Not an old man, ami yet arrived at an age of gravity; not a politician in the common sense, but well experienced in public affairs and having a reputation for great judiciousness and virtuous love of truth and right; the head of a family as reputable and as highly and widely connected as any in the province, his example was of inestimable moral value to a cause which, in this county at least, had little need for vehement and aggressive advocates, but much for courageous upholders from among the dignified and conservative classes of society. His services to the patriot movement began in the colonial assembly, of which he was a member, and from that time until after the organization of the government of the United States he was one of the most earnest, useful, and prominent promoters of political independence and stable republican institutions. His private life was identified almost exclusively with Westchester County. Born on the 10th of January, 1712, he lived on the manor from boyhood, taking an active part at an early age in the family interests. His father, Philip, bequeathed to him " all that 1 He was the ancestor of the English branch of the Van Cortlandts-- the " eldest " branch. At the termination of the war, he went to England to reside, and died at Hailsham, in 1S14. He had twenty-three children, twelve of whom reached maturity, the sons all attaining high rank in the British army and the daughters marrying into the best English and Scotch families. The present Lord Elphinstone, one of the Queen's lords in waiting, is a greatgrandson of Colonel Van Cortlandt. Of the English branch no male descendant of the name is living.-- The Van Cortlandt Family, by Mrs. Pierre E. Van Cortlandt, Scharf, ii., 428.