North American Land Company records 1432 Finding aid prepared by Diane Biunno..
Last updated on November 09, 2018.
First edition
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
, 2014. North American Land Company records
Table of Contents
Summary Information...... 3 Biography/History...... 4 Scope and Contents...... 5 Administrative Information...... 5 Related Materials...... 6 Controlled Access Headings...... 7 Bibliography...... 7 Collection Inventory...... 9
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Summary Information
Repository Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Creator North American Land Company.
Title North American Land Company records
Call number 1432
Date [inclusive] 1765-1904
Extent 14 linear feet (; 5 boxes, 92 volumes)
Language English
Abstract Robert Morris (1734-1806), James Greenleaf (1765-1843), and John Nicholson (1757-1800) founded the North American Land Company on February 20, 1795. The North American Land Company was one of the largest land trusts in American history. The land company had 30,000 shares of stock, each valued at $100, and a total of 6 million acres of land in the District of Columbia, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia. Some of those associated with the company include: James Greenleaf, Robert James, Tobias Lear, Robert Morris, John Nicholson, Benjamin Tilghman, and James Wilson. The North American Land Company was plagued by serious financial difficulties and all three of its founders were sent to debtors’ prison. The North American Land Company remained in existence until 1872. The North American Land Company records include financial and administrative records as well as correspondence, deeds, and shares of the company’s stock from 1793-1898. The collection includes minutes, 1795-1805; correspondence, 1765-1874; land records including
- Page 3 - North American Land Company records descriptions, maps, deeds, 1793-1898; and financial records including daybooks, ledgers, and receipt books, 1795- 1904.
Cite as:
Cite as: [Indicate cited item or series here], North American Land Company records (Collection 1432), The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Biography/History
Robert Morris (1734-1806), James Greenleaf (1765-1843), and John Nicholson (1757-1800) founded the North American Land Company on February 20, 1795. The North American Land Company was one of the largest land trusts in American history. The land company had 30,000 shares of stock, each valued at $100, and a total of 6 million acres of land in the District of Columbia, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia. From the beginning, the North American Land Company was plagued by serious financial difficulties. Firstly, the authenticity of many of the titles to the lands were questioned. Secondly, the land company owned more than 2 million acres in the Georgia “Pine Barrens.” These large tracts of barren wilderness were uninhabited, covered in sandy soil, and consequently difficult to sell to land purchasers and settlers. Furthermore, Morris, a former delegate to the Continental Congress and signer of the Declaration of Independence, sent his son-in-law, James Marshall, to Europe in order to sell shares in the company stock. Due to financial difficulties in Europe and doubts about the value of the North American Land Company’s holdings, Marshall was unsuccessful. After Greenleaf was unable to secure loans from Dutch investors because of war and political instability in Holland, he used the company’s securities to pay off private debts. Although Morris and Nicholson were heavily in debt, they bought out Greenleaf because he had continued to embezzle company funds and to engage in corrupt business practices. Morris and Nicholson soon became bankrupt and the promissory notes they used as payment to Greenleaf for his share of the company defaulted. Greenleaf became bankrupt and in 1797 was sent to Prune Street Prison in Philadelphia. Nicholson and Morris soon joined Greenleaf in the same debtors’ prison. Morris was released after serving three and half years, but was left penniless and almost $3 million in debt. Nicholson died in prison, but Greenleaf was released in 1798 after serving less than one year. In order to prevent land companies from making fraudelent claims on land, the Georgia state legislature passed a law in 1798 requiring all land purchasers to conduct a survey of their lands every ten years.
- Page 4 - North American Land Company records It was a costly and impossible task for the heirs to the North American Land Company to conduct the surveys. When the heirs stopped paying taxes on the lands, the government took ownership of the titles. The North American Land Company remained in existence until 1872.
Scope and Contents
The North American Land Company Records include financial and administrative records as well as correspondence, deeds, and shares of the company’s stock from throughout its history. The collection documents the administrative functions and financial hardships of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century land speculation company. The papers are arranged in rough chronological order. The collection contains international correspondence from Amsterdam, London, and Paris (Box 1, Folder 1 and Box 3, Folder 5), James Greenleaf’s request for land patents (Box 1, Folder 5), amendments to the Articles of Agreement (Box 2, Folder 7), as well as papers dealing with stocks and shareholders (Box 1, Folder 9), minutes (Box 1, Folder 9-12), and correspondence between the company’s presidents. Researchers interested in land ownership will find useful the maps illustrating the divisions of plots in New York, South Carolina, and Georgia (Box 2, Folder 1). Those researching the company’s financial and legal challenges may be curious to view the protest of notes (Box 2, Folder 3), refusal of trust (Box 3, Folder 9), legal papers regarding the Parks v. Robbins lawsuit (Box 4, Folder 5), and James Greenleaf’s petition for the relief of insolvent debtors (Box 4, Folder 6). Although the collection contains materials regarding some of the company’s financial hardships, information regarding the dissolution of the company is limited.
