USA > New York > Ontario County > History of Ontario county, New York : with illustrations and family sketches of some of the prominent men and families > Part 7
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
contest. Thus ended the Dutch regime. The English changed the name of New Amsterdam to New York. Like the Massachusetts grant, that of the province of New York covered a vast extent of territory, and with subsequent additions by other charters likewise extended indefinitely westward, or from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Many were the controversies arising from these conflicting or over- lapping grants ; but previous to the close of the last French and Eng- lish war, while there was still an uncertainty as to which would be the dominant power in America, there does not appear to have been any controversy between the colonial authorities respecting the extent of the several provinces. We must except, however, from the last state- ment the case relating to the New Hampshire, grants, in which the controversy in fact began about the year 1750.
After the close of the French war the governors of Massachusetts and New York opened a discussion regarding the apparent conflict in their charters, but at that time as settlement had not progressed on the dis- puted territory, the controversy had taken no definite form. At that time, too, the public mind was drawn in another direction, growing out of the oppressive burdens heaped upon the colonies by the mother country. However, even before the outbreak of the Revolution, an agreement was entered into between John Watts, William Smith, Robert R. Livingston and William Nicoll, commissioners on the part of New York, and William Brattle, Joseph Hawley and John Hancock, on the part of Massachusetts, who were to run the line and agree upon a boundary between the respective colonies; but the Revolution soon followed and the line was never run. It must be stated, however, that the agreement just referred to was to provide for the settlement of the boundary line between New York and Massachusetts as at present located, and had no special reference to the territory now included in Western New York.
After the close of the Revolution, and after the independence of the United States had been secured, the newly created States of Massa- chusetts and New York resumed a discussion of the old controversy with a view to its amicable adjustment. To effect a settlement Massa- chusetts, by an act passed March 14, 1784, petitioned Congress to take action in the premises, upon which the Federal body appointed
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INDIAN LAND GRANTS -- LAND COMPANIES.
Thomas Hutchins, John Ewing and David Rittenhouse, commissioners to determine the controversy. However, while proceedings were pend- ing in Congress, the legislative bodies of the contesting States passed acts providing for the appointment of commissioners to settle the dispute otherwise than by the Federal Courts, and in such manner as should be deemed for the general welfare. The claims of Massachusetts to the lands of Western New York were finally settled at Hartford, Conn., December 16, 1786, by James Duane, Robert R. Livingston, Rob- ert Yates, John Haring, Melancthon Smith, and Egbert Benson, on the part of New York, and John Lowell, James Sullivan, Theophilus Parsons, and Rufus King, on the part of Massachusetts. By the agreement of the commissioners, Massachusetts surrendered the sovereignty of the whole disputed territory to New York and received in return the right of soil and pre emptive right of Indian purchase west of a meridian line passing through the eighty- second mile stone on the Pennsylvania north line, except certain reservations, consisting of 230,400 acres between the Oswego and Chenango Rivers in the southern part of the State and one mile in width along the Niagara River. We may here state that the terri- tory thus ceded by New York, west of the meridian line, in fee to Massa- chusetts, was substantially the same which, three years later, was erected into Ontario county. The land, the pre-emption right to which was ceded, amounted to about six million acres.
The plain interpretation of this agreement was that the territory in question should continue under the sovereignty and jurisdiction of the authorities of New York State and subject to its laws and government, but that its ownership and fee should be vested in the State of Massa- chusetts, subject only to whatever rights the Indian occupants had at that time. This right Massachusetts was at liberty to purchase from the natives, while all other persons or corporations were expressly for- bidden by the laws of the State from negotiating any purchase from the Indians, whether on the pre emption tract or elsewhere.
The proceedings of the arbitration commission were held, and its agreement reached, as has been stated, during the year 1786, and in 1787 Massachusetts began casting about for a sale of her newly acquired territory. However, at this juncture there appeared a disturbing ele- ment which not only threatened trouble for the Bay State's interest, but
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
as afterward developed, that same troublesome factor threatened to dis- rupt if not entirely overthrow the very institutions of the State of New York. The troubles and vexations of the time were caused by the un- warranted and unlawful operations of the New York Genesee Land Company, and its auxiliary association, the Niagara Genesee Land Company, the latter being organized for the express purpose of carry- ing out the nefarious scheme of the former.
