History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I, Part 63

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 63

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).

" TO THE PRINTER.

WE the subscribers do hereby make this public Declaration, That whereas we " and several others in Westchester-County, having " signed a certain Number of Resolves, which at the " Time of our said signing, we decmed Constitutional, " and as having a Tendency to promote the Interest "of our Country ; but since, upon mature Delibcra- " tion, aud more full Knowledge of the Matter, find " not only injurious to our present Cause, but like- " wise offensive to our Fellow Colonists. We do " therefore thus publiely testify our Abhorrence of " the same, and declare ourselves Friends to the Colo- " nies, and cver ready cheerfully to exert ourselves " in the Defence and Preservation of the same.

" JONATHAN FOWLER, Esq. " GEORGE CORNWELL, Esq.

" 29th April, 1775."

As both the signers of that recantation were evi- dently intelligent inen, one of them having been, at that time, one of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas of the County, it is not probable that they had signed those Resolves-no mention having been made of the Declaration and Protest-without having untler- stood the effect of their action on " the common cause;"

1 Proceedings of the Committee of One hundred, Adjourned Meeting, May 3, 1775 ; Leake's Memoir of General John Lamb, 103; etc.

254

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

and the offence which they had given to their neigh- bors, or to such of them as could inflict injury on them or on their property, was clearly the cause which produced their recantation.

The second of those acts of terrorism, to which ref- erence has been made, was that in the case of Isaac Wilkins, that leading Member of the General Assem- bly of the Colony, in its contest with the Home Gov- ernment ; that very able " A. W. FARMER " who, with his pen, had aroused so much indignation ; and that spokesman of the protestants, at the Meeting at the White Plains, with whom the reader is well ac- quainted. That gentleman, in order to secure his personal safety, was compelled to abandon his home and family, and to take refuge in England. On the eve of his departure, while he was in the City of New York, he wrote the following touching address to his countrymen, which has been carefully copied from Rivington's New- York Gazetteer, No. 108, NEW-YORK, Thursday, May 11, 1775 :

" MY COUNTRYMEN:

" Before I leave America, the land I love, and in " which is contained everything that is valuable and " dear to me, my wife, my children, my friends, and " property ; permit me to make a short and faithful " declaration, which I am induced to do neither "through fear, nor a consciousness of having acted "wrong. An honest man, and a Christian, hath noth- "ing to apprehend from this world. God is my judge, " and God is my witness, that all I havedone, written, " or said, in relation to the present unnatural dispute " between Great Britain and her Colonies, proceeded " from an honest intention of serving my country. " Her welfare and prosperity were the objects towards " which all my endeavours have been directed. They " are still the sacred objects which I shall ever stead- "ily and invariably keep in view : And when in " England, all the influence that so inconsiderable " a man as I am, can have, shall be exerted in her " behalf.

" It has been my constant maxim through life, to " do my duty conscientiously, and to trust the issue of " my actions to the Almighty .- May that God in " whose hands are all events, speedily restore peace " and liberty to my unhappy country. May Great- " Britain and America be soon united in the bands of " everlasting amity : and when united, may they con- " tinue a free, a virtuous, and happy nation to the " end of time.

" I leave America, and every endearing connection, " because I will not raise my hand against my Sover- " eign,-nor will I draw my sword against my Coun- "try; when I can conscientiously draw it in her " favour, my life shall be chearfully devoted to her " service.

" ISAAC WILKINS.

While these unwelcome features of the political movements, in Westchester-county, were extending over the entire community, Lewis Morris was busily employed, after his seat in the forthcoming Congress of the Colonies had been secured beyond a peradven- ture, in an attempt to belittle the Declaration and Protest of those, at the White Plains, who had ob- jected to the proceedings of the Meeting of which he was, there, the manager and Chairman. For that purpose, on the seventh of May, he prepared an elab- orate reply, which, a few days afterwards, with some other historical material, he gave to the newspapers, for publication. As an important portion of the local literature of Westchester-county, of that period, it may properly find a place in this work. The fol- lowing is a carefully prepared copy of it :

" To the PUBLIC.

