Though an undoubted patriot, and resident within the British lines, ho was not disturbed by the enemy in his possessions, and, indeed, so great was the respect in which his character was hold, was able frequently to exercise powerful influence with the British authorities in New York in behalf of his distressed countrymen. lie died in 1800 without issue, whereupon the "•Little Yonkers" estate passed to his brother, Augustus; and after the death of flu1 latter the principal portion of it (including the mansion) was held, until its purchase by the City of New York, in the family of his daughter Anna, who married Henry White, the White heirs of Augustus assuming the name of Van Cortlandt agreeably to a requirement of his will. The Manor of Pelham, having been reduced to one-third its original dimensions in consequence of the sale in 1GS9 by John Pell (second lord) of six thousand acres to the Huguenots of New Rochelle, never subsequently to that time enjoyed very conspicuous rank among the great original landed estates of Westchester County. Moreover, the

ARISTOCRATIC

FAMILIES

successors of John Pell in its kk lordship " did not compare in influence or public activity with the descendants of the founders of Morrisania, Philipseburgh, Van Cortlandt, and Scarsdale Manors; and the roll of members of the colonial assembly from Westchester County during the eighteenth century does not contain the name of a single Pell. However, the manor was preserved as such until the death of the last " lord," Joseph Pell, in 1776; and the Pells in their various branches were always a numerous and respectable family, contracting advantageous marital alliances in both the male and female lines. The principal person of the Pell name in later colonial and Revolutionary times was Philip Pell, a conscientious, able, and prominent patriot, who represented the State of New York in the continental congress of 1788, served as judge-advocate of the American army, and after the war was sheriff of the county, his son, Philip Pell, Jr., serving for many years as surrogate.