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Franklin County, New York

Franklin County, NY history

We have a number of items from this upstate New York county and are planning to offer them in the coming weeks and months.

 

Available for Download

Franklin County, from French's Gazetteer of the State of New York (1860).  Franklin County – sometimes called “the Siberia of New York State” -- is not a county much in the news.  For those with families who lived here, or for those interested in the county today, it’s an unfortunate oversight.  When French compiled his Gazetteer, on the eve of the Civil War, Franklin County was about as close to being the frontier as one could conveniently find in New York State.  It’s an interesting observation that the heights of some of the mountains had not even been measured by the time this volume was published. The following localities are mentioned in the text:  Bangor, South Bangor, North Bangor, West Bangor, Bellmont, Chateaugay Lake, Bombay, Hogansburgh, St. Regis, Bombay Corners, South Bombay, Brandon, Burke, Burke Hollow, North Burke, Chateaugay, Constable, Dickinson, East Dickinson, Dickinson Center, Thomasville, Duane, Fort Covington, Franklin, Franklin Falls, Vermontville, Alder Brook, Merrillsville, Harrietstown, Saranac Lake, Malone, Titusville, Moira, Moira Corners, Brushs Mills, Westville, and Brighton.   7+ pages, PDF format, download now for $2.25.

 Franklin County from French's Gazetteer

 

Franklin County chapter from Mather & Brockett's Geographical History of the State of New York (1848).  A dozen years before French's Gazetteer, Mather and Brockett compiled a gazetteer of New York State that reflected the state as they saw it at that time.  To be candid, their treatment is nowhere near as thorough and complete and French's, but we would hope that not only did New York State progress in those twelve years, but the craft of creating a gazetteer did as well.  Franklin County receives four pages in this book -- about average for an upstate county in this volume.  In addition to those four pages we have included the section regarding land grants and patents underlying all the counties of the state.  In summary, this is brief, but it is nonetheless an important part of the historical record.  4++ pages, in PDF format, download now for $2.00.

 Franklin County NY in Mather & Brockett

 

Franklin County Generally, from Historical Sketches of Franklin County and its Several towns, by Frederick J. Seaver (1918).  This selection from the larger volume constitutes the general information about the County included in the first three chapters.  Chapter 1 includes some history and geography.  Chapter 2, entitled “Franklin County Official Acts” summarizes the creation of the county and the various legislative actions that shaped it since.  The third chapter, “Franklin County Politically” is a fascinating review of how the various movements in American politics played themselves out in this portion of the Adirondacks.   140+ pages, in PDF format.  Download now for $3.50.

 Franklin County Generally - Seaver

 

The Town of Altamont, from Historical Sketches of Franklin County and its Several towns, by Frederick J. Seaver (1918).  The author introduces Franklin County by highlighting its ruggedness (“the Siberia of New York”) and that only a century before his publication, “…lands in our county could not even be given away.”  Notwithstanding, Franklin County WAS settled, and DID acquire a history of its own.  The history of the Town of Altamont is a part of the county’s history, and this is the subject of this chapter.  22++ pages, in PDF format, download now for $2.25.

 The Town of Altamont, Franklin County, NY by Seaver

 

 

Franklin County items currently awaiting publication:

Frederick J. Seaver's Historical Sketches of Franklin County, New York

(1918). This is a first-rate county history of the county known as "The Siberia of New York" -- a county that was settled late but still managed to accumulate some interesting history in the years between its settlement and Mr. Seaver's book's original publication.  It's 819 pages long, and contains not only county history but also considerable material on the towns, including an appendix with the then-current and previous officials and institutions.  The book also includes 75 pages of short biographical sketches.  We'll be producing selected chapters as downloads, beginning with downloads about townships, and about other topics that Seaver thought important enough to merit a chapter.  We've begun to publish the chapters about the townships (see above).  Let us know if one of the townships is of special interest to you so that we can move it ahead in the queue!

 

Franklin County was separated from Clinton County in 1808.  You may also want to consult our Clinton County page for locations that may have been affected by this transaction.

 

We offer a large number of New York State titles and are continuing to accumulate more.  CLICK HERE to return to our New York State page

 

 

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