CHAPTER IX.
County
when Erected - Statute Boundaries in 1791 -
Counties Erected from Herkimer - Winfield -
Salisbury - Manheim - Danube - First
Counties in the State - Montgomery - List of
Patents to Lands in the County - Colonial
and Crown Grants Confirmed - Attainder Act
of 1779 - Forfeited Estates to be Sold -
Bills of Credit - Commissioners of
Forteitures - Lots in Royal Grant Sold -
Indian Children - Lots in Jerseyfield Sold -
in Glen's Purchase - Bayard's Patent - Guy
Johnson Tract - Johan Joost Herkimer - Area
of the County - Actual Boundaries - Rivers,
Streams, and Lakes - Face of the Country -
its Soil, Produce, Minerals Manufactures,
Roads, Canals, and Turnpikes - Newspaper
Press of the County - Colleges and Academies
- Religious Apects - Medical Society -
Poor-House Establishment - Agricultural
Society.
The county was erected on the 16th of
February, 1791, from the county of
Montgomery, formerly Tryon, and embraced all
that portion of the state lying west of its
eastern boundaries, except the counties of
Otsego and Tioga, which were erected at the
same time, and extending to the eastern
boundaries of Ontario county, erected
January 27th, 1789, and covered, according
to the statute designation, all the
territory bounded north by Lake Ontario, the
River St. Lawrence, and the north bounds of
the state; easterly by the counties of
Clinton, Washington, and Saratoga, as they
then were; southerly by the counties of
Montgomery, Otsego, and Tioga. These
boundaries were not accurate, even at that
time; the true boundaries of the county, as
it now is, will be stated hereafter.
Oneida in 1798; Chenango, from Herkimer and
Tioga, in 1798; Cayuga, from Onondaga, in
1799; Cortland, from the same, in 1808; St.
Lawrence, from Oneida, in 1802; Jefferson
and Lewis, from the same, in 1805; Madison,
from Chenango, in 1806; Seneca, from Cayuga,
in 1804; Oswego, from parts of Oneida and
Onondaga, in 1816; Tompkins, from Seneca and
Cayuga, in 1817; and Wayne, from Seneca and
Ontario, in 1823. There were only
fourteen counties in the state when Herkimer
was set-off; and the three then created,
Otsego, Tioga and Herkimer, made the number
seventeen. There are now eleven whole
counties, and parts of two others, embraced
in the territory first set off, as Herkimer.
In 1816, parts of the towns of Richfield and
Plainfield, in the county of Otsego, were
with a portion of Litchfield, in Herkimer
county, erected into a new town, by the name
of Winfield, and attached to Herkimer
county.
In 1817, the towns of Salisbury and Manheim, and all
that part of Minden, Montgomery county, now
comprised in Danube and Stark, were annexed
to the county of Herkimer.
The first counties created, by law, in this state, then
a colony, were Albany, New York, Dutchess,
Kings, Orange Queens, Richmond, Suffolk,
Ulster and Westchester, Nov. 1st, 1683.
Albany took its present name in 1664.
Montgomery was created, by law, as a county,
Mar. 12, 1772, by the name of Tryon, which
was altered April 2d, 1784 for reasons well
understood by readers of our revolutionary
history.
The present county comprises with its limits the
following tracts, and parts of tracts of
lands granted by the crown, before the
revolution, and by the state, since the
treaty of 1783.
Page 200 -
This mark (*) denotes that the patents are
partly situated in Herkimer, and partly in
adjoining counties.
Names of Patents
or Tracts |
Date. |
No. of acres. |
Names of
Original Patentees. |
Adgate's Tract,* |
1798 |
re,907 |
Mathew Adgate |
Bayard's Patent,* |
1771 |
50,000 |
William Bayard, Alexander Ellis,
and fifty-three others. |
Brown's (John)
Tract,* |
1792 |
- |
A part of 1,920,000 acres
granted to Alexander Macomb, |
Burnetsfield
Patent, |
1725 |
9,400 |
Johan Joost Petri, and
ninety-three others, |
Colden's (C.)
Patent, |
1738 |
3,000 |
Cadwallader Colden the younger,
and Coenradt Ryghtmeyer, |
Cosby's Manor,* |
1734 |
22,000 |
Joseph Worrell, William Cosby,
and nine others. |
Colden's (A.)
