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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Pitkin (HMory of the Vnited States, i.. .324, 32.5,) and Hildreth (History of the Vnited Stales, First Series, iii., 56,) notwithstanding they were New Englanders, did not permit the truth to be suppressed ; but they gave to the Assembly of New York, at least a portion of what was due to it, in honestly written history. the minority of the Assembly, appears to have been …
Livingston, of the Manor of Livingston, one of the leaders of the minority, offered a Resolution "that a day "maybe appointed to take the state of this Colony ''into consideration ; to enter such Resolutions as the "House may agree to, on their Journals; and, in " consequence of such Resolutions, to prepare a hum- " ble, firm, dutiful, and loyal Petition to our most gra- " …
i and the head of that powerful family, moved "that a Memorial to the Lords, and a Representation 1 " and Remonstrance to the Commons of Great Brit- I " ain may be prepared, together with the Petition "to his Majesty;"^ and, like the Resolution which -Jouninl of the Hmise, " Die Martis, 10 ho., A.M., the 31st January, '1775." 3 The peculiar force, if not the peculiar assertion …
In the same debate, it was said, also, by another Peer, that " the title " given to the paper was suspicious : a * Petition ' from the same Assem- "bly had been presented (o the King, the Colonies not denying the "supreme Rights of His Majesty ; a ' Hemonstrance' to the Commons; " and, now, a ' Memorial ' to the Lords. They dropped the usual word " ' Petition,' lest, from …
Continuing the commendable work in which it had thus commenced the proceedings of the day, and apparently without any dissent from any one, the House then ordered that James De Laiicey, and Benjamin ; Kissani, of the City of Now York, Colonel Philip Schuyler, of Albany-county, George Clinton, of Ulster-county, Dirk Brinkerhoof, of Duchess-county, Samuel Gale, of Orange-county …
No reasonable reason which would be honorable to the minority of the Assembly, therefore, can be given for the eagerness which it displayed, on the sixteenth of February, to disturb the harmony of that body, in j which all of both factions appeared to have been i united in both purpose and action ; but, on that day, | Colonel Philip Schuyler, of Albany-county, in behalf j of …
It has suited those who have prefeiTed to traduce New York and her General .\ssembly, however, to regard both the (ieueral Assembly and its paiiers as only favorable to the Home GoTemment and | antagonistic to the common causi". 1 Jouruat of the " Die Martis, 10 ho., .\.M., the 31st January, " 177.5." - In the language of that pericxi. the word •' State," as it was used in …
On the following day, [February 17], Colonel Nathaniel Woodhull, of Suffolk-county, akso a prominent member of the minority, continued the factional strife, by offering a Resolution of Thanks to those gentlemen who had represented this Colony in the recent Congress, " for their faithful and judicious dis- " charge of the trust reposed in them, by the good " people of this …
Speaker signify the " same to the President of the Chamber of Commerce " in this City, at their next Meeting, and order a copy " of the same to be published in the public Prints." Like the other Res)lutions of the series, which had preceded it, this peculiarly inappropriate Resolution, before such a deliberative body, after it had been amply discussed, was promptly rejected by …
HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY. in the negative, among whom were Colonel Philipse and Isaac Wilkins.^ On the twenty third of February, Crean Brush, of Cumberland-county, from the Committee which had been appointed to prepare a State of the Grievances of this Colony, presented a Report from that Committee; which was " referred to the consideration of a Com- " mittee of the Whole …
Judge John Thomas, one of the Representatives of Westchestercounty, and a leading member of the minority, offered a Resolution providing that " the sense of this House "be taken on the necessity of appointing Delegates "for this Colony, to meet the Delegates for the other " Colonies on this Continent, in General Congress, " on the tenth day of May next." The introduction of …
The well-considered and, under the circumstances, the judicious determination of the majority of the General Assembly, to unite in the general opposition to the Colonial policy of the Home Government, in the general demand for a redress of the a.ssumed grievances of the Colonies, and in the generally expressed desire to restore the harmony between the Colonies and the Mother …
'Speeches, made by Brush and Wilkins, on that occasion, may be seen in Force's American Archires, Fourth Series, i., 1290-1207, the former re-printed from Rivington'it New-York Gazetteer, No. 9H, New-York, Thursday, March 2, 1775 ; the latter from tlie Siime paper, No. 103, New- York, Thursday, April 6, 1775. Students of the history of the Eevolution in the Colonies will be …
But it was clearly shown that " the common cause," which was so loudly talked of, was only a secondary matter ; that per.sonal and factional interests were, in fact, regarded as superior i to the interests of the country ; that it was the purpose of the minority and of those with whom it affiliated, for the especial advancement of their individual and factional interests, to …
Having fully accomplished its preliminary purpose, in securing from the legally constituted Legislature of the Colony a rejection of the several revolutionary Resolutions which it had submitted, and in, thereby. Till': AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1774-1783. affording a pretext to those of its confederates, not of the General Assembly, for the assumption, by them, of authority …
On the appointed day, [March 1, 1775] the Assembly, in Committee of the Whole House, Colonel Benjamin Seaman, of Richmond-county, occupying the Cliair, commenced, the consideration of the State of the Colony's Grievances, which had been reported by the Special Committee which had prepared it ; ' and after having spent the entire day thereon, as well as the whole of the …
In the Committee which had been appointed for the preparation of the Suie, in which every member brought forward whatever he regarded as a Grievance, and not in the body of the Assenibly, aa is meanly insinu- I ated. Colonel Schnyler introduced the .\ct of 4th George III., Chapter XV., a.s such a Grievance, which was approved and accepted by the Committee, with only two …
The State of Grievances which was thus adopted by the General Assembly of New York included not only all thbse Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain, relating to or affecting the Colony of New York, for which Colony only the Assembly presumed to legislate, which the Congress of the Continent had included in the Bill of Rights and C/vevances which that body had adopted and …
