[LARGE COLLECTION OF MANUSCRIPT MAPS, SURVEYS, PATENTS, AND OTHER DOCUMENTS RELATING TO LANDS IN DELAWARE COUNTY, NEW YORK, FROM THE ARCHIVE OF MARTHA BRADSTREET].
[New York]: [Bradstreet, Martha]:
[Delaware County, N.Y. 1786-1848]. Various pieces, as detailed below. The collection as a whole is in very good condition. An extensive archive of maps, surveys, and patents relating to land between the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers in present-day Delaware County, New York. The archive traces the history and division of the land, from the initial allotment of patents to three major families (Evans, Livius, and Bradstreet), and through the surveying, selling, resurveying, and reselling of the land over subsequent generations. The collection was assembled by Martha Bradstreet (1780-1871), the step- granddaughter of colonial general John Bradstreet, who had obtained large grants of land in upstate New York in the 1750s and '60s. Throughout much of her life Martha Bradstreet labored to reclaim lands, mostly around Utica, that she maintained were part of her rightful inheritance. She was hindered in this by the uncertainty of colonial surveys and by the many squatters who had settled on the land before she reasserted family claims in the early 19th century. A formidable litigator, she spent decades trying to gain control of Bradstreet grants. The present archive of items, relating to Delaware County lands in southern New York, was assembled by her as part of her assiduous pursuit. The items are as follow: 1) [Montgomery County]: PATENT FOR 1000 ACRES. PATENT FOR 51000 ACRES. FIELD BOOKS AND MAPS OF SURVEY. REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED TO [DIVIDE] UNDER ACTS OF THE LEGISLATURE [docket title]. [Albany. 1848]. [48]pp. manuscript, plus two ink manuscript maps, each 8 x 15 1/2 inches. This document is an official copy of patents and reports created in 1786-87. The two patents give thousands of acres of land in the region between the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers in present-day Delaware County to Agatha Evans, Elizabeth Livius, and Samuel and Martha Bradstreet (as the direct heirs of Gen. John Bradstreet). At the time of the granting of the land, the area was still known as Montgomery County, a huge, sprawling area that would eventually have more than thirty counties carved from it. The region described in these documents would become Delaware County in 1797. In the reports, surveyor William Cockburn describes the boundaries of the more than sixty lots carved out of the land. 2) DIVISION OF THE GORE IN DELAWARE COUNTY, N.Y. COMMONLY (BUT IMPROPERLY) CALLED "COCKBURN'S GORE" BY THE COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THIS STATE (VIZ) JANUARY 10TH 1795. DANIEL McCORMICK. RICHARD HARISON. COMMISSIONERS [docket title]. Manuscript document, 15 x 9 inches, reinforced at edges. Splits at folds. This document reports the results of a drawing held between several heirs claiming parts of "Cockburn's Gore," a parcel of land in Delaware (then Montgomery) County, and apparently named after the surveyor, William Cockburn. Those dividing up the land were Agatha Evans (wife of Charles John Evans), Elizabeth Livius, and Samuel and Martha Bradstreet (as the heirs of Gen. John Bradstreet). The lots correspond to those described in items 5, 6, and 7 below. 