Shonnard, Frederic, and W.W. Spooner. History of Westchester County, New York, from its Earliest Settlement to the Year 1900. New York: The New York History Company, 1900.
1308 passages
416,139 words
Page 4 of 9
Under this census the ancient Town of Westchester led all the other localities of the county in population, with 572 inhabitants, having, indeed, a very decided preponderance over every community except Rye, which numbered 51 (5 souls. But it must be borne in mind that in 1712 Rye as a political division included certainly the White Plains and Harrison tracts; and probably not …
Moreover, Westchester, with its attached locality of West Farms, was peculiarly justified in appealing for special privileges, in view of the exceptional functions that had been conferred upon the adjacent manorial lands of Morrisania, Fordham, Philipseburgh, and Pelham. These lands had been erected into "entire and enfranchised townships, manors, and places by themselves," …
government" were beprivileges belonging to a town within this In 1686 it was deemed advisable by stowed upon the patentees. the inhabitants to procure a second patent, which was accordingly Under this second patent issued (January 6) by Governor Dongan. twelve men1 were designated as the "Trustees of the Freeholders and Commonalty of the Town of Westchester," these trustees …
In 1670 the good people of Westchester were somewhat exercised An order apby the appearance of a supposed witch amongst them. pears in the Assize Book, dated July 7, 1670, for the removal of one " Katherine Harrison late of Wethersfield in his Maties Colony of Connecticott widdow." In this order it is related that " contrary to ye consent & good liking of ye Towne she would …
A fact of curious interest, illustrating in a striking way the active enterprise which characterized the Town of Westchester and its associated districts from the beginning, has been brought to the attention of the present writer by the kindness of the Rev. Theodore A. Leggett, D.D., of Staten Island, a descendant of one of the West harms patentees. We have seen that Elizabeth …
It is interesting to note that he named as his executor the first Frederick Philipse, with whom he seems to have sustained a business partnership of some kind, and to whom ho bequeathed the sum of thirty pounds sterling. Upon the organization of our county, in 1683, Westchester was appointed to be its shire-town, and in legislative acts passed shortly after the regular …
By an act passed May 11, 16!>3, "a public and open market" was appointed to be held every Wednesday at Westchester; and it was enacted that "there shall likewise be held and kept twice yearly and every year a fair, to which fair it shall and may be likewise lawful for all and every person to go and frequent, . . . the first to be kept at the Town of Westchester in the said …
After instancing the previous grants of patents to the town and describing it with extreme and redundant particularity (its bounds being specified as the westernmost part of tk Brunks land " at the west and the westernmost line of " Mr. Pell's pattent " at the east), the charter provides that the former Town of Westchester shall in future be styled "the borrough and town of …
Retail liquor sellers are to be licensed at the discretion of the mayor, the annual license fee exacted being such sum of money as the licensee " shall agree for, not exceeding the sum of 20s." Finally the " mayor, aldermen, and common council*' are authorized "to return and send one discreet burgess of the sd town and borough into every general assembly hereafter to be …
A Lift of the Names of the prefenf .Reprefentatives ■EUtledand chofen by the ftverdtCUtes and Counties jn tkft Colony to jerve &Qimf0fj0Mlfa& For the City *nd County of Ne%-York, ' Efq; , Speak StephenPhiltp De fe,Lanccy Ef<# er^ A Dolph Capt. Gerrit Van Horns, Capt. Anthony, Rutgreft, For the Ctty and Qounty of Albany, RyerGerrttJe, Efc.; Coll. Mjndert Schuyla ■, Capt. Jacob …
Difadvantage, to leficn the Encouragement thar has been given to the nccefiary Officers ot the Government. ■ I depend on your Readinefs to the bed of Kings, who has fhewn, during the whole eourfe of His Reign, That theconjiam Em* filoymem of Ms Thoughts, and the mofi tartieft Wishes of His Heart, tend wholly to the Securing to His Subjetls the'irjufi Rights and Advr.tc.ges …
General Afsemblv, on the 17th of September his I fhall lay before you my late Conferences Excellency the'Governour made the following with the Six Nations, an which I flatter my felf, Speech to them, »«.-. that I hare contributed not a little to fix them in their Duty to His Majefty, their Afteftion to Qtnthmin ; this Government, and their juft Apprehcnfions of this of the Til …
Some (lie says) have likened this ancient town to those of New England and Long Island, while others, zealous members of the Episcopal Church, have tried to make themselves and others believe that the town was a reproduction of an English parish of the eighteenth century, such as we read of in the Spectator or the tales of Fielding and Smollett. They fancy the squire in his …
Though an act for settling orthodox ministers in the province was passed shortly after the establishment of the English colonial system (for of course, the English was the orthodox church in colonial times), those sons of Cromwellian soldiers, Quaker refugees, and Independents did not at first take kindly to a State church, and good Parson Bartow . . . did not even wear a …
Warham Mather as our minister for one whole year; and that he shall have sixty pound, in country produce at money price, for his salary, and that he shall be paid every quarter." Apparently the arrangement was not effected, or at least did not endure for long; for in 1092 the town voted that " there shall be an orthodox minister, as soon as possible may be," and requested …
He was a man of excellent learning and high character, and his letters (of which numerous ones are reproduced by Bolton) are of much interest to students of the early conditions in Westchester County. The orthodox church at Westchester was formally chartered under the name of Saint Peter's by Lieutenant-Governor Clarke in 1762. Eastchester, incorporated in the parish of …
The local history of Westchester County from the beginning of the eighteenth century to the Revolution involves nothing remarkable, aside from the aspects of the peculiar character from the first assumed by the county which have been described in our account of the origin and erection of the great manorial estates. Following the lines of development naturally resulting from …
The purely internal history of Westchester County for three-quarters of a century following the comparative completion of its settlement comprehends, indeed, nothing more than the ordinary chronicles of a lew scattered communities and of a mixed land-owning and farming population, living together in circumstances of good understanding and of xneasing though quite uneventful …
