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 7
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2 Documentary History of New York, vol. ii. p. 198. 8 Vol. B. p. 183.
49
THE OLD INDIAN FORT.
region, as we have seen, did not rise, like those of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The building, nevertheless, stood associated with the dangers and apprehensions that called for its provision. It was torn down in October, 1868, the Methodist Episcopal congre- gation having bought the place for a parsonage. In the process of removal a circumstance confirming the old accounts of this house was ascertained. An inner wall, evidently built after the original construction, was found, extending as high as the beams of the roof. This agrees with the language of the act by which the town in 1676 appointed men ' to choose a house or place to be fortified for the safety of the town.'
The Van Sicklin house was a curious specimen of the substan- tial structures of the olden time. The walls, as above intimated, were hollow, and of great thickness. The beams supporting the floors measured eight inches square ; all the wood used was oak, hewn with the axe ; the rafters were 'tenoned into plate ' without the use of nails ; and the timber supporting the mantel in each of the two rooms on the ground floor was twelve feet and a half long, and fourteen by nineteen inches thick. The old fort · stood directly south of the present Methodist parsonage, and con- siderably nearer to the road. It measured twenty-four feet in width and forty in length. The 'stoop' and door-way in front, or at the gable end on the street, were of modern addition. The main entrance, anciently, was at the south side.
Old Fort, Gable End.
4
CHAPTER VII.
MOVING OUT INTO THE WOODS.
1670-1720.
'Partes feeit in ripa, neseio quotenorum jugerum.'
CICERO, Ep. ad Atticum.
N EXT to the cultivation of their little plantations on Peningo Neck, - their ' home-lots' on the village street, and ' meadow- lots ' in the ' Field,' - our first settlers seem to have been chiefly concerned about the occupation of the wilderness beyond them. This, for a number of years, was the great interest of the young community. Its members were tillers of the soil. Their ambition was to possess ample and productive farms. And though the al- lotments of land made to each at the outset might suffice for im- mediate use, probably none of them thought 'ten acres enough,' as a permanent investment. Hence, if we may judge from the rec- ords, an important theme, in 'town meetings' and by the fireside, was the disposal of the forest lands. Getting new grants from the Indians ; marking and laying out the latest acquisitions of swamp and salt meadow and woodland ; settling the bounds of each pro- prietor's share ; exchanging one allotment for another, - these appear to have been the most notable doings of those days.
' The former inhabitants,' wrote a resident of Rye, some sixty years after the settlement of the town, 'possessed better estates than their children now. Their estates lay much in unimproved lands, - all which belonged to a few men, and are now sold or divided among their children. I can't learn that they raised much, if anything, for the market, but what they trafficked with was chiefly wood and cattle.'
How should we like to have a view of our village patriarchs, two hundred years ago, in council with some grave sachems of the tribes that yet lingered in the depths of the forest farther north, when they came down to smoke the pipe of peace with Peter Dis- brow and William Odell, and the rest - perhaps on the village green, the place ' where they usually train,' or at George Lane's
51
SWAMP LOTS.
house, where meetings were generally held ! And to see the little band of 'layers out,' with stout John Brondige or Deliverance Brown at their head, sallying forth after an Indian guide, to ex- plore a tract of land just purchased, 'above the first branch of Blind Brook,' or following the Indian path where North Street now runs, to Quaroppus, ' which the English call The White Plaines.'
Failing of this, however, we can at least give some account of the process by which this region in which we dwell was converted from a wilderness into a fruitful field, and show what for a succes- sion of years were the transactions of leading importance in the town.
The first treaties with the Indians; in 1660 and the following year, had secured to the planters all the lands between Byram River and Blind Brook, for a distance of ' six or seven miles from the sea.' It seems to have been necessary afterward to repeat the purchase of certain portions of this tract by separate treaties. But the lower part, or that which was properly called Peningo, was held by virtue of the earliest deeds, and was occupied at once, and apparently without interference. For the first twenty years, - or from 1660 to 1680, - our settlers appear to have confined them- selves to this part of their land. All the improvements made within that time were limited to Peningo Neck, or as it was sometimes called, The Purchase of the Eighteen. This, we have already seen, was the tract south of Westchester Path, or the mouth ot Byram River. These were ' the bounds of Hastings,' afterwards known as
THE FIRST PURCHASE ON PENINGO NECK.
