One of the more important sets of records in Cazenovia's historical resources are what are called
the Town Road Books. These are really the early Town Minute Books, begun n 1804, but because laying out and maintaining roads were the primary
duties of the town fathers, the books were from the start called the Town Road Books. There are two concurrently kept books, with one volume
consisting of the minutes of the Town meetings with appointments, resolutions, disbursements, school and road district descriptions, etc., and the other
book consisting of hundreds of pages of detailed surveys of each road and records of when they were surveyed, opened, and in some cases abandoned.
While the existing "Town Road Books" were begun in 1804 it is clear that there were an earlier set of books from which some information, primarily road surveys, were transcribed, and then they were destroyed. The descriptions of the Road Districts, transcribed here, begin in 1804, while the road surveys date back almost a decade to 1795 when the community was first being settled (1793). It is clear that earlier records were kept from 1798 when the Town of Cazenovia was formed., but the records were reorganized in 1804 and those records deemed important were copied into the present books and the rest discarded. Thus we do not know who the first Town Officers were nor what Road Districts were defined.
The Town Road Books also include wonderful records of what concerns and interests the community fathers had, and there are records of the local animal pound, the organization of school districts (as well as description of the districts and notation of any changes).
This transcript is intended to include only that information pertaining to roads and the people who were assigned to maintain them. The town officials organized the various highways of the Town into manageable districts which were maintained by an appointed individual who lived along the roads of the district. Generally the districts include short segments of roads, with a beginning and end point being noted, and often segments of nearby and adjoining roads are included. Landmarks used to describe the location of the roads include names of residents (from the corner near Jabez Abell's) or other landmarks (to the center of the long causeway at the head of the lake) Each of these entries is helpful, especially so when used in conjunction ot maps and deeds, to determine where these roads are and where people lived. The descriptions change very little from year to year, but subtle changes in the wording, changes in landmarks and references, and other differences are helpful in seeing the evolution of the community's roads. I have transcribed each year from 1804 up to 1832. The records continue for many years following, and I may eventually get to those later records.
I have not yet conducted the research necessary to determine which roads are being described, but having worked with the Town Road Books, deeds, maps, and other sources for many years (I conducted most of this transcription in 1985) I am fairly well versed in which roads are being described and where many of the people mentioned resided.
If you would like information on a particular road segment or where a person lived as described in the Town Road Book, e-mail me and let me know the year and the district and I will be glad to try to determine the location.
(no records before 1804)
1810 | 1811 | 1812 | 1813 | 1814 | 1815 | 1816 | 1817 | 1818 | 1819
1820 | 1821 | 1822 | 1823 | 1824 | 1825 | 1826 | 1827 | 1828 | 1829
1830 | 1831 | 1832 (later years not yet transcribed)