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

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 …

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 …

" 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" with the said Island of Great Britain, until the said " Act for blocking up the said Harbour " [of Boston'] " be repealed, and a full restoration of our Charter " Eights be obtained." 2 But we are told by that gen …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

< 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 …

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 …

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 …

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." …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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; 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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

" 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 …

" 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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

" 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 …

"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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

" 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 …

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 …

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 …

'' 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 …

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 …

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 …

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." …

"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 …

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 …

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 …

» 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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

" 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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

" 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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

" 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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

•^ 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 …

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 …

" 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 …

" 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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

" 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 " …

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 …

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 …

" 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 …

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 …

" 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 …

" 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 …

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 …

" 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 …

" 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 …

" 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 …

" 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- " …

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 " …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

"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 …

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 …