He first went to Virginia, and then to Jamaica, trying to support himself as a copyist and in other ways, The old and finally returned, tractable enough, to his uncle's roof. took an gentleman not only granted him full pardon, but promptly interest in procuring a suitable wife for him, with the result that, in November, 1691, he received the hand of Isabella, daughter of James …
He did not, however, neglect his property in New York. Following the example of other large land-owners, he had his Westchester County estate erected into the lk Lordship or Manor of Morrisania." This was done by letters patent granted to him on the 8th of May, 1697, by Governor Fletcher, wherein authority was given him and his successors to hold a court leet and court baron …
There were few encouragements in those limes for the development of independent and lofty civic character. All high positions were appointive, depending upon the favor of the royal governor, who was as likely as not to be a man utterly corrupt, mercenary, and unscrupulous. But from an early period of his public life, Morris displayed a bold and aggressive spirit, and an …
After the appointment of Jeremiah Basse as governor of New Jersey, in 1G98, Morris was one of the principal leaders of the party which refused to acknowledge his authority. He was in consequence expelled from the council and fined £50 for contempt. In 1700, when Hamilton was again made governor of New Jersey, Morris was appointed president of the council. In this position he …
It was not uncommon for him to dress in a woman's habit, and then to patrol the fort in which he lived. Such freaks of low humor exposed him to the universal contempt of the whole people. Their indignation was kindled by his despotic rule, savage bigotry, insatiable avarice, and injustice, not only to the public, but even to his private' creditors." In brief, he plundered the …
To this end resolutions were passed detailing the evils and infamies of his administra- HISTORY WESTCHESTER COUNTY tion, which were sent to England and resulted in Cornbury's recall (1708). During the brief rule of Lord Lovelace, Morris again sat in the council; but under Lovelace's successor, Ingoldsby, lie was once more suspended because of personal unacceptability to the …
Individual Palatine families sought homes from time to time in Westchester County, but our county was not one of the chosen places of colonization for these people, and no Palatinate settlements were established here. Hunter was an entirely different manner of man from the governors who preceded him. He boasted no dazzling ancestry. As a lad he was apprenticed to an …
The two collaborated in the composition of a farce entitled " Androborus," which hit off the peculiarities of some of their opponents in a lively fashion. Morris was promptly installed by Hunter as president of the council. It was in 1710, the year of Hunter's assumption of the governorship, that he entered the Xew York assembly as a delegate from the borough Town of …
It is a curious fact that Lewis Morris, whose chief claim to remembrance is his identification with the great popular agitation of a later period, whereof, indeed, he was one of the heroes, was, in this early controversy between the " Court party " and the people, the mainstay of the former. Moreover, the warmth of his advocacy of the governor's cause was such that, on account …
The affairs of the Province of New York moved along smoothly enough, excepting for the differences between the assembly and the executive, from the time of Hunter's appointment as governor, in 1710, until the arrival of Cosby, in August, 1732. Hunter was succeeded by William Burnet, also a highly polished and amiable man, with whom Morris sustained relations quite as friendly …
It also stood to his credit that he was the father of a family of fifteen children.1 Pending the selection of a new governor by the appointive power in England, Van Dam, in his capacity of president of the council, became vested with the authority of acting chief magistrate. elevaNone of the complicated circumstances attending the atlike this time. tion of the unfortunate …
Such ridiculous conduct on the part of a mere acting governor, who was only a plain, merchandizing citizen and Dutchman, could not be submitted to by the sensitive Cosby. He demanded that Rip Van Dam should deliver over to him one-half of the salary thus taken. 'host ATan Dam shrewd lv responded that he would cheerfully do so if Cosby him paid York City, would, on his part …
Equity courts, of which the governor was ex officio chancellor, had always been extremely distasteful to the people, and being constituted by the exclusive act of the executive, without the consent of the legislature, were, according to the best legal opinion, tribunals of at least doubtful authority. The assumption of the powers of chancellor by former governors had given …
I have no reason to expect that it or anything that I can say will be at all grateful or have any weight with your Excellency, after the answer I received to a message I did myself the honor to send you, concerning an ordinance you were about to make for establishing a Court of Equity in the Supreme Court as being in my opinion contrary to law, which I begged might be delaved …
The answer your Excellency was pleased to send me was, that 1 need not give myself any trouble about that affair, that you would neither receive a visit nor any message from me, that you would neither rely upon my integrity nor depend on at all fit to be trusted my judgment, that you thought me a person notever since your coming with anv concerns relating to the king, that …
I have been in office almost My hands were twenty years. power never soiled with a bribe, nor am I conscious to myself that of favor in partial be to me induce to able or poverty hath been from either of them; and as I have no reason to expect any favor test of the you so I am neither afraid nor ashamed to stand the I have served strictest inquiry you can make concerning my …
Always opposed to the institution of the Court of Chancery, the extemporization of that tribunal by Cosby for the special purpose of procuring a judgment in his own favor was an outrage deeply offensive to their sense of decency and right; and the rude expulsion of Chief Justice Morris from the bench, because of his unwillingness to be a party to such a flagrant transaction …
The resulting eiection, held on the 29th of October, on " the Green " at the Town of Eastchester, was probably the most notable one in the whole colonial history of Westchester County. The elaborate and graphic description of it, published in the first number of the famous New York Weekh/ Journal, November 5, 1733, is undoubtedly familiar to many of our readers, having been …
I shall give my readers a particular account of Eastchester and other Church the to affixed papers by having County, said the of Sheriff of public places, given notice of the Day and Place of Election, without mentioning any time Day when it was to be done, which made the Electors on the side of the late Judge very watch kept them of fifty about suspicious that some Fraud was …
