Cadwallader Colden

by Seymour I. Schwartz

  In the colony of New York during the 1720s conflicts over the relative merits of free trade, as contrasted with protective duties, were pervasive and dominated politics. In 1726, two pamphlets espousing the competing arguments were printed. The Interest of the Country in laying Duties: or, a Discourse, shewing how Duties on some Sorts of Merchandize may make the Province of New-York richer than it would be without them was written by Colden and printed as an anonymous document by John Peter Zenger. It was countered by another anonymous document, also printed by Zenger. The Interest of City and Country to Lay No Duties: or A Short Discourse shewing that Duties on Trade, tend to the Impoverishing City and Country. In response to the two disparate publications, Colden produced a pamphlet, also printed in 1726 by Zenger, The Two Interests reconciled; occasioned by two late Pamphlets, called The Interest of the Country and the Interest of City and Country. Disguised as an attempt at reconciliation, Colden's publication was a partisan expression that called for a direct tax upon land accumulators or usurers, a locally built and home-owned merchant marine, and a continuation of protective duties.50

  In addition, there is a draft in Colden's handwriting, The Second Part of the Interest of the Country in Laying Duties, that is included in the publications of The Letters and Papers of Cadwallader Colden. He had an immutable suspicion and dislike of merchants and lawyers. In this document, Colden criticized the city merchants for their antagonism toward the payment of duties. He focused on the duties attached to the importation of liquor, indicating that if drinking would be reduced it would be advantageous for the country, “…& this further good may be expected that when strong Drink becomes dearer & a person more accustomed to work he may the sooner be reclaim'd & lose his ill habit.”51

  Also in 1726, Colden recorded a draft of a report of a Committee of Council concerning government revenues. It was written in response to a vote by the Assembly that put a restraint on the powers given to the governor to issue all monies. The Assembly indicated that its members ought to determine their compensation and have oversight of disposition of all the funds that the governor receives from the Crown. Colden's report affirmed that the control of “his Majesties Revenue” resides with the governor and the Council rather than the Assembly.52

  Toward the end of Colden's period of residence in New York City, two letters that he received were dated April 2 and April 9, 1728, and were ascribed to Peter Collinson, who would remain an important correspondent with Colden for almost four decades. Peter Collinson was born in London on January 28, 1694, into a Quaker family that was engaged in the cloth trade, which he maintained, dealing in fabrics and haberdashery of every kind, until his retirement in 1765. Collinson developed an interest in botany, and received his first plants from North American soil in 1723. His lifelong interest in American plants served as a basis of continued correspondence with colonial Americans with similar interests, such as James Logan, John Bartram, John Clayton, Alexander Garden, and Cadwallader Colden. Collinson served as an intermediary between the American botanists and the English and European scientific world, particularly the botanists, Carolus Linnaeus and Johannes Fredericus Gronovius.53

  The end of Colden's first decade in New York coincided with his move from the city to the country. Governor Burnet was transferred to the governorship of Massachusetts on April 15, 1728, and was replaced by Governor John Montgomerie, who would serve until his death in 1731. In a letter written on January 31, 1760, to his son, Alexander, Cadwallader Colden reflected on the impact that Montgomerie had on his personal status.

  As we were walking in formality to publish Colonel Montgomeries's commission, I overheard him say to Mr Clark that he would absolutely trust to his advice and he kept his promise to his death….

  Colonel Montgomerie did not want natural abilities nor any part of the education proper for a gentleman, but he had given himself up to his pleasures, especially to his bottle and had an aversion to business. He was likewise the most diffident of himself of any man I ever knew. He was much in debt and wanted to recover his fortune by the profits of his government with as little trouble to himself as possible. Mr. Clark served him well for these purposes.

