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Lansingburgh Papers, 1771-1853

SC5174

Quantity: 2 boxes and 3 folio-size folders (0.50 cubic ft.)
Access: Open to research
Acquisition: See provenance note
Processed By: Warren Broderick, Archivist, 1980; revised by Honor Conklin, Archivist, Manuscripts and Special Collections, May 1991; revised May 2016.

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Historical Note:

Lansingburgh, Rensselaer County, New York, was founded in 1807 by Abraham Jacob Lansing, for whom it is named. It was first known as Stone Arabia, organized in 1771 on the eastern shore of the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson rivers. The first act of incorporation occurred in 1790 as a part of the Town of Rensselaerwyck. The village was eventually incorporated into the City of Troy.

Scope and Content Note:

This collection contains financial records, consisting of accounts, receipts, assessment rolls, and land papers, including field books, land titles, and maps. There are 23 maps; some being sketches in field books, of Lansingburgh, Brunswick, and Schaghticoke, all in Rensselaer County, New York. Some maps contain the names of land owners. The treasurer's ledger details financial transactions of the town with various individuals and businesses.  Assessment rolls record the value of real and personal property of certain named inhabitants of the town.

Provenance Note:

It appears these papers were in the possession of Charles J. Lansing during the 1850s when he compiled materials for articles he wrote on the history of Lansingburgh that were published in the Lansingburgh Democrat.  Eventually the papers were acquired by John E. Scopes, an Albany bookseller, who in turn sold them to the New York State Library in April 1914; they were accessioned as collection 5174 in April 1925.  The library had also acquired a ledger kept by the treasurer of Lansingburgh from Samuel Dunbar about April 1913, which was accessioned as collection 1103.  The two collections were collated in May 2016.

Box and Folder List:


