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Morbisania, New Yoke City, August 16, 1886. PREFATORY NOTE The history of the County of Westchester, in New York, during the period commencing with the Spring of 1774 and closing with the early Winter of 1783, contains more of general interest than can be found in the history of any other County in the United States, during the same period, that of Suffolk, in Massachusetts, arid that of New …

No one who has hitherto pretended to speak or to write of the grand old agricultural County of Westchester, as a County, during the revolutionary era, has done more than to mention, with more or less of precision and particularity, the movements of two adverse Armies over her highways and her cultivated fields, one of them from Kingsbridge to the White Plains, the other from the Sound to the sam…

All these have been told, over and over again, with more or less of precision and particularity, and with mechanical uniformity of order and general statements; but all these various writers, from Gordon and Ramsey to the younger Bolton and Ridpath, have successively and uniformly belittled the history of that community of industrious and peaceful and prosperous and conservative farmers, who o…

An attempt has been made, in this work, to do a small portion of what has been, thus, hitherto, neglected ; and if we shall have succeeded in the little which we have earnestly and laboriously attempted to do, the reader will find, therein, a brief, but honestly told, record of those influences, obtruded from beyond the County itself, without invitation from and in known opposition to the incli…

We have endeavored to trace those evil influences, back, to their origin, and forward, as far as we have been able to go, to their final sad results; and, in more than one instance, we have seen those who controlled and wielded those influences, climb over the shattered remains of what, before, had been intelligent and industrious and contented families, and peaceful and plentifully-supplied h…

We have endeavored to present a complete history of the political as well as of the military affairs of Westchester-county, from the organization of the first political body, the Committee of Fifty-one, in the City of New York, by whom, in May, 1774, the first attempt was made to draw the farmers of Westchester-county into the vortex of revolutionary politics, until, early in December, 1776, th…

Notwithstanding all its defects, therefore, we trust the volume which contains the results of our prolonged and earnest labor, and which is, now, laid before the reader, will be accepted as our humble offering to the memory of those farmers and farmers' wives and farmers' children, residents of the County of Westchester, during the era of persecution and outrage and lawless violence, 1774-83, …

William and Robert Kelby, of the New York Historical Society, have kindly made examinations and copies of papers for us, when we were unable to do so for ourself : our valued friends, Hon. J. O. Dykman and Hon. Lewis C. Piatt, of the White Plains, and William Heathcote De Lancey, Esq., of the City of New York, have given their valuable assistance in determining and describing localities, in We…

Heber Bedell, M.D. of Tremont, in this City, without whose untiring watchfulness of our very delicate health, with God's blessing on his labors, during the many months of feebleness and pain with which we have been afflicted, while employed in the preparation of this work and until this time, we could not possibly have completed so much of what we had undertaken to do : to him, for that almost …

During the entire period extending from the first settlement which was made by Europeans, within that portion of New Netherland which, subsequent to the first of November, 1683, was known as the " County " of Westchester," in New York, until within the memory of living men, the inhabitants of that portion of the country, with rare exceptions, were either cultivators of its soil or employed i…

John Bartow wrote to the Venerable Society, from Westchester, which was, then, the County-seat and principal Village : " The "Inhabitants of our Parish live scattered and dispersed up and down in " the Woods, so that many cannot repair constantly to the Church, by "reason of their great distance from it." Quoted by Mr. Bolton, History of Westchester County, Second edition, i., 340. The "Parish…

See, also, letter of Rev. James Wetmore to the Venerable Society, "Rye, "March 25, 1743;" The Parish of Rye to the same, "Province of New "York, Bedford, March 6, 1744 ;" Rev. Joseph Lampson to the same, " Northcastle, in the Parish of Rye, February 10; 1746-47;" Rev. Ebenezer Dibble to the same, "Stamford in Connecticut, in New England, March 25, 1761;" Rev. Harry Monro to the same, "Philifs- …

cept " a small scattered Village," " the rest of the Township is covered "with plantations" -- Travela,'iii,, 486-- and, of theTownofMamaroueck, "it is wholly a collection of plantations ; and can scarcely be said to " contain even a hamlet. It is set, however, with a number of good houses "and excellent farms."-- Ibid, iii., 487.-- Of the County, as a whole, he wrote thus: "It is universally…

2 In the Autumn of 17U9, it was stated in the Assembly that the Manors of Philipseborough and Cortlandt, exclusive of all other portions of the County, contained "one-third of the people in the County;" but the number of Freeholders was somewhat increased, during the later Colonial period, as it was the practice of the greater number of the Proprietors to sell the fee-simple, whenever it was …

Although the Manors of Livingston and Rensselaerwyck and the Scott and Blenheim and Duanesburg and Clark and Kortright and Hardenburg and Desbrosses and Livingston and Montgomery and Armstrong ' and Banyar and Hunter and Overing and Lewis and Verplanck and other Patents were not in Westchester-county, the relations of landlord and tenant were the same, unless in the rentals, in all ; and they …

The Blacksmiths and the Wheelwrights, the Masons and the Carpenters, the Tailors and the Shoemakers, the Storekeepers on the roadside and the Tavernkeepers on the corners, all of them reasonably regarded as peculiarly necessary portions of every rural community, were, very often, in this, also farmers on a smaller scale. 3 The Market-sloops which, then, made their periodical trips between t…

tors of certain Leasehold Estate* and their Tenants, presented to the Assembly of New York, in 1846, and reproduced, with an introductory Note, in The Writings and Speeches of Samuel J. Tildtsn, edited by John Bigelow, i. 186. i The notorious Captain Cornelius Steenrod was the proprietor of 'more than one Fulling-mill, in Cortlandt Manor, at the opening of the War of the Eevolution. 2 The ol…

* The personal recollections of members of our own family, extending further back than our own, afford ample authority for this statement. 3 " Even in Towns every one has a plott of at least ten acres, which short, as was said in the beginning, there were few, among the residents of that portion of the country, during the later Colonial period, who were not either actual cultivators of the s…

-fcWith a more than usually productive Soil, not yet exhausted by a vicious system of cultivation ; with a temperate Climate, which was not only conducive to healthfulness, in the inhabitants, but promotive of the best interests of the farmers, in the ripening and harvesting of their crops ; with moderate Rentals for the properties held by those of them who were not Freeholders ; and with Tax…

With rare exceptions, these Westchester-county farmers were intelligent men, sufficiently educated for all the purposes of their business and of their recreation--even among the earlier of the several Towns, those farmers included, in their Westchester-county homes, men and women of culture, whose names, and characters, and abilities, as scholars and statesmen, in several instances, are matt…

During the period last referred to, not many among them were not in comfortable circumstances : many of them were what is called " well- " to-do : " some of them, particularly those who were members of the older families, in those days of simple habits, were considered wealthy. All of them were " distances his neighbor from him. "--.Rec. Thomas Stannard to the Venerable Society, " Westchester…

Especially during the Colonial period, there was no Village, at the County-seat or elsewhere, within the County, which contained a population sufficiently numerous to supply the neighboring farmers, nor even its own inhabitants, with the current news of the day ; z nor was there any settlement, within the County, which possessed sufficient influence to lead the fashions of the wives and daugh…

1 A personal examination of the Records of the County, preserved in the office of the Clerk of the County, at the White Plains, has revealed, to us, the significant fact that, although the Becords of CwU Actions in the Court of Common Pleas, the Becords of Boads, and other similar Becords, from a very early period, have been carefully made in hooks provided for the purpose (in one instance, i…

If the rough Minutes of the Courts, in Oriminal Actions, prior to 1787, were preserved, at all, they have all disappeared ; and we feel justified in saying, as we have said, in the text, that where Pauperism and Intemperance were as uncommon as they were in Westchester-county, during the later Colonial period, there was, in consequence, u minimum of Crime. 2 It is understood that there was no …

The tenure under which so many of those Westchester-county farmers held their lands, which did not permit them to enjoy the rights of Freeholders, at the Polls, had, from the beginning, removed that portion of the inhabitants of the County from the arena of politics, without having created any discontent ; and, to a great extent, it had served, also, to increase that Conservatism, even in po…

8 Except wherein our authorities for particular statements have been already given, we have depended, for what we have stated, in this and in the two other paragraphs which immediately precede this, on the knowledge which we have acquired, concerning Westchestercounty, its inhabitants, and its history, from the numerous books and manuscripts and newspapers, bearing on those subjects, which hav…

It possessed no political significance whatever -- it was grimly said of it, by a contemporary, " Sons of Liberty great opposers to these Bioters as they are of opinion "no one is entitled to Kiot but themselves" -- and it was promptly suppressed, without loss of either property or life. Those who are curious to know more of this outbreak of early "Antirenters," are referred to the Journals of…

Indeed, there had been no good reason for those farmers, comfortably situated on their inland homesteads, to take any particular interest in those struggles which, from an early period, the Boston, the Salem, the New York, or, any other Ship masters and Merchants had been waging, for the protection of that long-continued and profitable " illicit trade," from which no benefit had ever accrued …

It will be evident to every one, from what has been stated concerning Colonial Westchester-county and those who occupied it, that the purposes of this work, which is devoted especially to the history of that purely agricultural community, do not require us to notice the long-continued and ably-conducted struggle of parties, throughout the Colony, in which the Livingstons and the Morrises had…

family and party and sect, united only in that one opposition to the Colonial policy of the Home Government 2 -- of "the Gentlemen in Trade," as they sometimes called themselves -- within the several Towns and Cities on the Atlantic seaboard, to some of the long-established Laws of the Kingdom, as well as to those which had been enacted, since the close of the War with France and Spain, for …

2 It is proper for us to say that that opposition to the Colonial policy of the Home Government, as it was developed within the City of New York, overpowered every difference of family or of sect or of party which had been previously known ; and that the De Lanceys and the Livingstons, the Churchman and the Dissenter, the Jacobin and the Georgian, for the purposes of that opposition and of wh…

By the Act of May 8, 1699, it was provided that Representatives to the General Assembly "shall be chosen in every City, and County, and "Manor of this Province, who have Right to chuse, by People dwelling "and resident in the same Cities, Counties, and Manors; whereof, "every one of them shall have Land or Tenements improved to the "value of Forty Pounds in Free-hold, free from all Incumbranc…

By the Charter of the City of New- York, granted by Governor Dongan, in 1686, the Mayor and three or more of the Aldermen were authorized to make Freemen of the City from among certain specified classes, on the payment, in each instance, of Five Pounds, not an insignificant sum, at that early period.* No person could do business of any kind, within the City, unless he were a Freeman of the City …

In Westchester-county, the heirs and assigns of Stephanus Van Cortlandt having failed to exercise thoprivilege which had been given to the latter, as the Lord of the Manor of Cortlandt, of electing a Representative for that Manor in the General Assembly, that privilege was transferred, by the Act of June 22, 1734, to the body of the Freeholders resi- * A complete list of those who were admitted …

dent on the Manor. {Laws of New York, Chapter DCVII., Section II., Livingston and Smith's edition, New York: 1752, 219,220; the same, Chapter DCVII. , Section II., Van Schaack's edition, New- York : 1774, 183, 184.) It will be seen, therefore, that none, except those who were Freeholders holding improved and unencumbered Real Estate worth Forty PoundB, agreeably to the Act of May 8, 1699, cou…

In the Election fur Representatives for the City of New York, held on the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth of February, 1761, only fourteen hundred and forty-seven votes, including those of the Freemen of the City who were not, also, Freeholders, were cast. -- {The original Returns of the Inspectors, in manuscript, owned by us. ) In the Election for Representatives for the City of New- Y…

We have found only one Return of an JSlection in Westchestercounty, during the period of which we write ; but that very completely illustrates our subject. In the Election for the first Governor of the new-formed State, in 1777, the aggregate of the votes cast in Albany, Cumberland, Tiyon, Duchess, Ulster, and Westch ester-counties, including those of the Freemen of the City of Albany, was only…

*Rivington said the aggregate vote was a thousand and seventy-two. were required to respect) constituting, also, another and entirely independent factor in the political ele-« ments of that period, in each of the several Colonies, which, in its very important relations with the politics and the- politicians of its day, must, also, be generally disregarded, in this place, because it, and its a…

To other hands, therefore, must be left the labor of describing, in detail, the bold and persistent opposition of " the Merchants "and Traders" to those long-established Navigation and Revenue Laws, which, by reason of a more honest administration of them, by those whom the commercial classes had not succeeded in corrupting with their accustomed bribes, had so seriously interfered with the ve…

1 "The dispute between Great Britain and America commenced in the "year 1764, with an attempt to prevent smuggling in America." -- A Collection of Interesting, Authentic Papers relative to the Dispute between Great Britain and America, 1764 to 1775. London: 1777-- commonly known as Almon*s Prior Documents -- 3. See, also, the following official announcement, which was published in Parker's N…

That this has been the Case, and is like to be the Case "again, is notoriously known ; and all for the sake of enriching a few "Smugglers ; which together with that of supplying our Enemies with "Provisions,* will be an eternal Reproach to our Country. No good " Man therefore, nor good Citizen, it is to be hoped, will hesitate in " giving all the Discouragement in his Power, to such ignominio…

ployed it, to resist the execution of the Stamp-Act, to prevent the landing of the East India Company's Tea, and to make other demonstrations of seeming popular approval or disapproval, on other subjects of public polity or of governmental policy, whenever the political or the pecuniary interests of those "Gentlemen in Trade'' who had employed it, seemed to warrant the outlay of the means w…

The urgent appeals with which the newspapers had been filled, year by year, and the inflammatory handbills which had been posted throughout the City, whenever the purposes of "the Merchants and " Traders " of the City of New York had required their powerful, but, sometimes, questionable, co operation in opposing the Colonial policy of the Home Government, had gradually taught " the Inhabitant…

Little by little, therefore, under the leadership of, probably, not more than half a dozen shrewd and able and ambitious men, generally of higher social and political standing than themselves, these " In- " habitants " began to grow uneasy and insubordinate, if not radically revolutionary; and the confederated " Merchants and Traders " and the more aristocratic portion of the citizens who we…

At the same line, it was clearly seen by those careful observers of the signs of the times, that any attempt to abridge the existing power of the unfranchised " Inhabitants '' of the City, and, especially, that of those who were less scrupulous in the selection of their means, by open and direct measures, would, probably, induce the latter to employ, in their own behalf, that system of viol…

An evident danger silenced those who, under other circumstances, would, probably, have favored the employment of other and more direct means: wise counsels prevailed among those who were thus considering in what manner the evidently rising power and audacity of the unfranchised and revolutionary masses could be controlled, without disturbing the peace of the City and the Colony : and it was …

H33, New-York, Thursday, April 21 and No. 1634, New-York, Thursday, April 28, 1774; Gaine's Sao-York Gazette and Mercury, No. 1174, New- York, Monday, April 26, 1774- Lieutenant-governor Golden to the Earl of Dartmouth, "New York, 4th " May, 1774," and the enclosure therein; the same to Governor Tryon "New " York, 4th May, 1774 ;" Duulap's History of the Neu, Netherlands, Province of New York…

Notwithstanding the greater significance of the opposition of New York to the Tea-tax, which was seen in the resolute refusal to allow the storm-shattered Nancy to enter the harbor; in the examination of the cargo of the London, and the open destruction of her concealed Tea, in the light of day, by known men who saw no reason for disguising themselves ; and in the return of the Nancy, to Engla…

Thus, Mercy Warren (History of American Revolution;) "Paul Allen" (History of American Revolution;) Thaoher (Military Journal;) Morse (Annals of the American Revolution;) Pitkin (History of the United Stales ;) Frothingham (Riseofthe Republic;) Lodge (Short History of English Colonies;) and a multitude of others, make no mention whatever of the subject of the opposition in New York ; and Bancr…

Strange to say, Lossing, a New York writer, with all the original material within his reach and perfectly accessible, in his Seventeen hundred and seventy-six (page 111,) stated that the Nancy was returned to Europe, only "because no one could be found that would venture to receive the "tea," without an allusion to her having been stopped at Sandy-honk, and returned, thence, to Europe ; aud, u…

i On the fifth of March, 1770, while the motion of Lord North for "leave to bring in a Bill to repeal the Tax Act, as far as related to the "tax on Paper, Glass, and Painters' Colours," was under consideration, before the House of Commons, Governor Pownall, than whom no one was, then, better informed on every subject connected with America and the Americans, replied to the Minister, and moved…

But "this is not material to the point ; for it does not operate as a bounty, "at all, because whatever duty the East India Company pays, originally, "at the Custom-house, on the importing of Teas from Asia, that sum is " added to the price of their Tea, in their sales ; so that, although the "exporter to America may be allowed a drawback, yet he draws back " that sum only which he hath alre…

the confederated party of the Opposition-- the Government and those who favored it having no part in that matter of division among those who were opposing its policy -- were evidently sensible, however, as has been said, that that unseemly confederation of radically antagonistic elements, entirely for the promotion of the interests of one of those elements without securing a corresponding adva…

Just at that critical period, in May, 1774, advices were received from Europe, 2 of the Government's proposal to close the Port of Boston, with a possibility that that of New York would shortly share the same fate ; and it was also said that the Home Government also intended to remove the principal offenders against the Laws, within the Colonies, that they might be tried and punished in Engl…

For the purposes of the promoters of the proposed change in the leadership of the politicians of the City, to which reference has been made, " an Advertisement" was posted at the Coffee-house, in Wall-street, a noted place of resort for Shipmasters and Merchants, reciting "the late extraordinary and very alarming advices " from England ; " and " inviting the Merchants to *' meet at the house…

Francis's Long-room ; '' and that the published purpose was only " to consult on measures proper to " be pursued on the present critical and important "occasion," in neither of which features of the " Ad- '' vertisement," prima facie, can it be reasonably said that any stretch of authority had been attempted by those who had called the proposed Caucus -- surely, it will not be said there mi…

1 Minutes of the New York Committee of Correspondence, Monday, May 19, 1774; Lieutenant-governor Golden to Governor Tryon, "Spring Hill, "31st May, 1774 ; " the same to the Earl of Dartmouth, " New York, 1st "Juue, 1774;" Gouvemmr Morris to Mr. Penn, " New York, May 2D, "1774;" Joues's History of New York during the Revolutionary War, i., 34 ; etc. 2 " Sam. Francis," at that time and during …

" Francis's Long-room," iu which this Caucus was held, subsequently became more famous than it had previously been, because it was the room in which the Officers of the Army of the Revolution assembled, on Thursday, the fourth of December, 1783, after the enemy had evacuated the City and the Peace had been entirely established, to take their final leave of their illustrious Chief ; and from w…

There was no appearance of deception in the "Advertisement" through which the Caucus had been invited, in the instance under consideration; and, subsequently, when the Caucus assembled, no attempt appears to have been made to do anything more than the "Advertisement" had ■ authorized, notwithstanding those who had been specifically invited and were present, so largely outnumbered those uninvi…

But those who had hitherto assumed to be the leaders of the unfranchised masses -- the leaders, in fact, however, of only the radically revolutionary portions of those masses, -- saw, or assumed to have seen, in that proposed Caucus, a movement which promised to break the hold on the unfranchised element which, since the era of the Stamp Act, they had unceasingly claimed to have maintained …

The consequences of that proposed intrusion and the ill success of that scheme to oust those who had invited the Caucus and to turn into other channels than those which the latter had proposed, the action and influence of the Caucus itself, will be seen in the published narrative of the proceedings of that notable assemblage -- meanwhile, it will be evident to every careful observer, that tha…

political conglomerate in which had been combined, for purely selfish purposes, the fragmentary opposition, in the Colony of New York, to the Home Government which was then in authority (each of those antagonistic elements being, in pretension, if not in fact, equally zealous in its loyalty to their common Sovereign) was produced by less of respect for righteousness in politics and of a genu…

Francis's Tavern, 2 was crowded with anxious and determined men, evidently not entirely of one mind, and not indisposed, in some instances, at least, to enforce whatever differences of opinion and purpose might arise, with something more tangible than words, should such an enforcement, in their opinion, become necessary. Those whom the " Advertisement" had invited were present, in large numbe…

Samuel Francis ; " in none of the contemporary descriptions of the Caucus which we have seen, was it said or intimated that the assemblage left the Tavern, for any purpose, before the formal adjournment of the Caucus ; and in the second " Ad- " vevtisemenl," published on the day after tbe Caucus, by its officers and under its authority, inviting the body of the inhabitants of the City to mee…

With these as pur authorities, we prefer to differ from those who have preceded us ; and to insist, as we do insist, that the Caucus was held, without interruption or removal, in Sam. Francis's Lang-room. For the reasons stated, we prefer to differ, also, from our friend, Edward F. de Lancey, who has stated, in his carefullj prepared Notes to Jones's History of New York during the Revolutionar…

As the matter in dispute, between the two antagonistic factions, related only to the designation of those who should control the local politics of the day and what should be realized from those politics, it is not probable that any material opposition was made to the first and second of the three Resolutions which were adopted by the Caucus-- none has been mentioned by any contemporary writer…

4 A small broadside, containing a list of twenty-five names of persons who were " nominated by a Number of respectable Merchants and the "Body of Mechanics of this City, to be a Committee of Correspondence "for it, with the Neighboring Colonies," may be seen in the Library of the New York Historical Society. It was evidently the result of a consultation of those who assumed to have been the le…

Low, subsequently, became a Loyalist ; was stripped of his property, by confiscation ; was attainted ; and retired to England, where he died in 1791. -- (Sabine's Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revoluti n, original edition, 430 ; -- the same, second edition, ii., 32, 33.) 6 Prow edings of the Caucus, printed on a broadside, for general circulation, «, copy of which is in the…

maintained its own ground and voted down every attempt to oust it, which was made by the latter ; and in making the nomination of the fifty whom it proposed for the Committee of Correspondence, it did no more than to drop the names of three of those whom the minority had already selected, as its proposed Committee of Twenty-five, and to slip into the list of the twenty-two who were retained, …

Accordingly, on the day after the meeting of the Caucus [Tuesday, May 17] they published a Card, addressed "To the Public," in which "the Inhabitants " of this City and County " were " requested to attend " at the Coffee-house, on Thursday, the 19th instant, "at 1 o'clock, to approve of the Committee nominated " as aforesaid, or to appoint such other persons a«, in "their discretion and wisd…

See, also, the same Advertisement and an editorial note thereon, in Holt's New-York Journal, No 1637, New-York, Thursday, May 19, 1774 ; and Rivington's New-York Gazetteer, No. 57, New-York, ThurBday, May 19, 1774 ; Gaine's New York Gazette and Merrury, No. 1178, Xew- York, Monday, May 23, 1774; Lieutenant-governor Golden to Governor Tryon, " Sprinq-Hill, 31st May, 1774 ; " the same to the Ea…

" air same to the Earl of Dartmouth, " New-York, 1st Junel774 ;" Eiitory of the War in America, (Dublin : 1779) i., 22 ; Dunlap's Sew York, i., 453 ; Hildreth's United States, First Series, iii., 35 ; Bancroft's United Stotes, original edition, vii., 42, 43 ; Frothingham's Rise of Hit Republic, 327 ; Bancroft's United States, centenary edition, iv., 327, 328 ; Sparks's Life of Gouvemeur Morris…

He made the minority of the Caucus, the victors ; and did not allude to the Meeting at the Coffee-house. Doctor Ramsay, (History of the American Revolution, London : 1791, i., 114,) said "the Whigs and Tories were so nearly balanced " in New-York, that nothing more was agreed to at the first meeting of "the inhabitants," [after the receipt of the Boston Port-bill] "than a "recommendation to c…

Graham e, (History of the United States, London: 1836, iv., 349,) said, "At New " York the members and activity of the Tory party restrained the Assembly and the people at large from publicly expressing their senti, " ments with regard to the treatment of Massachusetts ;" although, in truth, the friends of the Home Government were, then, so greatly in the minority that they did nothing whatev…

Hildreth (History of the United States, First Series, iii., 36) said that the old Committee of the " Sons of Liberty " "was dissolved and a new one elected," without alluding to either the Caucus or the Meeting at the Coffee-houBO ; although, in fact, the Committee of Correspondence of an early date had ceased to exist when the Stamp-Act was repealed ; and neither that nor any other Committee …

By the direct action of the body of the inhabitants of the City, thus duly called, and assembled at the Coffee-house, for that specific purpose, all the discordant elements of the party of the Opposition to the Home Government, in New York, were seemingly consolidated and placed under the leadership of the Committee of Fifty-one, which was, then and there, appointed for that ostensible purpo…

He said of the Meeting at the Coffee-house, " and the nomination of the Committee was accepted, even with the addition of Isaac "Low as its Chairman, who was mure of a loyalist than a patriot;" although, in fact, Isaac Low's name was on the list which had been nominated at the Caucus, against which no opposition was made ; and the only "addition" which was made by the Meeting was that of Franc…

Doctor Sparks, (Life of Gouverneur Morris, i., 22,) merged the doings of the Caucus and the Meeting at the Coffee-house, into one mass ; made Isaac Sears the master spirit of all that was done ; and said " the Committee consisted of "a nearly equal number of both parties, but with a preponderance on ** the liberal side;" although the truth was, the friends the Home Government took no part wha…

Indeed, as Judge Jones, whose opportunities for ascertaining the exact truth and whose integrity and fearlessness in uttering it no one will Beriously question, has emphatically stated, " all partieB, denominations, and religions, apprehended, at that time, " that the Colonies laboured under grievances which wantedredressing ;" and no one, therefore, opposed any reasonable movement which tend…

With a complete knowledge of the small number of those who had previously assumed to represent the masses of the unfranchised inhabitants, and with as complete a knowledge of the? general harmlessness of those masses, in the absence of their self-constituted leaders, the high-toned promoters of the unpublished scheme of abridging the political power of the great body of the people had disarm…

Of the fifty-one members of the Committee, a very great majority were of the aristocratic, conservative, an ti- revolutionary portions of the inhabitants. On the fourth of July, when a test question was before it, thirtyeight members being present, only thirteen votes were cast by those who assumed to represent the unfranchised inhabitants ; and in the greater contest, three days afterwards, on…

It may also be stated, in this place, that, notwithstanding none of the fifty-one, at that time, were of the Governmental party, but, on the contrary, that every one was earnestly opposed to the Colonial policy of the Home Government, twenty-one of the number, at a subsequent period, became acknowledged Loyalists ; that a considerable number took no active part in the proceedings of the Commit…

2 For the purpose of providing an additional authority, concerning much that has been stated, in this work, concerning the relations which existed between the confederated " Merchants and Traders " and other high-toned citizens, and the more numerous, but unfranchised, " Inhabi- " tants of the City and County ; " concerning the desire of tho former to abridge the influence which had been secu…

The Committee which was thus created by the aristocratic, anti-revolutionary portion of those who, at that time, were opposing the Colonial policy of the Home Government, was largely intended, as we have shown, to serve as a check on the rising power, in political affairs, of the unfranchised Mechanics and Workingmen of the City of New York, especially of the revolutionary faction of those W…

" Tou have heard, and you will hear, a great deal about politics ; " and iu the heap of Chaff you may find some grains of good sense. Be- "lieve me. Sir, Freedom and Religion are only watchwords. .We have "appointed a Committee, or, rather, we have nominated one. Let me "give you the history of it. " It is needless to premise, that the lower orders of Mankind are more "easily led by specious…

The Bellwethers jingled merrily, and roared "oat, '.Liberty,' and 'Property, 1 and 'Religion,' and a multitude of " cant terms, which every one thought he understood, and was egregi- "ously mistaken ; for you must know the Shepherds kept the Dictionary " of the Day ; and, like the Mysteries of the ancient Mythology, it was " not for profane eyes and ears. This answered many purposes: the "si…

The old ones kept themselves least in "sight ; and a want of confidence in each other was not the least evil " which followed. The Port of Boston has been shut up. These Sheep, " simple as they are, cannot be gulled, as heretofore. In short, there is " no ruling them ; and, now, to leave the metaphor, the heads of the " Mobility grow dangerous to the Gentry ; and how to keep them down " is t…

a people, at such a time, and under such circumstances as then existed, and which would probably continue to exist, might, also, sensibly or insensibly, weaken if where existed, that such an organization, among such it should not destroy all those bonds of recognized dependence, and loyalty, and love, which, hitherto, had so firmly bound the Colony to the Mother Country. But, notwithstanding…

"The remains of it, however, will give the wealthy people a superiority, " this time ; but, would they secure it, they must banish all Schoolmas- " ters and confine all Knowledge to themselves. This cannot be. The "Mob begin to think and to reason. Poor Reptiles ! it is, with them, a " vernal Morning ; they are struggling to cast off their Winter's Slough ; " they bask in the Sunshine ; and, …

" It is the interest of all men, therefore, to seek for re-union with the "parent State. A safe Compact seems, in my poor opinion, to be now "tendered. Internal taxation to be left with ourselves. The right of "regulating Trade to be vested in Britain, where alone is found the "power of protecting it. I trust you will agree with me, that this is " the only possible mode of union. * * * * "I …

The power over our crowd is no " longer in the hands of Sears, Lamb, and such unimportant persons, " who have for six years past, been the demagogues of a very turbulent " faction in this City ; but their power and mischievous capacity ex- "pired inshintly upon the election of the Committee of Fifty-one, iu "which there is a majority of inflexibly honest, loyal, and prudent "citizens."-- (il…

In opposition to the purposes and the demands of the small revolutionary element, in New York -- in opposition, also, to the leaders and the revolutionary populace, in Boston, with whom the revolutionary leaders in New York were in constant correspondence and in entire harmony -- the Committee which the conservative, anti-revolutionary aristocracy of New York had thus created for the protec…

Such a notable instance of the thing which had been created for a specific purpose, having been turned, in the progress of events, by the tact of a small proportion of its members, without violence and by some of those who had favored and assisted in the construction of it, against the greater number of those who had created it and for the overthrow of their purposes in having done so, as w…

While the consolidated Opposition, in the City of New York, was thus actively employed in making preparations for a vigorous opposition to the latest measures of the Home Government and, in order to make that opposition more effective, in transferring the leadership of the confederated party of the Opposition from the few who had previously assumed to lead the revolutionary portion of the un…

On the following day, Wednesday, the eleventh of May, the Committees of Correspondence from eight of the adjacent Towns were invited to meet the Boston Committee, for consultation; 2 and on Thursday, the twelfth of May, those Committees assembled at Faneuil Hall, with Samuel Adams in the Chair and Joseph Warren acting as the leader, on the floor, and determined to send " Circular Letters " …

1 The Massachusetts Gazette of Thursday, May 12, 1774, printed the text of the Boston Port-bill, in full, with the following heading : " Tues- " day arrived here Captain Shayler, in a Brig from London, who brought " the most interesting and important Advices that ever was received at "the Port of Boston." See, also, Bancroft's History of the United States, original edition, vii., 34 ; the sa…

It will be seen, in these faithful statements of the doings of the leaders of the revolutionary party and of the doings of the revolutionary party, itself, in Boston, in May, 1774, that Massachusetts-men, there and at that time, recognized the existence of no grievance whatever, in any of the Colonies, except that which had been inflicted on Boston, in the passage of the Boston Port-Bill ; t…

See, alBO, Letter from Thomas Young to John Lamb, " Boston, May 13, " 1774 ;" Holt's New-York Journal, No. 1037, New-York, Thursday, May 19, 1774 ; Rivington's New-York Gazetteer, No. 57, New-Yokk, Thursday, May 19, 1774; Gaine's New-York Gazette and Mercury, No. 1178, New- York, Monday, May 23, 1774 ; Lieutenant-governor Golden to Governor Tryon, " Spring Hill 31st May, 1774 ; " the same to …

New York : 122 ; Lossing's Field-book of the devolution, New York: 1851, i., 6(17- Bancroft's History of the United States, original edition, Boston : 1858, vii. 37 ; the same, centenary edition, Boston : 1876, iv., 323 ; Frothiugham's ' Rise of the Republic, Boston : 1872, 321, 322 ; Lodge's History of the English Colonies, New York : 1881, 489 ; etc. Lemu'lim, (History of the United States ;…

Pierre and Miquelon, on the coast of Newfoundland -- with which, by the bye, so large a portion of the smuggling by Massachusetts-men was, then and subsequently, carried on 2 -- all of which, without any possible abatement, they definitely proposed and positively insisted on ; and that, in their complacency, they dared, also, to assert, if not to threaten, that the consequence of disobedien…

2 " Lord Sandwich.-- Do not the New England Fishing-ships carry on "an illicit Trade with the French? " Commodore Shdldham.-- Certainly ; their Ships meet at Sea ; and " they supply them with Provisions, Rum, Stores, and the Ships them- "selves ; and return loaded with French Manufactures."-- (Examination of Commodore Slmldham, Governor of Nm-fomidland, before the House of Lords, March 15, 1…

She was evidently inclined to do so, in the beginning: but she was counselled by the Caucus of Town Committees, prompted by Joseph Warren, not to do so ; and the Committee of Correspondence at Philadelphia subsequently urged her to pay, without success. As will be seen in another part of this Chapter, however, the infliction of the Boston Port- Bill was a pecuniary advantage to that Town ; and …

Not a " single Wharf, Dock, Dyke, or Pavement, belonging "to any individual, was ordered to be made or " repaired," notwithstanding many of those who had been really thrown out of employment could have found renumerative occupation in such works of private concern; "but only such'' were thus made or repaired " as, by the constant usage of the Town, had " always been supported at the expens…

One of "the "chief concerns of the principal inhabitants" was " for those Tradesmen, whose small funds, though " sufficient for the small purposes of life, yet would " soon be exhausted, if their resources were cut off" -- in other words, for the payment of debts, due by those Tradesmen to those " principal Inhabitants," which, otherwise, would have been worthless -- and Nails, and Ropes, …

1 A paper, dated "Boston August 29, 1774," responsive to "a report "industriously propagated in New York"-- but without any indication by whom written or where published -- which was printed in Force's American Archives, Fourth Series, i., 743, 744. See, also, a Letter from William Cooper -- the well-known Town-Clerk of Boston -- to a Gentleman in New York, dated " Boston : September 12, "17…

On Tuesday evening, the seventeenth of May, Paul Revere, bearing letters from the Committee of Correspondence, in Boston, in which were inclosed copies of the Vote of that Town, to which reference has been made, arrived in the City of New York 4 -- there was, also, in his saddlebags, a very interesting letter from one of the master spirits in that Town, to his correspondent in New York, recit…

3 Alexander McDougal and all those of the former revolutionary leaders who were included in that Committee, as will be seen in the course of this narrative, on the twenty-third of May, by a formal vote, concurred with their aristocratic, anti-revolutionary associates in condemning the proposition of the Town of Boston and in offering another, in its stead : it remained only for John Lamb and t…

6 The M mutes of the Committee of Correspondence, " New Yobk, Monday, "May 23, 1774," contain a record of the reading of " Letters from the " Committee of Correspondence of Boston, with a Vote of the Town of " Boston, of the 13th instant, and a Letter from the Committee of Phil- < ' adelphia ; " and, in the absence of any allusion to any other letter whatever, there is no reason for supposing …

t Revere was at Philadelphia, on the twentieth of May, when the inhabitants of that City appointed its Committee of Correspondence ; and, on the following day, he left that City, on his return, carrying with him, to New York and Boston, if not to other Towns and Cities on his route, copies of a Circular Letter, probably from the pen of John Dickinson, containing the response of Philadelphia to…

Those who had been appointed to membership in the proposed Committee of Correspondence of the City of New York-- in the " Committee of Fifty- " one," as it was popularly called -- were duly assembled, at the Coffee-House, on Monday, the twenty-third of May, 1774, forty-three of the fifty-one being present; and the Committee was duly organized by the appointment of Isaac Low, as its permanent…

Immediately after the organization of the Committee had been completed, a letter was received from "the body of the Mechanics, signed by Jonathan "Blake, their Chairman," informingthe Committee of the concurrence of the Mechanics with the other inhabitants of the City, in their nomination of it ; which clearly indicated the entire good faith of the great body of the unfranchised masses, in th…

Committee -- both re-printed in Force's American Archives, Fourth Series, i., 340-342.) 1 Tile Committee of Correspondence of Philadelphia to the Committee of Correspondence to Boston, "Philadelphia, May 21st, 1774," copies of which " were transmitted to New- York and most of the Southern Colo- "nies." 2 Minutes of the Committee, " New-York, Monday, May 2Zd, 1774." 3 Minutes of the Committe…

The letter from Philadelphia being only a reflex of what had been written to that Committee by those who had subsequently been confirmed as members of this, it received no official attention, at that time ; but those from Boston, which included the Vote of the Town of which mention has been made, were referred to a Sub-committee, composed of Alexander McDougal, Isaac Low, James Duane, and John…

The correspondence of Lieutenant-governor Colden with Governor Tryon and with the Earl of Dartmouth very clearly indicates that that remarkable old man was not deceived by the doings, in politics, of the " Merchants and Traders" and Gentry of New York ; that their social and commercial and professional standing did not warrant what he regarded, very reasonably, their tendency toward rebellion …

Besides these, the . chief purpose of the Committee was to relegate the unfranchised masses of the City of Now York, of all classes, to the obscurity and dependence of vassals ; and to place itself at the head of all the political elements of the Colony, as the autocratic, anti-revolutionary ruler of both the Colonists and the Government-- in all of which, unquestionably, James Duane's and Jo…

At eight o'clock, in the evening, the Committee assembled in an adjourned Meeting, thirty-eight of the fifty-one members being present; and the Sub-committee, which had been appointed at the forenoon session, reported the following draft of a letter, as suitable for a response to the letters received from Boston : "New-Yokk, May 23, 1774. " Gentlemen : " The alarming Measures of the British …

" While we think you justly entitled to the Thanks " of your sister Colonies, for asking their Advice on " a Case of such extensive Consequences, we lament " our Inability to relieve your Anxiety, by a decisive " Opinion. The Cause is general, and concerns a "whole Continent, who are equally interested with " you and us ; and we foresee that no Remedy can " be of avail, unless it proceeds f…

" Upon these Reasons, we conclude that a Congress " of Deputies from the Colonies, in general, is of the " utmost Moment ; that it ought to be assembled, " without Delay ; and some unanimous Resolution " formed, in this fatal Emergency, not only respect- " ing your deplorable Circumstances, but for the "Security of our common Bights. Such being our " Sentiments, it must be premature to pron…

That evidently well-considered paper, probably the production of the mind and the pen of James Duane, 1 was so temperate in its tone and so judicious in its suggestions, that, after it had been presented as the Report of the Sub-Committee, it commended itself to the Committee with so much force, that it was approved without a dissenting voice ; 2 and the Chairman was ordered to send copies of…

1 We are not insensible of the fact that many suppose that the authorship of this notable letter belongs to John Jay ; but, because the entire spirit of it is so unlike what he would have presented in huch a letter, written under such circumstances ; and because he is known to have been more inclined to resort to a Non-Importation Agreement than James Duane was, we prefer to favor the belief t…

2 Because it was so entirely antagonistic to the known principles of the Boston-men with whom the minority of the Committee, in their individual relations, had been previously so entirely in accord, this answer to the letters from Boston, approved by the unanimous vote of the Committee, affords additional evidence of the entire good faith of the great body of the unfranchised inhabitants of the…

It was the first, or among the first, to disregard the peculiar selfishness of the popular leaders in Boston, by whom the grievances of that particular Town had been thrust into an undue prominence, for the relief of which, especially, they insisted, the entire efforts of the entire Continent must be directed j 1 and it was the first to propose and to insist on the convention of a Congress o…

2 We are not insensible of the fact that the origin of the Congress of the Continent, which was assembled at Philadelphia, in 1774, has been variously stated, by many of those who have preceded us ; and we are equally sensible of the other fact, that individuals, in different Colonies, ■without any connection with each other, had suggested, theoretically, that such a Congress would be useful …

The Town of Providence, in Town-meeting, May 17, 1774, was, probably, the first organized body which recommended a Congress of the several Colonies, for general purposes ; but it only requested the Deputies of the Town, in the approaching General Assembly, to " use their influ- " ence," in that body, not yet assembled, "for promoting a Congress, as soon "as maybe, of the Representatives of the …

Because the General Assemblies of the greater number of the Colonies, at that time, could not have elected Deputies to the proposed Congress, even if they had been willing to have done so -- the Governor having, in each case, the power of proroguing or dissolving the Assembly, which, in the greater number of instances, he would have certainly done-- the action of the Town of Providence, altho…

The Committee of Correspondence of the Colony of Connecticut concurred iu the recommendation which the Committee in New York had made, on the fourth of June, (The Committee of Correspondence of the General Assembly of New York to the Committee of Correspondence of the Colony of Connecticut, " New York, June 24, 1774 ; ") the General Assembly of Khode Island did so, on the fifteenth of June, (Jo…

It has suited the purposes of some to bring forward the doings of eighty-nine members of the dissolved House of BurgeBses of Virginia, assembled at the Raleigh Tavern, at Williamsburg, on the twenty-seventh of May, as a contestant for the honors of New York, in this matter; but that Meeting was held four days after the proposition had been made in New York ; and what it did was only to " recom…

Without making the slightest allusion to what was done in New York, Burke's Annual Register for 1775, 6; History of the War in America, Dublin : 1779, i., 21 ; Andrews's History of the War with America, t hondon : 1785, i., 135; Soule's Histoire des Troubles deV Amerique Anglaise, Paris: 1787, i., 48; Chez et Lebrun's HUtoire politique et philosophique de'la Revolution, Paris: an 9, 109- Stedni…

Frothingham's Rise of the Republic, 322* 323, ostentatiously presented what was done in Massachusetts and "the ' 'other New England Colonies," and then said with questionable integrity as he was acquainted with the facts, « the sentiment and determination "of the patriots south of New England were represented in thepro- « ceedings of the Virginia meeting, " which he de 8 cribed,at considerabl…

respondence in New York ; but, without the slightest shadow of truth, it stated that the Committee was controlled by Isaac Sears, who was one of the minority of that body ; and that it was opposed by "the To- "ries," not one of which party was then a member of the Committee. Bamsay's History of the United States, London : 1791, i., 114, correctly assigned the origination of the Congress to New…

Bancroft's History of the United States, original edition, vii,, 40, correctly yields the honor of having originated the Congress, to New York ; but, unaccountably, it assigns it, in New York, sometimes to an imaginary " old committee," which had ceased to exist when the Stamp-Act, which had called it into existence and to which its operations bad been limited, was repealed, eight years previ…

Leake, not only made no such claim, in their behalf, but expressly and in unmistakable words, gave that honor to the Committee of Correspondence which had been appointed by the body of the inhabitants, at the Coffee-house. {Memoir of the Life and limes of General John Lamb, Albany : 1857, 88.) In the same author's centenary edition of that History of the United States, Boston: 1876, iv., 326,…

Such are some of the evidences of the entire untruBtworthiness of the greater number of those who, satisfied with that " discipline " to which the Classics have subjected them and without having otherwise qualified themselves for the proper discharge of theirhonorable duties as historians of their own Country, have contented themselves, instead, by repeating what others, also fettered by simil…

The Committee of Correspondence, in New York, as it was known to the world, at that time, was created only as a local organization, for only special purposes, and with only a very limited and a very clearly defined authority. 3 But it very soon became evident that some, at least, of those who had promoted the organization of that Committee, only for limited and welldefined purposes, and who h…

For the purpose of extending its authority and of increasing its power, in whatever might arise, in its evident intent to control not only the great body of the unfranchised masses of every class, in the City of New York, 5 but the Colonial and the Home Govern- . cal writers, who has inclined to tell the exact truth, on this subject ; and what he said of it occupied less than two lines of an…

5 In all the political operations of that period, the several Counties of the Colonies were regarded as entirely independent bodies, each controlling itself to the extent, even, of sending independent Delegates to the Continental Congress -- the centralization of authority, indeed, was the fundamental grievance against which all the Colonies were, then, raising their remonstrances and their opp…

Lewis was ordered to cause three hundred copies of that Circular Letter to be printed ; and it was also ordered that those printed copies of the letter should be transmitted, with all convenient speed, to the Treasurers of the several Counties, with a " line " to each Treasurer, signed by the Chairman of the Committee, requesting his care in the proper transmission of the several letters to …

Of those Circular Letters, inviting a correspondence with the Committee, in New York, it is recorded that thirty copies were sent to the Treasurer of Westchester-county, with a note from the Chairman of the Committee, requesting him "to direct and forward " them to the Supervisors of the several Districts," 3 the first attempt, which was made, by any one, to draw the farmers of that County i…

circumvent and secure the control of the entire Colony, under a mask of *' patriotism," as it had already circumvented and secured the control, in political affairs, of the County of New York. l Minvtee of the Committee, "New-York, May 30, 1774;" Lieutenantgovernor Golden to Governor Ti-yon, "New York, June 2, 1774." ^Minutes of the Committee, Special Meeting, "New-York, May 31, "1774;" Lieut…

Indeed, the Massachusettsmen did not appear to pay the slightest attention to the proposition which those of New York had made, to call a Congress of Deputies from all the Colonies, for the consideration of all the grievances, real or imaginary, of which all the Colonies were, then, respectively complaining, preferring, instead, and firmly insisting on, their own proposition to remove the pa…

The People in the Counties are noways disposed to become ac- " tive or bear any part in what is proposed by the citizens. I am told " all the Counties but one have declined an Invitation sent them from " New York to appoint Committees of Correspondence. This Province " is everywhere, except in the City of New York, perfectly quiet and in " good order ; and in New York a much greater freedom o…

In a Despatch written to the Earl of Dartmouth, dated " New York, " 2nd AuguBt, 1774," the venerable Lieutenant-governor staled, " Great " Pains has been taken in the several Counties of this Province to induce " the People to enter into Resolves, and to send Committees to join the "Committeein the city; but they have only prevailed in Suffolk County " in the East End of Long Island which was…

That, and " every other Resolution, we have thought it most pru- " dent to leave for the discussion of the proposed gene- " ral Congress." 2 It continued, in these very emphatic words : " Adhering, therefore, to that measure, as " most conducive to promote the grand system of " politics we all have in view, we have the pleasure " to acquaint you, that we shall be ready, on our part, " to m…

Your letters to the south- " ward of us, we will forward, with great pleasure." 3 Those of the revolutionary leaders, in Boston, who had assumed the role of a Committee of Correspondence, in that Town, could not long conceal from the world the reckless falsity of what they had written to the Committee in New York, when they stated to the latter that, " certainly all that can be depended upon…

2 The Resolution of the Committee in New York, on which that reply was based, is in these words : " Ordered, That the Committee of Boston "be requested to give this Committee the Names of the Persons who " constitute the Committee of Correspondence at Boston ; that they have " made a mistake in answering this Committee's letter, which mentioned " not a word of a Suspension of Trade, which the…

Massachusetts * and to the Committees of Correspondence in the several Colonies, 5 since the reception of the Boston Port-Bill, were not, as is now well known, really as unanimous, in favor of a " Suspension of " Trade," as the Committee had unblushingly pretended -- indeed, with a few unimportant exceptions, the proposal to make Boston the only subject of consideration, throughout the Contine…

4 The Committees who had been sent to Salem and Marblehead, "to communicate the Sentiments of this Metropolis to the Gentlemen, "there; to consult with them; and to report at the adjournment," (Minutes of the Town-Meeting, of Boston, May 13, 1774,) did, indeed, go to those Towns, and report the results of their visits, to the Town, at its Adjourned Meeting, five days subsequently ; but thoBe …

The substance of the Reports from the Committees sent to the seaport Towns of the Province, all mention of which was thus suppressed by the Town-Clerk, was saved to the world, however, in& Despatch from Governor Gage to the Eari of Dartmouth, dated " Boston : May 19, 1774," and laid before the Parliament, on the nineteenth of January, 1775, in which it was said the Town- Meeting "appointed Per…

6 The first responses from other Colonies which the Committee received were those, carried by Paul Revere, from Philadelphia and New York, which were anything else than "encouraging" to. such as composed that Committee ; and there can be very little doubt, in the light of what was done, very soon afterwards, in Connecticut and Rhode Island, that Revere carried back, from Hartford and Providen…

Samuel Adams was the Chairman and master-spirit of the Committee of Correspondence in Boston : he was the Chairman of the Caucus of the nine Town- Committees, assembled in Faneuil-Hall, which had confirmed the line of action, concerning the Boston Port-Bill, which he and the men of Boston, had already contrived : he was the Moderator of the Town- Meeting, at Faneuil-Hall, continued through t…

Besides all these, he was the Chairman and the master spirit of that Committee, in Boston, which, as lately as the eighth of June, sent Circular Letters from that Town to every Town in the Commonwealth, in which it was stated that " there is " but one way that we can conceive of, to prevent '' what is to be deprecated by all good men, and ought, " by all possible means, to be prevented, viz…

" sive hand " 1 -- which the Committee proposed to do by means of an Association providing " that, hence- " forth, we will suspend all commercial intercourse " with the said Island of Great Britain, until the said " Act for blocking up the said Harbour " [of Boston'] " be repealed, and a full restoration of our Charter " Eights be obtained." 2 But we are told by that gen. erally trustworthy…

If this statement is well-founded, and the name of its author affords a reasonable guaranty that it is so, the world of historical literature will be taught by it, how much the personal character of Samuel Adams has been unduly eulogized ; and every careful readerwill also be taught by that new revelation, how much the Clerk of the House of Representatives, in Colonial Massachusetts, while h…

The letters of disapproval and discouragement, 1 Address sent by the Boston Committee to every Town in the Province, dated "Boston, June 8, 1774," re-printed in Force's American Archives, Fourth Series, i., 397. " Form of a Covenant, sent to every Town in Massachusetts, by (he Committee in Boston, with the above-mentioned Address, Section 1st. 8 Richard Frothingham of Charlestown, in his Rise…

Accordingly, on the seventeenth of June, the House of Representatives, assembled at Salem, more or less under the guidance of its Clerk, adopted a Resolution declaring that "a Meeting of " Committees from the several Colonies on this Con- " tinent is highly expedient and necessary, to con- " suit upon the present State of the Colonies and " the Miseries to which they are and must be reduced…

At the same time that the House of Representatives, at Salem, was thus adding the weight of its official judgment against the line of action proposed and solicited by the Town of Boston and in support of that proposed and insisted on by the Committee in New York, the former, also, in a duly assembled Town-Meeting, John Adams occupying the Chair, in seeming forgetfulness of its Vote, on the th…

the preceding month, willingly or unwillingly, formally wheeled into the line of the general opposition to the Home Government, under the guidance of that foreign Committee ; and, without making the slightest allusion to her ill-conceived and injudicious action, in her adoption of that Vote, the Town " en- " joined " the Committee of Correspondence, " forth- " with, to write to all the other C…

The Committee of Correspondence in New York having, meanwhile, received assurances of their approval of its proposition to invite a meeting of Deputies from the several Colonies, in a Continental Congress, from the Committee of Correspondence of Connecticut 4 and from that in Philadelphia 5 -- with the knowledge, also, that the "Standing Committee of "Correspondence," which the General Assembly…

6 That Committee of the Assembly was composed of John Cruger, Frederick Philipse, Isaac Wilkins, Benjamin Seaman, James Jauncey, James De Lancey, Jacob Walton, Simeon Boerum, John De Noyelles, George Clinton, DaDiel Kissam, Zebulon Williams, and John Kapah'e, the names of ten of whom, including that of Frederick Philipse of Westchester-county, are appended to a letter, addressed to the Commit…

In submitting that Resolution, which had not received the imprimatur of those who represented the majority of the Committee, and, for that reason, was not received with any favor by that majority, it is evident that Alexander McDougal acted in behalf of the minority of that body -- of those of its members who had been selected from the revolutionary faction of the Tradesmen, Mechanics, and …

The struggle between the two factions, within the Committee, was continued to an Adjourned Meeting of that body, on the evening of the twenty-ninth of June, when Alexander Mc- Dougal moved " that this Committee proceed, im- " mediately, to nominate five Deputies for the City " and County of New York, to represent them in a " Convention of this Colony, 2 or in the general Congress, to be hel…

It is clear, as we understand the record, that Alexander McDougal offered it, for consideration, only at the Meeting on the twentyseventh of June. 2 This portion of the Resolution evidently looked for the establishment of a Provincial Congress or Convention, in which should be vested supreme and arbitrary power, without limitation, over the persons and properties and actions and thoughts and co…

Immediately afterwards, without a division, on the motion of Theophilact Bache, seconded by John De Lancey, the Committee resolved "to nominate five persons, to " meet in a general Congress, at the time and place " which shall be agreed on by the other Colonies ; and " that the Freeholders and Freemen of the City and " County of New York be summoned to appear at a " convenient place, to ap…

4 It is proper to remind the reader, in this place, of two well-known facts, each of which had an important bearing on the political events of the period now under consideration. The first of these facts is, the '■ friends of the Government " took no part whatever, in the formation of the Committee of Correspondence nor in its doings. That body was denounced by the Colonial Government, from t…

The party of the Government-- subsequently called "Tories" -- included only the members of the Colonial Government, in its various departments, and its dependents ; it was, unwillingly, only a passive spectator of what, then, took place, in the political doings of that period ; and it was wholly powerless to Buppress the rising spirit of Revolution, which it would have gladly done. The party of …

The second of the facts referred to is, at the time under consideration and during the succeeding half century, as we hare already stated (vide pages 4, 5, ante,) those who wore not Freeholders or Freemen of a Municipality, were not vested with the right of suffrage, in any of the Colonies ; and it need not he a matter of surprise that, at that early day, the great body of the Freeholders and…

The subject was subsequently disposed of, as it then appeared, by a Resolution, offered by John De Lancey and seconded by Benjamin Booth, providing for the nomination of the Delegates by the body of the Committee, of which the conservative aristocrats held the entire control, which resulted in the nomination of Philip Livingston, John Alsop, Isaac Low, James Duane, and John Jay, of whom Jo…

