Chartered in 1939 by The Regents of the University of the State of New York     Welcome to     Vedder Research Library          The Greene County Historical Society

Genealogy Local History Archives Books by Staff Volunteering Disclaimer

Visit Bronck Museum, a National Historic Landmark that reflects 276 years of family ownership beginning in 1662.

Research Services Library Rules Index to GCHJ Historical Register Family & Friends Supporters Links

Online Catalog Catalog updates Acquisitions & Gifts CD-ROM Collection Photographs Postcards Maps

Vedder Research Library,    90 County Road 42,    Coxsackie, NY 12051
Travel Directions to the Vedder Research Library (Vedder Memorial Library) are the same as for Bronck Museum.
Phone: 518-731-1033 We are unable to return long-distance phone calls.
Hours: Tues & Wed 10am - 4pm; Saturday 9am - Noon; First Thurs of each month 7pm - 9pm
Volunteers are available to answer questions and give general guidance. Appointment is needed to see a specific staff member.


Vedder Research Library (VRL) collects, preserves, interprets, and makes accessible original material which records the history of Greene County, N.Y. It is not a lending library. VRL promotes public interest, understanding and enjoyment of the county's rich heritage. The Library aims to be a repository of selected materials, including:

• local government records including County Supervisor's accounts and county court documents
• personal and family papers of Greene County families, including Bronck (Bronk), Austin, Borthwick, Beach,
  Allen-DuBois-Decker, Dolan, Howland, Fox-Clark, Stone, Thomson-Cole, and Van Gelder-Pine
• business records from railroads, cement and sand companies, insurance agents, general stores,
  physicians, farmers, and the Catskill Mountain House
• local church, organization, and justice of the peace records
• genealogy materials, maps, and photographs.

Our holdings are continuously enriched by the donations of many generous individuals and organizations who place single items and entire collections in the care of this research library. If you are unsure about the records in your home, office, church or group, please contact VRL before discarding.

Due to the generosity of Kenneth Van Vechten Parks, the Vedder Research Library is supported in part by an endowment fund. If you are interested in contributing to or establishing an endowment fund please contact   The G.C.H.S., Financial Secretary, 164 High Hill Road, Catskill, NY 12414    The Greene County Historical Society is a recognized IRS not-for-profit educational corporation and donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. The Regents of the University of the State of New York, on June 16, 1939, granted absolute charter to The G.C.H.S. You can get a Greene County Historical Society membership online right now!

Note, the items listed on this page are not all of the resources available. The remainder will be phased in and will be available by the fourth quarter of next year, along with a computerized catalog. Meanwhile, library staff members will provide on-site assistance in the use of the collection, and suggest research strategies - free of charge. For those who are unable to visit the library, we will do research for a fee. VRL will consider requests for limited reproduction of material when such duplication can be done without injury to the material and when duplication does not violate donor agreements or copyright restrictions. In citing materials from manuscript collections located in this library, the form should be as follows (after identification of the item and title of collection): Vedder Research Library, Coxsackie, New York.

VRL publishes books and Greene County Historical Journal ISBN 0894-8135, conducts educational programs, holds special events and exhibits, and shares its archival resources with national museums, e.g. Smithsonian.


Dr. Clesson S. Bush is Vedder Research Library Cataloger
and New Baltimore Town Historian     Recent New Baltimore article
He currently is researching for a book on the history of the Town.
For the history, he would appreciate hearing from anyone with
recollections, correspondence, photographs, or other papers on the Town.


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Genealogy
The VRL's collections include printed genealogies, guides compiled by local genealogists, published vital records, cemetery inscriptions, and military records.


1. Vital statistics: 18th, 19th and early 20th century; 14,000+ records
2. Family names: various content and format filed by family name; 1,300+ folders
3. Master Index to Certain Volumes of Vital Notices from, 1810-1885, Greene County Newspapers; 64,000+ names
4. General Index to Greene County Surrogate Court Records 1800-1930. (1931 to present are located in the Greene County Courthouse)
5. Greene County Cemeteries Index, 18 volumes
6. Funeral Home Records: Brady (1890-1935), Deane and Deane (1885-1940), Millspaugh (1926-1940), Stevens (1888-1891)
7. Indexes to Brady Funeral Home Records, years 1876 ? 1969
8. State Censuses of Greene County: 1855, 1865, 1875, 1892, 1905, 1915, 1925
9. Federal Censuses of Greene County: 1790, 1800, 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930
10. Quaker Census: 1828
11. Civil War Veterans ? Greene County: unit, rank, date enlisted and discharged; 1,570+ names
12. Ashland and Jewett townships genealogical data; 2,000+ 5x8 index cards For content see Alfred Hartwig Collection Index.
13. Bronk Family Manuscripts ? Surname Guide; 800+ names