Box Folder Contents
1 0 Finding Aid
    Account books and Assessment Rolls
1 1 Ledger of debit-credit accounts kept by the treasurer, 1793-1832 (Bd.; 86 folios; 31 cm.) (BD1103)
1 2 Assessment roll, 1814
1 3 Assessment roll, 1815
1 4 Assessment roll, 1819
1 5 Assessment roll, 1820
1 6 Assessment roll, 1821
1 7 Assessment roll, 1829
1 8 Assessment roll, 1833
1 9 Assessment roll, 1835
1 10 Assessment roll, 1840
1 11 Assessment roll, 1853
1 12 Assessment roll, n.d. (partial ledger)
    Letters, Accounts, and Receipts
2 13 Letter, February 9, 1787, from Nathaniel Cornfield to Abraham Jacob Lansing concerning payment of rent on his account
2 13 Account, New York City, September 9, 1780, of goods Cornelius Lansing bought of John B. Coles
2 13 Account, in Dutch, 1786, where Abraham Jacob Lansing sold supplies (including grain and timber) to S… Sijon(?)
2 13 Receipt, April 29, 1787: "Rec'd of Cornelius Lansing six pounds ten shillings & six pence in part of the tax laws" John N. Bleecker, Treasurer
2 13 Albany, February 20, 1784, for £20, 7[shillings] payment of taxes, Cornelius Lansing; John N. Bleecker, Treasurer
2 13 Receipt, New York, September 13, 1788, where Cornelius Lonson [Cornelius Lansing?] bought of John Burras "one dozen chairse [sic] for £2-8-0"
2 13 Receipt, "received of Abr. J. Lansing three pounds on account" Peter Dox [n.d.]
2 13 Receipt, December 20, 1790, to Mr. Cornelius Lansing: "Sir, I send by measure 32 bu. wheat…" Isaac Bininger
    Miscellaneous Business and Legal Records
2 14 "An Act to incorporate the Lansingburgh Turnpike Company," passed March 28, 1828 (certified copy formerly belonging to the Town of Lansingburgh). [NOTE: This turnpike ran along the east bank of the Hudson River north of Lansingburgh, extending through Schaghticoke into Easton]
2 14 "Lansingburgh Town Charges," 1823 [a warrant to pay certain bills, dated January 5, 1824]
2 14 Minutes of a meeting of the "Freeholders of Lansingburgh,"  April 2, 1804 (certified copy)
2 14 "True extract from the Great Court Records, Vol. 18, p. 425," announcing the sale of the "Township of East Hoosick," 6 miles square, to Nathan Jones of Weston, Mass., on February 17, 1762, Boston, Mass. (certified copy). [NOTE: This land was part of the territory later disputed between New York and Vermont following the Revolution]
2 14 Memorandum of the incorporation of the "First Baptist Society of Lansingburgh," March 27, 1801
2 14 "Exemplification of consent" filed to an amendment of the Charter of the First Northern Turnpike Company, July 30, 1805
    Field Notes and Surveys
2 15 Survey done "for Captain Abraham J. Lansing and Comss. August 1773" [Survey of the boundary between the Stone Arabia Patent and Manor of Rensselaerwyck]. Includes sketch maps of several lots
2 16 "Field Book of the Land in the Patent of Stone Arabia", 1785-1786 [by Flores Bancker]
2 17 Field Book/survey of lot no. 41 on the north side of the Hoosick River, December 1794
2 18 "Minute Book for 1794 & 1795" [surveys of land in the Walloomsac Patent, Hoosick Patent, Pittstown Patent, Shepard's Tract and in Schaghticoke]. On the back is written, "mapp to be sent to John Lovett, Esq. Attorney of Lansingburgh". Includes a sketch map of one lot.
2 19 "Field notes of the Commonable Lands in the Patent of Stone Arabia [probably of Flores Bancker's; this land is now located in Lansingburgh and Brunswick; these surveys probably date from the 1790s]. Notes attached to leather sleeve.
    Land titles
2 20 Indenture on parchment, June 8, 1771, from Abraham Jacob Lansing to Charles Neal of New York City, for lot 21 in the First Division of the Village of Lansingburgh
2 21 Indenture, November 4, 1773, from Abraham J. Lansing to Margaret Johnson, executrix of the last will and testament of Simeon Johnson, for a farm in Stone Arabia
2 22 Indenture on parchment, January 18, 1774, from Abraham Jacob Lansing to Levinus Levirse [Leversee] for 2 tracts of land in the Stone Arabia Patent. Later writing on the reverse notes that this land was owned 100 years later by Levinus & Derrick Leversee. [NOTE: The land in question and house, still standing [1960s? 1970s?], is located along Route 40 just north of Route 142 at the Lansingburgh-Schaghticoke line]
2 23 Bond, whereby Joseph Norris is bonded to Jean Mulrea ("Jane Muilkiary") for £60 to execute a deed relating to two lots in "Stanarbe" [Stone Arabia], October 23, 1772
2 23 Bond, Levinus Lansing of "New City" bonded unto John Dallen for £100, 1784, "for a warranty deed for a lot where Abraham Jacob Lansing built a house …"
2 23 Certification, December 21, 1815, of Cornelius Lansing, acting for the heirs of Abraham Jacob Lansing, regarding a conveyance his father had made to Flores Bancker of ten acres of land in the "Commonable Lands." This is followed by a further certification of November 13, 1817, by William Van Vleck [son-in-law of Flores Bancker] for the Town of Brunswick
2 23 Memorandum, Albany, October 23, 1795. "Be it remembered" that Thomas Turner bought of Joseph Norris "2 house lots" in the Village of Lansingburgh ...
2 23 Memorandum,1802, from an ad hoc committee of inhabitants of the "Commonable Lands" of the Patent of Stone Arabia, protesting the right of the Town to appoint a committee of "A, B & C" to act as attorney for their interests, etc.
2 23 Memorandum, "At a meeting of the freeholders and Yeomanry of the Patent of Stone Arabia," December 28, 1802. A Committee of three: John G. Yates, Levinus Leversee and Flores Bancker are appointed to deal with problems "concerning the Common Lands" of Lansingburgh
2 23 "A Minute of what passed between Captain Lansing & Esq. [Thomas] Peebles [of Halfmoon] concerning a petition for a part of the North River," 1772. [NOTE: Lansing served notice of his petition of Peebles, the only Half Moon resident who would open his door to him]
