1765
August
New York
attorney general John Tabor Kempe informs Indian agent William Johnson that
English law does not recognize aboriginal land rights. Johnson will reply that
the Indians are a sovereign nation and do not fall under English jurisdiction.
Sep 8
Canadian
Indian Department official and politician William Claus is born at
Williamsburg, New York (formerly Mount Johnson) to Christian Daniel Claus and
Ann (Nancy) Johnson Claus.
1767
Jun 15
Parliament
suspends the New York assembly for refusing to obey the Quartering Act.
1768
Sep 9
New York
surveyor Jellis Fonda petitions the governor of the colony in the name of
himself and twenty partners, for a grant of 20,000 acres south of the Mohawk
River - the future John Bowen Patent.
Dec 16
Royal
governor Sir Henry Moore suggests to the assembly the importance of improving
the stretch of the Mohawk River between Schenectady and Fort Stanwix. Nothing
comes of the idea.
1769
State
Merchant
Jeremiah Van Rensselaer is born in Clavertack to Revolutionary War general
Robert Van Rensselaer and Cornelia Rutsen Van Rensselaer, Merchant
Jeremiah
Van Rensselaer is born to Revolutionary War general Robert Van Rennselaer
and Cornelia Rutsen Van Rensselaer, at Greenbush-Manor House in Albany.
1770
Jan 1
United States Representative Nathaniel W. Howell,
is born in Blooming Grove, to farmers Hezekiah and Juliana Woodhull Howell.
Jan 2
The 42,500-acre Scott’s Patent, in Schoharie
County, is granted to John Morin Scott and others.
Jan 15
The 40,000-acre Cobus Kill Patent, in Schoharie
County, is granted to Stephen Skinner and others. The 40,000-acre Skinner’s
Patent, in Schoharie County, is granted to Stephen Skinner and others.
Jan 16
The 40,000-acre McKee’s Patent, in Delaware
County, is granted to Alexander McKee and others.
Feb 3
The 60,000-acre second Otsego Patent, in Otsego
County, is granted to Charles Read and others.
Feb 24
The 22,000-acre Kortright Patent, in Delaware
County, is granted to Lawrence Kortright. The 5,000-acre Middleton’s Patent, in
Otsego County, is granted to Peter Middleton.
Feb 26
Thomas Wharton and other investors are granted
30,000 acres in Delaware County, establish Franklin Township.
March
Land speculator George Croghan assumes a £2,000
mortgage owed to Philadelphia merchant Thomas Wharton in exchange for a
mortgage deed for 20,000 acres of land in the Otsego region already mortgaged
to New Jersey's Burlington Company.
Mar 10
The 38,000-acre Whiteboro Patent, in Delaware
County, is granted to Henry White and others.
Mar 15
The 20,000-acre Walton’s Patent (the second), in
Delaware County, is granted to William Walton and others.
Mar 31
The 13,000-acre Nettlefield Patent, in Otsego
County, is granted to Richard Loudon and
others.
Apr 11
The 6,365-acreWallace Patent, in Hamilton County,
is granted to Hugh Wallace and others.
Apr 12
The 94,000-acre Jerseyfield Patent, in Herkimer
and Fulton counties, is granted to Henry Glen and others.
Apr 24
The 8,000-acre Vaughan’s Patent, in Herkimer County,
is granted to John Vaughan and others.
Apr 26
Harvard president John Thornton Kirkland is born
in Herkimer, New York, to
Congregational minister and missionary to the
Indians Samuel Kirkland and Jerusha Bingham Kirkland.
Apr 30
The second McKee’s Patent, 18,000 acres also in
Delaware County, is granted to
Alexander McKee and others.
May 8
The 26,000 acre Adaquataugie patent, in Otsego
County, is granted to Sir William
Johnson and others.
May 22
The following patents in New York’s Delaware County,
are granted - The 2,000-acre Babington Patent to Charles Babington, the
2,000-acre Clarke’s Patent to
James Clarke, the 2,000-acre de Bernier to John de
Bernier, the 5,000-acre Leake’s Patent to Robert Leake.
May 24
The 27,000-acre Bedlington Patent, in New York’s
Delaware County, is granted to John Leake and others.
