Burlington Company
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{{No footnotes, date=August 2023 The Burlington Company was a group of eight investors involved in a variety of land transactions, particularly in what is now
Otsego County, New York Otsego County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,524. The county seat is Cooperstown. The name ''Otsego'' is from a Mohawk or Oneida word meaning "place of the rock." History In 1 ...
. The company was named after Burlington, New Jersey, where the men all resided.


History

The Burlington Company included
William Franklin William Franklin (22 February 1730 – 17 November 1813) was an American-born attorney, soldier, politician, and colonial administrator. He was the acknowledged illegitimate son of Benjamin Franklin. William Franklin was the last colonial G ...
, the last Colonial Governor of New Jersey (1763-1776). The company purchased various mortgages of
George Croghan George Croghan (c. 1718 – August 31, 1782) was an Irish-born fur trader in the Ohio Country of North America (current United States) who became a key early figure in the region. In 1746 he was appointed to the Onondaga Council, the governin ...
between 1768 and 1770. The mortgages, issued to
William Franklin William Franklin (22 February 1730 – 17 November 1813) was an American-born attorney, soldier, politician, and colonial administrator. He was the acknowledged illegitimate son of Benjamin Franklin. William Franklin was the last colonial G ...
and assigned by him to the company, included one for 40,000 acres (160 km2) of Croghan's
Otsego County, New York Otsego County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,524. The county seat is Cooperstown. The name ''Otsego'' is from a Mohawk or Oneida word meaning "place of the rock." History In 1 ...
, purchase. Franklin was an attorney, a British Loyalist, and the son of
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
. In addition to making personal loans to Croghan, Franklin purchased a 50% stock interest in the Burlington Company in 1772. In 1773, the remaining original shareholders sold their stock and rights, including Franklin's mortgages, to Andrew Craig (merchant) and
William Cooper William Cooper may refer to: Business *William Cooper (accountant) (1826–1871), founder of Cooper Brothers * William Cooper (businessman) (1761–1840), Canadian businessman *William Cooper (co-operator) (1822–1868), English co-operator * Will ...
. Cooper was a merchant in Burlington. Cooper and Craig instituted sheriff's sale proceedings under a judgment of 1773, neglecting to inform Franklin. After that, Craig and Cooper purchased the Otsego tract for $2,700 by questionable means. Efforts of Franklin and Croghan's heirs to contest the title proved fruitless. Cooper later founded Cooperstown and Burlington, New York on this tract of land after the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
. Among his children was James Fenimore Cooper, who later became a noted author and set some of his work in this frontier region.


See also

*
List of real estate topics This aims to be a complete list of the articles on real estate. __NOTOC__ # * 72-hour clause A * Abandonment * Abstract of title * Acceleration clause * Accession * Acknowledgment * Acre – a measure of land area * Action to quiet tit ...
*
History of New York (state) The history of New York begins around 10,000 B.C. when the first people arrived. By 1100 A.D. two main cultures had become dominant as the Iroquoian and Algonquian developed. European discovery of New York was led by the Italian Giovanni da ...


References

* Adams, J.T. (1940) ''Dictionary of American History.'' New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
Butterfield, L. H. "Judge William Cooper (1754-1809): A Sketch of his Character and Accomplishment"
''New York History,'' Vol. XXX, No. 4 (October 1949) *Cooper, W. (1810

from ''A Guide in the Wilderness,'' US GenNet

''The Quarterly Journal of the New York State Historical Association'' (now ''New York History''), Vol. XII, No. 4 (October 1931) *Taylor, Alan. (1996) ''William Cooper's Town: Power and Persuasion on the Frontier of the Early American Republic'' Pre-statehood history of New York (state) Pre-statehood history of New Jersey Companies based in Burlington County, New Jersey