Editing Genesee County, New York (section)

==History==

===Precontact era===
The archaeological record at the [[Hiscock Site]], in [[Byron, New York]] goes back 10,000 to 12,000 years to the [[Last Glacial Period|Ice Age]]. Researchers have found a variety of humanmade tools, ceramics, metal, and leather, along with a [[mastodon]] jaw, tusks, and teeth and assorted animal bones, indicating long occupation of the site. This site is among North America's most important for [[archaeological]] artifacts from the Ice Age.<ref name="BMS1">[http://www.sciencebuff.org/geology.php Geology] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080703163624/http://www.sciencebuff.org/geology.php |date=July 3, 2008 }} The Buffalo Museum of Science, Retrieved on December 5, 2007</ref><ref name="BMS2">[http://www.sciencebuff.org/ftp_only/adopt_a_pit.pdf "Excavation pit at the Byron Dig"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207031356/http://www.sciencebuff.org/ftp_only/adopt_a_pit.pdf |date=February 7, 2009 }}, The Buffalo Museum of Science, Retrieved on December 5, 2007</ref>

Different [[Indigenous peoples]] lived in the area for thousands of years. Centuries before European arrival, the [[Iroquoian]]-speaking [[Seneca Nation]] developed in the central part of present-day New York; it became one of the first Five Nations of the [[Haudenosaunee]] (Iroquois Confederacy). Beginning in 1639 and lasting for the rest of the century, the Seneca led an invasion of Western New York, driving out the existing tribes of [[Wenro]], [[Erie people|Erie]] and [[Neutral Confederacy|Neutrals]].

===Colonial and revolutionary era===
When counties were established in New York State in 1683, the present Genesee 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]]. 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). In 1784 Tryon County was renamed as [[Montgomery County, New York|Montgomery County]]. Around this time, the [[Province of Pennsylvania]] and the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] also claimed the territory as their own, but [[New York (state)|New York]] did not enforce its territorial claim. In 1789 [[Ontario County, New York|Ontario County]] was split off from Montgomery as a result of the [[Phelps and Gorham Purchase]]. Again, the county theoretically extended west to the Pacific Ocean.

===New York State===
It was not until the [[Holland Purchase]] of 1793 that Western New York was enforced as the territory of New York State. Land in the region was sold through the [[Holland Land Company]]'s office in [[Batavia, New York|Batavia]], starting in 1801. All the land in [[Western New York]] was in the newly created Genesee County, and all of that was in the single town of [[Batavia (town), New York|Batavia]].

Genesee County was created by a [[Partition (politics)|partition]] of {{convert|7100|sqmi|km2}} of land from [[ontario County, New York|Ontario County]]. The county was not fully organized so it remained under the supervision of Ontario County until it achieved full organization and separation during March 1803.<ref name="NYLAWS GENESSEE 1802">New York. ''Laws of New York.'':1802, 25th Session, Chapter 64, Page 97.</ref>

On April 7, 1806, Genesee's area was reduced to {{convert|5550|sqmi|km2}} due to a partition that created [[Allegany County, New York|Allegany County]].<ref name="NYLAWS GENESSEE 1806">New York. ''Laws of New York.'':1806, 29th Session, Chapter 162, Section 1, Page 604.</ref> On March 8, 1808, Genesee's area was again reduced, this time to {{convert|1650|sqmi|km2}} due to a partition that created [[Cattaraugus County, New York|Cattaraugus]], [[Chautauqua County, New York|Chautauqua]], and [[Niagara County, New York|Niagara Counties]].<ref name="NYLAWS GENESSEE 1808">New York. ''Laws of New York.'':1808, 31st Session, Chapter 15, Page 254.</ref> On February 23, 1821, Genesee's area was again reduced, this time to {{convert|1450|sqmi|km2}} due a complex partition that produced [[Livingston County, New York|Livingston]]<ref name="NYLAWS GENESSEE 1821a">New York. ''Laws of New York.'':1820, 44th Session, Chapter 58, Section 1, Page 50.</ref>  and [[Monroe County, New York|Monroe Counties]].<ref name="NYLAWS GENESSEE 1821b">New York. ''Laws of New York.'':1820, 44th Session, Chapter 57, Section 1, Page 46.</ref> On April 15, 1825, another partition reduced Genesee's area to {{convert|1030|sqmi|km2}} in the creation of [[Orleans County, New York|Orleans County]].<ref name="NYLAWS GENESSEE 1825a">New York. ''Laws of New York.'':1824, 47th Session, Chapter 266, Section 1, Page 326.</ref><ref name="NYLAWS GENESSEE 1825b">New York. ''Laws of New York.'':1825, 48th Session, Chapter 181, Sections 1 & 2, Page 273.</ref> On May 1, 1826, the Orleans partition was again surveyed, with {{convert|10|sqmi|km2}} of land along the western half of the Orleans/Genesee border returned to Genesee.<ref name="NYLAWS GENESSEE 1826">New York. ''Laws of New York.'':1826, 49th Session, Chapter 269, Page 302.</ref> On March 19, 1841, Genesee's area was again reduced, this time to the {{convert|500|sqmi|km2}} it remains to this day due to the partitioning to create [[Wyoming County, New York|Wyoming County]].<ref name="NYLAWS GENESSEE 1841">New York. ''Laws of New York.'':1841, 64th Session, Chapter 196, Section 1, Page 169.</ref>