of the Electors o the lower part of U ,t tie East e„d o the Town by about seventy horse Election in the following order, vu: he Connty and then proceeded toward the place of the principal Freeholders, one of Fi-st r le tw o trumpeters and three violins; next, four of gold capitals « king George and v nVl ca rhHl a banner, on one side of which was affixed in to££ n the other in …
Baker, which was to town, finely mount *«£*£■£ Sheriff came after, the Highlaced 1 .. Abou "an hlr scarlet, with silver. Upon Ins approach, the Elect Orson richly „,i,l holster cans being read Ins Majesty s v em i, the Green, where they were to elect, and, after having 1.1, appeared tor majority great a and did, they which choice, a to "proceed te to b the 1 , hut by whom is …
William Willet (a person of good estate and known integrity, who was at that time present and ready to make oath to the truth of what was said) that true it was that he had not taken the oaths to his Majesty King George, and enjoyed a place in the Government under him which gave him his bread; yet notwithstanding that, should King James come into England he should think …
The people made a loud huzza, which the late Chief Judge blamed very much, as what he thought not right. Forster replied he took no notice of what the common people did, since Mr. Morns did not put them upon the doing of it. The indentures being sealed, the whole body of Electors waited on their new Representative to his lodgings with trumpets sounding and violins and in a …
As the Philipse and de Lancey party chose to take their stand against the so-called land tax, the Morrisites met them by raising the counter issue of no excise. question of the governor's But in reality it was a contest onandtheas sole such it became a perfect test outrageous abuse of authority, of the disposition and readiness of the people to shake off the fetters of an …
of " land tax " and " excise." All the government influence was arrayed againsl Morris, and with a f..m.alii.v ami .ht.T.ninaiion most The Morris party, on the other hand, stood just as unconspicuous. mistakably and resolutely for the principle of popular defiance of op The electors of the county were conscious thai pressive government. the verdict which they were called upon …
L- 1. , whirl,, under the influence of its proprietor, waj t. I rom L'elhara and New imi for his antagonii ,r i lie Manor of I lort landl I he word Uochelle to th( ,i i iastchester earlj on the had gone forth to gather on the Un • I-. Kven the Quakers, the parti «>f 0< niMinni;. mI M. mm lav, tl..- L".Hli strictest oi Sabbath observers, joined in the throng which began to …
I-, ..I (In- (.lain p.-.,p|.-, particularly i1" in i he \ merica n i olonies, I he associa I ions (»i the d< graded dynasty corrupt ion, and wore entirely ' hose of oppressive rule, licenl ioi could attach to So severer political re] religious intolerance. elective office) than the an American subjecl (especially if he son ,r the Stuart Pretender. suspii ion of being n …
' In hl ■■' ""l"1" i ;,i i (ml i im. 1 1.. ..hi fn i ipnp< r in I In |n •■ Im i ,,i ii,,- (jn , it, .i|.|.i .u.'l ..i. I " Infn i Mi I i ' .. iimli i 1 1" 'ii" i Hon of \\ iiii.ii,, Hi ,i.ii., i-l v ho fi i "i i"in,'i i fi [irinh r In IMiilndi Ipliln, [nil ,M), ,. \{\%\ h,..l [mm ii ••'• ' i mi" nl |H Inlci In ,,l j in |„ i fiiifiiifn .. - r find Film i v linl I" ■ "i I rm …
II,. 1 1 '/< I,-. •!■, before r < I u r n i k • • tn \ .,i I itio .-.I In i in,, im ■< i ipl f.o fi lend mi' Iim-imI, u I..., n-fi I I m- f.o the (Jiml ,i ,,i. uiid 1 1 imI in ' 'i ;• Ii i ■' " fl Hurl ;, , opie I /\l Fill < .cfil I, lie Fil nm f00| I. p , fo l..-:-in I Im |. ill. In Fl.l lofl "I rivnl new KpH per ; ■< ml In I i | ,r n«/ fM.ni( n weel .,) i I,. Ve V '» Ofl …
,,i (| „i (I- w.Unmltom ' : l m,„-. fi u\ i.K i,l kh Ki ,.,■ r. l. nl : .■ •■ In |*<>f,i> »,« I ■'■ ■ ' " : ,'"1"' ' nl '■ riiel ,.,,.., ,,i ,,.,' . ■ n ; ' ,-" I-" '" f"i I in il,- ..,..!•' ' I. •« | ■ "' ' |))( I,.,., |, il,,- ;,,,■.,!<• || .i,l im i.i irn pre allied .un'-n;- -ill i hi pttph ' eepl tl"- '" \hium\UiU-\) \<U nlifn -I villi \.\u «nv< f-m»i i .n,-l i h< i,' /, ■ …
Leisler, Zenger was a German by birth -- a typical representative of the early class of alien immigrants who came to America to better their condition, and readily adapted themselves to the institutions He came over as a lad in the Palatinate which they found here. immigration of 1710, served as an apprentice at the printing trade with William Bradford for eight years, and …
These and others furnished him, for his paper, numerous able and aggressive articles upon topics germane to the absorbing quesThe tion of popular rights, which were printed over noms de plume. personaldirect, more became gradually Journal tone of the Wecldy ities were indulged in, and unsparing poetical effusions, of very manifestly personarapplication to the governor and his …
But what was most desired, the indictment lie was nevertheless arrested on an inof Zenger, was still refused. ELECTION 1 < 33 formation for libel, and, after languishing in prison several months, was brought to trial on a charge of printing matter that was " false, scandalous, and seditious." His counsel, Alexander and Smith, courageously took the ground that the whole …
" I make no doubt," said he, in prophetic words, "but your upright conduct this day will not only entitle you to the love and esteem of your fellowcitizens, but every man who prefers freedom to a life of slavery will bless and honor you as men who have baffled the attempts of tyranny, and, by an impartial and incorrupt verdict, have laid a noble foundation for securing to …
During the long controversy and agitation which preceded it, the people had familiarized themselves with the doctrine of resistance to tyrants. " If all governors are to be reverenced," said one of the writers in Zenger's Journal, " why not the Turk and old Muley, or Nero?" It became decidedly the fashion to exalt the people above their rulers, and to make pungent retorts to …
In September, 1731, when the agitation arising out of the Van Dam matter, Morris's dismissal, and the course of the Weekly Journal was at its height, an election for aldermen and assistants was held, at which only one of the government candidates was successful. As we have seen, the grand jury from first to last refused to indict Zenger; and the common council was equally …
Therefore eit will not be improper to chy, the Will of the Prince being the communicat to the Publick the Senti- Law,a Liberty of the Prefs to complain ments of a late excellent Writer upon of Grievances would be complaining this Poinr. fuch is the Elegance and againft the Law, and the Conftitution, Pcrfpicuity of his Writings, fuch the to which they have fubrnitted, or have …
They are the flreigh fuffeT any Subject to animadvert on his Actions, when it is in his Pow- Rule and fureGuide to direct theKing, er to declare the Crime, and to nomi- the Minifters, and other his Subjects : nate the Punifhmcnt > This would And therefore an Offence againft the make it very dangerous to exercifefuch Laws_ is fuch an Offence againft the a Liberty Bcfidcs the …
