Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations, Part 70

Author: Howell, George Rogers, 1833-1899; Tenney, Jonathan, 1817-1888
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1452

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LAND PATENTS, SETTLEMENTS, LEASES, TITLES AND BOUNDARIES.

THE claims of the native proprietors to the soil H were admitted by the Holland companies and the Patroon, and purchases of lands were made from the Indian owners "for certain quantities of duf- fels, axes, knives and wampum." In this manner purchases were made by the Van Rensselaer Patroons and others, who made original purchases of Indian tracts of lands. The general policy of these Patroons was to lease lands and transmit them to their heirs, not to sell them. This has been briefly spoken of in other parts of our volume.

Much could be said under our heading, but we propose to say but little-just enough to give a few facts and suggestions on a subject of great interest and extensive relations.

In 1678, Governor Andros thus writes of land grabbing: "New York is in 40° 35', Albany abt. 43°. The Colony is several long narrow stripes of

wh. a great part of the settlemt. made by adventu- rers before any Regulacon by wh. Incroachmts. without pattents, wh. towns have lately taken but by reason of continuall warrs noe Survey made & wildernesse, no computacon can be made of the planted and implanted." True to his King, this Governor endeavored to place a check upon such proceedings. But with poor success.

The extravagant land grants made in this State, to private persons, by some of the English Govern- ors were in such vast parcels that the government thereby lost much revenue, which caused much uneasiness and discontent. Individuals came into collision on account of the irregular manner in which the grants usually were located-without surveys or boundaries. The most reckless gover- nors in these transactions were Governors Fletcher and Cornbury. Lands by 50,000, 100,000, and

LAND PATENTS, SETTLEMENTS, LEASES, TITLES AND BOUNDARIES. 293

even a million of acres were placed in the hands of unscrupulous speculators. Conflicting claims made great trouble ; honest settlers were defrauded ; and the settlement of good lands by worthy citizens greatly hindered. The King interfered ; called home some governors in disgrace, and vacated some of the grants. No State in the Union has suffered so much by the extravagant and unguarded distribution of its domain as the State of New York. The hurtful consequences have always been felt as prejudicial to the public interests.

The recognized claim of the Patroons, dating so far back, and being so well established by the ex- tinguishment of the Indian claims and the actual occupation of the land, prevented any trouble from such grants in Rensselaerwyck.

While the title of the lands in this county could not be disputed, having been duly purchased of the aboriginal owners by the Van Rensselaers and con- firmed by the States General of Holland, the man- ner of dividing off the farms was not well considered. Land was plenty and the value small. Patents and farms were located by spotted trees, stones, streams, and other points subject to decay, removal or other change. One badly defined lot was bounded as lying next to another just as badly defined. Lots over- lapped each other, and gores or other shapes were left between lots without a legal occupant. Lands were stepped off, or measured with a pole, a rope, or the "leading line" of a harness. Courses were run by unskilled surveyors, running northerly or north-by-west from any evanescent or un- certain point that first came to notice in the line. In after time came the difficulty of finding the old points and retracing the old lines. This has cost labor, expense and perplexity. Many questions pertaining to the farm lands in this county are yet unsettled, the farmers wisely con- cluding that it would cost more than it would come to to hire a surveyor ; much more to go to court. So, by some neighborly compromise, the unsettled line of division has long remained un- settled ; and we may hope that it long may, except it be peaceably.

Joel Munsell tells us that the boundaries and. tracts were quite indefinite, and as they became cultivated, all traces of the described bounds utterly ceased to be distinguishable. For instance, a farm now in the heart of the City of Albany, leased by the Patroon to Isaac, son of Casper Halenbeck, is thus described in the lease : "Bounded on the north by the plain and hill ; on the east by the swamp; on the south by the Bever Kil; on the west by the woods." Nothing now remains but

the Kil to mark the boundaries of this tract, and that is partially arched over and used as a sewer. The hill was long since leveled, the swamp filled in and built upon, the woods cleared up, and the area occupied by streets and a dense population.

