USA > New York > Westchester County > History of Westchester County, New York, from its earliest settlement to the year 1900 > Part 24
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The Town of Poundridge was settled by farming people from Con- nectient, who began to take up lands within its borders in the latter part of the first half of the eighteenth century. The name comes " from the ancient 'Indian pound,' which formerly stood at the foot of a high ridge a little south of the present locality known as Pound- ridge, where the Indians set their traps for wild game." The first set- tler is supposed to have been Deacon JJohn Fancher. He came in 1730. In 1741 Joseph Lockwood, James Brown, David Potts, Ebe- nezer Scofield, and others from Stamford, made a settlement on the site of the present village. The Lockwood family was long the most prominent one in the town. From an early period the settlers of Poundridge united the handicraft of shoemaking to their rural pur- snits. They " went to the 'shoe-shops' in the adjoining towns, Po- ceived their work ent ont, and took it home, each one making the whole article, whether boot or shoe."! The decline in the population of the town since 1850 is largely due to the unprofitableness of this ancient industry, consequent upon the use of machinery for the manu- facture of shoes.
" George Thatcher Smith, in'Scharf, ii., 563.
CHAPTER XI
A GLANCE AT THE BOROUGH TOWN OF WESTCHESTER
HE carliest enumeration of the inhabitants of the Province of New York was made in 1698 " by the high sheriff's and justices of the peace in each respective county," at the direction of Governor Bellomont. It showed a total pop- ulation of 18,067, including 2,170 negroes, of whom 1,063 (917 whites and 146 negroes) were in Westchester County. At that date West- chester was the fifth in rank among the ten counties embraced within the present limits of New York State, being exceeded by New York, Suffolk, Kings, Queens, and Albany. At the next census, taken in 170%, Westchester's population had increased to 1,946; in 1712, to 2,815; and in 1723, to 4,409. Thus in the first quarter of a century after the county as a whole had begun to display a general settled condition the number of its inhabitants had increased threefold. In 1731 its people were 6,033; in 1737, 6,745; in 1746, 9,235; in 1749, 10,703; in 1756. 13,257; and in 1771 ( the last of the colonial censuses ). 21.715.
The following details from the census of 1712 show the distribu- tion of population throughout the various civil divisions then ex- isting:
Westchester
572
Eastchester
300
Rve .
516
New Rochelle
301
Yonkers
260
Philipseburgh .
348
Mamaroneck .
84
Morrisania
62
Pelham .
62
Bedford
172
Cortlandt Manor
91
Ryke's Patent (Peekskill)
32
Scarsdale
12
2,815
The portions of the county styled Yonkers and Philipseburgh at that jx ried were, respectively, the lower and upper divisions of Phil-
227
P
THE BOROUGH TOWN OF WESTCHESTER
ipseburgh Manor, the former being presided over by Frederick Phil- ipse, 2d, and the latter by Adolph Philipse, his uncle. After the unele's death, the whole manor was reunited under Frederick Phil- ipse, 2d, and continued as a single political division until after the Revolution. To the above-named civil divisions of 1712, the only new ones added during the remaining sixty odd years of the colonial era were White Plains, North Castle, Salem, and Poundridge.
Under this census the ancient Town of Westchester led all the other localities of the county in population, with 572 inhabitants, having, indeed, a very decided preponderance over every community except Rye, which numbered 516 souls. But it must be borne in mind that in 1712 Rye as a political division included certainly the White Plains and Harrison tracts; and probably not a few setilers dispersed through the interior sections of the county not as yet com- prehended in definitely named settlements were counted also in the Rye enumeration.
We have referred in various connections to the peculiar privilege bestowed upon the Town of Westchester by its erection in 1896 into a borough, a privilege enjoyed by only one other community of New York Province (Schenectady) from the beginning to the end of the colonial period. It was entirely fitting that Westchester should be singled out for this distinction. It was the seat of the earliest or- ganized and successful English settlement in the province north of the Harlem River, dating back to 1654 (and probably carlier); it gave its name to the great County of Westchester, and it had always been a rural community of exceptional respectability and progres- siveness. Detached from the jurisdiction of Manhattan Island by a broad river, it occupied an isolated position, and its local affairs were thus incapable of being connected with those of the island. More- over, Westchester, with its attached locality of West Farms, was peculiarly justified in appealing for special privileges, in view of the exceptional functions that had been conferred upon the adjacent manorial lands of Morrisania, Fordham, Philipseburgh, and Pelham. These lands had been crecied into "entire and enfranchised town- ships, manors, and places by themselves," for the gratification of wealthy individual proprietors. On the other hand, here was a thriving democratie town, whose settlement antedated that of any of the manorial estates, and which was more important than any of them in the matter of population and development. It was reason- able in such circumstances to demand for it some unusual political advantages.