3) [Cockburn, William]: A SURVEY OF THE FIRST ALLOTMENT OF A TRACT OF LAND BETWEEN THE DELAWARE AND THE SUSQUEHANNA RIVERS GRANTED TO THE HEIRS OF GENERAL JOHN BRADSTREET. SURVEYED AND RUN INTO LOTS AT THE REQUEST OF THE PROPRIETORS AD 1786 [manuscript title]. [New York. ca. 1795]. [40]pp. manuscript on 13 x 8-inch sheets; plus map in ink on paper, 9 x 15 1/2 inches. A few small holes and some separation at the map fold. The earliest manuscript map of the sixty-six lots that came to be known as the "Evans Patent," bordered on the north by the Susquehanna, and on the south by the Delaware River. This document is made up of a detailed survey of the lots and their boundaries. The acreage is given for each lot, and the whole group comprised more than fifty thousand acres. The final four pages of the document describe the methods used by commissioners Daniel McCormick and Richard Harison in dividing up the lots into three tickets to be drawn by the three parties claiming the land: Agatha Evans, Elizabeth Livius, and Samuel and Martha Bradstreet. 4) PATENT GRANTED TO THE HEIRS OF THE LATE GENERAL BRADSTREET. New York. Feb. 1st, 1792. Printed broadside, 12 1/2 x 8 inches. Backed on lined paper and docketed on verso: "Printed notice with the written signatures of Charles J. Evans and Edward Goold as to land in Evans Patent Del. Co. N.Y. Feb. 1st 1792. Mrs. Martha Bradstreet found this within at the house of Sylvester Hulce in 1811." A few old folds, two small holes. In this notice, Charles J. Evans and Edward Goold (who have signed the document) identify exactly which lots in the so-called "Evans Patent" have been lawfully sold. They are lots 39, 47, and 49 to Anthony Gosper and his wife; lot 43 to a Mr. Simpson; lots 61 and 62 to John Stiles; and lot 66 to Jesse Dickenson. They go on to state that no other claims to any other lots are lawful or valid. 5) [Cockburn, William]: SURVEY OF A GORE OF LAND. GRANTED 10TH OCT. 1792 TO AGATHA EVANS, ELIZABETH LIVIUS, SAMUEL BRADSTREET AND MARTHA BRADSTREET. DEVISEES OF JOHN & MARTHA BRADSTREET DIVIDED INTO SIX LOTS...IN ORDER TO MAKE PARTITION THEREOF [manuscript title]. [1793]. [15]pp. [bound with:] MAP OF A GORE OF LAND.... Ink and watercolor on cloth-backed paper, 8 x 20 3/4 inches. A few old stains. The "Gore" (a triangle-shaped plot of land) has been divided into six lots, ranging from 538 to 677 acres each, and numbered lots 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, and 72. It is bordered on the south by the Delaware River and on the north by the Susquehanna. The boundaries of the lots are described in the text, and were divided by the parties in the document in item 3, above. 6) [Cockburn, William]: [MONTGOMERY COUNTY, NEW YORK, CLERK'S OFFICE COPY OF THE ABOVE-DESCRIBED MAP AND SURVEY]. Ink and watercolor on paper, 10 x 15 3/4 inches, plus [19]pp. manuscript survey. Signed by Chester Brumley, Clerk of Montgomery County. A copy of item 5 listed above, with the instructions to Cockburn from Commissioners Daniel McCormick and Richard Harison included. 7) [Cockburn, William]: [A MAP OF THE GORE OF LAND...]. Ink and watercolor on cloth-backed paper, 7 1/4 x 20 3/4 inches, plus [9]pp. manuscript survey. Another copy of item 5 listed above. 8) [Cockburn, William]: A MAP OF A TRACT OF LAND BETWEEN THE DELAWARE AND SUSQUEHANNA BEING THE RESIDUE OF THE LANDS GRANTED TO THE HEIRS OF GENERAL JOHN BRADSTREET DECEASED. SURVEYED, AND RUN INTO LOTS, AT THE REQUEST OF THE PROPRIETORS A.D. 1786. Ink and watercolor on cloth- backed paper, 13 x 21 inches. Scale: 80 chains to an inch. Separated at folds. The six large plots of land designated as lots 67 to 72 in the items above are here divided into sixty-six smaller subdivisions of varying size. The subdivisions range in size from a little over one hundred to well over one thousand acres each. Bordering the whole area on the east is "Land Conveyed to William and Gerard Walton." 