USA > New York > Steuben County > A history of Steuben County, New York, and its people, Vol. I > Part 12
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never questioned or disputed. In this careful, correct and honest manner the "New Preemption Line" was established, as the true division line between the lands of the state of New York and the lands ceded to the state of Massachusetts. This line is the eastern boundary of Steuben county until it intersects the south line of Schuyler county; it is the meridian of Washington.
In examining the old survey, or "Old Preemption Line," it was discovered that the precise point of deviation to the westward had commenced within three miles after leaving the Pennsylvania line, gradually bearing to the westward until it crossed the outlet of Lake Keuka, at or near the village of Dresden, Yates county, New York, where an abrupt offset to the westward was made, and then an in- clination for a few miles in nearly a northwest course; then bearing farther west than was necessary to secure a given object, the line was made to incline to the east until it passed the foot of Seneca lake, where it was run nearly north to Lake Ontario. All this is plain to be seen on any of the old maps, and even a casual ob- servance of the survey of the "Old Preemption Line." The "Old Preemption Line" terminated in the south shore of Lake Ontario, three miles west of Sodus bay; the new line terminated very near the center of that bay.
The cause of this unusual amount of variation of the needle in the surveyor's instrument was not caused by any magnetic or elec- trical influence. It did not attract the attention of the learned scientist of those days, or since; save that it has been the subject of investigation of the courts and men learned in the law.
It will be at once apparent that the site of Geneva, the ancient Indian village of Kanadesaga, the Seneca Castle, embraced, during the immediately preceding years, large Indian villages and settle- ments, immense orchards and cultivated lands; the sixteen thousand acres of Reed and Ryckman, the most attractive location in the state, and presumably "graft" had caused this unusual variation of the surveyor's compass. This was the cause assigned, and it has never been successfully denied.
The strip of land between the two lines was called "The Gore." In addition to the patent granted to Reed and Ryckman, the state had assumed the original survey to be correct; it had made other grants, and allowed the location of military land warrants upon what by these two surveys had been made disputed territory. As an equivalent for the bona fide purchases of this tract, compensation lands were given by the state in the towns of Woolcott and Galen, Wayne county. Deducting that portion of Seneca lake included within the Old and New Preemption Lines, which contained 4,055 acres, the net amount of land in the Gore between these lines was 84,896 acres.
Mr. Phelps, as has been before stated, opened an office in Canandaigua, New York, in 1788, for the sale of the land of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase.
FIRST "TOWNSHIPS AND RANGES."
The land purchased by Phelps and Gorham was surveyed into tracts running north and south, called ranges, and these ranges were divided into townships six miles square. This was the first time in the history of the United States when this rectangular method was
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adopted-dividing the townships into parallel ranges and designat- ing them by numbers. It was afterwards applied by the Federal government to the survey of the whole Northwest territory, and was adopted and now prevails in all the western states, except where the Spanish, French and Russian grants-prevail and are recognized.
This was done under contract with Colonel Hugh -Maxwell, who completed most of the northern portion of it previous to the close of 1788. In 1789 the work was continued with the assistance of Judge Augustus Porter and others. The survey of townships into farm lots, in cases where whole townships were sold, was done at the expense of the purchaser. Judge Porter, John Adlum and Frederick Saxton were among the earliest surveyors of the subdi- vision.
FIRST LAND SALES.
Mr. Phelps having become the principal owner of the lands of this purchase, sold to Arthur Erwin in July, 1789, the whole of township number 2 in the second range of towns, north of the Penn- sylvania line, six miles west of the Massachusetts preemption line, being six miles square, containing twenty-three thousand and forty acres, known by the name of Painted Post, for the consideration of one thousand four hundred pounds lawful money of the state of New York.
In August, 1789, Mr. Phelps sold to Uriah Stevens, Sr., and his associates, twelve in number, township 3, fifth range (Canisteo), and township 4, sixth range (Hornellsville). The lands in this deed are described as situated in the district of Erwin, county of On- tario, state of New York, known by the name of the old Canisteo Castle.
In May, 1790, Mr. Phelps conveyed to Frederick Calkins and his associates, six in number, township 2, first range (Corning). Mr. Phelps in June, 1790, conveyed to Colonel Eleazur Lindsley (Lindsley) township 1, second range (Lindsley).
