History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I, Part 51

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 51

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"SECOND, That we conceive it a fundamental part " of the British Constitution, that no Man shall be "taxed but by his own Consent, or that of his Repre- " sentative, in Parliament ; and as we are by no means " represented, we consider all Acts of Parliament "imposing Taxes on the Colonies, an undue ex- " ertion of Power, and subversive of one of the most " valuable Privileges of the English Constitution.

" THIRD, That it is the Opinion of this Meeting "that the Act of Parliament for shutting up the Port " of Boston, and divesting some of the Inhabitants of " private Property, is a most unparalleled, rigorous, " and unjust piece of Cruelty and Despotism.

"FOURTH, That unanimity and firmness of " Measures in the Colonies are the most effectual " Means to secure the invaded Rights and Privileges " of America, and to avoid the impending Ruin which " now threatens this once happy Country.

" FIFTH, That the most effectual mode of redress- " ing our Grievances will be by a general Congress of " Delegates from the different Colonies ; and that we "are willing to abide by such Measures as they, in "their Wisdom, shall think most conducive upon " such an important Occasion."

These Resolutions were duly submitted to the Meet- ing ; and, as the official record says, they " were " unanimously approved of; " when the assemblage quietly dispersed.1

Those who are acquainted with 'the questionable practices of ambitious, and, not unfrequently, unscru- pulous politicians, will be prepared, without warning, for the reception of any modification of the recorded features of that Meeting, at Rye, of which mention has been made-the first demonstration, in West- chester-county, concerning the great political ques- tions of the day, of which there is, now, any existing record.

It does not appear, nor is it pretended, that the Meeting of "the Freeholders and Inhabitants of the "Township of Rye," now under consideration, was numerously attended; and, as it was held during the busiest season of the agricultural year, there is no reason for supposing that many were present. In the same connection, it will be seen that the place of meeting is, also, unnoticed on the record. The master- spirit of the assembled farmers, whether many or few in number, was John Thomas, Junior, one of a family of officeholders under the Home and the Colonial Governments,2 and, himself, an anxious office-seeker,

from the revolutionary party; 3 and the well-con- sidered and well-worded Resolutions, as well-adapted for the protection of the father's official positions as for the construction of others for the son's advance- ment, and evidently the work of a master-hand which was not seen in the Committee nor in the Meeting, promote a suspicion that that Meeting of "the Free- " holders and Inhabitants of the Township of Rye," the first indication of Westchester-county's inclina- tion to enter the area of political strife, was nothing more nor less than a movement in the Thomas family, and for its particular benefit. Subsequent events, in connection with the doings of those who were present, at that particular Meeting, serve to strengthen that suspicion, if not to confirm it.4

While the politicians, in Rye, were discussing, with more or less satisfaction, the result of their doings, to which reference has been made, those in the Bor-

from his Ordinatiou, in 1704, until his death, in 1727, was a Missionary in the employ of the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts, in London. The father of John Thomas, Junior, was Hon. John Thomas, who, from 1743 until the dissolution of the Colonial Govern- ment, in 1776, was a Member of the General Assembly of the Colony, representing the County of Westchester; aud, from May, 1755, until the dissolution of the Colonial Government, in 1776, he was the First Judge of the Colonial Court of Common Pleas for the County of Westchester- both of which offices could have been held by no one who was not well- disposed to the Colonial and Home Governments ; and ueither of which was surrendered by him, while he lived.

