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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and Nev' Jersey, the latter accompanied by amateur banditti from New York City, the leaders of the Rebellion in Westchester-county, aldo, 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 …
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 Cummittee 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., 2.54. s Journal of the Provincial Congress, " Die Mercurii, P.M , Feb. 21, "1776." * Journal oj the ComiiiiUee of Safety, "Die Veneris, 10 ho., A.M., Feb. "9, 1776." THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1774-1783. [Febniari/ 9, 1776] a letter was ntklressed to Colonel Samuel Drake, ordorliig the skeleton Regiment of …
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 " [jirecedc f] " each other a few miles …
As Captain Varian and his eighteen companions, facetiously regarded as one of the Companies of Minule-men of which Colonel Drake's Regiment was subsequently composed, were, then, unknown as soldiers,'^ that Regiment could not have possibly mustered more than two Companies commanded, respectively, by Captains Slason and Seely ' -- that commanded by Captain Gray was not …
entered the Continental service, and after its reinforcement had joined it, it numbered not more than a 1 hundred and fifty men ; * and about two week.s subse- <iuently, little more than a month after it had been mustered in, it was made ridiculous and the propensity to ollice-holding among " the"friends of Liberty," in Westchester-county, was forcibly illustrated by the …
" As Colonel Drake's Regiment of Minute-men "consists of one hundred and eleven jjrivate men, " present, and yet have no less than four Field "Officers, two Cajjtains, 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 …
0 Captain Gray's Company probably marched from Bedford, on the sixteenth of February, agreeably to the promise tliat it sliould do so ; ami on the twenty-ninth of the s;inie mouth. General Lee said of the lii'giment and of a Company detiiclifd from another Rej^iment, tonrtber forming the garrison at Hoern's Hook, " Dr.ake'8 Keginiunt of Minnte- " Men and ijiic mure Company …
but it was composed of ineu of notorious poverty and meanness,' by no means representative men of the yeomanry of Westcb ester-county ; " many of them " were, "destitute of "arms" ' and, therefore, useless for soldiers ; and it appears tluit, 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, 177<}, the Continental Congress ordered four Battalions to be raised for the defence of the Colony of New York ; and, on the twenty -sixth of the same month, the experiment of starting the work of enlistment, for those four Battalions, by jol)l)ing out the OHices which would l)e required, among the several Counties, with invitations for estimates …
On the following day, [Janiiari/ 27, 1770,] the Committee of Safety issued its Instructions for the RccruitiiKj Oj/irrrs 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 ielt 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 till 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, 177(). "Sir: ' " The Congress having determined that your Couu- " ty shall have the oj)pt>rtunity of raising [^/'o] …
" of the Continental Congress, for the defence of this "Colony, have resolved that blank Warrants for the "Oliicei"s of the same shall be sent to your Coni- " niittee. " You will observe by the enclosed Resolves that "you are restrained in the appointments to give the " i)reference to sueh persons as liave served their Coun- " try in the last Campaign ; but it is not, by any " …
" We arc, Sir, your very hble. servants, " By order, " Nathaxihl WooniiuLL, Tres't." " 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 thenisefves with these arms and ac- " coutrements will be su])plied at the public expense, " for the ])aynient of which small …
Notwithstanding all the inducementis which the Provincial Congress and its various office-seeking recruiting agents could offer, however, the staid and conservative farmers of Westehester-county were slow to enlist into the Continental service -- there had been much diseonti'ntment among those who were in the service, under Colonel llolme.s, in the preceding year;^ and on the …
The i)rospect for the four Battalions, as far as Westchester-county was concerned in it, was not promising; and the Committee of Safety wa.s 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 nill)ert Drake, the Chairnum of the Committee of the County …
Subse(iuently, it was seen that the men wdiom Ezekial Hyatt, or Haight, or Hait -- for by each of these several names that " patriotic " gentleman Wiis kuovvu, 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 …
