Superscript

The Tryon County Committee of Safety

Prior to the American Revolution, the colonies formed Committees of Safety to represent the interests of their respective communities. They determined the judicial outcome of civil cases, organized the local militia, arrested and tried those suspected of criminal or subversive activities.

The Tryon County, New York, Committee of Safety was formed on August 27, 1774, and was an extra-legal body and the de facto government of the county until 1778. Its first chairman was Christopher Yates. The committee ordered that no person should come into or go out of the county without a pass from some acknowledged public body; and was authorized to arrest "suspicious" people, some of whom they fined, while they imprisoned others.

In August, 1774, they drafted a document protesting the British naval blockade of Boston harbor. They held 16 of their 31 meetings in the home of Goshen Van Alstyne, the Van Alstyne homestead.

The New York Provincial Congress convened in May, 1775. On June 11, 1775, Yates, John Marlett and John Moore were appointed deputies for Tryon County.


Picture of the house of Gose Van Alstyne from the Minute Book of the Committee of Safety of Tryon County.