Editing Genesee County, New York (section)

===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.