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.

Annexed to this right, was the provision that upon each person succeeding to the inheritance of the Patroonship, fealty and homage were "to be rendered on each of such occasions to the Company with a pair of iron gauntlets, redeemable by twenty guilders within a year and six months, at the Assembly of the XIX. here [Amsterdam), or before the Governor there {New Amsterdam)." …

The seventh article of the charter of 1629 says, "There shall likewise be granted to all Patroons who shall desire the same, venia tcstandi, or liberty to dispose of their aforesaid heritage by testament." " All Patroons and feudatories {/undatories were the holders of any part of the fief) shall, on requesting it, be granted " Venia Testandi, or the power to dispose of, or …

The system of tenure introduced into New York by the Dutch, was divested of all burdensome attributes -- the nova feuda, the new fiefs, by which all the land was there held were purely allodial, with full right in the Patroons to sell in fee in whole or in part, and to devise it in whole or in part by will, free of all charges and incumbrances, except the mere political …

And equally in all countries of civilization was the division of society into classes of diverse grades, and the existence of an aristocracy, the only one known, established, and existing; and every State and government then in being was based upon it. How futile then is the idea, that to these New Netherland charters of Freedoms and Exemptions is owing the introducing of all …

This in the old fiefs, and under the feudal system, in Europe generally, was by an act of the lord upon receiving the oath of fealty and the homage of the tenant or vassal, at w^hich time the latter also presented the lord with a fine, that is, a gift of some small article or thing as a token of his fidelity. In the New Netherland fiefs by virtue of the charters this whole …

They were thus under the Dutch law nova feuda, new fiefs, as distinguished from the old fiefs described before; and the Company as the ultimate possessor of the land by its Governor's grant could, and did) make the new investiture that has been described. If a Patroon divided his patroonship, the same jurisdiction attached to each part, and the same kind of investiture, had to …

The thirtieth article of that of 1629, provided " that the company will use their endeavours to supply the colonists with as many blacks as they conveniently can, on the conditions hereafter to be made ; in such manner, however, that they shall not be bound to do it for a longer time than they shall think proper." The charter of 1640, says, "The company shall exert itself to …

The twenty-seveuth article of the charter of 1629 is in these words, -- " The Patroons and Colonists shall in particular and in the speediest manner, endeavour to find out ways and means whereby they may support a minister and school-master, that thus the service of God and Zeal for religion may not grow cool, and be neglected among them ; and that they do for the first …

On this occasion the Dutch Governor, Colve, sent certain "articles " to Andros to which he required answers before surrendering, " for the satisfaction of the Dutch Government and for the greater tranquillity, of the good People of this Province." These related mainly to the settlement of debts, the validity of judgments during the Dutch administration, the maintenance of the …

But from that day to this, that great and venerable Church has continued in the enjoyment of its creed, privileges, and property, as fully and as freely 1 II Brod., 170. THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE MANORS. G5 as it did, while having the power of the Province Government at its back to enforce its support and prohibit all doctrines it did not approve. And how strong this …

Adrianus Smoutius, dated August 11, 1628, which was discovered and first printed, only in 1858, in a periodical of Amsterdam by Mr. J. J. Bodel Nijenhuis of that city, and subsequently translated and sent to the late Dr. Edmund B. O'Callaghan then of Albany, the author of the " History of New Netherland," by the late Henry C. Murphy, then United States Minister at the Hague …

Michaelius sailed from Holland, January 24th, 1628, and arrived at the "Island of Manhatas," as he calls it, on the 7th of the succeeding April, and wrote the letter the following August- In it he says, " In my opinion, it is very expedient that the Lords Managers of this place [the Amsterdam Chamber of the West Indian Company) should furnish plain and precise instructions to …

This letter also proves incidentally, that slavery existed in "the Manhatas" at its date, the year before the enactment of the charter of 1629 which provided for their being furnished by the Company to the Patroons, as stated above, and to which has been so often, and so wrongly ascribed their first introduction in New York. Speaking of his fiimily matters, for his wife had …

There being no Synod in New Netherland, the care of the church there was entrusted to the Assembly or classis of Amsterdam, by whom the Dutch clergymen were approved and ordained, at the request, or with the assent, of the West India Company at Amsterdam. ' Except when as a matter of mere charity on their being driven from New England, the English settlers of the …

The total number of land grants of all kinds, from a Patroonship, to a single lot in Manhattan Island, issued by the Dutch Provincial Government from 1 Laws of N. N., v. > See charter of Hempstead graated by Governor Kieft, in 1G44. Laws N.JJ., 42. » Ibid, 479. * On Marcli 17, 1064, Stuyvesant and hi» conncil passed an ordinance, tiiat aU ecliool-masters sliould appear witli …

The territories and rights of the original Patroonships on both sides of the Hudson River, with but two exceptions, were subsequently on account of the difficulties of their owners, with the West India Company, and the obstacles they met with in settling their lands, subsequently bought back by the Company. Thus they became again part and parcel of the public domain, and as …

It was granted as the sole property of one of the most noted and intelligent of the leading men of New Netherland. Public aftairs in which its Patroon was engaged almost immediately after it was granted, and his necessary absence in Holland, retarded its successful development. His death following shortly after his return, and its sale under the power he obtained to dispose of …

This office, which, as shown before, combined the duties of a Sherifi' and an Attorney- General, was a most important one, and brought him into close connection with the other officers, and the tenants, of Rensselaerswyck ; the rights and interests of all parties being in many particulars subject to his official action. His first instructions from the Patroon were dated July …

The term is simply a corruption of " Jonkheer," son of a gentleman.^ It is of interest, for, from this title so given to him who became in the succeeding year, 1646, the Patroon of Colen-Donck, is derived the name which that Patroonship, in common parlance, ever afterwards bore, and which is to-day perpetuated in the corporate name of the beautiful city which is embraced …

