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Hotchkin: History of Western New York State

History of Western New York

A classic of New York State history and genealogy:  Hotchkin's History of Western New-York

History of Western New York The full title of this book, by the Rev. James Hervey Hotchkin, is "A History of the Purchase and Settlement of Western New York."

Published in 1848, Hotchkin's History begins with the history of the area, and continues into a comprehensive town-by-town, church-by-church, individual-by-individual account of the settlement of New York State west (and south) of Utica by that unique combination of New England Congregationalism and New York State Presbyterianism (with significant input from the Dutch Reformed world) that for much of the 19th century was the predominant religion in the area. 

For anyone interested in New York State history or genealogy, it's a valuable source.

We recognize that Hotchkin's History of Western New York sounds like it might be just another history of religious affairs by a long-winded cleric  -- long on religion and short on history -- but Hotchkin almost entirely sticks to the history and avoids lapsing into the sermonizing that typified writing by clergy of his time and for the next hundred years as well. 

Hotchkin gives us the historical background of Western New York State.  The Military District, the wars (and alliances) with Native Americans and others, who immigrated and from where, and what obstacles early settlers faced are all part of the early chapters.  While Hotchkin goes on to tell us exactly how he and others made Presbyterianism the religion of choice in Western New York State, for most people today this book is probably more useful for the local history it contains -- and the local history is abundant.  A close look at the table of contents (see images below on this page for low-resolution copies of the table of contents pages) will provide an indication of what to expect.

One of the real strengths of this history of Western NYS is the extent to which the author provides the names of many early settlers (not just ordained clergy as typical church historians do), and, even more important, exactly where these early settlers came from to settle in the wilderness expanse of Western New York State.  Of course there are abundant names of clergy as well, but Hotchkin's willingness to write real history (as opposed to religious history) is notable, even exceptional, for a clergyman writing in the age in which he wrote.

A particular strong point of this book is Hotchkin's care in providing, for each locality he mentions, historical names by which it has been known, as well as what political subdivisions it may have previously belonged to.  When looking for a missing ancestor, being able to identify the present name of a community originally known by another name can be critically important, and Hotchkin brings great value here.  He does not restrict his coverage to Presbyterian churches.  The chances are that if a community in New York State west or south of Utica had at any time before 1848 a Presbyterian, a Congregationalist, or a Dutch Reformed church located in it, there is at least some historical information about both the church and the community in this volume.

The book itself is big -- around 630 pages -- as is appropriate for the geographic area it covers:  basically all of New York State west of Utica.  Hotchkin takes us through the history of this whole territory county by county, locality by locality -- and church by church.  Hotchkin also goes beyond conventional religion in some historical anecdotes as well;  most memorably the sacrifice of a white dog in a religious ritual of some type in 1810 in the locality that became Rochester, NY!

Here is a partial list (please remember that locality names changed for many of these upstate New York communities) of localities included: 

 

Adams' Basin

Addison

Alabama

Albany

Alden

Albion

Alexander

Allen

Amboy

Almond

Amity

Angelica

Andover

Angelica

Ashford

Ashville

Athens

Attica

Auburn

Augusta

Aurelius

Aurora

Avon

 

Bainbridge

Baldwinsville

Barker

Barre Centre

Barrington

Batavia

Bath

Belfast

Bennington

Bergen

Berkshire

Bethany Centre

Big Flats

Bingham's Patent

Binghamton

Black Creek

Black Rock

Borodino

Boston

Branchport

Brighton

Bristol

Britton Settlement

Brockport

Buffalo

Burdett

Burns

Burton

Bushnell's Basin

Busti

Byron

 

Caledonia

Cambria

Cameron

Camillus

Campbell

Canandaigua

Canadice

Candor

Caneadea

Canaseraga

Canoga

Carlisle

Carlton

Caroline

Carroll

Castle Creek

Castleton

Catlin

Cato

Cayuga

Cayuga Bridge

Cayuga Village

Cazenovia

Centre Lisle

Centrefield

Centreville

Chalmers

Chapinsville

Charlestown

Charlotte

Chautauque

Chemung

Chenango

Chenango County

Cherry Creek

Chili

China

Chittenango

Church Tract

Churchville

Cicero

Cincinnatus

Clarence

Clarkson

Clinton

Clyde

Colden

Colesville

Collins

Col. Lincklaen's Purchase

Concord

Conesus

Conhocton

Conklin

Connecticut Tract

Connewago

Corning

Cortland

Cortland Village

Cortlandville

Cottinger Tract

Coventry

Covington

Coxe's Patent

Cuba

 

 

Danby

Dansville

Darien

Delphi

Derby

DeRuyter

DeWitt

Dryden

Dundee

Dunkirk

 

Eagle

Eden

East Aurora

East Bethany

East Bloomfield

East Groton

East Lincklaen

East Otto

East Owego

East Palmyra

East Pharsalia

Elba

Elbridge

Ellicott

Ellicottville

Elmira

Enfield

Erwin

Evans

 

Fairport

Farmersville

Farmington

Fayette

Fayettville

Fleming

Forrestville

Franklinville

Fredonia

Freetown

Friendship

 

Gaines

Gainsville

Ganson's Settlement

Gates

Genesee County

Genesee River

Geneseo

Geneva

Genoa

Gorham

Great Valley

Greece

Green

Greenwood

Grove

Groveland

Guilford

 

 

Haight

Hamburgh

Hammonsport

Hanover

Harford

Harpersville

Havanna

Hector

Henrietta

Holland

Holland Purchase

Holley

Homer

Hooper & Wilson's Patent

Hopewell

Hornby

Hornellsville

Howard

Hume

Huron

Independence

Indian Station

Ira

Ithaca

 