Nothing is more interesting in connection with the Westchester electoral contest of 1733 than the fact that the lines of local division upon which it was fought were precisely the ones that divided the rival Whig and Loyalist factions of the county when they came to make their trial of strength forty years later on the issue of co-operation or non-co-operation with the general …
Soon afterward, in 1736, Cosby died. Morris, upon his return to America, was very warmly greeted by the people. Notwithstanding his prominent connection with the events whose history we have traced, and in spite of the comparative failure ol his mission to England, he retained the friendship and appreciation of influential men at the British court, and was, in 1738, appointed …
He was the father of Colonel Lewis Morris, the signer of the Declaration of Independence; of the still more noted statesman, Gouverneur Morris; of Judge Richard Morris, successor to John Jay as chief justice of the Supreme Court of New York State; and of General Staats Long Morris, of the British army. Lewis Morris, Jr., third proprietor and second lord of the Morris estates …
When the great popular issue arose in 1733 on the Van Dam salary question he was a zealous supporter of his father's cause. Cosby, in his denunciatory communications to the Lords of Trade respecting the attitude of Chief Justice Morris, speaks with savage resentment of the son also, who, he says, having "got himself elected an assemblyman for a borough, gave all the opposition …
He related how Morris and his son, Van Dam, Smith, and Alexander had by their long-continued acts " wrought the people to a pitch of rebellion." " These are the men," he said, " who declaim against the king's prerogative, who poison the minds of the people, who libel the governor and all in authority in weekly printed papers, and who have endeavored to distress the governor in …
" It is my wish," he says, " that my son Gouverneur shall have the best education that can be furnished him in England or America, but my express will and directions are that under no circumstances shall he be sent to the Colony of Connecticut for that purpose, lest in his youth he should imbibe that low craft and cunning so incident to the people of that country, and which …
In 1740 the people of Bogt(m were rtivi(led in opinion llpon the ques,. . ., ,, . „. . , ,, , . lion of the erection of a new Central Market of New was a native of our Town named, Rochelle, whence he went to Boston in the year 1720, at the age of eighteen. His uncle Andrew was a wealthy merchant of that city, bltter fee,mg was aroused. Hal1' and mneh Thereupon, Peter Faneuil …
By him the whole manor was transmitted at his death in 1751 to his eldest son, the third Frederick, who continued in possession of it until the Revolution. When tin- first Frederick Philipse died, the manor had been in existence only nine years. But he had previously devoted many years to the purchase of the estate and its gradual preparation for aristocratic pretensions, had …
every personal and local name, of its four great registers of members, consistorymen, baptisms, published a little book entitled, " First Record an(J marriageSi from its organization to the Cook of the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hoieighteenth century. Translated and low, Organized in 1697, and now the First Reorig- copied from the original, and carefully proofN. Y. Anmatter …
It is unquestionable that the first lord of the manor laid substantial foundations for its development and transmitted it to his successors in a condition At the census of reasonably good preparedness for rapid progress. of 1712, only ten years after his death, the population of Philipseburgh Manor was 60S-- more than one-fifth of the whole population of the county. All of the …
Adolph was his second son and Frederick his grandson -- the only child of his eldest son, Philip, who died on the Island of Barbadoes in 1700. Adolph Phiiipse was born in New York City, November 15, 1065. He was reared to mercantile pursuits, and according to all accounts was, like his father, a shrewd and successful man of affairs. From old official documents it appears that …
In a memorable report of the British Board of Trade, October 19, 1698, on the connections subsisting between the New York merchants and the pirates, the operations of the clever Adolph in one instance are explicitly described. A ship or sloop called the " Frederick," belonging to Frederick Philipse, at that time " one of his Majesty's Council of New York," was, " upon …
There the said sloop delivered some small part of East India cargo, and from thence, by his direction, sayled with the rest (North about Scotland) to Hamburgh, where some seizure5 having been made by Sir Paul Ricaut (His Majesty's Resident there), and the men sent hither (London), they have each of them severally made depositions relating to that matter before Sir Charles …
Adolph Philipse in the year before this episode of the wt Frederick " had become on his own account one of the principal land owners of the province. On the 17th of June, 1697, Governor Fletcher granted to him a patent (known historically as "The Great Highland Patent") for the territory immediately above Westchester County, running from the Hudson to the Connecticut line, a …
Blake in his " History of Putnam County," were confiscated by the legislature, but the reversionary interest was not affected by this action, and that interest was purchased of the heirs for $100,000 by the first John Jacob Astor, who ten years afterward received for it from the State of New York $500,000 in State stock at six per cent. After the death of his father, Adolph …
He occupied the speaker's chair until 1737, when he lost his seat; but at an election held soon afterward to till a vacancy from the city he was once more returned, although, it was charged, only by means of the "most barefaced villany " practiced in his behalf by the sheriff. He was again chosen speaker in 1739, and remained as such until 1745, when, at the age of eighty, his …
In 1727 we find Governor Burnet bitterly complaining to the Lords of Trade about some " extraordinary resolves " concerning the Court of Chancery, "which," he says, "was all done at the suggestion their speaker, who had lately lost a cause in chancery." Philipse,of he continues, had "the least reason of any man to disown the Court of Chancery, for he himself was a member of …
Adolph Philipse, moreover, was never an intense partisan; and his long-continued service as speaker of the assembly is sufficient testimony to the general fairness and acceptability of his political disposition. He always adhered to the simple religious faith in which he had been brought up, that of the Dutch Reformed Church, although the Church of England increasingly claimed …
His grandfather, who was still living, thereupon sold the Barbadoes property, and the boy was sent to England to be reared by his mother's people. There he remained until his early manhood, enjoying every educational and social advantage which wealth and distinguished connections could give. Although from these associations he derived marked aristocratic predilections, which …
