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

"'Whereas the Continental Congress, by their " 'Resolution of the first day of November last, have " ' resolved that no produce of the United Colonies "'be exported, except from Colony to Colony under " ' the directions of the Committees of Inspection and " ' Observation, and except from one part to the other " ' of the same Colony, before the first day of March " 'next …

'*' Resolved, That the Committee of the County " ' of Westchester be requested to take effectual " ' means to prevent the sale and transportation of "'any barrelled Beef or Pork out of Westchester- '" county, to any person or persons residing out of " ' this Colony, until the further order of the Provin- " ' cial Congress or of the Committee of Safety of this " ' Colony.' " A …

We ap- " ' prehend that such Provisions will be wanted for "'the use of the Continental Army in this Colony, " ' and that the service may possibly suffer if all the " ' barrelled Provisions are taken out of the Colony. " ' We therefore request you to take the most effectual " ' measures to carry the enclosed Resolution into exe- " ' cution. " ' We are, respectfully, Gentlemen …

At the same time, as has been seen, the surplus products of the farms in Connecticut were brought into the Colony, in open disregard of the provisions of that Resolution of the Continental Congress which was used as the warrant for the prohibition of the reciprocal trade of Westchester-county with Connecticut ; and the market of New York, for nothing else than theproducts of …

Can any one say, honestly, that those who made those enactments, purely in the interest of the farmers of Connecticut, at the expense of those of Westchestercounty, notwithstanding they were unquestionably " patriotic," were anything else than corrupt legislators and roguish, dishonest men ? Will not those who know the character of Gilbert Drake, before and during and after …

The Contractor encountered so much of trouble from these interfering causes, that he was constrained to seek the interposition of the Committee of Safety ; and, on the twentieth of March, that Committee, responsive to the Contractor's complaint, ordered "that " the respective Committees of the Counties of West- " Chester and Duchess permit Mr. Abraham Living- " ston to export …

Early in January, 1776, while the conservatism ot the inhabitants of Queens-county was occupying the attention of the leaders of the Eebellion ; while the inhabitants of that County, because of their decided and outspoken opposition to the Rebellion and to the various Committees and Congresses which the Eebellion had called into existence, were subjected, by the Provincial …

and New Jersey, the latter accompanied by amateur banditti from New York City, the leaders of the Rebellion in Westchester-county, also, were anxious to join in the crusade of " patriotism," against their neighbors on the other side of the Sound -- they had had practise in such a service as that, in the work of harrying their conservative neighbors, in Westchestercounty; they …

The Committee of West Chester County hav- "ing seen in the public prints that many of the " Inhabitants of Queens County are thrown out of the " Protection of the Provincial Congress ; and having " been informed that they are Arming in their De- " fence, are greatly alarmed at their Conduct, and beg " leave to assure your honorable House, that the "Friends of Liberty in this …

As the original letter remained among the papers of the Military Committee of the Provincial Congress and has been preserved, to this day, among the multitude of other inedited and unexplained manuscripts, in the office of the Secretary of State, at Albany, it is very evident that it was duly referred to that Committee; that the unholy desires of the " pat- " riots " of …

toms in weakness, the aggregate of their strength having been less than forty men ; and, on the thirteenth of that month, these assembled at Wilsey Dusenberry's, in "Harrison's Precinct," and arranged themselves into a single Troop, electing their Officers, and duly reporting their doings to the Provincial Congress. The following is the official report of the Election of its …

Early in February, 1776, General Lee, then chief in command, in the City of New York, informed the Committee of Safety, then in session, that he was " of opinion that the two Connecticut Regiments " and Lord Stirling's would not be sufficient for the " services he will have to perform ; and he desired to " know whether it would be agreeable to the Com- " mittee that he should …

2 Historical Manuscripts, etc. : Military Returns, xxvii., 254. 'Journal of tlie Provincial Congress, " Die Mercurii, P.M , Peb. 21, "1776." < Journal of the Committee of Safety, "Die Veneris, 10 ho., A.M., Feb. "9, 1776." WESTCHESTER COUNTY. [February 9, 1776] a letter was addressed to Colonel Samuel Drake, ordering the skeleton Regiment of Westchester-county Minute-men into …

Take care that your men have their knap- " sacks and Blankets with them & provisiens for their " march. -- The Quartermaster ought by all means to " come with the Regiment. " It is not doubted but you will give orders that "your Troops observe the greatest regularity in their " march, and if you order the several Companies to " proceed " [precede f] " each other a few miles in …

As Captaiu Varian and his eighteen companions, facetiously regarded as one of the Companies of Minute-men of which Colonel Drake's Regiment was subsequently composed, were, then, unknown as soldiers, 2 that Regiment could not have possibly mustered more than two Companies commanded, respectively, by Captains Slason and Seely 3 -- that commanded by Captain Gray was not …

entered the Continental service, and after its reinforcement had joined it, it numbered not more than a hundred and fifty men ; 6 and about two weeks subsequently, little more than a month after it had been mustered in, it was made ridiculous and the propensity to office-holding among " the friends of Liberty," in Westchester-county, was forcibly illustrated by the following …

" As Colonel Drake's Regiment of Minute-men "consists of one hundred and eleven private men, " present, and yet have no less than four Field "Officers, two Captains, and thirteen other Commis- "sioned Officers, and twenty Non-commissioned " Officers, it is unreasonable to put the Continent to "the enormous expense of maintaining so many " Officers for the use of so few men …

»i Captain Gray's Company probably marched from Bedford, on the sixteenth of February, agreeably to the promise that it should do so ; and on the twenty-ninth of the same month, General Lee said of the Regiment and of a Company detached from another Regiment, together forming the garrison at Hoern's Hook, " Drake's Regiment of Minute- " Men and one more Company, (in all about …

but it was composed of men of notorious poverty and meanness, 1 by no means representative men of the yeomanry of Westchester-county ; " many of them " were, " destitute of " arms " 2 and, therefore, useless for soldiers ; and it appears that, as such characters were apt to be, they were recklessly destructive of the private property of those who were richer than they, not …

