Description:

Clinton George 1739 - 1812 George Clinton 1802 signed document regarding an Indian Treaty for the purchase of Oneida reservation lands.

Single page signed letter, 7.75" x 9", Inlaid to another page to a size of 11" x 14". Scripted on recto and dated "Albany / March 10th, 1802". Signed by George Clinton with a large signature and his typical flourish as "Geo Clinton". The 3.5" x 2.5" docket/address was additionally inlaid to the same sheet. Expected folds, light toning, 1.5" separation along fold on the backing sheet to the right edge, else near fine with strongly contrasting ink. Accompanied by documented provenance as noted below.

A wonderful example of a large George Clinton signed document in excellent condition with important content on the purchase of Indian Land from the Oneida Indians in New York. The Oneida tribe were primarily located in the middle section of the state. George Clinton later became our 4th VP under Jefferson and Madison, and was instrumental in the French Indian War.

His signed letter which reference the treaty for the Land Purchase is shown in full below:

"Gentleman,

In compliance with the concurrent Resolution of the senate and Assembly of the 23 & 24 th of February last, I have together with the Surveyor General and (illegible) Esq, treated with the Oneida Indians and entered into a provisional agreement with them for the purchase of such part of the Lands in their Reservations as they were inclined to sell, And I now transmit to you, a Copy of the said agreement in order that provision may be made for carrying the Stipulations contained in it as the part of this States into effect, and for defraying the incidental expenses which have occurred in this transaction, an account of which will also be here with delivered to you. ...

Geo Clinton"

The address docket along the top inlaid piece states in full:

"Message from his Excellency the Governor of the 10 th March 1802 with Indian Treaty for their reservation lands."

An important letter which directly addresses the purchasing of New York Indian Land. George Clinton has been documented to frequently secure and purchase Indian land in New York throughout his career. It may be of interest to note that this practice is now in question, that instead these "treaties" represented misunderstood land sales, fraudulent purchases or even acts in which the Native Americans did not grasp nor understand what they were signing. As early as 1753, these land purchases were already being recognized as questionable, with documented letters residing in institutions showing written responses to "Mohawk Indians complaining of Encroachments on their Lands and Frauds in the purchase of them--Fort George in New York"

An important example of the period, with a large vibrant signature of George Clinton

Provenance: This item was recently discovered in an extra illustrated volume of "History of the City of New York" by Mary L. Booth, New York W. R. C. Clark, 1867. Originally two volumes, the monumental task of expanding the work to 21 volumes by none other than Emery E. Childs esquire of New York City. In volume 1 of this work exists a lovely india ink Drawing of Mary L. Booth along with a notation "presented by her to E E C" in pencil. Next to the title page we find an original letter of Booth to Childs dated April 4, 1872 " I am in receipt of your favor of the 4th inst., and am grateful to hear that you are taking the trouble to illustrate my History of the City of New York in the manner you describe. I shall be happy to see you, should you favor me with a callas I am usually in my office during business hours and should be pleased to facilitate your Enterprise by any means in my power"

It is assumed that the book took several years to assemble at which point, assumedly through Childs, it made its way to Senator Charles B. Farwell of Chicago who took the seat of John A. Logan in 1887. Farwell had an extensive library that fortunately survived the great Chicago fire in 1871 having been housed in his Lakeside home. In the American Bibliopolist of November 1871 there is an article about the devastation to libraries caused by the tragedy . "Mr C. B. Farwell's library is also fortunately far out from the city, at his country house, and is safe, The same remark will also apply to the extensive collection of books and curiosities belonging to Mr. E. E. Childs." This establishes the Chicago connection between Childs and Farwell.

That these letters were preserved for over 140 years and have never been on the market for that period is remarkable on many levels. It is the state of being wedged in these volumes that also accounts for what is mostly the pristine state of preservation.

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