This document is from the Cornell University Library's Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections located in the Carl A. Kroch Library. If you have questions regarding this document or the information it contains, contact us at the phone number or e-mail listed below. Our website also contains research information and answers to frequently asked questions. http://rmc.library.cornell.edu Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections 2B Carl A. Kroch Library Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 Phone: (607) 255-3530 Fax: (607) 255-9524 E-mail: [email protected] THE GEORGE HYDE CLARKE FAMILY PAPERS A GUIDE M THE COLLECTION AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY BARRY L. WOLD DEPARWNT OF MANUSCRIPTS AND UNIVERSITY ABIVES CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES ITHACA, NEW YORK 14853 JULY 1977 Design by David May Photographs by Jon Crispin Copies of this guide are available for $6.00 from: Department of Manuscripts and University Archives Cornell University Libraries Ithaca, New York 14853 List of Illustrations Preface INTRODUCTION History of the Papers History of the Family Carter and Averell Genealogies Clarke Genealogy Cooper Genealogy PERSONAL PAPERS Family Correspondence Invitations and Calling Cards School Papers Scrapbook D~RPapers Miscellaneous Personal Papers BUSINESS PAPERS Business Papers Swanswick Accounts Account Books Business Diaries Checkbooks Miscellaneous Business Papers LAND PAPERS Parchment Documents Early Paper Land Documents Leases and Deeds Rent Books st. Lawrence County Land Papers Wisconsin Land Papers ~oundLand Volumes Surveys OTmR PAPERS Copies of Clarke Documents Not at Cornell Newspapers Printed Material Photostats Miscellaneous Papers Oversize Drawer Illustrations cover A portion of the Patent from George I1 for Bradt's Four Tracts, June 3, 1740. (Box 116, Number 3) frontispiece George Hyde Clarke (1768-1835). Copy by Adrian Lamb, owned by the Friends of Hyde Hall, Inc. Original by Samuel F.B. Morse, owned by the St. Louis Museum of Art. facing page 42 Hyde Hall. Photograph by Eciward Beckwith, owned by the Friends of Hyde Hall facing page 43 Map of the Springfield Patent, n.d. (Map Case folder 7) facing page 124 Letter to Mary Gale Clarke from Juliette Gordon Low, August 18, 1914. (Box 18, folder 12) facing page 168 Philip Hooker's bill for his plans of Hyde Hall, February 10, 1818. Plan of Venetian Window for Hyde Hall, mentioned in Hooker's bill, October 5, 1817. (Box 34, folder 8) facing page 169 Bill for garden seeds purchased by George Hyde Clarke (b.17681, February 3, 1827. (Box 39, folder 2) facing page 244 A box of Clarke Papers before processing. facing page 245 Pendant Seal 'from the Patent from George I1 for Bradt's Four Tracts, June 3, 1740 (4-1/2" diamter) shaving the Royal Seal and the Provincial Seal of New York. (Box 116, Number 3) facing page 296 Notice for the payment of rent, November 3, 1851. (Map Case folder 11) facing page 297 Lease for Lot 35, Lindesay's Patent (Cherry Valley Patent) representative of those of the period, January 15, 1799. (Box 129, folder 8) Preface I have been working on the Clarke papers for three years. both full and part time. me project, which was originally to be completed in a year, has "grow'd like Topsy." Additional source material has been located and added to the core collection that Cornell already possessed, adding to the breadth and depth of docu- mentation in the collection and to the complexity and length of the guide. Thanks are due to a number of individuals and organizations. First, for the papers themselves, Mr. fiomas Hyde Clarke deserves thanks for his generous gift of the collection to the Friends of Hyde Hall, and credit for his appreciation of the documentary value of his family's papers. The Friends of Hyde Hall, a foundation organized to preserve the Clarke family homestead on the northern shore of Lake Msego, have placed the papers at Cornell on permanent deposit and have provided the financial resources necessary to complete this project. In particular, it has been the efforts of Mr. Douglas Kent of the Friends which have enabled this project to be as comprehensive as-it is. It can only be hoped that this guide and consequent interest in the Clarke family and papers will further encourage the preservation of Hyde Hall as an Historic Site. The New York State Historical Association also deserves thanks for releasing material in their custody to Mr. Clarke so that it could be integrated with the rest of the collection. Professor William Kearns from the Memorial University of New- foundland provided the stimulus for this project. His advice and assistance have made my task more pleasant. There have been a number of individuals whose encouragement and assistance has meant a great deal to me. Professor Michael Kammen, my