For many years previous to 1701 Orange County shared in serious corruptions and frauds which were prevalent in the province. The Assembly which convened in 1698 was so turbulent and brought so much confusion into its councils that Governor Bellomont, who succeeded Governor Fletcher that year, dissolved it and ordered a new election, taking care that the untrustworthy sheriffs of his predecessor were retired from the management. Protests were made to the King, but without avail. The Governor had been clothed with power to correct abuses, to veto any law, and "to adjourn, prorogue and dissolve the Assembly." The new Assembly, which consisted of seven Englishmen and fourteen Dutchmen, instituted some important reforms. It nullified grants to large tracts of lands, regulated election methods, and provided punishments for frauds. Unfortunately Governor Bellomont died in 1701, before some of his plans could be carried into effect, and Lord Cornbury was appointed as his successor, and acquired the distinction of being "the worst of all the Governors under the English crown." He was notoriously ill-mannered, dishonest, rapacious, and openly vicious. The Assembly refused grants of money which he asked for, and asserted the rights of the people, declaring that they could not "be justly divested of their property without their consent." Thus began in New York the preliminary struggle which brought on the Revolution, ending in the establishment of the Republic, in which the representatives of Orange earnestly assisted. The first sessions of the Court of Common Pleas and of justices of the peace as a Board of Supervisors were held in Orangetown in April, 1703. The court justices were William Merritt and John Merritt. The supervisors were William and John Merritt, Cornelius Cypher, Tunis Van Ronton, Thomas Burroughs and Michael Hawdon. The sheriff was John Perry, the clerk was William Haddleston, and the constable was Conradt Hanson. Orange and Ulster County people were then required to do their surrogate business in New York. This was continued until 1751, when the Court of Common Pleas of the county was empowered to take proof of wills and grant letters of administration. The Court of Common Pleas was an institution of the county until 1847, when the County Court was substituted. The Supreme Court began holding sessions in Orange in 1704, and was succeeded by Circuit Courts established under the Constitution of 1821, as these were by the judicial system of 1846, consisting of a Supreme Court, Circuit Court, and Court of Oyer and Terminer. Surrogate's Courts were not established until 1854. In 1727 the original county was divided into two court districts, and the sessions were held alternately in Orangetown and Goshen, the former being the shire town. Not until 1798 was Goshen made the shire town, when the sessions alternated between Goshen and Newburgh, an arrangement which still continues.