Tryon County, New York
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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
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

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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