WELCOME TO THE NEW HOME OF
ADAMS, NY HISTORY
AND GENEALOGY

Thank you for visiting the new home of Adams, NY History and Genealogy.  This web site offers vital records, newspaper transcriptions, biographies, DAR records, links, and much more for Adams, and south Jefferson County, NY.
Locations include, but are not limited to:

ADAMS   ADAMS CENTER   BELLEVILLE   ELLISBURG   HENDERSON   HENDERSON HARBOR   HONEYVILLE    LORRAINE    MANNSVILLE    NORTH ADAMS    RODMAN     SANDY CREEK    SMITHVILLE   WORTH
AND SOUTH JEFFERSON COUNTY, NY

Much of the information provided throughout this web site was obtained and/or provided by the Adams, NY town historian, as well as the Historical Association of South Jeff, and the Jefferson. County Journal.  Reproductions of Watertown Daily Times articles are done so with written permission.  The Adams, NY History and Genealogy web site is offered as a free service for visitors in an effort to preserve history and genealogy records for the area.  There are no membership fees associated with this site, and the information contained within these pages will always be free to visitors.

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This is a self-service web site and we hope you enjoy your visit and find exactly what you are looking for.  Enjoy and good luck in your search efforts!

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Where Towns and Villages of Jefferson County Got Their Names

Article dated October 18, 1919.  Reprinted by the Historical Association of South Jefferson c. 1990. Donated by Dr. Albert C. Reed, former resident of Lorraine, NY.  Compliation of Derivation of Names Applied to Our Local Communities. Many of Them Date Back 120 Years and Most of Them Are Over a Century Old.

ANTWERP:  name given in honor of Antwerp Co. (formed in Antwerp Belgium, by De Wolf), which owned large tracts of land in this and in the neighboring townships.  Village formerly called "Indian River."

BELLEVILLE:  name chosen by committee after Belleville Canada.  Formerly called "Halls Mills" after Giles Hall.

BLACK RIVER:  nameed after the river on the banks of which it stands.  Formerly called "Lockport," Kamargo is the Indian name for Black River.

BROWNVILLE:  named after Jacob Brown, first settler - - -  afterwards Major General in the U.S. Army.

BURRVILLE:  near here was a boulder for sharpening or burring stone tools of the Indians, and the name might have bee derived from this.

CAPE VINCENT:  named by M. LeRay after his son, Vincent, in 1811.  Formerly "Gravelly Point."

CARTHAGE:  the exact origin is not known, but it is believed that it was named from ancient Carthage.  It was formerly Long Falls.

CHAMPION:  after Henry Champion of Connecticut, one of early proprietors of town.

CHAUMONT:  after Mr. LeRay de Chaumont.  Formerly "Hungry Bay."

CLAYTON:  named in honor of Hon. John M. Clayton, U. S. Senator from Delaware, June 4, 1833.  Formerly "French Creek," then "Cornelia," and finally Clayton.

DEXTER:  after S. Newton Dexter of Whitesboro, interested in the business of the place.

ELLISBURG:  named from Lyman Ellis of Troy, NY, who settled as proprietor there in 1797.  Afterwards acted as agent.

EVANS MILLS:  from Ethni Evans, who bought the 192 acres composing the present site of the village, and built a dam and mill there.

FELTS MILLS:  named after John Felt, who purchased the mill there in 1813.

GLEN PARK:  so called from the glen formed by the Black River at this point.

GREAT BEND:  due to the great bend in the Black River at this point.

HENDERSON:  after Wlliam Henderson, one of the four, who bought the eleven towns of Constable.  Henderson Harbor.

HOUNSFIELD:  named after Ezra Hounsfield of Sheffield, England, one of the purchasers of the present township.  Named through influence of Augustus Sacket.

INGERSONS CORNERS:  after Isaac Ingerson, first settler.

JOACHIM:  named after Joachim Murat, king of Naples, the father of Lucien Murat, who found the hamlet.

KEENES STATION:  from Col. H. B. Keene, railway company's agent.  Formerly "Sprague's Corners," from Israel Sprague, one of the earliest settlers.

MANNSVILLE:  in honor of Newton Mann, one of the earliest settlers.

