Research

Scope and Content Note

Original letters patent documenting the grant of 8000 acres of land in Albany County to Philip Embury and others. The grant was made in the name of George III. It recites the boundaries of the lands granted, reserves to the crown all gold and silver mines and pine timber suitable for masts, requires payment of a yearly quit rent of two shillings six pence sterling per hundred acres, and requires settlement of at least one family per 1000 acres within three years or the grant would be voided.

The document is endorsed with a statement that the patent was duly recorded on October 31, 1765. The letters patent are engrossed on parchment, but some of the text is obscured because of fading and staining. An intact impression of the great seal of the Province of New York is appended.