The easiest passage over Cayuga Lake was at the village of Cayuga in the late 1700s. Cayuga, at that time, was nearly central to the then territory of the county. Cayuga County then included all of Seneca County and parts of Wayne and Tompkins County. For this reason, court was held at Cayuga.

Seth Phelps, county judge, held the first court in Cayuga County at Cayuga Ferry, in May 1799. He held court through 1804.

At this court in 1799, John Harris was given the liberty to keep and attend a ferry. He ran the ferry across Cayuga Lake. Some of his rates were:

€ One wagon or cart, with two horses or oxen - 88 cents

€ Each person - 9 cents

€ Sheep and hogs - 2 cents

€ Man and a horse - 25 cents

At court, everyone had to obey some 35 specific rules. These rules were copied verbatim from the original by the late Hon. Christopher Morgan.

These rules also furnished a clear direction of the practice of our courts in the late 1700s and early 1800s. These rules had to be observed by all and every officer, counselor, attorney and minister.

In the late 1700s, a log jail was erected at Cayuga. It was built of hewn logs and located at the east end of the Cayuga Bridge, the toll-house of which was erected directly over it, the top of the jail being the floor of the toll-house. Prisoners were let down by ladders through a trap door.

Some of the lawyers that practiced law then were: Daniel Shepard, Thaddeus M. Wood, Walter Wood, Glen Cuyler, Silar Marsh and Eleazer Burnham.

Morgan Lewis, judge, later governor of New York state, held a circuit court at Cayuga Ferry on June 3, 1800.

Jabez Bradley, Amos Rathbun, Israel Smith, David Avery, Augustus Chidsey, Wilhemus Mynders, Grove Smith, Adonijah Tillottson, Elijah Price, Samuel Crossett, Jonas Ward, Benjamin Hutchins, Salmon Buck, Jacob DeWitt, Ansell McCall and Noah Olmstead Jr. served as grand jurors.

In 1801, the court licensed James Kidder to keep a ferry across Cayuga Lake:

€ Double team and loaded carriage - $1.25

€ Single team and loaded carriage - $1

€ Man and a horse - 50 cents

€ Single horse - 25 cents

€ A sheep - 6 cents

€ A hog - 9 cents

In 1804, the court and jail was moved to Aurora.

In 2006, in the town of Aurelius, Ray E. Lockwood Jr. and Chad Hayden serve as judges.

Ruth Probst is historian for the town of Aurelius