===19th century politics: Origins of antimasonry===
Genesee County was included in the 19th century "[[burned-over district]]" — the Western region of New York consumed by religious revivals and characterized by "the evangelical desire to convert the entire American population to Christianity and to create a 'moral, homogeneous commonwealth.'" <ref>William Preston Vaughn, ''The Antimasonic Party in the United States, 1826-1843'' (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1983), 21.</ref> This religious moral crusade provided the social atmosphere that allowed antimasonic sentiment to gain momentum as a significant church-oriented movement and, later, a grass-roots political party that became the nation's first third party.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}

By the 1820s, Freemasonry was prevalent in Genesee County. From 1821 to 1827, half of all county officials were Freemasons.<ref>Ronald P. Formisano and Kathleen Smith Kutolowski, "Antimasonry and Masonry: The Genesis of Protest, 1826-1827," ''American Quarterly'' 29 (1977): 145.</ref> In September 1826, [[William Morgan (anti-Mason)|William Morgan]], a resident of Batavia, New York, disappeared after having been briefly imprisoned for failure to repay a debt. Morgan had been rejected from the Masonic lodge in Batavia, and, as a result, threatened to publish a book which exposed the secret rituals of Freemasonry. His disappearance and presumed murder ignited a campaign against Freemasonry. The investigation into Morgan's disappearance confronted major obstacles from government officials and the judiciary- positions that were largely occupied by Freemasons.<ref name="Kutolowski">{{cite journal |author=Kathleen Smith Kutolowski |year=1984 |title=Antimasonry reexamined: social bases of the grass-roots party |journal=[[Journal of American History]] |volume=71 |issue=2 |pages=269–293 |jstor=1901756|doi=10.2307/1901756 }}</ref> The [[Morgan affair]] combined with existing suspicions and distrust of the secrecy of Freemasonry initiated mass meetings throughout the county to decide how the issue of Freemasonry should be handled. The Antimasonry crusade's original goal was to oust Masons from political offices. Through the political guidance of party organizers, such as [[Thurlow Weed]] and [[William H. Seward]], the crusade developed into a political party that enjoyed a political stronghold in Genesee County and the rest of the "burned-over district."

The Antimasonic Party found strong support within Genesee County from 1827 to 1833. The party averaged 69 percent of the vote and won every county office.<ref name="Kutolowski"/> After continuous domination of Masonic politicians, citizens saw Antimasonry as a solution and an opportunity to restore justice and republicanism. The Baptist and Presbyterian churches favored Antimasonry and encouraged their members to renounce ties with the fraternity. The party was originally associated with populist rhetoric, however, strong Antimasonic sentiment throughout the county correlated with positive economic developments and high population densities. Larger towns, such as [[Batavia, New York|Batavia]], the county seat and Le Roy, harbored the strongest support for the party.<ref>Darcy G. Richardson, ''Others: Third-Party Politics From the Nation's Founding to the Rise and Fall of the Greenback-Labor Party'' (New York: iUniverse, Inc., 2004), 51.</ref> The timing of the creation of the Antimasonic Party coincided with a time in New York politics that encouraged the expansion of political participation. The party leaders made the Antimasonic Party, and later the Whig Party, a great success in Genesee County and other neighboring counties.

===Modern day===
In 2009, the City and Town of Batavia began exploring ways to merge or consolidate governmental systems.