{"product_id":"1791-george-clinton-signed-new-york-land-patent-400-acres-at-historic-catharine-s-town-destroyed-during-the-sullivan-clinton-campaign","title":"1791 George Clinton Signed New York Land Patent — 400 Acres at Historic Catharine’s Town, Destroyed During the Sullivan–Clinton Campaign","description":"\u003cp class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchorContainer\"\u003eAn exceptional early New York land patent personally signed by \u003cstrong\u003eGeorge Clinton\u003c\/strong\u003e, Revolutionary War general, first governor of New York, and future vice president of the United States, granting 400 acres within the former Seneca homeland at historic \u003cstrong\u003eCatharine’s Town\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003cspan class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchor\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIssued March 26, 1791, the manuscript patent grants the property to \u003cstrong\u003eJohn Carpenter\u003c\/strong\u003e, pursuant to a survey and location made by Henry Wisner and certified in the office of New York’s surveyor general on January 21, 1791.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe tract is described as lying north of Chemung “at a place called Catharines Town.” Beginning at the northeastern corner of an adjoining 400-acre tract, the boundaries extended sixty-three chains and twenty-five links in each direction, forming a square tract containing exactly 400 acres.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe patent is personally signed \u003cstrong\u003e“Geo: Clinton”\u003c\/strong\u003e by Governor George Clinton and countersigned \u003cstrong\u003e“Robt Harpur, D. Sec’y”\u003c\/strong\u003e by Deputy Secretary Robert Harpur.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCatharine’s Town was a prominent Seneca settlement near the southern end of Seneca Lake, in the vicinity of present-day Montour Falls. Traditionally associated with the influential interpreter Catharine Montour, it stood in the path of the 1779 Sullivan–Clinton Campaign—the major Continental Army expedition ordered by George Washington against Britain’s Haudenosaunee allies. American troops destroyed the evacuated village along with its houses, crops, orchards, and food supplies.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIssued only twelve years after that campaign, the patent documents the next stage in the transformation of the region: New York’s surveying and transfer of former Indigenous territory to private landholders. The grant required an actual settlement upon the property within seven years or the estate would revert to the state.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGeorge Clinton served as a Revolutionary War brigadier general and became New York’s first governor in 1777. He later served as vice president under Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Robert Harpur was an educator, New York legislator, longtime deputy secretary of state, and an early instructor associated with Alexander Hamilton at King’s College.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn unusually significant George Clinton land patent uniting the American Revolution, the Sullivan–Clinton Campaign, Haudenosaunee history, early New York expansion, and the settlement of the Finger Lakes frontier.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDate:\u003c\/strong\u003e March 26, 1791\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSigned:\u003c\/strong\u003e George Clinton and Robert Harpur\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrantee:\u003c\/strong\u003e John Carpenter\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProperty:\u003c\/strong\u003e 400 acres\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLocation:\u003c\/strong\u003e Catharine’s Town, north of Chemung, then Montgomery County, New York\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSurvey:\u003c\/strong\u003e Henry Wisner, certified January 21, 1791\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition:\u003c\/strong\u003e Original folds, toning, staining, wrinkles, fold wear, and old reinforcement or repairs. Signatures and principal text remain legible. The state seal is missing.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Signature Documents LLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52753354752282,"sku":null,"price":1795.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2221\/0931\/files\/IMG_2652_b483e12f-7c33-48b9-91c8-a51ad3165f28.jpg?v=1787947953","url":"https:\/\/www.thearchiveauthority.com\/products\/1791-george-clinton-signed-new-york-land-patent-400-acres-at-historic-catharine-s-town-destroyed-during-the-sullivan-clinton-campaign","provider":"Signature Documents LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}