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.
4798 passages
1,467,807 words
Page 4 of 32
The Lord, or his Steward always presided, no one else could hold it. The freehold tenants were the judges of fact, just as jurors are in ordinary Courts ; thus no 1 (.'iteii in Cruise on Dignities, 24. 2 Ibid. man could be tried except by bis peers. It was an absolute necessity that it should be held within the Manor limits, for if held outside, its proceedings were null and …
It was granted to lords of manors " in order that they might administer justice to their tenants at home." All the people in the district of the Court- Leet were bound to attend under penalty of a small fine. The Steward of the M.anor was the judge, and the people of the manor alone could be the jurors. " Anciently," said Lord Mansfield, " the Tourn and the Leet (derived out …
They were simply favors extended by the crown to the grantees of lands whether manorial, or non-manorial, to increase the value and enjoyment of their properties. They varied much, some manors having more, some less. Most of these franchises were common to both manorial, and non-manorial, lands. Some, however, were only granted to Manors, and were held by their Lords in …
there were often special franchises granted, growing out of the geographical situation of the laud itself, or other special circumstances of a local nature, such as franchises to establish ferries, bridges, fairs and markets ; and for the tenants to meet and choose assessors and other local officers, and elect representatives of the Manor in the General Assembly. The latter, a …
When the piety of some rich and prominent men, or great lords, induced them to build churches, near, or upon, their own estates, and endow them with land called a glebe, or to appropriate the rent or tithes from neighbouring lands of their own, to their support, the bishops, (non-episcopal church organizations did not then exist) desiring to encourage such pious undertakings …
' Presentation ' is the offering of a clergyman by the patron, or owner, of an advowson to the Bishop or ordinary, by a kind of letter in writing, requesting him to admit the clergyman named in it to the Church. When the Bishop, or Ordinary, alter due examination, certified in writing that the clergyman was a fit person to serve the church, the latter was said to be …
After the completion of the " Institution" the Bishop, or Ordinary, issued a "Mandate of Induction " in writing, directed to him who had the power to induct of common right, or, in case of there beiug no person possessing this power, to any other proper person whom he saw fit to name, to perform the office. The Actual Induction was made by the authorized person taking the …
This course was followed in New York, and the other British-American colonies in which the church of England existed. But as there was no Bishop at that time in this country, the Ordinary was either the Governor, by virtue of his Commission, or the Bishop of London's Commissary, who was a clergyman appointed by the Bishop to perform certain administrative duties here, and one …
Ebenezer Punderson, as its incumbent in the year 1763, the whole being in English. The originals are in the possession of John C. Jay, M.D., of Rye. They are printed in Bolton's History of the Church in the County of Westchester, page 300, etc. Tlie headings do not appear in the originals. In this case the right of Patronage was vested in the Wardens and Vestry of the Parish …
The Churchwardens and A'estrynien of the Parish of Eye, including the districts or precincts of Eye, Mamaroneck, and Bedford, in the County of Westchester, in the Province of New- York, the true and undoubted patrons of the said Parish, within your Honour's government, in all reverence and obedience to your Honour, due and suitable, send greeting, in our Lord God everla-^ting …
In testimony whereof, we, the Churchwardens and vestrymen aforesaid, have to these presents put our hands and seals, this day of November, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and sixtythree. Ebenezer Kxiffen, "1 V CJiurchtcartJenSj AxiiKEW Mekrit. j and seven Vestrymen." LIEUTENANT GOVERNOUR COLDEN'S ADMISSION OF MR. PUNDERSON TO THE PARISH OF RYE. " I …
" I, Cauwallader Colden, Esquire, his Majesty's Lieutenant Governour and Commander in Chief of the Province of New-York, and the Territories depending thereon, in America, do institute you, Ebenezer Punderson, Clerk, Rector of the Parish Church, of Rye commonly called Grace Church, and of the Parish of Rye, including the several districts or precincts of Rye, Mamaroneck. and …
To all and singular Rectors and Parish Ministers whatsoever, in the Province of New-York, or to Andrew Merrit and Ebenezer Kniffen, the present Churchwardens of the Parish of Rye, in the County of M'estchester, and to the Vestrymen of the said Parish, and to each and every of you, greeting : -- AVhereas, I have admitted our beloved in Christ, Ebenezer Punderson, Clerk, to the …
To you therefore, jointly and severally, I do commit, and firmly injoining. do command each and every of you, that in due manner, him, the said Ebenezer Punderson, or his lawfull Proctor, in his name, and for him into the real actiial, and corporal possession of the Rectory of the said Parish Church and Parish, including the districts and precincts aforesaid, and all of their …
" I, John Milner, Rector of the Parish of Westchester, in the County of Westchester and Province of New-Y'ork, do hereby certifye, that by virtue of a warrant hereunto annexed, from the Honourable Cadwallader Colden, Esquire, his SFajesty's Lieutenant Governour and Commander in Chief of the Province of New-York, aforesaid, and the Territories depending thereon, in America ; I …
"I, Ebenezer Punderson, do here declare my unfeigned assent and consent to all and everything contained and prescribed in and by ye Book entitled the Book of Common Prayer, and administrations of ye sacraments ; and ye Rites and Ceremonies of ye Church, according to the use of the Church of England ; together with ye Psalter or Psalms of David, pointed as they are to be sung …
In early Saxon days, and at, and just after, the Norman Conquest, the estates of the chiefs and leaders were cultivated by the people attached to their different lands, the villeins, heretofore mentioned, who were practically slaves, and, in the very earliest times, passed with the estates on which they dwelt. In course of time the laud owners allowed them to occupy specific …
Rent charge ; when the rent was created by deed, no fealty was annexed and consequently there could be no distress in case of non-jjayment ; hence an express power of distress was inserted in the deed to cure the difficulty. I A rent so reserved was said to be charged with a distress, and hence called a rent charge. 3. Rent seek, or dry or barren rent ; this was simply a rent …
Sometimes the right to purchase the fee by the tenant upon terms was inserted in the leases. But it was the custom generally to sell the reversion of the fee to the tenant, whenever it was desired and the parties could agree upon the terms of the purchase. These leaseholds were devisable by will, and divisible, with the lord's assent, into parts in the lessee's lifetime. This …
