Guilderland Historical Society
- Van Bael Patent proposed marker text and supporting documents


Van Bael Patent - revised proposed marker text

Van Bael Patent marker mockup image

VAN BAEL PATENT

PURCHASE 1672 FROM MOHAWKS.
SOLD TO SYMON VEEDER 1683 &
OMIE LAGRANGE 1686. DISPUTED
BY PATROONS; CUT TO 1000
ACRES BY 1775 ARBITRATION



mockup image of proposed marker




Supporting documents:

PURCHASE 1672 FROM MOHAWKS

1) Deed to Jan Hendrickse Van Bael, 18 July 1672, including map
Reference and transcription in Dennis Sullivan manuscript (2019)
[VanBaelPatent16720718deedtext.pdf]
The definition of the patent in this document requires that it was a square, and must have contained at least 36,000, and quite probably 50,000 acres, essentially most or all of the land within the Normanskill valley for a distance of 7 to 10 miles west from Albany.

2) Patent confirmation to Jan Hendrickse Van Bael, 21 August 1672
documents in the NY State Archives:
[NYSA_A0487-78_Vol5b_p91-92.pdf] A0487-78, Letters Patent – Volume 5B, Page 91-92 [this document made from the original in 1711]
[12943-78_Vol4_p88-89.pdf] A0487-78, Letters Patent Transcribed Pursuant to an Act of 1786 – Volume 4, Page 88-89 [copied from the 1711 document]
"...Jan Hendricks Van Baal hath made Purchase of the Indian Proprietors of the Maquis*......the said Indian Proprietors Names who made Sale of the said Land and sett to their Marks for the Conveyance thereof being Canachko, Schaenwino, Canhowadadin, and Sagodermechta......"
* the tribe later more commonly known as Mohawks

2b) also found in Albany County Deed book 5 pages 438-9, accompanying deed from heirs of Jan Hendrickse Van Bael to Omie LaGrange and Johannes Symonse [Vedder or Veeder], dated 6 September 1716
[bk5p438-9.pdf]; transcription [bk5p438-9transcript.pdf]


SOLD TO SYMON VEEDER 1683 & OMIE LAGRANGE 1686.

These two persons each obtained a half of the patent. Both were the founder of a family group, each with numerous descendants, that lived and farmed and were well known in the Normanskill valley for more than 200 years, the area later to become part of the Townships of Guilderland and New Scotland. Omie LaGrange is also noteworthy for having lived to the age of 106, according to the record of the Lutheran pastor of his burial in 1731.

3) sale of half of the patent to Symon Volkertse [Veeder] 26 June 1683
Albany County Deed book 3 page 183 [bk3p183rc.jpg] photo of the original (in the Albany County Hall of Records);
[bk3p183_x2.pdf] from the best available public microfilm copy; focus in upper part is very poor.
translation of the deed in Early Records of Albany, volume 2, pages 187-188.
[Pages187-8fromearlyrecordsofalbanyv2.pdf] this translation made by Jonathan Pearson in 19th century.

4) sale of the other half of the patent to Omie LaGrange 8 September 1686
Albany County Deed book 3 page 322 [bk3p322rc.jpg] photo of the original (in the Albany County Hall of Records);
transcription of the deed in Early Records of Albany, volume 2, pages 312-3
[Pages312-3fromearlyrecordsofalbanyv2.pdf]

5) sale and quit claim of the residual interest in the patent by the heirs of Jan Hendrickse Van Bael 6 September 1716
to Omie LaGrange and Johannes Simonse Vedder (or Veeder); these were the original 1686 LaGrange purchaser, and the son of Symon Volkertse [Veeder].
Albany County Deed book 5 pages 439-42;
[bk5p439-42.pdf] [bk5p439-42transcript.pdf]


DISPUTED BY PATROONS

This dispute started sometime early in the 18th century; the document:
6) An Act to confirm a Submission to Referees of a Controversy concerning the Bounds of the Patent of Jan Hendrickse Van Baal; pp. 753-766 in Laws of the Colony of New York; Chapter 1703, passed April 1, 1775
[VanBaalPages753-60fromThe_Colonial_Laws_of_New_York.pdf]
contains on page 757 this summary:
"Whereas divers disputes have arisen by and between the Parties to these Presents......which Disputes having occasioned great Expences to the said Parties; For the Prevention whereof for the future and for settling the said Disputes between the said Parties they have mutually referred the same to Arbitration by Bonds bearing even date with these Presents in the penalty of Fifty Thousand Pounds with Condition as is thereunder written....".

7) The will of Isaac LaGrange (son of Omie), dated 16 April 1761 contains this:
.. will and express order is that my two daughters Geezee and Antjie ... shall pay each five pounds current lawful money of New York towards the defending of this Pattent of Van Balen if so be that it should ever come to tryall...."
[IsaacLaGrangeWill005114089_00209c.jpg]; the complete document: [IsaacLaGrangeWill.pdf]

8) There are summary records of court proceedings which were indexed on cards in the 19th century from the original records (those originals later destroyed in the 1911 NY Capitol fire); these contain three separate items of the attorney for Jeremiah Van Rensselaer suing or obtaining judgement on Johannes Simonse Veeder (son of Symon Volkertse) for Trespass and ejectment, in 1736, 1742, and 1745; there is also a record for his son Simon Johannes Veeder being sued by Catherine Van Rensselaer for the same alleged offence in 1774, the same year that the arbitration was being arranged.
[1736-1774-CourtCards-Veeders.pdf]