And within this tract the first divisions appear to have related to the lands ' in the Field.' Here new home-lots, of two or three acres each, and new 'meadow lots,' of ten acres each, were dis- tributed among the proprietors out of the common lands ' within the fence,' which, as we have seen, ran from Blind Brook to the nearest inlet of the Sound, along the present line of Grace Church Street. In a short time, each settler had come to own several such allotments, - only one of which, we may suppose, was as yet built upon or cultivated, while the rest were reserved for his children, or for future disposal. Thus John Brondige owned in 1680, a ' piece of salt meadow' of three acres, a ' neck lot' of four acres, a ' share of fresh meadow,' a 'part of Hassock Meadow,' a ' great lot,' a ' swamp lot,' and four different 'house lots.' 1
1 Town Records, vol. B. p. 6.
52
MOVING OUT INTO THE WOODS.
There was, very early, a division of lands in the 'LONG SWAMP.' This was the low ground lying back of those town-lots which were situated on the east side of the 'street ' or Milton Road. It ran through part of the present farms of Messrs. Halsted, Greacen, and Anderson. Not unlikely, these were the very first lands dis- tributed, after the apportionment of home and meadow lots. It is well known that the early settlers had a strong partiality for these rich lowlands.1 They required little improvement, and could readily be made to produce the rank meadow grass, which was needed for the cattle. In fact, these lands were held in higher value than the uplands, which are now in so much better esteem, but where the soil was lighter, and more difficult of cultivation, being heavily timbered, and often encumbered with rock. It must be remembered that at that day there was much more of wet marshy land in this region than now. With the clearing of forests, and the decrease of streams, the swamps have greatly diminished, and in most places wholly disappeared.
Somewhere about the year 1670, there was a division of the lands on 'WOLF-PIT RIDGE' or Plain. This name was after- ward changed to Pulpit Plain. It designated the high lands on the road to Port Chester, embraced at present in the estates of Dr. J. T. Tuttle and Mr. J. M. Ives. The lands beyond this re- mained undivided till 1702. In that year there was a division of 'building lots lying by the country road below the Steep Hollow.' This was the name given to the beautiful glen that lies on the north side of the road to Port Chester, and which forms the eastern boundary of the property of Mr. Quintard. In 1678, the first division of lands on the north side of what is now Grace Church Street occurred. These were called the Hassock Meadow lots, and consisted of about ten acres each. In this division, George Kniffin received an allotment of land which has continued in the possession of his descendants down to the present day.2
The division of lands on ' BARTON'S NECK ' began about the year 1678. This was an important part of the territory comprehended in the first purchase on Peningo Neck. The name, however, is en-
1 ' The Trees grow but thin in most places, and very little underwood. In the Woods groweth plentifully a course sort of Grass, which is so proving that it soon makes the Cattel and Horses fat in the Summer, but the Hay being course, which is chiefly gotten on the fresh Marshes, the Cattel loseth their Flesh in the Winter, except we give them Corn.' ( Good Order established in Pennsylvania and New Jersey ; printed 1685. Dawson's Historical Magazine, New York, vol. vi. p. 265.)
2 The description fixes it upon the precise spot where Jonathan and Samuel Sniffin now live. It is ' bounded southward and westward with a highway which is marked out, and northward and eastward with the upper Hassocky meadow.' (Town Records, vol. B. p. 12.)
53
BARTON'S NECK.
tirely obsolete, and we shall need to go into some details to convey an idea of its location. Barton's Neck, then, comprised all the lands now bordering on Grace Church Street, north of the road leading to Manussing Island, as far as the brook and inlet above Dr. Sands' house, near to Port Chester. It included, therefore, the lands now owned by Messrs. Titus and Brooks, the Provost estate and others, ending with what is now Lyon's Point. The western boundary of this tract was Hassock Meadow Brook, - now an insignificant rill, but then doubtless a much more considerable stream. This brook takes its rise in the valley behind the house of Mr. Jonathan Sniffin. It flows in a northeasterly direction, till it joins another rivulet, which the early settlers called Gunn Brook.1 The source of Gunn Brook is on the land of Dr. Tuttle, near the street crossing to the Ridge Road.2 It runs through the grounds of Mr. Webb and Dr. Sands, and empties into the cove already mentioned, known anciently as Gunn Brook Cove. In early times, the lands drained by these streams were mere swamps, partly covered perhaps with pools of standing water. It is not diffi- cult to suppose, what we infer from the frequent mention of these two brooks, that they were much larger than now.3
Barton's Neck was a tract about a mile long. It lay just out- side of the 'Field Fence,' along the shore of the Sound. This made it a very desirable section of land. In the first division, as in some subsequent ones, each proprietor of Peningo Neck received a share in this tract. The first occurred about or before the year 1678 ; and the shares appear to have been of six or eight acres each. In later divisions they seem to have been larger. New allotments were made from time to time down to the year 1723, when the last of which we find mention occurred. It may be said that the first farms in Rye had their origin here. The al- lotments were on a larger scale than those 'in the field,' and were so arranged that each proprietor came in due time to have a con- siderable portion of land, not in scattered parcels as before, but in contiguons parts. The same process of absorption, however, which
1 Perhaps a man's name, - an early settler. Abel Gunn was at Derby, 1682. Con- necticut Records, iii. 98, and elsewhere. The word is always written Gunn.
