History
On Long Island, from 1664 to 1683 ridings were used to establish boundaries within the shire. The East riding comprised the territory now occupied by Suffolk County. The West riding consisted of Kings County and Newtown (Queens County). The remainder of Long Island belonged to the North riding. Collectively, the three ridings were called Yorkshire.
The colonial governor of New York appointed a "High Sheriff" for Yorkshire with a Deputy from each riding. In 1683, the ridings were abolished and the East riding became Suffolk County. The High Sheriff was no longer necessary being that each County would now have its own Sheriff. Suffolk County’s first Sheriff was Josiah Hobart in 1683.
After the American Revolution, the practice of the Governor appointing a sheriff continued and was incorporated into the first New York Constitution, adopted in 1777. At the 1821 constitutional convention, the office of sheriff became an elective office. That year, Abraham Gardiner became Suffolk County's first elected sheriff.
Read more about this topic: Suffolk County Sheriff's Office
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of any nation follows an undulatory course. In the trough of the wave we find more or less complete anarchy; but the crest is not more or less complete Utopia, but only, at best, a tolerably humane, partially free and fairly just society that invariably carries within itself the seeds of its own decadence.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)
“The second day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more”
—John Adams (1735–1826)
“History is more or less bunk. It’s tradition. We don’t want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker’s damn is the history we make today.”
—Henry Ford (1863–1947)