In 1787 there was organized an association of individuals who styled themselves the "New York Genesee Land Company," prominent among whom were John Livingston, Major Peter Schuyler, Doctor Caleb Benton, Ezekiel Gilbert, and others of more or less note. The object of this association was the acquirements of lands from the Indians, not, however, by purchase, for that was forbidden by law, but by ob- taining leases of land for long periods of years, and upon the payment of small cash considerations, and an annual rental. The persons com- prising this company were men of large means, most of whom resided in the Hudson River region, and who became members of it solely for purposes of speculation. This company caused to be organized an auxiliary association, called the "Niagara Genesee Land Company," numbering among its members Colonel John Butler, Samuel Street, John Powell, Johnson and Murphy, subjects of Great Britian, and Benjamin Barton, a citizen of the United States, all of whom were supposed to possess much influence over the Indians and through whom the chief land company hoped and proposed to secure its leases.
Through the machinations of the lessee organization there was exe- cuted by the Six Nations a lease in which the lessee party was the New York Genesee Land Company, the instrument bearing the date of No- vember 30, 1787, and running for a period of nine hundred and ninety- nine years. The council or treaty at which this long lease was obtained was held at Kanadesaga at the time above indicated, and purported to be an agreement between the " chiefs or sachems of the Six Nations of Indians, on the one part, and John Livingston, Cabel Benton, Peter Ryckman, John Stevenson, and Ezekiel Gilbert, for themselves and their associates of the county of Columbia and State of New York, of the other part." The territory conveyed by this lease included "all that certain tract or parcel of land commonly called and known by the name
81
INDIAN LAND GRANTS -- LAND COMPANIES.
of the lands of the Six Nations of Indians, situate, lying and being in the State of New York, and now in the actual possession of the said chiefs or sachems of the Six Nations " In brief, the lands included or covered by this lease comprised all that part of the State lying west of the " property line " which has been described in an earlier chapter.
The consideration expressed in the lease was a yearly rent or sum of 2,000 Spanish milled dollars, payable on the 4th day of July in each year. The instrument was signed by forty six Indian chiefs, principally Senecas and Cayugas, among the signatures there being found the names of Farmer's Brother, Cornplanter, Big Throat, Big Tree, Infant, Chaw Tobac, Hot Bread, and Little Beard. The witnesses were M. Rose- krantz, George Stimson, jr., Joseph Smith, and Colonel Lewy.
On the 8th of January, 1788, another lease was executed between the company and certain other Indian chiefs and sachems, by which another large tract of land, claimed to be that of the Oneidas, passed into the constructive possession of the lessees above named; but as the lease first mentioned was the one that included all the lands of Ontario county, no further detail is necessary of others in this place.
The lease consummated, the new proprietary at once set about the colonization of their extensive territory, but no sooner had the intelli- gence of this lease reached the ears of Governor Clinton than that of- ficial at once dispatched trustworthy agents to the land of the Senecas for the purpose of informing the latter that they had been duped; that the lease would be declared null and void by the State Legislature, and that they, the Indians, should refrain from further negotiations with either of the land companies or their agents.
It appears that the originators of the scheme for the acquirement of Indian lands by lease had another project in view than the mere ac- quisition of title. At that time, as well as previously and afterward, there was a controversy between the authorities of this State and those of the then independently organized district known as the State of Ver- mont, over which latter New York claimed sovereignty and jurisdiction as against New Hampshire. And while the situation in Vermont had no parallel in the case of the lessee company in this State, the latter was inspired with the hope that in acquiring a long lease-hold interest in the lands of the Six Nations, they, too, might organize a separate and
11
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
independent estate. Such was their intention, as was afterward dis- closed, but the prompt and energetic action of Governor Clinton thwarted their schemes, annulled their leases, and made them glad to sue for peace and compromise. The result was that instead of possess- ing several million acres of land, and forming the region into a new State, they were ultimately content with receiving a ten mile square grant off the old military tract in the northern part of the State, to- gether with other concessions and gratuities of less note from the Phelps and Gorham proprietary. However, the consideration of the grants from the latter was the influence of the agents of the lessees among the Indians in enabling Phelps and Gorham to perfect their title.