CUT TO 1000 ACRES BY 1775 ARBITRATION

The arbitration agreement sets out the procedure and appointed named arbitrators and a date for them to meet in Albany and take evidence.
9) An Act to confirm a Submission to Referees of a Controversy concerning the Bounds of the Patent of Jan Hendrickse Van Baal; pp. 753-766 in Laws of the Colony of New York; Chapter 1703, passed April 1, 1775
[VanBaalPages753-60fromThe_Colonial_Laws_of_New_York.pdf]

A quorum of arbitrators did indeed meet, earlier than specified, and made a swift and very one-sided decision.
10) The Referees report and decision dated 24th May 1775
Albany County Deed book 10, pages 168-173 [#]
[bk10p168-73.pdf]; transcription [bk10p168-73transcript.pdf]

The primary decision was that the patent was defined by a square of 1000 acres, which is contained by sides of 1.25 miles (100 chains) length. The ancilliary decision was where this was located, which the arbitrators defined based on a measure starting at the southeast corner of the house of Myndert Veeder:
"Beginning at a place eighty four chains distant on a course south fifty degrees east as the magnetic needle now points from the southeast corner of the dwelling house at Normans Kill aforesaid formerly possessed by Myndert Veeder but now or late in the possession of Volkert Veeder and Abraham Veeder or some or one of them and running from the said place of beginning first north forty degrees east fifty chains then north fifty degrees west one hundred chains then south forty degrees west one hundred chains then south fifty degrees east one hundred chains and then north forty degrees east fifty chains to the place of beginning all said lines to be run as the magnetic needle now points@."

To locate this accurately depends first on identifying the location of the dwelling house of Myndert Veeder.
Two complementary approaches were used: First, two 19th century maps show the Van Bael patent with sufficient topographic and survey boundary detail to locate the patent square adequately such that the location of Myndert Veeder's house can be reasonably well approximated. The better one of these is in the Julius Bein atlas of 1895: Map 12; Albany, Rensselaer and Columbia Counties
11) extract from this showing the "Van Ballum" patent outline [Beinmap1895-McKownville.jpg]

 Second, it can then be located as one particular house shown on three more detailed, larger scale maps of the mid-19th century. Because there were only widely spaced farm houses in this vicinity during this time, only one house corresponds to the arbitrators definition. This house is shown on the Beers map of Guilderland of 1866 labelled with the name of "J. Van P." A deed exists in the books of Albany County showing purchase of the farm on which this house stood by Josiah Van Patten in 1864, from John and Catherine Veeder; John was the grandson of the Abraham Veeder mentioned in the arbitrator's patent definition.
12) Albany County Deed book 205 pages 267-9 [#] [bk205p267-9.pdf]
13) extract from the Guilderland map in the Beers atlas of 1866 [1866Beers-JohnstonRd.jpg]

We have subsequently confirmed this identification from a map of date c. 1789-1791 found in the NY State Archives which shows the arbitrators' 1000 acre square and individual farm houses in it. The Archive index date of the map [1789-02-08] is the same as the deed from Stephen Van Rensselaer to the Van Bael Patent claimants awarding them shares in a larger 5.25 mile square centered on the small one; this larger square forms the boundary of this map, likely made to accompany the deed.
14) Albany County Deed book 17, pages 376-81 [#] [bk17p376-81scan.pdf] and transcript [bk17p376-81transcript.pdf]
15) Map of Jan Hendrick Van Baal’s Patent, February 8, 1789.
NY State Archives A0453-79, Record of Deeds, Mortgages, Regents Charters, and Other Documents – Box 32, Volume 38, Page 446.
Extract from this map showing the arbitrators' 100 chain-sided square (1000 acres) and the houses contained in it:
1000 acre square of Van Bael
        Patent arbitration 1775 (map of 1789)

The present owner of this property, Raymond Greene Jr, reports that an old field stone foundation is incorporated into his house, and this is the position as shown on the 18th and 19th century maps for the one selected to define the arbitrated patent.
Because this is the place used by the arbitrators to locate the arbitrated patent, it is a most appropriate property on which to put the proposed Van Bael patent historic marker.
Mr Greene is agreeable to having the proposed Van Bael Patent historic marker installed on his property, near the county road, now called Johnston Road, formerly Normanskill Road (Albany County Route 203). It will be clearly visible and readable from the road.
Proposed location:  42.670179°N, 73.891132°W
14) satellite view extract from Apple Maps [VanBaelPatentMarkerloc.png]
Bridge over the Normanskill at lower left; marker location given by purple pin in upper right of image
Location map for proposed
        Van Bael Patent marker

# Please note that most of the Albany County deeds dated before 1874 were transcribed to typescript sometime in the earlier part of the 20th century and the original handwritten versions are apparently not available.

@ The declination of the magnetic field here in 1775 can be obtained online from the National Geophysical Data Center website:
https://ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/declination.shtml
This shows that these 1775 magnetic bearings are 6.25 degrees farther west than the bearing values to geographic north. Thus all the direction specifications for the patent need to be rotated 6.25 degrees counterclockwise (e.g. N 40 E to N 33.75 E) to place them accurately on a present day topographic map.

More detailed information on and discussion of the Van Bael Patent, Jan Hendrickse Van Bael, and the LaGrange and Veeder families is located on these web pages:
https://mckownville.org/historypages/MIA-VanBaelpatent.html
https://mckownville.org/historypages/MIA-VanBaelbio&sources.html
https://mckownville.org/historypages/MIA-NormanskillPeople.html

prepared by William Kidd; 3rd draft document 2024/09/05 with NY State Archives Patent confirmation documents, 1789 map, and related deed added.
[1st draft with older proposed marker text]