Geographical gazetteer of Jefferson county, N.Y. 1684-1890, Part 5

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- [from old catalog] comp; Horton, William H., [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., The Syracuse journal company, printers and binders
Number of Pages: 1384

USA > New York > Jefferson County > Geographical gazetteer of Jefferson county, N.Y. 1684-1890 > Part 5

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

* Jeff. deeds, N., 477.

t Ibid. deeds, rec. June 23, 1821.

+ Ibid., rec. Oct. 23, 1818.

§ Ibid., rec. Oct. 5, 1819.

| Jeff. Co., rec. June 18, 1825.

T Jeff. Co. deeds, N., 605.

* * Secretary's Office Deeds, 24, pp. 300 and 332, August 2, 1792.

tt See Hough's Hist. of St. Lawrence and Franklin Counties, p. 242.

LAND TITLES.

in Detroit, afterwards became a merchant and capitalist in New York, and was the father of General Macomb of the War of 1812.

The first direct measure taken for the actual settlement of the section of the state embraced in Jefferson County was in 1792. August 31 William Constable, then in Europe, executed a deed to Peter Chassanis, of Paris, for 630,000 acres south of great lot No. 4, which now constitutes a part of Jef- ferson and Lewis Counties. A tract in Leyden, previously conveyed to Patrick Colquhoun and William Inman, was excepted. Chassanis acted as the "agent for the associated purchasers of land in Montgomery County," and the lands were to be by him held in trust for the use of the said William Constable, and disposed of by sections of 100 acres each, at the rate of eight livres Tournois * per acre ; in which said conveyance it is declared that the said Chassanis should account for the proceeds of the sales to Constable, according to the terms of an agreement between them, excepting one-tenth thereof. The state reservation for roads, etc., were stipulated. A deed for 625,000 acres having been made from Constable to Chassanis, and delivered as an escrow to René Lambot, to take effect on the payment of £52,000, it was agreed that the price for this land should be one shilling per acre. Con- stable bound himself to procure a perfect title to be authenticated and deposited with the Consul General of France, in Philadelphia; and Chassa- nis agreed that the moneys received by Lambot should be remitted to Ran- som, Moreland, and Hammersley, in London, as received, subject to Constable's order, on presenting the certificate of Charles Texier, consul, of his having procured a clear title. If the sales shall not have amounted to £62,750 the balance should be paid in six, nine, and twelve months, in bills upon London. Constable granted, for one month, the right of preemption to tract No. 4, at the rate of one shilling sterling, payable in three, six, and nine months from the date of the deed, as above. The plan of association contemplated by this company is minutely set forth in an extensive docu- ment .; the execution of which was probably prevented by the French revo- lution which soon followed.

The agreement of Constable and Chassanis, of August 31, 1792, was can- celed, and the tract reconveyed March 25, 1793, in consequence of the amount falling short, upon survey, far beyond the expectation of all parties. On April 12, 1793, Constable conveyed 210,000 acres, by deed, for £ 25,000, to Chassanis, ¿ since known as the Chassanis Tract, Castorland, or The French Company's Land, bounded north by No. 4 of Macomb's Purchase, south and west by Black River, and east by a line running north, nine miles, from a point near the High Falls, and thence northeasterly on such a course as might include 210,000 acres.

April 11, 1797, Chassanis appointed Rodolph Tillier his attorney "to

* Equal to $1.50.

+ For the full text of this document see Hough's Hist. of Jeff. Co., p. 45.

