Nina Postupack, County Clerk

Exhibit - Duty & Disaster

Letter to Surveyor General from Ulster County Justices, 1765


Transcription:

To Alexander Colden Esq. Surveyor Generell of the province of Newyork or his Deputy William Cockburn and Cornelius Ten Broeck Jacob Frees and Stephen Vandyck Esq. Justices of the Peace for the County of Albany

Ulster County Ss:

We the Subscribers Justices of the peace In and for said County of Ulster Residing In Kingston Hurley and Marbletowne In the Said County and being the Nearest Justices of the peace In this said County agreeable To an Advertisement Issued out of the Surveyor Generalls office the Six Day of May 1765 and Incerted In the Newyork Mercury N706 - Have (?) Present at the Burning of the partition and Devision Line Between the Countyes of Albany and Ulster and to conform to the Directions of his Honorable Lieutenant Govenour Signified In the said advertisement. But In as much as we perceive that the Line You are abought to Burn as a Line for a partition and Division between the said Counties of Albany and Ulster is Different from the Certain Reputed Line of partition between the Said Counties and (?) Different from the Line of Devision Settled by act of Assembly of this province and Dependencies Into Shires and Counties passed (?)1 November 1683 - the County of Ulster is Limited and Decsribed as follows to witt the County of Ulster to Contain the Towne of Kingston Hurley and Marbletowne foxhall and the Newpaltz and All Villages Neighbourhoods and Christian Habitations to the West Side of Hudsons...(River from the Murdorors Creek neer the Highlands to the Sawyers Creek...)

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Letter to Surveyor General from Ulster County Justices, 1765 - click to enlarge
Note: This is the first page of a letter from the Justices of the County to the Surveyor General of New York State concerning the northern border of Ulster County as it appeared in a legal notice published in the Newyork Mercury N706, May 6, 1765. The Justices disagree with the Surveyor General’s findings. In question is the language referring to Sawyers Kill Creek, running north and south, and causing a misunderstanding about the land lying between the creek and the Hudson River. In 1683 the Province of New York was divided into twelve counties or "shires". The boundaries of Ulster County extended south of New Windsor, north to the Sawyers Kill Creek (at Saugerties), east to the Hudson River, and west to the Delaware River. Other records in the collection indicate that the northern border of the county at the Sawyers Kill Creek was the subject of further investigation and debate. Some records, circa 1790, include first person testimony from residents living in the vicinity of the origin of the Sawyers Kill.

In his book, "The Early History of Kingston & Ulster County, N.Y.", Marc B. Fried writes, "The county is presumed to have been named in honor of the Duke of York, James Stuart, who held the Irish title of Earl of Ulster."

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