  Mr. DeLancey was at the head of the party in the assembly which had been in opposition to Mr. Burnet and which had now the ascendant in that house. Mr. DeLancey was to be gratified in his resentment against Chief Justice Morris and the Governor was to use his interest to have the acts repealed which had been passed in Governor Burnet's Administration prohibiting the direct trade to Canada with Indian goods…. Mr. DeLancey had the advantages of his own private trade in view which were very considerable.54

  Coldengham is the residence with which Cadwallader Colden is generally identified. Work actually began on the farm in 1724 at which time Colden initially conceived of it as a vacation home. Before Colden began the development, the land “was the habitation only of wolves & bears & other wild animals.”55 Initially, the management of the farm was carried out by an overseer named Gallesby, but he was negligent of the care of the livestock and, consequently, fired.56 Colden indicated in a letter to his aunt that he was building a small house and cellar under it. At the time, “My Design in this is that I may with some comfort be able three or four times a year to stay there a fortnight or three weeks & look after the Work that is done or what I may think proper.”57 According to the “Farm journal, 1727–1736, Coldengham, Orange County, N.Y.,” a manuscript compiled by Colden, concentrated work began on the property during the summer of 1727.

  Colden's Farm Journal, the manuscript of which is housed in the Rosenbach Museum and Library in Philadelphia, is the earliest extant New York farm journal for the Hudson Valley.58 The first entry bears the date April 15, 1727, and reads; “On the 15th of August we sow'd 41/16 Bushels Rye upon a summer fallow after Indian Corn. The ground was very mellow. Sow'd under furrow about 3 acres. At the same time sowed some spinage in the Garden.” The journal chronicles crop rotation; planting of both white and yellow Indian corn; and establishing orchards of a variety of apples, cherries, pears, peaches, and nectarines. It also includes records of cattle breeding and butchering and dairying. A kitchen garden satisfied the culinary and medicinal needs.59

  Coldengham, a 3,000-acre estate, is shown on a 1760 map to be located just to the west of the current Colden Cemetery at the corner where Tin Brook turns from east to north on the site of the Pimm House on Maple Avenue in Montgomery.60 A deed dated September 7, 1771, by which Cadwallader Colden passed part of the property to his son, Cadwallader Colden, Jr., fixes the original Colden Mansion location as Maple Avenue just west of the cemetery in Montgomery.61

  The move to Coldengham, where Colden would reside for the next three decades, was doubtless a consequence of his sensing a change in his potential for impact in the governing of New York. Colden maintained his role as councilor but moved with his family, which consisted of his wife and six young children (Alexander, born in Philadelphia August 13, 1716; Elizabeth, born in New York February 5, 1719; Cadwallader, born in New York May 26, 1722; Jane, born in New York March 27, 1724; Alice, born in New York September 27, 1725; and Sarah, born July 6, 1727). Mrs. Colden had also given birth to David between the births of Alexander and Elizabeth, but he died in infancy. The earliest specific date that can be ascribed to Colden's residence at Coldengham is November 19, 1728.62

  The move was aimed at reducing his expenses, avoiding the frustrations generated by his political adversaries, and allowing leisure for philosophical study. In the letter that Colden had written to William Douglass in 1728, in which he suggested the formation of a “Voluntary Society for the advancing of Knowledge,” he stated:

  I hope I am now settled for some months free from the troublesome broils which mens passions occasion in all publick affairs. This gives me hopes of being able to amuse myself with more innocent & more agreeable speculations than usually attend intrigues of State The speculations that gave you & me the greatest Pleasure in the pleasantest time of our Life while we were in the
Garden of Eden before we knew good & Evil before we knew men. A Country life in many respects is very proper for these amusements while what is called nature in a strict sense is more open to our observation & while our thoughts are not drawn off by the unnatural pursuits of the busy part of mankind A man that has for sometime been tossed upon the Dunghill of mens Passions gratifies all his senses with the quiet & innocent pleasures that Nature freely offers in every step the he treds in the woods & fields….63

