At the expiration of that time, Stephanus Van Cortlandt, his heirs or assigns, had full authority to " return and send a discreet inhabitant in and of the said manor to be a representative of the said manor in every assembly," who should " be received into the house of representatives of assembly as a member of the said house, to have and enjoy such privilege as the other representatives returned and sent from any other county and manors." Cortlandt Manor did not, however, choose a representative in the assembly until 1734, when Philip Yerplanck was elected to sit for it. He continued to serve in that capacity for thirty-four years, being succeeded by Pierre Van Cortlandt, who remained a member of the

HISTORY

WESTCHESTER

COUNTY

assembly until 1775. Notwithstanding the exceptional privilege of representation given to Cortlandt Manor as a manor, the other manors of Westchester County were equally able to make their influence felt in that body. In addition to the special members from Cortlandt Manor and Westchester town, the county as a whole was entitled to representation by two general delegates. Heathcote, John Pell, the Philipses, and the Morrises all sat at various times for the county. The original purpose of the manor grants being to encourage the development of the semi-aristocratic system for which they provided, no onerous charges in the way of special taxation were assessed upon the manor proprietors. In each grant was incorporated a provision for the payment of annual " quit-rent " to the provincial government, but the amount fixed was in every case merely nominal. The various quit-rents exacted were, for the Manor of Pelham, as originally patented to Thomas Pell, " one lamb on the first day of May (if the lamb shall be demanded) "; for Pelham, as repatented to John Pell, "twenty shillings, good and lawful money of this province, at the City of New York, on the five and twentieth day of March"; for Fordham, " twenty bushels of good peas, upon the first day of March, when it shall be demanded"; for Philipseburgh, "on the feast day of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, . . . the annual rent of four pounds twelve shillings current money of our said province"; for Morrisania, "on the feast day of the Annunciation of our Blessed Virgin, . . . the annual rent of six shillings"; for Cortlandt, " on the feast day of our Blessed Virgin Mary, the yearly rent of forty shillings, current money of our said province"; and for Scarsdale, " five pounds current money of New York, upon the nativity of our Lord." Appended to most of the quit-rent leases was the significant statement that the prescribed payment was to be "in lieu of all rents, services, and demands whatever," apparently inserted to emphasize the well-understood fact that the manor grants were strictly in the line of public policy, and were in no way intended to become a source of revenue to the government.