New York State Division of Lands and Forests Cockburn Field Notes, Land Records, and Maps

Roughly chronological.

William Cockburn (?-1804) from Berwickshire, Scotland, settled in Kingston, Ulster County, New York in the early 1760s and was employed as a surveyor, land agent, and speculator in Ulster County and throughout the state and Vermont. As a teacher and employer he influenced many of New York States' surveyors. He married Catherine Trumpbour (also spelled Tremper) of Palatine German descent. They had five children including James (ca. 1775-1848) and William Jr. who accompanied their father on surveying expeditions as did his nephew Jacob Trumpbour Jr. John Kiersted Sr. (1786-1862) of Saugerties was a frequent surveyor for the Cockburns and in later years James Cockburn's son Walter A. also participated. William Cockburn is buried in Mount Marion Cemetery, Kingston, New York.

This series is comprised of land records (survey notes, copies of deeds, maps, quit claims, and indentures) created or accumulated by William Cockburn, his sons William Jr. and James, and his grandson Walter A. Cockburn, and maintained by the Division of Lands and Forests. The series contains three small bound volumes; miscellaneous survey notes, drawings, and maps arranged by date; and one disbound folio containing miscellaneous large maps. The three small bound volumes include: One household account book created by an unidentified member of the Cockburn Family (ca. 1881-1882); Survey notes of William Cockburn (ca. 1755), which appear to be copies of the original narrative courses and distances included in letters patents for lands along the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers and including Dutchess, Ulster, Greene, Albany, Rensselaer, and Saratoga Counties;

survey notes of Walter A. Cockburn (1859-1884), which contain a variety of surveys performed under contract to individuals and relating to the Hurley Patentee Woods in Ulster County. The miscellaneous survey notes, drawings, and maps (1766-1822) relate primarily to the Hurley Patentee Woods, the Saw Kill Road/ Jockey Hill region outside Kingston, and the town of Duane in Franklin County. Included in the material removed from the disbound folio are approximately 23 monochrome and hand-colored maps of towns and allotments in Clinton, Delaware, Franklin, Greene, Oswego, and Ulster Counties. The disbound folio also contains miscellaneous survey notes, maps, and two items of personal correspondence of Walter A. Cockburn.

High resolution images of selected original documents in this series are available in State Archives Digital Collections.

Cockburn Family Land Papers, Manuscripts and Special Collections, New York State Library.

These records were transferred to the State Archives in May 2001 and accessioned in July 2001. For what purposes and what functions these records were maintained by the agency is unknown. A bound folio included in the accession was disbound; the material included in the folio was placed in folders and maintained in its original order.

Restricted. Material is fragile. Use under supervision of an archivist.