USA > New York > Westchester County > A history of the county of Westchester, from its first settlement to the present time > Part 24
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"The colony of Massachusetts Bay was the foremost and the most violent in this opposition, and chastisement followed close upon the transgression, which, though the mildest that could possibly have been inflicted, considering the nature of the offence, has kindled such a flame through the whole conti- nent of America, as threatens universal devastation. The Colonies, instead of endeavoring to extinguish it, are increasing its violence ; instead of striving to restore peace and good harmony, so essential to the welfare of both coun- tries, are using every possible means to widen the breach and make it irrepa- rable. Good God! that we should be so void of common sense! that we should be so blind to our own happiness ! What advantage, in the name of Heaven, can we propose to ourselves, in being at enmity with Great Britain ? Shall we by this means become more powerful, more wealthy, or more free ? Let us pause for a moment, and reflect a little upon the absurdity and folly of such expectations. On the contrary, shall we not derive every desirable ad- vantage from being in friendship and amity with her ? Shall we not derive strength, protection and stability, from that oak around which we have so long twined ourselves, and under the shadow of whose branches we have so long flourished in security ?
" Permit me to carry on this allusion. We are a vigorous and fertile vine ; but without some prop, without some sufficient support, we shall only trail along the ground, and be liable to injury and destruction from the foot of every passenger. But if Great Britain gives us her protection ; if she cultivates us with tenderness and care, we shall yield her a rich and plentiful vintage, as necessary to her welfare and prosperity, as her support is to our existence. In this mutual relation do we stand to each other. Let us therefore, like wise men, endeavor to establish a lasting and permanent union between us ; let us endeavor to remove every obstacle to this desirable end ; and let us reject with the utmost disdain and abhorrence every measure that can tend to in- crease the difference between us, and make this necessary union impracticable. Let us therefore, to the utmost of our power, endeavor to put a stop to the illegal and disorderly proceedings, and resolutions of committees, associations,
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and congresses. They have already driven this Colony to the brink of a pre- cipice ; some of our sister Colonies (I speak with the deepest concern.) have already taken the desperate plunge, and unless the clemency of Great Britain shall work a miracle in their favor, I know not how they will escape perdition. Let us be warned by their example ; let their folly and precipitation teach us wisdom ; and, instead of linking ourselves to the chain of their evil destiny, let us instantly break loose. and, by a well timed effort, rescue ourselves from destruction, and endeavor to make peace for ourselves,-not a shameful, not an ignominious peace,-but such a one as shall be worthy of freemen ; such a one as will secure to us our liberties and properties, and render the union between us and our mother country permanent and lasting ; in short, such as will be worthy Great Britain to offer, and Americans to receive.
" And here let it not be said that it will be a base desertion of our sister colonies, to withdraw our assistance from them when in so critical and dan- gerous a situation. But let it be remembered that Great Britain is our mother-a kind and indulgent mother, who hath nourished, protected and established us in this land of Canaan, this land flowing with milk and honey- a mother, whose arms are open to receive all such of her children as will re- turn to their duty ; who is willing to hear their complaints, and to redress their grievances. And shall we take part against such a parent ? Shall we, like detestable parricides, wound her bosom for the sake of ungrateful brethren, who have wilfully shut their eyes both to their interest and their duty, and who are obstinately bent upon their own destruction ? Surely we cannot. No, I am persuaded there is not an individual in this House who would not reject this proposal with the utmost abhorrence. We have too much under- standing not to know that the interest of these colonies and of Great Britain is the same ; that we are all one people-of the same laws, language and re- ligion, each of us equally bound to one another by the ties of reciprocal affec- tion ; and we have too much loyalty to the best of sovereigns-too great a regard to order and good government, to assert that insurrections and tumults in one Colony can or ought to justify them in another. Indeed, so far am I from thinking that this conduct in us would be deserving the common cause of the Colonies, that I am convinced it is the only expedient left, by which we can in any measure promote their real and true interest. By uniting with them, we shall in all probability sink with them, but by rending ourselves from the rash and ill-judged combination in which they have engaged, while we are doing good to ourselves, we may do good also to them. We may have it in our power, as I know we shall have it in our will, to stretch out a helping hand to raise them from the pit into which they are falling. And I will ven- ture to assert with boldness and confidence, that if this Loyal Province will do her duty, and act with wisdom and moderation in the critical juncture, she may yet save America.
