Scharf, J. Thomas, ed. History of Westchester County, New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I. Philadelphia: L.E. Preston & Co., 1886.
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He was known, subsequently, as one of those blustering, reckless, law-defying leaders of the floating denizens of the docks, in New York, ready to disregard all Rights, all of every thing excepttheir own wills, in acts of which only the traditional pirates and banditti were supposed to have been capable of performing, whenever, and only whenever, in his judgment, those acts …
He had never possessed the enljre confidence of the leaders of the revolutionary faction of the Opposition, in the City of New York : he had never been taken into the siiiir/iiiii saiirfonim of that coterie of Livingstons and of Smiths and of Scotts, whose had been the unseen master-hands by whom such puppets as he had been handled and made conspicuous : he had never been …
He called himself a Merchant, in the City of New York ; but he had been more conspicuous in shipping Merchandise and Provisions to the eastward, clandestinely, when such shipment.s to the eastward were interdicted, than in any more legitimate business. He had been a member of the recently dissolved Provincial Congress, during a portion of its existence ; but, in entire harmony …
'A letter from .luliii Case, from the County of Suft'olk, on Long Islanil, "to the Printer of the \rii--Ynrk 'IdzeUeer," and pulilished in Hii-'mtjImCfi Scw-York <l<i::,-ltecr, No. ill, New- York, Thursday, January 1'2, 1775, narrated the method in which those who were not inclined to favor the theories and practises of the revolutionary faction were inveigled into that …
On Monday, the twentieth of November, 1775, that cowardly ruffian, Isaac Sears, accompanied with sixteen others of the same class, all of them mounted, left New Haven, in Connecticut, for the purpose of regulating Westchester-county. ^ It had become a favorite ))astime, among the rowdies on the borders of Connecticut, as it has been a favorite pastime among Texan rowdies of a …
The avowed purpose of that band of acknowledged "banditti"^ was "to disarm the principal tories " there," E'lst and West Chester,'] " and secure the "persons of Parson Seabury, Judge Fowler, and "Lord Underbill," three residents of Westchestercounty ; and it is said they were joined, on their way, by other parties of men, numbering about eighty, under the leadership of " …
2 In the preceding September, Lord Dunniore, then at Norfolk, in Vir^iinia, had hel]K'd himself to the type and printing-press of John Holt, in that Town ; and it was said of the thief and his confederates, " a few "spirited gentlemen in Norfolk, justly incensed at so flagrant a breach "of good order and the Constitution, and highly resenting the conduct "of Lord Dunmore and …
It was not pretended that any of the proposed victims, in the instance under notice, had said or done anything, in opposition to the Rebellion, which had made them amenable to the unbridled caprices of those who were in rebellion ; and it was evident that, had those proposed victims thus transgressed against the " Associations " or the " rec- " ommendations " or the " …
It pillaged the farm-houses; and, at Mamaroneck, it burned a small sloop which belonged to one who was assumed to have been a friend of the Government.* A detachment of about forty men, under a Captain Lothrop, appears to have been pushed forward to the Town of Westchester, where, on Wednesday, the twenty-second of November, it seized the person of Nathaniel Underbill, the …
Ilinnian published in his JlisVtricul O'lleelions <•/ the part sujituinedbt/ O'Unectivut ditriu(j the War nf the lierohiti'in ; and that it is very probable that these three " Captains," like that other " rai)tain " who led them, on that occiision, pos,sessed no other warrant than that of ■'courtesy," so called, for the privilege of carrying the title. * It left New Haven on …
a Boarding-school and Rector of the Established Church, in the same place, the former, as was subsequently seen, only because he had signed the Declaration and Protest, at the White Plains, in the preceding April,^ the latter, because he was more obnoxious to those Avho were in rebellion, in consequence of his greater intellectual power and of his decidedly greater bravery in …
The contemporary records do not present the circumstances which attended the seizure of the Mayor of the Borough of Westchester ; but it is probable they were similar to those which attended the similar seizure of Judge Fnwler and that of Mr. Seabury -- the banditti undoubtedly ransacked the house and examined his papers and helped themselves to such articles of his movable …
In his Memorial to the General Assembly of 0>niieclicut, Seabury expressly stated that he was arrested by a detachment ; that the main body of the party was subsequently joined, by the detachment ; and that all, then, returned to East Chester. 3 J/emorifi! «/ Samuel Seabury lo the General Assembli/ of Connecticut, December 20, 1775. See, also, The Cunnecticul Journal, No. 424 …
Of course, the Boarding-school for Boys, . which he had organized and establi-hed with so much labor,* for the better support of his family, was broken down ; and the pupils, five of whom were from Jamaica and one from Montreal, the parents of four others being in Europe, besides " others from " New York and the country," were necessarily scattered, inflicting an irreparable …
~l r.VTH opened a School in that Town, and offers hie Service to -* -- " prepare young Gentlemen for the College, the Compting- " House, or any genteel Business for which Parents or Guardians may "design them. Children who know their Letters will be admitted to " his School, and taught to read English with propriety, and to write it "with a fair Hand, and with gnimmatical …
*■ Proper attenti< n will be paid to the young Gentlemen, that they be " kept clean and decent, and that they behave with propriety ; and aa " the most essential Part of Education is to qualify- them to Disciiarge "the Duties and Offices of Life with Integrity and Virtue, particular "Care will be taken to explain to them the Principles of Morality, and "the Christian Kcligion …
Livingston, John and Joshua Hett Smith -- the latter so conspicuous, subsequently, in the interviews between General Arnold and Major Andre and in the evident exposure of the latter to arrest -- and a number of others, their confe lerates if not their tools, were assembled on Hanover-square, on which the Bookstore and Printing-office of James Riviugton were situated …
With its escort of local symitathizers, its progress was not obstructed; and, on Thursday, the twenty-third of November, at noon, when it reached the Square, it " drew up, in close "order, before the printing-office of the infamous " James Rivington," * those who had already assembled there, evidently for the purpose of covering it, if not for the purpose of doing more than …