When the lord accepted the rent in parts the apportionment was made by him, or his steward, with the tenants at the time such division into jiarts was agreed upon. In the IVIanor of Scarsdale, there were, within the personal knowledge of the writer, instances of tenants holding their|farms for four and five generations, and then purchasing the reversion of the fee from the …
In the latter manor many farms were originally leased to tenants on ninety-nineyears leases, and in some instances they have remained in the families of the same lords and the same tenants during that entire term, and upon its expiration then sold in fee. One of these farms which descended to the writer, had been divided into four parcels by the original tenant in the manner …
payment of which the tenant is quieted, or quit, from all other service. They were at once the acknowledgment of the tenure, the holding, of the lands, from the Sovereign Authority, and the source of a part of its revenue. And this is the reason why the success of the American Revolution had no effect whatever upon quit-rents, and that they continued payable after it, just as …
Manor of Cortlandt : -- "Yielding rendering and ])aying therefor yearly and every year unto us, our heirs and successors, at our City of New York, on the feast day of the Annunciation of our Blessed Virgin Mary, the yearly rent of forty shillings current money of our said Province, in lieu and stead of all other rents, services, dues, and demands whatsoever for the afore …
Manor of Pelharn : -- Like Scarsdale as far as the word "same" inclusive, and then, "twenty shillings, good and lawful money of this province, at the City of New Yorke, on the five and twentyeth day of the month of March, in lieu of all rents, services, and demands whatsoever." Manor of Morrisania : -- " Yielding rendering and paying therefor yearly and eveiy year, on the …
Manor of Ph'ilipsborough : ^ " Yealding, rendering, and paying therefor, yearly, and every year, on the feast day of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at our fort at New York, unto us our heirs and successors, the annual rent of four pounds, twelve shillings current money of our said province, in lieu of all former rents, services, dues, duties, and demands for the …
As the Province grew the amount of quit-rents increased and came to be an important part of the public revenue. Several acts of the Legislature from time to time regulated the times and manner of their payment, when they had fallen into arrears, which was a common occurrence, the last of which was in 1762, which also carefully provided for the partition of large estates where …
In the case of those payable in kind they were to be settled for in the method in the book of the Receiver- General of the former Colony, if this could be found, and if not found, then upon principles of equity and good conscience by the State Treasurer. This law was extended from time to time by various special acts. In 1791 one of these acts also changed the payments from …
In the account of the old English ilanors which has been given before, little or no mention has been made of the Copyhold lands. This was because, copyhold lands as such did not exist in the New York Manors. The Copyhold Tenure in England grew out of and was simply an enlargement by custom of the greater fi-ritij of the villein holdings of the manors, which, as has been shown …
From this custom such tenants were called "Tenants by copy of Court Roll," and in shorter terms " Copyholdere." As the tenure grew solely out of a custom of the Manors, it could only exist in Manors old enough to have a custom. But as the freehold Manors of New York, were, as above shown, all New Manors, no custom of a manor could possibly exist in the 31anors in that …
The Lords, whether old or new ones are always ready in such cases to sell the fee of these Manor lands on ' Cli. of Lnws of KS13. 2 Cli. 209 of Laws of 18::>. satisfactory terms, which is termed Enfranchising the lands. It will be seen when a town or city has overgrown a Manor and the latter has been divided into lots how very valuable manors in such a condition become. The …
"manor of cheltexham. Enfrancliisement of Copyhold Property. The Purchase by Robert Sole Lingwood Esquire of the Manor of Cheltenham having been completed, we are requested by him, as Lord of the Manor, to signify' to the Copyholders that every facility will be afforded to those who desire to enfranchise their Copyhold Property, and that the terms on which such eufrancuisement …
AVhilst very reasonable terms will now be accepted to induce the Copyholders to avail themselves of the present opportunity to effect enfranchisements, the Lord of the Manor directs us to inform the Copyholders that he requires all Leases and dealings by the Owners with their Copyhold Tenements to be made in strict conformity with the Act of Parliament regulating the Customs …
The expence of the perpetually recurringStewarda' fees payable on every occasion of dealing by Sale or Mortgage with the Copyhold property. -- 3. The like expence of Stewards' fees payable on the death of every Owner of Copyhold property, for the admittance of his heir or devisee. -- 4. The exjience and inconvenience, frequently oc- HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY. casioned, to …
One incident of a manor was the right to tithes which sometimes could be acquired by the lords by prescriptions. This incident, as the manors of New York were new, was of little value for no prescription could attach to a new manor. It is singular, however, that in the very first manor erected in Westchester County, that of Fordham, in 1671, provision was made for the payment …
This right appears to have been fully admitted in England before the Norman Conquest, and acquired the name of tithe from a Saxon word signifying tenth. " Dismes or Tithes are an Ecclesiastical inheritance, collateral to the estate of the land, and of their proper nature due only to Ecclesiastical persons by the ecclesiastical law.- They were merely a right to the tenth part …
The original parishes of Westchester County all had glebes ; and so, towards the close of the Colonial era, had the diff'erent churches and parishes erected and formed at different places, out of those parishes. Of course, all the original parishes as well as the later ones, were parishes and churches of the Church of England, as is shown by their very nomenclature. A …
They were not, as Church wardens and Vestrymen now are, officers of a purely ecclesiastical organization, but the civil officers of the parishes or territorial organizations of the church of England, as established by law in the County of Westchester. They were elected by all the freeholders resident in their respective parishes, whatever their religious views might be. And …
