From John Jay to Lord Jeffrey Amherst, 12 April 1796
Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, by James Watson, published by John and Josiah Boydell, after Sir Joshua Reynolds, ca. 1796. Mezzotint. (© National Portrait Gallery, London)
To Lord Jeffrey Amherst
NYork 12 Ap. 1796
My Lord
The Letter you did me the Honor to write on the 27 Septr. last was ^here^ delivered to me a few weeks ago by Mr Austin—1 He was He was unfortunate in his voyage, and yet happy in surviving the many disasterous occurrances ^[disast] ers^ he met with— He seems an amiable young man, and is now on his way to Canada—2
Our Legislature being in Session I have endeavoured but without Success to obtain from the members of the County in wh. your Lands are Situated, Information respecting them. In consequence of a Conversation I had on the Subject with Genl. Schuyler, who assured me it wd give him pleasure to have opportunities of being useful to yr. Lordship I this Day wrote him a Letter of wh. the following is a Copy
(here insert it)3
The General expects to set out for Albany the Day after Tomorrow, and on his arrival there will immediately take the measures mentioned in the above Letter— on recs being informed by him of the Result, I shall immediately ^without Delay^ communicate it to yr. Lordship—
In this Country my Lord, and particularly in the part of it settled by people from New England, there is a general Disinclination to holding Lands on Lease— There being much Land to be sold and for moderate Prices Freeholds are preferred; as it being is not uncommon for two or three Crops to pay the first Cost of the Land— some of our Land Holders have disposed of Farms in fee, reserving a Rent Charge periodically increasing— others have given very long Leases, the Rent increasing at given periods & a Fine reserved on Sales or Transfers Except in our Cities Rents in this Country ^as yet^ bear no proportion to the Value of the Land rented, and in general such Lands are neither well managed nor the Rents well paid— These Inconveniences result from the State of Things & of Society in this Country; and I presume ^they^ will ^probably^ continue to operate while such immense Tracts of Wilderness remain to be occupied—4
My son is very sensible of the Honor your Lordship does him, and joins with me in requesting the favor of your Lordship to present our respectful compts. to Lady Amherst and the Young Ladies, and with Great ^& sincere^ Respect and Esteem I have the Honor to be my Ld. Yr. Lordships most obt. & faithful Servt
The Rt Honb. Ld. Amherst
Dft, NNC (EJ: 12540: EJ: 12851). Enclosure: JJ to Philip Schuyler, 12 Apr. 1796, below.
1. Lord Amherst to JJ, 27 Sept. 1795, ALS, NNC (EJ: 05455). Amherst first requested JJ’s assistance in securing his land in Tryon Co., N.Y., while JJ was in London. See Lord Amherst to JJ, 7 Mar. 1795, ALS, NNC (EJ: 05450); JJ to Lord Amherst, 5 Apr. 1795, Dft, NNC (EJ: 12533); and Lord Amherst to JJ, 6 Apr. 1795, ALS, NNC (EJ: 05452). In his letter, Amherst enclosed a copy of the 14 Apr. 1769 royal grant giving him 20,000 acres in N.Y. State (enclosure not found). Calendar of N. Y. Colonial Manuscripts, Indorsed Land Papers (New York, 1864), 472–73, 530, 598, and 601.
2. Lt. Col. Henry Austen was appointed cornet in the 60th Foot in 1795. He served in the West and East Indies, Canada, and Ireland during the rebellion of 1798. The Royal Military Calendar (London, 1815), 3: 278.
3. JJ to Philip Schuyler, 12 Apr., below.
4. In a codicil to his will, dated 24 July 1794, Lord Jeffrey Amherst left his nephew William Pitt Amherst “the Estate I am possessed of in the Government of New York consisting of twenty four thousand Acres which were of no Value till the Treaty was made with Mr Jay and I give it on the same condition as I have given him the Jesuits Estate in Canada”. Article 9 of the Jay Treaty allowed for British subjects to “grant sell or devise the same to whom they please, in like manner as if they were Natives.” Will of The Right Honorable Jeffery Lord Amherst of Saint James’s Square, Middlesex, Uk-KeNA, PROB 11/1295/156. Amherst died in 1797. Lady Amherst to JJ, 29 Aug. 1797, ALS, NNC (EJ: 05456), and JJ to Lady Amherst, 19 Dec. 1797, Dft, NNC (EJ: 12857). JJ continued to advise William Pitt Amherst on his estates into the 1820s.