Later it was styled, "Castle Island," because upon its southern end was built the first fortified trading house erected by Corstiaensen under the charter of "The United New Netherland Company," of 14th October, 1614, and called Fort Nassau, which three years later, in 1617, was destroyed by a freshet. Subsequently, and till this day, from its proprietors, it was, and still is …

This was a violation of the sixth and twenty-sixth articles of the charter of Freedoms and Exemptions of 1629, and the Patroon of Rensselaerswyck, on the 10th September, 1643, sent written orders to van Curler, to see that van der Donck desisted at once, being his "sworn officer," and if he did not, that he should " be degraded from his office and left on his bowerie to …

The matter was tinallv referred to the Patroon in Holland van der Donck left the island, and lived in a hut near Fort Orange, till spring, and then came down to New Amsterdam.' In the previous year, 164-5, he had been of great assistance to Director Kieft in advancing the requisite funds, and settling the terms of peace with the Indians, which closed the wicked war that Kieft …

The Indian name for this region was Keskeskick, and the Indian title to it was extinguished by its sale to the West India Company by its Indian owners on the third of August, 1639, in these words, " This day, date as below, appeared before meCoruelis van Tienhoven, Secretary in New Netlierland, Tequeemet, Rechgawac, Pachamiens, owners of Keskeskick, who in presence of the …

This instrument is recorded in Book G, G, of Patents page 30, in the Secretary of State's Office in Albany.^ By it was vested in the West India Company the right of soil and possession of the Indians in the tract described. It will be noticed that it bears no marks of the Indians as signatories, but is only signed by the witnesses and the Secretary of the Province, differing …

"The Free people" [those not Patroon s, nor boera or farm laborers) " having by petition requested Patents of the Lands which they are at present cultivating, the prayer of the Petitioners is granted, on condition that at the expiration of Ten years after entering upon their Plantation, they shall pay yearly to the Company the Tenth of all crops which God the Lord shall grant …

The " tenths " or titlies were simply a form of rental, the recompense to the Comi)an)' and the patroous for their outlay and expense in settling their lands. G8 HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY. may arise, shall be held valid by the Director and Council, unless tliey shall be written by the Secretary of this place. Let every one take warning and save himself from damage. This …

David Pietersen de Vries was the famous navigator, the author of the " Journal notes of several voyages in Europe, Africa, Asia and America," one of the earliest and most authentic writers on New Netherland, He was also a Patroon of Swanandael on the Delaware, of another Patroonship upon Staten Island, and in the words of Brodhead, was " frank, honest, religious, and a sincere …

From this mill the stream derived its Dutch name of Saeg-Kill, or Saw- Kill, and the English one, by which it continues to be known, the " Saw-Mill River." For his own residence and home plantation, he selected the southern end of the beautiful peninsula, or tide island as it really was, and the meadows immediatelyabout it, which the Indians called Papirinemen, directly …

between the people of New Amsterdam and Governor Stuyvesant as the representative of the West India Company, he could not give his Patroonship the attention it needed. Three years after the grant to him of Colen-Donck by Governor Kieft, the troubles with Stuyvestant came to a head. The Commonalty of the " Province of New Netherland," drew up by a committee, a Petition to the …

On the 12th of the succeeding August, von Dincklagen the Vice-Director under Stuyvesant, but not favored by him, sent a letter to the States- General, in which he says, " whereas the Condition of that most fertile New Netherland is seriously impaired by the war,^ and the Commonalty hath resolved on a delegation of three of the Nine Selectmen in order that your High …

On the 31st of January, 1650, the committee reported adversely to the Petitioners, answering their documents article by article, and using strong language.' The delegates replied by a further short petition on the 7th of February following, which was also referred to a special committee.* Other communications were subsequently received and referred. Finally their committee …

On the 11th of March, 1650, he and the other delegates, concluded a contract " to charter a suitable fly boat of two hundred lasts, and therein to go to sea on the 1st of June next, and convey to New Netherland the number of two hundred passengers, of which one hundred are to be farmers and farm servants, and the remaining one hundred such as the Amsterdam Chamber is …

Stuyvesant declined to obey the " Provisional order," except in some minor matters, and opposed it by strong despatches to the company, while his Secretary van Tienhoven was already in Holland fighting van der Donck strenuously before the authorities there. On the 10th of February, 1652, nothing having been finally determined, still another rc])resentation of the contumacy of …

With this paper van der Donck laid before the States-General a voluminous mass of extracts of letters and other documents received chiefly in the year 1051, by him from New Netherland, detailing the difliculties there.' After a reference of these papers to the different chambers of the West India Company and considering their various reports thereon, which occupied many …

He embarked his goods and everything in the way of supplies for his "Colonic," in a vessel then anchored in the Texel, aud on the 13th of May 1652 applied to the States-General for their formal permit to return home, which was requisite by a resolution of that body of the 14th of the preceding March. But he was doomed to disappointment. The Amsterdam chamber supported their …

In this, he says, "that proposing to depart by your High Mightinesses consent, with his wife, mother, sister, brother, servants, maids, and in that design had packed and shipped all his implements and goods," but he understood "that the Hon.*"^ Directors at Amsterdam had forbidilen all skippers to receive him, or his, even though exhibiting your High Jlightinesses express …

To this persecution aud vindictiveness of his opponents, however, we are indebted for the most valuable account of New Netherland written by any one who had then been a resident there. He seems to have begun this work immediately upon his return to the Hague and it was probably finished in the course of the ensuing winter. In May he applied for a copyright, which after an …