'The Duke of York, as proprietor and as King, as well as his successors, saw the good policy of treat- ing the Hollander well, and readily confirmed the rights and patents that dated under the government of the States General or of the Dutch West India Company. All other lands were claimed as belong- ing to the English crown; and, after satisfying the Indian title as a matter of policy, all grants were finally subject to the approval of the King.

The acknowledgment of the just title of the Patroon of Rensselaerwyck to the territory that became the City of Albany in 1686, unfairly disputed by Governor Stuyvesant, reflects credit on the policy of the English government at that time, as discussed in another place.

The claim of England to the territory of New Netherlands, by right of prior discovery, has been referred to elsewhere, and needs no further discus- sion here. It was at a time when might made right. Indeed, when and where in the world's history has it not been so? But how little did King James realize the value of his province of New York ! Nor was George III much wiser.

Writing concerning the state of lands- in the Province of New York in 1732, Cadwallader Colden, Surveyor-General, says : "By the 3d article of Surrender agreed to with the Dutch Govt. it is stipulated (in 1664) that 'all people shall continue free denizens, and enjoy lands, houses, goods, ships, wheresoever they are within the country, and dispose of them as they please.' And by the 11th article, 'The Dutch here shall enjoy their own customs concerning inheritances.'"

In pursuance of this the inhabitants took out confirmations of their lands and tenements under the hand and seal of Colonel Nicolls, the first English Governor under the Duke of York, in which their title under the Dutch is recited. The form of these confirmations appear to be everywhere the same.

Governor Nicolls likewise, granted unimproved lands to any who were willing to settle and improve them; and these first grants were made without any previous survey or without reciting any certain boundaries, but only to contain, for example, 100, 200, or 300 acres adjoining such another man's land or a certain hill, or river, or rivulet.

Subsequent governors made land grants with surveys or without, as it pleased them, Some parted

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HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ALBANY.

with valuable lands and large tracts for a mere trifle to their favorites. Land was plenty. The few who had influence with the government, and desired in- crease of power and wealth, saw their opportunity in large territory which they might settle with de- pendents. The evil that came from such a policy has cursed this State even to our day; giving us confusion of titles and boundaries; vexations and expensive lawsuits; many bitter contentions, that have grown so mighty as to move the whole body politic; and kept many hard-working tenants and their families in a condition but little better than abject servitude, with all its consequences in ig- norance and lawlessness. Albany County is a witness of this condition of things. The article on Anti-rentism in this volume clearly exhibits the evils that have sprung from feudal tenures, rents conditioned upon leases in perpetuity, and exacted by the Patroons and their assignees. The conflicting opinions of learned legal authority are perplexing to the lay citizen. The financial ruin of many so-called tenants, and the physical, mental and moral degradation frequently consequent upon this condition of things, are too patent for denial, and excite commiseration. This state of things shows that a great wrong has been the nat- ural outgrowth of the policy of such land grants made long ago, no doubt, at first, with a worthy purpose. Nor is there any doubt that the Patroons, or original landholders, regarded their manorial claims as beneficial to the State as well as advan- tageous to themselves. They designed to treat the farmers who occupied their lands with justice, and usually did treat them with a policy both benevo- lent and lenient. The evils that resulted were the fruits of the system. One of the worst ills that has resulted from the lease system in this county has been its effect upon the family of the lessee, which has occupied the same soil for many years without owning anything.

If men do not possess the right of soil, however cheap the lease rents, they never can be indepen- dent citizens. They are always under the influence of their landlords. Their minds are apt to be- come debased and their enterprise destroyed. When their vassalage becomes hopeless, they live as dumb, driven cattle.

