USA > New York > Westchester County > History of Westchester County, New York, from its earliest settlement to the year 1900 > Part 20
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66
The distinguishing characteristics of the manors demand notice here, although our space does not permit any elaborate treatment of this particular subject.1 First, it should be understood that the manors, one and all, were only ordinary landed estates, granted to
1 Readers desiring a more detailed account
are referred to Edward Floyd de Laucey's
"Origin and History of the Manors," In Scharf's " History of Westehesler County."
186
HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY
certain English subjects in America who, while popularly styled " lords " of the manors, enjoyed no distinguished rank whatever, and were in no way elevated titularly, by virtue of their manorial proprietorships, above the common people. In no case was a mano- rial grant in Westchester County conferred upon a member of the British nobility, or even upon an individual boasting the minor rank of baronet; and in no case, moreover, was such a grant bestowed in recognition of services to the crown or as a mark of special honor by the sovereign. Without exception, the proprietors of the manors were perfectly plain, untitled gentlemen. Yet, says de Lancey, " we often, at this day, see them written of and hear them spoken of as nobles. 'Lord Philipse' and . Lord Pell' are familiar examples of this ridiculous blunder in Westchester County. No grant of a feudal manor in England at any time from their first introduction ever car- ried with it a title, and much less did any grant of a New York freehold manor ever do so. Both related to land only. The term Lord of a Manor is a technical one, and means simply the owner, the possessor of a manor-nothing more. Its use as a title is simply a mark of intense or ignorant republican provincialism. . Lord ' as a prefix to a manor owner's name was never used in England nor in the Province of New York."
The manor was a very ancient institution in England, but by the statute of quia emplores, enacted in 1290, the erection of new manors in that kingdom was forever put to an end. The old English man- ors, founded in the Middle Ages, were of course based upon the feudal system, involving military service by the fief at the will of his lord, and, in general, the complete subjection of the fief. The whole feudal system of land tenure having been abolished by the statute of Charles II. in 1660, and the system of " free and common socage " (meaning the right to hold land unvexed by the obligation of feudal service) having been substituted in its stead, New York, both as a proprietary province under the Duke of York and subsequently as a royal province, never exhibited any traces of feudality in the mat- ter of land tenures, but always had an absolutely free yeomanry. But it was never contemplated that New York or any of the other provinces in America should develop a characteristically democratic organization of government or basis of society. Titled persons were sent to rule over them, and, particularly in New York, there was a manifest tendency to render the general aspect of administration and social life as congenial as possible to people of high birth and ele- gant breeding. Moreover, there being no provision for the creation of an American titled aristocracy, it was deemed expedient to offer some encouragement to men of aristocratic desires, and the institu-
187
OBSERVATIONS ON THE MANORS
tion of the manor was selected as the most practicable concession to the aristocratic instinct-a concession which, while carrying with it no title of nobility, did carry a certain weighty dignity, based upon the one universally recognized foundation for all true original aristocracy-large landed proprietorship, coupled with formally con- stituted authority. The establishment of new manors in England was discontinued by the statute of 1290 for the sole reason that at that period no crown lands remained out of which such additional manors could be formed, the essential preliminary to a manor being a land grant by the sovereign to a subject. But in the American provinces, where extensive unacquired lands were still awaiting ten- ure, the manor system was capable of wide application at discre- tion; and in New York and some of the other provinces it was the policy of the English government from the beginning to encourage the organization of manors. "The charter of Pennsylvania," said the learned Chief Judge Denio of the New York Court of Appeals, in his opinion in the Rensselaerswyck case, " empowered Penn, the pat- entre, to erect manors and to alien and grant parts of the lands to such purchasers as might wish to purchase, ' their heirs and assigns, to be held of the said William Penn, his heirs and assigns, by such serv- ices, customs, and rents as should seem fit to said William Penn, etc., and not immediately of the said King Charles, his heirs or successors,' not- withstanding the statute of quia emptores." Similarly in New York, the manor grants issued during the time that it remained a propri- etary province (namely, those to Thomas Pell in 1666 and to John Archer in 1671) were made by the authority and in the name of the Duke of York as proprietor, and not of the king. After New York was changed into a royal province, the manor grants were continued by the authority and in the name of the king.