s (lillvrl Ihake In " Mv. Moriu .Sc<.«," " April the 24tli, 177t> ; " Journal iif thi- CuiiimilUe nf Hiift lji, " Die Jiivis, 111 lio., A.M., April 2.1, 177(;.-' *.l List ttf Die Offiirrx mimes in Xrir IV.ri- 'IVoops, eU. : Col. .W</>i>ii<;ii/'» Iteijinmil. (5). -- Ilislitrinil Maiinsi i iiih, etc. : MilUiirii Commillee, xxv., 4.S8. 6 llislnrii-iil MiiuHitcripfti^ etc …
and his command were accepted by the Committee of Safety, as one of the two Companies required from Westchester-county ; ' and it subsequently constituted the Fifth Company of the First Regiment of the New York Line, commanded by Colonel Alexander Mc- Dougal.^ It was said of the Company, afterwards, that the Captain " has deceived the Convention " {the rrovincinl 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 api)eared, 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 tlie Ooiimiitteo of Westclipster-ioiinty -- each scheme having lieen an imimivenient on tliose whicii liail pieceJod it -- for tilt* (1i8iK)siti(»n oftlie Company, ju«t as Kcheme,s were formed for tlie promotion of pcTsmial inlei ests of Othcers, and jnst as Kniisted Men were trueked and hartered into Uef;iments which were foreign to them, for tlie …
He was j^eculiarly anxious to obtain an office, no matter what, nor on what terms ; he was particularly zealous in his desire that he might administer testoaths to his neighbors;'' and it is more than pi-obable 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 …
13 Cornelim Steenrod to " the C<mrailUm," without place or date-- Jourtuds of the I*ri>ri.nrud t'oittjress, ii., 147. i^In June, 177f», Isaac Youngs testified before the Committee on Conspiracies, of the Provincial ('ongre.ss, that Tlioiii.TS Vernon, that prisoner who made so much trouble, bad informeil him that one of the Captains in McDougal's Regiment of Continentals, wius …
the War;' his command reciprocating, like that of Captain Hyatt, by deserting, in great numbers, and, thereby, seriously crippling tin- Regiment;' and, also like Captain Hyatt, personally, he was reported as "unfit" for his command.' The similarity of that Company and its Officers and that commanded by Captain Hyatt and its Officers is singularly continued in the fact tiiat …
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 …
" Ucri iiitinK Wiirriints wern issiiul ti> liiiii, on tlic tenth of Marcli, nVCi, und to'l'liiiniiw I.i' Foy. on tlic (wi-nty eiglilli cif tin- siinii' iiiuntli, fur tlio Nintli (Iiimiuuiy i>f the Vint Ucj^imi-nt of tliu Xi w York Line of tlii! Continental Army of 1770 ; bnl tlx' r.ionl wiys, also, "Captain Ilortun "anil Olliri'in' loniniissions not miuiv onl," {llr' …
come down among the debrit 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, 1776, for "a Magazine of Provisions and Military •' Stores, to be established in Westchester-county," the requisition being …
The proi)osed test of the quality of the Pork to be purchased was, however, not satisfactory to those who were manii)ulatiiig the Congress, in the interest of the job; and, on the ninth of March, when that body resumed the e(msideratioii of the proposition, it was led to suppose tiiat the Resolution which had been adopted, approving the same, was " im])erfeet, "inadequate to …
The whole subject h;id evidently been considered, informally, before it 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 totheend," and less expensive, although it was, also …
A Military Magazine established in the midst of a community who was hostile to those who gathered and establislu'd it, without ample provision for its |)rotecti()n, and dej)ending, 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 …
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 ofiicial buyers, and their personal friends were provided with an outlet, at fiivorable prices, not only for the surphis 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 F'orces, New "York,"'' 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 …
" Ordkred, 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 betake with him, from New- " York, a sworn Inspector and Repacker of Pork, to " inspect and re-pack the same ; and that …
with him, iiinong the sellers of Pork, who were not slow to take iulviiiitage of that circuiiistaiice, in advancing the prices of the goods; and, to a corresponding extent, intercejiting, atlvantageously to themselves, the profits uC thosi; i)articular transactions which, bnt for their interference, wonld have fallen into his baski'l. The Provincial Congress liad adjourned …
Alter due consideration of the subject, the Committee of Safety determiiied to limit the prie(^ 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 i)ickings which had been …
