USA > New York > Genesee County > History of the Genesee country (western New York) comprising the counties of Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming and Yates, Volume I > Part 23
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aforesaid consideration monies to the Treasurer of this Commonwealth or his successor in Office for the use of this Commonwealth, one third thereof in one. year, one other third thereof in two years and one other third thereof in three years from the date of this Resolve, with interest in like consolidated securities to commence from the date of this Resolve until paid. Sent up for concurrence, James Warren, Speaker. In Senate April 1st, 1788. . Read and concurred, Samuel Adams, Presidt. Approved, John Han- cock. True Copy Attest, John Avery, Junr., Secretary.
The next step in forwarding the undertaking assumed by Phelps and Gorham was the issuing by the governor of the state, John Hancock, under the great seal of the commonwealth, for the information of all concerned, of the following proclamation, the original of which is preserved, with those of other documents covering the transaction, in the Historical Museum at Canan- daigua :
"COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS, (L. S.) .. .....
"By his excellency, John Hancock, Esq'r, Governor" of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
"I do CERTIFY all whom it may concern that the government of this Common- wealth have granted and conveyed to the Honorable Nathaniel Gorham, Esq'r., and to the Honorable Oliver Phelps, Esq'r., all their right and title which this Government hath or ought to have to the lands lying west of Hudson River in the State of. New York.
"And the said Nathaniel Gorham & Oliver Phelps, Esq'rs., are authorized to extinguish by purchase the claims of our good Friends and Brethren, the native Indians, holding the fee or right of Soil in the territory aforesaid, and
"We have appointed our good Friend, the Revd. Mr. Samuel Kirkland, to Super- intend and approve the purchase that they shall make of the claims of such native Indians & that all such purchases as the said Nathaniel Gorham & . Oliver Phelps, Esq're, shall. make of the claims of our said Good Friends of the six Nations in presence of the said Superintendent shall be confirmed by the said Government of this Commonwealth.
"IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have caused the public seal of the Common- wealth aforesaid to be hereto affixed this Twenty-third day of April, A. D. 1788, and in the Twelfth year of the Independence of the United States of America.
"By his Excellency's Command, John Avery; Jun., Secretary."" !
Pending the negotiations between the states of New York and Massachusetts, and the settlement of their boundary disputes, and before Massachusetts had found purchasers for her newly ac- quired share of the great western territory, covetous eyes had been cast upon the tract by men who conspired to obtain con- siderable shares of the property without due remuneration to the state, in which the title was soon to be vested. These conspirators, prominent among whom were John Livingston, Major Peter Schuyler, Dr. Caleb Benton, Ezekial Gilbert and others of lesser prominence, organized themselves into what they styled "The New York Genesee Land Company" and, the purchase of lands from the Indians being forbidden by state law, proceeded to secure pos- session by lease from the untutored people what they could not
(From oil painting in courthouse at Canandaigua)
OLIVER PHELPS
The original purchaser with Nathaniel Gorham of all that part of New York lying west of pre-emption line. Born Wind- sor, Connecticut, in 1750. Died in Canandaigua, February 21, 1809.
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lawfully acquire. In 1787 this company, with its auxiliary asso- ciation known as "the Niagara Genesee Land Company," includ- ing among its members Colonel John Butler, Samuel Street, John Powell, Johnson and Murphy, who were subjects of Great Britain, and Benjamin Barton, a citizen of the United States, held a coun- cil with chiefs or sachems of the Six Nations of Indians at Kana- desaga, and secured the execution of a lease for a term of nine hundred and ninety-nine years of "all that certain tract or parcel of land commonly called and known by the name 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." This instrument bore the date of November 30, 1787, and the yearly rental of 2,000 Spanish milled dollars was to be paid the Indians on the 4th of July in each year.
Governor Clinton, when informed of this scheme to deprive a friendly state of its landed possessions in western New York, took immediate steps to inform the Indians of the fact that they had been duped, and the Legislature at its next session declared the so-called leases to be in effect purchases and, therefore, entirely illegal, and empowered the governor to use force if necessary to prevent consummation of the plot, which, it afterwards developed, was nothing less ambitious than that of laying the foundation for a division of the state, and the erection of its western part into a new and independent commonwealth.
While the leases were thus repudiated by New York State, the project of secession was so far nurtured by its promoters as to prompt two of them, John Livingston and Caleb Benton, to circu- late petitions urging the people of Otsego, Tioga, Herkimer, and Ontario counties to join a movement for the organization of a new state embracing the whole of central and western New York.