May 30
The Coxburgh and Carolina Partent, and the
47,000-acre Coxe’s Patent, both in Oneida County, are granted to Daniel Coxe
and others.
Jun 15
6,000–acre Goldsborough Township, in Delaware
County, is granted to Edward Tudor and others.
Jun 20
The 9,000-acre Franklin Patent, in Otsego County,
is granted to Walter Franklin and others. The
14,000-acre Preston Patent, in Hamilton County, is granted to Achilles Preston
and others.
Jun 29
The 18,000-acre Croghan’s Patent, in Otsego
County, is granted to George Croghan and others.
Jul 2
New York, New Jersey and Connecticut printer and
newspaper publisher James Parker dies in Burlington, New Jersey, in his
mid-fifties.
Jul 13
The 4,000-acre Buffington Patent, in Schoharie
County, is granted to David Buffington.
Jul 20
The 5,000-acre Edmeston’s Patent, in New York’s
Otsego County, is granted to William Edmeston.
Jul 21
The second 5,000-acre Edmeston’s Patent is granted
to Robert Edmeston.
Aug 16
Militia under General John Stark, along with
forces of Seth Warner, capture Lieutenant-Colonel Frederich Baum's Hessian
forces at the Battle of Bennington, Vermont (later the New York Manor of
Rensselaerswyck.
Aug 17
Twin boys are born to missionary Samuel Kirkland
and his wife Jerusha Bingham, in Canajoharie.
The children are named George Whitfield and John Thornton, after prominent evangelicals and
philanthropists.
Aug 24
The 45,000-acre Glen’s Purchase, in Saratoga County,
is granted to John Glen, Jr.
Sep 6
The 9,000-acre Lispenard’s Patent, in Otsego
County, is granted to Leonard Lispenard and others.
Sep 15
The 15,500-acre Stone Heap Patent, in Montgomery
and Schoharie counties, is granted to John Bowen and others.
Sep 29
The 3,000-acre Claus’s Patent, in Fulton County,
is granted to Daniel Claus. The 3,000-acre McLeod’s
Patent there is granted to Norman McLeod; the 2,000-acre Roberts Patent, to
Benjamin Roberts.
October
Reverend Kirkland leaves Eleazar Wheelock’s Indian
school Grand Design operation, begins working with the rival Boston Board. This
fall he will challenge Johnson, backing Oneida requests for outside assistance,
and soliciting funds from the Boston group for a new meetinghouse at
Kanonwalohale.
December
English missionary to the Mohawks John Stuart sets
up his base at Fort Hunter, formerly known as Teantontalago, or Lower Mohawk
Castle. ** Kirkland helps the Oneida
petition New York’s royal governor, seeking funds to hire a blacksmith for
their community. Sir William Johnson is offended that Kirkland hadn’t consulted
him before making the request.
Dec 4
The 37,000-acre Strasburgh Township, in Delaware
County, is granted to John Butler and others.
State
Additions are built on Newburgh's Jonathan
Hasbrouck House.
** John Murray,
Lord Dunmore, becomes Royal governor of the colony. ** Licensed inns are required to provide two beds,
food for four people as well as for horses and cattle. ** A colony of Irish
Methodists settles near Ash Grove, in the future Washington County. They
organize the second Methodist Episcopalian church in America. ** Gloucestor County is taken
off Albany County, will become part of the state of Vermont in 1790. ** A Reformed Protestant Dutch
Church is founded in the Ulster County town of Plattekill, with the Reverend
Stephen Goetschius as its pastor. **
When his Otsego lands are threatened by creditors George Croghan departs
the area for Pittsburgh, leaving Augustine Prevost to manage his workers, who
will not remain on the job for long. ** New Jersey royal governor William Franklin pays
off three Burlington Company shareholders - Henry Hill, Samuel Preston Moore,
and Richard Wells - taking over their portion of company lands, including those
in the Otsego area.
** Sir William
Johnson's Anglican Mission Church
at Indian Castle is dedicated as a Native American mission under the Church of
England. ** The third Prevost Patent,
in Delaware County, is granted to Augustine Prevost, as were the first two.
Indians
The Treaty of Fort Stanwyx is ratified.