Administrative Information
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
, 2014. Finding aid prepared by Diane Biunno..
Access Restrictions The collection is open for research.
Provenance Purchased, 1950.
- Page 5 - North American Land Company records Processing information A portion of the boxed papers in this collection were once part of the Simon Gratz autograph collection (Collection 250A).
Related Materials
Related materials At Historical Society of Pennsylvania:
Asylum Company records, 1794-1804 (Am.820)
Frank B. Nead collection, 1663-1866 (Collection 447)
James Gibson papers, 1712-1849 (Collection 236)
Asylum Company records, 1773-1851 (Collection 0021)
Pennsylvania Population Company records, 1792-1834 (Collection 489)
Records of land companies established in Pennsylvania, 1792-1816 (Am.2673)
Articles of agreement and association: made and executed the 26th day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and nine, between the members of the Asylum Company (Vb*.4981)
Catalogue of the lands and stock of the Asylum Company offered for sale at the Merchants' Coffee House: in pursuance of the 21st article of association of the said company (Vb*.4981)
John Nicholson letterbooks, 1795-1798 (Am.1085)
At other Institutions:
North American Land Company ledger, 1795-1805 (Mss.973.N75), American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, Pa.
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Controlled Access Headings
Personal Name(s)
• Greenleaf, James, 1765-1843. • Morris, Robert, 1734-1806. • Nicholson, John, 1757-1800.
Subject(s)
• Deeds--18th Century. • Georgia--Land speculation--18th century. • Kentucky--Land speculation--18th century. • Land speculation and settlement--Pennsylvania--19th century. • Land speculation--United States. • Land speculation--Western Pennsylvania--19th century. • Real estate--Transactions. • South Carolina--Land speculation--18th century.
Bibliography
Friedenberg, Daniel M. Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Land: The Plunder of Early America. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1992. Morris, Robert. "Land Fever: The Downfall of Robert Morris," The Missouri Review 15, no. 3 (Summer 1992): 115-161. North American Land Company, Observations on the North-American Land-Company: Lately instituted in Philadelphia: containing an illustration of the object of the company's plan, the articles of association, with a succinct account of the states wherein their lands lie: to which are added, remarks on American lands in general, .. in two letters from Robert G. Harper, .. London: printed, by H. L. Galabin, for C. Barrell and H. Servanté, American agents: sold also by J. Debrett; J. Johnson; and W. Richardson, 1796. (Call number LCP Old HSP Vb 496)
- Page 7 - North American Land Company records Oberly, James. "Land Companies," in Dictionary of American History, ed. Stanley I. Kutler. 3rd ed. Vol. 5. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003, 26-27. Sakolski, Aaron M. The Great American Land Bubble; The Amazing Story of Land-Grabbing, Speculations, and Booms from Colonial Days to the Present Time. New York: Johnson Reprint Corp, 1966.
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Collection Inventory
Box
Correspondence and minutes, 1765-1874 . 1
Business papers, 1793-1810. 2
Business papers and deeds, 1795-1898. 3
Mixed business papers, 1793-1872. 4
Custodial History note
Materials in this box were once part of the Simon Gratz Collection.
Mixed business papers, 1873-1880. 5
Custodial History note
Materials in this box were once part of the Simon Gratz Collection.
Box
Items removed from Box 2, Folder 3, 1796. 1 Scope and Contents note
Folder contains deeds, division of lands, an assignment in trust from James Greenleaf to George Simpson, and a Letter of Attorney from Daniel Darby to James Crawford.
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Items removed from Box 2, Folder 4, 1797. 2 Scope and Contents note
Contains a copy of a mutual agreement between James Greenleaf, Edward Fox, Robert Morris, John Nicolson and K. Pratt, T. W. Francis, John Ashley, Jacob Baker to secure certain engagements of James Greenleaf and Edward Fox. Recorded in the District of Columbia in the Office of Records.
Items removed from Box 3, Folder 1, 1811. 3 Scope and Contents note
Contains article of agreement between Daniel Rogoy, William Smith, John Millor, William Branch and Claude Grommetier, Julian Grommetier. Also contains original agreement of Greenleaf, Pratt, Ashley and Francis that the first monies received by the North American Land Company shall be appropriated to pay the state $11877.31.
Items removed from Box 3, Folder 3, 1823. 4 Scope and Contents note
Contains a copy of the 1803 agreement of James Greenleaf and Henry Pratt.
Items removed from Box 3, Folder 3, 1839. 5 Scope and Contents note
Contains land deeds from Henry Pratt to Benjamin Tilghman.
