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Skohere and the Birth of New York’s Western Frontier 1609 – 1731 Volume II 1687 – 1702
When the Palatines arrived at the Schoharie Valley in 1712, the world they stepped into was a century in the making. This formative period of the valley’s history has never been fully told, nor has the true impact these rebellious German refugees had on pushing New York’s western frontier as far as they did, as fast as they did. Until now.
The three-volume series “Skohere and the Birth of New York’s Western Frontier 1609 – 1731” is a trilogy about the Palatines that’s not really about the Palatines. It’s a biography of the Schoharie Valley and the people who helped shape its earliest colonial history.
The Schoharie Valley is one of New York’s three great colonial valleys, its history closely connected to, but overshadowed by, the more famed Hudson and Mohawk. The sweeping narrative that connects a far-reaching network of people and events to an expansive view of Schoharie Valley history continues. Volume II and the series will alter, enhance, and challenge accepted history.
The most controversial period in Provincial New York’s history begins with the Glorious Revolution in England. Provincial New York faces political upheaval just as a new, bloody, war begins. Figures closely related to the Schoharie Valley are thrust into prominent roles during Jacob Leisler’s Rebellion and its lasting impact on New York’s political landscape. Greed, corruption, revenge, and piracy dominate the narrative.
Nicholas Bayard’s Skohere Patent is among several fraudulent Extravagant Grants that sow discord among the Five Nations. The narrative culminates with the return of Mohawks to the Schoharie Valley after a century of vacancy, just as Queen Anne ascends the throne of England and another, even more destructive, war begins.
An excerpt from Chapter XXIII: The Quest for Skohere
***From the moment he emerged from the dungeon below Fort William at Leisler’s capitulation, Col. Nicholas Bayard embarked on a bitter journey of retribution against his enemies and the recovery of lost wealth because he could not attend his business affairs while being constantly harassed and eventually jailed. Revenge came swiftly as he helped condemn Jacob Leisler and Jacob Milborne to death. Then, he turned his sights on the men he accused of conspiring against him. He submitted a claim in the Secretary’s Office for “the Severall dammages by him sustained in the times of the late rebellion & disorders within this Province.” The claim was divided into two parts. The first was “ffor the ffals Imprisonmt of the sd Bayard during the space of 14 Months to the dammage of him the sd Bayard £5000. By the hands & means of” twenty men, headed by former Mayor of New York City who was condemned to death, but later pardoned by Gov. Fletcher, Peter Delanoy. The second was “ffor the several assaults forces Wrongs Spoils & Injuries done perpetrated & Committed in the house and uppon the Estate” of Bayard by 13 named men to the sum of £200.
The amount of damages sought was staggering and gives some indication just how wealthy Nicholas Bayard was if the sum was in any way an accurate assessment of how much of his fortune had been lost. Whether he received all or part of his claim is unclear. What is very clear, however, is that Col. Bayard was still among the wealthiest men in the province who could, at the drop of a hat, finance any sum of money asked of him for government expenditures. And he wanted more. His only son, Samuel, was already in his 20’s and well into marrying age. Like all privileged sons of his day, he could expect the family wealth and prestige to attract a worthy bride of equal or greater class. As any parent approaching the last stages of life would desire, Col. Bayard wanted to leave his one and only son as great a fortune as possible to inherit. In these times, land was the same as money. Buy the right piece of land, one that lay in the path of inevitable western expansion, and it could be parceled out at a much greater price than originally paid for the whole. Upon part or all of this speculative land, a manor in the grandest Dutch Patroon-like style could be established as well. Samuel could sit as lord above a flock of tenants.
For any of the above-named reasons or some unknown cause, Col. Nicholas Bayard was an active player in the real estate business. The same day Arent Schuyler and Samuel Bayard had their patent for the “Dancing Chamber” on the Governor’s Council agenda, March 8, 1694/95, Nicholas Bayard’s petition to confirm the patent of his own estate in New York City was also discussed. This was a strong indicator that Col. Bayard was shoring up the legality of land already in his possession before he sought additional investments. This business concluding with an inevitable confirmation, Bayard then petitioned Governor Fletcher for a much more ambitious venture. On May 14, 1694, the governor and council granted the colonel a license “for the purchase of Indians lands.”
Without any specified location of these lands, we have to speculate that the license was a favor that extended a special privilege to talk to any Indian proprietors about their disposition toward selling land. This may seem like an innocuous grant, but taken in the context of an ongoing war and the well-known wavering sentiments of the preeminent native power in the northern colonies, the Five Nations, the open-ended license was an audacious development. Col. Bayard now had, for all intents and purposes, free reign to ask about any land in Indian country he may desire.
Colonel Bayard was too engaged in his own business matters and the governor’s council to do the time-consuming legwork needed to find and negotiate the right land situation himself. Besides, a man of his stature could not be lowered to endlessly roam the filthy wilderness or engage its uncivilized inhabitants. Instead, he turned to his son’s adventurous friend, Arent Schuyler, to do the dirty work of being his real estate agent. For over a year, Arent split time between pursuing his own business and land interests and working on behalf of Col. Bayard. Then, toward fall of 1695, Arent emerged from the wilderness with a signed Indian deed for Bayard that was brought to the Governor’s Council on Sept. 28 for consideration.
Nicholas Bayard described it as “A certain tract of land called Schohaare, containing about four Thousand acres lying in the Maquaas Country about fourty Miles above Albany near or adjoining the said first Indian Castle. And the said Land lay at that distance in a Wilderness without any conveniency to — of water carriage by reason of the Great falls in the River., and very difficult as to any Road by reason of the hills and Mountains yet it being expected to be fitt for improvement.” Two Mohawk Sachems, Henry and Joseph, later referred to the land sold as “a vast Tract of Land…called Ikohere, (Skohere) of so large an Extent that a Young man has enough to doe to runn over it in a day’s time.” According to them, it had been purchased “for the value of thirty Beavor-skins in Rum and other goods.” ***
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