Otsego County, New York: History
In 1789, Ontario County was split off from Montgomery. The area split off from Montgomery County was much larger than the present county, as it included the present Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Orleans, Steuben, Wyoming, Yates, and part of Schuyler and Wayne counties.
Otsego County was one of three early counties split off from Montgomery (the other two being Herkimer and Tioga) after the American Revolutionary War. Otsego County was officially established on February 16, 1791, with Cooperstown as its county seat. The original county consisted of three large townships:
Cherry Valley in the northeast,
Otsego in the northwest, and
Harpersfield in the south.
Otsego and Cherry Valley together roughly covered the area of modern Otsego County, while Harpersfield covered the area south of the current county as far as the Delaware River.
Governor George Clinton made the original appointments to Otsego County government positions, including:
Richard R. Smith, county sheriff, from Otsego township,
Jacob Morris, county clerk, from Otsego township,
William Cooper, chief judge, founder of Cooperstown and from Otsego township,
Jedediah Peck, associate justice from Otsego township,
Edward Griswold, associate justice from Cherry Valley
Platt Townsend, associate justice from Harpersfield,
Alexander Harper, commander of the county militia, from Harpersfield.
By 1793, four towns had been added to the county by division of the existing towns:
The Otsego township had been divided into the towns of:
Burlington in the west,
Otsego in the northeast,
Richfield in the north, and
Unadilla in the south.
Harpersfield had been divided into the towns of:
Franklin in the west and
Harpersfield in the east.
In 1795, a piece of Otsego County was joined with a portion taken from Albany County to create Schoharie County.
In 1797, a piece of Otsego County was joined with a portion taken from Ulster County to create Delaware County.
In 1843, Otsego County, Michigan was named after the county in New York.