Series II: Legal and Financial Documents, 1651-1787

This series contains various legal and financial documents relating to negotiations and sales of land with Indians. Geographically, the documents include New York and its vicinity, as well as Canada and Georgia. The first folder of the series is composed of a conveyance, order for payment, receipt, deed, mortgage, boundary agreement, two lists of expenses and disbursements, and a fragment of a deed.

The remaining material is a small collection of papers relating to the interests of speculators who purchased pre-emptive rights to Indian Reservation land in New York, through the Ogden Land Company. The rights involved property on the Buffalo Creek, Cannadea, Cattaraugus, Tonnewanda, Tuscarora and Seneca reservations. The documents specifically relate to the share held by the Murray family, including John R. Murray, Mary Murray, Hannah Murray and Susan Ogden.

The papers are composed of various types of documents; among them are accounts, a plan of division, a list of lots, a report of a meeting of proprietors, an agreement of exchange of lots, a certificate of redemption of land, and estimates. Additionally, there are copies of documents concerning the disputed Treaty of 1838 between the United States government and Indian tribes of New York. Many of the items contain information concerning property, including taxes, township location, lot number and acreage.