On the first of April, 177G -- 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 reipiired eight tlays fur the Committee's letter and Order to reach the busy Deputies and to arnst their eager searches for Pork ami Flour; bnt on the eighth day, [April \), 177(1, J ( -olonel Draki- rei)orted that he, and .John Thomas, Junior, and Major J.iO( kwood, three of the migratory Deputies, had bought about one thousand barrels of the former and six hundred barrels …
: salted Pork and six hundretl barrels of Flour had been found and purchased, on the account of the Provincial Congress, within the limited period of three weeks, and within the limits of that single County. The Westchester-county farmers of our own period, with their greater numbei's and greater area of tillable ground, with their modern appliances of artificial manures and …
Although no mention was subseipiently nnide of the establislij ment of such a Mill within the limits of Westchester- ! county, the fact that such an otler was nuide affords another testimony to what has been already adduced concerning the i)eaceful disposition of the farmers, throughout that County, even in the face of the greatest * Joiinml of llie CommiUee of Sufetij, " Die …
aggravations, since the want of the Anns of which they had been robbed would not have been a hindrance 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 …
On the following day, [J/a/'c/i 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, ol " 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 Ofiicers, out " of Colonel Joseph Drake's Regiment, and one Com- " pany of sixty-five Privates, with …
As what was called the Regiment of Westchestercounty Minute-men, commanded by Colonel Samuel Drake,'' was then at Hoern's Hook, opposite Hell-gate, it will be seen that Westchester-county was largely de])ended 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 sui)porters, after their defeat on that jjortion of the "plan," abandoned the project for an election by ballot.'' The entire subject was then referred to a Committee, for further consideration …
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1774-1783. Besides that almost unintelligible entry in the Journah of the Provincial Congress, no mention appears to have been made on the subject, if any thing i'urther 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 ; ' and that the fourteenth …
It appears that, either by pre-determined limitation or otherwise, the term of service of that County Committee expired in May, 1776; and, in order that the succession of that body might be continued, notice to that effect having been given, on the sixteenth of April, 1776, "a Number "of the Freeholders and Inhabitants of Westchester- " county appeared at the Court House," and …
iij LIP Well, JuN'. -- 4 For Mamaroneck. Gil Budd Horton -- 1. 1 The elections in the Counties of New York, Westcliestor, Duchess, Kings, Queens, Tryon, Ulster, and Orange were held on that day ; while Albany-county ajipears 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 …
" Caleb Carpenter -- 7. For Rye. Samuel Townsend, Israel Seaman, Fred. Say, Samuel Lyon, Gilbert Lyon, John Thomas, Jun'^6. For Bedford. Elijah Hunter, John WoolseV, Titus Miller, Israel Lyon -- 4. For Poundridge. Josh Lock Wood -- 1 For Salem. Abijah Gilbert -- 1. For Cortlandfs Manor. Joseph Travis, Daniel BirdsAll, Samuel Drake, Abraham Purdy, Nathaniel Hyatt, Joseph Lee …
The day after the dissolution of the second Pfovin^ cial Congress, \_May 14, 1776,] was the day which had been appointed for the organization of the third of that series of Congresses." 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 …
HISTOKY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY. ing any recess, until the thirtieth of June, when, because of supposed clanger, in the City of New York, it adjourned to meet at the White Plains, on the following Tuesday, \_Jyfy 2, 1776] ; ' but the Journals very clearly indicate that no such adjourned meeting was attempted -- the Deputies had more important business requiring their personal …
Bolton, {nMory nf Weslchtster-counly, original edition, ii., 359 ; the same, second edition, ii., 5G4,)said of the imaginary journey of the Deputies, from the City of New York to the Wliite Plains, between the adjournment of the Congress and the day on which it was to bo re-asseniblcd, " The journey between New York and the Plains was per- " formed by tlie members on …
Bolton has not named any aiithority for Jiisstiitement, altliough he was not the tirst to print it, he must be regarded as autliorially responsible for it ; and, therefore, it may be proper to say, further, that PieiTe Van Cortlandt was not the President of the Congress, nor had he been such, at any time. General AVoodhull having been elected its President, and John Haring, of …