  Colden's first decade of residence at Coldengham, which was located about sixty miles from New York City, ninety miles from Albany, and a few miles from the west shore of the Hudson River, was characterized by a continuance of his involvement as an active surveyor general and provincial politician, both requiring frequent travel from home. He remained surveyor general until 1762, when he was replaced by his eldest son, Alexander. As a member of the Council there were trips to New York City, where he remained a highly visible figure. After October 1736, when present, Colden presided as the eldest councilor. Transportation between Coldengham and New York City was unpredictable and relied on sloops that sailed on the Hudson River between New York City and Albany. These vessels were sixty-five to seventy-five feet in length and had a limited number of cabin accommodations for the passengers. Schedules were unreliable due to the vagaries of wind and tide. When the river froze, travel ceased.

  Concomitant with the move, Colden became a lessee and rented his house in New York City, using his close friend, James Alexander, as his agent. There is a record that among the renters, were a tavern keeper and a “jew,” who “has no family but a wife & one servant & it would not Suit him to give any higher rent than £20 & the rest of the house besides your room [used for storage of Colden's books and goods] was Enough for him.”1

  The building of a permanent residence on the Coldengham estate in sparsely occupied Ulster County was a gradual and prolonged process. The kitchen was not completed until the fall of 1732.2 At the time, Colden employed “4 Negro Men & two wenches and they all do their business cheerfully & seem contented.”3 Using Scottish stone masons, a three-story house with a stone exterior in Georgian style was built over several years. An addition was made between 1732 and 1733 to accommodate the increasing number in the family (fig. 4). The interior floors were made of planking, using local wood. Each of several rooms had a fireplace, perhaps adorned with Dutch tiles, stained paneling, and a decorated iron fireback.4

  The Colden children performed a variety of chores, including collecting eggs, plucking feathers, and gathering fruits and nuts. The older girls carried out spinning, weaving, and sewing.5 The estate contained an extensive orchard and nursery that included a variety of apples, cherries, pears, nectarines, and peaches.6 Fried fish from the river were a staple of the diet. Oysters were also fired and oyster stew was a favorite dish.7

  One of the unique aspects of the farm was the construction of a canal, which had its point of origin at an enlarged pond to allow shallow-draft barges to transport a variety of material on a stream that ran through the property.8 The canal was identified during an archeological survey conducted in 1967, and is considered to be the first freshwater canal in the United States and the first to utilize horsepower to move boats along its course. Apparently, it began as a drainage ditch to eliminate a swamp, and was enlarged to allow for use by boats when Colden discovered deposits of peat or building-stone in the swamp.9 Colden would later expand his canal concept, which was prescient for the development of the Erie Canal in the early nineteenth century. In a report to the Lords of Trade, he indicated that a direct link could be established between the Mohawk River and Lake Ontario and the other Great Lakes, “By which means of these Lakes & the Rivers which fall into them, Commerce may be carried from New York, through a vast Tract of Land, more easily than from any other maritime town in North America.”10 Colden extended his interests in the area almost immediately. He went into partnership with his neighbor Jacobus Bruyn and built a “publick house” at the Newburgh landing on the shore of the Hudson River, and leased it for £12 per year. He also set up a saw mill, which was functioning by 1731.11

  Figure 4. Coldengham, woodcut from a map in the New-York Historical Society Quarterly XLV (July 1961). Courtesy of The New York Historical Society.

  During the first decade at Coldengham, three more children were born (John on May 28, 1729; Catherine on February 13, 1731; and David on November 23, 1734). Maintenance of the farm and the education of his children occupied most of Colden's time when he was not away on business. But the children's education was mainly dependent on Mrs. Colden. A recollection of a descendent of Alice Colden provided a summation of her contribution to the family.

