USA > New York > Livingston County > A history of Livingston County, New York : from its earliest traditions, to its part in the war for our Union : with an account of the Seneca nation of Indians, and biographical sketches of earliest settlers and prominent public men > Part 18
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* See manuscript charter in Virginia Records, 1621-25, Library of Con- gress ; also History of the Virginia Company of London, by Edward D. Neill. The associates named of the First Colony were Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, Richard Hackluyt, and Edward-Maria Wingfield; and of the Second (or Plymouth) Colony, Thomas Hanham, Raleigh Gilbert, William Packer and George Popham.
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decisive struggle of the seventeenth century between the sovereign and parliament. * The rapacious oppo- nents of the Company had, with the sanction of James no doubt, for some time been eagerly seeking to obtain its records. To prevent interpolation, should they, in a contest so unequal, fall into the unfriendly hands of Warwick and his partisans (as they did,) the original records were secretly copied and carefully authenticated. The two manuscript volumes before referred to, written in the peculiar hand of the times "on a kind of elephant paper," which, after two hun- dred and fifty years, have found a repository in our national archives and on soil so directly affected by the charter, constitute the duplicates produced under conditions so befitting the period in which they had their origin. They afford conclusive evidence of the upright conduct of the Company, and dispel all charges of false faith inade by the Spanish party, as it was called, at the English Court. As the originals were taken possession of by that arbitrary body, the celebrated "Star Chamber," and never restored, these are perhaps the only records now extant of the Com- · pany.
That little band of God-fearing men, the Puritans or Pilgrims, were settled at Leyden in 1617. After much thought they decided to emigrate to America and live as a distinct body under the government of
* Macaulay is fond of contrasting that monarch, son of the celebrated Mary, Queen of Scots, with the strong-minded, high spirited and courageous English sovereigns, whose princely bearing had, for two hundred years, made the throne one of venerable associations. He says: It was no light thing that royalty should (as in the case of James) be exhibited to the world stam- mering, slobbering, exhibiting unmanly fears, trembling at a drawn sword, and talking in a style alternately of a buffoon and a pedagogue," and he refers with great asperity to the King's extravagant claim that Parliament had no more right to inquire what he might lawfully do, than what the Deity might lawfully do.
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Virginia, if permitted here to exercise the freedom of their religious opinions. A patent, whose privileges were as ample as the Virginia Company had authority to confer, was secured, and the pilgrims set sail from Delft Haven on the 6th of September, 1620, in the Mayflower, intending to locate near the Hudson river. Accident, however, carried their little vessel to the barren head-lands since so well known as Plymouth Rock, far to the northward of the bounds of their charter, which thus became "void and useless." In the following Spring a grant was secured from the Plymouth Company of the territory on which they had unintentionally settle ! The colony grew, and in 1628 Charles I issued a charter for its government under the title of the province of Massachusetts Bay .* A half century later this patent was vacated, but renewed in 1601 by William and Mary, who expressly recognized the western boundary, as had each of the other patents, as extending from ocean to ocean.