"A Very extraordinary paper, called a protest against the proceedings of the Freeholders "of the county of West-Chester, relative to the elec- " tion of deputies for the late Convention, and said to " have been subscribed by the several persons whose " names are printed with it, was published in Mess. "Rivington and Gaine's Gazetteers, a few weeks " ago.

"By whom this performance was given to the pub- " lic, is uncertain, and being as little distinguished by " decency as by truth, there is reason to suspect, the " author's name will remain a secret.

" The falsities contained in this representation, are " too flagrant to impose upon any person in this col- " ony, and nothing but the apprehension of its gain- "ing credit in other parts of the world, would have "induced me to have made it the subject of ani- " madversion.

"I shall pass over the many little embellishments " with which the author's fancy has endeavoured to " decorate his narrative; nor is it necessary to call in "question the reality of that loyal enthusiasm, by " which it was said these good people were influenced ; " and I really wish it had been the fact, because when "inconsistencies and fooleries result from inebriety or " enthusiasm, they merit our pity, and escape indig- "nation and resentment.

" Much pains, I confess, were on that day taken to "make temporary enthusiasts, and with other more " echilirating spirit, than the spirit of loyalty.

" To give the appearance of dignity to these curious "and very orderly protestors, the author has been " very mindful to annex every man's addition to his " name, upon a presumption perhaps that it would " derive weight from the title of Mayor, Esquire, Cap- " tain, Lieutenant, Judge, &e.

" But it is not easy to conceive why the publisher " should be less civil to the Clergy than to the gentry " and commonalty, Samuel Seabury and Luke Babcock, " certainly ought not to have been sent into the world " floating on a news paper in that plain way,-the

" NEW YORK,

" May 3, 1775."

255

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1774-1783.

"one is the REVEREND Mr. Samuel Seabury, Rector of " the united parishes of East and West-Chester, and one " of the Missionaries for propagating the GOSPEL, and " not POLITICKS, in foreign parts, &c., &c., the other is " the Reverend Mr. Luke Babcock, who preaches and " prays for Col. Philips and his tenants at Philipsburg. " In this formidable catalogue of 312 sober and loyal " protestors, there are not less than one hundred and " seventy, who after a most diligent enquiry, I cannot " find have the least pretensions to a vote, and indeed " many of them are lads under age. Their names are " as follows :

"' ' Samucl Seabury,

" ' Luke Babcock,

" ' Benjamin Fowler, Esq.

" ' Joshua Pell,

" ' Edward Pell,

Sylvanns Purdy,

William Dalton,

Elijah Tomkins,

Charles Lawrence,

" ' John Hunt, junr.

George Storm,

" . Moses Williams,

Joshua Purdy, junr.

" ' Philip Kelley,

James Sniffen, junr.

" ' James Hains, jun.

Peter Bonet,

" ' Matthew llaius,

" ' Bartholomew Hains,

Jesse Lawrence,

" ' Franeis Secord,

Joshua Seeord,

William Sniden,

" . John Parker,

John Underhill,

" . Joseph Clark,

Thomas Iliat,

William Woodward,

" ' James Mott,

John Whitmore,

" ' Jordan Downing,

Richard Baker,

" ' Daniel Purdy,

William Underhill,

Nehemiah Tomkins,

Henry Leforge,

" ' Patriek Cary,

William Bond,

" ' Gilbert Ward,

Samuel Sneden, Joshua Ferriss.'

" Of the others who are Freeholders, many also "hold lands at will of Col. Philips, so that the truth " really is, that very few independent Freeholders ob- "jected to the appointment of Deputies.

" LEWIS MORRIS.

