The Gerry Family Papers
Detailed Inventory

[ PHOTO GALLERY ] [ PAUL F. COOPER, JR. ARCHIVES ]


Introduction

The Gerry family generously donated this collection to the Hartwick College archives in November of 1998. The collection documents the land transactions of substantial tracts in upstate New York which had once been part of the two million acre Hardenburgh Patent. It also includes wills, diaries, scrapbooks and some photos from the Gerry, Harriman, Livingston and Kane families.



Biographical and Historical Sketch

The Gerry family traces its heritage back to Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814), revolutionary leader from Marblehead, Massachusetts, signer of the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation, and Vice-President of the United States under James Madison; and to the Livingston family through the marriage of Louisa M. Livingston to Commodore Elbridge T. Gerry in 1867. They are also related to E.H. Harriman by the marriage of Cornelia Harriman to Robert Gerry in 1908.

The Lake Delaware Property, situated in the Towns of Bovina and Delhi in Delaware County, New York, can be traced back to the two million acre Hardenburgh Patent of 1708, Robert Livingston of Clermont owning more than 460,000 acres on the west side of the Hudson. A portion of this tract came in to the Gerry family in 1891 when Robert J. Livingston died, leaving his real estate in Delaware County to his only daughter, Louisa M. (Livingston) Gerry.

Commodore Elbridge T. Gerry, one of the founders of the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in 1874, and Louisa M. Gerry had two sons, Peter Goelet and Robert Livingston, and two daughters, Angelica and Francis. Robert Livingston Gerry married Cornelia Harriman (daughter of railroad tycoon E.H. Harriman) in March 1908, and in 1912 built an estate, known as Aknusti, designed by the Olmstead Brothers, on their 2,000 acre property in Delaware County. They had four sons - Elbridge T., Robert L., and twins Henry and Edward. The eldest, Elbridge T.(Ebby), born in 1908, held general partnerships in the banking firms Brown Brothers Harriman & Company, and Gerry Brothers & Company, and was a well-known philanthropist, notable polo player, avid participant in harness racing, and breeder of champion horse racers. In 1932 he married Marjorie Kane, daughter of John P. Kane. They had two sons, Elbridge T. Jr. and Peter G. II, and a daughter Marjorie. Elbridge Gerry died February 26, 1999. His wife, Marjorie, died just one week later on March 4, 1999.

See also:

Scope and Content Note

The Gerry Family Papers encompass several generations, and certain series are extremely well documented and rich with historical significance. The searches, land deeds and correspondence are of particular interest to scholars of land development in upstate New York. The majority of these properties are pieces of the original Hardenburgh Patent granted to Robert Livingston in 1749. It was the largest single patent ever granted in the American Colonies.

The memorabilia holds the strongest research value in Cornelia Harriman's diaries of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the four volume scrapbooks of Cornelia's son, Elbridge T. Gerry II, which documents not only his impressive achievements as a polo player, but the entire culture of early 20th century polo.

The collection as a whole represents the awesome prestige of well-known and powerful families from the Early American Republic to the mid-twentieth century, and glimpses at their elite culture and society.

The collection has been arranged into the following series:

I. Land Deeds, Legal Papers, Maps

II. Lake Delaware

III. Family Wills

IV. Memorabilia

Series Description

I. Land Deeds, Legal Papers, Maps.
1783-1957(bulk dates). 1.5 cu.ft. Topical and Chronological order. Excellent condition. SC18 1-2

These papers are arranged by the property transaction to which they pertain, and in chronological order within these groupings. They include searches, abstracts, deeds, bonds, leases, and agreements, as well as maps, sketches, plot plans and correspondence pertaining to the land transactions.

An itemized calendar is available in the archives.

II. Lake Delaware.
1881-1945 (bulk dates). 5" Topical order. Excellent condition. SC18 3

The majority of these documents are surveys, sketches, plans, maps, designs and instructions regarding the Lake Delaware Farm, property improvements and building alterations. Specific issues relating to private roads, easements, right-of-ways and the water supply system are well documented. In addition, an undated notebook contains maps of Lake Delaware, arrival and departure instructions, lists of items needed, and general procedures and information.

III. Family Wills.
1784-1947 (inclusive dates). 4" Alphabetical order. Excellent condition. SC18 4

This series includes two bound volumes with typed copies of family wills, and eleven individual files of both copies and some original wills. The families represented are Livingston, Gerry, Lewis, Goelet, Storm and Gallatin.