In 1663, Charles II conferred upon his brother, then Duke of York and Albany, (afterward King James II, ) all land lying between the Delaware river and the Hudson, and northwards to the bounds of Canada. This royal donation embraced the present State of New Jersey, (which subsequently became the property of Berkley and Castaret,) and also New York, which uniformly claimed, under the somewhat vague designation in the charter, the whole area of our present State, and as far eastward as the Connect- icut river. Massachusetts, on the other hand, claimed to the Hudson, and likewise the western half of the territory of New York, and westward to the Pacific,
* In 1628, the Council of Plymouth (or Plymouth Company) transferred to. Sir Henry Roswell and his associates, constituting the Massachusetts Bay Company, a part of their immense grant, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
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under the old charter of James I to the Council of Plymouth. The charters of these two leading prov- inces, covering in large part the same territory, led to controversies as settlements expanded, both as to the right of property and the right of jurisdiction. And as each assumed to make grants to settlers in the debatable region, especially in that portion which lay between the Hudson and the Connecticut, and, to some extent, in that lying westward beyond the country of the Mohawks, angry dissensions and bloodshed followed upon the disorders occasioned by intrusions upon lands held under color of one or the other of the opposing interests. As early as 1767, commissioners were appointed by the two provinces, who met at New Haven, and. after several days spent in discussion, " with grief found themselves obliged to return to their principals, leaving the controversy unsettled .* The Revolution, whose common danger hushed all minor disputes, soon came, but on the return of peace, the questions were reopened. The legislature of this State regarded the claim on the part of Massachusetts . an ungracious one. The two States had fought and acted side by side during the Revolutionary struggle ; "and after all the severe calamities by which these States hath been distressed in the progress of vindic- tive war," said they, "we flattered ourselves that the period was at length arrived when we should have an opportunity to repair our misfortunes without envy or interruption." Agents, however, were appointed by the two States to settle their respective rights. They met, consulted and separated, after uniting in a request
* See Case of the Provinces of Massachusetts Bay and New York, respecting the Boundary Lines, Lieut .- Gov. Hutchinson and two others appeared for Massachusetts, and Robert R. Livingston and two others for New York. At subsequent conventions between the two States, John Hancock and other eminent men took part.
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for the friendly interposition of Congress, under the terms of the old articles of confederation. Governor George Clinton called an extra session of the legisla- ture, which convened in October, 1784. Referring to the controversy he says: "Since the close of your last session the legislature of Massachusetts have thought fit to set up a claim to land lying somewhere within the ancient jurisdiction of this State, the pre- cise location being left in obscurity. They have requested Congress to appoint a Federal court to inquire and determine such claims." It was not, however, until the joint commission of the two States had concluded its labors at Hartford, on the 16th of December, 1786, that a compact was formed for the permanent settlement of the questions so long in issue. By this, Massachusetts ceded to New York all claim and title to the government, sovereignty and jurisdic- tion of the lands and territory in controversy, and New York released to the former State and to her grantees, the right of pre-emption of the soil from the native Indians, and all title and property in that por- tion of this State lying west of the old "pre-emption line," which commences at the southeast corner of Steuben county and extending northward through Seneca lake, terminates at Sodus Bay, embracing an area of about six millions of acres of the fairest portion of the State .*
On the first of April, 1788, Massachusetts accepted the proposals of an association of gentlemen of capi- tal, represented by Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham, for the purchase of its pre-emptive right to the whole section, for three hundred thousand pounds
* The relcase te Massachusetts also embraced 230,400 acres between the rivers Owego and Chenango, known as the Massachusetts Ten Townships, iu Chenango county.
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in the consolidated securities of that State, worth then about two shillings in the pound. These funds at once advanced, and Phelps and Gorham failed to meet their engagements. In February, 1790, they offered to sur- render all but that one-third of their great purchase lying between Seneca lake and the Genesee river, to which. in July, 1788, they had secured by treaty at Canandaigua, a release of the Indian claims, for the consideration of two thousand one hundred pounds, New York currency. This offer was formally acceded to by Massachusetts in June of the same year, and the consideration therefor was reduced to thirty-one thousand pounds. The portion retained by them embraced all lands lying between the pre-emption line and a line drawn from a point on the Pennsylvania boundary south of the confluence of Canaseraga creek with the waters of the Genesee river, thence north- westwardly along the Genesee to a point two miles north of the Canawaugus Indian village, thence due west twelve miles distant from the most westward bend of the river, to Lake Ontario .* On the 21st of
* The Indian deed signed at this treaty affords the following description of the tract : " Beginning in the northern boundary line of the State of Penn- sylvania, in the parallel of the 42d degree north, at a point distant 82 miles from the northeast corner of Pennsylvania or Delaware river, thence running west upon said line to a meridian passing through the point of land made by the confluence of the Shanahasgreatkonreche (Canaseraga) creek with the waters of the Genesee river, thence north along the said meridian to the point last mentioned, thence northwardly along the waters of the Genesee river to a point two miles north of Shanawageras (Canawaugus) village, thence due west 12 miles, thence in a direction northwardly so as to be 13 miles distant from the most westward bend of the Genesee river to Lake Ontario, thence eastwardly along the said lake to a meridian which will pass through the place of beginning, and thence south along tho said meridian to the place of beginning." The deed was witnessed by the Rev. Samnel Kirk- ham and others, and was approved by him under authority of a resolution of the legislature of Massachusetts, appointing him to superintend and approve the purchase.
