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John Jay -
HISTORY
OF
WESTCHESTER COUNTY
NEW YORK
FROM ITS EARLIEST SETTLEMENT TO THE YEAR 1900
BY FREDERIC SHONNARD - AND W. W. SPOONER
NE CEDZ
MALIS
ARMS OF JONAS BRONCK
THE NEW YORK HISTORY COMPANY 11: FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK 1900
80534
Itirar of Conurene
TWO LUPIES RECEIVED NOV 26 1900 Copyright entry aug. 30. 1900 No. a21617
SECOND COPY Delivered to ORDER DIVISION NOV 27 1900
Copyright The New York History Company 1000
THE WINTHROP PRESS NEW YORK
4.535
EDITOR'S PREFACE
HE preparatory work for this History was begun by the editor several years ago along the lines of research and of the collection and systematizing of materials. The identification of Mr. Spooner with the enterprise dates from a later period, but in its relative importance is not to be esti- mated by its duration. To him the credit of the authorship of the History is undividedly dne. The editor's personal share in the joint undertaking- apart from the selection of the plan of the work and the procurement and arrangement of materials-has been mostly that of supervision ; or, more properly expressed, of such co-operation with Mr. Spooner as personal knowledge of the subject and zealons interest in the project have enabled him to render in the particulars specially of recommendation, contribution, and criticism. This llis- tory is therefore not a work of collaboration, except in the sense here precisely indicated. As a literary work it is the exclusive pro- duction of Mr. Spooner; and whatever satisfaction the editor may reasonably-without an excess of complacency-take to himself in view of his own association in the enterprise, rests in a peculiar manner upon his appreciation of the conscientious devotion and av- complished ability with which Mr. Spooner has brought it to its prat- tical issue.
Although the previous histories of Westchester County, Bolton's and Scharf's, are works of great volume and information. they are works of reference strictly, and as such belong rather to the depart- ment of historical miscellany than to that of books adapted for pop- ular reading. Bolton's History is a collection of local chronicles en- tirely; Scharf's is on the same plan, with a number of general articles added. Both represent historical labors of great formality and seriousness, which are entitled to respect and whose aggregate results possess enduring value for inquiring persons. But more collections of historical facts-even if comprehending all the elemental facts of a given subject-do not afford a satisfying view of history itself. That can be done only by the adequate treatment of facts-by the orderly, discreet, and able conjoining of them in a comprehensive narration. The twenty-five town histories of Westchester County,
iv
PREFACE
however exhaustively and excellently written, do not constitute a his- tory of the county; and for a consecutive understanding of the general county history the reader of Bolton or Scharf must rely upon his own constructive ingenuity-must indeed be his own historian.
Long before the work now given to the public was conceived as a practical project, the present editor realized the force of these consid- Perations and cherished not only a hope that a genuine narrative his- tory of the county might some day be produced, but an ambition to become personally instrumental in achieving so important a result. His attention was especially directed to the matter by his observa- tions during his connection with the schools, from which he became convinced of the extremely elementary character of the general knowledge of this county's history, even in relation to the Revolution, whereof, indeed, anything like a well co-ordinated understanding is most exceptional among the people, and quite incapable of being taught to the young because of the unsnitability for that purpose of all books heretofore published that bear on the subject.
In formulating the plan for the present work the editor had funda- mentally in view a leid continuons narrative, thorough in its treat- ment of the outlines of the subject and reasonably attentive to local details without extending to minuteness. These lines have been fol- lowed throughout. All existing materials, so far as accessible, have been utilized, proper credit being given to the sources from which borrowings have been made. The work comprehends a variety of new materials, which have been interwoven in the text. Portions of the manuscript have been revised or criticised by persons particularly well informed on certain phases of the subject; and to all of these erities the editor extends his thankful acknowledgments.
Special credit is due to Mr. James L. Wells for his editorial super- vision of the entire work so far as concerns the sections of the original county now constituting the Borough of the Bronx, New York City; and thanks must also be expressed to Mr. Wells for the crest of Jonas Bronck (the first settler of Westchester County), introduced by his kind permission in the title-page. It is probably not generally known that from the Bronek crest have been derived some of the essential features of the arms of the State of New York.
" SHONNARD HOMESTEAD."
