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

School Map

schoolmap

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