Ontario county was formed from Montgomery county June 27, 1789. It included all of the territory lying between the New Pre- emption Line on the east and the Genesee river on the west, and south from the Pennsylvania line to Lake Ontario on the north.
MR. PHELPS AND HIS SAD END.
A mania of land speculation prevailed in the United States in and about the year 1796. Philadelphia was its principal center. Mr. Phelps was elected to congress. Elated with his success in the Genesee country, he was thrown into the whirlpool of rash adven- turers, one of which was an unlimited "American Land Company." Another still-remembered speculation of that period was the "Georgia Land Company." Both were dismal failures, and Mr. Phelps was obliged to borrow heavily and execute mortgages on his Genesee lands. In consequence of these misadventures he was unable to meet the payments on his land; he was obliged to sell all of the un- sold lands of the l'helps and Gorham purchase to Robert Morris, the great financier and of unlimited wealth. The deed of these lands to Mr. Morris bears date November 17, 1790, and was exe- cuted by Oliver Phelps and Mary, his wife, and Nathaniel Gorham and Rebecca, his wife. Excepting the townships and parts of town- ships before sold, being in all 1,264,569 acres, the consideration and
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actual price paid was thirty thousand pounds, New York currency. By reason of these and other unfortunate ventures, Mr. Phelps' health became greatly impaired, and he died February 21, 1809 -- an insolvent debtor on the jail limits in Canandaigua, at the age of sixty years.
Oliver Phelps was born at Windsor, Connecticut, and was a young man at the beginning of the Revolutionary war. He was at the battle of Lexington and helped to make the first military demon- stration of separation and independence from England; being also enrolled in the Massachusetts Committee of Safety. He became a contractor in the army, and was advanced to the commissary de- partment, in which he did faithful service till the close of the war. Settling in Suffield, Massachusetts, he was sent to the assembly, and then to the senate, and was also a member of the Governor's council. During the Revolution he became intimate with Robert Morris, the great financier of that period. In after years that ac- quaintance, and his high regard for and unbounded confidence in his integrity and ripe judgment, induced him to turn to Mr. Mor- ris for relief in his unfortunate dilemma.
He became a resident of Canandaigua in 1802 and was the first judge of Ontario county, upon the primitive organization of its courts, in 1789: He was a member of the eighth congress in 1804-5, for the Western district of New York.
NATHANIEL GORHAM.
Nathaniel Gorham, the associate of Oliver Phelps, was never a resident upon the purchase which bears their names. He was a well known and affluent merchant of Boston, residing in Charles- town, Massachusetts. His son, Nathaniel Gorham, Jr., was among the early settlers at Canandaigua, New York, becoming a resident in 1789, when he there became the representative of his father. He was an early supervisor of his town and a clerk of Ontario county and its courts in 1789. He was the president of the Ontario County Bank from its organization until his death in 1826, at the age of sixty-two years.
"PURCHASE" SOLD TO ROBERT MORRIS, ET AL.
In the year 1791 Robert Morris, through his agent in London, William Temple Franklin, sold the lands he had purchased of Phelps and Gorham to an English association consisting of Sir William Pulteney, John Hornby and Patrick Colquhoun. Sir William Pul- teney was a capitalist residing in London, and at that period occu- pied a high position as a citizen; a man of great wealth and a statesman as well. Mr. Hornby had been governor of Bombay and was then a retired capitalist. Mr. Colquhoun, who, more directly than any of the others of the association, became connected with the management of the property, was celebrated and eminent as a philanthropist. These gentlemen purchased the lands of Mr. Mor- ris, paying therefor thirty thousand pounds sterling, the conveyance by a deed being made to Charles Williamson, agent, April 11, 1792. Mr. Williamson had come to the United States for the purpose of buying lands for this English association, and had been naturalized, becoming a citizen of the United States in the supreme court of the state of Pennsylvania on June 9, 1792. He held the offices of mem- ber of the general assembly of Pennsylvania, in 1793; county judge
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of Steuben county, New York, 1796; and member of assembly in the state of New York, for Ontario and Steuben counties, 1798, 1799 and 1800.