The following extract from a letter from Timothy Wetmore, the Ven- erable Society's Schoolmaster at Rye, to the Secretary of that body, at Loudon, dated " RYE, May 6, 1761," affords additional evidence of the political tendencies of the Thomas family, and of its hankerings after the power to manipulate the " patronage " of those in authority, through- out Westchester-county : "MIr. Thomas, who is one of the Representa- "tives in this County, and who, in Governonr De Lancey's time, being "favonred with all the Administration of all Offices in the Country, civil "and military, by the help of which he has procured himself a large in- "terest in the County, especially in the distant aud new Settlements, " which abound with a Set of People governed more by veuality than "any thing else. This Gentleman, although one of the Society's " Missionaries' Sons, is so uegligent and indifferent toward Religion " (in imitation of some of our great Men) that it has been a steady "Method with him, for years, not to attend Publick Worship, perhaps "more than once or twice in a year, whose example has been mis- "chievous. This mau is not only one of our Vestry (thongh very "little esteemed by the true friends of the Church), but has procured "that the Majority of the Vestry are Men that will be governed by "him; several of the Vestry are not of the Church; and not one of "them a communicant ju the Church ; accordingly, the Church are " not at all consulted with regard to a successor," to the former Rector, who had died in the preceding May.

With the father, ou the Bench, and in the Legislature, and in the interest of the Crown, and the sou in the front rank, if not the actual head, of the revolutionary element, what there was of it, within the County, it mattered very little to the Thomas family, which of the two, the Crowu or the Colonists, should become the victors.

3 John Thomas, Junior. by this early movement in behalf of the rev- olutionary element, placed himself in the front rauk of successful poli- ticians in Westchester-county-he was a member of the Committee of the County, and its Chairman ; a Member of the Provincial Convention, representing Westchester county, in 1775; a Member of the First and Second Provincial Congresses, representing Westchester-county, in 1775, 1776 ; Quartermaster of the Second Westchester-county Regiment, of which his brother, Thomas, was Colonel ; and Sheriff of Westchester- county, from 1778 to 1781-his brothers, also, having beeu well provided for, in the public service.

4 See the Disclaimer of Isaac Gidney and eighty-three other " Freeholders " and Inhabitants of Rye," "RYE, New York, September 24, 1774," pages 32, 33, post.

1 Official report of the proceedings of the Meeting-Holt's New-York Journal, No. 1650, NEW-YORK, Thursday, August 18, 1774.

See, also, Gaine's New-York Gazette, and the Weekly Mercury, No. 1192, NEW-YORK, Monday, August 15, 1774, and Rivington's New-York Ga- zetteer, No. 70, NEW-YORK, Thursday, August 18, 1774.

2 The Grandfather of John Thomas, Junior, was the Rev. John Thomas, Rector of St. George's Church, Hempstead, Long Island, who,

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THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1774-1783.

ough Town of Westchester, within which the political family of Morris was seated,1 prepared to follow their example. For that purpose, on Saturday, the twen- tieth of August, also in response to the Circular Letter received from the Committee of Correspondence in the City of New York, those of "the Freeholders " and Inhabitants " of that Borough Town who sympa- thized with that Committee in its request that West- chester-county should appoint Delegates to represent it in the proposed Congress, met, and appointed James Ferris, Esq., Colonel Lewis Morris, and Cap- tain Thomas Hunt, " a Committee to meet the Com- " mittees of the different Towns and Precincts, within "this County, at the White Plains, on Monday, the " twenty-second instant, to consult on the expediency " of appointing one or more Delegates to represent " this County, at the general Congress, to be held at " Philadelphia, the first day of September uext."

Like the similar Meeting, at Rye, this Meeting also waited, apparently without adjourning, until its Committee was formally organized, by the appoint- ment of James Ferris, Esq., as its Chairman, and while that Committee considered the various political questions of the period-" the very alarming Situa- "tion of their suffering Brethren, at Boston, occa- " sioued by the late unconstitutional, arbitrary, and "oppressive Act of the British Parliament, for " blocking up their Port, as well as the several Acts "imposing Taxes on the Colonies, in order to raise a " Revenue in America "-and had prepared the fol- lowing Resolutions expressive of the result of its deliberations on those very grave questions :

"FIRST, Resolved, That we do and will bear true " Allegiance to His Majesty, George the Third, King " of Great Britain, &c., according to the British " Constitution.

