| "Fulton
County Court House" | |
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a bell in the courthouse (price: $30). The bell was not replaced. The original bell placed there in 1772 is still housed in the belfry of this old structure. It consists of a piece of wrought iron bent into the shape of a triangle, suspended in the belfry. A hammer on a hinge strikes the triangle when a rope is pulled; the bell gives off a dull clang. This old bell was rung at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, during the news of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and our U.S. Constitution, the same as the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia and in recent years when all the bells across the nation were rung in the 200th celebration of the U.S. Constitution.
It was apparent that there was considerable sentiment for the removal of the county seat from Johnstown to a more southern location as far back as 1816. On October 2 of that year, the Board did "earnestly remonstrate against any dismemberment of this County, and also against any project for building an additional court house and gaol for said County." The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 and the Utica and Schnenectedy Railroad in 1836 redirected traffic from the old state road through Johnstown, leaving the county seat well off the beaten path, an influential group of citizens in the southern part of Montgomery County succeeded in getting the county seat moved to Fonda in May of 1836. On March 14, 1837, "the buildings situated in the Village of Johnstown, heretofore known as the Court House, Jail, and Clerk Office of the county of Montgomery" were sold at public auction to the highest bidder. The buildings sold for the |
magnificent sum of $2,040 as recorded on December 6, 1837.
However, the dissatisfaction of the people living in the northern part of old Montgomery County was such that a new county, named Fulton after the Robert Fulton who improved the invention of the steam engine, was formed by the State Legislature on April 18, 1838. The new county was authorized to hold the Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions of the Peace in the "old Court House in the Village of Johnstown, and the re-purchase of the old Court House, Jail, and Clerk's Office in the village of Johnstown, formerly used as the Court House, Jail, and Clerk's Office of the County of Montgomery." So, with the sole exception of thirteen months, the courthouse has been in continual use as the seat of justice in the area for over Two hundred and twenty five years (as of 1997). In 1851, the County Judge's salary was fixed at he munificent sum of $600, and 12 cushioned chairs were purchased for the comfort of the Petit jurors. But the courthouse was still heated by those wood stoves purchased back in 1792; it was not until 1857 that the structure was equipped with gas lighting (even then, it could not have been to well lit as the number of jets was carefully specified "not to exceed nine burners"). And it would definitely appear that the sanitary facilities were still somewhat primitive as, on November 30, 1861, the Supervisors resolved "that the County Clerk be authorized to be put into proper repair |
 The Historical Society of the Courts of the State of New York | |