The privileges attaching to the manor grants in Westchester County varied. All of them, however, had one fundamental char- acteristic. Each manor was, in very precise language, appointed to be a separate and independent organization or jurisdiction, entirely detached from other established political divisions. To give the reader an idea of the formality with which such separation was made, we reproduce the wording of one of the manor grants upon this point, which is a fair specimen. in his letters patent to John Archer for the Manor of Fordham, Governor Lovelace says: " I doe grant unto ve said John Archer, his heirs and assigns, that the house which he shall erect, together with ye said parcel of land and prem- ises, shall be forever hereafter held, claimed, reputed and be an entire and enfranchised township, manor, and place of itself, and shall always, from time to time and at all times hereafter, have, hold, and
188
HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY
enjoy like and equal privileges and immunities with any town en- franchised or manor within this government, and shall in no manner or icay be subordinate or belonging unto, have any dependence upon, or in any wise be under the rule, order, or direction of any riding, township, place, or jurisdiction, either upon the main or Long Island."
Thus, first of all, and as its great essential characteristic, the ma- norial estate was always made a political entity. As such it was under the government of its proprietor and his subordinates, who, however, in all their acts were subject to the general laws of the land, simply applying those laws as circumstances and conditions required. According to the theory of the old English manors, a so-called "Court Baron " was an indispensable attachment of every manor-that is, a court for the trial of civil cases, over which the lord or his steward presided, the jurors being chosen from among the freehold tenants. There was also usually a so- called "Court Leet," which has been described as "a court of record having a similar jurisdic- tion to the old sheriff's 'Tourns or migratory courts held by the sheriff in the different districts or ' hundreds ' of his county, for the punishment of minor offenses and the preservation of the peace," GOVERNOR LOVELACE. which was provided for in order that the lords of manors " might administer justice to their tenants at home." In atl the West- chester County manor grants, except Fordham, authority is given to the grantee to hold " one Court Leet and one Court Baron." This privilege was not always availed of; for example, we have seen that in the Manor of Scarsdale the manorial courts were never or- ganized. It is worthy of note in this connection that among the manor lords of Westchester County were several of the early judges of the province, including John Pell (second lord of Pelham Manor), who was the first judge of Westchester County; Caleb Heathcote, of Scarsdale Manor, who served as county judge for twenty-seven years, and was also an admiralty judge; Lewis Morris, of Morrisania, one of the most famous of the royal chief justices; and the second Fred-
189
OBSERVATIONS ON THE MANORS
eriek Philipse, who was a puisne judge of the Supreme Court. To this list should be added the name of the celebrated chief justice and royal governor, James de Lancey, who married the eldest daugh- ter of Caleb Heathcote. In addition to their civil functions, the pro- prietors of four of the manors (Cortlandt, Philipseburgh, Pelham, and Morrisania) enjoyed the right of advowson and church patron- age, under which they had the power to exercise controlling influ- ence in church matters within their domains. The prevailing see- tarian tendencies of different localities in Westchester County during
the colonial era and for many years subsequently were owing mainly to the particular religious preferences and activities of the respective manor lords of those localities. In Westchester, Eastchester, and Rye the Church of England early secured a firm foundation through the zeal of Colonel Caleb Heathcote, of Scarsdale, who was its earnest supporter. A similar influence, with a similar result, was exercised in the Yonkers land by the second Frederick Philipse, who had been educated in England, where he became attached to the Established Church, and who as proprietor of the lower part of Philipseburgh Manor founded Saint John's Church at Yonkers, which to this day maintains the leading position in that community. On the other hand, at Tarrytown, on the upper part of Philipseburgh Manor, the Dutch Reformed Church enjoyed supremacy from the beginning, on account of the patronage accorded it by the first lord and by his son and successor in that division of the manor, Adolph.
