Home / Shonnard, Frederic, and W.W. Spooner. History of Westchester County, New York, from its Earliest Settlement to the Year 1900. New York: The New York History Company, 1900. / Passage

History of Westchester County, New York, from its Earliest Settlement to the Year 1900

Shonnard, Frederic, and W.W. Spooner. History of Westchester County, New York, from its Earliest Settlement to the Year 1900. New York: The New York History Company, 1900. 305 words

Leisler at once summoned a general assembly for the purpose of providing means and supplies for retributive measures. In that body Thomas Browne was the delegate from Westchester County. The influence of Leisler as a plain citizen, before by the stress of events placed in the control of affairs, was uniformly on the side of the public welfare, of intelligence, and progress; and the history of his personal career is that of a vigorous, successful, and honest man, who eminently deserved the position he won. He came to New York in 1660, while the city was still known as New Amsterdam,

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being one of a company of fifteen soldiers for the re-enforcement of the garrison. Afterward he traded with the Indians and acquired considerable means. He served under Dongan as one of the commis ioners ofthe Admiralty Court. In 1GGT he was one of the jurors in a case of witchcraft tried at Brookhaven, Long Island, against Ralph Hall and his Avife, which resulted in acquittal. As one of the captains of the training bands he enjoyed the unusual confidence of the citizen soldiers -- a confidence which, because of his reputation in the community, was shared by the public in general when the necessities of the situation constrained them to assume the temporary direction of the government. He was, moreover, sustained throughout his administration by some of the best and most substantial citizens, notwithstanding the opposition and intrigues of the former governing class; and the persistent continuance of a perfectly respectable u Leislerian party " for many years after his tragical end is convincing tribute to the excellence of both his private and civic character. His descendants at this day are very numerous, and have representatives in many of the old and highly respectable families of New York and Westchester County.