The first who settled here located in the town of i Westchester. When the first meeting was held there i we cannot learn, but one was in existence in 1685. \ Soon afterward numbeis of Quakers settled in Mama- i roneck. In 1695 a step was taken that proved of great moment in the future settlement of Friends in Westchester County. John Harrison, of Flushing, purchased of the Indians a tract of land about nine

miles in length and nearly three in width, " bounded on the north by the Rye Ponds, on the east by Blind Brook, on the west by Mamaroneck River, and on the south by the lands of Joseph Budd." The Indians reserved "such whitewood trees as shall be found suitable to make canoes of." In the same year Governor Fletcher ordered the survey of the purchase, and soon after Harrison, and four others associated with him, received a patent for the whole tract. The people of Rye claimed this land as a part of their territory ; but, as they had taken no patent for their lands from the government of New York, their claims was not regarded. In 1685, Governor Dongan had ordered the inhabitants of Rye to appear and prove their title to their lands ; but, considering themselves under Connecticut jurisdiction, they disregarded the order. Harrison's purchase was made for the settlement of Friends from Long Island. They called it " The Purchase," and it is still so known. The emigration began as soon as the interests of the patentees who were not Friends were purchased, and the necessary arrangements completed. Large numbers then came across the Sound. In 1704 the Court of General Sessions recorded the places where the Quakers held public meetings for worship, as directed by act of Parliment for all Dissenters, as being at Westchester and Mamaroneck.