Chapter LXXXIII., "so " far as it may be construed to establish the Roman " Catholic Religion in the Province of Quebec," and " so far as it imposes Duties upon certain Ar- " tides of Merchandise imported into that Province," '■■ which by another Statute of the same year, Chajiter " LXXXVIII., is so extended as to comprehend all the " Indian (Country, from Hudson's Bay to the …
if npt in words, as that, on the same subject, which the Congress of the Continent had recently adopted -- and he glorified his grandfather, because of that gentleman's labors in opposing it, and iu endeavoring to qualify the Assembly's recognition of that Right, through an .\mendment, which the Committee had rejected ; without, however, alluding to that other fact that, in …
Philip Schuyler needed no such lictitious praise, even from his grandson ; anil, although he was willing to promote the interests of his faction, he does not appear to have been thus employed, in what he did as a member of that Committee for preparing a State of the iirierance» of thin (Jolonij, nor in any proceedings thereon, either in Counuittee of the Whole House or in the …
action of the Continental Congress, moved by James Duane and supported by John Adams, and nearly in its words, ^ recognizing the Right of the Parliament " to regulate the Trade of the Colonies, and to lay " Duties on articles that are imported, directly, into " this Colony, from any foreign Country or Planta- " tation, which may interfere with the Products or " Manufactures of …
On the seventh of Mare'li, James De Lancey, and Benjamin Kissam, of New York City, and George Clinton, of Ulster-county, were appointed a Committee to prepare the series of Resolutions required as a basis for the Petition to the King, which had been ordered by the House, on the thirty-first of January preceding ;' and, on the following day, Benjamin Kissam reported, from that …
April 6, 1775," the student of the history of the Revolution, in New Y'ork, may find much, relating to the opinions of the revolutionary elenu'ntsin tliat Colony, concerning this State, as well iis cuiioe ning other kindred subjects. »Joiirw(l of the lions,; "Die Martis, 10 ho., A.Jl., the 7th March, " 1776." in the Chair ; and proceeded to consider the Report which had thus …
Judge's " Certificate to indemnify the Prosecutor from Dam- " ages he would otherwise be liable to, giving them a " concurrent Jurisdiction of Causes heretofore cog- " nizable only in the Courts of Common Law, and by " that means depriving the American Subject of his " Trjal by a Jury, are destructive to Freedom, and " subversive of the Rigiits and liiberties of the Colo …
But there were two amendments, proposed by Colonel Nathaniel WoodhuII and George Clinton respectively, which were rejected, although the the motions for amemlment were supported, in each instance, by several members of the ma^iority, as well as by the full force of the minority ; but because the principle involved in each of the proposed Amendments was distinctly declared in …
Livingston and Nathaniel Woodhull, by George Clinton and Philip Schuyler, in the instance under consideration, when they voted against the Resolutions which have been fully described and, consequently, against the great political principles which were asserted and maintained therein, for no other reason which is now discoverable than the peculiar fact that those Resolutions …
Whatever may have influenced those who had assumed to be the peculiarly disinterested and sincere supporters of the common cause, in their united vote to reject the Resolutions which are, now, under consideration, those who are of the Westchester-county of the present day will continue to be interested- in the fact that, on that very critical occasion, when the eyes of all …
and quite as boldly sustained the Home Government, in what it bad done, as any open and avowed " friend of the Government " could have done, had one been present, -- a lesson of the highest importance to those who shall incline to ascertain the exact truth, concerning the origin ofthe American Revolution and the purposes of those who promoted it, within the Colony of New York …
During the same day, Crean Brush, from Cumberland-county, Colonel Benjamin Seaman, of Richmond-county, and Samuel Gale, of Orange-county, were appointed a Committee " to prepare the Draft of a Memorial to the Lords ;" and Daniel Kissam, of Queens-county, and James De Lancey and Jacob Walton, of the City of New York, were appointed a Committee " to prepare the " Draft of a …
It will be seen that on neither of these Committees was there a single member of the minority of the House, notwithstanding the Resolution on which the first-named of those Committees was ap])ointcd originated with a leading member of that faction, and notwithstanding, also, both the Resolutions pursuant to which all the Committees were appointed, had been adopted in the …
On the sixteenth of March, Isaac Wilkins, from the Committee appointed to prepare it, reported " the " Draft of a Petition to the King ; " and, immediately afterwards, Crean Brush, from the Committee appointed to prepare it, reiwrted " a Draft of a Alemor- "ial to the Lords." During the same day, James De Lancey, from the Committee appointed to prepare it, reported " the Draft …
Another Amendment, concerning the Judiciary of the Colony, and entirely cancelling the jjaragraph, on that subject, which the Committee had reported, was submitted by George Clinton, of Ulster-county, and agreed to, by an unanimous A'ote of the House; and another Amendment, submitted by Colonel Frederic Philipse, by striking the words " seem to," from one of the paragraphs …
On the same day, \_March l-^tli], the Meynorial to the House of Lords and the Representation and Remonstrance to the House of Commons, after several Amendments, none of them possessing any importance whatever and only three of them having called for a division of the House, had been negatived in the Committee of the Whole House, were successively reported to the House ; and …
In each instance, also, the Speaker was ordered to sign the document, in behalf of the House; and, after having ordered the Speaker to transmit these three several petitions to the King, the Lords, and the Commons, " with all convenient speed, to Edmund " Burke, Esquire, Agent of this Colony at the Court " of Great Britain ; and that a Letter be prepared, to " be approved by …
5 The original Jmtnmta nf tlie Axsemtili/ which included the proceedings oftlie entire Session wliicli is now under consideration, were lost during tlie trouljlesome times of tliat period ; and the only known copy of the original printeil edition of those Jourtiah wanted four pages, in this portion of it. Tliose niissing pages contained the closing portion of the proceedings …
yjonrnol if the Hniisr, "Die Sabbati, i ho., P.M., the 25th March, " 1775." 11 Ihiil. THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1774-1783. the rise of this House as conveniently may be, copies of the State of the Grievances, of the Resolutions of the House, of the Petition to the King, of the Memorial to the Lords, and of the Representation and Remonstrance to the Commons, requesting those …