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November of the latter year, this tract was confirmed to Phelps and Gorham by an act of the legislature of Massachusetts. A survey of the tract showed that it exceeded, both in quantity and value, one-third of the whole territory. For this difference the purchasers duly accounted. With the exception of the parts that had already been sold and two townships reserved by them, Phelps and Gorham sold the whole of this one- third part of the original purchase to Robert Morris, and conveyed the same to him by deed bearing date the 18th of November, 1790. The quantity of land is described in the title to be 2,100, 000 acres .*
In 1789 Mr. Phelps opened at Canandaigua, the first regular land office for the sale of unoccupied lands to settlers ever established in America. The system he adopted for the survey of his lands by townships and ranges, was, with slight modifications, adopted by the government for the survey of all the new lands in the United States. These "ranges" were six miles in width, running north and south through the whole purchase, and numbered from east to west. The ranges, in turn, were subdivided by parallel lines, six miles apart, running east and west, denominated "townships," which were numbered from south to north. The ranges were seven in number, each embracing fourteen townships. The latter were mostly subdivided into lots of 160 acres each, for the accom- modation of actual settlers.
Settlements did not immediately follow the purchase by Phelps and Gorham. Indeed, it was not until 1792, when, by the opening of roads eastward and
* The whole transaction in relation to the Phelps and Gorham purchase was finally settled by an indenture entered into between them and Massachu- setts, bearing date March 10, 1791, in pursuance of which the balance due from Phelps and Gorham, in respect to their retained portion of the entire territory, was paid on the 6th of April, 1813.
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southward, access was facilitated to the new land of promise, that the tide of emigration thitherward began.
In the disposition of their lands, Phelps and Gor- ham accommodated their terms to the circumstances of purchasers. Several of their contracts drawn in January, 1789, contained the provision, "We engage to receive the one-half of each obligation in good merchantable ox or cow beef at the market cash price, or in West India goods at cash rates, provided, how- ever, that so far as we receive in those articles, ten per centum is to be added to the debt due to us."
The two-thirds of the territory relinquished by Phelps and Gorham, reverted to Massachusetts, and were resold by that State on the 12th of March, 1791, to Samuel Ogden, who represented Robert Morris, the eminent financier of the Revolution, the friend of Washington and a signer of the Declaration of Inde- pendence. Morris's attention had early been drawn to the Genesee country, and he eagerly availed himself of the opportunity now afforded to secure the reverted lands. In January, 1791, he had written to Ogden, who was then in Boston, "to make the purchase at any terms." A few days later he wrote him again : "I consider the purchase of such magnitude that I shall never forgive myself if I let it pass by me at anything less than the limits which I have fixed, and you may depend that if I get it, I will make a greater fortune out of it in a short time than any other person can now believe." An expectation, it may be added, that was far from being realized.
On the 11th of May, 1791, Ogden having assigned his interest to Morris, a committee on behalf of the legislature confirmed the latter's title by granting him five several deeds of conveyance for as many separate parcels of land, the first embracing about five hundred thousand acres, afterwards known as the Morris
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reserve, and the four others, the lands subsequently sold by Morris to the Holland Land Company .* Morris thus secured the exclusive power to extinguish the Indian claim.+ The quantity of land conveyed was about four million acres ; the consideration, one hundred thousand pounds Massachusetts currency, and the area "all the territory within the State of New York lying west of the meridian line commencing on the north bounds of Pennsylvania, at a point distant twelve miles west from the south-west corner of Phelps and Gorham's purchase and thence extending north to the boundary line of the United States in Lake Ontario, excepting only the reserved strip of land one mile in width, along the Niagara river, and with this exception, Robert Morris became seized of the pre-emptive title to the whole of this territory," relinquished to Massachusetts with the exceptions already noted.