On the nineteenth of January, 1776, the Continental Congress ordered four Battalions to be raised for the defence of the Colony of New York ; 5 and, on the twenty-sixth of the same month, the experiment of starting the work of enlistment, for those four Battalions, by jobbing out the Offices which would be required, amorig the several Counties, with invitations for estimates …

On the following day, [January 27, 1776,] the Committee of Safety issued its Instructions for the Recruiting Officers who should be employed in the enlistment of men for the service referred to, in that new Order -- the pay of the Privates was to be five dollars per month ; each was to receive, as a bounty, a felt hat, a pair of yarn stockings, a pair of shoes, and, if they …

There appears to have been great backwardness in enlisting, however -- those who were expected to step into the ranks and to do the fatigue duty and the fighting, while the more favored ones of the Rebellion had occupied all the offices, in advance, and were predestinated to enjoy all that was comfortable and to issue all the orders and to be implicitly obeyed, were slow in …

As that Circular Letter is peculiarly interesting, in its details of the terms of enlistment into the Continental Army of 1776, a place may properly be found for it, in these pages. It was in the following words : " In Provincial Congress, " New- York, Feb. 18, 1776. "Sir: " The Congress having determined that your Coun- " ty shall have the opportunity of raising [two] Com …

"of the Continental Congress, for the defence of this " Colony, have resolved that blank Warrants for the "Officers of the same shall be sent to your Com- " mittee. "You will observe by the enclosed Resolves that " you are restrained in the appointments to give the " preference to such persons as have served their Coun- " try in the last Campaign ; but it is not, by any " …

" It is expected that each man furnishes himself " with a good gun and bayonet, tomahawk, knapsack " or haversack, and two bills. But those who are not " able to furnish themselves with these arms and accoutrements will be supplied at the public expense, "for the payment of which small stoppages will be " made out of their monthly pay, till the whole are "paid for; then they …

Notwithstanding all the inducements which the Provincial Congress and its various office-seeking recruiting agents could offer, however, the staid and conservative farmers of Westchester-county were slow to enlist into the Continental service -- there had been much discontentment among those who were in the service, under Colonel Holmes, in the preceding year ; 2 and on the …

The prospect for the four Battalions, as far as Westchester-county was concerned in it, was not promising ; and the Committee of Safety was already entertaining the proposal to call back the Warrants which had been sent into the County, more than two months previously, when a letter was received by that body, from Gilbert Drake, the Chairman of the Committee of the Couuty …

Subsequently, it was seen that the men whom Ezekial Hyatt, or Haight, or Hait -- for by each of these several names that " patriotic " gentleman was known, at different times -- had enlisted into his Company had been entrapped, by false representations ; * and the revelations of unopened records of that period, more recently opened, reveal the fact that Commissions had already …

8 Gilbert Drake to " Mr. Marin Scolt," " April the 24th, 1776 ; " Journal of the Committee of Safely, " Die Jovis, 10 ho., A.M., April 25, 1776." * A List of the Officer^ names in New York Troops, eh.: Col. McDongaVs Regiment. (5). -- Historical Manuscripts, etc. . Military Committee, XXV., 488. MiUta*-!/ Returns, xxvii., 88. Military Returns, xxvii., 96. Military Returns …

and his command were accepted by the Committee of Safety, as one of the two Companies required from Westchester-county ; l and it subsequently constituted the Fifth Company of the First Regiment of the New York Line, commanded by Colonel Alexander Mc- Dougal. 2 It was said of the Company, afterwards, that the Captain " has deceived the Convention " [the Provincial Congress f\ …

Two days after Ezekiel Hyatt, through the Chairman of the Committee of Westchester-county, had secured a place for himself and his command, in the New York Line of the Continental Army, [April 27, 1776,] Cornelius Steenrod appeared, personally, before the Committee of Safety, in the City of New York, and informed that Committee " that he can enlist a "complete Company of men …

parties ; and finally with the Committee of Westchester-county-- each scheme having been an improvement on those which had preceded it -- for the disposition of the Company, just as schemes were formed for tho promotion of personal interests of Officers, and just as Enlisted Men were trucked and bartered into Regiments which were foreign to them for the promotion of those …

He was peculiarly anxious to obtain an office, no matter what, nor on what terms ; I2 he was particularly zealous in his desire that he might administer testoaths to his neighbors ; 13 and it is more than probable that he was, in fact, a "friend of the Government," in disguise, notwithstanding all his official disclaimers." He had been in command of one of the skeleton …

He evidently completed his Company, in season to take a place, as the second Company of the apportionment to Westchester-county, in the First Regiment of the New York Line, in the Continental Army of 1776, commanded by Colonel Alexander McDougal, of which it was the Sixth Company, Isaac Titus having been his First Lieutenant, Isaac Ruyckman, Junior, his Second Lieutenant, and …

18 Cornelius Steenrod to " the Convention,"" without place or' date-- Jovjrnals of the Provincial Congress, ii., 147. "In June, 1776, Isaac Yonngs testified before the Committee on Conspiracies, of the Provincial Congress, that Thomas Vernon, that prisoner who made so much trouble, had informed him that one of tho Captains in McDougal's Regiment of Continentals, was a …

The similarity of that Company and its Officers and that commanded by Captain Hyatt and its Officers is singularly continued in the fact that the Second Lieutenant who was with Captain Steenrod when the Company was mustered into the Continental Service, was subsequently cashiered, 4 assuredly for conduct which was more than ordinarily bad ; and in the Report, concerning First …

It will be seen, from the respective records of the fraudulent practices of Ezekiel Hyatt and Cornelius Steenrod and their respective associates, in their enlistment of men for their respective commands; from the records of the questionable manner in which their respective Companies were carried, without their consent, into a line of the Continental Service for which they were …