On the following day, [^April Ist.'] the Assembly appointed " a Standing Committee of Correspondence," composed of the Speaker, [John Oriiger,'] James De Lancey, James Jauncey, Benjamin Kissam, and Jacob Walton, all of them from the City of New York, Benjamin Seaman, of Richmond-county, Isaac Wilkins, of the Borough of Westchester, Frederic Philipse, of Westchester-county …
They have been the themes, sometimes, of ignorant and unscrupulous bigots and, sometimes, of intelligent and unscrupulous tricksters; sometimes a personal and sometimes a local end has been served by either a falsification or a concealment of the truth, concerning them; and, sometimes, fragments of useless and glittering rhetoric, strung together, as farmers string fragments …
Individual members of that Assembly, men of honor aiKl unimpeachable integrity, have been stigmatized as " wretches," and as " the veriest reptiles on earth" and charged with '' corruption " and every kindred vice -- some of them were driven from their families and their homes ; others of them were lawlessly seized and carried from their families and their homes, exiled, and …
Measures which were sincerely intended for the promotion of the common cause of the Colonies, in their struggle with the Home Government, -- measures which presented nothing else than political principles or recitals of facts which no one, of any sect or fiiction, pretended to dispute -- were opposed, vehemently and without measure, within as well as without the Assembly, only …
A candid and carefully-made comparison of the terms of those several State of Grievances, and declaratory Resolutions, and Pttition, and Memorial, and Representation and Remonstrance, which were prepared, and agreed to, and presented, and published by that uuicli-abused General Assembly of Colonial New York, with the several Resolutions, and Declaration of Rights, and …
It will be seen, also, by every careful and candid reader of the published proceedings of that Congress to which reference has been made, that, notwithstanding the gravamen of the declared Grievances of the constituent Colonies, of that notable body, consisted of sundry Acts of Parliament, all of which were considered as oppressive, it had made no attempt whatever, either by …
On the other hand, the General Assembly of Colonial New York, the legitimacy of whose organization and the entire legality of whose action, in behalf of the common cause, no one has ever presumed to question; without compromising its dignity, as a General Assembly ; with that common sense which, in Europe as well as in America, was, then, so pe- 1 OredentUth of the Delegation …
culiarly uncommon ; without entangling itself with any questionable alliance; and without belittling its legitimate influence by expressing its ofiicial sympathy with any other body, even in relation to those measures which were similar, in character and purpose, to those of its own enactment -- that General Assembly, quite as clearly and quite as energetically as the Congress …
Without the loss of any of that dignity which legitimately belonged to it, and without sacrificing any of that respect for its constituents which its duty recjuired it to maintain, it recognized the sovereignty of the King, as the Congress had also done; and, consistently with that dignity and that respect, but with a boldness which was peculiarly its own, at the same time, it …
Notwithstanding all that has bi^en said in depreciation of that particular Colonial General Assembly, it did not consider it necessary, nor even expedient, to override the minority of its members without even recognizing their existence on its Journal, under cover of the subsequently notorious "unit-rule," in recording the votes of its members, nor in any other manner; nor did …
Law ; not by unanimous Votes, actual or fictitious, but by a majority of its members, duly and courteously exercising the authority with which that majority was duly and legally vested. It was not done by the action of the minority of that Assembly, which represented the revolutionary element of the Inhabitants of the City of New York more completely and with greaterzeal than …
Colonists, in New York, including every class, and sect, and political party -- and it possessed no authority to represent any other, and made no pretension to do so -- than either the Congress of the Continent or the fragmentary revolutionary faction within the Colony had done or possibly could do; and there is very great reason for the belief that its orderly, and dignified …
A few words only are required to complete the record of the results of that much-slandered General Assembly; and the space which they will occupy cannot be better occupied. The Petition which was officially sent to the Agent of the Colony, the celebrated Edmund Burke, for presentation to the King, was duly laid before the Sovereign ; ' but, iinismuch as the General Assembly …
1 " Mr Biirke having delivered to me tlie Petition to tlie King, I ha<l " the honour to present it to His Majesty, wlio wan pleased to receive " it with the most gracious expressions of reganl and attention to tlie " hunililo request of his faithful subjects in New- York, who have, on "this occasion, manifested a duty to His Mi\jesty and a regard for the "authority of the …
He commenced by asking the Clerk to read the official record of the proceedings of the House, in December, 1768, on a Petition of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, and what was known as the Z'fc/ara/ory Act; and he continued by saying that he was " greatly in favour of " New York ; aud that he would gladly do everything " in lus power to shew his regard to the good …
Burke's Motion " for leave to bring up," making it read thus : " That " the said Representation and Remonstrance (in which " the said Assembly claim to themselves Rights derog- "atory to, and inconsistent with, the legislative " authority of Parliament, as declared hj the Declara- " tory Act) be brought up." By a vote of one hundred and eighty-six to sixty-seven, the Amendment …
The only objection raised against the reading of the Memorial was the bare suspicion that " it contained " matter derogatory to the supreme legislative power " of Great Britain ;" and on that suspicion, alone, the Memorial not having been even described, the House sustained the Minister, and declined to allow the Memorial to be read, by a vote of twenty-five to fortyfive …
It is a reasonable ease, in such instances as those cited and in those of the earlier historians of the American Revolution who lived and wrote in Europe, that no more than the rejection, hy the Parliament, of the two papers which were sent to that legislature hy the General Assembly of New York, was mentioned in the writings of those gentlemen ; but there is no valid excuse …
Bancroft, after having consolidated the Itemomlrance aud the Meniorial, making them one paper, obliged liurke to offer both, on the same day, and in the same House, all of which were described in the narrow compass of four lines, without even a hint how such an Assembly as he had previously described, could have prttduced such a paper -- his silence serving to screen his …
Lossing, {Fielil Hoolc of the Iterolntion ;) Frothingham, (Bisc- of lite IteiiuhVu- ;) Ridi)ath, {Hklorij of the Vniteil ^tatef ;) Lodge, (Histonj of the EnijILth O'lonies in America ;) Morse, (Annah of the American Iterulutiou ;) Warren, l Uistoyij of the American Jterointiou ;) and others, although abounding in facts and fictions concerning Massachusetts, have not spared a …
Except those matters to which we have already referred, nothing which requires especial notice in this narrative, occurred until, in February, 1775, the General Assembly of the Colony rejected the Resolution, submitted by Judge Thomas, of Wcstchester-county, which provided for the election, by that General Assembly, of Delegates to the proposed Congress of the Continent, to be …
1 See page .')2, ante. i I'rocf-diiigt nf thi- C"mmitti-e nf ObtmalUm for llf City <iud O'Uiilij of Kew York, at its .\4journed Meeting, February 27, 177.5. ' Prucri-diiiija of the Commill- i- of Obarrrolion for llir Cilij aud Omiily of yew York, at its Adjourned Meeting, 1st March, 1775. * Holt's Acto- Tort Journal, No. 1678, New- YoBK, Thnrsday, March 2, 1775. purpose of …
The conservative faction, strengthened by " some Officers of the Army ' "and Navy, several of His Majesty's Council, and "those Members of the House of Representatives " who had refused taking into consideration the Pro- " ceedings of the Congress, together with the Officers "of the Customs and other Dependents of the Court, " &c.'' -- the Governmental Party, a-s far as there …
5 That organization was effected at a public Meeting of the Inhabitants who disapproved the ' rcqueNt " of the Committee, which was hel.l at the Widow De ha. Slontagnie's, in Broadway, opposite tlie Fields, on Friday evening, JIarch 3, .John Tlmrber presiding.-- (.-1 Itrondf 'ule, tigard bij John Tlmrber, in the Library of tlie New York Historical Society.) '■The Committee of …
posed the following question : " Whether a certain "Number of persons shall be appointed and author- ^'ized to meet such Deputies as the Counties may "elect, and join with them for the mle object of appointing out of their body on tbe 20th of April next, "Delegates to the next Congress?" Those who were opposed to the question, the conservative faction and its governmental …
The second question which was proposed : " Whether " this Meeting will authorize the Committee to nomi- " nate Eleven Deputies for their Approbation ? " being of secondary importance to those who had opposed the first, a Poll of the Voters was not demanded thereon; and, of course, like the preceding question, it was adopted "by a very great Majority of the Peo- " pie," …
1 Holt's Nfw-York Jimrmil, No. 1G79, New-York, Thursday, March 9, 1775 ; Itiviiigttiii's Ni-u'-Ywk Gazr-tteer, No. 99, New-Yiikk, Thursday, March U, 1775 ; Vnia-edbigs nf the Omwiiltee nf ObncmiUnn for thr Cily luid Gmiilij iif Nrir Yin-k, lith March, 1775, into which the record of the proceedings of the Meeting at the Excliauge, in tlie Morning, was officially copied …
Having thus disposed of the main question, apparently to its entire satisfaction, the Committee then proceeded to nominate, by ballot, eleven persons, "for the Approbation of the Freemen " and Freeholders, for the City and County of New " York, to serve as Deputies to meet such other Dep- "uties as may be appointed by the remaining " Counties in this Province, for the sole …
It will be seen that, in this last performance, the Committee of Inspection, (or of Oliservation, as it was pleased to call itself,) notwithstanding the peculiarly aristocratic elements which entered into its composition, had accepted, if it had not resorted to, that questionable element which had been so frequently employed, on former occasions, for the performance of acts …
- Proceedings of the Cummillre of Olisenuilinn for the Cily mid Omnty of New Ynk, at its Jleeting, " Jlonday Evening, Gth Slarch, 1775." ^Card, signed by Mr. Low and addressed to "The Respectable Pub- " Lie," dated "New York, March 9, 1775." * Gouvernenr 3Iorris to 3lr. Penn, "New-Yurk, May 20, 1774," pages 11, 12, onte. THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1774-1783. evidently regarded …
It seems, however, that, notwithstanding all that apparent success, at the Exchange, the machinery oi' selfishness did not move witliout a jar, within itself, as the very decided testimony and dissent of Isaac Low, the Chairman of the Committee as well as that of the Meeting, against whom some underhanded antagonism had been detected, have clearly shown ; ' and it is eiiually …
It is a notable fact, however, that, notwithstanding the Committee repudiated the first Resolution which the miscellaneous crowd, at the Hxchange, was said to have adopted, it rigidly maintained the equally questionable validity of the second Resolution, nominally authorizing the Committee to nominate eleven persons 1 Card, signed by Mr. Low and addressed to " The Resi'Eitable …
as candidates for the places of Delegates to the proposed Provincial Convention -- the opportunity to obtain place and authority, no matter how ill-founded that opportunity might be, was an object so vastly more important to those aristocratic place-seekers, than all others, that, whether promising or unjjromising of success, those who controlled that Committee could not …
s ProceeiUngs of the Comniillee of Obsentttion for the Citij and Coimtij of Xew York, at an Af\jonrned Meeting, 8th March, 1775. 4 Holt'.' yeK-York .lourual, Xo. 1080, New-York, Thursday, March 16, 1775; Hiciiiijloit's Xtir-Ynrk Guzellcer, No. 100, New-Yohk, Thursday, March 16, 1775;* Gaine's Seir-Yurk Gazette : atid the Weekli/ Jffrciiry, No. 12'23, New-York, Monday, March …
* Holt and Gaine stated the vote to have been eight liundred and tw(>nty-five in favor of the appointment of Deputies, and one hundred and sixty-three in opposition : Kivington stated the vote was nine hundred and twenty-nine, in favor, and one hundred and forty-three in opiwsition. Tiiey all agree that numy voters declined to vote -- Holt and Gaine said, because their votes …
There is an abundance of evidence, of unquestionable truthfulness, showing that what has been represented to have been a conflict of rival parties, patriotically representing antagonistic political principles, on the occasion referred to, was, in fact, like all the political contests which had preceded it, during the preceding twelvemonth, only personal, factional, and local …
It was conceded, by contemporaneous writers of both factions, that there was, really, no difference of opinion, among the various classes and sects and factions of which the City was composed, concerning the existing necessity for the redress of what were said to have been the Colonial Grievances, and that, if the Parliament should not interpose and indicate a willingness to …
That it might become expedient and proper to assemble the proposed Congress, if the Parliament should not, meanwhile, have indicated an inclination to redress the alleged Grievances of the Colonies, was not only conceded but freely acknowledged, even by those more earnest conservatives who had assembled at the Widow De La Montagnie's, on the preceding Friday evening ; but …
