This essay was originally published in the 1940 OCHS Yearbook. Please note that this essay was published over 80 years ago. While still useful for general education, language may be outdated and at times offensive. The Oswego County Historical Society does not stand by the language used in this essay. All photos were added in 2026 when this article was uploaded to the web. To view the original document, please visit NYHeritage.org.
Paper Presented Before the Oswego Historical Society, September 30, 1940, by Merritt A. Switzer, Member of the Pulaski Bar
From the moment of the discovery and occupancy of land there is an indissoluble union between its tenure and the lives of those by whom it is peopled. The manner of its holding is determined by and in turn determines the future of its inhabitants. In retrospect the history of the title to land is an integral part of the history of its inhabitants. Only for that reason do I, a member of the legal profession, feel free to appear before a body of historians and speak upon a subject which otherwise would be of interest solely to students of the law.
Tonight, briefly as I may, I shall strive to present a verbal picture, in panorama, of the devolution of land titles in eastern Oswego County from the discovery of America until the land of which the area was a part was patented to individuals by the State and from those individuals passed into the hands of settlers. I will also touch upon some subsequent events in the early days of our commonwealth in which land played a part.
England, as you know, claimed title by right of discovery to all land, known as “Newe England in America . . . from the Atlantick and Westerne sea and ocean on the east parte, to the south sea on the west parte”. King James the First “by letters patente bearing date at Westminster the third day of November, in the eighteenth yeare of his raigne”, that is, in 1620, granted a charter by which he conveyed to the Council established at Plymouth, in the County of Devon,
“All that parte of America lyeing and being in bredth from forty degrees of northerly latitude from the equinoctiall lyne, to forty eight degrees of the saide northerly latitude inclusively, and length of and within all the bredth aforesaid throughout the maine landes from sea to sea . . . Provided, always, That the . . . premises . . . intendend and meant to be graunted were not then actually possessed or inhabited by any other Christian Prince or State , nor within the boundes, lymitte, or territor ies of the Southerne Colony then before graunted . . . to be planted in the South partes”.
The reference to the “Southerne Coloney” is to a grant or letters patent given to the Virginia Colony. The Council Established at Plymouth, in the County of Devon, is not to be confused with the Plymouth Colony composed of William Bradford and his associates. The Council Established at Plymouth was a body corporate, having its headquarters at Plymouth in Devonshire, England, where the Mayflower had landed on her way to America and from which place she finally set sail, on September 6th, 1620, two months before the charter to the Council was granted. On March 19th, 1628, the Council Established at Plymouth deeded to Sir Henry Rosewell, Sir John Young, knightes, Thomas Southcott, John Humphrey, John Endicott, and Symon Whetcombe, their heirs and associates, a portion extending from sea to sea of 75 the land included under the King James grant, and on March 4, 1629, King Charles the First con firmed that deed to Rosewell and his then associates and created them, under the names of the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay, “one bodie politique in deede, fact and name” with perpetual succession and with power to hold and convey land. This grant is deemed to have embraced all or a large part of New York State, and certainly included the entire area now comprising Oswego County.
Conflict With Dutch Claims
In 1620, when the charter was granted to the Council Established at Plymouth, a portion of New York State was already inhabited by the Dutch. In 1609 Hendrik Hudson had brought the Half Moon into the Hudson River and before the Massachusetts Bay Charter was given the Walloons were settled on Manhattan Island and as far north as Albany. They instituted, in 1629, the patroon system of feudal tenure, and great estates were rapidly established along the Hudson under Dutch rule.
England refused to recognize the right of Holland to the land in the area covored by the 1620 and 1629 charters. Charles the Second, by a grant dated March 12, 1664, conveyed the land along the Hudson to his brother James, Duke of York, who caused an English fleet to enforce his title. New York was taken and the territory was ruled by the Duke’s Governors until 1673, when it was retaken by the Dutch. It was ceded back to England in 1674 and in that year was re-granted by Charles the Second to the Duke of York. When in 1685, the Duke of York took the throne as James the Second, his proprietary title merged into royal title and New York became a royal province. Thus it remained until the Revolution.
State Held King’s Grants Void
By the New York State Constitution of 1777 all grants made by the King of Great Britain were declared void. By the same instrument it was required that purchases of lands from the Indians be made only under the authority and with the consent of the legislature. By the Articles of Confederation, finally approved by the legislature on October 23, 1779, it was provided that all” controversies between states claiming the private right of soil under different grants should be finally determined by Congress and to Congress was given the sole right and power to manage Indian affairs, but there was reserved to each state legislature rights within its own limits.
Commissioners of Indian Affairs were appointed by Congress who, on October 22, 1784, concluded a treaty with the Six Nations, consisting of the Mohawk, Onondaga, Seneka, Oneida, Cayuga and Tuscarora Indians, whereby the Oneidas and Tuscaroras were secured in the possession of lands they then occupied which included the area now embraced in Oswego County, reserving to the United States six miles square round the Fort of Oswego.
Authorization for the purchase of lands of the Oneidas and Tus caroras was given by an Act of the legislature passed Nov. 29, 1784.
