Likely everyone who has participated in this e-discussion has read it, but if not, I suggest, as background: Feldman, Michael. The Turbulent Era; Riot and Disorder in Jacksonian America. New York: Oxford University Press, 1980. I think it sheds light on the question. Although not a whole lot of the volume deals with New York State, there is some material regarding New York City and Utica, and the overall premise made sense to me. . >>> [log in to unmask] 06/08/00 11:49PM >>> Is any one on the list familiar with "vigilance committees" operating in mid-nineteenth-century New York State? I am trying to make sense of a brief notation in the town minutes for the town of Fulton, Schoharie County. In Feb. 1840, the town formed a "commitey at vigelence." Several men from various sections within the town were named to be on the committee. At that point Anti-Rent difficulties were starting up in nearby Albany County. I know that Schoharie County farmers were paying close attention to the Albany situation. And, within a few years, many Schoharie County farmers would join the anti-rent resistance. The farmers in the uplands of the town of Fulton were said to be particularly fierce in their support for the resistance. So I am wondering if the 1840 vigilance committee might have had something to do with the anti-rent situation. But this is only a guess. I have no other information about this committee, or its actions, other than this brief notation in the town records. Nor did I see a reference to such a committee in the town an earlier or later date. Any suggestions? Thanks Ian McGiver [log in to unmask]