-Jones's Historif of \eir York during the lievolutionary War, i., 66. * Manual of the Corporation of the City of .Yeir- York for ISo."), 511. <"The main IkxIv, consisting of Iri, then proceeded to New- York, " which they entered at noon-day on horseback, with bayonets fixed, and "in the greatest regularity, went down the main street, and drew up in " cloee order before the …
It is said that three quarters of an hour were spent in that work of reckless destruction, without the slightest attempt by cither the Municipal or the Colonial authorities, legal or revolutionary, to interfere, for the preservation of the peace or for the protection of the property of the citizen or for that of the freedom of the Press ; and, consequently, after its appetite …
5 "A email detachment entered it," [the printing-office,] "and in about "three-quarters of an hour brought off the principal part of his types, " for which they offered to give an order on Lord Dunmoro " [who had previously stolen John Holt's type and prei's, at Sorfolk,] (The Connecticut Journal, No. 424, [New Haves,] Wednesday, November 29, 1775.) They "entered his" …
The de-tpatch of Go vertwr Tryoti to the Earl of Dartmouth, No. 22, "On Board the ship "DuTrHE.ss OF Gordon New York Harbour G"" Dec 1775," described the raid on Westchester-county as well as that on the City of New York, and narrated the blustering threats which were made by Sears, to return with "a more numerous body of the Connecticut Riotere and to take "away the Records …
To prevent interruption, he called "out and told them that if they attempted to oppose him, he would "order his men to Are on them ; and preparation was made for doing it, " in case it should be needful. This appearance instantly cleared the " street, when Captain Sears and his party rode off in triiiniph, with the " Iwoty they were pleased to take away." Dunlap, ( History of …
Rivington " aided by his Koyal Gazetteer," was very influential ; that he had no regard for the truth nor for "common fairness ; that Sears had gone to Connecticut " to plan schemes for the future with ardent Whigs ; " that the type which was stolen from Rivington was converted into bullets; etc. ; but the truth is that tlie Eoynl Uiizette was not established until December …
Governor Trumbull, after having snubbed General Washingtuu by sheltering and justifying the wholesale desertion of the Connecticut troops which the latter had denounced, {Compare General Washington's letter to Governor Ti-nmhnll, "Cambrioiik, December 2, 1775," with the reply, "Leilvnun, December " 7, 1775 ; " that of the former, " CAMUKinuE, December 5, 177.')," with …
It was afterwards, how ever, known to have aided the Amcr- " leans much, and was under the control of Washington himself The " hostile appearance of the sheet, however, deceived the Americans aa "well as their enemies, and about half a dozen Greenwich men re- " solved that the press should be stopped; they stole into the City, de- "stroyed the press, and bagged the type, which …
After the type was brought to Greenwich, it was totally de- " stroyed, except enough to print each of the company's names, which "the veterans kept for a long time in memory of their exploit." One might readily suppose this latest tidbit of what has currency as history, was written in China or Timbuctoo ; but the curious reader may find it in an elegant and e.\pensive History …
The procession moved through nearly every street in the Town, stopping at every corner, in order that the crowds might gaze on the victims and jeer at and insult them ; and, after having quartered the latter, at their own expense, at one of the Taverns, the successful banditti, sustained by what there was of the ignorance and lawlessness of the New Haven of that period, spent …
"Captain Sears returned in company with the other gentlemen, and *' proposes to spend the winter here, unless publick business should ro- " quire his presence in New-York. -- Seabury, Underbill, and Fowler, " three of the dastardly protestors against the proceedings of the Conti- " nental Congress, and who it is believed had concerted a plan for kid- " napping Captain Sears …
"Whereas I.Jonathan Fowler, Esq., one of His Majesty's Judges of "the Inferior Court for the County of Westchester, in the Province of " New- York, did, some time ago, sign a Protest against the Honourable "Continental Congress, which inconsiderate conduct I am heartily sorry " for, and do hereby promise for the future not to transgress in the view "of the people of this …
He received only one letter from his " family, and that was delivered to him open, though " brought by the post." Indeed, with characteristic bravado, and entirely conscious of his influence among those, in Connecticut, who were then controlling the Rebellion, Sears told his only remaining victim -- the others having ransomed themselves from the hands of their captors with …
At that time, and, indeed, until 1818, the Government of Connecticut, under her Charter, like that of Rhode Island, was based on the Sovereignty of the King of Great Britain ; and the lawlessness of the Rebellion had not been permitted to disturb the forms and formalities of cither her Executive or Legislative or Judicial Departments of Colonial Government -- adroitly securing …
'•As witness my hand : "Jonathan Fowler. "New-Haven, November 29, 1775." ir. "Whereas I. Nathaniel CndcrhiU, of Westchester, in the Province of " New- York, did, somil' time ago, sign a Protest against the Resolves of "the noiiourable C'ontinental.Congri'ss, which inconsiderate conduct I "am heartily sorry for, and do hereby proniiee, for the future, not to "transgress in the …
The Governor, also, disregarded his demand ; and when the banditti who continued to hold him, a captive, in the midst of that Capital-town of the Colony, consented that he should memorialize the General Assembly of the Colony, which does not appear to have been, then, in Session,'^ no benefit to the memorialist, from tlie Legislature of the Colony, could have been intended." …
Ilinman, who was Secretary of State, with the original Joiinuils before him, in his carefully-made synopsis of the doings of the General .\esenibly, from the opening of the Jlay Session, 1774, until the close of the February Ses.-iion 1778, stated that the Special Session of the General .\ssend»ly, which was assembleil by special order of the Governor, on the fourteenth of …
Johnson was Chairman, was appointed for an entirely ditTereut purpose ; and that the Session of the General Assembly which next succeeded that which was adjourned on the fourteenth of December, 1775, was not commenced until the ninth of Jlay, 1776. {HiMorical CuUecfious of the jiart Aitstaiurdhif ('on»erttcnt in the liar of the Iteioliition, 198, 200.) (ieneral Peter Force …