2 There was a ' small plain' known as early as 1685 by the name of Gunn Brook Plain, which I judge to have been the land now bordered by the above roads, or the northeastern corner of Dr. Tuttle's estate. See Town Records, vol. B. pp. 48, 56, 59, 71.
3 ' Within the limits of human recollection,' say the authors of the Natural History of New York, ' changes of the same nature have been going on. Small lakes are gradually drained by the deepening of their outlets, or filled up by the accumula- tion of sediments.' (Nat. Hist., vol. xii. p. 359.)
54
MOVING OUT INTO THE WOODS.
was going on in the Field, took place eventually on Barton's Neck. Some of the proprietors bought out the claims of others, and be- came the principal owners of the lands. Chief among these was John Merrit, who by the end of the century had acquired most of the upper part of Barton's Neck, and from whom this part re- ceived the name it bore for perhaps a hundred years, of Merrit's Point. The Sherwoods, Coes, and Ogdens also owned large por- tions of land here.
Grace Church Street was not laid out through this tract until the beginning of the next century. There was a path or ' drift-way ' leading to the lots before this. But in 1701 the town appointed Jonathan Vowles, John Merrit, Sr., and Deliverance Brown, Sr., ' to mark the road upon Barton's Neck, and the highway down unto the salt water' [i. e. the cove already spoken of ] ; ' that is to say, to mark out a good sufficient road and highway to the best of their discretion.' This undoubtedly was Grace Church Street, a name, however, which we do not meet with until the year 1736.1 The lower part of this street, below the corner of the road leading to Manussing Island, originated as we have already seen, in a path along the line of the Field Fence.
Thus by the year 1680 there seems to have been a tolerably thorough distribution of the lands embraced in the first purchase on Peningo Neck. Considerable spaces indeed were left of ' com- mon or undivided land ' between the allotments. But as the num- ber of settlers had now increased to forty-nine or fifty, there must have been some impatience to reach farther into the unoccupied forests that lay north of their present bounds. Doubtless a feeling of insecurity had thus far held them back. The recollections of ' King Philip's War' were yet fresh in their minds. The policy of New England settlers in those days of uneasiness was to keep to- gether as much as possible for mutual defence. They were slow to remove their families into the depths of the wilderness, however anxious they might be to own and subdue it. In fact it does not appear that the population of this place had as yet spread far from the spot of the first settlement. Their dwellings were still con- veniently near to each other, on ' the street,' or ' the Plains,' - not further off at all events than ' Wolf-pit Ridge ' at the northern end of the village, or the old mill at the south. So it continued to be, probably, until the early part of the next century. 'Their man- ner of living,' says the writer already quoted, in 1728, ' was at first
1 The first mention of it, corrupted to Gracious Street, is in a deed from Joseph Sherwood to Joseph Bloomer (Records, vol. C. p. 136) for thirty-five acres of land.
55
BYRAM RIDGE.
somewhat more compact than it is now ; for as they increase, they move out into the woods, and settle where they can get good farms.'
The next step tending toward this result, was the improvement of some of the lands comprised in the
SECOND PURCHASE ON PENINGO NECK.
