Editing Chenango County, New York (section)

==History==
This was long the territory of the [[Oneida people]], one of the first Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy or ''[[Haudenosaunee]]''. They occupied the area until after the Revolutionary War, when they were forced off the land, although they had been allies of the patriot colonists. They were granted a small reservation, which settlers continued to encroach on.

When English colonists organized counties in 1683 in what is now New York, the present Chenango County was part of [[Albany County, New York|Albany County]]. This was an enormous county, including the northern part of New York State as well as all of the present State of [[Vermont]] and, in theory, extending westward to the [[Pacific Ocean]]. However, territories located to the west of present-day [[Pennsylvania]] were under effective French control as part of [[New France]]. Albany County was reduced in size on July 3, 1766, by the creation of [[Cumberland County, New York|Cumberland County]], and further on March 16, 1770, by the creation of [[Gloucester County, New York|Gloucester County]], both containing territory now in Vermont.

On March 12, 1772, what was left of Albany County was split into three parts, one remaining under the name Albany County. One of the other pieces, [[Tryon County, New York|Tryon County]], contained the western portion (and thus, since no western boundary was specified, theoretically still extended west to the Pacific). The eastern boundary of Tryon County was approximately five miles west of the present city of [[Schenectady, New York|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 has since been organized as 37 counties of New York State. The county was named for [[William Tryon]], the British colonial governor of New York.

In the years prior to 1776, during the increasing tensions most of the Loyalists in Tryon County fled to [[Fort Niagara]] on the Western Frontier. In 1784, following the peace treaty that ended the [[American Revolutionary War]], the Americans renamed Tryon County as [[Montgomery County, New York|Montgomery County]] in honor of the US general [[Richard Montgomery]]. He had captured several places in Canada and died attempting to capture the city of [[Quebec]]. The US residents replaced the name of the former British governor.

[[File:Simeon DeWitt Twenty Townships c.1792.png|thumb|right|240px|The "Twenty Townships" west of the Unadilla River, conveyed by the Oneida Indians in 1788 and known as "[[Clinton's Purchase]]"]]

In 1788, the Oneida Reservation was considerably reduced by what is known as Clinton's Purchase, when land was sold off west of the [[Unadilla River]] to create what are now 20 towns. (See map to the right.) Settlers from eastern New York and New England entered the area and began farming.

In 1789, Montgomery County was reduced in size by the splitting-off of [[Ontario County, New York|Ontario County]]. The area split off from Montgomery County was much larger than the present Ontario County, as it included the present [[Allegany County, New York|Allegany]], [[Cattaraugus County, New York|Cattaraugus]], [[Chautauqua County, New York|Chautauqua]], [[Erie County, New York|Erie]], [[Genesee County, New York|Genesee]], [[Livingston County, New York|Livingston]], [[Monroe County, New York|Monroe]], [[Niagara County, New York|Niagara]], [[Orleans County, New York|Orleans]], [[Steuben County, New York|Steuben]], [[Wyoming County, New York|Wyoming]], [[Yates County, New York|Yates]], and part of [[Schuyler County, New York|Schuyler]] and [[Wayne County, New York|Wayne counties]]. It was the practice to establish a large geographic county and divide it as settlement increased.

In 1791, [[Herkimer County, New York|Herkimer]], [[Otsego County, New York|Otsego]] and [[Tioga County, New York|Tioga]] counties were organized from land separated from Montgomery County.

Chenango County was formed on March 15, 1798, from {{convert|1610|sqmi|km2|-1}} of Tioga and Herkimer counties. Its eastern border is formed by the [[Unadilla River]]. The land had been purchased the previous year from the Oneida, who were forced into a smaller reservation to the north.

On April 4, 1804, {{convert|70|sqmi|km2|-1}} of Chenango County was partitioned to expand [[Oneida County, New York|Oneida County]]; the communities of [[Waterville, New York|Waterville]] and [[Sangerfield, New York|Sangerfield]] were assigned to the new Oneida County.

On March 21, 1806, {{convert|650|sqmi|km2|-1}} of Chenango County was partitioned to produce [[Madison County, New York|Madison County]]. This established the current borders of Chenango County, which have been maintained to the early 21st century. This area was developed for agriculture in the nineteenth century and is still largely rural.