Westchester received its first town patent from Governor Nicolls on the 15th of February, 1667. In that instrument " all ye rights and
228
HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY
privileges belonging to a town within this government " were be- stowed upon the patentees. In 1686 it was deemed advisable by the inhabitants to procure a second patent, which was accordingly issned (January 6) by Governor Dongan. Under this second patent twelve men' were designated as the " Trustees of the Frecholders and Commonalty of the Town of Westchester," those trustees being constituted as " one body corporate and politick." In order to dis- pose forever of any possible hostile claims to lands within their town limits on the ground of irregularities or defects in the original purchases from the Indians, the trustees, on the 27th of May, 1692, obtained a final deed of sale from four Indians-Maminepoe, Wam- page (alias Aun look), Chrohamanthense, and Mamertekoh-by which the latter, for the consideration of goods valued at ES 48 6d, released unconditionally to the " county town of Westchester " what- ever proprietary pretensions they had to its territory. Also stops were taken by the trustees to mark off the northern bounds of the town, where it adjoined " Mr. Pell's purchase." The records of the town were kept with regularity from 1657. As early as 1678 a bridge had been built joining Throgg's Neck to the mainland.2 The polit- ical limits of the town were always understood and expressed as extending from the westernmost part of Bronxland to " Mr. Pell's purchase," and thus Cornell's Neck, West Farms, and Morrisania Manor belonged to the political territory of the town. Indeed, the proprietors of Cornell's Neck (the Willetts), as also the various fam- ilies constituting the settlement of West Farms, were at all times thoroughly identified with the local concerns of Westchester town.
In 1670 the good people of Westchester were somewhat exercised by the appearance of a supposed witch amongst them. An order ap- pears in the Assize Book, dated July 7, 1670, for the removal of one " Katherine Harrison late of Wethersfield in his Maties Colony of Con- necticott widdow." In this order it is related that " contrary to ye consent & good liking of ye Towne she would settle amongst them & she being reputed to be a person lyeing undr ye supposicion of Witch- craft hath given some cause of apprehension to yo Inhabitants there." Accordingly, the constable and overseers are directed to notify her to remove out of the precincts " in some short tyme," and also to ad- monish her to " returne to ye place of her former abode." Subso. quently, however, Katherine Harrison was fully exonerated.
1 William Richardson, John Hunt, Edward Waters, Robert Huestis, Richard Ponton, Will- jai Barues, Johu Bughie, John Bailey, Johu Tudor. John Ferris. Joseph Palmer, and Thomas Baxter.
" lu this connection the following entry from the town records, dated July 9, 1678, is of interest :
"It is ordered that ye bridge betwixt Throgg's Nocke and the Towne be maintained and up- held by a rate to be levied and assissed upon all persons and estates that are putt in the county rate belonging to the Township of Westchester, East Chester excepted."
229
THE BOROUGHI TOWN OF WESTCHESTER
A fact of curious interest, illustrating in a striking way the active enterprise which characterized the Town of Westchester and its associated districts from the beginning, has been brought to the attention of the present writer by the kindness of the Rev. Theodore 1. Leggett, D.D., of Staten Island, a descendant of one of the West Farms patentees. We have seen that Elizabeth Richardson, daugh- ter of Thomas Richardson, co-patentee with Edward Jessup of West Farms (1666), married Gabriel Leggett. Gabriel had a brother, John Leggett, who also was a landed proprietor in the section embraced in the political bounds of Westchester town. John Leggett was a shipbuilder, and under date of November 30, 1676, he executed a bill of sale reading as follows: " John Leggett of Westchester, within the Province of N. Y., shipright, to JJacob Leysler of N. Y. City, mer- chant, a good Puick, or ship, Susannah of New York, now laying in this harbour, and by said Leggett built in Bronck's river near Westchester, together with masts, Lay boat, and other materials." Thus the ship- building industry was introduced at the mouth of the Bronx as early as 1676 (probably earlier)-that is, seven years or more before the organization of the County of Westchester. This John Leggett, builder of the "Susannah," died in the West Indies in 1679. It is interesting to note that he named as his executor the first Fred- erick Philipse, with whom he seems to have sustained a business partnership of some kind, and to whom he bequeathed the sum of thirty pounds sterling.
Upon the organization of our county, in 1683, Westchester was appointed to be its shire-town, and in legislative aets passed shortly after the regular institution of parliamentary government in the province this community was the object of respectful attention. By an act passed May 11, 1693, " a public and open market " was ap- pointed to be held every Wednesday at Westchester; and it was enacted that " there shall likewise be held and kept twice yearly and every year a fair, to which fair it shall and may be likewise lawful for all and every person to go and frequent, . the first to be kept at the Town of Westchester in the said county on the second Tuesday of May and to end on the Friday following, being in all four days, inclusive, and no longer; and the second fair to be kept at Rye in the said county on the second Tuesday in October yearly, and to end the Friday following," ete.
From the foregoing survey of the progress of Westchester town up to the time of its conversion into a borough, the reader will see that it had well earned the right to that honor. The royal charter constituting it a borough town is a very elaborate document, which if reproduced entire would occupy some fifteen of our pages. It
230
HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY
bears date the 16th of April, 1696, and is signed by Governor Ben- jamin Fletcher. After instancing the previous grants of parents to the town and describing it with extreme and redundant particularity (its bounds being specified as the westernmost part of " Brunks land " at the west and the westernmost line of " Mr. Pell's pattent " at the east), the charter provides that the former Town of Westchester shall in future be styled " the borrough and town of Westchester." The requirement is made that the local authorities shall pay an- nually to the governor of New York, on the 25th day of March, " the sum of thirty shillings current money of N. York " as quit-rent. It is directed that the freeholders shall elect annually twelve trustees, whose duties shall be confined to disposing of any undivided lands within the town. Next follows the provision that " in the sd town corporate there shall be a body politick consisting of a mayor, six aldermen, and six assistants, or common council, to be called and known by the name of the mayor, aldermen, and commonalty of the borough and town of W. Chester." Colonel Caleb Heathcote is appointed as the first mayor, with " William Barns, Jno. Stuert, William Willett, Thos. Baxter, Josiah Stuert, and Jno. Baily, gents.," as aldermen, and " Israel Honeywell, Robert Hus- tis, Sam'l Hustis, Sam'l Ferris, Daniel Turner, and Miles Oakley, gents.," as assistants. But these offices, after the expiration of the first year, are declared to be elective, and are to be filled annually by a majority vote of the frecholders on the first Monday of May. Pro- vision is made for the continuance of the weekly market, and two yearly fairs (instead of one, as previously provided) are to be held at Westchester, the first in May and the second in October. Retail liquor sellers are to be licensed at the discretion of the mayor, the annual license fee exacted being such sum of money as the licensee " shall agree for, not exceeding the sum of 20s." Finally the " may- or, aldermen, and common council " are authorized " to return and send one discreet burgess of the sd town and borough into every general assembly hereafter to be summoned or holden within this our province of N. York."
Caleb Heathcote, as mayor, organized the government of the bor- ough town on the 6th of June, 1696. In October of that year he pre- sented the corporation with an official seal. The first representa- tive in the assembly was Josiah Hunt, who served from 1702 to 1710. The subsequent representatives were Lewis Morris, Sr. (1710- 28), Gilbert Willett (1728-32), Lewis Morris, Jr. (1732-50), Peter de Lancey (1750-68), Lewis Morris, 3d (1769), John de Lancey (1769-72), and Isaac Wilkins (1772-75)-all men of distinction, force, and influ- enfial family connections. The official style of "the Borough and
- 1
Numb. 48.
THE New-York Gazette
From September 26. to Monday October 3. 1726.
A Lift of the Names of the prefent' Representatives Elected and chofen by the feveral Cities and Counties in this Colony to ferve in General fembly ..
For the City and County of New-York,
A Dolph Philipfe, Efq; Speaker .: Stephen De Lancey, Efq; Capt. Gerrit Van Horne,
Capt. 'Anthony. Rutgrefi, For the City and County of Albany,
Coll. Myndert 'Schuyler, Ryer Gerritfe, Efq;
Capt. Jacob Glen,
Capt. Jeremiah Kanflaer,
Mr. Robert Livingston, jun. For the County of Ulfter,
Coll. Abraham Gaasbeck Chan bers, ". Mr. Albert Pawling, For Dutchefs County,
Mr. Henry Beckman,
Mr. Johannes van Kleck
For the Burrough of Weftchefttri
Coll. Lewis Morris. For the County of Wefthefter.
Coll. William Willet;
Major. Fredrick Philipfe. For Queens County
Coll. Ifaac Hicks,
Capt. Benjamin Hicks.