« Recruiting Warrants were issued to him, on the tenth of March, 1776, and to Thomas Le Foy, on the twenty-eighth of the same month, for the Ninth Company of the First Regiment of the New York Line of the Continental Army of 1776; but the record says, also, "Captain Horton "and Officers' commissions not made out," (Recraitiug Warrants issued by the Convention to tlie First New …

come down among the debris of that period, since it cannot be regarded as a crime that some of them, unbidden, in that era of disregard of law, helped themselves to the freedom, belonging to themselves, of which their Officers had fraudulently deprived them -- -it cannot be consistently pretended, by any one, that the Officers of those Companies were reasonably representative …

Among the multitude of requirements, made by General Lee, either on his own motion or at the prompting of those who pandered to his baser inclinations, and which were obsequiously obeyed by the Provincial Congress, was one, made early in March, 1.776, for " a Magazine of Provisions and Military ■' Stores, to be established in Westchester-county," the requisition being …

The proposed test of the quality of the Pork to be purchased was, however, not satisfactory to those who were manipulating the Congress, in the interest of the job; and, on the ninth of March, when that body resumed the consideration of the proposition, it was led to suppose that the Resolution which had been adopted, approving the same, was " imperfect, " inadequate to the …

The whole subject had evidently been considered, informally, before ic was laid before the Congress -- in the expressive phrase of practical men,' it had been " cut and dried " -- and the Committee " speedily re- " turned and reported " a substitute for the original Resolution, which was more " perfect," more " ade- " quate to the en d," and less expensive, although it was …

A Military Magazine established in the midst of a community who was hostile to those who gathered and established it, without ample provision for its protection, and depending, largely, if not entirely, for its safety, on the forbearance ol those among whom it was placed, was an anomaly in Military Science; but the farmers of Westchestercounty were not inclined to retaliate …

which had closed the foreign markets against the producers and which had monopolized the trade in favor of the local buyers and at their own prices, was then made manifest to all observers ; and the favored Deputies, who were the official buyers, and their personal friends were provided with an outlet, at favorable prices, not only for the surplus of their own products, but …

On the thirteenth of March, a letter was received from General Washington, expressing to " the Com- "' manding Officer of the American Forces, New " York," 2 the suspicions of the Commander-in-chief that the Royal Army which was then enclosed in Boston would soon be transferred to New York, and appealing to the Provincial Congress for its best efforts "to "prevent their …

"Ordered, That Colonel Gilbert Drake repair " immediately to Westchester-county and purchase "twelve hundred barrels of the best Pork, and "have the same safely stored, agreeable to the "Resolves of this Congress, of the ninth day of " March instant ; that he take with him, from Netv- " York, a sworn Inspector and Repacker of Pork, to " inspect and re-pack the same ; and that …

with him, among the sellers of Pork, who were not slow to take advantage of that circumstance, in advancing the prices of the goods; and, to a corresponding extent, intercepting, advantageously to themselves, the profits of those particular transactions which, but for their interference, would have fallen into his basket. The Provincial Congress had adjourned, leaving its …

After due consideration of the subject, the Committee of Safety determined to limit the price to be paid for the Pork, leaving the rival buyers undisturbed, which was undoubtedly done for political reasons -- it would not have been prudent to have arrested the Deputation of a County, while it was so eagerly engaged in a still-hunt for some of the pickings which had been placed …

On the first of April, 1776-- ample time having elapsed, since the two Orders were made, to enable all which could be done in the way of purchases and sales of Pork and Flour, to have been done, satisfactorily to those who were originally in the secret -- the Committee of Safety discovered what it regarded as a fact, that such a Military Magazine as General Lee had called for …

It required eight days for the Committee's letter and Order to reach the busy Deputies and to arrest their eager searches for Pork and Flour ; but on the eighth day, [April 9, 1776,] Colonel Drake reported that he, and John Thomas, Junior, and Major Lockwood, three of the migratory Deputies, had bought about one thousand barrels of the former and six hundred barrels of the …

The Westchester-county farmers of our own period, with their greater numbers and greater area of tillable ground, with their modern appliances of artificial manures and improved implements -- none of them, at that time, even hoped for -- and with all the improved facilities of transit and of transportation which they now possess, may reasonably hang their heads, in …

aggravations, since the want of the Arms of which they had been robbed would nothavebeenahindrance to any one who had desired to destroy a Powder-mill; and it shows, also, how unwise that revolutionary policy had been, which had tended not only to impair the industrial usefulness of such a community, at a time when the results of its agricultural and other industrial labors …

On the following day, [March 14, 1776,] for the purpose of putting the City into a proper condition to sustain an attack, " all the male inhabitants, capable " of fatigue," were ordered to " be immediately em- " ployed on the fortifications of the City, and as well '' all the negro men in the City and County of New " York " were similarly ordered ; and, at the same time, the …

Resolved and Ordered, That Colonel " Joseph Drake and Colonel Thomas Thomas, oi " Westchester-county, do draft out of their Regiments " two hundred men, in the following proportions, to "wit; Two Companies of sixty-five Privates each, "besides the Captains and other inferior Officers, out " of Colonel Joseph Drake's Regiment, and one Coui- " pany of sixty-five Privates, with …

As what was called the Regiment of Westchestercounty Minute-men, commanded by Colonel Samuel Drake, 3 was then at Hoern"s Hook, opposite Hell-gate, it will be seen that Westchester-county was largely depended on ; but no record has been found which indicates which of the Companies of the Militia of that County were thus drafted and sent to throw up the defensive works within …

It appears, also, to have been resolutely and successfully opposed, at least as far as the limitation of the right of suffrage was included in its provisions; and its evidently radical supporters, after their defeat on that portion of the "plan," abandoned the project for an election by ballot. 5 The entire subject was then referred to a Committee, for further consideration …

Besides that almost unintelligible entry in the Journals of the Provincial Congress, no mention appears to have been made on the subject, if any thing further was done with it. It is probable, however, that an Election was ordered to be made for Deputies, on the third Tuesday, which was the sixteenth day, of April ; 1 and that the fourteenth day of May was designated for the …

