Scope and Contents
The papers consist chiefly of handwritten copies of maps, survey reports, and other legal documents related to litigation by Martha Bradstreet to gain title to land throughout the Mohawk River Valley in New York State. The land, including portions of Cosby's Manor and Utica, was originally the property of Major General John Bradstreet (1714-1774), the stepfather of her father, Samuel Bradstreet. Survey reports and maps in the collection served as evidence for litigation by Martha Bradstreet against owners and tenants of the land, and document landownership in the regions, as well as partitions and subdivisions made during the early nineteenth century within the Mohawk River Valley communities, especially in Utica, as well as Deerfield, Masonville, and Tompkins. The papers also include newspaper clippings, printed notices, copies of court records, and a holograph manuscript of Bradstreet's An Offering at the Altar of Truth (1827), detailing thirty-five cases she brought in federal courts and the unfavorable rulings made by Justice Alfred Conkling (1789-1874) of United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. Correspondence includes letters pertaining to her litigation, as well as personal letters to and from her husband Matthew Codd in the first decade of their marriage (in Series III), and from friend Clarissa "Clara" Bartlett Gregory Catlin (1807-1845) (in Series II).
Dates
- circa 1750-1900
- Majority of material found within 1800 - 1840
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The Martha Bradstreet Papers is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from the William Reese Company on the Edwin J. Beinecke Book Fund, 2009, and from RJM Antiques on the Frederick W. and Carrie S. Beinecke Fund for Western Americana, 2012.
Arrangement
Organized into three series: Series I. Maps, Legal Documents, and Writings, circa 1750-1877. Series II. Correspondence, 1837-1854. Series III. March 2012 Addition, 1790-circa 1900.
Extent
5.63 Linear Feet ( (6 boxes) + 25 broadside folders)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Overview
The papers consist chiefly of handwritten copies of maps, survey reports, and other legal documents related to litigation by Martha Bradstreet to gain title to land throughout the Mohawk River Valley in New York State. The land, including portions of Cosby's Manor and Utica, was originally the property of Major General John Bradstreet (1714-1774), the stepfather of her father, Samuel Bradstreet. Survey reports and maps in the collection served as evidence for litigation by Martha Bradstreet against owners and tenants of the land, and document landownership in the regions, as well as partitions and subdivisions made during the early nineteenth century within the Mohawk River Valley communities, especially in Utica, as well as Deerfield, Masonville, and Tompkins. The papers also include newspaper clippings, printed notices, copies of court records, and a holograph manuscript of Bradstreet's An Offering at the Altar of Truth (1827), detailing thirty-five cases she brought in federal courts and the unfavorable rulings made by Justice Alfred Conkling (1789-1874) of United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. Correspondence includes letters pertaining to her litigation, as well as personal letters to and from her husband Matthew Codd in the first decade of their marriage (in Series III), and from friend Clarissa "Clara" Bartlett Gregory Catlin (1807-1845) (in Series II).
Overview
The papers consist chiefly of handwritten copies of maps, survey reports, and other legal documents related to litigation by Martha Bradstreet to gain title to land throughout the Mohawk River Valley in New York State. The land, including portions of Cosby's Manor and Utica, was originally the property of Major General John Bradstreet (1714-1774), the stepfather of her father, Samuel Bradstreet. The papers served as evidence for litigation by Martha Bradstreet against owners and tenants of the land. Survey reports and maps in the collection document landownership in the regions, as well as partitions and subdivisions made during the early nineteenth century within the Mohawk River Valley communities, especially in Utica, as well as Deerfield, Masonville, and Tompkins. The papers include a holograph manuscript of Bradstreet's An Offering at the Altar of Truth (1827). It details thirty-five cases she brought in federal courts and the unfavorable rulings made by Justice Alfred Conkling (1789-1874) of United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. A small amount of correspondence includes letters and draft letters pertaining to her litigation and personal letters from her friend Clarissa "Clara" Bartlett Gregory Catlin (1807-1845).
