Jennie M. Patten

The Argyle Patent and Accompanying Documents. Excerpted from History of the Somonauk Presbyterian Church, with Notes on Washington County Families Jennie M. Patten

Between 1738 and 1740, groups of Scottish Presbyterian families from Argyleshire in Scotland, totaling 472 persons, were brought to the New World by invitation of the Provincial Governor of New York Colony, who offered a thousand acres of land to every adult, and five hundred acres to every child who paid passage. Although the contract was not kept, in 1764 a large number of these colonists succeeded in securing a grant of 47,450 acres, known as the Argyle Patent, in the township of Argyle and in parts of the towns of Fort Edward, Greenwich, and Salem in Washington County, New York, upon which the Scottish colonists and their descendants took up residence. This work comprises a collection of the various documents produced in support of the Argyle claim, including the full text of the claimants' petitions, minutes and reports of the various Orders in Council, and several very important passenger lists. Also featured are genealogical notices of the McNaughton, Livingston, Savage, Gillaspie, and Clark families of Washington County.