Patent, |
1761 |
4,000 |
Alexander Colden, and three
others. |
Frank (Conrad) &
Co's Patent |
1765 |
5,000 |
Coenradt Frank, and five otehrs, |
Fall-Hill Patent, |
1752 |
2,324 |
Johan Joost and Hendrik
Herch[keimer, |
Hommedieu's (L)
Patent, |
1786 |
4,000 |
Ezra L'Hommedieu and Nathaniel
Platt |
Henderson's
Patent,* |
1739 |
6,000 |
James Henderson, and two others, |
Hasenclever's
Patent, |
1769 |
18,000 |
Peter Hasenclever, and seventeen
others, |
Johnson's (Guy)
Patent, |
1765 |
2,000 |
Guy Johnson. Forfeited by
attainder of G. J. |
Jerseyfield
Patent,* |
1770 |
94,000 |
Henry Glen, Alexander Ellis, and
ninety-two others, |
Kass's Patent, |
1724 |
1,100 |
Johan Jurgh Kass, and his
children, |
Lindsay's Patent |
1730 |
3,000 |
John Lindsay and Philip
Livingston, |
Livingston's
Patent,* |
1762 |
20,000 |
Philip Livingston, and nineteen
others. |
Lispenard's
Patent, * |
1770 |
9,200 |
Leonard Lispenard and thirteen
others, |
Lansing's
Patent,* |
1753 |
6,000 |
Jacob and Abraham Lancing, and
Jacob Glen, |
McComb's
Purchase, * |
1792 |
-- |
Alexander Mcomb, |
McNeil's Patent, |
1761 |
4,000 |
John McNeil, and three others,
|
Matchin's
Patent,* |
1786 |
1,600 |
Thomas Matchin, |
Nobleborough
Tract,* |
1787 |
40,960 |
Arthur Noble, |
Moose River
Tract,* |
-- |
-- |
Owned by the state, except
13,080 granted in 1847 to Anson
Blake, |
Petrie's
Purchase, |
1740 |
6,000 |
John Jost Petrie, and two
others, |
Royal Grant |
-- |
-- |
Sir William Johnson |
Remsenburgh Patent,* |
1787 |
48,000 |
Henry Remsen,
and three others, |
Snell and Timmerman's Patent, |
1755 |
3,600 |
Jacob
Timberman, and Johan Joost
Schnell, |
Staley's 1st and 2d Tract |
1755 |
34,000 |
Rudolph
Staley, Johan Jost Herchkeimer,
Jr., Nicholas Herchkeimer, and
fifteen others, |
Schuyler's Patent, |
1755 |
43,000 |
Abraham
Lynsen, and twenty-[one others |
Totten and Crossfield Patent,* |
-- |
-- |
|
Vrooman's Patent,* |
1790 |
9,760 |
Isaac Vrooman, |
"
" |
1786 |
4,000 |
do |
"
" |
1790 |
483 |
do |
Page 201 -
Names of Patents
or Tracts |
Date. |
No. of acres. |
Names of
Original Patentees. |
Van Driesen,
Peter, |
1737 |
1,000 |
Petrus Van Driessen |
Van Driesen,
John, |
1786 |
428 |
Johan Van Driessen, |
Van Horn's
Patent,* |
1731 |
8,000 |
Abraham Van Horne, and three
others, |
Vaughn's Patent, |
1770 |
8,000 |
John Vaughn and seven others, |
Watson's James
Tract,* |
1792 |
-- |
A part of Macomb's purchase, |
Winne's Patent, |
1741 |
2,000 |
Peter Winne, |
Walton's Patent, |
1768 |
12,000 |
William
Walton, Jr., and eleven others |
Young's Patent,* |
1752 |
14,000 |
Theobald
Young, and ten others |
The Indian title to Glen's
purchase, was extinguished in 1734.
The whole tract was subdivided into
thirty-nine large lots, of unequal
quantities. In 1738 five of
these lots were granted to Patrick
McClaughry and Andrew McDowell,
and eight of these lots were
granted to James DeLancey, John
Lindsay, and Abraham Glen.
In 1739 three were granted to
Lendert Helmer, two to
Jacob Glen, three to
Archibald Kennedy, three to
John Schuyler, Jr., three
to Arent Brant, and three
to Philip Schuyler. In 1761
three were granted to Samuel
Auchmuty, three to William
Mitchell, and three to
William Ogilvie.
The patent for the royal grant was never recorded in
this state. The grant was made by
the king in council, and not by the
colonial authorities, consequently the
date and number of acres can not be
given from any entries in the
Secretary's office at Albany.