" SECOND, That we coincide in opinion with our " friends of New York and of every other Colony, " that all Acts of the British Parliament, imposing " Taxes on the Colonies, without their Consent, or by " their Representative, are arbitrary and oppressive, " and should meet the abhorrence and detesta- "tion of all good men; That they are replete with " the purpose of creating Animosities and Dissensions " between the Mother Country and the Colonies; " and thereby tend to destroy that Harmony and " mutual Agreement which it is so much the Interest " of both, to Cherish and Maintain.

" THIRD, That we esteem it our Duty, and think it " incumbent on all the Colonies in America, to con- " tribute towards the Relief of the poor and distressed " People of Boston ; and that a Person of this Bor- " ough be appointed to collect such charitable Dona- " tions, within the same, as may be offered for their "Support.

"FOURTH, That as a Division in the Colonies " would be a sure means to counteract the present " Intention of the Americans, in their Endcavours to " preserve their Rights and Liberties from the Inva- " sion that is threatened, we do most heartily recom- " meud a Steadiness and Uuanimity in their Meas- " ures, as they will have the happy Effects of averting " the Calamity that the late tyrannical Acts of the " British Parliament would otherwise most assuredly "involve us in.

" FIFTH, That to obtain a Redress of our Griev- "ances, it has been thought most advisable, in the " Colonies, to appoint a general Congress, we will take "Shelter under the Wisdom of those Gentlemen who "may be chosen to represent us, aud cheerfully ac- "quiesce in any Measures they may judge shall be " proper, on this very alarming and critical Occasion."

These Resolutions were duly presented to the Meeting; and the official record of the proceedings of that Meeting tells, to all comers, they "were unani- "mously agreed to ; " after which the Meeting was dissolved.2

Because the numerous tenants and other depeud- ents on the Morris family were residents of Westches- ter, and not distant, there is reason for the supposition that the Meeting was well-attended; and there can be no reasonable doubt that the proceedings were con- ducted with entire propriety and good order. But, like the Meeting at Rye, of which mention has been made, that at Westchester was evidently controlled by a single master-spirit ; and, like the former, the latter was, also, unquestionably convened and con- ducted, not as much for the clear expression of the uncontrolled and intelligent opinions of "the Frec- " holders and Inhabitants" of the Town, on the grave questions which were submitted to them, or for the honest promotion of the best interests of the Colony, as for a preparation of the way for the return of the Morris family to place, and authority, and influence in the political affairs of the Colony, from which, through the controlliug power of the De Lanceys, it had been, for many years, entirely excluded.

It is probable that the other Towns throughout the County, if any such Towns, really or apparently, re- sponded to the invitation of the Committee of Cor- respondence in New York, either contented themselves, like those of Bedford and Mamaroneck, with only the clections of Delegates to the proposed Convention of the County, without any further expression of their sentiments, or, if they expressed such sentiments or any others, that, in the absence of all other than merely local agitators, they did not crowd those sentiments before a people who were already surcharged with such wordy manifestations ; and it remains only for us to record the additional

1 ['ntil 1846, the Borough Town of Westchester included, within its boundaries, the more modern towns of Westchester, West Farms, and Morrisania.

"Official record of the proceedings of the Meeting, in Gaine's Vewo- York Gazette: and the Weekly Mercury, No. 1194, NEW-YORK, Monday, August 29, 1774, and in Hirington's New-York Gazetteer, No. 72, NEW- YORK, Thursday, September 2, 1774.

208

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

facts that, on Monday, the twenty-second of August, 1774, a Convention of Delegates from the several Towns and Districts of Westchester-connty, or from a number of them, was assembled in the Court-house, at the White Plains; that Colonel Frederic Philipse, Lord of the Manor of Philipseborongh and a Member of the General Assembly of the Province, represent- ing the County of Westchester in that body, was in the Chair of that Convention ; 1 that it was determined to authorize a Delegation to represent the Connty, in the proposed Congress of the Continent, at Philadelphia; and that Isaac Low, Philip Livingston, James Duane, John Alsop, and John Jay, who had been elected to represent the City and County of New York, in that Congress, should be duly anthorized, also, to represent the County of Westchester, therein.2

By that determination and action of its nominally authorized Convention, the County of Westchester, in history, if not in fact,3 placed itself abreast of the most advanced advocates for the autonomy of the British Colonies in America ; and no one can snecess- fully dispute the fact that the Delegates whom, the records say, the County authorized to represent it, in the consultations and discussions and votes of the

1 " Card to the Public," reprinted in Force's American Archives, Fourth Series, i., 1188, 1189.