How this disloyal movement was received by the people of Ontario County, which then comprised everything west of the pre- emption line, may be seen by the resolutions adopted at a meeting of "the Judges, Assistant Judges and a large majority of the Jus- tices of the Peace, together with all the inhabitants convened from different parts of the county," held at Canandaigua on November 8, 1793. Hon. Timothy Hosmer, first judge of the county, was elected chairman, and Nathaniel Gorham, Jr., clerk. The resolu- tions were as follows :
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"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 continuation of the same advantages, highly resent the ill-timed and improper attempt made by the characters above alluded to [referring to promoters 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 complicated 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 collect 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 government 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 pur- chased under the faith of the State of New York and Massachusetts, and of drawing into our flourishing county people that such iniquitous measures would attract; recom- mend to the persons above alluded to, to persuade some more laudable mode of gratifying their ambition, and to desist from proceedings altogether hostile to our interest and welfare.
"Resolved, Also, that it is the opinion of this meeting that the proposed 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 administration 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."
Phelps and Gorham, following the collapse of the scheme of the lessees, in order to secure their good will and cooperation in negotiating releases from the Indians, gave them certain limited grants of lands and other favors of comparatively small value.
The shareholders in the Phelps and Gorham Company, at a meeting immediately following the passage of the legislative act confirming their purchase, had appointed General Israel Chapin as their representative to explore the country, Oliver Phelps to be general agent with authority to secure releases from the Indians, Nathaniel Gorham to negotiate with the New York authorities for running the east boundary line of the purchase, and William Walker to act as the local agent of sales.
Mr. Phelps lost no time in forwarding his task. He first arranged to hold a council with the Indians at Kanadesaga, but, on arriving there, learned that another and more important gathering under auspices of one of the outlawed land companies was being held at Buffalo Creek. "He at once proceeded to that point and, by promises of a share in the land to be acquired,
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(Courtesy of Ontario County Historical Society)
MAP OF THE PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE
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secured the aid of representatives of the companies in negotiating a treaty.
This treaty, signed on July 8, 1788, conveyed to the Phelps and Gorham Company not all the territory which New York had ceded, but all that the Indians would let them have, estimated at 2,600,000 acres. For this tract the purchasers agreed to pay $5,000 and an annuity of $500 forever.
The lands ceded by the Indians at the Buffalo Creek council, and afterwards known as the Phelps and Gorham Purchase, com- prised the tract described in the treaty as follows: "Beginning on the north boundary line of Pennsylvania, at the eighty-second milestone 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; then north along the said meridian to the cornor or point last men- tioned; 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 Genesee 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 act confirming to Nathaniel Gorham and Oliver Phelps all the right, title and demand which the Commonwealth of Massa- chusetts had in and unto the lands thus described, "together with all the appurtenances to the aforesaid tract belonging," was passed by the Senate and House of Representatives in general court assembled on November 21, 1788. The act was duly ap- proved by John Hancock, Governor, though, in attesting the copy, the latter's secretary, John Avery, Jr., says that he "signed his excellency's name, by his order, he being unable to put his signa- ture by reason of the gout in his right hand." It reads as follows :
"COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. In the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty-eight. An Act for confirming to Nathaniel Gorham & Oliver Phelps Esquires, a certain Tract of land pursuant to a Contract made with them for that purpose. WHEREAS the Legislature of this . Commonwealth by their
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'resolve of the first of April last, did agree to grant, sell and convey to the said Nathaniel Gorham and Oliver Phelps all the Right, Title and demand which the said Commonwealth has in and unto the said Lands ceded by the State of New York to the said Commonwealth by Deed executed by their respective commissioners at Hartford the sixteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-six, upon the Conditions in the said Resolve expressed. AND WHEREAS the said Nathaniel Gorham & Oliver Phelps have on their part performed the said Agree- ment & complied with the Conditions of the said Resolve. AND WHEREAS, the said Nathaniel Gorham & Oliver Phelps by virtue of authority derived from the aforesaid Resolve, have by Deed, from the Sachems, Chiefs and Warriors of the Five Nations of Indians bearing date the Eighth day of July last, purchased the claims of the Native Indians to the Fee or Right of Soil in part only of the said Lands as contained within the descriptions of the said Deed hereafter inserted, which purchase appears to have been made under the Superintendence prescribed and in the manner intended by the aforesaid Resolve. BE IT THEREFORE ENACTED by the Senate & House of Representatives in General Court Assembled & by the authority of the same, that there be and hereby is granted & confirmed unto Nathaniel Gorham of Charles Town in the County of Middlesex Esquire and Oliver Phelps of Granville in the County of Hamp- shire Esquire their heirs and Assigns, All the Right title Claim and demand which this Commonwealth has in and to the following Tract of Land to wit Beginning on the North Boundary Line of the State of Pennsylvania in the parallel of forty two degrees north latitude at a point distant eighty two miles west from the North east corner of Pennsylvania on Delaware River as the said Boundary Line has been run and marked by the Commissioners of the State of New York and Pennsylvania respectively and from the 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 Thanahasgwaicon creek with the waters of the Genisee River, thence north along the said meridian to the Corner or point Last mentioned, thence northwardly along the Waters of the said Genisee River to a point two miles north of Thanawageras Village so called; thence running in a direction due west twelve miles; thence running in a direction northwardly so as to be twelve miles distant from the most westward Bounds of the said Genisee River to the Shore of the Ontario Lake; thence eastwardly along the Shores of the said Lake to a meridian which will pass through the first point or place of beginning aforementioned; thence south along the said Meridian to the first point or place of Beginning aforesaid, being such part of the whole Tract purchased by the Grantees as aforesaid as they have obtained a Release of from the Natives, together with all the appurtenances to the aforedescribed tract belonging. To have and to hold the same to them the said Nathaniel Gorham & Oliver Phelps, their heirs & Assigns forever, as Tenants in common & not as Joint Tenants.
"IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES November 21st, 1788. This Bill having had three several readings, passed to be enacted. Theodore Sedgwick, Speaker. In Senate November 21st, 1788. This Bill having had two several Readings, passed to be Enacted Samuel Phillips junr. President. By the Governor, Approved, John Han- cock. True copy. Attest John Avery, Junr. Secretary. COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS By His Excellency John Hancock, Esqr., Governor of the Com- monwealth of Massachusetts."
Immediately after the settlement effected at the Buffalo Creek council in 1788, Mr. Phelps set Colonel Hugh Maxwell at work to run the so-called preemption line, which was to define the eastern boundary of the purchase, and to divide the land into townships. Unfortunately, an error or fraud occurred in running this line, through a deflection of its course soon after leaving the Pennsyl-
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vania boundary, which operated to run it farther west than antici- pated for a large part of its length.
The preemption line, as run in the original, and, as it turned out, erroneous, survey, lay to the west so far as to leave outside the purchase the site of the old Indian village of Kanadesaga, where a small settlement of whites had been established and where Mr: Phelps had planned to locate his headquarters. As a conse- quence of this error and the resulting uncertainty as to what was inside and what was outside the purchase, Agent Walker received instructions from Mr. Phelps, in a letter of October 3, 1788, that, "in order to avoid conflict with the Yorkers," he was to make "Ye Outlet of the Kennadaigua Lake" his headquarters, and, accord- ingly, ón "a beautiful situation and good ground for a town plot," was laid the foundation of what the purchasers planned to make the metropolis of western New York, but which in the providence of God was destined to remain a beautiful place of residence rather than a fast-growing city.
At Canandaigua, at the foot of the beautiful lake of the same name, where the Senecas had set apart a place for their capital, Agent Walker in the fall of 1788 provided for the erection of a building which should be his dwelling and office. This building was completed in time for occupancy the following spring, when General Israel Chapin piloted a little party of settlers into the pur- chase, and in it Mr. Walker opened the first office for the sale of land to settlers ever established in America.
Under the direction of Colonel Maxwell, with the assistance of Augustus Porter and other surveyors, the tract was divided into "divers tracts or townships and as nearly as regular ranges as the sides contained within oblique or irregular lines would admit," these 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, be- ginning with number one on the eastern side, the eastern boun- dary being the old preemption line, and each range was divided. into townships or tracts of six miles square, numbered in each range from one at the Pennsylvania line to fourteen at Lake Ontario.
The old preemption line as surveyed by Colonel Hugh Maxwell in 1788, running west of Seneca Lake, was early recognized as
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erroneous, and its correction was effected in the latter part of 1792 through a survey made at the direction of Mr. Morris by Benjamin Ellicott, assisted by James Armstrong, Frederick Sax- ton, and Augustus Porter. This was certified by Ellicott as an "accurate representation of the eastern boundary of Massachu- setts as run by himself and others"; that the line was run in ac- cordance with the act of cession, and that "the said preemption line was truly performed." In 1796 the description and map were duly attested by Simeon DeWitt, the surveyor-general, and filed in the office of the secretary of the state and the line formally adopted. The new line, whose accuracy has never been ques- tioned, enters Seneca Lake at a distance of two miles, fifty-six chains and fifty links east of that previously run, the divergence having steadily increased from the starting point on the Pennsyl- vania line. The new line passes out of the north end of Seneca Lake at Preemption Street and thence runs due north nearly parallel to the old line to Great Sodus Bay, on Lake Ontario.