undergraduate advisor at Cornell, was the first to call the Clarke Papers to my attention. lb him I owe whatever scholarly and research abilities I have. Colleagues in the Department of Manuscripts and University Archives have provided encouragement and valuable aid. In particular the assistance of Jane Gustafson in typing, Laurie Stowe in arranging, and Kathleen Jacklin and Gould Colman in editing has been invaluable. The support of myother friends, too numerous to mention, has been gratifying throughout this project. The respcnsibility for error is mine alone. Barry L. Wold July 1977 INTRODUCTION History of the Papers George Hyde Clarke (b.1768) first visited America in 1789 to inspect his inheritance of 120,000 acres of land scattered throughout eastern New York State. After he returned to his new country to settle permanently, apparently in 1806, he became involved in a complex series of legal challenges to his land titles. These suits made it necessary for him to collect documentation on his great-grandfather's acquisition of the estate and the subsequent actions of agents in leasing it. It appears that his was the first conscious attempt to collect and pre- serve the family's papers. These suits also appear to have fostered Clarke's habit of pre- serving every document he ever produced or received. In his will, he not only provides for the care of his family and the disposition of his real and personal estate, but also for the disposition of his papers. ". I desire and direct that all titles, deeds, maps, charts, contracts, leases, writings, memorandums whatso- ever relating to my estates in the United States of America be kept together in a safe and appropriate manner at my said mansion house of Hyde Hall, but so that any person or persons interested therein may upon reasonable request have access thereto for the purpose of inspecting examining or copying the same or any part thereof if it be necessary or suitable or convenient for them so to do." His children carried out his intent; they preserved not only their forebear's papers, but also their own. Although it is of course im- possible to reconstruct totally the original extent of the papers and to note which documents were preserved and which were destroyed, the breadth and depth of documentation of many aspects of the life of the family is remarkable for a collection of this age and extent. Little appears to have happened to the papers from the death of George Hyde Clarke (b.1768) in 1835 until the mid-twentieth century. Even the sale of Hyde Hall as part of the bankruptcy proceedingsagainst George Hyde Clarke (b.1822) caused little disruption since his son (with his wife's mother's capital) purchased the house and its contents. Mrs. Edith M. Fox, former curator of this department, was a student of land acquisition and settlement policies in the Mohawk Valley. In 1947 she visited Hyde Hall in search of documents relating to Lieu- tenant Governor George Clarke (1676-1760). Apparently she was the first individual outside the family to examine the papers and appreciate their value. Throughout the late 40's and early 50's she continued her research at Hyde Hall. In 1953 she made copies of many of the early nineteenth century papers using Coronastats, a process of photo- stating which had recently been developed. In 1949, some of the papers were deposited in the New York State Historical Association in Cooperstown for safe keeping. Because the family had placed them there for storage only, no arrangement of the papers was done. This did not, however, ensure the preservation of the papers remaining at Hyde Hall. Three days before he died in 1955, George Hyde Clarke (b.1889) burned some of the papers which had remained at Hyde Hall. It is cer- tain that he destroyed the family's early nineteenth century corres- pondence, which Mrs. Fox had photocopied. It appears that he destroyed other documents as well. The next disruption which occurred was the acquisition of Hyde Hall and the surrounding 600 acres for Glimmerglass State Park in 1963. At first, Hyde Hall itself was to be demolished. During the next four years, the family removed all its possessions, including the papers, from Hyde Hall. Some of the papers were kept by Mrs. Dorothy Rennard Clarke when she left the house in 1963. Some were kept by her son. Thomas Hyde Clarke; in 1964 he withdrew from the New York State Histor- ical Association the three trunks of papers that his father had de- posited there. Other papers passed, together with many of the original furnishings of the mansion, to the Friends of Hyde Hall, a foundation incorporated in 1964 to preserve Hyde Hall as an historic site. During this period, there was lengthy litigation concerning the value of Hyde Hall. In 1967, Mr. Thomas Hyde Clarke deposited at Cornell the papers in his possession to aid the research of Mrs.