" MORRISANIA,

William Londrine,

Dennis Kennedy,

4' ' Eliazer Hart,

James Hains,

Andrew Bainton,

Nathaniel Tomkins,

46 ' Joshua Barues,

Caleb Archer,

" ' John Park,

Benjamin Bugbe,

Francis Purdy,

William Odell,

Israel Hunt,

Thomas Tomkins,

Frederick Underhill,

" ' Nathaniel Underhill, jun. Peter Post,

" ' Philip Fowler,

Benjamin M'Cord,

John Williams,

John Ackeman, Peter Rusting,

Jeremiah Hunter,

Abraham Storm,

" ' Jesse Park,

Peter Jenning,

John Gale,

John Smith,

James Hart, junr.

Jonathan Purdy, junr.

Monmouth llart, junr.

Christopher Purdy,

" ' John Baizley,

" ' David Oakley, jun.

" ' Isaac Smith,

Edward Merrit, junr.

"' John Hyatt,

Henry Disborough,

" ' Abraham Odell,

William Van Wart,

" ' Thomas Lawrence,

Abraham Storm,

" ' John Seyson,

Thomas Berry,

" ' Isaac Forsheu,

Charles Merit, Benjamin Griffen,

" ' Gabriel Requeaw,

" ' Gabriel Areher,

James Angevine,

" ' Elias Secord,

Jeremiah Anderson, junr.

William Barker, junr.

Gideon Arden,

" ' Gilbert Horton,

" ' Adrian Leforge,

" ' Elijah Hains,

Solomon Dean,

" ' Gilbert Bates, William Underhill, junr.

" ' David Purdy,

James Hill,

" ' David Bleecker,

William Watkins,

" ' Corn. Van Tassell,

Bishop Heustiee,

" 'Joseph Appleby,

Jeremiah Hitchcock,

" ' Izariah Whitmore,

" ' Absalom Gidney,

" ' John Brown,

Benjamin Beyea, John Lorce,

Elnathan Appleby,

" ' Joshua Purdy, jun.

John Baker,

Jonathan Underhill,

James M .Chain,

" ' James Tomkins, " ' Gilbert Thial,

Joshua Hunt,

Bates Chatterdon,

" ' William Sexen,

4' ' Thomas Champeriers,

" ' John Champeniers,

"' ' James Hunt,

" ' Joshua Parker,

4 . Sammel Purdy,

'' ' Gilbert Purdy,

·· ' James Chatterton,

" ' Thomas Cromwell, " ' Solomon Horton,

" 'John M. Farthing, " ' Jacob Post,

" ' James Baxter,

" ' John Hart, " ' Cornelius Losee,

Timothy Purdy, James M'Guire,

James Regnaw, Samuel Purdy,

" ' John Hunt,

"' Edward Bugbe,

" ' Daniel Haight,

Joshua Purdy,

" ' Abraham Losee,

Jacob Vermiller,

" ' Isaac Tomkins,

" ' Joseph Paulding,

John Warner,

Peter Fashee,

" ' Hendricus Storm,

Johu Storm,

" ' John Haius,

4 . John Crab,

"' ' Jasper Stivers,

" ' Peter MI.Farthing,

" ' Haecaliah Purdy, jun.

Evert Brown,

" . William Dunlap,

" May 7, 1775." 1

It will be seen that, with more than his usual shrewdness, Lewis Morris postponed his attempt to reply to the Declaration and Protest which had been made, some weeks previously, by those who had ob- jected to the Meeting at the White Plains, until after his brother-in-law, Isaac Wilkins, who had led those protestants, and who was known to have been the

1 This notable paper, except the list of names, was published in Rit- ington's New- York Gazetteer, No. 108, NEW-YORK, Thursday, May 11, 1775 : and the names were published in the next number of that paper -No. 109, NEW-YORK, Thursday, May 18, 1775; the text of the article was published in Gaine's New York Gazette : und the Weekly Mercury, No. 1231, NEW-YORK, Mouday, May 15, 1775-although promise was made that the names should be published in the succeeding number, they were not-and both the text of the article and the names appear in Holt's New-York Journal, No. 1689, NEW-YORK, May 18, 1775.

From the first-named of those two papers, the re-print of it, in the text, was very carefully made

" ' Roger Purdy, jun.

