At the behest of Benjamin Franklin at the French Court, Count Jacque LeRay de Chaumont loaned large sums of money to the revolutionary cause, including three fully equipped warships for Commodore John Paul Jones’ fleet. Between 1797 and 1817, the Count’s son, James, purchased tracts of land and most of what is now Jefferson County. In 1802, a plot of land was surveyed and named Chaumont in honor of the family’s French estates. In 1874, Chaumont was incorporated as a village.