Upon one of the Westchester manors, Cortlandt, was bestowed an extraordinary privilege: that of being represented in the general assembly of the province by a special member. This privilege was granted to no other manor of New York, except Rensselaers- wyck and Livingston, although it was enjoyed also by the two bor- ough towns, Westchester and Schenectady. But it was provided that the exercise of the privilege, so far as Cortlandt Manor was concerned, was not to begin until twenty years after the grant (i. c., in 1717). At the expiration of that time, Stephanus Van Cortlandt, his heirs or assigns, had full authority to "return and send a dis- creet inhabitant in and of the said manor to be a representative of the said manor in every assembly," who should " be received into the house of representatives of assembly as a member of the said house, to have and enjoy such privilege as the other representatives returned and sent from any other county and manors." Cortlandt Manor did not, however, choose a representative in the assembly until 1734, when Philip Verplanck was elected to sit for it. He continued to serve in that capacity for thirty-four years, being sue- ceeded by Pierre Van Cortlandt, who remained a member of the
190
HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY
assembly until 1775. Notwithstanding the exceptional privilege of representation given to Cortlandt Manor as a manor, the other manors of Westchester County were equally able to make their influ- once felt in that body. In addition to the special members from Cortlandt Manor and Westchester town, the county as a whole was entitled to representation by two general delegates. Heathcote, John Pell, the Philipses, and the Morrises all sat at various times for the county.
The original purpose of the manor grants being to enconrage the development of the semi-aristocratic system for which they provided, no onerons charges in the way of special taxation were assessed upon the manor proprietors. In each grant was incorporated a provision for the payment of annual " quit-rent " to the provincial government, but the amount fixed was in every case merely nominal. The vari- ous quit-rents exacted were, for the Manor of Pelham, as originally patented to Thomas Pell, " one lamb on the first day of May (if the lamb shall be demanded) "; for Pelham, as repatented to John Pell, " twenty shillings, good and lawful money of this province, at the City of New York, on the five and twentieth day of March "; for Fordham, " twenty bushels of good peas, upon the first day of March, when it shall be demanded ": for Philipseburgh, " on the feast day of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the an- nual rent of four pounds twelve shillings current money of our said province ": for Morrisania, "on the feast day of the Annunciation of our Blessed Virgin,
the annual rent of six shillings "; for Cortlandt, " on the feast day of our Blessed Virgin Mary, the yearly rent of forty shillings, current money of our said province "; and for Scarsdale, " five pounds current money of New York, upon the nativity of our Lord." Appended to most of the quit-rent leases was the significant statement that the prescribed payment was to be " in lieu of all rents, services, and demands whatever," apparently inserted to emphasize the well-understood fact that the manor grants were strictly in the line of public policy, and were in no way intended to become a source of revenne to the government.
The importance of the manorial proprietorships in Westchester County, in their relations to its political and social character and to its eventful history for a hundred years, can not be overestimated. All the founders of the six manors were men of forceful traits, native ability, and wide infinence. With a single exception,1 they left their estates, entirely undiminished and unimpaired, cither to children or to immediate kinsmen, who in turn, by their personal characters and
1 Johu Archer, of Fordham. In consequence of financial complications, his manor did not remain in his family. Yet the Archer family
continued to be a respectable and useful one in the country.
191
OBSERVATIONS ON THE MANORS
qualities, as well as by their marital alliances, solidified the already substantial foundations which had been laid, and greatly strength- ened the social position and enlarged the spheres of their families. To enumerate the marriages contracted during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, in the male and female lines, by the Van Cort- landts, the Philipses, the Morrises, the Polls, and the descendants of Caleb Heathcote, would involve almost a complete recapitulation of the more conspicuous and wealthy New York families of the entire colonial period, besides many prominent families of other provinces. To the Westchester manorial families belonged some of the most noted and influential Americans of their times-men of shining talents, fascinating manners, masterful energy, and splendid achievement; statesmen, orators, judges, and soldiers-who were among the principal popular leaders and civic officials of the prov- ince and who won renown both in the public service and in the field during the Revolution. Alike to the patriot cause and the Tory faction these families contributed powerful and illustrious support- ers. As the issues between the colonies and Great Britain became more closely drawn, and the inevitable struggle approached, the in- fluences of the representative members of the Westchester families were thrown partly on one side and partly on the other. The tenants in each case were controlled largely by the proprietor, and thus an acute division of sentiment and sympathies was occasioned which, in connection with the unique geographical position of this county in its relations to the contending forces of the Revolution, caused it to be torn by constant broils and to be devastated by innumerable conflicts and depredations. Remembering that the old manorial families of Westchester County rested upon an original foundation of very recognizable aristocratie dignity, which was made possible only by monarchieal institutions; that the pride of lineage had, at the time of the Revolution, been nourished for the larger part of a century; and that the disposition of attachment to the king naturally arising from these conditions had been much strengthened by con- tinuous intermarriage with other families of high social pretension and political conservatism, it seems at this day remarkable, or at least a source of peculiar satisfaction, that their preferences and efforts were, on the whole, rather for the popular cause than against it. Even in the formative period of the Revolution, before passions had been stirred by experience and example, and before actual emergency impelled men to put aside caution, it was distinctly apparent that the Tory party was the weaker, both numerically and in point of leader- ship; and at a very early period of the war, notwithstanding the loss of New York City to the American army and the retreat of
192
HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY
Washington into New Jersey, Toryism became an unwholesome thing throughout much the larger part of Westchester County. The in- fluence of the Tory landlords, even upon their own tenantry, was, indeed, a constantly diminishing factor, while that of the patriotic leaders steadily grew. This could not have been the case if the weight of sentiment among the principal families of the county had not been genuinely on the side of American freedom.