The correspondence of Jolin Adams is well filled with evidence of his correct 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, 177r., and adopted on the tenth of that month, and the Preamble to that Resolution, which was adopted on the fifteenth, recomnieiuling the …
During the less than two months which intervened between the organization and the untimely dissolution of that third Provincial Congress, [J/ay 18 to June 30, 1776,] the Northern Array 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 …
^Journnl of the Provincial Congress, "Die Sabbati, 10 ho., A.M., May "18. 177(!." THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1774-1783. 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 begmi to see that the offices and the benefits to be derived from their expected labor …
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 Marv'land ; 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, l_June 30, 1776,] after it had provided for the removal " of a'l 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 Conyrets, " Die Martis, P.M., May 28, 1776 ;" the sa7ne, " Die Jovis, 9 ho., A.M., May 30, 1776 ; " Oie snme, " Die Martis, " 9 ho., A.M., June 4, 1776 ; " the same, " Die Jovis, 9 ho., A.M., June "6, 1776 ;" etc. '^Journal ofthePiovincial Congress, "DieLitDse, 4 ho., P.M.. June 3, "1776;" the same, "Die Jovis, 9 ho., A.M., June C, 1776;" the same …
* 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 City of New York, by whom several citizens who were of the Opposition, but not of the Rebellion, were seized by these revolutionary " patriots," who placed them on "sharp "rails," andcarrieil them on …
Generals Putnam and MitHin, who had evidently witnes.sed 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 hadledthis " day to acts of violence to\\'ards some disafie cted persons;" but what had shocked Isniel Putnam, by reason of its b arbarism, even while the …
To urge the warm friends of Liberty to de- " cency and good order, this Congress assures the public that effectual " 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 cauf-e to be " dealt with by the constitutional …
and compelling the latter to seek safety in flight.' It as=!unied 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;"' and, occasionally, it honored a victim of a local Committee, by listening to an Appeal from the decision of that …
The proposed victims having heen disarmed, by order of the Provincial Congress, during the Winter of 1775-'f>, they had no means for their defense, and, therefore, they fled and hid themselves in swamps, in woods, in barns, in hollow trees, in corn-fields, and in the mai-shes. Numbere took refuge in tlie pine barrens of Suffolk-county ; others, in small boats, kept sailing …
Numbers were taken ; some were wounded ; and a few were killed -- all that, too, on a peaceful, unarmed, passive conmiunity ; unable to dcfitad 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 …
M., June 5, 177G ; " the same, " Die .Tovis, 9 ho., A M., " June 6, 1776 ; " the same, " Die Luna;, 9 ho., A.M., June 10, 1776." 5 In the Api)pal of Thomas Harriot from the decision of the General Committee of the City and County of New York, the latler of whom n-ns, also, verii ei-idmlhi the Complainant in the original Case, on the sixth of June, the Provincial Congress …
The first of these is that " Committee to detect "Conspiracies," already alluded to, which originated in that much talked-of " Hickey Plot," -- the latter, a partisan bugbear which, before long, will descend to the low level of " the Negro Plot," in the same City of New York, in which the conspiracy against the helpless victims was greater than any which had possibly existed …
Sometime between Monday morning and Tuesday afternoon, [3fay 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 Proviuci<il Omgress to the Mcgales in the Continentnl Omgrejis, "In Pkovincul Congress, New York, July 28, 177.'i," and the " really anxious" rej;/;/ of Jtmes Thume, John Alsop, John Jaij, Hubert R. Livingston, Junior, and Francis Lewis, " Piiil.\pet,phi.\, 2()th Sept. 1776 ; " General M'ushington t/i the I'rovincial Congress, *' Nkw- VoKK, l.'l 3Iay, 1776," …
24, 1776,] when it was approved, not, however, without several very important omissions, if the record of the approved Report may be relied on.* In its amended form, the Report 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 from the various reports and the best intel- " ligence which can be obtained from Europe, as also " from the positive assertions of the disaffected through- " out this and the neighbouring Colonies, and from " such of their measures as have come to the knowl- "edge of your Committee, there is no room to doubt " that a large hostile armament will soon arrive in " this …