The exact boundaries of our county, and of the towns of which it is constituted, are not accurately defined. Says Mr. J. T. Gardner, in State Survey Report for 1877 :

" Less than one hundred years ago, however, sur- veyors, carrying only the compass, chain, ax and rifle, contending with innumerable obstacles in

pathless forests, forced their way to the utmost limits of a wilderness stretching from the Hudson River to Lake Erie. They traversed every part, and roughly measured lines, dividing the lands into tracts of suitable size for coming settlers, and marking the lots by notching or 'blazing ' surrounding trees.

" There has been no survey of the State since the pioneer surveyors ran their compass lines through the woods.

"The maps of New York are false to the extent of one, two, and even three miles in the positions ascribed to prominent points. * *

* It is well known that we are far behind the rest of the world in knowledge of our own territory."

What is true of the State is measurably true of the smaller divisions of the State, of which it is composed. There is something yet to be done by the surveyors and engineers of the future.

The sagacity of the Dutch settlers is shown in their selection of lands, and the tenacity with which they held possession of them. They rarely occupied the hills. Their native Holland was a flat country, abundant in water, lying by the sea, and traversed by rivers and canals. The early colonists of this county planted their homes, usually, upon level tracts, upon the rich alluvium of the Hudson River, or other streams that run into it. These they were apt to leave to their heirs. The later German took the best he could find in the valley of the Mohawk, or else looked for his home on some fertile spot but a little removed from some stream.

The following is a list of patents of lands located in or near Albany County by the Dutch Govern- ment from 1630 to 1634, so far as they now have been found recorded in the Book of Patents and Town Records. It will interest the many de- scendants of our original landholders:

Kiliaen Rensselaer: Indian land east of Hudson, Rensselaerwyck, August 6, 1631; Indian land west of Hudson, Rensselaerwyck, August 13, 1631; Indian land, Papskenea, Rensselaerwyck, April 13, 1637; Indian land, Katskill, April 19, 1649; In- dian land, Claverack, May 14, 1649. Jan Michelsen: a lot, Beverwyck, May 23, 1650. Rutger Jacob- sen: a lot, Beverwyck, April 23, 1652. Goosen G. Van Schaick: a lot, Beverwyck, April 23, 1652. Anthonie De Hooges, a lot, Beverwyck, April 23, 1652. Cornelis Teunissen: a lot, Beverwyck, April 23, 1652. Andries Herbertsen: a lot, Bever- wyck, April 23, 1652. Dirck Jansen: a lot, Bever- wyck, April 23, 1652. Arent Andriessen: a lot, Beverwyck, April 23, 1652. Volkert Jansen: a lot, Beverwyck, April 23, 1652. Albert Gerritsen: a lot, Beverwyck, April 23, 1652. Jacob Adrien-

