Editing Jefferson County, New York (section)

==History==
When counties were established in the [[Province of New York]] in 1683, the present Jefferson 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. This 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 {{convert|5|mi|km}} 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 now includes 37 counties of New York State. The county was named for [[William Tryon]], colonial governor of New York.

In the years subsequent to 1776, most of the Loyalists in Tryon County fled to Canada. In 1784, following the peace treaty that ended the [[American Revolutionary War]], the name of Tryon County was changed to [[Montgomery County, New York|Montgomery County]] to honor the general, [[Richard Montgomery]], who had captured several places in Canada and died attempting to capture the city of [[Quebec]], replacing the name of the hated British governor.

In 1789, the size of Montgomery County was reduced by the creation of [[Ontario County, New York|Ontario County]] from Montgomery. The area split off from Montgomery County was much larger than the present county, as it was later divided to form 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 parts of [[Schuyler County, New York|Schuyler]] and [[Wayne County, New York|Wayne]] counties.

Jefferson County is part of [[Macomb's Purchase]] of 1791.

In 1791, Herkimer County was one of three counties split off from Montgomery (the other two being [[Otsego County, New York|Otsego]], and [[Tioga County, New York|Tioga County]]). This was much larger than the present county, however, and was reduced by a number of subsequent splits. The first one of these, in 1794, produced [[Onondaga County, New York|Onondaga County]]. This county was larger than the current Onondaga County, including the present [[Cayuga County, New York|Cayuga]] and [[Cortland County, New York|Cortland Counties]], and part of [[Oswego County, New York|Oswego County]].

[[Oneida County, New York|Oneida County]] (as well as a part of [[Chenango County, New York|Chenango County]]), was split off from Herkimer County in 1798.

Jefferson County was split off from Oneida County in 1805. In 1817, [[Carleton Island]], captured from the British in the [[War of 1812]], was annexed to the county. During the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the county was largely developed for agriculture.

By the early 20th centuries, Watertown was a city with the highest per capita number of millionaires in the United States. Local industrialists had made early fortunes from industries driven by water power. Mills were established along the falls of the Black River from the first half of the nineteenth century.

In 2019, Jefferson County and much of the rest of the [[North Country (New York)|North Country]] was identified as one of the most politically tolerant communities in America, according to an analysis by PredictWise.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/03/watertown-new-york-tops-scale-political-tolerance/582106/|title=The Least Politically Prejudiced Place in America|last=Ripley|first=Amanda|work=The Atlantic|access-date=March 5, 2019|issn=1072-7825|archive-date=March 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190305104903/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/03/watertown-new-york-tops-scale-political-tolerance/582106/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/03/us-counties-vary-their-degree-partisan-prejudice/583072/|title=The Geography of Partisan Prejudice|last=He|first=Amanda Ripley, Rekha Tenjarla, Angela Y.|date=March 4, 2019|website=The Atlantic|language=en-US|access-date=March 5, 2019|archive-date=March 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190305153101/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/03/us-counties-vary-their-degree-partisan-prejudice/583072/|url-status=live}}</ref>