AUGUST, 1900.
Male Showand
CONTENTS
Editor's Preface. iii
CHAPTER 1
Physical Description of the County 1
CHAPTER 11
The Aboriginal Inhabitants. 17
CHAPTER III
Discovery and Preliminary View
CHAPTER IN
The Earliest Settlers-Bronck, Anne Hutchinson, Throckmorton, Cornell
CHAPTER V
The Redoubtable Captain JJohn Underhill-Dr. Adrian Van der Donck 96
CHAPTER VI
Beginnings of Serious Settlement-Westchester Town, Rye. . . . . 111 CHAPTER VII " The Portion of the North Riding on the Main "- Progress of Settlement and Beginnings of the Manorial Estates. 132
CHAPTER VIII
The Philipses and the Van Cortlandts 155
CHAPTER LA
Pelham Manor and New Rochelle-Caleb Heathcote and Scars- dale Manor-General Observations on the Manors. 172
CHAPTER X
General Historical Review to the Beginning of the Eighteenth Century- Completion of the Work of Original Settlement .... 199 CHAPTER XI A Glance at the Borough Town of Westchester .
vi
CONTENTS
CHAPTER XII
The Election on the Green at Eastchester, 1733 235
CHAPTER XIII
The Aristocratie Families and Their Influences 255
CHAPTER XIV
From the Stamp Aet to the Last Session of the Colonial Assembly 277
CHAPTER XV
Westchester County in Line for Independence- Events to July 9, 1776. 296
CHAPTER XVI
The State of New York Born at White Plains-Events to October 12, 1776. . 335
CHAPTER XVII
The Campaign and Battle of White Plains 357
CHAPTER XVIII
Fort Washington's Fall -- The Delinquency of General Lee.
.. 397
CHAPTER XIX
The Strategic Situation-The Neutral Ground
412
CHAPTER XX
Events of 1777 and 1778. 425
CHAPTER XXI
From January, 1779, to September, 1780. 446
CHAPTER XXH
The Capture of Andre 464
CHAPTER XXIII
The Westchester Operations of the Allied Armies, 1781-End of the War 497
CHAPTER XXIV
General History of the County Concluded-From the Revolution to the Completion of the Croton Aqueduct ( 1842). . . . 526
CHAPTER XXV
General History of the County Concluded 573
HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY
CHAPTER I
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTY
HE County of Westchester, as a definitely bounded and or- ganized political unit, was created on the 1st of November, 1683, by the provisions of an act of the first Provincial Assembly of New York, held under the administration of the Royal Governor Dongan, which formally marked off the province into the twelve original counties. By the terms of this act, Westchester County was to comprise " East and West Chester, Bronxland, Ford- ham, and all as far eastward as the province extends," and to run northward along the Hudson River to the Highlands, its southern limits being, of course, Long Island Sound and the waters between the mainland and Manhattan Istand or New York County. Of the bound- aries thus described, only the western and northern have continued unchanged to the present time. The precise location of the eastern line, constituting the boundary between New York and Connecticut, was a matter of serions contention throughout the early history of the county, and, indeed, was not established to the tinal satisfaction of both parties to the dispute until 1880. This long-standing and curious controversy as to the eastern boundary involved, however, nothing more than rival claims of colonial jurisdiction, arising from mathemat- ical inaccuracies in original calculations of distance, and from peru- liar conditions of early settlement along the Sound, which presented a mere problem of territorial rectification upon the basis of reciprocal concessions by the two provinces and subsequently the two common- wealths concerned; and, accordingly, while leaving a portion of the eastern border line of Westchester County somewhat indeterminable for two centuries, the issues at stake never affected the integrity of its aggregate area as allotted at the beginning. On the other hand, the southern boundary of the old county has undergone extremely radical modifications, which are still in progress. Since 1873, by various legislative acts, large sections of it have been ent away and transferred to the City of New York, comprising what until recent years were known as the " annexed districts " of the metropolis, now
·)
HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY
officially styled the " Borough of the Bronx " of the Greater City. Although the county still retains its two most populous municipali- ties, Yonkers and Mount Vernon, the New York City line has been pushed right up to their borders, and there is no reasonable doubt that within a few more years they, too, will be absorbed. Already forty- one and one-half square miles, or 26,500 acres, have been annexed to the city.
