USA > New York > Westchester County > Rye > Chronicle of a border town : history of Rye, Westchester county, New York, 1660-1870, including Harrison and the White Plains till 1788 > Part 21
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1 Mrs. Kirby, widow of David Kirby, who related these facts to me, had them from her grandmother, Mrs. James Bird, then a young married woman, living where the cottage on the northeast corner of Kirby Avenue and Grace Church Street stands. Mrs. Bird used to say that she had often sat up all night with her infant in her arms, her husband being away at sea, prepared to fly for refuge to one of the neighbors, should her house be attacked.
2 On the property of Dr. J. H. T. Cockey the remains of seven or eight human skeletons were discovered in a sand-bank in 1855. A great quantity of oyster and elam- shells were found. In elearing ont a spring on the same land an Indian pestle came to light. Among other implements, a spear-head six inches in length, and of unusnally perfect form, was found. Several bodies were discovered in 1867, near the opposite bank of the ercek, in the garden attached to one of Mr. Mathews's houses. The pos- ture, as elsewhere, showed that they were the bodies of Indians.
13
194
THE INDIANS.
discovered on excavating the present foundations for Newberry Halsted's residence.' 1
Manussing Island was undoubtedly the site of an Indian village. A few years ago some laborers, excavating the ground on the east side of Mr. Van Rensselaer's garden, uncovered the skeleton of a body which had been buried in the manner customary with the Indians, in a slanting or sitting posture. The remains were of extraordinary size, and in a very perfect state ; but when exposed to the air soon crumbled to dust.
In July, 1870, I went with Mr. Underhill Halsted to examine the traditionary sites of the Indian villages on Peningo Neck. The chief of these was in a field about seventy-five rods south of the road to Rye Beach. Here, about two hundred feet from high- water mark, there is a spring which is said to be unfailing. Near it is a flat rock, around which the soil for the extent of half an aere abounds in fragments of shells. The supposition that this was an abode of the Indians is favored by the situation of the spot, its exposure to the south, and proximity to the Beach. It is based moreover upon the statements of old men, who have had it from their fathers.
' Samp Mortar Rock,' near by, is pointed out as the place where the Indian women used to pound their corn. It is on the south side of a clump of rocks, near what is known as ' Steep Rock,' at the south end of the Beach, on a line with the north side of Mr. Cornell's lane. Here are the remains of a circular basin cut in the rock, two feet and a half in diameter, and about as deep. One side of this basin is still perfect, but on the other the rock has been worn or broken away.2
Another ' Indian mortar,' more perfect but smaller, is to be seen on the shore of a cove called ' Ware's Cove,' on Mr. Gideon Rey- nolds' land, opposite the north end of Pine Island.
Another spot, believed to have been the site of an Indian vil- lage, is in a field in the rear of Mr. Underhill Halsted's house. And a third, where still more abundant traces have been found, is in the neighborhood of ' Bullock's Landing' and ' Galpin's Cove,' on the opposite side of the creek, upon Mr. Genin's grounds.
1 History of Westchester County, vol. ii. p. 17.
2 Mr. Halsted had in his possession, forty-two years ago, an Indian pestle, two feet and a half in length, and about three inches thick. It had been carefully preserved in his family for a long time.
CHAPTER XXIV.
CEMETERIES.
' Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap, Each in his narrow cell forever laid,
The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep.'
THE visitor on his way to our Beach may notice at the turn of the road above Milton, the little burying-ground by Blind Brook ; not as differing from other country grave-yards in its aspect of seclusion and neglect, but for the quiet beanty of the scene in which it lies. Just here the outlet of the stream, whose meander- ings have proceeded through the low meadow lands, becomes visi- ble toward the south, and the waters of the Sound appear beyond the higher banks that skirt the creek. It is a spot well chosen for its suggestions of rest and of hereafter.
The oldest' legible inscription in this cemetery is to be found on a tombstone near the entrance. It reads thus : -
' Here Lyeth the Body of NEHEMIAH WEBB, Son to the Revd Mr. Joseph Webb of Fairfield Who Dyed at Rye April ye 24 1722 in the 28th Year
The preservation of this epitaph for so long a time is doubtless due to the fact that the face of the tombstone has become much inclined, so as to be sheltered from the weather. There are many time-worn slabs around it that are probably much less ancient, but their records cannot be deciphered.
The oldest inscriptions that are legible on other graves in the Blind Brook Cemetery, are these : -
' In Memory of M' Elisha Budd, who died Sept. ye 21st 1765 in the 60th year of his age.'
