Assembly Resolution No. 521

BY: M. of A. Smullen

COMMEMORATING the 250th Anniversary of the Fulton
County Courthouse

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to commend the
efforts of those individuals and organizations which seek to bring
recognition to historical places within the State of New York, and in
doing so, help to ensure that the complete history of our State and
Nation is preserved and shared with present generations of citizens; and

WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its
long-standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to
commemorate the 250th Anniversary of the Fulton County Courthouse, the
oldest existing courthouse in the State of New York and one of the
oldest in the Nation still being used as a Courthouse today; and

WHEREAS, On May 9, 1769, a bill was introduced in the Provincial
Assembly to create a new county out of the westernmost part of Albany
County; in a letter dated November 28, 1771, Guy Johnson suggested to
his uncle (and father-in-law), Sir William Johnson, that the courthouse
for the new county be located in Johnstown, New York; and

WHEREAS, On March 12, 1772, Tryon County was created and Johnstown
was designated as the county seat where the King's Court was to be held;
and

WHEREAS, Under the direction of Sir William Johnson, construction
began on the courthouse, and it was only partially finished when, on
September 8, 1772, the first Court of General Sessions to be held West
of Albany was convened and six cases were presided over by Judges Guy
Johnson, John Butler, and Peter Conyne, and Assistant Judges Sir John
Johnson, Daniel Claus, John Wells and Jelles Fonda; and

WHEREAS, On February 6, 1773, the Colonial Legislature directed that
the sum of 1,600 pounds be levied on the freeholders and inhabitants of
Tryon County for the completion of the courthouse and the erection of a
jail; a little over two years later, the residents were once again taxed
to complete the structures; and

WHEREAS, Sir John Johnson made his last appearance at the courthouse
in the town named for him on March 12, 1776, when he served as one of
the three presiding judges, before he and 170 tenants and friends left
for St. Regis in Canada amidst revolutionary undertones; and

WHEREAS, On October 25, 1781, the courthouse came under fire during
the Battle of Johnstown, one of the important battles of the Revolution
fought in New York State; the Loyalist forces were eventually driven
back to Canada; and

WHEREAS, On April 2, 1784, the county lost its Loyalist designation
of Tryon and was officially renamed Montgomery County after a
Revolutionary War hero, General Richard Montgomery, who was killed
during the storming of Quebec, in 1775; and

WHEREAS, Eight years later, county supervisors ordered two large and
two small stoves to be purchased for the courthouse, that the lots be
completely fenced and that a row of elms or willows be planted in front
of the building; and

WHEREAS, On October 26, 1807, town meetings in the courthouse were
prohibited, and on October 30, 1810, the supervisors forbade the future
holding of school in the building; and

WHEREAS, After slaves were publicly sold in front of the courthouse,
the county sheriff was directed to refuse further use of the property
for any meeting to discuss or lecture on slavery in November of 1836;
and

WHEREAS, On October 6, 1826, the sheriff was directed to purchase
and install a bell in the courthouse; the original bell placed there in
1772, is still housed in the belfry of this old structure and was rung
at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, during the news of the
signing of the Declaration of Independence and our U.S. Constitution,
the same as the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia and recently, when all the
bells across the Nation were rung during the 200th Celebration of the
U.S. Constitution; and

WHEREAS, The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, and the Utica and
Schenectady Railroad in 1836 redirected traffic from the old state road
through Johnstown, leaving the county seat off the beaten path; an
influential group of citizens in the southern part of Montgomery County
succeeded in getting the county seat moved to Fonda in May of 1836; and

WHEREAS, On March 14, 1837, the building situated in the village of
Johnstown, heretofore known as the courthouse, jail, and clerk's office
of the county of Montgomery was sold at public auction to the highest
bidder; and

WHEREAS, However, the dissatisfaction of the people living in the
northern part of old Montgomery County was such that a new county, named
Fulton after Robert Fulton, who improved the invention of the steam
engine, was formed by the State Legislature on April 18, 1838; and

WHEREAS, The new county was authorized to hold the Court of Common
Pleas and General Sessions of the Peace in the old courthouse in the
village of Johnstown, and the re-purchase of the old courthouse, jail,
and clerk's office in the village of Johnstown, formerly used as the
courthouse, jail, and clerk's office of the county of Montgomery; and

WHEREAS, Today, with the exception of 13 months, the courthouse has
been in continual use as the seat of justice in the area for 250 years;
and

WHEREAS, Many famous trials were held throughout the courthouse's
storied history; in the spring of 1812, Alexander Sheldon, a former
Speaker of the State Assembly, had charged that one Solomon Southwick of
the Town of Charleston had attempted to bribe him to vote in favor of
incorporating the Bank of America in New York City; Solomon retained
Aaron Burr as well as three other lawyers to defend him, and he was
successfully acquitted of the charge; and

WHEREAS, This Legislative Body is pleased to have this opportunity
to express its highest admiration for the Fulton County Historian
Office, and for all of the individuals who have worked to bring proper
attention to a place and time which merits recognition in the grand
panorama of the history of our State and Nation; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commemorate the 250th Anniversary of the Fulton County Courthouse; and
be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to Samantha Hall-Saladino, Fulton County Historian.