It appears that, either by pre-determined limitation or otherwise, the term of service of that County Committee expired in May, 1776 ; and, in order that the succession of that body might be continued, notice to that effect having been given, on the sixteenth of April, 1776, "a Number " of the Freeholders and Inhabitants of Westchester- " county appeared at the Court House," …

1 The elections in the Counties of New York, Westchester, Duchess, Kings, Queens, Tryon, Ulster, and Orange were held on that day ; while Albany-county appears to have elected her Deputies on the 25th ; Suffolk, on the 18th ; Richmond-county, on the 23rd ; and Charlotte-county, on the 1st May. 'Journal of the Provincial Congress, "Die Martis, 10 ho., A.M., May "14, 1776." …

" Michael Hays, " Peter Lyon, " Jacob Purdy, " Andrew Sniffin, " Gilbert Palmer, "Caleb Merritt, Jun'. " Caleb Carpenter -- 7. For Bye. Samuel Townsend, Israel Seaman, Fred. Say, Samuel Lyon, Gilbert Lyon, John Thomas, Jun'-- 6. For Bedford, Elijah Hunter, John Woolsey, Titus Miller, Israel Lyon -- i. For Poundridge. Josh Lockwood-- 1 For Salem. Abijah Gilbert-- 1. For …

The day after the dissolution of the second Provincial Congress, [May 14, 1776,] was the day which had been appointed for the organization of the third of that series of Congresses. 6 There was, however, on that day and on the four succeeding days, an insufficient number of members of the several Deputations to form a quorum of the Counties ; but, on the fifth day, [May 18 …

WESTCHE8TEE COUNTY. ing any recess, until the thirtieth of June, when, because of supposed danger, in the City of New York, it adjourned to meet at the White Plains, on the following Tuesday, [July 2, 1776] ; x but the Journals very clearly indicate that no such adjourned meeting was attempted -- the Deputies had more important business requiring their personal attention ; and …

Bolton, {History of Westchester-cowity, original edition, ii., 359 ; the same, second edition, ii., 564,)said of the imaginary journey of the Deputies, from the City of New York to the White Plains, between the adjournment of the Congress and the day on which it was to be re-assembled, "The journey between New York and the Plains was per- " formed by the members on horseback …

Bolton has not named any authority for his statement, although he was not the flrat to print it, he must be regarded as authorially responsible for it ; and, therefore, it may be proper to say, further, that Pierre Van Cortlandt was not the President of the Congress, nor had he been such, at any time, General Woodhull having been elected its President, and John Haring, of …

The correspondence of John Adams is well filled with evidence of his corroct judgment of the real character of the earlier enactments of the Continental Congress ; but the Resolution which was introduced into that Congress, early in May, 1776, and adopted on the tenth of that month, and the Preamble to that Resolution, which was adopted on the fifteenth, recommending the …

During the less than two months which intervened between the organization and the untimely dissolution of that third Provincial Congress, [May 18 tn June 30, 1776,] the Northern Army was effectually driven from Canada ; and all which had been promised and hoped for, in that very well planned, but premature and expensive, expedition, produced nothing else than disappointment …

In South Carolina, the superior bravery of Colonel Moultrie and his handful of Carolinians, even when hampered by the superior authority but inferior practical knowledge of General Lee, had secured lasting honor to himself and to his gallant command and renewed safety to his own country ; and "though not " of much magnitude, in itself, it was, like many "other successes …

else than themselves should do whatever fighting might become necessary; but, on the other hand, those who were expected to do the fatigue duty and to hazard their lives, had begun to see that the offices and the benefits to be derived from their expected labor and exposure were to be converted mainly to the benefit of others ; and their enthusiasm for " the "Eights of Man and …

A large body of Militia, as will be seen, hereafter, was ordered into the field, for the support of the Army, to be mustered in until the close of the year ; a " Flying Camp," so called, was ordered to be composed of ten thousand men from Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland; and, on every hand, were seen the active preparations, by an unwilling and bounty-bought or …

It were useless to pretend, with any respect for the truth, that the great body of the inhabitants of the Colonies was favorably inclined to or particularly interested in, a change in those who ruled them or in the manner of that rule, since it was perfectly evident that they would not be permitted to exercise any greater political authority nor to have their labors lessened …

The desire for such a change was, also, sometimes promoted by the consciousness, among those whose consciences had not become charred by their hankering for offices, of that evident hypocrisy in pretending to an earnest loyalty toward a monarch against whom they were waging an open and recognized public War, with which the Committees and the Congresses of the Rebellion had …

All these influences had culminated in the submission to the Continental Congress of a Resolution, "That "these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, " free and independent States, that they are absolved " from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that " all political connection between them and the State " of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dis- " …

Strong assurances were " also received from Long Island and the neighboring " parts of New Jersey, of the favorable disposition of "the people to the Royal Cause,'' it was said; and those who had been harried from their homes, and who had sought refuge in the swamps and thickets of the country, victims of the rapine and outrages of lawless and ruthless "patriots," their own …

On the day after the King's forces came into the harbor, [June 30, 1776,] after it had provided for the removal " of all and singular the public papers and "money" which were then in the possession of its Secretary and its Treasurer, to the White Plains, the Provincial Congress was hastily adjourned to that place, as has been already stated, in order that it might escape from …

The anxious Provincial Congress resolved, however, that it would re-assemble at the Court-house, at the White Plains, on the following Tuesday, the second of July, to resume its official business, which was thus interrupted by the appearance, in the distance, of danger ; and it resolved, also, that the next Provincial Congress should meet at the same place, on the succeeding …