For Kings County,
Coll. Richard Stillwell.
Capt. Samuel Gerrufe ;. For Suffolk County,
Capt. Epenerws Plat, Mr. Samuel Hutchinfon. . For Richmond County,
Mr. Richard Merril. Mr. John Le Cours.
For Orange County.
Capt. Lancaster Syms, Capt. Cornelius Harmg.
Which Representatives being convened in General Afsembly, on the z7th of September his Excellency the Governour made the following Speech to them, viz.
Gentlemen ;
HE Choice which the People of this Province have fo lately made of you to Reprefent them, gives Mea frefh Op- portunity of knowing their Sentiments and In- clinations. Ihavealways endeavoured to promote their Intered ta the utmost of my Ability. and
it will add to my Pleafure to do it in the manner which they themfelves defire.
When you enquire into the fate of the pre- fent Revenue, I believe you will find it intuffi- cient to anfwer the ufual Expence for the Support of the Government. And confidering the Flourifhing and Encreafing Condition of the Colony, it would be to its Difhonour, as wellas. Difadvantage, to leffen the Encouragement that" has been given to the neceffary Officers of the Government. I depend on your Readinefs to the belt of Kings, who has fhewn, during the whole courte of His Reign, That the confiant Em- ployment of His Thoughts, and the moft carneft Wishes of His Heart, tend wholly to the Securing to His Subjects their juft Rights and Advantages. You need not fear that any of His Servants will dare to abufe the Confidence repofed in them, when they muft expect, that their Neglect of Duty or Abufe of Truft, will draw upon them His juft Difplea- fure.
You will find, that the Supply laft provided for Phrithing the new Apartments in the Fort, has been imployed with the utmoft Frugality ; and I hope, that by the fame Management, the Repairs of the Roof of the Chappel and the Barracks, which are in a Condition entirely 'Ruinous, will require no very large Sum, tho' it is plain, that the Charge of doing it will en- create confiderably, if it is delay'd any longer than the next Spring, which Obliges Me to Re- commend it to your Care at prefent, that Provifion may be made for fo preffing and neceffary a Work.
I muft Remind you, that your Agent continues his Diligence in watching over the Interefts of the Province, tho' he has remain'd a long time withoutany Allowance ; fo generous a Conduct, onhis part, will not fail of engaging you to take care that his paft Services may not go unrewarded, and that fo ufcful a Perfon may be fixed in your Service, and a fettled Provifion made for his Encouragement.
I fhall lay before you my late Conferences with the Six Nations, in which I flatter my felf, that I have contributed not a little to fix them in their Duty to His Majesty, their Affection to this Government, and their juft Apprehenfions of the ill Defigns of the People of Canada, in Fortifyingfo near to them at Pagara. I have fent a fit Perfon to refide among the Senneka's this Winter, who isnot permitted to Trade, and will thereby have the more weight and credit with them»
FROM AN EARLY NEWSPAPER, SHOWING MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY.
232
HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY
Town of Westchester " was not abolished until 1785, when, by a leg- islative act, it was changed to " the Township of Westchester."
Westchester borough was the birthplace in our county of the in- stitution of the Established Church of England. On this point Mr. Fordham Morris, in his essay on " The Borough Town of Westches- ter," takes occasion to correct some mistaken popular impressions.
Some (he says) have likeved this ancient town to those of New England and Long Island, while others, zealous members of the Episcopal Church, have tried to make themselves and others believe that the town was a reproduction of an English parish of the eighteenth century, such as we read of in the Spectator or the tales of Fielding and Smollett. They fancy the squire in his high-backed pew, the parson in his wig, gown, and surplice, telling the congregation its duty to their Maker, and also as to the tithes, the royal family, the llouse of Hanover, and the Protestant succession. Neither is a correct similitude. The officials, though elected, were subject to the governor's approval, and no rigid rule as to church membership prevailed as in the New England towns. The town, not the church wardens and vestry, attended to most of the temporalities, such as high ways and bridges, and though the vestry levied the church rates, the town built and paid for the church, and in very late colonial times released its interest in the church property to the rector, church wardens, and vestry. Though the church was supported partially by a tax, the schoolmaster was supported by the borough, but until post-Revolutionary times the poor were a parish charge. Though an aet for settling orthodox ministers in the province was passed shortly after the establishment of the English colonial system (for of course, the English was the orthodox church in colonial times), those sons of Cromwellian soldiers, Quaker refugees, and Independents did not at first take kindly to a State church, and good Parson Bartow
did not even wear a surplice. Many of the people were gradually won over to mother ehureb, so far as a student ean judge from reading the good minister's letters to the Society in England, more by his own loving kindness and self-respect rather than any inherent love those hard-working farmers had for the Church of England. Besides, the Quakers had established their meeting-house in the town almost as early as the Church of England edifice was erected, and its graveyard is still to be found, adjoining the Episcopal churchyard, though the meeting- house and those who were moved by the Spirit within it have long since departed.