# Oneida deeds, 3, 56.

JEFFERSON COUNTY.

direct and administer the properties and affairs concerning Castorland," etc., and in case of his death Nicholas Olive was to succeed him. February 18, 1797, a new agreement was made between Constable and Tillier, conveying the Castorland tract to Chassanis, after the survey of William Cockburn & Son, of Poughkeepsie, in 1799, and giving with greater detail the bounds of the tract. The former conveyances made the north and east bank of the river the boundary, but in this the center of the channel was agreed upon. On March 6, 1800, Constable deeded to Chassanis, for one dollar, a tract of 30,000 acres in the eastern corner of tract No. 4, which was afterwards sub- divided into 27 lots and conveyed to James Le Ray. Cockburn's survey divided the purchase into six very unequal tracts, formed by the intersection of the principal lines and the river. The tract was subdivided by Charles C. Brodhead and assistants, in 1794. In dividing the tract the line running north from High Falls was assumed as the cardinal line, from which ranges were counted east and west. An east and west line, crossing the other nine miles from the falls, was fixed as a second cardinal, from which ranges were reckoned north and south. The ranges extended from 19 east, 51 west, 27 north, and about 9 south ; and the lots included 450 acres each, except those on the margin. These were again subdivided into nine square lots of 50 acres each, which were numbered from I to 4,828. This system of numbering has since been observed in designating the location of lands.

The south line of tract No. 4 was run by John Campbell and others, in August, 1794. At a very early period a settlement was begun by Tillier and others near the High Falls, east of the river, and several families were set- tle.l. Several extensive sales were made by Chassanis and Tillier to French- men of the better class, who had held property and titles in France before the revolution. Desjardines & Co. bought 3,002 acres on Point Peninsula ; Odier & Bousquet, 1,500 acres on Pillar Point ; Nicholas Olive (December 17, 1807), a tract of 4,050 acres north of Black River and Bay ; Henry Boutin, 1,000 acres around the present village of Carthage; C. C. Brodhead, 400 acres in the present town of Wilna; and others. Among these was a con- veyance dated March 31, 1801, of 1,817 half acres in scattered lots to 20 or 30 French people, many of them widows of persons who had acquired an interest in the New York Company. May 1, 1798, James Le Ray pur- chased 10,000 acres in Castorland, and February 15, 1801, all his lands not previously sold. Chassanis, in his early sales, had reserved about 600 acres (R. 26, W. 24, and 25 N.), between the present villages of Brownville and Dexter, for the city of Basle.

March 27, 1800, Tillier was succeeded in the agency by Gouverneur Mor- ris, who appointed Richard Coxe, November 13, 1801, his attorney. Febru- ary 5, 1802, Chassanis executed a trust conveyance for $1 to James D. Le Ray of 220,500 acres as surveyed by William Cockburn & Son, and by other instruments for nominal sums .* The lands were mostly sold to actual

* Oneida deeds, 9, 517 to 525.

LAND TITLES.

settlers by Mr. Le Ray, as agent or principal. David B. Ogden, G. Morris,* and many others were at an early period concerned in these titles.

Macomb's tract No. 4 was surveyed by C. C. Brodhead, in 1796, as- sisted by Jonas Smith, Timothy Wheeler, Joshua Northrop, Elias Marvin, John Young, Isaac Le Fever, Jacob Chambers, Elijah Blake, Samuel Tupper, Eliakim Hammond, and Abraham B. Smede, each with a few men as as- sistants, and the whole having a general camp or rendezvous at Hungry Bay, on the north side of Pillar Point, at a place called Peck's Cove, near where the Chassanis line crosses the bay. The early settlers here found huts stand- ing, and the remains of an old oven were visible for many years thereafter. The journals of these surveyors show that they suffered much from sickness Some of their supplies were derived from Canada, but the most from the Mo- hawk settlements. A few troops were stationed on Carleton Island, and thither some of their sick were sent. This tract, excepting the east corner conveyed to Chassanis, was divided into 1,000 lots of 440 acres each (ex- cepting those around the border), which were numbered continuously. Evert Van Allen had been employed, in 1795, in surveying the boundaries of tract No. 4.