LAND PATENTS, SETTLEMENTS, LEASES, TITLES AND BOUNDARIES. 295

sen : a lot, Beverwyck, April 23, 1652. Willem Teller: a lot, Beverwyck, April 23, 1652. An- netje Bogardus: a lot, Beverwyck, April 23, 1652. Teunis Jacobsen: a lot, Beverwyck, April 23, 1652. Rut Adriensen: a lot, Beverwyck, April 23, 1652. Jacob Janz Schermerhorn: a lot, Beverwyck, No- vember 9, 1653. Jochem Backer: a lot, Bever- wyck, April 23, 1653. Pieter Loockermans: a lot, Beverwyck, July 7, 1653. Hans Kierstede: a lot, Beverwyck, July 18, 1653. Ryer Elbertsen: a lot, Beverwyck, October 25, 1653. Laurens Lourenzen: a lot, Beverwyck, October 25, 1653. Jochem Kettelhuyn: a lot, Beverwyck, October 25, 1653. Evert Janz Van Embden: a lot, Bever- wyck, October 25, 1653. Casper Jacobsen: a lot, Beverwyck, October 25, 1653. Michel Reycker- sen: a lot, Beverwyck, October 25, 1653. Hen- drick Andriessen: a lot, Beverwyck, October 25, 1653. Jan Verbeck: a lot, Beverwyck, October 25, 1653. Thomas Jansen: a lot, Beverwyck, Oc- tober 25, 1653. Andries DeVos: a lot of wood- land, Beverwyck, October 25, 1653. Thomas Sandersen: two lots, Beverwyck, October 25, 1653. Rut Adriensen: a lot, Beverwyck, October 25, 1653. And. Janz Appel Van Leyden: two lots, Beverwyck, October 25, 1653. Jacob Janz Schermerhorn: two lots, Beverwyck, October 25, 1653. Jan Labadie: a lot, Beverwyck, October 25, 1653. Laurens Jansen: a lot, Beverwyck, October 25, 1653. Captain Abram Staets, a lot, Beverwyck, October 25, 1653. Jacob Hendrick Sibbinck: a lot, Beverwyck, October 25, 1653. Jacob Symonz Klomp: a lot, Beverwyck, October 25, 1653. Hags Brunysen: a lot, Beverwyck, October 25, 1653. Jan Frs. Van Hoesen: a lot, Beverwyck, October 25, 1653. Gillis Pietersen: a lot, Beverwyck, October 25, 1653. Captain Abram Staets: Cicheckawick, north of Claverack, March 17, 1654. Leendert Phillipsen: a lot, Beverwyck, March 24, 1654. Hendrick Marcelis: a lot, Beverwyck, March 24, 1654. Gillis Pietersen: a lot, Beverwyck, April 14, 1654. Wynent Gerrit- sen: a lot, Beverwyck, August 29, 1654. Ad. J. Van Leyden Appel: a lot for an inn, Beverwyck, December 16, 1654. Ph. Pietersen Schuyler: two lots, Beverwyck, June 16, 1656. Adrien Janz Ilpendam: a lot, Beverwyck, October 28, 1656. Mattheus Abrams: a lot, Beverwyck, October 28, 1656. Claes Hendricksen: two lots, Beverwyck, September 25, 1657. Pieter Jacobsen: a lot, Beverwyck, February 23, 1658. Jeremias Van Rensselaer: a lot, Beverwyck, February 25, 1658. Sander Senderts Glen: a lot, Beverwyck, July 13, 1658. Ph. Pietersen Schuyler: a lot, Beverwyck,

September 10, 1658. Pieter Meersen: a lot, Beverwyck, October 31, 1658. Thomas Cham- bers: a lot, Beverwyck, November 8, 1653. Volckert Jansen, et al .: a plantation, Fort Orange, March 31, 1659. - Andriessen: a plantation, Fort Orange, March 19, 1659. Arent Van Curler: a plantation, Beverwyck, March 23, 1659. Pieter Hartgers: two lots, Beverwyck, September 1, 1659. Jan Daretha: a lot, Beverwyck, February 5, 1660. Peter Jacobsen: a lot, Beverwyck, February 23, 1660. Peter Mees: a lot, Beverwyck, August 17, 1660. Jan Costers Van Aecken: a lot, Beverwyck, March 7, 1661. Jan Tomassen: two lots, Bever- wyck, March 10, 1661. Rutger Jacobsen, et al. : Pachnach Killick Island, near Beverwyck, March 10, 1661. Rutger Jacobsen: Constable's Island, Beverwyck, March 19, 1661. Arent Van Curler, et al .: Indian land, Schonowe, July 27, 1661. Schenectady, Great Flatt confirmed April 6, 1662. Jan Jansen Van Hoesen: Indian land, Claverack, June 5, 1662. J. B. Wemp, et al .: Martin's Island, Schenectady, November 12, 1662. Peter Bronck: a lot, Beverwyck, 1663. Symon Symonz Groot: a lot, Beverwyck, May 11, 1663. Casper Jacobsen: a lot, Beverwyck, December 29, 1663. Jan Tomassen: a lot, Beverwyck, March 10, 1664. Cornelis Van Nes: twenty-one morgen, Schenec- tady, June 1, 1664. Teunis Cornelissen: twenty- four morgen, Schenectady, June 16, 1664. Sy- mon De Bakker: twenty-four morgen, Schenectady, June 19, 1664. Pieter Adriensen: twenty-six mor- gen, Schenectady, June 16, 1664. Willem Teller: twenty-three morgen, Schenectady, June 16, 1664. Ph. Pietersen Schuyler: Indian tract, Half-Moon, July 10, 1664.