< ncsides the unceasing attempts to encroach on the territory of New Y'ork, and, in other ways, to invade the Rights of the Colonists, in that Colony, which Connecticut and men from Connecticut were constantly making, Isaac Scars, on the occasion now under notice, with the evident purpose of throwing all the titles of properties, in New Y'ork, and all the domestic and business …
In the evening of the day on which the outrage on James Rivington was committed, {^Thursday, November 23, 1775,] Lancaster Burling and Joseph Totten, members of the General Committee for the City and County of New York, offered a Resolution, in that body, citing Isaac Sears, Samuel Broome, and John Woodward to appear before it, to answer for their conduct in entering the City …
Three days after the event, John Jay, with more self-respect and, certainly, with more respect for the honor of the Colony, notwithstanding he, also, appeared to take no interest in any other portion of the general subject, wrote a letter to the President of the former Provincial Congress, in which he warmly condemned the proceeding f but, as has been stated, there was, then …
* * * "The New-England e.xploit is much talked of, and conjec- " turefl are numerous as to the part the Convention will tuke relative to " it ; some consider it as an ill compliment to the Government of the " Province, and prophesy that you have too much Christian meekness " to take any notice of it. For my own part, I uon't approve of the " feat ; and I think it neither …
" A Draft of a Petition to the honourable the Provincial Congress for " the Province of New-York, was read, and is as follows, viz. : " ' To THE Hoxouhable the Provi.n'cial Co.\gre.ss for the Prov- ' ' INCE of New- York. " ' The Petition of the General Committee for the City and County of "' New-York, humbly shewcth : "'That a body of troops,* from a neighbouring Colony, did …
Four days subsequently, [December 12, 1775,] a Report was made by the Committee, with a draft of a letter to be addressed to the Governor of the Colony of Connecticut, "on the subject matter of the Gen- " eral Committee's Petition," both of which were violently opposed by those who were most revolutionary in their inclinations. The debates were continued through two Sessions …
And being apprehensive thit such Incursions, " ' should they be repeated, will be [iroductive of many groat and evil con- " 'sequences to the Inhabitants of such place wherein they may be here- ' ' after made, your Petitioners do therefore conceive it highly necessary, *" in the present situation of publick affairs, as well for tliesakeof inter- " ' nal peace and harmony of …
" ' Your Petitioners do therefore most humbly pray, that this honour- " 'able House of Delegates would be pleiised to take the premises into '" their consideration, and devise some expedient topievent, for the "'future, the Inhabitants of any of the neighbouring Colonies " ' coming into this, to direct the publick affairs of it, or to destroy the " 'property or invade the …
" In Provincial Congress, " New-York, 12th Deer., 1775. " Sir : "It gives us concern that we are under the necessity of addressing been a regular military operation : that the fact was, then, unknown, that it was only an inroad of banditti, winked at, it is true, but without any autiiority, legal or revolutionary : that the Committee did not even suspect that the raiders were …
" While we consider this conduct tvs an insult offered to this Colony, we "are disposed to attribute it to an imprudent though well-intended zeal " for the public cause ; and cannot entertain the most distant thought "that your Colony will approve of the measure. It is unnecessary to " use arguments to show the impropriety of a proceeding that has a " manifest tendency to …
It is our earnest desire that you would take " the most effectual steps to prevent any of the people of your Colony " from entering into this, for the like purposes, unless invited by our " Provincial Congress, a Couunittee of Safety, or the General Conimit- " tee of one of our Counties, as we cannot but consider such intrusions "as an invasion of our essential rights, as a …
If such should be the case, we must " entreat your friendly interposition for his immediate discharge; the " more especially as, considering his ecclesiastical character, which, per- " haps, is venerated by many friends to Liberty, the severity that has "been used towards him may be subject to misconstructions prejudicial "to the common cause, and the more effectually to …
^ It is proper to say, in this connection, that th« insincerity of the Pro Tincial Congress was never more boldly presented than in its Order concerning the disposition which was to bo made of the letter which it had just ordered to be written to the Governor of Connecticut, in the matter of the raid of Connecticut's rutTians -- instead of ordering it to be forwarded tu the …
distinguished body of political acrobats of that name'^ -- made no reply whatever to its letter, until the following June, when he adroitly turned the scale against the complaining Provincial Congress, by reminding it that the leader of the banditti was a resident of the City of New York,^ doing business in that City, and, also, a member of the complaining Provincial Congress …
The long process of intercolonial diplomacy, on what, in this instance, would have becii an interesting topic, had the parties in that diplomatic correspondence been honest and consistent, might have been productive of u,seful results ; but they were neither consistent nor honest; and, like the greater part of other diplomacy, it consisted of little else than empty word …
5 The Provincial Congress evidently called the attention of the Delegation in the Continental Congress to the subject, as it promised to do, in its letter to Governor Trumbull ; and on the eleventh of .January, 177fi, the Delegation wrote, in reply : " We highly applaud the spirit, " and, at the same time, respectful manner in which you have supported "the dignity and …
The Governor of Connecticut having, meanwhile, taken no notice whatever of the letter which the Provincial Congres.s had written to him, in the preceding December, on the 8th of March, 1771), the latter informed the Delegation from New York in the Continental ('ongress, of that fact, (Jourmd of the 1\i>riucial Conyrem, "Die \ eneris, "10 ho., A.M., March 8, 1771) ;") but there …
As a matter of favor, however, he was permitted to memorialize the General Assembly of the Colony within which he was held in captivity, although that Assembly had been dissolved by Proclamation of theGo.vernor,six days previously; and, because that Memorial is a portion of the revolutionary literature of Westchester-county, to say nothing of its importance as an authority in …
