History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I, Part 74

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 74

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the Sloop, were ordered to be sent, duly guarded, to the City of New York, and delivered to the Committee of Safety of that Colony. As may be foreseen, God- frey Haines was remitted to the tender mercies of those from whom he had eseaped, in the preceding Oetober. 4

Three days after Major Henderson and his prisoners reached New York, [January 23, 1776,] "The Con- " mittee of Safety took iuto consideration the ease of " Godfrey Haines, lately apprehended and sent here " by the Committee of Safety of New Jersey ; are of " opinion that his many and mischievous maehina- " tions are so dangerous that he ought to be kept in " safe eustody and elose jail ; and that, by the Res- " olutions of the Continental Congress of the second " day of January instant,5 they are fully authorized, " and that it is their duty to the Country, to have him " confined ; and as the said Godfrey Haines lately " broke the Jail of this City, and eseaped, when he " was eonfined there, as a prisoner,6 and, continuing " his evil practices,7 set off to navigate a vessel loaded " with Provisions to supply the Ministerial Army and " Navy, at Boston, they conceive it will be very " dangerous to keep or convey the said Godfrey " Haines to Ulster-county Jail, unless lie is fettered " or manaeled ; therefore

" RESOLVED AND ORDERED, That the said Godfrey " Haines be conveyed to Ulster-county Jail, to be " there confined in safe and secure eustody, in elose "jail, until the further order of the Continental or " Provincial Congress, or of this Committee. And "ORDERED, That the said Godfrey Haines be sent, " manaeled or fettered, under guard, to Ulster-eounty " Jail; and that Colonel MeDougal be requested to " procure an Officer, with a proper Guard of the " Militia or Minute-men of this City, to guard the " said prisoner and the other prisoners heretofore " ordered to jail, to Kingstou, in Ulster-county."" At the same time, a letter was written to the Ul-ter- county Committee, "praying" that body " that very " particular directions for keeping him in safe ens- " tody, to prevent his eseape, be given as to Haines,

4 This statement is based on the Affidarit of James Webb, one of the passengers; on the Proceedings of the Committee of Safety of New-Jersey, " with respect to those Prisoners; " on the Supplementary statement of James Webb; ou the Testimony vf Darid Rhea ; and on the Statements of Major Thomas Heudersou of the Moumouth-county Minute men, who con- veyed the prisoners to New York.

5 The reader will not fail to observe that the Committee carefully con- cealed the notable enactment of the Provincial Congress, of the first of the preceding September, (ri le pages 287-289, ante. )

6 The Committee made no mention of the fact that he had, then, been kept without food or water, a full week ; and that, since his prayer for food had been disregarded by the Provincial Congress, he was rompelled either to force his way out of the prison or to starve, (cide page 118, aute.)

" The only "evil practises " for which he had been condemned were "denying the anthority and speaking contemptuously of the Congresses "and the Committee of Westchester-county "-Eunice Punly land made other charges against him, which, however, had evidently been dismissed by the County Committee, (ride page 23!, aute.)

8 Journal of the Committee of Safety, "Die Martis, 3 ho., P.M., 2 rd " Jan'y, 1776."

1 Haines made this statenient to one of the guard which subsequently conveyed him to New-York, after he had been re-captured, (Testimony of Major Henderson, before the Committee of Safety ;) and he also made the saine statement to David Rhea, (Testimony of David Rhea, before the same Committee: Journal of the Committee of Safety, "Die Sabbati, 10 ho., "A.M., January 20, 1776.")

2 Examination of Gilbert Budd before the Provincial Congress-Journal of the Provincial Congress, "Die Veneris, 5 ho., P.M., November 3, *1775."

3 Affidavit of Philip Pinckney, November 1, 1775-page 301, post.

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HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

" as he formerly broke the Jail, in this City, and made " his escape ; " and, at the same time, directing that Committee to "appoint some person whom you shall " think proper, to supply them with the necessaries of " life, at their own expense, if they can pay for them ; " and if they cannot, at the public expense." 1 Agree- ably to that prayer, a special Guard of Grenadiers was placed over Godfrey and his two fellow-prisoners ; and the Committee, in Kingston, said, " they will be " safe, we think." 2

The subsequent career of Godfrey Haines, as far as it is known, can be told in few words-the severity of the treatment which he had received and which he continued to receive broke down his health; and the Committee of Ulster-county was applied to, to permit him to be removed from his close confinement aud to have " the liberty of the house," until he should have recovered his health and strength. Permission was accordingly given for his liberation from his manacles and his close imprisonment ; and, very evidently, the sympathy of those who held him in custody was turned toward him far enough to permit him to escape.3 We have found nothing further concerning him.