Occasionally some bitter opponent of the church of England would try to prevent the performance of their legal duties or the legal exercise of their powers, by word, and deed, sometimes with great heat and violence, just, as the dissenting clergy did in matters of the exercise of clerical functions. But their legal rights and duties as parish officers under the laws of the …
Thereupon he and the other creditors laid the case before the Legislature which granted the relief sought by passing the following Act, thus showing the continued and acknowledged lawful action of the Parochial officers of the Parish of Rye, under the Ministry Act of 1(59.3, which created the Parish, up to its extinction by the Act of 1784, repealing that Act, and its …
Whereas it hath been represented to the Legislature that a judgment of fourteen pounds damages hath been obtained by the executors of John Lawrence, deceased, against Joshua Purdy, as one of the late Church Wardens of the late Parish of Rye, in the County of Westchester, for monies in arrear to their late testator for keeping and supporting a pauper committed to his care by …
them, and they are hereby required at their next annual meeting to examine into, and ascertain the amount of the monies so recovered as aforesaid, as also the costs of defending the said suit, and to ascertain also the amount of other monies so due from the late Parish of Rye as aforesaid, and to cause the said monies, and also such other sum or sums of money as they shall …
11. The Church of England Parochial organization in West Chester County in its relation to the JIanorx therein. In England the Boundaries of a Parish and a Manor were often coincident, and in the very earliest times this was generally the case. Later a Manor, often embraced more than one Parish. Sometimes a Parish contained within its limits two or more Manors or parts of …
the County of Westchester." ^ The " Parish of Rye" included the Manor of Scar&dale, and the non-manorial lands of Rye and Bedford. Later Yonkers was taken from Westchester, and made a Parish by itself. It M'as the only Parish €ntirely embraced within the limits of a Manor, being wholly included within the boundaries of Philii^seburgh as they are described in the Manor-Grant of …
It has been owing mainly to the little attention bestowed on the subject, both by those who are now the successors in belief of the Church of England since the American Revolution, and those of the dissenting ecclesiastical organizations. The few writers who have referred to the subject at all, have taken for granted, and honestly believed, that no such establishment ever …
This was the exercise in New York of a power which was legally vested in the Sovereign of England by the law of England, and which by his coronation oath he was bound to exercise. Although so strictly commanded, the Governors were unable to carry out their Instructions in any other way than in the King's chapel in the Fort, as above stated, for twenty-nine years. This was …
Chief Justice Lewis Morris in a judicial opinion in 1701, speaks of him as "Colonel Fletcher (justly styled the great patron of the Church of England here)." ^ At his instance, pursuant to his Commission and Instructions, the Legislature, composed of the Governor, Council, and Assembly, answering to the present Governor, Senate and Assembly, passed on the 24th of March, 1693 …
Under, or rather by, this Act of 1693, the Parishes of Westchester County were constituted. The reasons why this " Ministry Act," as it was commonly styled, was confined to the regions it names in establishing the Church of England have not been adverted to by any writer who has mentioned it. The Counties it designates were the only portions of the Province in which …
All that it really lost by the change of dominion from Holland to England was the pecuniary support it derived from the Dutch West India Company under the ditl'erent charters of Freedoms and Exemptions, and the title of the ' Established Church.' Hence it was impossible to establish the English Church in those parts of the Province, where not only were there no …
As such, the " General Court," under the " Body of Laws of Connecticut, concluded and established in May, 1(350," ruled supreme in church and state on the east end of Long Island. What that rule so " established " was, is best stated in the very words of " The Laws of Connecticut Colony." " It is ordered by the Authority of this Court; That no persons within this Colony shall …
"This Court having seriously considered the great Divisions that arise amongst us about matters of Church Government, for the Honour of God, welfare of the Churches, and preservation of the publick peace 80 greatly hazarded. " Do Declare ; That whereas the Congregational Churches in these parts for the general ' of their Profession and practice have hitherto been approved ; We …
" It is further ordered ; That wheresoever the Ministry of the Word is established according to the order of the Gospel throughout this Colony, every person shall duely resort and attend thereunto respectively upon the Lord's day, and upon such publick Fast dayes and dayes of thanksgiving, as are to be generally kept by the appointment of Authority. And if any person within …
To both it and the Colony, the final determination of the Joint-Commission appointed to settle the boundary question after the Dutch surrender, that the ea.stern part of Long Island was included in the Duke of York's Patent and was a part of New York, was a blow as severe as it was unwelcome, and the people of that region protested against it, but in vain. Although this …
- Book of the General Laws, collected out of the Records of the GeneraL Court, pp. 21, 22. Brinley'a Beprint of 1865, of tlie ed. of lliT.'i. 3 Jlr. W. S. Pelletrcau. HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY. not truthfully be denied, why the English Governors of the Province of New York, in obedience to the "Instructions " of the English King, could take no steps to establish the Church …
That principle was this, "that some form of religion, dissent from which in- j volved serious civil disabilities was established in nearly all the Colonies by virtue, of either the local or the imperial law." These are the words of Ex-Provost Stille of the University of Pennsylvania, in his "Religious Tests in Provincial Pennsylvania." ' Mr. 8tille has treated this subject so …
in some of the Colonies, especially New York, at times ' ineffectual murmuriugs ' against laws which forced people to pay taxes for the support of a ministry whose teachings were not in harmony with the religious sentiment of the great mass of the inhabitants,^ and in Pennsylvania there was a long, and at last a successful struggle to induce the Imperial Government to regard …
It was opposed not so much because it was thought to be the first step towards forming a Church Establishmentin this [whole] country, as because the Colonists had a peculiar abhorrence of the methods of enforcing the jurisdiction of the English Church as they were familiar with them in the old country. They may have forgotten many of the sufferings they had endured in England …
