Jesse Ryder
John M. McDonald interview
Jesse Ryder (1812-1889) was a grandson of Jacob Ryder and Susannah Bishop Ryder. He states that a French officer whom he believes to be Colonel Charles Armand spent “the whole or part of one winter” at his grandfather’s home. During this time, Susanne Bishop Ryder successfully pleaded with Colonel Armand to spare the life of a man who was to be hanged. Jesse Ryder also notes that an American guide, Eden Hunt, was wounded on the road to Pines Bridge. He concludes by stating that his story regarding the “Westchester Tea Party” in which a group of women secured a supply of tea was correct and not embellished, and that the owner of the tea was John Arthur, who later owned Tabor Farm in Dutchess County.
Original findings from this interview
Manuscript page facsimiles
High-resolution images served from the Westchester County Historical Society's IIIF endpoint. Click any page to view full size.
Transcription
- Hufeland Index Page 736 -
October 20th. Jesse Ryder of Ossining: “My Grandfather, Jacob Ryder, during the Revolutionary war lived in the next house below on the road to and not far from Sing Sing. A French officer (Colonel Armand I suppose) staid with him the whole or part of one winter. His men were not all French. He was about putting one of them to death for desertion or some crime when my grandmother begged his life of the commander and saved him. Eden Hunt, an American guide, was shot by a party of Refugees, a little north of my house on the road to Pines Bridge. The account I gave you of the West Chester Tea Party is correct in its facts throughout without any embellishment. It was John Arthur, afterwards proprietor of the Tabor Farm (as it was called) in Dutchess County, who owned the tea. If I learn anything authentic that
- Hufeland Index Page 737 -
can aid your enterprise, I will not fail to communicate it to you.