There were other arrests in Westchester-county similar to that of Godfrey Haines, one of which, that of Elijah Weeks, was followed by an attempt to rescue him, by an armed force, among thie latter of whom were Isaac Gedney, Junior,4 William Nelson,5 Joshua Boyea, Joshua Ferris,6 Bartholomew Haines,7 Elijah Haines, William Haines, and John Haines, the per- sons who made the arrest having been Job Haddon, of Harrison Precinct, Benjamin Morrell, of New York, and Isaac Sniffen, of Rye-neck.8

1 Letter from the Committee of Safety to the Committee of Ulster-county

"IN COMMITTEE OF SAFETY, NEW-YORK, 23rd Jany, 1776."

2 Letter from the Ulster county Committee to the Committee of Safety,, " KINGSTON, January 27th, 1776."

3 William Elsworth, Chairman of the Ulster-county Committee, to the Provincial Congress, " KINGSTON, May 22, 1776 ;" Journal of the Provin cial Congress, " Die Sabbati, 9 ho., A. M., May 25, 1776."

4 Isaac Gidney, probably the same person, visited Governor Tryon, on tho Duchess of Gordon, a few months afterwards, (Examination of Wil - liam Sutton before the Westchester-county Committee, July 23, 1776.)

5 William Nelson was one of those who, in the following year, " were "supposed to have gono to the British Army," (List of Sundry Persons, Inhabitants of Cortlundt's Manor, etc. : Historical Manuscripts, etc. : Mis- cellaneous Papers, xxxvi., 594).

6 Joshua Ferris, a son of Caleb Ferris, was one of those who went on board the Pharnis, when that ship went np the Iludson, in July, 1776, (Examination of Joshua Ferris : Historical Manuscripts, etc. : Miscellaneous Papers, xxxv., 69, 85.) Ile, or another person bearing the same name, was a prisoner, in the Jail at the White Plains, in September, 1776, at which time he petitioned the Provincial Congress "that His Irons may be "taken off as he cannott posibly Shift Ilimself or get clear of the Ver- "min, with which he is Greatly Infected to the great disturbance of his "nnfortunate fellow prisoners," (Historical Manuscripts, etc. : Petitions, xxxiii., 82.)

7 Bartholomew Haines, a consin of Godfrey llaines, was one of those who were reported to the Provincial Congress, as obnoxious to the revo- Intionary faction in Westchester-county, ( page 290, ante ;) and he was, also, one of those who were arrested and thrown into the Jail, at the White Plains, in the Summer of 1776, (Historical Munuscripts, etc. : Petitionx, xxxiii., 108.)

8 Letter from the Sub-committee of the Committee of Westchester-county to the Provincial Congress, " WHITE PLAINS, November 1, 1775."

Among those who were, also, arrested and thrown into prison, by the Committee of Westchester-county, under the provisions of the enactment of the Pro- vincial Congress which is now under consideration, were Joshua Purdy, Caleb Morgan, John McCord, Gilbert Hortou, Josiah Brown, Edmund Ward, Samuel Merrit, Philip Fowler, Gabriel Purdy, Wil- liam Barker, Junior, John Besley, Isaac Brown, Bar- tholomew Haines, Joseph Purdy, and Jonathan Purdy ; aud, as an evideuce of the wide-spread ruin which was inflicted ou the inhabitants of the County, by the sequestrations of the real and personal estates of those who were "suspected " of being op- posed to the Rebellion, there were sequestrated in the single Town of Salem, prior to the sixth of December, 1776, the properties of Ephraim Sanford, Thomas Smith, Benjamin Close, Gilbert Hunt, Samuel Bax- ter, Abraham Close, Job Keeler, Jonathan Wallace, Ezra Morehouse, Jacob Wallace, Samuel Wallace, Nathaniel Palmer, Nathan Osborn, Abraham Dan, Edward Jones, and George Butson.9