"Great Britain is not the only quarter from whence danger is to be appre- hended. Her resentment, no doubt, is to be dreaded, and it behoves us, if possi-
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ble, to avert it ; she may destroy our cities ; she may ruin our commerce ; she may reduce us to so deplorable a condition that we shall be willing to accept of peace and reconciliation upon any terms which she shall think proper to impose. This is what she may do, and what most probably she will do, un- less we alter the mode of our conduct towards her. But if she should think proper to decline the contest ; if in her wrath she should give us up to our own direction, and leave us to cut and shuffle for ourselves, and to settle our boundaries, and to appoint our forms of government, deeper and more terrible scenes of distress will present themselves to our view. Fain would I draw a veil over this melancholy prospect, and hide it from the eye of humanity ; but my duty to my family-to my constituents-to my country, forbids me to be silent. Factions and animosities will lay waste our country. Provinces will rise against Provinces, and no umpire to determine the contest but the sword. This once flourishing and happy land will smile no more ; it will become a field of blood, and a scene of terror and desolation. To such calamities shall we awake from our dreams of independence, and to such miseries will our unreasonable love of liberty lead us. Let us therefore, moderate a little the eagerness of our dispute, and not prostitute this noblest and best principle of the human heart, to the unworthy purposes of sedition and rebellion.
" The Americans love liberty, "tis their grand, their darling object, and may they ever have virtne and spirit enough to assert and defend it, as well as wis- dom and prudence to enjoy it. But that love of liberty which beats so strongly in our hearts, and which seems to animate and inspirit almost every individual, if not carefully watched and attended to, will, on some future day, (should we be so fortunate as to escape our present danger,) prove a dreadful source of misfortune to us, if not our ruin. Liberty and licentiousness are nearly allied to each other ; like wit and madness, there is but a thin partition between them ; and, licentiousness invariably leads to slavery. Al- most every page of history will furnish abundant proofs of the truths of these observations ; and God grant that the annals of this country ity not add to the number ; but I fear from the present licentious conduct we are much nearer to a state of slavery and oppression than we seem to be aware of. So far already have we advanced towards it, that all internal order and subordination is nearly at an end amongst us. The authority of the civil magistrate is become useless, and almost contemptible ; even the authority of this House, nay, of the whole Legislative body of this Province, has been treated with the utmost con- tempt, and our power in a manner wrested from us, by a set of men who have arrogated to themselves the style of the People's Representatives. If they are in reality such, to what purpose are we here assembled ? If they are autho- rized to make laws, to establish penalties, and to regulate the concerns of this Colony, why are we called together ? what is left for us to do ? Nothing sir, but to do our duty ; to undo, if possible, all that they have done ; to strip them of their borrowed plumes, and to resume that authority, which has been delegated to us forthe most important purposes ; for the preservation of liberty,
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order and good government. We are the representatives of the inhabitants of this Colony ; they have entrusted us with the guardianship of their rights and liberties, and they look up to us for the preservation of them. Let us, there- fore, act as becomes us, with firmness and resolution. The eyes of all honest and good men are upon us : their hopes, their expectations of peace and safety, under Heaven, are centred here. Let us not disappoint their hopes, but let us lay aside every prejudice ; let us suppress every passion and sentiment that can interfere with our country's welfare, and let us unite with one voice and one mouth, to save her from destruction.
" We have this day before us, the choice either of peace or war ; of happi- ness or misery, of freedom or slavery ; and surely we cannot hesitate a mo- ment which to choose. By proceeding in a firm, but in a peaceable, loyal and constitutional manner, in the settlement of this unhappy difference with our mother country, we cannot fail, I am convinced, of meeting with all de- sirable success. We shall by these means, undoubtedly, secure to ourselves a free constitution ; we shall have a line of government stretched out and as- certained, and we shall be restored to the favor and protection of the parent state, which, next to the favor of Heaven, will be our best and strongest safe- guard and security. But if you listen to the dictates of violent and enthusi- astic men, if you adopt the ill-judged, tyrannical, and destructive measures of the Congress, where will your miseries end ? where, indeed, I cannot tell ; but from that moment you must date the commencement of them ; from that mo- ment be assured your ruin is inevitable. Now is the critical moment of our fate ; we have it in our power to do the most essential good, or the most es- sential mischief to ourselves and our posterity. If we neglect this opportunity of promoting our common felicity, and of establishing our liberties upon a firm and lasting basis, we may, perhaps, never have another, and we shall repent of our fatal folly and infatuation, when too late to retrieve the mistake ; when the horrors and miseries of a civil war shall be increased, if possible, ten fold upon our heads, by the curses and execration of our distracted and deluded constituents ; when all orders and degrees of men shall, in the bitter- ness of their hearts, point us out as the authors of their ruin ; when we shall be obliged to submit to the laws of conquest, or the penalties of rebellion.
