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Please add profiles for those who were born, lived or died in Chautauqua County, New York.
Official Website
History
Most of Chautauqua County was held by the Erie people prior to the Beaver Wars in the 1650s. French forces traversed the territory beginning in 1615. The Seneca Nation conquered the territory during the Beaver Wars and held it through the next century until siding with the British crown, their allies for most of the 18th century, against the American revolutionaries in the American Revolutionary War.
Chautauqua County was organized by the state legislature during the development of western New York after the American Revolutionary War. It was officially separated from Genesee County on March 11, 1808. This partition was performed under the same terms that produced Cattaraugus and Niagara counties. The partition was done for political purposes, but the counties were not properly organized for self-government, so they were all administered as part of Niagara County.
On February 9, 1811, Chautauqua was completely organized, and its separate government was launched. This established Chautauqua as a county of 1,100 square miles of land. Chautauqua has not been altered since.
It is located south of Lake Erie and includes a small portion of the Cattaraugus Reservation of the Seneca.
Adjacent Counties
Cities & Towns, Hamlets & Communities
Arkwright | Ashville | Busti | Carroll | Charlotte | Chautauqua | Chautauqua Lake | Cherry Creek | Clymer | Dunkirk | Ellery | Ellicott | Ellington | Findley Lake | French Creek | Gerry | Hamlet | Hanover | Harmony | Irving | Jamestown | Kiantone | Mayville (County Seat) | Mina | North Harmony | Poland | Pomfret | Portland | Ripley | Sheridan | Sherman | Stockton | Villenova | Westfield
Cattaraugus Reservation is an Indian reservation of the Seneca Nation of New York, located partly in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population of this portion of the reservation was 38 at the 2010 census. Most of the inhabitants are of the Seneca tribe. This part of the reservation is small. The remainder of the reservation is in Erie and Cattaraugus counties.
Links
National Register of Historic Places
Chautauqua County Genealogical Society
Painted Hills Genealogical Society
