Genealogies
Cemeteries
Lewis County has over 140 cemeteries that we know of. The Lewis County Historical Society has bound copies of surveys for many county cemeteries. Some of these contain information on burials that was not available when later surveys were done. We also have location descriptions and written information on each of the county’s cemeteries. Beyond that, online resources can also be consulted at Lewis County cemeteries on Find-A-Grave.
Newspapers
Digitized versions of many northern New York’s historical newspapers are available through the NYS Historic Newspapers website. These papers are provided by the Northern New York Library Network to enhance access to the region’s unique local history. The online collection currently consists of almost 2,500,000 pages and included the following newspapers:
- Adirondack Mountain Sun (1992 – 2004)
- Black River Democrat (19?? – 1943)
- Black River Gazette (1825 – 1833)
- Journal and Republican (1860 – current)
- Lewis County Banner (1856 – 1864)
- Lewis County Democrat (1865 – 1910)
- Lowville Herald and Lewis County Democrat (1910 – 19??)
- Lowville Leader (1943 – 1953)
- Lowville Leader and Lyons-Leyden Ledger (1953 – 19??)
- Lowville Times (1876 – 1884)
- Lowville Times and Lewis County Independent (1884 – 189?)
- Turin Gazette (1881 – 1886)
Town Historians
Town historians maintain collections of records and other materials related to their particular village or town. See Local Historians.
Vital Records
County birth, marriage and death records are maintained by the various town clerks. Since New York State only mandated that vital records be kept by the towns in 1880, towns generally have few records prior to that year, although some do.
Croghan
9882 State Rt 126 Ste A
Castorland NY 13620
315-346-1212 ext 21
croghantownclerk@centralny.twcbc.com
Lowville
5533 Bostwick St.
Lowville, NY 13367
315-376-8070 ext 1
tolclerk@centralny.twcbc.com
Lyonsdale
P.O. Box 144
Port Leyden, NY 13433
315-348-8249
lyonsdaletownclerk@gmail.com
New Bremen
8420 State Rte. 812
Lowville, NY 13367
315-376-2641
nbtownclerk@gmail.com
Osceola
2145 N. Oceola Rd.
Camden, NY 13316
315-599-7120
osceolatownclerk@gmail.com
Pinckney
587 County Rte. 194
Copenhagen, NY 13626
315-408-5032
clerkpinckney1@gmail.com
Watson
6971 Number Four Rd.
Lowville, NY 13367
315-376-3627 ext 3
christina_merry@townofwatsonny.com
Lewis County Clerk, Surrogate’s Office
Many documents useful for genealogical research pertaining to Lewis County are available at the County Clerk’s Office in Lowville and at the Surrogate’s Office.
Lewis County Clerk
7660 N. State Street
Lowville, NY 13367
315-376-5333
315-376-3768
clerk@lewiscountyny.org
Open: Monday through Friday
8:30 am – 4:30 pm
Surrogate Clerk’s Office
Lewis County Surrogate’s Court
7660 N. State Street
Lowville, NY 13367
- Various censuses for county towns: 1905, 1915, 1925 (partial 1845, 1865)
- Naturalization records
- Marriages 1908-1935, 1912-1934
- Divorces
- Land and tax records (starting in 1805): deeds, mortgages, indices of grantors and grantees
- Convictions books
Wills (1830-1916), probate information (bonds, letters of administration, minutes). Free digitized versions of some of these resources are also available online at the Family Search website.