Macomb's Purchase is a large historical area of northern New York in the United States purchased from the state in 1791 by Alexander Macomb, a merchant who had become rich during the American Revolutionary War. He acted as a land speculator, selling off portions of this land.
In 1792 in the aftermath of the Revolutionary War, the state of New York was struggling financially. It opened for sale nearly five million acres of land which state officials, under pressure from land speculators and other business interests, had forced the Iroquois tribes to cede. Alexander Macomb, William Constable, and Daniel McCormick agreed to purchase nearly 4,000,000 acres (1,600,000 ha) from the state at the extremely low price of 8 pence (New York state money) per acre. [1] [2] This was an enormous amount of land, about one-eighth of the entire state of New York. Convinced something illegal must have occurred, the New York State Legislature held exhaustive hearings into the land purchase, but no wrongdoing was uncovered. [2]
Macomb, however, was unable to sell his land to settlers and developers fast enough to fund his massive purchase. He went bankrupt and was sentenced to debtor's prison six months after the purchase was made. [2] Macomb sold 2,000,000 acres (810,000 ha) to Constable for 50,000 pounds (New York money), who six months later sold 1,000,000 acres (400,000 ha) to banker Samuel Ward for 100,000 pounds. [2] Ward, in turn, sold 210,000 acres (85,000 ha) to James Greenleaf, the son of a wealthy Bostonian merchant. [3]
Constable subdivided his land into numerous plots. He found buyers worldwide for the property as well. The High Sheriff of London, England purchased 26,000 acres (11,000 ha) for a shilling an acre. [2]
Greenleaf had purchased a cargo of tea from Rhode Island merchant John Brown (whose family funded and lent its name to Brown University). Greenleaf paid for the cargo partly in cash, and partly with the land he owned in New York. This 210,000-acre (85,000 ha) became known as Brown's Tract. [3]
Macomb's Purchase was 3,670,715 acres (1,485,486 ha) in size. The tract included much of northern New York along the St. Lawrence River and eastern Lake Ontario (including the Thousand Islands). The purchase was eventually divided into 10 large townships. From this purchase are derived the deeds for all the lands that are now included in Lewis, Jefferson, and St. Lawrence counties, as well as portions of Franklin, Herkimer, and Oswego counties.
Franklin County is a county on the northern border of the U.S. state of New York. To the north across the Canada–United States border are the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, from east to west. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 47,555. Its county seat is Malone. The county is named in honor of United States Founding Father Benjamin Franklin. The county is part of the North Country region of the state.
The Adirondack Park is a park in northeastern New York protecting the Adirondack Mountains. The park was established in 1892 for "the free use of all the people for their health and pleasure", and for watershed protection. At 6.1 million acres, it is the largest park in the contiguous United States.
Alexander Macomb (1748–1831) was an American fur trader, merchant and land speculator known for purchasing nearly four million acres from the state of New York after the American Revolutionary War. A Loyalist sympathizer, he operated from New York City after the war. His mansion in the city was used by President George Washington for several months in 1790 as the temporary president's mansion.
Macomb Reservation State Park is a 600-acre (2.4 km2) state park in the Town of Schuyler Falls in Clinton County, New York, United States. The park is located on the Salmon River, outside the Adirondack Park, and two miles (3.2 km) west of the hamlet of Schuyler Falls.
Big Moose Lake, at the head of the Moose River, is a large lake about five miles (8 km) north of Fourth Lake in the Adirondacks in upstate New York. The lake is within both Herkimer and Hamilton counties, and covers portions of the towns of Webb and Long Lake. Located southwest of the lake is the hamlet of Big Moose.
The Castorland Company, also known as La Compagnie de New York is a company established between 1792 and 1793 in Paris, France, with the intent to invest in lands in northern and northwestern New York. Leading American and French speculators, such as William Constable, Alexander Macomb, and James Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont were involved in this business transaction. Castorland was the location of an attempt to settle the western edge of the Adirondacks in the late 18th century. It was 210,000 acres and went from Lake Ontario into the Adirondack Mountains. The name Castorland, meaning “Land of the Beaver,” came from the abundance of beavers on the land. The Castorland Company sent Simon Desjardins and Peter Pharoux as agents to develop newly acquired landholdings in today’s upstate New York, and they kept a journal that was originally a report to the boss, as their job required. This land was a good place for French émigrés to settle after fleeing from the French Reign of Terror. After the death of Desjardins, mismanagement, and issues that the French people faced, Castorland fell apart and most of the land was left with James LeRay, who sold a huge parcel to Napoleon's brother, Joseph Bonaparte.
