George Hyde Clarke
Clarkesfield Leases, 1792-1831; bulk, 1792-1794

SC2314-2347

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Biographical Note:

George Hyde Clarke was born in 1768, the great-grandson and namesake of George Clarke, who had served as secretary and lieutenant governor of colonial New York between 1703 and 1743. The younger Clarke inherited 120,000 acres of land in the Hudson and Mohawk river valleys from his great-grandfather. The family had been out of contact with its American land holdings for the 45 years following the lieutenant governor's return to England in 1745, due largely to the turbulent relationship between England and the colonies at the time. During this period, the land was managed by resident agents and lawyers.

George Hyde Clarke's first visit to America was in 1789, when he came to inspect his inheritance, but he did not settle in the United States until 1806, at which point a series of challenges to his land rights began, prompting his organization of the family papers and land documents. These challenges to Clarke's land rights were largely brought about by tenants. Clarke was permitted, under a 1791 act of the New York State legislature, to hold land as a "natural born citizen" although he was technically a foreigner. Despite this, some of his tenants prompted the state senate to investigate the legality of his title. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Clarke's favor in 1818.

In 1817, construction began on Hyde Hall, a country mansion on Otsego Lake. The building was commissioned by Clarke to stand as a showpiece of his vast agricultural empire, and was intended to be reminiscent of Clarke's childhood in the country estates of England. Hyde Hall was designed by prominent architect Philip Hooker and is considered one of the best examples of romantic classicism in America. Construction of the building took fourteen years to complete. George Clarke died in 1835 at Hyde Hall, at which point the land was administered by a trust, under the care of Alfred Cooper, until Clarke's heir reached the age of majority and assumed control of the family estate.

Scope and Content Note:

A series of lease agreements for lots of land held by George Hyde Clarke that were located in Clarkesfield (Montgomery County), New York, from 1792 and 1831. The land was originally part of the letters patent granted to William Corry and others on November 19, 1737. Most of this land – Corry's Patent – is now situated in the present-day Town of Charleston. The leases or tenant contracts were executed mostly between the years of 1792 and 1794. The terms of the leases allowed tenants to clear and develop the land for a few years before they were required to make the first rent payment that was due annually the third day of February.  Payment was to be made in cash according to the amount specified in the lease. The duration of the lease agreement was to be no less than thirty-one years. Some of the leases include amendments and corrections, appended later, and others contain surveys and diagrams of the pertinent land.  The leases are arranged numerically by lot number.

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