in the proposed Meeting, which was designed for the inauguration of a movement for the election of Delegates to that proposed Congress, until the twentieth of April, which would have afforded time for the receipt fi'om London of intelligence concerning the inclination and action of the Parliament, without depriving the Colony of the opportunity to elect its Delegation to the …
j has been noticed, aud need not be repeated ; but, notwithstanding it was subsequently disregarded by the Committee which had previously hastened to receive and accept it, it served to draw the lines of faction with more distinctness and to array neighbor against neighbor, in greater animosity and bitterness than I had previously been witnessed. On the sixteenth of March …
OF New York,"' vcry forcibly urging a postponement of the questions, was published in Gaine's Seu-York Ga-Me and Weekhj Meratrtf, No. 1221, Monday, March 6, 1775; a more elaborate appeal and argtunent, to the same effect, addressed " To the respectable " Inhabitakts of the City of New Y'ork," signed "A Citizen of New "York,'' and published in the same issue of that newspaper …
" Be pleased to communicate this Letter to the " Inhabitants of your County; and should they con- ",cur with us in Sentiment, we beg they will consider, " whether it would not be best to choose their Depu- " ties so soon as tiiat they may be down here by the " 20th of April next ; which Day we take the Liberty " of proposing to you as 2>roper for the Meeting of " the …
It is a very significant fact that, when the Committee's Circuhir Letter was written and made ready for transmission to Westchester-county, there was no appearance whatever, within tiiat County, of the slightest organized opposition to either the Home or the Colonial Government; and that, among the debris of what had been conveniently regarded as a Convention of the County …
usual indoor and outdoor recreations, during the preceding Winter ; and to return to the labors of the season, on their farms or elsewhere, during the earlier weeks of the Spring, as they had done, before, year after year and generation after generation, knowing little and caring less concerning that bitter struggle for commercial gain, no matter how lawlessly conducted, or …
It is not now evident, if it ever was, that these honest, hard-working, contented men, in any portion of that unceasing and undisguised indifference to the clamor and the unblushing immorality and the audacious lawlessness of politicians, of high or of low degree, beyond the borders of the County, which they had steadily and consistently presented, were really offenders …
They were not political in their aims or inclinations ; they had very clearly manifested, over and over again, their disinclination to be associated, in any degree, with those who were inclined to become, if they had not already become, politicians; and, as will be seen, in their action, during the Winter, and in their subsequent actions, under similar circumstances, they were …
fare of those farmers or for that of the Colony, dissevered from all other considerations, in the Committee of Inspection, alias the Committee of Observation, for the City and County of New York -- a merely local organization, vested with no more than the barest local authority, and that confined, exclusively, to an entirely different service -- when it thrust itself, unasked …
It is not, now, known, beyond a peradventure, just what means were thus employed; but the copies of that insidious Circular Letter which were intended for residents of Westchester-county were evidently sent to a leading Westchester-county politician ; and, by him, whomsoever he may have been, they were so manipulated that they reached only those residents of the County who …
Not one of the number was from Towns lying northward from the White Plains ; not one had come from all the country lying westward from the Bronx-river ; there was not present either a Van Cortlandt or a Thomas, already w^^U-known popular loaders, either of whom would have been formidable, as a rival, against any new aspirant for the leadership of the movement and the spoils of …
On the twenty-eighth of March, Theodosius Bartow, Esq., James Willis, and Abraham Guiou, Esq., all of New Rochelle ; William Sutton, Esq., of Mamaroneck'-'; Colonel Lewis Morris, Thomas Hunt, and Abraham Leggett, of Westchester ; Captain Joseph Drake, Benjamin Drake, Moses Drake, and Stephen Ward, of East Chester; and James Horton, Junior, Esq., of Rye,^ all of them, it said …
Neither Yonkers, nor Greenburgh, nor any of the Towns to the northward of tliem and of the White Plains, were in the slightest degree represented in that important assemblage; and every one who had previou.sly appeared as a leader of the farmers of the County, in their very unfrequent political doings, regardless of party associations, appears to have been, also, very …
In all that had previously been said or done, in behalf of the Colony, in its dispute with the Home Government, not a Morris had been heard, except in that instance when one of them described the unfranchised masses of the Colonists as " poor reptiles" {vide Page 188, ante); but the fragrance of the distant emoluments and influences of office, more fully developed than ever …
"A number of gentlemen from different districts in " the county of Westchester having this day met at " the White Plains to Consider of the most proper " method of taking the Sense of the Freeholders, of " the Said County, upon the Expediency of choosing " Dei)uties to meet the Deputies of the other Coun- " ties, for the purpose of Electing delegates to repre- " sent this …
There can be no good reason for supposing that that Caucus failed to employ the best means which it could control, to secure the attendance, at the appointed place, on the appointed day, and at the designated hour, of all those of the farmers of the County of Westchester, whom it supj)osed to have been friendly to the Morris family, and who were willing or who could be induced …
the Manor of Morrisania, were aroused ; and, especially in the Borough Town of Westchester, within which the ancestral home of the Morrises was situated, the ambitious purjjoscs of that geutleman and of his family were empathically snubbed, by a Meeting of his townsmen, duly summoned to take into consideration " whether or not they should choose Deputies " to represent them at …
" Whether you are determined to abide by the " loyal and judicious measures already taken by your " own worthy representatives in the general assembly " of this province, for a redress of American grievances? "The conse(]uences that may arise from your ne- "glecting to attend at the White Plains, on Tuesday "next, to declare your sentiments relative to the ap- "pointment of …