When the purchase was made of Robert Morris there was no provision in the statutes of New York allowing aliens or foreigners to hold or convey land in that state. By the treaty between the United States and Great Britain, in 1794, known as Jay's treaty, this disability was in part removed, so far as the subjects of Great Britain were interested, who then held lands or were interested in real estate in the United States. An act was passed by the legis- lature of the state of New York in April, 1798, making legal con- veyances to all foreigners valid, except only those of countries then at war with the United States; but prohibited them from making any reservations of rent or service in any grant, conveyance or de- vice whatever. But this did not satisfy or meet the situation wholly, so an act explanatory of the true constructive intent and meaning of the act of April, 1798, was passed March 15, 1819, by which con- veyances made by one alien to another were declared valid, and also mortgages upon such lands and real estate.
The title of aliens and their right to convey lands in New York, being now perfected, Charles Williamson and Abigail, his wife, con- veyed the above lands to Sir William Pulteney, on October 21, 1801. Sir William Pulteney died in 1805 intestate, and his whole estate and property was inherited by and became the absolute prop- erty of his only child, Henrietta Laura Pulteney. She died in 1808 intestate, leaving her cousin, Sir John Louther Johnstone, her sole heir at law, to whom her estate descended. The latter died in 1811, and by his will devised all his lands in America to Ernest Au- gustus, Duke of Cumberland, Charles Herbert Pierpont, David Catheart and Masterton Ure, in trust, to sell the same as speedily as possible and to invest the same as is in said will directed. He therein authorized them to fill any vacancies which might occur. He also authorized "three to act when there were four and two to act when there were but three."
On the first of March, 1819, Charles Herbert Pierpont re- linquished his trust and conveyed to his co-trustees all his interest in the estate, and on the twentieth of November, 1827, these trus- tees, under an order of the court of chancery, appointed John Gor- don a trustee in the place of Charles Herbert Pierpont, and con- veyed to him the estate as a co-trustee. On the seventeenth of Au- gust, 1830, the then trustees, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, Masterton Ure and John Gordon, appointed Robert Troup their attorney and agent for managing the estate, and in case of his death or disability to act, they appointed Joseph Fellows to act in that capacity. By virtue of this appointment and the death of Robert Troup, Joseph Fellows continued to act as the legally authorized agent of the trustees until the fifteenth day of February, 1862.
COMPLICATIONS IN LAND TITLES.
The agents of the owners of the lands of the Pulteney estate have provided to sell "with all convenient speed," as directed by the will of Sir John Louther Johnstone. The sales were almost invaria- bly made on time; the purchaser took a contract of sale and came. into possession ; but the purchaser did not pay "with all convenient
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speed." The land office, as the agent was known, was extremely lenient-more so than good business required. When, as was rarely the case, past due payments on the contracts, or the re-possession of the land, was sought to be enforced by legal proceeding, much bad feeling was engendered, and resort to violence was not infrequent. The title was assailed for numerous reasons and on various pretexts. In many instances men who had taken contract, entered into pos- session, made a few small payments but added valuable improve- ments by erecting buildings, clearing the land, etc., had become old men and died, leaving to their families the task of making the set- tlement with the land office as best as they could. The reasons for disputing tlie validity of the title of the English owners were vari- ous; such as that because they were foreigners and non-residents they could not enforce their claims, or that the land still belonged to the native Indians, who alone were entitled to the land or its values. These claims were discussed at the fireside, in neighborhood gatherings and at public meetings called and held for the purpose of devising ways and means to resist the enforcements of the land office. Lawyers of alleged reputable legal abilities attended these meetings and advised and encouraged resistance. Inhabitants of the county, who were not similarly situated, took but little if any in- terest in what was called the "Anti-rent War." It cut some figure in local politics and occupied the attention of the courts.
The question of titles to these lands, as appears from the records of the state and other sources of information, has been a subject of much legislation and judicial and personal investigation. In 1789 Mr. Bickford, of London, made a purchase of Mr. Williamson of 29,000 acres of land. By the contract for the sale of this land the title was to be certified to by Messrs. Hamilton, Harrison and Troup, of New York, all eminent lawyers; without their certificate the money could not be drawn in London. After a very minute investi- gation these lawyers made their certificate as to the sufficiency of the title, and Mr. Williamson, in 1790, received his money.
