property records in Albany County for the First Great Western Turnpike Company

McKownville Improvement Association
- property records in Albany County for the First Great Western Turnpike Company

Property records in the Deed books of Albany County for the land obtained by the First Great Western Turnpike Company are surprisingly few in number. It appears that there may have been an intermediary, Jacob Winne, since he was paid $100 by the Company for his land holdings, and some others, for example William McKown, just 6 cents! By 1851, properties held along the Great Western Turnpike in Guilderland, shown on the Sidney map, do not include any owners named Winne.
Jacob Winne was a surveyor, who is recorded to have made in 1787 a map of Stephen Van Rensselaer's holdings in Albany County in the area of present-day Guilderland, Bethlehem, New Scotland, Berne, Rensselaerville Townships, southwest of the Liberty of the City of Albany. Jacob Winne is one of the witnesses to two deeds of partition of property in this area between numerous Veeders and LaGranges, and was likely the surveyor for the property boundaries listed in these deeds.

properties purchased by the First Great Western Turnpike Company in Albany County

Deed book, pages	property	Grantors	grantee	date	date recorded
31; 216-7	turnpike road track	Mayor, etc, City of Albany	First Great Western Turnpike Co	1803-09-19	1827-03-10
31; 217	Tpike 6 rods wide	JC LaGrange, W McKown, JC Cuyler	First Great Western Turnpike Co	1802-05-21	1827-03-10
31; 88	turnpike road track	Jacob Winne	First Great Western Turnpike Co	1803-09-24	1827-01-03
101; 494-5	location gate 1	Edward Kirkpatrick	First Great Western Turnpike Co	1849-05-28	1849-05-28
104; 145-6	1ac (gate 2)	William A & Isabelle Wheaton	First Great Western Turnpike Co	1849-07-28	1849-08-02

JC LaGrange owned property just east of William McKown, and for both of them the route of the Turnpike on their property was within the Gore, land that was allocated by partition in 1807, by a Commission of the Supreme Court, whose members were Benjamin Gilbert, John D. P. Dow, and Charles R. Webster. In the 1802 deed by which William McKown sells his land to the Turnpike Company, Benjamin Gilbert is mentioned thus: "... in continuing the said road to the City of Albany cause it to be laid across our respective lands in the direction lately run by Benjamin Gilbert ...", so he was probably a surveyor, and mapped out at least this part of the route for the Company.

property sold prior to 1894 by the First Great Western Turnpike Company in Albany County

Deed book, pages	property	Grantors	grantee	date	date recorded
104; 103-5	2ac; remove old gate 1	First Great Western Turnpike Co	William Amsdell	1849-07-14	1849-07-14

There seems not to be a record of purchase of this 2 acre property by the Turnpike Company but there was a tollgate here from the opening of the Turnpike in 1800 until 1849, when it was removed, and replaced by a tollgate (no. 1) located at the intersection of 19th St (now Winthrop Ave) and Western Avenue in the City of Albany.

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