324 Northville 12134 Eagle Bay 13331 Piseco 12139 Gloversville 12078 Raquette Lake 13436 Hoffmeister 13353 Sabael 12864 Indian Lake 12842 Speculator 12164 Inlet 13360 Wells 12190 Johnstown 12095 Surrogate Court
The Surrogate Court maintains jurisdiction over all actions and proceedings relating to the affairs of decedents, probate of wills, administration of estates and guardianship of the property of minors. Please note that in the 1980s some of the Surrogate Court records were being stored in Indian Lake as there wasn't enough room in the County Court House. I do not know if this is still the case today, or not.
Surrogate Court
Court House
Lake Pleasant, N.Y. 12108
(518) 548-7911Town and Village Courts
Court Address City, State, Zip Telephone Arietta Town Court Old Piseco Road, PO Box 4 Piseco, NY 12139 518-548-6203 Benson Town Court 291 River Road Northville, NY 12134 518-863-8510 Hope Town Court Town Hall, Star Route Northville, NY 12134 518-924-2663 Indian Lake Town Court Town Hall, Pelon Road Indian Lake, NY 12842 518-648-6226 Inlet Town Court Town Office, Box 136 Inlet, NY 13360 315-357-6121 Lake Pleasant Town Court Box 136 Speculator, NY 12164 518-548-3625 Long Lake Town Court Town Hall, PO Box 112 Long Lake, NY 12847 None Morehouse Town Court ----- Hoffmeister, NY 13353 None Wells Town Court Community Hall, PO Box 405 Wells, NY 12190 518-924-9285 Hamilton County Historian
Bill Zullo / Hamilton County Historian
102 County View Drive
Lake Pleasant, NY 12108
historian@HamiltonCountyNY.gov
(518) 548-5526Town/Village Historians
Town/Village Town/Village Historian Address Town of Arietta no historian Town of Benson no historian ***Town of Hope Clara King 755 NYS Route 30
Northville, NY 12134
(518) 924-2498
clarankitkat@yahoo.comTown of Indian Lake William Zullo Town Historian
Indian Lake, N.Y. 12842
(518) 648-5377
website: Indian Lake NY - A HistoryTown of Inlet Letty Hayes (518) 357-4328 Town of Lake Pleasant Annie Weaver Town of Lake Pleasant
HCI Box 10 Route 8
Lake Pleasant, NY 12108
(518) 548-4478
weaverf5@frontiernet.netTown of Long Lake Jeanne F. Plumley Town Historian
Town of Long Lake
Long Lake, NY 12847Town of Morehouse Carol Ford Town Historian
P.O. Box 1
Hoffmeister, NY 13353
(315) 826-5764Town of Wells Leona Aird Town Historian
P.O. Box 97
Wells, NY 12190
(518) 924-2535Village of Raquette Lake James Kammer Village Historian
Antlers Road
Raquette Lake, NY 13436
(315) 354-5122Village of Speculator Beverly Hoffman Village of Speculator Historian
P.O. Box 44
Speculator, NY 12164
(518) 548-5325
pashorty@capital.net***Please know that all records of this town before 1900 were destroyed in a fire in a Town Clerk's home. Effort is being made to try to gather information, but as you can imagine, it is a daunting process, at best!
Museums
The Indian Lake Museum
(Town Museum)Located on the corner of West Main St. [routes 28/30] and Crow Hill Road, next to the school. The house was built ca.1865 by Allen Brooks, who had returned from the Civil War. He lived there with his wife, Annis Smith.
Hours: July - Oct, Tue. & Thur., 1 - 4, and Friday 7 - 9p.m.
Adirondack Museum Library Route 30
Blue Mountain Lake, NY 12812
Phone: (518) 352-7311
Hours: M-F: 9am-5pmNote: The Library will make microfilmed materials available thru interlibrary loan.
Morehouse Historical Museum
(Town Museum)Located on rt 8 in the village of Hoffmeister in the old Methodist church which was closed in 1989 for services. In 1999 it was re-opened as our History museum to hold/display our history records and pictures, etc. We had over 200 people visit last year, and we are looking forward to opening this year. Hours: Late June to Labor Day weekend; Sat. & Sun. from 11:00 to 3:00.
