USA > New York > Westchester County > History of Westchester County, New York, from its earliest settlement to the year 1900 > Part 21
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
During the Dutch restoration, which lasted fifteen months, New York province (or the Province of New Orange, as it was styled) did not revert to the proprietorship of the Dutch West India Company, but was subject direct and solely to the States-General of the Nether- lands. The great commercial corporation which had settled it and ruled it for forty-one years had fallen upon unprosperous times. The affluent condition of the company during its early career was mainly
197
GENERAL HISTORICAL REVIEW TO 1700
due to its revenues from the prizes of war and from wealthy cap- tured provinces in the West Indies and South America. These reve- mes were ent off by the conclusion of peace with Spain, and its affairs began to decline, until " finally its liabilities exceeded its as- sets by more than five millions of florins. Various schemes were proposed and tried to save it from bankruptcy or dissolution, but none availed to ward off disaster. In 1673 it was practically extinct, but it was not until 1674 that it was officially dissolved." Such was the melancholy end of this magnificent organization, which came to pass in the very year that Dutch authority, after a fitful period of renewal, was terminated forever in New York.
Early in 1674, by the Treaty of Westminster, peace was restored between England and Holland, each party agreeing to return to the other whatever possessions had been conquered during the war. On November 10 of that year New York was peacefully handed over to the representative of the Duke of York, Edmund Andros, who as- sumed its government. This new change was attended by no fur- ther inconvenience to the citizens than the obligation to take the oath of allegiance to England.
Nothing of importance in the general concerns of the province after the resumption of English rule requires our notice until 1683. In that year two events of great consequence occurred-first, the division of New York into counties, and, second, the revision of the New York and Connecticut boundary agreement of 1664.
On the 17th of October, 1683, the first legislative assembly in the history of New York convened in New York City. It was summoned by the new governor, Thomas Dongan, who " came with instructions to allow the people in their various towns to elect representatives to a general assembly, which was to constitute a sort of lower house, with the governor's council as the upper house of legislation, the governor acting as the sovereign to approve or veto the bills passed. The assembly was to meet once in three years at least, and to num- ber not more than eighteen members." This first New York assem- bly consisted of fourteen representatives, of whom four were from Westchester, as follows: Thomas Hunt, Sr., John Palmer, Richard Ponton, and William Richardson.1 The assembly passed an act, ap- proved by the governor on November 1, from which we quote the per- tinent portion: "Having taken into consideracon the necessity of divideing the province into respective countyes for the better govern- ing and setleing Courts in the same, Bee It Enacted by the Gover- nour, Couneell and Representatives, and by authority of the same, That the said Province bee divided into twelve Countyes, as fol- 1 " Clvll History of Westchester County," by Rev. William J. Cumming, Scharf, 1., 617.
198
HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY
loweth : . . . The Countye of Westchester, to contain West and East Chester, Bronx Land, Ffordham, Anne Hooks Neck [Pelham Neck ], Richbell's [de Lancey's Neck], Miniford's Island [ City Island], and all the Land on the Maine to the Eastward of Manhattan's Island, as farr as the Government Extends, and the Yonckers Land and Northwards along Hudson's River as far as the High Lands." The other eleven counties named and erected were New York, Richmond, Kings, Queens, Suffolk, Dutchess, Orange, Ulster, and Albany, with Duke's and Cornwall, the latter two embracing territory now belong- ing to the States of Massachusetts and Maine,1 but at that time the property of the Duke of York. It was also provided that there should be a high sheriff in each county, and that courts should be established, including town courts, county courts, a Court of Oyer and Terminer, and a Court of Chancery, the Supreme Court of the province consisting of the governor and council. Westchester was appointed to be the shire town, or county seat, of the county. It continued as such until after the burning of the courthouse ( Febru- ary 4, 1758), when White Plains was selected. By one of the acts passed by the assembly of 1683, entitled " An act for the more orderly hearing and determining matters of controversy," courts of session for Westchester County were directed to be held on the first Tues- days of June and December, one at Westchester and the other at Eastchester; and on the first Wednesday of December a Court of Oyer and Terminer and General Jail Delivery was to be held. The County Court of Westchester County did not begin its existence until 1688, when John Pell was appointed its first judge. The first high sheriff of the county, Benjamin Collier, was, however, appointed almost immediately (November 9, 1683), and in 1684 a county clerk, John Rider, was appointed. From the beginning, all the principal officers were appointive, and held their places during the pleasure of the governor, excepting only representatives in the general as- sembly, who were chosen by the people.