CHAPTER X
GENERAL HISTORICAL REVIEW TO THE BEGINNING OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY-COMPLETION OF THE WORK OF ORIGINAL SETTLEMENT
N tracing to the beginning of the eighteenth century the history of the great land purchases and manor erections, only incidental allusion has been made to the general history of the times during the first few decades which followed the surrender of New Netherland by the Dutch, and to the coincident progress of such settlements as were not directly asso- ciated with the manorial estates. After briefly summarizing the general history of the province and the county during that period, we shall complete the account of original local settlement. The narrative as a whole will then proceed more uniformly and rapidly.
Richard Nicolls, the first of the English governors, continued in office until 1668, when he was succeeded by Francis Lovelace. Dur- ing Nicolls's administration, the old Dutch land patents throughout the province were reissued, being altered only so as to provide for allegiance to the Duke of York and the government of England, in- stead of the Dutch West India Company and the government of the United Netherlands; the boundary line between New York and Con- necticut was provisionally established, although upon a basis soon to be totally repudiated; and the code known as " the Duke's Laws," for the general government of the province, was adopted. This code " established a very unmistakable autocracy, making the governor's will supreme, and leaving neither officers nor measures to the choice of the people." Among its detailed features were " trial by jury, equal taxation, tenure of land from the Duke of York, no religious estab- lishment but requirement of some church form, freedom of religion to all professing Christianity, obligatory service in cach parish on Sunday, a recognition of negro slavery under certain restrictions, and general liability to military duty."
The legitimacy and propriety of owning negro slaves was never questioned in New York or elsewhere in America in those days. Bondmen, both black and white, were brought here during the earli- est period of settlement by the Dutch; and with the arrival of Director
194
HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY
Kieft, in 1638, the practice of furnishing negroes to all who desired them had become a thoroughly established one. A distinct article providing for the furnishing of blacks to settlers was incorporated in the " Freedoms and Exemptions " of the Dutch West India Com- pany, a series of regulations adopted to promote colonization, All the leading English families who came to the province after the con- quest owned negroes, both as laborers and as house servants. Colonel Lewis Morris, as has been noticed in another place, possessed at his death sixty-six negroes, of an aggregate value of £844; and the house- hold slaves left by the first Frederick Philipse, in 1702, as shown by an inventory of his estate, numbered forty. According to a census of the year 1703, says a historian of New York City, there was " hardly a family that did not have from half a dozen to a dozen or more in their service." This custom of regarding negroes as absolute property was, moreover, viewed with entire and unquestioning approval in the mother country at that period. In a curious document drawn up by " the Committee of the Council of Foreigne SOIT QVI - MAI Plantations," about 1683, " certaine prop- ositions for the better accommodating # SIGILLAPR the Foreigne Plantations with servants " INOH are duly formulated. They are prefaced SE PE with the statement that "it being uni- * ION ENIAOY versally agreed that people are the fon- . * EBORAC dations and improvement of all planta- 0 tions, and that people are encreased prin- cipally by sending of servants thither, it is necessary that a settled course be taken DUKE OF YORK'S SEAL. for the furnishing them with servants." "Servants," it is next stated, "are either blacks or whites," and the status of the former is defined as follows: " Blacks are such as are brought by waye of trade and are sould at about £20 a head one with another, and are the principall and most usefull appurtenances of a plantation, and are such as are perpetnall servants." It would be difficult to find in the literature of slavery under English rule a more accurate and ingennous definition of the position of the negro as understood in olden times.
