The New York herald., 1867-04-17

ssd tsxt bsok % NJ question having bem pualshed in
ssS.ov. ,puxzp sousou o. mn sAix = .vxu
me statement Of Dawson d not only ccFcboatsd but
.sHiGory Of ths United stateso He ssys In referring
% the facts previously qnoted:- TT
!he Sons q Liberty puron,sing ~, pscs Of land near
formerly called Bowsry lane-erscted liberty pole
strongly guarded BY iron bands and bars deeply sunk
into the earth and inscribed Liberty and Property 1"
From whom did the ''sons Of Liberty or their sgsnt
Sears purchase this piece Of land Not from the Cor.
porson Of i77o the records or that day shOw that
The municipal authorities had refused 10 permit sthe
erection Of liberty pole any portion OF their lsnds
The sale consequently must have been nom the pri.
cause Of independence Hss tho city obtained that por
tion Of the Park by purchase legal honest con-
veyances II so, will the eminent law officer Of the Cor
poration send copy OF the document to the Attorney
General, with view 70 fory the assumed title OF the
cys We regard this act not only Of dutyb Of
the City Fathers bs shrived in this psnitenal season.
by official confession Of the fact Such a coursa Is
demanded by candor and honesty. Let the sharpsss
and the Peter Funks Of New York have monopoly OF
the business Of selling real which they have
ttle but the Common Council should not disgrace
itself by such au act @
CONFESSION or rue CRY THROUGH FATHER vALxxrrn
The deed conveying the Park is signed by Mr. valen-
tne the Clerk Of the Common Council antiquarian
worthy OF credit The venerable gentleman, as the
mouthpiece OF the Corporation In hs History Of New
York, page 2sl, says sA
'srhe commons Of the city originally formed nearly .
square, lying generally between the present Broadway
and Nassau street on the east and west and between
Ann and Chambers streets north and south. II was
road thus forming triangle the cast side part'of
which [what parts appropriated By Colonel Dongan
Governor In 1856 and occupied for several years Hs
place OF amusement and called the vineyard'' .
Then If the Vineyard was on what is now known as
Ann street-f the carly Dutch slipped their nagcns oi
beer on the site Of the HERALD oace-how and when
did the title pass from the city to private individuals
But it claimed that Dongan granted the whole of the
ton conveyed for vneyaraS Why did the Corpora Cor
ton refrain taking possession OF the land till
century bad elapsed since the alleged transfer was
executed? 3aE
Mr. Valentine claims in several volumes of his
"Manua Of the Corporation, tses Manual for 1855,
propra lands granted to the Corporation by the Char
ter OF Dongan We regret that his historical compa-
tons-whch redeem the work-emphatioaily contradct
his assumption He tells that Isaac Sears claimed
portion oil the Park after the Revolution and that the
Common Council reocgnized his title - the properly
by paying him the price for which he offered to sell it
no tells us that that Teller who owned the portion
the Park where the New Court House now stands, sold
ns sa se es Of y n
for permission to erect liberty polo on the common
near the British barracks purchased piece of ground
for the purpose iti the Park This purchase implies
q private owner Who was hcY @
All these fac,s when weaved together invest the
those the private owners above referred
to--with overwhelming doubt They show too, that
the plea which sets forth that tho ParS, or ths com
gan, cannot be maintained U fact or law.
THE BAYARp FARM. y
In tho milst OF this document tayy Babel we have,
fortunately, decd record which sheds light on tho
chaos. We have previously ,given II in full in tho
HERALp. II IS the Old Dutch instrument by which
tho Park became o portion Of the farm Of Bavard.
Tho language Of the deed " decisive and as eShans-
tive. as ,he, topography Of the time would admit
west OF the Swamp. on west Of Ferry erect
and the PARK, including that portion OF y which
necessarily in the definition. It could not apply to
tho intervening land, for - was part or Beckman 8
farm; and il could notnean the Kings farm fer 1t was
already appropriated. Tiren IL must have been the
middle ard otherwise unclsned ground, known as tho
commons or the Park sra. 81 i4r CG W
The statement that tho Park was originally public
property is thus shown tcbe failacious se ta
CHANCE Fos raArsc;2snESTAL BlsroRIss
II wcuii be one OF the narvcs Of Dutch history II tho
plantations around cld with tho intention Of making
It 'nectral groundn To suppose such must
island were ENGAGED in !Iosthtes Immediately after
their aarrva and that, after war, they asreed that
the the s'p due 70 uos Bas history is
silent on this subject. and the absence OF
primitive KncSerbockers were peaceful and scted with
tho thrift which distinguishes their In the latter
part Of the seventeenth century we nd them the owners
tended the verge OF Park row. Tellsrs properly
naie 10 front, and tho Bayard farm extended cb qaey
the rest Of the greand on the south SIDE while
tScscton noar the site &C the Gy Han These
facis obtained from pGyte source; they form
part Of tho ocia annalsof the city and such they
areensiiod 10 the credit duotO impartial Witnesses
CHANCE ATTORNEY GENERAL.
We might multiply facfs to prove that tho Park was
private property and southern sections formed
portion OF the Bayard farm now claimed by thu Kier-
stcdsamy; but the evidence presented in this article
must satisfy any impartial reader that tho city
claim IL by virtue OF tho Donvan charter and ae 10
70 convey poron-of II to the United States,
the pocscssor under that charter the deed signed by
Mr. Valentine and others is legally worthless Let the
Attorney General Of the United States take tho hint