" From the time of his arrival he became a leading man in the colony," and being possessed of great wealth, which he had acquired in mercantile pursuits, he made extensive purchases of lands in Westchester County. These, on the 21st of March, 1701, were "erected into the lordship and manor of Scarsdale, to be holden of the King in free and common soccage, its Lord yielding and rendering therefore annually, upon the festival of Nativity, five pounds current money of New York, etc." Besides his judgeship, Mr. Heathcote held other offices of honor in the province. He was colonel of the Westchester militia all his life, "first mayor of the borough of Westchester, a councilor and surveyor-general of the province, mayor of New York for three years, for a time commander of the colony's

2 MS. book of Sir William Heathcote, f|UOted by Bolton.

THE BENCH AND BAR.

forces, and from 1715 to his death, in 1721, receivergeneral of the customs of all North America-" '

A sincere churchman, he was senior warden of Westchester Parish from 16C5 to 17C2, and senior warden of the parish of Rye frcm 1703 to 1710.^

William Willett, who succeeded Colonel Heathcote as judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the county in 1721, was the son of Colonel Thomas Willett, of Flushing, Long Island, and the grandson of Honorable Thomas Willett, first mayor of New York. The Willetts descend from the Rev. Thcmas Willett, a distinguished English divine, who died in 1597. The descendants of Honorable Thomas Willett occui)ied prominent positions in the province, such as high sherifl's, judges and mayors.