'In Memory of Mrs Anne Budd, wife of Mr. Elisha Budd, who died Dec. 6th, 1760.'
' Mr. Joseph Lyon, who died Feb. 21, 1761, in the 84th year of his age.'
'Sarah Lyon, wife of Joseph Lyon, died Jan. 26, 1769.'
196
CEMETERIES.
. In Memory of Godfrey Ilains who departed this Life July 22, 1768, aged 93 years.'
. In Memory of Anne wife of Godfrey Hains who departed this Life Feb"y 19, 1758, aged 68 years.'
. In Memory of Jonathan Brown, who deceased June 15, 1768, aged 62 years.'
Four tombstones in this grave-yard bear the name of EZEKIEL HALSTED : -
. In Memory of Ezekiel Halsted who Deseased in Rye 30th October 1757 in the 49th year of his Age.'
' In Memory of Ezekiel Halsted who departed this life Febry 20th 1805 in the 67th year of his Age.'
· Sacred to the Memory of Ezekiel Halsted who died April 18 1829 aged 68 years 2 months and 13 days.'
' Sacred to the memory of Ezekiel Halsted jr. who died August 26, 1828, aged 41 years and 13 days. Having been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church 22 years.'
One of the tombs in this cemetery was erected -
' In Memory of Martha wife of Dr David Rogers and daughter of the Revd Charles Tennent, who died April 12, 1813, aged 62 years.'
Two of the rectors of Christ Church lie buried here. Their graves are near the entrance of the grave-yard. The Reverend Evan Rogers, who died January 25, 1809, in his forty-second year ; and the Reverend William Thompson, who died August 26, 1830.
The earliest mention of this burying-ground in our Town Rec- ords, occurs in a deed dated 1753. It speaks of 'ye boring [bury- ing] place in Rye neck,' opposite a certain tract of land on the west side of the mill creek, which Samuel Purdy conveyed to his sons, Samuel and Caleb.1
In 1761, ' Jonathan Brown iuner is aloud ' [allowed] by the town ' the priviledge of pastring the Buring yard upon the Con- ditions that he mackes a Geat and Cuts the Brush and Keeps it Clear.' 2 This permission was renewed yearly until 1770.
It seems likely that the Blind Brook Cemetery was laid out about the year 1750. An aged person has informed me that the land was given to the town for this purpose by Joseph Lyon, who lies buried here, and who died in 1761. The fact that older inscriptions, like that of Mr. Webb, are to be found, may be ac- counted for by the supposition that bodies were removed to this
1 Town Records, vol. D. p. 88.
2 Records of Town Meetings, April 7, 1761.
197
FAMILY BURIAL PLACES.
place from other localities, after the opening of a common burying- ground.
For it is quite certain that in early times the practice of main- taining private or family places of interment prevailed here, as it did elsewhere. Fifteen or twenty of these cemeteries are still to be seen, and many others have doubtless been obliterated in the course of manifold changes and improvements.
. The earliest allusion in our records to a family burying-ground is in a deed of 1741, from JOSHUA BRUNDIGE to Gilbert Bloomer, conveying his house and farm of thirty aeres, on the corner of the Ridge Road and the road to Bloomer's mill. This property is now owned by Mr. Thomas Lyon. The deed in question excepts and reserves -
' The liberty of a burying place at the southwesterly corner of said premises for the burying of my family, where some persons are already buried.' 1
This plot was to be two rods square. It lies on the north side of the road, nearly opposite Park's mill, and contains a number of graves, with dilapidated head-stones, upon most of which only here and there a letter can be made out. One half-buried slab bears the inscription : -
' R. B. 1771.'
This was probably Robert Bloomer, the third of that name, who lived in this neighborhood about the year 1765. Members of the Merrit family are known to have been buried here, and many others. One well-preserved inscription is-
'In memory of Nathaniel Brown, who departed this life April 10th 1801 in the 70th year of his age.'
The burial-place of a portion of the KNIFFIN family was a plot of ground by the road-side, on the land now owned by Mr. Quin- tard. This property, a century ago, belonged to Jonathan Kniffin. A few years since some graves could be distinguished from the road at the top of the hill south of Mr. Quintard's gate. They have been removed in order to the grading of the land.
The principal place of interment of the MERRITT family was on Lyon's Point, now a part. of Port Chester. This spot is on the north side of the street across the point, and near the bridge. Only the more recent names and dates in this cemetery are now
1 Town Records, vol. C. p. 208; vol. D. pp. 130, 161.
198
CEMETERIES.
decipherable. The tomb of John Merritt, who died in 1759, is the oldest of those that can be read.
