low, with barely 100 voters participating. Councilors Bayard and Philipse issued a proclamation on October 20 calling Leisler's rule illegal, and ordered other militia commanders to stop supporting him. The proclamation had no effect. Resistance in Albany Leisler's opponents had assumed control of Albany and the immediate area. On July 1, they formally proclaimed William and Mary and, on August 1, established a convention to rule. The convention included local militia leaders and the city fathers of Albany, wealthy landowners from the Hudson River valley, and it became the nucleus of anti-Leisler activities in the province. The convention categorically refused to recognize Leisler's rule unless he presented a commission from William and Mary. Albany's situation became tense in September when local Indians brought rumors of an imminent attack from French Canada. Leisler was interdicting movement of military supplies up the Hudson, so Albany officials ended up making an appeal to him. He responded by sending Jacob Milborne, a close advisor and future son-in-law, with a militia troop to take military control of Albany in November. However, the convention objected to the terms that Milborne demanded in exchange for his support, and he was refused entry to the city and Fort Frederick. He was warned by an Iroquois woman that a large body of Indians near Albany saw him as a threat to their friends in Albany and would react if he attempted to assert military control over the area. Milborne returned to New York City. The convention also appealed to the neighboring colonies for military assistance, which Connecticut answered by sending 80 militiamen to Albany in late November. Leisler finally gained control over Albany early in 1690. He called for elections at Schenectady in January 1690, in a move calculated to divide neighboring communities. In early February, during King William's War, Schenectady was attacked by French and Indian raiders, exposing the weakness of the Albany Convention's position. Each side blamed the other for the failure to defend Schenectady, but Leisler was able to capitalize on the situation. He convinced Connecticut to withdraw its militia and sent his own militia north to take control of the area. The convention capitulated, lacking any significant outside support. Leisler's rule A letter arrived in December 1689 from William and Mary addressed to Nicholson or "in his absence to such as for the time being take care for preserving the peace and administering the laws