1 Journal of the Provincial Outgrew, " DieMartis, P.M., May 28, 1776 ;" the same, "Die Jovis, 9 ho., A.M., May 30, 1776 ; " the same, " Die Martis, " 9 ho., A.M., June 4, 1776 ; " the same, " Die Jo™, 9 ho., A.M., June "6, 1776; "etc. 2 Journal of the Provincial Congress, "Die Luna;, 4 ho., P.M.. June 3, "1776 ; " the same, " Die Jovis, 9 ho., A.M., June 6, 1776 ;" the same …

4 About the middle of June, 1776, mobs were raised by John Lasher, John and Joshua Hett Smith, Peter Van Zandt, and other leaders of the extreme revolutionary faction, in the dry of New York, by whom several citizens who were of the Opposition, but not of the Eebellion, were seized by these revolutionary "patriots," who placed them on "sharp "rails," and carried them on men's …

On the twelfth of June, in the afternoon, Generals Putnam and Mifflin, who bad evidently witnessed the outrages to which Elting alluded, " complained to the Provincial Congress of the riotous and disorderly " conduct of numbers of the inhabitants of this City, which hadledrhis " day to acts of violence towards some disaffected persons ; " but what had shocked Israel Putnam, by …

To urge the warm friends of Liberty to de- " cency and good order, this Congress assures the public that effectiial " measures shall be taken to secure the enemies of American Liberty in " this Colony, and do require the good people of this City and Colony to " desist from all Riots, and leave the offenders against so good a cause to be " dealt with by the constitutional …

and compelling the latter to seek safety in flight. 1 It assumed judicial functions, in putting some of its victims on " trial," before itself or a Committee of its members ; " sometimes it graciously absolved those whom it had seized on mere " informations ;" 8 and, occasionally, it honored a victim of a local Committee, by listening to an Appeal from the decision of that …

1 The Continental Congress having authorized the employment of Continental troops for such a purpose, a Regiment was sent to Hempstead, for the purpose of seizing those who were disaffected to the Rebellion. The proposed victims having been disarmed, by order of the Provincial Congress, during the Winter of 1775-'6, they had no means for their defense, and, therefore, they …

Numbers were taken ; some were wounded ; and a few were killed -- all that, too, on a peaceful, unarmed, passive community ; unable to defend itself, because it had been stripped of its arms ; in advance of any adverse movement ; and only to promote the individual purposes of a handful of ambitious and reckless men : all that, too, in the name of " Liberty " and the " Rights …

3 The Prowncial Congress to the Committee of Queens-county, " In Provincial Congress, New- York, A.M., June 11, 1776 ; " Journal of the Provincial Congress, " Thursday morning, June 27, 1776 ; " the same, "Die Mercurii, 9 ho., A.M., June 5, 1776." 4 Journal of the Provincial Congress, "Saturday, P.M., June 1, 1776 ; " the same, "Die Martis, 9 ho., A.M., June 4, 1776 ;" the …

As might have been foreseen, in such an instance of pre-entertained partiality in the Appellate body, the decision which the General Committee had made in its own Case, was sustained by the Provincial Congress ; and the Appeal therefrom, of Thomas Harriot, was promptly dismissed. efforts to "work off" some portions of their stocks of the article ; but, of course, in such …

Sometime between Monday morning and Tuesday afternoon, [May 20, 21, 1776,] -- as no entry of its appointment was made on the Journals of the Provincial Congress, nothing is known concerning the time nor the circumstances of the appointment, unless from inference '--that body appointed a Committee " to con- " sider of the ways and means to prevent the dangers " to which this …

See, also, the Provincial Congress to the Delegates in the Continental Congress, "In Provincial Congress, New York, July 28, 1775," and the " really anxious " reply of James Duane, John Alsop, John Jay, Robert R. Livingston, Junior, and Francis Lewis, " Philadelphia, 20th Sept. 1776 ; " General Washington to the Provincial Congress, " New- York, 13 May, 1776," enclosing a …

24, 1776,] when it was approved, not, however, without several very important omissions, if the record of the approved Eeport may be relied on. 1 In its amended form, the Eeport was in the following words : " Your Committee do report: That there is great " reason to believe that the enemies of American Lib- " erty have a general communication with each other "through this and …

" That many ill-disposed people have lately resorted " unto, and a great number dwell in, the southern and " eastern parts of Queens-county ; that there are also " several ill-disposed persons in the City and County "of New York, and in Kings County, and in sundry " other parts of this Colony, many of whom will most " probably take up arms on the part of our foes, when- " ever …

" That the greater part of those who now hold Of- " flees and Commissions under the Crown, and many " others who are generally reputed inimical to Amer- " ican Liberty, will be liable to suffer injuries from "the resentment of the people, 2 and the Colony in " general exposed to great danger from the active ex- " ertions of those among us who are determined to " assist in the …

" Sundry other amendments " having been made therein," an attempt to commit the mutilated paper to its parent Committee, to re-model it, was rejected. It is evident, from the final entry on the subject, that other important changes had been made during a Bession of the Congress, on Thursday evening ; but the Journal of that Session makes no mention of any action on that …

That upon and after " the apprehension of the said persons, such of them as " shall give good and sufficient security, on oath, and " otherwise, as the said Committee shall think proper, " that they will not be concerned in any measures " taken or to be taken against the United American " Colonies, or any or either of them, and that they " will discover all measures taken or …

" That it be recommended to all the General County " Committees, in the several Counties in this Colony, " to apprehend all persons holding Military Commis- " sions under the King of Great Britain, and also all " such persons holding Civil Offices under the said " King, or, being possessed of influence in their re- " spective Counties, as are suspected of holding prin- " …

All these, together with those who were especially obnoxious and all those whose social standing did not warrant the admission of them into the first class, were to be apprehended -- the more prominent by detachments of the Continental Army, the less prominent by the County Committee-- and "dealt with," after a "man- "ner" which was " prescribed for the conduct" of those under …

Although there is uo entry on .the Journal of the Provincial Congress which makes mention of the creation of such a Committee, it is very evident the Committee was appointed, with instructions "to report a " Law or ' set of Resolutions of this Congress, to " ' prevent the dangers to which this Colony is ex- "' posed by its internal enemies,'" since, on the twenty-eighth of …

