New-York tribune., 1885-08-13
THE TITLE TO CLAREM0NT.
pIscREp1rlNa THE coovERT CLAIM.
sp,xIoxs on LAwyERs-TRAcISG HARLEM TITLES
TO ROYAL GRANTS.

sp,x,ovs OF LAwYRRs-TRACING HARLEM TITLES
TO ROYAL GRANTS.
Cornoration Counsel Lacombe laughed when told
Mat the Rev. w. A Coovert, pastor OF tns xhuIcn a
.1,m mO TO- a. part Of Harlem Commons. including that
sart Of Riverside Park IN which General ,,si
6Isns ,o'%, tomb is si'uassd sns hinS had bSsp %
advanced from time to time, but that none had as
ever been substantiated. MI Clarkson, one Of Mr.
Lacombes assistants SAID tnas .nere was ~ caimsd
by Mr. Covert would be ousted. Ordinarily, q
title of forty or sixty years il deemed
CLAIMED has been in the possession
OF the occupants their direct ancestors ior more
'''I I"seoh D. Iirown. n well-known lawyer at No.
rs Nassau-st., who has made the conveyanclhe OF
Harlem property specially tor Rsy many GeaCf Csoyert ys
yesterday asyura aSa' '1s on ci ocober H. 1907 Sir
Richard Nichols, the Governor of New-fork'
granted TO Thomas Dclavall, John ,,e, ver,eeien,
Daniel Turner Joos Otblene.an Resolved Waidron,
their heirs, successors and assigns their particular
los and estates in the town of Harlem ms was
held to include the outlying portion known os ine
"'a' mn Une Of the patentees was Hans Covert, who
when lie died. devised his property to his danghh,ed he
Maria, who married Adolph Meyer; Iaey mao mao
children. who inherited the property OF their
mother and some Of it is still in the hands OF neI
descendants. As this daughter was the only cniia
who i,iherlted this property IRON mans I =,
difficult to see on what the Rev. Mr.. Coovefrs claim
rests - ,,,o ,h oros
There were other patentees besides the ones
named who held their lands by patents g-anteu
bv'V NV Governor Nichols or by former Governors.
The old town of Harlem. wh,ch was then ,n " u
certain extent I%a1s Known iro as had
is magistrate town clerk ana e6ns,aos Island
Inc iIes drawn from the low ground at One,huudrcd-
and-thirteth-st. and Manhattanville. and Richard
kss house on the East Eysf aa9
Flats Flats and a part Of Yorkville and .li.yc haI-
lem part of Mr. that foOgeHSs OSefos
where General Grants tomb is situated. This,
Mr. Blown says is a more absurd claim than the
other. The high ground in the Western part OF
fbe CITY above One -hundre l-and-tentl-st was
never part of Harlem; II belonged to New NewiAm,
sterdan and afterward to New-York. The high
ground was the dividing line between the two
Park com prsing about 235 acres was sold on July
81, 1901. by the Corporation 90. OF New .Is orK
Confirmed to Mr. De Kay by Queen Anne in 1704.
The record Of these patents on file III the Secre-
fary OF States Office in Albany. Moreover al the
original papers of the Harlem grants, In the Dutcn
language with accompanying maps. are III exist
ence. They are in the possession OF descendant
of the last clerk that Harlem had before IL became
finally part OF New-YOrk About twenty-nve or
thirty years ago the descendants OF the Montanyes
who were among the original patentees, LAID claim
TO some of the low land along the line OF Eighth
ave. Ihe court held that If the Montanyes ever
had any tide they had lost 1T by the lapse OF ue
The Harlem Commons were divided among the
various pr0perty-SWners, nfst III loot anu
l7l2. Maria Meyer, the daughter of Hans Covert,
apparently got her full share, and 1t went to her
heirs and assigns. In any case the hev. M
Coovert could only lay claim to fragment; The
lands having been divided up, no one could lay
claim to the entire tract IL would puzzle MN, 100.
records of births marriages and deaths are not ac-
cepted as conclusive in court of law. The law is
that where person has held undlsputed possession
under title Tor twenty years. and there no in
fants, married women or lunatics interested, the
title Is good. A State claim runs out IN forty
years.