1771
January
English missionary John Stuart meets the Mohawk
student Joseph Brant at Fort Hunter, begins learning Brant's language from
him. ** Indian agent Sir William
Johnson summons traditional Oneida chiefs to his home at Johnstown, invites
them to request that missionary Samuel Kirkland be replaced by an Anglican
missionary, to cement their ties to the British crown. Kirkland will report
Johnson’s activity to the Boston Board, and Johnson will complain to the board
that Kirkland has used his words
without permission. The Board will apologize to Johnson, reprimand Kirkland,
but it still promises to build a church for the Oneidas. When it’s built he
will reluctantly agree to Indian demands to add a steeple to the ediface.
February
Brant moves away from his family at Canajoharie
briefly to help Stuart translate more of the Bible into Mohawk.
March
Brant's wife Sasaya (Margaret) dies of
consumption.
Mar 7
The 5,000-acre Maunsell’s Patent, in Washington
County, is granted to John Maunsell.
Jun
12
The 50,000-acre Bayard’s Patent (the Freemason’s
Patent), in Oneida and Herkimer counties, is granted to William and Robert
Bayard and others.
Jul 6
The 9,000-acre Skene’s Little Patent, in
Washington County, is granted to Philip Skeke.
Jul 30
The 3,000-acre Skene’s Patent, in Essex County, is
granted to Philip Skene, his second.
Sep 7
The 2,000-acre Stewart’s Patent, in Greene County,
is granted to Walter Stewart.
December
Stuart has become conversant in the Mohawk
language. ** George Croghan defaults on
his debts to William Franklin and New Jersey's Burlington Company.
State
Otetiani tells a tribal council he dreamt three
times he was a sachem. Tribal elders hesitate to make him one. ** Colonel Guy Johnson,
son-in-law of Sir William, draws a map of the Six Nations for Captain General
and Governor in Chief William Tryon. ** Lord Dunmore takes on the governorship of the
colony of Virginia as well.
** Colonel John
Harper and David Hendry survey the Delaware County town of Harpersfield. ** The Albany Gazette, the city's first newspaper, begins
publication. ** Indian agent Sir William
Johnson visits Saratoga's mineral springs. He reports the discovery to friend
Philip Schuyler. ** Missionary to the Oneida
Indians Samuel Kirkland is supervising four grammar schools as well as
psalm-singing schools. He translates hymns and parts of the Gospel, and
instructs his charges on colonial agriculture methods. ** The Iroquois sell their
rights to 1,150,000 acres in Herkimer, Hamilton, Essex and Warren counties, to
Joseph Totten and Stephen Crossfield - who are acting for Edward and Ebenezer
Jessup, agents for George III - for 1,135 pounds. ** Johan Jost Erghemar (Herkimer) writes his
will, leaving his eldest son Nicholas ten shillings. However, back in 1760 he
had transferred land on the south bank of the Mohawk River to Nicholas. ** The approximate date Adam Yaple builds a log cabin near
Mohonk. ** Over the past 106 years the
1665 Nicholls Treaty with the Esopus Indians has resulted in 23 diplomatic
missions. ** The seventh serious famine
since 1758 causes some starvation among the Oneida. ** The approximate date land agent Benjamin Raymond,
founder of the St. Lawrence Academy – today’s SUNY Potsdam – is born (location
unknown). ** The 1,150,000-acre Totten
& Crossfield Patent, in St. Lawrence County, is granted to Joseph Totten
and Stepehn Crossfield, acting as agents for lumbermen Edward and Ebenezer
Jessup for $6,000. The Jessups have also paid King George III $40,000 to pass
the grant on to them.
1772
January
Joseph Brant marries his late wife's half-sister
Wonagh (Susanna) near Canajoharie. The ceremony is performed by German minister
Pyet Halenbeeck.
Feb 21
An act calling for the division of Albany County
is read for a third time before the colony's general assembly.
Feb 29
The general assembly passes the Albany County
division act without amendment.
Mar 12
Tryon County (named for colonial governor William
Tryon, later named Montgomery County) is formed from Albany County. It's
divided into five districts; Sir Wliiam Johnson's "Fish House" (a
hunting camp) on the Sacandaga River is located in the Mohawk District. ** Charlotte County (later
Washington County) named for England's Queen Charlotte, is formed from Albany
County. An eastern portion will become part of Vermont in 1790.
