To Alexander Hamilton from Isaac Sherman, 2 July 1795
From Isaac Sherman1
New York, July 2, 1795. “The land which I have discovered in this city that belonged to Richard Ashfield2 deceased, under whom we claim by descent, is situated on the south side of liberty street, between Nassau street & Broadway, adjoining west on the lot of Doctor Moore’s.3 On one of these lots is a painters shop and house;4 and on the other a blacksmiths shop belonging to Mr. Cliland.5 This last mentioned lot, Mr. Cliland purchased of Richard Morris Esquire,6 about three years ago….”7
ALS, Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress.
1. Sherman, the son of Roger Sherman of Connecticut, was employed as a surveyor in the Northwest Territory in 1787 and 1788 and later served as a clerk in the Treasury Department. H had at one time loaned Sherman money. See Sherman to H, October 16, 1790, January 23, 1792.
2. Ashfield, a New York City merchant, was comptroller of the port of New York from 1700 to 1702. He owned land in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Mrs. Isaac Sherman was Ashfield’s granddaughter.
3. Dr. William Moore lived at the corner of Nassau and Liberty streets in 1794 and at 21 Nassau Street in 1795.
4. Michael Brooks, a painter, lived at 66 Liberty Street.
5. George Cliland’s shop was located at 68 Liberty Street.
6. Morris was chief justice of the Supreme Court of New York from 1779 to 1790. His father, Lewis Morris, and Ashfield’s brother-in-law, Robert Hunter Morris, were brothers.
On April 29, 1794, Morris granted Cliland a deed of warranty for a lot on the south side of Crown Street (renamed Liberty Street in 1794), retaining the freehold for himself (D, Conveyances in the Office of the Register, City of New York, Liber 50, 124).
7. Sherman enclosed in this letter an authenticated copy of Richard Ashfield’s will, dated August 19, 1732, and a certificate of agreement signed by Lewis Morris Ashfield and Mary Ashfield on June 14, 1758 (Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress).