Walter Stewart Church Preface

<%@LANGUAGE="VBSCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> Walter Stewart Church Preface

Preface
After the Revolution, many wealthy men in our new nation became obsessed with land speculation. To have a visible sign of material wealth was very important to them. It was parallel to the pattern of English nobility. It was so prevalent that it caused George Washington to say to Congress: “Speculation, peculation and the insatiable thirst for riches seem to have got the better of every other consideration and almost every order of men.” 1 I include the men of the Church family; John Barker, his son Philip, and Philip’s son Walter, to be examples of those who chose land speculation to satisfy the desire to greatly increase their material wealth. For Walter, however, the material wealth was not there when he died in Albany in 1890.

Preface

After the Revolution, many wealthy men in our new nation became obsessed with land speculation. To have a visible sign of material wealth was very important to them. It was parallel to the pattern of English nobility. It was so prevalent that it caused George Washington to say to Congress:

“Speculation, peculation and the insatiable thirst for riches seem to have got the better of every other consideration and almost every order of men.” 1

I include the men of the Church family; John Barker, his son Philip, and Philip’s son Walter, to be examples of those who chose land speculation to satisfy the desire to greatly increase their material wealth. For Walter, however, the material wealth was not there when he died in Albany in 1890.