Phelps and Gorham Company.

Name Entries

Information

corporateBody

Name Entries *

Phelps and Gorham Company.

Computed Name Heading

Name Components

Name :

Phelps and Gorham Company.

Genders

Exist Dates

Exist Dates - Date Range

1776

active 1776

Active

1892

active 1892

Active

Show Fuzzy Range Fields

Biographical History

Oliver Phelps with Nathaniel Gorham purchased 6,000,000 acres from Massachusetts of land in western New York State in 1788. This land was claimed by Massachusetts under its royal charter, which granted land from ocean to ocean. The charter of New York covered all of this land as well. The Hartford treaty of 1786 gave New York sovereignty over the area, but Massachusetts was given preemptive right to the western lands.

Oliver Phelps attempted to purchase the 6,000,000 acres for $100,000, when he could not raise the capital alone he formed a partnership with Nathaniel Gorham. The two were able to obtain title to only 2,000,000 of the original 6 million and began their land agency with the object of selling off the two million in their purchase. The company established a land office at Canandaigua, N.Y. This town formed the commercial center of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase. Initially land sales were good and property values increased dramatically, but by 1800 a depression in agricultural markets caused widespread defaults and forced Phelps into debt. The Phelps-Gorham purchase was evntually sold to Robert Morris, in an effort to cut losses and extricate the company from a faltering market. Phelps retained some lands, which his son Oliver L. Phelps continued to manage, along with other real estate interests held by Phelps nationwide.

From the description of Records, 1776-1892. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122535484

eng

Latn

External Related CPF

Other Entity IDs (Same As)

Sources

Loading ...

Resource Relations

Loading ...

Internal CPF Relations

Loading ...

Languages Used

Subjects

Farm rents

Farm tenancy

Land companies

Land settlement

Land subdivision

Land titles

Merchants

Military supplies

Real estate investment

Surveys

Nationalities

Activities

Occupations

Legal Statuses

Places

Connecticut

as recorded (not vetted)

AssociatedPlace

Western Reserve (Ohio)

as recorded (not vetted)

AssociatedPlace

New York (State)

as recorded (not vetted)

AssociatedPlace

Harpersfield (N.Y.)

as recorded (not vetted)

AssociatedPlace

United States

as recorded (not vetted)

AssociatedPlace

Massachusetts

as recorded (not vetted)

AssociatedPlace

Pennsylvania

as recorded (not vetted)

AssociatedPlace

Vermont

as recorded (not vetted)

AssociatedPlace

Phelps and Gorham Purchase (N.Y.)

as recorded (not vetted)

AssociatedPlace

Albany (N.Y.)

as recorded (not vetted)

AssociatedPlace

Canandaigua (N.Y.)

as recorded (not vetted)

AssociatedPlace

Stamford (N.Y.)

as recorded (not vetted)

AssociatedPlace

Morris Reserve (N.Y.)

as recorded (not vetted)

AssociatedPlace

Convention Declarations

General Contexts

Structure or Genealogies

Mandates

Identity Constellation Identifier(s)

w6190b0c

40917