It was a reasonable consequence, under the exist- ing circumstances, that questions should be raised, concerning the legitimacy of any such authority as the Provincial Congress had created, in these enact- ments, and delegated to the several local Committees, none of which were recognized by the Law of the land and all of which were antagonistic to those Laws. It was a short-sighted policy, also, even among those who were in rebellion, which inflicted penalties, especially such peualties as these, on those persons who continued, peacefully, on their respec- tive farms, quietly pursuing their daily labors, hon- estly respecting the Laws of the country, and con- sistently recognizing and honoring the Sovereignty of the King, whom even those who were in rebellion quite as fully recognized, as their undoubted Sove- reign ; and these, for no other reason than for disre- spectful words, concerning the several Committees and Congresses, and for the utterance of questions concerning their respective authorities. It was a reasonable consequence, under existing circumstances, we repeat, that quiet men should become excited and excitable men angry, and that all should become alarmed and indignant, when a mere handful of their neighbors, without their " consent" and without the slightest warrant of Law and without the slightest necessity, usurped and maintained such unheard-of authority as was created in these enactments ; and it was equally reasonable, under the circumstances which then existed, that there should be neighborly consultations and ueighborhood organizatious, as well as personal efforts, for the support and protection of

9 The names of those who were arrested and imprisoned, which are named in the text, were copied from a single Petition for relief, (Historical Manuscripts, etc. : Petitions, xxxiii., 108) ; but there were many others. The names of those farmers, in Salem, whose Farms, Stock, Tools, Crops, Household Furniture, etc., were thus seized and sold, were taken from the same Historical Manuscripts, etc. : Miscellaneous Papers, xxxV. 307, in which the properties are mentioned, in detail.

297

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1774-1783.

the personal and domestic and political Rights which those farmers indisputably possessed, under the Constitution and the Laws of the Kingdom -- they would have been unworthy of their manhood and of their families, of their homes and of their Rights, had they failed to become excited and alarmed, to have armed and organized and fought, for themselves and their wives and their little ones, for their homes and their properties and their Rights, whenever and by whomsoever and under whatever pretence of ill- gotten authority, these might have been assailed. It was a mistake, as well as a erime, therefore, to as- sume authority for the arrest and imprisonment of men and for the sequestration of their properties and the impoverishment of the aged and of the dependent and helpless, without a shadow of legal authority and in audacious defiance of it ; without a shadow of ex- isting necessity, even from the standpoint of the Re- bellion, for the enactment of such extreme measures; and with a reasonable assurance that a manly self- respect among those who were proscribed, would be surely aroused, not only for their own and their fam- ilies' protection, but, as far as they could do it, for the suppression of that haughty lawlessness which had presumed to create and to enforce so grave an enactment of despotism. It was loudly declared to have been the most ardent wish of even the most advanced advocate of rebellion, to have secured a reconciliation with the Mother Country and a restor- ation of harmony and good-will among the adverse parties throughout the several Colonies : 1 how much more of wisdom there would have been displayed among those who had seized the reins of government, therefore, had they practised their hands in the work of reconciliation and harmony and goodwill among their neighbors, instead of driving the staid and the quiet and the conscientious and the law-abiding, among the latter, into active and bitter partisanship, and of spreading alarm and strife and misery and ruin over the entire County. There might have been fewer transformations of moral and intellectual pig- mies into potent political giants-there might have been a smaller number of fortunes rapidly and largely increased from the plunder of neighboring better- provided-for households and farmyards-but there would have been, also, fewer outrages against the Laws of both man and of God; less occasion for bit- terness among the descendants of those who were, then, neighbors in locality, if not in fact ; and very much less for the faithful historian to condemn and to denounce, while reciting the annals of the Ameri- can Revolution, as that Revolution was developed

and seen in the agricultural and prosperous and peaceful County of Westchester, in New York. But the end of such outrages had not yet come.

While the excitement occasioned by the enaet- ments of the Provincial Congress, authorizing local Committees to seize and imprison and disarm and deprive of their estates those who should become obnoxious to those local demagogues and against whom, by fair means or by foul, an accusation of un- friendly thoughts or words against the Rebellion could possibly be trumped up, was at its height, and while some of the inhabitants of the County were already suffering from imprisonment, attended by the most distressing circumstances, under the provis- ions of those enactments, the Committee of Safety, whom the Provincial Congress had left on duty, with a limited authority, during a brief recess of the lat- ter body, still further aroused the excitement and the indignation of the greater number of the Colonists in New York, of nearly all of those within Westches- ter-county, by the publication of the following Reso- lutiou and Orders :

" IN COMMITTEE OF SAFETY, " FOR THE COLONY OF NEW YORK, "September 16th, 1775. " WHEREAS, a great number of the men enlisted in " the Continental Service, in this Colony, are desti- " tnte of Arms, and in order to carry into exeention "the Resolutions of the Continental Congress, it is "absolutely necessary to have those troops armed : "AND WHEREAS, every method to hire or purchase " Arms, hitherto attempted, has failed to procure a " sufficient number of Arms for the said troops, and "the only method remaining is to impress Arms for " their use,