" I have now sir, delivered my sentiments freely and candidly upon the sub- ject of our consideration. I have shown that the rise of our present disputes with Great Britain has been an unreasonable jealousy on our part, originating from an impolitic exertion of authority, on hers. I have proved that it is both our duty and interest, to cultivate the closest and most intimate union with her. I have shown that the authority of the British Parliament, which is the supreme Legislature of the empire, extends over these colonies, which are parts of that empire. I have shown the extreme danger of undue opposi- tion to that authority, which, either by exerting itself against us, or giving us up to our own government, will equally involve us in misery and destruction. I have shown, that by a pcaceable and loyal conduct, we may procure for
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ourselves, and perhaps for our sister colonies, a more perfect system of gov- ernment than that which we had hitherto enjoyed, which was indeed better calculated for our infant state, than for the present period of our present mi- turity, a period that requires, at the same time, more liberty and a stricter government I have, therefore, Mr. Speaker, nothing more to add, than that, if contrary to my hopes and my most ardent wishes; if, contrary to the honor and dignity of this house ; if, contrary to the dictates of humanity, and to the duty which we owe to our constituents and our country, you adopt the unjust and destructive measures of the congress, and by that means, involve our country in a civil war, the most dreadful calamity that can befall a people, I hereby declare my honest indignation to that measure, and now call Heaven and the house to witness, that I am guiltless of the blood of my fellow sub- jects that will be shed upon the occasion. I am guiltless of the ruin of my country.
" Mr. Wilkins's zeal and extreme loyalty, rendered him very obnoxious to the whigs. Besides his prominent position in the Assembly, he gave utterance to his thoughts, in essays. It is a singular circumstance, that the youthful Hamilton, who was also born in the West Indies, undertook the task of replying to two of his poetical effusions. One of these, The Congress Can- vassed, &c., which was signed, A. W. Farmer, was extensively circulated, and with that called, A View of the Controversy be- tween Great Britain and her Colonies," was burnt, " whenever they fell into the hands of those whose measures they criticised and condemned."
" A few months after the delivery of this speech, he abandoned the country and went to England. At the moment of his de- parture he issued the following address :
New York, May 3, 1775.
MY COUNTRYMEN :
Before I leave America, the land I love, and in which is contained every- thing that is valuable and dear to me : my wife, my children, my friends and property, permit me to make a short and faithful declaration, which I am induced to do, neither through fear nor a consciousness of having acted wrong. An honest man and a christian hath nothing to apprehend from this world. God is my judge, and God is my witness, that all I have done, writ- ten or said, in relation to the present unnatural dispute between Great Britain and her colonies, proceeded from an honest intention of serving my country ; her welfare and prosperity were the objects toward which all my endeavors have been directed. They are still the sacred objects which I shall ever steadily and invariably keep in view ; and, when in England, all the influence VOL. II. 32
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that so inconsiderable a man as I am can have, shall be exerted in her be- half. It has been my constant maxim through life to do my duty conscien- tiously, and to trust the issue of my actions to the Almighty. May that God in whose hands are all events, speedily restore peace and liberty to my un- happy country. May Great Britain and America be soon united in the bonds of everlasting unity, and when united, may they continue a free, a virtuous and happy nation to the end of time. I leave America, and every endearing connection, because I will not raise my hand against my sovereign, nor will I draw my sword against my country, when I can conscientiously draw it in her favor. My life shall be cheerfully devoted to her service.
ISAAC WILKINS.