" and disaffected to the American cause and to per- "sons of equivocal character." There is not the slightest allusion to the origin of the Resolutions ; but it is very probable they proceeded from the Committee of which John Morin Scott was the mouthpiece, to whom allusion has been made in the preceding paragraph ; and, possibly, they maybe the Report therein referred to …

" And whekeas, from sundry informations and " evidences exhibited to this Congress, it appears " that the enemies of American Liberty, in this and "the neighbouring Colonies, have a general com- " munication with each- other, by reason whereof " the influence of the British Ministry, however "feeble, is, in some measure, sustained, and the "minds of the people frequently …

" And whekeas, from various reports and the best " intelligence which could be obtained from Europe, " as well as from the positive assertions of the dis- " affected throughout this and the neighbouring Col- " onies, there is great reason to expect that an hostile " armament will soon arrive in this Colony, whereby " it hath become highly expedient and necessary to " provide …

" And that the following persons, in the Counties '' aforesaid, and in the County of Westchester and " Kings-county, whose conduct has been represented " to this Congress as equally inimical with that of " the former, but who would probably appear on be- " ing summoned, be summoned by the said Committee " to appear before them, at such time and place as " they may appoint …

" Which said Committee are hereby authorized and " required impartially to inquire and determine " whether any, and which, of the said persons have " afforded aid or sustenance to the British Fleets or " Armies, contrary to the Resolutions of the Conti- " nental Congress or of the Provincial Congress or " Committee of Safety of this Colony, or been active " in dissuading any …

" Continental money, and endeavoured to prevent ita " currency, contrary to the Resolutions of the Conti- " nental Congress or Provincial Congress or Com- " mittee of Safety of this Colony ; or been concerned " or actually engaged in any schemes to defeat, retard, " or oppose the measures now pursuing by the United " Colonies, for their defence against the tyrannical " and …

" That all such of the said persons as shall be " found by the said Committee to be innocent of the '' said offences be immediately discharged ; and that a " Certificate of such acquittal and of the true light " in which they may respectively appear to the said •' Committee, under the hands of the said Committee, " be given to them, the said several persons so acquit- " ted …

" And with respect to all such of the said persons " as the Committee shall find guilty of all or any of " the said offences, the said Committee are hereby " authorized and required to commit to safe custody, " all such of them whose going at large would, in " their opinion, endanger the safety of the Colony or " the Liberties of America; and that they discharge " the …

" And in case it should appear to the said Commit- " tee, inexpedient that any of the said persons should " continue to dwell at his usual place of residence, " that, then, they do assign to such person or persons " another place of residence, in this or one of the " neighbouring Colonies, and take his or their parole, " or word of honour, or, if they should not be deemed …

"And whereas employing detachments of the " Militia of this Colony, in arresting the said persons, "will not only be expensive, but the assembling ol " them may alarm the suspicions of the said persons "and their adherents, and, thereby, tend to defeat "the design of these Kesolutions; and as the Con- " tinental troops quartered in and near the said three " Counties of …

" And whereas there may be, and doubtless are, " in other Counties of this Colony, divers dangerous "persons at present unknown to this Congress: " Resolved, That it be recommended to the Com- "mittees of all Counties in this Colony, to be vigilant, '' and to use their utmost endeavours, from time to "lime, to discover and summon or apprehend them, "in like manner as herein …

"Resolved, therefore, That the said Commit- "tees of the different Towns and Districts in the " several Counties in this Colony be and they hereby "are authorized and required to cause all persons "whom they may esteem dangerous and disaffected to " appear before them, either by arrest or summons, as "the said Committees, in their discretion, may think " proper, and take from …

" And whereas there is, in this Colony, divers ' persons who, by reason of their holding Offices from ' the King of Great Britain, from their having neg- ' lected or refused to associate with their fellow citi- ' zens, for the defence of their common Rights, from ' their having never manifested, by their conduct, a ' zeal for and attachment to the American cause, or ' from …

" In Kings-county. -- -Augustus Van Cortlandt and ' John Rapalje. "In Richmond-county. -- Benjamin Seaman and ' Christopher Billop. " In Queens-county. -- Gabriel Ludlow, Saml. Mar- ' tin, Thos. Jones, 1 Archd. Hamilton, David Colden, ' Richd. Colden, Geo. D. Ludlow, Whitehead Hicks, ' Saml. Clowes, Geo. Polliot, Saml. Doughty, Danl. ' Kissam, Gilbt. Van Wyck, John Willett …

" And also all such other persons of the like char- ' acter as the said Committee may think proper to be ' summoned by the said Committee, to appear before ' them, at such time and place as they shall appoint, ' then and there to show cause, if any they have, ' why they should be considered as friends to the ' American cause, and as of the number of those who ' are ready to …

" And if, on the appearance and examination of ' the said persons, it shall appear to the satisfaction ' of the said Committee that they or any of them are ' friends to the American cause, that such of them ' whom they shall so adjudge to be friends, be forth- ; with discharged, and a Certificate thereof, under the hands of the said Committee, given them, and : their names …

Although ho was classed, in these Resolutions, among those who occupied "an equivocal neutrality "-- he preferred to retain his hold on the Boyal Treasury as long as possible ; and the studied denunciation of him, in these Eesolutions, was admirably adapted to securo tho steady payment of his Salary and Fees, and to securo the family estates, In case tho Rebellion Bhould be …

" That such of them as may be men of influence in " the neighbourhood of the place of their present resi- " deuce, be removed to such place, in this or a neigh- " bouring Colony, as will deprive them of an oppor- " tunity of exerting that influence to the prejudice of " the American cause, and respectively bound by " their parole or word of honour or other security, at " the …