" That on Wednesday, the 22d day of November " last, your Memorialist was seized at a house in " West Chester where he taught a grammar school, by "a company of armed men, to the number, as he "su[)poses, of ab(jut forty ; that after being carried to " his own house and being allowed lime to send for " his horse, he was forced away on the road to Kings- " bridge, but soon …
Beardsley, D.D , in his Life avd Correspondence of the Jiigltt Iteverend Samuel Seahui-y, D.D., (Second Edition, 30-42,) i)ui>Iiblied as nearly a complete and accurate copy of it as those who printed liifl book would permit him to give to his readers. It is believed that, witli his kind assistance, we have the privilege of hiying an entirely accurate and complete copy of the …
That during this time your Memor- " ialist hath been prevented from enjoying a free inter- " course with his friends ; forbidden to visit some of " them, though in company with his guard ; prohibited " from reading prayers in the church, and in perform- " ing any part of divine service, though invited by "the Rev. Mr. Hubbard so to do ; interdicted the use " of pen, ink, and …
That a quilt in the " frame on which the daughters of your Memorialist " were at work was so cut and pierced with bayonets " as to be rendered useless. That while your Memo- "rialist was waiting for his horse, on the said 22d day " of November, the people obliged the wife of your " Memorialist to open his desk, where they examined "his papers, part of the time in presence of …
" he, the said Meloy, had been accused by some peopie of pointing a bayonet at the breast of a daughter ' of your Memorialist, desiring your Memorialist to ex- ' culpate him from the charge, to which request your " Memorialist replied that he was not at his house but " at his school house when the affair was said to have ' happened ; but that a daughter of your Memorialist " …
That several questions were asked ' him, to some of which he gave the most explicit ' answers, but perceiving some insidious design ' against him by some of the questions, he refused to ' answer any more. That Captain Sears then ob- ' served to him, if he understood him right, that they ' did not intend to release him, nor to make such a ' compromise with him as had been made …
"That your Memorialist had neglected to oi)en his " church on the day of the Continental Fast. ''And that he had written pamphlets and nt-ws- " papers against the liberties of America. "To the first and hist of these charges your "Memorialist pleads not guilty, and will be ready to "vindicate his innocence, as soon as he shall be "restored to his liberty in that province to …
Farmer" [n Westchefter Farmer] which were published in 1774, aud which created such an intense excitement among the revolutionary faction, were written by Isaac Wilkins, of Westchester, and not by the Rev. Samuel Seabury, also of Westchester, to whom they liad been generally attributed. Several years afterwards, those conclusions secured the respect and deference of one whose …
" Made with his farmer, Don A. W." (Trumbull's Origin of MoVimjul, 31, 32 ;) and within six months after Trumbull's publication, Samuel Seabury, in that portion of his Memorial to the Ocnei^al Anst'iitblt/ of Coiutectivut which is now under notice, added his very clear, very precise, and very unequivocal testimony, on the same interesting question. With these two independent …
But we are constrained to say that, whether the paper is what it purports to have been or not, and whether it was copied and delivered to the Commissioners or not, of both of which we have grave doubts, there are evidences within itself of its entire untrustworthiness, in its recital of known facts ; that we do not believe, therefore, that it was written by Samuel Seabury …
We are not insensible of the fact that a great-grandson of Samuel Seabury, in a paper which was published in The American Quarterly Church Review, for April, 1881, without any supporting testimony which any Bench in the country would have received as evidence, in any case, undertook the ungracious tiisk of showing, by argument, that Samuel Seabury was not sincere, when he …
" or, if the regulations of Congress be attended to, " must he be dragged from the committee of his own " county, and Irom the Congress of his own province, " cut off from the intercourse of his friends, deprived " of the benefit of those evidences which may be " necessary for the vindication of his innocence, and "judged by strangers to him, to his character, and " to the …
If " he is to be judged according to the regulations of the "Congress, they have ordained the Provincial Con- "gress of New York or the Committee of the county " of West Chester, to be his judges. Neither the "laws of either colony nor the regulations of the " Congress give any countenance to the mode of " treatment which he has met with. But considered " in either light, he …
1 The reader of the two preceding paragrajjhs, in which the captive responded to the first and fourth of tlie charges which his cajilors had presented against liim, cannot fail to find evidence, of the higliest character, that, in his political opinions, Samuel Seabury was, at that time, as he had previously been, in exact accord with Isaac Wilkins and Frederic Philipso, also …
In common with the great body of the Colonists, throughout the entire seaboard, he was sincere in his convictions that the Colonies were suffering from the wrongs which had been inflicted on them by the Mother Country ; and he was willing to resort to all lawful means for their relief. But when the entire machinery of the party of the Opposition was seized by those who only …
Some time in the beginning of April, as "your Memorialist thinks, the people were invited to " meet at the White Plains to choose delegates for a "Provincial Congress. Many people there assembled "were averse from the measure. They, however, gave " no other opposition to the choice of delegates than " signing a Protest. This Protest your Memorialist "signed in company with two …
" The other crime alleged against your Memorialist is " that he neglected to open his church on the day of the " Continental Fast. To this he begs leave to answer : "That he had no notice of the day appointed but " from common report : That he reci ived no order " relative to said day either from any Congress or " committee: That he cannot think himself guilty of " neglecting …
Whatever he may have subsequently become, and the persecutions to which he was subjected by those of the opposite faction of the Opposition would have soured the most amiable of dispositions and have transfoimed those who were more opposed to the Government than he into active " friends of the Governmeut," when this ilemnrial was written, and previously thereto, Samuel …
" That a complaint was exhibited against your " Memorialist to the Provincial Congress of New " York, by Captain Sears, soon after the neglect with " which he is charged, and that after the matter was " Fully debated, the complaint was dismissed: ' That " he conceives it to be cruel, arbitranj, and in the " highest degree uiijiisf, after his supposed oflense has " been …