In these pages the story of old Westchester County is to be told; and whenever the county as a whole is mentioned without specific indication of the present limits, the reader will understand that the original county, including those portions which have actually passed under a new political jurisdiction, is meant.
Westchester County, thus considered in its primal extent, is some- thing more than five hundred square miles in area, and lies centrally distant some one hun- dred miles from Al- bany. From its north- western point, Antho- ny's Nose, at the en- trance to the Highlands of the Hudson, to its southeastern extremity. Byram Point, on the Sound, it is entirely sur- rounded by the waters of the Hudson River, Spuy- ten Duyvil Creek. the Harlem River, and Long Island Sound, forming a PROSPECT OF THE HUDSON FROM SPUYTEN DUYVIL. shore line more than one hundred miles in length -considerably more, indeed, if serupulous allowance is made for the windings of the coast along the Sound.
The Hudson River, completing its narrow and tortuous course through the Highlands at the northern boundary of Westchester County, runs thence to the sea in an almost due south direction. For a short distance below Anthony's Nose, however, it continues decid- edly narrow, until, at the very termination of this portion of its course, a place called Verplanck's Point, its banks approach quite close to- gether, being only one mile apart. Here was located the famous King's Ferry of the Revolution, an extremely important line of inter-
3
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTY
communication between the patriot forces of the East and the West; and on the opposite bank stood the fortress of Stony Point, the scene of Wayne's midnight exploit. Just below Verplanck's the river suddenly widens, forming the magnificent Haverstraw Bay. This, in
NORTHWARD VIEW TO INDIAN HEAD ( OPPOSITE YONKERS).
its greatest expansion, attains a breadth of over four miles, Farther down the prominent peninsula of Croton Point juts out from the Westchester shore a distance of a mile and a half. Next the river spreads out into another noble bay, called the Tappan Sea, which extends to near Dobbs Ferry. with an average breadth of three miles. From there it flows majestically on to the ocean with no marked
4
HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY
variations of width, the banks having a mean distance apart of a little more than a mile.
From Anthony's Nose, the northernmost point of Westchester County on the Hudson, to the Spurten Duyvil Creek, the southern- most, is a distance, as the crow flies, of thirty-four miles. The breadth of the county varies from twenty-five to eight and one-half miles. Throughout its entire extent along the Hudson the Westchester shore rises abruptly from the river edge to elevations seldom less than one hundred feet. Nowhere, however, does the Westchester bank ascend precipitously in the manner, or even at all resembling the manner, of the Palisade formation on the western shore. The acclivity is often gnite sharp, but everywhere admits of gradnal approach, for both pedestrians and carriages, to the high ridges. Thus the whole western border of the county both affords a splendid view of the entrancing panorama of the Hudson, and is perfectly accessible from the railroad, which runs along the bank of the river. Moreover, beyond the ridges in the interior the land has a uniform and gentle descent into lovely val- leys, which permit convenient and rapid travel from all directions. These physical conditions render the western section of the county one of the most inviting and favored localities in the world for costly resi- dences and grand estates; and from the earliest period of European settlement of this portion of America, the Hudson shore of West- chester Connty has been a chosen abode for families of wealth and distinction. But every other part of the county-at least every part conveniently reached from the railroads-is also highly esteemed for select residence purposes; and, indeed, Westchester County through- ont its extent is peenliarly a residential county.
