Emigrants logoOfficial State Motto, Flower, Bird and Animal Logo

Welcome To New York Genealogy Trails!

 

THIS COUNTY NEEDS A VOLUNTEER!

Tioga County, New York  History and Genealogy
Proudly Affiliated with the 
Genealogy Trails History Group

If you are interested in hosting this county, please read the County Hosting Requirements and then email Melissa. A desire to transcribe data and knowledge of how to make a basic webpage is required. If you are only interested in contributing information, email Melissa here.

COUNTY HISTORY


When counties were established in New York State in 1683, the present Tioga County was part of Albany County. This 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 in honor of 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.

Tioga County was one of three counties split off from Montgomery County (the others being Herkimer and Otsego Counties) in 1791. Tioga County was at this time much larger than the present county, also including the present Broome and Chemung Counties and parts of Chenango and Schuyler Counties.

Tioga County was reduced in size in 1798 by the splitting off of Chemung County (which also included part of the present Schuyler County and by the combination of a portion with a portion of Herkimer County to create Chenango County. In 1806 it was further reduced by the splitting off of Broome County.
(Found at www.wikipedia.org)
 

RECORDS OF INTEREST


Biographies Births Marriages Obits
Cemeteries Towns Surnames Wills

SURROUNDING COUNTIES

 
County Seat: Owego
Year Organized: 1791
Square Miles: 519
 
Courthouse Info:
County Office Building
56 Main Street
Owego, NY 13827-1250
Phone: (607) 687-8200
Fax: (607) 687-8232
 

Back to New York Trails

©2006 Melissa Allen Rodriguez
Genealogy Trails

This website and its contents in the format presented, except where otherwise noted on the page, are copyrighted by Melissa Allen Rodriguez and may not be copied, altered, converted nor uploaded to any electronic system or BBS, nor linked from any "pay-for-view" site, linked in such a manner as to appear to be part of another site including "frame" capturing, nor included in any software collection or print collection of any type without the express written permission of the author of this site.

Information is furnished for the free use of researchers who are interested for the purpose of researching their family histories and genealogies. However, copying & pasting the information presented here onto another website is prohibited! This website is considered to be a compilation of facts, and is therefore covered under current copyright laws.

While every effort has been made to provide accurate information, there is no warranty of any kind regarding the accuracy of any information found on this or any other genealogy website presented by this author. It is the responsibility of the interested party to research and document the information located on this or any other website. Links to other sites should be considered referrals only and should not necessarily be taken as endorsements.