Mar 24
New York’s manor of Rensselaerwyck is made into a
district. Tryon County's Canajoharie, German Flatts, (henceforth Kingsland),
Stone Arabia (henceforth Palatine) and Mohawk are also made districts. ** The borough of Schenectady
is incorporated as a district.
Apr 10
The 2,000-acre Jessup’s Purchase, in Warren
County, is granted to Ebenezer Jessup and others, his second.
May 20
New York State politician-businessman Archibald
McIntyre is born to Daniel and Ann Walker McIntyre, in Kenmore, Scotland.
July
Joseph Brant addresses an Iroquois congress, along
with New York Royal governor William Tryon, at Sir William Johnson's home.
Johnson says he will seek an alliance between the Indians and the Crown on his
upcoming trip to England.
Sep 10
The 3,000-acre Glazier’s Patent, in Schoharie
County, is granted to Beamsley Glazier.
State
The settlers of Schoharie erect a church. ** Lands in the Ryegate area
(now part of Vermont) are sold to land jobber John Kelly by New York. ** Otetiani again tells a
council he dreamt three times he was a sachem. The elders still will not
proclaim him one.
** Tryon and
Charlotte counties ar carved out of Albany County. ** Sir William Johnson erects a brick Tryon County
courthouse at Johnstown.
** British
historian Thomas Mante's The History of the late war in North America contains a map of the Mohawk Valley. ** George Croghan's son-in-law
Augustine Prevost leaves Croghan's debt-encumbered lands in Otsego, reenters
the British army.
** Connecticut
woodsman David Shipman moves to Hoosick.
1773
Apr 11
Mohawk Indian chief Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea) receives word from Sir William
Johnson that the latter is returning to New York from England.
Apr 29
U. S. Representative Daniel Cady is born in
Canaan, New York.
May
A party of Scots arrive at Johnstown, New York, to
investigate property on Lake Champlain.
May 11
Early Erie Canal proponent Jesse Hawley is born in
Newfield (later Bridgeport), Connecticut.
May 18
New York colonial commissioners Robert R. Livingston,
William Nicoll, William Smith and John Watts agree with Massachusetts
commissioners William Brattle, John Hancock and Joseph Hawley on a common
boundary.
Jun 8
Whitelaw and Allen leave New York City to check
out lands to the north.
Jun 23
Whitelaw and Allen arrive in the New Perth area of
upstate New York.
Jun 28
Whitelaw and Allen set off with Ryegate developer
John Church to see his property.
Jun 29
Sir John Johnson marries Mary Watts.
July
Minister Samson Occom visits Kanonwalohale, is
impressed with the chapel built with Samuel Kirkland’s aid.
Aug 14
New York State lawyer, politician, soldier and U.
S. Secretary of War Peter Buell Porter is born in Litchfield, Connecticut.
Oct 2
Whitelaw and Allen meet with developer John Witherspoon
in Princeton, New Jersey, and purchase the Ryegate property.
November
Whitelaw, Allen and James Henderson begin laying
out lots for the town of Ryegate, New York (now Vermont).
Nov 7
Daniel MacLeod leaves New York City to inspect
Beekmantown, New York, on the western shore of Lake Champlain.
Dec 22
The Great Lakes’ first customs collector Joel Burt
is born in Oswego to Daniel Burt and Martha Bradner Burt.
State
Otetiana tells the Iroquois tribal council for the
third year in a row that he must be made a sachem, adding that tragedy will
ensue if he's refused. Nothing is done. ** George Klock, a resident of the Mohawk Valley, takes
Mohawk Indian Kadagwha to London, exhibits him, bilks him out of promised money
and tricks him into signing away some of his lands. ** Derick Scowton erects the first hut in Saratoga
Springs. ** The Mohawk Cornelius tells
Otego Stream settler Richard Smith that Indians are making a brush deer fence
(for hunters to channel prey) from the Susquehanna River into the woods for 6
to 8 miles. ** George Croghan retains only
29,350 acres of Otsego area land, about one-eighth of his original holdings. ** William
Johnson hosts an eighteen-day council with 268 Indians. Total cost to the
British - £538.2.4 (sterling). ** Anglican schools exist at Canajoharie, Fort
Hunter and Johnstown, and ministers of the church preach at Albany,
Schenectady, Fort Hunter, and Johnstown. ** Joseph Brant, a widower, marries Susannah
Dekayenensere, sister of his first wife, in Canajoharie. ** Mohawk Valley land
granted to former colonial governor William Crosby in 1734, with quit
rent arrears under default, is sold at auction by the sheriff of Oneida County
to Phillip Schuyler for himself, General John Bradstreet, Rutger Bleecker and
John M. Scott. The land, known as the Crosby Grant, is the site of today’s
Utica.
