Charles II., of England, in March, 1664, liberally 2>resented to James, Duke of York, the whole colony of New Netherlands, with other possessions which he never owned. In August Colonel Richard NicoUs, with his English squadron and New England soldiers, captured the city of New Amsterdam, and in Se23tember, 1664, we can imagine that Wheeler and his fellow-citizens in Westchester village rejoiced in godly New England style over the downfall of the valiant Dutch Governor, Petrus Stuyvesant, and the accession of James, Duke of York, and his Governor, NicoUs, as lord proprietor of New York and Westchester township. '

FoRDHAM AND THE Ferries. -- West of Bronx River are the regions formerly known as the Manors of Fordham and Morrisania and the West Farms Patent, and lately as the townships of West Farms and Morrisania. The early history of Fordham and Morrisania is closely allied with that of Harlem, and many of their first settlers came from the latter village. In 1658 the director-general and Council passed an ordinance at Fort Amsterdam for the promotion of neighborly correspondence with the English in the north, and as a practical measure for the closer communication of the two peoples, they authorized the establishment of a ferry with a suitable scow near Harlem, besides promising, that a good wagon road should be built from Fort Amsterdam to Harlem by the company's negroes as soon as the population of the latter had increased to twenty or twenty-five families.*

The promised ferry and road remained only a project in the minds of the Dutch authorities, but nevertheless many of the Harlem people were attracted to the main land and some cultivated boueries or farms in the neighborhood of Bronxland and Spuyten Duyvil. NicoUs, the new English Governor, a man of enterprise and tact, who paid much attention to developing the settlements and obtaining the good will of the Dutch, in 1666 granted a charter to the inhabitants of Harlem, which, among other things, provided for " a ferry to and from the main which I may redound to their particular benefit," and authorized them "at their charge to build one or more boats for that purpose fit for the transportation of men, horses and cattle, for which there will be such