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Shirley McGrath volunteer since February 1995, supervises researchers and library daily bookkeeping, performs genealogy research and family history. Genealogy questions e-mail: gchsvl@mhcable.com

Local History
Books, periodicals, newspapers, manuscripts, ephemera, photographs and archival collections. Selected material from surrounding counties is also available.    Researching the History of Your House


1. Holdings include local authors as well as books owned by local residents.
2. Geographical & Proper names: village activities and events; 800+ folders Main vertical file folders
3. Personal albums, family histories, diaries, notes; & Business, Church, Hotel, School records; 1,350+ volumes Manuscript volumes
4. Newspapers loose and bound 200+ boxes
5. Newspapers on Microfilm: Cairo Herald (1924-1967); Catskill Record (1807-1895, 1987-1900, 1902-1905); Catskill Examiner (1858-1938); Greenville Local (1884-1917); Western Constellation (1800-1805); Windham Daily Journal (1857-1949)
6. Maps and Atlases: including 1856 map of Greene County from actual surveys, a valuable resource
   measuring approximately six feet by three feet and documenting property owners throughout the County at that time.
7. Photographs: nineteenth and twentieth century, arranged by subject; 10,000+ photos
8. Postcards: arranged by subject; 6,000+ postcards

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Stephen Schwebler is a library volunteer who is involved in setting up computer databases of collections such as the Photo Collection, Civil War Veterans of Greene County, and early periodicals such as The Weekender. Steve is a former research chemist who is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World, and Who's Who in Science & Engineering.

Archives
The archival collections contain wide-ranging assortment of items such as business and farm ledger books, church and school records, local clubs and organizations records, diaries, letters, maps, menus, minutes, photographs, programs, scrapbooks, and telephone directories. It can be as small as one item and as large as dozens of boxes of material.


1. Accumulations created by private individuals and/or by VRL staff, various content and format; 600+ boxes. Library oversize boxes
2. Private accumulations, memorial Collections; 200+ boxes: photos, diaries, letters, documents, clippings Manuscript boxes
3. Scrapbooks created by private individuals; 120+ Scrapbooks
4. Various oversize documents, maps; 100+ items
5. Bronck family 18th century papers; 500+ folders
6. Guide to the Bronk Manuscripts; 91 pages, content arranged by subject in alphabetical order
7. Personal and family papers of such Greene County families like Austin, Borthwick, Beach, Allen-DuBois-Decker, Dolan, Howland, Fox-Clark, Stone, Thomson-Cole, and Van Gelder-Pine

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Harvey Durham is Greene County Historical Society Trustee and Library Volunteer, life-long resident of Greene County with an enthusiastic interest in local history. Kathleen Durham is Library Volunteer and life-long resident of Greene County who shares her husband's interest in all things local.

Books by Staff

• Beecher, Raymond. Kaaterskill Clove: Where Nature Met Art. New York: Black Dome Press 2004.
  
• Beecher, Raymond and Harvey Durham. Around Greene County and the Catskills. Dover, NH : Arcadia Publishing, 1997.
• Beecher, Raymond. The Houghtalings: A Dutch-American family. (Greene County bicentennial) 1994
• Beecher, Raymond. Under Three Flags: A Hudson River Story. New York: Black Dome Press 1991.
  
• Beecher, Raymond. Out to Greenville and beyond: Historical sketches of Greene County. Cornwallville, N.Y. : Hope Farm Press, 1977.
• Beecher, Raymond, ed. Letters from a Revolution, 1775-1783; a selection from the Bronck Family papers at the Greene County Historical Society. Published jointly by the Greene County Historical Society and the New York State American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, 1973.

Raymond Beecher,   chosen as a 2007 Jefferson Awards Honoree, is the official Historian of Greene County, founder of the Thomas Cole National Historic Landmark Site, a past President and Chairman of the Board and currently Trustee Emeritus of the Greene County Historical Society, a past Librarian of the Vedder Research Library, and the author of hundreds of articles plus books on Greene County history e.g., Kaaterskill Clove: Where Nature Met Art    Phone: (518) 731-6822

David Dorpfeld is the Treasurer of the Greene County Historical Society and joined the library staff when he retired in August 2006.