In noting events in connection with the long leases, it may be stated that in February, 1788, Livingston and Benton, who appear to have been the leading spirits in the enterprise, presented to the Legislature a copy of the leases they had obtained, and solicited the appointment of commissioners to confer with them, the lessees, " on such terms and con- siderations as may be consistent with the justice, dignity and policy of the State, and that the Legislature would be pleased to recognize the said leases under such restriction as to them in their wisdom shall ap- pear just and equitable."
Although the lessees had at this session one of their number in the Senate, and three, including Livingston himself, in the Assembly, yet their petition was summarily rejected, and the Legislature by resolution passed' February 16, 1788, declared the leases to be purchases, and em- powered the governor to use the force of the State, if necessary, to pre- vent intrusion or settlement upon the lands so claimed.
The prime movers of the lease scheme had, as has already been in- timated, something more in view than the mere possession of the lands, and it was doubtless their design to form a new State out of the terri- tory of Central and Western New York, and in case of success the long leases would have been declared titles in fee simple. And this project was not abandoned by the surrender of the leases, but was kept in abey- ance until compensation lands were procured for them by an act of the Legislature, and then in the autumn of the same year a circular " signed by John Livingston and Caleb Benton as officers of a conven- tion purporting to have been held at Geneva, was issued, urging the
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INDIAN LAND GRANTS- LAND COMPANIES.
people to hold town meetings and sign petitions for a new state to be set off from New York, and to embrace the territory of the counties, as then existing, of Otsego, Tioga, Herkimer and Ontario," then compris- ing the whole of Central and Western New York.
This daring attempt at secession was met in a spirit of true patriotism, and at a meeting held at "Canandargua " immediately after the ad- journment of court on the 8th of November, 1793, "All the Judges and Assistant Judges, and a large Majority of the Justices of the Peace, together with all the Inhabitants, convened from different Parts of the County on that Occasion, were present." Hon. Timothy Hosmer, first judge of the county, was elected chairman, and Nathaniel Gorham, jr., clerk. At this meeting, after a full discussion of the situation, the in- habitants present unanimously adopted resolutions expressive of the sen- timent of the people of the county, which resolutions were as follows :
Resolved, That the inhabitants of the county of Ontario, sensible of many advantages that they have derived from their connection with one of the most respectable States of the Union, and desirous of the contin- uation of the same advantages, highly resent the ill-timed and improper attempt made by the characters above alluded to (referring to promo- ters of the new state scheme) to disturb their peace and harmony, that they conceive their measure as pregnant with danger, and such as, if carried into effect, would introduce into our infant county all the com- plicated evils which anarchy and confusion can create.
Resolved, That this meeting highly resent the threats made use of by the said persons, and conceive that, under the protection of the State of New York, they have nothing to fear from any banditti they can col- lect for the purpose of forcing them into measures which they heartily disapprove of.
Resolved, That this meeting, fully impressed with the impossibility of the proposed state's defraying expenses of the most moderate govern- ment that can be devised, and aware of the impolicy as well as injustice of raising by enormous taxes on uncultivated lands such a revenue, or of devoting to those expenses property purchased under the faith of the States of New York and Massachusetts, and of drawing into our flour- ishing county people that such iniquitous measures would attract ; recommend to the persons above alluded to, to persuade some more
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
laudable mode of gratifying their ambition, and to desist from proceed- ings altogether hostile to our interest and welfare.
Resolved, Also, that it is the opinion of this meeting that the pro- posed meeting at Geneva ought not to be attended, as it was called by strangers to the county, and that we will consider as inimical to the county such persons belonging to it, who, at said meeting, shall consent to any of the proposals before reprobated.