" ' Gilbert Pugsley,

" ' Abraham Lediau,

" ' Benjamin Brown,

" ' Aaron Buis,

Gabriel Purdy,

" ' James Peirce,

Samuel Heusted,

" ' Joseph Oakly,

256

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

author of their Declaration and Protest, had left Amer- ica, when he knew that he was probably secured from challenge concerning the untruthfulness of whatever he should write, in that reply-neither Samuel Sea- bury nor Luke Babcock had written anything con- cerning the political questions of that period ; 1 it was not thought they would do so; and there was no other person, in Westchester-county, whose pen promised trouble to the new-made leader, no matter how much that peculiar failing which had made his family conspicuous, throughout the Colony,2 should be manifested in whatever he should write.

The relative merits of the two papers, the Declara- tion and Protest and the reply, will be very readily seen, by every careful reader. The author of the latter was very profuse in his very general charge of " falsities contained in this representation ; " but he failed to specify, even a single instance in which the former had presented an untruth ; and every one will perceive that he did uot except, from the general im- peachment, even those portions of the Declaration and Protest which agreed, in their recital of facts, with his own statement of those facts, contained in the official report of the proceedings of that Meeting, at the White Plains, written over his own signature, on the afternoon of the day on which the Meeting was held, and subsequently presented by him, to the Provincial Convention, as the Credentials through which he and his associates were admitted to seats in that body, as, nominally, a delegation from West- chester-county-if the recital contained in the ouc was untruthful, therefore, the similar recital con- tained in the other was, necessarily, quite as untrust- worthy as the other. He also impeached the "de- "cency " of what the Declaration and Protest con- tained; but, again, he failed to specify in what their "indecency " consisted. He impeached the bona fide of the " enthusiasm " of the protestauts, at the Plains; but he " confessed," and only those who are guilty " confess," that his own companions, those who had given the much coveted place and authority to him, were also noisy, from the effects of other Spirits than that of loyalty to the King-inasmuch as cach of the two factions, at the Plains, claimed to have been noisy as well as loyal, the author of the reply had little reason for making such an objection, unless he desired to secure to his own faction the credit of making all the noise and of expressing all the loyalty which were theu produced, by any one. He ob-

jected, also, that the titles of those who had signed the Declaration and Protest were appended to the names of those to whom they respectively belonged ; but a reference to the official report of the proceed- ings of that Meeting, signed by himself and evidently from his own pen, to which reference has been made, will show to any one that the specific titles of " Mr.," "Esq., " "Captain," "Major," and "Colonel," were added to eighteen of the twenty-six names which that report contained-indeed, he had given the distinctive title of "Colonel," to himself, in three different places, in that report ; and that, too, with- out a word of apology. He insinuated that one hun- dred and seventy of those who had signed the Protest were not voters-" after the most diligent inquiry, "I cannot find they have the least pretensions to " vote," he said ; adding, " and indeed, many of them " are lads under age "-but he conveniently omitted to make a direct and positive averment of such a want of qualification, in any one of those protestants ; and he also conveniently failed to designate which of the one hundred and seventy whom he named, in any single instance, was a minor. Most of all, he disre- garded the fact that the Declaration and Protest, to which he assumed to make a reply, had made no pre- tension to having been made exclusively by "Free- " holders," but, on the contrary, it was thus headed : " We the subscribers, freeholders and inhabitants of "the county of Westchester, having assembled at the " White Plains, in consequence of certain advertise- " ments," etc., from which every appearance of ex- clusiveness, in the signers of it, was expressly ex- cluded. Finally : he impeached the " independence " of those of the signers of that Protest who were Free- holders, by saying " many also hold lands at will un- "der Col. Philips; " but he conveniently forgot to tell how a mere tenant at will could, thereby, become a Freeholder, or how many, in the Manor of Cortlandt, who were only tenants or who held lauds at the will of the Proprietors of that Manor, had been induced by other causes than loyalty to those Proprietors or discontent with the General Assembly, to go to the White Plains, to assist into a place in the revolu- tionary organization, the young member of that " patriotic " family, Philip, on whom, a few months before, the Royal Governor, William Tryon, had bestowed a Royal Commissiou of Major, which he then bore; nor was it convenient for the author of that reply, to state, therein, just how many of the tenants and other retainers of the lordly Lord of the Manor of Morrisania had been induced, contrary to their unassisted inclinatious, to ride from the Borough Town of Westchester to the White Plains, on that eleventh of April, to assist in the elevation of himself into an office, no matter what. The char- acter of Colonel Frederic Philipse, whom he was so swift to impeach, whether regarded as a man or as a gentleman, as a landlord or as a citizen, was quite as pure, and quite as upright, and quite as worthy of