Stuyvesant on his return refused him access to the records, and thus defeated his plan, and he then, in all probability, consented to the publication of what had already been printed in Holland. He died in 1G55, about two years after his return to America," and in the same year the first edition of his work that we now have, was issued in Amsterdam, with a view of New …

that Country," &c., &c., with an account of the manners and customs of the Indians, and of the natural history of the Beaver." This and the "Vertoogh" or " Remonstrance" referred to before, published in 1650, which was a contemporaneous relation of events in New Netherland, historical, civil, and military, are the two most valuable and authentic accounts of New Netherland and …

This full sketch of the Patroon of Colen Donck and his career is given, because it shows, that it was owing to what may be called his public life, that he was unable to effect the better settlement of his Westchester Patroouship. His enforced absence for so long a period, was followed by his death two years only after his return to America, too short a time to enable him to …

Having stated publicly, at Cohassct, ''that Abraham's children should have been baptized," he was forthwith dragged out of the assembly and otherwise harshly used; and with one Richard Smith and some others who held like views of baptism, was forced to " escape from the insupportable government of New England ' to New Netherland.' He and his friends were granted in compassion …

Nothing was paid by them for the land, and all that the grantees had to do, was "to acknowledge the said Lords Directors as their Masters and Patroons, to pay, after the lapse of ten years, the tenth part of the produce of the fields, whether cultivated with the plough, or hoe, or otherwise (orchards and gardens not exceeding one acre, Holland measure excepted)." ' Doughty …

" Richard Nicolls, Esq., Governor under his Royal Highness, ye Duke of York, of all bis tcrritoryes in America, to all to whom this present writingshallcome, sendeth greeting: Whereas there is a certain tract of land within this Government, upon the Main, Bounded to the northwards by a rivulet called by the Indians, Macakassin, so running southward to Nepperhaem, from thence …

sion and authority, given unto me by his Royal Highness the Duke of York, I have thought fit to give, ratify, confirm, and grant, and by these presents do give, ratify, confirm, and grant, unto the said Hugh O'Neale and Mary his wife, their heirs and assigns, all the afore mentioned tract or parcel of lands called Nepperhaem, together with all woods, marshes, meadows …

That, if at any time hereafter, his Royal Highness, his heirs, successors, or assigns, shall think fit to make use of any timber for shipping, or for erecting or repairing of forts within this government, liberty is reserved for such uses and purposes to cut any sort of timber upon any unplanted grounds, on the said tract of land, to make docks, harbours, wharfes, houses, or …

"This day came Hugh O'Neale and Mary his wife (who in right of her former husband laid claime to a cert" parcele of land upon the Maine not farre from Westchester, commonly called the Younckers land), who bro't severall Indyans before the gov" to acknowledge the purchase of said lands by van der Donck commonly called ye Youncker. The said Indyans declared y'^ bounds of the sd …

From this patent it is clear that no part of the patroonship had been parted with since van der Donck's death in 1655. And from the fact that on the 30th of the same October in the same year in which this patent was granted, only twenty-two days afterward, the first conveyance under it was made by O'Xeale and his wife, it seems evident that it was obtained simply as a …

The next month, on the 6th of July, 1668, Elias Doughty sold to George Tippitt and William Belts another piece of Colen-Donck, thus described : "A parcell of land& meadow to ye Patent to William Betts and George Tippett who are in jiossession of a part of the same land formerly owned by old Youncker van der Donck which runs west to Hudson's river & east to Broncks River, with …

From this George Tippett, or Tippits, as the name is spelled in his inventory made the 29th of September, 1675,* the stream is called Tippetts brook, which forms the van Cortlandt Lake, and, thence flowing southerly in a sinuous course, falls intoSpyt-den Duyvel Creek just east of Kiugsbridge. Its Indian name is Mosholu. On the 1st of December, 1670, another part of the …

Two years after, and on September 29th in the year 1672, Frederick Philipse, Thomas Delavall and Thomas Lewis, bought of Elias Doughty all the remainder of Colen-Donck, each taking a third interest, the whole amounting to seven thousand seven hundred and eight acres. Delavall devised his share ten years later, in 1682, to his son John, and he, together with Frederick Philipse …

He was a mere farmer and the inventory is but a list of farm stock and common house utensils. It, however, thus describes his farm, -- " Item, a tract of land and meadow purchased of Elias Doughty, with the dwelling-house, orchard and barne now standing on the said land, -- £100, 0, 0." It also mentions bis neighbor, "John Heddy, of Ycnkers, carpenter." ■ Book III. of Deeds …

What became of van der Donck's children is not now known, nor their names, nor in fact how many of them, if any, reached maturity. We know that in 11)53 his mother, a brother, and the son of the latter, came out to New Netherland; that the name of the former was Agatha, that of his brother Daniel, and that of the son of the latter, Guisbert. But here all certainty ends. We may …

The continued encroachment and pressure of the English of Connecticut, and of the east end of Long Island -- then practically a part of Connecticut -- upon the Dutch in New Netherland, led the Burgomasters and Schepens of New Amsterdam and the delegates from the adjoining towns, in public meeting, on the 2d of November, 1G63, to send a Remonstrance to the Directors of the West …

Which English Nation hath, as your Remonstrants learn, found out a way neglected by your Honors, to provide and arm itself with a coat of mail in the shape of an unlimited patent and commission which it lately obtained from his Majesty of England.' "So that this commission and patent being executed by them according to their interpretation ; for experience in State affairs …

Whence it appears in consequence of the want of such commission and patent, the obtaining whereof from their High Mightinesses has been so long postponed, as if your Honors have been pleased to place the good inhabitants of this Province, as it were, upon glare ice, and have given them grounds and lands to which you have no real right.'- And in this way, too, the well …

Wherefore the Remonstrants in these their troubles, afllictions, intricacies, and extreme necessity, are come, in all humilitv, to throw themselves on vonr Honors consideration, fervently and heartily praying you to be pleased to enable them exactly to apply the essential means, whereby, they, your Honor's most faithful servants, may be effectually sup])orted and maintained in …

