George Conover was a well-respected historian of the Geneva and Ontario County area. He served as a Geneva Village Trustee and President.

The DeZeng family were involved in several ventures in the early to late 1800s in Geneva, including in the founding of Trinity Church and Hobart College.

The heart of the collection documents Thomas D. Burrall's career as an inventor. Present are eight U. S. Patent Certificates, complete with much technological detail and, in four cases, drawings for a clover seed cleaning and hulling machine, 1923; a thrashing and winnowing machine for wheat or small grain, 1830; a cook stove, 1835; a threshing machine, 1832/1837; a reaping and mowing machine, 1856; and a corn shredder, 1863, for which a metal scale model and an advertising card are also included. In four cases, the patent certificates are signed by historic figures: James Monroe, John Q. Adams, or Andrew Jackson. Three diplomas, from Union College, Schenectady, NY and Yale, New Haven, CT, document Burrall's academic career. An 1850 listing of Yale graduates show that Burrall's was an old Yale family with graduates in 1771, 1781, and 1826. Also present is Burrall's appointment as an attorney in New York in 1810 and two books owned by Burrall: Cowper's poems and the biography of a Litchfield, CT missionary. Also included is ancillary material on a Burrall family ancestor, John Howell Wells: a Wells' family tree, an 1837 public land sale document to Margaret Mott, Ontario County, NY, two Rev War-period appointments, and an indenture of Apprenticeship between two Geneva, Ontario County, NY men.

Edwin Becker was a poet who produced several books during his lifetime. He was also an engineer and a keen inventor.

While this collection contains material regarding several Native American nations in New York State, it’s main focus is the Haudenosaunee or Seneca Nation.

Hugh W Dobbin was a serving officer in the War of 1812, ending his career as a Brig. Gen.

These materials cover 1796 through the 1990s with histories, research, articles, and photographs on the building and its uses since it was built. Especially important are the deeds related to the Hygienic Institute’s Amos B Smith and James Knapp and the Pulteney Apartments, Inc.

This collection was named so by the creator, but is actually for the Ontario Glass Works which was located in what became Glass Factory Bay.

This collection covers the years 1817 through 1930 and includes deeds, mortgages, bonds, protests, catalogs, photos, invoices, and receipts. Deeds and tax receipts for land in Utah, Colorado, Iowa, Wisconsin, and others addressed to W&T Smith Co. point to their ownership of land in these states with connections to other nurseries. Most dates for deeds/mortgages/bonds are those for the date the deed was recorded by the clerk, not the date on the deed itself.

This collection focuses on the family of Beverly Chew, president of Shuron Optical. He resided at 543 South Main Street from the 1920s through 1960 when he and his wife Edith gifted the building to the Geneva Historical Society as a permanent home for the Geneva History Museum.