Spuyten Duyvil Creek and the Harlem River, which separate Man- hattan Island from the mainland and form a portion of the southern bonndary of the old County of Westchester, are in reality only an arm of the sea; and though to the superficial observer they may appear to constitute one of the mouths of the Hudson, they have no such function, and, indeed, receive none of its flow. The two are strictly to be considered not as a river, but as a strait, connecting the tide waters of the East River and Sound with those of the North River. Their length is about eight miles. The Harlem River at its eastern ex- tremity is divided by Randall's Island into two channels-the south- ern and principal one communicating with Hellgate, and the northern one (unnavigable), called the Bronx Kills, passing between the island and the Westchester shore into Long Island Sound. The Harlem and Spuyten Duyvil waterway presents the remarkable phe- nomenon of double tides, which vary decidedly in height, time of occurrence, duration of rise and fall, and swiftness of flow. "The
5
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTY
tides in the Harlem River," says General John Newton, in a report to the War Department, " are chiefly due to the propagated Hellgate wave, while the latter is the result of the contact of the Sound and Sandy Hook tides. The tides in the Hudson River and Spusten Duyvil are produced by the propagation of the sea tide through the Upper and Lower bays." The mean rise of the tide in the Harlem is from tive and one-half to six feet; in the Spusten Duyvil Creek it is three and eight-tenths feet. The mean high water level in the Hudson River at Spuyten Imyvil Creek is nearly a foot lower and an hour and forty minutes earlier than in the Harlem, and the mean duration of the rise of tide in the former is thirty-six minutes shorter than in the latter. The westerly current. from Hellgate, is swifter than the cast- erly, from the Hudson. The place of " divide " between the Harlem River and the Spusten Duyvil Creek is usually located at Kingsbridge. In early times the Harlem was navigable for most of its length, but owing to artificial obstructions (notably that of Macomb's Dam ). which were begun in the first part of the present century, the channel above the present Central Bridge became both shallow and con- tracted. The mean natural depth of Spurten Duyvil Creek has always been comparatively slight. Owing to the importance of this water- way as a means of short transit for craft plying between the Hudson River and ports on the Sound and in New England, the United States Goverment has in our own time dredged a channel, which, from the Hudson to Hellgate, has a depth of from twelve to fifteen feet. This improvement, known as the Harlem Ship Canal, was opened to com- merce on the 17th of June, 1895. The Harlem River and Spusten Duyvil Crock are crossed at present by thirteen bridges.
Along the Spusten Duyvil and Harlem River portion of its water line, as along the Sound, the (old) County of Westchester loses the comparatively lofty feature which characterizes its Hudson shore, and the land is generally low, sinking into marshy tracts in some localities near the Sound. The Westchester coast on the Sound. stretching from the mouth of the Harlem River to the mouth of the Byram River ( where the Connecticut State line begins ), is broken by numerous necks and points, with corresponding inlets and coves. Among the more important of the projecting points of land are Stony Point ( Port Morris), Oak Point, Barreto Point. Hunt's Point, Cornell's Neck (Clason's Point ). Throgg's Neck ( with Fort Schuyler at its ex- tremity). Rodman's ( Pelham) Neck, Davenport's Neck, De Lancer Point, and Rye Neck. Some of these localities are famous in the his- tory of the county, the province, and the State. The coast indentations include the outlets of the Bronx River, Westchester Creek, and the Hutchinson River: Eastchester Bay, Pelham Bay. De Lancey Cove and
6
HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY
Larebmont Harbor, Mamaroneck Harbor, and Byram Harbor. Much of the contraband trade of colonial times was supposed to have found cover in the unobserved retreats which the deep inlets of this coast afforded; and of some of the earlier settlements along the Sound it is supposed that they were undertaken quite as much to provide secure places of rendezvous for commerce more or less outside the pale of the law as to promote the development of the country. In close prox- imity to the shore are many islands, of which the more notable are
THE HARLEM RIVER IMPROVEMENTS (DYCKMAN'S MEADOWS).
those between Pelham Bay and New Rochelle, including City, Hart's, Hunter's, David's, and Glen Islands.
The New York City limits on the Hudson now reach to the northern bounds of the hamlet of Mount Saint Vincent, and on the Sound to a point about opposite, taking in also Hunter's, Hart, and City Islands. Of the more than one hundred miles of coast line originally and until 1873 possessed by Westchester County, abont thirty have passed to the city-three miles on the Hudson, eight on Spusten Duyvil Creek and the Harlem River, and the remainder on the Sound.
The eastern boundary of the county is an entirely arbitrary one,
1
PUYSKAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTY
in no respect following natural lines of division, of which, indeed, there are none of a continuous character at this portion of the eastern confines of New York State. To the reader unfamiliar with the history of the New York and Connecticut boundary dispute, this zigzag line will appear to have been traced quite without reference to any som- metrical division of territory, but for the accommodation of special objeets in territorial adjustment. This is largely true, although the line, as finally drawn, was reduced as nearly to a simple construction as could be done consistently with the very difficult circumstances of the boundary dispute.