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Box
Virginia titles, deeds, and legal documents, 1785-1794. 1
Stock book (blank), circa 1790. 2
Stock book (blank), circa 1790. 3
Lots, City of Washington, 1791-1796. 4
Land register for Pennsylvania, 1792-1794. 5
Volume notes
Notes from inside cover 1839-1849
Land transactions, 1792-1796. 6
Washington index book, 1792-1810. 7
Deeds, articles of agreement, contracts and miscellaneous records, 1792-1845. 8
Georgia deeds, grants, and legal documents, 1793-1794. 9
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Articles of agreement, 1793-1795. 10
Indentures and deeds numbers 83-239, 1793-1795. 11
North Carolina and South Carolina deeds, grants, and legal documents, 1793-1795. 12
Warrants, memos, and miscellaneous, 1793-1796. 13
Deeds, 1793-1796. 14
Land lots, 1793-1797. 15
General index for J. Greenleaf Agency, 1793-1805. 16
Legal agreements and correspondence, 1793-1808. 17
Deeds to Greenleaf property, 1793-1811. 18
Virginia and Kentucky titles, patents, and deeds, 1794. 19
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Land lots, 1794-1795. 20
Registry of lands purchased in Georgia and Virginia by Robert Morris and John Nicholson, 21 1794-1795.
Division of lands, City of Washington, 1794-1795. 22
Georgia land book number 2, 1794-1795. 23
Deeds, 1794-1796. 24
Georgia land titles (266-282), 1794-1796. 25
Letter book and expenditures, 1794-1797. 26
Letter book, 1794-1803. 27
Deeds for lands in multiple states, 1794-1804. 28
Deeds for lands in Pennsylvania, 1794-1808. 29
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Deeds, 1794-1809. 30
Account book, 1795-1802. 31
Shareholders’ dividends account book, 1795-1802. 32
Philadelphia account book, March 1795-September 1803. 33
Book IX, minute book, 1795-1805. 34
Volume notes
With notes and annotations (1844)
Land transactions, 1796. 35
Deeds, 1796-1798. 36
Receipt book, 1796-1799. 37
Greenleaf Agency real estate and accounts, 1796-1803. 38
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Deeds, 1796-1807. 39
Land records, 1796-1844. 40
Montgomery County and Georgia survey notes, 1797. 41
Account and deed book, circa 1797. 42
Account book, 1797-1802. 43
Volume notes
With notes and annotations (1839-1842). Contains accounts of Greenleaf, Morris, and Nicholson.
Stock certificates, 1797-1830. 44
James Greenleaf agency accounts, 1803-1842. 45
Agents’ account book, 1804-1843. 46
Aggregate fund book, circa 1805-1811. 47
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Stock certificates, 1808-1853. 48
List of lands owned in Pennsylvania and expenditures, circa 1816-1820. 49
Letter book, aggregate fund, 1836-1850. 50
Agent agreements and other agent related legal documents, 1836-1851. 51
Day book, 1836-1866. 52
Ledger, 1836-1866. 53
Invoice book, 1839,1859-1866. 54
Letter book, 1842-1845. 55
Box
Items removed from Volume 55, 1859. 5 6
Box
Charles Dutilh’s copy of Fair Mount Bridge Company account book, 1842-1883. 56
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Day book, aggregate fund, 1844-1865. 57
Deeds for Virginia lands, 1846. 58
Account of land purchases in Virginia and South Carolina, 1846-1853. 59
Estate of Charles Graff, 1846-1876. 60
Account book of Estate of Charles Graff, 1846-1880. 61
Account book, 1850-1866. 62
Account book, 1850-1866. 63
Deeds to North Carolina lands, circa 1851. 64
Account book, 1853-1864. 65
Minutes of the Board of Directors of the Oriental Savings and Loan Association, 66 1853-1865.
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Mine a la Motte account book, 1853-1869. 67
Shareholders account book, 1854-1859. 68
Deeds for lands in Kentucky, circa 1855-1859. 69
Account book of the executors of Thomas Fleming’s estate, 1855-1887. 70
Day book, 1857-1861. 71
Account sales, 1857-1866. 72
Thomas F. Fleming account book, 1857-1868. 73
Cash book, Estate of Charles Graff, 1857-1881. 74
Account book of executors of Peter Laguerenne, 1859-1880, 1890-1902. 75
Account book for Estate of Peter Laguerenne, 1859-1882. 76
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Box
Items removed from Volume 75, 1853-1854. 5 7
Box
Index to the original ledger of 1795-1798, 1860. 77
Sales book, 1860-1866. 78
Estate of North American Land Company notes of audit, 1860-1869. 79
Day book, 1861-1866. 80
Account book of James Dundas, 1862-1866. 81
Letter book, 1862-1867. 82
Account book of Hutchinson’s Estate, 1866-1874. 83
Account book of Mrs. Ann Holmes’s Estate, 1869-1882. 84
Transaction record, 1870-1875. 85
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Estate of Annie Powel, 1873-1904. 86
Box
Items removed from Volume 86, 1873-1904. 5 8
Box
Index, undated. 87
Index and register of the papers of E. Fox and J. Greenleaf, undated. 88
Land description and transactions book, undated. 89
Volume notes
Mostly blank except for loose notes
Land description and transaction book, undated. 90
Volume notes
Mostly blank except for loose notes
Legal exercise book, undated. 91
Lots, City of Washington, undated. 92
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