Local History
WAYNE COUNTY IS HISTORIC TO THE CORE!
WITHIN THE ROLLING HILLS, COUNTRY FARMS, AND QUAINT VILLAGES THERE ARE OVER 1200 HISTORIC SITES AND MARKERS THAT BEGIN TO TELL THE STORY OF THE PEOPLE AND PLACES WE CALL WAYNE COUNTY.
Wayne County's vast history started with early native inhabitants who roamed the area hunting and foraging alongside pre-colonial visitors. Next were the European settlers, colonists, statesmen and their families who inhabited the land. There were economic challenges before the Erie Canal, social influences of change throughout the 19th century, and other productive contributions of the 20th and 21st centuries that came from the hills of Wayne County NY.
Resources for Research
Local Historic Sites: The Wayne Historians Historic Sites database www.WayneHistorians.org has over 1254 historic sites in the database listed in various categories. Those categories can be broken down into sub-categories.
Researching Your Civil War Ancestors - Getting Started
Basic Questions:
Who in your family tree could have served in the Civil War?
What Regiment could he have served in?
Where was he living prior to his service?
When would he have enlisted?
Why did he enlist or was he drafted?
How would you describe his service experience?
General Sources:
-
Library of Congress Digital Collections related to Civil War Regiments- Digital Resources - Civil War Regimental Histories: A Guide to Finding Unit Information - Research Guides at Library of Congress (loc.gov) - FREE
-
National Archives (NARA) - Military Resources: Civil War | National Archives; Civil War Records: Basic Research Sources | National Archives. Compiled military records and pensions available. Fee.
-
National Parks Service – Soldiers and Sailors Database - Soldiers and Sailors Database - The Civil War (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov) - FREE
-
Civil War Research Database - American Civil War Research Database (civilwardata.com) – Annual Fee $25
-
U.S. Army Heritage Center, Carlisle, PA - The Civil War Sesquicentennial - Archival Material - Civil War Commemoration - U.S. Army Center of Military History
-
Ancestry.com and Fold3.com – both subscription sites. Many local public libraries have access to Ancestry.com. Fold3 has a main focus on military records in the National Archives.
-
Familysearch.org – Family trees; not necessarily Civil War references. FREE
New York Resources:
-
NY Military Museum - US Civil War, 1861 - 1865 :: New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center (ny.gov) https//museum.dmna.ny.gov
-
New York State Library - Selected Civil War Resources: Military History: Research Library: NYS Library (nysed.gov); www.nysl.nysed.gov/reference/military/cwresources.htm.
-
New York State Archives - Military Records | New York State Archives (nysed.gov); www.archives.nysed.gov/research/military-records.
Wayne County Resources:
-
Military History of Wayne County, New York, Lewis H. Clark, 1883 – Available online at several sites – Cornell University, Making of America Collection - Cornell University Library Making of America Collection; Internet Archive - Military history of Wayne County, N.Y. : the County in the Civil War : Clark, L. H. (Lewis H.) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive; Google Books - Military History of Wayne County, N.Y.: The County in the Civil War - Lewis H. Clark - Google Books
-
History of Wayne County, New York, Professor McIntosh, 1876 - Each town has a list of soldiers who served in the Civil War. A copy of this can be accessed at with membership at Wayne County Museum of History.
-
9th NY Heavy Artillery, Alfred E. Roe, 1899. Available on Internet Archive - Full text of "The Ninth New York heavy artillery. A history of its organization, services in the defenses of Washington, marches, camps, battles, and muster-out ... and a complete roster of the regiment" (archive.org)
-
Wayne County Historian’s Office - Historian | Wayne County, NY (https://web.co.wayne.ny.us/398/Historian) – Surname files, diaries, letters, census records, etc.