Martha Bradstreet (1780-1871)
Martha Bradstreet was born on the island of Antigua in the West Indies. Her father, Samuel Bradstreet (died 1784), named her after his sister, Martha Bradstreet (died 1782). She married Matthew Codd from Ireland in 1799 and divorced him in 1816. Their marriage produced five children, Elizabeth Catherine (later Bennett), Sarah Mary Anne (later Sterling), Eleanor Cloney, John Bradstreet, and Edward Livius (born circa 1809). Through acts in the New York State Assembly, she regained her birth name in 1817 and applied the surname of Bradstreet to her children in March 1818.
Martha Bradstreet inherited land in the Mohawk River Valley of New York through the estates of her father, her namesake, and aunts, Agatha Bradstreet Evans (died 1794) and Elizabeth Bradstreet Livius (died 1795). Most of the land originally accrued through the estates of her step-grandfather, Major General John Bradstreet (1714-1774) and her grandmother, Mary Aldridge Bradstreet (died 1782). However, poorly drafted deeds of sales created uncertain titles to a portion of the land. The terms of the estate of Elizabeth Bradstreet Livius further complicated Martha Bradstreet's land claims because she had married without the approval of the estate's executor. Bradstreet subsequently discovered that much of the land she inherited from her aunt Martha was sold by the estate's executor, Charles Gould (1726-1806) through his son and attorney, Edward Goold (Gould). During the early nineteenth century she pursued litigation to cancel the land sales and gain title to the properties designated for her in the bequests. In 1831, the United States Supreme Court denied her claim to portions land in Cosby's Manor, a tract of land in and around Utica, New York, in James Jackson, Ex Dem. of Martha Bradstreet, v. Henry Huntington, 30 U.S. 5 Pet. 402 (1831).
Bradstreet continued to pursue her land claims in communities throughout the Mohawk River Valley until her death in Bennettsville, New York.
Martha Bradstreet inherited land in the Mohawk River Valley of New York through the estates of her father, her namesake, and aunts, Agatha Bradstreet Evans (died 1794) and Elizabeth Bradstreet Livius (died 1795). Most of the land originally accrued through the estates of her step-grandfather, Major General John Bradstreet (1714-1774) and her grandmother, Mary Aldridge Bradstreet (died 1782). However, poorly drafted deeds of sales created uncertain titles to a portion of the land. The terms of the estate of Elizabeth Bradstreet Livius further complicated Martha Bradstreet's land claims because she had married without the approval of the estate's executor. Bradstreet subsequently discovered that much of the land she inherited from her aunt Martha was sold by the estate's executor, Charles Gould (1726-1806) through his son and attorney, Edward Goold (Gould). During the early nineteenth century she pursued litigation to cancel the land sales and gain title to the properties designated for her in the bequests. In 1831, the United States Supreme Court denied her claim to portions land in Cosby's Manor, a tract of land in and around Utica, New York, in James Jackson, Ex Dem. of Martha Bradstreet, v. Henry Huntington, 30 U.S. 5 Pet. 402 (1831).
Bradstreet continued to pursue her land claims in communities throughout the Mohawk River Valley until her death in Bennettsville, New York.
Processing Information
The descriptions of material in this collection were chiefly repurposed from identifications provided by the dealer.
- Bradstreet family
- Bradstreet, John, 1711-1774 -- Estate
- Bradstreet, Martha, 1780-
- Bradstreet, Martha, 1780- -- Trials, litigation, etc.
- Bradstreet, Samuel, -1784
- Catlin, Clarissa Bartlett Gregory, 1807-1845
- Codd, Matthew, active 1799-1817
- Conkling, Alfred, 1789-1874
- Deerfield (N.Y. : Town)
- Divorce -- New York (State) -- Cases
- Legal documents
- Maps (documents)
- Masonville (N.Y.)
- Mohawk River Valley (N.Y.)
- Real property -- New York (State) -- New York
- Tompkins (N.Y.)
- Utica (N.Y.)
- Women -- New York (State) -- Social conditions -- 19th century
- Title
- Guide to the Martha Bradstreet Papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- by Matthew D. Mason and Ève Bourbeau-Allard
- Date
- October 2009, July 2019
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository
Location
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Opening Hours
Access Information
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