The minority of the Committee and those with whom it sympathized and acted, in political affairs -- the " Bellwethers " and the "Sheep "of Gouverneur Morris's metaphor -- were not inclined, however, to submit, tamely, to the arbitrary dictation of their " Shepherds,'' composing the majority of that body ; and they promptly determined to carry the contest into a new field, and with heavy rei…

tee's Meeting, calling a Meeting of " the good People " of this Metropolis," to be held in the Fields, 8 on the following day, [ Wednesday, July 6 ] at six o'clock, " when Matters of the utmost Importance to their " Reputation and Security, as Freemen, will be com- " municated." At the appointed hour, it is said, " a " numerous meeting " was collected, with Alexander McDougal in the Chair, …

One of the Resolutions adopted by that notable assemblage of the inhabitants of the City of New York, was almost identical, in words and sentiments, with that voted by the Town of Boston, on the thirteenth of May, of which mention has been made herein; another " instructed, empowered, and directed " the Deputies from New York, in the proposed Congress, " to engage with a majority of the princ…

8 What were then called, sometimes, "The Fields," and, at other times, "The Common," on which has occurred so much of public interest, in later as well as in earlier days, have been called, during more than half a century past, " The Park ;" and by that name it is still known, notwithstanding the greater attractions which, for some years past, have been presented to merely pleasure seekers, in…

But that, if the " Counties shall conceive this mode impracticable or " inexpedient, they be requested to give their appro- " bation to the Deputies who shall be chosen for this " City and County, to represent the Colony in Con- " gress ;" and it " instructed " "the City Committee of " Correspondence " " to use their utmost Endeavours " to carry these Resolutions into execution." After ord…

Inspired by the strength and the spirit of the Meeting in the Fields, and led in their opposition to the majority of the Committee, by all the old-time experienced popular leaders, the " Inhabitants of the City "and County,'' of every class, met, agreeably to the published request of the Committee of Correspondence, at the City Hall, at noon, on the day after those Inhabitants had assembled in …

See, alBo, Holt's New- York Journal, No. 1644, New-York, Thursday, July 7, 1774; Gaine's New-York Gazette and Mercury, No. 1185, New- York, Monday, July 11, 1774; Rivington's New-York Gazetteer, No. 65, New- York, Thursday, July 14, 1774 ; Lientenant-gocernor Colden to Governor Tryon, " Spring Hill, 2nd August, 1774;" Hamilton's Life of Alexander Hamilton, i , 21-23 ; Dawson's Park and its Vic…

which was terminated, on the last-mentioned day, only after Philip Livingston, Isaac Low, John Alsop, and John Jay, four of the nominees of the aristocratic and conservative Committee of Correspondence, had inconsistently and venally declared, in direct contradiction of the constantly declared policy of that Committee, previously concurred in by themselves, that " a general Non-Importation A…

It will be seen that James Duane did not disgrace himself or his name by placing the latter, with those of his tour aristocratic associates on the ticket for Delegates to the proposed Congress, on the letter through which those four bartered the little of political and personal integrity and the modicum of unselfish principles which they respectively possessed, for a small mess of very thin o…

< Philip Livingston, John Alsop, Isaac Low, and John Jay to Abraham Brasher, Theophilus Anthony, Francis Fan Di/ck, Jeremiah JfMt, and Christopher Duyckinck, " New York, July 26, 1774." 6 Proceedings of " a Meeting of a number of Citizens conrened at the " House of Mr. Marriner," at which the nominations by the Committee of Correspondence were acquiesced in, by those who assumed to represent …

Indeed, in the latter connection, it is known that, subsequently to his election as a Delegate to the Congress, and before he left New York, to take his seat in that body, as the trusted Envoy of all the inhabitants of that City, nominally charged with the great and honorable duty of seeking, in their behalf, a redress of the political grievances which had been imposed upon them by the Home …

In harmony, also, with that evident connection of James Duane with the Colonial Government, -- in support, also, of the suspicion that particular lines of action, in the interest of the Crown, to be taken in the Congress, were considered and determined on, in advance of the meeting of the Congress, by that particular Delegate and the venerable Lieutenant-governor of the Colony -- reference need…

I "know such were the sentiments of Fanners and Country People in "general who make a great Majority of the Inhabitants. I had a con- " fidential conference with one of the Delegates sent from this city to the " Congress now met at Philadelphia who I thought had as much influ- '* ence as any from this place, and he gave me assurances of ti is disposition " being similar." -- (Lieutenant-gove…

made only to that other patent fact, that the Congress had no sooner closed its sessions, at Philadelphia, than he hastened to his master, in New York, and reported to that anxious listener, for the use of the Ministry, in England, not only the doings of particular Delegations, in the Congress, and those of the Congress itself, but his own general dissent from the proceedings, his request that…

The Colonial Government was decidedly and peculiarly opposed to the adoption of any measure, either by the people or the Congress, which would possibly disturb the Trade and Commerce of Great Britain ; and James Duane, a dependent on that Government, was not at liberty to sign such a letter, approving the establishment of a Non-Importation Agreement, as that which his four associates on the a…

James Duane was not among those who were suddenly converted, in order to ensure their success at the Polls; but, nevertheless, on the day after the disgraceful political somersault of Philip Livingston, Isaac Low, John Alsop, and John Jay had been declared satisfactory by their plebeian and revolutionary auditory, that eminent adherent to the original policy of the Committee of Corresponden…

Perhaps the preceding detail belongs more properly to the political history of the commercial City of New York than to that of the purely agricultural County of Westchester ; yet it would be impossible to present any narrative of the events of the Revolution which occurred within that portion of the Colony, which should pretend to completeness, or precision, or accuracy, without having previou…

1 Letter of the Committee of Correspotidence of New York to the Committee in Charleston, " New York, July 26th, 1774," Postscript, dated "July " 28th ;" the same to the CommiUeein Philadelphia, "New York, July28th, " 1774 ; " the tame to Matthew Tilghmtw, Chairman of the Maryland Committee, " New York, July 28th, 1774; " Lkmtmmt-govemor Colden to the Earl of Dartmouth, "New York 2 August 1774;"…

York; the purposes, published or withheld, of the Committee itself; and the purposes, generally wellconcealed, of some of those who wielded the influence of that Committee, sometimes for the promotion of their individual and not always righteous interests and sometimes for the suppression of the aspirations of others which were quite as praiseworthy as their own, are, therefore, subjects whic…

These have been consequently presented, as briefly, however, as was consistent with perspicuity ; and a more complete, and precise, and accurate understanding of the details of the revolution of sentiments within Westchestercounty, as portions of that more extended revolution, throughout the Colony and the Continent, "in the " minds and hearts of the people," 2 it is believed, will, therefr…

2 "An History of Military Operations, from April 19,' 1775, to Septem- ' ber 3, 1783, is not an History of the American Revolution, any more ' than the Marquis of Quincy's Military History of Louis XIV, though 'much esteemed, is a History of the Reign of that Monarch. The ' Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people, and in the ; ' Union of the Colonies, both of which were substanti…

In order, however, that the representa- " tion of the different Counties may be quite com- " plete, it is absolutely necessary that your County " appoint, with all possible speed, one or more Dele- " gates to join and go with ours to the Congress, or, if " you choose to repose your confidence in our Dele- " gates, that you signify such your determination, in " the most clear and explicit te…

To this Circular Letter which was thus sent to the several rural Counties throughout the Colony, only six of those Counties are known to have paid the slightest attention, those of Westchester, Duchess, and Albany having respectively authorized the Delegates whom the City of New York had elected, to represent them, also, in the Congress ; 2 while those of Kings, s Suffolk, 4 and Orange, 5 r…

2 Credentials of those Delegates -- Journal of the Congress, " Monday, "September 5, 1774." 3 Credential of Simon Boerwm -- Journal of the Congress, "Saturday, "October 1,1774." 4 Credential of William Floyd -- Journal of the Congress, "Monday, "Septembers, 1774." s Credential of Henry Wiener -- Journal of the Congress, " Wednesday, " September 14, 1774, A.M." and that of John Herring -- Jo…

Be that as it may, for some reason, if more than four Towns in Westchester-county took any action whatever, in response to the Circular Letter of the Committee, concerning the political questions of that period, or for the appointment of Deputies to represent the County in the proposed Congress, or for any other purpose, the record of that action has escaped the notice of working historical st…

On the tenth of August, responsive to the Circular Letter from the Committee in New York, the Freeholders and Inhabitants of Eye, who sympathized with that Committee in its proposal that Westchestercounty should appoint Delegates to represent it in the proposed Congress, met and appointed John Thomas, Junior, Esq., James Horton, Junior, Esq., Eobert Bloomer, Zeno Carpenter, and Ebenezer Havil…

" This Meeting being greatly alarmed at the late " Proceedings of the British Parliament, in order to " raise a Eevenue in America; and considering their late "most cruel, unjust, and unwarrantable Act for block - " ing up the Port of Boston, having a direct tendency to '• deprive a free People of their most valuable Eights " and Privileges, an introduction to subjugate the In- " habitants …

" Second, That we conceive it a fundamental part *' of the British Constitution, that no Man shall be " taxed but by his own Consent, or that of his Repre- " sentative, in Parliament ; and as we are by no means " represented, we consider all Acts of Parliament ■" imposing Taxes on the Colonies, an undue ex- " ertion of Power, and subversive of one of the most " valuable Privileges of the En…

These Resolutions were duly submitted to the Meeting ; and, as the official record says, they " were " unanimously approved of; " when the assemblage quietly dispersed. 1 Those who are acquainted with the questionable practices of ambitious, and, not unfrequently, unscrupulous politicians, will be prepared, without warning, for the reception of any modification of the recorded features of th…

The masterspirit of the assembled farmers, whether many or few in number, was John Thomas, Junior, one of a family of officeholders under the Home and the Colonial Governments, 2 and, himself, an anxious office-seeker, 1 Official report of the proceedings of the Meeting: -- Holt's New-York Journal, No. 1650, New-Yokk, Thursday, August 18, 1774. See, also, Gaine's New-York Gazette, and the We…

John Thomas, who, from 1743 until the dissolution of the Colonial Government, in 1776, was a Member of the General Assembly of the Colony, representing the County of Westchester ; and, from May, 1755, until the dissolution of the Colonial Government, in 1776, he was the First Judge of the Col. mial Court of Common Pleas for the County of Westchester-- both of which -offices could have been he…

This man is not only one of our Vestry (though very " little esteemed by the true friends of the Church), but has procured "that the Majority of the Vestry are Men that will be governed by "him; several of the Vestry are not of the Church ; and not one of "them a communicant in the Church; accordingly, the Church are " not at all consulted with regard to a successor," to the former Rector, w…

8 John Thomas, Junior, by this early movement in behalf of the revolutionary element, placed himself in the front rank of successful politicians in Westchester-county-he was a member of the Committee of the County, and its Chairman ; a Member of the Provincial Convention representing Westchester-county, in 1775 ; a Member of the First and Second Provincial Congresses, representing Westchester-c…

For that purpose, on Saturday, the twentieth of August, also in response to the Circular Letter received from the Committee of Correspondence in the City of New York, those of " the Freeholders " and Inhabitants " of that Borough Town who sympathized with that Committee in its request that Westchester-county should appoint Delegates to represent it in the proposed Congress, met, and appointed …

Like the similar Meeting, at Eye, this Meeting also waited, apparently without adjourning, until its Committee was formally organized, by the appointment of James Ferris, Esq., as its Chairman, and while that Committee considered the various political questions of the period -- " the very alarming Situation of their suffering Brethren, at Boston, occa- " sioned by the late unconstitutional, a…

" Second, That we coincide in opinion with our " friends of New York and of every other Colony, " that all Acts of the British Parliament, imposing " Taxes on the Colonies, without their Consent, or by " their Representative, are arbitrary and oppressive, " and should meet the abhorrence and detesta- " tion of all good men ; That they are replete with " the purpose of creating Animosities a…

"Fourth, That as a Division in the Colonies "would be a sure means to counteract the present " Intention of the Americans, in their Endeavours to '' preserve their Rights and Liberties from the Inva- '' sion that is threatened, we do most heartily recom- " mend a Steadiness and Unanimity in their Meas- " ures, as they will have the happy Effects of averting " the Calamity that the late tyra…

But, like the Meeting at Rye, of which mention has been made, that at Westchester was evidently controlled by a single master-spirit ; and, like the former, the latter was, also, unquestionably convened and conducted, not as much for the clear expression of the uncontrolled and intelligent opinions of "the Free- " holders and Inhabitants '' of the Town, on the grave questions which were sub…

It is probable that the other Towns throughout the County, if any such Towns, really or apparently, responded to the invitation of the Committee of Correspondence iu New York, either contented themselves, like those of Bedford and Mamaroneck, with only the elections of Delegates to the proposed Convention of the County, without any further expression of their sentiments, or, if they expressed…

facts that, on Monday, the twenty-second of August, 1774, a Convention of Delegates from the several Towns and Districts of Westchester-county, or from a number of them, was assembled in the Court-house, at the White Plains ; that Colonel Frederic Philipse, Lord of the Manor of Philipseborough and a Member of the General Assembly of the Province, representing the County of Westchester in tha…

1 " Card to the Public" reprinted in Force's American Archives, Fourth Series, i., 1188, 1189. 2 Oi-ede»tials of the Delegates from New-York, Journal of the Congress, "Monday, September 5, 1 7 74." 3 The subsequently published disclaimer of inhabitants of Rye and other circumstances of the same tendency, incline us to the belief of what Lieutenant-governor Colden informed the Earl of Dartmout…

In the same connection, Joseph Galloway, when he was examined before the House of Commons, testified, that "I don't think that one-fifth " part have, from principle and choice, supported the present Rebellion." * * * " ihe last Delegation to Congress, made by the Province of " Pennsylvania, and the appointment of all the Officers of that State was "made by less than two hundred Votere, althoug…

One of the Delegates from the " Province of New York, (wilh whom I sat in Congress in 1774) repre- " senting a considerable District in that Province, was chosen by himself " and his clerk only, and that clerk certified to the Congress that he was "unanimously appointed I " In a foot-note to this portion of that testimony, Galloway added : " The people of Kings County so much disapproved of th…

It appears, however, notwithstanding that apparently general movement, in favor of the proposed Congress, among the farmers of Westchester-county, or, at least, a general acquiescence therein, that there was a very important portion of them, individually respectable and respectable in numbers, who had not been thus influenced; who, therefore, had not joined in the reported election of Dele…

We, the Subscribers, Freeholders and Inhabitants "of the Town of Eye, in the County of Westchester, " being much concerned with the unhappy Situation "of public Affairs, think it our Duty to our King and "Country, to Declare that we have not been con- " cerned in any Resolutions entered into or Measures " taken, with regard to the Disputes at present subsisting with the Mother Country; we al…

" Robert Merrit, "Roger Merrit, " Isaac Anderson, "John Willis, " Nehemiah Sherwood, " William Orooker, "Andrew Carhart, "SethPurdy, " Disbury Park, " Major James Horton, " Nathaniel Sniffen, " Sol. Gidney, " Bartholomew Hains, " Gilbert Hains, "Joshua Purdy, " James Wetmore, " William Brown, " Joseph Purdy, " Jonathan Budd, " Ebenezer Brown, Jun., "Henry Slater, '"Andrew Knif…

Those who are acquainted with the methods which are very often employed by audacious partisans or by those more insidious supporters of a questionable proposition, for the instruction of an opponent in what way to do or to say what, if left to himself, he would not think of either saying or doing, in any manner, will be very likely to concur in the suspicion which prevails, that the followi…

Purdy, Charles Thaell, Esq., John Kniffen, John Park, Joshua Gedney, Ebenezer Brown, John Slater, Benjamin Kniffen, Nehemiah Wilson , Gilbert Morris, Jr., " between the Mother Country and her Colonies, are, " therefore, sorry that we ever had any concern in " said Paper ; and we do by these Presents utterly " disclaim every part thereof, except our expressions " of Loyalty to the Kin…

'' It is my Opinion that the Parliament have no " Right to Tax America, tho' they have a Right to ^-M " regulate the Trade of the Empire. I am further of ; " Opinion that several Acts of Parliament are Griev- " ances ; and that the execution of them ought to be " Opposed, in such Manner as may be Consistent with " the Duty of a Subject to our Sovereign ; tho' I can- " not help expressing my…

It will not be improper, however, to notice, in this connection, the fact that two, if no more, of the Delegates who represented the revolutionary portion of the inhabitants of Westchester-county, in that Congress, were actively associated with Joseph Galloway, whom history has regarded as a " volunteer spy for the " British Government," 3 in a, measure, proposed in the 1 Rivington's New-Yo…

interest of the Crown, which, the Congress not only rejected, with contempt, but would not permit to be laid on its table nor to be recorded on its published Journal ; 1 that one of those two Delegates was subsequently discovered to have been quite as deeply implicated in a perfidious communication of the secret proceedings of the Congress, with quite as earnest a sympathy for the King and th…

It has been usual to screen the latter of the two Delegates i "With a heart full of loyalty to my Sovereign, I went into Congress -- 1 and from that loyalty I never deviated, in the leaBt. I proposed a Plan " of Accommodation in the Congress, agreeable to my Instructions ; -- some " of the best men, and men of the best fortunes, espoused the Plan, and "drew with me." -- {Examination of Josep…

"Galloway urged it in an elaborate speech ; and it was supported by " Duane, Jay, and Edward Rutledge. It was not only rejected, however, " but the menbers came at last to view it with so much odium that the " Motions in relation to it were ordered to be expunged from the Jour- " nals. This result was an end to the loyalist influence in Congress." -- (Frothingham's Rise of the Republic, Bosto…

The aristocratic Richard Henry Lee was in harmony with him ; but the democratic element of the Congress was widely opposed to him, in all his fundamental propositions. 4 Yide the extracts from Galloway's Examination , Bancroft's History of the United Slates, and Frothingham's Rise of the Republic, in Note 1, page 34, above. from the censures of history and to regard him as peculiarly pure a…

Indeed, no intelligent person can arise from a careful and dispassionate examination of the unquestionable authorities which have come down to us, concerning the origin of that Congress, the expressed purposes for which it was called, its organization, the extent of authority which was delegated to the several Delegations of which it was composed, and the action of those Delegations, within …

» Although this is not likely to be disputed, by any one, it may be proper to state that it was not claimed to have been so, by those whc promoted the call for it--" it is allowed by the most Intelligent among "them, that these assemblies of the People are illegal and may be danger- "ous, but they deny that they are unconstitutional when a national " grievance cannot otherwise be removed."-- …

The purposes of this work afford no warrant for a more extended narrative than we have given of the really varied designs of those, in other Colonies than in that of New York, who promoted the assembling of a Congress of the Colonies ; nor of the intrigues of those who, some for one purpose and some for another, desired to become members of that body ; nor of the objects for which it was sp…

All these must be left for elucidation by other hands, in other works ; but we may be permitted to say, here, in brief, that, since what were regarded as grievances, of which complaints had been made and which were sought to be redressed, were peculiarly of a commercial or mercantile character, the disaffection of the Colonists, in New York, because of those alleged grievances, was confined…

Each of these two classes of Colonists, in New York, the commercial and mercantile classes, within the two Cities, and the agricultural and dependent classes, throughout the country -- the former assuming to have been aggrieved by the Home Government and originating means for the redress of those alleged grievances, on the one hand ; the latter wholly indifferent to the complaints of the metr…

The Congress of the Colonies, as the reader will remember and as we have stated, was one of those means which were resorted to, by the aristocratic, anti-revolutionary commercial and mercantile classes, within the City of New York and by those Traders whose seat was at Albany, for the purpose, it was alleged, of securing a peaceful redress of what those Merchants and Traders were pleased to…

spired and directed by controlling members of those commercial and mercantile classes,for which property the local authorities had neglected or declined to compensate the owners -- and, besides the indifference of the farmers, who constituted a vastly great majority of the adult males who were permanent residents of the Colony, which we have described, it encountered, from its inception, the …

Notwithstanding the direct opposition of the little clique of fire-eating revolutionists and that of the larger and more influential circle of the Colonial Government and its adherents -- "friends of Govern- " ment," as they called themselves -- and the chilly indifference of the great body of the farmers, constituting the vast majority of the inhabitants of the Colony, that Congress of the …

The Colonial Government and its adherents were, of course, none the less antagonistic to it, because they were powerless to suppress the growing revolt or to protect the Colonists from the effects of the revolutionary action of the Congress. The farmers throughout the Colony continued their agricultural labors in continued indifference, unmindful of that approaching catastrophe which was, so …

had originated and by whom it had been fostered, very many disapproved the violence of its declared policy -- of that policy which had closed the doors to all hopes for Reconciliation and Peace, and which had opened the doors, invitingly, to Revolution and Rebellion, to War and Ruin -- and drew back from those who continued to sustain the Congress and who, then, were preparing to enforce it…

The glamour of success may have made all these transactions, before the Congress was convened and while it was in session and after its dissolution, appear to have been possessed of different characters from those which they really possessed ; the diligence of personal descendants, whose best claim to distinction among men rests only on the apocryphal fame of their ancestors, actors in those…

1 Proceeding of the Town, in legal Town-Meeting, November 7 177± reprinted in Force's American Archives, Fourth Series i. 1229. WESTCHESTER COUNTY. chusetts; 1 Ridgefield, 2 Newtown, 3 Stratfield, (now Bridgeport,)* Greenwich, 5 Danbury and its vicinity, 6 Darien, 7 Norwalk, 8 Redding, 9 Stamford, 10 New Milford, 11 Morris, 12 Plymouth, 13 Salisbury, 14 etc., indeed the entire western portio…

2 Proceedings of the Town, in Special Town-Meeting, 30th January, 1775, published in Rivington y B New-York Gazetteer, No. 94, New-York, Thursday, February 2, 1775, and reprinted in Force's American Archives, Fourth Series, i., 1202, 1203 ; Card signed by twenty-nine of the Inhabitants, "Ridgefield; Connecticut, February 2, 1775," reprinted in the same work, i., 1210 ; Proceedings of Adjourned…

Proceedings of the Town, in legal Town-Meeting,-February 6, 1775, in Rivington's New-York Gazetteer, No. 97, New-York, Thursday, February 23, 1775, reprinted in Force's American Archives, Fourth Series, i., 1216; Hurd's History of Favrfield-connty, 184. 1 Hurd's History of Fairfield-cownty, 268. 8 Hurd's History of Fairfield-county, 502-504; Childs's Burning of Norwalk, in Hurd's History, 513,…

16 Letter from Oyster-bay to James Rivington, from " A Spectator," describing a Meeting of ninety Freeholders of that Town, on the thirtieth of December, 1774. {Rivington's New-York Gazetteer, No. 90, New York, Thursday, January 5, 1775.) 17 Declaration of ninety-one Freeholders and forty-five other principal Inhabitants of Ja.naica, "Jamaica, January 27, 1775," in Rivington^s New- York Gazett…

While the more conservative portions of the Colonists, in opposition to the Home Government, were earnestly laboring to maintain themselves in the leadership of the political elements of the Colony, ancl, at the same time, to secure a redress of the grievances to which the Colony had been subjected and to effect an honorable reconciliation between the Colonies and the Mother Country, the revo…

On the seventh of November, James Duane, who had already distinguished himself, in connection with John Jay and Joseph Galloway, as everything else than an honest promoter of anything which was revolutionary in its tendencies, pandered to the revolutionary spirit which pervaded the revolutionary portion of the unfranchised inhabitants of the City, through whose influence he had once been eleva…

Long-Island, Jan, 14," published in Rivington's New York Gazetteer, No. 92, New-York, Thursday, January 19, 1775; Letter to the same, dated, "Newtown on Long Island, Jan. 12, "1775," published in the same issue of that paper ; Letter to the same from Ulster-county, New-York, published in the same paper, No. 93, New- York, Thursday, January 26, 1775 ; Letter to the same, from Duchesscounty, pub…

" Some difficulties having arisen relative to the Ad- " vertisement published by the Committee, for choos- " ing a Committee of Inspection "--in other words, the handful of professional politicians who assumed to represent the unfranchised Mechanics and Working-men of the City, having repudiated the limitations imposed by the Congress, and insisted that the votes of the great body of the in…

The eleventh Resolution of the Congress, referred to in the text, provided "that a Committee be chosen in every County, City, and ' ' Town, by those who are qualified to vote for Representatives in the " Legislature, whose business it shall be attentively to observe the con- "ductof all persons, touching this Association" [of Non- Importation, Non-Consumption, and Non- Exportation,]; "and whe…

The uncertaincies, if nothing else, of political office-seeking, and the tricks, if nothing else, of office-seekers, during that eventful period, may bo seen, although they may not be entirely understood, in a comparison of the contemptuons manner in which the aristocratic Committee had spumed the democratic Committee, when it was proposed that the latter should be consulted, in the nominatio…

Francis's, six months previously, and which had been subsequently organized, with so much ostentation, at the Coffee-house, nominally, for the promo* tion of "the common cause " of the Colonies, in their reasonable dispute with the Home Government ; but, more surely, for the protection of the conservative and aristocratic elements of the City's population from the already unwelcome and yet m…

If the reader will closely watch the successive events, in that connection, and notice the final result, he will see, also, how well the consolidation of aristocracy and democracy, into one mass of political conglomerate, for the advancement in authority of particular men, accomplished that purpoBe, the interests of the Colonies and those of political honesty, in the meanwhile, having been ent…

They acted as "a legal body, legally chosen, and fined, imprisoned, robbed, and banished His Majesty's loyal subjects with a vengeance." As will be seen, hereafter, the Judge was in error, when he supposed and stated that the second Committee, that of "Inspection," was not elected, and was created secretly, without notice to the Citizens. On the contrary, the two factions of the Opposition, i…

It had, indeed, asserted and successfully maintained those conservative political principles, directly antagonistic to the more revolutionary political principles which the men of Boston had asserted and insisted on, which it believed to have been better adapted for the promotion of "the "common cause " and for that of the best interests of the Colonies ; and, for the further promotion of" t…

There was a fitness, therefore, that those of the Committee who had honestly and unselfishly opposed the aggressions of the Home Government, should cease to allow their names and whatever influence those names might possess, to be used by those who had betrayed the confidence which had been reposed in them, directly, for the advancement of their own personal ends, and, indirectly, for the pr…

The result of the interview which the Committee of Correspondence had thus invited -- one of the high contracting parties rapidly approaching its own dissolution, with only twenty-three of its fifty-one members present, and with eight of the twenty-three predestinated by their associates to an early retirement : the other of the two parties to the conference flushed with that most recent and m…

There is abundant evidence concerning the peculiar zeal of that new-formed Committee of Inspection -- sometimes styled " The Committee of Sixty," and at others, " The Committee of Observation " -- in the discharge of its self-imposed duties ; 3 but, generally, the purposes to which this work is specially devoted do not require a more extended notice of them, in this place. Those purposes re…

A Day was appointed by Adver- " tisement for choosing sixty Persons to form thisCommittee. About 30 "or 40 Citizens only appeared at the Election, & chose the 60 who had "been previously named by the former Committee. I can no otherwise " my Lord account for the very small number of People who' appeared on " this occasion, than by supposeing that the Measures of the Congress "are generally D…

enlisting her farmers in the support and execution of the Association or of any other of the measures or recommendations of the recent Congress, may have been or may have proposed, they were evidently entirely disregarded ; and that, at least as recently as the early Winter of 1774-75, there was not sufficient interest, friendly to the revolutionary movements which were so deeply exciting th…

The first of these was a Letter, in support of the revolutionary movements and in answer to the tracts of " A. W. Farmer," which had made so much excitement, throughout the Colonies. It was written by a Weaver and published in Holt's New- York Journal, No. 1668, New- York, Thursday, December 22, 1774. The Editor assured his readers that it was actually written by a working Weaver, who lived i…

Eivington, entitled the Country Farmer, which " seems to be calculated to throw all into confusion, " & to no other end ; and artfully to gain his point, " as a Farmer, he addresses himself to the Farmers, '' and their wives ; he tells the latter, they cannot " treat a neighbour with a dish of tea ; and that will " be a dreadful thing indeed ; to the former, he saith, " their produce will r…

If so, then my first answer to our " Farmer is, that we Weavers, and I believe I may " say most of other trades too, cannot live without " meat, bread and clothing, all which I shall gladly " take in exchange for my labour ; and If I could " earn more at the year's end, than a supply for my " family, I would be content, (at this troublesome " period, which our Farmer sets up for such a terr…

But I beg of you '' not to be now deceived, nor prevailed on to bring " ruin and slavery on your country and posterity, by " tasting of that detestable herb, which hath already " been the cause of so much confusion. But if you " will not be entreated, but will persist in using it " you will find your case similar to that of Eve, she " lost her innocence, and plunged all her descendants " i…

Besides their un- " spotted characters, are they not men of extensive " interests in America? have they estate in any other "country? No, what then should induce them to " betray America, seeing that if America falls they " must fall with it ? This consideration alone, is suf- || ficient to clear them from our Farmer's aspersion. " But in my opinion, a still stronger security for their " in…

And on the " whole, I think that it would be well for us farmers, " and mechanicks to consider whether it is not likely " that each colony took as much care in choosing " their delegates', as we did. That is, to send men of " knowledge, men of interest, and men of honour. If " so, we must look on oar farmer to be a man wholly " given to ridicule, misrepresentation, and malevo- " lence ; fo…

" I would now recommend to the notice of every " reader of Rivington's Farmer, that it is the usual '' practice of evil minded persons, when they would " disturb the quiet of any man, or body of men, " against whom they can find no just cause of com- " plaint, to raise against them, without any evidence, " the highest clamours, suggest the most criminal de- " signs, and if possible, represe…

I would not even desire to " turn them upon his own head, and cause him, like " Haman, to be hanged on his own gallows -- I only " desire that, unjust and unreasonable as they are, " they may have no weight with the reader, or raise " any prejudice in his mind against the cause of truth " & his country, or against any man or body of men, '" especially those worthy men who have nobly stood …

We may assure ' ourselves that a steady and firm opposition to the 1 late acts of Parliament, will cause our sovereign to 1 examine into the state of the case with great atten- ' tion ; and when he finds he has been led into un- ' warrantable acts by diabolical counsellors, he will ' dismiss them from their offices, by which they have ' wickedly devised to throw the nation all into con- ' …

If it should seem ' grievous for the present, we have this for our con- ' solation, that as good men as you and I, have been ' afflicted : The devil was permitted to afiiict Job ' worse than wicked Ministers, or Counsellors of ' state can you and me ; and let us take patern by ' his stability, when his friends came and clamoured ' against him, as bad as our Farmer doth in this day, ' again…

That the illustrious house of Hanover may ' continue to be the defenders of true religion and ' virtue, the faithful guardians of our freedom and ' property ! That our sovereign, George the third, ' may discover every wicked design, that any of his ' Ministers, or others, have conceived against him, or ' any of his people ! That he may be endowed with ' wisdom and virtue to Decome a blessin…

About the same time that this letter appeared, there was a movement, in the vicinity of the White Plains, to obtain a nominal approval, if no more, of the action, the revolutionary action, of the Committee of the City of New York ; but if what was said of the result of the effort by those who were opposed to the movement, without contradiction, may be believed, only " three or four persons …

We " are rather induced to do this, because we under- '" stand, that three or four persons in the White " Plains, have taken upon them to declare to the " Committee at New-York, the consent of the " inhabitants of the White Plains to the resolutions " entered into, in New- York, and their acquiescence "with the measures taken there; when the major " part of the few people who attended the …

" Westchester County, White Plains. '■ "f TTHEREAS, there was a petition published in VV "Rivington's paper, some time past, that "forty five of the freeholders and inhabitants, be- " sides Miles Oakley, did sign a petition -- I did sign ■' a petition, something like it, by being misled ; and " afterwards being informed into the right state of "the matter, I got the petition, and struck my …

1 On the 8th of May, 1775, Miles Oakley was appointed a member of the County Committee, (t-ide page -- , post ; ) soon afterwards, he received a Warrant for Second Lieutenant in Captain Mills's Company ; (t-ide page -- ,post;) and he Herved in that office, under Colonel Holmes, in the DloodleBS Campaign of 1775 ; leaving the service, when the Campaign closed. -- (Historical Manuscripts, etc. …

2 Illustrative of the statement made in the text, is the following, taken from the'Upcott Clippings, iv.,297, in the Library of the New York Historical Society: " It is said that at least three-fourths of the people "in Cortlandt's Manor, New York, have declared their unwillingness to " enter into the Congressional measures : that a great number of the " people in general in Westchester Count…

There were some who were smarting under the outrages which had been inflicted on them or on their friends, by local and other despots, of high or low degree ; and these were, sometimes, compelled to find refuge and protection within the lines of the Royal Army, and there was a float ing, vicious class, within the County, which the lawlessness of the revolutionary faction and the succeeding War…

That very interesting and very important Address and the Association which accompanied it, -- the latter, generally known, among those who favored the revolutionary faction, as " The Loyalist's Test" -- because they form very important specimens of the literature of revolutionary Westchester-county, and because of their importance as reliable authorities for the guidance of the student of t…

•^ TTTE the subscribers being desirous to convince mankind that • * "we are firmly attached to our most bappy constitution, " and are disposed to Bupport and maintain peace and good order under " his Majesty's government, do therefore declare, that our sovereign lord " king George the third, is the only sovereign to whom British Ameiica " may, can, or ought to owe and bear true and faithful a…

That we will upon all occasions stand by and assist each other " in the defence of his life, liberty and property, when ever the same " shall be attacked or endangered by any bodies of men riotously assem- " bled, upon any pretence or any authority whatsoever, not warranted " by the laws of the land. " Second. That we will upon all occasions mutually support each "other in the free exercise …

" In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands, this eighteenth " day of January, in the fifteenth year of the reign of our sovereign " lord George the third, by the grace of God of Great-Britain, France, " and Ireland, king, defender of the faith, &c, and in the year of our "lord Christ, 1775." "An Address to the Inhabitants of Cort- " landt's Manor. a I am one amongst you, tho' yet …

" The farmer is brought up to peace and tranquility ; " politics, and the designs of crafty men are strangers " to his honest minds ; his care and toil, with the " sweat of his brow, is to turn the furrows which give "us subsistence: It is from industry, that worlhy " merchants are enabled to extend their commerce, -- " commerce ! the vitals of a nation, every country has "its share in diff…

I think I have accounted " for your inattention to political matters, as not being "within the sphere of your occupations, but confined " to the laudable pursuit of your own business ; and, "I sincerely wish it to continue without interruptiou ; " to effect which, there is only one method left. -- I "have already observed, that our good intentions, " kept in silence, are not sufficient to d…

I have said, I am one amongst you, my situation has given me opportunity to form ideas of your behaviour and sentiments, I believe you, in a general sense, firmly attached to loyalty and our admirable constitution; that you wish to live and die subjects only to the British empire ; but how is this to be manifested, and that it should be declared, there is an absolute necessity, without dela…

Let us my friends, declare, and acknowledge this, our indispensible duty, by signing our names to the paper now circulating in this manor, wrote and adapted f«r the subscription of none but Koyausts.-- It is not enough for a man to say, that I am a lr.yal subject, no more than to say I am a pious and true christian; it must be his work, his dependauce on, his energy, his indefatigable effort…

If you should disagreeably find any one, or more amongst you who are blind to their own happiness, let me intreat you to take no advantage of their weakness, rather use lenient and mild persuasions ; tell them their true interest ; use all your endeavours that if possible they may return to their right senses :-- In this you will shine in triple capacity, you recover the lost man, you draw t…

And if prejudice, popular declamations, " and the hateful current of party faction, are not too " strong for truth and matters of fact ; we must allow " that the grand pitch of commerce we have arrived " at, the progress we have made in arts and sciences ; " the amazing repadity in extending, settling and im- " proving our land estates ; the magnificent appear- " ance and flourishing condit…

Let "us reflect on those direful calamities; Let us be " grateful to the power which preserved us, which sent "forth her Invincible Veterans, vanquished our " enemies, and finally reinstated us in quiet posses- " sion of our own. -- If we have a right to complain of " the British acts of parliament, we have a Governor, " Council and Assembly, to represent our grievances " to the King, Lord…

" common sense, are led to declare our firm and indis- " soluble attachment to our most gracious Sovereign "George the Third, his crown and dignity; and " with grateful hearts to acknowledge, that we are in- " debted to his paternal care, for the preservation of "our lives and fortunes: And as we have ever been a " happy and free people, subject only to the laws and " government of Great- B…

Rivington's paper of Feb- " ruary 16, has certainly all the subtilty of the ser- " pent ; and has as dexterously wormed himself '" round your estates, with as much address, and will " probably have the same success, as the first serpent " had, when he attacked our old grandmother. -- And " you, my friends, resemble the simple dove, for you " seem to be innocent and secure, although the de- …

The Spectator, in " some of his beautiful lucubrations, mentions a young " Eastern Prince, who being severely reprimanded for " some unguarded folly of youth, immediately fell " down at the feet of his preceptor, and expressed " himself to this effect : -- father, I now perceive, " that I have two souls, a good soul and a bad, in " your absence the bad soul predominates ; passion •" and pl…

" This soul has animated every kingdom on the face " of the earth, till by their own crimes and their own " folly, they have voluntarily banished it " their soil : This is the soul that has sup- " ported the British state through various revolu- " tions, and will maintain its empire, either in that, " or some other part of the globe, till Heaven, in its " vengeance, shall extirpate the huma…

The other class of souls reside in America, " and must be called souls of the basest mould ; these " wretches, by the God of nature, have been suffered " to receive their being in a land of happiness, and " have been nursed up in a land of liberty and " plenty ; but O monstrous ingratitude ! Without " the least remorse, without any spur to real ambi- " tion, they forsake their country ! in …

" ror and dismay are to assault us, all the British *' navy shall knock down our pompous cities ; thou- " sands and tens of thousands of forces are to crimson " o'er the spacious plains with blood ; Canadian big- 41 otry and persecution is to pour in upon us from " the North ; the Indians, with horrid barbarity, are " to torment us from the West ; and perhaps pesti- " lence and Spaniards fr…

" But, O ye men of Cortlandt, let us for a moment " view the windings of that arch serpent which hath ■" beguiled you ; with what pleasing sensations, he " surveys your fine fields, your harvests, and your "herds; and how he commends and admires the ■"trickling drops that pour down your brows; no " doubt these are delicious charms to him ; yet, one ■" thing on your part, is absolutely neces…

Like the cruel ostrich, she has forsaken " her young ones ; with the fierceness of a tyger, she ■" lays waste our own fair inheritence, and dashes " her sons against the stones ! -- Shakspeare makes " Hamlet express himself thus ; ' But, I am pigeon " ' livered, and lack gall to make oppression bitter.' " Whether it is the lack of gall, or the lack of sensi- ■" bility, that makes you callou…

" B. E." No further attempt to answer this Address nor to counteract the effects of the Association appears to have been made until late in the Spring, a long time -after the farmers throughout the Manor had commenced their work of ploughing and sowing and planting, when the following letter, signed by "An " Inhabitant," was published in Gaine's New- York Gazette: or the Weekly Mercury, No.…

" In a day when American pulse beats high for " Liberty ; when it is the subject of almost every " public paper, as well as topic of discourse, it might "justly have been expected that no American would " be so hardy as to violate the rights of his fellow- " subjects ; and if any such monster should appear " in 'this land of Liberty, that there would not be " wanting advocates for so glorio…

" I have waited with great impatience, expecting " that some able hand would have undertaken the "benevolent task to warn you to beware of the con- " duct of some of the basest villains that ever dis- " graced any society, and draw the attention of the " inhabitants to its danger ; but finding that although "now some months are elapsed since the commence- "ment of the measures of these trai…

" They, anxious to secure to themselves and their " posterity power and authority, and to engross some " offices or pensions from or under the Crown, have " made a sacrifice of all public virtue on the altar of " self-interest. This desperate spirit it was that in- '' duced these traitors or mercenary hirelings to exert " thrir influence to bring about the detestable meas- " urcs proposed b…

If Charles the " First deserved the axe, and James the Second the " loss of his Kingdom, for changing the Constitution, "' and thereby trampling on the rights of their subjects, I leave you, my Countrymen, to judge what ''punishment would be adequate to the crimes of " these loyalists and their tools, who are aiming at " the same by a sacrifice of all public virtue and the " liberty of thei…

During the greater portion of the period in which had occurred the various transactions of which mention has been made, herein, the General Assembly of the Colony of New York had not been permitted, by the Colonial Government, to meet for the consideration of the public affairs and for the transaction of the public business of the Colony ; but a large proportion, if not a majority, of the Mem…

It was a matter of deep concern, therefore, both in the Colonial Government and among the Colonists, generally, when, on the tenth of January, 1775, that body was permitted to assemble, in an Adjourned Session ; 2 and, in the absence of more exciting occurrences and in view of many anxious hopes that that Assembly, which had not been concerned in any of the extraordinary occurrences of the p…

Livingston, asserting its continued loyalty to the Sovereign, its desire to effect a redress of the grievances under which the Colonies were laboring, and its hope that a reconciliation between the Colonies and the Mother Country might be secured, nevertheless, fell back on the Congress and on the line of action on which the Congress had determined, notwithstanding the 'wellknown tendency t…

ciliation between the Colonies and the Mother Country might be effected ; but it also maintained, in opposition to the minority of the House and more consistently with the uniform profession of loyalty to the Sovereign and of respect for the fundamental principles of the Constitution, in both of which all, the minority as well as the majority, professed to be in harmony, that a removal of the …

The first-named portion of the members, was, evidently, determined to force the Assembly into the line of the radical portion of the party of the Opposition, for no other purpose, however, than that of increasing the moral weight of that particular faction of the party, in its desperate struggle for the possession of the controlling power, in political affairs, within the Colony; and this, to…

"lhat the supporters of the Congress, in the event of their success, would, thereby, destroy a most powerful instrumentality, then preparing to labor, independently, in a line which whilst parallel to that already occupied by the Congress itself, was, nevertheless, for the accomplishment of the great purposes for securing which that Congress had been originally proposed and was subsequently o…

and, with equal resolution and consistency, it evidently determined, also, that the Assembly should take no omcial action on any of the occurrences of the preceding year, except such as should be brought before it, officially, or such as might have arisen from some prior action of the Assembly itself; and, more important than all else, it determined that, with all the weight of its legitimat…

The County of Westchester was ably represented on the floor of the Assembly, in the persons of Colonel Frederic Philipse and Judge John Thomas, who represented the body of the County; Pierre Van Cortlandt, who represented the Manor of Cortlandt ; and Isaac Wilkins, who represented the Borough of Westchester. Of these, Thomas and Van Cortlandt were of the minority of the Assembly, of which m…

Notwithstanding the Despatches of Lieutenant-governor Colden to the Home Government, which are (and have been, since 1775) accessible to everybody, abundantly prove that the Colonial Government possessed no more influence, which it could exerciBe over the Assembly, than was possessed by any other political opponent, -- that, in fact, that body waB not in harmony with the Government, and acted …

were of the majority of that body, which haa been already described; and because of the prominent parts which those Representatives of that County respectively took, in the debates concerning the momentous questions which were considered and determined in that Assembly, and because of the ills which befell three of those Representatives, because of what they had respectively said and done i…

Although the Assembly had been prorogued to meet on the tenth of January, 1775, the members from the distant Counties were not present on that day, nor on several succeeding days; and, on the twentieth of that month, a "Call of the House" was ordered to be made on the seventh of February ensuing ; and the Clerk of the House was ordered to write to the absent Members, to require their punctua…

Journal of the Home, " Die Veneris, 10 ho., A.M., the 20th January, "1775." 2 "It was some Days before asufflcient number of Members got to Town " to make a House, and there are Btil] twelve of their number absent, '* which has occasioned the Ilouse to put off the farther consideration of "their Important Business to the 7th of next Month, at which Time "they have ordered all their Members t…

In the Lieutenant-governor'B Despatch to the Earl of Dartmouth, dated on the first of February, 1775, it is stated that the Call of the House referred to was made on a Motion offered by the minority of the House, for what was supposed would be beneficial to its purposes ; and when it is remembered that the majority already possessed the control of whatever was brought forward, it will be seen …

Under any circumstances and in any assemblage, there would be aroused an earnest, if not an angry, opposition to any movement which was covered with as much of bad faith and dishonor as was seen, surrounding the Resolution which Colonel Ten Broeck had thus submitted in violation of the honorable understanding, between the two factions, which had been entered into when the " Call of the House…

By a vote of ten to eleven, the House determined that the question on Colonel Ten Broeck's ill-timed Resolution should not " be now put," thereby entirely defeating the minority, in its certainly dishonorable attempt to force a consideration of the proceedings of the Congress, on the Assembly, in open violation of its own particular undertaking, and at the expense of its own honor. 3 Very …

3 Journal of the House, "DioJovis, 10 ho., A.M., the 26th January, " 1775 ; " Lieulenaut-govemor Colden to General Gage, " New York 29th " Jany 1775 ; " the same to the Earl of Dartmouth, " New York 1st Feby " 1775 ; " the same to Governor Tnjon, " New York, 1st Feby, 1775 ; " the " same to Admiral Graves, "New York 20th Feb. 1775." 4 The venerable Lieutenant-governor of the Province was evid…

that rejection of Colonel Ten Broeck's Resolution was only the prelude, that Vote of the Assembly has supplied a theme on which those who have seemed to play the part of historians of that portion of America's history, have based much of what they have said, unduly commendatory of Massachusetts and Virginia and quite as unduly denunciatory of everything which pertained to New York, unless o…

Grahame (History of the United States, iv., 360) following Ramsey, and, generally, in his n«- vredited words, repeated the slander which that early writer insinuated. Leake (Memoir of General Lamb, 97) regarded the Vote as unpatriotic and " an important ministerial triumph." Lo3sing (Field Book of the Revolution, ii., 793) made " fifteen of the twenty-four Members of the Assembly, Loyalists ;" …

Lodge (History of the English Colonies, 491,) one of the latest specimens of Massachusetts dilettanteism, sneeringly refers to the Assembly of New York as "the close corporation known as the Assembly," as if the General Court of Massachusetts, locked in its Chamber, was not quite as " close ' ' a body, while it was in session, as even he could find. Others, including Frothingham (Rise oftfie …

No one, unacquainted with the facts and depending on any of the above-named historians for information, can possibly learn, from them, that the Vote referred to was taken in the interest of the common cause, as a prelude to what the Assembly intended to do, in its own manner, in support of that cause ; that there was not a " friend of the Government," or " Tory," or member of the " party of t…

the minority of the Assembly, appears to have been well-studied by those who were of that minority ; but it did not prevent it from continuing to hanker after the leadership of whatever movement, in the direction of a redress of the grievances of the Colonies, the Assembly should be inclined to take. Subsequent events very clearly indicated, indeed, that the minority desired to promote its ow…

Immediately after the adoption of the Resolution submitted by the Representative of the Livingston Manor, James De Lancey, of the City of New York, one of the leaders of the majority and the head of that powerful family, moved "that a Memorial to the Lords, and a Representation 11 and Remonstrance to the Commons of Great Brit- " ain may be prepared, together with the Petition " to his Majes…

It was called ' a Memorial : * now, ' Memorials ' are pre- " sented from one crowned head to another ; but as to a ' Memorial ' from '■ an American Assembly, it was unheard of, and ought not to be read." In the same debate, it was said, also, by another Peer, that " the title " given to the paper was suspicious : a * Petition ' from the same Assembly had been presented to the King, the Colonie…

Jenkinson, in opposition to receiving the paper addressed to that House, " urged that the House had never re- " ceived Petitions of this nature : that, here, the name of a Petition was "studiously avoided, lest anything like an obedience to Parliament ** should he acknowledged. The opposition of the Colonies was not so " much against the tax which gave rise to the present dispute as to the "…

Continuing the commendable work in which it had thus commenced the proceedings of the day, and apparently without any dissent from any one, the House then ordered that James De Lancey, and Benjamin Kissam, of the City of New York, Colonel Philip Schuyler, of Albany-county, George Clinton, of Ulster-county, Dirk Brinkerhoof, of Duchess-county, Samuel Gale, of Orange-county, Isaac Wilkins, of t…

No reasonable reason which would be honorable to the minority of the Assembly, therefore, can be given for the eagerness which it displayed, on the sixteenth of February, to disturb the harmony of that body, in which all of both factions appeared to have been united in both purpose and action ; but, on that day, Colonel Philip Schuyler, of Albany-county, in behalf of that minority, renewed …

It has suited those who have preferred to traduce New York and her General Assembly, however, to regard both the General Assembly and its papers as only favorable to the Home Government and antagonistic to the common cause. 1 Journal of the House, " Die Martis, 10 ho., A.M., the 31st January, " 1775." 2 111 the language of that period, the word " State," as it was used in this and similar c…

On the following day, [February 17], Colonel Nathaniel Woodhull, of Suffolk-county, also a prominent member of the minority, continued the factional strife, by offering a Resolution of Thanks to those gentlemen who had represented this Colony in the recent Congress, " for their faithful and judicious dis- " charge of the trust reposed in them, by the good " people of this Colony ; " and, of c…

Speaker signify the " same to the President of the Chamber of Commerce " in this City, at their next Meeting, and order a copy " of the same to be published in the public Prints." Like the other Resolutions of the series, which had preceded it, this peculiarly inappropriate Resolution, before such a deliberative body, after it had been amply discussed, was promptly rejected by a vote of te…

in the negative, among whom were Colonel Philipse and Isaac Wilkins. 1 On the twenty third of February, Crean Brush, of Cumberland-county, from the Committee which had been appointed to prepare a State of the Grievances of this Colony, presented a Report from that Committee ; which was " referred to the consideration of a Com- " mittee of the Whole House, and be proceeded on, " by the said…

Immediately after the Report on the Grievances of the Colony had been thus referred, Judge John Thomas, one of the Representatives of Westehestercounty, and a leading member of the minority, offered a Resolution providing that " the sense of this House " be taken on the necessity of appointing Delegates "for this Colony, to meet the Delegates for the other " Colonies on this Continent, in Ge…

The well-considered and, under the circumstances, the judicious determination of the majority of the General Assembly, to unite in the general opposition to the Colonial policy of the Home Government, in the general demand for a redress of the assumed grievances of the Colonies, and in the generally expressed desire to restore the harmony between the Colonies and the Mother Country, which th…

"Speeches, made by Brush and Wilkins, on that occasion, may be seen in Force's American Archives, Fourth Series, i., 1200-1297, the former reprinted from Rmngtont New-York Gazetteer, No. 98, New-York Thursday, March 2, 1775 ; the latter from the same paper, No. 103, New- York, Thursday, April 6, 1775. Students of the history of the Revolution in the Colonies will be well paid fur the time occu…

But it was clearly shown that " the common cause," which was so loudly talked of, was only a secondary matter ; that personal and factional interests were, in fact, regarded as superior to the interests of the country ; that it was the purpose of the minority and of those with whom it affiliated, for the especial advancement of their individual and factional interests, to obtain the entire co…

Having fully accomplished its preliminary purpose in securing from the legally constituted Legislature of the Colony a rejection of the several revolutionary Resolutions which it had submitted, and in, thereby WESTCHESTER COUNTY. affording a pretext to those of its confederates, not of the General Assembly, for the assumption, by them, of authority, nominally in the name of the body of the…

On the appointed day, [March 1, 1775] the Assembly, in Committee of the Whole House, Colonel Benjamin Seaman, of Richmond-county, occupying the Chair, commenced the consideration of the State of the Colony's Grievances, which had been reported by the Special Committee which had prepared it ; l and after having spent the entire day thereon, as well as the whole of the following day 2 and the g…

In the Committee which had been appointed for the preparation of the Slate, in which every member brought forward whatever he regarded as a Grievance, and not in the body of the Assembly, as is meanly insinuated, Colonel Schuyler introduced the Act of 4th George III., Chapter XV., as such a Grievance, which was approved and accepted by the Committee, with only two dissenting votes, notwithstan…

The Stale of Grievances which was thus adopted by the General Assembly of New York included not only all those Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain, relating to or affecting the Colony of New York, for which Colony only the Assembly presumed to legislate, which the Congress of the Continent had included in the Bill of Bights and Grievances which that body had adopted and published, but it …

Chapter LXXXIIL, "so " far as it may be construed to establish the Roman " Catholic Religion in the Province of Quebec," . and " so far as it imposes Duties upon certain Ar- " tides of Merchandise imported into that Province," " which by another Statute of the same year, Chapter " LXXXVIII., is so extended as to comprehend all the " Indian Country, from Hudson's Bay to the Mouth " of the O…

if not in words, as that, on the same subject, which the Congress of the Continent had recently adopted -- and he glorified his grandfather, because of that gentleman's labors in opposing it, and in endeavoring to qualify the Assembly's recognition of that Right, through an Amendment, which the Committee had rejected ; without, however, alluding to that other fact that, in all that his grandfa…

Philip Schuyler needed no such fictitious praise, even from his grandson ; and, although he was willing to promote the interests of his faction, he does not appear to have been thus employed, in what he did as a member of that Committee for preparing a State of the Grievances of this Colony, nor in any proceedings thereon, either in Committee of the Whole House or in the Assembly. 6 •' I was…

action of the Continental Congress, moved by James Duane and supported by John Adams, and nearly in its words, 1 recognizing the Right of the Parliament " to regulate the Trade of the Colonies, and to lay " Duties on articles that are imported, directly, into " this Colony, from any foreign Country or Planta- " tation, which may interfere with the Products or " Manufactures of Great Britain…

The Assembly promptly went into a Committee of the Whole House, with Colonel Benjamin Seaman, of Richmond-county, ant-goveriwr Colden to the Earl of Dartmouth, " New York, let March, " 1775,") 1 Bmcvoft's History of thr United States, original edition, vil., 139, 140; the same, centenary edition, iv., 401, 402. 2 In a letter written by Alexander McDougal, the well-known popular leader, add…

