Editing Seneca County, New York (section)

==History==
The area covered by Seneca County straddles the prehistoric territories of both [[Seneca nation|Seneca]] and [[Cayuga nation|Cayuga]] Nations of the [[Haudenosaunee]]. 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 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 now includes 37 counties of New York State. The county was named for [[William Tryon]], colonial governor of New York.

In the years prior to 1776, most of the Loyalists in Tryon County fled to [[Canada]]. In the fall of 1779 on orders from commander-in-chief General [[George Washington]] the [[Sullivan Expedition]] conducted a [[scorched earth]] campaign against the [[Iroquois]] who sided with the Loyalists in the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]].  [[John Sullivan (general)|Sullivan]]'s path destroyed [[Cayuga nation|Cayuga]] and [[Seneca nation|Seneca]] villages along the east shore of [[Seneca Lake (New York)|Seneca Lake]].

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]] in honor of 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, Montgomery County was reduced in size by the splitting off of [[Ontario County, New York|Ontario County]]. The actual area split off from Montgomery County was much larger than the present Ontario County, also including 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.

[[Herkimer County, New York|Herkimer County]] was one of three counties split off from Montgomery County (the others being [[Otsego County, New York|Otsego]] and [[Tioga County, New York|Tioga]] counties) in 1791.

[[Onondaga County, New York|Onondaga County]] was formed in 1794 by the splitting of Herkimer County.

[[Cayuga County, New York|Cayuga County]] was formed in 1799 by the splitting of Onondaga County. This county was, however, much larger than the present Cayuga County. It then included the present Seneca and [[Tompkins County, New York|Tompkins]] counties and part of [[Wayne County, New York|Wayne County]].

In 1804, Seneca County was formed by the splitting of Cayuga County.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.co.seneca.ny.us/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Early-History-of-Seneca-County-Up-to-About-1830.pdf|title=A History of Seneca County Until About 1830|date=February 9, 2009|access-date=December 31, 2016|publisher=Official Site of Seneca County|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161231225326/http://www.co.seneca.ny.us/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Early-History-of-Seneca-County-Up-to-About-1830.pdf|archive-date=December 31, 2016}}</ref>

In 1817, Seneca County was reduced in size by combining portions of Seneca and the remainder of Cayuga County to form [[Tompkins County, New York|Tompkins County]]. Part of this territory, the current towns of [[Covert, New York|Covert]] and [[Lodi (town), New York|Lodi]], were returned to Seneca County in 1819.

The original county seat of Seneca County was located in Ovid, where a court house was constructed in 1806. After southern portions of the county were removed in 1817 to become part of Tompkins County, the seat was moved to Waterloo as the village was more geographically centered at the time. In 1823, northern portions of the county were removed to form part of Wayne County. This put Waterloo in the same situation as Ovid with being on one end of Seneca County. A compromise was made to use both locations as county seats, becoming a two-shire county. It included the constitution of two county courts and jury districts under Chapter 137 of the New York State Laws of 1822.<ref name="MR">[https://books.google.com/books?id=SRlDAQAAMAAJ&dq=new+york+state+law+1822+chapter+137+ovid+waterloo&pg=PA636 William V.R. Erving, ''The Miscellaneous Reports, Cases Decided in the Courts of Record of the State of New York, Volume 114'' (1921), page 636], Retrieved May 27, 2015.</ref><ref name="TWOSEATS">[http://www.co.seneca.ny.us/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/County-Seat-Story.pdf Seneca County, New York - ''The County Seat Story''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150528123518/http://www.co.seneca.ny.us/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/County-Seat-Story.pdf |date=May 28, 2015 }}, Retrieved May 27, 2015.</ref> In 1895, the Seneca County Board of Supervisors voted to abolish the setup of two jury districts. It later voted to remove the two-shire county system in 1921, making Waterloo the only county seat, but was reinstated two years later.<ref name="TWOSEATS"/>  At least once a year, the County Board of Supervisors holds its monthly meeting in Ovid to maintain the two-shire status.

In 1823, Seneca County was reduced in size by combining portions of Seneca and Ontario counties to form [[Wayne County, New York|Wayne County]].

On April 6, 1830, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was founded in Seneca County. The event took place at the log home of a local farmer, Peter Whitmer. Although church headquarters moved out of the area shortly thereafter, a historical visitor's center is still operated at that location.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}