In New England, except in Rhode Island, religious intolerance was very bitter. It is true that in Massachusetts, under the charter of 1691, the power of committing those barbarous acts of persecution of which the theocracy of the old standing order had been guilty was taken away, and all Christiana, save Roman Catholics, were permitted to celebrate their worship, yet none but …
dians to revolt against the government, and they established the English Church, so for as it could be done in a Province where the Episcopalians were very few in number by requiring each of the towns to raise money lor the support of the clergy of that church, by dividing the country into parishes, and by exercising the power of collating and inducting into these parishes …
In Carolina after the fanciful and impracticable Ccmstitution devised for it by the celebrated philosopher, John Locke, had been given up, by which the English Church had been established, and endowed in the Colony, the Church feeling was so strong, and the determination to secure its supremacy so unyielding, that an Act was passed in 1704 requiring all members of the Assembly …
Throughout the Colonies, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, the man who did not conform to the established religion of the Colony, whether it was Congregationalism in New England, or the Episcopal form elsewhere, was not in the same position in regard to the enjoyment of either civil or religious rights as he who did conform. If he were a Roman Catholic ' .K\\ this …
He could neither vote nor hold ofiice,^ and he was forced to contribute to the support of a religious ministry whose teachings he in his heart abhorred. And this condition of things, extraordinary as it seems to us now, had not been brought about by any conscious arbitrary despotism on the part of the rulers, but was the work of good but narrow-minded men who were simply …
The "Instructions" were the Royal directions from the King for the governing of his Province, and could be altered, varied, or revoked at his pleasure. In point of fact they were never changed in the time of each Governor, except to meet some exigency not cOntempleted when they were issued. Upon the appointment of a new Governor, either new " Instructions " were given to him …
The Instructions of Charles II. to Sir Richard Nicolls the first English Governor of New York, dated the 28d of April, 16C4, five months prior to the capture of New York from the Dutch, directed him to avoid giving umbrage to the people of Massachusetts, where he was to stop on his way to New York, by being present at their devotions in their churches, but the document thus …
In the time of Thomas Dongan, afterward the Earl of Limerick, the third Governor of New York, Charles the Second died, the Duke of York succeeded as James the Second, and his Lord Proprietorship merging in the Crown, New York thenceforward became a Royal Province, governed directly by the King through his appointed Governor. Though a Roman Catholic himself, and his Governor …
You shale take especial care that God Almighty bee devoutly and duely served throughout yo' Government: the Book of Common Prayer as it is now established, read each Sunday and Holyday, and the Blessed Sacrament administred according to the Rites of the Church of England. You shall bee careful that the Churches already builtt here shall bee well and orderly kept and more built …
Col. Hist. 49. - Ibia. 174. 34. And if any person preferred already to a Benefice shall appear to you to give scandal either by his Doctrine or Manners, you are to use the best means for y' removal of him ; and to supply the vacancy in such manner as we have directed. And alsoe our pleasure is, that, in the direction of all Church Aflairs, the Minister bee admitted into the …
And y('U are to take especial care that Books of Homilys & Books of the 39 Articles of y'' Church of England bee disposed of to every of y'' .said churches, and that they bee only kept and used therein. " 38. And wee doe further direct that noe Schoolmaster bee henceforth permitted to come from England & to keep school within our Province of New York, without the license of …
If the latter was a legal establishment under the laws or charter of Connecticut prior to the Dutch surrender in 1664 and the treaty of Breda in 1667, then the King of England was legally bound to maintain it as such. He did immediately after the first Dutch surrender, by his commissioners make a change in the civil condition of Suffolk County by deciding that Long Island, of …
G3, is in these words ; -- "You are to inquire whether there beany minister within yourGovernment who preaches and -administers the Sacrament in any orthodox church or chapel without being in due orders and to give an account thereof to the Bishop of London." The use of the word " Minis- ' ter" in these various Instructions is shown by the context of them, and markedly in this …
King William, as King, formally apjtroved the Ministry Act of 1()!)8 passed by the Legislature of New York, and as by the law of England he could not acknowledge any other church as orthodox or any other Ministers, as Ministers, except those of the Church of England, it follows that the words and terms of that act referred to the Church of England and only to that church. That …
His action has been taken as the result of pure bigotry, and he termed a bigot, while he was merely carrying out the Instructions he had sworn to support and maintain. His "Instructions" arc therefore here given at length, taken from the original Instrument which with his Commission under the hand and seal of Queen .\nne, are now in the hands of a geutlemau in New York. 'In …
! ernmcnt, the Book of Common prayer, as by Law established, read each Sunday and Holy day, and the blessed Sacrament administered according to the rifes of the Church of England ; You shall be carefull that the Churches already built there be well and orderly kept, and that more be built as the Colony shall by God's blessing be improved, and that besides a Competent …
You are not to present any Minister to any Ecclesiasticall Benefice in that Our Province without a certificate from the right reverend Father in God the Bishop of Loudon, of his being conformable to the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England, and of a good life and conversation, and if any person preferred already to a Benefice shall appear to you to give Scandall …
And to the end the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of the Said Bishop of London may take place in that province So farr as conveniently may be, Wee do think fitt, that you give all Countenance and encouragement to the exercise of the Same. Excepting only the Collating to Benefices, granting Lyceiises for Marriages and probate of Wills, which Wee have reserved to you Our Governour …
And you are also with the assistence of the Council and Assembly to find out the best means to facilitate and encourage the conversion of Negroes and Indians to the Christian Religion ; more especially you are to use your endeavours with the Assembly that they make provision for the maintenance of some Ministers to inhabit amongst the five Nations of Indians in order to …