" RESOLVED, therefore, That all such Arms as are " fit for the use of the troops raised in this Colony, " which shall be found in the hands or custody of any " person who has not signed the General Association " in this Colony, shall be impressed for the use of the " said troops. And

"ORDERED, That the person or persons who shall " have the charge of the carrying this Resolution into " execution, in each County, shall direct all the Arms "that shall be so impressed, to be collected at some " place in the County where they are impressed, and " there valued and appraised by three indifferent men "of reputation of the County, any two of whom "agreeing, shall be sufficient to ascertain the price ; "that an account be kept from whom every Musket, "Gun, or Fireloek, so impressed, shall have been "taken ; and each such Gun, Musket, or Firelock "eaused to be marked with the initial letter of the " name of the County where it is impressed and num- " bered, the numbers following each other, sneces- "sively ; and that the same be entered in a book pro- " vided for that purpose, with the name of the owner "opposite to the number marked on each Musket, "Gun, or Firelock, respectively. And

1 '. The thought that we might be driven to the sad necessity of break- " ing our connection with Great Britain, exclusive of the carnage and "destruction, which il was easy to see minst attend the separation, always " gave me a great deal of grief. And even now, I would cheerfully re- " tire from public life, forever, renounce all chance for honors or "pronts from the public, nay, I would cheerfully contribute my little "property, to obtain peace and liberty."-John Alums to his Wife, "? " October, 1775.")

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HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

" ORDERED, That a Certificate, specifying the value "and the mark of the Musket, Gun, or Firelock so " impressed, appraised, and marked, shall be signed " by the Appraisers and Inpressers, which shall enti- " tle the owner thereof to receive the appraised value "from the Treasurer of the Provincial Congress of "this Colony : PROVIDED the same be not returned at " or before the conclusion of the present unhappy " controversy between Great Britain and the united "Colonies. And that an account, signed by the said

" Appraisers and Impressers, of all such Muskets, "Guns, and Firelocks, so impressed, shall be sent, " forthwith, to the Secretaries of the Provincial Con- " gress, or either of them, to be filed. And that all "the Muskets, Guns, and Firelocks so impressed, on " Nassau Island,1 be delivered, without delay, to Peter "T. Curtenius, the Commissary of the Provincial "Congress of this Colony ; and those that shall be im- " pressed in the other Counties of this Colony, to be " deposited with their respective Committees, subject " to the order of the said Provincial Congress or Com- "mittee of Safety. And

" ORDERED, That the Captains of the respective "Companies of the Third Regiment of the troops of "this Colony, who are now in Suffolk-county, be " authorized to carry these Resolutions into execu- "tion in Queens-county. That Colonel Lasher ? be "requested to send two or more Companies of his " Battalion, to give such assistance in Queens-county " as may be necessary, at such time and to such place " or places as Colonel McDongal and John Sloss Ilo- " bart, Esq., shall direct or advise. And

"ORDERED FARTHER, That the Chairman of the "Committee and Captain Dutcher," with such drafts " from the Militia as he shall think necessary, or with " the assistance of some of General Wooster's troops,4 " be enabled to carry the said Resolutions into effect, " in Westchester-county. And that these Resolutions " be carried into execution, in every other County, by "the Chairman of the County Committee, with the " assistance of the Militia Officers, who are hereby "ordered to be aiding therein with such parts of the " Militia as each such Chairman shall think necessary. " And

" ORDERED, That the several persons who shall be " disarmed by virtue of the above Resolutions, shall " be exempted from doing duty in the Militia, as or- "dered by the Provincial Congress of this Colony. " And farther

"ORDERED, That in case any of the non-associators

"aforesaid shall resist those persons authorized to

1 Long Island was continued to be called " Nassau Island, " long after 1775.

2 John Lasher was Colonel of First Regiment of New York City (uni- formed) Militia.

" William Dutcher, of what is now Irvington, was Captain of "the " Associated Company of the upper part of Philipseburgh," (ride page 282 ante.)

4 General Wooster was encamped near Harlem, on Manhattan Island, with a large body of troops, brought thither from Connecticut.