1 Mr. Seabury, in his Memorial to the General Assembly of Connecticut, presented on the twentieth of December, 1775, in reply to one of the four accusations which had been made against him, expressly stated that he had not, at that time, written any "pamphlets and newspapers " against the liberties of America ; " which effectually disproves much that has been written, on that subject, by modern bibliographers.

2 " This family are so remarkable for 'enlarging the truth,' that all "stories suspected of not being true are known throughout the County "of Westchester, in the City of New York, and on the westernmost part "of Long Island, by the name of 'Morrisanias.'"-(Jones's History of New York during the Revolutionary War, i., 140.)

257

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1774-1783.

respect, as was that of Colonel Lewis Morris or that of any other member of that unpopular family ; and his practises, in private and iu public life, against which not even a Morris, in his bitterest mood, could say a word of open disrespect, merited no such fling from the office-seeking head of the small, new-born revolu- tionary faction, then in Westchester-county-from one whose only antagonism to the Colonial and Home Governments originated in aud was sustained by the continued ill-success of the family of which he was the head, in its unceasing hankering for that official station from which, except in a single notorious in- stance, the controlling power within the Colony, for many years, had rigidly excluded it.

At the same time, and through the same public press in which Lewis Morris published his reply to the Declaration and Protest, to which reference has been made, he also published the following Cards,1 evidently the only trophies of the kind, which he had secured, during the political campaign in which he had been engaged, since the publication of the Decla- ration and Protest had aroused his indignation, and the withdrawal of his brother-in-law had left him without an opponent :

" "That our names were not subscribed to the "protest of West-Chester, either by our- "selves, or our orders or permission, directly or indi- " rectly, is certified by us, each for himself.

" PETER BUSSING.

"PETER BUSSING, jun. " May 4, 1775."

" MR. RIVINGTON,

"I Did sign a protest, which was printed in your " paper ; but I did so, because I was told that the in- " tent of siguing it was to shew, that I was for the " liberties of the country.

" SAMUEL BAKER."

III " NORTH-CASTLE, May 8, 1775. " MR. RIVINGTON,

N your paper lately I saw my name to a pro- " test. I never signed it, but went into Capt. " Hatfield's house, and was asked, whether I was a " Whig or a Tory ? I made answer, that I did not " understand thic meaning of those words, but was for "liberty and peace. Upon which somebody put down

1 Rivington's New-York Gazetteer, No. 108, NEW YORK, Thursday, May 11, 1775.

Any one who is acquainted with the habits of printers, in "making " up " the forms of a newspaper, for the press, will understand, from the places which these three Cards, aud the reply of Lewis Morris to the Declaration and Protest (omitting the naines), and the proceedings of the Meeting at the White Plains-five distinct articles relating to Westches. ter-couuty-occupy, together, in the last Column of the inside form of the paper, that they all proceeded from the same hand ; and that the three Cards of recanting protesters were, evidently, among the results of Lewis Morris's political pilgrimage through that County, in his dili- gent search for protestants who were not, also, Freeholders.

" my name. Now, Sir, I desire that you will print " this to shew to the world, that I have not deserved " to be held up in the light of a protestor.

" JEREMIAH HUNTER."