The Guy Johnson tract was conveyed by
Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, Jacob G. Klock,
and Henry Oathoudt, commissioners
of forfeitures of the western district
of New York, to Benjamin Tallmadge,
major in the army of the United States,
June 7th, 1784, and by Tallmadge
to Caleb Brewster, July 9th,
1794.
The above abstract
shows that the title to most of the
lands in the county, with the exception
of those in the extreme northern part,
were granted by the crown before the
commencement of the revolutionary
struggle, and those grants were
recognized as valid by the constitution
of 1777. But although declared
valid by the fundamental law of the
state, this declaration was in effect
nothing more than an inhibition upon the
legislative power of the state to resume
these grants at pleasure. The
state was left free to protect itself
against the treasonable acts or hostile
aggressions of any of the parties
holding under these grants. This
power was exercised by the legislature
and carried into effect to some extent
in this county, and this makes it
expedient to give that subject a little
examination.
Page 202
-
The attainder act
of 1779 embraced fifty-nine persons,
three of whom were married females, and
they were also declared convicted and
attainted with their husbands of
offenses against the act. It had
been the practice under the colonial
government to include females in the
grants by the crown, even when the
patents were issued to parties for lands
not intended for immediate settlement.
At this day a proceeding of this kind
against a married lady would seem harsh,
discourteous and ungallant. The
particular reasons, if any existed,
which induced the legislature to adopt a
measure so stringent, is not disclosed
in the act, and there were none probably
which marked them as special objects for
confiscation and banishment, except the
fact that they were seized in their own
rights of large landed estates within
the colony, and their husbands had been
prominent and influential partisans in
the cause of the crown, and continued
their active and devoted adhesion to the
king to the date of the act. It
was expedient to disarm such persons of
all the powers of mischief which wealth
and appliances would bestow, as well as
to punish past the future aggressions
against the state; and besides, this was
but a slight departure from the British
maxim that an attaint of blood cut off
the inheritance.
The legislature passed an act on the 12th of May, 1784,
directing the speedy sale of confiscated
and forfeited estates, requiring the
proceeds to be applied to the sinking
and discharging the public securities,
created for the purpose of carrying on
the war. This was the first step
taken to dispose of these estates and
the functions of the commissioners
ceased in 1788. The act of 1784,
designated the kind of money and
certificates or bills of credit issued
by the state, which might be received in
payment for lands sold; and one class of
bills were receivable at the rate of one
dollar in silver for every one hundred
and twenty nominal dollars of such
bills; others at the rate of one dollar
in silver for every forty of the nominal
dollars specified in the certificates,
and a certain class of warrants payable
in wheat
Page
203 -
were receiveable at the rate of one
silver dollar for every bushel of wheat
expressed therein.
Most of these certificates and bills had not been
issued, at the date of the act, over
four years, and the commissioners of
forfeitures were directed not to receive
in the aggregate over five millions of
dollars in these bills and certificates
for lands sold by them under the act.
A large nominal sum of public debt was
by this process extinguished with a
small amount of actual cash, or its
equivalent. This was a heavy
depreciation of public securities, and
was severely felt by the people, who
were compelled to take them from the
government. The purchasers of the
public domain, however, were in no
respect losers by the operation.
Having purchased these securities at the
current specie market price, or at the
sum fixed by the continental scale of
depreciation, they exchanged them in
most instances for some of the best
lands in the state, at a price per acre
a little more than nominal, and thus
accumulated large fortunes, which have
been or soon will be wasted by their
posterity. These purchasers
hazarded nothing; the state warranted
the title against all claims, and
assumed to pay the debts of any person
owning the forfeited estate which
existed prior to 9th of July, 1776, and
were due to an inhabitant of this state
on that day, who had not been attainted
or convicted of adhering to the public
enemy during the war.
The commissioners of forfeitures of the western
district of the state, sold and deeded
between September, 1784 and September,
1788, ninety-three lots in the 1st
allotment of the royal grant; ninety-one
in the second allotment; one hundred and
thirty in the 3d allotment; and one
hundred and thirty-seven in the fourth
allotment.
This proceeding on the part of the state was founded on
the attainder of Sir John Johnson,
by the act of 1779.
