
Tryon County was a
county
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
in the colonial
Province of New York
The Province of New York was a British proprietary colony and later a royal colony on the northeast coast of North America from 1664 to 1783. It extended from Long Island on the Atlantic, up the Hudson River and Mohawk River valleys to ...
in the
British American colonies. It was created from
Albany County on March 24, 1772, and was named for
William Tryon, the last
provincial governor of New York.
The county's boundaries extended much further than any current county. Its eastern boundary with the also-new
Charlotte County ran "from the
Mohawk River to the
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
line, at a point near the old village of
St. Regis and passing south to the Mohawk between
Schenectady and
Albany." It extended north to the
St. Lawrence River; its western boundary was the
Treaty of Fort Stanwix's
Line of Property, following the
Unadilla River,
Oneida Lake,
Onondaga River and
Oswego River to
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...
, as the
Iroquois Confederacy still controlled locations further west in the
Indian Reserve
In Canada, an Indian reserve () or First Nations reserve () is defined by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." ...
. Tryon County's seat was
Johnstown, which is today the county seat of
Fulton County.
[Anderson](_blank)
p. 67 The
Tryon County Courthouse, built in 1772–1773, was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1972.
The
Tryon County Jail, also built in 1772–1773, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.
The county was divided into five districts: Mohawk, Palatine, Canajohorie, German Flatts, and Kingsland. The county court house and jail were erected in
Johnstown in 1772 establishing Johnstown as the county seat. Three of the seven original judges were relatives of
Sir William Johnson:
Sir John Johnson
Brigadier-general (United Kingdom), Brigadier-General Sir John Johnson, 2nd Baronet (5 November 1741 – 4 January 1830) was an American-born military officer, politician and landowner who fought as a Loyalist (American Revolution), Loyalist dur ...
(son),
Guy Johnson (nephew), and
Daniel Claus (son-in-law) with a fourth judge being close business associate and neighbour, Colonel
John Butler. The remainder of the original seven judges were Peter Conyne,
Jelles Fonda and John Wells. Guy Johnson, John Johnson, Daniel Claus and John Butler sided with Britain during the American Revolution while Fonda, Wells and Conyne supported the American cause.
Its members in the
Province of New York
The Province of New York was a British proprietary colony and later a royal colony on the northeast coast of North America from 1664 to 1783. It extended from Long Island on the Atlantic, up the Hudson River and Mohawk River valleys to ...
assembly were Sir John Johnson and Hendrick Frey.
American Revolution
In August 1774, shortly before the outbreak of the
American Revolution
The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
, some members of the county formed the
Tryon County Committee of Safety to harass their
Loyalist neighbors, eventually causing many to flee to the safety of
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. Guy Johnson and a large party of supporters left in May 1775. Sir John Johnson and a large party of his supporters left in May 1776. By 1776, most of the Loyalists in Tryon County had fled.
In December 1780, the results of a census stated that the number of uncultivated farms was 1200 and that 354 families had abandoned and had fled the county. In some places such as
Cherry Valley,
Springfield, and
Harpersfield there was no one to conduct a census. This was out of a pre-war population of around 10,000. Schenectady came near to being the limit of civilization.
After the war
On April 2, 1784, the new state's
legislature voted to change the name to
Montgomery County, in honor of General
Richard Montgomery, a
Continental Army
The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...
General slain during the
Battle of Quebec. The Legislature stated, “From and after the passing of this act, the county of Tryon shall be called and known by the name of Montgomery, and the
county of Charlotte by the name of
Washington.”
[Sylvester, p. 12]
See also
*''For the history of Tryon County prior to 1772 see''
Albany County, New York
*''For the history of Tryon County after 1784 see''
Montgomery County, New York
*
List of New York counties
*
List of former United States counties
References
Bibliography
*
*
External links
History of Tryon County, NY
{{New York
Former counties of the United States
Pre-statehood history of New York (state)
History of the Thirteen Colonies