New York - Fulton County

Books on County Genealogy and History

Fulton Co. GenWeb Project

Map of Fulton Co. (1895)

Official Fulton Co. Website

Official Johnstown (county seat) Website

Official NY State Website

Other Fulton Co History

The present day County of Fulton evolved from its very beginning with the earth's upheaval and through the glacier period the mountains ranges were formed and the valleys and rivers were gouged out.

It evolved through its aboriginal settlements along its southern fertile boundaries and its ever present fine hunting and fishing in its northern lakes and mountains, where before the coming of the European settlers, dwelt the Mohawk nation keepers of the Eastern gate of the strong Iroquois confederacy.

The Dutch were the first to discover this new land and settle at the mouth of the Hudson River, migrating up the Hudson and eventually went into the Mohawk Valley until they were subjected to the British Crown under the Duke of York. Then this vast settlement became a colony under the English Crown and it became a provincial government, governed by a royal governor and divided into counties.

The present day County of Fulton became a part of this new County then called Albany County, named after the Duke of Albany, King James the 2nd., Scottish title and remained so until 1772. With the influence of Sir William Johnson, who had settled at Johnstown, NY, the Provincial Assemble was petitioned and the Royal Governor, Tryon, with the County seat to be at Johnstown, NY.

This new County of Tryon stretched from the original boundaries of Albany County, west to the Indian treaty line of 1768 near the present day city of Rome, NY and north to the Canadian border and south the Schoharie and P Pennsylvania Line. Tryon County remained until the close of the American Revolutionary War, when we wanted nothing to do with the sovereign of England and the name of its past Royal Governor. In 1784 it was changed to Montgomery County, named in honor of General Richard Montgomery who was killed during the Revolutionary war in attempting to take Canada as a fourteenth colony and have its inhabitants side with the Patriot cause. Many of the local militia men served with Montgomery and his army of the north and respected him. With this new County of Montgomery the county seat remained in Johnstown and now at the close of the war, stretched all the way west to the present day Buffalo.

This vast county eventually became sub-divided with newly formed counties and county seats. With new modes of travel, settlers moved west to settle these new lands and eventually the Erie Canal was opened. Following this famous canal came the railroads along the valleys and new settlements and towns and villages cropped up along these traveled routes. The old county seat at Johnstown became isolated and in 1836 it was agreed to move the county seat south to Fonda, NY, along these main routes of travel and where most of the population had now settled. This caused a division with the residents in the northern part of the county who wished to keep and maintain the old county seat at Johnstown and in 1838 an imaginary line was drawn across the county and the northern boundary was given a new name of Fulton County and restored its old original historic county seat at Johnstown where it remains today. Fulton County was named after the ingenious inventor Robert Fulton who had improved the invention of the steamship.

Today Fulton County maintains the oldest Courthouse in the State and one of the oldest in the Nation still being used today. It possesses one of New York State's historic sites at Sir William Johnson Hall and is rich in early history. It still maintains some of the finest hunting and fishing locations in its Adirondack borders and is proud of its rich farm lands, friendly settlements and industries. Fulton County has a proud past and a promising future.

Source: Fulton County Historian, Lewis G. Decker