It will be remembered that our settlers in 1661 bought lands from the Indians, north of the bounds of Hastings, or the first purchase. This tract lay between Blind Brook and Byram River, extending back into the 'country six or seven miles from the Sound. Until the year 1678, however, no part of this tract seems to have been appropriated. And even then, the only lands laid out were those along the eastern line or Byram River. This region became known as Byram Ridge. About the time we have mentioned, a distribution of land occurred here, allotments of eighteen acres each being made to the proprietors, along the western side of Byram River, beginning apparently at the lower end of King Street, in the present village of Port Chester. These lots stretched across the colony line, being bounded on the east by the river. King Street is first alluded to in 1681, as a road recently laid out through this tract. Hither in the course of time many of the settlers removed, to what they evidently consid- ered the most eligible part of the domain as yet occupied. Here new distributions were made in subsequent years, one of which occurred in 1699; until the whole of this beautiful ridge, as far as the northern bonndary of the town, was divided up.
About the time these lands on Byram Ridge were first divided, a fresh bargain was made with the Indians for the purchase of the adjoining tract on the west. This was really included in the bounds of the second purchase. But it appears to have been claimed as the peculiar property of a chief whose demands the settlers found it expedient to satisfy. Hence the acquisition of the territory which now constitutes the northern part of the town of Rye, or all that portion of it which lies above the present village of Port Chester. This our settlers were long accustomed to call -
LAME WILL'S PURCHASE.
Lame Will, or Limping Will, was the very familiar name by which a certain Indian was known in the white settlements. His veritable name was Maramaking. He was one of the chiefs with
56
MOVING OUT INTO THE WOODS.
whom the treaty of 1661 had been made, for the lands above ' the bounds of Hastings.' But he seems to have become displeased with his bargain.
This was no uncommon occurrence in dealings with the natives. Their ideas of proprietorship were notoriously imperfect ; and the settlers of New England often found it necessary, in order to pacify them, to repeat the purchase of the very same lands.1 So it was at Rye. Our planters in 1680 actually bought again, in two separate tracts, the whole territory to which they were already entitled under the treaty of 1661.
In the fall of the year 1680, Robert Bloomer and others, in behalf of the Proprietors of Peningo Neck, bought of Maramak- ing or Lame Will a certain tract of land ' called by the Indians Eaukecaupacuson and by the English name the Hogg penn ridge.' 2
' To all Christian peopelle to whom these shall com greeting know yee that I Marramaking Commonly called by the English Will have for a valuabelle consideration by me allradi Recaifed of Robart blomer haccaliah Brown and thomas merit alinated and sould unto them the said Robt blomer, Haccaliah brown and thomas merit them their heires executars administratars or asignes a certain trackt of Land Lyeing by a brooke commonly called blind brook which tract of Land is called by the Indians Eauketaupacuson bounded as followeth beginning at the southermost end which is betwene the above said brook and a branch thereof and from thence to the great swomp at the oulld marked tree which is now new marked with these Letters R B HT M and from thence by marked trees to a small Runn which Runs into the above said brook and there is marked with a mark the which tract of Land is called by the English name the hoggpenn Ridge to have and to howlld the above said trackt of land for ever and I the said Maramaking alice Will doe bind by sellfe my heires execators and administratars firmly by these presents to warrant and make good the above said salle unto the above said Robart blomer, Brown and merit their heirs ex- ceutars administrators or asignes without any Lett hindrance molista- tion or trouble from or by any person or persons whatsoever that shall from or after the date hereof make or lay any claim or claims theare unto In witnes here of I have set to my hand this 4th Day of septem- ber in the yere 1680.
Witnes the mark of Couko The mark of MARAMAKING
the mark of OWROWWOAlIAK alis WILL
JOHN OGDEN
JOHN STOKHAM
1 Palfrey's History of New England, vol. i. p. 605.
2 Town Records, vol. B. p. xiii.
. 57
LAME WILL'S PURCHASE.
' Maramaking alise Will hath acknliged this bill of salle before me in Rye this 28 of november 1680.
JOSEPH HORTON Comissoner
· Know all men by these presents that wee Robert Blomer, Hacaliah Brown and thomas merit doe asigne over all our Right titel and Intrust of this within written bill of salle to the propriatars of peningo neck. as witness our hands this second day of march in the year sixtene hundred eighti one wee three above said Reserving our equall portions with the other propriatars above said.
Delivered in presence Of us JOHN GEE His marke JOSEPH GALLPEN
ROBART BLOMER HACKALIAH BROWN THOMAS MERIT.'