Sands, Kiclimond-couuty was ordered Ui bo named as one which was especijilly proscribed ; and on motion of John Morin Scott, an oath of some kind was ordered to " be *' extended to all sucli as refused to sign tiie Amtciafum,^^ to wliich only Gonverneur Morris, to bis honor be it said, ol)jected. On Wednesday niorning, an attempt to authorize the seizure and detention of …
That upon and after "the apprehension of the said persons, such of them as " shall give good and sufficient security, on oath, and " otherwise, as the said Committee shall think proper, "that they will not be concerned in any measures " taken or to be taken against the United American " Colonies, or any or either of them, and that they " will discover all measures taken or to …
" That it be recommended to all the General County "Committees, in the several Counties in this Colony, " to apprehend all persons holding Military Commis- "sions under the King of Great Britain, and also all "such persons holding Civil Offices under the said " King, or, being possessed of influence in their re- "spective Counties, as are suspected of holding prin- "ciples …
All these, together with those who were especially obnoxious and all these whose social standing did not warrant the admission of them into the first class, were to be apprehended -- the more jjrominent 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 …
Although there is no entry on the Journal of the Provincial Congress which makes mention of the creation of such a Committee, it is very evident the Committee was appointed, with instructions "to report a " Law or ' set of Resolutions of this Congress, to " ' prevent the dangers to which this Colony is ex- "' posed by its internal enemies,'" since, on the twenty-eighth of May …
"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 ])robable 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 may be the Report therein referred to …
" And whereas, from sundry informations and "evidences exhibited to this Congress, it appears " that the enemies of American Liberty, in this and "the neighbouring Colonies, have a general com- " munication with each other, by reason whereof "the influence of the British Ministry, however "feeble, is, in some measure, sustained, and the " minds of the people frequently alarmed …
" And whereas, 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 …
" Afld 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 its " currency, contrary to the Resolutions of the Conti- " nental Congress or Provincial Congress or Coni- " 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 …
Committee, under the hands of the said Committee, " be given to them, the said several persons so acquit- " ted ; and that they also report to this Congress, the " names of the persons so acquitted, that the same " may be entered on their Journals and published, to " the end that the reputation of such innocent persons " may not suffer or be injured by their having been so ■' …
" 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 wiiKitKAs employing detachments of the " Militia of this (.'oh)uy, in arresting the saiti persons, " will not only be expensive, but the assembling of " them may alarm the suspicions of the said per.soiis " and their adherents, and, thereby, tend to defeat "the design of these Resolutions; and as the Con- " tinental troops quartered in and near the saiil three " …
" AxD WHEREAS there may be, and doubtless are, " in other Counties of this Colony, divers dangerous "persons at present luiknown to this Congress: " Resolved, That it be recommended lo 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 …
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 reciiiired to cause all persons "whom they may esteem dangerous and disaffected to "appear before them, either by arrest or summons, as "the said Committees, in their discretion, may think " proper, and take from the said persons …
"And whereas there is, in this Colony, divers " persons who, by reason of their holding Otiices from " the King of Great Britain, from their haviug neg- " lecled or refused to associate witli their fellow citi- " zens, for the defence of their common Rights, from '' their having never mariil'ested, by their conduct, a " zeal for and attacliment 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,* Archd. Hamilton, David Colden, " Richd. Colden, Geo. D. Ludlow, Whitehead Hicks, " Saml. Clowes, Geo. FoUiot, Saml. Doughty, Danl. " Kissam, Gilbt. Van Wyck, John Willett, David …
" And also all sucli other persons of the like char- " acter as the said Committee may think pro])er to be " summoned hy 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 iis iriends to the " American cause, and as of the number of those who " are ready to …