IV. Memorabilia.
1893-1950 (bulk dates). 1.5 cu. ft. Topical order. Excellent condition. SC18 5-8

There are several notable items in this series. A small, but rich collection from Cornelia Harriman (daughter of E.H. Harriman and wife of Robert Livingston Gerry) includes diaries of an Alaska Expedition in 1899 and a trip West in 1902, and memorabilia from a trip to Japan in 1905, as well as some correspondence from her father during the early 1900s. There are also four volumes of scrapbooks compiled for Elbridge T. Gerry (Cornelia and Robert Livingston Gerry's son) documenting his birth, early years, his renowned talent as a polo player, his marriage to Marjorie Kane, ventures in harness racing, and the impact of World War II. Additional documentation of the Kane/Gerry engagement and wedding is found in the news clipping albums and several photos. There are also Board Minutes and records of the John P. Kane Company dating from 1893-1921. (John P. Kane, father of Marjorie Kane was a dealer and distributor of mason material, and his company was the leading New York manufacturer of Portland cement.) Finally, there are membership and admissions certificates, and diplomas of Commodore Elbridge T. Gerry dating from 1860 to the late 1890s.

I. LAND DEEDS; LEGAL PAPERS; MAPS
[Return to Series Description]

Documents tracing Lake Delaware from Queen Anne - Hardenburgh Patent - to Louisa M. Gerry - 1891



Livingston/Morris Deeds



Warranty and Power of Attorney Robert and Clermont Livingston and Truman Wheeler, 1845-1857

Aknusti Deeds/Papers - [Notes: 1843 Lease between Morgan Lewis and John Wight Wight Farm - Purchase, September 1911 (known in 1947 as Waterman's Place); Brief Modern Description Included - 1947]



McMullin Property - (King Farm)



1926 Purchase of Strangeway Farm from Chas. McPherson to Angelica L. Gerry [Notes: 151.5 acres, $17,000 + Legal 1625, 122.94 per acre]



Strangeway - [Notes: 1873 Sale of Property from Robert J. Livingston to Christopher Strangeway]



Forrest Property - [Robert Forrest & William T. Forrest Farms]



James Property [Notes: Multiple pieces]



Thompson's Swamp [Notes: 1947- this is swamp starting from below the Gate Lodge and proceeding South to Grundy's - known as Lower Swamp]

Millard Property [Notes: purchased 1911 - $800, 180 1/4 acres less 16 Granlees Farm - Part of Lot 37 and 38]



Map of Louisa M. Gerry Wood lot 1/10/05 and Correspondence [Notes: 20 1/3 acres being westerly part of the easterly division of Lot 37 in the Hardenburgh Patent and the Survey and Map thereof]
[Notes: "Original Map and six copies (note addendum on one copy by Elbridge T. Gerry, January 10, 1905 - J. W. Coulter expense report")]



Sherman Property [Notes: North West Corner of lot 49 - Purchased 1908 - 26.4 acres, $300]



Mason Property



William Rogers Property



Ken Russell Farm/Angelica L. Gerry [Notes: purchased 1924]



Gerry Family Legal Papers re; Quit Claim Transfer and Deeds [Notes: relating to transfers of property at South end of Lake and parts of Oliver farm (1929)(1940)]



Sleck Property



Lake Delaware Property [Notes: Purchased in June 1947 from Vilma D'Aule (Formerly property of Emory Henness) Small Bovina House $1,500 - June 1947]



Lake Delaware Burial Grounds



Correspondence Between Aknusti/Jackson



Cornell Property



Miscellaneous Land Transactions




II. LAKE DELAWARE - Land Papers, Correspondence, Surveys
[Return to Series Description]

Surveys - Lake Delaware Farm (Field Notes 1881; Surveys 1925, 1929, 1933; Description of Land 1957)

Lake Delaware - Maps, Plans, Designs

Easements/Right-of-Ways - Lake Delaware

Private Roads - Legal documents: Deeds, closing roads, altering roads, maps 1911-1933

Private Roads - Correspondence and legal documents 1933-1952

Agreements - Miscellaneous: 1914-1940 Regarding Boat House, Telephone Poles, Pasturing, Breeding Stable Lands and Buildings, Exchange of Lands, Map of Properties (1940)

Aknusti Insurance Report March 23, 1936

Surveys Lake Delaware Cemetery 1958-1988

Conservation Department Map - Catskills 1938 OVERSIZE

Lake Delaware Notebook - with map, lists of items needed, instructions for arrival and departure, general information

III. FAMILY WILLS
[Return to Series Description]

Book #1: (Typed) Book #2: (Typed)



Family Wills [With dates of Last Will and Testament.]



IV. MEMORABILIA
[Return to Series Description]

John P. Kane Company Board Minutes & Records Nov 1893-Jan 1921

Parke-Bernet Galleries Catalogue with prices of items - (Angelica Livingston Gerry) 1961

Parke-Bernet Galleries Catalogue with receipt for property sold by Mrs. Elbridge Gerry May 1949

Correspondence:


Notes:



Membership and Admissions Certificates Oversize



Diplomas Oversize



Elbridge T. Gerry II



Cornelia Harriman

[ PHOTO GALLERY ] [ PAUL F. COOPER, JR. ARCHIVES ]
Last updated June 27, 2000, by the Library Web Team
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