In 1776, he returned to Long Island, where he remained until the peace, when he returned to Shelburne, Nova Scotia. He remained in Nova Scotia several years, and lived a part of the time at Lunenburgh. About the year 1800, he took up his residence in Westchester County, New York, and was settled over the Episcopal parish there. He continued in the ministry until his decease in 1830, at the age of 89. Doctor Wilkins mar- ried Isabella, sister of Lewis Morris, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and of Gouverneur Morris, another distin- guished whig. Their mother espoused the royal side, and re- mained within the British lines. Their correspondence with her during hostilities occasioned suspicion, and caused them difficulty, notwithstanding their sacrifices and services. At the moment when Lewis voted in congress for independence, British ships of war were lying within cannon shot of his house; and soon after, his manor of Morrisauia was desolated, his woodland of one thou- sand acres destroyed, and his family driven into exile. Three of the sons of Lewis served in the whig army. Staats, brother of Lewis and Gouverneur, was an officer in the royal service, bc- came a member of parliament, and a lieutenant general. Thus was the Morris family divided. Doctor Wilkins has a son in Nova Scotia, who bears the name of his uncle Lewis Morris, and who has obtained distinction. He was elected a member of the house of Assembly, about the time of his father's return to the United States ; and when in 1806, William Cottam Longe, Esq., who was elected speaker, was disallowed by the governor, Lewis Morris Wilkins was chosen in his place, and approved of, and occupied the chair, by subsequent election, until 1817, when he
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was removed, to be placed on the bench of the supreme court of the colony. Judge Wilkins resides at Windsor."a
The present residence of Mr. Gouverneur M. Wilkins is seated on the brow of a hill, near the extremity of the neck, and com- mands an almost uninterrupted view of the river with the ad- jacent shores. The interior contains some good paintings, par- ticularly a view on the Arno, by Cole, and a portrait of Martin Wilkins, Esq., by Rogers, &c., also a beautiful white marble bust of Washington, by Garacchi, and an Apollo by Tantenovi. The old family mansion, which stands on the side of the neck is now converted into a farm house. Here in 1776 three of the clergy managed to secrete themselves for some time, notwith- standing the most minute and persevering search was made for them, so ingeniously contrived was the place of their conceal- ment in and about the old fashioned chimney. Food was con- veyed to them through a trap door in the floor. The front of the house is shaded by two of the largest and finest elm trees in the County. Cornell's or Clason's neck, which is pleasantly situated in the south-west corner of the town, contains about five hundred and fifty acres. We have seen that Thomas Cornell, from whom it was originally named, became possessed of the neck through the Dutch, who purchased of the Indians,b Near the entrance to the neck, are the mansions of Mrs. Ludlow, and of her son, Henry Ludlow, Esq.
The site of the old Willett homestead is now occupied by the residence of Mrs. Clason.c On the extreme point of the neck stands that of Augustus Clason, Esq.
About three miles from the mouth of the Bronx, and directly opposite to the village of West Farms, is the mill seat and pro- perty of Philip M. Lydig, Esq., formerly called De Lancey's mills. Here it is probable that Jonas Bronckd erected a mill and laid out a plantation as early as 1639. Upon the 16th of August, 1680, the town of Westchester did give and grant unto
a Lorenzo Sabine's Biographical Sketches of American Loyalists.
b See page 156.
c On the north side of this house we noticed a beautiful specimen of the Hycene Wisteria, which is said to be indigenous to the neck.
d From this individual the river derives its name. Town Rec. lib. iv. 57. Rec. of Trustees, pages 88, 89.
