The first settlement was developed in 1793 by Gerrit Boon in Barneveldt, as an agent of the Holland Land Company. Boon went back to Holland after a few years. His successor was Adam Gerard Mappa a Dutch typesetter. At the end of his life Mappa's friend Francis Adrian Vanderkemp moved to Barneveld.
The town was formed in 1797 from the Town of Schuyler (in Herkimer County, New York). The name may have been selected because some local soldiers fought at the Battle of Trenton. The town includes areas form the Holland and Servis Patents.