That portion of this purchase lying east of the river soon passed out of the hands of Mr. Morris. Agencies had been established by him at the principal capitals of Europe for the sale of these lands, the value of which the owner himself, though holding them in high estimation, had essentially underrated. Just as he
* The deeds were deposited in the hands of Nathaniel Appleton and two others, and were delivered to Morris on payment of the purchase money.
A sixth deed was granted under authority of a joint resolution of the legislature of Massachusetts, adopted June 20th, 1792, covering the undi- vided sixtieth part of the lands embraced in the above deed, and reserved by each of them, caused by a contract made by Phelps and Gorham for the sale of 1-60th of the entire territory to John Butler, who subsequently assigned to Robert Morris, and the latter was thus enabled to acquire title to the whole directly from the State of Massachusetts.
+ Without any stipulation on this subject the grant of the pre-emptive title would have carried with it a right to the soil, subject to the possession of the Indians, with the ext:1 sive power to extinguish their claim. Sce Johnson v. McIntosh, S Wheato! . Reps., p. 564.
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became fully aware of their great importance, and before he could communicate with his foreign corres- pondents on the subject, William Temple Franklin, a grandson of Dr. Franklin, had sold them in England in 1792 to an association composed of Sir William Pultney, an eminent British statesman, who, it would appear, was able to devote little personal attention to the affairs of the company, * John Hornby, once gov- ernor of Bombay, India, a retired capitalist of London, and Patrick Colquhoun, a philanthropic Scotchman of large means, and at the time High Sheriff of Westminster, England, upon whom the details of settling the purchase and disposing of the land principally devolved, a duty he performed with so much acceptance to his associates, and with such enlightened liberality as to gain the respect of the settlers. +
The associates now required an agent who should proceed at once to the new purchase and personally superintend their interests. At this time Charles Wil- liamson, a Scotch gentleman who had spent several years in America, had come to London, where he was honored with the friendship of William Pitt and other leading men of the English capital. He had held a captain's commission in the British service, and being ordered to this country with his regiment during the Revolution, their vessel was captured by a French privateer. Williamson was brought to Boston and there held a prisoner of war until the close of the
* Sir William's family name was Johnstone. He was one of a family of fourteen children. His father was Sir James Johnstone. Sir William mar- ried Miss Pultney, niece of the Earl of Bath, and took his wife's family name in 1767. The village of Bath, in this State, was so named out of compliment, by Williamson.
+ A tablet has been placed in the Court House at Canandaigua to his memory.
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struggle. Opportunity had been afforded him to become acquainted with the quality of our new lands of which he readily availed himself, and as he was quite willing to accept the offer of the associates to manage their estates, he was engaged for the term of seven years. He possessed qualities which peculiarly fitted him for the position, and the appointment proved a fortunate one .* He enjoyed the confidence of his principals, their material resources were ample, and his zeal was fully equal to the task before him. On reaching Philadelphia he made the acquaintance of Robert Morris. After securing all the information about the Genesee country within reach, he made up his mind that a road must be opened to the purchase. He was told that this could not be done, but with his usual indomitable energy he marked out and opened a road from Ross Farm, (now Williamsport) to the confluence of the Canaseraga creek and the Genesee river, where, in 1792 he established his first settlement, Williamsburgh. The associates being aliens, could not take the title, and as a first step Williamson was naturalized in Philadelphia on the 9th of January, 1792, and on the 11th of April of the same year the title of the estate was made over to him. On the 31st of March, 1801, Williamson conveyed the lands to Sir William Pultney.+
* Captain Williamson was a native of Balgray, Scotland, his father being Secretary of the Scottish Earl of Hopeton. Two friends, both Scotchmen, John Johnstone and Chas. Cameron, accompanied him to this country. Wil- liamson was a member of Assembly from Ontario and Steuben from 1796 to 1800, and was also first judge of Steuben Common Pleas from 1796 to 1803 continuously. He returned to Scotland, and died on or about the 31st of December, 1807, on the passage from Havana to England.
