James Greenleaf (June 9, 1765 – September 17, 1843) was a late 18th and early 19th century American land speculator responsible for substantial of the newly designated capital of Washington, D.C. after 1790. A member of a prominent and wealthy
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
family, he married a
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
noblewoman, who he later abandoned and then divorced, and served briefly as
consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...
at the United States embassy in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
.
After his return to the United States, Greenleaf engaged in
land speculation
In finance, speculation is the purchase of an asset (a commodity, goods, or real estate) with the hope that it will become more valuable shortly. (It can also refer to short sales in which the speculator hopes for a decline in value.)
Many ...
in Washington, D.C., New York state, and other areas. His land business collapsed in 1797, and he spent a year in
debtor's prison
A debtors' prison is a prison for people who are unable to pay debt. Until the mid-19th century, debtors' prisons (usually similar in form to locked workhouses) were a common way to deal with unpaid debt in Western Europe.Cory, Lucinda"A Histori ...
. He married a wealthy
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
heiress after his release, and spent the remainder of his life in genteel poverty, fending off lawsuits.
Early life and education
James Greenleaf was born on June 9, 1765, in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Massachusetts to William and Mary (Brown) Greenleaf.
[ Greenleaf, p. 101.](_blank)
Accessed October 29, 2012. He was the 12th of 15 children.
His father William Greenleaf was a merchant who was appointed Sheriff of
Suffolk County, Massachusetts during 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 ...
.
[Roberts, et al., p. 407.](_blank)
Accessed October 29, 2012.
Greenleaf was a member of the
committee of correspondence
The committees of correspondence were, prior to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, a collection of American political organizations that sought to coordinate opposition to British Parliament and, later, support for American independe ...
, which communicated secretly with other cities regarding British policy and military actions and was a core base of support for the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
.
[ Greenleaf, p. 91.](_blank)
Accessed October 29, 2012. In July 1776, Greenleaf announced American independence from the balcony of the
Old State House in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. Among the crowd assembled for the announcement in Boston were
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States ...
and
William Cranch
William Cranch (July 17, 1769 – September 1, 1855) was a United States circuit judge and chief judge of the United States Circuit Court of the District of Columbia. A staunch Federalist and nephew of President John Adams, Cranch moved his le ...
. Adams was later elected as President of the United States; Cranch was appointed as Chief Justice of the U.S.
District of Columbia
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
Circuit Court and the second
reporter of decisions
The Reporter of Decisions (sometimes known by other titles, such as Official Reporter or State Reporter) is the official responsible for publishing the decisions of a court. Traditionally, the decisions were published in books known as case repor ...
of the
U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
.
The Greenleafs were
Huguenot
The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...
s who fled France during religious persecution, going to England. They anglicized their family name of Feuillevert to Greenleaf. Greenleaf's great grandfather, Edmund, was born in 1574 in
Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...
, Suffolk England. His great grandfather,
Stephen
Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...
, was born there in 1628. The entire family emigrated to
Newbury, Massachusetts
Newbury is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, USA. The population was 6,716 at the 2020 census. Newbury includes the villages of Old Town (Newbury Center), Plum Island and Byfield. Each village is a precinct with its own voting district, ...
, in 1635.
The Greenleaf family was among the best connected in early American history. Greenleaf's sister, Rebecca, married
Noah Webster
Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible ( Book of Genesis, chapters 5 ...
, who compiled the first American
dictionary. Another of his sisters married
Nathaniel Appleton, the minister and trustee of
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
. His sister Margaret married
Thomas Dawes, a member of the
Massachusetts Governor's Council
The Massachusetts Governor's Council (also known as the Executive Council) is a governmental body that provides advice and consent in certain matterssuch as judicial nominations, pardons, and commutationsto the Governor of Massachusetts. Counc ...
, and his sister Abigail married William Cranch. The family's descendants also played a large role in American literature. The poet
John Greenleaf Whittier was descended from James' great-grandfather, Stephen. The 20th century poet
T. S. Eliot was a descendant of Abigail Greenleaf Cranch.
Little is known about Greenleaf's early life or education. In 1781, when James was 16, his father retired from business and the Greenleaf family moved to
New Bedford, Massachusetts.
Career
In 1788, Greenleaf left
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
and moved to
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
, where Noah Webster introduced him to businessman
James Watson. The two men established an import business, Watson & Greenleaf, with offices in Philadelphia and New York City.
[Clark, ''Records of the Columbia Historical Society'', p. 214.](_blank)
Accessed October 30, 2012.
After his business was incorporated, Greenleaf traveled to the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
in the mid to late 1780s, where he tried to sell American
bonds. According to
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States ...
, who was in Amsterdam at the same time, Greenleaf rented a magnificent mansion and immediately began circulating in high society in the city.
Greenleaf was in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
from January 31, 1789, through August 1793, where he conducted business with Daniel Crommelin & Sons, a major Dutch investment banking house marketing American bonds. He sold nearly two million bonds during this time and $160,000 worth of stock in the
Bank of the United States, a central bank established by the U.S. federal government.
[Livermore, p. 165, fn. 66.] He amassed a fortune worth $1 million, a very large sum at the time.
[Berg, p. 206.]
Washington, D.C. land speculation
![Robert Morris](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Robert_Morris.jpg)
Greenleaf arrived in Washington, D.C. on September 17, 1793
and was present at the laying of the cornerstone of the
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...
the following day, on September 18, 1793
at which time Greenleaf met President
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
.
Greenleaf quickly ingratiated himself with several of Washington's closest friends, including
Tobias Lear
Tobias Lear (September 19, 1762 – October 11, 1816) was the personal secretary to President George Washington. Lear served Washington from 1784 until the former-President's death in 1799. Lear's journal details Washington's final moments and his ...
, who had served as Washington's secretary from 1785 to June 1793.
[Syrett and Cooke, p. 16, fn. 2.] Greenleaf provided seed money for Lear's mercantile venture, Tobias Lear & Co.,
in 1793. Greenleaf also associated with
Thomas Johnson, who Washington had appointed as one of three commissioners of the District of Columbia. Greenleaf purchased of Johnson's land in
Frederick County, Maryland for $14,000 in September 1793.
The
Residence Act
The Residence Act of 1790, officially titled An Act for establishing the temporary and permanent seat of the Government of the United States (), is a United States federal statute adopted during the second session of the First United States Co ...
of 1790, which established the site for the nation's capital, provided for the appointment of three commissioners by the President without the need for Senate confirmation to govern the Washington, D.C. survey its land, purchase property from private landowners, and construct federal buildings. On September 23, 1793, Greenleaf purchased 3,000 city lots from the commissioners.
[Clark, ''Records of the Columbia Historical Society'', p. 216.](_blank)
Accessed October 30, 2012. The city offered him the lots at $66.50 each,
[Royster, p. 358.] a significant discount from the going price of $200 to $300 per lot.
To secure this below market price, Greenleaf was required to construct 70 homes on the lots before 1800, not sell any of the land before 1796, and lend the commissioners $2,200 a month until certain public buildings were constructed. To raise money to improve the lots, Greenleaf executed a
power of attorney
A power of attorney (POA) or letter of attorney is a written authorization to represent or act on another's behalf in private affairs (which may be financial or regarding health and welfare), business, or some other legal matter. The person auth ...
on November 2, 1793, with Sylvanus Bourne, the American vice consul in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
. Bourne, who served as vice consul in Amsterdam under Greenleaf, was empowered to sell lots or obtain mortgages on them.
[ Clark, ''Greenleaf and Law in the Federal City'', p. 82.](_blank)
Accessed October 29, 2012.
On November 19, 1793, Greenleaf moved into the Pearl Street home of
Noah Webster
Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible ( Book of Genesis, chapters 5 ...
in New York City.
The September 23 agreement with the commissioners was superseded by a subsequent agreement on December 24, 1793, with Greenleaf and his new business partner,
Robert Morris. Morris was a Philadelphia merchant and one of 56 signatories to the
Declaration of Independence
A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of th ...
and also to the
Articles of Confederation and the
United States Constitution. He was Chairman of the Pennsylvania
Committee of Safety during the Revolutionary War, a delegate to the
Second Continental Congress, and was appointed
Superintendent of Finance for the U.S. Next to
General George Washington, Morris was considered "the most powerful man in America." At the time he became Greenleaf's business partner, Morris also was one of Pennsylvania's original U.S. senators (his term ended in 1795).
Morris and Nicholson partnership
![WNY5](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/WNY5.PNG)
Greenleaf first approached his existing business partner, James Watson, with an offer to finance the purchase of the lots and the construction on them. Watson declined, and Greenleaf dissolved their partnership.
[Clark, ''Records of the Columbia Historical Society'', p. 217.](_blank)
Accessed October 30, 2012. Greenleaf then turned to Morris, then the richest man in America and a speculator in millions of acres of land.
Morris was already one of the most important land speculators in the
Northeast
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
. He purchased the western portion of the
Phelps and Gorham Purchase
The Phelps and Gorham Purchase was the purchase in 1788 of of land in what is now western New York State from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for $1,000,000 ( £300,000), to be paid in three annual installments, and the pre-emptive right to th ...
.an area of western New York consisting of about —in March 1791 for $366,333.33. This area became known as
Morris Reserve. Morris quickly sold of the reserve to
The Pulteney Association
The Pulteney Association was a small group of British investors who in 1792 purchased a large portion of the Western New York land tract known as the Phelps and Gorham Purchase. The Pulteney Associates were Sir William Pulteney, 5th Baronet (1729 ...
in March 1791 for £75,000 for a profit of $216,128. This tract became known as the "Pulteney Tract".
Morris' association with Greenleaf started in February 1792, when Morris sold of the Morris Reserve to Greenleaf, Watson, and
Andrew Craigie
Andrew Craigie (1754-1819) is best known for serving as the first Apothecary General of the Continental Army during the American Revolution. The one-time owner of the Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site, Craigie dev ...
for £15,000 ($37,500).
[Chernow, p. 71.] Morris sold another to the Holland Land Company between December 1792 and July 1793 for £112,500, and his son sold to the Holland Land Company for $500,000. Morris sold another (known as "the Triangle Tract") to an investor group in January 1793.
By 1794, Morris was also an investor in the
Virginia Yazoo Company, which was leveraging its political influence to purchase vast tracts of land from the state of Georgia (in what is the modern state of
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
) at low prices for land speculation.
Greenleaf and Morris purchased 6,000 lots under the same conditions as the September agreement. At least 1,500 of these lots were required to be in the northeast quadrant of Washington, D.C., but Greenleaf could take his pick of lots anywhere else in the city for the remainder. The monthly loan to the commissioners also increased to $2,660 per commissioner per month.
An additional clause required that the 6,000 lots include 428.5 lots on
Buzzard Point owned by Notley Young, a plantation owner in
Prince George's County, Maryland, and 220 lots on Buzzard Point owned by
Daniel Carroll
Daniel Carroll (July 22, 1730May 7, 1796) was an American politician and plantation owner from Maryland and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He supported the American Revolution, served in the Confederation Congress, was a de ...
, a
Founding Father
The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...
and Maryland landowner whose plantation became part of the District of Columbia. The contract also included provisions identical to those in the September 23 contract, which required no down payment, did not require the first payment until May 1, 1794, required only annual payments of one-sixth of the total amount of the purchase price annually thereafter, and did not impose any interest. With these transactions, Greenleaf and his co-investors controlled about half the federal government's sellable land in Washington, D.C.
[Kendall, p. 171.]
The December 24 contract with the city provided that Greenleaf and Morris could bring in a third partner, although the requirement to construct buildings was not binding on this partner.
[Clark, ''Records of the Columbia Historical Society'', p. 218.](_blank)
Accessed October 30, 2012. The partner they brought in was John Nicholson, who had served as comptroller general of
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
from 1782 to 1794. In 1792, Nicholson negotiated the purchase from the federal government of the tract known as the
Erie Triangle. Along with an agent of the Holland Land Company,
Aaron Burr, Robert Morris, and other individual and institutional investors, he formed the Pennsylvania Population Company. This organization, in turn, purchased all 390 parcels of land in the
Erie Triangle. Nicholson was
impeached in 1794 for his role in the company.
Financial strains and New York land speculation
Greenleaf continued to expand his land holdings, purchasing of
Anacostia River
The Anacostia River is a river in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States. It flows from Prince George's County in Maryland into Washington, D.C., where it joins with the Washington Channel to empty into the Potomac River at Buzzard Point. ...
waterfront from various owners in December 1793, and near
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C.
In 2020, the population was 159,467. ...
