History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I, Part 36

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898, ed
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co.
Number of Pages: 1354

USA > New York > Westchester County > History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I > Part 36

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The family was an ancient one, the first of whom there is authoritative mentiou having been a Master of the Mint under Richard II. The Arms were Ar- gent, three Pomeis, each charged with a cross or. And for Crest, on a wreath of the colours, a mural coronet azure surmounted with a Pomeis charged with a cross or, between two wings displayed, ermine. Motto : Habere et Dispertiri.1

Colonel Heathcote singularly enough was Mayor of the City of New York in 1711 to 1714 at the same time that his elder brother Gilbert was Lord Mayor of Lon- don. He was one of the strongest and most active Churchmen of his day. To him was the Church of England in New York and in Westchester County in- debted for its foundation and growth more than to any other one man. He formed an organization of a few churchmen in the City of New York termed the Managers of the Church of England in New York, of which he was the chairman.

This was the body which took the earliest steps to establish au English Church in that city which event- ually became the well known "Parish of Trinity Church," subsequently the Mother Church of all the earlier churches in the city and to a large extent of those iu the State of New York. Heathcote was the moving spirit and the active man in the whole move- ment, a fact which being fully admitted by them has drawn down upon him the ire of many writers of dissentiug bodies of Christians. He also was the leading man in founding the parishes of Westchester East Chester, and Rye, in the County of Westchester to all of which he contributed his efforts and his means. His Manor of Scarsdale and Mamaroneck formed one of the precincts of the Parish of Rye,2

of which he was elected by the inhabitants a warden and vestryman. And from it he and the Rector of Rye, the Rev. George Muirson, went forth upon those Missionary tours which first brought the knowledge of the Church of England into the then benighted Colony of Connecticut, of which he has left us reports so full that to them friends and foes have gone for the most authentic account of men and affairs at that day in that Colony. So strong was the opposition and savage the threats, that he always went fully armed to defend both Muirson and himself.

In consequence of the death of all his children ex- cept Ann, Mrs. de Lancey and Martha, Mrs. Johnston, his entire estate, real and personal, descended to those ladies in equal shares. By Indentures of lease and release dated the 1st and 4th days of July 1738 Lewis Johnston and Martha his wife conveyed her uudivid- ed half part of her Father's estate to Andrew John- ston a relative of her husband. And he by deed dated July 7th 1738 reconveyed it to Lewis Johnston and his heirs in fee. This was for the easier manage- ment only. By James de Lancey and wife and Lewis Johnston jointly, were all the lands in the Manor sold and conveyed, or leased, up to the death of James de Lancey on the 30th of July 1760. He died intestate, and Mrs. de Lancey's share of the Manorthereupon reverted to her alone absolutely in fee. From that time to 1774 all deeds and leases ran jointly in the names of Anne de Lancey and Lewis John- ston, they holding the estate jointly in fee. During this period a great deal of the Manor was sold, both to tenauts and strangers. The former were always given the first right to purchase their farms in fee, and . no farm was ever sold to strangers except with the tenants' assent, notwithstanding the proprietors were not bound to do so.

In 1773 Anne de Lancey and Lewis Johnston determined to have a partition of all the lands in the Manor that remained unsold, and proceedings to that end were begun under the act of the Provincial Legislature of 1762, for that purpose. But before they had gone very far Dr. Johnston died. The Pro- ceedings were therefore begun anew in the names of Anne de Lancey and the Heirs of Lewis John- ston.

These Proceedings in Partition were instituted under " An Act for the more effectual collection of his Majesty's Quit-rents in the Colony of New York and for the Partition of Lands in order thereto " passed the 8th of January 1762, and of another amendatory Act passed the 30th of December 1768. The original Petition was in the name of Lewis Johnston ; after his death his children were substituted in his place. They were Heathcote Johnston, John Burnet, Anne Burnet, Bowes Reed and Margaret Reed. The other party in both Petitions was of course, Anne de Lancey. The Commissioners to make the partition were, Philip Pell, Jacobus Bleecker, and William Sutton, " all of the County of Westchester."

1 On the 2d of December, 1708, at the request of Gilbert and his brothers, these arms were confirmed, with the change of the shield from argent to ermine, by the Herald's College of England.

2 See ante p. 99 for the facts of the establishment of the Church of England and its parishes in Westchester County.

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THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE MANORS.