2 Credentials of the Delegates from New-York, Journal of the Congress, "Monday, September 5, 1774."

3 The subsequently published disclaimer of inhabitants of Rye and oth- er circumstances of the same tendeney, incline us to the belief of what Lieutenant-governor ('olden informed the Earl of Dartmouth, on that general subject, in his Despatch of October 5, 1774, that "a great deal of ' Paius has been taken to perswade the Counties to chiuse Delegates for "the Congress or to adopt those sent by this ('ity. Several of the ('oun- "ties have refused to be concerned in the Measures. In Queeus County " where I have a Houso & reside the summer Season six Persons have not "beeu got together for the Purpose and the Inhabitants remain firm in "their Resolution not to join in the Congress. In the Counties that have "joined in the Measures of the City, I am inform'd the Business has "been done by a very few Persons who took upon themselves to aet for "the Freeholders. A Gentlemau who was present when the Delegates "were chosen in Orange County says, there were not twenty Persous "present at that Meeting tho' there are abovo 1000 Freeholders in that "County : and I am told the case was similar in other Counties that it " is said have joined in tho Congress."

In the same connection, Joseph Galloway, when he was examined he- fore the House of Commons, testified, that "I don't think that ono-fifth " part have, frow principle aud choice, supported the present Rebelliou," * * * "The last Delegation to Congress, made hy the Province of "Pennsylvania, and the appointment of all the Officers of that State, was " made by less than two hundred Voters, although there are at least "thirty thousand mon intitled to Vote, by the Laws of the Province. "One instance more I beg leave to give. One of the Delegates from the " Province of New York, (with whom I sat in Congress in 1774) repre- " senting a considerable District in that Province, was chosen by himself "aud his clerk only, aud that elerk certified to the Congress that he was "unanimously appointed !" In a foot-note to this portion of that testi- mony, Galloway added : " The people of Kings County so much disap- "proved of the sending any Members to the Congress, that, although "dne notice was given of the time and place of Election, only two of "them met : Mr. Simon Boerum appointed his friend Clerk, and the "Clerk appointed Mr. Boerum a Delegate iu Congress, who was the only "Representative for that large County."-(Examination, 16 June, 1779- The Examination of Joseph Gulloway, Esq., before the House of Commons, London : 1779, 10, 11.)

Sec, also, Galloway's Letters to a Nobleman, Second Edition, London : 1779, 21.

proposed Congress, no matter what, in the Congress or elsewhere, the doings of those who composed that Delegation may have been, were gentlemen of the highest social standing; that some of them were gentlemen of the highest intellectual powers; and that all possessed what, at that time, either consist- ently or inconsistently, honestly or dishonestly, they publicly assnmed to have been the highest regard for the welfare of the Colony and of the Continent. It appears, however, notwithstanding that apparently general movement, in favor of the proposed Congress, among the farmers of Westchester-connty, or, at least, a general acquiescence therein, that there was a very important portion of them, individually respectable and respectable in numbers, who had not been thus influenced; who, therefore, had not joined in the reported election of Delegates to the Convention ; and who were withont any sympathy with those who were promoting the call for a Congress of the Conti- nent, even for consultation and mutnal advice. There is reason, also, for snpposing that there were many such cautious or timid conservatives, in each of the Towns, if, indeed, the great body of the inhabitants of each was not thus disposed to maintain the conserva- tism of the past; that they were not confined to any particular class of the inhabitants of those Towns ; and that they included holders of freehold properties and of the right of suffrage at the Polls as well as holders of leasehold properties, Tenants on the Manors, who held no such political right-all of them men of intelligence and respectability. A specimen of the dissent referred to, may be seen in the follow- ing disclaimer, which was published in the news- papers of the day : +

"RYE, NEW YORK; September 24, 1774.