, in 1794. He also purchased 239.25 lots east of
Georgetown from local landowners
Uriah Forrest and
Benjamin Stoddert
Benjamin Stoddert (1751 – 18 December 1813) was the first United States Secretary of the Navy from 1 May 1798 to 31 March 1801.
Early life and education
Stoddert was born in Charles County, Maryland in 1751, the son of Captain Thomas Stoddert. ...
.
[ Clark, ''Greenleaf and Law in the Federal City'', p. 71.](_blank)
Accessed November 24, 2012.[Arnebeck, "Tracking the Speculators ...", p. 118.] Another 1,000 lots of Notley Young's land were transferred to Greenleaf on April 24, 1794.
Greenleaf relied on his brother-in-law, Nathaniel Appleton, for assistance with his land purchases.
But when Appleton fell ill in September 1794, Greenleaf summoned his brother-in-law and friend William Cranch to Washington, D.C. to act as his sales agent.
[Clark, ''Records of the Columbia Historical Society'', p. 221.](_blank)
Accessed October 30, 2012. Greenleaf bought out Watson's 25% interest in the Morris Reserve tract but was forced to sell his shares in the land to Oliver Phelps before the end of 1794.
Greenleaf's construction activities meant that, by 1794, he owned one third of the buildings for sale in Washington, D.C. Among the buildings he began constructing in that year were the four townhouses that became known as
Wheat Row.
To finance these land acquisitions and construction activities, Greenleaf turned to Dutch financiers. Sources differ on whether Greenleaf traveled to the Netherlands in 1794
or stayed in Philadelphia and New York City during the year. Whichever is the case, he was able to convince the Dutch government to pass legislation appointing agents and advocates for his business affairs. They began offering mortgages on the 6,000 Washington, D.C. lots. The guardians were authorized to accept mortgages not exceeding two million guilders ($8 million). But by July 1795, only 20,000 guilders ($80,000) had been raised.
Greenleaf's friend Sylvanus Bourne attempted to find mortgages in
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...
,but was unsuccessful. Seeking a million guilders in loans, he secured just 150,000 guilders ($60,000).
[Clark, ''Records of the Columbia Historical Society'', p. 219.](_blank)
Accessed October 30, 2012.
Land deal with Aaron Burr
![Vanderlyn Burr](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Vanderlyn_Burr.jpg)
Greenleaf continued to be active in land speculation in New York state in addition to his speculation elsewhere in the U.S. In 1791, New York merchant
Alexander Macomb purchased from New York state, a tract known as "
Macomb's Purchase Macomb's Purchase is a large historical area of northern New York in the United States purchased from the state in 1791 by Alexander Macomb, a merchant who had become rich during the American Revolutionary War. He acted as a land speculator, sellin ...
". Macomb sold to William Constable for £50,000 (in dollars). Six months later, Constable sold to banker
Samuel Ward for £100,000 pounds (in dollars). Constable and Ward agreed to sell to the British land speculator John Julius Angerstein. But New York state barred non-citizens from owning property in the state, so Constable and Ward argued that if the law was not changed they would buy the land back from Angerstein. The problem was that neither Constable nor Ward had the funds to do so.
William Stephens Smith
William Stephens Smith (November 8, 1755 – June 10, 1816) was a United States representative from New York. He married Abigail "Nabby" Adams, the daughter of President John Adams, and so was a brother-in-law of President John Quincy A ...
, son-in-law of President
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of t ...
, held power of attorney for Angerstein, and in September 1794 he convinced
Aaron Burr to buy
[Historian Arnold Rogow estimates the purchase at .] of Angerstein's land for £24,000. Smith, in an obvious conflict of interest, assured Burr that he would provide half the sale price. But Smith withdrew from the purchase, leaving Burr to come up with the entire amount. Burr could not afford to do so. Either Ward or Burr (sources are unclear) sought out Greenleaf for financial assistance.
[Barlow, p. 3.][Rogow, p. 171.] On November 25, 1794,
[Defebaugh, p. 390.] Greenleaf agreed to contribute £12,000 (about $500,000 in 2012 inflation-adjusted dollars) to help Burr purchase Angerstein's land.
Constable and Ward conveyed the deed to Greenleaf in December 1794. But Greenleaf was deep in debt. He purchased a cargo of tea from
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...
merchant
John Brown, whose family funded and lent its name to
Brown University. Greenleaf paid for the cargo partly in cash, and took out a mortgage with
Philip Livingston
Philip Livingston (January 15, 1716 – June 12, 1778) was an American merchant and statesman from New York City. He represented New York at the October 1774 First Continental Congress, where he favored imposing economic sanctions upon Great B ...
in 1795 on the Angerstein land to pay for the remainder.
But the purchase agreement with Constable and Ward/Angerstein barred the land from being mortgaged. Greenleaf then defaulted on his agreement to help Burr. Burr was facing the loss of his own £12,000 as well as the Angerstein property. Angerstein was unhappy as well, upset that Ward had sold and that Greenleaf had mortgaged the property. Angerstein hired attorney
Alexander Hamilton, who had just resigned as
Secretary of the Treasury
The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
, to press his case. A series of suits and countersuits lasting years followed, causing increasingly bad feelings between Burr and Hamilton.
Burr dueled with Hamilton over other issues on July 11, 1804, killing Hamilton. Greenleaf was unable to make his mortgage payments on the Angerstein land, and Livingston foreclosed in December 1798. Brown bought the mortgage for $33,000.
These became known as Brown's Tract.
U.S. consul to the Netherlands
On March 2, 1793, Greenleaf was named consul at the United States embassy in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
.
[Whelan, Frank. "Land Rich to Dirt Poor: James Greenleaf Gambled and Lost in Early D.C." ''Allentown Morning Call.'' July 4, 1999.](_blank)
Accessed October 29, 2012. He served only about six weeks, returning to the U.S. on April 29, 1793. In October 1794, Greenleaf moved out of Webster's home in New York City after hosting a raucous party in the Webster home in October, leading Webster to demand that he move.
[Kendall, p. 177.]
Land deal with Law
Greenleaf returned to Washington, D.C. in December 1794, where he became acquainted with Thomas Law, a wealthy British merchant who had just arrived in America. Law was son of
Edmund Law
Edmund Law (6 June 1703 – 14 August 1787) was a priest in the Church of England. He served as Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge, as Knightbridge Professor of Philosophy in the University of Cambridge from 1764 to 1769, and as bishop of Carlisl ...
