Competing Dreams For The Genesee Country—Part I: John Livingston and the Lessees

The future of the Genesee Country remained uncertain even after the Treaty of Hartford settled the dispute between Massachusetts and New York. The question was no longer who owned the land, but what would become of it.

Before Hartford, uncertainty reigned. Competing state claims clouded ownership and discouraged investment. The treaty transformed a disputed wilderness into a marketable asset. Speculators, investors, politicians, and settlers quickly recognized the opportunity.

While Hartford settled one argument, it spawned several new ones.

By the beginning of 1787, two roads stretched westward across a region that would one day become the Crossroads of America. Each promised prosperity. Each attracted ambitious followers. Yet each offered a very different vision for the future of the Genesee Country.

With the ink on the Treaty of Hartford barely dried, ambitious men set out along both roads.

The race to the future had begun.

*     *     *     *     *

Why has history forgotten John Livingston? While his accomplishments pale in comparison to the national scope of his cousin Robert R. Livingston, John exemplifies the ideal of the more common American. In effect, John Livingston is akin to George Bailey, the aspiring hero who stayed at home and won the battle of Bedford Falls while others claimed far greater glory far away from home.

John Livingston was born on February 11, 1749, in, ironically, New York City.¹ His father, Robert Livingston, was the third and final Lord of Livingston Manor, a large stretch of land between the Hudson River and the Massachusetts border whose patent dated back to July 1686.2 When Robert died in 1790, he did something his father and grandfather didn’t do. He didn’t give the entire estate to his eldest surviving son. Peter R. Livingston, the heir apparent, had a history of poor financial decisions and possessed substantial debts. In order to avoid those creditors from claiming the manor, Robert willed portions of his property to each of his remaining sons, including John.³

John Livingston may have grown up amidst the lush aristocracy of the remnants of the Dutch patroon system, but he was true to the patriot cause. In April 1778, he enthusiastically accepted the role of aide-de-camp under Governor George Clinton (he actually requested the job).⁴ Livingston continued to serve the Governor after the war, acting as an Associate during meetings of the Commissioners of Indian affairs for the State of New York in 1784.⁵ Clinton also appointed Livingston as a trustee when he proclaimed the organization of Clinton College at Schenectady.⁶

In 1786, John Livingston began serving the first of several (nonconsecutive) terms as an elected official in the New York State Assembly.⁷

But that wasn’t all he did in 1786.

On April 4, 1786, the New York legislature passed a law severing a large portion of Albany County (including the former Livingston Manor) to create the new Columbia County. John Livingston was named as one of the trustees of the new county. Their first assignment was to build a courthouse.⁸ He was also named supervisor for the Town of Livingston.⁹ Two months later, the supervisors of Columbia County held their first meeting, selecting Livingston as their moderator, and it was he who received the bond for the courthouse to deposit.¹⁰

When the Bank of Columbia was formed in 1793, he served on the first board of directors.¹¹ Unlike his older brother Peter, he had earned a reputation for sound judgment and financial reliability.

Which made what happened next all the more remarkable.

Livingston had helped create a new county independent of Albany County. Was it really such a leap for him to imagine a new political entity independent of New York State?

Immediately after the success of his work with Columbia County, the states of New York and Massachusetts signed the Treaty of Hartford, creating a blank slate of unsettled territory rich with resources and promise. But only if you first acquired the rights to purchase the land from Massachusetts and then were allowed by the State of New York to go ahead and negotiate with the Iroquois.

Others saw what the Treaty said. Livingston saw what it didn’t say.

The clock was now ticking.

With a sterling reputation and a vast network of politically connected friends, it didn’t take much for John Livingston to gather supporters for his vision. By late fall 1787, barely a year after the Treaty of Hartford was signed, Livingston and several of his wealthy, well-positioned friends formed the New York Genesee Land Company. These eighty men included “a state senator, the clerks of Albany and Columbia counties, seven members of the Assembly, and other men of political, financial, and social influence.”¹²