9) [Cockburn, William]: A MAP OF CERTAIN TRACTS OF LAND LYING BETWEEN THE SUSQUEHANNAH AND DELAWARE RIVERS GRANTED TO GENERAL JOHN BRADSTREET BY THE BOARD OF TRADE AND PATENTED TO HIS HEIRS.... [1786]. Ink on cloth-backed paper, 18 x 16 inches. Torn at folds, worn, faded. A copy of map in item 8, above, but also showing the lots of land conveyed to William and Gerald Walton, which lay immediately to the east of Bradstreet's land. 10) [After William Cockburn]: MAP OF EVANS PATENT AND GORE ON WHICH ARE DESIGNATED THE LANDS BELONGING TO MARTHA BRADSTREET [docket title]. [ca. 1820]. Ink and watercolor on cloth-backed paper, 13 x 16 inches. Lightly foxed and stained, separated at folds. A smaller version of the map listed above, with the lands claimed by Martha Bradstreet colored in yellow. Of the sixty-six subdivisions, Martha Bradstreet claimed all or part of seventeen. The fifty-eight lots of the "Walton Lower Patent" to the east are colored in blue. 11) [Bartlett, Sluman]: SUBDIVISION OF LOT NUMBER 67 ON THE GORE OF LAND SITUATE BETWEEN THE LINE OF PROPERTY AND THE LINE RUN BY SIMON METCALF IN 1769 AND LYING IN THE TOWN OF TOMPKINS. SURVEYED AUGUST 1820 (BY SLUMAN BARTLETT SURVEYOR) FOR MARTHA BRADSTREET [manuscript title]. Ink and watercolor on cloth-backed paper, 15 x 9 3/4 inches. [with:] MAP OF LOT NO 71 [manuscript title]. Ink and watercolor on cloth-backed paper, 10 x 7 3/4 inches. [with:] [MANUSCRIPT DESCRIPTION OF THE VARIOUS SMALLER LOTS IN LOTS 67 AND 71]. [23]pp. [with:] two small manuscript notes from Sluman Bartlett to Martha Bradstreet, one asking for payment, the other serving as a receipt. Some old spotting. Lots 67 and 71 were located in what was popularly called the "Evans Patent." Lot 67 is divided into fourteen smaller lots, totaling 634 1/2 acres, and is bounded on the south and east by the Delaware River. Lot 71, totaling 603 acres and divided into ten smaller lots, is bounded to the north and west by the Susquehanna. The text sets out the boundaries of each of the smaller lots. 12) [Bartlett, Sluman]: [PLAN OF THE DIVISION OF LOTS 4, 8, 13, 20, 24, and 30 IN EVANS PATENT SURVEYED SEPTEMBER 1821]. [Delaware County, N.Y. 1821]. [13]pp. of manuscript text plus six maps in ink and watercolor, each 9 3/4 x 8 inches. One leaf chipped at foredge, affecting a few words. A further subdividing of the subdivisions of the Evans patent, five of the large lots divided in half, while lot number 30 was split into eight parts. The lots split in two were divided between Martha Bradstreet and John Mason. The size of the newly-divided lots is given in acres, and the boundaries are described by Bartlett. 13) [Anonymous]: [MANUSCRIPT MAP OF SIXTY-EIGHT PLOTS OF LAND NORTH OF OTSEGO LAKE, IN OTSEGO COUNTY, NEW YORK]. Ink and watercolor on cloth-backed paper, 15 3/4 x 12 1/4 inches. Stained and worn, separated along one fold, with a half-inch square portion missing. A manuscript note reads: "Of the lots coloured with red [seven] Gen. Bradstreet owned the whole; of those in yellow [eleven] he owned one-sixth, and D. Campbell five- sixths." 