After the proper advertisements had been published the proper time in Rivington's New York Gazetteer and Holt's New York Journal, two of the newspapers of the day, the Commissioners met to organize " at the house of Thomas Besly in New Rochelle " on the 5th of April 1774. Philip Pell, Jr, was appointed clerk. The Commissioners and clerk were sworn in by Judge Thomas Jones of the Supreme Court1 who attended for the purpose, and delivered to each a certificate of their appointment, signed by himself. The Commis- sioners ordered a notice that they would proceed to make the survey and partition on the 6th of June 1774, to be published, and also to be served on Alexander Colden, Surveyor-General. This notice, with a full description of the lands, was published weekly for six weeks in Rivington's New York Gazetteer and Holt's New York Journal. On the 6th of June 1774 the Com- missioners met at the house of William Sutton, on what is now De Lancey's Neck, accordingly. William Sut- ton was the leading man of his day at Mamaroneck. He was oue of the Commissioners, and had been the tenant of De Lancey's Neck for a great many years pre- viously and continued such to his death about the close of the Revolutionary war. He knew every one of note in the County, and was as thoroughly acquainted with the Manor lands in general as he was with those he himself had in cultivation. Jacobus Bleecker was a prominent resident and land holder of New Rochelle, and the grandfather of the late Anthony J. Bleecker, the well known Real Estate Auctioneer of New York. Philip Pell was of the old manorial family of the Pells of Pelham, and Philip Pell, Jr., the clerk was his oldest sou. All were persons thoroughly acquainted with the extent, situation, and value, of the Heathcote estate, and the Manor of Scarsdale.

"Sutton's House " long the farm house of the Neck, stood near, and a little south west of, the new farm house built about 1844, by the late Mr. Thomas J. de Lancey, which is now a part of the honse standing at the angle of Mamaroneck and Long Beach Avenues, re- cently bought of the James Miller estate by Mr. J. A. Bostwick. At the meeting at Sutton's on the 6th of June 1774, the clerk reported that he had served Surveyor-General Colden with notice on the 2nd of the preceding May. The Commissioners then ap- pointed Charles Webb, at that time and for thirty years after, one of the best Surveyors of the Province and State, Surveyor to make the Survey under oath, which was duly administered to him, and also to Joseph Purdy and Gilbert Robinson as chain bearers and Doty Doughty as " flagg carrier," and then they adjourned to the next day, the 7th. when the survey was begun. It was carried on daily till near the middle of the following August, on the 16th of which month, Maps, Field books, and Journals of the Commissioners, were duly signed in triplicate, onc copy of each of

which was filed iu the office of the Secretary of the Province, ouc in the clerk's office of Westchester County, and one retained by the owners. On the 25th of Angust notice of the filing, and appointing the 11th of October 1774 as the day of balloting for the lots as surveyed, was ordered advertised in the papers. On the 4th of October notice to John Harris Cruger to attend the balloting as one of the Council of the Pro- vince was served. On the 11th of October the Com- missioners and Cruger met iu New York at Hull's Hotel, in Broadway, on the site of which now stands the " Boreel Building," and the drawing took place. The Survey and Map, a reduced copy of the latter of which is annexed, divided all the unsold lands then, in 1774, remaining in the possession of Colonel Heath- cote's heirs, into three divisions, the North, the Mid- dle, and the South Divisions, designated by the number of the respective lots in each. The balloting was thus effected, a boy blindfolded, one John Wallis by name, was appointed to draw the numbers of the lots, and the names of the parties to whom they fell. He drew the lots in the different divisions seriatim, beginning at the north division, taking ont first a ticket with the number of the lot, and then one with the name of an owner. The latter tickets bore either the name of "Anne de Lancey," or the words "The Heirs of Lewis Johnston." After the whole was completed the proceedings were duly certified to in triplicate, by the Commissioners, and each copy duly approved by the signature of John Harris Cruger, as the Councillor of the Province, present.

The Map gives the perimeter of the whole Manor, and those of some of its interior parts, besides the un- sold portions included in the partition, necessary to a right understanding of the latter. The portions left blank are those parts of the Manor which had previous- ly beeu sold by the Proprietors. It also shows the "Great Lotts" or the "Long Lotts " being those in the northern part of the township Tract which Colo- nel Heathcote and the other owners had so laid out in 1706, in the former's lifetime, and also the short lots at their southern end, all of which took up the whole of that tract northward and beyond the home lots, to the township line. The latter are not shown. Colonel Heathcote had in 1708, and in 1716 long after his Manor- Grant, and at other later times, bought several parts and parcels of the original home lots as Richbell had laid them ont, which in the course of time had been divided up by their owucrs. All these were either owned separately in 1774, by his heirs, or had been previously disposed of by them, the two extremely small ones fronting on the Westchester path or Bos- ton road being all that were in joint ownership at the date of the partition. The accompanying map being on so small a scale gives only a very general idea of the Manor, without showing the details on the original maps, which are all very large.