Lame Will's Purchase commenced at a point where the 'branch ' of Blind Brook joins the main stream. From thence the southern boundary ran eastward to ' the old marked trees' at ' the Great Swamp.' 1 Northward, it extended along Blind Brook to certain other marked trees, where the line now divides the town of Rye from that of North Castle.2 This was Lame Will's tract, and a very valuable one it was. But either the old Indian flew again from his bargain, or he was anxious to effect a more extensive sale of lands under his sway. For a few weeks later, November 28, 1680, we find the town appointing Peter Disbrow, together with the three men previously sent, ' for to go with the Indians to view some land lying between the Blind brook and Byram river, and to make a thorow bargain with them if they shall see it best.' 3 Nearly a year elapsed before the contract was concluded. The . second purchase from Maramaking was effected on the 8th of October, 1681. For the valuable consideration of 'three coats received,' Lame Will sold to the inhabitants of Rye a tract of land ' between Byram river and the Blind brook ' or 'Honge ; ' 4 apparently lying north of the preceding purchase, and within the present limits of North Castle.
1 The Great Swamp extended over a considerable part of the region bounded on the east by King Street and on the west by the Ridge Road, north of the present Roman Catholic Cemetery. In 1705, Deliverance Brown sold to George Kniffin four or five acres of swamp land, bounded west or northwesterly 'by a branch of Blind Brook that runs out of the great Swamp commonly so called.' (Town Records, vol. C. p. 275.)
2 In the papers relating to the patent of the town of Rye in 1720, it appears that the territory for which that patent was sought and granted, was coextensive with Will's Purchase.
3 Rye Records, vol. A. Bolton's History of Westchester County, ii. 24.
4 Town Records, vol. B. p. xv. The name Honge may have been applied to the upper part of Blind Brook, or to the branch already referred to. The Indians, it is well known, often had varions names for the same stream.
58
MOVING OUT INTO THE WOODS.
' Know all Christian People to whom these shall com greting know ye that I maramaking Comanly called by the english will have for a valuabell Consideration by the inhabitance of the towne of Rye allradi Resaived namely, three cotse In hand of the inhabitants of Rye by me Resaived I Maramaking doe acknolidg that I have aLinated covinanted soulld and deLivired unto them the inhabitants of Rye to them theare heirs Execetars administratars or asignes a sartain tract of Land Liing betwene Biram river and the blind brooke or honge : acording as it is allradi marked by the Indians and bounded : : to have and holld the above said trackt of Land for ever : and I the said maramaking or else Will doe bind my sellfe my heires execetars and administratars firmly by these presents to warant and make good the above said salle unto the above named Inhabitants of Rye to them thaire heires execetars asignes or 'administratars without any Let hin- drance moListation or trouble from or by any person or persons what so ever that shall from or after the date here of make or Lay any claim or claims theare unto In witness here of I have set to my hand this 8th of October in the yere 1681 Witness the mark of WESSACONOW The marke of MARAMAKING the mark of Cowwows
the mark of PUMMETUM JOSHUA KNAP JACOB PAIRS
or elce WILL
' Marmaking or else will hath acknowliged this bill of salle before me in Rye this 8 of october 1681
JOSEPH HORTON Comissioner.
' Recorded decem 20-1682.'
The lands comprised in Will's purchases, along Blind Brook, do not appear to have been divided and improved until long after those on Byram Ridge. There was a manifest reluctance still to spread into the interior, and a strong preference for the neighbor- hood of the shore and river, especially in the direction of the older Connecticut settlements. We have. good reason to believe that those lands were mostly appropriated, and many of them cleared and partly cultivated, before much advance was made into the forests lying immediately to the north.1 Twenty years after the first division on Byram Ridge, we find the following entry in the town records : -
' At a town meeting in Rye, February 14, 1699-1700, the town hath made choice of Lieutenant Horton, Benjamin Horton, Joseph Purdy, Justice Brown, Sergeant Merritt, and John Stoakham, [who] are to sur- vey and lay out the three Purchases of land ; that is to say, the White Plaines' purchase, and Lame Will's two purchases ; and the town doth
1 Town and Proprietor's-Meeting Book, No. C. p. 6.
59
FREE USE OF LANDS.
give them full power to call out such person or persons whom they shall see cause to have occasion of.' 1
Nothing however seems to have been done under this order. Will's Purchase was not actually laid out till ten years later. But meanwhile the town made a liberal offer of the free use of lands to any that would take them : -
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