Pease (Richard H.)

Albany, New York, , c.1850.
a mid-19th century lithographed copy of a manuscript map, then in the State Library, ‘From an Actual Survey taken in November 1758’, a detailed figurative plan illustrating the varied terrain, mostly stoney, swampy, or level arable land, around four newly built forts and a sawmill. A key in the lower left corner briefly describes Fort Craven, Fort Williams, Fort Stanwise, and Fort Newport, in terms of how constructed and whether still standing. Also, the various waterways, dams and sluices, and the nature and quality of the underlying geology.

Richard Pease (1813-1869) was a very creative merchant, running his eponymous ‘Temple of Fancy, or Pease’s Great Variety Store’ in Albany, New York,introducing the first Christmas cards to America, and commercialising the concept of Santa Claus, all alongside being a successful lithographer..