To the west the greensward sloped gradually toward the river, dotted with fine specimens of ornamental trees, and was emparked and stocked with deer. The roof of the manor house was surmounted by a heavy line of balustrade, forming a terrace, which commanded an extensive view. The interior of the new part was elaborately finished. The walls were wainscoted, and the ceilings …
During the first few years of his residence on his estate he took no part in public life. But from the time of his first election to the assembly, in 1726, until his death, in 1751, he was constantly in official position. His career in the assembly was not specially noteworthy. Despite the rivalry of the Morrises, who stood for political views radically opposed to his own, his …
It is related in Governor Cosby 's official letter to the home government concerning Morris's famous decision that Justice Philipse, in common with Justice de Lancey, heard k' with astonishment "the abrupt declaration by the chief justice that the Court of Chancery was not a legal tribunal; and this no doubt was a quite faithful representation of his mental attitude on that …
Adolph, that he enjoyed possession of the whole property -- he ruled with much appreciation of his proprietary dignity and correspondingobservance of ceremony, but to the uniform satisfaction of his tenants, lie displayed none of the puffed-up characteristics of the parvenue lord, but was kind, approachable, moderate, and good to the poor. He presided in person over the …
Joseph Bebits, and sometimes in a barn when empty." That this unsatisfactory condition of things was permitted by the second lord to continue throughout his lifetime, although meanwhile he made the most elaborate expenditures upon his manorial mansion and grounds, must be set down positively to his discredit. When, finally, by his will he directed his executors to expend £4(10 …
HISTORY OF westchestp:r county property as one of the great family estates of Westchester County, and thus Scarsdale never ranked with the other manors. It was preserved intact, however, under the joint proprietorship of Heathcote's two daughters, until just before the Revolution, when its lands were disposed of to various persons by partition sale. Its progress in population …
The de Lancey family of the county, descended in part from him and in part from his brother Peter, is one to which uncommon historical interest attaches. His father, Stephen de Lancey, a descendant in the Huguenot bianch of an ancient and noble French house, fled from France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and in 16SG arrived in New York with a capital of £300 …
Whatever may have been the determining reasons for his support of Governor Cosby ARISTOCRATIC FAMILIES and antagonism of Chief Justice Morris in the Van Dam ease, he unhesitatingly followed to its logical conclusion the course that he adopted upon that occasion. Of a very proud nature, he deeply resented the assumption by the other side of superior virtue and superior regard …
Although the quarrel resulted in the dismissal of Morris and his own appointment to the vacated office, he had to suffer for two years the humiliation of extreme unpopularity and of utter failure to compel acceptation for his official orders and rulings in the further developments of the controversy. The grand jury, despite his strenuous and repeated application, refused to …
During the administration of the royal GovernorClinton, father of Sir Henry Clinton, he severed his connections with the "court party" and was consequently regarded with scant favor by the executive and his adherents. He was appointed to the office of lieutenant-governor by the proper authority in England, but Clinton revengefully withheld the commission for six years …
James was prominent politically after his father's death until the devolution, and then became a Tory; he married a daughter of Chief Justice William Allen, of Pennsylvania; two of his sons were officers in the British military and naval service. Stephen received from his father as a gift what is now the Town of North Salem in this county (which came to the elder de Lancey as …
He married Elizabeth, daughter of Governor Cadwallader Colden. Among his children were John, who sat in the assembly for Westchester Borough from 1708 to 1775, and Avas high sheriff of the county in 1709-70; James, high sheriff from 1770 to 1777, the famous colonel of the Westchester Light Horse (British), who after the Revolution lived and died a refugee in Nova Scotia; and …
Livingjhris own Tcnan againft him, in which they fo far ithin a few Years held Lands as Tenants under, fiicceeded, that feveral Perfons, < ind paid their Rents to him, now keep Poffeffion of the Lands Dclance of, and fet up a pretended Right againft him, under e Government of the Majfachufetts Bay, and the aforementioned Ind iPurchafe; by which illegal Proceedings, fupportcd …
IN Ord< ^therefore to put a Stop as much cay be to P'ocs«ding», the Confcdfcnces whereof have already been fatal to fome, and winch if not timely prevented, may ft ill be produi?nve of the worfi Evd3 to *>Jep ; and to efhblifh and keep up Peace and a good Und (landing among the Borderefs, till Cor.troverfy Hereby ihall beinft,|ed in a legal Courfcnrictly : I HAVE > maieity …
Reel, and all and cv y of their Affociates, who fliali appear to nave been aiding or alettii the faid Offenders in the Riot aforefaid ; and them and i f of them to keep, or caufe to be committed, in fife Cufody, in that iWnty Goal, until delivered by due Courfe of Law : And ' ke Manner, to apprehend and fceep in fafe Cuftody all and every . rerfon and Perfons who (hall …
Another brother of Governor de Lancey, Oliver, was a conspicuous figure in public life until the end of the colonial regime, although never connected with Westchester County. In the Revolution he was the British commander of the Department of Long Island, and raised three regiments, known as " De Laneey's Battalion;' of which he was brigadier-general. His descendants …
The Manor of Cortlandt, devised by Stephanus Van Cortlandt at his death, in 1700, to his eleven surviving children in equal shares (except that his eldest son, Johannes, received, in addition to his equal portion, what is now Verplanck's Point on the Hudson, a tract of some twenty-five hundred acres), remained undivided for many years. The family was a very united one. The …
By articles of agreement entered into by the Van Cortlandt heirs in November, 1730, Philip Verplanck was appointed to survey and lay out the manor into thirty lots. This commission was duly executed, although Verplanck's survey was confined to the portion of the manor north of the Croton River. The lots were soon afterward conveyed to the several parties in interest by …