That, on Monday the 3d of March, "the Inhabitants of the Borough of Westchester met, in Consequence of " a Summons, to give their Sentiments upon a Qiiesti ^n, whether or not "they would choose Deputies to represent them at a Provincial Conveu- " tiou in this City ; when they declared themselves already very ably "and efleotually repre>iented in the General Assembly of this …
It is reasonable to suppose that many of the farmers of Westuhester-county, whatever their political opinions may have been, were nlore than usually excited by these extraordinary appeals and by others which have not been preserved, addressed to them by those whom they had hitherto regarded as leaders in political affairs ; but it is equally clear that not even those …
They went, as farmers were wont to go and as they continue to go, on such occasions, on horseback or on foot, over Westchester-county's Spring-time muddy roads or " across lots," as best suited their individual convenience; and the little Village, what there was of it, scattered along the wide spread Post-road, was undoubtedly, the scene of many a discussion, friendly or …
1 Protest of the Tuhabitavts and Freeholders of Westchesfer-countij, Xeir- Torh, "CorNTY or Westchesteb, April 13, 1775," published in liivington' s New-York Gazetteer, No. 105, New York, Thursday, April 20, 1775; and in Gaine's New-Y'/rk Gazette : and the Weekly Mercury, No. 1227, New York, Monday, .^pril 17, 1775. We have been favored by our unwearied friends, Hon. Lewis C …
It is evident that neither of the two factions was very punctual in its attendance, at the appointed hour -- a practice which is continued to this day, in Westchester-county, on similar occasions -- and, for a reason which was perfectly obvious, the promoters of the proposed Meeting, very evidently, were not in a hurry to assume the great responsibility of carrying forward the …
Notwithstanding the hour of ten had been named in the Notification through which the assembled farmers had thus met, it was nearly noon before any attempt to organize a Meeting was made -- probably, some whose presence was desired and expected, had not arrived; probably, those leaders of the movement who were present were, meanwhile, " comparing notes," and arranging plans of …
It was done quietly, if it was not done secretly : it was done quietly, without inviting any others than those of their own faction, to assemble with them : it was done quietly and in a manner which clearly indicated that something else than an untrammeled and unbiased expression of the will of all those who were present -- carrying with it, also, the assumed acquiescence of …
those who had originated aiul promoted it, secretly and rapidly, without alarming those who were assembled at Captain Hatfield's, and before they could be brought to the Courthouse, to defeat those purposes and to relegate the Morrises to that political obscurity iu which, very ungraciously, they had so long and so ingloriously rested. It was, in short, nothing else than a …
Intelligence of the movement of their opponents very soon reached those who were assembled at Captain Hatfield's Tavern ; and. we are told that, undoubtedly with very little delay, they, also, " walked " down to the Courthouse, although not half of their " friends who were expected had yet appeared." At that time, when the full force of all who thus presumed to act, in so …
' From the fact that the Meeting had been organized and "had already "entered upon tlic business uf tlie day," before it waa known to those who were at Hatfield's Tavern, that any movement toward sucli an organization had been made-- a fact w liich was openly stated in the IVuU fl of tlie one faction witliout having been controverted in the elaborate reply of the Chairman of …
I'hilii)se at their head, then appeared." In the I'rolesI of llie Iiilmhilinitu and Fncholdi rs, subsequently published, it is stated, specifically, that when those from Captain llatfleld's Tavern entered the Courthouse, ".the numbers on each side seemed tube nearly " equal ; and both together might amount to two hundred or, at most, "two hundrod and fifty." Nearly a month …
not of his supporters, by saying there were among them " many tenants who were not entitled to vote," etc., -- they were recognized as respectable farmers, even by that particular Morris who aimed to belittle them; but, in the presence of such as he, with nothing but what he had inherited, to ensure to him even a nominal respectability, they were evidently expected to be no …
They then fur- " ther declared their determined resolution to continue "steadfast in their allegiance to their gracious and " merciful Sovereign, King George the Third ; tosub- " mit to lawful authority ; and to abide by and sup- "l)ort the only true representatives of the People of "this Colony, the General Assembly." They then gave three cheers, and returned to Captain …
After the protestants bad thus peacefully left the Courthouse, the Meeting returned to the business for the transaction of which it had been convened and organized ; and the question was submitted, by the Chairman, " Whether they would appoint Depu- " ties for this County, to meet the D(!])uties of the " other Counties, at the City of New York, on the "twentieth of April …
Colonel Lewis Morris and Doctor Robert Graham -- the latter a kinsman of the former -- both of Westchester ; Stephen Ward, of Eastchester ; Colonel James Holmes and Jonathan Piatt, of Bedford; John Thomas, Junior, of Rye; and Samuel Drake and Philip Van Cortlandt, both of the Maner of Cortlandt ; a majority of whom was authorized to represent the County, and to cast the Vote …
" Resolved : That the thanks of this country is " due to the Delegates who composed the late Con- " gress, for the essential services they have rendered " to America, in general; and that this Resolve be " forthwith published." We are told, also, by the Chairman of the Meeting, that, "after the business of the day was thus con- " eluded, the people gave three huzzas for our …
-The practice of all, at that period and subsequently, on all such occasions as that referred to in the text, will sufficiently indicate to the reader, that the enthusiasm for the King which was displayed, as mnch by one faction as by the other, at the White Plains, on that eventful April day, was clue quite as much to what had been drunk at the two Taverns, before eithi-r of …
Only culprits c<mfess " a wrong-doing ; and with this '* confession " of one of tlie principal offenders, on the occasion referre(i to, the reader will be enabled to understand how small an amount of genuine ^)o/r;o(- >'«m there was, in such a crowd, no matter for whom it hurrahed ; and liow small tlie price was with w-hich that crowd had been purchased, to further the …
Although no action, on that subject, appears to have been taken by the Meeting, its master-spirit and Chairman, in his official capacity, appears to have continued the work for which the Meeting had been convened, completing it before he left the White Plains, by preparing an official narrative of the origin of the Meeting ; of the Caucus which had " recom- " mended " it; of …