The English of Hartford and New Haven, only obtained their Charter of Connecticut from Charles II., on the 23d of April, 1662. Not till after they got this document, did they seriously claim that the Dutch had no title by patent from' the States- General. The claim was baseless, and only made as a cover for encroachment. Ten days after the above Remonstrance was drawH up and …

It was first attempted by the Director-General in person at the general meeting of the four Engli-ih Colonies at Boston ; and since on the advice of three of the Colonies,^ by our Commissioners, viz: Mr. Cornells van Ruyven, Secretary Oloff" Stevens Cortlandt, Burgomaster of this city, and John Laurens (Lawrence), burgher and merchant, made to the General Court, or …

Again, the General Court at Hartford lay claim to, and demand, in virtue of the newly obtained patent [^that for Connecticut of 1662], all the country lying South of the aforesaid line of 42^ degrees, and westerly until it touches another Royal Patent, and therein include all of New III. Col. Hist., 478. 2 Maseachusetts declined to take part iu the Becond coaference …

"Fifthly and lastly. 'Tis evident and clear from their repeated declaration, that were Westchester and the five English towns on Long Island,^ surrendered by us to the Colony of Hartford, and what we have justly possessed and settled on Long Island left to us, it would not satisfy them, because it would not be possible to bring them sufficiently to any further arrangement with …

But the clear-headed and patriotic Director-General was greatly mistaken in "Ambassador Douwning," or rather in his expectation that that envoy would aid in bringing matters to a settlement. Sir George Downing was as inimical to the Dutch nation as Governor Winthrop or any other Connecticut Englishman. He had been long in Holland under Cromwell and dis- SGravesend, Hempstead …

The Dutch West India Company in trading under their charter to the Guinea coast, interfered with the business of the Eoyal African Company of which he was the Governor. He complained of the Dutch on this account before the English Parliament, and, of his own authority as Lord High Admiral, sent a fleet to harass them on the coast of Africa. Therefore it was as a matter of …

Borrowing four vessels of the English navy, of which he was Lord High Admiral, the Duke of York sent an expedition under the command of Colonel Richard Nicolls, with Sir Robert Carr, George Cartwright and Samuel Mavericke as co-commissioners with Matliias Nicolls, subsequently Secretary for New York, and a few other English officers, in command of .about -150 men, to visit the …

This document after reciting the King's Patent to himself, and a brief description of the boundaries therein set forth, continues: -- "'And whereas I have conceived a good opinion of the integrity, prudence, ability, and fitness of Richard Nicolls, Esquire, to be employed as my Deputy there, I have thought fit to constitute and appoint, and I do hereby constitute and appoint …

Nicolls the commander-in-chief and Cartwright embarked in the Guinea, and Carr and Mavericke in the Martin. Their orders were to rendezvous in Gardiner's Bay, at the east end of Long Island. The voyage was long, the vessels got sejiarated, and the Martin, aud Nicholas and William, were obliged to run into Piscataway (Portsmouth) New Hampshire on the 20th of July, 1664, whence …

Hill with the Elyas on Sunday last. * * * * our stay here being only for a little water and our other shipps, which if they come not in time, we must go to our appointed port in Long Island." Three days later, on the 23d of July, the Guinea and Elias arrived at Boston. Nicolls wrote at once to Thomas Willet at Plymouth, and Gov. Winthrop at Hartford, and applied for …

He was also lulled into security by the receipt of a despatch from the Directors at Amsterdam tfhat no danger from England need be entertained as the King only wanted to reduce his own colonies to uniformity in church and State.' The truth was, that the Directors of the Company, intently engaged in the public affairs of Holland (it was the period of John de Witt's ascendancy …

The negotiations took place, and the terms were finally agreed upon, on Saturday, September 6th, 1664, at Gov. Stuyvesant's house in the Bowery. This house, as L have been told by the Hon. Hamilton Fish, now the oldest living descendant of Stuyvesant, .stood on what is now the block between 12th and 13th Streets facing the Third Avenue, as that part of the Bowery road is now …

Nicolls's and Sir Robert Carr's companies one hundred and sixty-eight strong, formed into six columns of about thirty men each, next entered New Amsterdam ; whilst Sir George Cartwright occupied with his men the city gates and Town Hall." The volunteers from Connecticut and Long Island, were detained at the ferry at " Brenkelen," " as the citizens dreaded most being plundered …

It would be foreign to our purpose to discuss these Articles of Capitulation, or as usually termed "Surrender," at length.* Those only which bear upon our subject will be mentioned, viz -- the third, eighth, eleventh, twelfth, sixteenth, and twenty-first. They are as follows : -- 3 II. O'Call., 536. < They are to be found in II. Col., Hist., 250 ; I. Brod., 762, and in many …

All inferior civil officers and magistrates shall continue as now they are (if they please) till the customary time of new elections, and then new ones to be chosen by themselves, provided that such new chosen magistrates shall take the oath of allegiance to his majesty of England before they enter upon their office. "XXI. That the town of Manhattans shall choose Deputyes, and …

The sixteenth article confirmed and continued in their offices all the civil magistrates and officers of every grade in the country, from the highest to the lowest, and provided for the election of their successors, under the existing Dutch laws, conditioned only that the new officers, .should take the oath of allegiance to their new English King. No such oath was wisely …

The Eighth article, in connexion with the twelfth, preserved, maintained, and continued, to the Established Dutch Cliurch all its rights, })rivileges, and immunities of creed and worship, and guaranteed to it freedom of conscience and church discipline, as well as the continuance of its regulations, as to its own concerns, and to the poor and to orphans, in the same hands, and …

In short the Dutch Church was acknowledged in its existence, confirmed in its creed, discipline, and worship, maintained in the possession of its property, and guaranteed in its rights in every respect and in every way. Nothing was altered, nothing abrogated, except its position as the Established Church of New Netherland. That was determined by the fall of the Dutch Province …