This fact has not been considered by American historians, or by English ones either, in treating of the civil and religious,-- especially the religious -- aspects and conditions of the Royal Provinces in America in general, and of New York in particular. What then was the Kingly authority in these respects? Whence came the monarch's legal right to govern his Royal Provinces by …
" In such political capacity as King he is possessed of a share of legislation, is the head of the Church, generalissimo throughout his dominions, and is alone entitled to make war and peace.' But in countries which, though dependent on the British Crown, have different local laws, as for instance the Colonies the minor ))rerogatives and interests of the Crown must be …
law, prevails in every respect."* "When a country is obtained by conquest or treaty the King possesses an exclusive prerogative power over it, and may entirely change or new-model, the whole, or part, of its laws, and form of government, and may govern it in all respects by regulations framed by himself, subject only to the Articles or Treaty on which the country is …
No (piestion was ever started before but that the King has a right to a legislative authority over a conquered country ; it was never denied in Westminster Hall ; it was never questioned in parliament."® This decision was made in the Court of King's Bench in 1774 -- a century after the practical a}>i)lication of, and action under, its principle, by Charles the Second, and …
An out-country governed by a De])uty or Lieutenant; and2dly,Tlie circuit of an Archbishop's jurisdiction. When the British settlements in America are spoken of in general, they arc called the Colonies or Plantations. If it is a Government on the Continent [in contradistinction to the West India Islands] where the King api)oints the Governor it is usually called a Province, as …
Sir William IJlackstone in speaking of the American Provinces, says, " In the Provincial Establishments (commonly called King's Governments) their constitution dei)ended on the respective commissions issued by the Crown to the Governors, and the Instructions which usually accompanied these commissions ; under the authority of which Provincial Assemblies were constituted with …
Every (Jommission to every Governor from every Sovereign of New York, contained in it a clause, delegating to him the power of collation to church benefices, a power under the law of England which could be exercised only in the Church of England. It was in these words, " And we do by these j)resents authorize and impower you to collate any person or persons to any churches …
' Constitutions ol' the British Colonics in Ainei ica, 2. - 1 Blackstone's, Comm. 108. •^Stokes's Cons, of the Am. Colonies, 158. And see the diftereut Comluissiou!) themselves in the volumes of the Colonial llistory. As there were no dioceses as such in the British American Colonies, the King delegated the power of collating to benefices here to his different Governors as his …
We can only state the popular idea of it, and then show what it really is. The popular idea of it in this country is, that the Sovereign of England was, and is, the head of the Church of England in spiritual as well as temporal matters, and is the superior of the Archbishops and Bishops in all that relates to their offices as such, and is governed by his or her own ideas of …
But it has no inherent spiritual power as such, nor ecclesiastical authority, whatsoever, the spirituality alone possessing the power of the Keys." * Lord Selborne the learned and eminent Lord High Chancellor in Mr. Gladstone's late Government says, " The Sovereign has not (as some suppose) a temporal supremacy in temj)oral things and a spiritual supremacy in spiritual things …
Gladstone himself writes, in his Letter on the R.oyal Supremacy ; -- I contend that the Crown did not claim by statute, either to be by right, or to become by convention, the source of that Kind of action which was committed by the Saviour to the Apostolic church, whether for the enactment of laws or for the administration of its discipline ; but the claim was that all the …
This full statement has been written to show, that in their Province on the Hudson, the Sovereigns of England in virtue of their political, ecclesiastical, and legislative, capacities, as Sovereigns under the laws of England, through their direct " Commissions " and " Instructions" under their own signs-manual, legally established and maintained in that Province, by precisely …
the order of their erection, were ' Fordham ' in November 1671, ' Pelham ' in October 1687, ' Philipsborough ' in June 1693, ' Morrisania ' in May 1697, ' Cortlandt ' in June 1697, and ' Scarsdale' in March 170L As the 'Manor of Cortlandt' comprised the whole northern part of the County from the Hudson to the Connecticut line, and was ten miles in width, it will be described …
The general nature and history of Manors in a legal point of view, the origin of the ancient manorial system of England, its tenures, and the modern manorial system of New York with its incidents, and tenure introduced by the English upon its capture from the Dutch, have been described. But before treating of each of the Manors separately, the general Province and County …
If the Lords preferred, or had no objection, to have any local duties, legal acts, or offices, exercised by justices of the peace, assessors, constables, and other minor officers, either chosen by their tenants alone, or by their tenants in connection with the inhabitants, freeholders of any adjoining non- Manorial lands, this could be done by an act of the Provincial …
The fees of the othce, which were vastly lighter in proportion, than those of elected Sheriffs now, went after being reported to, and scrutinized by the High Sheriff, to the Undersheriff and the one or two deputies, who were all that the business of the County required in the Colonial era. If any overcharge or oppression, was attempted, a complaint properly proven, to the High …
The third act passed by the first Assembly under William and Mary in 1691, provided for the annual election in each town of "a certain Freeholder" "to super vize and examine the Publick and Necessary Charge of each respective County, which persons so duely chosen shall elect and constitute a certain Treasurer for each respective County." It also provided for the election of …
And also, that there shall be in each Town, Mannor, and Precinct, by the Freeholders and Inhabitants hereof, in every respective County annually two Assessors, and one Collector, which Supervizors, Assessors, and Collectors, shall be annually chose in every Town on the first Tuesday in April, or such days as is appointed bj' their Charters or Patents, which Supervizors so …
And wliere the said Inhabitants shall omit to make such annual choice in any of the said Divisions, or in such Mannor or Mannors, where not above twenty Inhabitants do dwell or reside, the Owner or Owners of such Mannor or Mannors, or of such Division thereof as aforesaid, or their Stewards or De[)uties, shall be deemed and esteemed the Supervizors thereof respectively, and …