Resolved, That this meeting expect, after having made this public declaration of their situation, that those intrusted with the administra- tion of the State, will take the most vigorous measures to suppress any of the attempts made to destroy the peace and quiet of this county.
While the foregoing resolutions are not a full copy of the whole of the original, they nevertheless substantially set forth the sentiments ex- pressed by the inhabitants of the county who attended the meeting. From what is stated it will be seen that the promoters of the new state scheme had few adherents in Ontario county. The lessees had in con- templation the formation of a new state previous to the erection of the county, and the annullment of their leases, and even the relinquishment of their pretended claim to the Phelps and Gorham tract seems not to have had the effect of changing their original purpose. The new state project had many followers who were residents of the counties east of the pre-emption line, while in the region of the extreme western part of the State there were others who likewise favored the scheme. It seems, too, from what is stated in the resolutions that emmissaries of the les- sees were going among the people of the newly created county, in the hope of pursuading them to favor the new state. At that time Geneva was a central point of operations, perhaps the most important location then in the whole Genesee country. By this time, also, Canandaigua had become a village of some note, and in both of these places the sub- ject of the new formation was the most important topic in the public mind.
However, the whole scheme proposed and contended for by the lessees proved a complete failure. As will be found more fully stated in the succeeding chapter, Phelps and Gorham became the proprietors of a vast area of territory west of Seneca Lake, and in perfecting their title by purchase from the Indian owners, they were, of course, confronted
85
THE PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE.
with the long lease, but by concessions made to the lessees, and by lib- eral inducements held out to some of the more influential members of the two land companies, they succeeded in winning them over, and thus without serious difficulty they soon afterward obtained a deed from the Indians for their fee in what has always been known as the " Phelps and Gorham Purchase." The land purchased by Phelps and Gorham from the Indians was, of course, a part of the territory covered by the long lease ; and in their negotiations the lessees relinquished their right to the tract, and at the same time the Indians released the New York Genesee Land Company from the payment of the entire sum of 2000 dollars per year, and in lieu thereof agreed to accept the annual rental of 1000 dollars for the balance of the land held under the long lease.
CHAPTER VIII.
The Phelps and Gorham Purchase -- Rev. Samuel Kirkland Superintends the Pur- chase of the Indian Titles -- Treaty at Buffalo Creek -- Mr. Phelps Secures the Influence of Certain Lessees -- The Purchase and its Approval -- The Proprietors Fail in their Payments -- Sale to Robert Morris -- The London Associates -- The Pre-emption Line -- Error and Fraud Charged -- The Re-survey -- Charles Williamson.
S OON after Massachusetts became possessed of the pre-emption right from the State of New York, Oliver Phelps with a company of associates resolved to purchase a large tract of land, but before his plans were matured Nathaniel Gorham had made a proposition to the Legislature at the session in 1787, but the matter failed. Soon after this a consolidation of speculative interests was effected by parties who desired to become interested in the venture, and an association was formed of which Phelps and Gorham were constituted agents and rep- resentatives. They made a proposition to Massachusetts "to purchase for the consideration of 300,000 pounds in consolidated securities of this Commonwealth, or 3,000 pounds specie together with 290,000 pounds in like securities, the right of pre-emption which this Common- wealth has in and to the western territory, so called, lately ceded by the State of New York to this Commonwealth."
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
On the Ist of April, 1788, Massachusetts agreed to sell the lands to the Phelps and Gorham association for the sum of 300,000 pounds as above, to be paid in three annual installments, and authorized the pro- prietary to extinguish the claims of the Indians by purchase. At the same time the Legislature appointed Rev. Samuel Kirkland to super- intend the negotiations with the Indians, and approve or disapprove of whatever should be done.
After the passage of this act the shareholders in the association held a meeting and appointed Gen. Israel Chapin to go out and explore the country ; Oliver Phelps to be general agent, and whose first duty should be to hold a treaty with the Indians and purchase the fee of the soil; Nathaniel Gorham to be an agent to confer with the authorities of New York in reference to running the east boundary or pre-emption line ; and William Walker as the local agent of surveys and sales.