The position of the Dutch Church as an Established Church, was the reason why it was so particularly guarded, and provided for, in the Articles of Capitulation of 1664, and again in the special articles of surrender formulated by Governor Colve, and carried into effect by the English Governor Andross, in 1674, no other church being mentioned or referred to in either. And to …

The prudence, skill and wisdom of Richard Nicolls, his Deputy Governor, after much objection and opposition, which he completely and gently overcame, effected this; and between the 20th and 25th of October, 1664, hardly five weeks after the surrender, all the former Dutch ofiicials, and nearly three hundred of the male inhabitants of New York, including Stuyvesant, van …

In this Patent, perhaps the strongest, most sweeping, and most comprehensive in its terms, of any granted in America by an English Monarch, the King gave to the Duke the entire territory of New Netherland therein described, (though of course that name was not used) upon this tenure, namely; -- "To be holden of us our Heirs and Successors, as of our Manor of East Greenwich and …

That all people therein, Indians excepted, were trespassers without legal right, that the territory was without lawful government, that the Sovereign of Great Britain, of his own right, therefore established therein such government as he saw fit. That he chose to give, and did give, in the exercise of such right, the entire territory, and his own powers and rights therein, and …

This view was not at all satisfactory to the owners and holders of land under Connecticut titles in Suffolk County, Long Island, who were the very earliest to obtain new grants and patents from the Duke of York. The towns there took out patents from the Duke, with extreme reluctance, but they did it, nevertheless. Among these patents were that of Smithtown to Richard Smith of …

Under these instruments and principles the rule of England, and the Lord Proprietorship of the Duke of York had its beginning in the "Province of New York in America." That Proprietorship lasted twenty-one years, (excepting only the fifteen months of the Dutch reconquest), ending on the 6th of February, 1685, on which day, by the death of his brother, King Charles, the Duke …

But as the Province was rest')red by the Dutch to England as a conquest under a treaty and a formal surrender of it pursuant to such treaty, the crown lawyers in England held that the Dutch I'econquest in 1673 terminated the Duke's Proprietorship; and that the renamed Province of New Netherland was vested anew in Charles the Second as King solely by the treaty of Westminster …

The new Patent of 1674, on its face was an original grant, but in fact it simply revested the Duke with all the rights, powers, jurisdiction and territory he possessed under the Patent of 1664. These facts are distinctly stated, because the validity of the confirmations of all Dutch groundbriefs, transports, and other grants, and all subsequent English grants during the …

In this respect it was the same ;is that under which, as has previously been shown, the Dutch West India Company held New Netherland under their charter, and the Patroons held their Patroonships under the different " Freedoms and Exemptions." But it was not to follow a good Dutch example, that this tenure was granted by the King and accepted by the Duke, but because the law of …

Alter the clauses of abolition, the act continues, -- "And all tenures of any honours, manors, lands, tenements, or hereditaments, of any estate of inheritance at the common law, held either of the King, or of any other person, or persons, bodies politic or corporate, are hereby enacted to be turned into free and common socage, . . . any law, custom, or usage to the contrary …

It is thus seen not only that there were no feudal rights nor privileges granted in New York to the Duke of York by his Patents, but that the King had no power whatever to grant any to him, or to anybody else. And none ever were granted by any British Sovereign, or British Governor, in that Province. The rights and privileges contained in the subsequent Manor grants in New …

2 " Up to the passage of this act, every free land-owner was burdened with military service, whicli was not considered an incident of tennre, hut a duty to the State." Dighy"s Law of Kcal Property, 20. Hence, the sulistitution of taxation in lieu of military service by this act. is the foundation of governmental support by taxation, both in Kiigland and America, and of the …

The Teutonic idea of property in land was based on its conquest by a body of men under a leader or chief, -- a successful barbaric invasion. The land so won was considered the common property of its captors, not of the leader alone. He, as chief, had the regulation of the distribution of the conquest among the conquerors, and of the cultivation of the land by the distributees …

Lands so given were granted by a written "book" as it was termed, which was a deed or charter, delivered to the grantee, and it was then said to be "booked '"to him, from which it was called "bocland," that is, booked land. This "book," or grant, stated that the grantee was to hold the land free from all burdens and from any services or money payment, except three, -- military …

"Nearly, if not quite coextensive with the conception of "bocland," says Digby, "was that of allodial land. The term 'alod,' allodial, did not, however, have any necessary reference to the mode in which the owuer.*liip of land had been conferred ; it simply meant, land held in absolute ownership, not in dejiendence upon any other body or person in whom the proprietary rights …

That system with its correlative rights of protection by the King or the lord, and of service as soldiers by the tenants or vassals, carried down through all classes of society from the highest to the lowest, termed the feudal system, thus introduced, became the basis of the English land system and land law. From William of Normandy to Charles the Second, gradually developed …

To show how entirely different the "feudal system" was from the systems introduced into New- York by the Dutch and English ; and how erroneous have been, and are, the views that Lave been expressed by American, and New England, as well as New York, writers, respecting the latter, it will be well to recur to what "feudalism'" really was. Scrcely any subject of an historical …

As it existed in England, it was brought full grown from France at the Norman Conquest ; ' and "it may be described as a complete organization of society through the medium of land tenure, in which from the King down to the lowest land owner all are bound together by obligation of service and defence: the lord to protect his vassal, the vassal to do service to his lord ; the …

The beneficium is partly of Roman and partly of German origin.^ In the Roman system the usufruct, the occupation of land belonging to another person, involved no diminution of the status (the condition) of the occupier ; in the Germanic system he who tilled land that was not his own was imperfectly free. Commendation on the other hand may have had a Gallic or Celtic origin …