The first of these Resolutions, following the general sentiment of the Colonists, acknowledged the Faith and Allegiance to the King which were due to him from " the people of this Colony." The second acknowledged that the Colonists " owe obedience to all " Acts of Parliaments calculated for the general weal " of the whole Empire and the due regulation of the " Trade and Commerce thereof, and…

The politicians of New York, those of later as welt 4 As the action of the Committee which resulted in those Amendments was not generally noticed on the Journal or iu the Report, it is very evident that they were, generally, only verbal corrections, unimportant in character, and involving no distinguishing principles. But there were two amendments, proposed by Colonel Nathaniel Woodhnll and Ge…

as those of earlier periods, have always been unlike those of any other Colony, or State, or Country ; and in the matter of these declaratory Eesolutions, the spirit and terms of which were quite as radical in their character as could have been desired by the most advanced republican who was not an anarchist, the well-established reputation of those politicians was amply sustained -- every …

Livingston and Nathaniel Woodhull, by George Clinton and Philip Schuyler, in the instance under consideration, when they voted against the Resolutions which have been fully described and, consequently, against the great political principles which were asserted and maintained therein, for no other reason which is now discoverable than the peculiar fact that those Resolutions had proceeded from…

1 Tlie official record of the votes of the several Members of the Assembly, of both factions of the party of the Opposition, as it may be seen in the Journal of the House, is one of the most curious and most unaccountable, within our knowledge. and quite as boldly sustained the Home Government, in what it had done, as any open and avowed " friend of the Government " could have done, had one b…

During the same day, Crean Brush, from Cumberland-county, Colonel Benjamin Seaman, of Richmond-county, and Samuel Gale, of Orange-county, were appointed a Committee " to prepare the Draft of a Memorial to the Lords;" and Daniel Kissam, of Queens-county, and James De Lancey and Jacob Walton, of the City of New York, were appointed a Committee " to prepare the " Draft of a Representation and …

It will be seen that on neither of these Committees was there a single member of the minority of the House, notwithstanding the Resolution on which the first-named of those Committees was appointed originated with a leading member of that faction, and notwithstanding, also, both the Resolutions pursuant to which all the Committees were appointed, had been adopted in the Assembly by an unanim…

On the sixteenth of March, Isaac Wilkins, from the Committee appointed to prepare it, reported " the " Draft of a Petition to the King ; " and, immediately afterwards, Crean Brush, from the Committee appointed to prepare it, reported " a Draft of a Memorial to the Lords." During the same day, James De Lancey, from the Committee appointed to prepare it, reported " the Draft of a Representation…

Another Amendment, concerning the Judiciary of the Colony, and entirely cancelling the paragraph, on that subject, which the Committee had reported, was submitted by George Clinton, of Ulster-county, and agreed to, by an unanimous vote of the House ; and another Amendment, submitted by Colonel Frederic Philipse, by striking the words " seem to,'' from one of the paragraphs, and, by doing so…

On the same day, [March 24<A], the Memorial to the House of Lords and the Bepresentation and Remonstrance to the House of Commons, after several Amendments, none of them possessing any importance whatever and only three of them having called for a division of the House, had been negatived in the Committee of the Whole House, were successively reported to the House ; and, in the respective form…

In each instance, also, the Speaker was ordered to sign the document, in behalf of the House ; and, after having ordered the Speaker to transmit these three several petitions to the King, the Lords, and the Commons, " with all convenient speed, to Edmund " Burke, Esquire, Agent of this Colony at the Court '" of Great Britain ; and that a Letter be prepared, to " be approved by this House, …

& The original Jvumah vfthe Assembly which included the proceedings of the entire Session which is now under consideration, were lost during the troublesome times of that period ; and the only known copy of the original printed edition of those Journals wanted four pages, in this portion of it. Those missing pages contained the closing portion of the proceedings of the House, on the Petition …

w Journal of the House, "Die Sabbati, 4 ho., P.M., the 25th March "1775." ' 11 Ibid. WESTCHESTER COUNTY. the rise of this House as conveniently may be, copies of the State of the Grievances, of the Resolutions of the House, of the Petition to the King, of the Memorial to the Lords, and of the Representation and Remonstrance to the Commons, requesting those several Speakers to lay the same b…

On the following day, [April lst.~\ the Assembly appointed " a Standing Committee of Correspondence," composed of the Speaker, [John Oruger^] James De Lancey, James Jauncey, Benjamin Kis3am, and Jacob Walton, all of them from the City of New York, Benjamin Seaman, of Richmond-county, Isaac Wilkins, of the Borough of Westchester, Frederic Philipse, of Westchester-county, Zebulon Seaman, of Que…

They have been the themes, sometimes, of ignorant and unscrupulous bigots and, sometimes, of intelligent and unscrupulous tricksters ; sometimes a personal and sometimes a local end has been served by either a falsification or a concealment of the truth, concerning them ; and, sometimes, fragments of useless and glittering rhetoric, strung together, as farmers string fragments of useless and …

Individual members of that Assembly, men of honor and unimpeachable integrity, have been stigmatized as " wretches," and as " the veriest reptiles on earth " and charged with " corruption " and every kindred vice -- some of them were driven from their families and their homes ; others of them were lawlessly seized and carried from their families and their homes, exiled, and held in lawless b…

Measures which were sincerely intended for the promotion of the common cause of the Colonies, in their struggle with the Home Government, -- measures which presented nothing else than political principles or recitals of facts which no one, of any sect or faction, pretended to dispute -- were opposed, vehemently and without measure, within as well as without the Assembly, only because they h…

A candid and carefully-made comparison of the terms of those several State of Grievances, and declaratory Resolutions, and Petition, and Memorial, and Representation and Remonstrance, which were prepared, and agreed to, and presented, and published by that much-abused General Assembly of Colonial New York, with the several Resolutions, and Declaration of Rightu, and Association, and Addresses…

It will be seen, also, by every careful and candid reader of the published proceedings of that Congress to which reference has been made, that, notwithstanding the gravamen of the declared Grievances of the constituent Colonies, of that notable body, consisted of sundry Acts of Parliament, all of which were considered as oppressive, it had made no attempt whatever, either by Petition or otherw…

On the other hand, the General Assembly of Colonial New York, the legitimacy of whose organization and the entire legality of whose action, in behalf of the common cause, no one has ever presumed to question ; without compromising its dignity, as a General Assembly; with that common sense which, in Europe as well as in America, was, then, so pe- 1 Credentials of the Delegation from Virginia,…

culiarly uncommon ; without entangling itself with any questionable alliance ; and without belittling its legitimate influence by expressing its official sympathy with any other body, even in relation to those measures which were similar, in character and purpose, to those of its own enactment -- that General Assembly, quite as clearly and quite as energetically as the Congress had done, in b…

Without the loss of any of that dignity which legitimately belonged to it, and without sacrificing any of that respect for its constituents which its duty required it to maintain, it recognized the sovereignty of the King, as the Congress had also done; and, consistently with that dignity and that respect, but with a boldness which was peculiarly its own, at the same time, it also asserted i…

Notwithstanding all that has been said in depreciation of that particular Colonial General Assembly, it did not consider it necessary, nor even expedient, to override the minority of its members without even recognizing their existence on its Journal, under cover of the subsequently notorious "unit-rule," in recording the votes of its members, nor in any other manner ; nor did it conceal its…

On the contrary, what it did was done honorably, and openly, and in conformity with the requirements of parliamentary, as well as of constitutional, Law ; not by unanimous Votes, actual or fictitious, but by a majority of its members, duly and courteously exercising the authority with which that majority was duly and legally vested. It was not done by the action of the minority of that Asse…

It was not done because of any popular influence, present or prospective ; but only from the personal knowledge of its members, concerning the great wrongs to which, it was said, the Colonies had been subjected, concerning the rights and the interests of the Colonists which had been invaded, and concerning the measures which were necessary for the protection of those invaded rights and inte…

Colonists, in New York, including every class, and sect, and political party -- and it possessed no authority to represent any other, and made no pretension to do so -- than either the Congress of the Continent or the fragmentary revolutionary faction within the Colony had done or possibly could do ; and there is very great reason for the belief that its orderly, and dignified, and more prac…

A few words only are required to complete the record of the results of that much-slandered General Assembly ; and the space which they will occupy cannot be better occupied. The Petition which was officially sent to the Agent of the Colony, the celebrated Edmund Burke, for presentation to the King, was duly laid before the Sovereign ; ' but, inasmuch as the General Assembly had, also, addr…

1 " Mr Burke having delivered to me the Petition to the King, I had " the honour to present it to His Majesty, who was pleased to receive " it with the most gracious expressions of regard and attention to the "humble request of his faithful subjects in New-York, who have, on "this occasion, manifested a duty to His Majesty and a regard for the " authority of the Parent State, which, had they …

He commenced by asking the Clerk to read the official record of the proceedings of the House, in December, 1768, on a Petition of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, and what was known as the Declaratory Act; and he continued by saying that he was " greatly in favour of " New York ; and that he would gladly do everything " in his power to shew his regard to the good behaviour " of that C…

Burke's Motion " for leave to bring up," making it read thus : " That " the said Representation and Remonstrance (in which " the said Assembly claim to themselves Rights derog- " atory to, and inconsistent with, the legislative " authority of Parliament, as declared by the Declara- " tory Act) be brought up." By a vote of one hundred and eighty-six to. sixty -seven, the Amendment was adopt…

The only objection raised against the reading of the Memorial was the bare suspicion that " it contained " matter derogatory to the supreme legislative power " of Great Britain ;' ; and on that suspicion, alone, the Memorial not having been even described, the House sustained the Minister, and declined to allow the Memorial to be read, by a vote of twenty-five to fortyfive, sending it, of c…

It is a reasonable case, in such instances as those cited and in those of the earlier historians of the American Revolution who lived and wrote in Europe, that no more than the rejection, by the Parliament, of the two papers which were sent to that legislature by the General Assembly of New York, was mentioned in the writings of those gentlemen ; but there is no valid excuse for those, in Ame…

Bancroft, after having consolidated the Remonstrance and the Memorial, making them one paper, obliged Uurke to offer both, on the same day, and in the same House, all of which were described in the narrow compass of four lines, without even a hint how such an Assembly as he had previously described, could have produced such a paper -- his silence serving to screen his unfaithfulness, as a hist…

Lossing, (Field Book of the Revolution;) Frothingham, (Rise of the Republic ;) Ridpath, (History of the United States ;) Lodge, (History of the English Colonies in America;) Morse, (Annals of the American Revolution;) Warren, (History of the American Revolution ;) and others, although abounding in facts and fictions concerning Massachusetts, have not spared a line for the recognition of what …

Except those matters to which we have already referred, nothing which requires especial notice in this narrative, occurred until, in February, 1775, the General Assembly of the Colony rejected the Resolution, submitted by Judge Thomas, of Westchester-county, which provided for the election, by that General Assembly, of Delegates to the proposed Congress of the Continent, to be held at Philadel…

1 See page 52, ante. 2 Proceedings of the Committee of Observation for the City and County of New York, at its Adjourned Meeting, February 27, 1775. ^'Proceedings of the Committee of Observation for the City and County oLJfew York, at its Adjourned Meeting, 1st March, 1775. /^Jlolt's Jfejf -York Journal, No. 1678, New- York, Thursday, March 2, purpose of joining issue with the latter, at the…

The conservative faction, strengthened by " some Officers of the Army- "and Navy, several of His Majesty's Council, and "those Members of the House of Representatives " who had refused taking into consideration the Pro- " ceedings of the Congress, together with the Officers- " of the Customs and other Dependents of the Court, " &c." -- the Governmental Party, as far as there was one, havin…

5 That organization was effected at a' public Meeting of the Inhabitants who disapproved the ' request" of the Committee, which was held at the Widow De La Montagnie's, in Broadway, opposite the Fields, on Friday evening, March 3, John Thurber presiding.-- (^1 Broadside, signed by John Thurber, in the Library of the NeW York Historical Society.) 8 The Committee of Observation called its Meetin…

posed the following question : " Whether a certain "Number of persons shall be appointed and authorized to meet such Deputies as the Counties may "elect, and join with them for the sole object of ap- " pointing out of their body on the 20th of April next, " Delegates to the next Congress ?" Those who were opposed to the question, the conservative faction and its governmental allies, promptly…

The second question which was proposed : " Whether " this Meeting will authorize the Committee to nomi- " nate Eleven Deputies for their Approbation ? " being of secondary importance to those who had opposed the first, a Poll of the Voters was not demanded thereon; and, of course, like the preceding question, it was adopted "by a very great Majority of the Peo- " pie," promiscuous in its qua…

1 Holt's New-York Journal, No. 1679, New-York, Thursday, March 9, 1775 ; Rivington's New-York Gazetteer, No. 99, New-York, Thursday, March 9, 1775 ; Proceedings of the Committee of Observation for the City and County of New York, 6th March ,1775, into which the record of the proceedings of the Meeting at the Exchange, in the Morning, was officially copied ; Jones's History of New York during t…

Having thus disposed of the main question, apparently to its entire satisfaction, the Committee then proceeded to nominate, by ballot, eleven persons, " for the Approbation of the Freemen " and Freeholders, for the City and County of New " York, to serve as Deputies to meet such other Deputies as may be appointed by the remaining " Counties in this Province, for the sole Purpose of " electi…

It will be seen that, in this last performance, the Committee of Inspection, (or of Observation, as it was pleased to call itself,) notwithstanding the peculiarly aristocratic elements which entered into its composition, had accepted, if it had not resorted to, that questionable element which had been so frequently employed, on former occasions, for the performance of acts, which neither the L…

2 Proceedings of Vie Committee of Observation for the City and County of New York, at its Meeting, "Monday Evening, 6th March, 1775." 3 Card, signed by Mr. Low and addressed to " The Respectable Pub- "lic." dated "New York, March 9, 1775." * Gouverneur Morris to Mr. Penn, "New-York, May 20,1774," pages 11. 12, ante. WESTCHESTEK COUNTY. evidently regarded as an undoubted success. It seems, …

It seems, however, that, notwithstanding all that apparent success, at the Exchange, the machinery of selfishness did not move without a jar, within itself, as the very decided testimony and dissent of Isaac Low, the Chairman of the Committee as well as that of the Meeting, against whom some underhanded antagonism had been detected, have clearly shown ; ' and it is equally susceptible of pro…

It is a notable fact, however, that,, notwithstanding the Committee repudiated the first Resolution which the miscellaneous crowd, at the Exchange, was said to have adopted, it rigidly maintained the equally questionable validity of the second Eesolution, nominally authorizing the Committee to nominate eleven persons i Cavd; signed by Mr. Low and addressed to " The Respectable Pub- " Lie," …

as candidates for the places of Delegates to the proposed Provincial Convention -- the opportunity to obtain place and authority, no matter how ill-founded that opportunity might be, was an object so vastly more important to those aristocratic place-seekers, than all others, that, whether promising or unpromising of success, those who controlled that Committee could not possibly abandon it 3…

8 Proceedings of the Committee of- Observation for t?ie City and County of New York, at an Adjourned Meeting, 8th March, 1775. «HoltV New-York Journal, No. 1880, New- York, Thursday, March 16, 1775; Rivimgton's New-York Gazetteer, No. 100, New- York, Thursday, March 16, 1775;* Gaine's New-York Gazette: and the Weekly Mercury, No. 1223, New-York, Monday, March 20, 1775. . 6 Proceedings of the…

* Holt and Gaine stated the vote to have been eight hundred and twenty-live in favor of the appointment of Deputies, and one hundred and sixty-three in opposition : ltivington stated the vote was nine hundred and twenty-nine, in favor, and one hundred and forty-three in opposition. They all agree that many voters declined to vote -- Holt and Gaine said, because their votes were seen to have b…

There is an abundance of evidence, of unquestionable truthfulness, showing that what has been represented to have been a conflict of rival parties, patriotically representing antagonistic political principles, on the occasion referred to, was, in fact, like all the political contests which had preceded it, during the preceding twelvemonth, only personal, factional, and local, in its origin and…

It was conceded, by contemporaneous writers of both factions, that there was, really, no difference of opinion, among the .various classes and sects and factions of which the City was composed, concerning the existing necessity for the redress of what were said to have been the Colonial Grievances, and that, if the Parliament should not interpose and indicate a willingness to afford the rel…

That it might become expedient and proper to assemble the proposed Congress, if the Parliament should not, meanwhile, have indicated an inclination to redress the alleged Grievances of the Colonies, was not only conceded but freely acknowledged, even by those more earnest conservatives who had assembled at the Widow De La Montagnie's, on the preceding Friday evening; but they, in common wit…

But those who were anxiously seeking places and influence were not ignorant of the well-known fact that a sparrow in the hand is worth more than a dove on the roof; and, consequently, they were not willing to postpone the immediate action which would surely secure those desirable advantages to themselves ; and they acted accordingly, marshaling their irregular allies, posting their handbill…

On the sixteenth of March, 1775, in conformity with the Resolution adopted by the Committee, and under its authority, Isaac Low, the permanent Chairman of the Committee of Inspection, prepared the following Circular Letter ; and, very soon afterwards, copies of it were sent to the several County Committees, where such Committees could be found, throughout the Colony : " New- York, 16th March…

The opponents of the Meeting who assembled at the Widow Be La Montagnie's, on the third of March, issued a handbill, in which reasons for a postponement of the question were stated ; on the morning of the day on which the Meeting, was held, [March 6] a calm appeal, signed " A Freeman," and addressed " To the Inhabitants or New York," very forcibly urging a postponement of the questions, was p…

" Influenced by these Considerations, this City "and County conceive it highly necessary that a " Provincial Convention should, without Delay, be " formed of Deputies from all the Counties, for the " sole Purpose of appointing, out of their Body, Delegates for the next Congress, and therefore have " already chosen their Deputies : They prefer this "Mode to any other, as it tends to unite the…

It is a very significant fact that, when the Committee's Circular Letter was written and made ready for transmission to Westchester-county, there was no appearance whatever, within that County, of the slightest organized opposition to either the Home or the Colonial Government; and that, among the debris of what had been conveniently regarded as a Convention of the County, assembled, in the …

usual indoor and outdoor recreations, during the preceding Winter ; and to return to the labors of the season, on their farms or elsewhere, during the earlier weeks of the Spring, as they had done, before, year after year and generation after generation, knowing little and caring less concerning that bitter struggle for commercial gain, no matter how lawlessly conducted, or concerning that equ…

It is not now evident, if it ever was, that these honest, hard-working, contented men, in any portion of that unceasing and undisguised indifference to the clamor and the unblushing immorality and the audacious lawlessness of politicians, of high or of low degree, beyond the borders of the County, which they had steadily and consistently presented, were really offenders against any law, hum…

They were not political in their aims or inclinations ; they had very clearly manifested, over and over again, their disinclination to be associated, in any degree, with those who were inclined to become, if they had not already become, politicians ; and, as will be seen, in their action, during the Winter, and in their subsequent actions, under similar circumstances, they were not inclined …

fare of those farmers or for that of the Colony, dissevered from all other considerations, in the Committee of Inspection, alias the Committee of Observation, for the City and County of New York-- a merely local organization, vested with no more than the barest local authority, and that confined, exclusively, to an entirely different service -- when it thrust itself, unasked and undesired, into…

It is not, now, known, beyond a peradventure, just what means were thus employed ; but the copies of that insidious Circular Letter which were intended for residents of Westchester-county were evidently sent to a leading Westchester-county politician ; and, by him, whomsoever he may have been, they were so manipulated that they reached only those residents of the County who would most surely …

Not one of the number was from Towns lying northward from the White Plains ; not one had come from all the country lying westward from the Bronx-river ; there was not present either a Van Cortlandt or a Thomas, already well-known popular leaders, either of whom would have been formidable, as a rival, against any new aspirant for the leadership of the movement and the spoils of office to which …

On the twenty-eighth of March, Theodosius Bartow, Esq., James Willis, and Abraham Guion, Esq., all of New Rochelle ; William Sutton, Esq., of Mamaroneck 2 ; Colonel Lewis Morris, Thomas Hunt, and Abraham Leggett, of Westchester ; Captain Joseph Drake, Benjamin Drake, Moses Drake, and Stephen Ward, of East Chester; and James Horton, Junior, Esq., of Rye, 2 all of them, it said, " having receiv…

Neither Yonkers, nor Greenburgh, nor any of the Towns to the northward of them and of the White Plains, were in the slightest degree represented in that important assemblage; and every one who had previously appeared as a leader of the farmers of the County, in their very unfrequent political doings, regardless of party associations, appears to have been, also, very carefully excluded, not i…

In all that had previously been said or done, in behalf of the Colony, in its dispute with the Home Government, not a Morris had been heart, except in that instance when one of them described the unfranchised masses of the Colonists as ■■ poor reptiles " (vide Page 12, ante); but the fragrance of the distant emoluments and influences of office, more fully developed than ever before, had passe…

" A number of gentlemen from different districts in "the county of Westchester having this day met at " the White Plains to Consider of the most proper " method of taking the Sense of the Freeholders, of " the Said County, upon the Expediency of choosing " Deputies to meet the Deputies of the other Coun- " ties, for the purpose of Electing delegates to repre- " sent this Colony in the Gener…

There can be no good reason for supposing that that Caucus failed to employ the best means which it could control, to secure the attendance, at the appointed place, on the appointed day, and at the designated hour, of all those of the farmers of the County of Westchester, whom it supposed to have been friendly to the Morris family, and who were willing or who could be induced to accept the hea…

the Manor of Morrisania, were aroused ; and, especially in the Borough Town of Westchester, within which the ancestral home of the Morrises was situated, the ambitious purposes of that gentleman and of his family were empathically snubbed, by a Meeting of his townsmen, duly summoned to take into consideration " whether or not they should choose Deputies " to represent them at a Provincial Conv…

" The consequences that may arise from your ne- " glecting to attend at the White Plains, on Tuesday " next, to declare your sentiments relative to the ap- " pointment of deputies to meet in Provincial Con- " gress, may be very fatal to this county ; the friends " of goverment, and our happy constitution, are there- " fore earnestly invited in person, to oppose a measure " so replete with r…

2 "A Correspondent acquaints us, That, on Monday the 3d of March, "the Inhabitants of the Borough of Westchester met, in Consequence of " a Summons, to give their Sentiments upon a Question, whether or not "they would choose Deputies to represent them at a Provincial Conven- "tion in this City; when they declared themselves already very ably "and effectually represented in the General Assembl…

It is reasonable to suppose that many of the farmers of Westchester-county, whatever their political opinions may have been, were more than usually excited by these extraordinary appeals and by others which have not been preserved, addressed to them by those whom they had hitherto regarded as leaders in political aifairs; but it is equally clear that not even those extraordinary means, thus e…

Reasonably enough, the two Taverns which were, then, prominent within the limits of the Village, were made the stopping-places of those rural incomers unto whom no Village householder had extended a Village welcome, Captain Hatfield, the landlord of one of those Taverns, entertaining those who were opposed to the Morrises and to the proposed election of Deputies, while those who favored that …

Captain Hatfield's Tavern stood almost due South from the old Courthouse, and nearly half a mile distant, on the North side of the old stageroad to New York, -- the line of that road has been changed, 6ince 1775-- on property more recently owned by Samuel B. Lyon, Esq., and now by the heirs of the late Alfred Waller, Esq. The old building has been removed from the place on which it stood, in 1…

Notwithstanding the hour of ten had been named in the Notification through which the assembled farmers had thus met, it was nearly noon before any attempt to organize a Meeting was made -- probably, some whose presence was desired and expected, had not arrived ; probably, those leaders of the movement who were present were, meanwhile, " comparing notes," and arranging plans of action, and …

It was done quietly, if it was not done secretly : it was done quietly, without inviting any others than those of their own faction, to assemble with them: it was done quietly and in a manner which clearly indicated that something else than an untrammeled and unbiased expression of the will of all those who were present-- carrying with it, also, the assumed acquiescence of all those who were…

those who had originated and promoted it, secretly and rapidly, without alarming those who were assembled at Cap'tain Hatfield's, and before they could be brought to the Courthouse, to defeat those purposes and to relegate the Morrises to that political obscurity in which, very ungraciously, they had so long and so ingloriously rested. It was, in short, nothing else than a political coup-de-m…

Freeholders and others ; and there is evidence that quite as large a number, Freeholders and others, walked down to the Courthouse, from Captain Hatfield's Tavern, and stripped all the novelty and all there was of what was said to have been integrity from the exposed and unsuccessful coup-de-main. 1 The individual respectability of none of these, of either faction, appears to have been impea…

Philipse at their head, then appeared." In the Protest of the Inhabitants and Freeholders, subsequently published, it is stated, specifically, that when those from Captain Hatfield's Tavern entered the Courthouse, ",the numbers on each side seemed to be nearly " equal ; and both together might amount to two hundred or, at most, ' ' two hundred and fifty. ' ' Nearly a month after the publicatio…

not of his supporters, by saying there were among them " many tenants who were not entitled to vote," etc., -- they were recognized as respectable farmers, even by that particular Morris who aimed to belittle them; but, in the presence of such as he, with nothing but what he had inherited, to ensure to him even a nominal respectability, they were evidently expected to be no more than dumb do…

They then fur- " ther declared their determined resolution to continue " steadfast in their allegiance to their gracious and " merciful Sovereign, King George the Third ; tosub- " mit to lawful authority ; and to abide by and sup- " port the only true representatives of the People of "this Colony, the General Assembly." They then gave three cheers, and returned to Captain Hatfield's Tavern…

After the protestants had thus peacefully left the Courthouse, the Meeting returned to the business for the transaction of which it had been convened and organized ; and the question was submitted, by the Chairman, " Whether they would appoint Depu- " ties for this County, to meet the Deputies of the " other Counties, at the Cily of New York, on the "twentieth of April instant, for the purp…

"the tenth day of May next." By an unanimous vote, it determined to do so ; and it then appointed, also without opposition, Colonel Lewis Morris and Doctor Robert Graham-- the latter a kinsman of the former-- both of Westchester; Stephen Ward, of Eastchester; Colonel James Holmes and Jonathan Piatt, of Bedford; John Thomas, Junior, of Rye; and Samuel Drake and Philip "Van Cortlandt, both o…

" Resolved : That the thanks of this country is " due to the Delegates who composed the late Con- " gress, for the essential services they have rendered " to America, in general ; and that this Resolve be " forthwith published." We are told, also, by the Chairman of the Meeting, that, "after the business of the day was thus con- " eluded, the people gave three huzzas for our gra- " cious S…

2 The practice of all, at that period and subsequently, on all such occasions as that referred to in the text, will sufficiently indicate to the reader, that the enthusiasm for the King which was displayed, as much by one faction as by the other, at the White Plains, on that eventful April day, was due quite as much to what had been drunk at the two TavernB, before either of those factions had…

Only culprits " confess" a wrong-doing ; and with this "confession " of one of the principal offenders, on the occasion referred to, the reader will be enabled to understand how small an amount of genuine patriotism there was, in such a crowd, no matter for whom it hurrahed ; and how small the price was with which that crowd had been purchased, to further the purposes of either "the friends of…

Although no action, on that subject, appears to have been taken by the Meeting, its master-spirit and Chairman, in his official capacity, appears to have continued the work for which the Meeting had been convened, completing it before he left the White Plains, by preparing an official narrative of the origin of the Meeting ; of the Caucus which had " recom- " mended " it ; of its Proceedings…

"On the 28th day of March last, the following " Gentlemen having received letters from the Chair- " man of the Committee of the City and County of " New-York relative to the appointment of Deputies. " for this County, met at this place for the purpose of " devising means for taking the Sense of this County " upon the Subject, viz : " Col. Lewis Morris, Theodosius Barlow, Esq., * " Thomas Hu…

A number of gentlemen from different dis- " ' tricts in the county of Westchester having this " ' day met at the White Plains to Consider of the " ' most proper method of taking the Sense of the " ' Freeholders, of the said County, upon the Expedi- '' ' ency of choosing Deputies to meet the Deputies of " ' the other Counties, for the purpose of Electing has ever been engaged, was carried th…

♦Although the name was thus written, in the original manuscript, there can be no doubt that reference was made to Theodosius Bartow, second son of the Rev. John Bartow, the first Rector of the Parish of Westchester. Mr. Bartow subsequently held the comfortable and profitable place of a " Commissary at New Hochelle ; " and his son, (subsequently Rector of St. Matthew's Church, at Bedford) held t…

" ' As this County is very Extensive we take thelib- " ' erty of recommending the meeting to be held at " ' the White Plains on Tuesday the 11th day of April " ' next at ten o'clock in the forenoon at the Court " ' House, and therefore do desire you, to give notice " ' of the Same to all the freeholders in your district, " ' without exception, as those who do not appear and " ' vote on that…

Philipse at their " head, then appeared, and Mr. Wilkins in their be- " half as he said, declared that they would not join " in the business of the day or have anything to " do with Deputies or congresses, but that they came " there, for the sole purpose of protesting against " such illegal and unconstitutional proceedings, after " which they departed. " The following Question was then put…

"Resolved, that the thanks of this Body be given to " the virtuous minority of the general Assembly of " this Province, and particularly to John Thomas and "Pierre Van Cortlandt, Esqrs., two of ourrepresenta- " tives for their firm attachment to and zeal, on a late " occasion for the preservation of the Union of the " Colonies and the rights and liberties of America ; "and that this Resolve…

In the proceedings of the revolutionary faction, after its Meeting was organized, probably because of a consciousness of its own relative weakness within the County, there was an evident attempt to appear, at least, to be fair and honest in whatever was said or done -- no personalities or harsh words, of any kind, appear to have been used against those who entered its Meeting, and respectful…

While the Meeting at the Courthouse was thus quietly engaged in the continued discharge of " the " business of the day," those who had protested, before it, against the call for the Meeting as well as against its proposed proceedings, returned to Captain Hatfield's Tavern, where they were joined, during the afternoon, by " many of their friends ;" and "they 1 In some of the re-prints of this…

" proceeded to draw up and sign a Declaration, which " they seemed to do," it is said, " with as much pat- " riotic zeal as ever warmed the hearts of true and " faithful Subjects ; and, afterwards, they dispersed to "their different habitations. 1 " A narrative of the events was subsequently written, probably by Isaac Wilkins, and, with the Declaration affixed, it was printed in the newspap…

About 12 o'clock word was brought to "the gentlemen at Captain Hatfield's that the oppo- " site party had already entered upon the business of "the day. Upon which they immediately walked " down to the Courthouse, although not half of their " friends who were expected, had yet appeared ; where " they found the other company collected in a body. "The numbers on each side seemed to be nearly …

They then declared their determined "resolution to continue stedfast in their allegiance to " their gracious and merciful sovereign King George " the Third-- to submit to lawful authority, and to " abide by and support the only true representatives " of the people of this colony, the General Assembly. " Then giving three huzzas, they returned to Captain " Hatfield's, singing as they went, wi…

" ' "\T7"E the subscribers, freeholders and inhabitants VV of the county of Westchester, having assem- "'bled at the White Plains, in consequence of certain " ' advertisements, do now declare, that we met here to " ' express our honest abhorrence of all unlawful con- " ' gresses and committees, and that we are determined " ' at the hazard of our lives and properties, to sup- '" port the Kin…

" ' Benjamin Fowler, Esq. ; Benjamin Brown, " ' William Davids, Esq. ; Isaac Keed, " ' William Anderson, Esq. ; Aaron Buis, " ' William Barker, Esq. ; Moses Weymen, " ' Capt. Abra. Hatfield.Esq.; Israel Underhill, '' ' Natha Underhill, Mayor, John Baisley, " ' George Cornwell, Esq. ; David Oakley, jun. '" Philip Pell, Esq. ; Isaac Smith, " ' Joshua Pell, John Hyatt, " ' James Pell, Hezeki…

" ' Bartholomew Hains, Joseph Purdy, " ' Gilbert Hains, Ezekiel Halstead, " ' John Hains, John Hunt, jun. WESTCHESTER COUNTY. " 'Elijah Hains, Isaac Purdy, " ' Lieut. Daniel Knap, Roger Purdy, " ' Lieut. Solomon Fowler, Elijah Purdy, " ' Solomon Dean, James Hart, jun. " 'Isaac Williams, Abraham Losee, " 'Charles Vincent, sen. Jonathan Purdy, jun. " 'John M'Collum, Isaac Tomkins, …

" ' John Ruflin, Alexander Haines, " ' Henry Leforge, Abraham Storm, " ' Nathan Osborn, Benjamin Ogden, " 'Evert Brown, Thomas Berry, " ' Philemon Halstead, Thomas Meritt, " ' Benjamin Beyea, Lancaster Underhill, " ' Daniel Purdy, Gilbert Bates, " ' Bartholomew Gidney, Charles Merit, "'John Crab, John Gidney, " ' Josiah Brown, Benjamin Underhill, ' ' ' Izariah Whetmore, Stephe…

" 'Joshua Hunt, William Field, " ' Elnathan Taylor, Jacob Schureman, -v ' ' ' Betts Chatterdon, Joseph Purdy, " ' Gilbert Theal, Joseph Appleby, •' ' William Landrine, George Storm, " ' William Saxen, John Tomkins, jun. " ' Enoch Hunt, Jacob Vermiller, 1 ' ' Thomas Champenirs, Job Hadden, jun. " 'Peter Corne, Samuel Heusted, " ' John Champenirs, Patrick Carey, •' ' Dennis Kenne…

" ' Gilbert Purdy, David Davids, " ' James Chatterton, Elijah Purdy, jun. " ' John Dusenburgh, Elijah Tomkins, '• ' Thomas Cromwell, Daniel Jerow, "'Solomon Horton, Charles Lawrence, " ' Peter Busing, Joseph Purdy, jun. " ' Peter Busing, jun. James Sniffen, jun. " 'James Kniffen, Thomas Valentine, " ' Nathaniel Underhill, jun. Gilbert Valentine, " ' Philip Fowler, Abraham Rich, " 'John M…

"proven by the testimony (or if necessary by the affi- " davits) of a number of persons, of the most unques- " tionable character in this county. What then must " we think of such persons as have propagated a report, " that the friends of government were upon this occa- " sion out-numbered 5 to 1, and that many of the " persons whose names were subscribed to the fore- " going Declaration, w…

" It is well-known here, that two-thirds at least of " the inhabitants of this county, are friends to order " and government, and opposed to Committees and all " unlawful combinations l ; and it will be made ap- " parent to the world, that they are so, as soon as "certain resolves now signing freely by the people, " shall be ready for publication.-- And one principal " reason why the friend…

" The Committee that was chosen, may, with some " kind of propriety, be said to represent those partic- " ular persons who chose them : But how they can " be denominated the representatives of the County " of Westchester,'who in general abhor Committees " and Committee-men ; and are determined to take " no steps that may have the least tendency to lead "them into Rebellion, we cannot concei…

" number, to determine that there should be no Com- " mittee, than the opposite party had to appoint one, " and might with much greater propriety be said to " shew the sense of the county, than the few who " acted without authority, and in direct opposition to "government, and to the determinations of our worthy "Assembly. And we doubt not but the impartial " public will consider the matter…

But the majority, very correctly, considered that were it to assert its undoubted power, within the Meeting, and to participate in the proceedings of that Meeting, no matter for what pupose, it would be a tacit acknowledgment of the authority to do so, of those who had called the Meeting ; and it confined itself, therefore, to simply protesting against the entire proceedings, as disorderly a…

The Provincial Convention duly assembled at the Exchange, in the City of New York, on the twentieth of April, 1775, the Counties of New York, Albany, Ulster, Orange, Westchester, Duchess, Kings, Suffolk, and two Towns in Queens, being, more or less, represented by Delegates-- of the Delegation which had s This very important paper was published in mriugto,,; Xm-York Gazetteer, No. 105, NKw-Y…

Livingston, Junior, of Duchess county ; and Francis Lewis, of the City of New York ; as Delegates from the Colony of New York to the second Congress of the Continent ; and, on Saturday, the twenty -second of April, after the Credentials of the Delegates-elect had been signed by every member of the Convention, 2 that body having been called for the single purpose of electing Delegates to the…

They were these ..." were unanimously elected Delegates to represent " this Colony at such Congress, with full power to them or any five of "them, to meet the Delegates from the other Colonies and to concert " and determine upon such measures as shall be judged most effectual " for the preservation and re-establishment of American Rights and " Privileges, and for the restoration of harmony be…

Bancroft, with all the authorities before him. (History of tlie United States, original edition, vi., 283 ; the same, centenary edition, iv., 513,) made all " the ru- " ral Counties," without exception, " co-operate with the City," in electing the Deputies, although Richmond, all of Queens except two Towns, Tyron, Cumberland and Charlotte-counties, made no pretension so send Deputies. He said…

The intelligence of that conimencement of military operations, in the field, was received in the City of New York, on Sunday, the twenty-third of April ; * and, at a Meeting of the Committee of Inspection, on the following Wednesday, that body, among other proceedings, resolved that " this Committee is further " unanimously of opinion, that, at the present alarm- "ing juncture, it is highly…

It is positively and authoritatively stated, that, with the exception, the only exception, of one, who, when " he was at some "distance" -- out of harm's way -- turned and "gave them the guts "of his gun," not a single gun was fired by the Colonists. Those curious to learn more on that subject -- that " Battle " in which one of the parties did all the firing, and the other all the running -- m…

6 The Committee of Inspection had recommended the dissolution of that Committee, because it was invested with powers respecting only the " Association " of the Continental Congress; and it had also recommended the election of a new Committee of one hundred persons, thirtythree of whom should be a quorum, all of whom should retire and the Committee be "dissolved within a fortnight next after the…

Inasmuch as the City and, to a considerable extent, the Colony were practically in a state of anarchy, the Colonial Government being confessedly unable to do anything, even for the maintenance of a shadow of its official dignity and authority, 1 the calmness and ability with which the Committee controlled the excitable masses, within the City-- those who had been schooled, for many years, in…

It is proper, however, that notice should be taken, in this connection, of the fact that, during the entire period preceding the publication of that call for a Provincial Congress, there had been a wholesome fear, among all classes, unless the most radical and reckless, that such a body, called and organized without warrant in law and liable to become controlled by those who would be incline…

" The Governor desired their advice in the " then critical situation of affairs. Several things were mentioned, pro- " posed, agitated, and talked of, but to little purpose. A Judge of the "Supreme Court," [Tliomas Jones, who wrote this statement^ "then "present, boldly proposed that the Militia should be called out, the " Riot Act read, and if the mob did not thereupon disperse, to apprehend…

This proposal was instantly opposed by William " Smith, one of his Majesty's Council, who openly declared ' that the ' ' ' ferment which then raged in the City was general and not confined to " ( a few ; that it was owing to a design in the British Ministry to cn- " 'slave the Colonies, and to carry such design into execution by dint of " 'a military force ; that the Battle of Lexington was l…

fact that, there, the entire machinery of the Colonial Government had been stopped; the Courts had been closed; and decrees of the most oppressive character had been enacted ; and these, not by the Colonial Government nor by those who were peculiarly supporters of the authority of the King, but by those who had assumed to lead the popular movement, who had utilized the project of a Provincia…

That serious distrust, among thoughtful men, to 1 The Provincial Congress of South Carolina assembled at Charleston, on Wednesday, the eleventh of January, 1775, and adjourned on Tuesday, the seventeenth of the same month. Besides approving the doings of the Continental Congress, it forbade the commencement of any Action for Debt, and the prosecution of any such Action as had been commenced s…

Besides approving the doings of the Continental Congress, it forbade the commencement of any Action for Debt, and the prosecution of any such Action as had been commenced since the preceding September, unless with the consent of the Committee of the Parish in which the Defendant resided; "that " Seizures and Sales upon Mortgages should he considered on the same " footing as Actions for Debts…

Descriptions of that Provincial Congress and of its remarkable methods and still more remarkable doings, may be seen in Ramsay's History of the Revolution in South Carolina, i., 23-25; Drayton's Memoirs of the Anutricau Resolution as rotating to South Carolina, i., 166-180 ; etc. See, also, Journal of the Congress, ro-printed in Force's American Archives, Fourth Series, i., 1109-1118. WESTCHE…

They lived, on their way through Westchester-county as well as while they were within the City, entirely on their wits and on the products of their wits, professing to have come only ■' with a view of aiding and assisting " us in preparing for our defense ;" but their reckless arrogance and audacity, in their assumption of authority in local affairs as well as in other matters, in which th…

The excitement and bitterness of factional strife, not always of a purely political character, with which the City of New York had been unceasingly afflicted, during several years preceding the period now under consideration, had tended to the serious disturbance of the individual and social relations of many of those who lived in that City ; and the political annals of that period afford a…

History has recorded two notable instances of that rapidly developed, so called, " pub- "lic opinion," among the new-born and, consequently, unnaturally zealous " fire-eaters " of that ancient and orderly County ; and they may properly find attention, at this time, not only as portions of the history of Westchester-county, during the era of the American Revolution, but as instances of the dan…

" TT7E the subscribers do hereby make this VV public Declaration, That whereas we and several others in Westchester-County, having signed a certain Number of Resolves, which at the Time of our said signing, we deemed Constitutional, and as having a Tendency to promote the Interest of our Country ; but since, upon mature Deliberation, and more full Knowledge of the Matter, find not only inju…

The second of those acts of terrorism, to which reference has been made, was that in the case of Isaac Wilkins, that leading Member of the General Assembly of the Colony, in its contest with the Home Government; that very able "A. W. Farmer " who, with his pen, had aroused so much indignation ; and that spokesman of the protestants, at the Meeting at the White Plains, with whom the reader is w…

God is my judge, " and God is my witness, that all I havedone, written, •" or said, In relation to the present unnatural dispute " between Great Britain and her Colonies, proceeded '•'from an honest intention of serving my country. " Her welfare and prosperity were the objects towards " which all my endeavours have been directed. They "are still the sacred objects which I shall ever stead- …

"New York, "May 3, 1775." While these unwelcome features of the political movements, in Westchester-county, were extending over the entire community, Lewis Morris was busily employed, after his seat in the forthcoming Congress of the Colonies had been secured beyond a peradventure, in an attempt to belittle the Declaration and Protest of those, at the White Plains, who had objected to the p…

"By whom this performance was given to the pub- " lie, is uncertain, and being as little distinguished by " decency as by truth, there is reason to suspect, the " author's name will remain a secret. " The falsities contained in this representation, are " too flagrant to impose upon any person in this col- " ony, and nothing but the apprehension of its gain- " ing credit in other parts of th…

" Much pains, I confess, were on that day taken to " make temporary enthusiasts, and with other more " exhilirating spirit, than the spirit of loyalty. " To give the appearance of dignity to these curious " and very orderly protestors, the author has been " very mindful to annex every man's addition to his " name, upon a presumption perhaps that it would " derive weight from the title of Ma…

Luke Babcoek, who preaches and " prays for Col. Philips and his tenants at Philipsburg. " In this formidable catalogue of 312 sober and loyal " protestors, there are not less than one hundred and " seventy, who after a most diligent enquiry, I cannot " find have the least pretensions to a vote, and indeed " many of them are lads under age. Their names are " as follows : " ' Samuel Seabury,…

" ' James Mott, John Whitmore, " ' Daniel Purdy, William Underhill, " ' John Crab, Nehemiah Tomkins, " ' Izariah Whitmore, Henry Leforge, " ' Absalom Gidney, Evert Brown, " ' John Brown, Benjamin Beyea, ■" ' Jasper Stivers, John Lorce, " ' Peter M 'Farthing, Elnathan Appleby, " ' Joshua Purdy, jun. John Baker, •" ' Haccaliah Purdy, jun. Jonathan Underhill, " ' James Tomkins, James M'Chai…

" ' Isaac Smith, " ' John Hyatt, " ' Abraham Odell, " ' Thomas Lawrence, " ' John Seyson, " ' Isaac Forsheu, ' ' ' Gabriel Requeaw, " ' Gabriel Archer, " ' Elias Secord, " ' James Peirce, " ' Edward Bugbe, '' ' Daniel Haight, " ' John Hunt, junr. " ' Abraham Losee, " ' Isaac Tomkins, " 'Joseph Paulding, " ' Hendricus Storm, ' ' ' Francis Secord, " ' John Parker, " ' Gilbert Bates…

Philips, so that the truth " really is, that very few independent Freeholders objected to the appointment of Deputies. " Lewis Morris. " m0rri8ania, " May 7, 1775." l It will be seen that, with more than his usual shrewdness, Lewis Morris postponed his attempt to reply to the Declaration and Protest which had been made, some weeks previously, by those who had objected to the Meeting at the …

author of their Declaration and Protest, had left America, when he knew that he was probably secured from challenge concerning the untruthfulness of whatever he should write, in that reply -- neither Samuel Seabury nor Luke Babcock had written anything concerning the political questions of that period ; 1 it was not thought they would do so; and there was no other person, in Westchester-eounty…

The author of the latter was very profuse in his very general charge of " falsities contained in this representation ; " but he failed to specify, even a single instance in which the former had presented an untruth ; and every one will perceive that he did not except, from the general impeachment, even those portions of the Declaration and Protest which agreed, in their recital of facts, wi…

He impeached the bona fide of the " enthusiasm " of the protestants, at the Plains ; but he " confessed," and only those who are guilty " confess," that his own companions, those who had given the much coveted place and authority to him, were also noisy, from the effects of other Spirits than that of loyalty to the King -- inasmuch as each of the two factions, at the Plains, claimed to have…

Seabury, in his Memorial to the General Assembly of Connecticut, presented on the twentieth of December, 1775, in reply to one of the four accusations which had been made against him, exprossly stated that he had not, at that time, written any "pamphlets and newspapers " against the liberties of America ; " which effectually disproves much that has been written, on that subject, by modern bib…

He insinuated that one hundred and seventy of those who had signed the Protest were not voters -- " after the most diligent inquiry, " I cannot find they have the least pretensions to "vote," he said ; adding, " and indeed, many of them " are lads under age" -- but he conveniently omitted to make a direct and positive averment of such a want of qualification, in any one of those protestants …

Philips; " but he conveniently forgot to tell how a mere tenant at will could, thereby, become a Freeholder, or how many, in the Manor of Cortlandt, who were only tenants or who held lands at the will of the Proprietors of that Manor, had been induced by other causes than loyalty to those Proprietors or discontent with the General Assembly, to go to the White Plains, to assist into a place …

respect, as was that of Colonel Lewis Morris or that of any other member of that unpopular family ; and his practises, in private and in public life, against which not even a Morris, in his bitterest mood, could say a word of open disrespect, merited no such fling from the office-seeking head of the small, new-born revolutionary , faction, then in Westchester-county -- from one whose only an…

At the same time, and through the same public press in which Lewis Morris published his reply to the Declaration, and Protest, to which reference has been made, he also published the following Cards, 1 evidently the only trophies of the kind, which he had secured, during the political campaign in which he had been engaged, since the publication of the Declaration and Protest had aroused his …

" TN your paper lately I saw my name to a pro- J_ " test. I never signed it, but went into Capt. " Hatfield's house, and was asked, whether I was a " Whig or a Tory ? I made answer, that I did not " understand the meaning of those words, but was for " liberty and peace. Upon which somebody put down 1 Rivington' » New- York Gazetteer, No. 108, New-York, Thursday, May 11, 1775. Any one who is…

With these four publications -- the reply to the Declaration and Protest and the three Cards of recantation -- as far as Westchester-county was concerned, the literature of the first Provincial Convention of the Colony of New York ended -- and, as every farmer had returned to his rural home, at the close of the eventful eleventh of April, and had resumed his work, the necessary work of the se…

Reference has been made to the action of the Committee of Inspection, in the City of New York, on the twenty-sixth of April, providing for its own dissolution ; for the election of a new Committee of one hundred, to occupy its place, in that City; and for the organization of a Provincial Congress, with general authority for the government of the entire Colony. 2 For the accomplishment of the la…

"Most of the Deputies who composed the late " Provincial Congress, held in this City, were only " vested with powers to chose Delegates to represent "the Province at the next Continental Congress, "and the Convention having executed that trust " dissolved themselves : It is therefore thought "adviseable by this Committee, that a Provincial "Congress be immediately summoned to deliberate " …

We there- " fore entreat your County heartily to unite in the " choice of proper persons to represent them at a " Provincial Congress to be held in this City on the " 22d of May next. -- Twenty Deputies are proposed " for this City, and in order to give the greater weight ■" and influence to the councils of the Congress, we " could wish the number of Deputies from the "counties, may be con…

It is said, however, that " a general "notice," inviting a Meeting of the Freeholders of the County, was published ; and history has recorded, over the official signature of the "Chairman for the " day," that such a Meeting was held, at the White Plains, on Monday, the eighth of May, 1775, " pur- " suant to a general notice for that purpose," James Van Cortlandt, of the Borough Town of West…

2 The re-print of this Circular Letter, in the text, is made from a carefully-made copy of one of the originals, which has been preserved among Associations in the Historical Manuscripts relating to the War of the Bevolulion, in the Secretary of State's Office, at Albany, Volume XXX Page 182. "'. termiued that any twenty of them, "should be "impowered to act for the said County; " and it also…

There were only twenty-three of the ninety who had been named for the Committee, present and acting on the subject which had been referred to it ; but it was not slow in nominating, " to represent the said "County in Provincial Convention," Gouverneur Morris, Doctor Robert Graham, Colonel Lewis Graham, and Colonel James Van Cortlandt, all of them from the Borough Town of Westchester; Stephe…

3 The Association, which was thus "signed by the Committee" -- if any others than Members of the Committee had been present, they also would have signed it-- was not that Association which the Continental Congress bad decreed and promulgated, in the preceding October, but another and entirely different affair, which had been drawn up by JameB Duane, John Jay, and Peter Van Schaack, and "set on…

tl pERSUADED that the salvation of the rights and liberties of -L "America, depends, under God, on the firm union of its inhabitants, in a vigorous prosecution of the measures necessary for its " safety, and convinced of the necessity of preventing the anarchy and " confusion which attend a dissolution of the powers of government-, "we, the freemen, freeholders, and inhabitants of the city and…

"Dated in New-York, Apnl and May, 1775." This Association, with some slight changes, was re-printed (without any WESTCHESTER COUNTY. and after that had been done, the Meeting was adjourned. 1 The official report of the proceedings of the Meeting does not give the names of any of the ninety persons who were said to have been chosen as a " Com- " mittee for the County of Westchester ;" and a ca…

It will be evident to the reader that, until the appointment of the "Committee for the County of West- " Chester," by the Meeting which was held at the White Plains, on the eighth of May, 1775, as has been already stated, there had not been even the slightest appearance of any central organization, for political purposes, within the County ; that, until they were crowded into the political a…

1 This statement if the proceedings of the Meeting at which a Deputation was chosen to represent WestcheBter-county, in the first Provincial Congress, is made on the authority of the official report of that Meeting, signed by " James Van Cortlandt, Gliairman for the Day," and pub_ llshed in Bivmgton's New-York Oanetteer, No. 108, New-Yobk, Thursday, May 11, 1775 ; and on that 0f the Credential…

It will be seen, also, that the Morris family, strengthened by its alliance with its kindred family of Graham, had fully entrenched itself, as the political head of the County ; and it will be particularly noticed of what kind of material Delegates were made, even at that early period of the revolutionary movement in Westchester-county, the most ill-disguised monarchists and even office-holder…

If a mere handful of the inhabitants of the County, who neither possessed nor claimed to possess any legal qualifications whatever to do such an act ; who ' did not act nor claim to act under the guidance of any thing except its own unrighteous impulses ; and who neither possessed nor claimed to possess even a shadow of delegated authority from any one, within or without the County, to do a…

Of the remaining forty-nine, one rose no higher than a place in the Committee of his Town ; six were satisfied with only places on the Committee of the County, in whom, however, great power in local matters was vested, and by whom much money was disbursed for the support of prisoners of war quartered in their vicinities ; one aspired to both the Town and County Committees, and held seats in b…

Even the Secretary of the first County Committee looked out for the profits of official station, and secured, through his associations, some of the fat things of place -- Micah Townsend, the Clerk of the first County-Committee,- secured the command of a Company of Colonial Troops, early in 1776 j and he' was, in other respects, well provided for, during that era of distress and ruin. The re…

abreast of the moat advanced of the anarchists of that period ; and if, without a semblance of that "consent" of which so much had been said and written, as a prerequisite to any change of government-- without, also, any of those qualifications in itself and authorities from others, of which mention has been made -- the same handful of new-born revolutionists, at the same time, can be said t…

With those partisan catchwords and political maxims which, a very short time previously, had filled the air with their noisiness, before the reader, he will readily determine how much of even revolutionary consistency and propriety and integrity there was in those doings which are now under consideration ; but, among such as those by whom those doings were inaugurated and conducted -- among…

with the tinsel which was not what it seemed to be, was secretly perfecting the juggle which was intended to deceive all others than those who were participants in the performance and sharers in the profits to be derived from it, -- neither consistency nor propriety nor integrity was regarded or even thought of, the cupidity of the end entirely justified the unrighteousness of the means ; and…

The careful reader will not have failed to see, in what has been written in this narrative and in the testimony which has been adduced to sustain it, the stern fact that, as far as the Colony of New York was concerned, and we write of no other Colony, the opposition to the measures of the Home Goverment, from 1763 until the Spring of 1775, which, subsequently, became more widely known as The…

WESTCHESTEK COUNTY. Empire, .and to enforce on each of those Merchants, in his individual business, that obedience to the Laws which would be no more than his reasonable duty, while it would also tend to the suppression of that corruption of the local Revenue-officers and of that general practise of Smuggling from which he was so complacently acquiring wealth and influence. Except wherein …

In fact, while the aristocracy of the Colony was thus confederating and consolidating discordant elements and plotting and breeding disaffection to the Mother Country, the unfranchised Mechanics and Working-men, residents of the City and toilers for their daily bread, with occasional exceptions, pursued their respective industrial vocations, peacefully and industriously, without taking any gr…