Then another act was passed changing the annual meeting of the Supervisors " to the Court-House at Whiteplains on account of the increase of inhabjtants of the northerly part of said County," with a like liberty to adjourn to such time and place as they should please. ^ This building was the first Court-House in Whiteplains which was burned by the Americans a day or two after …
At least no instance of its employment has been met with by the writer. The first law on the subject passed in 1()99 directed that the Sherifi' " shall hold his Court for the same Election at the 7nost publick and usual Place of Election within City or County where the same has most usually been made." This was usually at Westchester before it was chartered as a " Boroughtown …
" Whereas the County of Westchester is very extensive, and the extreme parts thereof to the Northward, have of late years become very populous ; and whereas the Elections for Representatives to serve in the General Assembly for the said County, have, from the first settlement of the said County, been held at the Southern Part of said County; it now becomes extremely …
The reference here is to tlie elections held for the Assemblies for 1683 to 168.') inclusive under the Duke of York, the last of which was under James as King. 3 Ch. 1411 of I. Liv. & Smith, 453. sentatives to serve in this, or any future Assembly of this Colony, the Sheriff of the Said County for the time being, or his Deputy, shall- hold his Court of Election at or near the …
That if any Sheriff of the said Counsy of Westchester, or Deputy of the said Sheriff, Shall after the Publication of this Act, in the Execution of any Writ or Writs for the electing " Representatives for the Said County, to serve in this or any future Assembly, act contrary to the Directions, and true Intent and Meaning of this Act; they shall respectively forfeit the Sum of …
No other change was made during the Colonial era, and from 1751 to 1776, all the County " Courts of Election " were held at the Presbyterian Church in White plains. The Colonial elections were not held at fixed times as at present, but at whatever dates the " writs " of election were issued to the Sheriff by the Secretary of the Province, at the command of the Covernor and …
At the time and place fixed the Sherift' attended with his Deputies and presided at the "Court of Election." The electors met, the candidates being present, the Sheriff" announced the names of one side, when all of their supporters held up their hands ; then he announced the names on the other, and their supporters held up tljeir hands. He then announced who had the most. In …
At the end the Sheriff made a return of the votes cast in writing and announced the result. The return, which was a certified coi)y of "the poll " as taken by the Clerk " in his i)resence, the Sheriff returned to the Secretary of the Province, who produced it at the first meeting of the Assembly which was the judge of the validity of all elections of its members. Neither the …
The reason probably was, that very early, in 1(594, before the time several of them were erected, a general "Act for the settling of Fairs and Markets in each respective City and County throughout the Province" was passed.' It directed that two Fairs be " kept " in the County of Westchester, the first at Westchester on the second Tuesday in May, the second to be " kept" at Rye …
was charged with the preservation of order, and who could try all causes of Complaint of every Kind, and all disputes, arising at the Fairs, and could punish "by Attachments, Summons, Arrests, Issues, Fines, Redemptions, and Commodities, and otiier Rights whatsoever, to the same Courts of Py|)()wder any way appertaining," To these Fairs, i-ould be carried, lor sale, (for they …
The "Toll-gatherer, was obliged the next, day after the Fair" to deliver the said book to the "Governour," who was to make a note therein of all the number of all the animals, so sold &c. at the Fair, and subscribe his name to it, for which entry of such sale Ac. he was "to take for Toll of the same the sum of Nine pence, the one half to be paid by the Buyer, the other half by …
Under the Dutch there was no county organization, each of the settlements then in existence, and the Patroonship of Coleudonck, were simply mere parts of the Province of New Netherland entirely independent of each other. When the Dutch surrendered New Netherland in l(i()4, one of the first acts of the first English Governor Richard Nicolls was to re-name it and its parts in …
The region now Suffolk County formed the " East Riding ; " Staten Island, Kings County, and the town of Newtown in Queens County, formed the " West Riding;" theremainder of what is now Queens County, together with what is now We.^tchester County, being all the territory on the main, North of the Harlem River aud South of the Highlands, between the Sound and the Hudson, he …
The Countye of Westcheder to contain West and Eaxf Chester, Broii.v^ Land, (fordham, Anne Hooks Neck, Bich/il/ls, Minford'x Island and all the Land on the Maine to the Eastward of Ma?ihaftan's I.fland As farr as the Government Extends and the Yoncl-e7-s Land and Northwards along Hudsons River as farr as the High Lands." After describing all the "countyes" seriatim, the Act …
After the Revolution the prefix was dropped, the duties remained the same, however, except the holding of "Courts of election " was taken from them, and these officers themselves were appointed by the State Governor. By the Constitution of 1821 they were made elective. A great mistake, for an officer clothed with a Sheriff"'s powers, of all others, should never be made …
But to this hour it has never appeai'ed in any of the volumes of the Laws of New York. It was passed and signed by Governor Dongan on the 1st of November 1683, and is entitled "An Act to divide this Province into Shires and Countyes." It was the third act of the first session of the first Legislature which ever sat within the limits of this State.'' Eight years later the first …
The first clause provides " That the said Province be divided into twelve Counties, as followeth ; " and the third clause is, "The County of Westchester , io contain East and Westchester, Brnnkes Land, Fordham, Mannor of Pel ham, Miniford Island* (now City Island) and Richbill's Neck, (now De Lancey's Neck) and all the land on the Main to the Eastward of Manhattans Island, as …
In the Governor's Council at the time of this first A.ssembly as Members by Royal appointment, and as such, members of the Upper House which passed this Act, were Stephanas Van Cortlandt and Frederick Philipse, who were also of the Council under James as Duke and as King. Thus among the framers of the original act which created the County, who, so to s])eak, were present at …