, the
Bishop of Carlisle. Law's brother
John Law
John Law may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* John Law (artist) (born 1958), American artist
* John Law (comics), comic-book character created by Will Eisner
* John Law (film director), Hong Kong film director
* John Law (musician) (born 1961) ...
was
Bishop of Clonfert and Kilmacduagh
The Bishop of Clonfert and Kilmacduagh was the Ordinary of the Church of Ireland diocese of Clonfert and Kilmacduagh, comprising the southern part of County Galway and a small area of County Roscommon, Ireland. In 1834, Clonfert and Kilmacduagh ...
and
Bishop of Killala and Achonry, and in 1795 was named
Bishop of Elphin
The Bishop of Elphin (; ) is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Elphin, County Roscommon, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other ...
. His brother
Edward Law served as
Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 1802 to 1818. Another brother,
George Henry Law
George Henry Law (12 September 1761 – 22 September 1845) was the Bishop of Chester (1812) and then, from 1824, Bishop of Bath and Wells.
Born at the lodge of Peterhouse, Cambridge, of which his father Edmund Law (who later became Bishop of ...
, became
Bishop of Chester
The Bishop of Chester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chester in the Province of York.
The diocese extends across most of the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, including the Wirral Peninsula and has its see in the ...
in 1812 and
Bishop of Bath and Wells
The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England.
The present diocese covers the overwhelmingly greater part of the (ceremonial) county of Somerset and a small area of D ...
in 1824. Thomas Law spent years working for the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...
in India, where he made a fortune in trade.
Law arrived in Washington, D.C. in the summer of 1794, and he met Greenleaf in November or December of that year. Law was deeply impressed with Greenleaf, On December 4, 1794, and Greenleaf sold 500 city lots to Law for £50,000 (or $133,000). The price per lot was $297.60, a 372 percent increase over the $80 per lot which Greenleaf, Morris, and Nicholson had paid for them a year earlier.
North American Land Company founding
Although Greenleaf continued purchasing land by promising that Dutch loans would be forthcoming, the prospect of Dutch money came to an end in January 1795. A coalition of states, the "
First Coalition
The War of the First Coalition (french: Guerre de la Première Coalition) was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797 initially against the constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French Republic that succ ...
", formed in 1793 to invade
Revolutionary France
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
and bring down the
French First Republic. One of the largest of the First Coalition armies gathered along the Franco-Belgian border. Initial success by the First Coalition turned to stalemate, and France counterattacked by invading
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
and the Netherlands in March 1794 in what became known as the
Flanders Campaign. A majority of the Dutch people supported the French invasion, believing it would end of the authoritarian
Orangist government. As the French approached Amsterdam, a pro-French
republican revolution overthrew
William V of Orange
William V (Willem Batavus; 8 March 1748 – 9 April 1806) was a prince of Orange and the last stadtholder of the Dutch Republic. He went into exile to London in 1795. He was furthermore ruler of the Principality of Orange-Nassau until his death in ...
on January 18, 1795. The Amsterdam banking and investment community was suddenly no longer in a position to back any distant investments.
[Sakolski, p. 165.]
Just when Greenleaf or his lenders learned of the Dutch revolution is unclear, but the war in Europe already placed Morris and Nicholson in deep financial trouble by 1794.
[Mann, p. 201.] Many European companies and individuals which owed Morris money had declared bankruptcy, leaving Greenleaf with severe cash flow challenges.
[Mann, p. 202.]
On February 20, 1795, Greenleaf, Morris, and Nicholson formed the North American Land Company (NALC) to finance their land speculation business.
According to one historian of American land speculation, the NALC was the "largest land trust ever known in America". The three partners turned over to the company land throughout the U.S. totaling more than , most of it valued at about 50 cents an acre.
In addition to land in Washington, D.C., there were in Georgia, in
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...
, in
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
, in Pennsylvania, in
South Carolina
)'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
, and in
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
. NALC was authorized to issue 30,000 shares, each worth $100.
To encourage investors to purchase shares, the three partners guaranteed that a 6% dividend would be paid annually. To ensure that there was enough money to issue the dividend, each partner put 3,000 of their own NALC shares in
escrow
An escrow is a contractual arrangement in which a third party (the stakeholder or escrow agent) receives and disburses money or property for the primary transacting parties, with the disbursement dependent on conditions agreed to by the transacti ...
.
Greenleaf, Morris, and Nicholson were entitled to receive a 2.5 percent commission on any land the company sold. Greenleaf was named secretary of the new company.
North American Land Company collapse
![North American Land Company share - 1795](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/North_American_Land_Company_share_-_1795.jpg)
NALC encountered financial difficulty almost immediately. Only of land was turned over to it, which meant it could issue only 22,365 shares. This meant only 7,455 shares were put in escrow instead of the required 9,000. Rather than paying creditors with cash, NALC paid them with shares (8,477 shares in 1795 and 1796).
[Livermore, p. 168.] On May 15, 1795, Washington, D.C. commissioners demanded their first payment from Greenleaf, Morris, and Nicholson for the 6,000 lots purchased in 1793. But Greenleaf had misappropriated some of the company's income to pay his own debts. Without the Dutch mortgage income and missing funds, there was no money to make the payment to the commissioners. Greenleaf also had co-signed for loans taken out by Morris and Nicholson. When these men defaulted, creditors sought Greenleaf to make good on all the debts, and he could not.
[Mann, p. 200.]
On July 10, 1795, Morris and Nicholson bought out Greenleaf's interest in the December 24, 1793, agreement. The commissioners began legal proceedings to regain title to the 6,000 lots owned by NALC and the 1,115.25
lots owned by Greenleaf personally. The worsening financial problems of Greenleaf, Morris, and Nicholson led to increasingly strained relations among the three men.
Nicholson, particularly bitter, began making public accusations against Greenleaf in print.
Morris attempted to mediate between the two men, but his efforts failed.
In an attempt to resolve his financial problems, Greenleaf sold his shares in NALC to Nicholson and Morris on May 28, 1796, for $1.5 million.
Unfortunately, Morris and Nicholson funded their purchase by giving Greenleaf
personal notes and endorsed each other's notes.
Morris and Nicholson, both nearly bankrupt, agreed to pay one quarter of the purchase price annually for the next four years. Under the agreement, Greenleaf's shares were not to be transferred to Morris and Nicholson until the fourth annual payment was received.