That as a clergyman he " has the care of the towns of East and West Chester. " That there is not now a clergyman of any denom- " iuation nearer than nine miles from the place of " his residence, and but one within that distance " without crossing the Sound ; so that in his absence " there is none to officiate to the people in any " religious service, to visit the sick, or bury …
That he had five young gentlemen from " the Island of Jamaica, one from Montreal, four " children of gentlemen now in England, committed " to his care, among others from New York and the " country. That he apprehends his school to be " broken up and his scholars dispersed, probably " some of them placed at other schools, and that it " may be difhcult, if not impracticable …
The reader may gather from those facts, without resorting to that general fact of the disappointment of Sears, in his scramble for "a high office in the American Navy," of which Bancroft has made mention, just what was the rejison that that i-ufflan was so zealous, in his pursuit of the two who had so signally defeated him. : Vide pages 304, :)06, ante. " be liable to such …
He thinks he can give a good account " of his conduct, such as would satisfj' reasonable " and candid men. He is certain that nothing can " be laid to his charge so repugnant to the regula- " tions of the Congress, as the conduct of those " people who in an arbitrary and hostile manner " forced him from his house, and have kept him now "four weeks a prisoner without any means …
3 We are not insensible of the fact that Hiuman, in his Historical Collections of the part svMaiiied bif Omnecticut daring the War of the Hevoluti/m, {page 548,) stated that Samuel Seabury " brought his petition on the "20th day of December, 1776,* to the General .Xssembly of Connecticut, " then sitting at New Haven ; " and, further, {page 551,) that " the peti- "tion, in the …
Seabury addressed his Memnriul " To '•the Honorable the General Assembly * » * now sitting in New " Haven, in said Colony, by special Order of his Honor, the Governor," {ride page 312. ante.) But the Journal of that Special Session, called by the Governor, and sitting at New Haven, shows " the General iVssembly " was adjourned by Proclamation, on the 14th day of December, 1775 …
On the contrary, it is evident that his captors had become tired, since they found that an able and courageous prisoner, such as Samuel Seabury was, was not likely to be useful to either the general cause of the Rebellion or to those who held him ; and, therefore, without any oificial action which has been recorded, either by the oflScial pens or by the traditional stylus of …
He reached Westchester, on his return, on the second of January, 1776 but his private affairs were very much disturbed; ^ his School, on which he largely depended for the payment of his debts and for the more comfortable support of his family, was broken up ; ■* his present means were very limited -- the expense of his month's confinement, in the hands of the banditti, had …
that he was unable to discharge his official duties with propriety and accuracy ; * he and his family were subjected to constant annoyances and insults ; ' nis house was occupied, soon after, by a Company of Cavalry, who consumed or destroyed all the products of his Glebe, on which, to a considerable extent, his family was made dependent ; " he was thus made entirely dependent …
On the fourth of December, 1775, also during the period between the dissolution of the first and the organization of the second of the series of the Provincial Congresses, the Governor of the Colony, William Tryon, from his shelter, on board the ship Dutchess of Gordon, lying in the harbor of the City of New York, evidently and reasonably encouraged by the backwardness of the …
Sanmel Seabury, the Committee of Safety, five of the Westchester-county members being present, directed Colonel Joseph Drake, forthwith, to remove him from his home to the house of Colonel John Brinckerhoflf, at Fishkill, to remain there till the further order of the Convention or the Committee of Safety ; and that he be not permitted to leave the farm of the said Colonel …
It was w ritten in a spirit of kindness and regard for the welfare of the country, probably as a feeler, and certainly after consultation with some of the leaders of the Eebellion ; and it was well-calculated to lead the revolutionary portions of the Colonists back to their duty and to peace, in which it appears to have been quite effective-- '' several of the Delegates " [m …
It was not, then, generally known, but the revelations made by the publication of the records of that period have recently shown, that that letter was introductory to a movement toward a peaceful solution of the political troubles of the Colonies, which, if the letter should be well-received, the very able family of Smith, who had been among the originators and most earnest …
" I take tliis public Manner to signify to tlie Inliabitants of this Prov- " iuce, that his Majesty lias been graciously pleased to grant me his " Royal Permission to withilraw from the Government ; and at the siinie " Time to assure them of my Keadiness to perform ever Service in my " Power, to promote the common Felicity. If I am excluded from " every Hope of being any Ways …
" I owe it to my .\ffection to this Colony, to declare my wish, that " some Jleasure may be speedily adopted for Ibis purpose ; as I feel an " extreme Degree of Anxiety, in being Witness to the growing Calamities " of this Country, without the Power to alleviate them: Calamities " that must increase, while so many of the Inhabitants withhold their " Allegiance from their …
He had been associated with William Livingston and John Morin Scott, in the historically famous "triumvirate." He had professed to approve the usurpations of legislative authority and other questionable doings of the Continental Congress of 1774 ; and he is known to have been an outside adviser of the factious minority of the General Assembly, with whom and with whose …
He was, also, at the same time that he was thus masquerading as a confidante and an adviser of those who were leading the Rebellion and as a sympathiser with and promoter of the Rcbeiyon itself, a Member of the Colonial Council of the King; an intimate friend and confidential adviser of the Governor of the Colony, William Tryou -- whose leanings toward the pretensions of the …
There was some action, in the Provincial Congress, on collateral subjects; but it was not until a much later period that that body was dissolved -- on the fourth of November, either because of the absence of a quorum or for some other reason, no record of a formal adjournment having been made, the Provincial Congress ceased to exist; and the works which it had done as well as …