" put these Resolutions into execution, they (the per- " sons hereby authorized to put in execution the " above Resolves) are hereby authorized to repel " force by force, and to take into custody such per- " son or persons so resisting, and cause him or them " to be brought before this Committee or the Provin- " cial Congress of this Colony." 5

The real purpose of the Committee of Safety, in the adoption and publication of this Resolution and of these several Orders, was the entire disarmament of every one who, for any reason, had neglected or de- clined to sign the General Association ; and, for that reason, every class of fire-arms, whether adapted to the uses of the Army or not, was included, in every instance, in the Orders wherein the Arms to be seized were specifically described. It will be seen, also, that the Counties of Queens and Westchester were especially noticed ; and that they, alone, were selected for details of foreign troops, for the enforce- ment, within each of them, respectively, of the ut- most requirements of the Committee's Orders-be- sides the local Militia, in each of the two Countics, thus honored by the Committee of Safety's malignant animosity, a large additional force of troops, from beyond the boundaries of the County, in each instance, was placed at the disposal of those who were sent, within those Counties, respectively, for the " impressment " of the Arnis, in order to ensure the most complete success of the enterprise.

It must have been peculiarly galling, among those who had been accustomed to hear of the " Rights of " Man " and of the " Constitutional Rights of English- "men " and all the other catchwords and maxims in the science of government-generally true, in theory, although, practically, they had been seized and em- ployed by demagogues, in those instances, only for the advancement of personal and partisan ends-when a military force, no matter by whom commanded nor of what troops it was composed, was moved from farm- house to farmhouse, failing to call only on those who were in favor with the Chairman of a County Com- mittee, for the seizure of whatever " Muskets, Guns, "and Firelocks" the occupants of those several farmhouses owned or had in their possession. Not an exception was made, no matter what reason there might have been for such an exception ; and every- thing which had a gun-lock on it, whether useful or useless for military purposes-whether a young man's fowling-piece, with which he was wont to have a few hours' sport, when squirrels and robins abounded, or to have more serious work, when foxes and more formidable marauders poached in the poultry-yards or in the sheep-pastures ; or an old man's worn-out musket, a trusty friend in earlier Wars and, now, only a remembrancer of other days and other hard- ships-everything was doomed, by that new-formed

5 Journal of the Committee of Safety, "Die Sabbati, 9 ho., A.M., Septem- " ber 16th, 1775."

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THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONN, 1774-1783.

power, to seizure and, praetieally, to forfeiture. There was grave reason for inereased discontent and exeite- ment. There was ample reason, under the eirenm- stances which then existed, for obstructing the execu- tion of the Committee's Orders-indeed, there was greater reason for eoneealing the objects which the military force was expected to seize and "impress," under the provisions of these Orders, than there had been for the eonceahnent of the Bay Colony's military stores, at Concord, when Lieutenant-colonel Smith and Major Piteairn were sent to seize them, and for resisting the aggression of the Committee, than there had been for the punishment of the invader, in that instance, after his work had been finished, on the highway, between Concord and Charlestown.1

It is said that, in Queens-county, "the people "eoneeal all their Arms that are of any value; many " declare they know nothing about the Congress, " nor do they care anything for the Orders of the "Congress, and say that they would sooner lose their " lives than give up their Arms ; and that they would " blow any man's brains ont, who should attempt to " take them from them. We are told," the writer continued, "that the people have been collecting " together, and parading, in sundry places, armed, " and firing their Muskets, by way of bravado. On " the whole, had we the Battalion " [Lasher's] " we " believe we should be able to collect a very consider- " able number of good Arms and support the honour of " Congress ; but without it, shall not-and think that " if the Battalion is sent up, the sooner the better." 2

There are no known records of the doings of Gil- bert Drake and Captain William Dutcher, in their tours of pillage, among the conservative and peaceful farmers of Westchester-county ; but there appears, from a brief mention which has been made,

1 Doctor Sparks noticed this ontrage, in these words: " The Committee " reasoned but imperfectly from the facts of history and the principles of " human nature, when they supposed that people, with arms in their " hands, would be tempted to resign them, by such motives as were hehl "out. They must either be treated as friends or enemies. If friends, "their safety and interest required that the soldiers who were to pro- " teet their property and defend their rights should be armed ; and the " call of patriotism would be the londest that could be made to them. " While deaf to this call, they would not be made to listen to the Orders "of a Committee or the Resolves of a Congress. If enemies, the sense "of present danger, operating on the first law of nature, would prompt " them to keep within their power, their only sure means of defence. "In either case, the idea of taking away their arms, by a compulsory "impressment, had little to recommend it, either in policy or prudence." -(life of Gouverneur Morris, i., 63.)

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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 74

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