Name/Title
Transcribed copy of Goodwill Notes Mar 1966 by Margaret Moon pg11Entry/Object ID
001741Tags
Chistopher Denne, Sarah WellsScope and Content
This transcription covers five pages (numbered 11 through 15) of a historical manuscript detailing the early settlement of the Wawayanda Patent in Old Orange County, New York. The text specifically focuses on the transition from "speculative" land ownership to actual settlement, highlighting the journey of Sarah Wells and Christopher Denn.
Summary of the Documents
These pages provide a narrative of the "Wawayanda Patentee Company" and their struggles to settle the land between 1703 and 1712. After nine years of "political speculation" with no actual settlers, patentee Christopher Denn decides to lead an expedition to establish a residence. Because he and his wife Elizabeth are childless, they rely on their "indented orphan girl," Sarah Wells, to lead the way into the wilderness. The narrative describes the negotiation with Sarah—who is initially filled with "consternation and dismay"—the promise of "one hundred acres of extra bounty land," and the detailed logistics of their trek from New York City to the Hudson River and through the mountainous wilderness of the Highlands toward what would become Goshen.