Whatever may have been the form and character of the document, it is evident, however, that such an Ordinance was really adopted and promulgated, and that, agreeably to its provisions, on the seventh of November, a meeting was held at the White Plains, for the election of Delegates from the County of Westchester, to the coming Congress.^ It is not stated in what manner nor by …
June last.'' In the Jmirnal of tke Proetnciat f^ontjrf'ns, of neither of those days, liowever, does there appear the slightest mention of any such Repoi't or of the subject of it. - MinuU's of Proet'cdings during the rcceJW of Oie Provincial Congress, by their Atljmtrninent on the fourth of November, 1775. ^The following document, copied from the original manuscript …
Gilbert Drake, were duly " elected agreeable to the resolves of the Provincial Congress, to repre- " sent this county until the Second Tuesday of May next ; and that it " w;is voted by the people that any three of the said Deputies shall act "for this county. Dated the 7th day of November, 1775. " By order of the Committee, "Gilbert H. Dh.\ke, Chairman. "A true copy from the …
The day appointed for the organization of the new Provincial Congress was the fourteenth of November; but, on that day, there was not even a respectable minority of the Delegates present, which may well be considered as indicative of the coolnes-* with which the Rebellion was regarded by the great body of the Colonists, in New York, even at that early period; and of how little …
They amused themselves by dictating letters to the Committees of the faltering Counties, urging the attendance of their several Delegations, " in order that the business of the great cause " we are engaged in may be no longer delayed or " neglected." * Threats were made, in some instances, that " the Continental Congress'' might " find " it necessary, for the public service …
* It will be seen that eight of the nine Delegates thus elected carried titles with their names-- the terms "Esq." and "Mr." at that time, having recognized places in the order of rank-- and that only one of the nine, William Paulding, was low enough, in the social rank, to be a plain, untitled man. s These words, taken from the letter sent to the Delegates-elect of …
" a Convention of the Deputies is absolutely necessary, " with the utmost despatch."' To these pressing words, the following threat was appended: "But if, after " such repeated applications to your County, to be in " Congress, by their Deputies, if you continue to ne- " gleet a meiisure so necessary for your reputation and "safety, you must not complain if the Congress de- " …
1 teller to the Committee of Orange-couiily, " New-Tobk, December let, "1775." ^ Letter from Paul Micheaa to Robert Benson, " Richmond-coixtv, Do- "cembcrlst, 1775." 3 "The evil couscquuncea tliat will attend the not having a Provincial "Congress to determine on the measures necessiiry to be adopted and "carried into execution, at this unhappy crisis, are more easily con …
Israel Putnam was too highly appraised for the Royal shambles, and so remained in the market, until, on the demand of the Livingstons, he was placed where he could do no further harm. The greater success of Benjamiu Pratt, of Boston, and, subsequently, that of Daniel Ilorsmauden, in the race for the place of Chief Justice of the Colony of New York, when James De Lancey died …
On the first of December, competent Delegations appeared from the five Counties of New York, Albany, Westchester, Ulster, and Suffolk, with insuOicient Delegations from Kings and Duchess, and no portions of such Delegations from Richmond, Queens, Orange, Tryon, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Charlotte-counties ; and, consistently with usage and the Rules of the preceding …
W. Livingston, Captjiin in Fanning's King's .\merican Regiment, were not the better exponcuts of the real opinions of that office-seeking family of Livingstons ; and who can doubt, with the roster of subsequent office holding Livingstons before him, that nmch of additional inHueuce, in favor of the Home Government, might have been secured from that family and its adherents …
What was thus called a Provincial Congress, elected Colonel Nathaniel Woodhull, of the County of Suffolk, to be its President ; and John McKesson and Robert Benson, the Secretaries of the former Provincial Congress, were elected Secretaries of that.^ It assembled, day by day, until the twenty-second of December, when it took a recess, leaving a Committee of Safety to discharge …
Peter Clowes wns said to have represented " Goshen Precinct in Orange- "county;" but the ('redentiuls which were filed from Orange-county declared that <«'" Delegates should bo required to represent that County; and that only when one such Delegate should appear in the Congress from "the North side of the Mountains" [(Ac Uighlundu] and one from the " South side " of those …
i Joumul of the Provincial Congress, "Die Sabbati, 9 ho., A.M., March "ICth, 177(!." " as well to the United Colonies, in general, as to this " Colony, in particular, rendering it necessary for a " speedy meeting of the Provincial Congress of this " Colony, the Committee of Safety, therefore, or- "dered Circular Letters to be sent to all the mem- "bers, requesting their …
I That old story of the dilatoriness of the country members, even iu the face of the most pressing necessities and of the most urgent calls, certainly confirm the reports that the great body of the Colonists, especially that of the country-people was lukewarm and indifferent, if they were not positively unfriendly, to the Rebellion. If the leaders among the disaffected, and …
10 Tlte action of the Continental Congress of 1774, concerning the Commerce of the Colonies, may be seen in the Association which it " recom- " mended." "We beg leave to hint, that in the present declension of Trade, the "seamen of this Port ought to be employed upon this article of service " [balteaux-jnen, for the Northern Army,] "as well as that of building "batteaux," …
their troubles, the troops from Connecticut, who had been unnecessarily brought to the City of New York -- " the movement seemed to have for its ead to coerce " rather than to defend New York ' " -- who were unemployed, endeavored to make additions to their military pay, by underbidding the local mechanics, for work to be done, in that City : ^ and the Provincial Congress was …
- "Till- Kegiuieiit liere, from Connecticut, can turn out many Carpen- " teru, who consent to work upon much more reasonable terms than the "artificer of this City. It would, I imagine, be worth while to pro- "vide, if possible, a suflicient number of tools: when the present work "is done, these tools cannot be considered an idle purchase : they will • 'always be useful," …