A proposition was entertained from Lord Poultney, in 1792, for the pur- chase of a million of acres of Black River land, at a quarter of a dollar per acre, of which £5,000 were to be paid down, £20,000 in one, and the same in two years, and the remainder as soon as the surveys were made. Con- stable was to guaranty against claims from the native Indians, and all other parties, and to give immediate possession. The location was to be deter- mined by Col. William Stephens Smith, of New York. This bargain failed, and Poultney afterwards became largely concerned in lands in the Genesee country. October 3, 1792, Jane, the wife of A. Macomb, released her right to the lands previously conveyed. On April 12, 1793, Constable sold in London, with the consent of Chassanis, who had previously held a preëmp- tion claim, to Charles Michael De Wolf, of the city of Antwerp, tract No. 4, for 300,000 florins, money of exchange, f and in June following, of the same year, De Wolf succeeded in negotiating his purchase at a great advance, viz., for 680,000 florins, to a company of large and small capitalists, of the city of Antwerp, who subscribed to the stock in shares of 1,000 florins each, and organized under the name of the Antwerp Company. The stock was divided into 680 shares. Like most other operations of foreigners in a distant coun- try this company eventually proved unsuccessful, and a loss to the stock- holders. Gouverneur Morris became their first agent in America, and on January 2, 1800, a deed of half the tract, or 220,000 acres,# passed to him from Constable, on account of the company, for $48,889, and on the day fol-

* Jeff. R., 253.

+ Equal to $125,356.

# Oneida Office Deeds, 7, p. 612.

JEFFERSON COUNTY.

lowing the other half, of equal extent, for $46,315.12 to James Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont. Tract No. 4 was found by Van Allen's survey to con- tain 450,000 acres, including the state reservations. A former deed from Constable to De Wolf was canceled upon the new one being made.

The division line between Morris's and Le Ray's conveyances commenced at the northeast corner of Penet's Square, and run on a line, parallel with the county line, to the south line of No. 4. Morris took all northeast of this, and Le Ray the remainder. August 15, 1802, a new division line was agreed upon, com- mencing near the southeast corner of Penet's Square, running thence to the south corner of lot 512, thence to the west corner of the present corner of Antwerp, and along the southwest line of that town to the south corner of lot 337, and thence to the south line of No. 4. A tract of 30,000 acres in the east corner of No. 4 was not included in these conveyances, having been sold to Chassanis. In 1809 Morris retired from the business, his expenses and commissions absorbing 26,840 acres of land. December 23, 1804, he had sold for $62,000, to Lewis R. Morris, 49,280 acres in the present town of Antwerp .* Mr. Morris subsequently conveyed 41 lots to Silvius Hoard in the western part of Antwerp, t adjoining Theresa, and since known as the Cooper tract. Abraham Cooper, from Trenton, N. Y., became interested in this tract in 1817 .¿ The remainder of Antwerp, excepting three ranges of lots on the southeast side, was purchased of Morris by David Parish, in 1808. The tract amounted to 29,033 acres, and was settled under agents of the Parish estate. Moss Kent succeeded as agent of the Antwerp Company, and June 15, 1809, the remainder of their unsold lands, 143,440 acres, were conveyed to him. He was soon succeeded by Mr. Le Ray, and September 17, 1810, the company sold to him for 145,000 florins, money of exchange, all their interests in lands in America. The lands with Moss Kent were reconveyed to Le Ray, June 24, 1817,§ except 3,250 acres sold to William H. Harrison and T. L. Ogden, in Lewis County, December 16, 1811.

Mr. Le Ray is said to have been the owner of 126 shares in the Antwerp. Company, and G. Morris of 26. The former having acquired a title to No. 4, and the Chassanis tract, removed to Le Raysville, where he opened a land office and proceeded to sell land to actual settlers, to a very large extent. He also effected with several Europeans sales of considerable tracts, among which were to Louis Augustin De Caulincourt, duc de Vincence, October 8, 1805, a tract of 4,840 acres near Millen's Bay, being 11 lots which were con- veyed January 28, 1825, to Peter Francis Real, known as Count Real, chief of police under Napoleon; to Emanuel Count De Grouchy, to General Desfurneaux, and to others, considerable tracts. Several citizens of New York became afterwards concerned in these tracts, on their own account, or

* Jefferson deeds, C, p. 63.

+ Jefferson deeds, L, 153.

# Ibid., 1, 68.

§ Jeff. deeds, rec. Aug. 13, 1817.

