History

Database that includes:

A founding father of today's Montour Falls, Cook's visions are still evident today, especially in the downtown structures.

Queen Catharine Montour

There are varying accounts of her life and the myths and legends that have surrounded the influential “Queen.”

Samuel Watkins
By 1842, Dr. Watkins, widely held as the founder of Watkins Glen, had established a strong community.

John Magee

John Magee was a poor, uneducated young man with a lot of ambition, in an undeveloped frontier region.

Jane Arminda Delano

Twenty years of innovative nursing had given Miss Delano an understanding of the country's need for more trained nurses.

James Hope

Born in Scotland, artist James Hope fought in the Civil War and was known for his landscapes of the Watkins Glen gorge.

Charles Deland Clawson

Dr. Charles Deland Clawson was one of Schuyler County's pioneer doctors. He operated the Bethesda Sanitarium in Montour Falls for 40 years.

David Bennett Hill

A politician who gained a national reputation, David B. Hill was born in Havana, now Montour Falls. He served as New York's governor from 1885-1891.

James A. Shepard
William H. Shepard Sr. purchased a small foundry in Havana, now Montour Falls, in 1878. By 1880 he and his two sons, William Jr. and James, started their own company known as William H. Shepard & Sons. James developed gearing systems and drive designs that are still in use today.

Schuyler County and Regional Organizations

Church Records of

Schuyler and Tompkins Counties

Cornell University Library Holdings

Schuyler History Books Online

Historic Buildings in Schuyler County

History of Schuyler County

Brick Tavern Museum

Research Library

Research Room Guidelines

Montour Fall's "Glorious T" Historic District
Montour House, Montour Falls
Montour Falls Memorial Library
Schuyler Properties on the NY Historic Register

Old Schuyler County and Regional Newspapers

During the Revolutionary War when General John Sullivan and his army moved through the Finger Lakes region in 1779, most resident Indians fled to the British at Fort Niagara, Canada where they had been promised safety and care. Small groups remained outside the perimeter of the Army’s march which was ordered by George Washington as a move to deprive the British of support provided by their Indian allies. Villages and crops were destroyed.

After the war some of the veterans of the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition returned to the region to settle the lands. Earliest permanent settlers arrived in: Town of Montour 1788; Hector 1790; Dix 1797; Cayuta, Reading and Tyrone, 1798; Catharine 1799 and Orange in 1802.
As known today, Schuyler’s eight towns were formed as follows: Catharine in 1798; Hector 1802; Reading 1806; Tyrone 1822; Cayuta 1824; Dix 1835; Orange 1836; and Montour, the last defined geographically, 1860, six years after the county was established.
Watkins Glen was officially declared the county seat in 1877 after a prolonged legal struggle with Montour Falls for the designation.

For Genealogists and Local History Buffs

Family Folders

Stories from Schuyler County History

Schuyler County Towns
Schuyler County Newspapers
Library Resources
Cornell U niversity Digital Library

Cornell University eCommons

Hathi Trust Digital Library

Native Americans & Early Settlers
Sullivan-Clinton Expedition
Civil War Soldiers & Sailors System
Schuyler County Recruits for the Civil War (PDF)
National Archives Military and Pension Records

Ellis Island Record Search
Genealogical Information for the State of New York

Watkins Glen Grand Prix
International Motor Racing Research Center

Chemung Canal Map (PDF)
Chemung Canal Lock Map 1858 (PDF)
Watkins Glen Salt Industry
Schuyler County Waterfalls

Fall Brook Railroad
Backbone Ridge History Group