" We, the Subscribers, Freeholders and Inhabitants "of the Town of Rye, in the County of Westchester, " being muclr concerned with the unhappy Sitnation "of public Affairs, think it onr Duty to our King and "Country, to Declare that we have not been con- " cerned in any Resolutions entered into or Measures " taken, with regard to the Dispntes at present snb- "sisting with the Mother Country ; we also testify " our dislike to many hot and furious Proceedings, in " consequence of said Disputes, which we think are " more likely to rnin this once happy Conntry, than "remove Grievances, if any there are.

" We also declare onr great Desire and full Reso- " Intion to live and die peaceable Subjects to onr " Gracions Sovereign, King George the Third, and his " Laws.

" Isaac Gidney, William Armstrong,

" Abraham Wetmore, James Hains,

" John Collnm, Thomas Thaell,

" Henry Bird, Dennis Lary,

A Rivington's New- York Gazetteer, No. 78, NEW-YORK, Thursday, Octo- ber 13, 1774.

209

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1774-1783.

" Robert Merrit,

" Roger Merrit,

" Isaac Anderson,

Joseph Clark,

" John Willis,

" Nehemiah Sherwood,

" William Crooker,

" Andrew Carhart,

" Seth Purdy,

" Disbury Park,

" Major James Horton,

" Nathaniel Sniffen,

" Sol. Gidney,

" Bartholomew Hains,

" Gilbert Hains,

" Joshua Purdy,

" James Wetmore,

" William Brown,

" Joseph Purdy,

" Jonathan Budd,

" Ebenezer Brown, Jun.,

" Henry Slater,

" Andrew Kniffen,

" Thomas Wilson,

" Timothy Wetmore, Esq.,

" Daniel Erwin,

" Roger Park,

Elijah Hains,

" Roger Kniffen,

John Affrey,

"John Hawkins,

Hack. Purdy,

" Andrew Merrit,

Charles Thaell, Esq.,

" Archibald Tilford,

" Adam Seaman,

John Park,

"Rievers Morrel,

Joshua Gedney,

" Abraham Miller,

Ebenezer Brown,

" Jonathan Kniffen,

John Slater,

" John Buvelot,

Benjamin Kniffen,

"Gilbert Thaell,

Nehemiah Wilson,

" Isaac Brown,

" Peter Florence."

Those who are acquainted with the methods which are very often employed by audacious partisans or by those more insidious supporters of a questionable proposition, for the instruction of an opponent in what way to do or to say what, if left to himself, he would not think of either saying or doing, in any manner, will be very likely to concur in the suspicion which prevails, that the following papers, each of them supplementary to the above-reeited diselaimer and declaration. were the reasonable results of such, not always gentle, social or politieal or ccelesiastical or financial pressure as is, very generally, seen among the methods to which reference has been made.

"RYE, October 17th, 1774.

"We, the Subscribers, having been suddenly and "unwarily drawn in, to sign a certain Paper pub- "lished in Mr. Rivington's Gazetteer, of the 13th "instant; and being now, after mature deliberation, "fully convinced that we acted preposterously, and " without adverting properly to the Matter in dispute 14

" between the Mother Country and her Colonies, are, "therefore, sorry that we ever had any concern in "said Paper; and we do by these Presents utterly " disclaim every part thereof, except our expressions " of Loyalty to the King and Obedience to the con- " stitutional Laws of the Realm.