2 23 Petition of the Inhabitants of Half Moon, March 23, 1772, objecting to Abraham Jacob Lansing's petition of Governor Tryon to "annex 40 feet of the east side" of the Hudson River for the purpose of the erection of docks at Lansingburgh, stating that such docks would hinder navigation and fishing in the river
2 24 "Register of [Lots] Sold and Unsold in the first Division of Lansingburgh", [1771-1790]. Lists the names of many early lot owners.
2 25 A wax seal of New York [broken]
EL 26 Indenture (printed form) from Abraham Jacob Lansing to Abraham J. Ouderkirk for Lot 121 in the First Division of the Village of Lansingburgh, March 6, 1775. [NOTE: This is Jacob A. Ouderkirk, early settler of Hoosick]
EL 26 Indenture (printed form), March 11, 1793, from Levinus Lansing to Daniel Murray, "Bricklayer," for Lot 119 in the Third Division of Lansingburgh
EL 26 Indenture (printed form) from Joseph Norris, "Caulker," of the City of Albany, to Thomas Turner of Lansingburgh for £120 for Lots 207 and 208 in the First Division, October 26, 1795
EL 26 Indenture, August 25, 1796, from George & Benjamin Tibbets of Lansingburgh to Jonathan Remington of Cheshire, Mass., for Lots 41 and 42 in the First Division of the Village of Lansingburgh for £1600 and a quit rent of 10 yearly
EL 26 Indenture (printed form), April 29, 1797, from Thomas Turner and his wife, Salley, to Simeon Johnson, for two lots in the First Division of Lansingburgh
EL 26 Indenture, March 10, 1801, from Cornelius Lansing to Matthew Gillespie, £100 for Lot 121 in the First Division of the Village of Lansingburgh
EL 26 Lease, June 20, 1804, of "the Galley of the Brick [Presbyterian] Church," subject to an annual rent of $6.00
EL 26 Indenture (printed form), September 12, 1805, from Cornelius Lansing to Dr. Abiel Bugby, to five acres of land in the Common Lands of Lansingburgh
EL 26 "Deed of conveyance of land on consideration of a covenant made with the first settlers and builders of the Village of Lansingburgh," whereby the heirs of Jacob A. Lansing, deceased, convey land in Schaghticoke to Flores Bancker in 1805
EL 27 Surveys of land in the "Commonable Lands" of Lansingburgh (formerly rolled up). These eight surveys probably date from the period 1790-1807.
  1. "A survey of the Road taken December 11, 1802" [Present Route 142]
  2. Lot No. 3 in the Common Land
  3. Lot No. 10 in the Common Lands
  4. Lots No. 1, 2 and 4 in the Common Lands
  5. Lots No. 5, 6 and 7 in the Common Lands
  6. "Tract of land belonging to Flores Bancker"
  7. "The boundaries of the Commons agreed to be run by the Trustees of the Village of Lansingburgh"; also Lot No. 5
  8. Survey (torn) of a lot adjoining the "swamp lot" of Flores Bancker's
    Maps (5174 A-E, G-L.)
EL 28 Map of the Town of Schaghticoke, Rensselaer County, New York, by J[ames] M[allory], January 11, 1819. Shows Lansingburgh and the Hudson and Hoosick rivers. Scale one mile to one inch, 41.5 x 53 cm. (5174A)
EL 28 Map of the Village of Dort [present-day Speigletown, a part of Lansingburgh, Rensselaer County, New York], laid out and protracted by a scale of 100 feet to an inch by F[lores] Bancker, May 1796. Shows lots of Charles Follett, Jno. Follett, Wm. Douglas, and lands of Rattoon & Van Der Speigle and Levinus Lansing; the road to Schaghticoke, now Route 40, called St. Coick Road, 40.5 x 59 cm. (5174B)
EL 28 Cornelius Lansing's map of the First Division of [the Village of] Lansingburgh [Rensselaer County, New York]. Shows properties of Jacob A., Levinus and Cornelius Lansing, n.d., 39.5 x 63 cm. (5174C)
EL 28 Cornelius Lansing's map of the Second Division of [the Village of] Lansingburgh [Rensselaer County, New York]. Shows properties of Jacob A. Lansing, Levinus Lansing, Cornelius Lansing, Samuel E. Jones, Jeremiah Finch, Sebring, and J [?] Dole, 61 x 72 cm. (5174D)
EL 28 Map of lands in controversy between Abraham J. Lansing and Stephen Van Rensselaer showing Van Schaick's island at the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson rivers in the Stone Arabia patent now Saratoga, Albany, and Rensselaer counties, New York. The dispute was resolved by a deed on July 13, 1769 (See Weise, History of Lansingburgh, N.Y.), 91 x 37 cm. (5174E)
EL -- Map of the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson rivers and the location of the Junction Canal, 40 chains to 1 inch, 1835?; hand-colored  print (5174F – transferred to map collection ) NYSL call number: (7474) [1835?] 200-3134
EL 28 Map of the Village of Dort [now Speigletown, a part of Lansingburgh, Rensselaer County, New York] laid out and protracted to a scale of 100 feet to an inch by F[lores] Bancker, May 1796. Note on map reads "this map has been altered therefore is erroneous." This map resembles map 5174B, showing additionally the house of [Henry] Storms. On the top margin is written "A Map of [indecipherable] of Douglass's, [Vander]cook's, Wager's, Boss's; and Francisco's farms," 93.5 x 39.5 cm. (5174G)
EL 28 Map of a lot surveyed by James Adams, July 12, 1804. Scale 1 ch. : 1 in. [NOTE: This lot is part of the lands shown on map 5174K, 13 x 18.5 cm. (5174H)
EL 28 Map of lands of Wd. Lansing and Heirs, surveyed June 29, 1842 by L[uther] D. Eddy. This land is located in the present Brunswick, on Old Plank Road, adjoining the "School Lot" [School District No. 7] and the lands and home of "[William Van Vleck, Esq.]," 31.5 x 21 cm. (5174I)
EL 28 Sketch of a map of part of the Town of Brunswick situated in the patent of Stone Arabia, n.d. This map is ca. 1807-8, a part of the "Commonable Lands" of the Village of Lansingburgh and later became a part of the Town of Brunswick at the town's formation in 1807. The map shows land owners. 20 x 32.5 cm. (5174J)
EL 28 Map of the Hill Lot, 1804. The map shows land on the hillside on the east side of the Village of Lansingburgh, bordering on the present 113th Street on the south and Gurley Avenue on the east, 23 x 32.5 cm. (5174K)
EL 28 Map of the first division of Lansingburgh, Jacob A. Lansing's Map, [1771?]. A copy, 39.5 x 65 cm. (5174L)
Last Updated: March 28, 2022