LeRoy Township, Genesee County GenWeb -

Why Jacob Left LeRoy
by Lynne Belluscio

It certainly seems that the financial gyrations of today are not so much different than those 170 years ago.

In 1835, Jacob LeRoy and Herman Redfield were negotiating for the purchase of all the remaining unsold property of the Holland Purchase in Orleans, Niagara, Genesee and Erie Counties. The land was to be purchased at $2 per acre and the contracts, bonds and mortgages were to be purchased at 20% to 23% discount. One fourth to one half of the purchase price was to be paid within one year and the rest in six annual installments.

Redfield and LeRoy represented the Farmers Loan & Trust Company. (The Farmers & Loan Company was originally chartered in 1822 as the Farmers Fire Insurance and Loan Company. It was merged and bought out several times and exists now as Citibank.) The Farmers and Loan Company wanted to overtake its major rival, the New York Life Insurance & Trust Company. The latter had been linked with the Holland Land Company and they had been denounced in the political campaign in 1834. The New York Life Insurance Company was blamed for crushing the economy with ramifications that trickled down to a lot of small businessmen and farmers. There was concern that the state legislature would curtail business transactions of the large loan companies. (Does any of this sound familiar?)

LeRoy and Redfield, on behalf of the Farmers Loan and Trust had to work in a hurry and accepted a counter. The new terms were 50% of the purchase in cash and the remainder in two years. The contract was signed December 25, 1835 for $2,282,382.63. Most of this was for contracts and outstanding mortgages.

In the four counties there were but 50,000 acres of unsold land and 39,000 acres held under expired contracts. But LeRoy and Redfield planned for some changes. The Holland Land Company had been lenient. Many settlers had not been making payments on their land and had not renewed their contracts. LeRoy and Redfield announced that there would be no reduction of the original contract price. Contracts could be renewed within six months, with 1/8 of the new purchase price as down payment and the rest payable in ten annual installments at 7 percent.

In all cases where the amount due was less than $3 per acre, the new price was $4. If the acreage price was between $3 and $5 there would be a $1.50 increase. Over $5 and less than $8, the increase was $2 an acre and over $8 the increase was $3. These were huge increases and became known as the “Genesee Tariff.” The bad news spread like wild fire.

In Chautauqua, where another group of businessmen had bought up the unsold land of the Holland Land Company, a thousand settlers, afraid that they would be under similar increases as the “Genesee Tariff”, gathered in Mayville at the land office. They stormed the land office in protest. News of the unrest spread north to the lands held by Redfield and LeRoy. It was feared that the disgruntled settlers would come to Batavia. In preparation of an attack, the papers from the land office were moved from Batavia to Rochester.

Later, two strong block houses were built to defend the land office and an appeal for aid was sent to Gov. Marcy. He ordered the transfer to Batavia of a large quantity of munitions from the Canandaigua arsenal. In the midst of this, protest meetings were held in Buffalo. Eventually, the situation began to improve. As calmer heads prevailed, it became apparent that the modified terms outlined by LeRoy and Redfield were not as oppressive as first thought. Payments were resumed and business continued as before. The Farmers Loan and Trust Company completed it payments nearly on schedule at the end of 1837.

Early in the summer of 1838, the Holland Company’s interests were closed in Niagara, Erie, Orleans and Genesee Counties. Considering Jacob LeRoy’s part in this unpopular economic venture in Western New York, it is perfectly understandable that he moved from LeRoy to New York City, never to return.

LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - October 12, 2008


LEROY TOWN, GENESEE COUNTY, NEW YORK GENWEB PROJECT
BIOGRAPHY JACOB LE ROY


Historical Society Grant by Lynne Belluscio For a long time we have wanted to build an exhibit about Jacob LeRoy and his family who lived in LeRoy House, but the truth is that we really don't know a lot about Jacob and Charlotte. And we have little information about what happened to him when he left Le Roy. In March, I wrote a request for a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts that would help pay for travel expenses to New York City to research the LeRoy family. Last week we received notice that the request had been approved. Once we have some more information about Jacob, we'll work with Exhibition Alliance to plan and develop a new permanent exhibit at LeRoy House. In March of 2008, I will apply for an implementation grant that would help pay for the construction of the exhibit. The key word for the grant request process is "patience." Descendents of the LeRoy family published the family genealogy in 2003. The book is well researched and provides footnotes for the sources of the information. So the first step in starting the research will be to examine all of the footnotes. What we know about Jacob is that he was born on November 27, 1794 and was the fourth child of Herman and Hannah Cornell LeRoy and that he was born into a wealthy New York City family. He attended Yale University for three years and in 1815, following the War of 1812, he traveled to India aboard one of his father's ships to open contracts for commerce. He married Charlotte Downes Otis on May 20, 1822 at Grace Church in New York City. Charlotte was born in Boston on October 15, 1800, and her father was a prominent businessman. Her mother died in France before Charlotte was married. We have very little information about Charlotte. Some accounts say she was educated in France, but there is no substantiation. Her sister, Helen, was also married to a Jacob (Rutgers) LeRoy, which only points out how easy it is to confuse the Jacob LeRoys - and there are a lot of them - - cousins and uncles! The Historical Society has Charlotte's recipe book which gives a little insight into Charlotte's personality. The cookbook may be the focal point of Charlotte's life in the new exhibit, unless I can discover additional information about her. Jacob came to Le Roy to be the land agent for the Triangle Tract. He may have come as early as 1821, but certainly he was here by 1822 after his marriage to Charlotte. Jacob and Charlotte had ten children. Most likely eight were born in Le Roy and the two youngest were born in New York City but there is some question as to whether Louisa who was born in 1837 was born in Le Roy or New York City. Two girls, Caroline and Julia, of St. George Church in New York. At least we believe it was "our" Jacob and not one of his cousins, nephews or uncles. Charlotte died in November 1851 leaving her brood of children, including the youngest daughter, who was only 10. In 1853, Jacob remarried, and to make the story confusing, he married his first wife's cousin, whose name was also Charlotte. His first wife was Charlotte Downes Otis. His second wife was Charlotte Otis Downes. (Sometimes I am convinced that the LeRoy family decided to thoroughly confuse future historians from really discovering the family history, by using names over and over.) I had been led to believe that Jacob died in New York City, but the family genealogy states that he died in Fairfield, Connecticut on February 4, 1868. He is buried in the family plot in Woodlawn in the Bronx. No obituary has been found, so maybe that might be part of the search. His probate record has never been located so that's part of the missing family history and would tell something of his financial status in his later years. His second wife, ( I think) was the treasurer of a hospital foundation which included some very wealthy New York City women. She and Jacob had no children and she died in East Hampton, Massachusetts on April 17, 1885. Maybe I can find an obituary for her. There are so many unanswered questions, so with the help of this grant, maybe we can fill in some of the gaps. I'll keep you posted. LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - January 7, 2008
Why Jacob Left LeRoy by Lynne Belluscio It certainly seems that the financial gyrations of today are not so much different than those 170 years ago. In 1835, Jacob LeRoy and Herman Redfield were negotiating for the purchase of all the remaining unsold property of the Holland Purchase in Orleans, Niagara, Genesee and Erie Counties. The land was to be purchased at $2 per acre and the contracts, bonds and mortgages were to be purchased at 20% to 23% discount. One fourth to one half of the purchase price was to be paid within one year and the rest in six annual installments. Redfield and LeRoy represented the Farmers Loan & Trust Company. (The Farmers & Loan Company was originally chartered in 1822 as the Farmers Fire Insurance and Loan Company. It was merged and bought out several times and exists now as Citibank.) The Farmers and Loan Company wanted to overtake its major rival, the New York Life Insurance & Trust Company. The latter had been linked with the Holland Land Company and they had been denounced in the political campaign in 1834. The New York Life Insurance Company was blamed for crushing the economy with ramifications that trickled down to a lot of small businessmen and farmers. There was concern that the state legislature would curtail business transactions of the large loan companies. (Does any of this sound familiar?) LeRoy and Redfield, on behalf of the Farmers Loan and Trust had to work in a hurry and accepted a counter. The new terms were 50% of the purchase in cash and the remainder in two years. The contract was signed December 25, 1835 for $2,282,382.63. Most of this was for contracts and outstanding mortgages. In the four counties there were but 50,000 acres of unsold land and 39,000 acres held under expired contracts. But LeRoy and Redfield planned for some changes. The Holland Land Company had been lenient. Many settlers had not been making payments on their land and had not renewed their contracts. LeRoy and Redfield announced that there would be no reduction of the original contract price. Contracts could be renewed within six months, with 1/8 of the new purchase price as down payment and the rest payable in ten annual installments at 7 percent. In all cases where the amount due was less than $3 per acre, the new price was $4. If the acreage price was between $3 and $5 there would be a $1.50 increase. Over $5 and less than $8, the increase was $2 an acre and over $8 the increase was $3. These were huge increases and became known as the “Genesee Tariff.” The bad news spread like wild fire. In Chautauqua, where another group of businessmen had bought up the unsold land of the Holland Land Company, a thousand settlers, afraid that they would be under similar increases as the “Genesee Tariff”, gathered in Mayville at the land office. They stormed the land office in protest. News of the unrest spread north to the lands held by Redfield and LeRoy. It was feared that the disgruntled settlers would come to Batavia. In preparation of an attack, the papers from the land office were moved from Batavia to Rochester. Later, two strong block houses were built to defend the land office and an appeal for aid was sent to Gov. Marcy. He ordered the transfer to Batavia of a large quantity of munitions from the Canandaigua arsenal. In the midst of this, protest meetings were held in Buffalo. Eventually, the situation began to improve. As calmer heads prevailed, it became apparent that the modified terms outlined by LeRoy and Redfield were not as oppressive as first thought. Payments were resumed and business continued as before. The Farmers Loan and Trust Company completed it payments nearly on schedule at the end of 1837. Early in the summer of 1838, the Holland Company’s interests were closed in Niagara, Erie, Orleans and Genesee Counties. Considering Jacob LeRoy’s part in this unpopular economic venture in Western New York, it is perfectly understandable that he moved from LeRoy to New York City, never to return. LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - October 12, 2008

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