* Journal of the Committee of Safety, "Die Mercurii, 10 ho., A.M., " Jany. 24, 1770 ;" the same, " Die Sabbati, 3 ho., P.M., Feby. 3, 1776 ;" the same, " Die Veneris, 10 ho., A.M., Feb. 9, 1776 ;" Journal of the Provincial Congress, "Die Veneris, 4 ho., P.M., March 8, 1776." ^Journal of the Ommittee of Safety, " Die Sabbati, 3 ho., P.M., Feby. 3, "1776;" the same, "Die …
' " The Inhabitants of this C'ity are much alarmed at various confident "advises of your destination, with a considerable body of forces, for " active service, here. * * * We should not have troubled you with "this application, had it not been to procure such information from you "as may enable us, in a prudent use of it, to allay the fears of our in- " habitants, who, at this …
See, also, the Order of the Provincial Congress to the male Refugees, to return Ui the Cily -- Journal of the Provincial Congress, " Die Veneris, 10 "ho., A.M., May 10, 1770 ;" Memorial of the Vestry of the CUy to the Provincitd Congress, May 30, 1776 ; etc. ' William Smith, Chairman, to the Committee of Safely, "Suffolk- " COUNTY, Jany 24, 1776;" ^Governor Tryon to the Earl …
Indeed, the extent and character of the sympathy with the Rebellion, as a matter of principle, which prevailed among the Colonists, generally, may be seen, very clearly defined, in their hesitation t) take the field in support of it, even where no enemy was and where none was expected,*" and in their precision of movements, homeward, when the terms of service of those who had …
i^Iu Orange-county, "none but the lowerclassof mankind will enlist; "and these were conceived not to be the men to be depended on," {Elihu Marvin, Chairman, to the Provincial Congress, "In County Com- "mittee, Oxporu, Feb. 1.'), 1776.") In Duchess-county, enlistments could be made only on the stipulation that the men thus enlisted should not be required to do service outside …
^- Journal of the Provincial Congress, " Die Jovis, 3 ho., P. 31., December "14, 1775;" ««m«, " Die Veneris, 10 ho., A.M., Deer. 15, 1775;" Wie eam«, " Die Mercurii, 10 ho., A.M., Feb. 21, 1770;" (Ac soni«', " Die " Lunte, 3 lio., P.M., March 4, 1776 ; " the same, " Die Mercurii, 10 ho., "A.M., March 13, 1776 ;" Journal of the Committee of Safety, "i ho., "P.M., Feb. 10 …
The loCal Committees, sometimes, consequentially assumed to interrupt their traffic ; ^ and the Committee of Safety, in order to prevent ''sundry persons from Connecticut" from purchasing, for the evident purpose of forestalling the market, "requested the Committee of the County " of Westchester to take effectual means to prevent " the sale and transportation of any barrelled …
The same local terrorism which had prevailed, throughout the County, under the auspices of the former Provincial Congress, was continued, with the sanction of this;' numbers of the inhabitants of the County were seized, only on information secretly conveyed by unseen accusers, and cast into prison, without a hearing ; * and some of them were severely the period now under …
Thonuis Merritt was arrested and taken before the Committee of Safety, in the City of New York, "on information of persons from *' Westchester-county, that he had declared he had seen people casting " great quantities of Bullets, to kill the Whigs ; and that he knew "where great quantities of those Bullets were" -- a trumped-up charge, which was so entirely transparent that …
them of Eye or Mamaroneck, are already known to the reader, in the sad story of the Sloop PoUtj iiiid Aim, {page 295, ante ;) and .lamesaud William Lounsberry ; Isaac, John, and Joshua Gedney ; John Fowler ; Isaac and Peter Valentine ; Isaac, Joseph, and Joshua Purdy ; William Armstrong ; William Sutton ; John Flood ; James, John, Thomas, and William Haines ; and Joshua …
The opening of the new year -- the exact date does not appear, if it was ever definitely known -- witnessed a transaction by which the lower portion of the County of Westchester, especially the Towns of Mamaroneck, Eastchester, Westchester, and Yonkers, was greatly disturbed ; and yet it was an occurrence rested in connection with spiking of the Cannon, near Kingsbridge, of …
Colonel Waterbury, who accompanied General Lee, through Westchester-county, acknowledged his possession of thirty Guns, two pairs of Holsters, nine Cutlasses, aud three Pistols-- how many more he bad seized, and retained or sent back into Connecticut, are uow unknown ; and no record was taken of the names of those who had been thus plunilcred. They must have been taken …
5 " Kesolved and Ohoeueu, That Colonel Joseph Drake and Colonel " Thomas Thomas, of Westchester-county, do draft out of their Regiments "two hundred men, in the following proportions, to wit; Two Compa- " nies of sixty-five Privates each, besides tlie Captains and other inferior " Officere, out of Colonel Joseph Drake's Regiment ; and one Company "of sixty-five Privates, with …
Colonel Samuel Drake's Regiment, referred to in this Order, was the skeleton Regiment of We.stcbester-county Minute-men, which wa* then in the Continental Service, aud posted at Hoern's Hook, on the Island of Manhattan, at the mouth of the Harlem-river, and opposite to Hell-gate, where was one of the passes to Long Island. We have not found any record of the three Companies …
It is not clear what good was expected to be derived from those movements of the guns ; but it is very clear that, before the close of the year 1775, between three and four hundred Cannon, of all calibres, grades, and conditions -- some of them good and serviceable ; others, less valuable and less useful ; the greater number, honeycombed and worthless, unless for old iron …
- " While tliis immaculate General " [Charlex Lee,] " had the comniaiid " in New York, about 2 lO pieces of heavy cannon which were mounted " in Fort George and upon the Battery, were forcil)ly taken away by " hie orders, and lodged upon the Common," [Ihe MirAJ "facing his "Quarters. But, lest upon the arrival of the British Army, they " shouldbe retaken, he ordered them to be …
" I counted two hundred and eighty pieces of Cannon, from twenty- "four to three pounders, at Kingsbridge, which the Committee had se- " cured for the use of the Colonies," (Doctnr Benjumin Church's treasonable letter, intercepted in July, 1775.) ^Stephen Ward to the ProuincUd Congress, " March 6, 1776." *Ji>unud of the Cnmmittee nf Safelij, " Die Mercurii, 10 ho., .\.M.. " …
Among those who were thus selected to face the ordeal of that Committee, in which the great professional experience of John Morin Scott was combined with the savage coldness of Alexander McDou" gal and John Brasher, were John Fowler, Peter Valentine, William Lounsberry, James Lounsberry, Joseph Purdy, AVilliam Armstrong, William Sutton, John Flood, Isaac Purdy, John Gedney …
