Округ Льюис, штат Нью-Йорк: История и Население

County in New York, United States

Lewis County is a county located in the U. S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,582, making it the fourth least populous county in New York. Its county seat is Lowville. The county is named after Morgan Lewis, the Governor of New York when the county was established. The county is part of the North Country region of the state.

The area now occupied by Lewis County was very sparsely occupied until the end of the 18th century. Although the land was already claimed by the Province of New York in its original grant, the land was clearly part of the territory of the Iroquois confederacy until after the American Revolutionary War, when New York seized the lands from tribes that had supported the British. The lands were unsurveyed and remained unattractive to settlement until after the complex process of Macomb's Purchase of 1791 eventually put much of the land in the hands of John Brown.

The area now falling in the jurisdiction of Lewis County, New York, has changed jurisdiction many times, beginning as part of the originally enormous Albany County in 1683, then, after one of the many times that Albany County was divided, becoming part of Tryon County in 1772, which was renamed to Montgomery County in 1784; next, present day Lewis County was part of Herkimer County in 1791, then part of Oneida County in 1798, and finally assumed its current name and borders in 1805. When counties were established in New York State in 1683, the present Lewis County was part of 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. This county was reduced in size on July 3, 1766, by the creation of Cumberland County, and further on March 16, 1770, by the creation of 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, 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, 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 1784, following the peace treaty that ended the American Revolutionary War, the name of Tryon County was changed to Montgomery County to honor 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 despised British governor. In 1789, the size of Montgomery County was reduced by the splitting off of Ontario County from Montgomery. The actual area split off from Montgomery County was much larger than the present county, also including the present Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Orleans, Steuben, Wyoming, Yates, and part of Schuyler and Wayne Counties. In 1791, Herkimer County was one of three counties split off from Montgomery (the other two being Otsego, and Tioga County). This was much larger than the present county, however, and was reduced by a number of subsequent splits. The first one of these, in 1794, produced Onondaga County. This county was larger than the current Onondaga County, including the present Cayuga, Cortland, and part of Oswego Counties. Oneida County (as well as a part of Chenango County), was split off from Herkimer County in 1798. Lewis County was split off from Oneida County in 1805.

On April 11, 1805, the Militia of Lewis, Jefferson and St Lawrence was established by the Council of Appointment under General Walter Martin. This was known as the 26th Brigade, aka Martin's Brigade. 350 men of the 26th Brigade were detached but never deployed in response to an Act of Congress dated March 30, 1808, in response to the English troubles. On June 15, 1808, the 1st Regiment was established under Lieutenant Luke Winchell, consisting of troops from Lowville, Denmark, Harrisburg and Pinckney. A cavalry troop was formed in 1809 under Captain Levi Collins. On April 10, 1812, in anticipation of war, the President of the United States was authorized to call up men for military service. To that end, a company was drafted for three months, under Captain Lyman Deming, of Denmark, in the regiment of Colonel Christopher P. Bellinger, of German Flats. They served at Sackett's Harbor from May 12, 1812, to August 21, 1812, when they were discharged. When the War of 1812 began on June 12, 1812, the above company was in the field, participating in the First Battle of Sacket's Harbor. To supply them, a company of 72 men were called up on June 23, 1812, under Captain Nathan Cook and placed under Colonel Thomas B Benedict of DeKalb. County wide drafts were issued in March 1813, September 1813, July 1814 and October 1814 in support of the war effort.

According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1290 square miles (3,341 km2), of which 1275 square miles (3,302 km2) is land and 15 square miles (39 km2) (1.2%) is water. Lewis County is located in northwestern New York State, slightly east of due north from Syracuse. The eastern part of the county is in the Adirondack Park. A good portion of the Tug Hill Plateau is in the western part of the county. The county is home to the Black River Valley.

+Lewis County Racial CompositionRaceNum. Perc. White (NH)24,94293.83%Black or African American (NH)1030.39%Native American (NH)400.15%Asian (NH)650.24%Pacific Islander (NH)110.04%Other/Mixed (NH)9613.61%Hispanic or Latino4601.73%