All lands within this State are allodial, so that, subject to their liability to escheat, the owners have entire and absolute property in them, accord- ing to the nature of their respective estates. No leases can now be made of agricultural lands for a time longer than twelve years, and all quarter sales or other restraints upon alienation, reserved in any grant hereafter made, are void in law.

Albany County never had any State lands except those occupied by State buildings. It has no United States land except that occupied by the Watervliet Arsenal and the Government building in Albany. It has had no Gospel or school lands, no literature lands, no military land grants, nor were any patents covering its territory or any part of it, ever granted originally by the English government. Some of its citizens, as the Livingstons, the Schuy- lers, and the Van Rensselaers, had large patents located in other parts of the State.

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HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ALBANY.

THE BEAVER AND THE FUR TRADE.

THE earliest industry in the territory now called Albany County was the beaver trade. Nothing else brought the first Dutch adventurers to New Netherlands, as nothing but the love of gold led the earliest adventurers from our Eastern States to the mines of California. Had it not been for the beaver, we cannot tell how much longer the settlement of our county would have been deferred. A brief ac- count of this fur-bearing rodent, and of the impor- tant relation he sustained to our early history, seems due to him. Without it our work would be in- complete.

How much he was esteemed is shown in part by the local preservation of his honored name in Beverwyck, Beaverkill, Beaver street, Beaver block and the like.

We begin with a description in popular language of the beaver himself, that we may better under- stand his character and habits.

The beaver is one of the most extraordinary of all animals. It is between three and four feet in length, and weighs from forty to sixty pounds. Its teeth, which are long, broad and sharp, project considerably beyond the jaw, and are curved like a carpenter's gouge. In its fore-feet the toes are separated, as if designed to answer the purposes of fingers and hands. Its hind-feet are accommo- dated with webs, suited to the purpose of swim- ming. In no animal does the social instinct and habit appear stronger or more general than in the beaver. Wherever a number of these animals are found, they immediately form an association to carry on their common business. Their societies are generally formed in June and July, and fre- quently number two or three hundred, all united in promoting the interests of the whole community.

The society of beavers seems to be regulated alto- gether by natural dispositions and laws. It is one of peace and affection, guided by one principle. No contention or disagreement is ever seen among them; but harmony and unity prevail throughout their dominion. The principle of this union is not the superiority of any individual; there seems to be among them nothing of the authority or influence of a leader or chief. Their association has the as- pect of a pure democracy, founded on the principle

of perfect equality and the strongest mutual attach- ment.

When these animals are collected together, they give attention, first, to their public affairs. Being amphibious, they spend part of their time in the water. Their first work is to find a situation con- venient for both their land and water purposes. A lake or a running stream of water is chosen for their habitation, selected always of such depth that they may have sufficient room for swimming under the ice. They seem to have an eye to undisturbed possession. Such is their foresight or instinct, that they are said never to form an erroneous judgment. Having selected their site thus carefully, they next construct a dam; and so well chosen are both the place and form of this, their home, that no engi- neer could give them a better, either for conven- ience, strength or duration.

The materials used are wood and earth. If there be a tree on the side of the river which would nat- urally fall across the stream, several beavers go to work with their teeth, with great diligence, to fell it. Trees twenty inches in diameter are thus thrown across a stream as the formation of their dam. Others are cutting down smaller trees, which they divide into convenient lengths. Others serve as porters, conveying the trees to the needed places; and others, still, engage in the masonry of the work. The earth is brought in their mouths, formed into a kind of mortar with their feet and tails, and spread over the interstices between the stakes in such a way as to render the whole imper- vious to water. The magnitude and extent of these dams is marvelous when we consider the artisans and their instruments. They are from fifty to one hundred feet in length, and from six to twelve feet thick at the base, forming ponds, frequently of 500 or 600 acres.

