For some years he , along with other Dutch settlers , had resided in this area . Upon the death of Stephanus , his eldest surviving son , Philip , became the head of the Manor House . Philip had four sons , Stephen , Abram , John , and Pierre . He died in 1747 PIERRE VAN CORTLANDT having devised the Manor House to his son Pierre . Pierre , the grandson of Stephanus , the most outstanding of all the Van Cortlandts , was born January 10 , 1721. In 1748 , he married Joanna Livingston . His public career began in 1768 when he was elected to the state assembly . He presided over the convention which drafted the state's first constitution . He was active in the Revolutionary War , and served in the Provincial Con- gress . In 1777 he became lieutenant- governor , a position to which he was periodically reelected for eight- een years . While Lord of the Manor he entertained many dignitaries , including George Washington , Ben- jamin Franklin , Lafayette , Steuben and De Rochambeau . Pierre Van Cortlandt died at the Manor House on May 1 , 1814 . The next head of the Manor was Philip , son of Pierre . Philip dis- tinguished himself as a General in the Revolutionary War and mem- ber of Congress for sixteen years . General Philip Van Cortlandt died on November 2 , 1831 , and his son Pierre , grandson of the first Pierre came into possession of the Manor . Pierre resided here until his death in 1884. Pierre's widow Catherine Beck Van Cortlandt next occupied the Manor with her children Cath- erine Van Cortlandt Matthew , James Stevenson Van Cortlandt and Anne Stevenson Van Cortland . All are now deceased .