the Beddington Patent, which lies in the towns of Franklin and Walton. In 1820, Gen. Root discovered that a large portion of this tract of land had escheated to the State, its proprietor having died intestate. He accordingly introduced a bill appropriating the proceeds of the sale of these lands to the construction and endowment of an academy at the county seat of Delaware county. The hill, after an exciting debate and a good deal of opposition, finally passed.
The Delaware Academy was one of the first incorporated institutions of learning in the interior of the State, and the first in the county, and has since maintained a high literary reputation. Connected with the institution is a valuable and wellselected library, containing several hundred volumes, and a fine collection of mineralogical specimens, principally collected by the County Geological Society. This Society was formed in 1821. The meeting for the purpose of organization, was held at the hotel of G. H. Edgerton, on the 6th of September. Charles A. Foote, Esq., was elected president; Rev. James P. F. Clark, vice-president; Charles Hathaway, Esq., receiving secretary; Doctor Calvin Howard, corresponding secretary; andSelahR. Hobbie, Esq., treasurer; Cornelias R. Fitch, Esq., R. W._ Stockton, and Ebenezer Steele, were elected directors.
Colonel Henry Leavenworth, of the U. S. Army; Edwin Croswell, then of Catskill, but afterward, and for many years, senior editor of the "Albany Argus;" and O. Rice, Esq., of Troy, were unanimously elected corresponding members.
The main object of the institution was to promote inquiry with reference to the geology, mineralogy, and the natural history of the county, although I believe the researches of the society in the county for specimens, were very limited. " The Autobiography of the Delaware Gazette" thus alludes to this Society:
"This Society had but a short existence—neither it nor any
