New Jerusalem
Hartwick felt that allowing the common person to own land and live so far from one another was the cause of their immorality. He envisioned a utopian community dedicated to the principles of pious living. He made a series of land deals and eventually obtained a nearly 24,000 acre (97 km²) patent from the Mohawk Indians in Otsego County, New York located southwest of what would become Cooperstown, New York.
The first attempt toward a permanent settlement on the site was made by Hartwick in 1761. Hartwick commissioned his neighboring landowner, Judge William Cooper, to lease his land to suitable Christian settlers for the establishment of this "New Jerusalem." But Cooper essentially ignored Hartwick's criteria, and leased the property indiscriminately. Most (if not all) of his tenants had little interest in Hartwick's utopian vision for the settlement. His holdings holdings would form the basis for the community of Hartwick, New York.
In 1764 Hartwick wrote an article condemning the death penalty for theft as contrary to divine law. He believed there should be government-run educational schools to replace the exclusive private schools of the day. John Christopher Hartwick died during 1796 at Clermont Manor, the home of Robert R. Livingston.
Read more about this topic: John Christopher Hartwick
Famous quotes containing the word jerusalem:
“And was Jerusalem builded here,
Among these dark Satanic Mills?”
—William Blake (1757–1827)
“Comfort, comfort ye my people, speak ye peace, thus saith our God;
comfort those who sit in darkness mourning ‘neath their sorrows’ load.
Speak ye to Jerusalem of the peace that waits for them;
tell her that her sins I cover, and her warfare now is over.”
—Johann G. Olearius (1611–1684)