Source Information

Cuccinello, Karen, ed.. Cayuga County, New York Directory, 1867-68 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999.
Original data: Cayuga County, New York Directory, 1867-68. n.p.

About Cayuga County, New York Directory, 1867-68

Located in west-central New York State, Cayuga County was formed in 1799 and was home to nearly 60,000 persons in 1870. This database is a transcription of a county directory originally published in 1868. Because it is a directory of families, only the name of the head of the family is provided. It also reveals the town of residence and person's occupation and town of residence. The names of over 8400 individuals are given in this collection. For those seeking New York ancestors, this database can be a great source of information.

City directories are primarily useful for locating people in a particular place and time. They can tell you generally where an ancestor lived and give an exact location for census years. They are also useful for linkage with sources other than censuses.

There are usually several parts to a city directory. The section of most interest to the genealogist, of course, is the alphabetical listing of names, for it is there that you may find your ancestor.

Whenever you use a directory, however, it is important to refer to the page showing abbreviations used in the alphabetical section of the directory, usually following the name in each entry. Some abbreviations are quite common, such as h for home or r, indicating residence. There may even be a subtle distinction between r for residents who are related to the homeowner and b for boarders who are not related.

Some city directories list adult children who lived with their parents but were working or going to school. Look for persons of the same surname residing at the same address. If analyzed and interpreted properly, these annual directories can tell you (by implication) which children belong to which household, when they married and started families of their own, and when they established themselves in business. In cases where specific occupation is given, you can search records pertinent to that occupation.

Once an ancestor has been found in a city directory, there are several ways the information can be used to gain access to, or link with, such sources as censuses, death and probate records, church records, naturalization records, and land records.

Taken from Chapter 11: Research in Directories, The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy by Gordon Lewis Remington; edited by Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking (Salt Lake City, UT: Ancestry Incorporated, 1997).