At Hyde Hall, a polished and elegant public image depended on a labor system in which two worlds existed simultaneously, as staff worked long, strenuous hours in the mansion, fields, forests, lanes, and gardens of the original 360-acre estate, supported by an entire wing for staff quarters, cooking, cleaning, and laundry that sustained the Clarkes' outwardly opulent lifestyle. The family's wealth also rested on land speculation, a common practice in early America, as George Clarke, his father, and grandfather acquired vast tracts of land that they sold or rented for sizable profit. Disputes between tenants and landlords over rent prices and the use of leased lots grew intense in upstate New York and culminated in the Anti-Rent Wars from 1839 to 1845, when tenants refused to pay rents, demanded reform, and proposed a new legal system to free themselves from tyrannical landlords and oppressive leases. In a notice posted for tenants at Cooperstown on December 10, 1844, George Clarke, Jr., declared that he would use all lawful means in his power to recover the farm of every man connected with Anti-Rent meetings and would concede nothing of what he considered his just rights.