Albany County, New York
The city of Albany was the first municipality within this large county, founded as the village (dorp in Dutch) of Beverwyck by the Director-General of New Amsterdam, Pieter Stuyvesant, who also established the first court in Albany. Albany was established as a city in 1686 by Governor Dongan through the Dongan Charter after the English took over the colony. Schenectady to the west was given a patent with some municipal rights in 1684 and became a borough in 1765.
Dongan Charter
After the city of New York received a municipal charter from Governor Dongan the governor came to Albany, at which time the village sent a delegation of prominent men to request a charter of their own. The Patroon, after being encouraged by the governor, finally released all claims to Albany and forfeited a strip of land wide and long to Albany. Albany at the time consisted of about 500 residents living in around 140 houses. In July 1686 a delegation led by Pieter Schuyler and Robert Livingston traveled to New York to receive the charter for Albany; the charter was signed on July 25, 1686 and was read aloud to the citizens of Albany three days later. Due to England, and by extension Albany, using the Julian calendar at the time, the corrected date for the signing of the document under the Gregorian calendar is August 1, 1686.