One of the chief enactments of the assembly of 1683 was a pro- posed " Charter of Liberties and Priviledges, granted by his Royal Highness to the Inhabitants of New York and its dependencies,". which, however, was disapproved when transmitted to England. In- deed, before the time for the convening of the second general as- sembly arrived, this representative body was abolished altogether, the Duke of York having mounted the throne as James II. and having come to the conclusion that it was not expedient for the people of the province to participate in its government. It was not until 1691,
1 Duke's County embraced Nantucket, Mar- tha's Vineyard, Elizabeth Island, and No
Man's Land; and Cornwall County comprised l'emaquid and adjacent territory in Maine.
199
GENERAL HISTORICAL REVIEW TO 1700
after the accession of William and Mary, that the assembly again came together, to continue as a permanent institution.
The basis of the New York and Comeetient boundary agreement of October, 1664, as understood by Governor Nicolls and as uni- formly insisted upon by the New York provincial government, was a line starting at a point on the Sound twenty miles from the Ind- son River. It was represented to Nicolls by the Connecticut com- missioners that this point was at the mouth of the Mamaroneck River-a very convenient place, moreover, from the Connecticut point. of view, for the line to begin, since it would just take in the Rye settlement. So the starting point was fixed at the Mamaroneck's mouth, whence the boundary was to run north-northwest until it should intersect the southern line of Massachusetts. Here, again, great injustice was done to New York; for this north-northwest line would ent the Hudson below the Highlands, utterly dismembering the Province of New York, and giving to Connectient all of the river above the Highlands, including the settlements at Albany and other places along the stream. Of course such a division, when its true nature became realized, could not be submitted to. But there was no immediate occasion for a different adjustment. New York at that period was not at all disposed to claim Rye, which, from the bo- ginning, had belonged without question to the jurisdiction of Con- nectient; and as for the interior, it mattered little for the time being how far Connecticut's nominal boundary reached, as no settlements had yet been begun there, and even private proprietary interests on the part of subjects of New York (excepting only Richbell's patent) had not yet come into being. The whole matter was left in abeyance for nineteen years.
A new boundary, substantially the one now existing, was estab- lished by articles coneluded between Governor Dongan and council of New York and the governor and delegates of Connecticut on the 24th day of November, 1683. Important concessions were made on both sides. New York demanded, as the fundamental thing, that the original intention of a twenty-mile distance from the Hudson should be adhered to; and, moreover, that the boundary should run north and south, or parallel to the Hudson, instead of north-north- west-a demand to which Connecticut yielded. On the other hand, it was coneeded to Connecticut that she should retain her older set- tlements on the Sound, extending as far westward as the limits of the Town of Greenwich, or the month of the Byram River; but as this arrangement would eut off from New York a considerable ter ritory along the Sound that rightfully belonged to her under the twenty-mile agreement, the deprivation thus suffered was to be com-
200
HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY
pensated for by assigning to New York an " equivalent tract " (i. e., a tract equal in area to the surrendered Sound lands) along the whole extent of the fundamental north and south boundary.
The divisional line traced in conformity with these mutual con- cessions is probably the most curious of American State boundaries, and must be an inexplicable puzzle to all persons not familiar with the historical facts which we have recited. It has no fewer than five points of departure. After following the Byram River for a short distance, it abruptly leaves that stream and runs in a straight direction northwest; then, forming a right angle, goes northeast; then returns again at a right angle to MASS: LINEOF R GIK MASSACHUSETTS northwest; and finally, at a very ob- tuse angle, proceeds in a continuous I course to the Massachusetts boundary. LINE AGREED ON IN 16 64 But however eccentric in appearance, NEWS YORK it was constructed with strict refer- ence to a fair and regular division of ·PO'KEEPSIE territory under the terms of the com- TRACK HUDSON RIVER promise and the peculiar conditions of existing settlement which made NEWBURGH such a compromise necessary.
EQUIVALENT TAA
--
WEST POINT
CONNECTICUT
Beginning at the month of the Byram River, the line, as thus decided APEEKSKILL TIL RIDGEFIELD ANGLE M 20MILES upon in 1683, ran up that stream as HWILTON ANCLE far as the head of tidewater (about a - - SING SING DUKES mile and a half), where was a " wad- C-TREES 1 O 1 ing-place" crossed by a road, and BYRAM R L.I. SOUND 1 NEW LINE OF 1650 D MAMARONECK RIVER JERSEY where stood a rock known as "The Great Stone at the Wading-place." From this point as a natural boundary LONG ISLAND mark it went north-northwest to a dis- N.Y. CITY tance eight miles from the Sound, VARIOUS BOUNDARY LINES. which was deemed to be a reasonable northward limit for the Connecticut Sound settlements. From here, making a right angle, the line paral- leled the general course of the shore of the Sound for twelve miles. Thus the strip on the Sound set off to Connecticut formed a parallelo- gram eight by twelve miles. But as the eastern termination of the twelve-mile line was beyond the twenty-mile distance from the Hud- son, another north-northwest line was drawn from that termination, which, after running some eight miles, came to a point distant from the lludson the required twenty miles. Here began the straight line to the Massachusetts border, pursuing a course parallel to the
201
GENERAL HISTORICAL REVIEW TO 1700
general direction of the Hudson River. Along these latter two sec- tions of the boundary, the so-called " equivalent tract " or " Oblong," having an area of 61,440 acres, was, in recompense for the Sound set- tlements which New York surrendered, taken from Connecticut and given to New York; and as thus rectified the whole north and south boundary line, beginning at the northeast corner of the Connecticut parallelogram, was located some two miles to the eastward of the basic twenty-mile distance originally agreed upon.
The settlements on the Sound which fell to Connecticut by this determination of the boundary were five in number-Greenwich, Stamford, Darien, New Canaan, and Norwalk. A sixth settlement, Rye, which had previously belonged to Connecticut, was for the most part transferred to New York, although a portion of its lands fell on the Connecticut side of the line. It was in large measure owing to the aggressiveness of the Rye settlers, and to the questions arising out of the territorial claims made by the Town of Rye as the west- ernmost locality of Connecticut, that the boundary matter was forced to an issue in 1683. The Rye people, conceiving that the Connectient colony extended all the way to the Hudson River, complained to the legislature of Connecticut about the purchases or pretensions of New York citizens along the Hudson which came to their notice; and the Connecticut governor brought the subject to the attention of the governor of New York and urged a settlement. And now, under the new boundary treaty of the two provinces, Rye itself was rudely sundered from its parent colony and made a part of New York. This was extremely repugnant to the settlers of Rye, who, indeed, continued to deem themselves as belonging to Connecticut, and ultimately, rather than submit to the government of New York, when that government took certain steps distasteful to them, boldly re- volted against its authority and organized the famous " Rye Rebel- lion." Nor was Rye the only settlement founded by Connecticut men and governed by Connecticut which, against its will, was incor- porated in New York. The history of the Town of Bedford is almost as interesting in this respect as that of Rye. Previously to 1683 the Bedford settlement had been begun by Stamford men, and for years after the boundary agreement of that year, Bedford, like Rye, was much disaffected toward New York. It was an active party to the " Rye Rebellion."
The boundary line fixed by interprovincial agreement on the 24th of November, 1683, was approved by the legislature of Connecticut on the Sth of May, 1684, and a surveyor was appointed to lay off the line. This surveyor, with the co-operation of officers from New York, traced the first sections of the boundary as far as the termination
202
HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY
of the agreed line parallel to the Sound. Thus the territory retained by Connecticut on the Sound was formally marked off without de- lay; but the " equivalent tract " or " Oblong " to which New York was entitled was not apportioned upon that occasion, although its approximate width was calculated and indicated by the surveyors. The new boundary, while accepted by the two provinces, did not re- ceive ratification in England, probably because no special attention was paid to the matter; and the lack of such ratification enabled Connecticut, after the revolt of Rye and Bedford, to contend that the whole arrangement was without legal effect, and to insist that it be passed upon by the king before it could be considered binding. It was accordingly taken to King William for final decision, who in March, 1700, confirmed it, ordering Rye and Bedford to return to the jurisdiction of New York; and on the 10th of October follow- ing the two towns were, by the legislature of Connecticut, absolved from all allegiance to that colony.