With these four publications-the reply to the Dec- laration and Protest and the three Cards of recanta- tion-as far as Westchester-county was concerned, the literature of the first Provincial Convention of the Colony of New York ended-and, as every farmer had returned to his rural home, at the close of the eventful eleventh of April, and had resumed his work, the necessary work of the season, on his farm or on the river, with the exceptions, here and there, of a disturbed mind, an angry thought, or an unneighborly rcsent- ment, new features in the social life of Westchester- county farmers, the whole subject gradually became a thing of the past, fit only for material for history.

Reference has been made to the action of the Comu- mittee of Inspection, in the City of New York, on the twenty-sixth of April, providing for its own dis- solution ; for the election of a new Committee of one huudred, to occupy its place, in that City; and for the organization of a Provincial Congress, with gen- eral authority for the government of the entire Col- ony.2 For the accomplishment of the last-named of those purposes, a Circular Letter was addressed, by the Chairman of that Committee, to the Committees of those Counties iu which Committees had been chosen, and to prominent residents of those Counties in which Committees had not been chosen, inviting their co-operation, and recommending them to choose Deputies to the proposed Congress, the following being a copy of that Circular Letter :

" CIRCULAR.

" COMMITTEE CHAMBER, NEW-YORK, April 28, 1775. " GENTLEMEN,

"The distressed and alarming situation of our "Country, occasioned by the sanguinary measures "adopted by the British Ministry, (to enforce which, "the Sword has been actually drawn against our "brethren in the Massachusetts), threatening to " involve this Continent in all the horrors of a civil " War, obliges us to call for the uuited aid and council "of the Colony, at this dangerous crisis.

"Most of the Deputies who composed the late " Provincial Congress, held in this City, were only "vested with powers to chosc Delegates to represent " the Province at the next Continental Congress, "and the Convention having executed that trust " dissolved themselves: It is therefore thought "adviseable by this Committec, that a Provincial "Congress be immediately summoned to deliberate "upon, and from time to time to direct such measures " as may be expedient for our common safety.

" We persuade ourselves, that no argumen's can

1 l'ide Page 251, ante.

258

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

" now be wanting to evince the necessity of a perfect " union; and we know of no method in which "the united sense of the people of the province can " be collected, but the one now proposed. We there- " fore entreat your County heartily to unite in the " choice of proper persons to represent them at a " Provincial Congress to be held in this City on the " 22d of May next .- Twenty Deputies are proposed " for this City, and in order to give the greater weight "and influence to the councils of the Congress, we " could wish the number of Deputies from the "counties, may be considerable.

"We can assure you, that the appointment of a "Provincial Congress,1 approved of by the inhabitants " of this city in general, is the most proper and " salutary measure that ean be adopted in the present " melancholy state of this Continent ; and we shall be " happy to find, that our brethren in the different "Counties concur with us in opinion.

" By order of the Committee. " ISAAC LOW, Chairman." 2

As there was not, at that time, any Committee, within the County of Westchester, unto whom that Circular Letter could be sent, it was probably sent, as that relating to the proposed Provincial Convention had been sent, to some prominent resident of that County, most convenient to the Chairman of the Committee of the City, for circulation in the several Towns, throughout the County ; and, by that local poli- tician, whomsoever he may have been, it may be reasona- bly supposed that those Circular Letterswhich were thus sent to him, were duly circulated " where they would " do the most good," for his own interest and for those of his family. It is said, however, that " a general " notice," inviting a Meeting of the Freeholders of the County, was published ; and history has recorded, over the official signature of the "Chairman for the "day," that such a Meeting was held, at the White Plains, on Monday, the eighth of May, 1775, " pur- "suant to a general notice for that purpose," James Van Cortlandt, of the Borough Town of Westchester, occupying the Chair. No pretensions were made, in the official report of the Meeting or elsewhere, that the attendance was large: on the contrary, it is very probable that not more than two dozens were present. Whatever the number may have been, it assumed to be the representative of all who were, then, within the County, of every condition in life ; and, in the name and in behalf of all those who then lived thereiu, whether present or absent, it appointed "a Committee "of ninety persons, for the said Couuty," aud de-

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.

History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I, Part 63

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