>I. Stubbs' Cons. Hist,, 252. 'The beneficia, or benefices, were " grants of Koman provincial land by the chieftains of the tribes which overran the Roman Empire ; such grants being conferred on their associates upon certain conditions, of which the commonest was military service." Maine's Village Communities, 132. The same writer al.io says, "that in the ineradicable …

And when a freeholder doth fealty to his lord he shall hold his right hand upon a booke (a Bible) and shall say thus: Know ye this my lord, that I shall be faithfull and true unto you, and faith to you shall beare forthe lands which I claime to hold of you, and that I shall lawfully doe to you the customs and services which I ought to doe, at the termes assigned, so help.nie …

The Hindoo communities gathered together by instinct, and new comers were introduced by fiction. The feudal obligation was created by contract. The feudal communities were, for this reason, more durable and varied in character than the ancient societies. Some would hold that the variety of Modern Civilizaiion is due to the exuberant and erratic genius of Germanic races. In …

If we investigate feudalism in its social aspects, in the words of the late chief justice of Ceylon, " we shall find ample cause for the inextinguishable hatred with which, as Guizot truly states iu History of Civilization in Europe, it lias ever been regarded by the common people. But this ought not to make us blind to its brighter features. There was much in feudalism …

The former was a Propiietor only, as William Peun and Lord Baltimore were, in Pennsylvania and in Maryland. The latter was an owner in fee with no powers, rights or privileges, but those appurtenant to, and consistent with, the freest allodial tenure. Moreover, it not only never existed, but it could not possibly have existed in New York. For it was prohibited by the statute …

It might be by ploughing lands for a fixed number of days at a time fixed, or it might be for a fixed annual rent, payable either in cattle, produce or in money, or it might be by homage, fealty, and a fixed money rent, in lieu of all manner of services, or by fealty only in lieu of every other service.* This inherent element of certainty was what gave this tenure its power …

Both the sovereignty of the Chief and the ownership of land by the Family or Tribe were in most of Western Europe passed through the crucible of feudalism ; but the first re-appeared in some well-marked characteristics of military or Knightly tenures, and the last in the principle rules of non-noble holdings, and among them of Socage, the distinctive tenure of the free …

Where these rustic services had not been commuted tbramoncy rent the tenure was called ' villein socage," as distingui-.hed from ' free and common socage.' * In Knightservice tenure, and iu the spiritual tenure of Francalmoigne or Free Alms, that is freedom from all earthly services [on which churches, abbeys, and cathedrals, in England held and still hold so many of their …

T A villein was an inhabitant of a villa, the ancient name of a farm, and in the earliest times was attached to it permanently. .\ud as many villas were included in a manor, it had often many villein's- These villeins gradually came to be allowed to hold parcels of land, on condition of manuring, or ploughing the lord's demesne lands, or on base or rustic services. Hence arose …

One of the parts of England which, at the time of its conquest, first submitted peaceably to William of Normandy, was the Saxon Kingdom of Kent, afterward, and now, the County of Kent, the southeastern extremity of England. In consequence of this action the Norman king confirmed its inhabitants in all their ancient laws and liberties. " Kent was firmly attached to the …

Much of its area originally gavelkind has been changed by special acts of parliament, or, as it was termed, ' disgaveled,' and thus made knight service land and .subject to the law of primogeniture.* The name is derived from the Saxon word ' gafol,' or 'gavel,' [_the pronunciation of the words being ninilar in aouiid'] \\\\\ch was the Saxon word for rent, " including in that …

The fixed "service" or "rent" on which New York was held in socage by the Duke of York was the yearly payment of"' forty beaver skins when they shall be demanded or in ninety days after." When the Puke became King in 1685, this nominal rent ceased and he held the Province from that date as Sovereign of England. And under him and his successors, from that v'ear until the peace …

When William and Mary directed their Governor to call General Assemblies, with the advice and consent of the Council, .md the first Assembly held in New York, under those sovereigns, met in April, 1691, that Assembly, in the second act it passed, declaring the rights and privileges of their Majesties' subjects to their Province of New York, enacted "That all the Lands within …

This was provided for in that very ablj' drawn, liberal, and just "Code of Laws," enacted and promulgated at the first meeting of delegates of the people of the Towns of the Province of New York under the English rule, held at Hempstead, in Queens Cuunty, on June 24th, 1665, nine months only after the Dutch surrender, known as " The Duke's Laws." This code, the earliest of the …

They shall bring in their former Grants, and take out new Pattents for the same from the present Governoure in the behalf of his Royall Highness the Duke of Yorke ; " then after directing the making and filing of a survey and map within a year from the date of a purchase, the law continues, " Every Purchaser in acknowledgment of the propriety of such Lands belonging to bis …

This law and this sum marked the beginning of the Quit-rents and their amount or rate paid ever after to the King, and subsequently to the American Revolution to the State, and which only terminated under the State Quit-rent statute of 1815, which commuted them all for gross sums of money, as will be fully explained hereafter. Governor Lovelace sent a report to the Duke of …

After quoting the order, it continues in these words: "Which said order did extend itself to Albany, Esopus, and all other places of the Governm', as well as this City and more particularly to all those who had beene under the Dutch, and are now reduced to his Majesties obedience.' These presents doe declare and make Knowne that the Inhabitants in and about Delaware being …

In the proceedings of the Court in the Assize Book, under date of March 25, 1667, two years prior to the proclamation just cited, is Governor Nicolls' reply to this petition in the form of six specific entries. They are as follows, (the contractions in the original being plainly written out). "1. The reason for renewing all former groundbriefs was, and is, to abolish the …

Where the original groundbrief of several transports cannot be found each transport shall be confirmed for 3 guildere.' "5. If any man have 2, 3, or more ground briefs of small parcels of land they shall be comprised in one confirmation at the half price allowed by the Court. " G. The Mayor and Alderman to draw up a list of houses and lots belonging to persons now in Holland …