Although Greenleaf had a net worth of $5 million (about $1.5 billion in inflation-adjusted 2010 dollars) in 1796, he was having trouble raising the cash to meet his obligations. Land sales were not occurring fast enough or at prices high enough to allow him to meet his debt payments. He offered Alexander Hamilton $1 million in July 1796 if Hamilton would lend his name and reputation to Greenleaf's attempt to raise money, but Hamilton refused.
On September 30, 1796, Greenleaf placed 7,455 of his NALC shares in a trust known as the "391 trust" because it was recorded on page 391 of the firm's accounting book. The 391 trust was created to generate income from the 6% dividend to pay a loan given to Greenleaf by Edward Fox. A trustee was assigned to hold on to the shares. The same day, Greenleaf put 2,545 shares into another trust (the "381 trust"), as a guarantee against nonpayment of the dividend by Morris and Nicholson.
[Livermore, p. 166.] Morris and Nicholson's made the first payment to Greenleaf for the one-third interest in the NALC by turning over title to several hundred lots in Washington, D.C. On March 8, 1797, Greenleaf executed the 381 trust. When the NALC did not issue its 6% dividend, Greenleaf transferred a third of the shares in the 391 trust to the trustees. The total number of shares transferred to the "381 trust" trustees was now 6,119.
[Livermore, p. 169.]
On June 26, 1797, Greenleaf, Morris, Nicholson, and the trustees of the 381 and 391 trusts executed a new agreement creating an aggregate fund. Morris and Nicholson turned over all their Washington, D.C. real estate and all their NALC shares to the fund.
The aggregate fund, which now held the vast bulk of NALC's shares, was created to administer NALC for the benefit of the 381 and 391 trusts. The fund was also to pay the debts owed to Washington, D.C. commissioners, Daniel Carroll, and $900,000 in debt incurred by Greenleaf. Greenleaf later purchased 541 NALC shares on the open market and was again elected secretary of the company.
Morris attempted to keep NALC afloat. He sent agents throughout Europe to try to find investors, but found few takers. With poor business practices dragging down NALC, Morris and Nicholson acting as personal guarantors of each other's notes, and many of these notes coming due, neither man was able to pay them. Creditors began selling the notes publicly, often at steeply discounted prices.
By 1798, Morris and Nicholson's $10 million in personal notes were trading at one eighth their face value.
NALC also discovered that some of titles to the of land it owned were not clearly established, which prohibited it from being used as security. In other cases, NALC found it had been swindled, and the rich land it thought it owned turned out to be barren and worthless.
Debtor's prison
Greenleaf's funds were exhausted and he unable to pay even a single debt by 1797. He was sentenced to serve time in the Philadelphia Debtors' Prison. Although the exact date that he entered debtor's prison in 1797 is not known, he was definitely incarcerated by October 18, 1797.
[ Clark, ''Greenleaf and Law in the Federal City''](_blank)
Accessed November 24, 2012. His debt was eventually discharged, and he was released on August 30, 1798, having served less than a year.
Morris and Nicholson were able to avoid debtor's prison for a time. Both men fled to their homes in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
. At the time, individuals serving notice of a court suit had to deliver the notice personally. So long as both men remained inside their homes, they could not be served, and could avoid being sued. For several years, creditors' agents camped out on Morris and Nicholson's doorsteps and in their gardens. Eventually both men were finally served, and both were sentenced to debtor's prison. Morris entered prison on February 16, 1798, and Nicholson in the summer of 1799.
[Sakolski, p. 166.] Nicholson died in prison on December 5, 1800. Morris was released on August 26, 1801,
but died penniless and broken in 1806.
Resolution of the North American Land Company
The North American Land Company remained in existence until 1872.
[Livermore, p. 169.] Morris and Nicholson honestly believed that, if their cash flow problems were resolved, they could make payments on the property they owned and their shares would be returned to them. But this proved incorrect. On October 23, 1807, all stock in the company was sold at seven cents on the dollar to accountants managing the aggregate fund. By 1856, the company had produced just over $92,000 in income. Morris and Nicholson's heirs sued to recover the stock and gain access to the income; in 1880, each estate was awarded $9,962.49.
From 1797 to 1843, Greenleaf was a party, plaintiff, or defendant in six lawsuits, which proceeded to the
U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
. He successfully defended himself in all six of the cases. In another seven suits regarding the aggregate fund, which also went to the Supreme Court, Greenleaf was either completely or partially successful.
Supreme Court cases naming Greenleaf directly include:
*''
Knox v. Greenleaf'', 4 U.S. 360 (1802)
*''
O'Neale v. Thornton'', 10 U.S. 53 (1810)
*''
Fletcher v. Peck'', 10 U.S. 87 (1810)
*''Pratt and Others v. Carroll'', 12 U.S. 471 (1814)
*''Pratt v. Law & Campbell'', 13 U.S. 456 (1815)
*''Greenleaf v. Cook'', 15 U.S. 13 (1817)
*''Bayley v. Greenleaf'', 20 U.S. 46 (1822)
*''Greenleaf v. Queen'', 26 U.S. 138 (1828)
*''Greenleaf's Lessee v. Birth'', 30 U.S. 132 (1831)
*''Greenleaf v. Birth'', 34 U.S. 292 (1835)
*''Potomac Steamboat Co. v. Upper Potomac Steamboat Co.'', 109 U.S. 672 (1884)
Yet another case, ''
Morris v. United States'', 174 U.S. 196 (1899), involved a suit against the estate of Robert Morris, and helped resolve a long-running boundary dispute in Washington, D.C. The case discusses Greenleaf, Nicholson, and Morris' involvement in selling lots on Water Street in the city.
Return to Washington, D.C.
![James Greenleaf tomb - Congressional Cemetery - Washington DC - 2012](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/James_Greenleaf_tomb_-_Congressional_Cemetery_-_Washington_DC_-_2012.jpg)
As early as 1816 or 1817, Greenleaf made known to his wife, who was residing in their
Allentown, Pennsylvania residence, his desire to return to Washington, D.C. full-time. Ann Greenleaf, however, expressed her unwillingness to leave Allentown. In an 1817 letter to her friend and trustee, William Tilghman, she wrote:
It would be unkind of me to say to Mr. Greenleaf, that I never shall be reconciled to a residence in Washington, D.C., and I believe that he does not suspect that such are my sentiments, but I say to you my dear Sir unhesitatingly, that I dislike Washington...I love retirement, particularly the retirement of Allentown.