On the thirty-first of January, 1776, the Committee of Safety directed Jacamiah Allen to remove those of the guns which were near Kingsbridge, as well as those which were near John Williams's, " to the " larger parcel at Valentine's, so as to have them all "brought together, for the greater convenience of " guarding them and drilling out the spikes;" and, at the same time, the …
On the twenty-second of January, one of the Independent Companies of the City of New York,* probably "The Brown BrrFS," commanded by Captain Jonathan Blake,- was ordered into the service of the Colony, for the protection of the guns ; but a draft was subsequently made from the Minute-men of the County, to discharge that service,' a Captain, a Lieutenant, two Sergeants, a …
I The OrmmiUee of Safety to LuulenatU-eolond Graham, " In Comiut- "tee or Safetv, New-Yurk, Jany. 22, 17T6." > Comjuire Captain JoDathao B)ake°8 letter to the Committee of Safety "Head Qvartf.rs is Westchester, .lauy. 31, 17TC," with the Roster of O'Umel Malt-inn' t llegimetity -- Historical Matiufcripts relnting to the War of the lieriilnlioH, in the Secretary of State's …
It will li« renieml>ered that James Varian, the favored commander of th* (Juard, lu this instance, with eighteeen others, had been constituted a full-fledged Conii«ny of Westchester-county Minute-men, on the foiirt«i'Ulh of February precetling l^vide pages 2J4, 285, ante:) and it will be seen, from that letter which has been quoted, how soon and in what manner those nineteen …
ings per week ; and, of course, Barclay was superseded and the coveted job was given to the last comer.* Very reasonably, Barclay complained to the Congress, and made a counter-offer which was more favorable than the offer on which Allen had been employed ; and, of course, the latter was ousted, leaving him in possession * -- an illustration of what material the newcreated …
In the prosecution of the duties to which General Lee had been thus assigned -- in his enlistment of men into the service of the Continent ; in his appointment of the ruffian, Isaiic Sears, to a high militar}' office ; in the barbarities inflicted on the inhabitants of Queens-county, by his authorized representative, Sears ; in his haughty disregard of the local authorities …
8 JoiirNfll of the CommUtee of Safety, "Die Luna-, 4 ho., P.M., March " 18, 1776 ;" and the same, " Die Martis, t ho., P.M., March 19, 1776." 9 7«Hm<iI of the Committee of Safely, " Die Sabbati, A.M., 3Iarch 23, "1776." General Waihmgton to the Preridenl of Oougreft, " Ca3IBSII>ge, 4 Jann- "ary, 1776 ;" the tame, "Cambridge, 11 January, 1776;" Gmenii Ho**- ington's InsJmctumt …
Notwithstanding, within the preceding six or seven weeks, the farmers who lived along or near the line of the Post-road had been visited by Sears and his gang of Connecticut banditti, both on their way to the City of New York and on their return, thence, to Connecticut, by whom, on each occasion, they had been ruthlessly plundered,' they were again visited, during that march …
Colonel Waterbury, who commanded the Regiment whom General Lee had mustered into the Continental service -- himself, as was subsequently seen and heard, in the City of New York, as fine a specimen of the same class as was needed to perpetuate it '' -- under the direct sanction of the General and with his orders, but without the slightest authority, legal or revolutionary, of …
An amusing instance of the consequential airs assumed by the petty local Town-commiltees, in Westchester-county, in whom had been vested such extraordinary powers over the persons and properties of those who lived within the several Towns in which ' Vide pages 305, 3(i8, ante. 2The associations and conduct of Colonel Waterbur)', while he was in the City of New York, to say …
those Committees were respectively located, was seen in the action of ''the Committee of Observation for "the united Town of Bedford and Precinct of Pound- " ridge antl Salem, in Westchester," on the tenth of January, 1776, in which that pompous body, " con- " ceiving that bad consequences do arise to this dis- '' tressed country from supplying the markets, at New " York, on …
Very promptly, that body took the subject into consideration; and, without much, if any, discussion, the Committee "came to a "Resolution," which was delivered to the anxious drover, for his comfort and relief -- the Committee of Safety was not inclined to concur in the questionable theory of " patriotic" economy which was maintained by its subordinate Committee in Bedford …
* Holt's Setc-York Journal, No. 1725, New York, Thursday, January 25, 1776; Joimtal nf the Committee of Safety, "Die Jovis, 10 ho., A.M. " Jany. 25, 1776." HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY. " service against the Liberties of America ; nor in "such case any longer than until such (Jommiltees "respectively shall, in cases where such proof shall "have been made, have duly certified …
In the latter instance, the obstructed drover returned to Newtown ; procured a Certificate from the Committee of that Town, declaring that he " had " lately served his country as a faithful friend and "soldier in the northern Army, under General Schuy- "ler; that he had suffered by the stoppage of his " Cattle, at Bedford, on the way to the New-Y'ork "market; that he is the …
" Eesolved and Ordered, That no obstruction " whatsoever be given to any person or persons in " passing and re-passing through any of the Counties " in this Colony, with fat Cattle, Sheep, Hogs, or any " kind of Provisions, for the purpose of supplying the " inhabitants of the said City of New- York or the " Continental Army, in and near the said City, unless "such person or …
The facts are thus related in the official records of the Committee of Safety ; ' and the reader may judge therefrom, something concerning the animus of the Committee of Bedford, when, on the second occasion, it interfered with the disposition of the products of Connecticut, within the Colony of New York, while the disposition of the products of farms in Bedford and its …
"'Whereas the Continental Congress, by their " 'Resolution of the first day of November last, have " ' resolved that no produce of the United Colonies "'be exported, except from Colony to Colony under " 'the directions of the Committees of Inspection and " ' Observation, and except from one part to the other "'of the same Colony, before the first day of March " ' next, without …
" ' Eesolved, 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 Comuiiitee 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- " ' cutiou. " ' 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 Resoludon 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 the products 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 …
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 Rebellion ; while the inhabitants of that County, because of their decided and outspoken opposition to the Rebellion and to the various Conunittees and Congresses which the Rebellion had called into existence, were subjected, by the Provincial …