14) [Evans, Charles John, Edward Goold, Dan Ludlow, and Samuel Preston]: [MANUSCRIPT CONTRACT AND ACCOUNT SHEET RELATING TO LAND OWNED BY EVANS AND OTHERS]. New York. Jan. 29, 1791 & Aug. 1, 1795. Two 12 1/2 x 8-inch sheets. Small holes at two folds, lightly browned at folds. The earlier document is a manuscript contract between Evans, Goold and Ludlow, and Samuel Preston for land to be farmed in the "Evans Patent" between the Susquehanna and Delaware rivers in Delaware County, New York. The second document is an account sheet between Preston and Goold relating to land on "Lot No. 44." 15) [Utica, New York]: FOR SALE, THREE FARMS, IN THE TOWN OF FRANKFORT, AND COUNTY OF HERKIMER...ALSO, AN IMPROVED FARM, WITHIN THREE MILES OF THE VILLAGE OF UTICA...ALSO FOR SALE, THE HOUSE AND FARM LATELY OCCUPIED BY ISAAC SMITH, HALF WAY BETWEEN UTICA AND HERKIMER...TO BE SOLD, ALSO, 50 ACRES OF LOT NO. 3, IN DEERFIELD, ONEIDA COUNTY.... Deerfield, N.Y. 1815. Broadside, 11 x 7 3/4 inches. Affixed to a slightly larger sheet of ruled paper, docketed on verso. [with:] DIAGRAM OF THE GORE OR PARALLELOGRAM OF WORRELLS PATENT, PART OF COSBY'S MANOR. [with:] DIAGRAM AND NOTES RESPECTING THE GORE OF COSBY'S MANOR, JULY 1843 [docket titles]. Two 12 1/4 x 8-inch sheets affixed to each other by wax. Some old stains on the broadside. The diagram is a map showing thirty lots running along the Mohawk River. Ownership is fairly evenly distributed among Martha Bradstreet and the Bleeker, Scott, and Schuyler families. The lots are numbered 77 to 106. 16) [Bartlett, Sluman, and others]: MAP OF LANDS BELONGING TO THE HEIRS OF JOHN M. MASON AND ANNA MASON IN EVANS PATENT SITUATE IN THE TOWN OF MASONVILLE IN THE COUNTY OF DELAWARE AND STATE OF NEW YORK [caption title]. [ca. 1830s]. Ink and watercolor on cloth-backed paper, 40 x 18 inches. Splits at folds. [with:] IN CHANCERY BEFORE THE VICE CHANCELLOR. JOHN L. MASON VS. JOHN KNOX...[manuscript title]. [Delaware County, N.Y. 1837]. [22]pp. manuscript. A few old stains. [with:] [Mason, Ann]: MANUSCRIPT DOCUMENT ASSIGNING POWER OF ATTORNEY TO WEARAM WILLES. [1830]. [2]pp. manuscript. The sizeable manuscript map shows the large lots and smaller subdivisions (more than one hundred) of land owned by the Mason family in Delaware County. The legal proceeding was supervised by Sluman Bartlett and two other commissioners and allocated the lots owned by the Masons among various parties. 17) [Cosby's Manor]: MAP OF THE HOME LOT AND HUBBEL FARM OF DR. SOLOMON WOLCOTT, AS SURVEYD & SUBDIVIDED BY P. GIFFORD [docket title]. [1821]. Ink and watercolor on cloth-backed paper, 32 1/2 x 10 3/4 inches. A few old creases and dampstains. Shows the division of the parcels in lots 89 and 90 sold by the widow of Solomon Wolcott to the city after his death. 18) [Bradstreet, John]: DIAGRAM OF GENERAL BRADSTREET'S ESTATE AS DEVISED BY HIM AND HIS YOUNGEST DAUGHTER MARTHA BRADSTREET [docket title]. [Np. ca. 1820s]. Ink on paper, 8 x 12 3/4 inches. A few small edge chips, three vertical folds. Shows the division of Gen. John Bradstreet's estate among his several heirs, according to his will of Sept. 23, 1774. According to the very basic diagram, Agatha Evans was to receive half the estate, Martha Bradstreet (the elder) one-quarter, Elizabeth Livius one-sixth, and Samuel Bradstreet one-twelfth. 19) LOTS IN FRANKFORT SURVEYED & SUBDIVIDED BY CHARLES C. BRODHEAD ESQ. [caption title]. [Np. nd, ca. 1810]. Ink on cloth-backed paper, 8 3/4 x 12 1/2 inches. A bit cockled. Shows the division of some two thousand acres into twenty- three lots, mostly assigned to the Codd and Bainbridge families. Martha Bradstreet, the step-granddaughter of Gen. John Bradstreet, was married to Matthew Codd for a period in the early 19th-century. 