Hartford Compromise
On May 5th, 1786, the legislature provided for Commissioners of the Land Office to direct the disposing and granting of un appropriated lands within the State. Disagreement existed, however, between the State of New York and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts over the extent of the territory embraced within the bounds of the State of New York belonging to each. Massachusetts had succeeded to the rights under the Charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, while New York claimed under 76 the grants to the Duke of York. The matter was about to be submitted to Congress when, in December, 1786, agreement was reached between the States and recorded in “the Hartford Compromise.” By that Compromise the right to purchase the Indian claims to land in the western part of this State was ceded to Massachusetts, and the government, sovereignty and jurisdiction over the same lands was given to New York. By that agreement also both the right of preemption and sovereignty as to all other lands in New York was recognized to be in the State of New York. Thus the way was cleared for the acquisition of Indian lands in northern and central New York and the dis position thereof to private owners. On March 1, 1788, the Legislature authorized the appointment of Commissioners to make treaties with the Indians and to purchase their lands, and on September 22, 1788, commissioners so appointed including Governor Clinton, Egbert Benson, Richard Varrick and others concluded a treaty with the Oneidas whereby all their lands with certain exceptions, not here important, were ceded to the State.
First Titles In Oswego County
The proprietary system of land grants which existed in pre-Revolutionary days was not immediately to give way to ownership in settlers. On January 10, 1792, letters patent were granted by the legislature to Alexander Macomb, covering 1,920,000 acres in Northern New York, including all of Oswego County north of the present Patent Line, which extends eastward from the mouth of Salmon River. On December 12, 1794, letters patent were issued to George Scriba covering some 488,135 acres which included all of the southerly part of Oswego County lying east of the Oswego River. Macomb, shortly after his purchase, conveyed to William Constable and in the same year Constable conveyed to Thomas Ward 1,255,000 acres, but Constable, by mesne conveyances, re-acquired 406,000 acres in 1796. In that year he sold to Thomas Douglas, Earl of Selkirk, the Selkirk Tract, so called, consisting of 4348 acres or a little less than 7 square miles, located on Lake Ontario north of the Patent Line. Douglas, being an alien, could not take title to land in this State, for which reason Constable conveyed to Henrietta Marie Colden. In 1798 the legislature passed an act permitting aliens to hold real property, and in 1800 Henrietta Marie Colden conveyed to Douglas. Apparently there was a failure properly to record the deed, as in 1804 an act was passed by the legislature confirming the deed from Colden to Douglas. Selkirk, besides extensive holdings of real property in Scotland, also owned several town ships on Prince Edward Island.
The Selkirk Tract
Many parcels of the Selkirk Tract were conveyed by Douglas during his lifetime, others by his trustees and their attorneys in fact after his death. He died on April 8th, 1820, leaving a Trust Disposition, or will, dated August 20, 1805, and a Supplementary Trust Disposition dated August 7, 1819, both probated in Edinburgh, Scotland, on June 6, 1820.
Of some interest may be the fact that up to within the past few years the nature and contents of those documents and their place of record was unknown to those studying titles in this area. Questions arose as to the legality of the appointment of certain of the attorneys in fact who had conveyed land for his trustees, in that less than a majority of those appointed had granted the powers. It was my pleasure, acting through corrrespondents in New York, London and Edinburgh, in 1937, to be able to obtain photostatic copies of the originals of those documents, signed “Selkirk”, and authenticated by the seal of the Court of Sessions and signature of the Keeper of the Seal of that court, as well as by the United States Consul, and to have the same recorded in the Oswego County Clerk’s office at Oswego.
This, in brief, is the story of that part of the land north of the Patent Line. Before leaving the subject, however, I wish to call attention to the fact that no part of Selkirk Shores State Park is located on land at any time owned by the Earl of Selkirk. That fact was called to the attention of the State Historian and the State Council of Parks when it became known that the name “Selkirk Shores” had tentatively been chosen, but efforts made to secure substitution of a name historically more applicable were unavailing.
Alexander Hamilton’s Holdings
The story of George Scriba and his connection with the early history of Oswego County has, I am told, been presented before this society by another. His holding of land in the area adjacent to Pulaski, acquired for himself and others, was of brief duration. Having taken title under letters patent in 1794, he immediately entered into an agreement for the partition of so much thereof as had been previously contracted by the Commissioners of the Land Office to John and Nicholas Roosevelt. To attempt to trace the interest of each of the men who shared in “the Roosevelt Purchase” would involve almost endless research. Enough of human interest is to be found in connection with that part conveyed to Jacob Mark in 1795, which included the 21st Township or the southern part of the Town of Richland. Mark mortgaged his portion of the Scriba land. Later he became involved in financial difficulties, and in 1802 the land was acquired by John Laurance for himself, John B. Church and Alexander Hamilton. Laurance held the land in his name until June 28th, 1804, when a partition deed was drawn, setting off to each owner specific lots. The conveyance to Hamilton of his share and subsequent transactions, in the light of history, tell a tragic story.