Ann did ultimately accompany her husband to Washington, D.C. for short periods. They spent Christmas 1821 in the city, and during the winter of 1826 they rented a home owned by
William H. Crawford
William Harris Crawford (February 24, 1772 – September 15, 1834) was an American politician and judge during the early 19th century. He served as US Secretary of War and US Secretary of the Treasury before he ran for US president in the 1824 ...
on
14th Street NW just north of
Thomas Circle
Thomas Circle is a traffic circle in Northwest Washington, D.C., in the United States. It is located at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue NW, Vermont Avenue NW, 14th Street NW, and M Street NW. It is named for George Henry Thomas, a Un ...
. They also spent the summer of 1828 in the city, living at Washington House at 222 North Capitol Street.
During the first two decades of the new century, Greenleaf repaired many of his personal relationships. By 1830, he had reconciled with most of his family. He spent Christmas 1830 at the Washington, D.C. home of his brother-in-law, William Cranch. During this stay, he also reunited with Noah Webster for the first time in years.
Although he was not estranged from his wife,
Greenleaf moved permanently to Washington, D.C. in 1831. For the remainder of his life, he listed his primary residence as Washington, D.C. while Ann continued to live in the couple's mansion in
Allentown Allentown may refer to several places in the United States and topics related to them:
*Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California
*Allentown, Georgia, a town in Wilkinson County
*Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Taze ...
.
In 1831, or shortly before, Greenleaf constructed a two story wooden house on the corner of 1st and C Streets NE (lots 17 and 18) in Washington, D.C., just around the corner from William Cranch's home. His property included a stable with two horses and some cows. He grew
mulberry trees
''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...
, a widower acted as his housekeeper and cook, and her son-in-law worked as his gardener. Greenleaf also owned a small farm of perhaps an acre or less at 6th Street and
Virginia Avenue
Virginia Avenue is a street in the Northwest, Southwest, and Southeast quadrants of Washington, D.C. Like other state-named streets in Washington, it diagonally crosses the grid pattern formed by lettered (east-west) and numbered (north-south) ...
, SW. The site was later the location of the Jefferson School, designed by local architect
Adolf Cluss
Adolf Ludwig Cluss (July 14, 1825 – July 24, 1905) also known as Adolph Cluss was a German-born American immigrant who became one of the most important, influential and prolific architects in Washington, D.C., in the late 19th century, respons ...
, and sheltered Major General
William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), achieving recognition for his com ...
and some of his officers after the
Second Battle of Bull Run in 1862. It was razed around 1870.
[ Clark, ''Greenleaf and Law in the Federal City'', p. 209.](_blank)
Accessed November 24, 2012.
The final years of Greenleaf's life were spent quietly. His few financial needs were met by his wife and by speaking fees. By the late 1830s, he had paid off or otherwise resolved almost all his debts and had extensive land holdings, though little of it was developed.
[ Clark, ''Greenleaf and Law in the Federal City'', p. 212.](_blank)
Accessed November 24, 2012. He associated with childhood friends John Quincy Adams, William Cranch, and Cranch's wife Nancy, who was Greenleaf's sister, and attended the
Unitarian Church.
He otherwise had few friends and did not socialize much, preferring to spend most of his time sleeping, eating, and reading in the library on the ground floor of his home. He continued, however, to make occasional visits to Allentown to see his wife.
In the final few years of his life, Greenleaf's assistant was Bushrod Robinson, later a lieutenant in the
Union Army
During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...
and a local businessman and Washington, D.C. socialite. At the time he knew Greenleaf, Robinson was still in his early 20s. Robinson described Greenleaf as tall, about , blond haired, clean shaven, courteous, and a great lover of children and books. (Greenleaf owned 2,612 books, which was an extremely large library for the day.)
Death
On September 1, 1843, or thereabouts, Greenleaf fell ill. His health did not decline too much, however, and the illness seemed minor.
[ Clark, ''Greenleaf and Law in the Federal City'', p. 211.](_blank)
Accessed November 24, 2012. When Greenleaf's sister, Nancy Cranch, died on September 16, 1843, however, he went into a state of shock on learning of her death.
Greenleaf's health deteriorated rapidly over the next few hours, and he died in the early morning hours of September 17, 1843, at age 78.
Greenleaf was interred in
Congressional Cemetery
The Congressional Cemetery, officially Washington Parish Burial Ground, is a historic and active cemetery located at 1801 E Street, SE, in Washington, D.C., on the west bank of the Anacostia River. It is the only American "cemetery of national m ...
in Washington, D.C.
Ann Greenleaf continued to live in her
Allentown Allentown may refer to several places in the United States and topics related to them:
*Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California
*Allentown, Georgia, a town in Wilkinson County
*Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Taze ...
mansion for the next eight years. Blind in the last few years of her life,
[Roberts, Stoudt, Krick, and Dietrich, p. 408.] she died in Allentown on September 21, 1851.
She was originally buried in the family vault in the Christ Church cemetery in Allentown. Her remains were later moved to
North Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.
Personal life
First marriage
![Baroness Scholten - wife of James Greenleaf - 1795](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Baroness_Scholten_-_wife_of_James_Greenleaf_-_1795.jpg)
In 1788, Greenleaf married Dutch Baroness Antonia Cornelia Elbertine Scholten van Aschat et Oud-Haarlem.
She was a member of a powerful Dutch banking family, and noble-born.
[Arnebeck, ''Tracking the Speculators ... '', p. 114.] Greenleaf said that, in 1796, he and the baroness made love soon after his arrival in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
. He made it clear that neither had seduced the other. When he returned to the U.S., he learned she was pregnant. He claims he immediately returned to Amsterdam to marry her, and was told that she had miscarried. The van Aschat family convinced him to marry her anyway, and he did so in 1788. Greenleaf said that his wife's maid soon revealed that there had been no pregnancy. By this time, the baroness was pregnant, and she gave birth to a son. Greenleaf says his wife later tried to commit suicide after which he separated from her.
During his brief marriage, Greenleaf communicated to Noah Webster how unhappy he was with the baroness. Greenleaf returned to the U.S., and a judge in
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...
granted him a divorce on September 3, 1796.