" And as to such of the said persons whose removal, " in the judgment of the said Committee, shall not " appear necessary, that the said Committee do cause " them to be respectively bound with such security, " by parole or otherwise, as the said Committee shall " deem necessary, neither directly or indirectly to " oppose or contravene the measures of the Conli- " nental …

"Eesolved, That the said Committee and the " County Committees keep a just record of all their "proceedings, in pursuance of these Eesolutions, " and report the same, with the substance of the " evidence offered to them, for and against the several " persons who shall be by thein apprehended, sum- " moned, tried, and examined by virtue of the afore- " going Eesolutions ; and …

Subsequently, as will be seon hereafter, Henry Eemsen was excused from Borving on tho Committee ; and John Jay, of the City and County of New York, and John Sloss Hobart, of Suffolk, were added to it. At a still later date, Philip Livingston, of the City and County of New York, was also added ; and Leonard Gansovoort, of Albany-county, was substituted for John Ten Broeck …

"Resolved, That the said Committee appoint " such persons as they may think proper, to repair to " the said Counties ' to inquire for and procure the " witnesses against the persons herein directed to be " arrested or summoned to appear, and give evidence " against the said persons, before the said Committee ; " and that the said persons be paid for their trouble at " the rate …

On the fourteenth 3 and fifteenth of June, 4 those who were members of the Committee, took the oath required of them ; on the last-named day, John McKesson, who was one, the principal one, of the Secretaries of the Provincial Congress, was made the Secretary of the Committee, also ; ° and, with a full retinue of Assistant-secretaries, Messengers, Doorkeepers, and other …

It is true that Doctor Sparks made no mention of the subject, in his Life of Gouverneur Morris -- it was not his purpose to expose the weaknesses and the wrong-doings of his aristocratic and pretentious subject, but to magnify the man and his doings, and to eulogize them -- and all those who have preceded us in narrating the events of that period, have, alBO, preferred to know …

This secretly acting, inquisitorial body, of which John Jay was made the Chairman, held secret sessions on the fifteenth, nineteenth, twentieth, twentyfirst, twenty-second, twenty-third, twenty-fourth, twenty-fifth, twenty-sixth, twenty-seventh, and twenty-ninth of June, 8 beyond which period we do not propose, at this time, to follow it; and on the following day, when the …

I Minutes of the Committee to Detect Conspiracies, " Die Sabbati, 12 ho., "Juno 15, 1776." 8 The Minutes of tlte Committee, during the brief period which elapsed between the date of its organization and that of the dissolution of the Provincial Congress -- which, also, by all parliamentary and statutory law, dissolved the Committee which was only its agent -- are scattered, in …

12 Those who are interested in the methods of this Committee, the subsequently much eulogized Chief-justice of the State of New York and Chief-justice of the United States being the presiding officer, may see the forms of its Summons and its Parole, in Jones's History of New York during the Revolutionary War, ii., 295, 296 ; the forms of its Warrants, in its Mimties of June …

It would appear incredible that such a relentless spirit of partisan bitterness could have been entertained, at such a time, in such a body as the Provincial Congress of New York ; but the records of the Congress which clearly avowed such bitterness, and those of the Committee which it created for the purpose of executing its malignant enactments, to say nothing of the …

As portions of the general subject of proscription, mention may be properly made, in this place, of two tagooualy read, from those Minutes, what those distinguished lawyers were capable of doing, judicially, when they were within closed and closely guarded doors ; what they, then, regarded as offences before the law ; the methods which they adopted, in their inquisitorial …

It will be remembered, also, that the leaders of the Rebellion assumed the right of determining when and in what manner religious services Bhould be conducted by tho Churches, in the Colonies, and those for whom Churches and individuals should and should not offer their prayers to Almighty God. In Connecticut, every Episcopalian Church, except one, was closed, because tho …

It appears that it had become the practise of several of the local Committees -- those in Westchestercounty, in some instances, having been of the number -- of sending those who were offensive to them, without the slightest authority, revolutionary or conservative, to the Forts in the Highlands, which were then garrisoned with Continental troops, "with orders "to the …

Another instance of that spirit of persecution was seen in the movement of Egbert Benson, one of those who were controlled more by their haughty and illcontrolled wills than by any enactment of Committee or Congress or by any requirement of personal or political integrity, for the employment of a local force, in the service and pay of the Colony, for the purpose of " keeping …

Tompkins, and Lewis Graham, representing Westch ester-county ; 6 and, on the following day, that Committee recommended the employment of one hundred men in Duchess-county and fifty men in Westchester-county, " the said men " to be raised in the said Counties respectively, and " confined to the service of those Counties, and to " continue in pay until the first day of November …

As that entire subject relates to the local history of Westchester-county, at that period, and to the establishment of a military police force, in that County, evidently for the more effectual prosecution of the proposed operations of the recently created " Com- " mittee to detect Conspiracies " among the peaceable conservative residents of that County -- as no complaint had …

They were in these words : " Wheeeas, there are sundry disaffected and dan- " gerous persons, in the Counties of Dutchess and " Westchester, who do now greatly disturb the peace " of the said Counties, and will most probably take up "arms, whensoever the enemy shall make a descent " upon this Colony, to the great annoyance of the said " Counties, in particular, and of others …

" And whereas, by reason of the several drafts " which have been made in the said Counties, according to the late recommendation of the Continental " Congress, the Militia thereof are rendered incapable " of keeping peace and order in the said Counties, " without great inconvenience to themselves and much "injury to and neglect of their private property; and, " inasmuch as the …

" That the one hundred men to be raised in Dutch- " ess-county be divided into two Companies, each " Company to consist of one Captain, one Lieutenant " three Sergeants, three Corporals, one Fifer, one " Drummer, and forty Privates ; and that the fifty " men to be raised in Westchester-county consist of "one Captain, one Lieutenant, three Sergeants, three " Corporals, one …

" That the General Committees of the said Coun- " ties be authorized to nominate and appoint the "Subaltern Officers to the said Companies, in their "Counties, respectively: " That the said three Companies be deemed one '• Corps; and that Melancton Smith be Captain Com- " mandant ; that Micah Townsend be the second " Captain in rank ; and that John Durlin be the " third …

