Cortland is within "The Military Tract," the large chunk of land that the state purchased from the Indians in order to award soldiers that had served in the American Revolution, from New York Regiments.
The county was formed in 1808 from Onondaga County, comprising the original Townships of Virgil, Cincinnatus, Homer, Solon, and the south halves of the Townships of Tully and Fabius. (For your information the term "Township" is no longer correct in modern day terms. Once areas became populated and a local government was organized the correct word became "Town.")
When you go there to do research a staff person will work right with you and once it is determined just what you are attempting to achieve, they will go right to the files and book cases and start bringing you more items than you can possible imagine. They really know their collection!
Your unyg editor was fortunate to be able to locate some very nice finds for a project that concerned some families of close sounding names and the research assistant located some of the earliest manuscript road books and tax record books, that were most helpful in determining just which branch of which family that the person being researched belonged in.
Here are some of the details on who, what, how, when, etc.:
Cortland County Historical Society (CCHS)
Museum and Research Center
25 Homer Ave.
Cortland, NY 13045
phone: 607-756-6071
website: www.rootsweb.com/~nycortla/chsfe.htm
email: (available on the website.)
Located in the lovely old Suggett House.
Open for research Tuesdays through Saturdays,
1 pm to 5 pm. (Best to call to be sure before making a trip.)
Memberships are extremely reasonable at;
$15 - Senior Citizen.
$20 - Individual
$30 - family
(Better confirm, these numbers do not seem high enough.) Other levels of contributing memberships are explained on the website.
The museum store has some books and other items that they sell to help bring some extra funds in, and to satisfy the patron's desires.
Some of the items offered for sale:
A Regiment Remembered, 157th NY Volunteers
Cooking Then and Now (local recipes)
Rails Through Cortland - Palmer
Historical Markers in Cortland County
[Harold] Burgess Remembers Cortland
Growing Up in Cortland
Paris Lived in Homer
James Suggett and his Lovely Dwelling Place (the museum's home)
Cortland Co. Sesquicentennial (1808-1958.)
You will be treated to an extremely well organized collection and the staff people know just where everything is. If you are a non-member there is a charge for the staff person's assistance (mandatory, see the website.)
If you are a CCHS member, then there is no charge for the research assistance. Telephone research is offered at $15 per hour.
Here is a short list of just some of the items that you will be delighted to locate: Maps, Census, City & County Directories, Genealogies, Histories, Vital Records from Miscellaneous Sources, surname files, military records, photograph files, scrapbooks, newspapers, (and I am sure that there is a whole LOT more!)
You are sure to find some gems in all of the treasures. Tell them unyg sent you.
Notes:
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