Greenleaf's contemporaries and modern historians dispute his account of his marriage and divorce. Historian Allen Clark, who in the late 19th century interviewed Greenleaf's contemporaries, dismissed the account of deception and said that the couple fell in love and, after a three-month romance, married.
[Clark, ''Records of the Columbia Historical Society'', p. 215.](_blank)
Accessed October 30, 2012. But Greenleaf's critics in the 1820s and 1830s said Greenleaf seduced the baroness to gain access to Dutch banking circles and capital for real estate investing.
There also is dispute about their divorce. Historians Joseph Smith and Julius Goebel claim the baroness divorced Greenleaf, not the other way around.
James and Antonia had two children before their marriage ended: William Christian James Greenleaf, born September 6, 1790, and Marie Josephine Wilhelmina Matilda Greenleaf (no date of birth known).
[ Clark, ''Greenleaf and Law in the Federal City'', p. 90.](_blank)
Accessed October 29, 2012.
Greenleaf's land and financial speculations ruptured his relationships with his family,
most of whom he had persuaded to invest in them. It also left impoverished the family of William Cranch, who married Greenleaf's sister, and many Bostonians. But by early 1795, Greenleaf mended his personal relationship with his old business partner, James Watson, and with other business associates in New York City. He also was reconciled with his sister Rebecca.
Having been ejected from Noah Webster's home, Greenleaf moved to
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
[Micklethwait, p. 129.] possibly because it was considered the halfway point between Washington, D.C. and New York City. On March 9, 1795, Greenleaf purchased the Landsdowne estate of
John Penn, the last colonial governor of Pennsylvania, for $37,000.
Penn built a luxurious mansion on the estate in or around 1773, and died February 9, 1795. Then, on April 15, 1795, Greenleaf purchased General
Philemon Dickinson
Philemon Dickinson (April 5, 1739February 4, 1809) was an American lawyer and politician from Trenton, New Jersey. As a brigadier general of the New Jersey militia, he was one of the most effective militia officers of the American Revolutionary ...
's house on
Chestnut Street, on a corner opposite Robert Morris' home, in Philadelphia for $28,000. Greenleaf held lavish parties at both homes.
Greenleaf did not live long in Philadelphia. His house there was seized by the county sheriff for nonpayment of debts at some point during 1797 and sold at auction for $55,100. Dickinson foreclosed on Greenleaf's other home for nonpayment of the mortgage on November 29, 1797, but Dickinson repurchased it at auction for $15,733.
By late 1797, Greenleaf was on the verge of bankruptcy. But there was no national bankruptcy law. Congress did not pass one until the
Bankruptcy Act of 1800 The Bankruptcy Act of 1800 was the first piece of federal legislation in the United States surrounding bankruptcy. The act was passed in response to a decade of periodic financial crises and commercial failures. It was modeled after English practi ...
, so Greenleaf was forced to apply for bankruptcy in each state where he had conducted business. He first applied for bankruptcy in Pennsylvania on March 10, 1798, although his debts were not settled and his case was not discharged there until March 1804. He then applied for bankruptcy in Maryland on February 9, 1799, and his case was discharged on August 30. In 1802, Greenleaf applied for bankruptcy under the new federal bankruptcy law. His federal case was discharged on March 17, 1804.
Second marriage
![Ann Penn Allen - Gilbert Stuart c](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Ann_Penn_Allen_-_Gilbert_Stuart_c._1795.jpg)
While Greenleaf was in bankruptcy court, he married his second wife, Ann Penn Allen (nicknamed "Nancy"), on April 26, 1800.
[Clark, ''Records of the Columbia Historical Society'', p. 223.](_blank)
Accessed December 2, 2012. Allen was known to Greenleaf as early as 1795; Thomas Law mentioned her in a letter about Greenleaf that year. She came from a wealthy and famous family; her father was James Allen, a prominent businessman and political figure in
Allentown Allentown may refer to several places in the United States and topics related to them:
*Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California
*Allentown, Georgia, a town in Wilkinson County
*Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Taze ...
. Her grandfather was
William Allen William Allen may refer to:
Politicians
United States
*William Allen (congressman) (1827–1881), United States Representative from Ohio
*William Allen (governor) (1803–1879), U.S. Representative, Senator, and 31st Governor of Ohio
*William ...
, former Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System. It also claims to be the oldest appellate court in the United States, a claim that is disputed by the Massachusetts Supreme Ju ...
and founder of Allentown. Her mother was Elizabeth Lawrence, daughter of
Tench Francis Sr., a prominent lawyer in colonial Maryland and Pennsylvania, and her uncle was
Sir Philip Francis
Sir Philip Francis GCB (22 October 1740 – 23 December 1818) was an Irish-born British politician and pamphleteer, thought to be the author of the ''Letters'' of Junius, and the chief antagonist of Warren Hastings. His accusations against t ...
, the Irish-born British politician and political pamphleteer who authored the
Letters of Junius
''Letters of Junius'' (or Junius: ''Stat nominis umbra'') is a collection of private and open letters critical of the government of King George III from an anonymous polemicist ( Junius) claimed by some to be Philip Francis (although Junius' real ...
.
Ann was also heir to her father's large estate.
To protect herself from Greenleaf's creditors, Ann established a trust for all her property before her marriage.
William Tilghman
William Tilghman (August 12, 1756 – April 29, 1827) was the Chief United States circuit judge of the United States Circuit Court for the Third Circuit and chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
Education and career
Born on Augu ...
, who in 1805 would become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and John Lawrence were appointed the trustees.
Life in Allentown
After their marriage, Greenleaf and his wife divided their time between homes in
Allentown Allentown may refer to several places in the United States and topics related to them:
*Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California
*Allentown, Georgia, a town in Wilkinson County
*Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Taze ...
and
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
.
In 1802, Ann gave birth to a daughter, Mary Livingston Greenleaf. Mary married her cousin, the merchant Walter C. Livingston of New York (son of
Henry W. Livingston), on July 28, 1828. A second daughter, Margaret Tilghman Greenleaf, was born the following year. Margaret married Charles Augustus Dale of Allentown in July 1832.