The cemeteries of the LYON family are situated on Byram Point, and in the neighborhood of Byram Bridge.
The THEALL burying-ground is on the property of Mr. Abra- ham Theall.
The PURDY family have a burying-ground on the western bank of Blind Brook Creek, opposite the public cemetery. This is prob- ably one of the oldest places of interment in Rye. It contains many antique memorials of past generations ; but the imperfect records of their names have been worn away by time, and none prior to the present century are now legible,
The principal burying-ground of the BUDD family is said to be situated near the shore of the creek, on the Jay property, which they formerly owned. Some members of this family are interred in a small plot of ground on the farm of Mr. J. Griffin, North Street. This spot is on the west side of the road, a short distance from the Mamaroneck River.
There are several family burial-places on King Street. Mem- bers of the HAIGHT, MERRITT, ANDERSON, and other families, are interred here. Another branch of the Anderson family have a burying-ground in Harrison, on the cross-road to White Plains.
The small cemetery on the west side of Blind Brook, opposite Christ Church in Rye, is well known as the spot where several of the rectors of that church lie buried. This, however, as we have already seen, was not one of the more ancient places of sepulture in the town, having been set apart for the purpose probably about the year 1760. Previous to that time, the rectors who died while in charge of this parish were buried underneath the church.
The GEDNEY burying-place is near Mamaroneck, on the west side of the river. It contains the graves of some of the oldest in- habitants of this town. Here lies Eleazar Gedney, the ancestor, we presume, of that family in Rye, ' born in Boston Goverment,' and deceased October 27, 1722.
Interments were formerly made, it is said, to some extent in the grounds adjacent to the Episcopal Church. Mr. Bolton gives an inscription ' taken from a tombstone found in the wall on the west side of the church,' to the memory of ' Mrs. Martha Marven, late consort of Mr. Lewis Marven, of Rye,' who died February 5, 1767, in her thirty-ninth year. It is not probable that many per- sons were buried here, as the nature of the soil would render it unsuitable for this use.
199
THE UNION CEMETERY.
One of the most beautiful and interesting localities in Rye is the cemetery of the JAY family, on their estate. To this spot, in 1807, the remains of various members of that family were removed from their vault in New York. Here a monument stands ' to the mem- ory of JOHN JAY.'
The burying-ground known as THE UNION CEMETERY OF RYE, originated in 1837. In that year, James Barker and David Brooks, of Rye, bought from Benjamin Mead three acres of land, which they gave to the authorities of Christ Church, Rye, 'with a view to secure to the said Church a suitable burial place.' This gift included the front part of the ground on North Street or the White Plains Road. In conveying this property to the church, the donors stipulated that certain plots should be reserved as burial-places for the ministers of the three churches of Rye, and their families ; and also that two strips on the eastern and western sides of the ground should be appropriated as a public cemetery.1 In January, 1855, the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Rye bought eight acres contiguous to this tract ; and in 1864- 68, they added more than six acres, making fourteen and a quarter in all. The grounds thus owned by the two congregations have been graded, inclosed, and laid out uniformly, with no visible sepa- ration between them; and they form one of the most beautiful cemeteries in this part of the country. To this spot many of our families have brought the remains of relatives buried in other localities ; and here, too, many a stranger is borne from the city. Among these graves, one that will long be visited with interest is that of Alice B. Havens, whose home for the last few years of her short life was in a pleasant cottage on Rye Neck. Her monument, a cross, has the inscription : -
' Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.'
To the southwest of the Union Cemetery lies the 'Colored Cemetery ; ' a plot of one acre, the title of which is vested in the Trustees of Public Lands. In olden times the colored people of Rye had a place of interment in the Town Field, on the property now owned by Mr. Anderson ; and another on Budd's Neck, nearly opposite the house of Mr. Benjamin Mead. The latter spot is no longer recognizable as a place of sepulture, having been for years ploughed over with the surrounding field. The former contains a number of humble, unchronicled graves.
1 ' A copy of the Deed of the New Cemetery,' etc.
CHAPTER XXV.
TAXES AND IMPOSTS.
1704-1725.
ITTHE revolt of Rye and Bedford from New York in 1697 has been represented as a step taken to avoid the payment of taxes. We have already seen that this was by no means the only nor in- deed the chief reason for that step. In the case of this town at least it was due, more than to any other cause, to the oppressive course of the Governor and Council, in alienating from the inhabitants of Rye a large part of their public lands.
