Editing Oneida County, New York (section)

==History==
{{unreferenced section|date=August 2021}}

When England established colonial counties in the [[Province of New York]] in 1683, the territory of present Oneida County was included in a very large, mostly undeveloped [[Albany County, New York|Albany County]]. This county included the northern part of present-day New York State as well as all of the present state of [[Vermont]] and, in theory, extended westward to the [[Pacific Ocean]]. This county was reduced in size on July 3, 1766, to create [[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. [[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]] in the Mohawk River Valley, and the county included the western part of the [[Adirondack Mountains]] and the area west of the West Branch of the [[Delaware River]]. Tryon County was later divided to organize 37 distinct counties of New York State. The county was named for [[William Tryon]], colonial governor of New York.

During and after the Revolution, most of the Loyalists in Tryon County fled to [[Canada]]. In 1784, following the peace treaty that ended the [[American Revolutionary War]], Americans changed the name of Tryon County 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]]. They replaced the name of the British governor.

In 1789, Montgomery County was reduced by the splitting off of [[Ontario County, New York|Ontario County]] from Montgomery. The area taken from Montgomery County contained all of present-day [[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, as well as Ontario County.

After continued new settlement, in 1791 [[Herkimer County, New York|Herkimer County]] was one of three counties taken from Montgomery (the other two being [[Otsego County, New York|Otsego]], and [[Tioga County, New York|Tioga County]]). It was much larger than the present Herkimer County, however, and was reduced by a number of subsequent splits.

In 1794, Herkimer County was reduced in size by the creation of [[Onondaga County, New York|Onondaga County]]. This county was larger than the current Onondaga County, including the present [[Cayuga County, New York|Cayuga]], [[Cortland County, New York|Cortland]], and part of [[Oswego County, New York|Oswego]] counties.

In 1798, Oneida County was created from another part of Herkimer County. This county was larger than the current Oneida County, as it included the present-day [[Jefferson County, New York|Jefferson]] (which extends along Lake Ontario), [[Lewis County, New York|Lewis]], and part of [[Oswego County, New York|Oswego]] counties.

In 1805, [[Jefferson County, New York|Jefferson]] and [[Lewis County, New York|Lewis]] counties were split off from Oneida. In 1816, parts of Oneida and Onondaga counties were taken to form the new [[Oswego County, New York|Oswego County]].

Together with [[Utica, New York|Utica]], Oneida county was the cultural centre of [[Welsh settlement in the Americas|Welsh settlement in New York state]]. By the mid-nineteenth century, the lexicorapher [[John Russell Bartlett]] noted that the area had a number of [[Welsh language]] newspapers and magazines, as well as Welsh churches. Indeed Bartlett noted in his ''Dictionary of Americanisms'' that "one may travel for miles and hear nothing but the Welsh language". By 1855, there were four thousand [[Welsh Americans|Welshmen]] in Oneida.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bartlett |first1=John Russell |title=Dictionary of Americanisms A Glossary of Words and Phrases, Usually Regarded as Peculiar to the United States · Volume 1 |date=1848 |publisher=Bartlett and Welford |isbn=1404705007 |page=xvii |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NhVAAAAAYAAJ&dq=John+Russell+Bartlett+welsh&pg=PR17}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bryson |first1=Bill |title=Mother tongue: the story of the English language |date=2009 |publisher=Penguin |location=London |isbn=978-0141040080 |edition=Reissued}}</ref>

In 1848, [[John Humphrey Noyes]] founded a religious and [[Utopian]] community, the [[Oneida Community]], near Oneida. Its unconventional views on religion and relations between the sexes generated much controversy. The community lasted until 1881. The [[Oneida Silver Company]] was founded here to manufacture sterling silver, silverplate holloware and, later, stainless steel flatware.