"On the 28th day of March last, the following " Gentlemen having received letters from the Chair- " man of the Committee of the City and County of " New-York relative to the appointment of Deputies " for this County, met at this place for the purpose of " devising means for taking the Sense of this County " upon the Subject, viz : " Col. Lewis Morris, Theodosiiis Barlow, Esq …
" ' Sir. a number of gentlemen from different dis- " ' tricts in the county of Westchester having this " ' day met at the White Plains to Consider of the " ' most proper method of taking the Sense of the " ' Freeholders, of the said County, upon the Expedi- '' ' ency of choosing Deputies to meet the Deputies of " ' the other Counties, for the purpose of Electing has ever been …
*.\lthough the name was thus written, in the original manuscript, there can be no doiibt that reference was made to Theo<losius Bartow, second son of the Eev. John Bartow, the fiist Rector of the Parish of Westchester. Mr. Bartow snbseq\iently held the comfortable and profitable jdace of a "Commissary at Xew Rocbelle ; " and his son, (subsequently Rector of St. Matthew's …
" ' As this County is very Extensive we takethelib- " ' erty of recommending the meeting to be held at " ' the White Plains on Tuesday the 11th day of April " ' next at ten o'clock in the forenoon at the Court " ' House, and therefore do desire you, to give notice " ' of the Same to all the freeholders in your district, " ' without exception, as those who do not appear and " ' …
Philipse at their " head, then appeared, and Mr. Wilkins in their be- " half as he said, declared that they would not join " in the business of the day or have anything to " do with Deputies or congresses, but that they came " there, for the sole purpose of protesting against "such illegal and unconstitutional proceedings, after " which they departed. " The following Question …
"Resolved, that the thanks of this Body be given to ' " the virtuous minority of the general Assembly of "this Province, and particularly to John Thomas and "Pierre Van Cortlandt, Esqrs., two of ourrepresenta- " tives for their firm attachment to and zeal, on a late "occasion for the preservation of the Union of the " Colonies and the rigiits and liberties of America ; " and …
In the proceedings of the revolutionary faction, after its Meeting was organized, probably because of a consciousness of its own relative weakness within the County, there was an evident attempt to ajipear, at least, to be fair and honest in whatever was said or done -- no personalities or harsh words, of any kind, appear to have been used against those who entered its …
While the Meeting at the Courthouse was thus quietly engaged in the continued disciiarge of " the " business of the day," those who had protested, before it, against the call for the Meeting as well as against its proposed proceedings, returned to Captain Hatfield's Tavern, where they were joined, during the afternoon, by " many of their friends ;" and "they • In some of tlio …
" proceeded to draw up and sign a Declaration, which " they seemed to do," it is said, " with as much pat- "riotic zeal as ever warmed the hearts of true and " faithful Subjects; and, afterwards, they dispersed to "their different habitations.' " A narrative of the events was subsequently written, probably by Isaac Wilkins, and, with the Declaration affixed, it was printed in …
About 12 o'clock word was brought to "the gentlemen at Captain Hatfield's that the oppo- " site party had already entered ujton the business of "tlie day. Upon which they immediately walked "down to the Courthouse, although not half of their " friends who were expected, had yet appeared ; where " they found the other company collected in a body. " The numbers on each side …
They then declared their determined "resolution to continue stedfast in their allegiance to "their gracious and merciful sovereign King George " the Third -- to submit to lawful authority, and to " abide by and support the only true representatives " of the people of this colony, the General Assembly. "Then giving three huzzas, they returned to Captain "HatfieWs, singing as …
" ' God save great George our King, "'Long live our noble King, &c.' " At their return, finding that many of their friends 'had arrived during their absence, and that many ' still kept coming in, they proceeded to draw up, and ' sign the following declaration, which they seemed to ' do with as much patriotic zeal, as ever warmed the 'hearts of true and faithful subjects, and …
'' Isaac AVilkins, Joseph Gidney, ' ' Samuel Seabury, James Baxter, ' ' Luke Babcock, John Hart, ' ' Jonathan Fowler, Judge, Cornelius Losee, ' ' Caleb Fowler, Judge, Jesse Park, ' 'Jonathan P. Horton, Esq ; Roger Purdy, jun. ' ' William Sutton, Esq. ; ' ' Daniel Oakly, Esq. ; ' ' Benjamin Fowler, Esq. ; ' ' William Davids, Esq. ; ' ' William Anderson, Esq. ; ' ' William …
' ' Gilbert Hains, ' ' John Hains, Gilbert Pugsley, Abraham Leadeau, Benjamin Brown, Isaac Keed, Aaron Buis, Moses Weymen, Israel Underhill, John Baisley, David Oakley, jun. Isaac Smith, John Hyatt, Hezekiah Cudney, Abraham Odell, Thomas Lawrence, John Seyson, Jeremiah Travis, GrifFen Corey, Isaa Forsheu, Gabriel Requeaw, Samuel Webb, Benjamin Downing. Gabriel Archer, Elias …
• ' .John Bates, • ' Joseph Haviland, ' ' Eleazer Hart. ' 'Timothy Whetmore, ' • James Hunt. ' ' Joseph Parker, ' ' Joshna Barns, ' ' Joseph Purdy, " ' John Paik. " ' Samuel Purdy, " ' Gilbert Purdy, " 'James Chatterton, " ' John Dusenburgh, '• ' Thomas Cromwell, "'Solomon Horton, " ' Peter Busing, " ' Peter Busing, jun. " ' James Kniffen, " ' Nathaniel Underbill, jun. " ' …
Isaac Gidney, ' Nehemiah Tomkins, ' Henry Leforge, ' Evert Brown, ' Benjamin Beyea, ' Bartholomew Gidney, ' Josiah Brown, ' Scth Purdy, 'Peter Huggeford, ' Jacob Gidney, ' John Loce, ' Elnathan Appleby, ' John Baker, ' Jonathan Underbill, ' James M 'Chain , ' Benjamin Seacord, 'Joshua Hunt, ' Betts Chatterdon, ' William Landrine, ' Enoch Hunt, ' Peter Corne, ' Dennis Kennedy …
Gideon Arden, AVilliam Field, Joseph Purdy, George Storm, Jacob Vermiller, Samuel Heusted, Bartow Underbill, Lieut. John Warner, Nathaifiel Purdy, Isaac Rennet, Samuel Baker, John Cornwell, John Storm, Andrew Fowler, Joshua Secord, George French, John Underbill, Caleb Gidney, William Underbill, jun. James Hill, William Watkins, John Rustin, Richard Baker, William .\scough …
" In what manner those Gentlemen who chose the Committee at the Plains proceeded, we cannot positively say : But this we can declare with truth, that we do not believe they can produce to the public the names of an hundred and fifty persons who voted for a Committee that day, and we are verily persuaded that they did their utmost to make their party as numerous as possible …
" It is well-known here, that two-thirds at least of the inhabitants of this county, are friends to order and government, and opposed to Committees and all unlawful combinations ' ; and it will be made apparent to the world, that they are so, as soon as certain resolves now signing freely by the people, shall be ready for publication. -- And one principal reason why the …