It is, indeed, true, in this connection, that the aristocratic Merchants and Ship-owners, in the City of New York, had been, during many years, more or less reasonably aggrieved by reason of the governmental interference with their well-established and very profitable " illicit trade," to which reference has been made : it is also true that, for the purpose of influencing and, if possible, of …

called, was deceptive ; and, particularly, in the lastmentioned of the two means employed, as hazardous as it was fraudulent -- but it is also true that, while the maxims and the teachings of the fundamental law which they so freely bandied, were only words of convenience, meaning nothing beyond the end for securing which they had been thus employed, their auxiliaries, thus enlisted from amo…

As we have said, also, the elaborate essays on the " Rights of Man and of Englishmen," on the " consent " which was necessary in order to give validity to Laws, and, generally, on the assumed grievances to which the Colonists had been subjected, all of them the productions of well-paid Counsel or other interested writers, with which the newspapers of that period were filled to overflowing, …

-- were no more than additional instrumentalities in the hands of wealthy and unprincipled lawbreakers, Smugglers, employed for the purpose of sheltering those aristocratic culprits from the penalties which the Bevenue-laws had imposed on them and, if possible, of enabling them to continue, with impunity, those flagrant violations of morality and of Law which men of less wealth and influence…

The careful reader will not have failed to see, also, in what has been written in this narrative and in the testimony which has been adduced to sustain it, that, while honesty and integrity and humanity and patriotism formed no portion of the motives which led the aristocratic Smugglers, in the City of New York, to inaugurate and to sustain a general disaffection against the Home Government;…

had employed for the intimidation of the Home Government and by their own persistent selfishness, gradually produced a new and powerful political element, adverse to their own pretensions to exclusiveness, to which they had been, previously, strangers. Their want of abilities, as navigators on the troubled waters of Colonial politics, was painfully evident to all others than to themselves ; a…

The outlay of wealth can generally secure ingenious advocates for any cause, no matter how unsavory it may be ; and, in that of the confederated aristocratic Smugglers of the City of New York, of which mention has been made, well-paid Counsel and ready writers for the newspapers, in their eagerness to support their wealthy and liberal connections and clients, in their systematic violation of …

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. that long period, presumed to have asserted, tor themselves, their own manhood, and to have claimed, for themselves, those Eights which had been speciously conceded as having properly belonged to them as much as to any others. In the progress of events, however, either on their own motion or on that of their ambitious leaders -- the latter, generally of those who, before…

As we have already intimated, the confederated aristocracy of New York witnessed the appearance of that new element in the politics of the Colony, with anxiety and alarm ; and it evidently noticed, also, the constituent parts of it, and duly measured its probable strength, and judiciously determined that, in opposing it, "art" would be better suited to ensure success ; than anything of a se…

Indeed, the high-toned "Gentlemen in Trade/' guided by their acute legal and political advisers, John Jay and James Duane, determined to continue the same system of contemptuous deceit and treachery which had characterized all their previous political intercourse with the Working-men of the Colony; and, in doing so, they very clearly indicated, a second time, how ill-qualified they were to …

were notMerchants, but Lawyers -- was really intended quite as much for the adoption of measures which should practically rebuke the evidently growing sense of their own political power which has been recently seen arising among the Working-men and the lowly, throughout the City, if for nothing else, as for the adoption of measures in further opposition to the Home Government, to which it w…

It was not long, however, before that fraudulent treatment of the Working-men produced "the " great Meeting in the Fields," and the dissolution of that incongruous alliance, and the resumption of the antagonism of the masses ; and it was not long, also, before the confederation of the aristocracy itself, within as well as without the Committee of Fifty-one, was broken by the defection of tho…

There was no abatement of the previously united opposition to the demands of the Working-men, however ; and in each of the new-formed factions of the confederated aristocratic Opposition to the Home Government and in all which they or either of them did, there was the same entire disregard of the political rights of the Working-men, then without leaders, which had been so clearly conspicuo…

He will remember, also, what has been said of the various movements and counter-movements of the rival factions, after the defeat of the Committee's candidates ; of the treachery to the Committee who had nominated them and to their aristocratic associates, of four of the five candidates of the Committee; of the consequent election of those five candidates, in the absence of any other candid…

He will remember, also, what has been stated concerning the General Assembly of the Colony ; its organization ; its bold and determined opposition to the obnoxious Colonial policy of the Home Government ; its sturdy refusal to become auxiliary to or identified with the Continental Congress, notwithstanding it was not less determined in its opposition to the Ministry ; its measures for securin…

It will, also, be remembered that, during a long period of years, one of those powerful families and its friends had occupied all or nearly all the high places in the Colonial Government, and had dispensed the extensive patronage of that Government and disposed of its valuable emoluments among those who were known to have been the friends and adherents of the family, agreeably to the dictat…

When the Home Government, eager to reduce the heavy land-tax to which the country gentlemen of England had been subjected by reason of the demands of that Government, in its vigorous prosecution of the War with France and Spain, first tightened the lines of those who administered the Customs, in the Colonies, and thereby seriously interfered with the smuggling in which every class of the loca…

At the time of which we write, the threatened danger from the working classes appeared to have heen averted ; the Committee of Fifty-one, or those who had remained in it after the treachery of those who had used it for a stepping-stone to something of greater influence, had slowly retired from the field of political action and had been dissolved by its own action ; the Continental Congress an…

A ■Delegation of twelve had been elected, by a Convention which had been convened for that purpose, to represent the Colony in a second Congress of the Colonies ; and of that Delegation, two were Livingstons, two were of those who had married Livingstons, and two others were assured and well-tried supporters of the Livingston interest. The excitement which was occasioned by "the news from Lex…

of the Provinces of Massachusetts-Bay and New Hampshire and the Colonies of Connecticut and Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in North America, with Great Britain, Ireland, and the British Islands in the West Indies; and to prohibit such Provinces and Colonies from carrying on any Fishery on the Banks of Newfoundland or other places therein mentioned, under certain specified conditio…

The disturbance of Trade which was consequent on the political differences, had already produced great distress, in Great Britain, among those whose lives and labors and properties were employed in the manufacture of goods specifically intended for the American market ; and, at the same time, the Merchants, in that country, and those who had given credits, commercial or financial, to the Colon…

In New York, at the time of which we write, as far as the great body of the Colonists in the rural Counties were concerned, there does not appear to have been any noticeable change -- the farmers had not been disturbed in their labors, during 1774 ; and the surplus of their productions, which had found early markets, had undoubtedly been disposed of at those better than ordinary prices whic…

The Schedules of Goods thus shipped afford amusing evidence of what were officially considered as Army Stores : they clearly show, also, the relative weight of morality and immorality, whenever the profits of trade are considered, and how vastly more the Profit and Loss Accounts, on their respective Ledgers, will influence the morals and the religion and the doings of " Men in Bnsi- "ness," Me…

sion of the foreign trade, by the experimental action of the first Continental Congress, must have been as disastrous to the great body of the inhabitants-- those possessing small Estates as well as the Tradesmen and Mechanics and Workingmen, of every lowly class -- as that much written-of Port Bill, imposed by the retributive action of the King and the Parliament of Great Britain, had prod…

The suspension of their business, by the aristocracy of America, who could sustain the present strain in order to ensure the receipt of an ultimate advantage, was, we say, no less severe in New York than the similar suspension of her business, by the aristocracy of Great Britain, had been in Boston; and the sufFerngs of of the working classes were, undoubtedly, quite as keenly felt in the one …

The " determination " of the Continental Congress of 1774, to appoint Committees "in every County, " City, and Town," " whose business it should be at- " tentively to observe the conduct of all persons, " touching the Association," which that Congress also enacted, and with extraordinary powers for persecuting and bringing ruin on whomsoever those local Committees should determine to put und…

But, notwithstanding all these, the great body of the inhabitants of the County was entirely undisturbed ; the labors of the day had been done, as they had previously been done, on the hundreds of homesteads, throughout the County ; political questions in which they felt no interest had not slackened the domestic or the out-door industries nor lessened the holiday or evening pleasures of by …

A Committee has been chosen in every "County, whose business it is to carry the Associolion of the Congress " into execution : which Committee assumes an authority to inspect the " books, invoices, and all other secrets of the trade and correspondence " of Merchants; to watch the conduct of every Inhabitant, without dis- " tinction ; and to send for all such as come under their suspicion, int…

being disturbed, by any one ; and James De Lancey, who had been the Sheriff of the County, since June, 177(1, and David Dayton, who had been the Surrogate, since June, 1766, and John Bartow, who had been the Clerk of the County, since April, 1760, each in his appointed official place, continued to discharge the official duties which were incumbent on them, and to receive and to enjoy the emo…

It was composed of only a series of conclaves, each of which exercised, arbitrarily, Legislative, Executive, and Judicial functions, unrestrained by either constitutional or statutory provisions, and controlled, in whatever it determined to do or not to do, only by the individual impulses of such, within this Colony, as the Livingstons and the Morrises, the Van Cortlandts and the Thomases, an…

The Congress of the Continent assembled at Philadelphia, agreeably to order, on Wednesday, the tenth of May, 1775 ; and, ten Colonies being represented -- only three of the Delegates from New York having been present, that Colony was not counted -- it was formally organized by the election of Peyton Randolph, of Virginia, as its President, and Charles Thomson, of 1 It was well-said by Henry …

The barbarities which were officially inflicted on individuals and families, in many instances only for ah opinion extorted by their persecutors, without an overt act or the inclination to commit one, as those barbarities have been officially recorded, were perfectly shocking ; and some of those which were inflicted on residents of Westchester-county, under the guidance of such notable Westche…

Earl of Stirling, so called, who figured so largely in the military history of the War of the Revolution -- to be its President ; and John McKesson and Robert Benson, the latter a brother of that Egbert Benson whose extraordinary election as a Deputy from Duchess-county to the earlier Provincial Convention, has been already noticed, were elected to be its Secretaries. 3 Although the doings o…

As has been already stated, the local Committee for Westchester-county was created on the eighth of May, 1775, ninety members having been miraculously created out of the • material of which twenty-three were actually composed; and Gilbert Drake was made its Chairman. 4 Micah Townsend, subsequently holding other offices of honor, in both Westchester and Cumberland-counties, was made the Secr…

The organization of the Provincial Congress, on the twenty-third of May, 1775, has been already mentioned and described : ' a more particular description of the membership of that body which, in the interest of those who were in rebellion, was to take places beside the several departments of the legally constituted Colonial Government, in the government of the Colony, and which was to wield so…

From such widely dissimilar constituencies, in town and country, therefore, even from those who were not widely separated and differently situated, there could not be expected Delegations to the Provincial Congress who were homogeneous in their characters and dispositions and inclinations ; and as all those rural Delegations possessed more or less of the elements which prevailed among those…

Home Government was said to have subjected it ; but, at the same time, their inclinations were peaceful; and they preferred a reconciliation with Great Britain, instead of a Civil War, which had been already commenced; and, because they had not yet been corrupted by the social influences of life in the City nor by the allurements of official plunder, they were ready to join with all or with a…

The individual members of the first Provincial Congress of New York, at the opening and during the earlier period of the existence of that body, may, therefore, be classed as, first, the avowed Conservatives, who were led by such as John De Lancey and Benjamin Kissam and Abraham Walton and Richard Yates and George Folliot and Walter Franklin; as, second, the "Corporal's Guard" of avowed Re…

As the several Delegations voted as units, the votes of the several Counties having been cast in accordance with the determination of the majority of the Delegates of each who were then present, the votes of individual Delegates, unless in instances of formal dissent, are not recorded ; but the conservatism of the organized Congress, as an aggregate, was seen, immediately after the organizati…

2 See his letter to Mr. Perm, pages 11, 12, ante. WESTCHESTER COUNTY. "Resolved, As the opinion of this Congress, that im- " plicit obedience ought to be paid to every recom- " mendation of the Continental Congress, for the gen- " eral regulation of the associated Colonies ; but this " Congress is competent to and ought, freely, to deliberate and determine on all matters relative to the " i…

The signal rebuke which the not yet corrupted "country gentlemen," members of the Provincial Congress of New York, had thus given to those who had proposed to make the Colony of New York and all which it possessed subject, in all its relations, except in the local power of police, to a foreign body over whom neither the individual Colonists nor the aggregated Colony could possibly have exerc…

This vote alBO affords a lesson of the greatest significance, illustrative of the effects of that ill-considered policy of uniformity in political opinions, enforced by a military power, which the Provincial Congress, in its later and more corrupt dayB, adopted and enforced -- by the adoption and enforcement of such an extremely violent policy, instead of one in which conciliation and Jtocal p…

As the Colony of New York had not yet given that public testimony of its entire and cordial accession to the confederacy of the revolted Colonies which had been given to it by the other Colonies, in the express approbation, by each, of the proceedings of the Continental Congress of 1774, of which proceedings detailed mention has been made in other portions of this narrative, an attempt was ma…

But, as we are informed, " debates arose on " the said motion "--there were grave questions, at that time, concerning the propriety of such an approval of all the proceedings of that first Congress, as was proposed by the leaders of the ultra-revolutionists -- and the rural Delegations again determined on the side of peace and reconciliation and Colonial independence from all foreign influence…

tionary faction, represented by John Morin Scott and Thomas Smith ; but, whatever may have led to the practical rejection of those two propositions, each of which tended toward the centralization of the entire authority and all the power of Ihe several Colonies, in the Congress of the Continent, thereby destroying the autonomy of each of the Colonies, without subjecting that Congress, in its…

In short, from the beginning, the Provincial Congress of New York recognized no superior, controlling power, except that of its own actual constituents ; and, at no subsequent period -- not even when the Governor of New York declined the release of Alexander McLeod, though demanded by both the Government of Great Britain and the President of the United States -- has there been any more reso…

of the Session of that revolutionary body, during the same afternoon, a motion was made by Alexander McDougal, a Presbyterian, providing for the appointment of a Committee of two, to apply to all the Ministers in the City who could pray in English, "to "make such an arrangement among themselves as "would enable them alternately to open the Congress, "every morning, with prayer;" but Gouverne…

On Friday) the twenty-sixth of May, the Provincial Gongress adopted, unanimously, a Resolution, offered by Gilbert Livingston of Duchesscounty and seconded by John De Lancey of New York City, providing for the appointment of a Committee of one from each County, "to draw "up and report a proper Resolve of this Con- "gress, recommending to the different Counties "in this Colony, to form themsel…

The Resolution which was thus reported, was in these words : " Resolved : That it be recommended, " and it is hereby accordingly recommended, to all the " Counties in this Colony, (who have not already done " it,) to appoint County Committees, and also Subcommittees for their respective Townships, Pre- " cincts, and Districts, without delay, in order to carry "into execution the Resolutions …

" in those Counties or Districts who have not appoint- " ed Committees, as shall be appointed by the mem- " bers of this Congress representing such Counties and " Districts respectively, 1 do make such tender as afore- "said in such Counties and Districts respectively; *' and that the said Committees and persons respec- " tively do return the said Association and the names " of those who sh…

" It may, nevertheless, be proper to inform you that it " is the sense of this Congress that no coercive steps " ought to be used to induce any person to sign the " Association. The propriety of the measure, the " example of the other Counties, and the necessity of " maintaining a perfect union in every part of this " Colony, it is presumed, are sufficient reasons to " induce the Inhabitant…

1 The authority which appeal's to have been vested in members of the Provincial Congress, to appoint local Committees where the inhabitants had not ■ done so, probably originated in that. Congress, in an earlier secret meeting of that body ; but no record of any such action is seen on its published Journal-- like the Secret Journals of the Continental Congress, those of the Provincial Congress…

ment ; and there is very little evidence, as far as we have been able to find any, which indicates that the several Towns throughout the County paid any attention to the recommendation of the Congress, for the appointment of Town-committees; * and there is no evidence whatever, that any attempt was made, in any of those Towns, to obtain the signatures of the body of the inhabitants of the Co…

The Committee of the Provincial Congress who had been appointed to consider the very important subject of the Currency, for the support of the Rebellion, made a very clear and able Report, on the thirtieth of May, in which some of the commercial troubles produced or likely to be produced by the Rebellion werevery graphically presented; and an issue * There were Committees in a small number of…

The files of that Congress, which are preserved in the office of the Secretary of State, at Albany, show, however, that the only Counties or Towns which made any Returns of Associators, in response to this Resolution, were Orange, Ulster, Suffolk, Duchess, one District in Charlotte, three Districts in Cumberland, and a few scattering names, not more than fifty, in Queens ; but there is no su…

This may sertyfy all pepel whonie It may " cornsern that I the Svbscriber am willing to do what is best and " wright to secure the priviligs of a mariga both sivel and sacred and to " follow the advise of our Reverend congres so far as they do the word " of God and the exzample of Jesvs Christ and I hope in the grace of God " uo moro will be required, as witness my hand, "John Garnsey." 6 S…

8 Journal of lite Provincial Congress, " 5 ho., P.M., May 25 th ," pages 93, ante. WESTCHESTER COUNTY. of that Currency by the Continental Congress, with specified provisions for the payment of it, was recommended ' -- the original proposition for the emission of those immense amounts of " Continental-bills," which, subsequently and with the help of friendly legislation in the Continental C…

One week after that body had been originally organized, [May 30, 1775] Benjamin Kissam, of the City of New York, " moved in the words following, " to wit : ' Forasmuch as a reconciliation between " Great Britain and these Colonies, on constitutional " principles, is essential to the well-being of both "' countries, and will prevent the horrors of a Civil " War, in which this Continent is now…

A question of such great importance and so distasteful to many of the Deputies, was reasonably discussed with much warmth ; and it is very evident that, had the vote been taken, at that time, the motion would have been adopted by the Provincial Congress. It was evidently approved hy a majority of the Counties ; but, if the vote could be postponed, changes might be effected, by fair means or by …

period of the existence of that Congress, to secure that advantage and, thereby, if possible, to defeat the motion -- " at the request of the Deputies of the City " and County of Albany and the Counties of " Ulster, Suffolk, and Charlotte," it was " Okdered, " That the same be deferred." * Although the Rule required the Congress to resume the consideration of the motion, on "the next day," …

The revolutionary faction, led by John Morin Scott and Alexander McDougal, resolutely opposed the motion ; and the last-named, seconded by Abraham Brasher, moved for the previous question, in order to defeat it; but only Ulster, Orange, Suffolk, and Duchess-counties favored the motion for the previous question ; and it was defeated -- Philip Van Cortlandt, differing from all his associates fr…

Colonel Woodhull, of Suffolk, one of those who had opposed the motion, then moved, as an amendment of the motion, the addition of these words: " That we may be ready, if we shall think it neces- " sary, to communicate our sentiments upon thatsub- " ject to our Delegates at Philadelphia ;" which was subsequently adopted, without a division, in the following words : " Resolved, therefore, That,…

* Journal of the Provincial Congress, "5 ho., P.M., May 30 1775." '■> Journal of the Provincial Congress, "Die-Mercurii, 9 ho AM Mav '31, 1775." 8 Journal of the Provincial Congress, " Die Jovis, 9 ho., June 1, 1775." WESTCHESTEK COUNTY. Westchester-county ; Ephraim Paine, of Duchesscounty ; John Williams, of Queens-county ; and Paul Micheau, of Richmond-county -- six of whom, including Mes…

" Ordered, That the same be taken into consider - " ation on Saturday morning next ; that the mem- " bers of each County have leave to take one copy " thereof, each copy to be numbered by one of the " Secretaries, who shall take a memorandum of the " name of the member who shall take with him such " copy and the number of the copy by him taken, " that all such copies may, on Saturday next, …

On the following Saturday [June 24, 1775.] the Provincial Congress proceeded to consider the Report, agreeable to its Order made on the preceding Thursday ; and, after the Report had been read and re-read, debated and amended, during the greater portion of that day and a portion of the following Tuesday, the proposed " Plan of Accommodation " with Great Britain," thus amended, was adopted, …

" dated the twentieth day of October, 1774, and all the " Statutes of the British Parliament, passed since that "day, restraining the Trade and Fishery of Colonies "on this Continent, ought to be repealed. " That from the necessity of the case, Britain ought " to regulate the Trade of the whole Empire, for the "general benefit of the whole, and not for the sep- " arate interest of any parti…

"That if objections be made that a resort to a " variety of Colony Legislatures, for general aids, is " inconvenient, and that large, unappropriated Grants "to the Crown, from America, would endanger the " Liberty of the Empire, then the Colonies are ready "and willing to assent to a Continental Congress, " deputed from the several Colonies, to meet with a " President appointed by the Crown…

" That the Colonies, respectively, are entitled to a "free and exclusive power of legislation, within "themselves, respectively, in all cases of internal " polity, whatsoever, subject only to the negative of " their Sovereign, in such manner as has been, here^ " tofore, accustomed. " Resolved : That no one Article of the afore; " going Report be considered preliminary to another, " so as t…

The principles on which' that Plan was constructed and the methods which were proposed for the execution of its provisions were so radically subversive of all the purposes for which Colonies were established and protected ; so singularly presumptuous in claiming all the privileges and benefits enjoyed by Englishmen without assuming any of the burdens under which Englishmen were then staggerin…

Such a Plan, had it been submitted to the Home Government and to the Parliament, would, unquestionably, have aggravated instead of conciliated, and have widened the breach which then separated the Colonies and the Mother Country, instead of closing it. It is serviceable, however, to the careful student of the history of that period, to indicate, how much the Rebellion had already palled upo…

were their honor and their patriotism, and at what price the Home Government could purchase their adherence and their " patriotism " and their sympathy with their compatriots, whenever that Home Government should incline to enter the market of "patriot- " ism," for such a purpose. At a very early period, the security of the pass at Kingsbridge appears to have attracted the attention of the r…

Immediately after the receipt of intelligence concerning the raid of the Royal troops on Lexington and Concord, without any formal order from the Committee of One hundred, great numbers of men were employed in hauling the cannon from the City to Kingsbridge, in readiness for the work of intrenchment; 2 and on the fourth of May, the Committee " ordered, that Captain Sears, Captain Randall, and…

The published Proceedings of the Committee of One hundred, in the City of New York, make no mention of the doings of that Committee ; and it is not probable that it accomplished anything, in the way of fortifying Kingsbridge ; but, on the twenty-fifth of May, the Continental Congress agreed to the following Resolutions, " respecting New York," one of which relates to the defence of Kingsbridg…

" 2.-- Resolved, that a Post be also taken in the " Highlands, on each side of Hudson's River, and Bat- " teries erected in such manner as will most effectual- " ly prevent any Vessels passing, that may be sent to " harass the Inhabitants on the borders of said River ; " and that experienced persons be immediately sent " to examine said River, in order to discover where it " will be most ad…

"4."-- [Resolved.] " That it be left to the Provincial " Congress of New -York to determine the number of " men sufficient to occupy the several Posts above- " mentioned, and also that already recommended to be " taken at or near Lake George, as well as to guard the " City, Provided, the whole do not exceed the number " of three thousand men, to be commanded by such " Officers as shall be t…

On the following day, [May 26, 1775,] the Continental Congress further " Resolved, That it be recom- " mended to the Congress aforesaid, to persevere the " more vigorously in preparing for their defence, as it " is very uncertain whether the earnest endeavours of "this Congress to accommodate the unhappy differences " between Great Britain and the Colonies, by concilia- " tory measures, will…

Scott, of the City of New-York, they were taken into consideration -- that portion of them which directed the fortifying of Kingsbridge, was referred to Captain Richard Montgomery, of Duchess-county, Henry Glenn and Robert Yates, of Albany-county, and Colonel James Van Cortlandt and Colonel James Holmes, of Westchester-county, with orders " to view " the ground at or near King's Bridge, and r…

Both these Resolutions were initiatory of prolonged and not always harmonious and agreeable proceedings, both without and within the Provincial Congress and both without and within the Congress of the Continent, all of which can be considered with greater propriety in the local publications concerning the Towns of Kingsbridge and Cortlandt and in the general publications concerning the War of…

On the thirty-first of May, in its further consideration of the Resolutions of the Continental Congress, which have been already laid before the reader, the Provincial Congress resolved, "that it berecommended " to the Inhabitants of this Colony, in general, im* "mediately to furnish themselves with necessary arms " and ammunitions ; to use all diligence to perfect " themselves in the milita…

" embodying men according to the said Resolutions ; " and by appointing a Committee "to report an arrangement of the troops to be embodied for the ''defence of this Colony ; and to report such Rules " and Regulations as would be proper to be established "by this Congress, for the government of such " troops." 1 The doings of the Provincial Congress were, of course, entirely in the interest …

There were, of course, plenty of applications from those of the well-born, among the revolutionary faction and from among those who had been instrumental in bringing the Livingstons and the Morrises and others into authority, for each of the offices, in each of the four Regiments into which the levy on New York was arranged ; but there was an evident backwardness, among the masses, from the b…

soldier of the former War, was its Colonel; 3 and Philip Van Cortlandt, of Cortlandt Manor, who held, also, a Royal Commission of Major in the Colonial Militia, was its Lieutenant-colonel; 4 Barnabas Tuthill, of Southold, Suffolk county, was its Major; Benjamin Chapman was its Quarter-master ; and Ebenezer Haviland was its Surgeon. 6 Of the ten Companies of which the Regiment was composed, …

He went with his Regiment to the northern frontier, and occupied Ticobderoga, very much to his disgust ; quarrelled with General Schuyler, who commanded in that Department ; declined to continue in the service, after the term of the enlistment of hie command had expired ; became a Loyalist ; took the Lieutenant-colonelcy of the Corps of the Westchester-county Refugees ; continued to live in B…

He was a Surveyor and a Country Merchant and Miller ; a Major in the Westchester-county Militia, under Governor Tryon ; and a member of the Provincial Congress by whom he was made Lieutenant-colonel of this Regiment. He continued in the military service, until the close of the War of the Revolution ; after which he was one of the Commissioners of Forfeitures ; represented Westchester-county in…

He was elected a Delegate to the Provincial Convention called to elect Deputies to the Continental Congress of 1774 ; he was a member of the first County Committee of Westchestercounty, in 1775 ; and a member of the fourth Provincial Congress, or, as it was called after a while, the Provincial Convention-- that which declared the Independence of New York from the King of Great Britain, which ha…

1 Captain Daniel Mills continued in the service, after the Regiment was disbanded, at the close of the year, serving as a Captain in Colonel Van Schaick's Regiment of the New York Line, in the Continental Array. 2 Elijah Hunter was originally named for Second Lieutenant, with Samuel Haight, subsequently sheriff of the County, as First Lieutenant. He was a member of the County Committee, repre…

The following paper, with the names of the men enlisted into this Company, is taken from the original manuscript, among the Historical Manuscripts relating to the War of the Revolution : Military Returns, xxvii., 266 ; and will be interesting to those who have descended from the older families of Bedford : "Beadfoed, July 29th, 1775. "A Return of the Men inlisted by Daniel Mills Gapt. and Eli…

* There is some reason for supposing that Ambrose Horton was imported from Southold, in Suffolk-county, to take the command of a Company in this Regiment ; but, wherever he may have originated, he enlisted "fifty-six able bodyed men" for the Company; and reported them to the Provincial Congress, from the White Plains, on the twentysixth of July, 1775, (Historical Manuscripts, etc.: Military Retu…

A considerable number of the latter classes, with no other claim to distinction than their physical ability to work or to fight and theif good intentions, was probably taken from the yeomaury of Westchester-county ; and, notwithstanding they were mostly detained at Ticonderoga, without having been permitted to join General Montgomery, before Quebec, as he particularly desired and requested th…

It will be remembered that the Continental Congress, among the Resolutions relating to the Colony of New York, which it adopted on the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth of May, 8 included a requisition " that the Militia of New- York be armed and trained "and in constant readiness to act at a moment's "warning," etc.; and that those Resolutions were duly transmitted to the Provincial Congress of…

The latter was evidently promoted to the First Lieutenancy, when, in August of that year, Lieutenant Palmer was promoted to the command of a Company ;.and, on the same day, Isaac Van Waert was appointed to the vacant Second Lieutenancy. 7 Captain David Palmer, Lieutenant Samuel T. Pell, and Lieutenant Isaac Van Waert are particularly noticed as having served in Canada, in 1775, (Historical Man…

month, with a very important change, which permitted those who were not residents of the Districts or Beats to take and to hold offices therein, that Report was included in an elaborate " Militia Bill," which provided that every portion of the Colony should be divided into "Districts or Beats,'' in such manner that each of those Districts should include, as nearly as possible, eighty-three m…

There does not appear to have been much discontent, in any part of the Colony, because of the passage of that Ordinance or Act for the re-organization of the Militia ; but it afforded opportunities, in various places, for displays of that contempt for the unfranchised and lowly masses, which those of higher social and political rank, even those who were ostentatiously assuming to be the espec…

The enrolled members of the Company, in whom the right of election rested, preferred one of their own number, John Cock, for their Captain ; and when the Poll was closed, it was found that the aristocratic aspirant had received only eleven votes, while his plebeian opponent had received forty-eight, and one had been given to William Betts. 2 The defeated aspirant subsequently complained that,…

of the Company, and had received only twelve of the sixty votes which were cast for that office; 4 and, of course, the Committee of Safety of the County transmitted the affidavit to the Provincial Congress, promising to supplement what was then sent with evidence that Cock had "spoken very disrespectfully of the Congress ;" and inviting that body to withhold the Commission to which Cock was e…

"before the Committee of Safety for the County aforesaid, and being "duly sworn on the Holy Evangelists of the Almighty God, saith that " be the Deponent beiug appointed one of the Sub-Committee for the "superintending the signing of the General Association of this Province, " carried the same to one, John Cock, of the Yonkers, in said County, "and asked the said John Cock to sign the same; h…

5 Letter from Gilbert Drake, Chairman, to John Having, Chairman of the Committee of Safety, at New York, " White-Plains, Sept. 11th, 1775." 6 Journal of the Committee of Safety, "Die Lunse, 9 ho., A.M., September 18, 1775." The Petition thus presented has been preserved ; and the following ■ has been copied from it -- Historical Manuscripts, etc., Petitions, xxxi., 101. " To the Honb 10 The P…

"And whereas the Inhabitants of this Precinct Did meet agreeable to " your said Resolve On the Twenty-fourth Day of August Last, under " the Inspection of the Commitee for that District Did by a very great '■ Majority as by the List will appear, Did Nominate and appoint Mr. " John Cock of the said Precinct for his known Skill and ability in the " Military Discipline and for other good Cause, a…

The result was probably foreseen by the Petitioners and their successful candidate -- why should the carefully expressed will of fifty-nine respectable men, declared in conformity with the published terms of the Congress itself, be permitted to stand in the way of a Van Cortlandt, the latter with nothing else than two ex-parte Affidavits to sustain the evidently ridiculous charge of wrong-doi…

"Charles Tylor, "Martin Post, "James Munro, "Anthy Allaire, " Edward Ryer, "Benjamin Farrington, " William Rose, "Henry presher, " Thomas Farington, " Tsac Postt, " James Rich, "Gilbert Brown, his "Thomas X Tippit, mark, "Samuel Laurence, " thomas Merrell, " Samuel Williams, " Fredrick Brown, "Israel Underbill, " David Oakley, Jun*, " Joseph Oakley, Jun r , "George Crawford, …

own enactments Had been duly observed: it was also true, however, that they were obnoxious to "a few " of the Inhabitants," and, therefore, without an accusation, without a hearing, without a shadow of authority, even in the elastic law of the Congress, the expressed will of the Company was disregarded and the pretended principles of the Revolution were thrown aside, by the refusal of the Co…

In a community, such as that which constituted Colonial Westchester-county, which was already known and distinguished because of its consistent conservatism and, therefore, because of its backwardness in promoting the cause of the Rebellion, such a tyrannical exercise of political authority as had been seen in connection with the Election of Militia Officers, at Yonkers, by those who were, th…

We have determined * him to be disqualified for a Commission, not only because at the time " of his signing the Association he declared it to be an involuntary act, but "also because he has spoke most contemptuously of the Provincial Con- " gress. And in order that the other Officers in the Company may have "a chance of promotion, which cannot be done according to the letter of "the Militia …

The first to respond to the call of the Provincial Congress, by the election of its Militia Officers, was the Borough Town of Westchester, where, on the twenty-fourth of August, John Oakley was elected to the command of the local Company, l with Nicholas Berrian, for its First Lieutenant; 2 Isaac Leggett, for its Second Lieutenant; and Frederic Philipse Stevenson, for its Ensign. 3 Subsequentl…

* Historical Manuscripts relating to the War of the Revolution : Military Returns, xxvi., 234. The following list of the names of those, from West Farms and the Manor of Fordham, who were summoned to meet at Westchester ; who petitioned for the organization of the new Company ; and who were its members, when it was organized, may properly find a place in this narrative. It was copied from th…

In the Manor of Cortlandt, there were eight Districts or Beats, which appear to have been the same, in their several territorial limits, as those under the former arrangement; and these elected the following Officers for the respective Companies : The District formerly commanded by Francis Lent elected James Kronkhyte, for its Captain ; Abraham Lamb, for its First Lieutenant ; Staats De Grot…

The District formerly commanded by Ebenezer Theall elected Andrew Brown, for its Captain ; Samuel Haight, for its First Lieutenant; » John Chrissey Miller, for its Second Lieutenant ; and Solomon Purdy, for its Ensign. The northern division of the District formerly commanded by Levi Baily elected Nathaniel Delevan, for its Captain ; 10 Thomas Nicholls, Junior, for its First James Swaim, Naz…

He was subsequently made an Ensign in the Continental Service - but soon became tired and resigned, and brought influences to bear in order to secure a Lieutenancy in the same service, in which latter operation, however, he does not seem to have been successful. 8 Peter Carman, also, did not sign the Association until the day of the Election. » Samuel Haight represented Westchester-county, in…

The District formerly commanded by Joseph Strang 3 elected John Hyatt, for its Captain ; * John Drake, for its First Lieutenant ; 5 Obediah Purdy, for its Second Lieutenant; and Joseph Horton, for its Ensign. 6 The eight Companies, in the Manor of Cortlandt, which were thus reorganized and re-officered, were known as the North Battalion of Westchester-county, of which, soon afterwards, Pier…

2 In April, 1776, Caleb Hobby, who was said to have been a " Gentle- " man," received a Commission from the Continental Congress, as First Lieutenant in "the First Regiment of New York Forces," (Historical Manuscripts, etc. : Military Returns, xxvii., 104) ; and he appears to have joined the Seventh, or Captain Halt's, Company, (Historical Manuscripts, etc. : Military Commissions, xxv., 165, …

' Pierre Van Cortlandt was subsequently a member of the Second Provincial Congress, 1775-6, and Chairman of its Committee of Safety, January and February, 1776 ; a member of the ^hird Provincial Congress, 1776 ; of the Fourth Provincial Congress, 1776 ; of the Convention of the State of New York, 1776-7 ; of the First Council of Safety, 1777, of which he was the President ; a Senator from the S…

ii Isaac Norton was a member of the County Committee, from the Manor of Cortlandt, 1776-'7. 12 Stephen Sneden represented the Town of Eastchester, in the County Committee, 1776-'7. tenant ; ia Daniel Sebring, for its Second Lieutenant; " and William Pinkney, for its Ensign. 15 For some reason which is not now known, a new Election was held in the following March, when Thomas Pinkney was ma…

The East Company elected David Davids, for its Captain : Benjamin Vermilyea, for its First Lieutenant; Gilbert Dean, for its Second Lieutenant; and Gabriel Reguaw, \Reqvaf\ for its Ensign. 21 Captain-elect Davids appears to have declined the proffered office ; and, at a subsequent Election, the Company elected Benjamin Vermilyea, for its Captain ; Gilbert Dean, for its First Lieutenant; and…

17 Joseph Drake was a member of the First and Second Provincial Congresses, by the former of whom he was made Colonel of the First Westchester-county Regiment, (Historical Manuscripts, etc. : Military Returns xxvi., 13 ) is A very interesting Affidavit, made by Lieutenant Willis, on the sixth of August* 1776, illustrative of the unpopularity of Colonel John Thomas, Junior, may be seen in the H…

The Beat or District of Yonkers made its election of Officers, agreeably to the provisions of the Congress's enactments ; but the result was not satisfactory to Frederic Van Cortlandt and others, who had been rejected by the Company ; and, through their influence in the Provincial Committee of Safety and Provincial Congress, the Commissions were withheld from the Officers-elect, and a new Ele…

The Tarrytown Company originally elected Abraham Storm, for its Captain ; 4 George Combs, for its First Lieutenant ; 5 Joseph Appleby, for its Second Lieutenant; and Nathaniel Underhill, for its Ensign ; but all of these, except Lieutenant Combs, having declined the honors and responsibilities of offices, a new Election was held, and Gload Requa 6 was chosen in the place of Captain-elect Sto…

Israel Honeywell, Junior, was said to have been a member of the County Committee, representing the Manor of Philipsborough, 1776-'7 ; and, in 1777-8 and 1778-'9, he was said to have represented Westchestercounty in the Assembly of the State. It is not impossible that, in Borne instances, these references have become mixed, See pages 102, 103 ante. 3 Historical Manuscript* relating to the War …

Gershom Sherwood, for its Second Lieutenant ; 9 and George Monson, for its Third Lieutenant. 10 The six Companies on the Manor of Philipsborough, and those at Westchester, previously referred to, at Eastchester, and at New Rochelle and the Manor of Pelham, all of them reorganized and re-officered as thus described, were known as the South Battalion of Westchester-county, of which, soon afte…

9 Gershom Sherwood represented the Manor of Philipsborough in the County Committee, 1776- 1 7. 10 George Morrison was the name of this officer, (Historical Manuscripts, etc. : Miscellaneous Papers, xxxv., 63.) 11 Joseph Drake was elected to the command of the Company of New Rochelle and Pelham Manor, (page 105, ante ;) but, as he was, also, a member of the Provincial Congress, he found means…

15 Abraham Emmons, of Yonkers, was one of those, in the Yonkers Company, who had voted for Frederic Van Cortlandt for its Captain, and who had united with that gentleman, who was the defeated candidate, in disregarding the Election and securing the degradation of John Cock, from the office to which he had been elected, -- (Seepages 102, 103, aide.) lfl Thus printed in the records of the State…

21 John Thomas, evidently avoryyoung man, but one of the officeholding Thomas family. He was probably the second son of John Thomas, Junior, who was, at that time, a member of the Provincial Congress and, generally, a leader of tho revolutionary party, and a continual office-holder. This Captain John Thomas died January 6, 1835.-- (Bolton's History of Westchester-county, original edition, i., …

The District which included the northern portion of Northcastle was so entirely opposed to the Rebellion that " there were not persons sufficient in num- " bers who had signed the Association to make Offi- " cers of, so that nothing was done," in the form of an Election, during the Summer and Autumn of 1775 ; but an attempt was made to organize the Company, in the following January, when Jose…

The District which included the eastern portion of Bedford elected Lewis McDonald, for its Captain; James Miller, for its First Lieutenant ; 7 Henry Lord, for its Second Lieutenant ; and Jesse Miller, for its Ensign. The District which included the western portion of Bedford elected Eli Seelgy, for its Captain ; Heze- 1 Beooni Piatt was a member of the first County Committee, appointed in …

' James Miller appears to have held offices, subsequently, in the New York Regiments, commanded by Colonels Ritzema, Gansevoort, and Van Cortlandt ; but, inasmuch as there were several persons bearing that name-- two, at the same time, in the same Regiment, bearing exactly opposite characters -- it is not, now, known which, if either, was the particular James Miller who is named in the text. …

, The District which included, the northern portion 'of Salem elected Thaddeus Crane, for its Captain ; " Jesse Truesdale, for its First Lieutenant; Ezekiel ■ Halley, for its Second Lieutenant ; 12 and Ebenezer 1 Brown, for its Ensign. For some reason, the Captainelect and the Ensign-elect. " did not take their Com- , " missions ;'' and on the eighteenth of December, 1775, i a new Election r…

8 Hezekiah Gray was chosen Captain of the Bedford Company of Minute-men, in February, 1776, (Historical Manuscripts, etc. : Military Returns, xxvii., 196 ; ) a Report on the military Btatus of which Company, may be seen in Historical Manuscripts, etc. : Miscellaneous Papers, xxxix., 323. He and his Company, although not regularly enlisted, were ordered to join the Continental Troops, at Peekskil…

n Thomas Thomas was a son of Hon. John Thomas and a brother of John Thomas, Junior, who was a member of the Provincial Congress. He was a member of the first County Committee, appointed in May, 1775 ; and he represented Harrison's Precinct in the County Committee, 1776-'7. Ho was unpopular as a Military Officer ; and several Officers refused to serve under him, in August, 1776, (Historical Manu…

The Company of Poundridge and Lower Salem -- which was called, also, " the First Company of Min- " ute-men of the County " -- elected, originally, Ebenezer Slason, to be its Captain ; Henry Slason, to be its First Lieutenant ; Ebenezer Scofield, to be its Second Lieutenant; and Daniel Waterberry, to be its Ensign ; but, subsequently, when Captain Slason was promoted, Henry Slason was made C…

Tompkins was a member of the first County Committee, elected in May, 1775 ; a member of the Third and Fourth Provincial Congresses, of the Committee of Safety, and of the Council of Safety. He was a member of the Assembly of the State, 1780-'l, 1781-% 178G, 1787, 1788, 1791, 1792 ; of the Board of Regents of the University, 1787- 1808 ; and of the Constitutional Convention of 1801. He was the …

Quarter' master of this Regiment, it appears incredible that he was the person, and can be accounted for only by the profits which attended such an office and the well known proclivities of that family, in that direction, whereveran opportunity was presented. "We prefer to believe that this Quartermaster's place was given to that " John Thomas Minor," the second son of John Thomas, Junior, w…

4 Letter from Samuel brake and Lewis Graham to the Provincial Congress, " 1st March, 1770 ; " Journal af the Provincial Congress, "4 ho., P.M., "March 1,1870." The Company of Bedford elected Eli Seeley, to be its Captain ; 5 Zephaniah Mills, to be its First Lieutenant; Cornelius Clarke, to be its Second Lieutenant; and Philip Leek, to be its Ensign ; and their Commissions were issued by the P…

' A Company of nineteen men assembled at the White Plains and constituted themselves a Company of Minute-men, electing James Varian, to be their Captain ; w Samuel Crawford, to be their First Lieutenant ; 11 Isaac Oakley, to be their Second Lieutenant ; and Joseph Todd, to be their Ensign. 12 Besides these four Companies, such as they were, there does not appear to have been any Minute-men …

8 James Miller was originally the First Lieutenant in the Company in the eastern part of the Town of Bedford, of which Lewis McDonald, Junior, was the Captain, (Page 107, ante.) 9 Isaac Titus had served in Captain Mills's Company, under Colonel Holmes, in the Campaign of 1775, (Page 101, ante.) The authority for the statement concerning the second Company may be seen in a Letter from the Sub-…

» Lieutenant Samuel Crawford was a member of the first Connty Committee, appointed in May, 1775, (Page 83, ante ;) and the only representative of the Manor of Scarsdale, in the County Committee, 1776-'7. M The authority for this statemont is a Letter from Jonathan G. Tompkins and Nicolm Fisher to the Provincial Congress, " White Plaims, Febru- "ery 14th, 1776"-- (Historical Manuscripts, etc.: MU…

expected from a community in which the revolutionary party had scarcely "' a Corporal's Guard," except of those who were office-holders or office-seekers? -- but as soon as two Companies had been organized, the County Committee "took the liberty, with all •' submission, to recommend Samuel Drake, to be " Colonel ; * Lewis Graham, to be Lieutenant-Colonel ; 2 " Abraham Storm, to be First Major…

Heavy penalties were imposed on those who should fail to discharge all these requirements ; with levies on the properties of the delinquents, if they possessed property, or, in the absence of property, they were to be imprisoned " until such fine, together " with the charges, should be paid," which meant, at that time, an imprisonment in a cold Jail, without any other food than that which t…

He lived at Tarrytown. * Elijah Miller was a resident and one of the Sub-committee of Northcastle. 6 This statement is made on the authority of a Letter from Gilbert Drake, Chairman of the County Committee, to the Provincial Congress, "White Plains, October 24th, 1775." The Journal of the Provincial Congress, ("Die Mercurii, 10 ho., A.M., October, 1775,") shows the receipt of the letter, by …

Indeed, the required equipment, in specified form, of themselves, and their boys, and their hired help^-- their well-tried fowling-pieces having been unavailable for that purpose -- and the stated withdrawal of all of them from their farms, for drill, on frequent, specified days, no matter how necessary their presence, at home, might have been, were unduly burdensome on all those farmers, to …

"To bare Arms In Defence of ours Liberty and Rites Not our Rite but 11 such gentlemen as has got lands and Estates But some of us Now has ■'Skarsely got Victuals from one Day to another Neytherfire Nor Can- " <lles our Wifes and poor Children Suffering for Bread and your honners " have pleased To lay on us or some of us such things as .we Cant supply " ourselves with gun Bagnet Belts Cartridg…

"September 9, 17751" With this menacing paper before one, it is not difficult to make one's self believe that the " poor reptiles " had really some thoughts of "biting,' 1 as Gouveraeur Morris had foreseen .a few months previously. WESTCHESTER COUNTY. sometimes with. warrants of "impressment," nominally for the equipment of Regiments, in garrison or elsewhere; sometimes with arbitrary orders…

It waited for no verified complaint : it made no pretence that a breach of any written Law or of any other enactment was necessary, to warrant an arrest : it received secret, ex parte " information " as all which was needed to authorize the arrest, the confinement, and the infliction of punishment on its victims, not unfrequently without a hearing or an examination : and it held those who we…

1 See, in tho Journals and Correspondence of the Congress and in the Historical Manuscripts relating to tlie War of the Revolution, preserved in the office of the Secretary of State, at Albany, the records and papers in the several cases, among others, of Angus McDonald, Captain Patrick Sinclair, Captain Johan Christian Drewidz, John Mon-ell, Adam Patrick, Isaiah Purdy, 'Captain Melancton Lawr…

and unfounded persecution of an innocent man, to the contempt of the country' and of the world. 4 It sat in secret judgment over those whom it had arrested, in instances wherein it was, also, the only accuser ; 5 - and it recognized the existence, in merely local selfconstituted " Committees," in the several Counties, of th,e same authority to arrest and to imprison those who were obnoxious …

4 Reference is here made to the case of Timothy Doughty, of Duchesscounty, in which the victim, because he declined to sign the General Association -- there was no evidence which the Congress considered respectable, showing any other offence -- was seized by Egbert Benson, whose methods at an Election have been noticed ; and sent to New York, without any evidence of -wrong-doing; and thrown into…

Fifteen worthless affidavits were subsequently sent to tho Congress, and beau to II, c victim, wlien lie was gwen a hearing ; but their worthlessness was so evident that the Congress discharged Doughty, although, as stated, it would not permit him to have copies of the papers, nor even to read them, (Journals of the Committee of Safety, September 4th ; the same, September 28th, 1775 ; Journa…

"Letter from tlie Provincial Congress to die Delegates for die Colony of New York, in the Continental Congress, " In Provincial Conoress, New- " York, June 28th, 1775." See, also, the Plan of Accommodation, adopted in advance and kept in constant readiness for immediate use, by tho same Provincial Congress, " 4 ho., P.M., Die Martis, June 27th, 1775," (see pages 97, 98, ante ;) Letter from d…

On the eleventh of August, a letter was received by the Provincial Congress, from the local Committee at Brookhaven, on Long Island, stating that certain persons, named therein, were " counteracting every " measure recommended for redress and grievances, ' " and opposing the measures of Congresses and Com- " mittees ; and that they declared they would furnish, '' and that it is suspected th…

" Whereas attempts may be made, to promote dis- " cord among the Inhabitants of this Colony, and to " assist and aid the Ministerial Army and Navy, in " their endeavours to carry into execution the cruel and " oppressive Acts of Parliament, against the Rights " and Liberties of the Inhabitants of this Continent : " And as the immutable laws of self-defence and 1 Thus printed in the official…

" Resolved, That if any person or persons shall be " found guilty, before the Committee of any City " or County, of attempting, (after the date of this "Resolution,) to furnish the Ministerial Army or " Navy with Provisions or other necessaries, contrary " to the Resolutions of the Continental or of this " Congress ; 5 or of holding a correspondence, by letter " or otherwise, for the purpos…

6 The Provincial Congress not only had passed no Resolutions prohibiting the supply of " the Ministerial Army and Navy with provisions or other " necessaries," thereby,' oven from the revolutionary' standpoint, leaving that business open to whomsoever might embark in it ; but, on the morning of the day on which this enactment was made, it gave its official sanction to the supply of the Asia, m…

While the Provincial Congress was thus monopolizing the supplying of the men-of-war, it " was filled with the utmost anxiety " when, during the Autumn of 1775, " small boats from Queens and Westchester-coun- " ties " undertook to enter into the same business ; and"to prevent so " great a mischief," a small armed vessel was purchased, " to watch thoso " and other dangerous supplies of the like…

There were those, in the Provincial Congress, who were always ready to enjoy an advantage, in trado or elsewhere j thero was a commercial advantage, iu victualing the ships, which those "patriots" preferred to retain. Had the boatmon of Westchester and Queenscounties, while "bringing their surplus products to market, been wise enough to have consigned their cargoes to some of those enterprising…

" Resolved, That if any person or persons shall " be found guilty, before the Committee of any City or " County in this Colony, of having furnished the " Ministerial Army or Navy (after the date of this "Resolution,) with Provisions or other necessaries, " contrary to any Resolution of the Continental or of " this Congress, such person or persons, so found " guilty thereof, upon due proof t…

And that every " such person or persons, who shall be found guilty " of a second offence of the same kind, shall be ban- " ished from this Colony, for the term of seven years " from the time of such second conviction. " Although this Congress have a tender regard to " the freedom of Speech, the rights of Conscience, " and personal Liberty, as far as an indulgence in " these particulars may…

1 Charles Loe, the second ill command in the Continental Army, had not, then, laid his vvell-devisod "Plan" before General Howe; General Samuel H. Parsons had not yet commoncod tho supply of information concerning projected military movements, etc., through '"Squire " Heron," to Sir Henry Clinton ; Israel Putnam had not yet led Kobort B. Livingston to "question" "his very fidelity;" and Bened…

"they shall be committed to close confinement, at " their respective expense. 3 And, in case any of the " said Committees are unable to carry this or any "Resolution into execution, they are hereby directed " to apply to the next County Committee or command- " ing Officer of the Militia, or to the Congress or the " Committee of Safety of this Colony, for necessary "assistance, as the case m…

And the Committee nearest to any per- "son who shall be so enlisted or have taken up " arms against the Liberties of America are hereby " directed to appoint some discreet person to take "the charge of the Estate, both real and personal, of " any such person or persons ; which person so ap- " pointed shall be invested with such Estate, and "render, on oath, a just and true account thereof, …

> That particular feature of this enactment was intended to impoverish the victim, if he possessed property , or to leave him to be starved, if he had none ; and the barbarism of the provision and of thoBe who framed it, was seen, subsequently, in the physical sufferings of John O'Connor and David Purdy ; and in those of the BcrghB, the Dobbscs, and Timothy Doughty, (Historical Mavmcripts, et…

" Precinct, or District where the offender shall have " been taken up ; and if, upon examination, the suspicion shall appear to the said Committee to be "groundless, that he be discharged: Provided, "also, that no person charged to be an offender " shall be tried upon any of the foregoing Eesolves, " until the persons to be Judges of the offence be " first severally sworn to try and adjudge …

It will be seen that, by this remarkable enactment, every person in the Colony was placed at the mercy of the local Committee of the County in which he lived ; that no one was permitted to disregard or to treat with disrespect either the " recommendations " or the " Resolutions " of Congresses or Committees, of either high or low degree, no matter with what disclaimers of obligation those '…

1 Journal of the Provincial Congress, " 4 ho., P.M., September 1st, "1775." 2 Compare the disclaimers which accompanied the Associations which were sent out, for signatures, {gages 94, 95, ante ;) with the penalties which were subsequently imposed ou those who had declined to sign those Associations, in the orders issued for their disarmament, {gage 112, ante;) in this remarkable enactment ; …

they possessed a conceded interest; that no appeal from the judgment of such a local revolutionary tribunal, too often controlled by personal or family quarrels 4 or by ecclesiastical or neighborhood feuds or by foreign interferences, was provided for or allowed ; and that the dictates of his conscience and the oath of his office, if he held an office, as far as these should assert his duty…

History has failed to record, in the annals of any other community, another such instance of solemn mockery and of refined hypocrisy and of relentless personal and partisan bitterness as is seen in this enactment, framed and ordained and promulgated by men who pretended to so much of honor and intelligence, to so much of loyalty to the King and of regard for the Constitution, to so much of ve…

* "The information you have received, in respect to Captain Cuthbert, "is, I believe, in part true, but has originated from a private pique, and " is much exaggerated. You will observe 1 have bought his wheat from " him, which he readily sold me, at the same time complained, most " bitterly, of being threatened with the loss of his life, by the same Don "you mentioned, who, I believe, is a ve…

Who, among historical students, does not know that one of the most virulent of those who persecuted the loyal and law abiding Colonists, in Colonial New York -- a very thinly disguised monarchist who was thus figuring as a most zealous republican -- had been largely prompted to play a part in the politics of the period which was radically distasteful to himself, in order that he might, thereb…

merely incidental allusions, left among the well-concealed records of those times, to say nothing of those more startling evidences which went, unrecorded, into the graves of those who had been thus plundered and outraged, when the latter were carried to their last earthly homes, to show that the Drakes and the Thomases, the Odells and the Martlings, the Lockwoods and the Dutchers, and those …

