Afterwards Steenwyk, by deed from Archer, obtained possession of the entire manor, and he and his pious wife willed it to the mini.sters, elders and deacons of the Reformed Congregation of the Nether Dutch Church, on the express condition that it should not be sold, but presumably that the congregation should receive the benefits of its rents, issues and profits in perpetuity.

The intentions of the Steenwyks were, however, found impracticable, and the General Assembly of the Colony of New York authorized the congregation to sell the lands. This was done, and the purchasers were hardy and thrifty people, who figured conspicuously in the annals of the Revolution.

Fordham, Bronx Land (the present Morrisania) and Jessup's, Richardson's, Cornell's and the Westchester patents have been so subdivided that the history of their development would be only a tedious chronicle of the layiug out of highways, the marks which each farmer placed upon his horses and cattle, and of law-suits, which prove that the former occupants were as tenacious of their individual rights as their successors to-day. The simple annals of the people between the final establishment of English dominion and the Revolution are not of general interest.

THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.

When, in 1775, the contention with the mother country had come to a critical stage, the citizens of Westchester township prepared to organize their military power. The following papers, which are contained among the returns on file at Albany, tell the story of their action :

"BoRoi GH AND Town of Westchester, 24"' Aug', 1775. " To the Hoiihln PnicincitU Congress for the Colony of New York :