  In the remote situation of Coldengham…she performed the duties of a wife, mother and mistress with peculiar propriety. The management of every part of her family was initiated and admired by all who had just ideas and were similarly situated…. [T]his was fortunate for my Grandfather, whose superior genius for politics and philosophical pursuits rendered him indifferent to the management of household concerns—how happy was it for a man of his turn to be soon connected: I never saw more proof of the proper ascendancy of a husband, blended with esteem and love, than I have observed in this venerable Grand Mother, and I have often experienced how delightful it was to be an object of her affection. I have frequently heard those who have visited at the house observe, that the useful and agreeable qualities that should prevail everywhere, were by her judicious attentions very remarkably exhibited in those over which she had the direction, and when our intelligent progenitor, was called to preside over the government of New York, she did honor to his station by her conduct in every instance.12

  Cadwallader was responsible for his son Alexander's preparation as a surveyor and his daughter Jane's development as a botanist. Alexander would perform his first survey as a twenty-one year old.13 Latin was taught to the children by the local minister. In 1732, two of the older children, Alexander and Elizabeth, were sent to the city to enhance their education and social skills. This specifically included dancing school.

  During the decade in question, the sole recorded correspondence of Colden related to the exchange of ideas was the February 1736 letter from William Douglass announcing the formation of a medical society in Boston and the society's preparation for publication of its first “Medical Memoirs,” to include a history of a dysentery epidemic in Boston in 1734, and comments on the writings of the famous seventeenth-century English physician, Thomas Sydenham.14

  Initially, Colden's time spent at the estate was probably devoted to the improvement of the farm, the construction of the residence, and the education of the children. His frequent absences from Coldengham, often of sufficient length to generate letters between him and his wife, focused on his role as surveyor general and his membership on the Council of the Province of New York. The three-year period of Governor Montgomerie's stewardship of the Province of New York generated little activity on the part of the surveyor general's office. The governor had neither personal interest in the acquisition of land grants nor the inclination to satisfy the requests of others.

  Under the governance of Montgomerie, in the three years of his tenure, “The Governour's good humour too extinguished the flames of contention, for being unable to plan, he had no particular scheme to pursue; and thus by confining himself to the common acts of government, our publick affairs flowed on in a peaceful uninterrupted scheme.”15 In 1729, Montgomerie traveled to Albany and on October 1 he renewed a treaty with the Six Nations and gained their support for the defense of Oswego.16 The year 1731 was marked by the appearance of the first printed map of New York City, the Lyne Survey (fig. 5) printed by William Bradford.

  The death of Montgomerie on July 1, 1731, led to George II's January 13, 1732 appointment of William Cosby as “Captain General & Governor in Chief of the Provinces of New York, New Jersey and Territories depending thereon in America.” Rip Van Dam, as the eldest councilman, was to serve as interim govern
or. Cosby arrived in New York City with his family on April 24, 1732, and assumed office on August 2. Colden's situation changed substantially under the stewardship of Cosby.

  Figure 5. James Lyne, A Plan of the City of New York from an actual Survey” 1731, printed by William Bradford, New York. Engraving, 45 x 57 cm. Courtesy of Rare Book Division, New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.

  Governor Cosby has been portrayed as one of the most egocentric and oppressive governors in all of British Colonial America's history. Cosby's arrival at New York immediately altered the political scene and created extreme polarization that affected every major political figure. Cosby's supporters included George Clarke, Archibald Kennedy, Adolph Philipse, Philip Van Cortland, and James Delancey, whom Cosby named chief justice after removing Lewis Morris from office. The group constituted the court party, which was more cosmopolitan, favoring trade with the French at Montreal and overseas trade. Colden's closest confidants—Lewis Morris, James Alexander, Rip Van Dam, and William Smith—led the competitive country party, which focused on provincial economic development and constituted Cosby's political foes.

  Cosby's self-interest was also blatantly manifest. He demanded that the late acting governor, Rip Van Dam, remit half his salary to Cosby, and demanded a third of every land patent grant, in addition to petitioning for major grants for himself. Within two years of his arrival, patents were issued for 15,000; 27,000; and 86,000 acres. Cosby asked for 48,000 acres for himself.17 In 1734, Cosby received a land grant from the king of 22,000 acres on the Mohawk River in what became Herkimer County.