But the dread of excessive taxation may well have quickened the people's desire to escape from the government of the province. Under the laws of Connecticut, they had felt no inconvenience in this respect. With a frugal and honest administration, the public charges were light. Each man was taxed according to his ability, and each had a voice in the regulation of public affairs. When transferred against their wishes to New York, from 1683 to 1697, the inhabitants learned something of the exactions to which that province was subject from rapacious and unprincipled rulers. Under Dongan, Nicolson, and Fletcher, they might in a measure anticipate the way in which public business would be conducted by a succession almost unbroken of worthless or incompetent men.1
The refractory towns were brought back just in time to come under the sway of one of the worst of these, Lord Cornbury. Of this individual it has been said that he ' did more to bring disgrace upon the administration of the province than all his predecessors together.' ' We never had,' wrote William Smith, 'a governor so universally detested, nor any who so richly deserved the public abhorrence.' 2 Part of this odium was incurred by a shameless appropriation of the public funds. As one of the towns taxed
1 ' We know,' writes an Englishman in our own day, ' how our American colonies were governed 100 years ago. Their highest posts were a refuge for the needy hangers-on or decayed footmen of great noblemen. There was no person so slow or base as might not hope to be appointed an American governor, if he happened to possess a patron in high station.' (London Press, June 28, 1856.)
2 Ilistory of New York, vol. i. p. 194.
201
A NOBLE PECULATOR.
for his benefit, Rye has some interest in the history of these spolia- tions.
In the office of the County Clerk at White Plains there is a manuscript volume entitled ' The New Receipt Book.' Its con- tents are tolerably dry reading ; for they consist of nothing more than the acquittances of county and other treasurers for sums paid to them by the town collectors early in the last century. Some of these receipts, however, are significant enough when collated with certain historic facts. And by way of illustrating the state of public affairs in which our town was concerned during the period preceding the Revolution, we propose to take a text for some historic reminiscences from this once 'New,' now old, ' Re- ceipt Book.'
' Recª of Jofeph Budd Coll" of Rye in Weft-Chefter County ye Sum of two pounds on account of ye £1800 Tax witnefs my hand this 18th March 1703-4 THOMAS BYERLEY Coll"
' NEW YORK May ye 21 1703
' Recª of Jofeph Budd ye fume of twenty pounds feaventeen fhillings ninepence of ye eighteen hundred pounds Tax for ye town of Rye I fay recd p THO : WENHAM.'
' NEW YORK, Decemb, IOth, 1703
' Recd from Jofeph Budd Coll" of Rye in ye County of Weft-Chefter in full of both payments for ye £2000 Tax ye fum of twenty one pound ten fhillings witness my hand THOMS BYERLEY Coll" '
Lord Cornbury, 'a reckless adventurer, profligate and unprinci- pled, who had fled from England to escape the demands of his creditors,' came to New York in May, 1702. He was, however, a near kinsman of Queen Anne, who had just succeeded to the British throne ; and he was received by her subjects in America with demonstrations of loyal respect. Shortly after his arrival, he made an address to the Assembly which greatly pleased them ; and at his recommendation they made several grants of money for various purposes. The sum of £1,800 was voted for the sup- port of one hundred and eighty men to defend the frontiers. Another appropriation was made to fortify the harbor of New York. And as a special token of their regard, the Assembly voted £2,000 as a present to their new governor, to defray the expenses of his voyage.
Lord Cornbury must have been delighted with the easy citi- zens among whom he had come to dwell. He took the £2,000 awarded to him as a present, and the other appropriations too.
202
TAXES AND IMPOSTS.
All went into his own private purse. The fortifications were not commenced ; and as war, though proclaimed by England against France and Spain, had not yet broken out on the frontiers of Can- ada, the province continued in a state of peace. But Rye, like the other towns, paid its quota of the £2,000 and the £1,800 tax.
It was not made up without difficulty, we may well suppose. The town cannot have numbered many more than sixty fami- lies. Here were £44 to be raised for special purposes, besides the regular county tax, which that year was £25 10s. This was a heavy burden. Several town meetings were held with reference to it. The first meeting called was in view of the £1,800 tax.
'Ordered that the affeffors of the town of Rye doe call a towne meeting to affefs their proportion in what the faid towne fhall agree upon to their fatisfaction in the eighteen hundred pounds which is 144 pounds for this county.
' February the 18 day 1702-3.
by order BENIAMIN COLLIER Clark.'