" And if, on the aj)i)earance and examination ol " the said persons, it shall ai)pear 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 …
Hia fatlier had ocfiipieil llio placo, before him ; lie had occupied it siiicu August 2, 17ii2 ; and ho wiis, also, Clerk of tlio Courts ol Nisi I'rivis and Ceiiural Jail Dolivery. He was a brother of Lewis Morris, the Delsgato iu the Contineiitiil Congress, and of Staats Long Slorris, an officer iu the Eiiyal Army, and liuebaud of the Dowager Duchess of Gordon ; and …
Although lio was cliissed, in these Resolutions, among those who occul)ied "an enuivocal neutrality " -- ho preferred to retain his hold on the Koyal Troiisury as long as possible ; and the studied denunciation of him, in the.so Resolutions, was admirably ada|ited to secure the steady payment of bis Salary and Fees, aud to secure the family estates, in case the Rebellion …
" 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 ueigh- " bonring Colony, as will deprive them of an o[)por- " tuuity of exerting that infiuence 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 " oi)pose or contravene the measures of the Conli- " nental …
" Resolved, That the said Committee and the " County Committees keep a just record of all their "proceedings, in pursuance of these Resolutions, " and re[)ort the same, with the substance of the " evidence oti'ered to them, for and against the several " persons who shall be by them apprehended, sum- " moned, tried, and examined by virtue of the afore- " going Resolutions ; and …
Subseiiuently. as will be seen hereafter, Henry Renisen was excused from serving on the Committee ; and John Jay, of the City and County of New York, and John Sloss Hobarf, of Sullolk, were added to it. At a still later date, I'hilip Livingston, of the City and County of New Y'ork, was also nclded ; and Leonard Gansovoort, of Albany-county, was substituted for John Ten Broeck …
" Uksolvko, 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 jiersona herein directed to be '■ arrested or summoned to appear, and give evidence " against the said ])ersons, before the said Committ-ee ; " and that the said persons be paid for their troul)leat " the …
On the fourteenth ' and fifteenth of June, ^ those who were members of the Committee, took the oath reipiircd of them; on the last-named day, John Mclvesson, who wa.s 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 Ductor Siuirks made no mention of the auhject, in his Life nf Onnvunimr Mt>rri< -- it was not his puriMMeto ex|K>se th.i wejikne»*es an<l the wrong-iloin^ of his aristtn-ratic anil pretentious suhject. hut to magnify the man and Win iloings, and to eulogi/e them -- and all those who have preceded us in narrating the events nf tliat iiericsl, have, also …
This secretly acting, inquisitorial body, of which John Jay was made the Chairman, held secret sessions(m the fifteenth, nineteenth, twentieth, twentyfirst, twenty-second, twenty-third, twenty-fourth, twenty-fifth, twenty-sixth, twenty-seventh, and twenty-ninth of June,"* beyond which period we do not i>ropose, at this time, to follow it; and on the following day, when the …
7 Minutes of Uie Ootnmittee to Detect Oompiracie*, " Die Sabbati, 12 ho , Juno l.'>, 1776." 8 The Minutes nf the atiiiiiiitlee, during the brief period which elapseil lictween the date of its organization ami that of the dis.solulion of the Provincial Congress -- which, also, hy all parliamentary and statutory law, dissolved the Committee which was only its agent -- arc …
'2 Those who are interested in the metho<ls of this Committee, the subseipiently much eulogized Chief-justice of the State of New York and Chief-justice of the United States being the presiding oflicer, may «'e the forms of its iitu»mn»A and its P<trnte^ in Jones's Ilistttry of Sew York duriwjlhe Itemiluliimary H'lir, ii., 2!t.'>, 296 ; the forms of its li'iimiiiM, in its …
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 tageously read, from tbeso Miinifrti^ wliat tho80 diBtiiiguialicd lawyei'h wore nipalile of iluinp;, judicially, when tliey wore witliiu closed and closely guarded doors ; what tliey, then, regarded as olleuces hefore the law ; the nioihods which they adopted, in their …
It will be remembered, also, that the Icad.'rs of the liidielliou a.ssumed the right of determining when and in what manner religious services sluuild be conducted by the (Ihurches, in the Colonies, and those for whom Churches anil individuals should and should not offer their prayers to Almighty God. In Cimnecticiit, every Kjiiscopalian Church, except one, was closed, because …