From the respective owners who received their par- ticular lots under this final partition of the Manor

1 The author of the " History of New York during the Revolutionary War."

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HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY ..

Lands of Scarsdale iu fee, have those lands passed to the great number of parties now owning and occupy- ing them, with, of course, all the rights and privileges of all lands granted by the Crown of England prior to the 14th of October 1775, and guaranteed and con- firmed by all the successive constitutions of New York, both as an Independent Sovereignty, and as one of the United States.

The Topography of the Manor of Scarsdale is pecu- liar, the Bronx and the Hutchinson rivers flow south- westerly from its northwestern part, the Mamaroneck river with its main affluent the Sheldrake, and its up- permost brauches flows southeasterly iuto the Sound. It is well watered, hilly, and has singularly enough among the hills two or three extensive flat fertile plains. The valleys between the hills are beautiful and some of thein very deep. The country is well wooded and the " Saxton Forest," formerly 300 aeres, though much reduced in size, is still one of the largest single forests in the county. The drives are exceedingly fine, abounding with great and varied beauty. The soil is fertile and yields abundantly.

In elosing this chapter the writer regrets that space will not permit specific loeal details of the other Ma- nors in the county, as was the original intention, but having assented to the editor's request to permit a por- tion of the pages allotted him to be employed by oth- ers, it cannot be done.

The manor grants for them are therefore only giveu.

MANOR GRANT OF PELHAM.

THOMAS DONGAN, Captain General and Governor- in-chief in and over the province of New Yorke, and the territories depending thereon in America, under his most sacred Majesty, James the Second, by the grace of God Kinge of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, defender of the faith, &c., -- to all to whom these presents shall come, sendeth greeting : Whereas, Richard Nicolls, Esq., late governor of this provinee, by his certaine deed in writing, under his hand and seale, bearing date the sixth day of Octo- ber, in the eighteenth year of the reigne of our late sovereigne lord, Charles the Second, by the grace of God, of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Kingc, defender of the faith, &c., and in the yeare of our Lord God one thousand six hundred sixty and six -did give, grant, confirme and rattefye, by virtue of the commission and authoritye unto him given by his (theu) royal highness, James, Duke of Yorke, &c., (his uow Majesty,) upon whome, by lawful grant and pattent from his (then) Majesty, the propriety and government of that part of the maine land, as well of Long Island aud all the islands adjacent. Amongst other things was settled unto Thomas Pell, of Onk- way, alias Fairfield, in his Majestye's colony of Con- necticut-gentleman-all that eertaine tract of land upon the maine lying and being to the eastward of Westchester bounds, bounded to the Westward with a river called by the Indians Aquaeonounck, commonly known to the English by the name of Hutchinson's

River, which runneth into the bay lyeing betweene Throgmorton's Neck and Anne Hooke's Neck, com- ouly caled Hutchingson's Bay, bounded on the east by a brooke called Cedar Tree Brooke, or Gravelly Brooke; on the south by the Sound, which lyeth be- tweene Longe Island and the maine land, with all the islands in the Sound not before that time granted or disspossed of, lyeing before that traet of land so bounded as is before expresst ; and northward to runne into the woods about eight English miles, the breadth to be the same as it is aloug by the Sound, together with all the lands, islauds, soyles, woods, meadows, pastures, marshes, lakes, waters, ereeks, fishing, hawking, hunting and fowling, and all other proffitts, commodityes and heridetaments to the said tract of land and islands belonging, with their aud every of their appurtenances, and every part aud pareel thereof; aud that the said tract of land and premises should be forever thereafter held, deemed, reputed, taken and be an intire infranchised towne- shipp, manner aud place of itself, and should always, from time to time, and at all times thereafter, have, hold and enjoy like and equall priviledges and immu- nities with any towne infranchised, plaee or manner within this government, &c., shall in no manner of way be subordinate or belonging unto, have any de- pendance upon or in any wise, bounds or the rules under the direction of any riding, or towne or towne- shipps, place or jurisdiction either upon the mnaine or upon Longe Island-but should in all cases, things and matters be deemed, reputed, taken and held as an absolute, intire, infranchised towncshipp, manner and place of itselfe in this government, and should be ruled, ordercd and directed in all matters as to gov- ernment, accordingly, by the governour and Coun- eell, and General Court of Assizes-only provided, always, that the inhabbitants in the said tract of land granted as aforesaid, should be oblidged to send ffor- wards to the next townes all publick paehquetts and letters, or hew and cryes coming to New Yorke or goeing from thence to any other of his Majestie's col- lonys ; to have and to hold the said tract of land and islands, with all and singular the appurtenances and premises, togaither with the privilidges, imuneties, franchises, and advantages therein given and granted unto the said Thomas Pell, to the proper use and be- hoofe of the said Thomas Pell, his heirs and assigns for ever, ffully, ffreely and clearely, in as large and ample inanner and forme, and with such full and absolute im- unityes and priveledges as before is expresst, as if he had held the same immediately ffrom his Majesty the Kinge of England, &c., and his suekcessors, as of the manner of East Greenwich, in the county of Kent, in free and common sockage and by fealtey, only yeald- eing, rendering and payeing yearely and every yeare unto his then royall highness, the Duke of Yorke and his heires, or to such governour or governours as from time to time should by him be constituted and ap- poynted as an acknowledgement, one lambe on the