Thus in 1733 all of Westchester County north of the Croton River, and between that stream and the Connecticut line, having an aggregate area of over seventy-five thousand acres, was appraised for the paltry sum of $48,000. This territory now includes the Towns of Cortlandt, Yorktown, Sinners, North Salem, Lewisboro, and a portion of Pouudridge, whose combined taxable value …
The whole tract was laid out into farms, rectangular in shape, of two hundred acres each as a rule. These were leased for lung terms of years at low rents, the highest not being more than £10 and the lowest about £2 or £3. The rent rolls and map showed the farms, which were all numbered, the tenants' names, and the rent payable by each. It was always understood that the …
Notwithstanding the complete partition of the estate, the " Lordship and Mannour " of Cortlandt, as erected by letters patent front Governor Fletcher in 1697, did not in any respect lose iis original identity or the peculiar privileges bestowed upon it by the terms of that grant. It continued to be a distinct political division, and, indeed, was separated front the remainder …
In 1750, on account of increasing population, the election of two constables was authorized -- one for the portion of the manor near the Hudson River and the other for the interior sections. In L708 the number of constables was increased to three. Ryck's Patent (Peekskill) acquired in 1770 the privilege of choosing its own local officers independently of the manor, although …
But this second Philip, preferring a military life, entered the British army, in which he had a long career, fighting against American freedom in the Revolution.1 His uncle Pierre (youngest son of the first Philip and grandson of Stephanas) ultimately became the leading member of the Van Cortlandt family resident on the manor. Pierre Van Cortlandt's is one of the great names …
Not an old man, ami yet arrived at an age of gravity; not a politician in the common sense, but well experienced in public affairs and having a reputation for great judiciousness and virtuous love of truth and right; the head of a family as reputable and as highly and widely connected as any in the province, his example was of inestimable moral value to a cause which, in this …
At the termination of the war, he went to England to reside, and died at Hailsham, in 1S14. He had twenty-three children, twelve of whom reached maturity, the sons all attaining high rank in the British army and the daughters marrying into the best English and Scotch families. The present Lord Elphinstone, one of the Queen's lords in waiting, is a greatgrandson of Colonel Van …
He died in the manor house on the 1st of May, 1S14, being aged more than ninetythree years. He lies buried in the cemetery of the Van Cortlandts. The following is the inscription on his tomb: " Mark the perfect man and behold the upright ; for the end of that man is peace." In memory of the Honorable Pierre Van Cortlandt, late Lieutenant-Governor of the State of New York, and …
Jacobus purchased from his father-in-law, Philipse, in 1G99, fifty acres, to which he later added several hundred acres more. He promptly began to improve his estate. About 1700 he dammed Tippet's Brook, thus creating the present Van Cortlandt Lake; and probably not long afterward he erected below the dam the Van Cortlandt mill, which until as recent a date as 1889 (when it …
It is unpretentious in appearance, yet possessing- a stateliness all its own, which grows upon the visitor. It was erected in 1748 by Frederick Van Cortlandt -- a stone on the southwest corner bears the date -- and possesses within and without many peculiarities of the last century. . . . The style of architecture of the house is essentially Dutch. The old Dutch builders were …
Though an undoubted patriot, and resident within the British lines, ho was not disturbed by the enemy in his possessions, and, indeed, so great was the respect in which his character was hold, was able frequently to exercise powerful influence with the British authorities in New York in behalf of his distressed countrymen. lie died in 1800 without issue, whereupon the "•Little …
However, the manor was preserved as such until the death of the last " lord," Joseph Pell, in 1776; and the Pells in their various branches were always a numerous and respectable family, contracting advantageous marital alliances in both the male and female lines. The principal person of the Pell name in later colonial and Revolutionary times was Philip Pell, a conscientious …
From Thomas Cornell the estate passed successively to his widow, to his two daughters, Sarah ami Rebecca, aiid to his grandson, William Willett, son of his eldest daughter, Sarah, by her first husband, Thomas Willett. William Willett (born 1644) ir, 1667 obtained from the first English governor, Nicolls, a new patent to Cornell's Neck. He made his abode there, apparently, soon …
We have seen thoroughly He was in a previous chapter that when the great issue of the abuse of the governor's prerogative arose, and a test of popular sentiment was instituted by causing the deposed Chief Justice Morris to stand for the assembly, William Willett resigned his seat in that body to afford opportunity for the desired test; and also that he was one of the most …
jpB^SfHE theory and practice of colonial self-government were of •%|M*i no sudden development in the Province of New York. Still Jtg^jl;, iess were they the result of mere observation and imitation ' of bold examples set by the people of other British colonies in America. In the earliest days of English rule, the people of New York were not only ready for any measure of …
The liberty-desiring people of the province harbored no kindly feeling for James as proprietor or James as sovereign, and when the news arrived of the Revolution of 1688 and the accession under liberal auspices of William, Prince of Orange, they hailed it with joy, treated James's lieutenant-governor, Nicholson, with scant courtesy, and finally expelled him from his post and …
Regarding the existing government of the City of New York as unadapted to the changed order of things, they did not, however, presume to reorganize it by the use of appointive powers, but ordeal a popular election for the choice of a new mayor and aldermen. The spirit and transactions of the Leisler period afford convincing evidence of the very early preparedness of the people …
It was in practice wholly subservient to the governor, since its members were appointable and removable by the home government in England, subject singly to his recommendation. By the entire absence of a ki government of the day," executive power was concentrated in the hands of the governor, who, unless a man of exceptionally virtuous and moderate character (which seldom …
The result was that, instead of being a co-operative factor in the business of managing the province, it held itself in an attitude of confirmed reserve toward the executive It was a substantial repetition of the feud between the parliament and the king, with the difference that, while that unhappy feud in the mother country endured for only a brief comparative period, its …