" Ordered, That Commissions be immediately " issued to the Captains, and that blank Commissions " be sent to the said Committees, to be by them issued " to the Lieutenants." It will be seen that no provisions were made by the Provincial Congress for either the recruiting, or the equipment, or the quarters, or the transportation of these men ; and there will be some among the …

could not surely preserve that peace, their appointment were useless -- the inhabitants of that County could not have been as " dangerous '' and its peace could not have been as " greatly disturbed " as the authors and promoters of these Resolutions had falsely pretended, among the recitals of their Preamble: others will 3uspect, not without reason, that the entire movement …

- The only allusion to military duty discharged by this Company, which we have found, is that Order of the Provincial Congress, on the twenty-fifth of July, "that Captain Townsend of Westchester- county "return to duty, with his Company, at the mouth of Croton -river and i " such placcB adjacent as the Officer or Officers commanding the Ameri " can troops or Militia, there …

" The Petition of tho Lieutenant non-comniissionod officers & Privates " belonging to Capt n Micah Townsend's company raised to be under the " Direction of the Committee of Westchestor County, Humbly Sheweth, " That the Honorable the Provincial Congress of this Colony when " they gave Instructions for raising Capt 11 Townsend's Company allowed "tho Lieutenant 12s. per week …

'■That at and near the White Plains (which is the head Quarters of "the Company) the allowance for their subBistance does not amount to "near enough to support them, they being unable to get victuals for "less than Is. per Meal, or to hire their Board at any tolerable rate but "by the woek ; that your Petitioners entered the Company & Did duty "in the most busy season of tho …

Another instance of the spirit of partisan bitterness which prevailed, at that time, in Westchestercounty, and of the unholy zeal with which the Town Committees urged forward the work of persecution and plunder, among their conservative neighbors, may be seen in the following note which was addressed by the Chairman of the Committee of the Town of Salem, \a that County -- that …

We desire to know what shall be done " with the forfeitures, and likewise how to proceed in " taking of it, and how to turn it into money if taken " in stock or whatever else, or whether or no the Con- "gress wont take the forfeitures and pay the cost; * we desire you would give us some rules and direc- " tions how to proceed. And likewise, those men "that still behave …

"per week por Man is not a sufficient provision for them. "By order of tho Committee, "John Thomas, Jun*, Chairman." 6 Journal of the Committee of Safety, "4 ho., P.M., Deer. 7, 1776." 6 Vide pages 149, 150, ante. Samuel Howell, Uriah Travis, Ju., Jonathan Finch, John Travis, .1 nines Miller, Jim 1- , Zecheos Dible, Absolim Hutchins, Daniel Dean, Jeremiah Rozelle, John Mills …

"By order of the Committee, "Ezekiel Hawley, 1 Chairman. " June 5th, 1776." That letter was laid before the Provincial Congress, on Saturday evening, the eighth of June ; and the Journal of that body states that it was " read and "filed," 2 the Congress itself, as will be seen in its subsequent proceedings in the matter, hesitating, in view of its atrocious propositions, to …

With the fact before him, that the " large number "of the inhabitants" of the Town of Salem which was referred to, in that letter, was composed of farmers, neighbors of the writer of it, and peacefully and industriously pursuing their usual vocations ; and, with the additional fact before him, that none of these were even pretended to have committed any other offense, against …

Thomas Hawley, Pastor of tho Congregational-church at Ridgefield, Connecticut ; that he wits one of the proprietors of the Oblong ; that ho hold a Commission in the Continental Army ; and that he was taken off by death, suddenly, in 1788. (History of Westchester-county, original edition, i., 474 ; the same, second edition, i., 738.) The "Continental" Commission referred to, by …

Against those unoffending farmers -- as their accusers have shown, they were nothing else -- with a malignant zeal which betrayed its selfish, puritanic origin, the writer of that letter prayed that they should be arrested; that their properties, real and personal, should be seized, and escheated, and confiscated ; that "costs" should be paid, therefrom, into the willing hands …

Can those who could calmly and deliberately devise such outrages, to be inflicted on a peaceful community, and that community their own immediate neighbors and townsmen, be regarded as anything else than monstrosities, in human form, in which only the baser and most brutal passions had found places? But, after all, these -- the letter and the passions which had inspired it and …

In April Term, 1776, several rebel soldiers were indicted for "some Petty Larcenies, tried, convicted, and punished by order of the "Court without any interfereuce of the Military; their Officers at- " tended tho trials, beard the evidence, and upon their conviction declared that amplo justice was doue them, and thanked the Judge for " his candor and impartiality, during tho …

have been unwittingly, to establish as the formal enactments of that revolutionary body. 1 As we have said, the letter which Ezekiel Havvley, in behalf of the Committee of the Town of Salem, wrote to the Provincial Congress, was laid before that body, on Saturday evening, the eighth of June; when it was read and filed. 2 On the following morning, [Sunday, June 9, 1775,] the …

1 The question of the extent to which the several Provincial Congresses, uninfluenced by the outside pressure of homemade partisan demonstrations or by the inside domination of those who assumed to social or intellectual superiority, would have given their authority for the enactment and execution of such violent measures, against those of their fellow Colonists who did not …

History tells of more than one instance in which a mere handful of enthusiasts, more or less honest in their professions, has fastened itsell on a great political party which entertained none of those enthusiastic dogmas which the others assumed to believe and maintain, and which, having thus fastened itself on the larger body, taking advantage of favorable opportunities …

3 Journal of the ProvincUd Congress, " Sunday morning, June 9, 1776." been of a different tenor ; but John Morin Scott, who was present on both occasions, and whose master mind probably controlled, wisely halted, and evidently induced the Congress to halt, in the work of proposed persecution and devastation and ruin. The Committee of Salem was coldly dismissed, without even a …