1774
January
Smallpox begins breaking out among the tribes of
the Iroquois League.
** The Reverend
Samuel Kirkland, missionary to the Oneida at Kanonwalohule (Oneida Castle)
travels to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, when he learns of the serious illness of
his son George.
Jan 27
Sir William Johnson makes out his will.
Feb 7
Kirkland leaves Stockbridge to return to Oneida
Castle.
Feb 11
Whitelaw and Allen write to the Scots American
Company reccommending a settlement
at Ryegate.
Feb 24
United States representative from New York Robert
Selden Rose is born in Amherst County, Virginia.
Mar 12
The Seneca Indian Otetiani (Red Jacket) tells the
elders that a recent smallpox outbreak is the Great Spirit’s punishment for
their not proclaiming him a sachem. He is made one and given the name
Sagoyewatha (He-Keeps-Them-Awake).
April
Ill himself, the Reverend Samuel Kirkland returns
to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, from New York State.
Apr 1
Sir William Johnson writes to Lord Dartmouth,
British Secretary of Colonial Affairs and president of the Board of Trade,
recommending that his son John succeed him as Superintendent of Indian Affairs.
Apr 5
The 5,000-acre Markham’s Patent, in Hamilton
County, is granted to William Markham.
Apr 6
Two tracts of land, the Amherst Tracts, totaling
40,000 acres in Hamilton County, are granted to Sir Jeffery Amherst. The
14,000-acre Bishop’s Patent in Hamilton County, is granted to William Bishop,
as part of the Totten and Crossfield Purchase. . The
5,000-acre Small’s Patent, in Essex County, is granted to John Small.
May
Nine men, and one family, including Robert Brock
and his son Andrew, arrive to settle in Ryegate from Scotland. ** The Delaware County town of
Colchester is settled.
May 23
Joseph Brant goes to the Mohawk Valley house of
Joseph Klock with a large party of Mohawk and forces him to make good on the
money owed by him to Kadagwha from the previous year and to release his claim
on the village of Kanonwalohale, then beats up Klock for threatening
retaliation. Klock will prosecute Brant for assault. The Mohawks will threaten
to leave the area, which would destroy Johnson’s Covenant Chain governing
system.
June
John Wetherhead advertises New York lands in
Scotland's Leeds Intelligencer,
Jun 6
Reverend Kirkland, his health recovered, leaves
Stockbridge to return to New York State.
Jun 10
Reverend Kirkland returns to Oneida Castle,
stopping at Fort Stanwix to deliver a sermon.
Jun 11
Governor William Tryon issues a report on the
province of New York.
Jun 12
Kirkland preaches a sermon to nearly 300 Oneida,
as well as several Tuscarora visitors.
Jun 20
A steeple is raised on the Indian church at Oneida
Castle.
Jun 21
Future governor Daniel D. Tompkins is born in
Scarsdale to Jonathan and Sarah Hyatt Tompkins.
Jun 24
Several Cayagwa chiefs visit Oneida Castle.
July
Reverend Kirkland spends most of the final week of
the month working on the Indian church, reports that the steeple and the belfry
are nearly completed.
Jul 1
The new Ryegate arrivals take possession of their
land claims in the settlement.
Jul 11
Ignoring the pleas of his wife Molly Brant, Indian
agent Sir William Johnson -
Warraghiyagey - refuses to postpone a council with the Iroquois at
Johnstown, New York. He and Canajoharie chief Tekarihoga discuss the Indians’
past disagreements with George Klock, and the encroaching white settlements.
Johnson collapses suddenly and dies two hours later, at the age of 59.
Jul 13
Johnson's body, on display until now, is
transported to St. John's Church, in Johnson, where Warraghiyagey, is buried.