157

THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE MANORS.

first day of May, if the same shall be demanded as by the said decde in writeing, and the entrey thercof in the bookes of records in the secretarie's office for the province aforesaid, may more fully and at large ap- pcarc. And whereas, John Pell, gentleman, nephew of the said Thomas Pell, to whom the lands, islands and premises, with appurtenances, now by the last will and testament of him, the said Thomas Pell, given and bequeathed, now is in the actual, peaceable and quictt scazeing and possession of all and singular the premises, and hath made his humble request to mee, the said Thomas Dongan, that I would, in the behalf of his sacred Majesty, his heirs and suckces- sors, give and grant unto him, the said John Pell, a more full and firme grant and confirmation of the above lands and premises, with the appurtenances, under the seale of this his Majestie's province : Now Know Yee, that I, the said Thomas Dongan, by virtue of the commission and authority unto me given by his said Majesty and power in me being and residing, in consideration of the quitt rent hereinafter reserved, and for divers other good and lawfull considerations me thereunto mouving, I have given, rattefied and confirme and by these presents do hereby grant, rattefie and confirme unto the said John Pell, his heirs and as- signs for ever, all the before mentioned and rented lands, islands and premiscs, with the heridatements and appurtenances, priveledges, imuneties, ffran- chises and advantages to the same belonging and ap- pertaining, or in the said before mentioned deede in writing expresst, implyed or intended to be given and granted, and every part and parcell thereof, together with all that singular messuages, tenements, barnes, stables, orchards, gardens, lands, islands, meadows, inclosures, arable lands, pastures, feedeings, commons, woods, underwoods, soyles, quarreys, mines, min- nerally, (royall mines only exceptcd,) waters, rivers, ponds, lakes, hunteing, haucking, ffishing, ffowleing, as alsoe all rents, services, wasts, strayes, royaltyes, libertics, priviledges, jurisdictions, rights, members and appurtenances, and all other imunityes, royaltyes, power of franchises, profitts, commodeties and here- datements whatsoever to the premises, or any part or parcell thereof belonging or appertaining: and fur- ther, by vertue of the power and authority in mee being and residing, I doe hereby grant, rattefie and confirme, and the tract of land, island and premises aforesaid arc, by these presents, erected and consti- tuted to be one lordship and manner-and the same shall henceforth be called the lordshipp and manner of Pelham; and I doc hereby give and graut unto the said John Pell, his heirs and assigns ffull power and authority at all times hercafter, in the said lordshipp and manner of Pelham aforesaid, one court leete and onc court barron, to hold and keepe at such times so often yearly as he and they shall sce meete, and all sines, issucs and amerciaments at the said court lecte and court barron, to be holden aud kept in the man- ner and lordship aforesaid, that are payable from time