The map made by Lawrence Vrooman, in 1797, shows
that Sir William gave by his will
to six of his natural children by
Molly Brant or Brandt,
fifteen thousand acres of this grant, as
follows: To Margaret, 2000
acres; George, 3000;
Page 204
-
Mary, 2000; Susan, 3000;
Ann, 3000; Brandt, 1000;
and to William, 1000 acres.
The portion of this tract thus devised
adjoins the East Canada creek, and is in
the prsent towns of Manheim and
Salisbury.
The lots as numbered on the map are, 166 in the 1st
allotment; 102 in the second; 136 in the
third; and 143 in the fourth.
These are the highest numbers, but in
several instances intervening numbers
below are not found.
A specific half of eighteen lots in Jerseyfield patent,
was also sold and deeded by the
commissioners of forfeitures, within the
periods above mentioned. The
original patentees of this large tract
were mostly of the Dutch extraction, not
German, and residents in Albany,
Schenectady and the lower Mohawk valley.
None of these names appear in the
attainder act of 1779. Some party
known to be obnoxious to the penalties
of the act, must have been proceeded
against by indictment for treason
against the state, and the lands
declared forfeited on inquisition found.
The whole of five lots and a specified
half of four others in Livingston's
patent was also sold and conveyed by the
commissioners. Peter Du Bois,
who was attainted by the act of October
22d, 1779, was one of the patentees of
this grant, and the sales probably
covered his interest, or what remained
of it, in the whole patent.
One lot, No. 52, Bayard's patent, was also sold
by the commissioners, under the
attainder of some of the patentees.
A part of Glen's purchase seems to have been
owned by some one obnoxious to the law
attainder. James De Lancey
was one of the three joint patentees of
several lots in this purchase. He
was attainted by the act of 1779.
Six small lots in that tract were sold
and deeded for 1095, New York
currency, on the 27th August, 1788, to
replenish an exhausted treasury.
James Caldwell purchased five of
the lots and Michael Myers one of
them. Johan Jurgh Kast's
little patent of eleven hundred acres in
Schuyler, contributed five hundred
dollars to pay war expenses. One
lot in that patent seems to have been
sold to make compensation for treason
Page
205 -
against the state. Surely none of
the descendants of that sturdy old
Palatine could have been recreant to his
country and a traitor to humanity.
Two of the Bayards, grantees in the patent of
that name, were attainted by the act of
1779, and if they had not then disposed
of their interest, the commissioners of
forfeitures no doubt gave their
attention to a subject of so much
importance, and a portion of that patent
is held under a title from them.
Diligent search and examination has been made in the
proper quarter to find some evidence of
grants under the authority of the state,
of the John Joost Herkermer's
property, but without success.
Some part of the Herkimer
property came into the hands of
Alexander Ellice, soon after
the revolution. The precise time
has not been ascertained by the writer,
nor has he been able to lay his hand
upon any papers showing the title to
have come from the state. This,
however, must be so, for Mr.
Ellice, being a British subject,
would not have been allowed to hold
forfeited lands except by a grant from
the state.
In respect to that part of the royal grant, devised by
Sir William to his Indian
children, the sale by the commissioners
could not be sustained, and consequently
was abandoned in regard to some of them,
who had not committed any overt act of
treason or offense against the statute.
One of these children, however, did bear
arms against the colonies, and may have
been proceeded against under the
attainder act, by indictment. The
present titles of a portion of the grant
are therefore derived from Sir
William's will, through his Indian
children, but all the remainder, which
passed to Sir John
Johnson, as heir at law, is held
under the state by virtue of his
attainder.
The county covers an area of 1370 square miles, or
887,000 acres, and is bounded on the
north by the county of St Lawrence, on
the east by the counties of Hamilton,
Fulton and Montgomery, on the south by
the county of Otsego, and
Page
206 -
on the west by the counties of Oneida
and Lewis. It lies in the central
part of the state, between 42 degrees
and 50 minutes, and 44 degrees and 5
minutes north latitude, and 1 degree and
43 minutes, and 2 degrees and 14 minutes
east longitude from the city of
Washington; and is 75 miles long from
north to south, and about 26 miles in
width from east to west.
RIVERS, STREAMS AND
LAKES.
Page
207 -
FACE OF THE
COUNTRY.
Page
208 -
SOIL.
PRODUCTIONS.
Page
209 -
Page
210 -
MINERALS.
Page
211 -
Page
212 -
MANUFACTURES.
ROADS, CANALS,
TURNPIKES.
Page
213 -
AND
MORE COMING LATER.
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