When the public works are completed, their domestic concerns next engage their attention. The beavers separate to build houses, each division for itself, along the borders of the pond. These houses are of an oval form, resembling a haycock in appearance, and varying from four to ten feet in diameter, according to the number of families they are designed to accommodate. In these huts the families of beavers live, enjoying the fruits of their

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THE BEAVER AND THE FUR TRADE.

labors. But if any injury is done to their public works, the whole society unites to repair it.

Nothing can exceed the peace and regularity which prevail through the whole commonwealth. No discord ever appears in any of their families; every beaver knows his own apartment and store- house, and there is no pilfering or robbing from one another.

The color of the beaver varies with the climate, being nearly black in the colder regions, and grow- ing brown in the warmer. Its fur is of two sorts, one being long, coarse and of little use; the other consisting of a fine, thick down, about three- quarters of an inch long, which has the com- mercial value.

The beaver attains its greatest magnitude and its highest perfection of society only where it is un- disturbed by man. Hence it makes its home only in uncultivated regions, retreating as man ap- proaches.

Some idea of the trade in beaver, in those prim- itive times, may be gathered from the facts which follow.

The ship Nieu Nederlandt took 1,500 beaver and 500 otter skins from Fort Orange at the close of the first season.

The number of beavers reported from New Netherlands in 1624, as Hazard tells us, were 4,000; also 700 otters-all valued at 27, 125 guild- ers. About 10 years later the returns were 14, 891 beavers and 1,413 otters, estimated at 134,000 guilders.

The ship Arms of Amsterdam sailed from New Amsterdam September 23, 1626, and arrived in Amsterdam, November 4th, following, with a cargo of 7,246 beaver skins, 8532 otter skins, 48 mink skins, 36 wild cat skins, 33 mink and 34 rat skins, besides some wheat, rye, barley, oats, buckwheat, canary seed, beans and flax, and considerable oak and hickory.

In 1632, the Dutch Colonists were reported to have sent over to Holland "15,000 beaver skynnes, besides other commodities."

About 1633, it was estimated that about 16,000 beaver skins were sold in the Hudson river trade, mostly at Fort Orange.

The value of furs exported in 1626 was reckoned at about $19,000; in 1632 it had been raised to $50,000.

In 1638, the States General observe that nothing comes from New Netherlands but beaver skins, minks and other furs. About this time the fur trade was made free. Every boor became a fur trader.

The trade in furs at Albany was very flourish- ing in the years from 1645 to 1660.

In 1645, an arrival of tobacco and beavers is reported in Amsterdam-the latter invoiced as " 10 cases containing 2, 137 pieces of beavers," which, valued at 7 guilders, amount to 14,959 florins.

The number of furs exported from Fort Orange and vicinity in 1656, amounted to 34,480 beaver and 300 otter skins. In 1658 the number reached 57,640 beaver and 300 otter skins.

In 1657, according to the record of Johannes Dyckman, 40,940 beaver and otter skins were shipped to New Amsterdam from Fort Orange, now Albany.

Here we take note of the commercial value of beaver.

When specie was scarce and paper money had not come into use, beaver skins and wampum, or seawant, were used among the people as currency.

In 1656 a beaver skin was worth 8 to 10 guilders, or $3.50 to $4. The former was the usual price, the real value of which would be $3. 20 in our cur- rency. One guilder equals 40 cents.

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Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations, Part 70

Author: Howell, George Rogers, 1833-1899; Tenney, Jonathan, 1817-1888 Publication date: 1886 Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co. Number of Pages: 1452

Author: Howell, George Rogers, 1833-1899; Tenney, Jonathan, 1817-1888
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1452