Being an addition to a Crown Colony, it was a new ac(iuisition by the Crown, and iis such its status was legally determinable by the King. Hence an "Ordinance" by the Governor of New Y'ork in the name of the King was issued on the 2!)th of August 1733 extending Westchester and the other counties aflected up to the new line between New Y'ork and Connecticut established by the …
Geoiuje the Second, by the Grace of (rod, of Great Uritain, France, and Ireland, KlX(i, Defender of the Faith, &c. To all Our loving subjects inhabiting or being in our Province of Xew York, and to all others whom it doth or may concern, Greeting, 'Anil John Pcll who was tho nicnihcr for the County in 1691, and vote*! for tho art of t!uit year, was of that old family which …
And Wlierenx notwithstanding that the Counties lying on the West side of Hudson'!^ River, were by the said Acts intended to be parted and divided by a West Line to be drawn from IfiidKon's River, at the respective Stations and Places on the said River, mentioned in the said Acts, to the utmost extent of Our said Province on the West side of the said River ; and that the …
And l^hereas, since the passing of the said Acts, the Chrhtian Settlements and Plantations, have been greatly extended into the Indian Counties, particularly in that part of the Province, which is called and esteemed the County of Albanij, from whence some Doubts have arose. Whether the Settlements made since the passing of the said Acts, are at present within the said County …
Now We do hereby further Ordain and Direct, That the South Bounds of the County of Albany, do and shall begin at the Mouth of of a Creek or Brook called the Sawyer's Creek, on the West side of I/udson's River, and from thence Shall run West to the utmost extent of our Province of New- York. And that on the East side of the said River, the said County of Albany shall begin at …
And we do hereby likewise Ordain and Direct, that the North Bounds of our County of Ulster shall begin at the Mouth of the said Sawyer's Creek or Brook, and extend from thence West to the utmost extent ol Our said Province. And We do hereby further Ordain and Direct, That the County of Dutchess do and shall contain All the Lands between Hudson's River and the Colony of …
Witness our Trusty and Well-beloved William Cosby, £stj., Captain General and Governour-in Chief of Our said Province of New York and the Territories depending/ thereon in America, Vice-Adniiral of the same, and Colonel in his Majesty's Army, &c. in and by and with the Consent and Advice of Our Council of Our said Province, at Fort George in Our City of New York, the Twenty …
to claim that his Manor of Livingston was by implied intendment extended to the new Colony line, and instituted an ejectment suit against tlie then owners of the part of the Oblong adjoining his manor, but he did not succeed. Some of the papers in this matter which the writer has examined show, however, that the "Oblong" owners were exceedingly alarmed at this claim. This …
To settle all questions on ihis subject of every kind, whatsoever, on the 30th of December, 17(58, the very last day of that year, an Act was passed, "To ascertain Part of the Southern and Western Boundaries " of the County of Westchester, the Eastern Boundaries of Orange County, and Part of the Northern Bounds of Queens County." ' It settled the jurisdiction over, and also …
Be it Enacted by his Krcellency the Governor, the Council, and the General Assembly, and it is hereby Enacted by the Authority of the same,' That by all the Islands lying and being in the Sound to the Eastward of Frog's Neck, and to the Northward of the Main Channel, and as far Eastward as Captain's Island, including the same, together with all that part of the Sound, included …
^ Orange then inchuleJ wliol is now Rockland County. THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE MANORS. II. The second cliiuse enacts that " The Middle of the said (Hudson) River shall be, and is hereby dci-hired to bo, the Boundary Line between the said (bounties of (>ranc/r and Westchester," and tliat the western half "is declared to be included in, and annexed to the said County of …
New York was an independent Sovereign State, mistress of herself, and as such was one of the thirteen independent Sovereignties so acknowledged by the British Treaty of Peace in 1783. While in this condition her Legislature divided her territory into counties and townships, and made some changes in the former from what they had been under the Province of New York. This was …
AVestchester is thus described : " The County of Westchester to contain all that part of this State, bounded southerly by the Sound, easterly by the State of Connecticut, Tiortherly by the North Bounds of the Manor of Cortlandt, and the same line continued east to the bounds of Connecticut, and west to the middle of Hudson's River, and westerly by a line running from thence …
By the latter act Westchester County was divided into the following towns named in the following order : Westchester, Morrisania, Yonkers, Greenburgli, Mount Pleasant, Eastehester, Pelham, New Rochelle, Scarsdale, Mamaroneck, White-Plains, Harrison, Rye, Northcastle, Bedford, Pound-Ridge, Salem, North Salem, Cortlandt, Yorktown, and Stephentown, twentyone in all, -- the bounds …
No less than fourteen of those twenty-one townships are described and bounded in part by naming special lines of the old Manors, or the Manors themselves as a whole. Eleven towns out of the twenty-one, were formed wholly out of the Manors. These were Morrisania, Yonkers, Greenburgh, Mount Pleasant, Pelham, Scarsdale, Mamaroneck, North Salem, Cortlandt, Yorktown, and …
tract on the west side of the Hudson River opposite the promontory of Anthony's Nose, which he also purchased from the Indians, was, by King William the Third through his Governor, Benjamin Fletcher, on the 17th of June 1697, erected into " the Lordship and Manor of Cortlandt." The original Manor-Grant covering two skins of vellum beautifully written, and bearing the Great …
It has upon its obverse the Arms of England as borne by the Stuarts with the addition of a shield of pretence in the centre, charged with the lion rampant of the house of Nassau ; and, on its reverse, full length effigies of the King and Queen, the latter holding the orb and sceptre, and kneeling at their feet an Indian man and woman, the former offering a roll of wampum, and …
This description of the seal of William and Mary is given because it was that used in New York throughout their joint reign, the reign of William alone, and of Anne until the Gth of September 1705, on which day the new seal of that Queen was received, and this old one was defaced, and sent back to England to be broken, in accordance with the law. It authenticated every …
This seal was decided to be the lawful seal of the Province until superseded by the first seal of Queen Anne, as above stated in September 1705. The ancient and important instrument just described, now nearly two centuries old, at present the property of Mr. James Stevenson van Cortlandt of Croton, the only surviving son of the late Colonel Pierre van Cortlandt, is the …
