Early settlers in the Mohawk Valley were granted sizeable tracts of land by the King or the State. Some of these grantees were forerunners of what we would now call real estate developers. Over the decades parcels were sold off or otherwise divided, becoming townships, villages and farms. The chart below comes from the Hamilton Child Gazetteer of Herkimer County. Some information was not printed and all of these citations should be checked further for correctness on the part of the compilers. I do not have maps or further information about these tracts and would welcome visitors sending in the names of books that discuss specific patents and land grants in more detail. The Benton book referred to is "History of Herkimer County" by Nathaniel S. Benton, Albany, N.Y.: J. Munsell, 1856.
According to the Gazetteer, "The greater part of the lands embraced in this County were granted by the King, previous to the Revolution. The north part remained in the possession of the State Government until conveyed to McComb and others; and small tracts in other parts of the County were also conveyed by the State after the Revolution. The following list of patents embraced wholly or in part in Herkimer County is taken from Benton's History":
From Gazetteer and Business Directory of Herkimer County, N.Y. 1869-70 published by Hamilton Child & Co., Syracuse, NY 1869 ( This mark [*] denotes that the patents are partly situated in Herkimer, and partly in adjoining counties. ) |
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Names of Patents or Tracts | Date | No. of Acres | Names of Original Patentees |
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Adgate's Tract* | 1798 | 43907 | Mathew Adgate |
Bayard's Patent* | 1771 | 50000 | William Bayard, Alexander Ellis, and fifty-three others |
Brown's (John) Tract* | 1792 | --- | A part of 1,920,000 acres granted to Alexander Macomb |
Burnetsfield Patent | 1725 | 9400 | Johan Joost Petrie, and ninety-three others |
Colden's (C.) Patent | 1738 | 3000 | Cadwallader Colden the younger, and Coenradt Ryghtmeyer |
Cosby's Manor* | 1734 | 22000 | Joseph Worrell, William Cosby and nine others |
Colden's (A.) Patent | 1761 | 4000 | Alexander Colden, and three others |
Frank (Conrad) & Co's Patent | 1765 | 5000 | Coenradt Frank, and five others |
Fall-Hill Patent | 1752 | 2324 | Johan, Joost, and Hendrik Herchkeimer |
Glen's Purchase | 1739 | 25076 | no information given |
Hommedieu's (L.) Patent | 1786 | 4000 | Ezra L'Hommedieu and Nathaniel Platt |
Henderson's Patent* | 1739 | 6000 | James Henderson, and two others |
Hassenclever's Patent | 1769 | 18000 | Peter Hasenclever, and seventeen others |
Johnson's (Guy) Patent | 1765 | 2000 | Guy Johnson. Forfeited by attainder G. J. |
Jerseyfield Patent* | 1770 | 94000 | Henry Glen, Alexander Ellis, and ninety-two others |
Kass's Patent | 1724 | 1100 | John Jugh Kass, and his children |
Lindsay's Patent | 1730 | 3000 | John Lindsay, and Philip Livingston |
Livingston's Patent* | 1762 | 20000 | Philip Livingston, and nineteen others |
Lispenard's Patent* | 1770 | 9200 | Leonard Lispenard, and thirteen others |
Lansing's Patent* | 1753 | 6000 | Jacob and Abraham Lansing, and Jacob Glen |
McComb's Purchase* | 1792 | --- | Alexander Macomb |
McNeil's Patent | 1761 | 4000 | John McNeil, and three others |
Matchin's Patent* | 1786 | 1600 | Thomas Matchin |
Nobleborough Tract* | 1787 | 40960 | Arthur Noble |
Moose River Tract* | --- | --- | Owned by the state, except 13,080 granted in 1847 to Anson Blake |
Petrie's Purchase | 1740 | 6000 | John Jost Petrie, and two others |
Royal Grant | --- | --- | Sir William Johnson |
Remsenburgh Patent* | 1787 | 48000 | Henry Remsen, and three others |
Snell and Timmerman's Patent | 1755 | 3600 | Jacob Timberman, and Johan Joost Schnell |
Staley's 1st and 2d Tract | 1755 | 43000 | Rudolph Staley, Johan Jost Herchkeimer, Jr., Nicholas Herchkeimer, and fifteen others |
Schuyler's Patent | 1755 | 43000 | Abraham Lynsen, and twenty-one others |
Totten & Crossfield's Patent* | --- | --- | no info given |
Vrooman's Patent* | 1790 | 9760 | Isaac Vrooman |
Vrooman's Patent* | 1786 | 4000 | Isaac Vrooman |
Vrooman's Patent* | 1790 | 433 | Isaac Vrooman |
Van Driesen, Peter | 1737 | 1000 | Petrus Van Driessen |
Van Driesen, John | 1786 | 428 | Johan Van Driessen |
Van Horn's Patent* | 1731 | 8000 | Abraham Van Horne, and three others |
Vaughn's Patent | 1770 | 8000 | John Vaughn and seven others |
Watson's James Tract* | 1792 | --- | A part of Macomb's purchase |
Winne's Patent | 1741 | 2000 | Peter Winne |
Walton's Patent | 1768 | 12000 | William Walton, Jr., and eleven others |
Young's Patent* | 1752 | 14000 | Theobald Young, and ten others |