" Elijah Purdy, "Gilbert Horton, 9 " Edmond Ward, 10 " Caleb Morgain, 11 " James Hortan, Esq. 12 " William Barker, Esq. 13 " Person Seabury," "Godfrey Haines, added "on Saturday evening, u " Jeremiah Travess, Junr,, " Joshua " Col. Phillips, 2 " Joseph Harris, " James Harris, " Major Brown's two sons " Isaac and Josiah that " lives at home, 3 " Lyon Miller, 4 Bartholomew Hains, 5…

in Connecticut, as in well known, were too nearly akin in Bentiraent to the Towns in Westchester-county to have supplied respectable men, for such a questionable service ; and specimens of those of Connecticut who were so zealous in the support of the Rebellion, in New York, when there was no armed forces before them-- those, from that.Colony were not so zealous, on the northern frontier and …

3 Isaac and Josiah Brown were arrested ; thrown into the Prison at the White Plains ; and subsequently released on condition that they should board with William Miller, Deputy Chairman of the County Committee, at their own expense, instead of at their own homes. « Lyon Miller was First Lieutenant in the Harrison Precinct Company of Militia, reorganized under the enactment of the Provincial Co…

Although the records do not mention the distinguishing title, if he had one, of the victim whose arrest and imprisonment and conditional release are mentioned in the note referred to, and, therefore, the untitled "Joshua Purdy" has been connected with those records, there are circumBtanceB which favor the impression that Captain Joshua was the person to whom they really referred. 7 Solomon F…

There need be no surprise that that remarkable enactment and the activity in enforcing its provisions which was seen among those who favored the Rebellion and among those who desired the advantages which a general breaking down of those who opposed that Rebellion would probably ensure to them, in the expected and intended sequestrations and confiscations and sales of properties, real and perso…

11 Caleb Morgan was reported to the Provincial Congress, a second time ; arrested ; and thrown into the Prison at the White Plains. 12 James Horton, Esq., was summoned before the "Committee of " Safety," as the County Committee called itself, in August, 1777 ; was unusually independent in his answers to that body ; and appears to have remained without further trouble. 13 William Barker, Esq.…

Samuel Merrit was reported to the Provincial Congress, a second time ; arrested ; and thrown into the Prison at the White Plains. 13 Edward Palmer was a resident of Cortlandt's Manor; and was subsequently accuBed of enlisting men for the Royal Army. There are some reasonB for supposing that he was the yonng man who was so ostentatiously hung, as a spy, by the order of General Putnam, in August,…

farmers of Westchester-county -- they would have been less than men, and unworthy of either respect or sympathy, had they remained passive spectators of what was then in progress, far the seizure of their persons, for the sequestration of their homes and of their estates, and for the impoverishment of their aged parents, of their wives, and of their dependent children, without just cause, wit…

A lawless assault on the persons or the properties of the conservatives and the loyal, by the promptings of i-mbittered human nature and the unwritten law of retaliation, was followed, sooner or later, by equally lawless assaults on the persons or on the families or on the properties of those, of the opposite party, who had been the original aggressors ; and, very seldom, on those occasion…

peculiarly noted for their unfaltering loyalty. 2 Early in September, 1775, before the passage of the enactment by' the Provincial Congress, to which reference has been made, could have become generally known throughout that " border Town,'' Godfrey Haines, an unmarried man, was at the house of Daniel Purdy, in Rye ; and, in conversation, he condemned the reorganization of the Militia, by the…

He undoubtedly knew that he was among those who enter' tained opinions and preferences which were similar in their character to those which he had declared ; but the latter may have been less willing to declare what they preferred and what their opinions were, concerning the doings of those who were, then, aspiring to the Government of the Colony -- he was, however, lesB fortunate than they,…

Of Delilah, not an Israelite, we know that she betrayed her lover to his enemies, to the oppressors of his kindred and his people : of Eunice, an ignorant, unmarried woman ; unable to write her own name and, probably, unable to read what others had writ' ten -- just such a tool, indeed, as suited the purposes of such men as, then, manipulated her spitefully told information -- and, evidentl…

Whatever incited her, however, the story of Godfrey's outspoken utterances was told by her, within three or four weeks from the day of his visit to Purdy's ; and, because he had evidently thus made himself obnoxious to the controlling faction, although he had not been previously regarded with suspicion, 1 the County Committee, with intemperate zeal, promptly proceeded to display and to exer…

" Eunice Purdy, of Eye, in the said County, " Spinster, being duly sworn upon the Holy Evange- " lists of Almighty God, deposeth and saith that, on or "about the second of September instant, Godfrey " Hains was at Daniel Purdy's, at Bye, and in conversation, at that time, said he understood that the " Committee or Congress had made a law to oblige all " to train under them ; and that, ' damn…

1 It will be seen, by reference to the list of those who were proscribed, (page 114, (mte,) that Godfrey Haines's name was not on it, as it was originally written -- it was "added" to that list "on Saturday " evening." 2 This remark very clearly indicated that, when Godfrey made these violent remarks, he was smarting from wrongs already inflicted on himself or on those who were dear to him, b…

He was ordered to be disarmed ; but the judgment was returned unsatisfied, since he had concealed his arms and ammunition ; and the Committee stated that it was highly improbable that they could be found. It was determined, however, that he was "a very dangerous man;" and, for its own peace sake as well as for its own safety, that very zealous Committee determined to send him to the Provinc…

Daniel Winter, Godfrey " Hains, a person who was accused and convicted, be- " fore us, of denying the authority and speaking con- " temptuously of the Congresses and the Committee '• of this County. He was ordered to be disarmed ; and, " upon examining him respecting his arms and am- " munition, he confessed that he has a gun, pistol, " sword, powder, and ball, but refused informing the " …

Winter and his prisoner and the guard who accompanied them left the White Plains early enough to reach the City before nine o'clock on the morning of the twentyninth of September, the day on which the letter was written; 1 and the first subject which was brought before the Committee of Safety, there, at its morning session, in the City of New York, was the letter from • tbe Committee of Wes…

Paulding, a " Deputy for the said County, be requested to write a "letter to the said Committee, informing them that " it is the opinion of this Committee, that, agreeable "to the Resolutions of the Provincial Congress of this "Colony, tbe County Committees are altogether com- " petent for punishing and confining persons guilty " of a breach of the said Resolutions or of either of " them."…

1 It is uot impossible that this arrest had been made after it had become dark, on the twenty-eighth of September : it is quite clear that the Committee waB in session, that the letter of transmission was written, and that Godfrey was hurried through the County, after midnight, on the following morning. Secrecy was probably necessary to ensure success, where the revolutionary faction was so in…

The Jail, in the City of New York, when Godfrey Haines was cast into it, was confining other victims of arbitrary and unwarranted arrests who, also, had been sent to the Congress, by the country Counties ; and it may be reasonably supposed that his animosities against the Congresses and the County Committees and those who favored them, were not, in the slightest degree, modified, by his assoc…

" Gentlemen : As there is Six of us Confined in " Goal by your order Charg'd with misdemeanors, we " should take it kind of you if you'd bring us to Im- " ediate tryal or provide for us in our Confinement as " we have not wherewithal to suport our ourselves. " And you will oblige yours "City Hall, October y e 4 th , 1775. " Godfrey Hains, Adam Bergh, "Timothy Doughty, Christian Bergh, Jun f…

Eight days after the Provincial Congress had received and read the Petition of Godfrey Haines and his fellow-prisoners, that body received the following Resolution from the Continental Congress, which probably served to intensify rather than to ameliorate the prevailing partisan animosities ; and it was certainly not well-constituted for the relief of those who were already imprisoned on sim…

Appended to the copy of this Resolution which was laid before the Provincial Congress of New York, was a memorandum, not included in the official transcript of the Resolution, and without a signature, which was in these words : " To be kept as secret as " its nature will admit ;" and it was accompanied by extracts from letters which the Continental Congress had received from L3ndon, in one o…

3 Compare the correspondence of Joseph Galloway and James Duane with the venerable Lieutenant governor of New York, and the knowledge of the latter, concerning the secret doings of the Congress of 1774, which the former, members of the Congress and pledged to secrecy, had communicated to hint, (pages 27, 33, 34, ante,) with this later instance of secret information and copies of secret corresp…

But, on the tenth of October, two days before the Provincial Congress received it, Governor Tryon had received the information, "from undoubted authority from the City of Philadelphia," (Governor Tryon to the Mayor of the City of New York, " New York, 10 th Oct. 1775 ; ") and his subsequent statement, that he was in correspondence with "the Fountain-head" (Governor Tryon to the Earl of Dartmo…

As the Delegates from New York, in Philadelphia, were well-informed, not only concerning the Resolution but concerning the secret correspondence of the Continental Congress, which evidently formed a portion of the information which was communicated to the Governor, there is reason for believing that the correspondent of the Governor was a member of that Delegation ; and the reader need not be t…

There is no record of the discharge of Godfrey Haines from the Jail, in the City of New York ; but, on the contrary, when the record of the proceedings of the Committee of Safety, on the morning of the twenty-ninth of September, when he was taken before that body by Daniel " Winter and the guard who had brought him from the White Plains, 4 was laid before the Provincial Congress, after the …

Hastening to the wharf, on the East River, the starved fugitive, from whom all food and drink had been withheld for more than a week, 9 he " impressed," if he did not steal, a boat ; and found refuge and food on board of official and personal leanings were toward the Livingstons rather than toward the rivals of the latter, the De Lanceys, who had previously occupied the nearest place to the …

Rec d from N York: "the best authority Nov 2 1775 W T."-- and it may have been sent to him by Egbert Duuiont, as stated by Judge Jones and his commentator ; but, when it was said to have been received, the Governor had surely been on the Halifax or on the Duchess of Gordon, more than a fortnight. The name of the real author of that Memorandum, on which Governor Tryon is inconsistently said t…

• Haines was tried and sentenced, at the White Plains, on the twentyeighth or twenty-ninth of September, when his sentence of starvation probably commenced to run. Six, if not seven, days afterwards, he petitioned for food, saying " he had not wherewithal to snport hinlBelf," his jailers, in the City of New York, doing nothing more than to read his Petition, and to place it on their files, (pa…

Duriug the succeeding December [1775], in company with " one Palmer " -- said to have been of Mamaroneck -- he loaded the Sloop Polly and Ann, which he had recently purchased from Isaac Gedney, with Beef, Pork, and other Provisions ; and, taking on board three quarter-casks of Madeira Wine, a package of Turnips, and other articles, all. of them for General Howe, and other packages for Gener…

The savory reputation of the " wreckers " of that treacherous coast, sometimes made more treacherous by reason of the false lights displayed by'those who lived there, will prepare the reader for the remainder of that sad story of adventure and of disaster -- the vessel does not appear to have gone to pieces ; and that and what remained of her cargo, after the " wreckers " had satisfied them…

2 Examination of Gilbert Budd before the Provincial Congress-- Journal of the Provincial Congress, "Die Veneris, 5 ho., P.M., November 3, " 1775." • Affidavit of Philip Pinckney, November 1, 1775-- page 125, post. the Sloop, were ordered to be sent, duly guarded, to the City of New York, and delivered to the Committee of Safety of that Colony. As may be foreseen, Godfrey Haines was remitted …

Three days after Major Henderson and his prisoners reached New York, [January 23, 1776,] "The Com- " mittee of Safety took into consideration the case of " Godfrey Haines, lately apprehended and sent here " by the Committee of Safety of New Jersey ; are of " opinion that his many and mischievous machina- " tions are so dangerous that he ought to be kept in " safe custody and close jail ; an…

"Ordered, That the said Godfrey Haines be sent, " manacled or fettered, under guard, to Ulster-county "Jail; and that Colonel McDougal be requested to " procure an Officer, with a proper Guard of the " Militia or Minute-men of this City, to guard the " said prisoner and the other prisoners heretofore " ordered to jail, to Kingston, in Ulster-county." 8 At the same time, a letter was written…

6 The reader will not fail to obperve that the Committee carefully concealed the notable enactment of the Provincial Congress, of the first of the preceding September, (vvle pages 111-113, ante.) » The Committee made no mention of the fact that he had, then, been k-jpt without food or water, a full week ; and that, since his prayer for food had been disregarded by the Provincial Congress, he w…

" as he formerly broke the Jail, in this City, and made " his escape ; " and, at the same time, directing that Committee to " appoint some person whom you shall " think proper, to supply them with the necessaries of " life, at their own expense, if they can pay for them ; " and if they cannot, at the public expense." 1 Agreeably to that prayer, a special Guard of Grenadiers was placed over G…

There were other arrests in Westchester-county similar to that of Godfrey Haines, one of which, that of Elijah Weeks, was followed by an attempt to rescue him, by an armed force, among the latter of whom were Isaac Gedney, Junior,* William Nelson, 5 Joshua Boyea, Joshua Ferris, 6 Bartholomew Haines, 7 Elijah Haines, William Haines, and John Haines, the person^ who made the arrest having been…

Joshua Ferris, a son of Caleb Ferris, was one of those who went on bpard the Phcenix, when that ship went up the Hudson, in July, 1776, (Examination of Joshua Ferris : Historical Manuscripts, etc. : Miscellaneous Papers, xxxv., 69, 85.) He, or another person bearing the same name, was a prisoner, in the Jail at the White Plains, in September, 1776,at which time he petitioned the Provincial Co…

Among those who were, also, arrested and thrown into prison, by the Committee of Westchester-county, under the provisions of the enactment of the Provincial Congress which is now under consideration, were Joshua Purdy, Caleb Morgan, John McCord, Gilbert Horton, Josiah Brown, Edmund Ward, Samuel Merrit, Philip Fowler, Gabriel Purdy, William Barker, Junior, John Besley, Isaac Brown, Bartholomew…

It was a short-sighted policy, also, even among those who were in rebellion, which inflicted penalties, especially such penalties as these, on those persons who continued, peacefully, on their respective farms, quietly pursuing their daily labors, honestly respecting the Laws of the country, and consistently recognizing and honoring the Sovereignty of the King, whom even those who were in rebe…

It was a reasonable consequence, under existing circumstances, we repeat, that quiet men should become excited and excitable men angry, and that all should become alarmed and indignant, when a mere handful of their neighbors, without their " consent" and without the slightest warrant of Law and without the slightest necessity, usurped and maintained such unheard-of authority as was created…

It was a mistake, as well as a crime, therefore, to assume authority for the arrest and imprisonment of men and for the sequestration of their properties and the impoverishment of the aged and of the dependent and helpless, without a shadow of legal authority and in audacious defiance of it ; without a shadow of existing necessity, even from the standpoint of the Rebellion, for the enactment o…

There might have been fewer transformations of moral and intellectual pigmies into potent political giants -- there might have been a smaller number of fortunes rapidly and largely increased from the plunder of neighboring better - provided-for households and farmyards-- but there would have been, also, fewer outrages against the Laws of both man and of God ; less occasion for bitterness amo…

While the excitement occasioned by the enactments of the Provincial Congress, authorieing local Committees to seize and imprison and disarm and deprive of their estates those who should become obnoxious to those local demagogues and against whom, by fair means or by foul, an accusation of unfriendly thoughts or words against the Rebellion could possibly be trumped up, was at its height, and …

" Whereas, a great number of the men enlisted in " the Continental Service, in this Colony, are desti- " tute of Arms, and in order to carry into execution "the Resolutions of the Continental Congress, it is " absolutely necessary to have those troops armed : " And whereas, every method to hire or purchase "Arms, hitherto attempted, has failed to procure a " sufficient number of Arms for th…

" Ordered, That the person or persons who shall " have the charge of the carrying this Resolution into " execution, in each County, shall direct all the Arms "that shall be so impressed, to be collected at some " place in the County where they are impressed, and " there valued and appraised by three indifferent men " of reputation of the County, any two of whom " agreeing, shall be sufficie…

" Ordered, That a Certificate, specifying the value " and the mark of the Musket, Gun, or Firelock so "impressed, appraised, and marked, shall be signed " by the Appraisers and Impressers, which shall enti- " tie the owner thereof to receive the appraised value "from the Treasurer of the Provincial Congress of "this Colony : Provided the same be not returned at " or before the conclusion of…

" Ordered, That the Captains of the respective "Companies of the Third Regiment of the troops of "this Colony, who are now in Suffolk-county, be " authorized to carry these Resolutions into exeeu- " tion in Queens-county. That Colonel Lasher 2 be "requested to send two or more Companies of his " Battalion, to give such assistance in Queens-county " as may be necessary, at such time and to s…

And that these Resolutions "be carried into execution, in every other County, by " the Chairman of the County Committee, with the " assistance of the Militia Officers, who are hereby " ordered to be aiding therein with such parts of the " Militia as each such Chairman shall think necessary. "And " Ordered, That the several persons who shall be " disarmed by virtue of the above Resolutions, …

The real purpose of the Committee of Safety, in the adoption and publication of this Resolution and of these several Orders, was the entire disarmament of every one who, for any reason, had neglected or declined to sign the General Association ; and, for that reason, every class of fire-arms, whether adapted to the uses of the Army or not, was included, in every instance, in the Orders where…

It must have been peculiarly galling, among those who had been accustomed to hear of the " Rights of " Man " and of the " Constitutional Rights of Engiish- "men " and all the other catchwords and maxims in the science of government -- generally true, in theory, although, practically, they had been seized and employed by demagogues, in those instances, only for the advancement of personal and…

Not an exception was made, no matter what reason there might have been for such an exception ; and everything which had a gun-lock on it, whether useful or useless for military purposes -- whether a young man's fowling-piece, with which he was wont to have a few hours' sport, when squirrels and robins abounded, or to have more serious work, when foxes and more formidable marauders poached i…

It is said that, in Queens-county, " the people " conceal all their Arms that are of any value ; many "declare they know nothing about the Congress, " nor do they care anything for the Orders of the "" Congress, and say that they would sooner lose their " lives than give up their Arms ; and that they would " blow any man's brains out, who should attempt to " take them from them. We are told…

' Doctor Sparks noticed this outrage, in these words : " The Committee "reasoned but imperfectly from the facts of history and the principles of "human nature, when they supposed that people, with arms in their " hands, would be tempted to resign them, by such motives as were held "out. They must either be treated as friends or enemies. If friends, "their safety and interest required that the…

■The Doctor reasoned, above, on the ground that the Order of the Committee was an isolated act, disconnected with any other of the class ; and he reasoned well, on that premise ; but the fact was, another Order had just been made, in- secret, to seize the persons and properties of those who were obnoxious to the Committee and its subordinates ; and it was considered necessary, for the safety of…

in other connections, that the men of that County, like those of Queens-county, armed themselves, and patroled the County, in large parties, to guard against surprises ; declaring their determination to defend themselves, and saying "that if any body came to " their houses to take away their Arms, they would " Are upon them." 3 It appears, also, that the declaration was fully sustained ; tha…

3 Testimony of Cohnel Gilbert Budd of Mamaroneck, before (he Provincial Congress, -- Journal of tlte Provincial Congress, "Die Veneris, 10 ho. A.M., " November 3, 1775," (vide page 126, post.) * This conflict between those who were executing the Orders of the Committee of Safety, for the disarmament of those who had not signed the Association, and those, in Westchester-county, who were intend…

General Wooster and his command were encamped on property belonging to Arent Bussing, near Harlem, from the eighteenth of July, preceding, (Journal of Provincial Congress, " Die Martis, 9 ho., A.M., "July 18th, 1775.") t "General Wooster is at Harlem, with about 400 men, which appear "to ns to be unemployed," (Letter from the Committee of Safety to the Continental Congress, "In Committee of S…

It is proper that notice shall be taken, in this connection, of the fact that the Provincial Congress, on the twenty-fourth of October, twenty days after that body had returned to its place and to its work and thirty-eight days after its Committee of Safety had adopted and published the Resolution and Orders, "relating to the impressment of Arms," which have been thus described and denounced…

Philip Pinkney, 2 " (who had given- very full information, to some of the " Committee, of the plot, and had offered to swear to " it, provided he was brought by the Committee by " an appearance of force, and had engaged not to be " out of the way,) upon being sent for, by some of the " guard attending the Committee, was not to be " found ; whereupon some of the Committee, by order " of the…

2 There is not the slightest mention of thin evidently tricky Philip, in any of the contemporary records with which we have any acquaintance, except in this instance ; and we suspect he was that loyalist, Philip, who fled to Nova Scotia, at the close of the War, of whom Bolton made mention. He was evidently well-fitted for a "Cow-boy ;" aud, very probably, he was one. Bolton, in his History …

" We also request that Mr. William Lounsberry, 6 " Isaac Gedney, Junior, and three hired men who " work at Justice Sutton's, 7 may be sent for, on account " of what Mr. Pinckney has related, though not sworn " to, that they, among others, were Minute-men, as he' " called them ; that they were to be ready, at a " moment's warning, to take off some persons who " were the most obnoxious. " We…

Bolton, in his History of }Vestchester-cwmty, (original edition, ii., 80, 81, 509 ; the same, second edition, 197, 715, 716,) gave an account of his family. *Gil. Budd Horton, of Mamaroneck, was the only representative of that Town, in the County Committee of 1776-'7, (Historical Manuscripts, etc.: Miscellaneous Papers, xxxviii., 309.) He was captured and carried away, by the Royal troops or…

7 "Justice Sutton" was the "William Sutton, Esq." who was one of the signers of the call for the Meeting at the White PlainB, in April, 1775, as well as one who signed the declaration and Protest, at the same place, against the proceedings of that Meeting, (vide pages 70, 72, ante.) He was one of the King's Justices of the Peace ; and one of those who were reported to the Committee on Conspir…

" We would not have troubled the Congress about " apprehending the above-named persons, but that " we look upon ourselves, at present, too weak to do " it, without great danger ; 1 and we beg leave to sub- " mit it, whether it be not necessary, for the security " of many amongst us, as well as to prevent Provisions " being conveyed to the Ministerial Army, that a " Guard be placed along the…

" Personally appeared before me, James Horton, "Junior, one of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace " in and for said County, ' Philip Pinkney, of full age, "who deposeth and saith, that on Wednesday, the "twenty-fifth day instant, 8 being in company, he "heard one say that Godfrey Haines was determined " to have satisfaction on some particular persons, 9 and "that there was a tender expecte…

5 M kali Townsend was a member of the County Committee of 1775-'6, and its Secretary ; he was one of the Minute-men, at White Plains, in February, 1776 ; and he was in command of a Company, in the following Summer. He evidently left Westchester-connty, soon afterwards, as he was in the Assembly of the State, in 1779-80, representing Cumberland-county. 6 Anthony Miller was Second Lieutenant of …

John Thomas, County Judge of Westchester-county, 1755-1777, and Member of the General Assembly of the Colony, representing the county of Westchester, 1743-'75, in which latter capacity the reader has already been made acquainted with him. 11 Although the project of carrying Judge Thomas away from his home, in 1775, if such a project was really entertained, was not carried out ; a similar proj…

Budd Horton, who had evidently taken those papers to the Congress, should attend that body, at five o'clock, on the same afternoon. 13 At the appointed hour, those gentlemen made their appearance before the door of the Assembly Chamber, in the City Hall, in which the Congress was assembled in secret Session ; and when they were admitted into the Chamber, they were duly examined -- the testimo…

" Gilbert Budd, of Mamaroneck, says that the tories " are getting the upper hand of and threaten them, "daily, and have injured their private property, by " throwing down stone fences and cropping his horses' "tails and manes; that Philip Pinckney told him, " last Sunday, that he was in company, on the twenty - " fifth of October last, with a man who told him that "there would be bad times …

12 The entire prostration of the Colonial Government, in New York, and its entire helplessness to protect the Colonists from the outrages to which they were subjected by the promoters of the Rebellion, is nowhere more clearly seen than in this appearance of one of those who were in rebellion, before one of the King's Justices of the Peace, to make an official affidavit concerning a plot to car…

Budd that "there was a number of his, Budd's, neighbours, who " stood ready to assist the tender, in order to take "them; that Mr Budd asked Pinckney if he knew " who those neighbours were ; he atiswered that one "of them was William Lounsberry ' l and one, Isaac "Gedney, Junr., and all Sutton's men, alluding to "some hired servants of Sutton's; 3 that Pinckney " said he came as a friend, …

Budd further says that it is reported that "those tories say they a-re determined to defend them- " selves ; and that if any body came to their houses to "take away their Arms, they would fire upon them." The Congress appears to have been in one of its temperate moods when that delegation from the chivalry of Oolonial Westchester-county, bearing the missive from the Committee of that County…

2 On the twenty-ninth of August, 1776, "one Lounsherry of Westchester " County who had headed a party of about 14 Tories was killed by a Per- " son named Flood on his refusal to surrender himself Prisoner • That in "his Pocket book was found a Commission signed by Gonl. How to " Major Rogers empowering him to raise a Battalion of Rangers with the " Bank of Lieut Col Commandant. That annexed t…

" We received a letter of the 1st inst., from the "Sub-committee of your County, relative to the " conduct of the people of Bye ; and the Congress "have directed me to recommend to your Com- " mittee to make an immediate and strict inquiry "into the matters to which the letter refers, and " to take the examinations on oath of the witnesses; and if you find satisfactory reasons to sup- " pos…

The suggestion which was made in this letter, that those of the revolutionary faction, in Westchestercounty, whose safety was imperiled by the threats of their conservative and law-abiding neighbors, should go before the King's Magistrates and ask that the latter should be put under bonds to keep the peace towards the former, was received with disfavor by Isaac Sears, of New York, and Melanc…

* This remarkable suggestion, that those, in Westchester-county, who were in rebellion, and who were threatened with arrest by those of their neighbors who were not in rebsllion, should go before the King's Justices of the Peace, and ask that those loyal inhabitants who were inclined to support the Home and Colonial Governments and the Laws and to arrest those who were in rebellion, should be…

The Provincial Congress had continued in session, closely withdrawn from the sight of its constituents, until the eighth of July, 1 when it had taken a fortnight's rest, during which period a "Committee of "Safety " was left on duty, with large authority, to administer the affairs of the new organization. 2 On the twenty-sixth of July, it had resumed its work, continuing it without interruptio…

The dissolution of the first Provincial Congress, which occurred at about the close of the first halfyear of the entire and, as far as the Colonial and Home Governments were concerned, of the undisputed, domination of the revolutionary faction of the purely aristocratic portion of the Colonial party of the Opposition and its plebean auxiliaries, over the vastly greater body of those who were …

' Journal of the Provincial Congress, May 22, until July 8, 1775. 'Journal of the Committee of Safety, July 11, until July 25, 1775. » Journal of die Provincial Congress, from July 26, until September 2, 1775. * Journal of the Committee of Safety, from September i, until October 3, 1775. 6 Journal of the Provincial Congress, from October i, until November 4, 1775, methods of administration…

At that time, there was no newspaper-press in the Colonies which was conducted with greater ability than Rivington's New- York Gazetteer ; or Connecticut, Hudson's River, New-Jersey, and Quebec/: Weekly Advertiser, which was published, weekly, by James Rivington, in the City of New York. It was a newspaper, in the proper sense of the word ; and it published the news of the day, from every quart…

It was evidently determined, therefore, that James Rivington should be silenced; and that his only means for inflicting pain on the persons of those who favored the Rebellion should be taken from him. There was, also, at that time, no one, in the Colony of New York, who possessed greater intellectual and executive abilities combined with superior scholastic attainments, than Samuel Seabury…

He was learned, as was well-known : he was fearless in the declarations and support of his wellconsidered opinions, as was known to his neighbors and friends: that his convictions led him to support the conservative portion of the Opposition, led by his friend, Isaac Wilkins, is more than probable : that the same convictions led him to oppose, within the circle of his influence and consisten…

The political Parson, therefore, was very offensive to those of the revolutionary faction who were not his neighbors -- " in justice to the rebels of East and West " Chester, I must ssty,".he wrote, in 1776, " that none " of them ever offered me any insult or attempted to do " me any injury that I know of" -- and it was evidently determined that he, also, like James Rivington, should be sil…

He was known, subsequently, as one of those blustering, reckless, law-defying leaders of the floating denizens of the docks, in New York, ready to disregard all Rights, all of every thing excepttheir own wills, in acts of which only the traditional pirates and banditti were supposed to have been capable of performing, whenever, and only whenever, in his judgment, those acts could be done wit…

He had never possessed the entire confidence of the leaders of the revolutionary faction of the Opposition, in the City of New York : he had never been taken into the sanctum sanctorum of that coterie of Livingstons and of Smiths and of Scotts, whose had been the unseen master-hands by whom such puppets as he had been handled and made conspicuous : he had never been permitted to occupy any…

He called himself a Merchant, in the City of New York ; but he had been more conspicuous in shipping Merchandise and Provisions to the eastward, clandestinely, when such shipments to the eastward were interdicted, than in any more legitimate business. He had been a member of the recently dissolved Provincial Congress, during a portion of its existence ; but, in entire harmony with his earlier…

1 A letter from John Case, from the County of Suffolk, on Long Island, "to the Printer of the New-York Gazetteer,'' and published in Riuiugton's New-York Gazetteer, No. 511, New-York, Thursdaj', January 12, 1775, narrated the method in which those who wore not inclined to favor the theories and practises of the revolutionary faction were invoigled into (hat Tavern, and, there, subjected to th…

On Monday, the twentieth of November, 1775, that cowardly ruffian, Isaac Sears, accompanied with sixteen others of the same class, all of them mounted, left New Haven, in Connecticut, for the purpose of regulating Westchester-county. 1 It had become a favorite pastime, among the rowdies on the borders of Connecticut, as it has been a favorite pastime among Texan rowdies of a later period, in…

The avowed purpose of that band of acknowledged "banditti"' 2 was "to disarm the principal tories " there," [at East and West Chester,] " and secure the "persons of Parson Seabury, Judge Fowler, and "Lord Underhill," three residents of Westchestercounty ; and it is said they were joined, on their way, by other parties of men, numbering about eighty, under the leadership of " Captains " Rich-…

3 In the preceding September, Lord Dunmore, then at Norfolk, in Virgiuia^had helped himself to the type and printing-press of John Holt, in that Town ; and it was said of the thief and his confederates, " a few " spirited gentlemen in Norfolk, justly incensed at so flagrant a breach "of good order and the Constitution, and highly resenting the conduct "of Lord Dunmore and the Navy Gentry, who…

It was not pretended that any of the proposed victims, in the instance under notice, had said or done anything, in opposition to the Rebellion, which had made them amenable to the unbridled caprices of those who were in rebellion ; and it was evident that, had those proposed victims thus transgressed against the " Associations " or the " rec- " ommendations " or the " Resolutions " of the rev…

It pillaged the farm-houses ; and, at Mamaroneck, it burned a small sloop which belonged to one who was assumed to have been a friend of the Government. 5 A detachment of about forty men, under a Captain Lothrop, appears to have been pushed forward to the Town of Westchester, where, on Wednesday, the twenty-second of November, it seized the person of Nathaniel Underhill, the Mayor of that Bo…

Hinman published in his Historical Collections of the part sustained by Connecticut during the War of the Itevolution; and that it is very probable that these three " Captains," like that other " Captain " who led them, on that occasion, possessed no other warrant than that of "courtesy," so called, for the privilege of carrying the title. * It left New Haven on Monday, the twentieth of Novem…

a Boarding-school and Rector of the Established Church, in the same place, the former, as was subsequently seen, only because he had signed the Declaration and Protest, at the White PlainB, in the preceding April, 1 the latter, because he was more obnoxious to those who were in rebellion, in consequence of his greater intellectual power and of his decidedly greater bravery in the assertion an…

The contemporary records do not present the circumstances which attended the seizure of the Mayor of the Borough of Westchester ; but it is probable they were similar to those which attended the similar seizure of Judge Fowler and that of Mr. Seabury -- the banditti undoubtedly ransacked the house and examined his papers and helped themselves to such articles of his movable property as best …

In hia Memorial to the General Assembly of Connecticut, Seabury expressly stated that he was arrested by a detachment ; that the main body of the party was subsequently joined, by the detachment ; and that ail, then, returned to East Chester. 8 Memorial of Samuel Seabury to the General Assembly of Connecticut, December 20. 1775. See, also, The Connecticut Journal, No. 424, [New Haven,] Wednes…

Of course, the Boarding-school for Boys, which he had organized and established with so much labor, 6 for the better support of his family, was broken down ; and the pupils, five of whom were from Jamaica and one from Montreal,, the parents of four others being in Europe, besides " others from " New York and the country," were necessarily scattered, inflicting an irreparable injury to him an…

^ TTATH opened a School in that Town, and offers his Service to -L-L " prepare young Gentlemen for the College, the Compting- " House, or any genteel Business for which Parents or Guardians may "design them. Children who know their Letters will be admitted to " his School, and taught to read English with propriety, and to write it " with a fair Haud, and with grammatical accuracy. They will b…

'■ Proper attention will be paid to the young Gentlemen, that they be " kept clean and decent, and that they behave with propriety ; and as " the most essential Part of Education is to qualify them to Discbarge "the Duties and Offices of Life with Integrity and Virtue, particular "Care will he taken to explain to them the Principles of Morality, and "the Christian Religion, by frequent short …

Livingston, John and Joshua Hett Smith -- the latter so conspicuous, subsequently, in the interviews between General Arnold and Major Andre and in the evident exposure of the latter to arrest -- and a number of others, their confelerates if not their tools, were assembled on Hanover-square, on which the Bookstore and Printing-office of James Rivington were situated, apparently and nominally …

With its escort of local sympathizers, its progress was not obstructed; and, on Thursday, the twenty-third of November, at noon, when it reached the Square, it " drew up, in close "order, before the . printing-office of the infamous " James Rivington," * those who had already assembled there, evidently for the purpose of covering it, if not for the purpose of doing more than that, should an…

2 Jones's History of New York during the Revolutionary War, i., 66. 8 Manual of Che Corporation of the City of New-York for 1855, 511. 4 " The main body, consisting of 75, then proceeded to New- York, 11 which they entered at noon-day on horseback, with bayonets fixed, and "in the greatest regularity, went down the main street, and drew up in " close order before the printing -office of the i…

It is said that three quarters of an hour were spent in that work of reckless destruction, without the slightest attempt by either the Municipal or the Colonial authorities, legal or revolutionary, to interfere, for the preservation of the peace or for the protection of the property of the citizen or for that of the freedom of the Press ; and, consequently, after its appetite for outrage had…

5 "A small detachment entered it," [the printing-office,] "and in about " three-quarters of an hour brought off the principal part of his types, "for which they offered to give an order on Lord Dunmore " [who had previously stolen John HoWs type andpress, at Norfolk.'] (The Connecticut Journal, No. 424, [New Haven,] Wednesday, November 29, 1775.) They "entered his" [Rivington' s\ "house, demol…

The despatch of Governor Tryon to the Earl of Dartmouth, No. 22, "On Board the ship "Dutchess of Gordon New York Harbour 6 th Dec* 1 1775," described the raid on Westchester-county as well as that on the City of New York, and narrated the blustering threats which were made by Sears, to return with "a more numerous body of the Connecticut Rioters and to take "away the Records of the Colony." …

To prevent interruption, he called 1 "out and told them that if they attempted to oppose him, he would "order his men to fire on them; and preparation was made for doing it, " in case it should be needful. This appearance instantly cleared the " street, when Captain Sears and his party rode off in triumph, with the " booty they were pleased to take away." Dunlap, (History of New York, ii., A…

Rivington " aided by hiB Royal Gazetteer," was very influential ; that he had no regard for the truth nor for "common fairness ; " that Sears had gone to Connecticut " to plan schemes for the future with ardent Whigs ; " that the type which was stolen from Eiviogton was converted into bullets; etc. ; but the truth is that the Royal Gazette was not established until December, 1777, ae he had s…

Governor Trumbull, after having snubbed General Washington by sheltering and justifying the wholesale desertion of the Connecticut troops which the latter had denounced, (Compare General Washington's letter to Governor Trumbull, "Cambbibge, December 2, 1775," with the reply, "Lebanon, December "n, 1775 ; " that of the former, " Cambridge, December 5, 1775," with (hereply, "Lebanon, December …

It was afterwards, however, known to have aided the Amer- "icans much, and was under the control of Washington himself. The "hostile appearance of the sheet, however, deceived the Americans as "well as their enemies, and about half a dozen Greenwich men resolved that the press should be stopped; they stole into the City, destroyed the press, and bagged the type, which they brought off with "th…

After the type was brought to Greenwich, it was totally destroyed, except enough toprint each of the company's names, which "the veterans kept for a long time in memory of their exploit." One might readily suppoBe this latest tidbit of what has currency as history was written in China or Timbuctoo ; but the curious reader may find it in an elegant and expensive History of Fairfield County, Con…

The procession moved through nearly every street in the Town, stopping at every comer, in order that the crowds might gaze on the victims and jeer at and insult them ; and, after having quartered the latter, at their own expense, at one of the Taverns, the successful banditti, sustained by what there was of the ignorance and lawlessness of the New Haven of that period, spent the remainder of…

" Captain Sears returned in company with the other gentlemen, and "proposes to spend the winter here, unless publick business should re- " quire his presence in New-York.-- Seabury, Underhill, and Fowler, " three of the dastardly protestora against the proceedings of the Conti- " nental Congress, and who it is believed had concerted a plan for kid- " napping Captain Sears, and conveying him o…

"Whereas I.Jonathan Fowler, Esq., one of His Majesty's Judges of " the Inferior Court for the County of WestcheBter, in the Province of " New- York, did, some time ago, sign a Protest against the Honourable " Continental Congress, which inconsiderate conduct I am heartily sorry "for, and do hereby promise for the future not to transgress in the view " of the people of this Continent, nor in a…

He received only one. letter from his "family, and that was delivered to him open, though "brought by the post." Indeed, with characteristic bravado, and entirely conscious of his influence among those, in Connecticut, who were Ihen controlling the Rebellion, Sears told his only remaining victim -- the others having ransomed themselves from the hands of their captors with cowardly-made reca…

At that time, and, indeed, until 1818, the Government of Connecticut, under her Charter, like that of Rhode Island, was based on the Sovereignty of the King of Great Britain ; and the lawlessness of the Rebellion had not been permitted to disturb the forms and formalities of either her Executive or Legislative or Judicial Departments of Colonial Government -- adroitly securing the monopoly o…

"As witness my hand : "Jonathan Fowler. "New-Haven, November 29, 1775." II. "Whereas I. Nathaniel Underhill, of Westchester, in the Province of "New-York, did, some time ago, sign » Protest against the Resolves of "the Honourable Continental.Congress, which inconsiderate conduct I " am heartily sorry for, and do hereby promise, for the future, riot to "transgress in the view of the people o…

The Governor, also, disregarded his demand; and when the banditti who continued to hold him, a captive, in the midst of that Capital-town of the Colony, consented that he should memorialize the General Assembly of the Colony, which does not appear to have been, then, in Session, 2 no benefit to the memorialist, from the Legislature of the Colony, could have been intended. 3 While these pro…

Hinman, who was Secretary of State, with the original Journals before him, in his carefully-made synopsis of the doings of the General Assembly, from the opening of the May Session, 1774, until the close of the February Session 1778, stated that the Special Session of the General Assembly, which was assembled by special order of the Governor, on the fourteenth of December, 1775, closed its bu…

Johnson was Chairman, was appointed for an entirely different purpose ; and that the Session of the General Assembly which next succeeded that which was adjourned on the fourteenth of December, 1775, was not commenced until the ninth of May, 1776. (Historical Collections of the part sustained by Connecticut m the War of the Revolution, 198, 200.) General Peter Force, who diligently reprinted a…

* Besides the unceasing attempts to encroach on the territory of New York, and, in other ways, to invade the Eights of the ColoniBts, in that Colony, which Connecticut and men from Connecticut were constantly making, Isaac Seal's, on the occasion now under notice, with the evident purpose of throwing all the titles of properties, in New York, and all the domestic and business relations, there…

In the evening of the day on which the outrage on James Rivington was committed, {Thursday, November 23, 1775,] Lancaster Burling and Joseph Totten, members of the General Committee for the City and County of New York, offered a Resolution, in that body, citing Isaac Sears, Samuel Broome, and John Woodward to appear before it, to answer for their conduct in entering the City, on that day, wi…

Three days after the event, John Jay, with more self-respect and, certainly, with more respect for the honor of the Colony, notwithstanding he, also, appeared to take no interest in any other portion of the general subject, wrote a letter to the President of the former Provincial Congress, in which he warmly condemned the proceeding ; 3 but, as has been stated, there was, then, no Provincial …

* * * " The New-England exploit is much talked of, and conjec- " tures are numerous as to the part the Convention will take relative to " it ; some consider ft as an ill compliment to the Government of the " Province, and prophesy that you have too much Christian meekness " to take any notice of it. For my own part, I don't approve of the " feat ; and I think it neither argues much w sdom or …

" A Draft of a Petition to the honourable the Provincial Congress for " the Province of New-York, was read, and is as follows, viz. . " ( rr- THE Honourable the Provincial Congress for the Prov- ' ' ince op New- York. '"The Petition of the General Committee for the City and County of " ' New-York, humbly shewcth : "'That a body of troops,* from a neighbouring Colony, did lately * It is evid…

Four days subsequently, [December 12, 1775,] a Report was made by the Committee, with a draft of a letter to be addressed to the Governor of the Colony of Connecticut, "on the subject matter of the Gen- " eral Committee's Petition," both of which were violently opposed by those who were most revolutionary in their inclinations. The debates were continued through two Sessions of the Congress,…

And being apprehensive that such Incursions, " * should they be repeated, will be productive of many great and evil con- ' ' ' sequences to the Inhabitants of such place wherein they may be here - ' ' after made, your Petitioners do therefore conceive it highly necessary, '" in the present situation of publick affairs, as well for the sake of inter- " ' nal peace and harmony of eaeh Colony as…

" ' Your Petitioners do therefore most humbly pray, that this honour- "' able House of Delegates would be pleased to take the premises into " ' their consideration, and devise some expedient to prevent, for the " ' future, the Inhabitants of any of the neighbouring Colonies " ' coming into this, to direct the publick affairs of it, or to destroy the " 'property or invade the liberty of its In…

"New-York, 12th Deer., 1775. "Sir: "It gives us concern that we are under the necessity of addressing been a regular military operation : that the fact was, then, unknown, thnt it was only an inroad of banditti, winked at, it is true, but without any authority, legal or revolutionary : that the Committee did not even suspect that the raiders were only an organized band of robbers, composed on…

" While we consider this conduct as an insult offered to this Colony, we "are disposed to attribute it to an imprudent though well-intended zeal " for the public cause ; and cannot entertain the most distant thought "that your Colony will approve of the measure. It is unnecessary to "use arguments to show the impropriety of a proceeding that has a "manifest tendency to interrupt that harmony …

It is our earnest desire that you would take " the most effectual steps to prevent any of the people of your Colony "from entering into this, for the like purposes, unless invited by our " Provincial Congress, a Committee of Safety, or the General Commit- " tee of one of our Counties, as we cannot but consider such intrusions " as an invasion of our essential rights, as a distinct Colony ; an…

If such should be the case, we must " entreat your friendly interposition for his immediate discharge ; the " more especially as, considering his ecclesiastical character, which, per- " haps, is venerated by many friends to Liberty, the severity that has "been used towards him may be subject to misconstructions prejudicial "to the common cause, and the more effectually to restrain such iucur-…

1 It is proper to say, in this connection, that the insincerity of the Pro vincial Congress was never more boldly presented than in its Order concerning the disposition Which was to be made of the letter which it had just ordered to be written to the Governor of Connecticut, in the matter of the raid of Connecticut's ruffians -- instead of ordering it to be forwarded to the Governor, it "Order…

under the leadership of Thomas Smith, one of the distinguished body of political acrobats of that name 2 -- made no reply whatever to its letter, until the following June, when he adroitly turned the scale against the complaining Provincial Congress, by reminding it that the leader of the banditti was a resident of the City of New York, 3 doing business in that City, and, also/ a member of th…

The long process of intercolonial diplomacy, on what, in this instance, would have been an interesting topic, had the parties in that diplomatic correspondence been honest and consistent, might have been productive of useful results ; but they were neither consistent nor honest; and, like the greater part of other diplomacy, it consisted of little else than empty words, really meaning nothin…

5 The Provincial Congress evidently called the attention of the Delegation in the Continental Congress to the subject, as it promised to do, in its letter to Governor Trumbull ; and on the eleventh of January, 1776, the Delegation wrote, in reply : "We highly applaud the spirit, " and, at the same time, respectful manner in which you have supported "the dignity and independence of our Culony, …

The Governor of Connecticut having, meanwhile, taken no notice whatever of the letter which the Provincial Congress had written to him, in the preceding December, on the 8th of March, 1776, the latter informed the Delegation from New York in the Continental Congress, of that fact, (Journal of the Provincial Congress, "Die Veneris, " 10 ho., A.M., March 8, 1776 ; ") but there seems to have bee…

As a matter of favor, however, he was permitted to memorialize the General Assembly of the Colony within which he was held in captivity, although that Assembly had been dissolved by Proclamation of the Governor, six days previously; and, because that Memorial is a portion of the revolutionary literature of Westchester-county, to say nothing of its importance as an authority in history, a pl…

"That on Wednesday, the 22d day of November "last, your Memorialist was seized at a house in " West Chester where he taught a grammar school, by "a company of armed men, to the number, as he " supposes, of about forty ; that after being carried to "his own house and being allowed lime to send for " his horse, he was forced away on the road to Kings- " bridge, but soon meeting another compan…

BeardBley, D.D , in bis Life and Correspondence of the Right Eevej-end Samuel Seabury, D.D., (Second Edition, 36-42,) published as nearly a complete and accurate copy of it as those who printed his book would permit him'to give to his readers. It is believed that, with his kind assistance, we have the privilege of laying an entirely accurate and complete copy of the original manuscript before …

That during this time your Memor- " ialist hath been prevented from enjoying a free inter- " course with his friends ; forbidden to visit some of " them, though in company with his guard ; prohibited " from reading prayers in the church, and in perform- "ing any part of divine service, though invited by "the Rev. Mr. Hubbard so to do ; interdicted the use " of pen, ink, and paper, except fo…

That a quilt in the " frame on which the daughters of your Memorialist " were at work was so cut and pierced with bayonets " as to be rendered useless. That while your Memo- "rialist was waiting for his horse, on the said 22d day " of November, the people obliged the wife of your " Memorialist to open his desk, where they examined "his papers, part of the time in presence of your " Memoria…

" he, the said Sf eloy, had been accused by some peo- " pie of pointing a bayonet at the breast of a daughter " of your Memorialist, desiring your Memorialist to ex- " culpate him from the charge, to which request your " Memorialist replied that he was not at his house but " at his school house when the affair was said to have " happened ; but that a daughter of your Memorialist " met him a…

That several questions were asked " him, to some of which he gave the most explicit "answers, but perceiving some insidious design "against him by some of the questions, he refused to "answer any more. That Captain Sears then ob- " served to him, if he understood him right, that they "did not intend to release him, nor to make such a " compromise with him as had been made with Judge " Fowl…

"That your Memorialist had neglected to open his " church on the day of the Continental Fast. "And that he had written pamphlets and ncvra- " papers against the liberties of America. "To the first and last of these charges your "Memorialist pleads not guilty, and will be ready to "vindicate his innocence, as soon as he shall be "restored to his liberty in that province to which only " he c…

Farmer" [a Westchester Farmer] which were published in 1774, and which created such an intense excitement among the revolutionary faction, were written by Isaac Wilkins, of Westchester, and not by the Rev. Samuel Seabury, also of Westchester, to whom they had been generally attributed. Several years afterwards, those conclusions secured the respect and deference of one whose respect and defe…

" What wild confusion, rout and hobble, you " Made with his farmer, Don A. W." (Trumbull's Origin of McFingal, 31, 32 ;) and within six months after Trumbull's publication, Samuel Seabury, in that portion of his Memorial to the General Assembly of Connecticut which is now under notice, added his very clear, very precise, and very unequivocal testimony, on the same interesting question. With …

But we are constrained to say that, whether the paper is what it purports to have been or not, and whether it was copied and delivered to the' Commissioners or not, of both of which we have grave doubts, there are evidences within itself of its entire untrustworthiness, in its recital of known facts ; that we do not believe, therefore, that it was written by Samuel Seabury, carefully and deli…

We are not insensible of the fact that a great-grandson of Samuel Seabury, in a paper which was published in The American Quarterly Church Review, for April, 1881, without any supporting testimony which any Bench in the country would have received as evidence, in any case, undertook the ungracious task of showing, by argument, that Samuel Seabury was not sincere, when he wrote the disclaimer whi…

" or, if the regulations of Congress be attended to, " must he be dragged from the committee of his own " county, and from the Congress of his own province, " cut off from the intercourse of his friends, deprived " of the benefit of those evidences which may be " necessary for the vindication of his innocence, and "judged by strangers to him, to his character, and " to the circumstances of …

If " he is to be judged according to the regulations of the "Congress, they have ordained the Provincial Con- " gress of New York or the Committee of the county " of West Chester, to be his judges. Neither the "laws of either colony nor the regulations of the " Congress give any countenance to the mode of " treatment which he has met with. But considered " in either light, he conceives it …

1 The reader of the two preceding paragraphs, in which the captive responded to the first and fourth of the charges which his captors had presented against him, cannot fail to find evidence, of tbo highest character, that, in his political opiDions, Samuel Seabury was, at that time, as he had previously been, in exact accord with Isaac Wilkins and Frederic Philipse, also of Westchester-county ;…

In common with the groat body of the Colonists, throughout the entire Beaboard, he was sincere in his convictions that the Colonies were sufforing from the wrongs which had been inflicted on them by the Mother Country ; and be was willing to resort to all lawful means for their relief. But when the entire machinery of the party of the Opposition was Beized by those who only cared for the offic…

Some time in the beginning of April, as " your Memorialist thinks, the people were invited to " meet at the White Plains to choose delegates for a " Provincial Congress. Many people there assembled "were averse from the measure. They, however, gave " no other opposition to the choice of delegates than " signing a Protest. This Protest your Memorialist "signed in company with two members of …

" The other crime alleged against your Memorialist is "that he neglected to open his church on the day of the " Continental Fast. To this he begs leave to answer : " That he had no notice of the day appointed but " from common report : That he rec< ived no order " relative to said day either from any Congress or " committee: That he cannot think himself guilty of " neglecting or disobeying …

Whatever he may have subsequently become, and the persecutions to which he was subjected by those of the opposite faction of the Opposition would have soured the most amiable of dispositions and have transfoi med those who were more opposed to the Government than he into active " friends of the Government," when this Memorial was written, and previously thereto, Samuel Seabury, like Isaac Wilki…

" That a complaint was exhibited against your " Memorialist to the Provincial Congress of New " York, by Captain Sears, soon after the neglect with " which he is charged, and that after the matter was " fully debated, the complaint was dismissed : ' That " he conceives it to be cruel, arbitrary, and in the " highest degree unjwt, after his supposed offense has " been examined before the pro…

That as a clergyman he " has the care of the towns of East and West Chester. " That there is not now a clergyman of any denom- " ination nearer than nine miles from the place of " his residence, and but one within that distance " without crossing the Sound ; so that in his absence "there is none to officiate to the people in any " religious service, to visit the sick, or bury the dead. "You…

That he had five young gentlemen from " the Island of Jamaica, one from Montreal, four " children of gentlemen now in England, committed " to his care, among others from New York and the " country. That he apprehends his school to be "broken up and his scholars dispersed, probably " some of them placed at other schools, and that it " may be difficult, if not impracticable, again to " recov…

The reader may gather from those facts, without resorting to that general fact of the disappointment of Sears, in his scramble for "a high office in the American Navy," of which Bancroft has made mention, just what was the reason that that ruffian was so zealous, in his pursuit of the two who had so signally defeated him. 2 Vide pages 128, 130, ante. " be liable, to such treatment as your Memo…

He thinks he can give a good account " of his conduct, such as would satisfy reasonable " and candid men. He is certain that nothing can " be laid to his charge so repugnant to the regula- " tions of the Congress, as the conduct of those " people who in an arbitrary and hostile manner " forced him from his house, aud have kept him now "four weeks a prisoner without any means or pros - " pe…

3 We are not insensible of the fact that Hinman, in his Historical Collections of the part sustained by Connecticut during the War of the Revolution, {page 548,) stated that Samuel Seabury "brought his petition on the "20th day of December, T77o',* to the General Assembly of Connecticut, " then sitting at New Haven ; " and, further, {page 551,) that " the peti- " tion, in the Assembly, was ref…

Seabury addressed his Memorial " To "the Honorable the General Assembly * * * now sitting in New " Haven, in said Colony, by special Order of his Honor, the Governor," (vide page 136, ante.) But the Journal of that Special Session, called by the Governor, and sitting at New Haven, shows " the General Assembly " was adjourned by Proclamation, on the 14th day of December, 1775 ; " and that the…

On the contrary, it is evident that his captors had become tired, since they found that an able and courageous prisoner, such as Samuel Seabury was, was not likely to be useful to either the general cause of the Rebellion or to those who held him ; and, therefore, without any official action which has been recorded, either by the official pens or by the traditional stylus of history -- just…

He reached Westchester, on his return, on the second of January, 1776 ; ' but his private affairs were very much disturbed; 3 his School, on which he largely depended for the payment of his debts and for the more comfortable support of his family, was broken up ; 4 his present means were very limited -- the expense of his month's confinement, in the hands of the banditti, had amounted to the v…

that he was unable to discharge his official duties with propriety and accuracy ; 6 he and his family were subjected to constant annoyances and insults ; ' his house was occupied, soon after, by a Company of Cavalry, who consumed or destroyed all the products of his Glebe, on which, to a considerable extent, his family was made dependent ; 8 he was thus made entirely dependent for support on…

On the fourth of December, 1775, also during the period between the dissolution of the first and the organization of the second of the series of the Provincial Congresses, the Governor of the Colony, William Tryon, from his shelter, on board the ship Dutchess of Gordon, lying in the harbor of the City of New York, evidently and reasonably encouraged by the backwardness of the Deputies to the …