General and Governour in Cheifof our Said Province of New York &c. and territorys Depending thereon in America &c. prayed our Grant and Confirmation for a Certain tract and parcell of Land Situate Lyeing and being upon the East side of hudsons River Begining on the North Line of the Mannor of Philipsburge Now in the tenour and Occupation of Fredrick Phillipse Esq', one of the …
Adolph Phillipse Including in the Said Northerly Line all the Meadows Marshes Coves Bays and necks of Land and pennensulaes that are adjoining or Extending into Hudsons River within the Bounds of the Said Line and from said red ceadar tree another Due Easterly Line Runing into the Woods Twenty English Miles and from thence Along the Partition Line between our Colony of …
Thomas Dongan Late Govr. of our Said province and Whereon our Said Loving Suljject hath ni.ade Considerable Improvements liaveing been at Great Cost Charge & Expence in the Purchasing the said Tract of Land and Meadows from the Native Indians, as well As in the Setling a Considerable Numbers of Famalics thereon, and being Willing To make Some further Improvements thereon doth …
Members, Libertys, Priviledges, jurisdictions, prehemenences, Emoluments Royaltys, Profits, Benefits, Advantages, Heridittements, >& apurteiiauces, whatsoever, to the afore recite' Ceartain parcells or Tracts of Land and Meadows Within their Severall and Respective Limits and Bounds aforesaid belonging or In any wise Appertoaning, or Eccepted, Reputed, taken, known, or …
and Respective Limits and Bounds Aforesaid ; Together with all end Every of the mesuage Tennements Jiuildings barns houses out houses Stables Edefices Urechards Gardens Inclosures fences Pasture fields feedings Woods underwoods trees timber Swanij)s Meadows Marshes pooles ponds Lakes fountains Water Water Courses Rivers Revulets Rivulets Runs Streams brooks Creeks harbours …
And Moreover Know yc tnat our further Especial Grace Certain Knowledge and mere Motion we have thought fitt according to the Request ol our tSaitl Loving Subject to Erect all the before Recited Ceartain Parcell and tracts of Land and Meadow Within the Limitts and Bounds aforesaid into a Lordship or Mannor, and therefore by these presents we do for us, our heirs, and …
And it is our Royall will and pleasure that the said Lordshij) and Mannour Shall from henceforth be Called the Lordship and Mannour of Cortlandt; And further Know yee that wee Reposeing Especial trust and Confidence in the lioyalty wisdom Justice Prudence and Circumspection of our said Loving Subject do for us our heirs and Successors Give and (iraut unto our said Loving …
theLimitts and bounds thereof And Alsoall And every of the Powers and Authoritys herein beforenietioned for the holdinj^ and Keeping of the said Court Leet j and Court Barron from time to time and to award Issue out the acCustomary writs to the Heirs and Assigns of the said Stephanus Van Corthindt for ever or their or any of their steward Deputed and apointed with full and …
And we do by these presents Constitute and Appoint our said Loving SubjectStephanus van Cortlandt and his heirs and Assinys to be our Sole and only Ranger of the Said Lordship and Mannour of Cortlandt and to have hold and Enjoy all the Benifits perqusites fees, rights priviledges Profits and Apurtenances that of Right doth belong unto a Ranger According to our Statutes and …
And further of our Especial grace Certain Knowledge and Mere Motion we do by these presents for us our heirs and Successors give and Grant unto our Said Loving Subject Stephanus van Cortlandt and to his heirs and assinys forever that he the said Stephanus van Cortlandt his heirs and assinys Shall and May From time to time and after the Expiration of twenty Years Next Ensueing …
To have and to hold possess and Enjoy all and Singular the said Lord.ship and Mannour of Cortlandt and premisses with all their and every of their Royalty sand appurtunancys unto the said Stephanus van Cortlandt his heirs and assignes to the Sole and only projjcr use Benefitt :md Behoof of him thesaid Stephanus van Cortlandt his heirs and Assignee forever To Be holden of us …
Benjamin Fletcher our said Cap : Generall and Governor in Chief or our Province of New York and the Territorys Depending thereon in America and Vice Admiral of the same, our Lieu' and Commander in Chief of the Militia and of all the forses by Sea and by Land within ourCollony of Connecticut and of all the Forts and places of strength within the same, in Council at our fort in …
jacent parts, on the east side of Hudson's River, the which have not yet been purchased of the Indyan Proprieto". These presents are to authorize you, Co" Stopliiiniis van Oortlandt, Mayor of this City, if fitting opportunity sliall present, to treat with, and agree for, any part of the said Land for wh*"'' there may be present occasion of settlement, or for the whole, with …
"To all christian i)eople to whom this present writing shall come: Siecham, Pewimine, Oskewans, Tuihnm, Qucrawighint, Isighera, ami Prackises, all Indians, true and rightful owners and i)roprietors of the hinds, hereinafter mentioned, as for themselves and the rest of their relations send, greeting, know YE that for and in consideration of the sum of twelve pounds in wampum …
1 This pajxT is recorded in the Sec. of State's off., Albauy, Lib. 27, p. 238, uiid in West Co. Iteg. off., Lib. .\, 228. It is iilso in XIV. Col. Hist., 515. 2Thi8 wonl is so S|)e11ed in tlie orij^inul deeds and wills in wliicli it occurs. Tlie spelling " McHhagh " is simiily u copyist's, or printer's, cor ruption. tract of land, and from thence southerly along said Hudson …
I) the said parcel or tract of land, and all and singular other the premises and every part and ])arcel thereof unto the said iStephanus Yan Cortlandt, his heirs and assignees to the sole and only ]>roi)er use, benefit and behoof ol' him, the said Steplianus his heirs and assignees forever, and they, the said Indians do for themselves their heirs and every of them consent …
Anno Domini, 1(583. Signed sealed and de- ( (Here follow the seals, livered in presence of | and the marks, of Siecham Francis Rumbouts, j and the other six Indians Guelyne Verplancke. I named). Ap])ended is the " schedule " of " other merchandises" mentioned in the deed as part of the consideration ; 8 guns, 12 shirts, 9 blankets, 50 pounds powder, 5 coats, 30 bars of lead …
" Whereas Cornelis Van Bursum of this City hath made Applicayon for Liberty and Lycense to purchase of the Indyan.s a Certain ])arcel or Tract of Land Lyeing on the East side of Hudson River Behither the High-Lands, to Settle A rt'arnie or Plantaqon or for the Improvem' of Husbandry, These are to certify that I have and Doe Hereby with Advise of the Counsell Grant Liberty and …
Sarah was the wife of William Teller who long lived upon the Point, she having survived her husband several years- It is decribed in the Indian deed to Van Bursum as, " all that parcel], neck, or point of Land, with the Marsh, Meadow ground, or valley thereto Adjoining and Belonging, Situate lying and being on the east side of the North or Hudson's River, over against …