Tryon County, New York was a county in New York from 1772 to 1784, part of the Province of New York, named after Governor William Tryon. Tryon County was created in March 12, 1772 from part of Albany County, partly at the instigation of William Johnson. Tryon County was limited in the west by the Proclamation of 1763 line. The eastern boundary of Tryon County was approximately five miles west of the present city of Schenectady, and the county included the western part of the Adirondack Mountains and the area west of the West Branch of the Delaware River. The area then designated as Tryon County now includes 37 counties of New York State. The county was named for William Tryon, colonial governor of New York. Nevertheless, the reality of the Iroquois Confederation in a large area encompassing Oneida Lake meant that the territory was not available to settlers, especially with Johnson protecting the interests of the native inhabitants. In fact, part of Johnson's motivation in creating the county had been to serve the interests of native Americans. It was divided into five districts of Mohawk, Palatine, Canajohorie, German Flatts, and Kingsland. The County court house and jail were erected in Johnston in 1772 establishing Johnston as the county seat. The judges were all William Johnson relatives; Daniel Claus, Guy Johnson, and Sir John Johnson. Its members in the Province of New York assembly were John Butler and Hendrick Frey.
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American Revolution
In August, 1774, Shortly before the outbreak of the American Revolution 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. 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 354 families had abandoned and had fled the county. In some places such as Cheery 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 War Years
After the war the county began to fill again, more than compensating for the loss of life during the war. In 1784 the county was renamed Montgomery County, New York after General Richard Montgomery.
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 extinct U.S. counties