Jerry Sterritt has lived in Greene County for 70+ years and has been a volunteer at the library since 1995

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Volunteering
What does it take to be a Vedder Research Library volunteer?
• Generally, no library experience is necessary.
• Flexible hours. Minimum of two hours per visit, once or twice a month at the volunteer's convenience.
• All involve the ability to pay close attention to detail, and require library staff to be reliable, punctual,
  and available to work as scheduled.
• Gray text, position filled.
• Please, consider the following work options:
1. MANUSCRIPT ASSISTANT dependable, accurate and conscientious; prepares hand written listing of scrapbook, file, or box content
2. CLERICAL ASSISTANT types, transcribes hand written notes into a computer file
3. LIBRARY ASSISTANT enjoys working with the public, helps walk-in clients in finding and use of library collection; when needed performs tasks for position #1 or #2 above
4. BOOK REFERENCE ASSISTANT reads shelves on a regular basis to ensure that book order on the shelf matches catalog listing, assists in re-shelving materials in the library collection
5. MAGAZINE REFERENCE ASSISTANT checks magazine collection on a regular basis to ensure that magazine order on the shelf matches catalog listing, assists in re-shelving materials in the library collection, prepares hand written listing of library held magazines
6. NEWSPAPER REFERENCE ASSISTANT able to climb a step ladder, identifies newspapers owned by the library: microfilm and paper (hard copy), identifies duplicates, microfilm and paper overlaps, ensures that hard copy newspaper order on the shelf matches prepared listing
7. RESEARCH ASSISTANT experience in writing descriptive paragraphs, proofreading, familiarity with Microsoft Word or WordPerfect; writes and files finding aids such as shelf-list cards - cards in the card catalog; may assist in genealogical service
8. CATALOGER ASSISTANT computer familiarity; creates a bibliographic record using PastPerfect Museum Software
9. DOCUMENT REPAIR ASSISTANT detail oriented, manual dexterity; assists with basic repairs to damaged library materials: books, documents, newspaper pages
10. GRAPHIC DESIGNER design skills; responsible for creating documents such as flyers, programs and advertisements for various programs and events as well as artwork for the library's website
11. WEB ASSISTANT required working knowledge of HTML, Java welcomed; designs, creates and maintains library website
12. ELECTRONIC MEDIA ASSISTANT familiarity with PC, digital camera, and basic imaging software like PhotoShop; uses digital technology to capture, enhance quality, and archive old photos
13. OFFICE EQUIPMENT TECHNICIAN familiarity with office machines, required work reference or other evidence of competence; performs hardware maintenance, diagnose hardware system problems, may involve adapting equipment to new uses
14. ELECTRONICS TECHNICIAN familiarity with PC, required work reference or other evidence of competence; service computing equipment and associated devices, performs hardware maintenance, may involve adapting equipment to new uses
15. COMPUTER SOFTWARE CONSULTANT proficient in support software, required work reference or other evidence of competence; monitors behavior of various software and resolves software problems as they arise.

	To request an application or to schedule your interview, please call the Librarian at 518-731-1033
Eric Maurer, employee of the Unified Court System, has volunteered evenings and weekends since 1995.	Evelyn Lein has lived in Coxsackie for 13 years and has been a volunteer at the library for 2 years.	Helen Mary Eckler volunteer since 1995, collected names and ages of all Greene County Civil War Soldiers, currently prepares hand written listing of archived documents.
Louise Messenger, library volunteer since 1985	Mary Pape, employee of the Unified Court System, library volunteer since 2001.
Charles A. Holtz provides computer hardware & software support E-mail: c_holtz@yahoo.com

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Vedder Research Library Disclaimer
      We are providing the information solely for the purpose of furthering the family research of those persons who live or have lived in Greene County, New York and their relatives. If you think there is a connection to your research, please consider contributing and sharing this information. Should you find the posting of your own family information to be intrusive or containing errors or omissions, please contact the Vedder Research Library via e-mail vedderlibrary@yahoo.com Two weeks is our average response time because of the limited staff and our 2.5 day work week.
      Every effort is made to ensure that the information on the Library's website is accurate however information should be verified independently before being used or relied on. All information is provided on an "as is" basis without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied as to the fitness of the information for any purpose, or to results obtained by individuals using the information. Any opinions and statements are those of the respective author(s) and do not necessarily state or reflect those of the Vedder Research Library and shall not constitute or imply endorsement or recommendation...
      The Library makes no warranty that the website service will be uninterrupted or error free or that any defects can be corrected. The content on this website may be changed or updated without notice; these changes may or may not be incorporated in any new version of the website.

Last updated:   2 July 2008      All Rights Reserved © 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Vedder Research Library