The sales of the land were not as rapid as anticipated. Many of the buyers were shareholders in the enterprise and many were men of small means who had to have help to equip their farms, while others could not meet the payments as promised. Moreover, the advance in the value of Colonial paper, following the founda- tion of the Federal Government, from about fifty cents on a dollar to nearly par, contributed to their financial embarrassments. The result was that the company could not meet its engagements with Massachusetts, and memorialized the Legislature to release it from their obligation, so far as related to that part of the territory of which they had failed to secure release from the Indians.
On June 9, 1790, Phelps and Gorham, being prevented on account of "several causes of failure" from performing their en- gagements, were permitted to reconvey to said commonwealth two-thirds in quantity and quality of the whole territory, to be accepted in full satisfaction of two of the bonds which they had originally given for the purchase, and on the 10th of August of the same year, further to relieve their financial difficulties, they sold to Robert Morris, of Philadelphia, all the unsold lands, except township No. 10 of the third range and No. 9 of the seventh range, the two towns comprising about 47,000 acres, which they reserved for themselves.
According to the resurvey made in accordance with the direc-
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tion of Mr. Morris by Major Adam Hoops and his assistants, the tract thus acquired by the great Philadelphia financier consisted of 1,267,569 acres. This included the "Gore" of 85,896 acres lying between the old and new preemption lines; and, at the final settlement made by Mr. Morris at Philadelphia, February 16, 1793, he paid to Phelps and Gorham a sum representing eight pence half penny per acre, Massachusetts currency, or between eleven and twelve cents per acre in United States money.
Under his agreement with Phelps and Gorham, dated Novem- ber 18, 1790, Robert Morris had promised to pay them for the surplus which the lands they had then conveyed to him should be found to contain beyond one million acres. It appeared from the surveys as endorsed on the back of the return made by Major Hoops, February 4, 1793, that "the said surplus doth amount to two hundred and ninety thousand eight hundred and sixteen acres, from which the deductions within specified amounting to twenty-six thousand two hundred and forty-six acres, two rods and thirty perches being made, leaves a residue of two hundred and sixty-four thousand five hundred and sixty-nine acres, one rood and ten perches, to which being added three thousand as the amount finally agreed on between the parties for a tract on the west side of Sodus Bay, and not included in the within survey, the said surplus quantity of land to be paid for by the said Robert Morris will be two hundred and sixty-seven thousand five hundred and sixty-nine acres, two roods and thirty perches, which at eight pence half penny, Massachusetts currency, per acre, amounts to nine thousand four hundred and seventy-six pounds, eight shill- ings, and which said sum of £9,476, 8s, 0d, Messrs. Gorham and Phelps do acknowledge to have received from Mr. Morris, and the articles of agreement between them have been accordingly can- celled by the consent of the parties and also with the consent of Mr. Charles Williamson, to whom Mr. Morris has since conveyed the lands and who to show his privity to these matters hath, to- gether with the said parties, hereunto subscribed his name."
This endorsement was dated at Philadelphia, 16th day of February, 1793, and was signed by Robert Morris, Oliver Phelps, Charles Williamson, and Nathaniel Gorham.
In the deed of Robert Morris to Charles Williamson, conveying the whole of the property, the consideration named is £75,000
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sterling, money of Great Britain, which at $4.44+%, the value of the pound sterling, would be $333,333.33.
Thus after a little less than nineteen months the purchase. practically went from Phelps and Gorham, who planned here a development that would make it the seat of a great population of home makers, into the hands of Robert Morris and the train of speculators and exploiters who immediately followed, but, in vin- dication of their foresight and in recognition of the debt posterity owes them the region is and ever shall be known as the Phelps and Gorham Purchase. Upon the foundation which these men laid, in the face of grievous financial obstacles, machinations of unscru- pulous rivals, discontent of the Indians, grumbling of settlers and embarrassments arising from the incompetence or greed of officials and surveyors, was builded a population whose industry, enterprise, integrity and culture have given western New York enduring fame as well as enduring prosperity.
The subsequent history of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase may be quickly outlined. Hardly had Mr. Morris become owner of the land when, in 1791, his London agent, William Temple Franklin, sold it to a company of English capitalists, Sir William Pulteney taking a nine-twelfths interest, William Hornby two- twelfths, and Patrick Colquhoun one-twelfth. Charles William- son, as their agent, came to America, and becoming a naturalized citizen, took from Mr. Morris and his wife on April 11, 1792, an absolute conveyance of the Genesee tract to himself in fee.
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