12-12-02

Dear John,
Must take issue with where Jane McCrea's death and burial occurred in 1777. It
did occur in Fort Edward, which was a district that was part of the Argyle
Township, which itself was within Charlotte County. By everything that I
understand, Charlotte County was every bit a real and functioning county, not a
paper construct. It was formed by act of the Provincial legislature in 1772, its
courts established in Fort Edward in 1773, and deeds and mortgages recorded in
Fort Edward and maintained by Justice Patrick Smyth, whose Fort Edward home
served as the county's first courthouse. In fact Smyth was arrested by Benedict
Arnold in 1777 during Schuyler's retreat south, and Smyth and his brother George
were taken to Albany, where they lived until moving to Canada. Thankfully Smyth
was a good person and he voluntarily returned the records, few as they were, of
the county in 1786. Those can be found in the Washington County Municipal
Center.

Creation of provincial law and regulations regarding roads and bridges and such,
as well as funding for roads, and other business of the provincial legislature
regarding the county continued from 1772 right up to the Province of New York
becoming the State of New York, and thereafter. In fact, in March 1777, just
before Burgoyne's campaign, the Township of Queensbury was carved out of Albany
County and assigned by the provincial legislature to Charlotte County. Elections
for the new State offices were held in the Township of Kingsbury in Charlotte
County in 1787. Charlotte County took in most of today's Washington County, all
of Warren, Essex, Clinton, part of Hamilton and also claimed about a half of
Vermont. That proved a sticky situation when Charlotte County developed its own
Militia under Col. (Dr.) John Williams of New Perth (now Salem), for Williams
was recruiting in what Vermonters considered to be their turf. Charlotte County
had its own Board of Commissioners for Conspiracies (Commissioners for detecting
and defeating conspiracies) at New Perth. Its board worked with the Albany Board
of Commissioners for Conspiracies. As with other fairly new counties, it lacked
the facilities for imprisonment of those accused of disloyalty by the
Commissioners, and so arrangements were made with the Albany board for sending
the prisoners to the City of Albany.

You can find references in provincial maps to Charlotte County, as well.
Sauthier's 1776 and 1779 maps of the Province of New York, are two. Charlotte
County was renamed Washington County in March of 1784 by act of the New York
State Legislature. I know there is confusion regarding Charlotte County's
legitimacy as a functioning county, especially as I myself have found references
to taxation on certain lands, including some in the Fort Edward District, being
levied by Albany County after 1772. Albany County's own Militia is sometimes
listed as have authority over areas where Charlotte County's militia held sway.
Nonetheless, to my knowledge Charlotte County was a real county, functioning in
every way, and Fort Edward was a  part of it.

Best,
Joe
Joseph A. Cutshall-King
Washington County Historian
Washington County Municipal Center
383 Broadway
Fort Edward, NY 12828
Tel.: 518-746-2178
Fax: 518-746-2219
E-mail: [log in to unmask]



"Travis, John" wrote:

> As Jane McRae's death and burial as well as the subsequent Battles of
> Saratoga occurred in ALBANY COUNTY, I read the attached with interest.  The
> articles I read in our local papers stated that this 97-year old Kansas
> woman was a descendent of Jane McRae.  Without commenting on 18th Century
> morality, I wonder how this was possible given the fact she was unmarried.
>
> On the question of the exhumation, there is a phrase lawyers use "QUI BONO."
> It literally means 'to what good."  In investigations, it refers to who
> would benefit from an event.  Who would benefit from disturbing this poor
> girl again.  She's been moved three times.  Let her rest in peace.
>
> I know there was an exhumation of the outlaw Jesse James a couple of years
> ago.  I thought I saw an article very recently about exhuming one of the
> Presidents.  Someone refresh my memory!
>
>                                         JOHN TRAVIS
>                                          Albany County Historian
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Wednesday, December 11, 2002 8:04 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Jane McCrea - Ft. Edward
>
> Good Morning,
>
> A 97 year old woman from Kansas, who states she is the oldest
> living relative of Jane McCrea, wishes to have Jane's bones disinterred
> in Union Cemetery in Ft. Edward, Washington Co., NY. Her reason
> for this action is to perform a DNA on the bones is to definitely
> determine if they are Jane McCrea's and pursue the return of bones
> that have been removed during an earlier disinterment  which are in
> the possesion of a a SUNY college and an owner of the Jane McCrea
> house.
>
> Since the death of this Revolutionary War heroine, who died 27 Jul
> 1777 in Ft. Edward, her remains have been buried on three occasions
> in the past 225 years.  Many documents, including eyewitness accounts,
> clergy and physicians statements, newspaper articles and books,
> clearly indentify Jane McCrea as the young woman buried in Union
> Cemetery. Her grave is clearly marked with a headstone and surrounded
> by an iron fence.
>
> The Village of Ft. Edward board went on record 04 Nov 2002 as
> opposing the proposed exhumation of the body. An action was filed
> in Supreme Court, County of Washington, NY on 22 Oct 2002
> and advertised in The Post Star on 24 Oct 2002 and awaits a
> judge's decision on the exhumation.
>
> This brings up a question I would like to ask of this list. Where do
> we draw the line on such things and will it lead to the disinterment
> of others, especially notable people?  Will we start digging up
> people of history such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln
> and others to satisfy our curiosity?  DNA is opening exciting new
> doors but for some, many cans of worms. People are proving their
> ancestal ties but some are discovering that they are not who they
> think they are. I can see someone using this as a money making
> scheme down the road but at the expense of the deceased and
> others.
>
> Does anyone know of any other similar situations and what has
> happened in those cases?  I find this unnecessary since there
> is so much documentation on Jane McCrea.
>
> God Bless
> Ruth Ann Messick
> [log in to unmask]
> [log in to unmask]