Tahawus was a village in the Town of Newcomb, Essex County, New York, United States. It is now a ghost town situated in the Adirondack Park. Tahawus is located in Essex County within the unpopulated northern area designated to the town of Newcomb. Tahawus was the site of major mining and iron smelting operations in the 19th century. Although standing as recently as 2005, the last mining facilities have since been demolished and removed.
The Great Camps of the Adirondack Mountains refers to the grandiose family compounds of cabins that were built in the latter half of the nineteenth century on lakes in the Adirondacks such as Spitfire Lake and Rainbow Lake. The camps were summer homes for the wealthy, where they could relax, host or attend parties, and enjoy the wilderness. In time, however, this was accomplished without leaving the comforts of civilization behind; some great camps even contained a bowling alley or movie theatre.
The Dix Mountain Wilderness Area is the name previously given to an area of New York's Forest Preserve in the Adirondack Park located in the towns of Elizabethtown, Keene and North Hudson, Essex County. It was roughly bounded on the north by NY 73, on the east by the Adirondack Northway (Interstate 87), on the south by Blue Ridge Road and on the west by Elk Lake Club and Ausable Club lands.
The William C. Whitney Wilderness Area, an Adirondack Park unit of New York's Forest Preserve, is located in the town of Long Lake, Hamilton County. It is bounded on the east by Hamilton County Route 10, on the south by lands of Whitney Industries, on the west by private lands owned by The Nature Conservancy and the Brandreth Park Association, on the northwest by the Remsen to Lake Placid Railroad right-of-way, and on the north by other private land holdings. The area contains 12 bodies of water covering 4,286 acres (17.34 km2) and 20 miles (32 km) of foot trails. The area is named for William C. Whitney, who was an American political leader and financier.
Brandreth Park is the oldest family-owned forest preserve in the state of New York.
Daniel McCormick was an Irish-born businessman who lived most of his life in New York City, where he was a founding director of the Bank of New York. He was a partner in Macomb's Purchase, in which about one-tenth of the land in the state of New York was acquired.
Loon Lake is a hamlet and a lake in the northeastern region of Adirondack Park in the U.S. state of New York. The community is located on the east side of Loon Lake and 18 miles (29 km) northeast of Saranac Lake and 27 miles (43 km) north of Lake Placid.
Brown Tract Pond Campground is a campground run by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in Raquette Lake, New York. It is located on the shores of Browns Tract Pond in a remote area of the Adirondacks, approximately two miles (3.2 km) from Raquette Lake, near the town of Inlet in Hamilton County.
Brantingham Lake is a 327-acre (1.32 km2)Private lake, within the Adirondack Park, located east of Brantingham, New York in Lewis County, New York. Home to both seasonal and year-round residents, the lake and surrounding area offer boating, fishing, hunting, hiking, biking, as well as trails for all terrain vehicle, horse, and snowmobile. During the winter months, the area receives an average 150 inches of snow, making Brantingham a popular destination for winter enthusiasts.
Greenleaf Lake State Recreation Area is a state park unit of Minnesota, USA, currently in development. It includes undeveloped shoreline on both Greenleaf and Sioux Lakes, halfway between the cities of Hutchinson and Litchfield in Meeker County. Portions of the state recreation area (SRA) are open to the public for day-use recreation, but there are no facilities yet on site. The park boundaries were set by the Minnesota Legislature and the state is still acquiring land from willing sellers; two-thirds of the property remain privately owned.
People v. the Brooklyn Cooperage Companywas a key early conservation legal battle concerning forestry and logging practices in the Adirondack Park. The case involved the State of New York, Cornell University, constitutional lawyer Louis Marshall, and others in the first decade of the 20th century.
James Greenleaf was a late 18th and early 19th century American land speculator responsible for the development of Washington, D.C., after the city was designated as the nation's capital following passage of the Residence Act in 1790. A member of a prominent and wealthy Boston family, he married a Dutch noblewoman, who he later abandoned and then divorced, and served briefly as consul at the United States embassy in Amsterdam.
Sacandaga Lake (sa-kuhn-DAH-ga) is located in the Town of Lake Pleasant in Hamilton County, New York approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Speculator. The outlet is a channel that leads to Lake Pleasant, which is the source of the Sacandaga River.
The Rombout Patent was a Colonial era land patent issued by King James II of England in 1685 sanctioning the right of Francis Rombouts and his partners Stephanus Van Cortlandt and Jacobus Kip to own some 85,000 acres (34,000 ha) of land they had purchased from Native Americans. The Patent included most of what is today's southern Dutchess County, New York.