' At a lawfull towne meeting held in Rye Feb. 21, 1702-3, the towne doth agree to raife this affeffment as followeth that is to fay that every man that hath a fon or more than one 16 years old and not rateable efteate to make up twelve pounds for himfelf and fon or fons that is under his command fhall be affeffed fo as to make the value of each a perfon accordingly and alfo every perfon that is free from his parent whether forgerans [sojourners ?] or other that hath not 12 pounds rateable efteate in the lift fhall likewife be affeffed twelve pounds for the raifing of all the rates for this year infuing.' 1
1 Town and Proprietors' Meeting Book, No. 3 or C. p. 23. The following action was taken a few months later. What the assessment referred to included, does not appear. But the rate list is curious in itself, and deserves a place here.
' At a lawfull towne meeting held in Rye April the 2 day 1703, the towne hath agreed to raise the assessment for this year insuing as followeth
Pounds
all cristaine male persons from 16 years old and upwards per head 12 00 00
all Lands and medow improved per eaker 00 10 00
all pasture land elered within fence 00 06 00
all wood Land pasture within fence
00 03 00
an ox
per head 03 00 00
a cowc
02 00 00
a 3 year old
02 00 00
a 2 year old
01 10 00
a liorse
03 00 00
a marc
02 00 00
swine at
00 06 00
sheepe
00 03 00
all slaves from 16 years old and upwards all mills at
12 00 00
30 00 00'
203
BILLS OF CREDIT.
'NEW YORK Decembr 10th 1703
' Recd from Jofeph Budd Coll" of Rye in ye County of Weft-Chefter being ye portion due from faid Town on ye £1500 Tax ye fum of four pounds nine fhillings having allowed himfelf ye nine pences as directed in faid Act witnefs my hand THOM" BYERLEY Coll" '
When the Assembly next met, in 1703, the governor had new demands to make. War was now imminent, and the necessity of preparation for defence was apparent to all. The Assembly voted an appropriation of £1,500 for the erection of two batteries at the Narrows. They took care, however, to stipulate that the money must be used for no other purpose whatever. The amount was raised ; but Lord Cornbury paid no regard to the condition. He used it for his own personal expenses, and declined to account to the Assembly. Indignant at such treatment, they declared that they would in future make no appropriations until a person of their own choice should be appointed to receive and disburse the mon- eys raised.
This sum of £1,500 was levied in a peculiar manner. A poll- tax was imposed, and according to the terms of the act it was graduated as follows : Every member of the Council was to pay forty shillings ; an Assembly man, twenty shillings ; a lawyer in practice, twenty shillings ; every man wearing a periwig, five shillings and sixpence; a bachelor of twenty-five years and up- wards, two shillings and threepence ; every freeman between the age of sixteen and sixty, ninepence ; the owners of slaves, for each one shilling.
'New York June 20, 1723. Recª from Sam1 Wilfon Coll" of Rey in Weft-Chefter County ye fui of £13. 13. 312 purfuant an Act of Affem- bly for raifing ye quantity of £3000 oz. Plate for the effectual finking & cancelling bills of credit to that value I fay reca by me
A D PEYSTER Ju" Treasurer'
' New York June 20 1723. Recd from Sam" Wilfon Coll' of Rey in Weft-Chefter County sixteen fhillings and seven pence tax and for ye treafurer's falary five pence being upon ye Arrears of ye two Expedi- tion taxes I fay recd by me A D PEYSTER Ju' Treasurer'
Lord Cornbury was succeeded as governor of New York in 1708 by Lord Lovelace, who died within five months after his arrival. The government devolved, until a new appointment, upon Major Ingoldsby, who had been lieutenant-governor -under Lovelace. During his short administration, an expedition was
204
TAXES AND IMPOSTS.
gotten up against Canada. A certain Colonel Vetch, who had been in Canada, projected the enterprise. His plans were ap- proved by the ministry. The New England colonies were per- suaded to join. The design was to penetrate into Canada by way of Lake Champlain. Though the province was greatly impover- ished, the Assembly entered heartily into the plan. 'It was at this juncture,' says Smith, 'that our first act for issuing bills of credit was passed - an expedient without which we could not have contributed to the expedition, the treasury being then totally ex- hausted.' There were high anticipations of success. A body of four hundred and eighty-seven men, besides independent compa- nies, was sent to Albany and thence to the ' wood creek.' Three forts were built there ; one hundred bateaux and as many birch canoes were constructed, and six hundred Indians were main- tained. This force remained encamped throughout the summer, but broke up in the fall without effecting anything. The whole enterprise fell through, and the expense to the province amounted to £20,000. This sum was not raised until many years after. The receipts which we have quoted above are dated June 20, 1723, when, as it seems, measures were taken for 'sinking and cancel- ling ' the bills of credit which had been issued for the amount.
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