This collection was preserved and made accessible online through the NYG&B's Digitize New York initiative.
This collection consists of 19th century manuscripts documenting the personal, legal, and financial activities of families in Delaware County, New York. Materials include diaries, account books, and family Bibles.
The materials provide insight into daily life, local commerce, and civic participation in rural New York communities during the 19th century. Subjects represented include business operations, family structure, legal practice, and regional events such as the Anti-Rent War. Together, the materials offer a detailed record of both individual experience and broader social and economic life in the Catskills region.
This collection was digitized in partnership with the Delaware County Historical Association.
Use the waypoint links to navigate to each volume to browse.
The Diary of Mathew Griffin (1845–1861)
Matthew Griffin (1811–1903) worked as a store clerk before opening his own business in Griffins Corners at the age of 25. While managing the store, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1851. Griffin continued to oversee his business interests while developing an extensive legal practice. He married Clarissa Dodge at age 22, and the couple had seven children, five of whom survived to adulthood. From 1872 to 1874, Griffin served as a member of the State Assembly.
Griffin’s diary was discovered in a carriage barn by Emerson Crosby Kelly in 1916 and donated to the Delaware County Historical Association in 1970. Portions relating to the Anti-Rent War of 1845 were transcribed and published in the Catskill Mountain News in 1945. In addition to documenting daily life and local events, much of the diary also functioned as an account book.
Cora Livingston Barton Rent Book
The Cora Livingston Barton Rent Book documents landholdings in the Montgomery Tract of Great Lot No. 40 in the Hardenburgh Patent, as well as property in Rhinebeck, Dutchess County. The Montgomery Tract had previously belonged to Janet Livingston Montgomery, Cora’s aunt, and passed to Cora following her death. The volume covers the early to mid-19th century and is organized by tenant, with one or more pages dedicated to each individual or tenancy.
Family Bibles
These Bibles contain genealogy pages and are organized alphabetically by family surname.
Archibald-Bovina (1830)
Arnold-Sands (1868)
Beardsley (1855)
Byse-Boice (1817)
Cummings (1805)
Hanford-Smith (1807)
Hutson (1834)
Lovell (1829)
Mullin (1854)
Scott (1861)
Sloan (1833)
Smith-Fisher (1901)
Swart (1812)
Vanderwerken-DeForest (1853)
Wood-Olin (1829)
About the Delaware County Historical Association
The Delaware County Historical Association was founded in 1945 to preserve and present the rich history of Delaware County. In the early 1960s, the Association purchased property, originally settled by Gideon Frisbee. Today, DCHA has over 600 members and presents the history and folklife of this county through the site's historic buildings, exhibits, programs and publications.