t The title of the Pultney estate has been the subject of frequent litigation during the last half century, in which attempts have been made to overthrow the title derived through Williamson on the ground of his alleged alienage,
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Captain Williamson's energy and hopefulness ani- mated all who came within the range of his personal influence, while his enterprise anticipated and supplied whatever became necessary to promote the prosperity of the rising towns. He is represented as a jolly Scotchman, a gentleman of liberal education, of fine social qualities, fond of his flagon of wine and a good story, of fine horses and herds of sleek cattle. He had seen service in Europe and was a man of the world. He possessed great activity, was upright and liberal in his dealings with the pioneers, and was always ready to impart information to any who sought homes in the Genesee country. "He frequently con- cludes a contract and removes every difficulty in the course of a few minutes' conversation." By his wisely directed enterprise he gave a great impulse not only to the settlements which he lost no time in establish- ing at Bath, Williamsburgh, Geneva and Sodus, on the great tract belonging to his principals, but to the Genesee country at large .*
Having thus disposed of that portion of his pur- chase lying east of the Genesee river, Mr. Morris was not long in finding purchasers for the lands west of the river in the Holland Land Company, an association
or on the ground that the Indian title had never been extinguished to the lands in question, though each time with marked want of success.
" The whole question was carefully examined and the validity of the title distinetly affirmed in the case of the Duke of Cumberland vs. Graves," by the Court of Appeals of the State of New York (3 Selden, 305, Thomas A. John- son, J.).
* His domestic life was happy. His wife was a Boston lady, “ timid even to bashfulness," with whom he became acquainted while a prisoner of war in that city. The Duke de Liancourt, who visited Williamson in 1795, says of this lady : "She is yet but a young woman, of fine complexion, eivil, though of but few words, and mother of two lovely children; one of them, a girl three years old, is the finest and handsomest child I ever saw," and no flat- tery was more grateful to him than the praise of his two beautiful children.
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consisting of five capitalists of Amsterdam, Holland .? The consideration was fifty-five thousand pounds sterling, of which sum £37,400 were withheld until the Indian title was extinguished in 1797, at the Big Tree treaty. As the purchasers were aliens they could not take the title in their own names, and the deeds were therefore made to parties in trust for them.+
* The names of the actual original proprietors were Wilhelm Willink, Nicolas Van Staphoist, Pieter Van Eeghen, Hendrick Vollenhoven and Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck, composing the "Holland Land Company."
+ Deeds from Robert Morris and Mary his wife, to the trustees of the pro- prietors, were as follows:
I. Bears date Dec. 24, 1792, and conveys two tracts of one million and half a million respectively, amounting to 13 million acres, to Herman LeRoy and John Lincklaen in trust.
II. Bears date Feb. 27, 1793, and conveys one million acres to LeRoy, Lincklaen and Gerrit Boon, in trust.
III. Bears date July 20, 1793, and conveys 800,000 acres to LeRoy, Lincklaen and Boon, in trust.
IV. Bears date July 20, 1793, and conveys 300,000 acres to LeRoy, Wil- liam Bayard and Matthew Clarkson, in trust.
After the Big Tree treaty of Sept. 15, 1797, by which the claims of the Indians to the above lands were released to Robert Morris, he made a confir- mation to his grantees.
Concurrently with the execution of this conveyance by Morris, articles of agreement were entered into by which, among other things, a right was reserved to the grantees to elect, within a certain period, to convert the pur- chase into a loan, in which case the conveyance was to inure by way of mortgage to secure the repayment of the purchase money. The grantees. choosing to hold the lands as a purchase, declared no election to hold them otherwise; but it was nevertheless contended by Morris and those claiming under him, that the whole transaction was to be considered as a loan, and that a right still existed in Morris or his assigns which a court of chancery would enforce. This question was put at rest by the conveyance of the 10th of Feb., 1801, from T. L. Ogden and Governeur Morris.
For more than half his life the late Gov. Seward was the principal agent and attorney, and removed from Auburn to Westfield to superintend the dis- posal of the company's lands. On his voluntary retiracy from the agency, he was succeeded by the Hon. Geo. W. Patterson, ex-Lieut. Governor, who- is now acting for them, though the title to the vast estate is now almost entirely in other hands.
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