Introduction to Common School Records (1817-1846)
Town of Lansing
Tompkins County, New York

Common School districts within New York State were required to submit an annual report to the local Commissioner of Schools. This document is a listing of early inhabitants named on those reports, along with the corresponding School District number and reporting year. It is being provided to assist researchers in placing certain families in the Lansing area, when other records are not available.

 

To see the school records click on the alphabetical links in under Early School Records in the menu to the left.

In most cases, the person named is the Head of Household with children eligible to attend school (usually between 5 and 15 years of age). Original spellings are listed, along with any variations used. There is a large gap in the records between 1839 and 1845. Also, in many instances, district reports are missing for a given year. The original district reports include the number of children for each household, but their names were not given.

Many Lansing children lived close to town lines and attended districts in other towns. Those districts also reported to Lansing and are designated as follows.

	G	Town of Genoa in Cayuga County
	Gr	Town of Groton in Tompkins County

Other designations either identify positions held or are used as a key to unique records.

	a	Annex (division) report
	c	Commissioner
	d	Dividend report
	hd	Unidentified Harbor District
	i	Inspector
	j	Justice
	s	Superintendent
	t	Trustee or other officer

1	Lake Ridge District	17	Brown District (South)
2	Fenner Road - location unknown	18	Beebe/Haring School District
3	German District	19	Head School District
4	French District	20	Mutton Hollow School District
5	North Lansing District	21	Brown District (North)
6	Drake District	21G	North Lansing/Genoa - location unknown
7	Lansingville District	22	Lobdell School District
8	Newman/Munson District		Schools Not Shown
9	Ludlowville District	1Gr	West Groton School
10	North/Searles District	7G	Goodyear’s Corners - Genoa
11	East Lansing District	8G	Early Bell Town - Genoa
12	Midway - location unknown	9G	Fork in the Creek - Genoa
13	South Lansing District	11G	East Genoa, then Bell Town by 1845
14	Field School District	12G	Five Corners
15	Lake Road District	13G	Fork in the Creek - Genoa
16	Gibbs School District	15G	East Genoa

 

For more information concerning these records contact
Lansing Historical Association
P.O. Box 100
Lansing, New York 14882-0100
Email Louise Bement