The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-24
REVOLUTIONARY RECORDS.
PAPERS OF HISToRIoAE VALUE
FOUND IN THE STLTB CAPITOL.

Albany, Jan. 23.-Revolutionary records OF
great historical value relating to the original
settlement of man. parts Of the interior OF New
York State have Just been brought to light in
tho examination and collation. Of tho musty
papers which were discovered last year in q
storeroom attached to tho State Comptroller's
office. Aside from their historical value. these
records are of considerable Importance to real
estate interests as the original sources TO which
the present titles to lands. some of them located
in good-sizcd cities Of the present day, go back.
These records are In the shape of claims filed
by revolutionary soldiers undor n law enacted
by the Legislature on March %, 1882. "for rails
ing troops to complete the line of this State
in the service Of the United States, and
the two regiments to DO raised on boun-
ties OF Incorporated lands. and for the
further defence of the frontier of this
State" BY this law every company of
militia was divided into Glasses" usually with
1fteen members. On tho delivery by q class
Of an acceptable man to the muster master, IL
was entitled to q ~eratuity or bounty Of 200 acres
Of land. These land bounty rights, as they
were called. were usually assigned either to the
head Of tho class or to an outsider. Many of
them fell into tho hands of syndicates of land
sharks. There are 1000 Of these assignments
among tho records. signed by 10000 names OF
the original bene1ciaries. with tho rights
were fled descriptions Of the parcels of land
claimed and allowed, prepared by the Surveyor
General Of the State or his deputies. Many Of
these were accompanied by maps. or these
nearly 100 have been discovered, fifteen
or twenty Of which are quite elabo-
crate. Ono Of them. covering q grant
to Martin Ziele. includes the site Of most of the
present city of Ithaca. Others relate to the
places now known rs Canajoharie. Elmira and
.xl l-.z 49, --I-lt -----
of locations in the counties Of Herklmer. Mont
gomery. Delaware, Orange, Albany, Clinton and
Ulster, including the German patent. There
are also several maps Of locations along the Sus.
quehanna River. The description of locations
by counties is often misleading. because at one
time Montgomery county extended to the
northern and western limits of the State;
Washington county to the st. Lawrence
River. and Charlotte county into tho
present State of Vermont, where some Of
the claims were located. In addition to
this. many Of tho counties were divided
and subdivided between 1852 and 1894. thus
making more confusion. A map has been pre-.
pared, however. to show tho old and the present
boundaries of the counties of the State, and. by
means Of this. most of the locations can be
readily traced.
These papers, most of which have not yet
been classified. not only tell the story Of the
beginning of settlements, but they also con-
tain private letters between the Surveyors
General and tho surveyors in the field. From
one Of these 1t appears that q party Of men in
the counties of Cayuga and Onondaga were
trying to pass bad titles on the settlers.
Tell them" wrote the Surveyor.General,
that should they persist. the Governor will
head the militia and employ the whole force of
the State to reduce them to an obedience to the
law"
Another class of the papers, which have
hardly been glanced at as yet by the collator,
relate to lands con1scated from Tories
during the war. The State had regular
Commissioners of Scquestration for this pur-
pose, and their reports show in minute detail
the lands, live stock. merchandise. and house
hold furniture sold at public auctions. how
the purchasers.
BY a joint resolution Of the Legislature.
sociate Justices of the State Supreme Court
were directed to ascertain the losses sustained
with the pr re- end in view that tie
State should share q portion of the losses, II
closed what In those days was so large an
amount that the lawmakers feared bankruptcy
4 they shouldered a debt of such magnitude.
The claim papers. however, numbering between
800 and 400, were preserved, and are now await
ing arrangement.
All OF these papers We're from 1889 to 1894.
and those relating to land grants bear the in
dorsements OF Philip Schuyler and Simeon De
Witt. who held the office of Surveyor.General
When tho records were first discovered. after
having been lost sight of for years. Col. Charles
naturally selected the Revolutionary muster
rolls Of the State to begin on. His collation. of
theS Gao vas nd published show in " t GSart ,bis volume slais
furnished ABOUT 4@.ooo men, =" instead of '' the
II. 900 which appear in the archives at Washing
of the Soldiers Homo ut Bath the work of COLA
ton was turned over to +. G. .Mathcr, and in ar
tionai musterroiis, which bring the states quota
up to about 43. 500. Over 600 of the new nam s be-
long to ono militia regiment in Duchess county,
about 100 to an artillery regiment In the CONT
mental service. and the remaining 800 20 to in
crease all the militia organizations about
The extent Of the records now being collated
may be gained BY a comparison with those which
We're ". 9 ps6,,s roI1s last Mni ysar had These bcsD e GisanTsroG only ,y
TO that time. and u few fac SMILES Of commits.
sions md pay rolls. and mado n quarto volume
alone would make o similar volume OF about
300 pages. and the other papers would repre-
Among them are a number of papers relating
to the Committee Of Safety. the Council Of
Safety. md the priyeteets that were fitted out
schooner Gen, Putnam, the sioop Mont.
the enlisted, men Of the Congress-. Among
Inc new mas are blUlldr IStS OF tnreb Otner
privateerlng sloops-the, Sally. the Polly. and
tho Camden. Besides these a dozen records
have been found telling in detail of tho sale OF
prizes captured by the privateers with tho prices
received for their cargocs and the names of the
purchasers. all itemlzed. These returns show the
after tho prize money of tho men had been de-
Quoted. Most Of the sales took place In New
York city, but the record of IL particularly
lucrative one ct Baltimore has been found. The
prize was the Hannah. and her cargo consisted
almost entirely OF liquors. The cargo brought
$4,000 then, worth about $40, 900 at the pres
cnt time. One Of the purchasers, whose money
stterward found its way into the New York
who bought two lots OF wet goods at bargain
prices.
Besides the matters spoken OF above. the I'M
classified records comprise records Of thu. war Of
1912 and the Mexican war. the value Of which
is not yet known; Their arrangement will
comprising the reports OF a Commission Oh Forti-
G%estions appoin,ed by the Legislature IN
steuben. Peter Gansevoort,, William North,
Stephen Van Rensselaer,. John Taylor. John
Vernon, and Daniel Hale. The Commissioners
built many blockhouses and other or.lhcntioGs.
especially along tho northern border Of the
State, and their work WAS OF great service in