to time, shall happen to be due and payable by and from any the inhabitants of or within the said lord- shipp and manner of Pelham abovesaid ; and also all and every the powers and authorities herein before mentioned, for the holding and kecpeing of the said court leete and court barron, ffrom time to time, and to award and issuc forth the costomary writts to be issued and awarded out of the said court leete and court barron, and the same to beare test and to be issued out in the name of the said John Pell, his heirs and assignes, and the same court leete and court barron to be kept by the said John Pell, his heirs and assignes, or his or their steward, deputed or ap- poynted ; and I doe further hereby give and grant unto the said John Pell, his heirs and assignes, full power to distraine for all rents and other sums of money payable by reason of the premises, and all other lawful remedys and meanes for the haveing, re- ceiving, levying and enjoying the said premises and every part thereof, and all waifts, strayes, wrecks of the scase, deodands and goods of ffellons, happening and being within the said manner of Pelham, with the advowson and right of patronage of all and every of the church and churches in the said man- ner, erected and to be crected-to have and to hold all and singular the said tract of land, islands and manner of Pelham, and all and singular the above granted or mentioned to be granted premisses, with their rights, members, jurisdictions, privileidges, heredaments and appurtenances, to the said John Pell, his heirs and assignes, to the only proper use, benefitt and behoofe of the said John Pell, his heirs and assignes forever ; to be holden of his most sacred Majestye, his heirs and successors, in free and com- mon soccage, according to the tenure of East Green- wich, in the county of Kent, in his Majestye's king- dom of England, yielding, rendering and praying therefore yearly and every year forever, unto his said Majestye, his heirs and successors, or to such officer or officers as shall from time to time be ap- pointed to receive the same-twenty shillings, good and lawful money of this province at the citty of New Yorke, on the five and twentyth day of the month of March, iu licu and stead of all rents, ser- vices and demuands whatsoever.

In testimony whereof, I have signed these preseuts with my handwriting, caused thic seale of the province to be thereunto affixed, and have ordained that the same be entered upon record in the Secretary's office, the five and twentyeth day of October, in the third yearc of the Kinge Majestye's reigue, and in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred eighty and seven.1

THOMAS DONGAN.

MANOR-GRANT OF MORRISANIA.

William the Third, by the grace of God, of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the

1 Alb. Book of Pat. No. ii. 306., Co. Rec. Lib. A., 240.

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HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

Faith, &c., to all to whom these presents shall come, sendeth greeting : Whereas, the Hon'ble Edmond An- dross, Esq., Seigneur of Sausmarez, late governor of our province of New York, Ke., by a certain deed or patent, sealed with the seal of our said province of New York, bearing date the 25th day of March, in the year of our Lord 1676, pursuant to the commission and authority then in him residing, did confirm unto Col. Lewis Morris, of the Island of Barbadoes, a eer- tain plantation or traet of land laying or being upon the maine over against the town of Haerlem, eom- monly called Bronekse's land, containing 250 margin or 800 acres of land, besides the meadow thereunto annexed or adjoining, butted and bounded as in the original Dutch ground brief and patent of eonfirma- tion is set forth ; which said tract of land and meadow, having been by the said Col. Lewis Morris long pos- sessed and enjoyed, and having likewise thereon made good improvement, he, the said Edmond Andross, late governor of our said provinee, did further, by the said deed or patent, sealed with the seal of our said prov- ince, and bearing date as aforesaid, we grant and eon- firm unto the said Col. Lewis Morris, for his further improvement, a certain quantity of land adjacent unto the said tract of land-which land, with the addition, being bounded from his own house over against Haer- lem, running up Haerlem River to Daniel Turner's land, and so along this said land northward to John Areher's line, and from thence stretching east to the land of John Richardson and Thomas Hunt, and thenee along their lands southward to the Sound, even so along the Sound about southwest through Bronck's lill to the said Col. Lewis Morris' house- the additional land containing (aceording to the sur- vey thereof) the quantity of fourteen liundred and twenty acres, to have and to hold the aforc-recited tract of land before possessed by him, and the addi- tional land within the limits and bounds aforesaid, to- gether with the woods and meadows, both salt and fresh waters and creeks, belonging to the said lands, unto the said Col. Lewis Morris, his heirs and assignees forever, under the yearly rent of four bushels of good winter wheat, as by the said dced or patent, registered in our secretary's office of our said province of New York, &c.,-relation being thereunto had-may more fully and at large appear. And whereas, our loving subjeet, Lewis Morris, (nephew unto the said Col. Morris, lately deeeased, his sole and only heir,) who is now, by right of deseent and inheritance, peaceably and quietly seized and possessed of all the aforesaid traets of land and premises within the limits and bounds aforesaid, hath,by his petition, presented unto ourtrusty and well beloved Benj. Fleteher, our Captain General and Governor-in-chief of our said province of New York and territories dependent thereon in America, &e., prayed our grant and confirmation of all the afore-reeited traets and pareels of land and premises within the limits and bounds aforesaid ; and likewise that we would be graciously pleased to erect the said

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History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I, Part 36

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898, ed Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co. Number of Pages: 1354

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898, ed
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co.
Number of Pages: 1354