LAND TITLES.

as agents, and extensive conveyances were made; but as many of these were trusts not expressed, and referred to considerations not explained in the instruments of conveyance, or on record, an intelligent history of them can- not be at this time obtained, with sufficient conciseness for publication, should they be deemed of sufficient general interest. Among the lands con- veyed were the following :-

To William and Gerardus Post, June 3, 1825, for $17,000, 11,800 acres (with 3,503 acres excepted) in the present towns of Wilna and Diana; 6,500 acres were conveyed by one, and the executors of the other of these, to T. S. Hammond, of Carthage, October 2, 1837, by two deeds, for $18,000. To Hernian Le Roy and William Bayard, for $50,000, February 9, 1820, the interest of J. Le Ray in numerous contracts to settlers on great tract No. 4. To Francis Depau for $23,280, and $15,000, by two conveyances, a large tract in Alexandria, adjoining St. Lawrence County. To Cornelia Juhel, October 9, 1821, numerous lots, and to many others.

In 1818 Joseph Bonaparte, who in the United States assumed the title of Count de Survilliers,* was induced to enter into a bargain with Le Ray, by which he agreed to receive in trust, with a warranty, the conveyance of 150,000 acres of land, including 74,624 acres of the Antwerp Company lands, to be taken in the most remote and unsettled portions, and at the same time Mr. Le Ray received certain diamonds and real estate, the whole rated at $120,000, and to be refunded in 1830, unless he should agree to accept before that time the title of a part of these lands. A trust deed, with cove- nant and warranty, was accordingly passed, December 21, 1818, to Peter S. Duponceau, the confidential agent of the Count, for 150,260 acres, with the exception of such tracts not exceeding 32,260 acres, as might have been con- veyed or contracted to actual settlers. This deed included the greater part of Diana, two tiers of lots from the southeast side of Antwerp, the whole of Wilna and Philadelphia, a small piece south of Black River, where it makes a node across the Chassanis line into No. 4, a tract of four lots wide and seven long from Le Ray, and nine lots from the easterly range in Theresa. It was recorded with a defeasance appended, in which it is declared a secu- rity for $120,000 as above stated, and it provided for an auction sale of lands to meet this obligation .¡ Diamonds having fallen to half their former price the fact was made the subject of complaint ; and in 1820 the Count agreed to accept 26,840 acres for the nominal sum of $40,260. These lands lay in the most remote portion of No. 4, and Mr. Le Ray, in a letter to one of the Antwerp Company, dated April 9, 1821, complimented the Count upon his taste in selecting a "tract abounding in picturesque landscapes, whose re- mote and extensive forests, affording retreat to game, would enable him to es- tablish a great hunting ground; qualities of soil and fitness for settlers were only secondary considerations. He regrets, notwithstanding, that

* This personage, who held successively the thrones of Naples and Spain, was born in the island of Corsica, in 1768, being the next older brother of Napoleon I. His resi- dence in this country was as an exile, and he returned to Europe as soon as political events permitted.

+ Lewis County records.

JEFFERSON COUNTY.

thus far he has not been able to find among the 26,000 acres of land a pla- teau of 200 acres of land to build his house upon, but he intends keeping up his researches this summer." The Count subsequently commenced an estab- lishment near the present village of Alpina in Diana, where a small clearing was made, but this was soon abandoned.

October 29, 1823, Le Ray conveyed to William H. Harrison, in trust for the Antwerp Company, for $50,000, two ranges of lots in Antwerp, next to Lewis County, subject to the mortgage of Duponceau, with a large amount of lands in Lewis County. Meanwhile an act was procured, November 27, 1824, allowing Charles Joseph Xavier Knyff, Charles Joseph Geelhand Dela- faille, Jean Joseph Reinier Osy, Pierre Joseph De Caters, and Jean Joseph Pinson, as trustees of the Antwerp Company, to take and hold lands, and to them Harrison conveyed the above tracts. Duponceau and Bonaparte sub- sequently released a large tract and took a title of 81,180 acres. The his- tory of these transactions may be traced in the recorded conveyances. James Le Ray, December 31, 1823, conveyed to his son Vincent all his lands in Jefferson County, and by a similar conveyance his lands in Lewis County for the benefit of his creditors.