So far as the political status of Rye and Bedford was concerned, this forever ended all doubt on that point; but the exact location of the boundary line along each of its various sections still continued a subject of dispute, and, in fact, the controversy did not end until the present generation. The history of this dispute of two hundred years' standing may conveniently be completed in the present con- nection. We quote from the excellent summary of it given in the Rev. Mr. Baird's " History of Rye":
After various failures to effect a settlement, New York and Connecticut selected com- missioners, who met at Rye in April, 1725, and began the work of marking the boundary. They started at " the Great Stone at the Wading-place," which had been designated as the point of beginning forty-one years before. Their survey was extended as far as that of 1684, to " the Duke's Trees," at the northwest angle of the Town of Greenwich, where three white oaks had been marked as the termination of the former survey. Here the work was sus- pended for want of funds, and it was not resumed until the spring of 1731. The survey was then completed to the Massachusetts line; the "equivalent tract " or " Oblong" was meas- ured and " set off to New York," and the line dividing the Province of New York from the Colony of Connectient was designated by monuments at intervals of two miles. "The Great Rock at the Wading-place " may still be found at the northeastern end of the bridge erossing the Byram River. Starting at this rock, the boundary line strikes across the King Street and follows the course of that road for about two miles. At the distance of five miles from the Wading-place it crosses Blind Brook near the head of that stream at an angle which terminates the territory of Rye. The famous " Duke's Trees " are about two miles north of this point.
The boundary line laid down in 1731 remained without disturbance until 1855, when the question arose as to its existing definiteness. On some portions of the line the marks had disappeared, and along the whole distance the greatest uneertainty existed. Residents near the border refrained from voting in either State, while officers of justice and tax collectors hesitated to exercise their authority up to any well-defined limit. These circumstances were taken advantage of by those wishing to evade the payment of taxes or the enforcement of the law. In May, 1855, the General Assembly of Connecticut took steps to have the true position of the boundary line ascertained, by means of a new survey and the erection of new monu- ments. In the following year the New York legislature took similar action, and the com-
203
GENERAL HISTORICAL REVIEW TO 1700
missioners appointed under the several acts employed an engineer to run the line. The commissioners could not agree, however, as to the method of running the line, and nothing was done. In August, 1859, new commissioners were appointed on the part of each State, but, owing to the tenacity with which Connecticut adhered to the claim that a straight line should be run, 1 regardless of existing monuments to indicate the original course, no agree- ment could be reached.
The last step taken in the matter occurred in 1860. On the 3d of April in that year the legislature of New York passed au aet empowering the commissioners formerly appointed " to survey and mark with suitable monuments " the " line between the two States, as fixed by the survey of 1731." They were to give due notice of their purpose to the commissioners of Connecticut, inviting them to join in the duties imposed upon them. But in case of their refusal or neglect to do so, they were to proceed alone and perform the work assigned. The commissioners of New York, acting under these instructions, held several conferences with those of Connecticut, but the latter adhered inflexibly to the principle that the boundary to be established must be a straight one. The commissioners from New York therefore pursued the course enjoined upon them. They fixed and marked the boundary line between the two States, placing monuments along its course, at intervals of one mile, from the Massachusetts line to the mouth of the Byram River. This work was undertaken on the 8th of June, 1860, and was completed in the autumn of that year. On December 5, 1879, this line was agreed to by the legislatures of New York and Connecticut, and confirmed by congress during the session of 1880-81.