" Abraham Miller, William Brown,

" Adam Scaman, Isaac Anderson,

" Andrew Carehart, William Crooker,

" Jolın Carehart, Andrew Lyon,

" Gilbert Brundige, John Buflot,

" John Willis, John Slater,

" James Jameson,

Israel Seaman,

The following very cautiously worded Card, ap- pended to a full copy of the disclaimer and declara- tion, dated on the twenty-fourth of September, which bore the signature of Timothy Wetmore, Esquire, was published, forty days afterwards :

"The above Paper, like many others, being liable " to misconstruction, and having been understood, by "many, to import a Recognition of a Right in the " Parliament of Great Britain, to bind America, in all " cases whatsoever, and to signify that the Colonies " labour under no Grievances, which is not the Sense "I meant to convey, I think it my Duty to explain "my Sentiments upon the Subject, and thereby pre- " vent future Mistakes

"It is my Opinion that the Parliament have no " Right to Tax America, tho' they have a Right to " regulate the Trade of the Empire. I ani further of " Opinion that several Acts of Parliament are Griev- "anees ; and that the execution of them ought to be " Opposed, in such Manner as may be Consistent with " the Duty of a Subject to our Sovereign; tho' I can- " not help expressing my Disapprobation of many " violent Proceedings, in some of the Colonies.

" Dated the 3d of November, 1774.

" TIMOTHY WETMORE." 2

The organization of the Congress of the Continent, and its Proceedings, as far as it permitted those Pro- ceedings to be made public, and the series of papers which it sent forth, in behalf of the complaining Colo- nies, form important portions of the world's history which need not be repeated, in this place. It will not be improper, however, to notice, in this connection, the fact that two, if no more, of the Delegates who represented the revolutionary portion of the inhab- itants of Westehester-county, in that Congress, were actively associated with Joseph Galloway, whoni history has regarded as a "volunteer spy for the " British Government," 3 in a measure, proposed in the

1 Hirington's New- York Gazetteer, No. 79, New-York, Thursday, Octo- ber 20, 1774.

2 Rivington's New- York Gazetteer, No. 82, NEW-YORK, Thursday, Novem- ber 10, 1774.

3 Bancroft's History of the United States, original elition, vii., 126 ; the same, centenary elition, iv., 392.

James Gedney,

James Purdy,

Jolın Adee,

Nathaniel Purdy,

Joseph Wilson,

Benjamin Willson,

James Hart,

Silemon Halsted, James Budd,

Thomas Kniffen, Gilbert Merrit, Esq. John Carhart,

Israel Seaman, William Hall,

Capt. Abraham Bush,

Andrew Lion,

James Jamisson, Thomas Brown,

Gilbert Thaell, Jun., Joseph Merrit, Jun.,

Jonathan Gedney,

John Guion.

John Kniffen,

Gilbert Morris, Jr.,

Roger Purdy, Gilbert Brundige,

" Gilbert Merrit." 1

210

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

interest of the Crown, which the Congress not only rejected, with contempt, but would not permit to be laid on its table nor to be recorded on its published Journal ; 1 that one of those two Delegates was snbse- quently discovered to have been quite as deeply im- plicated in a perfidious communication of the secret proceedings of the Congress, with quite as earnest a sympathy for the King and the Government, as Joseph Galloway is known to have been ; 2 and that the other Delegate referred to signalized himself, throughout the entire period occupied by the Congress, not only by his earnest advocacy of "the insidious proposi- " tion " of Joseph Galloway, offered and supported in the interest of the Crown, but by his unceasing oppo- sition to every assertion of republican principles and by his equally untiring support of whatever sustained the existing power of the aristocracy and the time- hallowed prerogatives of the Crown and the Parlia- ment 3-he has not, indced, been found to have been, directly, in the service of the Colonial Government ; but he is known to have' been the willing associate and confidential friend of those who were actively employed in that service ; and in their loyal labors, in behalf of their recognized Sovereign, he is known, also, to have been their open and untiring and most distinguished co-worker,4 concealed from the light of open day, however, by the vote of secrecy which his friends and associates did not hesitate to disregard, in the presence of the official representative of the Crown, who was, also, their political master. It has been usual to screen the latter of the two Delegates

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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 51

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