Jerry L. Anderson, Drake University Law School, has posted The Battle for Lower Manhattan: Trinity Church versus the Bogardus Heirs:
The descendants of Dutch colonists fought for over two centuries to reclaim title to sixty-twoacres in lower Manhattan, granted by England to Trinity Church in 1705. The battles, both physical and legal, reached a climax in the mid-1800s, when New York's highest court ruled for Trinity in a series of cases. The rulings relied on Trinity's lengthy possession of the tract, illustrating how adverse possession in early American history helped create the certainty of title necessary for economic development.
Trinity Church (NYPL)
--Dan Ernst
