At the election in 1798 there were plain indications of a falling away of the strength of the administration party throughout the State, which, although not borne out by the result the next year, were more than realized at the Presidential contest of 1800. Among the electors chosen by the Legislature was Colonel Pierre Van Cortlandt, Jr., of this county, who had married a daughter of ex-Governor George Clinton, still the leader of the Republican party in the State. General Thomas, of Rye, an active Republican, who had been out of the Assembly for some years, is again restored to it. The hold thus taken upon the popular vote was retained with much tenacity during the whole period of Mr. Jefferson's administration. The country was on the high road of prosperity. All interests shared in the general thrift. The ruling party must naturally benefit from such favoring circumstances. Its leading men in Westchester County in these days of Jefferson rule, besides Judge Thomas and Colonel Van Cortlandt, were Senator Ebenezer Purdy, of North Saiem ; Abijah Gilbert, of Salem ; and Jonathan Ward, of East Chester. The position of Senator Purdy was also a commanding one in the Republican party at large. In 1802 he was a member of the Council of Appointment, in whose hands was the political patronage of the State. In 1803, as chairman of the caucuses of the Republican members of the State Senate, he exercised a commanding influence in securing the nomination of General Morgan Lewis and preventing that of Aaron Burr as the standard bearer of the Republican party in the State in the election for Governor. There is no doubt that the movement which forced his re.nignation of his seat in 180C arose from the knowledge of his devotion to Governor Lewis, whose prestige and strength it was thought desirable to destroy.