Reference Number:
DEP/003
Description:
In these documents, besides the main subject of the Maine Lands Purchase, the following subjects may be noted:Alexander Baring’s description and impressions of the American scene and of American politicsThe resignation of President Washington, and the political situation then ensuing (see Alexander Baring to Henry Hope, Philadelphia, 29 Nov 1796)Viscomte de Noailles, and Talleyrand (see Alexander Baring to Hope & Co, Philadelphia, 26 May 1796 and to Sir F Baring, Philadelphia, Nov 1796)The United States Loan (1798 Nov - 1802 Feb)West Indian Trade (1798 Feb - 1799 May)Death of William Bingham, and the erection in Bath Abbey of his monument by Flaxman (1808 Oct)Maine Lands PurchaseIn 1791, William Bingham, of Philadelphia, and others, acquired considerable lands in the District of Maine, then part of the State of Massachusetts. The total area acquired was two million acres, held by Bingham and other proprietors, including General Cobb and General Knox. In 1795 Bingham wished to sell a portion of the lands, and early in that year Major William Jackson came to England as Bingham’s representative.Jackson offered to Sir Francis Baring one million acres of the lands, made up of two undivided tracts: the Kennebec Tract, in the northern back-lands of Maine, and the Penobscot Tract, between the Scoodac and Penobscot rivers in the south-east of Maine. Each tract contained half a million acres. The price was two shillings an acre. The proprietor’s title to the lands was good.Hope & Co, of Amsterdam, were approached by Sir Francis Baring, and in August 1795 the former agreed to extend a credit of £100,000 for the Maine Lands operation. Three-quarters of this credit was to be put to the account of Hope & Co and one-quarter to the account of John & Francis Baring & Co. Alexander Baring, later 1st Lord Ashburton, then aged 21, was sent out to America, carrying a letter of credit for £100,000, and with full powers to negotiate the purchase of the Maine Lands if he saw fit. The buyers had two objects in view: first, to secure capital in an investment beyond the reach of the war in Europe; and secondly, to speculate in the development of the USA.Alexander Baring left England on c23 Sep 1795, and reached Boston on 29 Nov. He left Boston on 1 Jan 1796 and arrived at Philadelphia on 14 Jan, having spent five days in New York en route. In Philadelphia he negotiated with William Bingham. As a result of these negotiations he purchased from Bingham an undivided moiety of the following lands:1 million acres of the Penobscot Tract, at two shillings (44 4/9 cents) an acre 200,000 acres additional to the Penobscot Tract, to the west of it, and including the port and town of Gouldsborough (Gouldsboro) at two shillings an acre.1.25 million acres close to the Penobscot Tract, north of it, at one shilling and six pence an acreTotal of the moiety: 1,425,000 acres, in a compact tract of land, for £106,875 sterlingAlexander Baring refused to touch the Kennebec Tract, and he persuaded Bingham to separate the Kennebec and Penobscot Tracts for the purpose of the negotiation. Both Henry Hope and Sir Francis Baring expressed satisfaction with the deal.On 13 Jun 1796 Alexander Baring began a tour of the purchased lands. The party consisted of William Bingham, his wife, the two Miss Binghams, Miss Willing, Viscomte de Noailles, John Richards (the elder) and Alexander Baring. The party later joined company with Generals Knox and Cobb. In Dec 1796 Alexander Baring wrote a detailed description of the tour and of the condition of the lands, to Hope & Co.General Cobb was Agent and Resident-Manager of the lands belonging to Bingham; and, after some uncertainty, John Richards, the elder, became, in July 1797, Agent and Resident Manager of the Hope-Baring lands at a salary of 1500 dollars per annum. Richards kept the appointment until about 1812, when he was succeeded by his son John.Alexander Baring remained for several years in the USA. In May and Jun 1797 Alexander proposed to his father that he should stay in America to become, in effect, manager of the Maine Lands. He seems to have kept hidden from his father the real reason for his wish to remain in America, for Sir Francis endorsed his son’s letter dated Philadelphia, 1 Jun 1797: "AB. proposes to remain in America. His object must then have been a marriage with Miss Bingham." Alexander Baring and Anne Louise Bingham, elder daughter of William Bingham, were married on 23 Aug 1798.By 13 Oct 1801 Alexander had returned to England, with his wife and their two eldest children.Two complications in connection with the administration of the Maine Lands may be cited:William Bingham on making his purchases of the lands in 1791 had agreed with the Government of Massachusetts to place 2,500 settlers on the lands, or to pay a forfeit of 30 dollars for each settler deficient. By 1806 there had been only 425 settlers on the lands, and Bingham faced a forfeit of more that 62,000 dollars. But the State Government agreed to accept 60,000 acres of Bingham’s Kennebec Tract, at the rate of fifty cents an acre, in place of the forfeit.In 1797 a survey was taken of the Maine Lands. By this it was established that the estimated 1.25 million acres to the north of the Penobscot Tract contained in fact very nearly three million acres. The Government of Massachusetts stipulated that Bingham should either accept the whole of this land, or relinquish the whole of it. Bingham was unwilling to accept so large a tract as three million acres. He proposed to renounce his claim, and in compensation offered to Hope-Baring an equal area of the Kennebec Tract, which had previously been refused by Alexander Baring. The documents do not show the end of this negotiation, but it seems clear that it came to nothing.The investment in the Maine Lands did not turn out to be a brilliantly profitable speculation. The general disposition to speculate in American lands, which had been manifest in 1797, died away. Furthermore, the Province of Maine was not attractive to settlers, who preferred to go further south. Finally, Maine was primarily an agricultural country; and capital during the Napoleonic war was invested in commerce rather than in agriculture, the USA having an expanding trade as a neutral power. Nevertheless, to have sold the lands during the first 20 years of the nineteenth century would have meant a great loss. They were, therefore, kept by Hopes and Barings under the management of the Richards family. The running expenses of the estates ate up the gains derived from them. In 1835 the greater part of the Hope-Baring lands was sold: 835,000 acres for £230,000.
Date:
1793-1836
TBAL Reference:
DEP.003