To such a pitch had the resolute spirit of the colonists readied after sixty years of representative government, that upon the arrival of the royal Governor Osborn, in 1753, he was greeted by the city corporation with an address in which was expressed the significant expectation that lie would be as "averse from countenancing as we from brooking any infringements of our …
A tragical episode of another kind, the " battle of Golden Hill," New York City (January 19 and 20, 1770), resulting in the shedding of the hrst blood of the Revolution, is directly traceable to the grim policy of the New York provincial assembly in relation to money grants. The assembly had persistently refused to provide certain articles, such as beer and cider, for the use …
The provincial assembly of New York was always entirely loyal to the king in its professions, and also in its true spirit; and even to the last days of its last session, when the clouds of war were about to spread over the land, was averse from being otherwise regarded. It was a relatively small legislative body, never having more than thirty members; and it uniformly …
In the vacillating record of the assembly i> certainly to be found the explanation of the general impression which has always existed and probably never will be quite removed, that New York was comparatively a conservative and reluctant factor in the movement of the thirteen colonies for independence-- an impression which is most unjust, not to be encouraged for a moment by …
Writing on the 21st of February, 1770, soon after the Golden Hill conflict, he said: ,( The persons who appear on these occasions are of inferior rank, but it is not doubted that they are directed by some persons of distinction in this place. It is likewise thought they are encouraged bysome persons of note1 in England. They consist chiefly of dissenters, who are very …
Governor Colden's enumeration of the Lutherans, the old Dutch, and "several Presbyterians" among the "friends of government" is merely a recognition that Toryism did not wholly depend for support upon the aristocratic church. The Lutherans, or Germans, and the "old Dutch," belonging to an alien race, deliberate, slow, easily satisfied with moderately free institutions …
In earlier times the name "Presbyterians" was generic for all who were not of the "Court" party-- that is, for all who arrayed themselves politically against the " Episcopalian," or arrogant ruling, class-- the Church of England having been the institution of those who cherished peculiarly their British breeding and antecedents, holding themselves as a superior society amid a …
With all their boasts of superiority, the Tories of New York have left few names remarkable for anything more meritorious than proud faithfulness to the British monarchy, which faithfulness, moreover -- as, for example, in the lamentable case of our Frederick Philipse, -- was p r o m p t e d quite as often by miscalculating conceptions of the chances of the war as by nervous …
The colonists had cheerfully borne their part in the great achievement, and, if properly appealed to, would have discharged as cheerfully their share of the resulting indebtedness. But the British government had grown weary of submitting to the caprices of the colonial assemblies inthe matter of money grants, and, in looking to America after the close of the war for financial …
Finally, the colonies were to be taxed directly by parliament, through the medium of stamped paper, whose use was to be obligatory in all mercantile transactions, and even for marriage licenses. And as a means for compelling acquiescence in the new regulations a standing army of ten thousand men Avas to be sent over and quartered on the Americans, who were required to pay …
Communications on the subject were exchanged by the various colonial assemblies; ami it was decided to hold a general congress of the colonies to discuss the matter and to take steps for united action. This body came together on October 7 in the assembly chamber of the city hall in New York, twenty-eight delegates being in attendance, representing nine of the thirteen …
But the most powerful weapon used by the inhabitants of New York against the Stamp Act was the celebrated "Non-Importation Agreement." This was adopted on the evening of October 31, 17C>.>, by some two hundred New York merchants, at a meeting held in Burns's coffee house. They pledged themselves to import no goods from England until the Stamp Act should be repealed. The …
The king's birthday, the 4th of June, was made the occasion of a grand celebration, one of whose incidents was the erection of a This organliberty pole under the auspices of the Sons of Liberty. ization was a secret confraternity of the more radical element of It appears the people, with ramifications throughout the colonies. at the time of the taking effect of the to have …
Then, in the spring of 17(59. the merchants of New York again met and formulated a second Non-Importation Agreement, under which no English goods, with but few exceptions, were to be purchased so long as the duties should remain in force. The mercantile communities of Philadelphia and Boston were somewhat tardy in assenting to this instrument, but by the fall they gave in …
Finally, in 1773, the British cabinet attempted a master stroke. They rescinded the large export duty taxed on tea leaving British ports, retaining, however, the small import duty of three pence per pound on American importations of the article. The Boston Tea Party occurred on the 16th of December, 1773. Up to that date no tea had arrived at New York, but more than a month …
News of the proceedings reached New York on the 12th of May. It was instantly recognized that a like fate was undoubtedly in store for New York, and accordingly a great meeting was held, under the joint auspices of the Sons of Liberty and the more dignified classes of the community, presided over by Isaac Low, a prominent merchant, a leading member of the Church of England …
Dawson regards it as scandalously improbable that the honest, discreef, humble, and virtuous inhabitants of this strictly rural county, fearing Cod ami loving their lawful king, could have had anything in common with the greedy, smuggling merchants and unblushing political deina1 Although this performance of Dawson's is very elaborate, ii is really Inn a fragment, terminating …
"Such a community as that which constituted the County of Westchester," says lie, "a community of well-situated, intelligent, and well-to-do farmers, diligently and discreetly attending to its own affairs, without the disturbing influences of any village or county coterie, has generally been distinguished for its rigid conservatism in all its relations; and such a community …
Dawson's reputation as a minute and entirely well-meaning historical writer -- a reputation appreciated especially by his many surviving friends in Westchester County, -- his study of our Revolutionary period can not, in a work on the general history of the county, escape the passing criticism which its spirit merits, as, on the other hand, the abundant historical data that we …
