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| A classic of New York State history and genealogy: Hotchkin's History of Western New-York |
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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. |
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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:
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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
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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 $7.50. (Please note that even with a high speed internet connection this book will take a few moments to download.)
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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:
Table of contents:
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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.
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Between the Lakes Group is located at 372 Between the Lakes Road, in Salisbury, Litchfield County, Connecticut. More specifically, we're in Taconic -- a hamlet in the Twin Lakes area of the Town of Salisbury. Questions about us or about our products? Go to our Frequently Asked Questions page.
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