Lovelace, who succeeded Nicolls as governor in 1668, continued his predecessor's liberal policy toward the Dutch population, and ad- ministered affairs successfully and smoothly until suddenly forced to resurrender the province to its original owners in 1673. During his incumbency the settlers in our county rapidly increased. He
195
GENERAL HISTORICAL REVIEW TO 1700
took an active interest in improving the means of communication between the outlying localities and New York City. He strongly urged upon the people of Harlem village the necessity of building a good wagon road to the fort, and at an early period of his govern- ment the ferry service at Kingsbridge was inaugurated. From his time dates the opening of the first regular route of travel to Con- nectient, what was later improved into the Boston Post Road. " Once a month, beginning with January 1, 1673, the postman, mounted upon a goodly horse, which had to carry him as far as Hartford, collected the accumulated mail into his saddlebags. At Hartford he took another horse, and wended his way as best he might through woods and swamps, across rivers, and along Indian trails, if he was happy enough to find such. On his return, the city coffee-house received his precions burden, and upon a broad table the various missives were displayed and delivered when paid for." 1 The begin- ning of these regular trips between New York and the New England colonies was, of course, an event of great importance to all the settlers in the eastern part of West- chester County, and the road was steadily developed into a substantial thoroughfare for vehicles.
Louis XIV. of France, having deter- mined to crush the Dutch Republic for in- terfering with some of his designs of state- craft, induced Charles II. of England to join him in that enterprise. The Nether- GOVERNOR DONGAN. lands, however, opposed a powerful and eventually successful resistance to the allies, both on land and sea. The dykes were opened, the Prince of Orange, who had been invested with supreme authority, brilliantly defended his country against the invader at every point, and the French armies were forced to retire. The Dutch navy, triumphing over both the French and English fleets, in a number of decisive engagements, soon entered upon a course of aggression beyond the seas. A squadron under Admirals Evertsen and Binckes, after making a successful descent in the West Indies, proceeded to New York, anchoring off Sandy Hook on July 29, 1673. Governor Lovelace was away at the time, upon business relating to our county, in connection with the new Boston Post Road. Some resistance was offered, which was speedily overcome, the Eng- lish garrison capitulated, and soon Dutch authority was restored full-
1 Van Pelt's Hist, of the Greater New York, 1., 67.
196
HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY
fledged throughout the Province of New York. The city was renamed New Orange, in honor of the prince, and Captain Anthony Colve was installed as governor. He immediately took measures to put the city in a capital condition of defense. To that end, and for the general purposes of his government, he caused the estates of the citizens to be appraised, and taxed them accordingly. It was as an incident of this proceeding that Frederick Philipse was ascer- tained to be the wealthiest inhabitant, with a fortune of 80,000 guil- ders. One of Colve's sununary acts was his attempted confiscation of the property of the infant Lewis Morris, which he was prevented from accomplishing by the skillful address of Colonel Morris. The governor very promptly notified the settlements of the existence of the new régime, and demanded their obedient submission. One of the first to receive his atiention in this regard was Westchester, or Oostdorp, whose recalcitrant behavior at the advent of the English in 1664 will be recalled by the reader. To the citizens of that back- slidden town Colve, on August 13, sent notification to appear before him and his conncil without delay, " together with their constables' staves and English flags, and they would, if circumstances permitted, be furnished with the prince's colors in place of the British ensign." Needless to say, this command was complied with, and the West- chester men were warned that " in future they should demean them- selves as loyal subjects." The government of the place was re- organized on the Dutch plan, with a new set of magistrates and new local regulations, among which was the requirement that the people should be of the Reformed Christian religion in uniformity with the Synod of Dort, or at least well-affectioned thereunto. The village of Fordham, also, was constrained to adapt its local affairs to the new conditions. Colve caused its citizens to nominate to him six of their number best qualified to act as magistrates, all of whom should be of the Reformed Christian religion, and at least one-half men of Dutch nationality. This action as to Fordham, however, was in part the result of the initiative of the people of the place, who desired a new status of village government. The secretary of the province under Colve, it is worthy of mention, was Cornelins Steen- wyck, who subsequently became the owner of the Manor of Fordham.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.