Another very accurate investigation of the title to the lands of this purchase was made by the commissioners of the Land Office of the state of New York. By an error in the first survey of the preemption line a glaring mistake, never yet explained, was made, which, as stated, was discovered and rectified by Joseph Ellicott and others, in 1792; this correction of the line gave Mr. William- son 84,000 acres more land than was returned in the first survey, made in 1789. The commissioner had before that sold part of this tract to different individuals. The important site of the city of Geneva, New York, was included in these lands and it became necessary for the state to compensate Williamson and other persons owning such locations. A law was passed by the New York legis- lature, at the session of 1793, declaring the line run by Mr. Ellicott and his associates the true boundary line of the lands of Phelps and Gorham, and empowering the commissioner of the Land Office to compensate the claimants, allowing the preference to the persons holding under the title derived from Phelps and Gorham. After the fullest investigation of the title taken by Mr. Williamson. the commissioners of the Land Office granted to him and the persons he represented a patent for 56,000 acres near Sodus bay, in what is now Wayne county, as a compensation for the lands he had sur-
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rendered to the state lying on the eastern boundary of Ontario and Steuben counties, between the old and new preemption lines. Pre- vious to granting the patent, the commissioner of the land office re- ceived the report of the attorney general of the state of New York, which, after giving a deduction of the title, offered it as his opinion that Williamson and those he represented were the legal owners of the land cut off by the "Old Preemption Line," and, of course, the same decision involved and determined the whole title to the lands purchased of Phelps and Gorham by Robert Morris.
MORRIS DIES IN DEBTOR'S PRISON.
As the further connection of Mr. Morris with the Phelps and Gorham will not further demand our attention, it will not be in- appropriate or irrelevant to briefly trace the career and subsequent life of this distinguished and self-sacrificing patriot, who so com- manded the love and veneration of every American. He was born in Liverpool, England, on January 20, 1734, and came with his parents when a youth to this country. Later he entered the services of Charles Willing, the eminent merchant of Philadelphia, as a clerk and subsequently became a partner of his employer's son and successor. At the breaking out of the Revolution he became at once an active partisan in the struggle. He was a delegate to the Continental congress in 1776, and as such was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Mr. Morris established the Bank of North America and became secretary of the treasury. His un- bounded personal credit being freely used to carry on the war on land and on sea. He was also a member of the national convention that adopted the Constitution of the United States, was a signer thereof and a United States senator from Pennsylvania. But his investments in lands in western New York and elsewhere were most unfortunate. He was unable to meet his financial engagements, his lands were sold on executions, were bid in and retained by men for whom he had made unbounded sacrifices, and he died in a debtor's prison in Philadelphia May 8, 1806.
TITLE TO THE PULTENEY ESTATE.
On the 26th of January, 1821, an act was passed by the legis- lature of New York entitled, "An Act to Perpetuate Certain Testi- mony Respecting the Title to the Pulteney Estate in this State." Accordingly Robert Troup, Joseph Fellows and John Greig were examined before Hon. Bowen Whiting, a master in chancery, as to the seizure, descent and title of said estate, and an order was entered thereupon, on the 28th of November, 1821, to the end that said depositions do, in the opinion of the chancellor, furnish good prima facie evidence of the facts therein set forth; and it was ordered that the depositions be filed in the office of the register in chancery, "there to remain as matters of perpetual record." We have prepared the following statement, abstract and authority of and for this title:
(1) In the year 1534 Jacques Cartier, then in the service of Francis I. of France, with an armed force, landed at Hochielaga on the banks of the River St. Lawrence, now Montreal, and planted the French flag and the cross; then and there proclaimed he took possession of that river, all of its tribu- taries and affluents and all lands adjoining, remote and distant, for and in the name of his sovereign and country; and thereby constructively, of the territory embraced in the Phelps and Gorham Purchase. Constructive and
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nominal title thereto was asserted from thence forth until the treaty of Paris, February 10, 1763, when it was by France ceded to England.
(2) Grant by Charles I., of England, in 1628, to Sir Henry Boswell, John Endicott and others, composing the colony of Massachusetts Bay, in New England; confirming and making valid grant before that time, made by James 1., of England, to the grantees last named, including by constructive title, with other property and territory, the lands of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase.