On November 30, 1787, Livingston, along with Caleb Benton, Peter Ryckman, John Stevenson, and Ezekiel Gilbert—all representing the interests of the New York Genesee Land Company—entered into a 999-year lease arrangement for the lands of the Six Nations. According to the language of the lease, Livingston and his associates acquired the rights to all property “beginning at a place commonly called and known by the name of Canada Creek, about seven miles west of Fort Stanwix, now Fort Schuyler; thence northeasterly to the line of the Province of Quebec; thence along the said line to the Pennsylvania line; thence east on the said line of Pennsylvania, to the line of property, so called by the State of New-York; thence along the said line of property to Canada Creek aforesaid.”¹³

The cost? The New York Genesee Land Company promised to pay “the yearly rent or sum of Two Thousand Spanish milled Dollars, in and upon the fourth day of July.”¹⁴ That’s the equivalent of $70,000 in today’s dollars. There was also a handshake agreement to pay a bonus of $20,000.¹⁵

You won’t find a record of this “down payment” in the official state record. Maybe Livingston and his partners worried it would be construed as a bribe. Or perhaps the Lessees feared it would allow the State to interpret their transaction as a purchase (which would be illegal) rather than a lease.

Livingston, Benton, and Gilbert next met with the Oneida and Onondaga. They signed a similar lease agreement for Oneida lands on January 8, 1788.¹⁶

At roughly the same time, a Canadian branch of the leasing effort formed. The Niagara Genesee Land Company included some very recognizable names, including Colonel John Butler (of the infamous Butler’s Rangers), Samuel Street (an influential frontier trader), John Powell, Captain William Johnson (a former Butler Ranger who was an interpreter whom the Seneca adopted), Murphy (all history gives us is his last name), and Benjamin Barton.¹⁷ Barton was the only American in the group. The others lived under British authority in Canada.

Livingston’s New York Genesee Land Company found willing allies at Niagara among men who had spent years trading with, negotiating with, and living among the Seneca.¹⁸

This would not be the only partnership in the race to secure the vast Genesee Country.

But alliances forged in haste rarely remain simple.

The men who had joined forces to secure the Genesee Country would soon find themselves pulling in different directions.

And the consequences would reach far beyond land speculation.

(Next Week: Part II Competing Dreams of the Genesee: Phelps & Gorham)

¹ Fitch, Charles Elliot, Encyclopedia of Biography of New York, The American Historical Society, New York, 1916, p. 43.
² Livingston, James D. and Sherry H. Penney, “The Breakup of Livingston Manor,” The Hudson Valley Regional Review, March 1987, Volume 4, Number 1, p. 56.
³ Ibid., p. 57.
⁴ Public Papers of George Clinton 1777-1795 – 1801-1804, Vol III, James B. Lyon, State of New York, Albany, 1900, p. 156.
⁵ Public Papers of George Clinton 1777-1795 – 1801-1804, Vol VIII, Hugh Hastings, State of New York, Albany, 1904, pp. 532, 560, 564.
⁶ Public Papers of George Clinton 1777-1795 – 1801-1804, Vol VI, James B. Lyon, State of New York, Albany, 1902, pp. 534-536.
⁷ Ellis, Franklin, History of Columbia County, Everts & Ensign, Philadelphia, 1878, p.76
⁸ Laws of the state of New York: passed at the sessions of the Legislature held in the years 1777-1788 inclusive,  republished by the Secretary of State, pursuant to chapter three hundred and forty-one of the Laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-five Volume II, Weed, Parsons and Company, Albany, 1886, p.234-235.
⁹ Ellis, Franklin, p. 256.
¹⁰ Columbia County at the End of the Century, The Record Printing and Publishing Co., Hudson, NY, 1900, pp. 55-56.
¹¹ Ellis, Franklin, History of Columbia County, Everts & Ensign, Philadelphia, 1878, pp. 177-178.
¹² Osgood, Howard L., “The Title of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase,” Publications of the Rochester Historical Society, Rochester, 1892, pp. 36-37.
¹³ Journal of the New York-State Assembly, 11th Session, New York State, Poughkeepsie, 1788, p. 74.
¹⁴ Ibid., p. 75.
¹⁵ Turner, Orsamus, Pioneer History of the Phelps and Gorham’s Purchase and Morris Reserve (Monroe), William Alling, Rochester, 1851, p. 107.
¹⁶ Journal of the New York-State Assembly, 11th Session, p. 76.
¹⁷ Turner (1851), p. 107.
¹⁸ Ibid.