Mr. Phelps soon made preparations for a treaty with the Indians at Kanadesaga, and in order to facilitate operations, secured the influence of John Livingston, one of the most prominent members of the New York Genesee Land Company. On arriving at Kanadesaga Mr. Phelps soon found that the Niagara Genesee Company was in conflict with Mr. Livingston's company, and was holding and controlling the Indians at Buffalo Creek. He at once proceeded to the latter place, and succeeded in securing the favor of John Butler, Samuel Street and others of the Niagara Company, and Livingston, Caleb Benton and Ezekiel Gilbert of the principal company (who claimed ownership under the long lease), by promising them a number of townships of land. Thus Mr. Phelps was at once enabled to hold a council with the Indians, and on the 8th of July following he concluded a treaty with them, securing all the lands the Indians would then sell, estimated to contain 2,600,000 acres, and agreeing to pay therefor the sum of $5,000 and an annuity of $500 forever.
Inasmuch as the lands included in this sale embraced all that is now Ontario county, and as this purchase had a direct relation to the county's early history, it may be of interest to the reader to note the boundary line of this immense Phelps and Gorham purchase, as it has always been called; which boundaries were as follows: "Beginning on the north boundary line of Pennsylvania, at the eighty-second mile-
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THE PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE.
stone, and from said point or place of beginning running west upon the said line to a meridian which will pass through that corner or point of land made by the confluence of Kanahasgwaicon (Canaseraga) Creek with the waters of the Genesee River; thence north along the said meridian to the corner or point last mentioned ; thence northerly along the waters of the said Genesee River to a point two miles north of Kanawageras (Canawagus) village so called ; thence running due west twelve miles; thence running in a direction northward so as to be twelve miles distant from the most westward bounds of the said Gene- see River, to the shore of Ontario lake; thence eastwardly along the shore of the said lake to a meridian which will pass through the first point or place of beginning before mentioned ; thence south along the said meridian to the point or place of beginning aforesaid, being such part of the whole tract purchased by the grantees aforesaid, as they have obtained a release of from the natives."
The deed of land thus procured from the Seneca Indians, was wit- nessed by Rev. Samuel Kirkland and many others, and approved by him as superintendent in the manner following : " Pursuant to a reso- lution of the Legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, passed March 30, 1788, I have attended a full and general treaty of the Five Nations of Indians, at the chief village in their territory, on the Buffalo Creek, alias Teyoheghscolea, when the foregoing instrument or deed of conveyance, made to the Hon. Nathaniel Gorham and Oliver Phelps, esquires, of a certain part of lands belonging to the said Five Nations, the description and boundaries thereof being particularly specified in the same, was duly executed, signed, sealed and delivered in my pres- ence, by the sachems, chiefs and warriors of the above mentioned Five Nations, being fairly and properly understood and transacted by all the parties of Indians concerned, and declared to be done to their universal satisfaction and content; and I do therefore certify and approve of the same."
The tract of land above described was all in this State that Phelps and Gorham ever procured. At the time they made the purchase Massachusetts currency was worth only about twenty cents on the dollar, but when the first payment fell due it had appreciated and was nearly at par. In consequence of this, and from other causes, they
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
were unable to make the payments according to the terms of their con- tract, and were finally obliged to compromise with Massachusetts, and surrender to the State the portion of the territory not purchased by them from the Indians.
The survey of the Phelps and Gorham purchase was begun in the late summer or early fall of 1788, under the direction of Col Hugh Maxwell, and with the assistance of Augustus Porter and other survey- ors, was finished in 1789, the whole territory being divided into "divers tracts or townships, and as nearly in regular ranges as the sides con- tained within oblique or irregular lines would admit;" there being seven long ranges, each six miles in width, and in length extending from Pennsylvania to Lake Ontario. There were also two or three short ranges at the northwest corner of the tract. The ranges were numbered from one upward, beginning with number one on the eastern side, the eastern boundary being the old pre-emption line, and each range was divided into townships or tracts of six miles square, num- bered in each range from one at the Pennsylvania line to fourteen at Lake Ontario.
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