It was fortunate that that event was almost simultaneous with the greatest change in the law of England since the days of King John. That change really gave to New York the Ireehold, partible, and perfectly alienable, land system, which, with slight modifications, has existed from that day to this, and under which her population has increased from the 10,000 souls in the last …

The statute of Edward, called" of Westminster," or" Quia emptores " from its] first two words, " in the year 1290 put an end forever to New Manors in England." '^ Those Manors were feudal Manors, of the kind already alluded to, those erected in New York, four hundred years later were freehold Manors. Their difference, and why Manors could be erected in New York, and not in …

The two courses of historical development were for a long while strictly parallel, though they have ceased to be so now."^ It is not possible in the limits of this essay to describe, except in outline, the various steps and changes by which the barbarian Teutonic leader and his followers, developed into the family or tribal ruler and his kindred by blood or by tribe settled …

Its master was supreme, and from this feature, continually preserved and maintained to this daj', comes the familiar principle of English and American law, that "every man's house is his castle." These groups of families, or societies, with their Leader, or Headman, were often involved in disputes, with neighboring societies and their families and Headmen. And to this fact of …

Another cause of the change from this Mark system to the manorial system, the German writers say, was the fact, that these Teutonic village societies, "though their organization can only be described as democratic, appear, nevertheless, to have < Hist. Inst. 77. 5 Von Slaurer cited by Jtaiue, Vill. Com. 10, with approval, ejlaine's Vill. Com. 143. HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER …

From the members of these families the leader for a military expedition would, as a rule, be chosen, and the power he would thus acquire " would be a combination of political, military, and judicial, power." This leader, " thus taken from the privileged fauiily would have the largest share of the lands appropriated from the conquered village societies; and there is ground for …

A view most tersely summed up by Sir Henry Maine, " our modern English conception of absolute property in land is really descended from the special proprietorship enjoyed by the Lord, and more anciently by the tribal chief, in his own Domain." "Manors," Sir William Blackstone, tells us "are in substance as ancient as the Saxon Constitution, though perhaps differing a little in …

The word ' iManor ' is an English corruption of the French word, ' Manoir,' a habitation, or mausi&n, in which the owner of land dwelt permanently ; and that is derived from the Latin verb ' Maneo,' to remain, to abide in a place, to dwell there. In Latin a Manor was termed ' Alanerium' vvhich signifies the same as the French ' Manoir.' It has, however, been stated to be a …

In some cases manors were diminished or added to, and new ones created. Probably however there was no great addition after the Conque-st to the number ot Manors." * In the reigns of ihe later Saxon Kings, those subsequent to Allred, the English Commissioners on the Law of Real Property tell us, "that portions of the royal domains, with jurisdiction were granted, and afterwards …

Saca, meant the privilege of administering justice locally ; soca, the territory or franchise in which the privilege was to be exercised ; theime,* the seignorial jurisdiction." "It will be obvious to every one's miud that this species of local and private jurisdiction is what we now call a Manor. The substance of a manor is therefore justly said by Mr. Ellis to be aa ancient …

And this ought to be by long continuance of time, the contrary whereof man's memory cannot discern ; for at this day a Mannor cannot be made because a Court-Baron cannot be made, and a Mannor cannot be without a Court-Baron and Suitors and Freeholders, two at the least ; for if all the Freeholds except one escheat to the Lord, or if he purchase all | except one, there his …

It will be noticed that in this description the Court- Leet is not mentioned. This is because, though it existed in every Manor, it was not of its essence as the Court-Baron was. The Court-Leet was a Sheriff's court and had cognizance only of offences against the King, or the King's peace, below the degree of high treason. The Manors of New York, in consequence of their having …

As to the latter, a curious error has obtained credence. We often, at this day, see them written of, and hear them spoken of, as Nobles. " Lord Philipse " and " Lord Pell " are familiar examples of this ridiculous blunder in Westchester County. No grant of a feudal manor in England at any time from their first introduction ever carried with it a title,' and much less did any …

The origin, nature, existence and continuance ot the Manors of New York, and the reason why they could be erected by the English Sovereigns here, when those Sovereigns could not do so in England since 1690, was so fully, thoroughly and learnedly set forth, more than thirty years ago, in an opinion by one of the greatest chief justices who ever graced the State of New York …

There is nothing in the patent which in terms empowers the patentees to grant lands to he holden of themselves, \_and all the manors were alike in this respect'], but it is argued that the erection of a manor and the authority to hold the courts mentioned, which, according to English law, are manor courts, necessarily implies the power to create suitors, who must of necessity …

This statute, after reciting that the feudal tenants have sold their lauds to be holden in fee of themselves, instead of the chief lord of the fee, whereby those lords have lost their escheats and other feudal perquisites to their " manifest disinheritance," enacts that " forever hereafter it shall be lawful to every freeman to sell at his own pleasure his lands or tenements …

Ihe evil was that the chief lords were defrauded of the fruits of their tenures, and the remedy provided was, that every tenant, however remote, should remain the debtor of the chief lord instead of his immediate feoffor \_grantor] for the services incident to the tenure. But as one may generally waive an advantage secured to himself, so it was held that the chief lord might …

Therefore, if there are crown lands in England at this day which have never been granted to a subject, they may, without doubt, be erected into royal manors. And cannot the King grant to his immediate tenant the right to make grants to be held of himself, the tenant, since thus there would be the assent of all the lords, mediate and immediate. Tiie King's tenants in capite …

On the making of such grants the patentees became the mesne lords, holding ofthe King, and the grantees of the patentees were the tenants paravail ( so called because ihey have the avails or prnjits of the land), holding by license from the King as lord paramount, of their immediate lords the patentees. The statute would prevent any further subinfeudations, by the freeholders …