The existence of New York as a proprietary province, belonging to James, Duke of York, terminated in 1685, when, Charles HI. having died without leaving legitimate issue, James, his brother, succeeded to the sovereignty. This was an event of considerable importance, not alone for New York, but also for the colonies of New England and New Jersey. New York at once lost its separate status as a proprietary province, and became, like the New England and New Jersey possessions of Great Britain, an ordinary province of the crown. Governor Dongan, identified with so many conspicuous meas- ures of change and progress in New York, now originated the proposition for uniting the colonies of New Jersey, New York, and New England under a single government. " By reason of the dif- ferent proprietorships of the various colonies, no uniform rule of import or export duties prevailed. An article heavily taxed in New York might be free in New Jersey or Connecticut. The enstoms at. New York suffered greatly, and trade was thrown into much con- fusion by reason of vessels running over to the New Jersey shore of the river and there unloading their goods. These were gradually smuggled into New York, and sold at a price below that of articles which had honestly passed the custom-house. Dongan, therefore, urged the expedieney of consolidating all the king's colonies from the Delaware to and including Connecticut and Massachusetts."> De- spite some local opposition this was done, and in 1688 Sir Edmund
! The representatives of Connecticut contend- ed for a straight line between the two extreme points, fifty-three miles apart. because the old monuments and marks upon the line were gen- erally removed, and the original line could not be traced with any certainty by reference to
them. On the other hand. the commission- ors of New York considered their anthority limited to "ascertaining " the boundary as originally detined .- Scharf. i., 5.
2 Van Pelt's Hist. of the Greater New York, 1., SÛ.
204
HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY
Andros was appointed the first governor of the combined provinces, with headquarters in Boston. A lieutenant-governor, Colonel Fran- cis Nicholson, was deputized to take charge of the separate affairs of the Province of New York. The old governor's council was re- tained, although nothing was as yet done toward reviving the as- sembly. Lieutenant-Governor Nicholson's councilors were Anthony Brockholst, Frederick Philipse, Stephanus Van Cortlandt, and Nicho- las Bayard. Dongan, before being superseded, granted to the City of New York, in 1686, its first charter as a corporation, under the style of " The Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City of New York," the city having two years previously been divided into wards and made to include the whole of Manhattan Island. This advance step taken by the city is fairly representative of the general develop- ment which had fairly begun at that period-a development to which Westchester County contributed its share.
The reign of James, the last of the Stuart monarchs, was brief. Three years after he ascended the throne the people of England, weary of the tyranny, corruption, and religious intolerance of his dynasty, rose against him, and received with open arms the Prot- estant William, Prince of Orange, who, as the husband of Mary, one of the daughters of James, was eligible to rule over them. It was a bloodless revolution. In February, 1689, William and Mary were proclaimed king and queen. James, after making a stand in Ireland, where he fought the disastrous battle of the Boyne, fled to Catholic France.
The news of the landing of William stirred the American colonies profoundly. Aside from their natural preference for a Protestant king, they apprehended that the dethroned James would enlist in his cause the power of France, and that they would soon have to deal with a French invasion. James's officials were accordingly treated without ceremony. In Boston Governor Andros was, in April, 1689, deposed and east into prison. In New York Lieutenant-Gov- ernor Nicholson, having by unguarded behavior and unbecoming lan- guage provoked popular resentment and distrust, found himself con- fronted by the determined hostility of the captains of the training bands, who, in June, compelled him to vacate his office and return to England. The province was thus left without a head, and the people were quite unwilling to intrust affairs to the council, com- posed as it was of the old royal favorites. The training band cap- tains, assuming temporary authority in the name of the people, called a convention of delegates from all the counties, which assembled on June 26, and appointed a committee of safety. By this committee Jacob Leisler, one of the captains and a prominent member of the
205
GENERAL HISTORICAL REVIEW TO 1700
community, was placed in military command of the province, and the citizens were called upon to come together and choose by popular election a successor to Stephanus Van Cortlandt in the mayoralty of the city, which they did accordingly. Finally, in December, by vir- tue of a letter from their majesties, addressed to " Francis Nicholson, Esq., Lientenant-Governor and Commander-in-Chief in our Province of New York, and in his absence to such as for the time being take care for preserring the peace and administering the laws," Leisler, at the direction of the committee of safety, assumed the functions of lieutenant-gov- ernor pro tempore, in addition to those of military commander. The committee, consisting of eight members, now transformed itself, at Leisler's request, into a gubernatorial council.
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.