Samuel Seabury, the Committee of Safety, Ave of the Westcheater-county members being present, directed Colonel Joseph Drake, forthwith, to remove him from his home to the house of Colonel John Brinckerhoff, at Fishkill, to remain there till the further order of the Convention or the Committee of Safety ; and that he be not permitted to leave the farm of the said Colonel Brinckerhoff, except in …

It was written in a spirit of kindness and regard for the welfare of the country, probably as a feeler, and certainly after consultation with some of the leaders of the Rebellion ; and it was well-calculated to lead the revolutionary portions of the Colonists back to their duty and to peace, in which it appears to have been quite effective -- ''several of the Delegates" [in the Provincial Co…

It was not, then, generally known, but the revelations made by the publication of the records of that period have recently shown, that that letter was introductory to a movement toward a peaceful solution of the political troubles of the Colonies, which, if the letter should be well-received, the very able family of Smith, who had been among the originators and most earnest promoters of the R…

" I take this public Manner to signify to the Inhabitants of this Prov- " ince, that his Majesty has been graciously pleased to grant me his " Boyal Permission to withdraw from the Government ; and at the same " Time to assure them of my Readiness to perform ever Service in my " Power, to promote the common Felicity. If I am excluded from " every Hope of being any Ways instrumental towards th…

" I owe it to my Affection to this Colony, to declare my wish, that " some Measure may be speedily adopted for this purpose ; as I feel an " extreme Degree of Anxiety, in being Witness to the growing Calamities " of this Country, without the Power to alleviate them: Calamities " that must increase, while so many of the Inhabitants withhold their " Allegiance from their Sovereign, and their Ob…

He had been associated with William Livingston and John Morin Scott, in the historically famous "triumvirate." He had professed to approve the usurpations of legislative authority and other questionable doings of the Continental Congress of 1774 ; and he is known to have been an outside adviser of the factious minority of the General Assembly, with whom and with whose inconsistency of action …

He was, also, at the same time that he was thus masquerading as a confidante and an adviser of those who were leading the Rebellion and as a sympathiser with and promoter of the Rebellion itself, a Member of the Colonial Council of the King; an intimate friend and confidential adviser of the Governor of the Colony, William Tryon -- whose leanings toward the pretensions of the Livingston famil…

There was some action, in the Provincial Congress, on collateral subjects; but it was not until a much later period that that body was dissolved -- on the fourth of November, either because of the absence of a quorum or for some other reason, no record of a formal adjournment having been made, the Provincial Congress ceased to exist ; and the works which it had done as well as its own exis…

Whatever may have been the form and character of the document, it is evident, however, that such an Ordinance was really adopted and promulgated,' and that, agreeably to its provisions, on the seventh of November, a meeting was held at the White Plains, for the election of Delegates from the County of Westchester, to the' coming Congress. 3 It is not stated in what manner nor by whom the el…

1 In the Journal of the Provincial Congress, of the sixteenth of October, it is said the Report was made "on the eighth of Jwfy last ;" in the Journal of that body, of the eighteenth of October, it is said the Report was made "on the eighth of June last ;" and in a memorandum appended to the Journal of that body, of the nineteenth of October, stating that the Report was "wanted," it is said, a…

" We the Committee for the County of Westchester do humbly certify " that at the Election of delegates to represent the said County in the " Next Provincial Congress to be held at New York the 14"> instant, " which was this day held at the Court House of the said County, Colonel "Lewis Graham, Stephen Ward, EBq., Col. Joseph Drake, Robert Graliam, " Esq., John Thomas, Jun' Esq., Mr. William P…

Graham, Stephen Ward, Esq., Colonel Joseph Drake, Robert Graham, Esq., John Thomas, Junior, Esq., William Paulding, Major Ebenezer Lockwood, Colonel Pierre Van Cortlandt, and Colonel Gilbert Drake* were elected; and that any three of these should have authority to represent Westchester-county in the coming Provincial Congress -- Gouverneur Morris, James Van Cortlandt, Philip Van Cortlandt, J…

They amused themselves by dictating letters to the Committees of the faltering Counties, urging the attendance of their several Delegations, " in order that the business of the great cause " we are engaged in may be no longer delayed or "'neglected." 5 Threats were made, in some instances, that " the Continental Congress'' might "find " it necessary, for the public service and for the want of …

*It will be seen that eight of the nine Delegates thus elected carried titles with their names-- the terms "Esq." and "Mr." at that time, having recognized places in the order of rank-- and that only one of the nine, William Paulding, was low enough, in the social rank, to be a plain, untitled mam. 'These words, taken from the letter sent to the Delegates-elect of Kings-county, on the twenty…

" a Convention of the Deputies is absolutely necessary, ■' with the utmost despatch." To these pressing words, the following threat was appended : " But if, after " such repeated applications to your County, to be in " Congress, by their Deputies, if you continue to ne- " gleet a measure so necessary for your reputation and " safety, you must not complain if the Congress de- " termine upon …

1 Letter to the Committee of Orange-comity, " New- York, December 1st, "1775." 2 Letter from Paul Mieheau to Robert Benson, " Kichmonb-county, De- "ceraber 1st, 1775." . » " The evil consequences that will attend the not having a Provincial " Congress to determine on the measures necessary to be adopted and " carried into execution, at this unhappy crisis, are more easily con- " ceived than…

Israel Putnam was too highly appraised for the Boyal shambles, and so remained in the market, until, on the demand of the Livingstons, he was placed where he could do no further harm. The greater success of Benjamin Pratt, of Boston, and, subsequently, that of Daniel Horsmauden, in the race for the place of Chief Justice of the Colony of New York, when James De Lancey died, added fresh bitte…

On the first of December, competent Delegations appeared from the five Counties of New York, Albany, Westchester, Ulster, and Suffolk, with insufficient Delegations from Kings and Duchess, and no portions of such Delegations from Richmond, Queens, Orange, Tryon, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Charlotte-counties ; and, consistently with usage and the Rules of the preceding Congress, " the Represen…

W. Livingston, Captain in Fanning's King's American Regiment, were not the better exponents of the real opinions of that office-seeking family of Livingstons ; and who can doubt, with the roster of subsequent office holding Livingstons before hiin, that much of additional influence, in favor of the Home Government, might have been secured from that family and its adherents, had that Governmen…

What was thus called a Provincial Congress, elected Colonel Nathaniel Woodhull, of the County of Suffolk, to be its President ; and John McKesson and Robert Benson, the Secretaries of the former Provincial Congress, were elected Secretaries of that. 2 It assembled, day by day, until the twenty-second of December, when it took a recess, leaving a Committee of Safety to discharge some of the dut…

Peter Clowes was said to have represented "Goshen Precinct in Orange- " county ; " but the Credentials which were filed from Orange-county declared that two Delegates should be required to represent that County ; and that only when one such Delegate should appear in the Congress from "the North side of the Mountains" [the Highlands] and one from the " South side " of those Highlands -- Orange …

'•> Journal of the Provincial Congress, " Die Sabhati, 9 ho., A.M., March "10th, 1776." "as well to the United Colonies, in general, as to this, " Colony, in particular, rendering it necessary for a " speedy meeting of the Provincial Congress of this "Colony, the Committee of Safety, therefore, ordered Circular Letters to be sent to all the mem- "bers, requesting their attendance, in Provinc…

6 That old story of the dilatoriness of the country members, even in the face of the most pressing necessities and of the most urgent calls, certainly confirm the reports that the great body of the Colonists, especially that of the country-people was lukewarm and indifferent, if they were not positively unfriendly, to the Rebellion. If the leaders among the disaffected, and surely no others we…

There is no record of a formal adjournment ; and it looks very much as if the end of this Congress was like its beginning, without arquorum. The Committee of Safety to General Schuyler, " In Committee of "Safety, New York, 17th Jany., 1776," and General Schuyler's reply, " Albany, January 26, 1776 ;" Journal of the Committee of Safety, " 4 ho., "P.M., Feb. 10, 1776 ;" etc. 10 The action of t…

11 " We would beg leave to mention it as necessary to employ as many " of the Carpenters of this City, as possible " [in the construction of batteaux, for the Northern Army] " to prevent theln and their families "from starving by means of the staguation of business, which is more "severely felt in this City than in any other part of the Province," (The Committee of Safety to General Schuyler,…

their troubles, the troops from Connecticut, who had been unnecessarily brought to the City of New York -- " the movement seemed to have for its end to coerce " rather than to defend New York ' " -- who were unemployed, endeavored to make additions to their military pay, by underbidding the local mechanics, for work to be done, in that City : 2 and the Provincial Congress was compelled to see…

2 " The Eegiment here, from Connecticut, can turn out many Carpen- " tera, who consent to work upon much more reasonable terms than the "artificers of this City. It would, I imagine, be worth while to pro- " vide, if possible, a sufficient number of tools : when the present work 1 ' is done, these tools cannot be considered an idle purchase : they will " always be useful," {General Charles Le…

s Journal of the Committee of Safety, "Die Sabbati, 3 ho., P.M., Feby. 3, "1776 j" the same, "Die Veneris, 10 ho., A.M., Feb. 9, 1776;" Journal of the Provincial Congress, " Die Veneris, 4 ho., P.M., March 8, 1776." ' Monies were also " advanced to the distressed wives and friends of sun- " dry soldiers, now in Canada, in the service of the united Colonies," (Journal of tlie Provincial Congres…

" This City is in Terror and confusion : One half of its inhabitants " have withdrawn with their effects, hundreds without the means to "support their families, 1 ' (Governor Tryon to the Earl of Dartmouth, "Ship Dutchess or Gordon off New York 8 th Feby 1776.") See, also, the Order of the Provincial Congress to the male Refugees, to return to the City-- Journal of the Provincial Congress, "D…

Indeed, the extent and character of the sympathy with the Rebellion, as a matter of principle, which prevailed among the Colonists, generally, may be seen, very clearly defined, in their hesitation ti take the field in support of it, even where no enemy was and where none was expected, 10 and in their precision of movements, homeward, when the terms of service of those who had been induced …

10 In Orange-county, "none but the lowerclass of mankind will enlist; "and these were conceived not to be the men to be depended on," (Elihu Marvin, Chairman, to the Provincial Congress, "In County Com- "mittee, Oxford, Feb. 15, 1776.") In Duchess-county, enlistments could be made only on the stipulation that the men thus enlisted should not be required to do service outside of the Colony of …

12 Journal of the Provincial Congress, " Die Jovis, 3 ho., P.M., December "14, 1775 ;" tlie same, "Die Veneris, 10 ho., A.M., Deer. 15, 1775 ;" tlie same, "Die Mercurii, 10 ho., A.M., Feb. 21, 1776;" tlie same, "Die " Luna.', 3 ho., P.M., March 4, 1776 ; " the same, " Die Mercurii, 10 ho., "A.M., March 13, 1776 ;" Journal of the Committee of Safety, "4 ho., "P.M., Feb. 10, 1776;" the same, "D…

The local Committees, sometimes, consequentially assumed to interrupt their traffic ; * and the Committee of Safety, in order to prevent "sundry persons from Connecticut" from purchasing, for the evident purpose of forestalling the market, "requested the Committee of the County " of Westchester to take effectual means to prevent " the sale and transportation of any barrelled Beef " or Pork …

The same local terrorism which had prevailed, throughout the County, under the auspices of the former Provincial Congress, was continued, with the sanction of this; 3 numbers of the inhabitants of the County were seized, only on information secretly conveyed by unseen accusers, and cast into prison, without a hearing ; 4 and some of them were severely the period now under examination, prove…

Thomas Merritt was arrested and taken before the Committee of Safety, in the City of New York, "on information of persons from "Westchester-county, that he had declared he had seen people casting ''great quantities of Bullets, to kill the Whigs; and that he knew "where great quantities of those Bullets were"-- a trumped-up charge, which was so entirely transparent that, after his accusers and…

Godfrey Haines, Bartholomew Haines, Isaac Gedney, and -- -- Palmer, .all of them of Rye or Mamaroneck, are already known to the reader, in the sad story of the Sloop Polly and Ann, {page 119, ante ;) and James and William Lounaberry ; Isaac, John, and Joshua Gedney ; John Fowler ; Isaac and Peter Valentine ; Isaac, Joseph, and Joshua Purdy ; William Armstrong ; William Sutton ; John Flood ; J…

The opening of the new year -- the exact date does not appear, if it was ever definitely known -- witnessed a transaction by which the lower portion of the County of Westchester, especially the Towns of Mamaroneck, Eastchester, Westchester, and Yonkers, was greatly disturbed ; and yet it was an occurrence rested in connection with spiking of the Cannon, near Kingsbridge, of which more will …

Colonel Waterbury, who accompanied General Lee, through Westchester-county, acknowledged his possession of thirty Guns, two pairs of Holsters, nine Cutlasses, and three Pistols -- how many more he had seized, and retained or sent back into Connecticut, are now unknown ; and no record was taken of the names of those who had been thug plundered. They must have been taken, however, on the line of…

9 " Resolved and Ordered, That Colonel Joseph Drake and Colonel " Thomas Thomas, of Westchester-county, do draft out of their Regiments "two hundred men, in the following proportions, to wit: Two Compa- " nies of sixty-five Privates each, besides the Captains and other inferior " Officers, out of Colonel Joseph Drake's Regiment ; and one Company "of Bixty-five Privates, with the Captain and o…

Colonel Samuel Drake's Regiment, referred to in this Order, was the skeleton Regiment of Westchester-county Minute-men, which whs then in the Continental Service, and posted at Hoern's Hook, on the Island of Manhattan, at the mouth of the Harlem-river, and opposite to Hell-gate, where was one of the passes to Long Island. We have not found any record of the three Companies which were thus dr…

It is not clear what good was expected to be derived from those movements of the guns ; but it is very clear that, before the close of the year 1775, between three and four hundred Cannon, of all calibres, grades, and conditions -- some of them good and serviceable ; others, less valuable and less useful ; the greater number, honeycombed and worthless, unless for old iron ; and all of them, un…

2 " While this immaculate General " [Cliarles Lee,] " had the command " in New York, about 200 pieces of heavy cannon which were mounted "in Fort George and upon the Battery, were forcibly taken away by " his orders, and lodged upon the Common," [the Parh,\ "facing his " Quarters. But, lost upon the arrival of the British Army, they " should be retaken, he ordered them to be carried up to Kin…

" I counted two hundred and eighty pieces of Cannon, from twenty- " four to three poundera, at Kingsbridge, which the Committee had se- " cured for the use of the Colonies," {Doctor Benjamin Church's treasonable letter, intercepted in July, 1775.) ^Stephen Ward to the Provincial Congress, " March 6, 1776." * Journal of the Committee of Safety, " Die Mercurii, 10 ho., A.M., "Jany. .11,1776." …

Among those who were thus selected to face the ordeal of that Committee, in which the great professional experience of John Morin Scott was combined with the savage coldness of Alexander McDougal and John Brasher, were John Fowler, Peter Valentine, William Lounsberry, James Lounsberry, Joseph Purdy, William Armstrong, William Sutton, John Flood, Isaac Purdy, John Gedney, John Haines, Joshua G…

On the thirty-first of January, 1776, the Committee of Safety directed Jacamiah Allen to remove those of the guns which were near Kingsbridge, as well as those which were near John Williams's, "to the " larger parcel at Valentine's, so as to have them all " brought together, for the greater convenience of "guarding them and drilling out the spikes;" and/ at the same time, the Committee agre…

On the twenty-second of January, one of the Independent Companies of the City of New York, 1 probably ,( The Bbc-WN Btjffs," commanded by Captain Jonathan Blake, 2 was ordered into the service of the Colony, for the protection of the guns ; but a draft was subsequently made from the Minute-men of the County, to discharge that service, 3 a Captain, a Lieutenant, two Sergeants, a Corporal, fourt…

1 The Committee of Safety to Lieutenant-colonel Graham, " In Commit- "teb of Safety, New-York, Jany. 22, 1776." 2 Compare Captain Jonathan Blake's letter to the Committee of Safety "Head Quarters in Westchester, Jany. 31, 1776," with the Roster of Colonel Maloom's Regiment, -- Historical Manuscripts relating to the War of the Revolution, in the Secretary of State's Office, Alhany : Military …

It will he remembered that James Varian, the favored commander of the Guard, in this instance, with eighteeen others, had been constituted a full-fledged Company of Westchester-county Minute-men. on the fourteenth of February preceding {vide pages 108, 109, ante;) and it will be Been, from that letter which has been quoted, how soon and in what manner those nineteen Westchester-county "patriot…

ings per week ; and, of course, Barclay was superseded and the coveted job was given to the last comer. 8 Very reasonably, Barclay complained to the Congress, and made a counter-offer which was more favorable than the offer on which Allen had been employed; and, of course, the latter was ousted, leaving him in possession 9 -- an illustration of what material the newcreated controlling power,…

In the prosecution of the duties to which General Lee had been thus assigned -- in his enlistment of men into the service of the Continent ; in his appointment of the ruffian, Isaac Sears, to a high military office ; in the barbarities inflicted on the inhabitants of Queens-county, by his authorized representative, Sears ; in his haughty disregard of the local authorities, legal or revolution…

It is not within the purposes of this publication, however, to take more than a passing notice s Journal of the Committee of Safety, "Die Luna;, 4 ho., P.M., March "18, 1776;" and the same, "Die Martis, 4 ho., P.M., March 19, 1776." » Journal of the CommUlee of Safety, " Die Sabbati, A.M., March 23, "1776." "> General Washington to the President of Congress, " Cambridge, 4 Janu- "ary, 1776;"…

Notwithstanding, within the preceding six or seven weeks, the farmers who lived along or near the line of the Post-road had been visited by Sears and his gang of Connecticut banditti, both on their way to the City of New York and on their return, thence, to Connecticut, by whom, on each occasion, they had been ruthlessly plundered, 1 they were again visited, during that march of Connecticut-…

Indeed, notwithstanding the recent visitation of his ruffianly countrymen to each of these peaceful families and the reckless depredations of those cowardly banditti, Colonel Waterbury, who commanded the Regiment whom General Lee had mustered into the Continental service -- himself, as was subsequently seen and heard, in the City of New York, as fine a specimen of the same class as was need…

An amusing instance of the consequential airs assumed by the petty local Town-committees, in Westchester-county, in whom had been vested such extraordinary powers over the persons and properties of those who lived within the several Towns in which 1 Vide pages 129, 132, ante. « The associations and conduct of Colonel Waterbury, while he was in the City of New York, to say nothing of his acknow…

those Committees were respectively located, was seen in the action of '' the Committee of Observation for " the united Town of Bedford and Precinct of Pound- " ridge and Salem, in Westchester," on the tenth of January, 1776, in which that pompous body, " con- " ceiving that bad consequences do arise to this distressed country from supplying the markets, at New " York, on supposition that the…

In obedience to that local law, it appears that Jonathan Booth, a drover, while on his way to New York with a drove of Cattle, was detained at Bedford, by the Committee of that Town; but, personally, he evidently pushed forward to the City of New York ; and, on the twenty-fifth of January, 1776, he laid the subject belore the Committee of Safety, which was then in session, and solicited its m…

Very promptly, that body took the subject into consideration; and, without much, if any, discussion, the Committee "came to a "Resolution," which was delivered to the anxious drover, for his comfort and relief -- the Committee of Safety was not inclined to concur in the questionable theory of "patriotic'' economy which was maintained by its subordinate Committee in Bedford; and, after havi…

4 Holt's New-York Journal, No. 1725, New Yobk, Thursday, January 25, 1776; Journal of the Committee of Safety, "Die Jovis, 10 ho., A.M. " Jany. 25, 1776." WESTCHESTEE COUNTY. "service against the Liberties of America; nor in "such case any longer than until such Committees " respectively shall, in c.ases where such proof shall "have been made, have duly certified this Committee " or the Pro…

In the latter instance, the obstructed drover returned to Newtown ; procured a Certificate from the Committee of that Town, declaring that he "had "lately served his country as a faithful friend and "soldier in the northern Army, under General Schuy- "ler; that he had suffered by the stoppage of his "Cattle, at Bedford, on the way to the New- York " market ; that he is the owner of the said …

"Besolved and Ordered, That no obstruction " whatsoever be given to any person or persons in " passing and re-passing through any of the Counties " in this Colony, with fat Cattle, Sheep, Hogs, or any " kind of Provisions, for the purpose of supplying the " inhabitants of the said City of New-York or the " Continental Army, in and near the said City, unless "such person or persons shall hav…

The facts are thus related in the official records of the Committee of Safety ; 3 and the reader may judge therefrom, something concerning the animus of the Committee of Bedford, when, on the second occasion, it interfered with the disposition of the products of Connecticut, within the Colony of New York, while the disposition of the products of farms in Bedford and its vicinity, in Connec…

"'Whereas the Continental Congress, by their " 'Resolution of the first day of November last, have " ' resolved that no produce of the United Colonies "'be exported, except from Colony to Colony under " ' the directions of the Committees of Inspection and " ' Observation, and except from one part to the other " ' of the same Colony, before the first day of March " 'next, without the permiss…

'*' Resolved, That the Committee of the County " ' of Westchester be requested to take effectual " ' means to prevent the sale and transportation of "'any barrelled Beef or Pork out of Westchester- '" county, to any person or persons residing out of " ' this Colony, until the further order of the Provin- " ' cial Congress or of the Committee of Safety of this " ' Colony.' " A draft of a le…

We ap- " ' prehend that such Provisions will be wanted for "'the use of the Continental Army in this Colony, " ' and that the service may possibly suffer if all the " ' barrelled Provisions are taken out of the Colony. " ' We therefore request you to take the most effectual " ' measures to carry the enclosed Resolution into exe- " ' cution. " ' We are, respectfully, Gentlemen, " ' Your ver…

At the same time, as has been seen, the surplus products of the farms in Connecticut were brought into the Colony, in open disregard of the provisions of that Resolution of the Continental Congress which was used as the warrant for the prohibition of the reciprocal trade of Westchester-county with Connecticut ; and the market of New York, for nothing else than theproducts of the Colony of New…

Can any one say, honestly, that those who made those enactments, purely in the interest of the farmers of Connecticut, at the expense of those of Westchestercounty, notwithstanding they were unquestionably " patriotic," were anything else than corrupt legislators and roguish, dishonest men ? Will not those who know the character of Gilbert Drake, before and during and after the War, entirely u…

The Contractor encountered so much of trouble from these interfering causes, that he was constrained to seek the interposition of the Committee of Safety ; and, on the twentieth of March, that Committee, responsive to the Contractor's complaint, ordered "that " the respective Committees of the Counties of West- " Chester and Duchess permit Mr. Abraham Living- " ston to export Provisions of a…

Early in January, 1776, while the conservatism ot the inhabitants of Queens-county was occupying the attention of the leaders of the Eebellion ; while the inhabitants of that County, because of their decided and outspoken opposition to the Rebellion and to the various Committees and Congresses which the Eebellion had called into existence, were subjected, by the Provincial Congress, to a se…

and New Jersey, the latter accompanied by amateur banditti from New York City, the leaders of the Rebellion in Westchester-county, also, were anxious to join in the crusade of " patriotism," against their neighbors on the other side of the Sound -- they had had practise in such a service as that, in the work of harrying their conservative neighbors, in Westchestercounty; they knew that it was…

The Committee of West Chester County hav- "ing seen in the public prints that many of the " Inhabitants of Queens County are thrown out of the " Protection of the Provincial Congress ; and having " been informed that they are Arming in their De- " fence, are greatly alarmed at their Conduct, and beg " leave to assure your honorable House, that the "Friends of Liberty in this County are will…

As the original letter remained among the papers of the Military Committee of the Provincial Congress and has been preserved, to this day, among the multitude of other inedited and unexplained manuscripts, in the office of the Secretary of State, at Albany, it is very evident that it was duly referred to that Committee; that the unholy desires of the " pat- " riots " of Westchester-county, to …

toms in weakness, the aggregate of their strength having been less than forty men ; and, on the thirteenth of that month, these assembled at Wilsey Dusenberry's, in "Harrison's Precinct," and arranged themselves into a single Troop, electing their Officers, and duly reporting their doings to the Provincial Congress. The following is the official report of the Election of its Officers, made by…

Early in February, 1776, General Lee, then chief in command, in the City of New York, informed the Committee of Safety, then in session, that he was " of opinion that the two Connecticut Regiments " and Lord Stirling's would not be sufficient for the " services he will have to perform ; and he desired to " know whether it would be agreeable to the Com- " mittee that he should send to Pennsy…

2 Historical Manuscripts, etc. : Military Returns, xxvii., 254. 'Journal of tlie Provincial Congress, " Die Mercurii, P.M , Peb. 21, "1776." < Journal of the Committee of Safety, "Die Veneris, 10 ho., A.M., Feb. "9, 1776." WESTCHESTER COUNTY. [February 9, 1776] a letter was addressed to Colonel Samuel Drake, ordering the skeleton Regiment of Westchester-county Minute-men into active service…

Take care that your men have their knap- " sacks and Blankets with them & provisiens for their " march. -- The Quartermaster ought by all means to " come with the Regiment. " It is not doubted but you will give orders that "your Troops observe the greatest regularity in their " march, and if you order the several Companies to " proceed " [precede f] " each other a few miles in their ' marc…

As Captaiu Varian and his eighteen companions, facetiously regarded as one of the Companies of Minute-men of which Colonel Drake's Regiment was subsequently composed, were, then, unknown as soldiers, 2 that Regiment could not have possibly mustered more than two Companies commanded, respectively, by Captains Slason and Seely 3 -- that commanded by Captain Gray was not organized until six day…

entered the Continental service, and after its reinforcement had joined it, it numbered not more than a hundred and fifty men ; 6 and about two weeks subsequently, little more than a month after it had been mustered in, it was made ridiculous and the propensity to office-holding among " the friends of Liberty," in Westchester-county, was forcibly illustrated by the following paragraph, which a…

" As Colonel Drake's Regiment of Minute-men "consists of one hundred and eleven private men, " present, and yet have no less than four Field "Officers, two Captains, and thirteen other Commis- "sioned Officers, and twenty Non-commissioned " Officers, it is unreasonable to put the Continent to "the enormous expense of maintaining so many " Officers for the use of so few men ; and it is there…

»i Captain Gray's Company probably marched from Bedford, on the sixteenth of February, agreeably to the promise that it should do so ; and on the twenty-ninth of the same month, General Lee said of the Regiment and of a Company detached from another Regiment, together forming the garrison at Hoern's Hook, " Drake's Regiment of Minute- " Men and one more Company, (in all about two hundred,) ar…

but it was composed of men of notorious poverty and meanness, 1 by no means representative men of the yeomanry of Westchester-county ; " many of them " were, " destitute of " arms " 2 and, therefore, useless for soldiers ; and it appears that, as such characters were apt to be, they were recklessly destructive of the private property of those who were richer than they, not sparing, even, th…

On the nineteenth of January, 1776, the Continental Congress ordered four Battalions to be raised for the defence of the Colony of New York ; 5 and, on the twenty-sixth of the same month, the experiment of starting the work of enlistment, for those four Battalions, by jobbing out the Offices which would be required, amorig the several Counties, with invitations for estimates of the numbers of …

On the following day, [January 27, 1776,] the Committee of Safety issued its Instructions for the Recruiting Officers who should be employed in the enlistment of men for the service referred to, in that new Order -- the pay of the Privates was to be five dollars per month ; each was to receive, as a bounty, a felt hat, a pair of yarn stockings, a pair of shoes, and, if they could be procured,…

There appears to have been great backwardness in enlisting, however -- those who were expected to step into the ranks and to do the fatigue duty and the fighting, while the more favored ones of the Rebellion had occupied all the offices, in advance, and were predestinated to enjoy all that was comfortable and to issue all the orders and to be implicitly obeyed, were slow in their responses ;…

As that Circular Letter is peculiarly interesting, in its details of the terms of enlistment into the Continental Army of 1776, a place may properly be found for it, in these pages. It was in the following words : " In Provincial Congress, " New- York, Feb. 18, 1776. "Sir: " The Congress having determined that your Coun- " ty shall have the opportunity of raising [two] Com- "panies in the f…

"of the Continental Congress, for the defence of this " Colony, have resolved that blank Warrants for the "Officers of the same shall be sent to your Com- " mittee. "You will observe by the enclosed Resolves that " you are restrained in the appointments to give the " preference to such persons as have served their Coun- " try in the last Campaign ; but it is not, by any " means, the design…

" It is expected that each man furnishes himself " with a good gun and bayonet, tomahawk, knapsack " or haversack, and two bills. But those who are not " able to furnish themselves with these arms and accoutrements will be supplied at the public expense, "for the payment of which small stoppages will be " made out of their monthly pay, till the whole are "paid for; then they are to remain th…

Notwithstanding all the inducements which the Provincial Congress and its various office-seeking recruiting agents could offer, however, the staid and conservative farmers of Westchester-county were slow to enlist into the Continental service -- there had been much discontentment among those who were in the service, under Colonel Holmes, in the preceding year ; 2 and on the return of those m…

The prospect for the four Battalions, as far as Westchester-county was concerned in it, was not promising ; and the Committee of Safety was already entertaining the proposal to call back the Warrants which had been sent into the County, more than two months previously, when a letter was received by that body, from Gilbert Drake, the Chairman of the Committee of the Couuty, stating that one,…

Subsequently, it was seen that the men whom Ezekial Hyatt, or Haight, or Hait -- for by each of these several names that " patriotic " gentleman was known, at different times -- had enlisted into his Company had been entrapped, by false representations ; * and the revelations of unopened records of that period, more recently opened, reveal the fact that Commissions had already been issued, b…

8 Gilbert Drake to " Mr. Marin Scolt," " April the 24th, 1776 ; " Journal of the Committee of Safely, " Die Jovis, 10 ho., A.M., April 25, 1776." * A List of the Officer^ names in New York Troops, eh.: Col. McDongaVs Regiment. (5). -- Historical Manuscripts, etc. . Military Committee, XXV., 488. MiUta*-!/ Returns, xxvii., 88. Military Returns, xxvii., 96. Military Returns, xxvii., 92. Mili…

and his command were accepted by the Committee of Safety, as one of the two Companies required from Westchester-county ; l and it subsequently constituted the Fifth Company of the First Regiment of the New York Line, commanded by Colonel Alexander Mc- Dougal. 2 It was said of the Company, afterwards, that the Captain " has deceived the Convention " [the Provincial Congress f\ " in Enlisting…

Two days after Ezekiel Hyatt, through the Chairman of the Committee of Westchester-county, had secured a place for himself and his command, in the New York Line of the Continental Army, [April 27, 1776,] Cornelius Steenrod appeared, personally, before the Committee of Safety, in the City of New York, and informed that Committee " that he can enlist a "complete Company of men for the Continen…

parties ; and finally with the Committee of Westchester-county-- each scheme having been an improvement on those which had preceded it -- for the disposition of the Company, just as schemes were formed for tho promotion of personal interests of Officers, and just as Enlisted Men were trucked and bartered into Regiments which were foreign to them for the promotion of those schemes, in another …

He was peculiarly anxious to obtain an office, no matter what, nor on what terms ; I2 he was particularly zealous in his desire that he might administer testoaths to his neighbors ; 13 and it is more than probable that he was, in fact, a "friend of the Government," in disguise, notwithstanding all his official disclaimers." He had been in command of one of the skeleton Companies of Minute-men …

He evidently completed his Company, in season to take a place, as the second Company of the apportionment to Westchester-county, in the First Regiment of the New York Line, in the Continental Army of 1776, commanded by Colonel Alexander McDougal, of which it was the Sixth Company, Isaac Titus having been his First Lieutenant, Isaac Ruyckman, Junior, his Second Lieutenant, and Benjamin Jones h…

18 Cornelius Steenrod to " the Convention,"" without place or' date-- Jovjrnals of the Provincial Congress, ii., 147. "In June, 1776, Isaac Yonngs testified before the Committee on Conspiracies, of the Provincial Congress, that Thomas Vernon, that prisoner who made so much trouble, had informed him that one of tho Captains in McDougal's Regiment of Continentals, was a loyalist, in corresponden…

The similarity of that Company and its Officers and that commanded by Captain Hyatt and its Officers is singularly continued in the fact that the Second Lieutenant who was with Captain Steenrod when the Company was mustered into the Continental Service, was subsequently cashiered, 4 assuredly for conduct which was more than ordinarily bad ; and in the Report, concerning First Lieutenant Ti…

It will be seen, from the respective records of the fraudulent practices of Ezekiel Hyatt and Cornelius Steenrod and their respective associates, in their enlistment of men for their respective commands; from the records of the questionable manner in which their respective Companies were carried, without their consent, into a line of the Continental Service for which they were not enlisted ;…

« Recruiting Warrants were issued to him, on the tenth of March, 1776, and to Thomas Le Foy, on the twenty-eighth of the same month, for the Ninth Company of the First Regiment of the New York Line of the Continental Army of 1776; but the record says, also, "Captain Horton "and Officers' commissions not made out," (Recraitiug Warrants issued by the Convention to tlie First New York Continenta…

come down among the debris of that period, since it cannot be regarded as a crime that some of them, unbidden, in that era of disregard of law, helped themselves to the freedom, belonging to themselves, of which their Officers had fraudulently deprived them -- -it cannot be consistently pretended, by any one, that the Officers of those Companies were reasonably representative men of the great …

Among the multitude of requirements, made by General Lee, either on his own motion or at the prompting of those who pandered to his baser inclinations, and which were obsequiously obeyed by the Provincial Congress, was one, made early in March, 1.776, for " a Magazine of Provisions and Military ■' Stores, to be established in Westchester-county," the requisition being supplemented with a rec…

The proposed test of the quality of the Pork to be purchased was, however, not satisfactory to those who were manipulating the Congress, in the interest of the job; and, on the ninth of March, when that body resumed the consideration of the proposition, it was led to suppose that the Resolution which had been adopted, approving the same, was " imperfect, " inadequate to the end, and that th…

The whole subject had evidently been considered, informally, before ic was laid before the Congress -- in the expressive phrase of practical men,' it had been " cut and dried " -- and the Committee " speedily re- " turned and reported " a substitute for the original Resolution, which was more " perfect," more " ade- " quate to the en d," and less expensive, although it was also, less favora…

A Military Magazine established in the midst of a community who was hostile to those who gathered and established it, without ample provision for its protection, and depending, largely, if not entirely, for its safety, on the forbearance ol those among whom it was placed, was an anomaly in Military Science; but the farmers of Westchestercounty were not inclined to retaliate ; and those who w…

which had closed the foreign markets against the producers and which had monopolized the trade in favor of the local buyers and at their own prices, was then made manifest to all observers ; and the favored Deputies, who were the official buyers, and their personal friends were provided with an outlet, at favorable prices, not only for the surplus of their own products, but for those addition…

On the thirteenth of March, a letter was received from General Washington, expressing to " the Com- "' manding Officer of the American Forces, New " York," 2 the suspicions of the Commander-in-chief that the Royal Army which was then enclosed in Boston would soon be transferred to New York, and appealing to the Provincial Congress for its best efforts "to "prevent their forming a lodgment bef…

"Ordered, That Colonel Gilbert Drake repair " immediately to Westchester-county and purchase "twelve hundred barrels of the best Pork, and "have the same safely stored, agreeable to the "Resolves of this Congress, of the ninth day of " March instant ; that he take with him, from Netv- " York, a sworn Inspector and Repacker of Pork, to " inspect and re-pack the same ; and that he purchase "…

with him, among the sellers of Pork, who were not slow to take advantage of that circumstance, in advancing the prices of the goods; and, to a corresponding extent, intercepting, advantageously to themselves, the profits of those particular transactions which, but for their interference, would have fallen into his basket. The Provincial Congress had adjourned, leaving its Committee of Safety…

After due consideration of the subject, the Committee of Safety determined to limit the price to be paid for the Pork, leaving the rival buyers undisturbed, which was undoubtedly done for political reasons -- it would not have been prudent to have arrested the Deputation of a County, while it was so eagerly engaged in a still-hunt for some of the pickings which had been placed within its reach,…

On the first of April, 1776-- ample time having elapsed, since the two Orders were made, to enable all which could be done in the way of purchases and sales of Pork and Flour, to have been done, satisfactorily to those who were originally in the secret -- the Committee of Safety discovered what it regarded as a fact, that such a Military Magazine as General Lee had called for and which the P…

It required eight days for the Committee's letter and Order to reach the busy Deputies and to arrest their eager searches for Pork and Flour ; but on the eighth day, [April 9, 1776,] Colonel Drake reported that he, and John Thomas, Junior, and Major Lockwood, three of the migratory Deputies, had bought about one thousand barrels of the former and six hundred barrels of the latter ; 6 from wh…

The Westchester-county farmers of our own period, with their greater numbers and greater area of tillable ground, with their modern appliances of artificial manures and improved implements -- none of them, at that time, even hoped for -- and with all the improved facilities of transit and of transportation which they now possess, may reasonably hang their heads, in humiliation, on a comparis…

aggravations, since the want of the Arms of which they had been robbed would nothavebeenahindrance to any one who had desired to destroy a Powder-mill; and it shows, also, how unwise that revolutionary policy had been, which had tended not only to impair the industrial usefulness of such a community, at a time when the results of its agricultural and other industrial labors were most needed,…

On the following day, [March 14, 1776,] for the purpose of putting the City into a proper condition to sustain an attack, " all the male inhabitants, capable " of fatigue," were ordered to " be immediately em- " ployed on the fortifications of the City, and as well '' all the negro men in the City and County of New " York " were similarly ordered ; and, at the same time, the inhabitants of K…

Resolved and Ordered, That Colonel " Joseph Drake and Colonel Thomas Thomas, oi " Westchester-county, do draft out of their Regiments " two hundred men, in the following proportions, to "wit; Two Companies of sixty-five Privates each, "besides the Captains and other inferior Officers, out " of Colonel Joseph Drake's Regiment, and one Coui- " pany of sixty-five Privates, with the Captain and…

As what was called the Regiment of Westchestercounty Minute-men, commanded by Colonel Samuel Drake, 3 was then at Hoern"s Hook, opposite Hell-gate, it will be seen that Westchester-county was largely depended on ; but no record has been found which indicates which of the Companies of the Militia of that County were thus drafted and sent to throw up the defensive works within the City of New …

It appears, also, to have been resolutely and successfully opposed, at least as far as the limitation of the right of suffrage was included in its provisions; and its evidently radical supporters, after their defeat on that portion of the "plan," abandoned the project for an election by ballot. 5 The entire subject was then referred to a Committee, for further consideration ; and, on the afte…

Besides that almost unintelligible entry in the Journals of the Provincial Congress, no mention appears to have been made on the subject, if any thing further was done with it. It is probable, however, that an Election was ordered to be made for Deputies, on the third Tuesday, which was the sixteenth day, of April ; 1 and that the fourteenth day of May was designated for the meeting of the n…

It appears that, either by pre-determined limitation or otherwise, the term of service of that County Committee expired in May, 1776 ; and, in order that the succession of that body might be continued, notice to that effect having been given, on the sixteenth of April, 1776, "a Number " of the Freeholders and Inhabitants of Westchester- " county appeared at the Court House," and " chose "t…

1 The elections in the Counties of New York, Westchester, Duchess, Kings, Queens, Tryon, Ulster, and Orange were held on that day ; while Albany-county appears to have elected her Deputies on the 25th ; Suffolk, on the 18th ; Richmond-county, on the 23rd ; and Charlotte-county, on the 1st May. 'Journal of the Provincial Congress, "Die Martis, 10 ho., A.M., May "14, 1776." 'Journal of the Pro…

" Michael Hays, " Peter Lyon, " Jacob Purdy, " Andrew Sniffin, " Gilbert Palmer, "Caleb Merritt, Jun'. " Caleb Carpenter -- 7. For Bye. Samuel Townsend, Israel Seaman, Fred. Say, Samuel Lyon, Gilbert Lyon, John Thomas, Jun'-- 6. For Bedford, Elijah Hunter, John Woolsey, Titus Miller, Israel Lyon -- i. For Poundridge. Josh Lockwood-- 1 For Salem. Abijah Gilbert-- 1. For Cortlandts…

The day after the dissolution of the second Provincial Congress, [May 14, 1776,] was the day which had been appointed for the organization of the third of that series of Congresses. 6 There was, however, on that day and on the four succeeding days, an insufficient number of members of the several Deputations to form a quorum of the Counties ; but, on the fifth day, [May 18, 1776,] the Countie…

WESTCHE8TEE COUNTY. ing any recess, until the thirtieth of June, when, because of supposed danger, in the City of New York, it adjourned to meet at the White Plains, on the following Tuesday, [July 2, 1776] ; x but the Journals very clearly indicate that no such adjourned meeting was attempted -- the Deputies had more important business requiring their personal attention ; and the third Cong…

Bolton, {History of Westchester-cowity, original edition, ii., 359 ; the same, second edition, ii., 564,)said of the imaginary journey of the Deputies, from the City of New York to the White Plains, between the adjournment of the Congress and the day on which it was to be re-assembled, "The journey between New York and the Plains was per- " formed by the members on horseback, Pierre van Cortla…

Bolton has not named any authority for his statement, although he was not the flrat to print it, he must be regarded as authorially responsible for it ; and, therefore, it may be proper to say, further, that Pierre Van Cortlandt was not the President of the Congress, nor had he been such, at any time, General Woodhull having been elected its President, and John Haring, of Orange-county, occup…

The correspondence of John Adams is well filled with evidence of his corroct judgment of the real character of the earlier enactments of the Continental Congress ; but the Resolution which was introduced into that Congress, early in May, 1776, and adopted on the tenth of that month, and the Preamble to that Resolution, which was adopted on the fifteenth, recommending the adoption of new forms…

During the less than two months which intervened between the organization and the untimely dissolution of that third Provincial Congress, [May 18 tn June 30, 1776,] the Northern Army was effectually driven from Canada ; and all which had been promised and hoped for, in that very well planned, but premature and expensive, expedition, produced nothing else than disappointment and disaster, th…

In South Carolina, the superior bravery of Colonel Moultrie and his handful of Carolinians, even when hampered by the superior authority but inferior practical knowledge of General Lee, had secured lasting honor to himself and to his gallant command and renewed safety to his own country ; and "though not " of much magnitude, in itself, it was, like many "other successes attending the America…

else than themselves should do whatever fighting might become necessary; but, on the other hand, those who were expected to do the fatigue duty and to hazard their lives, had begun to see that the offices and the benefits to be derived from their expected labor and exposure were to be converted mainly to the benefit of others ; and their enthusiasm for " the "Eights of Man and of Englishmen…

A large body of Militia, as will be seen, hereafter, was ordered into the field, for the support of the Army, to be mustered in until the close of the year ; a " Flying Camp," so called, was ordered to be composed of ten thousand men from Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland; and, on every hand, were seen the active preparations, by an unwilling and bounty-bought or povertydriven Army, to se…

It were useless to pretend, with any respect for the truth, that the great body of the inhabitants of the Colonies was favorably inclined to or particularly interested in, a change in those who ruled them or in the manner of that rule, since it was perfectly evident that they would not be permitted to exercise any greater political authority nor to have their labors lessened nor their wants …

The desire for such a change was, also, sometimes promoted by the consciousness, among those whose consciences had not become charred by their hankering for offices, of that evident hypocrisy in pretending to an earnest loyalty toward a monarch against whom they were waging an open and recognized public War, with which the Committees and the Congresses of the Rebellion had continued to affr…

All these influences had culminated in the submission to the Continental Congress of a Resolution, "That "these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, " free and independent States, that they are absolved " from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that " all political connection between them and the State " of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dis- " solved. That it i…

Strong assurances were " also received from Long Island and the neighboring " parts of New Jersey, of the favorable disposition of "the people to the Royal Cause,'' it was said; and those who had been harried from their homes, and who had sought refuge in the swamps and thickets of the country, victims of the rapine and outrages of lawless and ruthless "patriots," their own countrymen, quit…

On the day after the King's forces came into the harbor, [June 30, 1776,] after it had provided for the removal " of all and singular the public papers and "money" which were then in the possession of its Secretary and its Treasurer, to the White Plains, the Provincial Congress was hastily adjourned to that place, as has been already stated, in order that it might escape from the possibly s…

The anxious Provincial Congress resolved, however, that it would re-assemble at the Court-house, at the White Plains, on the following Tuesday, the second of July, to resume its official business, which was thus interrupted by the appearance, in the distance, of danger ; and it resolved, also, that the next Provincial Congress should meet at the same place, on the succeeding Monday, the eigh…

1 Journal of the Provincial Outgrew, " DieMartis, P.M., May 28, 1776 ;" the same, "Die Jovis, 9 ho., A.M., May 30, 1776 ; " the same, " Die Martis, " 9 ho., A.M., June 4, 1776 ; " the same, " Die Jo™, 9 ho., A.M., June "6, 1776; "etc. 2 Journal of the Provincial Congress, "Die Luna;, 4 ho., P.M.. June 3, "1776 ; " the same, " Die Jovis, 9 ho., A.M., June 6, 1776 ;" the same, "Thursday mornin…

4 About the middle of June, 1776, mobs were raised by John Lasher, John and Joshua Hett Smith, Peter Van Zandt, and other leaders of the extreme revolutionary faction, in the dry of New York, by whom several citizens who were of the Opposition, but not of the Eebellion, were seized by these revolutionary "patriots," who placed them on "sharp "rails," and carried them on men's shoulders, around…

On the twelfth of June, in the afternoon, Generals Putnam and Mifflin, who bad evidently witnessed the outrages to which Elting alluded, " complained to the Provincial Congress of the riotous and disorderly " conduct of numbers of the inhabitants of this City, which hadledrhis " day to acts of violence towards some disaffected persons ; " but what had shocked Israel Putnam, by reaBon of its b…

To urge the warm friends of Liberty to de- " cency and good order, this Congress assures the public that effectiial " measures shall be taken to secure the enemies of American Liberty in " this Colony, and do require the good people of this City and Colony to " desist from all Riots, and leave the offenders against so good a cause to be " dealt with by the constitutional representatives i.f t…

and compelling the latter to seek safety in flight. 1 It assumed judicial functions, in putting some of its victims on " trial," before itself or a Committee of its members ; " sometimes it graciously absolved those whom it had seized on mere " informations ;" 8 and, occasionally, it honored a victim of a local Committee, by listening to an Appeal from the decision of that inferior tribunal,…

1 The Continental Congress having authorized the employment of Continental troops for such a purpose, a Regiment was sent to Hempstead, for the purpose of seizing those who were disaffected to the Rebellion. The proposed victims having been disarmed, by order of the Provincial Congress, during the Winter of 1775-'6, they had no means for their defense, and, therefore, they fled and hid themselve…

Numbers were taken ; some were wounded ; and a few were killed -- all that, too, on a peaceful, unarmed, passive community ; unable to defend itself, because it had been stripped of its arms ; in advance of any adverse movement ; and only to promote the individual purposes of a handful of ambitious and reckless men : all that, too, in the name of " Liberty " and the " Rights of Man." (Journalo…

3 The Prowncial Congress to the Committee of Queens-county, " In Provincial Congress, New- York, A.M., June 11, 1776 ; " Journal of the Provincial Congress, " Thursday morning, June 27, 1776 ; " the same, "Die Mercurii, 9 ho., A.M., June 5, 1776." 4 Journal of the Provincial Congress, "Saturday, P.M., June 1, 1776 ; " the same, "Die Martis, 9 ho., A.M., June 4, 1776 ;" the same, " Die Mer- " …

As might have been foreseen, in such an instance of pre-entertained partiality in the Appellate body, the decision which the General Committee had made in its own Case, was sustained by the Provincial Congress ; and the Appeal therefrom, of Thomas Harriot, was promptly dismissed. efforts to "work off" some portions of their stocks of the article ; but, of course, in such instances as Isaac S…

Sometime between Monday morning and Tuesday afternoon, [May 20, 21, 1776,] -- as no entry of its appointment was made on the Journals of the Provincial Congress, nothing is known concerning the time nor the circumstances of the appointment, unless from inference '--that body appointed a Committee " to con- " sider of the ways and means to prevent the dangers " to which this Colony is exposed …

See, also, the Provincial Congress to the Delegates in the Continental Congress, "In Provincial Congress, New York, July 28, 1775," and the " really anxious " reply of James Duane, John Alsop, John Jay, Robert R. Livingston, Junior, and Francis Lewis, " Philadelphia, 20th Sept. 1776 ; " General Washington to the Provincial Congress, " New- York, 13 May, 1776," enclosing a letter from Isaac Sear…

24, 1776,] when it was approved, not, however, without several very important omissions, if the record of the approved Eeport may be relied on. 1 In its amended form, the Eeport was in the following words : " Your Committee do report: That there is great " reason to believe that the enemies of American Lib- " erty have a general communication with each other "through this and part of the nei…

" That many ill-disposed people have lately resorted " unto, and a great number dwell in, the southern and " eastern parts of Queens-county ; that there are also " several ill-disposed persons in the City and County "of New York, and in Kings County, and in sundry " other parts of this Colony, many of whom will most " probably take up arms on the part of our foes, when- " ever they shall se…

" That the greater part of those who now hold Of- " flees and Commissions under the Crown, and many " others who are generally reputed inimical to Amer- " ican Liberty, will be liable to suffer injuries from "the resentment of the people, 2 and the Colony in " general exposed to great danger from the active ex- " ertions of those among us who are determined to " assist in the subjection of …

" Sundry other amendments " having been made therein," an attempt to commit the mutilated paper to its parent Committee, to re-model it, was rejected. It is evident, from the final entry on the subject, that other important changes had been made during a Bession of the Congress, on Thursday evening ; but the Journal of that Session makes no mention of any action on that subject ; and on Frid…

That upon and after " the apprehension of the said persons, such of them as " shall give good and sufficient security, on oath, and " otherwise, as the said Committee shall think proper, " that they will not be concerned in any measures " taken or to be taken against the United American " Colonies, or any or either of them, and that they " will discover all measures taken or to be taken " …

" That it be recommended to all the General County " Committees, in the several Counties in this Colony, " to apprehend all persons holding Military Commis- " sions under the King of Great Britain, and also all " such persons holding Civil Offices under the said " King, or, being possessed of influence in their re- " spective Counties, as are suspected of holding prin- " ciples inimical to …

All these, together with those who were especially obnoxious and all those whose social standing did not warrant the admission of them into the first class, were to be apprehended -- the more prominent by detachments of the Continental Army, the less prominent by the County Committee-- and "dealt with," after a "man- "ner" which was " prescribed for the conduct" of those under whose direct…

Although there is uo entry on .the Journal of the Provincial Congress which makes mention of the creation of such a Committee, it is very evident the Committee was appointed, with instructions "to report a " Law or ' set of Resolutions of this Congress, to " ' prevent the dangers to which this Colony is ex- "' posed by its internal enemies,'" since, on the twenty-eighth of May, such a Committ…

" and disaffected to the American cause and to per- "sons of equivocal character." There is not the slightest allusion to the origin of the Resolutions ; but it is very probable they proceeded from the Committee of which John Morin Scott was the mouthpiece, to whom allusion has been made in the preceding paragraph ; and, possibly, they maybe the Report therein referred to. Notwithstanding the…

" And whekeas, from sundry informations and " evidences exhibited to this Congress, it appears " that the enemies of American Liberty, in this and "the neighbouring Colonies, have a general com- " munication with each- other, by reason whereof " the influence of the British Ministry, however "feeble, is, in some measure, sustained, and the "minds of the people frequently alarmed and poi- "…

" And whekeas, from various reports and the best " intelligence which could be obtained from Europe, " as well as from the positive assertions of the dis- " affected throughout this and the neighbouring Col- " onies, there is great reason to expect that an hostile " armament will soon arrive in this Colony, whereby " it hath become highly expedient and necessary to " provide that the inhabi…

" And that the following persons, in the Counties '' aforesaid, and in the County of Westchester and " Kings-county, whose conduct has been represented " to this Congress as equally inimical with that of " the former, but who would probably appear on be- " ing summoned, be summoned by the said Committee " to appear before them, at such time and place as " they may appoint ; and, in default …

" Which said Committee are hereby authorized and " required impartially to inquire and determine " whether any, and which, of the said persons have " afforded aid or sustenance to the British Fleets or " Armies, contrary to the Resolutions of the Conti- " nental Congress or of the Provincial Congress or " Committee of Safety of this Colony, or been active " in dissuading any of the inhabita…

" Continental money, and endeavoured to prevent ita " currency, contrary to the Resolutions of the Conti- " nental Congress or Provincial Congress or Com- " mittee of Safety of this Colony ; or been concerned " or actually engaged in any schemes to defeat, retard, " or oppose the measures now pursuing by the United " Colonies, for their defence against the tyrannical " and cruel attacks of …

" That all such of the said persons as shall be " found by the said Committee to be innocent of the '' said offences be immediately discharged ; and that a " Certificate of such acquittal and of the true light " in which they may respectively appear to the said •' Committee, under the hands of the said Committee, " be given to them, the said several persons so acquit- " ted ; and that they …

" And with respect to all such of the said persons " as the Committee shall find guilty of all or any of " the said offences, the said Committee are hereby " authorized and required to commit to safe custody, " all such of them whose going at large would, in " their opinion, endanger the safety of the Colony or " the Liberties of America; and that they discharge " the remainder of them, on …

" And in case it should appear to the said Commit- " tee, inexpedient that any of the said persons should " continue to dwell at his usual place of residence, " that, then, they do assign to such person or persons " another place of residence, in this or one of the " neighbouring Colonies, and take his or their parole, " or word of honour, or, if they should not be deemed "sufficient, other…

"And whereas employing detachments of the " Militia of this Colony, in arresting the said persons, "will not only be expensive, but the assembling ol " them may alarm the suspicions of the said persons "and their adherents, and, thereby, tend to defeat "the design of these Kesolutions; and as the Con- " tinental troops quartered in and near the said three " Counties of New-York, Queens, and…