20) [TWO SMALL MANUSCRIPT MAPS OF MARTHA BRADSTREET'S LAND]. [Np. nd, ca. 1840s]. Two ink maps (one with additional watercolor) on cloth-backed paper, each 8 x 10 inches. The less detailed of the two maps is captioned "Sub (B.) of Lot No. 43 of Cosby's Manor - All within the space colored red and containing 3 acres of land, was conveyed to the Utica & Schenectady Rail Road Company - leaving the surplus of ninety acres." The maps shows the path taken by the railroad through Martha Bradstreet's land. The second map shows the same ninety-three acres, and their subdivision into smaller lots. 21) [THREE MANUSCRIPT MAPS SHOWING THE BOUNDARIES OF THREE IRREGULARLY SHAPED LOTS]. [Np. nd, ca. 1820s]. Three ink maps (two with additional watercolor) on cloth- backed paper. Two of the maps 8 x 12 3/4, one 9 3/4 x 7 3/4 inches. The three maps each show one small plot of land, giving location and dimensions. The only map with a note attributing ownership of the land is marked "John Depeyster's Land lately in possession of Johannes Becker." 22) [TWO MANUSCRIPT MAPS OF LOT 13 IN THE "EVANS PATENT"]. [Np. nd, ca. 1810]. Two ink maps (one with additional watercolor) on cloth-backed paper, 8 x 6 1/2 inches each. Small splits at fold on one map. Shows the further subdivision of Lot 13 into eight smaller lots, giving dimensions and the names of the families occupying the land. 23) MAP OF TOP OF LOT NO. 71 ON GORE [docket title]. [Np. nd, ca. 1800]. Ink and watercolor map on cloth- backed paper, 11 x 7 3/4 inches. Shows the division of Lot 71 into ten smaller lots, each measuring between fifty and one hundred acres. 24) [Bennett, E.P.]: MAP OF GREAT LOT NO. 91 IN BAINBRIDGE AS SUBDIVIDED AND OCCUPIED IN 1859 [docket title]. [Np. ca. 1859]. Ink on paper, 7 3/4 x 9 3/4 inches. Shows the subdivision of Lot 91 into six parcels, and the further division of the area into even smaller plots. Also shows the road running through the land, and the location of some homes. 25) [THREE MANUSCRIPT MAPS OF PARTS OF UTICA, N.Y.]. [Np. ca. 1805 - 1825]. Red and black ink on paper, 13 1/4 x 6 1/2; 9 1/2 x 8; and 10 1/4 x 30 inches. A few chips at edges, two with closed tears at folds. Martha Bradstreet's inheritance also comprised much of the land around present-day Utica, N.Y., and these three maps show divisions of various parts of that land. The smallest map is captioned "A Copy of Part of the Hotel Lot of the Village of Utica between the Mohawk River and Whitesborough Street." The survey was made by Calvin Guiteau for M. Hogan in June, 1813, and shows the location of Water Street, the hotel, and several other lots. The mid-sized map is a simple drawing showing nine lots and several streets, with all but Bleeker Street unnamed. The largest map was also surveyed by Calvin Guiteau, in 1805 and 1806, and is captioned "A Map of the N.E. part of Lot No. 96 in Cosby's Manor, situated in the Village of Utica, Oneida County, State of New York, the property of James Kip...." It is a very detailed map, heavily annotated, and showing some fifty lots, as well as several of the major streets in downtown Utica. Overall, a wonderful archive illustrating the complications of colonial, Federal, and later land issues in New York, with an important series of maps and surveys.
(Item ID: WRCAM30631) $25,000.00