"The records of some ten or twelve patents exist in the office of the Secretary of State, issued respectively in the reigns of James II., William and Mary, Anne, and George I., and the earlier government of the Duke of York [among which are those of Scarsdale, Fhilipsburgh, Fordham, Pelham, Cortlandt, and Morrisania, in W-.s'chester County'], with powers respecting a manor and …

The rouuirk was never applicable to the ungranted crown lands in the Colonies, upon which the statute, I think, never had any, or ouly a qualified, bearing.' I have considered this question as though the statute was in force, and controlled the tenures in this Colony (New York) in any case to which in England it might be applicable ; and I do not think it material to deny the …

If the feudal system ever prevailed in the American Colonies, it had been shorn of its most severe features before either of the grants in question [or ani/ other of the Manor (/rants in New York'] was made, by the Statute 12 Charles II., ch. 24 {Anno 1660), which abolished the peculiar incidents of the military tenures, and changed them whether holden of the King or others …

These "privileges and franchises" are set forth at length in every Manor Grant, being such incidents of the Grant as the Crown chose to express in the instrument itself, and saw fit to bestow upon the grantee therein named. These privileges and franchises of " the Freehold Manors of New York " as Chief Justice Denio styles them, were, in his words," " free from the vexatious …

No change was made or efi'ectedby the American Revolution, except that the Independent Sovereign State of New York succeeded to the position of the King as ultimately entitled to all the land within its borders. On the 20th of February 1787, before the United States had an existence, before the Convention of Independent States out of which this Union proceeded, had been …

That it shall forever hereafter be lawful for every Freeholder to give, sell; or alien the Lands and Tenements whereof he or she is, or at any time hereafter shall be seized in Fee Simple, or any Part thereof, at his or her Pleasure, so always that the Purchaser shall hold the Lands or Tenements, so given, sold or aliened, of the Chief Lord, if there be any, of the same Fee …

And if such Freeholder give, sell or alien only a Part of such Lands or Tenements to any, the Feoffee or Alienee shall immediately hold such Part of the Chief Lord, and shall be forthwith charged with the Services for .so much as pertaineth, or ought to pertain, to the said Chief Lord, for the same Parcel, according to the Quantity of Land or Tenement given, sold or aliened …

section enacts " That the Tenure upon all Gifts, Grants, and Conveyances heretofore made, or hereafter to be made, of any Manors, Lands, Tenements, or Hereditaments, of any Estate of Inheritance, by any Letters Patent under the Great Seal of this State, or in any other Manner, by the People of this State, or by the Commissioners of Forfeitures, shall be and remain Allodial …

Lender this act the State law as to tenures remained without change from its enactment in 1787 to the year 1830, when the Revised Statutes went into effect which declare that all lands since that date are allodial and abolish all incidents of the socage tenure, and, the tenure itself, using the word ' feudal ' to exl>ress it, preserving, however, all rights under the same as …

The abolition of tenures shall not take away or discharge any rents or services certain, which at any time heretofore have been, or may hereafter be, created or reserved ; nor shall it be construed to afi'ect to change the powers or jurisdiction of any Court of Justice in this State.' From and after 1830, therefore, the land tenure of New York has been and continues to be …

The erection of ' Manors ' by the English in New York, like the previous creation of ' Patroouships,' by the Dutch in the same Province, was simply the establishment and carrying out, of what they deemed the best method of promoting the growth and development of their new possession under their own laws and customs. To the same idea is due the granting therein of similar large …

The greatest difference between them lay in the peculiar public incidents, as they may be called, which constituted a Manor, incidents essential to its existence, and which related more to the government and good order of the territory of the Manor and the protection of the inhabitants, and their rights as Englishmen, than to the power and profit of the Lord. Tenants could …

The Great Patents were much more numerous, but together not so extensive in area. These latter and the Borough-Town of Westchester, with a few small original grants, formed the rest of the county as it was originally. The lower part of the Equivalent lands " or " The Oblong," received in settlement of a boundary dispute from the colony of Connecticut was not added to the …

As the people upon the manors were Iree of general jury duty the fact threw upon the rest of the county an increased burden. The ' Burgess ' (or Representative) of the "Borough of Westchester" in the Assembly in 17G9, was John de Lancey of Rosehill, Westfarms, of the second, or Westfarms, branch of that family, being the second son of Peter de Lancey of Rosehill, Westfarms …

the next day ^Ir. de Lancey introduced the bill. 'The jury act referred to required all jurors to be possessed either in their own rights and names, or that of Trustees, or in that of their wives, of "a freehold in lands, messuages, or tenements, or rents, in fee, feetail, or for life, of the value of sixty pounds New York currency (S150) free of all incumbrances." In the City …

The two members for the County had the tenants of Philipsburgh, and of the four smaller manors of Scarsdale, Pelham, Morrisania and Fordham among their constituents, and " The Manor of Cortlandt had its own representative. One of the county members was Frederick Pliilipse, the third, and the then, LordofPliilijiseburgh (the other being John Thomas of Harrison), and the member …

He introduced a bill relating to the Manor of Philipsburgh alone, entitled " a bill to enable and qualifS' tenants holding lands improved to the value of sixty pounds, either for years, or at will, within the Manor of Philipsburgh, in the County of Westchester, to serve as jurors in the justices courts held in said Manor, where the parties concerned in the cause to be tried …

For when the ancient kings of this realm, who had all England in demesne, did confer great quantities of lands upon some great personages with liberty to parcel the lands out to other inferior tenants, reserving such duties and services as they thought convenient ; and to keep courts where they might redress misdemeanors within their precincts, punish offences committed by …

These were of two kinds, first, the Manor- House and the land immediately about, or adjacent to, it, which the Lord himself cultivated for his own maintenance, or demised to others to be cultivated for that purpose, on terms of years, or for the life of the tenants ; and secondly, the uncultivated lands of the manor including those allowed as common lands for pasturage, &c …