To Alexander Hamilton from Herman Le Roy and William Bayard, 27 August 1800
From Herman Le Roy and William Bayard1
New York, August 27, 1800. Requests opinion on the “Compensation … proper for us to claim against the Directors of the Holland Land Company, by reason of our having acted as Co-Trustees and Agents in relation to their Genesee Lands.…”
Copy, Gemeentearchief Amsterdam, Holland Land Company. In 1964 the Holland Land Company documents were transferred to their present location from the Nederlandsch Economisch-Historisch Archief, Amsterdam.
1. Le Roy and Bayard, along with James McEvers, were partners in a New York City mercantile firm. They also served as the Holland Land Company’s agents in the United States because the State of New York did not allow aliens to own land in their own right until April 2, 1798, when the legislature enacted “An Act to enable Aliens to purchase and hold real Estates within this State, under certain restrictions therein mentioned” (New York Laws, 21st Sess., Ch. LXXII). See Robert Morris to H, June 7, 1795, notes 30 and 37.