Dawson, Henry B. Westchester County, New York, During the American Revolution. Morrisania, NY: (privately printed by the author), 1886.

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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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

* 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 …

-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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

*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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 *' …

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 …

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 …

" 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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 ; " …

" 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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

" 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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

"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 …

" 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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 " …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

" 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 …

" 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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …