Scharf, J. Thomas, ed. History of Westchester County, New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I. Philadelphia: L.E. Preston & Co., 1886.
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Such a Measure would involve us in " Troubles which it is thought much more prudent to avoid ; and to shun " all E.vtreams while it is yet possible Things may take a favourable " tmu."--{The srime to the same, " New YoiiK, Gth July, 1774.") The party of the Government -- subsequently called "Tories" -- included only the members of the Colonial Government, in its various …
The second of the facts referred to is, at the time under consideration and during the succeeding half century, as we have already stated {vide pages i, 5, ante,) those who were not Freeholders or Freemen of a Municipality, were not vested with the right of suffrage, in any of the Colonies ; and it need not be a matter of surprise that, at that early day, the great body of the …
The subject was subsequently disposed of, as it then appeared, by a Resolution, offered by John De Lancey and seconded by Benjamin Booth, providing for the nomination of the Delegates by the body of the Committee, of which the conservative aristocrats held the entire control, which resulted in the nomination of Philip Livingston, John Alsop, Isaac Low, James Duane, and John …
The minority of the Committee and those with whom it sympathized and acted, in political affairs -- the " Bellwethers " and the " Sheep " of Gouverneur Morris's metaphor -- were not inclined, however, to submit, tamely, to the arbitrary dictation of their " Shepherds," composing the majority of that body ; and they promptly determined to carry the contest into a new field, and …
tee's Meeting, calling a Meeting of "the good People " of this Metropolis,'- to be held in the Fields,' on the following day, [ Wednesd<ty, July 6 ] at six o'clock, " when Matters of the utmost Importance to their " Reputation and Securitj', as Freemen, will be com- " municated." At the appointed hour, it is said, " a " numerous meeting '' was collected, with Alexander …
One of the Resolutions adopted by that notable assemblage of the inhabitants of the City of New York, was almost identical, in words and sentiments, with that voted by the Town of Boston, on the thirteenth of May, of which mention has been made herein ; another " instructed, empowered, and directed " the Dei)uties from New York, in the jiroposed Congress, " to engage with a …
3 What were then called, sometmies, "The Fields," and, at other times, "The Common," on which has occurred so much of public interest, in later as well as in earlier days, have been called, during more than half a century past, "The Park;" and by that name it is still known, notwithstanding the greater attractions which, for some years l^ajst, have been jiresented to merely …
But that, if the " Counties shall conceive this mode impracticable or " inexpedient, they be requested to give their appro- " bation to the Deputies who shall be chosen for this " City and County, to represent the Colony in Con- " gress ;" and it " instructed " " the City Committee of "Correspondence" "to use their utmost Endeavours " to carry these Resolutions into …
Inspired by the strength and the spirit of the Meeting in the Fields, and led in their o])position to the majority of the Committee, by all the old-time experienced popular leaders, the " Inhabitants of the City "and County," of every class, met, agreeably to the published request of the Committee of Correspondence, at the City Hall, at noon, on the day after those Inhabitants …
IGU, Nf.w-Yokk, Thursdaj', July 7, 1774; Gaino's Kciv-Yoi-I; GnMc mid Mcrnin/, No. 1185, New- York, Monilay, .luly 11, 1774 ; Riiiiigli'HS Xetv-Yoik Gfl;p«w, No. 6.5, New-Youk, Thursclay, July 14, 1774 ; Liruteiuiut-fjoffninr Coldett to Governor Tryoii, "Spring Hill, 2n(l .\ugu6t, 1774;" Hamilton's Life of Alexander UmniUon, i , 21-23 ; Dawson's Park and Us Vicinitu, 34-.'i7 …
which was terminated, on the last-mentioned day, only after Philip Livingston, Isaac Low, John Alsop, and John Jay, four of the nominees of the aristocratic and conservative Committee of Correspondence, had inconsistently and venally declared, in direct contradiction of the constantly declared policy of that Committee, previously concurred in by themselves, that " a general …
It will l)e seen that James Duane did not disgrace himself or his name by placing the latter, with those of his four aristocratic associates on the ticket for Delegates to the proposed Congress, on the letter through which those four bartered the little of political and personal integrity and the modicum of unselfish ]>rinciples which they respectively possessed, for a small …
^ Philip Livingston, John Ahop, Isaac Lore, and John Jay to Abrahitm Brasher, Theophilus Anthony, Fraucia Van Di/rk, Jeremiah Piatt, and Christopher Luyrkinch, " New York, July 26, 1774." 5 Proceedings of a Meeting of a nund/er of Citizens convened at the " House of Jl/r. Marriner," at which the nominations by the Committee of Correspondence were acquiesced in, by those who …
Indeed, in the latter connection, it is known that, subsequently to his election as a Delegate to the Congress, and before he left New York, to take his seat in that body, as the trusted Envoy of all the inhabitants of that City, nominally charged with the great and honorable duty of seeking, in their behalf, a redress of the political grievances which had been imposed upon …
In liarmony, also, with tliat evident connection of James Duane with the Colonial Government,-- in support, also, of the suspicion that particular lines of action, in the interest of the Crown, to be taken in the Congress, were considered and determined on, in advance of the meeting of the Congress, by that particular Delegate and the venerable Lieutenant-governor of the …
I "know such were the sentiments of Farmers and Country People in "general who make a great Majority of the Inhabitants. I hafl a con- "fldcntial conference w ith one of the Delegates sent from this city to the "Congress now met at Philadelphia who I thought had us much intiu- "enccas any from this place, and ho gave me assurances of his disposition "being similar." -- I …
made only to that other patent fact, that the Congress had no sooner closed its sessions, at Philadelphia, than he hastened to his master, in New York, and reported to that anxious listener, for the use of the Ministry, in England, not only the doings of particular Delegations, in the Congress, and those of the Congress itself, but his own general dissent from the proceedings …
The Colonial Government was decidedly and j)eculiarly opposed to the adoption of any measure, either by the people or the Congress, which would possibly disturb the Trade and Commerce of Great Britain ; and James Duane, a dependent on that Government, was not at liberty to sign such a letter, approving the establishment of a Non-Importation Agreement, as that which his four …
* The Iiefpalch of Lii-iilcnanl-gnrernor Colden to the F.url of liiirlmouth dated, " Xf.w York, December 7th, 1774," in which the Home Government was informed of these dishonorable revelations of the action of the Congress, is too extended to be copied into this Note. The reader is consequently referred to it. ^ \ carefully prepared f>ic-simile of the last sheet of that …
James Duane was not among those who were suddenly converted, in order to ensure their success at the Polls; but, nevertheless, on the day after the disgraceful political somersault of Philip Livingston, Isaac Low, John Alsop, and John Jay had been declared satisfactory hj their jilebeian and revolutionary auditor}', that eminent adherent to the original policy of the Committee …
those staid, well-to-do, and contented farmers who occupied that County, and to draw any portion of them from the quiet of their rural homes into the .'seething vortex of partisan excitement, concerning measures of the Home Government which did not affect them nor their interests, in the slightest degree -- a departure from the ways of their fathers, which, before many months …
^ Letter of the Committee of Corregpoudeitce of Xen- York to the Cotituiittee in Charleston, " New York, July 26th, 1774," Postscript, dated " July " 28th ;" the same to the Committee in Philadelphia, "New York, July iSth, " 1774 ; " the same to Matthew Tilghman, Chairman of the Mnrylaml Committee, " New Y'oek, July 2Sth, 1774; " Lieutenant-goremor Colden to the Earl of …
York; the purposes, published or withheld, of the Committee itself; and the purposes, generally wellconcealed, of some of those who wielded the influence of that Committee, sometimes for the promotion of their individual and not always righteous interests and sometimes for the suppression of the aspirations of others which were quite as praiseworthy as their own, are …
These have been consequently presented, as briefly, however, as was consistent with persjiicuity ; and a more complete, and precise, and accurate understanding of the details of the revolution of sentiments within Westchestercounty, as portions of that more extended revolution, throughout the Colony and the Continent, "in the " minds and hearts of the people," it is believed …
2 "An History of Military Operations, from April 19, 1775, to Septem- " ber 3, 1783, is not an History of the American Revolution, any more "than the Marquis of Quincy's Mililanj History of Louijs XIV, though "much esteemed, is a History of the Keign of that Monarch. The " Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the pi-oplp, and in the " Union of the Colonies, both of which …
In order, however, that the representa- "tionofthe different Counties may be quite com- " plete, it is absolutely necessary that your County " appoint, with all possible speed, one or more Dele- " gates to join and go with ours to the Congress, or, if " you choose to repose your confidence in our Dele- " gates, that you signify such your determination, in " the most clear and …
To this Circular Letter which was thus sent to the several rural Counties throughout the Colony, only six of those Counties are known to have paid the slightest attention, those of Westchester, Duchess, and Albany having respectively authorized the Delegates whom the City of New York had elected, to represent them, also, in the Congress ; - while those of Kings, ' Suffolk,* …
1 Draft of the Circular Lttler sent to the Commiltee or Trcaiurtr of the different Counliet, " New 'YiiRK, July 20, 1774," appcuded to the ilimitetof the Commiltee, "New York, July 28, 1774." See, also, Lieutenant-governor Colden to Goveruor Tryon, " Spbinu " Hill 2 August 1774." • CyedentiaU of those Delegates -- Journal of the Oongress, " Mondjiy, " September 5, 1774." ^ …
Be that as it may, for some reason, if more than four Towns in Westchester-county took any action whatever, in response to the Circular Letter of the Committee, concerning the political questions of that period, or for the appointment of Deputies to represent the County in the proposed Congress, or for any other purpose, the record of that action has escaped the notice of …
On the tenth of August, responsive to the Circular Letter Irom the Committee in New York, the Freeholders and Inhabitants of Rye, who sympathized with that Committee in its proposal that Westchestercounty should appoint Delegates to represent it in the proposed Congress, met and appointed John Thomas, Junior, Esq., James Horton, Junior, Esq., Robert Bloomer, Zeno Carpenter …
" This Meeting being greatly alarmed at the late " Proceedings of the British Parliament, in order to " raise a Revenue in America; and considering their late "most cruel, unjust, and unwarrantable Act for block- " ing up the Port of Boston, having a direct tendency to " deprive a free People of their most valuable Rights "and Privileges, an introduction to subjugate the In- " …
" Secoxd, That we conceive it a fundamental part " of the British Constitution, that no Man shall be " taxed but by his own Consent, or that of his Eepre- " sentative, in Parliament ; and as we are by no means " represented, we consider all Acts of Parliament " imposing Taxes on the Colonies, an undue ex- " ertion of Power, and subversive of one of the most " valuable …
These Resolutions were duly submitted to the Meeting ; and, as the official record says, they " were " unanimously ajjproved of ; " when the assemblage quietly dispersed.' Those who are acquainted with the questionable practices of ambitious, and, not unfrequently, unscrupulous politicians, will be prejiared, without warning, for the reception of any modification of the …
The masterspirit of the assembled farmers, whether many or few in number, was John Thomas, Junior, one of a family of officeholders under the Home and the Colonial Governments,^ and, himself, an anxious office-seeker. 1 Ollicial report of the proceedings of the Meeting-- Holt's \ew-York Journal, Xo. 1G50, New-Yokk, Thursday, August 18, 1774. See, also, Gaiue's Xew-York …
While the politicians, in Rye, were discussing, with more or less satisfaction, the result of their doings, to which reference has been made, those in the Borfroni his Ordination, iu 1704, until his death, in 1727, was a Missionary in the employ of the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts, in London. The father of John Thomas, Junior, was Uon. John Thomas, who …
Thomas, who is one of the Representa- "tives in this County, and who, in Governour De Lancey's time, being " favoured with all the Administration of all Offices in the Country, civil "and military, by the help of which he has procured himself a large in- "terest in the County, especially in the distant and new Settlements, " which abound with a Set of People governed more by …
This man is not only one of our Vestry (though very " little esteemed by the true friends of the Church), but has procured "that the Majority of the Vestry are Men that will be governed by " him ; several of the Vestry are not of the Church : and not one of "them a communicant in the Church; accordingly, the Church are "not at all consulted with regard to a successor," to the …
3 John Thomas, Junior, by this early movement in behalf of the revolutionary element, placed himself in the front rank of successful politicians in AVestchester-county-- he was a member of the Committee of the County, and its Chairman ; a Member of the Provincial Convention representing Westchester-county, in 177.5; a Member of the Fii-st and Second Provincial (Congresses …
For that jiurpose, on Saturday, the twentieth of August, also in response to the Circular Letter received from the Committee of Correspondence in the City of New York, those of " the Freeholders " and Inhabitants " of that Borough Town who sympathized with that Committee in its request that Westchester-county should apj)oint Delegates to represent it in the proposed Congress …
Like the similar Meeting, at Rye, this Meeting also waited, apparently without adjourning, until its Committee was formally organized, by the ai)i)ointnient of James Ferris, Esq., as its Chairman, and while that Committee considered the various political questions of the period -- ''the very alarming Situa- " tion of their sufi'ering Brethren, at Boston, occa- "siouedby the …
"Second, That we coincide in opinion with our " friends of New York and of every other Colony, " that all Acts of the British Parliament, imposing '• Taxes on the Colonies, without their Consent, or by " their Representative, are arbitrary and oppressive, " and should meet the abhorrence and detesta- " tion of all good men ; That they are replete with " the purpose of creating …
I " preserve their Rights and Liberties from the Inva- " sion that is threatened, we do most heartily recom- " mend a Steadiness and Unanimity in their Meas- I " ures, as they will have the happy Effects of averting "the Calamity that the late tyrannical Acts of the "British Parliament would otherwise most assuredly " involve us in. " Fifth, That to obtain a Redress of our …
But, [ like the Meeting at Rye, of which mention has been made, that at Westchester was evidently controlled by a single master-spirit ; and, like the former, the ! latter was, also, unquestionably convened and conducted, not as much for the clear expression of the uncontrolled and intelligent opinions of " the Free- ; " holders and Inhabitants" of the Town, on the grave j …
County, if any such Towns, really or apparently, re- ! sponded to the invitation of the Committee of Cor- I resjjondence in New Y'ork, either contented themselves, like those of Bedford and Mamaroneck, with only the elections of Delegates to the proposed Convention of the County, without any further expression of their sentiments, or, if they expressed such sentiments or any …
facts that, on Monday, the twenty-second of August, 1774, a Convention of Delegates from the several Towns and Distiicts of Westchester-county, or from a number of them, was assembled in the Court-house, at the White Plains ; that Colonel Frederic Philipse, Lord of the Manor of Philipseborough and a Member of the General Assembly of the Province, representing the County of …
1 " Card III the Puhlic,^' reprinted in Force's Ameriooi Jrcliirea, Fourtli Series, i., 118S, 1189. 2 Oredciitiah of the Deleijatvn from Xew-York, Journal of the Comjres»^ "Monday, September 5, 1"74." 3 The subseciuently published disclaimer of inhabitiints of Rye and other circumstances oftlie same tendency, incline us to the belief of what Lieutenant-governor ('olden …
In the same connection, Joseph Galloway, when he was examined before the House of Conmions, testified, that "I don't think that one-fifth "part have, from principle and choice, supported the present Rebellion.' * * * " The last Delegation to Congress, made by the Province of " Pennsylvania, and the appointment of all the Olflcers of that State, was "made by less than two …
" In a foot-note to tliis portion of that testimony, Galloway added : " The people of Kings County so much disap- " proved of the sending any Members to the Congress, that, although " due notice was given of the time and place of Election, only two of "them met: Mr. Simon Boerum appointed his friend Clerk, and the "Clerk appointed Mr. Boerum a Delegate in Congress, who was the …
There is reason, also, for supposing that there were many such cautious or timid conservatives, in each of the Towns, if, indeed, the great body of the inhabitants of each was not thus disposed to maintain the conservatism of the past; that they were not confined to any particular class of the inhabitants of those Towns ; and that they included holders of freehold properties …
" We, the Subscribers, Freeholders and Inhabitants " of the Town of Rye, in the County of Westchester, "being much concerned with the unhappy Situation "of public Affairs, think it our Duty to our King and "Country, to Declare that we have not been con- " cerned in any Resolutions entered into or Measures " taken, with regard to the Disputes at present sub- "sisting with the …
" Joshua Purdy, " James Wetmore, " William Brown, " Joseph Purdy, "Jonathan Budd, " Ebenezer Brown, Jun., " Henry Slater, "Andrew Kniffen, "Thomas Wilson, Roger Purdy, Gilbert Brundige, Joseph Clark, James Gedney, James Purdy, John Adee, Nathaniel Purdy, Joseph Wilson, Benjamin Willson, James Hart, Silemon Halsted, James Budd, Thomas Kniffen, Gilbert Merrit, Esq. John Carhart …
Those w^jo are acquainted with the methods which are very often employed by audacious partisans or by tho.se more insidious supporters of a questionable proposition, for the instruction of an opponent in what way to do or to say what, if left to himself, he would not think of either saying or doing, in any manner, will be very likely to concur in the suspicion which prevails …
'between the ilother Country and her Colonies, are, ' therefore, sorry that we ever had any concern in ' said Paper ; and we do by these Presents utterly 'disclaim every part thereof, except our expressions 'of Loyalty to the King and Obedience to the con- ' stitutional Laws of the Realm. ' Abraham Miller, 'Adam Seaman, ' Andrew Carehart, ' John Carehart, ' Gilbert Brundige …
" It is ray Opinion that the Parliament have no " Right to Tax America, tho' they have a Right to " regulate the Trade of the Empire. I ani further of " Opinion that several Acts of Parliament are Griev- " ances ; and that the execution of thera ought to be " Opposed, in such Manner as may be Consistent with " the Duty of a Subject to our Sovereign ; tho' I can- " not help …
It will not be impro|)er, however, to notice, in this connection, the fact that two, if no more, of the Delegates who represented the revolutionary portion of the inhabitants of Westchester-county, in that Congress, were actively associated with Joseph Galloway, whom history has regarded as a " volunteer spy for the " British Government," ' in a measure, proposed in the 1 …
interest of the Crown, which the Congress not only rejected, with contempt, but would not permit to be laid on its table nor to be recorded on its jjublished Journal ; ' that one of those two Delegates was subsequently discovered to have been quite as deeply implicated in a perfidious communication of the secret proceedings of the Congress, with quite as earnest a sympathy for …
It has been usual to screen the latter of the two Delegates 1 " With a heart full of loyalty to my Sovereign, I went into Congress -- 'and from that loyalty I never deviated, in the least. I proposed a Plan "of Acriimmodation in theCongress, agreeable to niy iKSlructioim ; -- Bonie " of the best men, and men of the best fortunes, espoused the Pluii, and "drew with nie." …
"Galloway urged it in an elaborate speech; and it was supported by " Duane, .Jay, and Edward Kutledge. It was not only rejected, however, " but the menbers came at last to view it with so much odium that the " Motions in relation to it were ordered to be expunged from the Juur- " nuh. This result was an end to the loyalist intluence iu Congress." -- (Erothingham's llise of the …
The aristocratic Kichard Henry Lee was in harmony « ith hini ; but the democratic elem,ent of the Congress was widely opposed to him, in all his fundamental propositions. 4 Vide the extracts from Galluway".'- Eyoiiiiiiiitivu, Bancroft's Histunj of the Vidted Htules, and Frothingliani's Uise of the llepnblk; in Note 1, page 34, above. from the censures of history and to regard …
Indeed, no intelligent person can arise from a careful and dispassionate examination of the unquestionable authorities which have come down to us, concerning the origin of that Congress, the expressed purposes for which it was called, its organization, the extent of authority which was delegated to the several Delegations of which it was composed, and the action of those …
6 Although this is not likely to be disputed, by auy one, it may be proper to state that it was not claimed to have been so, by those whc promoted the call for it -- " it is allowed by the most Intelligent among " them, that these assemblies of the People are illegal and may be danger- "ous, but they deny that they are unconstitutional when a national " grievance cannot …
The purposes of this work afford no warrant for a more extended narrative than we have given of the really varied designs of those, in other Colonies than in that of New York, who promoted the assembling of a Congress of the Colonies ; nor of the intrigues of those who, some for one purpose and some for another, desired to become members of that body ; nor of the objects for …
All these must be left for elucidation by other hands, in other works ; but we may be permitted to say, here, in brief, that, since what were regarded as grievances, of which complaints had been made and which were sought to be redressed, were peculiarly of a commercial or mercantile character, the disaffection of the Colonists, in New York, because of those alleged …
Each of these two classes of Colonists, in New York, the commercial and mercantile classes, within the two Cities, and the agricultural and dependent classes, throughout the country -- the former assuming to have been aggrieved by the Home Government and originating means for the redress of those alleged grievances, on the one hand ; the latter wholly indifferent to the …
The Congress of the Colonies, as the reader will remember and as we have stated, was one of those means which were resorted to, by the aristocratic, anti-revolutionary commercial and mercantile classes, within the City of New York and by those Traders whose seat was at Albany, for the purpose, it was alleged, of securing a peaceful redress of what those ilerchants and Traders …
spired and directed by controlling members of those commercial and mercantile classes,for which property the local authorities had neglected or declined to compensate the owners -- and, besides the inditt'erence of the farmers, who constituted a vastly great majority of the adult males who were permanent residents of the Colony, which we have described, it encountered, from …
Notwithstanding the direct opposition of the little clique of fire-eating revolutionists and that of the larger and more influential circle of the Colonial Government and its adherents -- "friends of Govern- " ment," as they called themselves -- and the chilly indifference of the great body of the farmers, constituting the vast majority of the inhabitants of the Colony, that …
The Colonial Government and its adherents were, of course, none the less antagonistic to it, because they were powerless to suppress the growing revolt or to protect the Colonists from the effects of the revolutionary action of the Congress. The farmers throughout the Colony continued their agricultural labors in continued indifference, unmindful of that approaching …
had originated and by whom it had been fostered, very many disapproved the violence of its declared policy -- of that policy which had closed the doors to all hopes for Reconciliation and Peace, and which had opened the doors, invitingly, to Revolution and Rebellion, to War and Ruin -- and drew back from those who continued to sustain the Congress and who, then, were preparing …
The glamour of success may have made all these transactions, before the Congress was convened and while it was in session and after its dissolution, appear to have been possessed of different characters from those which they really possessed ; the diligence of personal descendants, whose best claim to distinction among men rests only on the apocryphal fame of their ancestors …
Among the conservative farmers of Westchestercounty, generally, it is believed that the result of the Congress was not satisfactory -- as will be seen, hereafter, some of the most influential of them, who had heartily approved the popular movement for the redress of the Colony's grievances, and who had earnestly united with their countrymen in calling the Congress, were forced …
No. 95, New-Yokk, Tlmrstlav, February 9, 177.5, reprinteil in Force's .iinericaii Archiees, Fourth Series, i., 1177, 1778 ; E.rtrnct of a tetter from lioston to a Gentlemtiii ill Xeic-York, January 20, 1775, reprinted in the same work, i., 1178; Piiifeediiigs of llie Tom, in legal Town-Meeting, 20th February, 1773, reprinted in the same work, i., 1249 ; I'rotest of sljtii four …
PriMfi-'lings of the Toirii, in Town-Meeting, "Newtown, Connecti- '* CUT, February G, 1775," published in 2{ivingtoii'» Xew-York Gazetteer, Kg. 97, New- York, Thui-sday, February 23, 1775, re-printed in Force's Amei iaiH Archives, Fourth Series, i., 1215; Hnid' s Histori/ of Fairfieldcomttij, 465. * Hurd's Hittorii of F<iirfield-i oiiiitii, 'S, 79, and the Petition for Harbor …
1" Huntington's History of Stamford, 205 ; Hurd's History of Fairfieldcounty, 7(i6. Protest of one htmdred and tirenty Freeholders and Inhabitants of the Toun o/.Yeic Milford, February 27, 1775, reprinted in Force's American Archinx, Fourth Scries, i., 1270; History of Litchjield-county, Connecticut, Phila. : 1881, 4.51. I- Dwight's Trareh, ii., 369. 1' History of …
February 13, 1775, published in Holt's Neir-York Journal, No. 1676, New -York, Thursday, February 16, 1775 ; and those of the Committee fur Observation fur the Township of Woodbridge, New Jersey, " WooDBRincE, February 20, 1775," published in Force's American /IrcAi'ie*, Fourth Series, i., r249, each providing for ■" boycotting " the Staten Islaudeis. Liexttenant-govenior …
While the more conservative portions of the Colonists, in opposition to the Home Government, were earnestly laboring to maintain themselves in the leadershij) of the political elements of the Colony, and, at the same time, to secure a redress of the grievances to which the Colony had been subjected and to effect an honorable reconciliation between the Colonies and the Mother …
On the seventh of November, James Duane, who had already distinguished himself, in connection with John Jay and Joseph Galloway, as everything else than an honest promoter of anything which was revolutionary in its tendencies, pandered to the revolutionary spirit which pervaded the revolutionary portion of the unfranchised inhabitants of the Citj', through whose influence he …
Ihe same to Governor Tryon, "New York, Dec. 7, 1774;" Governor fitije to </ic s<ini«, " Boston, December 15, 1774;" Joseph Reed to Josiah QuiHcy, Junior, " I'hil.voelpiih, November 6, 1774 ; " Proceedings of a Meeting of IWeholders of Middlesex-county, Xnr Jersey, " accortliug to a "Notice," .Fauuary 3, 1775, reprinted in Force's .Imericaii Archives, Fourth Series, i., 1083 …
mittee should condemn, for having violated that Association, in order " that, thenceforth, the parties to the " said Association should respectively break off all deal- " ings with him or her" -- in more modern phraseology, in order that the alleged offender, whether guilty or innocent of any violation of law, on the mere condemnation of a local Committee, on whom individual …
" Some difficulties having arisen relative to the Ad- " vertisement published by the Committee, for choos- " ing a Committee of Inspection "--in other words, the handful of professional politicians who assumed to represent the unfranchised Mechanics and Working-men of the City, having repudiated the limitations imposed by the Congress, and insisted that the votes of the great …
The eleventh Resolution of the Congress, referred to in tlie text, provided "that a Committee he chosen in every County, (^ity, and " Town, by those who are (nullified to vote for Representatives in the " Legislature, wliose business it sliaU be attentively to observe the con- ** duct of all persons, touching this Anmcintion^^ [of Non-ImporUUion, Soii-t 'omiumjitiaii, and …
The reader will judge how ill-adapted such a "smelling Committee" as was thus ordered, in every Town, must have been, to promote harmony among the Colonists, or to give support to those who were seeking a redress of the grievances of the Colonies and a restoration of harmony between the Colonies and the Mother Country. -3liiintes of the Committee of Correspondence, "New York …
Francis's, six months previously, and which had been subsequently organized, with so much ostentation, at the Coffee-house, nominally, for the promotion of" the common cause " of the Colonies, in their reasonable dispute with the Home Government; but, more surely, for the protection of the conservative and aristocratic elements of the City's pojDulation from the already …
If the reader will closely watch the successive events, in that connection, and notice the final result, he will see, also, how well the consolidation of aristocracy and democracy, into one mass of political conglomerate, for the advancement in authority of particular men, accomplished that purpose, the interests of the Colonies and those of political honesty, in the …
They acted as "a legal body, legally chosen, and fined, imjirisoned, robbecl, and ban- " ished His Ma.jesty's loyal subjects with .1 vengeance." As will be seen, hereafter, the Judge was in error, when he supposed and stated that the second Committee, that of '• Inspection," was not elected, and was created secretly, without notice to the Citizens. On the contrary, the two …
It had, indeed, asserted and successfully maintained those conservative political principles, directly antagonistic to the more revolutionary political principles which the men of Boston had as-^erted and insisted on, which it believed to have been better adapted for the promotion of "the "common cause" and for that of the best interests of the Colonies; and, for the further …
There was a fitness, therefore, that those of the Committee who had honestly and unselfishly opposed the aggressions of the Home Government, should cease to allow their names and whatever influence those names might possess, to be used by those who had betrayed the confidence which had been reposed in them, directly, for the advancement of their own i)ersonal ends, and …
The result of the interview which the Committee of Correspondence had thus invited -- one of the high contracting parties rapidly approaching its own dissolution, with only twenty-three of its fifty-one members present, and with eight of the twenty-three predestinated by their associates to an early retirement: the other of the two parties to the conference flushed with that …
There is abundant evidence concerning the peculiar zeal of that new-formed Committee of Inspection -- sometimes styled " The CoiniiTTEE of Sixty," and at others, " The Committee of Observation " -- in the discharge of its self-imposed duties f but, generally, the purposes to which this work is specially devoted do not require a more extended notice of them, in this place …
"The first Thing done by the People of this place in consequence of "the Resolutions of the Congress, was the Pissolntion of the Committee "of 51, in order to choose a new Committee of Inspection, to carry the " Jleasnres of the Congress into elTect. \ Day wius apjiointed by Adver- " tisement fur choosing sixty Persons to form this Committee. About 30 "or 4(1 Citizens only …
enlisiing her farmers in the support and execution of the Association or of any other of the measures or recommendations of the recent Congress, may have been or may have proposed, they were evidently entirely disregarded ; and that, at least as recently as the early Winter of 1774-75, there was not sufficient interest, friendly to the revolutionary movements •which were so …
Fanner," which had made so much excitement, throughout the Colonies. It was written by a Weaver and published in Holt's New- York Journal, No. 1668, Xew-Yokk, Thursday, December 22, 1774. The Editor assured his readers that it was actually written by a working Weaver, who lived in Harrison's Purchase ; * and it was in these words : " To the city and country inhabitants, of the …
Kivington, entitled the Country Fanner, which " seems to be calculated to tln-ow all into confusion, " & to no other end ; and artfully to gain his point, " as a Fanner, he addresses himself to the Farmers, " and their wives ; he tells the latter, they cannot " treat a neighbour with a dish of tea ; and that will " be a dreailful thing indeed ; to tlie former, hesaith, " their …
If so, then my first answer to our " Farmer is, that we Weavers, and I believe I may " say most of other trades too, cannot live without " meat, bread and clothing, all which I shall gladly " take in exchange for my labour ; and If I could " earn more at the year's end, than a supply for my " family, I would be content, (at this troublesome " period, which our Farmer sets up …
But 0 ! the consequence ! and so like- " wise, a deceiver now says to you what! are you de- " fiied the pleasure of drinking tea f But I beg of you " not to be now deceived, nor prevailed on to bring " ruin and slavery on your country and posterity, by " tasting of that detestable herb, which hath already " been the cause of so much confusion. But if you " will not be …
Besides their un- " spotted cluiracters, are they not men of extensive " interests in America? have they estate in any other " country? No, what then should induce them to " betray America, .'•eeing that if America falls, they " must fall with it? This consideration alone, is suf- " ficient to clear them from our Fanner's aspersion. " But in my opinion, a siill stronger …
And on the " whole, I think that it would be well for us farmers, " and mechanicks to consider whether it is not likely " that each colony took as much care in choosing " their delegates, as we did. That is, to send men of " knowledge, men of interest, and men of honour. If so, we must look on our farmer to be a man wholly given to ridicule, misrepresentation, and malevo- " …
" I would now recommend to the notice of every " reader of Rivington's Farmer, that it is the usual '' practice of evil minded persons, when they would " disturb the quiet of any man, or body of men, " against whom they can find no just cause of com- " plaint, to raise against them, without any evidence, " tlie highest clamours, suggest the most criminal designs, and if …
I would not even desire to ■ turn them upon his own head, and cause him, like Hainan, to be hanged on his own gallows -- I only '' desire that, unjust and unreasonable as they arc, '■ they may have no weight with the reader, or raise any prejudice in his mind against the cause of truth iS: his country, or against Any man or body of men, especially those worthy men who have …
We may assure " ourselves that a steady and firm opposition to the " late acts of Parliament, will cause our sovereign to " examine into the state of the case with great atten- " tion ; and when he finds he has been led into un- " warrantable acts by diabolical counsellors, he will " dismiss them from their offices, by w'hich they have " wickedly devised to throw the nation …
If it should seem " grievous for the present, we have this for our con- " solation, that as good men as you and I, have been " afflicted : The devil was permitted to afflict Job " worse than wicked Ministers, or Counsellors of " state can you and me ; and let us take pateru by " his stability, when liis friends came and clamoured " against him, as bad as our Farmer doth in …
That the illustrious house of Hanover may " continue to be the defenders of true religion and " virtue, the faithful guardians of our freedom and " i)roperty ! That our sovereign, George the third, " may discover every wicked design, that any of his " Ministers, or others, have conceived against him, or " any of his people! That he may be endowed with " wisdom ami virtue to …
About the same time that this letter appeared, there was a movement, in the vicinity of the White Plains, to obtain a nominal approval, if no more, of the action, the revolutionary action, of the Committee of the City of New York ; but if what was said of the result of the effort by those who were opposed to the movement, without contradiction, may be believed, only " three or …
We " are rather induced to do this, because we under- " stand, that three or four persons in the White "Plains, have taken \\\im\ them to declare to the "Committee at New-York, the consent of the "inhabitants of the White Plains to the resolutions " entered into, in New-York, and their acquiescence " with the measures taken there ; when the major " part of the few people who …
It was in these words : " Westchester County, White Plains. "TTTHEREAS, there was a petition published in YV "Rivington's paper, some time past, that "forty five of the freeholders and inhabitants, be- " sides Miles Oakley, did sign a petition -- I did sign " a petition, something like it, by being misled ; and " afterwards being informed into the right state of "the matter, I …
1 On tlie Sth of3Iay, 1775, 3Iiles Oakley was appointed a member of the County Committee, (mi'c ;«(</(■ -- ,pi>sl;)man afterwards, he received a Warrant for Second Lieutenant in Captain Mills's Company ; (i i<lr piajK -- , and he served in that office, under Colonel Holmes, in the bloodless Campaign of 177.'> ; leaving the service, when the Campaign closed.-- (J/i.>V«W<ri/ …
2 Illustrative of the statement made in the text, is the following, taken from tho' L'pi'"ll Clippinris. iv.,2!)7, in the Library of the New York Historical Society: "It is said that at least tliiee-fourths of the people "in Cortlandt's Manor, New York, have declared their unwillingness to "enter into the Congressional measures : that a great number of the " people in general …
There were some w ho were smarting under the outrages which had been inflicted on them or on their friends, by local and other despots, of high or low degree ; and these were, sometimes, compelled to find refuge and protection w ithin the lines of the lioyal Army : and there was a float ing, vicious class, within the County, which the lawlessness of the revolutionary faction …
That very interesting and very important ^rf(^?rss and the Association which accompanied it, -- the latter, generally known, among those who favored the revolutionary faction^ as " Thr Loya/ist's Test" -- because they form very important specimens of tlie literature of revolutionary Westchester-county, and because of their importance as reliable authorities for the guidance of …
" TTTE the subscribers being desirous to convince mankind that ' " we are firmly attached to our most hajipy constitution, "and are disposed to support and maintain peace and good order under I " his Majesty's government, do therefore declare, that our sovereign lord •'king George the third, is tlie only sovereign to whom llritish Ameiica " may, can, or ought to owe and bear …
That wc will upon all occasions stand by and assist each other "in the defence of his life, liberty and property, when ever the same " shall be attacked or endangered by any bodies of men riototisly assem- " bled, tipon any pretence or any authority whatsoever, not warrantetl " by the laws of the land, ** .SecoM*/, That wc will upon all occasions mutually support each "other …
"stranger, an inhabitant of Cort- '■ landt's manor; I have nothing to dread or fear "from the resentment of any person or persons, as " I mean to give no offence to any individual ; "only wishing, that reason and common prudence "may take place of present bickerings, and the "detestable poison of party faction, ft is a matter no "longer to be hid under a cloud, whether we are …
I presume it Avill " not be improper to see what part of this advantage "providence has allotted us; the question may be "easily solved ; we are placed in a fertile land, teein- "ing forth, in abundance, the necessaries of life for " ourselves, and a superfluity, which brings the wealth " of other nations to our own coffers. -- Every individ- "ual enjoys his share according to …
I think I have accounted " for your inattention to political matters, as not being "within the sphere of your occupations, but confined "to the laudable ])ursuit of your own business; and, "I sincerely wish it to continue without interruption ; " to effect which, there is only one method left. -- I " have already observed, that our good intentions, "kept in silence, are not …
given me opportunity to form ideas of your behav- " iour and sentiments, I believe you, in a general "sense, firmly attached to loyalty and our admirable "constitution ; that you wish to live and die subjects " only to the British empire ; but how is this to be "manifested, and that it should be declared, there is ' an absolute necessity, without delay, for the follow- "ing …
not enough for a man to say, that I am a b.yal sub- "ject, no more than to say I am a jiious and true "christian; it must he his work, his dependance on, " his energy, his indefatigable effort; to promote honor "and glory to the true system of his preservation. As " chanty, my friends, is a characteristic of a good man " and a christian, I wish by no means it should be im- " …
"happy and flourishing Continent: At this most "interesting period, it is the duty of every indi- " vidual, for the good of himself and posterity, to " pursue that course which conscience dictates to be " right. No one, if impartial, can be at a loss for the " clue of direction, the object is plain to every honest, "tho' ever so illiterate capacity: The loyalty we owe " to the …
And if prejudice, popular declamations, "and the hateful current of party faction, are not too " strong for truth and matters of fact ; we must allow " that the grand pitch of commerce we have arrived "at, the progress we have made in arts and sciences; "the amazing repadity in extending, settling and im- " proving our land estates ; the magnificent appear- " ance and …
Let "us reflect on those direful calamities; Let us be " grateful tt) the power which preserved us, which sent "forth her Ixvixcible Veterans, vanquished our " enemies, and finally reinstated us in quiet posses- "sion of our own. -- If we have a right to complain of "the British acts of parliament, we have a Governor, " Council and Assembly, to rejircsent our grievances "to …
"common sense, are led to declare our firm and indis- " soluble attachment to our most gracious Sovereign "George the Third, his crown and dignity; and with grateful hearts to acknowledge, that we are in- " debted to his paternal care, for the preservation of "our lives and fortunes: And as we have ever been a " happy and free people, subject only to the laws and "government …
Rivington's paper of Feb- " ruary 16, has certainly all the subtilty of the ser- "pent; and has as dexterously wormed himself " round your estates, with as much address, and will " probably have the same success, as the first serpent " had, when he attacked our old grandmother. -- And " you, my friends, resemble the simple dove, for you " seem to be innocent and secure …
" ways returns to the same hole to make her nest, " notwithstanding the experience she has had, of its " being utter destruction to her family. -- Just so it is " with you, ye people of Cortlandt, ije have e;/es, but " see not, and ears, but hear not. The Spectator, in " some of his beautiful lucubrations, mentions a young " Eastern Prince, who being severely reprimanded for " …
" This soul has animated every kingdom on the face " of the earth, till by their own crimes and their own " folly, they have voluntarily banished it " their soil : This is the soul that has .sup- " ported the British state through various rcvolu- " tions, and will maintain its empire, either in that, " or some other part of the globe, till Heaven, in its " vengeance, shall …
Yet these mens souls, " dare attempt with their Syren songs, to lull even " virtue itself to sleej), in the hopes that she may yet " split on the rocks. -- One day we are charmed with " peace, clemency, and pardon ; riches and plenty " are to be powered into our dwellings ; tyrants and " heroes are to drop their crowns and their laurels at " our feet, that we may partake of …
this is the scene, on which you could feast your " eyes with rapture, provided the rocks and the " mountains might cover you. -- But now let me tell " you, that were all this possible, there are fifteen out " of twenty, throughout this vast continent, all Free- " dom's sons, whose blood is neither contaminated " with paltry bribe, or coward fear ; who would face " all this …
Like the cruel ostrich, she has forsaken " her young ones ; with the fierceness of a tyger, she " lays waste our own fair inheritence, and dashes " her sons against the stones ! -- Shakspeare makes " Hamlet express himself thus ; ' But, I am pigeon " ' livered, and lack gall to make oppression bitter.' " Whether it is the lack of gall, or the lack of sensi- " bility, that …
'• B. E." No further attempt to answer this Address nor to counteract the effects of the Association appears to have been made until late in the Spring, a long time after the farmers throughout the Manor had com- ,menced their work of ploughing and sowing and planting, when the following letter, signed by "An "Inhabitant," was published in Gaine's New-York Gazette: or the …
" In a day when American pulse beats high for " Liberty ; when it is the subject of almost every " public [laper, as well as topic of discourse, it might "justly have been expected that no American would " be so hardy as to violate the rights of his fellow- " subjects ; and if any such monster should ai)pear " in this land of Liberty, that there would not be " wanting …
" I have waited with great impatience, exjiecting " that some able hand would have undertaken the " benevolent task to warn you to beware of the con- " duct of some of the basest villains that ever dis- " graced any society, and draw the attention of the " inhabitants to its danger ; but finding that although "now some months are elapsed since the commence- "ment of the …
" They, anxious to secure to themselves and their "posterity power and authority, and to engross some " (jlfices or pensions from or under the Crown, have " made a sacrifice of all public virtue on the altar of "self-interest. This desperate spirit it was that in- " duced these traitors or mercenary hirelings to exert " tlieir influence to bring about the detestable meas- " …
If Charles the " i'irst deserved the axe, and James the Second the " loss of his Kingdom, for changing the Constitution, " and thereby trampling on the rights of their sub- "jects, 1 leave you, my Countrymen, to judge what " punishment would be adequate to the crimes of " these loyalists and their tools, who are aiming at " the same by a sacrifice of all public virtue and the …
During the greater portion of the period in which had occurred the various transactions of which mention has been made, herein, the General Assembly of the Colony of New York had not been permitted, by the Colonial Government, to meet for the consideration of the public affairs and for the transaction of the public business of the Colony ; but a large proportion, if uot a …
It was a matter of deep concern, therefore, both in the Colonial Government and among the Colonists, generally, when, on the tenth of January, 1775, that body was permitted to assemble, in an Adjourned Session ; - and, iu the absence of more exciting occurrences and in view of many anxious hopes that that Assembly, which had not been concerned iu any of the extraordinary …
Livingston, asserting its continued loyalty to the Sovereign, its desire to eflect a redress of the grievances under which the Colonies were laboring, and its hope that a reconciliation between the Colonies and the Mother Country might be secured, nevertheless, fell back on the Congress and on the line of action on which the Congress had determined, notwithstanding the …
ciliation between the Colonies and the Mother Country might be effected ; but it also maintained, in opposition to the minority of the House and more consistently with the uniform profession of loyalty to the Sovereign and of respect for the fundamental principles of the Constitution, in both of which all, the minority as well as the majority, professed to be in harmony, that …
The fii-st-named portion of the members, was, evidently, determined to force the Assembly into the line of the radical portion of the party of the Opposition, for no ofher purpose, however, than that of increasing the moral weight of that particular faction of the party, in its desperate struggle for the possession of the controlling power, in political affairs, within the …
The last-named portion of the members, not less determined than the other, resolutely maintained that the Assembly should remain entirely independent from all those popular Committees and Congresses which had been moving and laboring, during the preceding year, in lines of action which they had respectively approved, each for itself, for the common purposes ; 1 " The Ministry …
and, with equal resolution and consistency, it evidently determined, also, that the Assembly should take no official action on any of the occurrences of the preceding year, except such as should be brought before it, officially, or such as might have arisen from some prior action of the Assembly itself ; and, more important than all else, it determined that, with all the …
The County of Westchester was ably represented on the floor of the Assembly, in the persons of Colonel Frederic Philipse and Judge John Thomas, who represented the body of the County ; Pierre Van Cortlandt, who represented the Manor of Cortlandt; and Isaac Wilkius, who represented the Borough of Westchester. Of these, Thomas and Van Cortlandt were of the minority of the …
Notwithstanding the Despatches of Lieutenant-governor Colden to the Home Government, which are (and have been, since 1775) accessible to everybody, abundantly prove that the Colonial Government possessed no more influence, which it could exercise over the .\ssembly, than was possessed by any other political opponent. -- that, in fact, that b(«ly was not in harmony w ith the …
were of the majority of that body, which has been already described ; and because of the prominent jiarts which those Representatives of that County respectively took, in the debates concerning the momentous questions which were considered and determined in that Assembly, and because of the ills which befell three of those Representatives, because of what they had respectively …
Although the Assembly had been prorogued to meet on the tenth of January, 1775, the members from the distant Counties were not present on that day, nor on several succeeding days; and, on the twentieth of that month, a "Call of the House" was ordered to be made on the seventh of February ensuing ; and the Clerk of the House was ordered to write to the absent Members, to …
3 " It was some Days before a sufficient numtier of Members got to Town to make u House, and there nre still twelve of their number absent, " which has occasiuued the House to put off tlie farther consideration of " their IniiH^i taut Husiness to the 7th of next Mouth, at w hich Time **they have ordered all their Members to attend." -- (LieuttMumt-gurerttor tWifen li> Hie …
In the Lieutenant-governor's Ues(>at<'h to the Eiirl of Dartmouth, dated on the first of February, 1775, it is stated that the Call of the House referred to was made on a Motion offered by the minority of the House, for what was supposed would be beneficial to its purposes ; and when it is remembered that the majority already pos»i'SS«'d the cimtrol of whatever was brought …
Under any circumstances and in any assemblage, there would be aroused an earnest, if not an angry, opposition to any movement which was covered with as much of bad faith and dishonor as was seen, surrounding the Resolution which Colonel Ten Broeck had thus submitted in violation of the honorable understanding, between the two fiictions, which had been entered into when the …
Very reasonably, although the welcome act wsis done by those who were not of the " friends of the "Government," the result of that early struggle in the General Assembly of the Colony, on such a momentous question, was very acceptable to the Colonial Government* as well as to the Ministry, at London and, from that date until thi.-*, .separated from the motives of the majority …
< The venerable Lieutenant-governor of the Province was evidently in excellent spirits, from that result, when he w rote the Di^sjiatches to General G ige and the Karl of Dartmouth, which were referred to in the last preceding Xote. 5 " When the question to adopt the Sleasures recommended by the Con- " gress was negatived by a Majority of one only, in this Assembly nf …
1 Gordon (HMnryof Americnn RerohitMii, i., 471) led off, in the work of detraction, by saying " The Massacluisetts Congress were displeased with "the proceedings of tlie General Assemlily of New York," for this Vote, among others, as if the approval of any merely insurrectionary body were necessary to ensure th^ respectability, in history, of any General Assembly, legally …
Bancroft, also, as far as his fragmentary paragraphs may be regarded as history (HUtory of the Vnited States^ original edition, iv., 207-21U ; the same, centenary edition, iv., 454-4.511) insinuated what he.would have been glad to have asserted, had he possessed even a shadow of evidence to support him, that it was the influence of the Government and that of the Established …
No one, unacquainted with tbe facts and depending on any of the above-named historians for information, can jiossibly learn, from them, that the Vote refeixed to was taken in the interest of the common cause, as a prelude to what the Assembly intended to do, in its own manner, in support of that cause ; that there was not a " friend of the Government," or " Tory," or member of …