History at the Old Stone Fort - The First Courthouse & Washington’s Medal

Written By The Mountain Eagle on 9/14/25 | 9/14/25

First Courthouse in Schoharie County, 1795-1800

The county's first court of Oyer and Terminer was held in December 1795 in an upstairs room of this pictured wagon house owned by tavern keeper Johannes Ingold as sent to us by the Old Stone Fort’s Clay Edmunds. Ingold ran a store on the ground floor but made the upper story available for administering county justice.

David Williams' Medal

This facsimile medal replicates the one presented by George Washington to David Williams, John Paulding, and Isaac Van Wart, the three militiamen who captured British spy Major John André at Tarrytown in 1780. Williams and his wife, Nancy Benedict Williams, later settled in the town of Broome. They are buried beneath a monument dedicated to them at the Old Stone Fort.