Jamestown

Jamesville

Jasper

Java

Jericho

Jordan

Junius

 

 

Kennedyville

Kingston

Knowlesville

 

 

LaFayette

Lakeville

Lancaster

Lansing

Lenox

LeRoy

Lewiston

Lima

Lincklaen

Lisle

Liverpool

Livonia

Locke

Lockport

Lodi

Ludlowville

Lyons

Lysander

 

 

Manlius

Manlius Centre

Marathon

Marcellus

Marion

Masonville

Massachusetts Ten Townships

Matthews' Mills

Mayville

McDonough

McGrawville

Mead's Creek

Mecklenburgh

Medina

Mendon

Mentz

Middleport

Middletown

Middlesex

Milan

Military Tract

Mill Seat

Millport

Milton

Millville

Mina

Montezuma

Moravia

Moscow

Mount Morris

Murray

 

Naples

Napoli

Nelson

New Hudson

Newark

Newark Valley

Newfield

Newstead

Newtown

Niagara Falls

Nichols

Ninevah

North Bergen

North Bristol

North Rochester

Northampton

Norwich

Nunda

 

Oakfield

Ogden

Olean

Oneida Lake

Onondaga

Ontario

Oquago

Oran

Orangeville

Orville

Ossian

Otisco

Otselic

Ovid

Owego

Oxford

 

Painted Post

Parma

Parma Corners

Patterson's Settlement

Pavilion

Pawnee Mission Station

Pembroke

Penfield

Perry

Peruville

Pike

Pittsford

Pittstown

Pompey

Portage

Portageville

Porter

Portland

Preble

Preble Corners

Palmyra

Panama

Patterson Tract

Pendleton

Pennyan

Peterboro

Phelps

Phelps' & Gorham's Purchase

Pitcher

Plymouth

Pompey

Pompey Centre

Pontiac

Port Gibson

Prattsburgh

Preston

Pulteney

Pultneyville

 

 

Randolph

Reading

Richford

Richmond

Ridgeville

Riga

Ripley

Rochester

Rock Stream

Rockdale

Romulus

Rose

Royalton

Rush

Rushford

Rushville

 

 

Salina

Savannah

Scipio

Scott

Scottsville

Seneca Falls

Sennett

Sheldon

Sherburne

Sheridan

Sico

Silver Creek

Skeneatoles

Smithfield

Smithville

Smyrna

Sodus

Solon

Somerset

South Bainbridge

South Bristol

South Dansville

South New Berlin

Southport

Sparta

Spencer

Springport

Springville

Springwater

Stafford

Starkey

Starrett Tract

Stockton

Strykersville

Summer Hill

Sweden

Syracuse

 

 

Thomas' Patent

Thurston

Tioga

Triangle

Troupsburgh

Trumansburgh

Truxton

Tully

Tyre

Tyrone

 

Ulysses

Union

Utica

 

Van Buren

Varna

Varysburgh

Veteran

Victor

Victory

Vienna

Villanova

Virgil

 

Wales

Walworth

Wampsville

Warsaw

Waterboro

Waterloo

Wayne

Webster

Weathersfield

Weathersfield Springs

Weedsport

West Aurora

West Bloomfield

West Dresden

West Groton

West Hill

West Mendon

West Otto

Western Reserve

Westfield

Wheatland

Wheeler

Whitestown

Williamson

Windsor

Wolcott

Woodhull

Wilson

Wyoming

Yates

York

 

The original Hotchkin's History of Western New York is un-indexed, but we had a real stroke of luck here.  We learned that Elsie Hotchkin Moon, the author's 2x-great grand-niece, with whom we collaborated on a Hotchkin genealogy back in the 1980s, had already indexed the book!  She was glad to provide her index to include.  Thanks to her and her collaborator, Gloriette Kingsley.

We offer this important book as a download, including the new index.  Previously it meritied an entire CD-ROM by itself, but we've organized so that you can download it for $4.00. (Please note that even with a high speed internet connection this book will take a few moments to download.)

 

 

Click on any of the images below to see pages from Hotchkin's History of Western New York.  (please note that these are low resolution images and that the ones in the download file are considerably higher resolution).

Title page:

  Hotchkin's History of Western New York title page

Table of contents:

Hotchkin's History of Western New York State:  TOC1 Hotchkin's History of Western New York State:  TOC2 Hotchkin's History of Western New York State:  TOC3 Hotchkin's History of Western New York State:  TOC4
Hotchkin's History of Western New York State:  TOC5 Hotchkin's History of Western New York State:  TOC6 Hotchkin's History of Western New York State:  TOC7 Hotchkin's History of Western New York State:  TOC8

How much would I pay for this book in its original hard cover paper form (if I could find it)?

We rarely see copies offered on eBay, but rare book dealers can often find a copy.  In October 2009, a copy was being offered on eBay with a "buy it now" price of $150.  In checking the online rare book dealers recently (and Hotchkin's History of Western New York definitely falls in that category), we located only one copy, and it too was priced at $150.  Obviously, neither of these copies has an index, something essential with a work of this size, and something we are grateful to be able to provide. 

What have "serious" historians said about Hotchkin's book?

Frederick Jackson Turner, the legendary historian of the American Frontier, included Hotchkin's History of Western New York in his list of the truly important source books about the American Frontier.  You simply do not find a more impressive or important recommendation than that. 

 


The CD-ROM version has been discontinued.  We now offer this book as a download -- please see above for details.

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