Johannes' daughter Gertrude had married Philip Verplanck and he had been chosen by the Van Cortlandt heirs to survey the entire manor into thirty lots, to be partitioned among the ten members of the family. It

seems strange that the law in vogue in Westchester allotted the share of a female heir who had married to her husband. Thus, Gertrude Van Cortlandt Verplanck's share was deeded by the commissioners to her husband, Philip Verplanck; Elizabeth's portion to her husband, William Shinner; Marie's to her second husband, John Milne; Ann's to her husband, Stephen De Lancey; Cornelia's to her husband, Colonel John Schuyler; and Catharine's to her husband, Andrew Johnson. The other two daughters of Stephanus, Margaret Van Cortlandt Bayard, a widow, and Gertrude, who had not yet married Colonel Henry Beekman, received their portions of Cortlandt Manor direct. Not dominated by husbands, they enjoyed the freedom in controlling their own property, which married women did not have until two centuries later. Philip and Stephen Van Cortlandt were the only two sons of Stephanus living. The ten parcels plotted by Philip Verplanck contained from six thousand six hundred to nine thousand acres each, a valuation being put on them of less than seventy cents an acre. The share that went to Gertrude Van Cortlandt Verplanck included what is now known as Verplanck's Point. Philip Verplanck sat in the legislature at Albany as Representative from Cortlandt Manor for thirty-four years--an all time record. He was paid six shillings a day. Philip Van Cortlandt, being the eldest surviving son of Stephanus, became the head of the family and occupied the Manor House on the Croton River upon his frequent visits to the estate from New York and Albany. An eminent merchant, member of his Majesty's Council, chosen to act on affairs of State, his career was such as would have pleased his father.