Jul 14
Johnson's widow Molly and her family move into Fort
Johnson, as her son-in-law Sir John Johnson and his wife Mary move out, to
Johhnson Hall. ** The Iroquois pledge their
loyalty to Sir John.
Jul 15
Kirkland learns of Sir William's death.
Jul 17
Kirkland delivers a sermon, on a text from Jeremiah,
on Johnson's death.
Jul 24
Long Island schoolmaster Samson Occum and his
brother-in-law David Fowler arrive at Oneida Castle as representative of New
England Indians, to arrange for the emigration of its Christian Indians to
Oneida.
August
Whigs in Tryon County form a committee of safety.
Aug 5
Utica dry goods merchant and grocer John Corish
Devereux is born in Enniscorthy, Ireland, to Thomas and Catharine Corish
Devereux.
Aug 6
Kirkland and Occum travel to Fort Stanwix (Rome)
to meet with Indians there.
Aug 7
Occum preaches to white settlers and a few
Indians. Most Indians were delayed due to a a sick child.
Aug 8
Kirkland returns to Oneida Castle.
Aug 9
Kirkland discusses Christianity with a local
Indian.
Aug 26
The 2,000-acre Kennedy Patent in Warren County, is
awarded to Robert Kennedy.
Sep 10
The 40,000-acre Hyde Township, in Warren County,
is granted to Edward Jessup and C. Hyde.
Sep 24
Kirkland arrives at Oneida, preaches in the
evening.
October
William Neilson, of Erskine Parish, Scotland,
arrives in Ryegate with his family.
Oct 4
The 18,036-acre Dartmouth Patent in Hamilton
County, is granted to Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, as is the 28,964-acre Van
Rensselaer Patent in Saratoga and Fulton counties..
Oct 12
Kirkland leaves Stockbridge, sets out for Oneida.
Oct 13
The Iroquois tribes hold a council at Onondaga.
Joseph Brant (Thayendenegea), official representative of Colonel Guy Johnson,
the late Sir William's son-in-law and successor, urges the Nation to ally
itself with the British. Red Jacket, distrusting Brant’s connection with
whites, urges neutrality. No decision is reached.
Oct 16
Kirkland holds afternoon and evening services in
Schenectady.
Oct 19
Land agent and founder of New York’s Potsdam College
Benjamin Raymond is born in Caanan, Connecticut (some sources say in
Massachusetts), to Paul and Rachel Stevens Raymond.
Oct 20
Surveyors Valentine and Collins complete a survey
of the New York-Québec border at 74° North.
Oct 23
Kirkland preaches to whites and Indians at Fort
Stanwix.
November
Ryegate pioneer David Allen arrives back in
Scotland.
Nov 8
New York’s Samuel Holland and Pennsylvania’s David
Rittenhouse are appointed as commissioners to run the boundary line between
their colonies. The Revolution halts their plans.
Nov 16
A Westchester County Loyalist minister attacks the
Continental Congress in his Free Thoughts on the Proceedings of the
Continental Congress, signing it
"Westchester Farmer".
State
Ten farms on the Blenheim Patent are sold. ** Cornplanter’s son Henry is born. ** A Council of Safety is
organized by settlers on the Vrooman Patent along the Mohawk River. Johannes
Ball is named chairman.
** An act is
passed to settle debts owed by Ulster County to Albany County, but nothing is
done. Another act calls for marking the boundaries of Ulster and Orange
counties from east of the Shawangunk Mountains to the Delaware River. ** Tryon County (later
Montgomery County) has a population of 38,839; only 10,000 are whites. ** A Council of Safety is
formed in Schoharie County.
** George
Croghan's creditors and his Philadelphia agent Barnard Gratz agree to divide
the Otsego tract lands into 1,000-acre segments and put them up for auction. ** Daniel and Ann Walker
McIntyre and their young son Archibald arrive from Scotland, settle in
Broadalbin. ** The first Quaker colony is
established, at Watervliet.
** Kingston
begins keeping its official town records in English rather than Dutch.
Geography
The New York-New Jersey border is marked.
Connecticut
Physician, innkeeper and surveyor Pelatiah Fitch,
grandfather of entomologist Asa Fitch, moves to Halifax, New York. Governor
George Clinton appoints him judge of Cumberland County (later in Vermont).
© 2012
David Minor / Eagles Byte
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