It appears that it had become the practise of several of the local Committees -- those in Westchestercounty, in some instances, having been of the number-- of sending those who were offensive to them, without the slightest authority, revolutionary or conservative, to the Forts in the Highlands, which were then garrisoned with Continental troops, "with orders "to the commanding …
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 Westchester-county ; ® and, on the following day, that Committee recommended the employment of one hundred men in Duclie.ss-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 …
after various manipulations, in a second Committee,' by " one of the Secretaries, " ■ and by the Congress itself,'' the subject was disposed of, in a series of Resolutions, which, it is said, " were unanimously ap- ' proved of." I As that entire subject relates to the local history of Westche-ster-countv, at that period, and to the e.stab- ] lishment of a military police …
They were in these words: " Whereas, 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 othei-s …
" And WHEREAS, by reason of the several drafts " which have been made in the said Counties, accord- " ing to the late recommendation of the Continental "Congress, the Jlilitia 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, " iniusmuch …
" 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 C()ri)i)rals, 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 Melancton Sniith be appointed Captain of "one of the said Comi)anies to be raised in Dutchess- " county ; and that John Durlin be apjiointed Cap- •' tain of the other ; and that Micah Townsend be "appointed Captain of the said Comjiany to be raised "in Westchester-county: "That the General Committees of the said Coun- " ties be authorized to nominate and appoint the …
" That the said three Companies be subject to the " order and direction of the General Committee of "their respective Counties or such other jjcrson or " persons as this or a future Congress of this Colony " shall direct. " OuDEiiEi), That a certified copy of the aforesaid "Resolutions be transmitted to the General Commit- " tees of Dutchess and Westchester-counlies. And " …
could not surely preserve that peace, their appointment were useless -- the inhnbitants of that County could not have been as " dangerous" and its jieace 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 suspect, not without reason, that the entire movement was …
-Ttie iinly allusion to military duty discharged hy this Company, wliicli we have found, is that Oj-./ec of Ihn I'roviiirial Congress, on the twenty-fifth of .Inly, "that Captain Townsend of Westehcster-coiinty "return to duty, with his CompaMy, at the mouth of Croton river and " Bucli places ailjncpnt as the Officer or Officers commanding the Ameri "can troops or Jlilitia …
St.M'k ok Nkw-York. " The Petition of the Lieutenant non-commissioned officers & Privates "belonging to Capt" Micah Townsend's company raised to be under the "Direction of the Committee of Westchester County, Humbly Sheweth, "That the Honorable the Provincial Congri'ss of this Colony when " they gave Instructions for raising Capt" Townsend's (Company allowed "the liieutenaiit …
'•That at ami near the White i'lains ^which is the head Quarters of " the Company) the allowance for their subsistance does not amount to "near enough to supiiort them, they being unable to get victuals for "less than Is. i)er Meal, or to hire their lioaid at any tolerable rate but "by the week ; that your I'etitiouei-s entered the Company & Did duty "in the most busy season …
Another instance of the spirit of jiartisan 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, in that County …
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 rides and direc- " tions how to proceed. And likewise, those men "that still behave inimical …
J " Re.solvfi), that this Committee recommend to the hoiible the Con- 'veution of this State the reasonableness of increasing the .Subsistance ' Money for Capt" Townsend's ('ompaiiy as they are of opinion that 8s 'per week per Man is not a sufficient provision for them. "By order of the Committee, ".TipiiN Tho.mas, .Ji'N', CV/(in-THaH." "Juiinml of the Committee of Safety, "i …
That has been our whole busi- " nesss ever since we have been formed as a Commit- " tee ; it has cost me, in particular, not less than six " luuuired milcn riding, and I bc^lieve, at a moderate "guess, twenty or thirty dollars in cash, and I never " yet expected pay ; but I find 1 cant live so, and if " the tories make all the trouble, why ought they not " to pay all the cost …
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 ol farmers, neighbors of the writer of it, and peacefully and industriously pursuing their usual vocations; and, with the additional fact before him, that none oi these were even pretended to have committed any other olfense, against …