NATURAL BRIDGE:  in dry weather the water of the river finds its way by a subterranean passage under a mass of white limestone, constituting the surface rock over which the excess water flows in the rainy season.  A bridge has been built over this.

LAFARGEVILLE:  named after John La Farge July 4, 1823, proprietor of the site and owner of the La Farge mansion.  Formerly called "Log Mills."

LERAYSVILLE:  after J. D. Le Ray de Chaumont.  Le Ray's Manor House and land once stood here.

LIMERICK:   exact origin not known but believed to have been named from Limerick in Ireland.
 
LORRAINE:  originally "Malta."  Received its present name by an act of April 6, 1808 because there was another Malta in the state (Saratoga County).

OMAR:  named in 1842 from Omar of Dr. Johnson's allegorical tale in the English reader.  Formerly called "Mullett" and "Mudge's Mills".

ORLEANS CORNERS:  after New Orleans.  Suggested by the fame attained by that city at the end of the war.

OXBOW:  from bow or bend in the east branch of the Oswegatchie river, where it is built.

PAMELIA FOUR CORNERS: named after the township, which was named after Pamelia Williams, the wife of Jacob Brown of Brownville.

PERCH RIVER:  after the river and its finny denszens.  Formerly "Moffattville," after Isaac Moffatt.

 PHILADELPHIA:  named at first "Eizabethtown," but, because there is another town of the name in the state, it was changed to Benezet (after the Quaker Anthony Benezet).  Needless to say this name did not please, and the present name was finally chosen, many of the inhabitants coming from the City of Brotherly Love.

PIERREPONT MANOR:  named in 1822 by William C. Pierrepont, who assumed the estates of his father H. B. Pierrepont, and set up his residence here.  Formerly called "Bear Creek."

PILLAR POINT:  named from Pillarlike rocks along the shore.

PLESSIA:  on Plessis Creek.  Named from Plessis in France.  Formerly "Flat Rock."

REDWOOD: named by J. S. Foster from Redford, Clinton county, his late residence.  He desired a similar name.

RICES:  called from Rice family, early settlers of that section of the county.

RODMAN:  called "Pinckney," then "Harrison." then "RODMAN" after Daniel Rodman, then clerk of the assembly and a great favorite.

ROSIERE:  named from Alsatian village of the same name from which many settlers to that section of the county migrated.

RURAL HILL:  Post Office - - - named after Jebediah Hill, who located here in 1815.

RUTLAND:  name suggested by settlers from Vermont.

SACKET HARBOR:  named after Augustus Sacket, who formerly owned the 1,700 acres making up the present village.

SANFORDS CORNERS:  named after a Mr. Sanford, who owned a stone building there (Calcium).  Formerly Jewetts Corners.  Would be fittingly called Woodruff Corners.

SLOCUMVILLE:  named after Samuel G. Slocum, father of Caleb Slocum, the proprietor.

SMITHVILLE:  named after Jesse Smith, the proprietor.

STERLINGBURG:  named from James Sterling the proprietor.

STERLINGVILLE:  named after James Sterling - - - originator of the works that made the village.

ST. LAWRENCE:  changed by the P. O. Department (because another office in the state bore that same name from Lawrenceville, after a Miss Lawrence, who owned much of the land).

STONE MILLS:  named from Collins Pratt stone grist mill, 1820.  Formerly called "Collins Mills."

STROUGH:  the Strough family was one of the early settlers of this section.

THERESA:  named after Theresa, daughter of Mr. LeRay, and wife of Marquis de Gouvello.

THREE MILE BAY:  a bay three miles from Chaumont.

TIBBITT's POINT:  named after Captain John Tibbitts of Troy, NY, who received a patent of the land.

TYLERVILLE:  named after Josiah Tyler, who erected the first store in 1810.

WATERTOWN:  probably names from Watertown, MA, considered appropriate because of the river along its border.

WHITESVILLE:  named after Thomas Whiten, who founded it in 1802.  

WILNA:  no reliable information, but according to Emerson's history said to be derived from Vilna or Wilna in Russia.  

WOODVILLE:  named from the Wood family:  Ebenezer, Ephraim and Jacob Wood (sons of Nathaniel of Vermont), who settled the place.  Formerly "Wood's Settlement."
 
WORTH:  named after General W. J. Worth of the U. S. Army, personally in this county during the Patriot disturbances.