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William Richardson and his associates the privilege of the stream of Broncks's river, to set up two mills, viz., one saw and a corn mill, upon certain conditions specified in the conveyance.a On the 2nd of April, 1711, Tryutje Byvanck, widow of Evert Byvanck, granted to William Provost four mills, to wit, three grist mills and one saw mill, situate in the township of West- chester, and all rights and privileges appertaining thereto, &c. ; also a certain privilege granted by the freeholders of Westches- ter of the stream of Broncks's river, S.c., S.c. From the Pro- vosts, this property was purchased by Stephen de Lancey, E'sq., in whose will, made the 4th of March, 1735, occurs the following item :
" I do hereby give, devise, and bequeath unto my son Peter, and to his heirs, all my mills, mill house, mill boat, farm and land, and all and every the appurtenances thereunto belonging, situate and being in the County of Westchester, upon Broncks's river, lately known as the mills of William Richardson, to have and to hold unto my son Peter, and to his heirs and assignees forever."b
" James de Lancey, e the eldest son of the above testator, was chief justice and lieutenant governor of the province of New York. He married Anne, eldest daughter of Col. Caleb Heathcote, and left James, Stephen, John Peter,d Maria, Anne and Susan. James, the first of these, was educated at Corpus Christi college, Cam- bridge, England, in which college his father had been educated before him. On quitting college, he entered the army, rising to the rank of captain. In the unfortunate campaign against 'l'icon- deroga, he was an aid of Abercrombie's. When his father died, or shortly after, Captain de Lancey sold out, inheriting the prin- cipal (states of his family. He married Margaret, a daughter of Chief Justice Allen of Pennsylvania, whose other daughter Anne married John Penn, grandson of William Penn, the founder of PENNSYLVANIA.
Early in the Revolution, Capt. James de Lancey went to Eng- land. Eventually he established himself at Bath." This gentle- man, (and not his cousin, Lt. Col. James, as Mr. Sabine supposes,)
a See vol. i. 298. c See vol. i. 297.
Surrogate's Office, N. Y. lib. xiv. 91. d Ibid. 299.
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"at the close of the war, and at the formation of the loyalist agency for presenting claims for compensation, was appointed agent for New York, and became vice president of the board His own losses were large and difficult of adjustment, and occupied the attention of the commissioners for some days. Excepting Sir William Pepperell," Captain James " de Lancey appears o av ) been the most active member of the agency."a " Five of the chil- dren of Capt. James de Lancey and Margaret grew up, viz., two sons and three daughters. Charles, the eldest son, was in the British navy, and died a bachelor. James, late Lt. Col. 1st Dra- goon Guards, is living, also a bachelor. Two of the daughters, Anne and Susan, are single, and still living; while Margaret married the present Sir Juckes Granville Clifton, Bart., and died early, childless."
The second son of Stephen de Lancey, the Huguenot, was Brigadier General Oliver de Lancey. Sabine, in his sketches of American Loyalists, states that, "at the period of the French war, Oliver de Lancey occupied a commanding position, al. d perhaps he did not overrate his personal influence when he said, that if in the expedition against Crown Point, he "should accept the command of the New York regiment, he could in ten days raise the whole quota of troops allotted to that colony." This standing he maintained after his brother's death, and until the Revolution. "He opposed the dismemberment of the empire, and put his life and property at stake to prevent it. In 1776, he was appointed a brigadier general in the royal service. Skinner, of New Jersey, Brown, a former governor of the Bahamas, Arnold, the apostate, and Cunningham, of South Carolina, were of the same grade, but their commissions were of later date. Gen. de Lancey was, therefore, the senior loyalist officer in commission during the contest. His command consisted of three battalions, known as DE LANCEY'S BATTALIONS."
" Previous to the Revolution, Gen. De Lancey was a member of the Council, and was considered to be in office in 1782, though a constitution was formed in New York in 1777, and a govern- ment organized under it. By this government he was attainted
a Sabine's Sketches of American Loyalists.
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of treason, and his large property confiscated." "At the evacua- tion in 1783, he went to England, and died at Beverly, Yorkshire in 1785, aged sixty-eight. His body is interred in the choir of the Minster, while a mouument standing near the transept records his services." "His son, Oliver de Lancey, jr., was educated in Europe ; put early in the 17th Light Dragoons ; was a captain at the commencement of the Revolution ; became Major in 1776, a Lieutenant Colonel a year or two later, and succeeded André as Adjutant General of the British army in America. On his return to Europe, he was made Deputy Adjutant General of England ; as a Major General he got the Colonelcy of the 17th Light Dra- goons ; was subsequently made Barrack Master General of the British empire ; rose through the grade of Lieutenant General to that of General, and died, some six or eight and twenty years since, nearly at the head of the English Army list. This branch of the family is now extinct in the male line ; its last man having been killed at Waterloo, in the person of Sir William Heathcote de Lancey, the Quarter-master General of Wellington's army."
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