(3) Grant by Charles II., of England, to James Duke of York, aated March 12, 1664, the lands embraced in the Phelps and Gorham Purchase, with other territory and land in the Province of New York.
(4) Treaty and cession made between the States of New York and Mas- sachusetts, by Commissioners for each State, dated at Hartford, Connecticut, December 16, 1786. Recorded in the office of the Secretary of the State of New York, in Book A of Miscellaneous Records, at page 38, etc., February 2, 1787.
(5) Conveyance to Nathaniel Gorham and Oliver Phelps by ( first) : Grant of same lands to Nathaniel Gorham and Oliver Phelps, by an Act of the Legislature of the State of Massachusetts, April 1, 1788; (second) an act confirming to Phelps and Gorham a certain portion of said lands, passed November 21, 1788. Recorded in the office of the Secretary of State of New York, in Book A, of Miscellaneous Records, page 229, etc., February 6, 1789.
(6) Deed from Nathaniel Gorham and Rebecca, his wife, and Oliver Phelps and Mary, his wife, to Robert Morris, dated November 18, 1790, ac- knowledged before James M. Hughes, and recorded in the office of the Sec- retary of State of New York, in Book B, of Miscellaneous Records, page 169, etc., on May 24, 1791.
(7) Deed from Robert Morris and Mary, his wife, to Charles William- son, dated April 11, 1792, acknowledged before James Wilson, United States Judge, February 20, 1795. Recorded in the office of the Secretary of State of New York, in Liber I, of Deeds, Miscellaneous Records at page 400, etc., on the 28th day of September, 1798.
(8) Charles Williamson and Abigail, his wife, to Sir William Pulteney, dated March 31, 1801, acknowledged by Williamson, on the same day, and by his wife, by Jacob W. Hallett, Master in Chancery. Recorded in the Secretary of State's office, New York, in Liber M, of Deeds, Miscellaneous Records, page 304, etc., on the 21st day of October, 1801. Consolidated Laws of the State of New York, Chapter 50, Article 2.
(9) Exemplifications from the Court of Chancery, viz .: (First) The death of Sir William Pulteney, intestate, and the descent cast upon Henrietta Laura, his only child, and heir-at-law; (secondly) the death of Henrietta Laura Pulteney, intestate as to her real estate, and the descent cast in Sir John Louther Johnstone, her cousin and heir-at-law; (thirdly) the death of Sir John Louther Johnstone, in December, 1811, after making and publishing in duplicate, a last will and testament. These exemplifications are done and made, under and pursuant to the act of the Legislature of the State of New York, passed January 26, 1821, to perpetuate the foregoing testimony.
(10) Exemplifications from the Supreme Court of the will of Sir John Louther Johnstone, dated August 7, 1811, and proved in the Supreme Court by John Birch Dawson, one of the subscribing witnesses, on January 3, 1820, devising his lands in America to Ernest Augustus, Charles Herbert Pierpoint, David Catheart and Masterton Ure, in trust, etc.
(11) Deed and release of trust from Charles Herbert Pierpoint to his co-trustees, dated March 1, 1819. Proved before the Lord Mayor of London, by Isaac Samuel Clamtree, one of the witnesses, on March 25, 1820, and before Richard Rush, American Minister to England, on June 18, 1823. Done pur- suant to Chapter 119, Laws of New York, for the year 1816. Recorded in the office of the Secretary of State of New York, in Book of Deeds No. 40, page 472, etc., on September 23, 1823.
(12) Deed from Ernest Augustus, David Catheart and Masterton Ure to John Gordon, conveying joint interest in lands and appointing him co- trustee, dated November 19, 1827. Acknowledged by Ernest Augustus May 27, 1834, and David Catheart May 30, 1834, both before the Lord Mayor of London, and by Masterton Ure before the Lord Provost and Chief Magistrate of Edinburgh, on June 27, 1834. Recorded in the Steuben County Clerk's office, in Book A, of Miscellaneous Deeds, March 11, 1836. Vol. I-6
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(13) Proof of the death of Ernest Augustus on November 18, 1851, and the death of David Catheart on April 26, 1829; by exemplified copy of Commission and evidence, executed by Robert B. Campbell, United States Consul at London, on May 19, 1860. with certificate of the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals of the State of New York, pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 161, of the Session Laws of the State of New York, for the year 1860.
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