July 16, 1825, Duponceau executed to Joseph Bonaparte (who, by an act of March 31, 1825, had been empowered to hold lands) a deed of all the rights he had acquired in the above conveyances. Bonaparte, by an instru- ment dated July 14, 1832, made Joseph Raphineau his attorney to deed lands contracted by Joseph Boyer, his land agent. In June, 1835, he sold to John La Farge, for $80,000, all the interest of Count Survilliers in lands in this and Lewis counties.

In October, 1824, the Antwerp Company appointed J. N. Rottiers their agent to receive and convey lands, and he was directed, by parties interested in claims, to commence a prosecution against Le Ray, which was done. The extreme depression in the price of land and the total stop of sales which fol- lowed the completion of the Erie Canal, and the opening of the Western states to emigration, operated disastrously to all parties who had based their plans upon expectation of receipts from land sales ; and notwithstanding the es- tates of Mr. Le Ray were both extensive and valuable, he could not at that time encounter the combination of circumstances which bore so heavily upon all land-holders throughout the northern counties, and he found himself com- pelled to apply for the benefit of the insolvent act, and to surrender his es- tates to his son, in trust for his creditors. As a justification of his course he published, for distribution among his foreign creditors, a statement in which he vindicated in a satisfactory manner the course he had adopted, and set forth the kind and quantity of property at his disposal to meet his liabilities. He had at that time the following lands in this state: in Franklin County, 30,758 acres, valued at $22,500 ; in St. Lawrence County, 73,947 acres, val- ued at $106,000 ; in Jefferson County, 143.500 acres, valued at $574,000; in Lewis County, 100,000 acres, valued at $133,000.

LAND TITLES.

Of his Jefferson lands one eighth were subject to contracts of settlers, upon which were three grist-mills, three saw-mills, and various clearings, with buildings. At Le Raysville were a grist-mill, storehouses, etc., valued at $26,000, and in Pennsylvania, Otsego County, and in France other proper- ties of large amounts. In closing up his business a large amount of land was confirmed to Vincent Le Ray, and the settlement of affairs was so managed as to satisfy in full the claims of American creditors.

A considerable amount of the Antwerp Company's lands, remaining in scattered parcels, was sold in 1828 by the agent to John La Farge, but this sale was subsequently set aside by the Court of Chancery, and February 15, 1836, 24,230 acres, being most of the remaining lands of the company, and situated in Theresa, Antwerp, Alexandria, and Orleans, were sold to Samuel Stocking, of Utica, and Norris M. Woodruff, of Watertown, for $r per acre. William H. Harrison acted in the latter sale as the agent of the company.

Mr. La Farge, July 28, 1846, sold to Charles L. Faverger, for $48,513, a tract embracing the two eastern ranges of lots in Antwerp, and 122 lots in Diana, excepting parts previously conveyed, amounting to 48,513 acres. William Constable, December 18, 1792, conveyed to Samuel Ward, for f 100,000, 1,280,000 acres, it being the whole of Macomb's Purchase in Nos. 5 and 6, out of which was excepted 25,000 acres sold to William Inman. Samuel Ward, December 20, 1792, conveyed to Thomas Boylston (of Boston), for £20,000, a tract commencing at the extreme southern angle of Lewis County as now bounded, running thence to the mouth of Salmon River, and along the lake to Black River, and up that stream to the north bounds of the present town of Leyden, and thence to the place of beginning. The course of Black River was then supposed to be nearly direct from the High Falls to the lake, and this tract was believed to contain about 400,000 acres, but when surveyed around by William Cockburn & Son, in 1794, it was found to include 817,155 acres ! Ward also sold 210,000 acres to John Julius Anger- stein, a wealthy merchant of London, which the latter afterwards sold to Gov. John Brown, of Providence, R. I., and which has been commonly called Brown's tract, and is yet mostly a wilderness. He also sold 50,000 acres and 25,000 acres to William Inman, who afterwards figured largely in the titles of Lewis County ; with the exception of the 685,000 acres thus conveyed to Boylston, Angerstein, and Inman he reconveyed, February 27, 1793, the remainder to Constable.