represented in the assembly, for longer or briefer periods, by Colonel Frederick Philipse (3d), Peter de Lancey and John, his brother, Judge John Thomas, Philip Verplanck, Pierre Van Cortlandt, Isaac Wilkins, and Colonel Lewis Morris (3d). Philipse and Thomas served continuously throughout that period, both sitting for the county. Van Cortlandt succeeded Verplanck as member …
Judge Thomas was a very prominent citizen of Rye, and one of the most consistent and valuable advocates of independence, dying a martyr to the cause in a prison in New York City in 1777. Isaac Wilkins, of Castle Hill Neck, in the Borough of Westchester, was ;i brother-in-law of Lewis and Couverneur Morris, but was on the opposite side politically. He was one of the leaders of …
In the historic assembly of 1775, when the issues for and against aggressive resistance to England were sharply drawn, Westchester County's representatives were Van Cortlandt, Thomas, Philipse, and Wilkins. It is thus seen that, as concerns representation in the assembly, the opposing parties of liberty and loyalty were exactly balanced in this county. On the one side were …
Van Cortlandt was in all respects a match for Philipse and the de Lanceys, to whatever elevation of ISAAC WILKIN!: dignity or social importance they pretended; and it was his personality which gj to the Revolutionary movement in Westchester County a far different aspect than that of a mere propaganda of agitators. His support of the cause stamped it necessarily as one …
They all proceeded to one Van Cortof the highest points on the estate, and, pausing, Tryon announced to the listening landt the great favors that would be granted to him if he would espouse the royal cause and added to be would land of grants Large give his adhesion to the king and the parliament. his estate, and Tryon hinted that a title might be bestowed. Van Cortlandt …
On the afternoon of Tuesday, the 17th of May, Paul Revere passed through Westchester County, along the old Boston Post Road, bearing dispatches from the Boston citizens to their brethren in New York and Philadelphia. New York responded immediately with a recommendation for a new colonial congress, which was adopted. The people of New York City on July 4 elected as delegates to …
He lived with his parents throughout his childhood and youth in the homestead at Rye -- " a long, low building, but one room deep and eighty feet wide, having attained this size to meet the wants of a numerous family." He was educated at King's College (now Columbia), taking the bachelor of arts degree in 1764, and, after being admitted to the bar, entered upon a professional …
A subcom it e oflive (John Jay being one of its members) was appointed on the 30th of May " to write a circular letter to the supervisors in the different counties, acquainting them of the appointment of this committee, and submitting To the consideration of the inhabitants of the counties whether it could not be expedient for them to appoint persons to correspond with this …
tion of the election of delegates to the approaching congress by the City and County of New York, and requested the other counties either to appoint additional delegates of their own or to signify their willingness that the delegates already chosen in the city should act for them also, on the understanding that whatever number of representatives should appear from this …
Upon this point the Rye people said: "That they think it their greatest happiness to live under the illustrious House of Hanover; and that they will steadfastly and uniformly bear true and faithful allegiance to His Majesty, King George the Third, under the enjoyment of their constitutional rights and privileges as fellow-subjects with those of England." And the W'estchester …
There was no dissident element in the convention, and by unanimous consent the live men previously elected by the people of New York City as delegates to the general congress were accepted as delegates for the County of Westchester likewise. The general congress of the colonies, the first held since the Stamp Act congress of 1765, assembled in Philadelphia on the 5th of …
It is an emphatic protest against the agitation of the period, as follows: We, the subscribers, Freeholders and Inhabitants of the Town of Rye, in the Comity of Westchester, being much concerned with the unhappy situation of public affairs, think it onr Duty to our King and Country, to Declare that we have not been concerned in any Resolutions entered into or measures taken …
Evidently some local pressure hostile to the Thomas interest was brought to bear upon the conservative element of the Rye people; and evidently, also, not a few of the signers had been overpersuaded, for in Rivington's next issue appears a humble disclaimer, signed by fifteen of them, who say that, after mature deliberation, they are fully convinced that in indorsing the …
was destined to be the last session of the general assembly of the Province of New York convened on the 10th of January, 1775, in New York City. Although the general aspect of affairs had undergone no improvement siuce the adjournment of the Philadelphia congress-- and, indeed, the tendency had been toward a further estrangement from Great Britain, especially through the …
But the house framed and passed a state of grievances, petition to the king, memorial to the lords, and representation or remonstrance to the commons, to which little or no exception could reasonably be taken. These papers were respectful, but comprehensive and firm, and did honor to the leaders of the majority. The complaint made against the assembly of 1775 was not on the …
The committee decided that the delegates should be chosen this time not by the individual counties in an independent capacity, but by a provincial convention; and such a convention was called for the 20th of April, the counties being severally requested to send representatives to it. Circular letters to this end were dispatched under date of March 16. There was at that time no …
There was more than a suspicion that this had been done deliberately, though insidiously, in 1774, when Frederick Philipse, the head and front of the conservatives, had been chosen chairman of the county convention, and that representative body, the first of its kind to meet in the county, had adjourned without adopting any aggressive resolutions or appointing a committee of …
A call was issued for a general meeting of freeholders of the county, to be held in the court house at White Plains on Tuesday, the 11th of April, a n d communications were sent to represenTHE TIII1!I> KKFbKRIt'K I'll I LII'SK. tative persons in every locality, requesting them to give notice to all the freeholders, without exception, " as those who do not appear and vote on …
It is very significant that, while the White Plains call appealed only to the freeholders -- that is, to the legally qualified voters exclusively,-- the counter-address comprehended the "inhabitants" as well. As a body, the tenant farmers of the Manor of Philipseburgh were not freeholders, but only non-voting "inhabitants"; and of course it would never do, in the coming …