Aaron Burr was Vice President of the United States. But for Hamilton’s influence he would have been President. In 1804 Burr ran as an independent candidate for Governor of New York but was defeated, a disappointment for which he blamed Hamilton. Alleging an insult he challenged Hamilton to a duel. Undoubtedly foreseeing the outcome of that impending combat and at least preparing for possible eventualities, Hamilton, on July 6th, 1804, deeded, with other land, his holdings in this area to Laurance, Church and Mathew Clarkson in trust for the payment of certain specified debts. On July 9th, 1804, three days later, he made his will, giving all his property, real and personal, to Church, Nicholas Fish and Nathaniel Pendleton in trust for the payment of his debt, remainder to his wife.
In that will Hamilton said: “Though if it shall please God to spare my life I may look for a considerable surplus out of my present property. Yet if he should speedily call me to the eternal world, a forced sale as is usual may possibly render it insufficient to satisfy my debts. I pray God something may remain for the maintenance and education of my dear wife and children.”
Two days after making that will, on July 11, 1804, he met Burr at Weehauken, New Jersey, discharged his own weapon in the air, and himself suffered a mortal wound from which he died on the following day. The will was probated on July 16th, 1804, in New York County.
A year later, July 5th, 1805, we find Church, Fish, Pendleton, Laurance and Clarkson, trustees under the deed and will, joining in a trust deed to Gouveneur Morris, Rufus King, Egbert Benson, Oliver Wolcott and Charles Wilkes, the trust provision of the deed providing for a sale to repay subscribers to a share agreement by which had been raised $79,600 in $200 shares to protect Hamilton’s estate from loss by forced sale. Appended to the deed is a list of the subscribers, over one hundred in number, and including such names as Gouveneur Morris, Richard Varrick, John Laurance, Egbert Benson, Hezekiah B. Pierrepont, DeWitt Clinton, Thomas Buchanan, James Roosevelt and J. VanRennsalear. Appended also to the deed is a statement of his property and debts made on July 1st, 1804, by Hamilton.
Whether the men who thus undertook to save Hamilton’s property for his wife and family were reimbursed to the full amount of their investment I have not endeavored to ascertain. Nevertheless the record of their effort is to me one of the most interesting, clearly delineated human interest stories I have yet to find in the ordinarily cold record of property transfers.
Land in this area, before it passed into the hands of settlers, through the will of John Laurance vested in Egbert Benson as trustee, and through John B. Church vested in Rudolph Bunner and William Duer, persons who had holdings in the City of Oswego. (Editor’s note: Rudolph Bunner sat in Congress from Oswego County in 1826. He was a son in law of John B. Church, commisaire to France during the Revolution and the grandfather of Henry Cuyler Bunner, later a distinguished author and poet and long the editor of the humor magazine “Puck.” The Bunner and Duer families, both resident in Oswego, were related by marriage and the Bunners by marriage to the families of General Philip Schuyler and Alexander Hamilton.)
The Port Ontario Land Boom
The great event for this area after the land quite generally had passed into the hands of settlors was the Port Ontario landboom. Salmon River, then a sizeable stream, flowing along much of its course through virgin timber and unhampered by power developments, afforded at its mouth a harbor of some magnitude. Of that harbor a naval engineer, who made a trip of inspection along the shore of Mexico Bay in 1838, said that a better harbor could be constructed there than at any other point on the bay. Between 1836 and 1844 the United States expended $50,000 on rock-filled timber cribs or piers and the same inspector reported sufficient water and good anchorage for at least thirty vessels. Completion of the breakwaters was followed by the erection of a government light house, which still stands, just north of the Patent Line, on the Selkirk Tract.
Coincident with and probably to some extent productive of the government’s interest in the locality was the dream of Colonel Robert Nichols and others of a thriving metropolis to cover the area south of the Patent Line and extending along the lake southward for a distance of a mile and inland about one and one third miles, or over half a mile above the present Scenic Highway bridge across Salmon River. Modestly named the Village of Port Ontario, it was carefully mapped and hundreds of lots were sold during the boom which attended its proposed development. Rivalry existed among owners along the river. Power canals were projected along either bank, and canal and dam rights bought and sold. In part the new village was settled and the considerable community which grew about the river’s mouth boasted stores, two hotels, a church and no little commerce. So far had the development progressed that in October, 1837, the first issue of a good sized newspaper, the Port Ontario “Aurora” was published and printed within the confines of the new village.
Auspicious as seemed its plan and growth, the dream soon faded and only a cluster of dwellings at the crossroads and a few cottages along the shore now mark the site. The effect of the land division and sales of lots remains to trouble conveyancers. Variances between the Nichols survey and the old Wright Map of an earlier day still trouble in locating the lines of cottage lots. But for the development of the land along the lake as a recreational area by the building of cottages and the creation of a State Park, that section of the Town of Richland would today be purely a farming community. The harbor remains, however, still capable of development, still needed as refuge for lake craft, and when devolped we may yet see, though on a lesser scale than before planned, a considerable community about that harbor.
As I said at the outset, the history of a people is depicted in its land conveyances. Estates grow as the wealth of their owners increases and disintegrate as that wealth is distributed or disappears. Each change in fortune brings change in land titles, and back of each change is a story, drab or brilliant, waiting only to be sought and told. It marks history in the making.
