The state law that established Chautauqua County. Sections of the text that apply exclusively to other counties have been excised.
Session Laws of 1808 page 39
Chapter XL [40] An act to divide the county of Genesee into several counties, and for other purposes. Passed March 11, 1808
Be it enacted by the people of the state of New York, represented in senate and assembly, … and that that part of the
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county of Genesee, bounded north by the middle of the main stream of Cattaraugus creek and Lake Erie, west by Lake Erie, and the west bounds of the state of New-York, south by the north bounds of Pennsylvania, and east by the meridian line, being the dividing line between the ninth and tenth ranges of townships of the land aforesaid, and a line to be run from the termination of the said last mentioned meridian line, north, on the same course, till it intersects the north boundary thereof aforesaid, be erected into a county, by the name of Chautauque…
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That the said counties of Chautauque and Cattaraugus shall be organized and for all county purposes shall act in conjunction with the county of Niagara. As a part thereof, and shall respectively remain so organized until they shall respectively contain five hundred taxable inhabitants, qualified to vote for members of assembly, which shall be ascertained in the following manner, to wit: The supervisors of the said counties of Niagara, Chautauque and Cattaraugus, at their annual meetings, shall ascertain , from the assessment rolls of the towns in the said counties of Chautauque and Cattaraugus, the number of inhabitants of those counties respectively qualified to vote as aforesaid, and when they shall respectively amount to five hundred, the said supervisors shall certify the same, under their hands and seals, to the person administrating the government of the state, for the time being, and that there after the said counties of Chautauque and Cattaraugus shall respectively be organized as separate counties…
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And be it further enacted, that the governor, in his discretion, shall appoint three persons commissioners to explore the counties of Chautauque and Cattaraugus, and designate and fix the site for a court-house and jail in and for the said counties respectively, within one year from the passing of the act, in writing under their hands and seals, to be filed of record in the clerk’s office of the county of Niagara; and that said commissioners shall receive a reasonable compensation for their services, to be audited and allowed by the supervisors of the said counties
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respectively, or a majority of them, at their first annual meeting: Provided, That the concurrence of any two of the said commissioners, in case of the non-attendance of the other shall be conclusive in the premises.
And be it further enacted, That the supervisors of the counties of Chautauque and Cattaraugus respectively, at their first annual meeting, after the organization of the said counties respectively, as described in the second section of this act, a sum not exceeding fifteen hundred dollars, in each county, for building a court-house and jail in and for the said counties of Chautauque and Cattaraugus respectively, with the addition of five cents on each dollar for collecting the same, which said monies shall be levied and collected in the same manner as the other contingent charges of the said counties shall be levied and collected.
And be it further enacted, That the supervisors in the counties of Chautauque and Cattaraugus respectively, or a majority of them, at their said first annual meeting, after the organization of the said counties respectively as aforesaid, shall contract with such person or persons as they, or a majority of them, shall judge most expedient and proper, for a sum not exceeding fifteen hundred dollars, for erecting the court-house and jail for the said counties of Chautauque and Cattaraugus respectively, at such places as shall be designated and fixed for that purpose by the said commissioners herein before directed to be appointed to designate and fix the same, and in such manner, and on such plan as the
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Said supervisors, or a majority of them, shall prescribe; and that the treasurers of the said counties respectively, shall pay to the said contractor or contractors, on the order of the said supervisors, the sum to draw for, out of the monies that shall be paid to the said treasurers pursuant to the act…
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And be it further enacted, That until the holding of the first term of the court of common pleas and general session of the peace, in the said county of Niagara as aforesaid, all deeds, mortgages, and conveyances, or writings relating to real property, situate in the said counties of Niagara, Chautauque and Cattaraugus, shall be recorded in the clerk’s office, in the county of Genesee; and after the holding of such first term as aforesaid, in the said county of Niagara, all deeds, mortgages, conveyances and writings, whereby any real estate, situate in either of the said counties may be affected, either in law or equity, shall be recorded in the clerk’s office in the said county of Niagara, until
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the holding of the first term of the court of common pleas and general sessions of the peace, in the said counties of Chautauque and Cattaraugus respectively, as aforesaid; and that thereafter, all deeds, mortgages, conveyances and writings, whereby any estate situate in the said counties of Chautauque and Cattaraugus respectively, may be affected, either in law or in equity, shall be recorded in the said counties of Chautauque and Cattarauges respectively, according to provisions of the act, entitled and act concerning the proof of deeds and conveyances…
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And be it further enacted, That that part of the county of Chautauque lying east of a line to be run, beginning on the Pennsylvania line, with the meridian, being the division line between the eleventh and twelfth ranges of townships of the land aforesaid, and running north on the said meridian till it intersects the division line between the fourth and fifth tiers of townships of the land aforesaid; thence west on the last mentioned division line till it intersects the meridian, being the division line between the twelfth and thirteenth ranges of townships of the land aforesaid; and thence north on the said last mentioned meridian to the boundary line between the United States and the dominions of the king of Great-Britain, be erected into a town by the name of Pomfret; and that the first town-meeting, in the said town of Pomfret, be held at the dwelling house of Elisha Mann; and that the remaining part of the said county be erected into a town by the name of Chautauque, and the first town meeting, in the said town of Chautauque, be held at the dwelling house of John Scott…
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And be it further enacted, that so much of this act as related to the forming of new towns shall take effect from and after the day preceding the first Tuesday of April next. [i. e. Monday, April 4, 1808]
Note the original, in the sense of the first official, spelling of Chautauqua.
From the minutes of the 1859 annual meeting of the Board of Supervisors.
Tuesday, October 11th [1859]
The select Committee to whom was referred the petition of Hon. E. T. Foote and others, asking that the name of this County be spelled with a final a instead of e, submitted a preamble and resolution, which were adopted, the former setting forth the belief that the change prayed for was in accordance with the pronunciations of the aborigines from whom the name of our County is derived, and will tend to correct the same; the latter as follows:
Ordered, That the Clerk of this Board be directed in all our records and correspondence to spell the name of our County with a terminating a instead of e ; thus, Chau-tau-qua; and that the officers of the County and of the several towns, and all others who have occasion to write or print the name, be requested to do the same. The Clerk was directed to forward a copy of the said order to the State, District and County officers, and the publishers of papers of the County, and request them to conform to the change indicated.
Ordered, that the County Clerk be and is hereby directed to change the County seal of the County, so that the spelling of the name shall be Chautauqua, in accordance with a resolution this day adopted by this Board.