The number of those who were thus proscribed and w hose properties were so eagerly hankered for, was said to have been " large;" the proposed victims were " inhabitants " of Salem, and neighbors of Hawley and bis confederates ; they were (juietly pursuing their usual ruial occu|)ations, doing no harm to any one, and violating no law, although their opinions, on > Mr. Button …
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 cscheiited, and conliscateil ; that" costs" should be paid, therefrom, into the willing …
Can those who could calmly and deliberately devise such outrages, to be inflicted on a peacel'ul 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 i)assions had fouiul places? But, after all, these -- the letter andtlie [lassions which had iiispireil …
In .Vpril Torin, 177('i, wvoral rohol tsoldiei-s were iiidiotod for "some Petty I.aiceniei<. trieil, convicted, and punisliod by ordiT of the "Court without any iiitorfeieiice of the Military; their Ollicoi-s at- " tended tin- trials, heaiil the evidoiiee, and upon their convii lion do- "clarod that ample jiistico wax done them, and thanked the Judge for " his candor and …
have been unwittingly, to establish as the formal enactments of that revolutionary body.^ As we have said, the letter which Ezekiel Hawley, 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.'' On the following morning, \_Handaij, June 9, 1775,] the …
1 Tlio imcstion of tlie extent to wlikli the several Provincial CoiigresseB, iininthieiiceil by the outsiile iiressuiu of lionieinnde pitrtisan demonstrations or by t lie inside domination of thofse who assnined to social or intellei tnal snperiority, wonld have pven their authority for the enactiiient and execution of such violent nieaKures, against those of their fellow …
History tells of more than one instiince in which a mere handful ol enthusiasts, more or loss honest in their professions, has fiusteneil itself on a great political jiarty which entertained none of those enthusiastic dogmas which the others iissiimed to believe and maintain, and which, having thus fastened itself on the larger body, taking advantage ol favorable …
3Jo'inial of the ProeincUd OiiKjress, " Sunday morning, .June 9, 177C." been of a different tenor ; but Jolin 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 devasttition and ruin. The Committee of Stilem was coldly dismissed, without …
Theal and his sou John Lobdiu, and " Stephea Delance " [Z>e Lancey ?'\ " some of them "laid under £500. bonds and also the solemnity of an " oath -- but they regtird not any thing the Comuiit- " tee does with them, so long as they have their lib- '• erty. It is supposed numbers are concealed on " Long island. Please to take it into your wise cou- "sideration, whether or no it …
Two days after that letter was written, [June 24, 1770,] the Sul)-coiniuittees of Cortlandt and Salem united in the following letter, also addressed to the Proviiicitil Congress ; aiul in order to expedite the consideration of the subject to which it was devoted, by that body, E/ekiel H:iwley was formally directed to forward it, witii all convenient speed." "Salem, 24th of …
" Ezekiel Halley, " Joseph Benedict, " Chairmen. " To THE Honourable the Pbovincial Congress." ' These two letters were presented to the Provincial Congress, on the afternoon of the twenty-fourth of June; read before that body ; and ordered " to remain "for further consideration; " ^ and there, as far as we have knowledge, they have remained, from that day until this -- the …
One of these Tests, or Associations, adopted by a Provincial Committee of Safety, was proved to have been so etitirely subversive of the j)ersonal Rights of those to whom it was oflered, that numbers who had previously favored or acquiesced in the Rebellion, peremptorily declined to sign it, preferring rather to be considered as disaflected and to be disarmed, as such,' and to …
'Recito/ in the Preamble of the new Association, adopted by tlie Provincial Congress, on the twentieth of June, 1776. those proportions which entitled it to respect, however, on the eighteenth of June, three days after the organization of "the Committee to detect Conspir- " acies," the Provincial Congress adopted the following Resolution, on the subject : " Whereas doubts have …
" Whereas, the Continental Congress, on the " fourteenth day of March last, did recommend to the " several Assemblies, Conventions, and Councils or " Committees of Safety of the United Colonies, im- " mediately to cause all persons to be disarmed within " their respective Colonies, who were notoriously dis- " affected to the cause of America, or had not associ- " ated, and …