" And whereas there may be, and doubtless are, " in other Counties of this Colony, divers dangerous "persons at present unknown to this Congress: " Resolved, That it be recommended to the Com- "mittees of all Counties in this Colony, to be vigilant, '' and to use their utmost endeavours, from time to "lime, to discover and summon or apprehend them, "in like manner as herein before described…

"Resolved, therefore, That the said Commit- "tees of the different Towns and Districts in the " several Counties in this Colony be and they hereby "are authorized and required to cause all persons "whom they may esteem dangerous and disaffected to " appear before them, either by arrest or summons, as "the said Committees, in their discretion, may think " proper, and take from the said perso…

" And whereas there is, in this Colony, divers ' persons who, by reason of their holding Offices from ' the King of Great Britain, from their having neg- ' lected or refused to associate with their fellow citi- ' zens, for the defence of their common Rights, from ' their having never manifested, by their conduct, a ' zeal for and attachment to the American cause, or ' from their having main…

" In Kings-county. -- -Augustus Van Cortlandt and ' John Rapalje. "In Richmond-county. -- Benjamin Seaman and ' Christopher Billop. " In Queens-county. -- Gabriel Ludlow, Saml. Mar- ' tin, Thos. Jones, 1 Archd. Hamilton, David Colden, ' Richd. Colden, Geo. D. Ludlow, Whitehead Hicks, ' Saml. Clowes, Geo. Polliot, Saml. Doughty, Danl. ' Kissam, Gilbt. Van Wyck, John Willett, David ' Brooks…

" And also all such other persons of the like char- ' acter as the said Committee may think proper to be ' summoned by the said Committee, to appear before ' them, at such time and place as they shall appoint, ' then and there to show cause, if any they have, ' why they should be considered as friends to the ' American cause, and as of the number of those who ' are ready to risk their lives…

" And if, on the appearance and examination of ' the said persons, it shall appear to the satisfaction ' of the said Committee that they or any of them are ' friends to the American cause, that such of them ' whom they shall so adjudge to be friends, be forth- ; with discharged, and a Certificate thereof, under the hands of the said Committee, given them, and : their names forthwith reporte…

Although ho was classed, in these Resolutions, among those who occupied "an equivocal neutrality "-- he preferred to retain his hold on the Boyal Treasury as long as possible ; and the studied denunciation of him, in these Eesolutions, was admirably adapted to securo tho steady payment of his Salary and Fees, and to securo the family estates, In case tho Rebellion Bhould be suppressed-- just e…

" That such of them as may be men of influence in " the neighbourhood of the place of their present resi- " deuce, be removed to such place, in this or a neigh- " bouring Colony, as will deprive them of an oppor- " tunity of exerting that influence to the prejudice of " the American cause, and respectively bound by " their parole or word of honour or other security, at " the discretion of t…

" And as to such of the said persons whose removal, " in the judgment of the said Committee, shall not " appear necessary, that the said Committee do cause " them to be respectively bound with such security, " by parole or otherwise, as the said Committee shall " deem necessary, neither directly or indirectly to " oppose or contravene the measures of the Conli- " nental Congress of this Col…

"Eesolved, That the said Committee and the " County Committees keep a just record of all their "proceedings, in pursuance of these Eesolutions, " and report the same, with the substance of the " evidence offered to them, for and against the several " persons who shall be by thein apprehended, sum- " moned, tried, and examined by virtue of the afore- " going Eesolutions ; and that they have …

Subsequently, as will be seon hereafter, Henry Eemsen was excused from Borving on tho Committee ; and John Jay, of the City and County of New York, and John Sloss Hobart, of Suffolk, were added to it. At a still later date, Philip Livingston, of the City and County of New York, was also added ; and Leonard Gansovoort, of Albany-county, was substituted for John Ten Broeck. After the Committee …

"Resolved, That the said Committee appoint " such persons as they may think proper, to repair to " the said Counties ' to inquire for and procure the " witnesses against the persons herein directed to be " arrested or summoned to appear, and give evidence " against the said persons, before the said Committee ; " and that the said persons be paid for their trouble at " the rate of fifteen sh…

On the fourteenth 3 and fifteenth of June, 4 those who were members of the Committee, took the oath required of them ; on the last-named day, John McKesson, who was one, the principal one, of the Secretaries of the Provincial Congress, was made the Secretary of the Committee, also ; ° and, with a full retinue of Assistant-secretaries, Messengers, Doorkeepers, and other Officers, 6 on the sam…

It is true that Doctor Sparks made no mention of the subject, in his Life of Gouverneur Morris -- it was not his purpose to expose the weaknesses and the wrong-doings of his aristocratic and pretentious subject, but to magnify the man and his doings, and to eulogize them -- and all those who have preceded us in narrating the events of that period, have, alBO, preferred to know nothing of this…

This secretly acting, inquisitorial body, of which John Jay was made the Chairman, held secret sessions on the fifteenth, nineteenth, twentieth, twentyfirst, twenty-second, twenty-third, twenty-fourth, twenty-fifth, twenty-sixth, twenty-seventh, and twenty-ninth of June, 8 beyond which period we do not propose, at this time, to follow it; and on the following day, when the Provincial Congres…

I Minutes of the Committee to Detect Conspiracies, " Die Sabbati, 12 ho., "Juno 15, 1776." 8 The Minutes of tlte Committee, during the brief period which elapsed between the date of its organization and that of the dissolution of the Provincial Congress -- which, also, by all parliamentary and statutory law, dissolved the Committee which was only its agent -- are scattered, in various places…

12 Those who are interested in the methods of this Committee, the subsequently much eulogized Chief-justice of the State of New York and Chief-justice of the United States being the presiding officer, may see the forms of its Summons and its Parole, in Jones's History of New York during the Revolutionary War, ii., 295, 296 ; the forms of its Warrants, in its Mimties of June 19, 22, and 24, 17…

It would appear incredible that such a relentless spirit of partisan bitterness could have been entertained, at such a time, in such a body as the Provincial Congress of New York ; but the records of the Congress which clearly avowed such bitterness, and those of the Committee which it created for the purpose of executing its malignant enactments, to say nothing of the unwritten and other info…

As portions of the general subject of proscription, mention may be properly made, in this place, of two tagooualy read, from those Minutes, what those distinguished lawyers were capable of doing, judicially, when they were within closed and closely guarded doors ; what they, then, regarded as offences before the law ; the methods which they adopted, in their inquisitorial process ; and what …

It will be remembered, also, that the leaders of the Rebellion assumed the right of determining when and in what manner religious services Bhould be conducted by tho Churches, in the Colonies, and those for whom Churches and individuals should and should not offer their prayers to Almighty God. In Connecticut, every Episcopalian Church, except one, was closed, because tho Clergy would not subm…

It appears that it had become the practise of several of the local Committees -- those in Westchestercounty, in some instances, having been of the number -- of sending those who were offensive to them, without the slightest authority, revolutionary or conservative, to the Forts in the Highlands, which were then garrisoned with Continental troops, "with orders "to the commanding Officers to keep…

Another instance of that spirit of persecution was seen in the movement of Egbert Benson, one of those who were controlled more by their haughty and illcontrolled wills than by any enactment of Committee or Congress or by any requirement of personal or political integrity, for the employment of a local force, in the service and pay of the Colony, for the purpose of " keeping the peace and ord…

Tompkins, and Lewis Graham, representing Westch ester-county ; 6 and, on the following day, that Committee recommended the employment of one hundred men in Duchess-county and fifty men in Westchester-county, " the said men " to be raised in the said Counties respectively, and " confined to the service of those Counties, and to " continue in pay until the first day of November "next, unless …

As that entire subject relates to the local history of Westchester-county, at that period, and to the establishment of a military police force, in that County, evidently for the more effectual prosecution of the proposed operations of the recently created " Com- " mittee to detect Conspiracies " among the peaceable conservative residents of that County -- as no complaint had been made, by any…

They were in these words : " Wheeeas, there are sundry disaffected and dan- " gerous persons, in the Counties of Dutchess and " Westchester, who do now greatly disturb the peace " of the said Counties, and will most probably take up "arms, whensoever the enemy shall make a descent " upon this Colony, to the great annoyance of the said " Counties, in particular, and of others the good peo- …

" And whereas, by reason of the several drafts " which have been made in the said Counties, according to the late recommendation of the Continental " Congress, the Militia thereof are rendered incapable " of keeping peace and order in the said Counties, " without great inconvenience to themselves and much "injury to and neglect of their private property; and, " inasmuch as the interest of th…

" That the one hundred men to be raised in Dutch- " ess-county be divided into two Companies, each " Company to consist of one Captain, one Lieutenant " three Sergeants, three Corporals, one Fifer, one " Drummer, and forty Privates ; and that the fifty " men to be raised in Westchester-county consist of "one Captain, one Lieutenant, three Sergeants, three " Corporals, one Fifer, one Drummer…

" That the General Committees of the said Coun- " ties be authorized to nominate and appoint the "Subaltern Officers to the said Companies, in their "Counties, respectively: " That the said three Companies be deemed one '• Corps; and that Melancton Smith be Captain Com- " mandant ; that Micah Townsend be the second " Captain in rank ; and that John Durlin be the " third Captain in rank, in…

" Ordered, That Commissions be immediately " issued to the Captains, and that blank Commissions " be sent to the said Committees, to be by them issued " to the Lieutenants." It will be seen that no provisions were made by the Provincial Congress for either the recruiting, or the equipment, or the quarters, or the transportation of these men ; and there will be some among the readers of thi…

could not surely preserve that peace, their appointment were useless -- the inhabitants of that County could not have been as " dangerous '' and its peace could not have been as " greatly disturbed " as the authors and promoters of these Resolutions had falsely pretended, among the recitals of their Preamble: others will 3uspect, not without reason, that the entire movement was a purely poli…

- The only allusion to military duty discharged by this Company, which we have found, is that Order of the Provincial Congress, on the twenty-fifth of July, "that Captain Townsend of Westchester- county "return to duty, with his Company, at the mouth of Croton -river and i " such placcB adjacent as the Officer or Officers commanding the Ameri " can troops or Militia, there, shall direct," [Jo…

" The Petition of tho Lieutenant non-comniissionod officers & Privates " belonging to Capt n Micah Townsend's company raised to be under the " Direction of the Committee of Westchestor County, Humbly Sheweth, " That the Honorable the Provincial Congress of this Colony when " they gave Instructions for raising Capt 11 Townsend's Company allowed "tho Lieutenant 12s. per week, and the non commis…

'■That at and near the White Plains (which is the head Quarters of "the Company) the allowance for their subBistance does not amount to "near enough to support them, they being unable to get victuals for "less than Is. per Meal, or to hire their Board at any tolerable rate but "by the woek ; that your Petitioners entered the Company & Did duty "in the most busy season of tho year bofuro & dur…

Another instance of the spirit of partisan bitterness which prevailed, at that time, in Westchestercounty, and of the unholy zeal with which the Town Committees urged forward the work of persecution and plunder, among their conservative neighbors, may be seen in the following note which was addressed by the Chairman of the Committee of the Town of Salem, \a that County -- that Committee which…

We desire to know what shall be done " with the forfeitures, and likewise how to proceed in " taking of it, and how to turn it into money if taken " in stock or whatever else, or whether or no the Con- "gress wont take the forfeitures and pay the cost; * we desire you would give us some rules and direc- " tions how to proceed. And likewise, those men "that still behave inimical, and put the…

"per week por Man is not a sufficient provision for them. "By order of tho Committee, "John Thomas, Jun*, Chairman." 6 Journal of the Committee of Safety, "4 ho., P.M., Deer. 7, 1776." 6 Vide pages 149, 150, ante. Samuel Howell, Uriah Travis, Ju., Jonathan Finch, John Travis, .1 nines Miller, Jim 1- , Zecheos Dible, Absolim Hutchins, Daniel Dean, Jeremiah Rozelle, John Mills, Jeredi…

"By order of the Committee, "Ezekiel Hawley, 1 Chairman. " June 5th, 1776." That letter was laid before the Provincial Congress, on Saturday evening, the eighth of June ; and the Journal of that body states that it was " read and "filed," 2 the Congress itself, as will be seen in its subsequent proceedings in the matter, hesitating, in view of its atrocious propositions, to give the authori…

With the fact before him, that the " large number "of the inhabitants" of the Town of Salem which was referred to, in that letter, was composed of farmers, neighbors of the writer of it, and peacefully and industriously pursuing their usual vocations ; and, with the additional fact before him, that none of these were even pretended to have committed any other offense, against either the Kin…

Thomas Hawley, Pastor of tho Congregational-church at Ridgefield, Connecticut ; that he wits one of the proprietors of the Oblong ; that ho hold a Commission in the Continental Army ; and that he was taken off by death, suddenly, in 1788. (History of Westchester-county, original edition, i., 474 ; the same, second edition, i., 738.) The "Continental" Commission referred to, by Mr. Bolton, was…

Against those unoffending farmers -- as their accusers have shown, they were nothing else -- with a malignant zeal which betrayed its selfish, puritanic origin, the writer of that letter prayed that they should be arrested; that their properties, real and personal, should be seized, and escheated, and confiscated ; that "costs" should be paid, therefrom, into the willing hands of those who sh…

Can those who could calmly and deliberately devise such outrages, to be inflicted on a peaceful community, and that community their own immediate neighbors and townsmen, be regarded as anything else than monstrosities, in human form, in which only the baser and most brutal passions had found places? But, after all, these -- the letter and the passions which had inspired it and the hand whic…

In April Term, 1776, several rebel soldiers were indicted for "some Petty Larcenies, tried, convicted, and punished by order of the "Court without any interfereuce of the Military; their Officers at- " tended tho trials, beard the evidence, and upon their conviction declared that amplo justice was doue them, and thanked the Judge for " his candor and impartiality, during tho course of the tria…

have been unwittingly, to establish as the formal enactments of that revolutionary body. 1 As we have said, the letter which Ezekiel Havvley, in behalf of the Committee of the Town of Salem, wrote to the Provincial Congress, was laid before that body, on Saturday evening, the eighth of June; when it was read and filed. 2 On the following morning, [Sunday, June 9, 1775,] the Congress directe…

1 The question of the extent to which the several Provincial Congresses, uninfluenced by the outside pressure of homemade partisan demonstrations or by the inside domination of those who assumed to social or intellectual superiority, would have given their authority for the enactment and execution of such violent measures, against those of their fellow Colonists who did not concur in all which…

History tells of more than one instance in which a mere handful of enthusiasts, more or less honest in their professions, has fastened itsell on a great political party which entertained none of those enthusiastic dogmas which the others assumed to believe and maintain, and which, having thus fastened itself on the larger body, taking advantage of favorable opportunities, artfully adapting it…

3 Journal of the ProvincUd Congress, " Sunday morning, June 9, 1776." been of a different tenor ; but John Morin Scott, who was present on both occasions, and whose master mind probably controlled, wisely halted, and evidently induced the Congress to halt, in the work of proposed persecution and devastation and ruin. The Committee of Salem was coldly dismissed, without even a word of sympath…

Theal and his son John Lobdin, and " Stephen Delance " [De Lancey f] " some of them "laid under £500. bonds and also the solemnity of an " oath -- but they regard not any thing the Commit- ■' tee does with them, so long as they have their lib- " erty. It is supposed numbers are concealed on " Long island. Please to take it into your wise con- " sideration, whether or no it will not be best …

Two days after that letter was written, [June 24, 1776,] the Sub-committees of Cortlandt and Salem united in the following letter, also addressed to the Provincial Congress ; and in order to expedite the consideration of the subject to which it was devoted, by that body, Ezekiel Hawley was formally directed to forward it, '• with all convenient speed." "Salem, 24th of June, 1776. " Gentlem…

" Ezekiel Halley, " Joseph Benedict, " Chairmen. " To the Honourable the Provincial Congress." l These two letters were presented to the Provincial Congress, on the afternoon of the twenty-fourth of June; read before that body ; and ordered " to remain " for further consideration ; " '' and there, as far as we have knowledge, they have remained, from that day until this -- the Provincial …

One of these Tests, or Associations, adopted by a Provincial Committee of Safety, was proved to have been so entirely subversive of the personal Eights of those to whom it was offered, that numbers who had previously favored or acquiesced in the Rebellion, peremptorily declined to sign it, preferring rather to be considered as disaffected and to be disarmed, as such, 3 and to suffer all the…

'KecUalin the Preamble of the new Association, adopted by the Provincial Congress, on the twentieth of June, 1776. those proportions which entitled it to respect, however, on the eighteenth of June, three days after the organization of "the Committee to detect Conspir- " acies," the Provincial Congress adopted the following Resolution, on the subject : " Whereas doubts have arisen respecting …

" Whereas, the Continental Congress, on the " fourteenth day of March last, did recommend to the " several Assemblies, Conventions, and Councils or " Committees of Safety of the United Colonies, im- " mediately to cause all persons to be disarmed within " their respective Colonies, who were notoriously dis- •' affected to the cause of America, or had not associ- " ated, and refused to assoc…

'" in the County of and Colony " ' of New York, do voluntarily and solemnly engage, " ' under all the ties held sacred among mankind, at " ' the risk of our lives and fortunes, to defend, by " ' arms, the United American Colonies, against the " ' hostile attempts of the British Fleets and Armies, " ' until the present unhappy controversy between " ' the two Countries shall be settled.' 4 J…

"And whereas it hath been objected to the said " form of an Association, that, by obliging the subscribers or associators, in such general and express "terms, to defend the United Colonies, by arms, "against the hostile attempts of the British Fleets " and Armies, it deprived them of the Eights reserved " by the Militia Regulations, and imposed on them the " necessity of marching to the most…

But, as some of the friends to the American " cause have been influenced, by this objection, to "' refuse signing the said Association, and, in conse- " quence thereof, been disarmed, it hath become expedient that the said Association should be so ex- " plained as to render it free from specious as well as "solid objections; and, therefore, " Resolved, unanimously, That nothing in the " sai…

" ' We, the subscribers, inhabitants of .... , " 'in the County of .... , and Colony of New " ' York, do most solemnly declare that the claims of " ' the British Parliament to bind, at their discretion, " ' the people of the United Colonies in America, in " ' all cases whatsoever, are, in our opinions, absurd, " ' unjust, and tyrannical ; and that the hostile at- " ' tempts of their Fleets …

" And that all persons who have been disarmed for '" refusing to associate with their countrymen, for the " defense of the United Colonies, in the form pre- " scribed by the late Committee of Safety, as afore- " said, may have no pretence to complain of injus- " tice, and that they may have a fair opportunity of " convincing the public that their refusal to sign the " said Association did n…

" Resolved, further, That all such of the said " persons as shall subscribe the same, other than " notoriously disaffected persons, as aforesaid, ought " to be considered and treated as friends to their " country ; and that all arms taken from them and " not disposed of to the Continental troops, be re- " stored to them ; and that care be taken that they " respectively be paid the full pric…

It is said that the Report and Resolutions were unanimously adopted by the Provincial Congress, evidently without the slightest consideration of their characters and probable result, and certainly duriDg the latter portion of an afternoon session of the Congress, in which, both before and after the presentation of them, that body was crowded with other and very important matters of business ;…

clined to sign the Association which the Committee of Safety had prescribed, had been, they were such as had led the Provincial Congress to notice them, respectfully, and to lead that body to move for the removal of the objections which had been thus reasonably raised against that Association, by those whom the Provincial Congress's Committee was constrained to recognize as " friends to the A…

Indeed, instead of relieving the Association which the Committee of Safety had recommended, from the uncertainties of its provisions, the only duty which had been assigned to John Jay and his two rustic associates, these astute partisans, in the bitterness of their animosities, did nothing else, in the way of the duty which had devolved on them, than to indulge in contemptuous sneers and inue…

to convince any honest man that, whatever he may have been after he had reached that place in the office-bearing ranks of his countrymen which he so greatly coveted and of which he was so exceeding fond, while John Jay was still struggling for place, it mattered little under what master, he was neither more nor less upright, in what he said and did for the advancement of his individual or h…

" That all persons, members of or owing allegiance " to any of the United Colonies, as before described, " who shall levy war against any of the said Colonies, " within the same, or be adherent to the King of Great " Britain or others, the enemies of the said Colonies, or " any of them, within the same, giving to him or them " aid or comfort, are guilty of treason against such " Colony. " …

" That it be recommended to the Legislatures of " the several United Colonies, to pass Laws for pun- " ishing, in such manner as they shall think fit, per-* " sons who shall counterfeit, or aid or abet in coun- " terfeiting, the Continental Bills of Credit, or who " shall pass any such Bill, in payment, knowing the " same to be couuterfeit. " By order of Congress, " John Hancock, President…

Livingston; 1 but the character of those who framed the Resolution only increases our surprise, and, more clearly than before, indicates the desperate straits into which, even at that early date, the Continental Congress had been crowded, unless the " spies " against whom the Committee fulminated its Report were those Commissioners whom the Ministry had authorized to treat for Reconcilation …

Whatever the purposes of the Continental Congress may have been, in the adoption and promulgation of these Resolutions, no one can attribute to the learned lawyers who reported them the slightest sincerity, since none knew better than they, that " allegiance," under any possible circumstances, was not and could not become due to what was nothing else than a mere "Law," and that the "Law "of…

1 Journal of the Continental Congress, "Wednesday, June 5, 1776." 2 " According to the noble Lord's explanation, Lord Howe and his " brother are to be Bent as Spies, not as Commissioners ; that if they can- " not go on shore, they are to sound upon the coast, "-- (Speech of Cliarles Janus Fox, on the Motion for Lord Howe's Instructions, " House of Com- " mons, Wednesday, May 22, 1776.") been…

been made; that no mere Colony, dependent on another and superior political power, could possibly have been said, sincerely, by such a Committee, to have possessed a political Sovereignty, nor that, in the absence of such a Sovereignty, there could possibly have been a respectable and competent charge of Treason against it, in any instance whatever; and, more than all, that such a pretense …

" Allegiance " and " Treason " presupposed Sovereignty existing in the Colonies, without which Sovereignty there could not have possibly been any " Allegiance " due to either of them nor " Treason " committed against them or either of , them ; but it would require a bold man, possessed of a very vivid imagination, to maintain, seriously and honestly, that any such Sovereignty existed in the C…

On the tenth of May, 1776, the Continental Congress, after a very severe and very protracted consideration of the subject, had adopted a Resolution; 4 and on the fifteenth of the same month, it had pre- 8 See, in the Address to the King, by the same Continental Congress and signed by each of its members, individually, (Journal of the Continental Congress, "Saturday, July 8, 1775,") what, at th…

" And whereas it appears absolutely irreconcilable " to reason and good conscience for the people of these " Colonies, now, to take the Oaths and Affirmations " necessary for the support of any Government under " the Crown of Great Britain, and it is necessary that " the exercise of every kind of authority under the " said Crown should be totally suppressed, and all the "powers of. Governme…

" Resolved, That it be recommended to the re- " spective Assemblies and Conventions of the United "Colonies, where no Government sufficient to the "exigencies of their affairs hath been hitherto estab- " lished, to adopt such Government as shall, in the " opinion of the representatives of the people, best " conduce to the happiness and safety of their constituents, in particular, and America…

Confederation among ourselves or Alliances " with foreign nations are not necessary to a perfect separation from " Britain ; that is effected by extinguishing all authority under the " Crown, Parliament, and Nation, as the Resolution for instituting " Governments has done, to all intents and purposes. Confederation " will be necessary for our internal concord, and Alliances may be " so for o…

that, after they had been adopted, those of the Delegation from the Colony of New York who had been among those who had opposed that favorable action, very soon retired from their seats in the Continental Congress and occupied seats in the Provincial Congress of New York, 4 where, by means of a similar line of action, adverse to the adoption of a new form of local Government and to the eviden…

opponents of Independence, wore resolute opposers of this Preamble and Resolution, and declined to vote on it, "as far as was in their "power, withdrawing the Province, from this union of the Colonies, " both in council and action." -- {The Philadelphia Committee to the Committees of the rttral Comities of Pennsylvania, " Philadelphia, May 21, "1776.") The majority of the Delegates from New Yo…

* John Alsop and Francis Lewis took seats in the Provincial Congress, on the twentieth of May ; John Jay appeared on the twenty-fifth of that month ; James Duane, who had some other place in the Continental service, showed himself on the second of June ; and Philip Livingston lingered until the eighth of June -- all of them were there in season to accomplish, as far as the Provincial Congress …

It is not in " the nature of things to be otherwise ; for no man that entertains " a hope of seeing this dispute speedily and equitably adjusted by " Commissioners will go to the same expense and run the same hazards " to prepare for the worst event, as he who believes that he must " conquer, or submit to unconditional terms and the like concomitants, "such as confiscation, hanging, and the …

The Provincial Congress having " considered " the Report, it also adopted it, evidently without debate or a division of the house, -- Westchester-county was unrepresented in that exceedingly important vote, owing to the absence of a quorum of its Deputation ; -- and, after the Congress had ordered the Resolutions to be published in all the newspapers in the Colony and in handbills, the latt…

We are not insensible, also, that, notwithstanding the seeming eagermss of its authors, at that time, to remove the "many and great "inconveniences," as well as that power of despotic oppression and tyranny which " attended the mode of "Government by Congress and Committees," of some of which "inconveniences" and despotism the reader has been already made acquainted, they were not subseque…

Most of all, we are not insensible of the fact that, notwithstanding all the fine words, concerning the "People" and the "Inhabitants" and their unquestionable political authority, which were included in the Resolutions, the oligarchic authors of those Resolutions carefully reserved to themselves, the sole authority to determine whether a Constitution should or should not be created ; and to …

The subject of a new form of Government was scarcely disposed of, when, on the fourth of June, the same "Society of Mechanics in Union," so called, whom the master-spirits of the Committee of Fiftyone had deceived and betrayed-- the same who was composed of the fragments of that phantom which had been known by the general title of "The Sons of » This peculiarity of the Resolutions of the Pro…

Whatever may have been their standing in the social scale of aristocracy, but for the co-operation of those who constituted the so called, " Society of Mechanics in "Union," there would have been no place for either James Dnane or John Jay in the Continental Congress of 1774 or in that similar Congress which succeeded it ; and without their assent and approval, corruptly secured, in every inst…

The signers of that Address, the first movement concerning Independence in the Provincial Congress, stated that they were devoted friends to their bleeding country ; that they were afflicted by beholding her struggling under heavy loads of oppression and tyranny, and the more so, when they viewed the iron hand lifted up against her; that their Prince was deaf to Petitions for interposing his…

A snow-storm in Summer would not have been more unwelcome to the cultivators of the soil, than that Address was to the Provincial Congress, since Independence and the much coveted Reconciliation with Great Britain were wholly irreconcilable ; and, without even the usual courtesy of a consideration of either the Address or the very important subject to which it related, by a Committee of the…

As the "oligarchy" which constituted that Congress had resorted to the extraordinary precaution of requiring the proposed Address to be delivered to it, for its "inspection," in order that that aristocratic body should " discover whether it is proper for this "Congress to receive the same" -- the bearers of it, meanwhile, dancing an attendance, outside, before a 1 Journal of the Provincial C…

"This Congress is, at all times, ready and willing "to attend to every request of their constituents, or "of any part of them: we are of opinion that the "Continental Congress, alone, have that enlarged "view of our political circumstances which will ena- "ble them to decide upon those measures which are "necessary for the general welfare: we cannot pre- "sume, by any instructions, to make …

The President of the Congress, General Woodhull, of Suffolk, was not handy with the pen ; and he possessed no such animosity againBt " the lower classes," asiBseeninthiB.d»wrtver. It remained, therefore, to the high toned, "well born" Deputy from Westchestercounty, Gouverneur MorriB --the same who had stood in the window of the Coffee-house, on the nineteenth of May, 1774, and, thence, bad stud…

ment of a new form of Government, but in words and in terms which entitled the Artisan-author of it to the highest honors, the generally unfranchised Workingmen of the City of New York manfully declared their Eights, as a portion of that body of the People, throughout the Colony, in whom, they considered, were vested the original power and the source of all political authority, within the Co…

On the following day, [June 5, 1776,] the Provincial Congress was pestered, again, with that obnoxious subject of Independence ; but, on that occasion, the aristocratic Colonial Convention of Virginia was the unwelcome claimant on its attention ; and, consequently, it was constrained to be more civil in its words and more respectful in its demeanor than it had been, on the day before, when t…

> This admirable Reply to the Answer of the Provincial Congress, which was more especially devoted to the proposal of that body to impose a new form of Government on the Colony or State, without having submitted it to the body of the People, for ratification or rejection, was in these words : ********** 2 Journal of a Convention of Delegates from the Counties and Corporations in the Colony …

It simply acknowledged the receipt of the Resolutions and that of the letter which had covered them, saying, also, that they had been communicated to the Provincial Congress, by whom " they would be " considered with all the deliberation due to the im- " portance of the subject ; " that the Congress thanked the Convention of Virginia for its attention ; and that the latter was " assured tha…

This was the moment "that showed the firmness and the purity of Jay ; the darker the hour, "the more he stood ready to cheer; the greater the danger, the more " promptly he stepped forward to guide. He had insisted on the doubt- " ful measure of a second Petition to the King with no latent weakness of "purpose or cowardice of heart. The hope of obtaining redress had " gone ; he could, now, w…

All which it contained, concerning Independence, was a formal acknowledgment of the receipt of the letter and of the Resolutions, " which were immediately communicated to the Con - "gre8s of this Colony, and will be considered by them with all the de- " liberation due to the importance of the subject." Nothing more than that wassaid or done, on the subject of Independence, in connection with …

"Independence will, very shortly, be agitated in " Congress. Some of us consider ourselves as bound " by our instructions not to vote on that question > "and all of us wish to have your sentiments thereon. "The matter will admit of no delay; we have, "therefore, sent an express who will wait your " orders. "We are, Sir, with the greatest respect, " Your most obt. hum. servts. "William Flo…

1 Journal of the Provincial Congress, " Die Lunge, 9 ho., A.M., June 10, "1770." * Ibid. 8 It was stated in the Credentials of the Deputies from Orange-county that the Resolutions of tin* second Provincial Congress, providing for the election of the third Provincial Congress and denning its authority, were adopted on the twelfth of March preceding ; but there is no mention of the adoption o…

Again : we hare not found on that Journal, any definition of the authority of the third of those Congresses-- that authority which, in the text, the Secretary is said to have read, on the afternoon of tho tenth of June -- but the Credentials of the Deputies from Kings-county, compared with those of tbe Deputies from Orange-county, indicate that the authority sought to be delegated to that third…

Nothing whatever was done by the Provincial Congress, concerning the letter of the Delegates nor concerning Independence, on the following morning, [June 11, 1776 ;] 6 but, during the afternoon of that day, with that peculiar disregard for those with whom he was associated which invariably distinguished John Jay from all others, that Deputy presented "several Resolutions on the subject of Ind…

" Resolved, unanimously, therefore, That it be " and it is hereby earnestly recommended to all the " Freeholders and other Electors in this Colony, at "the ensuing Election to be held in pursuance of a " Resolution of the Congress of the thirty-first day of " May last past, not only to vest their Representa- "tives or Deputies with the powers therein men- " tioned, but also with full power …

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. " lished, in case that event shall sooner take place. " And it is further recommended to the said Free- " holders and Electors, by instructions or otherwise, " to inform their said Deputies of their sentiments " relative to the great question of Independency and " such other points as they may think proper." x It needs very little of knowledge in the science of politics …

There was an appendage to those Resolutions, which rendered the entire movement still more remarkable ; and the facts are not the less significant because those who have written of the Resolutions and of those who wrote them and promoted their passage through the Provincial Congress, have studiously concealed not only the license for a despotism which they contained, but, also, that secret a…

The same writer describes these Resolutions, after the rhetorical flourish, concerning the author of them, which we have elsewhere quoted, as " calling upon the Freeholders and Electors of the Colony to confer " on the Deputies whom they were about to choose full powers of admin- " istering Government, framing a Constitution, and deciding the great 11 question of Independence," (Mistory of the…

A reference to the Resolutions will show to the reader that, although the question of Independence formed the basis as well as the top-stone of the structure, they were so contrived that, notwithstanding that question seemed to have been submitted to the judgment of the Electors, at the Polls, that grave subject was really made dependent, among the various other matters of government of which…

We say, all these were well enough, because they were open and intelligible ; and if the question of Independence had been, thereby, submitted, even indirectly and insufficiently, to the arbitrament of the Electors, there would have been an appearance, at least, of fairness and consistency ; but John Jay had no such intention -- he aimed, mainly, to hoodwink those, in the Continental Congre…

If the Provincial Congress possessed no authority, legal or revolutionary, " to declare this Colony to be " and continue independent of the Crown of Great " Britain," as both common sense and history, as well as the first of John Jay's series of enabling Resolutions, unquestionably determined, those enabling Resolutions, carefully concealed and rendered entirely inoperative by the Agreement w…

The reader will see, very soon, with what little respect the declaration which formed the basis of those Resolutions, as well as the Resolutions themselves, was regarded by the same John Jay and by nearly the same Provincial Congress -- then as deficient in authority " to declare " this Colony to be and continue independent of the "Crown of Great Britain," as it had been, twentyeight days p…

John Jay and all those with whom he was associated, in the great political questions of that period, were aiming at something else than Independence, at something which was directly antagonistic to Independence; and he and they felt at liberty, under the license of that unholy ambition which controlled them, to resort to and to employ whatever means, of whatever character, which would promote …

" letter of the Delegates in the Continental Congress," which had been the basis of all the proceedings which are now under consideration ; and it is probable that such an answer, conveying a copy of the Resolutions^ but evidently not one of the Agreement, was sent to the Delegates, on the afternoon of the day on which the Resolutions were adopted, although no mention was made of any such a…

No further action, of any kind, concerning Inde- 1 pendence, was taken by the Provincial Congress ; and, guided by the restricted authority expressed on its Credentials and by the Resolutions which are now under consideration, without having been told of the treacherous Agreement, the Delegation in the Conti' nental Congress continued to withhold the assent of New York to the Resolution of …

An instance of that class of special doings may be seen in the Order which was made by the Provincial Congress, on the twenty-first of May, in these words : " Ordered, That Colonel '• Ritzema send such prudent Officer as he shall think 'proper, to Westchester-county, to apply to the '• Chairman of the County Committee and to the re- " spective Sub-committees, in that County, for such " goo…

But, because the Third Regiment of the New York Line in the Continental Army, which was commanded by Colonel Ritzema, was one of those, under General Alexander McDougal, who were engaged with the Royal Army, on Chatterton's Hill, a few months afterwards, and because Colonel Ritzema's Regiment was undoubtedly supplied with Arms, as far as they went, from those which had been "impressed" in We…

On the twenty-ninth of May, Colonel Thomas Thomas informed the Provincial Congress that Elijah Hunter, who had been Second Lieutenant in Captain Mills's Company, from Bedford, during the Campaign of 1775, 2 and who was a member of the County Committee of 1776-77, 3 representing that Town, was desirous of raising a Grenadier Company, to be attached to the Regiment of Westchester-county Militia…

On the first of June 1776, the Continental Congress made a requisition for six thousand men from the Colonies of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York, " to be employed to reinforce " the Army in Canada and to keep up the communi- " cation with that Province ; " ' on the third of June, a second requisition was made, by the same Congress, for thirteen thousand, eight hundred …

Of these several requisitions, one Battalion of seven hundred and fifty men was called from the Colony of New York, for the Canadian service ; u and for the reinforcement of the Army at New York, that Colony was required to furnish three thousand men. 12 All were to be taken from the Militia of the respective Colonies ; all were to be "engaged " only " to the first " day of December next, u…

In addition to the Commission, referred to in the text, he managed, on the twenty-first of November, 1776, to obtain the command of the Sixth Company of the Second, or Van Cortlandt's, Regiment of the New York Line, in the Continental Army of 1776-77, (Historical Manuscripts, etc. : Military Committee, xxv., 761;) and he retired from the service, fifteen days afterwards, (Historical Manuscrip…

H Journal of the Continental Congress, " Saturday, June 1 1776." " The same, "Monday, June 3, 1776." « Ibid. WESTCHESTER COUNTY. Of the nine Provincial Brigadier-generals which these requisitions would bring into the service, one was assigned to the Colony of New York ; * and, as will be seen, hereafter, a lively canvass for the place was immediately commenced by John Morin Scott, of the C…

Although the Provincial Congress was " of opinion " that the several levies,'' apportioned on the different Counties, '' consisting of volunteers, would be most " advancive of the public service, yet " it evidently knew that volunteers could not be had, even under such a stress of circumstances as then existed and in so " glorious a cause ; " and drafts from the respective Regiments, in eac…

Information had no sooner been received by the Provincial Congress of New York, that a Brigadiergeneral was to be appointed by that body, for the command of the four Battalions which were to be raised in New York, than it was announced " the "Congress conceived it necessary towards carrying "the several Resolutions and requisitions of the "Continental Congress into execution, to appoint a "…

Not a moment was lost, therefore-- the Congress was not even permitted to refer the letter from the President of the Continental Congress and the exceedingly important enclosures which it covered, to a Committee, for consideration and report -- when, with indecent haste, some ready made Certificates which had evidently been kept on hand, ready for immediate use, whenever they should be need…

The record says, the Congress conceive it necessary towards carrying ' these Resolutions of the Continental Congress into ' execution, to appoint a Brigadier-general and a ' Major of Brigade of the Militia of Westchester- ' county ; and Lewis Morris, Esqr., being thought the 'most proper person for a Brigadier-general of the Militia of that County, 7 and having been recom- ' mended by the …

" despatch," ' although the Offices were only those of the Militia, not in active service and, with a'small exception, not likely to be so. The '' despatch " was " necessary," however, since a full-fledged Brigadiergeneral would be a more imposing candidate, when the election should be held for the Brigadier-general of the four Battalions who had been called into the service of the Continent …

Penn, in May, 1774 -- was not even mentioned -- even Westchestercounty indicated that he was not a favorite, beyond a known limit; and its Deputation in the Provincial Congress did not pander to his inordinate ambition. The canvass was, indeed, confined to two candidates, John Morin Scott, of the. City of New York, one of that celebrated " triumvirate " of the earlier periods of the Revoluti…

3 Nathaniel Woodhull appears to have been a Colonel of the Suffolk Militia, who was "recommended or nominated to our Deputies in Pro- "viucial Congress for a Brigadier-general," by the Committees of the western Towns in Suffolk, in a meeting held at Smithtown, on the seventh of September, 1775, (Historical Manuscripts, etc.: Military Returns, xxvi., 216 ;) but a very careful examination of the…

The canvass was evidently conducted, as we have already stated, with spirit; but the influence of the Counties of Westchester, New York, Tryon, Charlotte, and Albany, in behalf of Scott, was too great to be overcome by that of the Counties of Orange, Suffolk, Duchess, and Ulster, for Woodhull, the Counties of Bichmond, Kings, Queens, Cumberland, and Gloucester having been absent; and the fo…

On the following day, [June 10, 1776,] the Provincial Congress elected the Field-officers of the Regiment in which the levies from Westchester-county were to be enrolled ; and Samuel Drake, who was then commanding the skeleton Regiment of Westchestercounty Minute-men, in the Continental Service, 5 was elected Colonel; John Hulbert, of Suffolk, 6 was elected Lieutenant-colonel ; Moses Hetfield,…

Livingston to the Committee of Arrangement, "Fishkill, 24 Novr., 1776;") and he resigned, on the ninth of December, 1776, (John flutter* to the Committee of Arrangement, "Fish Km, December 9, 1776.") William Goforth, who had served honorably in Canada, was elected to the vacancy, (Minutes of Hie Committee of Arrangement, "Fishkill, "Jany 13, 1777;") but, in February, he declined to continue i…

of Flour, Beef, and Pork, with all the golden opportunities for personal profits which were thus afforded, were concentrated in his own hands ; that there were, consequently, rival purchasing Agent-, by whom and by the shrewd farmers, the prices of those articles were so greatly advanced that the Committee of Safety was constrained to interfere ; and that, after the various buyers, on the ac…

The subject was one of those which, by hook or by crook, the Secretaries of the Provincial Congress were apt to pass, without making an official record of them ; and we have found no mention of it, on the Journal of the Provincial Conyrexsi until a special Committee who had been previously appointed " to " take into consideration the case of Colonel Gilbert " Drake, relative to a loss of fi…

1 Vide pages 157-159, ante. 2 Journal of the Provincial Congress, "Die Mercurii, 9 ho., A.M., Au- "gust 14,1776." 3 Gilbert Drake seemed to care very little for the respect of posterity ; and his ill-conduct in the management of his monetary dealings with others, after the establishment of the Peace, led the Grand Jury to indict him, on a charge of extortion, (Records of the Court, in manuscr…

As we have already stated, 5 the third Provincial Congress was alarmed by the entrance of General Howe into the harbor of New York, and precipitately disbanded, without a formal adjournment, although it had previously provided for a reassembling of the Deputies, at the Court House, in the White Plains, on the following Tuesday, {July 2, 1776.] As it did not thus resume its work, it ceased to…

The latter half of the year 1776 was one of the most eventful periods in the history of America, if not in that of the entire civilized world ; and in the great drama of political and military events, teeming with immediate interest and with ultimate importance, and occupying only that snort half-year, Westchester-county, in New York, and those who were, then, within the limits of that ancie…

On the second of July, 6 General Howe and the army which he commanded, whose entrance into the harbor of New York, a few days before, has been already noticed, 7 occupied Staten-Island -- Richmondcounty -- with the military and naval forces which he had brought from Halifax, say seven thousand, five hundred, and fifty-six, rank and file, including those ^Journal of the Provincial Congress, "…

who were sick ; ' and, as has been already stated, the inhabitants of that beautiful island, remembering the sentence of outlawry which had been pronounced against them, by the Provincial Congress, and the multiplied outrages to which they had been subjected, on warrants of the same body, by those who claimed to be the special defenders of the Rights of Man ; and being, also, relieved from a…

For the prosecution of that purpose, two days after the arrival of the Fleet and the Army, at Sandy Hook, [July 1, 1776,] the former had been moved up to Gravesend-bay, now so universally known to New Yorkers as one of their Summer resorts, in order that the troops might be landed, at daybreak, on the following morning, [July 2, 1776,] and, thence, make the first movement in the Campaign, a…

On the same day on which that intelligence was received by him General Washingion wrote to the Continental Congress : " I could wish " General Howe and his armament not to arrive yet, as not more than "a thousand Militia have come in, and our whole force, including the "troops at all the detached posts and on board the armed vessels, "which are comprehended in our Returns, is but small and in…

It is not now known, if it was ever known, what the result of that early movement of the Eoyal Army would have been, had General Howe's purposes been duly executed ; but there can be little doubt that, with no more than the small force which was then under his command and with the reinforcements which an early success would have surely brought to him, from Richmond, Kings, and Queens-counti…

Continental Congress, " New Toek, 27 June, 1776," postscript dated "June " 28th."] On the following day, General Washington wrote thus : "I suppose "the whole fleet will be in, within a day or two." [It aU arrived <m that day.'] " I am hopeful, before they are prepared to attack, that I " shall get some reinforcements. Be that as it may, I shall attempt "to make the best disposition I can of…

In this situ- " ation we are : every man in the Ar.ny, from the General to the Pri- "vate, acquainted with our true situation, is exceedingly discouraged. "Had I known the true posture of affairs, no consideration would have "tempted me to have taken an active part of this scene ; and this sen- "timent is universal," (Adjutant general Joseph Seed "to a Member of " Congress," "New Yoek, July 4…

With an abundant naval force under his command, General Howe commanded and controlled all the waters which were near him ; and Gravesend-bay need not have been regarded as the only base which he could have occupied -- he could have turned the flank of any or of all the lines, either of hills or of armed rebels, and have landed his command either in front or on the rear of either of the lat…

On the same second of July, and while the Riyal Army was thus occupying Staten Island, the Continental Congress, at Philadelphia, was considering the subject of Independence. ****** It will be remembered by the reader that, in 1774, when the County of Westchester was invited, by the Committee of Fifty-one, in the City of New York, to iCommodure Hotham did not reach New York until the twelft…

Stedman said, " the troops thus landed," [on Staten Island,\ " consisted "of two Battalions of Light Infantry; two of Grenadiers; the Fourth, " Fifth, Tenth, Seventeenth, Twenty-second, Twenty-third, Twenty-sev- " enth, Thirty-fifth, Thirty-eighth, Fortieth, Forty-second, Forty-third, " Forty-fourth, Forty fifth, Forty-ninth, Fifty-second, Fifty-sixth, Sixty- " third, and Sixty-fourth Begimen…

unite with that Committee in sending a Delegation to the proposed Congress of the Continent which had been called for the purpose of securing a proper and united opposition to the measures of the Ministry and, as far as possible, a redress of the grievances of the Colonies, the great body of the farmers in that County disregarded that invitation ; and that the very few who accepted it, eith…

In the conflicts of factions, in that body, it will be remembered that no more consistent and no more steadfast opponents of the Home and Colonial Governments were seen than the two Representatives of the County of Westchester and the other two, who represented, respectively, the Manor of Cortlandt and the Borough Town of Westchester, although Frederic Philipse, representing the County, and…

ed, because of his action in the General Assembly -- notwithstanding it was in an earnest opposition to the Ministry and in an equally earnest support of the demands of the Colony for a redress of grievances -- because of his Declaration and Protest at the White Plains, and, undoubtedly, because of his understood authorship of some political tracts which were obnoxious to the controling pol…

When the spirit of proscription was introduced into Westchester-county, destroying the peace which had previously prevailed among its rural inhabitants, Frederic Philipse was named among those who, without the slightest evidence of any wrong-doing, were to be arrested and dealt with. 2 He does not appear to have been disturbed, however, until the organization of the notorious " Committee to D…

The Minutes of the Committee also indicate that on the twenty-seventh of June, 1776, an Order was made by that body, " That Summonses issue against the "following persons as inimical to the Cause and "rights of America, returnable on Wednesday the " third day of July next at ten o'clock in the forenoon " of the same day, viz : Frederick Philipse and " Samuel Merritt, which said Summonses si…

5 Minutes of the Committee to Detect Conspiracies, " Thursday, A.M., "June 27, 1776:" Historical Manuscripts, etc., Miscellaneous Papers, xxxv., 485. "Philipsborough, July 2, 1776. '' Gentlemen : " I was served on Saturday evening last with a " paper signed by you, in which you suggest that " you are authorized by the Congress to summon cer- " tain persons to appear before you, whose condu…

D., President of Talecollege, writing of Yonkers, in the Autumn of 1811, said, " it is remark- " able for nothing, except having been the residence of the family of " Philipse, one of the mostdistinguiBed of those which came, as Colonists, " from the United Netherlands. Colonel Philipse, the last branch " resident in this country, I knew well. He was a worthy and re- " spectable man, not ofte…

He had a. taste for gardening, planting, &c, and employed " much time and money in that way. * * * At the commencement " of our Revolution, he, Frederick Philipse, was inclined to the Whigs, " but was afterwards persuaded to favor the Tories.* He was removed " to Connecticut, on hiB parole. Nothing could have been more favor- " able to him, circumstanced as he then was, than to be placed in s…

Frederic Philipse continued to be a member of the Colonial party of the Opposition, in New York, until, by the advice of the Committee of which John Jay was one of the master spirits and the Chairman, he was seized by the military power and sent into exile ; and the scheme and trick by means of which those exiles who had been allowed to go into New York, did not receive the notices which Gov…

However, as they have been thought of " weight sufficient to attract the notice of the Congress, " I can only observe that, conscious of the upright- " ness of my intentions and the integrity of my con- " duct, I would most readily comply with your Sum- " mons, but the situation of my health is such as " would render it very unadvisable for me to take a "journey to New York, at this time. I…

This being my real situation, I must request "the favour of you to excuse my attendance, to- " morrow ; but you may rest assured, Gentlemen, that " I shall punctually attend, as soon as I can, con- " sistent with my health ; flattering myself, in the "meantime, that, upon further consideration, you " will think that my being a friend to the rights "and interests of my native country is a fa…

As the Provincial Congress, as well as its Committee to Detect Conspiracies, had hurriedly left the City of New York before the day appointed for the hearing of Frederic Philipse and Samuel Merritt ; 2 and as only one of the members of the Committee had lingered, after the Congress and the Committee had retired ; s the proceedings against them, at that time, were evidently suspended -- the s…

In view of Governeur Morris's great anxiety to go into the City of New York, then a military post of the Royal Troops, very soon afterwards, it will hardly be necessary for us to inquire why he was the only member of the Provincial Congress who voluntarily exposed himself to supposed danger from the approach of the Royal Army. 4 Journal of the (third) Provinciul Co egress, " Sunday afternoon,…

After a letter from the Delegation of the Colony in the Continental Congress, bearing date the second of July, " on the subject of Independence, and request- " ing instructions from this Congress," 8 had been read, a second letter from the Delegation, of a subsequent date, " enclosing the Declaration of Independence," was also read, and referred to a Committee consisting of John Jay and Abr…

Warren Tompkins, Bolton, (History of Westcliester-county, original edition, ii., 359 ; tile same, second edition, ii., 664,) considered the Congress which was assembled, at the White Plains, on the ninth of July* 1776, as the same body as that which had been in session, in the City of New York, from the eighteenth of May until the thirtieth of June, preceding. In other words, both these learned…

The explanation of that apparent contradiction may be found in the fact that that short lived third Provincial Congress was dissolved before Colonel Pierre Van Cortlandt took his seat in it or was qualified to do so 1 , by his taking the oaths of the office of Deputy. 8 George Clinton, Henry Wisner, John Alsop, WiUtam Floyd, and Francis Lewis, to the Provincial Congress, •' Philadelphia, July…

"In Convention of the Representa- "tives of the State of New Yoke, 3 " White Plains, July 9th, 1776. "Resolved, unanimously, That the reasons " assigned by the Continental Congress for declaring " the United Colonies free and independent States " are cogent and conclusive ; and that, while we "lament the cruel necessity which has rendered that " measure unavoidable, we approve the same and…

" Resolved, That a copy of the said Declaration "' and the aforegoing Resolution be sent to the Chair- " man of the Committee of the County of Westcb.es- '' ter, with order to publish the same, with beat of " drum, at this place, on Thursday next," [July 11, 1775] ; " and to give directions that it be published, " with all convenient speed, in the several Districts " within the said County …

8 In view of the fact that the body of which that Committee was a part and by whom it had been appointed and to whom it was to report, was, specifically, "a Provincial Congress for the Province of New " York ; " and because, at that time, there had been no change in the status of the Deputations composing the Congress, who represented nothing else than certain specified Counties, each Deputat…

" Resolved, That the Delegates of this State, in " Continental Congress, be and they are hereby " authorized to consent to and adopt all such mea- " sures as they may deem conducive to the happiness "and welfare of the United States of America." It is said that the Report which was thus made by the Committee was unanimously adopted by the Congress ; and, further, that an Order was made by …

The reader need only to be reminded that the evident author and the known supporters of this series of Resolutions were the same author who, twentyeight days previously, had written, 'and almost entirely the same individual Deputies who, at the same time, had voted, that the authority of "the good "people of this Colony" was, then, necessary to enable the Provincial Congress or the Delegates o…

If it had been an act of usurpation to have declared the Independence of the C'lony, without the "consent" of the Colony, previously given, on the former occasion, how much less flagrant was the act, also without having obtained that "consent," on the later occasion, which is now under consideration ? Were John Jay and those whom 1 Journal of the Provincial Congress, " Tuesday, P.M., White P…

If so, what possible ground is there for consistently regarding them as either honest or sincere, when, on the ninth of July, the occasion which is now under notice, while they were yet without that " consent" of their principals and constituents which had been previously regarded as essential to ensure validity to any such action, they actually, on their own motion, made such a declaration…

We shall see, hereafter, how much of honesty and integrity there were, in either of these, when the series of Resolutions, on the subject of the Colony's independence, which is now under consideration, was written and adopted ; how little the writer of them honestly and sincerely regarded those Resolutions as being, really, what they appeared to have been ; and how little foundation in truth…

1 Bolton stated, in his Mutory of Westchester-county, (original edition, ii., 359, 360; the same, second edition, ii., 564,) that, on the occasion referred to, "the Declaration was read by John Thomas, Esq., and ** seconded by Michael Varian and Samuel Crawford, two prominent '■"Whigs of Scarsdale." But he has given no authority for the statement ; and unless by " John Thomas, Esq.," the read…

A general Jail-delivery, in the City of New York, signalized the "new departure" -- where there was no longer any Law, there could not be any breaches of the Law, either in the matter of pecuniary obligations or in that of any other obligation -- and as every civil Commission was cancelled by that Resolution of Independence from the Crown of Great Britain, on the authority of which royal aut…

It was not so in the other Colonies; and had not the master-spirits of the revolutionary faction, in New York, in the interest of Reconciliation, obstructed the work of creating a new form of Government, quite ac effectively as, at the same time, they were creating a necessity for such a new system -- at least for a Provisional Government, if not for a permanent one -- New York might, also,…

A usurped kind "of Government took place: a medley of Military " Law, Convention Ordinances, Congress Recommen- " dations, and Committee Resolutions." 2 It is proper that we shall say, however, that, notwithstanding the Declaration of Independence was thus nominally accepted and approved, and notwithstanding New York was thus formally obligated to stand or fall with her sister States in the …

the Opposition, in New York, had desired and aimed for; nor, since it had been crowded through the Continental Congress without the approval of the masterspirits of that revolutionary faction of the party and in the face of the determined opposition of those who represented or who, in other Colonies, were affiliated with that faction, although the Declaration and Independence itself had been a…

On the afternoon of the ninth of July, immediately after the Provincial Congress had adopted the Report of the Committee to whom the Declaration of Independence had been referred, and, thereby, as far as it could do so, had abrogated every Law and every Commission which had rested on the sovereignty of the King of Great Britain, with singular coolness but entirely consistent with the absolut…

1 Journal of the Provincial Congress, "Tuesday, P.M., White Plains, "July 9th, 1776." 2 It is very evident that James De Lancey , the Sheriff of Westchestercounty, or the Deputy who represented him, obeyed the Resolution of the Provincial Congress by holding in confinement, in the County Jail, those "Prisoners of State" who, for political reasons, had beeu or who Immediately after the provisi…

Immediately after the provision of depositaries for the victims of its absolutism, as stated in the Resolu* tion above referred to, the Provincial Congress revived the notorious Committee to detect Conspiracies, which had ceased to exist by reason of the dissolution of the Congress who had created it; 3 united it to the Committee on Prisoners of War, which had been appointed during the morni…

were, subsequently, sent to him, (Petition of Joshua Purdy and fourteen others, " White Plains Goal, August the 18th, 1776 ; " Petition of Jonathan Purdy, Junior, " White Plains Goal, August 30th, 1776 ; " Petition of Henry Clime, " Wight Plains Goal, August 30, 1776 ; " etc.) as well as those Prisoners of War who, also, were sent to him, for safe-keeping, (Examinations of John Simpson, James …

« Although the Provincial Congress was seated at a distance from the City of New York, this Committee preferred to hold its meetings in that City ; and, with the unlimited authority with which it was vested, with nothing to control its own estimate of a "necessity," and with the strong arm of the military power to support, that estimate, that Committee was, in fact, an oligarchy of absolute p…

The fourth Provincial Congress, notwithstanding the momentous events which were evidently rapidly approaching, was immediately zealous in continuing the remarkable policy which had distinguished the preceding three of the series and which had served to keep alive and to intensify the feuds of former days, separating the Colonists into factions, bitterly antagonistic in feelings and in action…

But the revival, with largely increased authority and without any diminution of malignancy, of the notorious political Inquisition -- the Committee to detect Conspiracies -- afforded abundant evidence of the purpose of the master-spirits of the new-formed Convention to keep apart those who might have been united, had a redress of grievances been the only purpose of the movements; and to dr…

nothing else than a continued and a more than ever before besotted haughtiness, utterly unmindful of the Rights of those who were assumed to be subject to their authority, and a continued and more than ever before mulish stubbornness, in their continued determination to reduce every one who opposed them, no matter how slightly, to an unconditional and absolute submission of thought, word, an…

In the prosecution of that ill-advised and injudicious, as well as barbarous, policy, it continued to make arrests of individuals whom somebody had denounced as " suspected ; 3 and even individual members of the Convention, on their individual motions, without the slightest charge against their victims, ordered individuals into imprisonment. 4 1 Journal of the Provincial Congress, " Wednesd…

bleeding from every pore, from outrages inflicted on tbem by authority or with the permission of the Provincial Congress, and rejoicing that protection had been extended to them and to their property, by strangers, in such words as these : " The unprincipled and unfeeling and un- " natural inhabitants of Staten-Island are cordially receiving the enemy ; " and, deserters say, have engaged to ta…

b See the instances of Christopher Templer, (Journal of the Convention, "Die Luna;, 4 ho., P.M., July 22, 1776 ; ") that of Robert Sutton, (the same, " Die Mercurii, 9 ho., A.M., July 24th, 1776 ; ") that of Nicholas Couwenhoven, (Journal of the Committee of Safety, " Tuesday afternoon " Augt. 27, 1776 ; ") and many others. 4 See the instance of Henry Chase, " committed to the Jail at White …

" Gentlemen : My confinement is the Reason of my Petitioning to "yon the Honorable Provential Congress, hopeing your Honours will be " Pleas d to Take my Case into Consideration for the Comete of Safety " [the Committee of Westchester- county] ' Says that they have no Right to "try me So I leave my Case to your Honnours and Begg that your "Honnours would Concider me for I have bin imprisoned …

(Historical Manuscripts, etc.: Petitions: xxxiii., 100.) The County Committee had officially informed Chase, nine days previously, that it had no jurisdiction of his case, and directed him to the Convention, (Westcliester-county Committee to Henry Clime, "In Com- "mittee of Safety for the County of Westchbster, White Plains, "Aug. 21, 1776"-- Historical Manuscripts, etc.: Petitions, xxxiii, 10…

" This my Humble Petition to Beg of your Honnours to send for me " that I may have my tryal for the County Commete and the Commete " of Safety says that they have no Right to try me and I have desird " them to send me to the Honnourahle Provenshall Congress and they " tell me they Dare Not send me without orders from your Honnours " Gentlemen so I shall be very Glad if your Honnours will be G…

Those who shall desire to know who and what kind of a man it was who had thus possessed and "exercised power enough to point his dirty finger at a man and cause him to be thus outrag d, without any remedy, may be gratified by turning to a Petition addressed to the Provincial Congress, on the fourth of May, 1776, by William Duer, subsequently well known, (Historical Manuscripts, etc. ; Petition…

refused to be made tools for their inquisitorial practices, were ordered to be imprisoned "until they "should make discovery or declaration aforesaid." 2 Arrests were made by military officers, even for alleged civil offences ; 3 and, of course, the arbitrary arrests of those who were obnoxious to members of the several County Committees were continued, without abatement* -- the Committee of t…

2 See the instance of Elizabeth Hicks, of Rockaway, (Journal of the Convention, "Die Mercurii, 9 ho., A.M., August 14, 1776.") 8 See the instances of George Davy and William Tucker, arrested by Major Graham, (Journal of the Convention, "Thursday morning, July "18, 1776 ;") those arrestedby Lieutenant Brett, (thesame, "Die Veneris, " 4 ho., P.M., Septr. 27, 1776 ; ") etc. 4 The instances of W…

7 William Sutton was arrested and confined in the Jail at the Plains, furnishing his own food, as was usual ; but, soon after, he was banished to Philadelphia, and there confined, "subsisting himself," besides having been required to pay to Lieutenant Alexander Hunt, who conveyed him to Philadelphia, the expenses of his own journey, the expenses of Hunt while thus engaged in escorting him, and…

another kinsman were leading members, 1 was made the "Jud^e of the High Court of Admiralty of this "State/' only thirty-four days after he had been thus summoned to answer a charge of having been " sus- " pected," and before he had answered to that Summons ;* and a third instance, when a leading member of the Convention itself, because of his known inclinations and because of his continued an…

There have been some, from that time until this, who have seen that, in the hands of such as then controlled the affairs of New York, the scalesof justice were sadly tilted; that there was one kind of justice for one class of the inhabitants and another kind of justice for another class; that, in practice, the vaunted equality of all men was a fiction. It was a favorite practice to remove t…

5 The instances of Bloomer Nelson, Samuel Haines, Josiah Disberry, and Jacob Schureman, residents of Westchester-county, {Journal of the Convention, "Thursday morning, August 29, 1776;" Petition of John Bare, Bloomer Neelson, and others, " Kingston Goal, Feb*? 19">, 1777 "-- Historical Manuscripts: Petitions, xxxiii., 638 ; Petition of Bloomer Nelson and tliree others, " Kingston Goal, March …

During the first three months of the existence of the Convention, there were thus lawlessly seized, of the residents of Westchester-county, William and John Sutton, of Mamaroneck ; n John Rogers, a servant of Lewis Morris, of Morrisania ; 12 Joseph Reade, of Westchester; 13 Isaac Underhill, of Yonkers, 1 * and Philip Palmer 15 and James Horton, Junior, 16 besides a number of others the names …

Peyster, being sworn, depos- "eth and saith that, on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, the fourth, "fifth, and sixth days of September instant, he was at New-Rocholle, in " the County of Westchester ; that on one of the above-named days, he " heard, (as far as ho can at present recollect,) either Theodosius Bartow, "of New-liochelle aforesaid, or Anthony Abrahams, of the Town of "Westchester,…

"(This Deponent cannot now recollect which of the two numbers was "mentioned, but rather thinks fourteen.) This Deponent further says, "that the amount of all he heard at New-Rochelle, at the time aforesaid, respecting Joseph Reade, was, that the said Joseph Reade was a "great Tory and very unfriendly to the American cause, and further " this Deponent saith not. "A. W. D. Peystee. " Sworn bef…

w " Resolved : That General Morris be ordered immediately to appre* "hend and secure the persons ordered to be apprehended by this Con- "vention, yesterday, and that he be furnished with a list of those persons "names," (Journal of the Convention, "Die Sabbati, 4 ho.,- P.M., Augt: '■10, 1776." J As no such Order for the arrest of any one as is recited in the above Resolution appears in the p…

Those whom the Committees and the Congresses had persecuted and outraged and all whom their sufferings could influence, very naturally and very reasonably, were " disaffected," as the inhabitants of Staten-Island had been: many, great numbers, of those who had honestly and earnestly opposed the Home Government and who had boldly demanded a redress of the Colonial grievances, were also " disa…

The greater number of those who had held places of honor and emolument, in the Colonial Government, notwithstanding it was politic to keep quiet, was also, more or less '' disaf- "fected;" and the multitude, whose timidity would not permit them to entertain a thought that Independence would be worth what it would evidently cost to secure it, was not very loud-toned in its favor, even if it …

Governor Tryon was enlisting as many as he could entice into the service of the King, both in New York and in other States j 1 and 1 Tlie Convention to the Continental Congress, " In Convention of the "Representatives, etc., White-Plains, Westchester-county, July "11, 1776 j 1 ' the Journal of the Convention, " Friday morning, Augt. "9, 1776;" Report of Committee on a more effectual mode of de…

those who were " disaffected," in "Westchester-county and elsewhere, were beginning to organize and to arm, for their own defence and, now and then, in support of the Royal cause. 2 The Troop of Horse, in Westchester-county, of whom mention has been made, when a quota of its members was ordered for the reinforcement of the Continental Army, at New York, early in July, 1776, had refused to co…

Convention, "Die Sabbati, 4 bo., P.M., Sept. 21, 1776;" and many others. The instance of William Lounsberry, who refused to surrender and was killed, while four of his recruits -- Bloomer Nelson, Jacob Scbureman, Samuel Haines, and Joseph Turner -- were captured, is noteworthy. Both Lounsberry and his fourteen recruits were Westchester-county Loyalists ; and he and they were intercepted in Wes…

A Corps of Westchester county Refugees was subsequently raised, the Lientenant-colonency of which was taken by the veteran, James Holmes, of Bedford, already mentioned, (A Short Account of tfie Descent and Life of James Holmes, Esq., edit. 1815, reprinted, in exteneo, in de Lancey's Notes to Jones's History of New York during the Revolutionary War, ii., 621.) Two Battalions of Loyalists were …

was good reason for supposing, it was said, that a correspondence was kept up between the Royal Army, on Long Island, and prominent inhabitants of that County, as far in the interior as the White Plains, as early as the close of August, in 1776. 1 The inhabitants of Kings-county were said, early in August, to "have determined not to oppose the enemy;" and a Committee was appointed, with cons…

Duchess-county, also, asked for further protection from the aggressions of the " disaffected," as Westchester-county had done ; 3 and, notwithstanding two Companies had been already raised for that purpose and were then in service, 4 a third Company was ordered to be added to the local force. 5 Like the Militia of Westchester-county, that of Duchess-county was exceedingly " disaffected," and …

"tember the 3rd, 1776;" the Committee of Safety to the Chairman of the Committee of Westchester-county, " Fishkill, September 3, 1776." 'Journal of the Convention, '-Die Sabbati, 4 ho., P.M., Augt. 10, 1776." 8 John Field and Jonathan Paddock to the President of the Convention, " Dutchess, Southeast Precinct, 7th Oct., 1776 ; " Journal of the Committee of Safety, " Die Martis, 9 ho., A.M., Oct…

the Convention was completed by the submission of all Long Island, not excluding the peculiarly zealous revolutionary County of Suffolk, to the authority of the King. 9 Jn view of these stern facts, there need be no wonder. that the Convention was anxious, concerning the " disaffected ;" and because of the purely speculative disposition of the Eastern Troops, and of the apathy, if not of the…

Philipse's name on their list of the assumed "disaffected," 14 who were maliciously said to have been, also, dangerous. 15 As the General expressly die Committee of Safety, "District of Manor Livinoston, October 9, "1776;" (lie same to the same., "District of Manor Livingston, Octo- *'ber 10, 1776;" Petrus Van Gaasbeek, Chairman, to the same, "Manor "of Livingston, 10th Oct., 1776;" Journal o…

11 General Washington to General William Livingston, "Head-quarters, " New-York, 6 July, 5 o'clock, P.M., 1776 ; " lite same to General George Clinton, " Head-quarters, New York, 12 July, 1776 ;" tlie same to the "Secret Committee of the Convention of tlie State of New York" "Head- " quarters, 13 July, 1776;" the same to the President of tlie Provincial Congress of New York, " New- York Head-…

15 Frederic Philipse was taken into custody by an order from General Washington, on the ninth of August, and taken from his own house, at Yonkers, to New Kochelle, "where he was closely confined, undor " guard, for eleven days," when he was removed to Connecticut, and gave his Parole that he would not go beyond the limits of the Town of Middletown, which no one pretends he attempted to violat…

It authorized and superintended the enlistment of men, in the service of the State, for local purposes ; * it attended to that of men for the reinforcement of the Continental Army ; 5 and it provided for the payment of Bounties, in addition to the stipulated pay, to those who thus enlisted. 6 It resorted to Drafts, in order to fill the requisitions for men, when enlistments were tardy ; ' an…

He was almost totally blind ; and that and his unusual corpulency unfitted him for the slightest personal opposition to or support of any political or military movements; while his fondness for gardening, in all its branches, to which the grounds of his MaDor-houseb, at Yonkera and Sleepy Hollow, bore ample testimony, and his domestic ties, and his unusual love of home, led him to prefer the …

^Journal of the Convention, "Die Lunte, 8 ho., A.M., July 22, 1776 ;" the same, "Die Martis, 8 ho., A.M., July 23, 1776;" Hie Convention to tlus Deputation in the Continental Congress, "HAni.EM, 7 Augt., 1776 ;" etc. ^Journal of the Convention, "Friday afternoon, July 19, 1776;" the same, "DieSabbati, 4 ho., P.M., Augt. 24, 1776 ;" tlte same, "Saturday "morning, September 28, 1776 ;" etc. Jo…

the Militiaandthe troops in the field ; 9 it passed on the qualifications of the Surgical Staff; 10 and it gave employment to Chaplains for the Army. 11 Bargains were made with favored Officers, when they entered the service, conditioned that they should serve nowhere else than in the City of New York; 12 and the settlement of disputes among Officers, concerning Bank, occupied much of its tim…

M., Augt. 17, 1776 ;" etc. 10 Journal of the Convention, "Tuesday, P.M., "White Plains, July 9, " 1776 ; " the same, " Die Sabbati, 3 ho., P.M., July 27, 1776 ; " the same, "Tuesday afternoon, Augt. 20, 1776 ; " etc. 11 Journal of the Convention, ■' Monday morning, Augt. 26, 1776." 12 Journal of the Convention, " Die Mercurii, 4 ho., P.M., July 31, 1776." ^Journal of the Convention, " Tuesda…

The Militia of Westchester-county contained, of course, all who were friends of the Convention and who lived within the County ; but the number of efficient men in the entire Brigade did not exceed the strength of a single Regiment and these were so generally "disaffected," either with the service or with the General commanding them, or with both, that the latter regarded his own life as in d…

I have " thought that the existence of such a Brigade, in which were so many "disaffected persons, was dangerous to the cause as well as to my own *' life ; but being desirous to participate in the virtuous opposition to the " British tyrant, I had determined, as Boon as possible, to join General "Washington, and contribute my assistance to him." (General Lewis Morris to the Convention "Phil…

relied On, no matter what its temper might be -- it was drawn into the service, while the other States were delinquent,' until no more could be taken, for any, except for the most temporary, purposes. 2 It was called out to guard the banks of the Hudson-river' and those of Long Island Sound. 4 Reinforcements of the Continental Army were taken from it, whenever reinforcements were called for…

1 " We caa with pleasure assure you, that by far the greater part of " the levies ordered by the Congress to be raised from our Militia, are " completed, and at their several stations ; that almost the whole of those "drafted in consequence of the enclosed Resoluticn, will, by the time " this reaches you, be at posts which is thought necessary to occupy, " least the enemy should cut off the c…

3 The entire body of Westchester-county Militia was ordered to the month of the Croton-river, to oppose any movements, in that County, from the enemy's shipping, (Journal of the Convention, "Thursday morn- " ing, July 25, 1776 ; ") to which the local Company, commanded by Captain Micah Townsend, was added, on the following day, (the same, '■ Die " Veneris, 9 ho., A.M., July 26, 1776.") The ent…

6 0ne-fourth of the entire body of the Militia of Westchester, Duchess, Ulster, and Orange-counties, to serve until the last day of the following December, was ordered out for general service, in July, (Journal of the Convention, " Friday morning, July 16, 1776 ; " Ute same, " Die " Jovis, 4 ho., P.M., Augt. 8, 1776 ;") one-fifth of the entire body of the Militia of Albany-county, to serve for o…

6 The entries on this subject are so very numerous that we can pretend to cite no more than two or three of them, (Journal of the Convention, ' 'Friday morning, July 16, 1776 ;" the same, "Die Jovis, 4 ho., P.M., "Augt. 8, 1776;" etc.) 7 The Convention to the Delegation from the State, in the Continental Congress, "Harlem, 7th August,1776, A.M.;" Journal of Committee of Safety, "Tuesday morni…

It continued, therefore, to provide, as best it could, for the wants of the Army, by manufacturing and by purchasing and distributing among the Powder-mills, all the Saltpeter which it could secure ; 13 by making or buying or borrowing Gunpowder, and by distributing it or giving it away ; " by searching for Lead, and opening Mines, and stripping Window-sashes, in Tryon and Albanycounties, an…

"a certain other small road which leads from the Post-road aforesaid, to "the dock, at Dobbs's ferry," were ordered to be repaired ; and requisitions on the Militia of Duchess and Westchester-counties, were made for that particular purpose, (Journal of the Provincial Convention, " 9 ho., "A.M., Octor. 5, 1776.") 11 Journal of the Convention, " Saturday morning, September 28, 1776 ; " Journal …

" Journal of the Convention, "Friday morning, July 19, 1776;" Order from General Washington to John Livingston, in favor of the Convention, " New York, July 19, 1776 ; " Journal of the Convention, " Die Sabbati, "4 ho., P.M., Augt. 10, 1776;" the ame, "Die Mercurii, 9 ho., A.M., "July 24, 1776;" etc. 16 Journal of the Committee of Safety, " Die Luna;, 9 ho., A.M., Augt. 19, "1776;" Journal o…

when it could do so, 1 and, sometimes, it hired Arms, when it could not in other way procure them. 2 In short, there seemed to be nothing left, in all which related to the raising, the equipment of, and the furnishing of supplies for, the troops, which was permitted to be done by any other agency; and it affords subjects for thought and inquiry, as one reads of its uninvited interference with…

ties of Albany, Ulster, Orange, Duchess, and Westchester,, eight hundred to each ; and, in the last-named County, Stephen Ward, William Millar, and Thaddeus Crane were appointed "to procure the proportion " of Lances affixed to their respective names." (Journal of Committee of Safety, "Die Mercurii, 4 ho., P.M., Sept. 4, 1776.") Models were made from Spears procured in New York, (the same, "D…

Leake were appointed to purchase coarse woollen Cloth, Linsey-woolsey, Blankets, woollen Hose, Mittens, coarse Linen, felt Hats, and Shoes, for the soldiers, and to have the Linen made up into Shirts, all in Westchester county ; and throe hundred pounds-- seven hundred and fiity dollars-- were appropriated for that purpose. (Journal of the Committee of Safety, ''Die Mercurii, 9 ho., A.M., " Oc…

Need there be any Surprise that, with such an array of strong men in its favor, that he more distant and less exposed Manor of Livingston should be chosen, especially since the purchasing agent of the Quartermaster-general of the Continental Army was at Fishkill, with funds to meet the drafts of Dirck Jansen, who was selected by the Convention, to gather the grain from the farmers or from the …

The subject was introduced into the Convention, very properly, on the day after that body had approved and accepted the Declaration of Independence; but the consideration of it was postponed, from time to time, until the first of August, when a Committee was appointed for the purpose of* taking into consideration and reporting apian for instituting and framing a Form of Government, together w…

It continued to issue such Bills, in the name of the Colony, long after it had professed to accept the Declaration uf Independence, by which it had ceased to be a Colony, (Journal of the Convention, "Die Mercurii, 9 ho., A.M., Augt. 7, 1776") and, subsequently, when a new issue of such Bills of Credit was ordered to be printed, (Journal of the Convention, " Die Martis, 5 ho., P.M , August 13, …

In the same connection, it may be well to inquire and to consider what the Earl of Coventry meant, when, in his place in the House ot Lords, on the twenty-fifth of November, 1779, he said, " He lamented that a " War so fatal to Great Britain should ever have been begun, much more " that it should be continued with so much obstinacy; and declared that, "had the House paid attention to the prop…

" The last Sessions,' ' during which the Earl of Coventry, by authority, presented overtures for reconciliation to which the Continental Congress would have agreed, was the Fifth Session of the Fourteenth Parliament of Great Britain, (November 26, 1778, to July 3, 1779,) long after the alliance of the United States with France had been perfected, and utilized in America. As the Earl, on anoth…

The subject continued to be played with, both by the Committee and the Convention, by both of whom nothing was done, until the Royal Army occupied the City of New York and prepared to extend its operations into Westchester-county, when other subjects occupied the attention of both ; and thus were the best interests and the safety of the inhabitants of the State endangered -- thus were their…

'Without entering into details, the Convention provided for the refugee Poor, from the City of New York; protected the Cattle of the farmers, from the enemy's foraging parties, as far as it could do so ; guarded the Military-stores of the State ; built Vessels-of-War ; obstructed the navigation of the Hudson- river ; arbitrarily set aside the Elections of Officers who were distasteful to it ; b…

*"We take the liberty of suggesting to your consideration, also, the "propriety ef taking some measures for expunging from the Book of " Common Prayer, such parts, aud discontinuing in the Congregations "of all other denominations, all such prayers, as interfere with the in- " tereBt of the American cause. It is a subject we are afraid to meddle " with the enemies of America having taken grea…

As we have already stated, the Royal troops which had been withdrawn from Boston and carried to Halifax, during the preceding March, " having suffi- " ciently recovered from the fatigues and sickness " occasioned by their confined situation in that town' ' [Boston, b ~\ left the later place, [Halifax] on the eleventh of June, 6 under convoy of Admiral Shuldham ; 7 reached Sandy-hook on the t…

On the afternoon of the twelfth of July, for the purpose of distressing the American Army, " by " obstructing supplies coming down the river and other "good consequences dependent on that measure" -- probably, also, for the purpose of offering encouragement to the conservative farmers of Westchestercounty to follow the example of those on Staten Island, in declaring for the King -- the Phtxni…

The Annual Register for 1776 : History of Europe, 166,* 167,* and, following that authority, The History of the War in America between Great Britain and her Colonies, Ed. Dublin, 1779, i., 179, 180, and Murray's Impartial History of the. War in America, Edit. Newcastle, ii., 153, say the troops were not comfortable at Halifax ; and that General Howe was obliged to sail from there, because of a …

• General Howe to Lord George Germaine, "Staten Island, 7 July, (i 1776 . n [H a ll' B ] History of the Civil War in America, i , 175 ; Gordon's History of the American Revolution, Ed. London, 1788, ii., 278 ; etc. 10 General Howe to Lord George Germaine, "Staten Island, 7 July, " 1776 ; " General Howe's Observations upon apamphlet entitled Letters to a Nobleman, Ed. London, 1780, 50; London …

guns, and three tenders, "taking advantage of the " tide and a fresh breeze," left Staten Island, and passed the City, receiving the fire of the American batteries on the Bed Hook, Governor's Island, Powle's Hook, and along the line of the Hudson-river, within the City, without sustaining any material damage, and returning a fire which was equally harmless. 1 They anchored off Tarrytown, du…

The successful passage of these ships, up the river, very reasonably, created much anxiety and alarm, in the Army and throughout the State. General Washington, wisely suspecting that the purpose of the movement was to encourage the tenantry on the Manors of Philipsborough and Cortlandt to declare for the King, immediately ordered General George 1 General Howe to Lord George Germaine, " State…

Clinton, then commanding the Militia who had been called out for the protection of the passes over the Highlands, to desire General Ten Broeck, commanding the Militia above the Highlands, to march down with as great a force as he could collect, in order the more effectually to secure those passes, particularly the road which passed over Anthony's Nose ; and, at the same time, he authorized G…

On the fourteenth of July, General Washington wrote to the Convention a letter which is so significant of the great anxiety which he felt and so highly illustrative of his character, as a great commander, that we make room for it, in this place. " New- York Head-quarters. " July 14th, 1776. " Gentlemen : -- " The passage of the enemy up the North-river is " an event big with many consequenc…

It may be that, " on board these ships, there may be troops for that " purpose, who, expecting to be joined by the disaffect- "ed, in that quarter, or confiding in their own " strength, may endeavour to seize those defiles, in " which case the intercourse between the two Armies, "both by land and water, will be wholly cut off, than " which a greater misfortune could hardly befall the " Pro…

I would, to " guard against this, submit to your consideration the "propriety of writing to the leading men, on our " side, in those Counties, to be very vigilant in ob- " serving any movement of that kind, in order that "so dangerous a scheme may be nipped in the bud; "for that purpose, to keep the utmost attention to " the conduct of the principal Tories in those parts, " any attempts of…

Very ungraciously and, certainly, not in such words as were calculated to inspire respect for those who had employed them, among those against whom they were thus tossed, by the aristocratic masterspirits of the Convention, 3 Orders were issued to Captain Micah Townsend, who had probably been sent from the Plains to Tarrytown, on the day after the arrival of the ships, to remain at the latte…

1 Vide page 208, ante. 'Journal of the Convention, "Die Luna;, P.M., July 15, 1776." 8 The Convention to Lieutenant-colonel Hammond, " In Convention for " the State op New-York, White Plains, July 15, 1776." * Journal of the Convention, "Die Luna-, P.M., July 15, 1776;" the Convention to Lieutenant-colonel Hammond, "In Convention for the " State of New- York, White Plains, July 15, 1776." "…

During the morning of that day, [July 16, 1776,] before the information of the departure of the ships from Tarrytown had reached the Convention , that body had provided for the removal of " all Provisions and " other Stores, as well private as public property, which " were stored in places within the district of Peekskill " and so situated as to be in danger of being taken by " the enemy," …

B Lieutenant-colonel Hammond to the Convention, "Tarrytown, July "16,1776;" General Clinton to General Washington, "Fort Montgom- "ery, July 23, 1776." • Journal of the Convention, " Friday morning, July 16, 1776." WESTCHESTER COUNTY. of the river; and those who were already in the service, from Orange and Ulster-counties, were ordered to be posted in the Highlands, to guard the defiles, th…

The provisions of these enactments were completed by the appointment of Colonel Thomas Thomas as the Colonel-commanding and Ebenezer Purdy as the Major, of the troops which were to be drawn from Westchester-county 1 -- an appointment of Colonel which was made in the hurry of the moment and under a misapprehension, the Convention having erroneously supposed Colonel Thomas was the senior Colo…

In the afternoon of the same day, [July 16, 1776,] the Convention appointed a secret Committee " to de- " vise and carry into execution such measures as to " them shall appear most effectual for obstructing " the channel of Hudson's-river, or annoying the en- " emy's ships in their navigation up the said river ; " and that this Convention pledge themselves for de- " fraying the charges inci…

2 Journal nf the Convention, "Die Lunfe, 9 ho., A.M., July 22, 177G ;" the same, " Die Luna?, 4 ho., P.M., July 22, 1776 ; " Colonel Joseph Drake to the Convention, " White Plains, 23 July, 1776 ; " the same to tieneral Morris, " New Rociiel, July 24, 1776 ; " the same to the Convention, "New Rocheli.e, 6 August, 1776." 3 Preamble and Resolution of the Convention, "Die Lunai, 4 ho., P.M., "Ju…

requesting " all Magistrates and other officers of jus- "tice in this State, who were well affected to the liber- " ties of America, until further orders, to exercise their " respective offices," was adopted ; and the Convention also adopted Resolutions declaring that "all persons " abiding within the State of New York and deriving " protection from the Laws of the same, owe Allegiance " to…

Committee of the Convention, instead of a letter by the hands of a Messenger ; and Colonel John Broome, of New York City, and William Duer, of Charlotte-county, wore selected for that purpose. {General Washington to tlte President of Qie Continental Congress, " New York, 19 "July, 1776." ) 7 Theso Resolutions are almost identical with other Resolutions, of the same tenor, which bad been adop…

Treason has always consisted, and still consists, of something else than a mere misdemeanor or a simple felony ; and the subject of another Sovereign, although a violator of the lex loci, to which he properly owed obedienoo, could not, then nor since, have been legally tried and convicted of Treason, for any such violation of the local Law, in the Stwte of New York or elsewhere, else, under t…

' such persons, whose going at large, at thi8 critical " time, they shall deem dangerous to the Liberties of " this State;" l and the measure of its zeal was filled by asking a loan from General Washington, for the payment of what it had undertaken to do, promising to " take the earliest care to replace what nothing " but urgent necessity would have induced it to bor- " row ;" by requesting…

While the Convention was thus bravely and, generally, with excellent judgment, employed in making preparations for a vigorous and effective resistance, whatever the purposes of the enemy may have been, General Clinton, then at Fort Montgomery, as we have already seen, not only welcomed one of the enemy's tenders, which was beating up the river, taking soundings as she went, with a thirty-two …

2 The Convention to General Washington, " White Plains, July 16, 1776." Of the last-named excellent suggestion, General Washington subsequently wrote, * * * "but I did not think myself at liberty tu '* urge or request his" [Governor TnwibulVs] "interest in forming the " Camp of six thousand men, as the levies, directed by Congress, on the " third of June, to be furnished for the defense of thi…

three miles of Fort Montgomery ; plundered the house of a poor man-- taking, among other things, " a " handkerchief full of Salad and a Pig so very poor " that a crow would scarcely deign to eat it "--setting the house on fire, when it was left ; and then, returning to the place where the tender had run aground, in the morning, cast her anchor, where, on the following day, the Phcenix joined …

General Howe, in his first despatch on the matter, informed the Home Government that he had " submitted to Admiral Shuldham's consideration the "propriety of sending a naval force up the North- " river, above the Town of New York, with a view to " distress the rebels on that Island, by obstructing " supplies coming down the river, and other good " consequences dependent upon that measure, wh…

It was said by General Howe, as we have seen, that the purpose was to cut off the supplies, for the City, which were brought down the river ; but he also said, it will be remembered, there were " other good " consequences dependent upon that measure," of the character of which " consequences " he prudently said nothing. If, among those "other good consequences," it was intended to cut off t…

6 The direct authority for this statement has been mislaid ; hut a confirmation of it may be seen in General Howe's statement, in his despatch to Lord George Germaine, (" Staten Island, 8 July, 1776,") that no more than the Phoenix and Hose could have been spared, at that tim$ from the protection of the transports, even for the important service in which those two ships were employed. 7 Gener…

There must, therefore, have been " other good consequences dependent on " that measure ;" and we are not inclined to admit that any Arms were aboard the ships, for the equipment of Westchester-county Loyalists, nor that any design against the Highland passes was on the programme of their proposed operations -- we incline, rather, to the belief that only ostensibly were those ships sent up …

The vigilance with which the Westchester-shore of the river was generally watched and the extreme backwardness of even those who had been outraged by the County and Town Committees, to abandon their families and their homes, even in retaliation or because of their honorable loyalty to their Sovereign, were so painfully evident, however, that General Howe became convinced that if "the Militia…

a In his published Despatches to the Home Government, while he held the chief command of the Army in America, and in his Narrative in a Committee of the House of Commons, relative to his Conduct, etc., especially in his Observations upon a pamphlet entitled Letters to a Nobleman, General Howe told the story of hia great expection of active cooperation, in the field, from those who favored the Ro…

Whatever may have been the real purposes of the expedition, the eastern shore of the river was so well guarded that no attempt was made to land, in force, for any purpose, on the Westchester-county side of it, nor was there any open communication between the ships and the inhabitants of that County, although it is known that frequent communications were effected, secretly and in the night, w…

As the inhabitants of Staten Island, and those of Queens, Westchester, and Duchess-counties were supposed to have been especially conservative and, consequently, had been most terribly outraged by the dominant faction, it was reasonably supposed, by those who were familiar with the facts, that retaliation if not loyalty would induce these, especially, to declare against those who had oppressed …

General Howe very well said, after experience had taught him the facts, "Much might be said upon the state of loyalty and the principles "of loyalty, in America. Some are loyal from principle ; mam/ from in- "terest ; many from resentment; many wish for peace, but are indiffor- " out which side prevails ; and there are others who wish success to Great "Britain, from a recollection of the happ…

There is t not known to have been any communication between the Westchester-county bank of the river and the ships, while the latter remained on their lower anchorage-ground, except thoBe referred to on page 208, ante ; but, subsequently, while the ships were off the Cortlandt Manor, their boats as we shall see, were very active, during every night ; and it is known the ships were visited by s…

The Militia who were ordered out for the protection of the storehouses and the passes in the Highlands, responded with great promptitude, 4 so much so, indeed, that General Washington was warranted in calling to the main Army some Massachusetts troops who had been sent to that vicinity ; 5 and the vessels dropped down and anchored " a little below Ver- "planck's Point," and ceased to make an…

* Journal of Die Convention, "Thursday morning.July 18, 1776 ;" General Washington to John Augustine Washington, "New York, 22 July, "1776." < Pierre Van Cortlandt and ZepJianiah Piatt, Jnnr. to the Convention, " Pkeksk [i.i,, July 18, 1776." » General Washington to the Convention, " Head-quarters, New York, "July 19, 1776." 6 Pierre Van Cortlandt and Zephaniah Piatt, Jnnr. to the Convention…

* On Sunday night, the twenty-eighth of July, because the New England troops had gone away, on the preceding day, leaving the river-line unguarded, the boats from the ships went ashore, "at one Bailey's," near the mouth of Croton-river ; " went back, half a mile ; and drove off " a pair of oxen, two cows, one calf, one heifer, and eleven sheep : no "doubt had the assistance of some Tories, on …

Immediately after their successful passage up the river, the General wrote to the Governors of Connecticut and Rhode Island, for the use of some of the galleys which those States had built ; and, on the twenty-fourth of July, he wrote to the Convention of New York, telling it what he had done ; that he was in expectation, "every ''hour," that three or four of those galleys would reach the C…

of it: " Tarrytown, (Sunday morning,) August 4. "Sir: " I have just opportunity to inform you that, " yesterday, at one o'clock, P.M., the galleys attacked " the Plicenix and the Hose, off Tarrytown. " The Lady Washington fired the first gun on our "side, in answer to one received from the Pluenix: " this first shot from us entered the Phmnix. The " Washington, galley, on board of which th…

' take her station in the line, according to orders). ' The Spitfire advanced, in a line with the Washing- ' ton ; and, with her, behaved well. " We had as hot a fire as, perhaps, was ever known, ' for an hour and a half. The Washington, which I ' was on board, during the whole engagement, had ' the ledgings of her bow-guns knocked away, which ' prevented our working them, and was otherwise…

The rest ' of the galleys received considerable damage in their ' rigging, sails, and oars. 1 Under these circumstances, ' our Commodore, Colonel Tupper, thought it pru- ' dent to give the signal for our little fleet to with- ' draw, after manfully fighting a much superior force, ' for two hours. 1 It will be seen that very little was said, in this Report, of the opera tions of the Connect…

" By Captain Tinker am informed of the misfortune and situation of "the row-galleys sent into the Continental service from this State ; and " as circumstances are altered, respecting them, since my last to you, on ' ' the subject of dismissi ng their crews and arms, must again request your "attention to that matter, that the crew of the Crane, Captain Tinker, "who escaped, may be dismissed, a…

"The very critical stato of our Army and frequent movements of the en- " emy render it almost impossible for the General to write, himsolf, with- " out neglecting more important duties. He, therefore, directs me toan- " swer your letter of the 14th, and to say that the Captains of the galleys " from your State have misbehaved, invariably, from the first moment they " came, to the time of thei…

"Never did men behave with more firm, deter- " mined spirits, than our little crews; one of our tars, "being mortally wounded, cried to his mess-mate, 'I " 'am a dying man : revenge my blood, my boys, and " 'carry me alongside my gun, that I may die there.' " We were so preserved by a gracious Providence, " that in all our galleys, which consisted of six, we " we had but two men killed and …

It appears that one, Anderson, had proposed a scheme to the Continental Congress for destroying the British fleet, then lying in the harbor of New York, with fire-ships ; and he had been officially recommended to General Washington, by the President of the Congress, with a request that the experiment should be made. 3 The General had, accordingly, employed Anderson in constructing two fire-v…

II., No. 666, New-London, Friday, August 16, 1776 ; [Hall's] History of the Civil War in America, i., 186, who said " most of the galleys were ran on shore, and taken ; " Memoirs of General Heath, 51 ; Ramsay's History of the American Revolution, Edit. London, 1791, i., 298, a mero montion ; Allen's History of live American Revolution, Edit. Baltimore, 1822, i., 429 ; Wilson's History of the Ame…

We learn from the records of the " Governor and Council, or Conimit- " teo of War," of Connecticut, tha; the Whiting and the Crane were owned by the State of Connecticut, and were, probably, those which were loaned to General Washington ; that the Whiting was a new vessel, commanded by Captain John McCleave, was manned with fifty men, including her officers, and armed with four cannon, taken f…

We are told these vessels were sloops, ' probably such as ordinarily sailed on the North-river ; and that the night of the fourteenth of August was appointed for the attempt to burn the ships ; but, from some unexplained cause, without having aroused any suspicion, however, the attempt was not, then, made. 2 Two nights later, thatof the sixteenth of August, it was " pretty dark,'' and the ti…

With her fires fiercely burning, the sloop continued alongside the Phoenix, nearly a quarter of an hour, during which time the latter was also set on fire, in four places ; and she was finally saved from total destruction, " almost miraculously," by a sailor who leaped, naked, on board the sloop, and, with an axe, " disengaged the "chain of the grappling which had " linked the two vessel…

" said that one of the tenders was deserted by her " crew, for a time ;" that the tender which was grappled by Captain Thomas was burned to the water's edge and was towed to the shore, by the Americans, 7 by whom one iron six-pound gun, two three-pounders, one two-pounder, ten swivels, a caboose and apron, some gun-barrels, cutlasses, grapplings, chains, etc., were taken from the wreck ; an…

THE AMERICAN FIRESHIPS. 1 Memoirs of General Heath, 51. 2 Ibid. 3 [Hall's] History of the Citiil War in America, i., 186. 4 We have taken this minute description of the assault on the enemy's ships from Captain Hall's History of the Civil War in America, i., 180, 187 because it is so clearly stated, and because it is the work of an officer of the Royal Army, and, therefore, is not likely to …

General Heath reported to General Washington, on the morning after the attack, that the galleys Lady Washington and Independence had behaved well, in their co-operation with the firevessels, while the other galleys were inactive ; and the Commander-in-chief answered, on the same day, expressing his pleasure in hearing of the good behavior of those who had participated in the adventure, and ins…

During the period occupied in this early naval debehavior of the crews of all of them, " in the first attack made on the "shipB in the North River," for which they had been tried and condemned by a Continental Court-martial, that officer, writing "by his Excellency's commands," (vide page 214, ante) said of the subsequent operation of those galleys, " In the late affair, Captain McCleavo mint be …

The enemy " took possession of her, in half an hour ; and she, with the other, left " under the like circumstances, will probably prove the most formidable " force they can have, to oppose us, on the river. There was a place of " safety provided for the other galleys, which they might have got into, " as well as McCleave ; but they passed it, in their hurry." {General Washington, through the…

For other accounts of this daring feat, in attempting to destroy these ships, and of the subsequent escape of the latter, see General Heath to General Washington, " King's Bridge, 17 August, 1776 ; " General Washington to the President of Congress, "New-York, August 17, 1776 ; " the same to Governor Trumbull, " New York, August 18, 1776;" General Heath to General Washington, " King's Bridge, …

"What purports to have been copied from a contemporary drawing of the brilliant scene, made by Sir James Wallace, who had command of the Rose, on the occasion now under notice, may be seen in The Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York for 1864, opposite page 672. It is understood to have been copied from the original drawing, in the British Museum ; and it has been re-produced, in p…

The year previous," ho continued, "General Heath had been requested by the person in command of the ''fireships, to be a spectator of the burning of these vessels," quoting, monstration, so interesting to those of Westchestercounty who lived near the line of the Hudson-river, neither of the great opposing powers, in the City of New York and on Long Island, on the one side, and on and around …

As it is more than probable that the ships, when they were attacked, were off Tarry town, instead of below Yonkers; as Yonkers, in 1777, was within the British lines, and so could not have afforded a rendezvous, in the Saw-Mill-river, for American gun-boats and fireships, during that year ; as the Phmi-ix and the Rose had dropped down to the anchorage of the Royal Fleet, off Slaten Island, on…

" It gives us great pain to inform you that the aid received from our "sister StateB is very inadequate to our expectations, none of them hav- ** ing yet completed the levies directed by Congress, which leaves us "reason to fear that, instead of using every means that human wisdom "dictates, for ensuring success, we shall, (with inferior numbers,) on "the doubtful issue of a single battle, ha…

Noth withstanding "all these difficulties, We are determined to combat every obstacle and "to Btrain every nerve in defense of the rights and liberties of America, '* which we conceive to be most materially interested in the safety of this "State. By our Resolutions for ordering the several drafts made in the "Comities of Suffolk, Queens, Kings, Westchester, Duchess, Ulster, and "Orange, to …

General Howe, on the contrary, had been strengthened, on the twelfth of July, by the arrival of his brother, Admiral Lord Howe, with the long expected reinforcements for theEoyal Array j 1 and he brought, also, a Commission from the King, appointing his brother, General Howe, and himself 2 to be Commissioners for granting pardons to those of the Americans who should ask for the clemency of the…

" I am extremely concerned that the quotas of men to he furnished by "the neighboring States have proved so deficient. The busy season "and harvest, to which it has been ascribed, being now over, in a great "degree, I flatter myself, from the zeal they have heretofore manifested, " they will afford every possible assistance, They are well apprised of " the importance of tins State, in the pre…

do Lancey, in his Notes on Jones's History of New-York during the Revolutionary War, (i., 722,) has partly " let the cat out of the bag," by saying they " were sons of Emanuel Scrope Howe, second Viscount "Howe, by Mary Sophia, an illegitimate daughter of George I., by his " mistress, the Hanoverian Baroness Kilmansegge, and, consequently, "in point of fact, first cousins once removed of Geor…

a The extent of the authority of the brothers, Admiral and General Howe, as Commissioners for the restoration of Peace, in America, has been bo variously stated, that the careful reader will do well to refer to their Commission, which may be found in a most singular connection with a mass uf papers concerning the Expedition commanded by General Burgoyne, which appear to have been laid before …

the harbor together, bringing another heavy reinforcement to the Royal Army, as well as the much needed Camp-equipage ; * two days later, [August 14, 1776,] Sir Peter Parker reached Staten Island, with the remains of the expedition which had been sent to Virginia and the Carolinas ; ° and, at the same time, Lord Dunmore, " with the refugees and blackamoors " from Virginia," 6 and Lord Willia…

The Convention of the State, during that period of suspense, removed back from the White Plains to Harlem, occupying the old Church-building of the Reformed Dutch Church ; a and, nearer to the scene of the expected troubles, it provided for the protection of the Hudson-river and Long Island Sound, where the enemy was expected to make a landing, in force, by ordering the entire Militia of Wes…

* General Howe to Lord George Germaine, " Staten Island, 15 Au- "gust, 1776 ;" Annual Register for 1776: History of Europe* 169 j Memoirs of General Heath, 53 ; Gordon's History of the American Revolution, ii., 304, 305. 5 General Howe to Lord George Germaine, " Staten Island, 15 August, ''1776;" Governor Tryon to tlie same, "Ship Duchess of Gordon, off "Staten Island, August 14, 1776," posts…

Ab the Streets and Avenues now run, it was inside of the block bounded by the First and Second-avenues and One hundred and twenty-fourth <and One hundred and twenty-fifth-streets, near the present intersection of the First-avenue and One hundred and twenty-fourth-street, as it has been described to us by our friend, James Biker, Esq., of Waverly, New York, the distinguished historian of Harl…

It provided for the removal of all which remained, of those Cannon which had been brought from the City and laid on the roadsides of the County of Westchester -- those which had been spiked and unspiked, guarded and left unguarded, at such heavy cost, some months previously 2 -- and General Clinton was requested to have carriages made for such of those guns as he should consider necessary f…

because of "suspicions" which somebody had entertained concerning them, to the several County Committees, but in a tone of mildness which was remarkably unusual ; 8 and, in other ways, endeavoring to serve the cause of the country -- one of the most remarkable of the multitude of subjects which, at that time, crowded themselves before the Convention, for its consideration, was a letter from Jo…

were taken for the removal of the women, children, and infirm persons, in the City of New York, to places of greater safety ; 5 for obstructing the navigation, in both the Hudson and the East-rivers, as well as in Buttermilk-channel, the latter separating Governor's-island from Long Island ; 6 providing for the temporary support of those who should be driven from their homes, by the enemy ; '…

than the bad judgment of those, in England, who controlled the movements of the troops, that he was not thus sent -- the Campaign could have been opened '. several weeks earlier, when General Washington was i much less prepared to receive an enernv, and, therefore, • when a complete success in the suppression of the Eebellion was very much more promising ; but that Almighty power which contro…

Eoyal Army were commenced by the movement of the British Grenadiers and Light Infantry and the Hessians, or rather the German, Grenadiers, Light Infantry, and Chasseurs -- the last-named commanded by the Count Donop -- the whole numbering '' not less "than four thousand men," 1 of the elite of the Army, the whole commanded by General Sir Henry Clinton, to Gravesend Bay, near Coney-island, wh…

The purposes of this work do not require us to follow the immediately subsequent operations of the two Armies ; and the general knowledge which prevails concerning the disastrous "Battle of Long Island," made more disastrous by reason of " the obstinate, ''self-conceited, inefficiency," if not by the criminal disobedience and neglect, of General Israel Putnam ; concerning the remarkable retr…

1 [Hall's] History of the Civil War in America, L, 188. See, also, Stedman's History of the American War, i., 193. 2 [HaU's] History of the Civil War in America, i., 188 ; Stedman's History of the American War, i„ 193. 3 General Howe to Lord George Germaine, "Newtown, Long Island, "3 Sept.. 1776 ;" General Washingtonto General Heath, " Head-Quarters, " New- York 23 August, 1776 ; " the same t…

Early on the morning of the twenty-seventh of August, two ships and a brig anchored a little above Throgg's-neck ; and before the troops whom General Heath had sent for the purposes of protecting the neighboring property, could reach the shore, several barges had gone ashore, on City-island ; killed several cattle ; * and carried away the dead animals and one of the inhabitants. The troops …

For the purpose of cutting the line of communication of the City of New York, through the Sound, with the sea -- the way to the ocean, by way of the Narrows, having been already occupied by him -- the enemy very judiciously occupied Barren-island, belonging to Westchester-county, Montresor's -- now Randall's -- island, and what is now known as Ward's-island -- the latter two belonging to the …

The channel which separated Morrisania, in Westchester-county, from Montresor'sisland, in the City of New York, being quite narrow, and a heayy picket of four hundred and fifty mounted men having been constantly maintained at Morrisania, the sentries of the respective forces, posted within halfgunshot distance, sometimes fired at each other, in violation of the inconsistent usages of War; and…

They were to embark, at the new Bridge over the Harlem-river, on board of three large floats ; to be covered by a fourth float, similar to the others and carrying a detachment of Artillery, with a light three-pounder gun; to fall down the Harlem-river, with the ebb, during the night, to Morrisania ; and the calculation was so made that, at daybreak, the young flood should be so much made, …

Notwithstanding one of the sentries had not been told of the expedition or had misunderstood the Order which had been given to him, and had resolutely disregarded the entreaties for silence which had been made, and had discharged his musket, giving an alarm, the enemy does not appear to have been disturbed ; and the three floats ran up to the place appointed for the landing, without serious…

The Officers and those who were on the central float sprang ashore, as they were expected ; received and repulsed a charge which the enemy's guard made on them ; but failed to receive the slightest support from those who were on the other two floats, who, instead of landing, sullenly " lay upon their oars." The enemy seeing that disaffection, rallied, and returned to the charge, with great …

It is said that Lieutenant-colonel Jackson received a musket-ball in his leg; that Major Thomas Henley, one of the Aides-de-camp of General Heath, who had insisted on going out with the expedition, as a Volunteer, was shot through his heart, as he was getting into the float; that Major Hatfield was missing; and that the Americans lost, in killed, wounded, and missing, fourteen men. 2 There…

Morrisania, 1865, September 22, 1776 ; General Orders, " Head-quarters, Harlem - "heights, September 24,1776;" Lieutenant-colonel Tench Tilghman to William Duer, "Head-quarters, Harlem-heights, September 25, 1776 ; ' Extract of a letter from an Officer, at Harlem, dated September 25, 1776, in Force's American Archives, Fifth Series, ii., 524 ; Extract from a letter from Mount Washington, dat…

8 General Orders, Head-quarters, Harlem-heights, September 29, 1776 ; Proceedings of a General Cowrl-martuA of the Line, held on Qie Heights of Harlem, by order of His Excellency George Washington, Esq., General and Commander-in-chief of the Forces of the United States of America, for the trial of the Captains Wiener and Scott, in Hie service of said States, September 30, 1776 ; Aityutant-gen…

• The apparent inactivity of the two opposing Armies, during several weeks after the occupation of the City of New York, was not understood, even by the Congress, and created some uneasiness; 1 but both were actively employed, the Royal Army in throwing up a line of defences, on the high grounds overlooking the Harlem-plains, from the South, in order to protect the City from an attack from th…

It provided for the removal of the women, children, and infirm, and that of the poor, from the City of New York, in some instances into Westchester-county ; " and the care of the public records also received its careful attention. 6 When the enemy's shipping threatened the shores of Suffolk, it appealed for help from Connecticut, in view of its own inability to afford protection ; ' when the…

1 The correspondence of John Adams with his wife, which has been published, will show the anxious uncertainty which prevailed in the Congress. 2 [Hall's] History of the Civil War in America, i., 201 ; Stedman's History of the American War, i., 210. 8 General Howe to Lord George Germaine, " New-York. Island, 25 Sept., " 1776 ; ' ' Annual Register for 177 6 : History of Europe, *176 ; [Hall's] …

6 Journal of the Convention, " Die Jovis, 8 ho., P.M., Augt. 22, 1776; " Journal of the Committee of Safety, " Tuesday afternoon, Augt. 27, 1776 ;" the same, " Die Jovis, 9 ho., A.M., Sept. 12, 1776 ; " Journal of the Convention, "Die Veneris, 9 ho., A.M., Octor. 4, 1776 ; " etc. t The Convention to Hie Committees of Stonington, New-London, Groton, Lyme, Saybrook, Guilford, New Haven, Stratfor…

quently, when the purpose of the enemy to occupy Westchester-county had become more evident, Stephen Ward was appointed a Commissary " to purchase " all the Cattle fit for the use of the Army, within " that County, and to drive them down to the Army, " at King's Bridge, as fast as they may be wanted ; " Provided, that so much shall be left as is abso- " lutely necessary for the support of th…

Budd Horton, Alexander Hunt, James " Varian, and Joseph Youngs be appointed Commis- " sioners to drive all the Horses, Hogs, Sheep, and " Cattle, from those parts of the County of Westches- " ter which lay upon the Sound or the Hudson's-river, " and which are any way exposed to the enemy, and " to billet them out upon the farms that lay in the " interior part of the County, till the same ca…

" Philipse's Manor, Augt. 31, 1776 ; " the Committee of Safety to General Washington, "Augt. 31, 1776." » Journal of the Committee of Safety, "Monday morning, Octor. 14th, "1776." WESTCHESTER COUNTY. " ing into the hands of the enemy, be empowered " either to remove it or them, therefrom, or, if that " should not be practicable, to destroy the same ; " " that the Commissary or Commissaries…

Stephen Ward " apply to the Commissary-general for such sums of " money as will, from time to time, be necessary to " carry the above Resolves into execution ; " and " that a copy of the above Resolutions be sent to His " Excellency General Washington and to the Com- " missary-general, requesting their assistance in carrying the same into execution." 1 In the absence of General Lewis Morris…

1 Journal of the Committee of Safety, " Monday morning, Octor. 14th, "1776." These Resolutions were proposed by Robert R. Livington. 2 On the sixteenth of September, "the Convention was informed "that the Militia of Westchester-county are not so properly arranged "and managed as they ought to be, at this critical juncture, which is "occasioned by the absence of General Morris;" and it "There…

Livingston, which the Committee of Safety sent to the General, with a peremptory Order to take the command of his Brigade, dated "October the 8th, 1776," did not effect its purpose, it certainly conveyed to the bashful Brigadier an evidence of what others thought of his remarkable conduct, as a soldier. 8 Two ships and a brig came to anchor, a little above Throgg's-neck, on the twenty-sevent…

Odell on Philipse's Manor, 8 at the house of John Blagge, at Crotonriver ; 9 and, possibly, elsewhere. 10 It constructed fireships, for the protection of the Hudson-river from the enemy's vessels ;" and it continued the support of the State's cruisers, on the ocean. 12 It attended to the removal of the military stores which were endangered by the movements of the enemy ; 13 it ordered all the…