On the north the limit fixed for the county at the time of its erer- tion was the point where the Highlands of the Hudson begin. Pur- suant to this provision the line between Westchester and Putnam Counties starts on the Hudson at Anthony's Nose and follows an east- erly course to the Connectiont boundary.
The surface of the county consists of several ranges of hills, with valleys stretching between, in which are numerous streams and an abundance of lakes. None of the physical features of Westchester County (if we except its lovely prospet of the Hudson) are in any wise remarkable from the viewpoint of the tourist in quest of natural wonders. On the other hand, its entire surface presents scenery of diversitied beauty and interest, not the less gratifying to the contem- plative eve because unchangeable modest in its pretensions.
The principal chain of hills is the one closely bordering the Hudson, already noticed. This is the southern prolongation of the Highlands. Its elevations display a constant diminishing tendency southward.
Another range, likewise extending north and south, is found near the Connertient border. The Matteawan Mountains enter the north- Western corner of the county, and thence cross the Hudson. A high ridge, called the Stone Hill (the watershed of the county), passes from the town of Mount Pleasant on the Hudson east ward through the towns of New Castle. Bedford, Poundridge, and Salem into Con- nectient. In spite of this exception, however, the general trend of the hills is north and south, a fact illustrated by the almost uniformly southerly course of the more considerable streams, and by the usually level character of the roads running north and south, as contrasted with the conspirnous unevenness of those which extend east and west. Famous in our connty's history are the North Castle of Chappaqua Hills, above White Plains, into which Washington retired with the Continental army after the engagement near the latter place (October 28, 17761, and, on account of the strength of the new position thus gained, compelled General Howe, with his greatly superior force. 10 return to New York. The highest point in Westchester County (de-
S
HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY
cording to the figures of the United States Coast Survey ) is Anthony's Nose, 900 feet above half tide level.
LOOKING NORTH FROM SHONNARD TERRACE, YONKERS.
9
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTY
Of the streams of Westchester County the names of two, the Croton and the Bronx, have become widely familiar. The former river is the chief source of the water supply of New York City; the latter - which, by the way, also furnishes water to New York-has many historie and romantic associations, dear to New Yorkers as well as West- chester people, and its name has been adopted for one of the beautiful new parks of the city, and also for one of the five grand divisions which constitute the Greater New York.
Some half dozen streams of noticeable size find their outlets in the Hudson. Peekskill Creek gathers its waters from the hills of the northwestern corner of the county, and flows into the Hudson just above the village of Peekskill. Furnace Brook is a small rivulet which empties into the river several miles farther south. Then comes the Croton, having its outlet in Croton Bay, as the northeastern por- tion of the Tappan Sea is called.
The Croton has its sources in Dutchess County-these sources com- prising three " branches " ( the East, Middle, and West), which unite in the southern part of Putnam County. In its course through West- chester County to its mouth, the Croton receives as tributaries the Muscoot, Titiens, Cross, and Kisco Rivers. The Museoot is the outlet of the celebrated Lake Mahopac in Putnam County, and the Cross (also called the Peppenegheck ) of Lake Waccabue, one of the largest of the Westchester lakes. The Croton watershed lies almost wholly in the State of New York, although draining a small area in Conec- tient. It extends about thirty-three miles north and south and eleven miles east and west, and has an area of 339 square miles above the present Croton Dam, to which about twenty square miles will be added when the great new dam, now in process of construction, is completed. This watershed embraces thirty-one lakes and ponds in Westchester and Putnam Counties, many of which have been utilized as natural storage basins in connection with the New York City water supply by cutting down their outlets and building dams across. Besides Croton Lake, there are two very large reservoirs in our county incidental to the Croton system-the Titious Reservoir near Purdy's and the Amawalk Reservoir. The Croton Lake is by far the most ex- tensive sheet of water in the county. It is formed by a dam about five miles east of the month of the Croton, and has an ordinary length of some tinre and one-half miles. When the new dam is finished the length of the lake will be in excess of eleven miles. From the lake two aqueduets, the " Old " and the " New," lead to the city. The former is thirty-eight and the latter thirty-three miles long, the distance in each case being measured to the receiving reservoir. It is the old aqueduet
10
HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY
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