Mary had eight children, but only one of them married (and this daughter had no children of her own). Margaret's marriage to Dale was a short one. Her parents forbade her to marry, but she
eloped. The couple returned to Allentown, where Ann Greenleaf all but imprisoned her daughter in the Greenleaf home and refused Dale entry. Dale forced his way into the Greenleaf home, and James had him arrested. The disgrace of imprisonment proved too much for Dale, who committed suicide after his short imprisonment. Margaret, who was pregnant with Dale's child, gave birth to a son, Allen, in 1833. Allen Dale accidentally drowned in the
Delaware and Raritan Canal
The Delaware and Raritan Canal (D&R Canal) is a canal in central New Jersey, built in the 1830s, that served to connect the Delaware River to the Raritan River. It was an efficient and reliable means of transportation of freight between Philadelp ...
in 1895. Margaret died in 1898.
[ Clark, ''Greenleaf and Law in the Federal City'', p. 204-205.](_blank)
Accessed November 24, 2012.
The primary Greenleaf home from 1800 to 1807 was a large mansion in Allentown located at the corner of 5th and Hamilton Streets. It was situated in a small park full of trees, and the Greenleafs entertained lavishly and frequently there.
A replica by Gilbert Stuart of the
Lansdowne portrait
The Lansdowne portrait is an iconic life-size portrait of George Washington painted by Gilbert Stuart in 1796. It depicts the 64-year-old President of the United States during his final year in office. The portrait was a gift to former British Pri ...
of George Washington hung in the mansion.
[ Clark, ''Greenleaf and Law in the Federal City'', p. 205-206.](_blank)
Accessed November 24, 2012. Although Greenleaf lived comfortably on his wife's income, in 1810
he purchased small amounts of land in and around the city,
subdivided it, developed it, and sold it. Because of this development, many of the streets in Allentown bear the names of Greenleaf's relatives and associates: Law, Livingston, Morris, Pratt, Priscilla, Tilghman, and Webster.
Greenleaf also helped promoted the construction of a bridge across the
Lehigh River.
From 1807 to 1828, Greenleaf listed his primary residence as Philadelphia.
Although he continued to reside in Allentown until 1826,
Greenleaf spent most of his time in Philadelphia.
Washington, D.C., continued to draw Greenleaf. Greenleaf spent much of the last 40 years of his life defending himself from lawsuits,
[ Clark, ''Greenleaf and Law in the Federal City'', p. 184."> Clark, ''Greenleaf and Law in the Federal City'', p. 184.](_blank)
Accessed November 24, 2012. and he returned to Washington regularly to defend himself in these cases.
Greenleaf made his first trip back to Washington on August 17, 1799, and returned repeatedly to the city between 1800 and 1828. He usually stayed two weeks, advertising in the ''
National Intelligencer
The ''National Intelligencer and Washington Advertiser'' was a newspaper published in Washington, D.C., from October 30, 1800 until 1870. It was the first newspaper published in the District, which was founded in 1790. It was originally a Tri- ...
'' his arrivals and departures. He usually stayed at either Davis' Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Captain Wharton's boarding house on F Street NW, or Miss Heyer's boarding house on New Jersey Avenue SE (near Thomas Law's home).
Legacy
Greenleaf Point in Washington, D.C., is named for James Greenleaf.
Little of Greenleaf Point was developed by the time Greenleaf was forced into bankruptcy. The city grew not on Greenleaf Point, as he anticipated, but around the White House, around the United States Capitol, and between the White House and
Georgetown. By 1800, Greenleaf Point was still almost completely undeveloped. The only finished road through the area was New Jersey Avenue, on which two large buildings were constructed. Twenty half-finished structures, begun by Greenleaf, clustered around high land on South Capitol Street. The city's first
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...
church meeting was held in one of the "20 Buildings" in 1802. By 1824, however, the 20 Buildings were in ruins.
Another historic structure erected by Greenleaf was what is now known as the
Thomas Law House, built in 1795 on 6th Street SW. Thomas Law and his new wife
Elizabeth Parke Custis Law lived there from March through August 1796 after their marriage, and while waiting for their own house to be completed. This structure still stands in 2012, and has been listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
since 1973. It is one of the few early Federal-style houses still standing.
Greenleaf also at one time owned the land on which the Washington Arsenal and the District of Columbia Penitentiary were later built.
This was the site where
George Atzerodt
George Andrew Atzerodt (June 12, 1835 – July 7, 1865) was a German American repairman, Confederate sympathizer, and conspirator with John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of US President Abraham Lincoln. He was assigned to assassinat ...
,
David Herold
David Edgar Herold (June 16, 1842 – July 7, 1865) was an American pharmacist's assistant and accomplice of John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865. After the shooting, Herold accompanied Booth to the home of ...
,
Lewis Powell, and
Mary Surratt
Mary Elizabeth Jenkins SurrattCashin, p. 287.Steers, 2010, p. 516. (1820 or May 1823 – July 7, 1865) was an American boarding house owner in Washington, D.C., who was convicted of taking part in the conspiracy which led to the assass ...
were hanged on July 7, 1865, for their role in assassinating President Abraham Lincoln. Both sites are now part of
Fort Lesley J. McNair
Fort Lesley J. McNair is a United States Army post located on the tip of Greenleaf Point, the peninsula that lies at the confluence of the Potomac River and the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. To the peninsula's west is the Washington Cha ...
.
Greenleaf School, a former D.C. public school located on 4th Street SW between M and N Streets SW, was indirectly named for him. In 1871, an existing red brick schoolhouse at that location was renamed the "Greenleaf Building" a name "suggested by
tslocation" in the Greenleaf part of Washington. That building was replaced in 1896, but in later school documents, as early as 1909, it was referred to as the "James Greenleaf School". The school was razed in 1960.
Greenleaf also played important roles in American politics and literature. He bankrolled Noah Webster's newspaper, ''
American Minerva''. This newspaper played an important role in supporting the
Federalist political movement in the 1790s. Greenleaf also provided critical financial support to Noah Webster during Webster's financially distressed early years. Without such support, Webster would have been unable to continue writing or sustain his interest in his
dictionary.
Although James Greenleaf is not well-remembered two centuries after he was most active in business, historians Thomas P. Abernethy and Wendell H. Stephenson nevertheless call Greenleaf "the most important land speculator that the United States has produced."
[Abernethy and Stevenson, p. 149.]
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenleaf, James
1765 births
1843 deaths
People from Boston
People from Washington, D.C.
Businesspeople from Allentown, Pennsylvania
Public officials from Allentown, Pennsylvania
Burials at the Congressional Cemetery
People imprisoned for debt