The Pulteney Association
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The Pulteney Association was a small group of British investors who in 1792 purchased a large portion of the Western
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
land tract known as the
Phelps and Gorham Purchase The Phelps and Gorham Purchase was the purchase in 1788 of of land in what is now western New York State from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for $1,000,000 ( £300,000), to be paid in three annual installments, and the pre-emptive right to th ...
. The Pulteney Associates were
Sir William Pulteney, 5th Baronet Sir William Pulteney, 5th Baronet (October 1729 – 30 May 1805), known as William Johnstone until 1767, was a Scottish advocate, landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1768 and 1805. He was reputedly the wealthiest ...
(1729–1805), a Scottish lawyer who owned nine-twelfths;
William Hornby William Hornby may refer to: *William Hornby (governor) (1723–1803), Governor of Bombay, 1771–1784 *William Henry Hornby (1805–1884), British industrialist, Member of Parliament (MP) for Blackburn 1857–1869 *Sir William Hornby, 1st Baronet ...
, former Governor of
Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
, who owned two-twelfths; and
Patrick Colquhoun Patrick Colquhoun ( ; 14 March 1745 – 25 April 1820) was a Scottish merchant, statistician, magistrate, and founder of the first regular preventive police force in England, the Thames River Police. He also served as Lord Provost of Glasgow ...
, a Scottish merchant with a one-twelfth share. Some of their heirs owned land in western New York into the 1920s, with the last parcel of The Pulteney Association property, 10 acres (40,000 m2), being sold in December 1926.


History

In 1788, following the United States victory in the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
,
Oliver Phelps Oliver Phelps (October 21, 1749February 21, 1809) was early in life a tavern keeper in Granville, Massachusetts. During the Revolution he was Deputy Commissary of the Continental Army and served until the end of the war. After the war ended, h ...
and
Nathaniel Gorham Nathaniel Gorham (May 27, 1738 – June 11, 1796; sometimes spelled ''Nathanial'') was an American Founding Father, merchant, and politician from Massachusetts. He was a delegate from the Bay Colony to the Continental Congress and for six months ...
purchased all of
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
's preemptive right to land in Western New York, some (the "
Phelps and Gorham Purchase The Phelps and Gorham Purchase was the purchase in 1788 of of land in what is now western New York State from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for $1,000,000 ( £300,000), to be paid in three annual installments, and the pre-emptive right to th ...
"). The United States forced the previous occupants, nations of the
Iroquois Confederacy The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
, to cede the lands as they had been allies of Great Britain. After Massachusetts' claim was settled, New York state intended to sell the land for development and settlement. Phelps and Gorham were to pay $1,000,000 in three equal annual installments for this land, payable in certain Massachusetts securities that were then valued at 20 cents on the dollar. Under the terms of the purchase agreement, they took title only when they had extinguished the Indian title. Later in 1788, they were able to extinguish Indian title to all lands ''east'' of the
Genesee River The Genesee River is a tributary of Lake Ontario flowing northward through the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York in the United States. The river provided the original power for the Rochester area's 19th century mills and still provides h ...
between
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and the Pennsylvania border, as well as a tract by paralleling the west bank of the Genesee River (" The Mill Yard Tract"), totalling some . In 1790, with the price of Massachusetts securities soaring, Phelps and Gorham became unable to pay the second installment on the purchase contract, and the preemptive right to lands ''west'' of the Genesee River reverted to Massachusetts. The state resold that right to Robert Morris, a signer of the
Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...
, a financier of the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
, and the wealthiest man in the United States. (See
Holland Land Company The Holland Land Company was an unincorporated syndicate of thirteen Dutch investors from Amsterdam who in 1792 and 1793 purchased the western two-thirds of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase, an area that afterward was known as the Holland Purchas ...
, The Holland Purchase, and The Morris Reserve.) Phelps and Gorham received the deed to the lands east of the Genesee to which they had extinguished title, but they conveyed all of the remaining unsold land to Morris. In 1792, Morris's London agent,
William Temple Franklin William Temple Franklin Jr, known as Temple Franklin, (February 22, 1760, in London – May 25, 1823, in Paris) was an American diplomat and real estate speculator. He is best known for his involvement with the American diplomatic mission in F ...
, grandson of
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
, sold of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase east of the Genesee River to The Pulteney Associates. The Pulteney Purchase, or the Genesee Tract, as it was also known, comprised all of the present counties of
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Steuben and Yates, as well as portions of Allegany,
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, Monroe,
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and Wayne counties. After Sir William Pulteney's death in 1805, it was known as the Pulteney Estate. The Pulteney Estate was managed by a series of agents, including: * Cpt. Charles Williamson (1792–1801) *
Robert Troup Robert Troup (1757 – January 14, 1832) was a soldier in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New York. He participated in the Bat ...
(1801–1832) ** Represented by John Johnstone, John Heslop and Robert Scott, successively as sub-agents, until 1814 * Joeseph Fellows (1832–1871) * Edward A. Kingsland (1871–1894) * Judge Mason and Mr. Rose (1894–1900), Mr. Rose thereafter


References


External links


"Sir William Johnstone Pulteney and the Scottish Origins of Western New York"
''Crooked Lake Review,'' Summer 2004

''Crooked Lake Review''

''Crooked Lake Review'', Fall 2003

''Crooked Lake Review'', Spring 2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Pulteney Association Former regions and territories of the United States History of New York (state) Aboriginal title in New York 1792 in New York (state)