Book List
for Hamilton County
Title Author Publishing Info Comments Lake Pleasant and Speculator in the Adirondacks Anne Weaver, Beverly Hoffman Arcadia Publishing Images of America series, a pictorial history Piseco Lake and Arietta Arcadia Publishing Images of America series, a pictorial history Indian Lake, Hamilton County Arcadia Publishing Images of America series, a pictorial historyt Along the Adirondack Trail Arcadia Publishing Images of America series, a pictorial history Adirondack Hotels and Inns Arcadia Publishing Images of America series, a pictorial history Adirondack Ventures Arcadia Publishing Images of America series, a pictorial history Long Lake [1845] John Todd Purple Mountain Press, 1997
originally published, 1845Few individual names given but lots of info about how the early settlers lived. A copy is available on microfilm at the Onondaga County Public Lib. in Syracuse Sesquicentennial of the Town of Arietta, Hamilton County, New York. Prepared by the Historical Book Committee. 1986 A copy is available at the NYS Public Library in Albany Hamilton County, New York, genealogical research secrets Loren V. Fay Albany, NY, 1981
(17 leaves)A copy is available at the NYS Public Library in Albany Township 34; a history with digressions of an Adirondack township in Hamilton County in the State of New York. Harold K. Hochschild 1952 copies available at the NYS Public Library in Albany and through the Mid-York Library System Life at an Adirondack inn : the story of one hundred years of the Irondequoit Club Inn and its owner, the Piseco Company : the Piseco Company centennial, 1892-1992. The Irondequoit Club Inn 1992 A history of South Pond and origin of Long Lake Township Howard I. Becker 1963? A backward look at 6th and 7th Lakes : commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of Sixth and Seventh Lakes Improvement Association (1939-1989) Robert A. Maloney. 1989 A copy is available at the Old Forge Library The quiet years / by Minnie Patterson Stanyon ; with illustrations by Mildred Stanyon Colvin. Stanyon, Minnie Patterson, 1873-1963. [Speculator, N. Y. : s.n.] c1994, 1965. Description of life in Newton's Corners, later Speculator, N.Y. - personal narrative. An old time inn; Blue Mt. House Edited by A. S. Knight. Adirondack Museum. 1972 copies available through the Mid-York Library System Griffin, ghost town in the Adirondacks : and other tales Ouida Girard 1981 A copy is available at the Old Forge Library The New York wilderness : Hamilton County and adjoining territory (map) compiled by B. C. Butler. Albany, N.Y. : Weed, Parsons & Co., 1879 A copy is available at the Utica Public Library Calked shoes : life in Adirondack lumber camps Barbara Kephart Bird ; photos by Royal G. Bird Prospect, N. Y. : Prospect Books, 1952. copies available through the Mid-York Library System Raquette Lake - A Time to Remember Ruth Timm 150 pgs, 1989 Morehouse Past and Present 1835-1992 Carol Ford / Town of Morehouse Historian 1992 copies available thru Carol Tree Talks:
see our Tree talks Hamilton County Subject Index for detailsA quarterly magazine published by Central New York Genealogical Society, Syracuse, NY Adirondack Museum History Book List (a link) books on local and Adirondack history offered by the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake History of Hamilton County Adirondack Folks Tales From an Adirondack County Folklore From the Adirondack Foothills Check our Lookups page for these books and other available resources offered by our volunteers. Newspapers
Although Hamilton county has had a few papers published the county over the years, there are other newspapers outside the county that have carried news of our residents. From my own experience, I know that the Boonville and Herkimer papers tended to carry news about Morehouse families and the Amsterdam and Fulton papers tended to carry news about Hope, Benson, Wells and sometimes Lake Pleasant families. So don't limit yourself to searching for these papers to find obituaries or other articles about our county!
Two wonderful online resources for newspapers are:
http://www.fultonhistory.com/ for central NY newspapers and many others
http://news.nnyln.net/ for Northern NY Historical Newspapers
Years Freq. Name Started by Printed at< 1845-???? weekly Hamilton County Sentinel Walter N. Clark
Cyrus ThayerJohnstown c1845-???? ? The Hamilton County Journal George M. Thompson Gloversville c1845-???? ? The Hamilton County Republican George M. Thompson Gloversville 1873-???? weekly Hamilton County Press George W. Heaton Hope 1892-???? weekly Hamilton County Democrat Charles E. Watson Wells 1876-1947 weekly Adirondack Herald Joel B. Morrison Wells 1893-1947 weekly Hamilton County Record D. L. Patterson Wells 1947-present weekly Hamilton County News ? Inlet 1960-1968 bi-weekly Indian Lake Bulletin ? Indian Lake Sources:
NYS Newspaper Project
History of Hamilton County
Last Updated: Sunday, 06-Jun-2010 09:19:18 PDT
Copyright © 2000-2010: Lisa K. Slaski
This page is part of the Hamilton county, NYGenWeb site which
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