1769, New York ,Quaker merchant, Walter Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, signed

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1769, New York ,Quaker merchant, Walter Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, signed:
$113.50

This item is a wonderful, original document dated 1769, New York, where merchant Walter Franklin has sold to Thomas Vail, a piece of land named Lot number 4 in the oblong (The lots on “the Oblong ” were the extreme Eastern part of Duchess county. The Oblong, a strip of land on the Eastern border originally owned by Connecticut, was added to New York in 1731.).....signed at bottom by Walter Franklin and on back by Robert R. Livingston as recorder. Document is 10x26, vellum, folds, else in overall good condition.

Robert R(obert)[1] Livingston (November 27, 1746 (Old style November 16) – February 26, 1813) was an American lawyer, politician, diplomat from New York, and aFounding Father of the United States. He was known as \"The Chancellor\", after the high New York state legal office he held for 25 years.

Livingston was appointed Recorder of New York City in October 1773, but soon identified himself with the anti-colonial Whig Party and was replaced a few months later with John Watts, Jr. He was a member of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence, although he was recalled by his state before he could sign the final version of the document.

In 1777-1801 Livingston was the first Chancellor of New York, then the highest judicial officer in the state. He became universally known as \"The Chancellor\", retaining the title as a nickname even after he left the office. Livingston was alsoU.S. Secretary of Foreign Affairs from 1781 to 1783 under the Articles of Confederation.

In 1789 as Chancellor of New York, Livingston administered the presidential oath of office to George Washington at Federal Hall in New York City, then the Capital of the United States.

In 1789 Livingston joined the Jeffersonian Republicans (later known as the Democratic-Republicans), in opposition to his former colleagues John Jay and Alexander Hamilton who founded the Federalists. He formed an uneasy alliance with his previous rival George Clinton, along with Aaron Burr, then a political newcomer. He opposed the Jay Treaty and other Federalist initiatives.

In 1798 Livingston ran for Governor of New York on the Democratic-Republican ticket, but was defeated by incumbent Governor John Jay.

As U.S. Minister to France from 1801 to 1804, Livingston negotiated the Louisiana Purchase.

During his time as U.S. minister to France, Livingston met Robert Fulton, with whom he developed the first viable steamboat, the North River Steamboat, whose home port was at the Livingston family home of Clermont Manor in the town of Clermont, New York. On her maiden voyage she left New York City with him as a passenger, stopped briefly at Clermont Manor, and continued on to Albany up the Hudson River, completing in just under 60 hours a journey which had previously taken nearly a week by sloop. In 1811 Fulton and Livingston became members of the Erie Canal Commission.

Walter Franklin was one of the wealthiest Quaker merchants in New York. He married Mary, daughter of Daniel Bowne. Their daughter Maria married Governor De Witt Clinton. Sarah married John L. Norton. The expected child was born and named Hannah. She married George Clinton, a younger brother of DeWitt Clinton. The house of Walter Franklin was an elegant mansion on the corner of Cherry street and Franklin Square, or Pearl street.

When General Washington was President he lived for a time in the Franklin house, then one of the finest residences in the city. It remained until 1856, when it was torn down by the heirs of Hannah Clinton, and stores built in its place.A part of the property of Walter Franklin was a wide lot on Pearl street, about half-way between Cherry and Oak streets. He sold this to the Quaker Society, October, 1774, and upon it the Pearl Street Quaker Meeting House was built, and also a school.

From \"HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER CO\", by Thomas Scharf:

\"The family of Vail were also purchasers on the \"Oblong\", southeast of the Palmers, and Thomas Vail was overseer of the poor in 1790. In 1812, Sarah Vail, his widow, divised her real estate to her two sons William and John, and other property to daughters Martha and Phoebe.\"The \"oblong\" was a tract of land lying between New York and Connecticut, ownership of which was claimed by both states. The present boundary was established in 1880-1881. The property was described as being \"on the west shore of Lake Pehquennakonck, (now Peach lake), and near the town is a large building which has been modernized and enlarged, but which has always been kept as an inn or boarding place.\"This building was torn down and made into two cottages by 1930. \"Vail\'s Pavillion\" was built by Arthur Hubert Vail Sr. in 1921 as a dance hall and is on the east side of Peach lake. Thomas Vail is considered to be the first Vail that resided in North Salem.

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