"The Committee that was chosen, may, with some kind of propriety, be said to represent those particular persons who chose them : But how they can be denominated the representatives of the County of Westchester, who in general abhor Committees and Committee-men ; and are determined to take no steps that may have the least tendency to lead them into Rebellion, we cannot …
The promoters of the Meeting were evidently only a minority of those present, at the Courthouse, on that memorable eleventh of April ; and it is equally evident that if those who were opposed to them had pursued a different line of conduct and had joined issue with them, on the main question, the weight of the County would have been emphatically cast on the side of the …
But the majority, very correctly, considered that were it to assert its undoubted power, within the Meeting, and to participate in the proceedings of that Meeting, no matter for what pupose, it would be a tacit acknowledgment of the authority to do so, of those who had called the Meeting ; and it confined itself, therefore, to simply protesting against the entire proceedings …
The Provincial Convention duly assembled at the Exchange, in the City of Xew York, on the twentieth of April, 1775, the Counties of New York, Albany, Ulster, Orange, Westchester, Duchess, Kings, Suffolk, and two Towns in (Queens, being, more or less, represented by Delegates -- of the Delegation which had " This very important paper was published in Itiritiglon' s Xeic-YorTc …
Colonel Philip Schuyler, of Albany-county ; George Clinton, of Ulster-county ; Colonel Lewis Morris, of Westchester-county ; Robert R. Livingston, Junior, of Duchess county ; and Francis Lewis, of the City of New York ; as Delegates from the Colony of New York to the second Congress of the Continent ; and, on Saturday, the twenty-second of April, after the Credentials of the …
" were unanimously elected Delegates to represent "this Colony at such Congress, with f\ill power to them or any five of ** them, to meet the Delegates from the other Colonies and to concert " and determine upon such measures as shall be judged most effectual "for the preservation and re establishnieut of .American Kights and " Privileges, and for the restoration of harmony …
Bancroft, with all the authorities' licfore him. {Hixlnrii of the I'tiile'l Slates, original edition, vi., 283 ; the smue, centenary edition, iv., ^t\3,) made all " the ru- " ral Counties," without exception, "co-operate with the City, " in electing the Deputies, although Richmond, all of Queens except two Towns, Tyron, Cumberland and Charlotte-counties, made no pretension so …
The intelligence of that commencement of military operations, in the field, was received in the City of New York, on Sunday, the twenty-third of April ;^ and, at a Meeting of the Committee of Inspection, on the following Wednesday, that body, among other proceedings, resolved that "this Committee is further "unanimously of opinion, that, at the present alarm- " ing juncture …
It is positively and authoritatively stated, that, with the exception, the only exception, of one, who, when " he was at some "distance" -- out of harm's way -- turned and "gave them the guts "of his gun," not a single gun was tired by the Colonists. Those curious to learn more on that subject -- that " Battle " in which one of the parties did all the firing, and the other all …
<> The Committee of Inspection had recommended the dissolution of that Committee, because it was invested with [wwers respecting only the " ,Uxocm/i")j " of the Continental C<!ngre88 ; and it had also recommended the election of a new C'ommitli-e of one hundred penwjns, thirtythree of whom should be a quorum, all of whom should retire and the Committee be " dissolved within a …
Inasmuch as the City and, to a considerable extent, the Colony were practically in a state of anarchy, the Colonial Government being confessedly unable to do anything, even for the maintenance of a shadow of its official dignity and authority,' the calmness and ability with which the Committee controlled the excitable masses, within the City -- those who had been schooled, for …
It is proper, however, that notice should be taken, in this connection, of the fact that, during the entire j)eriod preceding the publication of that call for a Provincial Congress, there had been a wholesome fear, among all classes, unless the most radical and reckless, that such a body, called and organized without warrant in law and liable to become controlled by those who …
" The Governor desired their advice in the " then critical situation of affaii-s. Several things were mentioned, pro- " posed, agitated, and talked of, but to little purpose. .\ Judge of the "Supreme Court,'' ['ritomas Joni% who wrote thii statement,] "then "present, boldly proposed that the Militia should be called out, the " Riot .\ct read, and if the mob did not tliereupon …
Tliis proposal was instantly opposed by William " Smith, one of liis Majesty's Council, who openly declared ' that the ' ' ' ferment which then raged in the City wa;* general and not confined to " ' a few ; that it was owing to a design in the British Ministry to en- " 'slave the Colonies, and to carry such design into execution by dint of " *a military force ; that the Battle …
fact that, there, the entire machinerj' of the Colonial Government had been stopped ; the Courts had been closed ; and decrees of the most oppressive character had been enacted ; and these, not by the Colonial Government nor by those who were peculiarly supporters of the authority of the King, but by those who had assumed to lead the popular movement, who had utilized the …
That serious distrust, among thoughtful men, to 1 The Provincial Congress of South Carolina assembled at Charleston, on Wednesday, the eleventh of January, 17T5, and adjourned on Tuesday, the seventeenth of the same month. Besides approving the doings of the Continental Congress, it forbade the commencement of any Action for Debt, and the prosecution of any such Action as had …
Besides approving the doings of the Continental Congress, it forbade the commencement of any Action for Debt, and the prosecution of any such Action as had been commenced since the preceding September, unless with the consent of the Committee of the Parish in which the Defendant resided; "that " Seizures and Sales upon Mortgages should be considered on the same " footing as …
Descriptions of that Provincial Congress and of its remarkable methods and still more remarkable doings, may be seen in Ramsay's History of the Itevolution in tiiwth Carolina, i., 23-25; Drayton's Memoirs of the American lierolution as relating to South Oirolina, i., 166-180 ; etc. See, also, Journal of the Congress, re-printed in Force's American Arehires, Fourth Series, i …
They lived, on their way through Westchester-county as well as while they were within the City, entirely on their wits and on the products of their wits, professing to have come only " with a view of aiding and assisting " us in preijaring for our defense ;" but their reckless arrogance and audacity, in their assumption of authority in local afiairs as well as in other …