On May 21, 1794, Boylston gave a deed of trust of 11 townships to George Lee, George Irving, and Thomas Latham, assignees of Lane, Son & Fraser, of London, and they conveyed them to John Johnson Phyn, of that place (June 2, 1794), in whom, by sundry conveyances and assurances in the law, the title became vested. April 10, 1795, Phyn appointed William Constable his attorney to sell and convey any or all of the Boylston tract, who accordingly sold, July 15, 1795, (at $t per acre, one-quarter paid down and the balance in five installments, with mortgage,) to Nicholas Low, Will-

JEFFERSON COUNTY.

iam Henderson, Richard Harrison, and Josiah Ogden Hoffman, a tract of 300,000 acres, since known as the Black River tract. This purchase com- prised Hounsfield, Watertown, Rutland, Champion, Denmark, Henderson, Adams, Rodman, Pinckney, Harrisburg, and Lowville. April 1, 1796, Phyn confirmed this title. The tract was found by measurement to contain 290,376 acres, to make up which deficiency Constable, in 1796, conveyed town No. 2 (Worth), excepting 948 acres in the southeast corner, which he reserved for himself. On the last mentioned date Phyn conveyed to Con- stable 401,000 acres, being the remainder of the Boylston tract. The pres- ent town of Lorraine is in this conveyance.

William Constable gave his brother James a power of attorney to sell lands March 16, 1798, and, to secure the confidence of the Europeans, and others, in the validity of his title, he procured from Alexander Hamilton, Richard Harrison, J. O. Hoffman (attorney-general of the state), Daniel McKinnen, and other eminent lawyers a certificate that they had examined his convey- ances and believed them perfect.

March 22, 1797, Constable conveyed to Marvel Ellis, of Troy, the town of Ellisburgh, in accordance with an agreement dated April 11, 1796, except 3,000 acres, conveyed March 17, 1797, to Robert Brown and Thomas Eddy, in the southwest corner of the town. This town was long without a resident agent, and from being settled by squatters it acquired the name of No God. In June, 1804, Brown and Eddy sold half of this tract to General Scriba, and the latter to William Bell. The remainder was exchanged for a farm in New Jersey by Lord Bollingbroke. Ellis's purchase, according to Medad Mitchell's survey of August, 1795, was 51,840 acres, but by a sub- sequent survey of B. Wright it covered 52,834 acres. A part of No. 10 (Sandy Creek) was conveyed November 16, 1796, to Mrs. H. M. Colden, for the Earl of Selkirk. Ellis, on the day of his purchase, mortgaged it for the payment, and in 1801 he became insolvent. In January, 1802, Con- stable filed a bill in chancery, against Ellis and his creditors, to foreclose to equity of redemption. May 22, 1803, William Constable died, and his exec- utors, James Constable, John McVickar, and Hezekiah B. Pierrepont, were advised that the title was perfected by the answer to the bill in chancery, but, to put all questions forever at rest, they deemed it advisable to proceed to foreclose. It was accordingly advertised and sold under the direction of Thomas Cooper, master in chancery, at the Tontine Coffee House, New York, March 1, 1804, to Daniel McCormick. On March 2 the executors of Constable conveyed the town to McCormick, and on the 3d the latter recon- veyed to the executors. On April 26, 1819, a deed of release from the heirs of William Constable was executed to H. B. Pierrepont, from whom the title of the unsold portions passed to his son, William C. Pierrepont, who in like manner acquired the title of Lorraine from Constable.

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Geographical gazetteer of Jefferson county, N.Y. 1684-1890, Part 5

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- [from old catalog] comp; Horton, William H., [from old catalog] ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., The Syracuse journal company, printers and binders Number of Pages: 1384

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- [from old catalog] comp; Horton, William H., [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., The Syracuse journal company, printers and binders
Number of Pages: 1384