American Revolution
In August, 1774, shortly before the outbreak of the American Revolution, some members of the county formed the Tryon County Committee of Safety to harass their loyalist neighbors, eventually causing many to flee to the safety of Canada. Guy Johnson and a large party of supporters left in May, 1775. Sir John Johnson and a large party of his supporters left in May, 1776. By 1776, most of the Loyalists in Tryon County had fled.
In December 1780, the results of a census stated that the number of uncultivated farms was 1200 and that 354 families had abandoned and had fled the county. In some places such as Cherry Valley, Springfield, and Harpersfield there was no one to conduct a census. This was out of a pre-war population of around 10,000. Schenectady came near to being the limit of civilization.
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