Place:Otsego, New York, United States

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Otsego County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. The 2010 population was 62,259. The county seat is Cooperstown. The name Otsego is from a Mohawk word meaning "place of the rock."

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

For History of Otsego County before 1789 see Montgomery County.

In 1789, Ontario County was split off from Montgomery. The area split off from Montgomery County was much larger than the present county, as it included the present Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Orleans, Steuben, Wyoming, Yates, and part of Schuyler and Wayne counties.

The formation of Otsego County

Otsego County was one of three counties split off from Montgomery (the other two being Herkimer, and Tioga). Otsego County was officially established on February 16, 1791, with Cooperstown as its county seat, although at the time the village of Cherry Valley was much larger. The original county consisted of three large townships:

• Cherry Valley in the northeast,
• Otsego in the northwest, and
• Harpersfield in the south.

Otsego and Cherry Valley together roughly covered the area of modern Otsego County, while Harpersfield covered the area south of the current county as far as the Delaware River.

The original appointments to Otsego County government positions, made by Governor George Clinton included:

• Richard R. Smith, county sheriff, from Otsego township,
• Jacob Morris, county clerk, from Otsego township,
• William Cooper, chief judge, from Otsego township,
• Jedediah Peck, associate justice from Otsego township,
• Edward Griswold, associate justice from Cherry Valley
• Platt Townsend, associate justice from Harpersfield,
• Alexander Harper, commander of the county militia, from Harpersfield.

The founding of new towns

By 1793, four towns had been added to the county by division of the existing towns:

• The Otsego township had been divided into the towns of:
  • Burlington in the west,
  • Otsego in the northeast,
  • Richfield in the north, and
  • Unadilla in the south.
• Harpersfield had been divided into the towns of:
  • Franklin in the west and
  • Harpersfield in the east.

Areas of Otsego County used to form new counties

The area of Otesgo County was reduced by a number of subsequent splits.

In 1795, a piece of Otsego County was joined with a portion taken from Albany County to create Schoharie County.

In 1797, a piece of Otsego County was joined with a portion taken from Ulster County to create Delaware County.

Timeline

Population History

source: Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990

Research Tips

External links

• Outstanding guide to Otsego County family history and genealogy resources (FamilySearch Research Wiki). Birth, marriage, and death records, censuses, wills, deeds, county and town histories, cemeteries, churches, newspapers, libraries, and genealogical societies.
• www.rootsweb.com/~nyotsego/