Tryon County was acounty in the colonialProvince of New York in theBritish American colonies. It was created fromAlbany County on March 24, 1772, and was named forWilliam Tryon, the lastprovincial governor of New York.[1] The county's boundaries extended much further than any current county. Its eastern boundary with the also-newCharlotte County ran "from theMohawk River to theCanada line, at a point near the old village ofSt. Regis and passing south to the Mohawk betweenSchenectady andAlbany." It extended north to theSt. Lawrence River; its western boundary was theTreaty of Fort Stanwix'sLine of Property, following theUnadilla River,Oneida Lake,Onondaga River andOswego River toLake Ontario, as theIroquois Confederacy still controlled locations further west in theIndian Reserve. Tryon County's seat wasJohnstown, which is today the county seat ofFulton County.[2] TheTryon County Courthouse, built in 1772–1773, was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 1972.[3] TheTryon County Jail, also built in 1772–1773, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.[3]
The county was divided into five districts: Mohawk, Palatine, Canajohorie, German Flatts, and Kingsland. The county court house and jail were erected inJohnstown in 1772 establishing Johnstown as the county seat. Three of the seven original judges were relatives ofSir William Johnson:Sir John Johnson (son),Guy Johnson (nephew), andDaniel Claus (son-in-law) with a fourth judge being close business associate and neighbour, ColonelJohn 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 theProvince of New York assembly were Sir John Johnson and Hendrick Frey.
In August 1774, shortly before the outbreak of theAmerican Revolution, some members of the county formed theTryon County Committee of Safety to harass theirLoyalist neighbors, eventually causing many to flee to the safety ofCanada. 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 asCherry Valley,Springfield, andHarpersfield 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.
On April 2, 1784, the new state'slegislature voted to change the name toMontgomery County, in honor of GeneralRichard Montgomery, aContinental Army General slain during theBattle 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 thecounty of Charlotte by the name ofWashington.”[4]
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