In a previous chapter, in connection with our account of the foun- dation of the settlement of Westchester, we have reproduced from the journal of one of the Dutch commissioners who visited the place in 1656 a description of the forms of worship then in vogue there, from which it appears that there was no officiating clergyman, and that the exercises were conducted in homely fashion. Not until 1684 was any formal measure taken to procure a minister. It was then voted in town meeting (April 2) " that the Justices and Vestry- men of Westchester, Eastchester, and Yonckers do accept of Mr. War- ham Mather as our minister for one whole year; and that he shall have sixty pound, in country produce at money price, for his salary, and that he shall be paid every quarter." Apparently the arrange- ment was not effected, or at least did not endure for long; for in 1692 the town voted that " there shall be an orthodox minister, as soon as possible may be," and requested Colonel Caleb Heathcote, "in his travels in New England," to procure one.
September 21, 1693, the provincial assembly of New York passed an ecclesiastical act, under which Westchester County was divided
233
THE BOROUGH TOWN OF WESTCHESTER
into two parishes, Westchester and Rye, the former to include the Towns of Westchester, Eastchester, and Yonkers, and the Manor of Pelham, and the latter the Towns of Rye, Mamaroneck, and Bedford. Westchester was required to raise £50 yearly for the minister's sup- port, and to elect on the second Tuesday of Jannary ten vestrymen and two church wardens. In 1695 the Rev. Warham Mather was engaged as the Church of England clergyman at Westchester. Ile was succeeded in 1702 by the Rev. John Bartow, a missionary of the Venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, newly arrived from England, who continued to officiate until his death, in 1726. He was a mau of excellent learning and high character, and his letters (of which numerous ones are reproduced by Bolton) are of much in- terest to students of the early conditions iu Westchester County. The orthodox church at Westchester was formally chartered under the name of Saint Peter's by Lieutenant-Governor Clarke in 1762.
Eastchester, incorporated in the parish of Westchester by the act of 1693, was made a separate parish in 1700. From early times Eastchester parish was known as Saint Paul's. To this day the Westchester and Eastchester Episcopalian churches preserve their original names of Saint Peter's and Saint Paul's, respectively. The present Saint Peter's Church editice in Westchester village is en- tirely modern, but Saint Paul's in Eastchester dates from about 1764, and is one of the most interesting of the old-time structures in our county.
This is not the connection, however, in which to relate the church history of Westchester County, or even to note with particularity the local facts of church and religious concerns in the Town of West- chester and its associated localities, interesting though those facts are. We are occupied with the general story of Westchester County on broad lines. It has been fitting to intercept our general narra- tive for a glance at the borough Town of Westchester, whose creation constitutes one of the essential phases of the general history of the conty. Having discharged this duty in as succinct a manner as possible, we now proceed with the broader narrative.
The local history of Westchester County from the beginning of the eighteenth century to the Revolution involves nothing remark- able, aside from the aspects of the peculiar character from the first assumed by the county which have been described in our account of the origin and erection of the great manorial estates. Following the lines of development naturally resulting from its selection as the seat of wealthy and influential landed proprietors, Westchester County very soon took a prominent position on this account, and, through the powerful and distinguished men whose homes and in-
234
IHISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY
terests were within its borders, exerted an influence of the first im- portance, both upon current public affairs and in the shaping of issues and conditions which were to lead to grand events. The his- tory of Westchester County, as a county, during this period, is one of steady and reputable growth, but is not specially distinguishable from that of other rural New York counties. No large towns were built up, and aside from political contests nothing of exciting in- terest or unusual significance transpired to attract general atten- tion to the county or to become memorable in a large way. The purely internal history of Westchester County for three-quarters of a century following the comparative completion of its settlement comprehends, indeed, nothing more than the ordinary chronicles of a few scattered communities and of a mixed land-owning and farming population, living together in circumstances of good understanding and of pleasing though quite uneventful prosperity and progress. lt is in the general historical associations attaching to the careers of representative Westchester men that the broad interest of our coun- ty's story up to the events antecedent to the Revolution is found.
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