The Town of Jerusalem and Its Records
The district of Jerusalem was organized in 1789 as part of Ontario
County, and then included the present towns of Benton, Milo and Torrey
as well as modern Jerusalem. It was named in deference to the "New Jerusalem"
established there by the presence of the Public Universal Friend and
her society. There was enough population by 1798 to organize a town;
when Benton was taken off in 1803, the town of Jerusalem was left with
township seven in the second range of Phelps & Gorham's Purchase,
and that part of the seventh township in the first range that lay west
of Keuka Lake; the part of Bluff Point south of the seventh township
was annexed from Steuben County in 1814. A small part of the village
of Penn Yan is in the town, several annexed parcels west of a line that
passes just west of Lakeview Cemetery. Jerusalem was one of Yates County's
five original towns.
Jerusalem is the largest town in the county, geographically. It has
by far the longest shoreline, from Penn Yan south along the west side of
the east branch of Keuka Lake to the tip of Bluff Point, then up the
east side of the west branch to Branchport, then back down the west side
to the county line. Consequently, it faces a very great development
pressure as lakefront and lakeview lots are converted from seasonal to
year-round occupancy. Resorts began to spring up in Jerusalem in the
last years of the 19th century, and recreational tourism has remained a
strong component of the town's economy.
Keuka College is located in the hamlet of Keuka Park, on the east
branch a few miles south of Penn Yan; it was founded in 1890 largely
through a local subscription effort and is now the county's sole
institution of higher learning, a four-year undergraduate college with
about 900 students.
Besides Branchport, which for a brief period beginning about 1870
incorporated as a village, Guyanoga and Indian Pines are hamlets within
the town. The old crossroads at Kinney's Corners is now called Bluff
Point after its long-time post office.
The town hall is in a former stone schoolhouse in Branchport, at 3816
Italy Hill Road.
The following series of records are on microfilm, and except for the
vital records may be viewed at the town hall, at the Yates County
Historian's office in Penn Yan, or at the NY State Library in
Albany.
RECORDS ON MICROFILM
ASSESSMENT ROLLS - 18 rolls:
AR.4.1. 1866-1972 (missing 1868-70, 1883, 1887, 1900,
1904)
MINUTE BOOKS
1798-December 1993 [The first book 1799-1868 has been indexed]
VITAL RECORDS REGISTERS
Births, deaths and marriages 1884-1909 [INDEX],
Delayed birth registrations 1868-1937,
Delayed birth registrations 1880-1935, Deaths 1909-1913, Births 1909-1913,
Births and deaths 1914-1922, Births and deaths 1922-1926, Births and
deaths 1926-1931; Births and deaths 1931-1936, Births 1942-1949 and
1957, Deaths 1941-1950, Deaths 1951-1958, Deaths 1959-1966, Deaths 1966-1968,
Births 1977-1992 and deaths 1968-1991, Deaths 1991-1994 and births 1993,
Marriages 1908-1938, Marriages 1938-1971, Marriages 1971-1993
HIGHWAY SURVEYS
Minute Books, 1798 - February 1927, includes Record of Roads 1798-1850
and highway districts for 1816; name index [Commissioners of Highway
minutes 1900-1906, see under District School Records below; the first
volume Record of Roads 1798-1820 has been indexed.]
CHATTEL MORTGAGES AND CONDITIONAL SALES INDEXES
Chattel Mortgages
1875-1906; 1907-1918; 1919-1929; 1929-1936; 1937-1941; 1943-1956;
1956-1964; Conditional Sales 1922-1941; 1942-1956; 1956-1964
JUSTICE DOCKETS
Papers (criminal cases) 1903-1950; (civil cases
and summary procedings) 1970-1979 ; Papers (conservation violations and
misdemeanors) 1926-1974; (criminal case files) 1970-1979; Docket of
Justices VanTuyl and Bronson 1888-1891; Barrow, Bishop, Swift and Rogers
1896-1908; Davis, Hibbard and Keech 1896-1919; Culver (civil) 1900-1916;
Hibbard and Keech (civil) 1900-1909; Bishop, Swift and Rogers (civil)
1901-1907; Culver (criminal) 1901-1914; Justice Keech (civil) 1909-1919;
Miller and Davis (civil) 1913-1932; Miller, Miller and Benedict (civil)
1913-1936; Whitney and Gelder (criminal) 1918-1929; Davis (criminal)
1921-1928; McConnell and Benedict (criminal) 1923-1937; Whitney (civil)
1924-1929; Davis (civil) 1930; Justice Davis 1931-1957; Smith (criminal)
1932-1933; Loomis (civil) 1934-1937; Loomis (criminal) 1935-1938;
Benedict (criminal) 1937-1944; Benedict (civil) 1937-1950; Burke (civil)
1943-1957; Benedict (criminal) 1944-1950; Burke (criminal) 1944-1957;
Justice Benedict (criminal) 1950-1956; Benedict (civil) 1951-1959;
Benedict 1956-1959; Wheeler (civil) 1960-1962; Wheeler (criminal)
1960-1963
DISTRICT SCHOOL RECORDS
Commissioners of Common Schools minutes
1839-1910; School money apportionments 1882-1928; Teachers' pay vouchers
1899-1927; Attendance officers' books 1910-1919; Miscellaneous records
1911-1914; Certificates of appropriation and school fund receipts and
payments 1931-1933; Tax collectors' receipts 1932; Certificates of
appropriation 1941-1944; District boundary changes 1935-1967; School tax
lists and warrants 1909-1941; School tax lists and warrants 1942-1948;
Miscellaneous Records: Civil War service record 1861-1865; Board of
Auditors' minutes 1859-1896; Board of Health minutes 1882-1929;
Commissioners of Highway minutes 1900-1906
OVERSEER OF THE POOR AND WELFARE RECORDS
Account books 1908-1961;
Reports 1898-October 1933; Reports November 1933-December 1934; 1934
Commodity Requests; Receipts 1934; Reports January 1935-April 1935;
May-December 1935; Home Relief Orders January-September 1935; Home
Relief Orders October-December 1935; Reports January-December 1936;
Receipts and Orders 1936; 1937; January-February 1938; March
1938-December 1939; January 1940-December 1941; Receipts 1941
OATHS OF OFFICE AND MISCELLANEOUS RECORDS
[see under District School Records above]