Editing Orleans County, New York (section)

==History==
When counties were established by the British authorities in the province of New York in 1683, the present Orleans County was part of the territory of [[Albany County, New York|Albany County]]. This was an enormous county, including the northern part of present-day 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, the remaining Albany County was split into three parts, one remaining under the name Albany County. [[Tryon County, New York|Tryon County]] contained the large 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 [[Mohawk River]] valley, 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. This western area was occupied largely by the [[Onondaga people|Onondaga]], [[Oneida people|Oneida]] and other western nations of the [[Iroquois Confederacy]]. The westernmost European settlements were in the area of Little Falls and present-day Herkimer.

During the unrest prior to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, feelings ran high in the Mohawk Valley, and there were local attacks by rebels against known Loyalists. Most of Tryon County's Loyalists fled to [[Canada]] before 1776, where they were later granted land by the Crown to develop what is now Ontario.

In 1784, following the peace treaty that ended the [[American Revolutionary War]], Tryon County's name was changed to [[Montgomery County, New York|Montgomery County]] to honor the general, [[Richard Montgomery]]. He had captured several places in Canada and died attempting to capture the city of [[Quebec]]. It replaced the name of the now hated colonial British governor. In 1789, [[Ontario County, New York|Ontario County]] split off from Montgomery.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Landmarks of Orleans County New York|url=https://archive.org/details/landmarksoforlea01sign|last=Signor|first=Issac|publisher=D. Mason & Company|year=1894|location=Syracuse, NY|pages=[https://archive.org/details/landmarksoforlea01sign/page/n14 1]}}</ref> During this period, thousands of migrants settled in the western part of the state from New England and eastern New York resulting in the creation of more counties.

In 1802, [[Genesee County, New York|Genesee County]] was created by splitting Ontario County.<ref name=":2" /> Genesee County was then divided into [[Allegany County, New York|Allegany]] County in 1806, [[Cattaraugus County, New York|Cattaraugus]], [[Chautauqua County, New York|Chautauqua]], and [[Niagara County, New York|Niagara]] Counties in 1808, [[Ontario County, New York|Ontario]], [[Livingston County, New York|Livingston]], and [[Monroe County, New York|Monroe]] Counties in 1821, and finally Orleans County in 1824.

When Orleans County was formed in 1824,<ref>{{Cite book|title=Landmarks of Orleans County New York|url=https://archive.org/details/landmarksoforlea01sign|last=Signor|first=Isaac|publisher=D. Mason & Company|year=1894|location=Syracuse, NY|pages=[https://archive.org/details/landmarksoforlea01sign/page/2 2]–5}}</ref> a dispute arose about naming it after President [[Andrew Jackson]] or President [[John Adams]].<ref name=":1" /> During and following the Napoleonic era in France, numerous French refugees came to New York, some settling in the upstate areas.