History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I, Part 80

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 80

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As far back as the eighth of June or eighth of July, a Report had been made by a Committee which had been previously appointed to consider the subject, provid-

1 The following is a copy of that letter, taken from the New- York Colonial Manuscripts, ci., 123, in the Office of the Secretary of State, at Albany :

" TO THE INHABITANTS OF THE COLONY OF NEW YORK :

" I take this public Manner to signify to the Inhabitants of this Prov- " ince, that his Majesty has been graciously pleased to grant me his " Royal Permission to withdraw from the Government ; and at the same " Time to assure them of my Readiness to performi ever Service in my " Power, to promote the common Felicity. If I am excluded from " every Ilope of being any Ways instrumental towards the Re-establish- " ment of that Ilarmony, at present interrupted between Great Britain " and her Colonies, I expect soon to be obliged to avail myself of his " Majesty's Indulgence.

" It has given me great Pain to view the Colony committed to my " care, in such a turbulent State as not to have afforded me since my " Arrival, any Prospect of being able to take the dispassionate and " deliberate Sense of its Inhabitants, in a constitutional Manner, upon " the Resolution of Parliament for composing the present Ferments in " the Provinces ; A Resolution that was intended for the Basis of an " Accommodation ; and if candidly considered in a Way in which it will " be most probably successful, and treated with that Delicacy and " Decency requisite to the Cultivation of a sincere Reconciliation and " Friendship, might yct be improved for the Purpose of restoring the " general Tranquility and Security of the Empire.

"I owe it to my Affection to this Colony, to declare my wish, that " some Measure may be speedily adopted for this purpose ; as 1 feel an " extreme Degree of Anxiety, in being Witness to the growing Calamities " of this Country, without the Power to alleviate them : Calamities " that minst increase, while so many of the Inhabitants withhold their " Allegiance from their Sovereign, and their Obedience to the Parent " Country ; by whose Power and l'atronage they have hitherto been sus- "tained and protected.

" WILLIAM TRYON.

" SHIP DUTCHESS OF GORDON,

" HARBOUR OF NEW YORK, 4th Dec. 1775."

2 The strength of the Rebellion was in the union of all the disaf- fected Colonies ; and, had he succeeded in withdrawing New York from the existing confederation, which he and all the Smiths endeav- ored to do, that strength would have been impaired, and, possibly, the confederation of the Colonies effectually broken.

318

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

ing " for the dissolution of this Congress and election " of a new Provincial Congress for this Colony ; "1 but, very probably, nothing was really done and deter- mined on, concerning the subjects referred to. There was some action, in the Provincial Congress, on collateral subjects; but it was not until a much later period that that body was dissolved-on the fourth of November, either because of the absence of a quorum or for some other reason, no record of a formal adjournment having been made, the Provincial Congress ceased to exist ; and the works which it had done as well as its own existence, became matters of history. Sooner or later, History will assign each to the place to which it is justly entitled.

It has been stated 2 that, as the out-come of the various labors of that body, on that subject, an Ordin- ance had been adopted by the Provincial Cougress, on the twenty-seventh of October, providing for the Election of new Delegations to a new Provincial Con- gress, on the seventh of November, and for the as- sembling of that new Provincial Congress. ou the fourteenth of that month; but there is no record of any such action, on the official Journal of that body ; and no copy of that Ordinance has been found, not- withstanding the most diligent search and inquiry have been madc. Whatever may have been the form and character of the document, it is evident, however, that such an Ordinance was really adopted and promulgated, and that, agrecably to its provisions, on the seventh of November, a meeting was held at the White Plains, for the election of Delegates from the County of Westchester, to the coming Congress.3 It is not stated in what manner nor by whom the elec- tion was made; but it is stated that Colonel Lewis

1 In the Journal of the Provincial Congress, of the sixteenth of October, it is said the Report was made "on the eighth of July last ;" in the Journal of that body, of the eighteenth of October, it is said the Report was mado "on the eighth of June last ; " aud in a momorandum ap- peuded to the Journal of that body, of the nineteenth of October, stating that the Report was "wanten," it is said, also, that it was "of the 8th "June last." In the Journal of the Provincial Congress, of neither of those days, however, does there appear the slightest mention of any such Report or of the subject of it.

2 Minutes of Proceedings during the recess of the Provincial Congress, by their Adjournment on the fourth of November, 1775.

3 The following document, copied from the original manuscript, (His- torical Muuuscripts, etc. : Credentials of Delegates, xxiv., 24, 67,) illustrates this subject :

" To THE HONORABLE THE PROVINCIAL CONGRESS OF THE COLONY OF "NEW YORK.

" We the Committee for the County of Westchester do humbly certify " that at the Election of delegates to represent the said County in the " Next Provincial Congress to be held at New York the 14th instant, " which was this day held at the Court Hlousc of the said County, Colonel " Lewis Graham, Stephen Ward, Esq., Col. Joseph Drake, Robert Graham, " Esq., John Thomas, Jun' Esq., Mr. William Pauling, Major Ebenezer " Lockwood, Col. Pierre Van Cortlandt, and Col. Gilbert Drake, were duly " elected agreeable to the resolves of the Provincial Congress, to repre- " sent this county until the Second Tuesday of May next; and that it " was voted by the people that any three of the said Deputics shall act "for this county. Dated the 7th day of November, 1775.

" By order of the Committee,

"GILBERT H. DRAKE, Chairman. " A true copy from the minutes taken by

" MICAH TOWNSEND, Clerk of the Committee."

Graham, Stephen Ward, Esq., Colonel Joseph Drake, Robert Graham, Esq., John Thomas, Junior, Esq., William Paulding, Major Ebenezer Lockwood, Col- onel Pierre Van Cortlandt, and Colonel Gilbert Drake+ were elected; and that any threc of these should have authority to represent Westchester-coun- ty in the coming Provincial Congress-Gouverneur Morris, James Van Cortlandt, Philip Van Cortlandt, James Holmes, and David Dayton, all of whom had been members of the preceding Congress having been dropped, and Major Ebenezer Lockwood and Col- onels Pierre Van Cortlandt and Gilbert Drake sent in their stead.

The day appointed for the organization of the new Provincial Congress was the fourteenth of November; but, on that day, there was not even a respectable minority of the Delegates present, which may well be considered as indicative of the coolness with which the Rebellion was regarded by the great body of the Col- onists, in New York, even at that early period; and of how little warrant there had been, in fact, for the outrages which had been committed by the preceding Congress and by its Committees, in their name.

Day by day, the handful of punctual Delegates met and adjourned. They amused themselves by dic- tating letters to the Committees of the faltering Counties, urging the attendance of their several Dele- gations, "in order that the business of the great cause "we are engaged in may be no longer delayed or ' neglected." 5 Threats were made, in some in- stances, that " the Continental Congress" might " find "it necessary, for the public service and for the want of "a Congress, to put the Colony under a Military " Government, directed by a Major-General and an " Army, and that at the sole expense of this Colony," adding that " many Gentlemen present are apprehen- " sive " that such " would be the consequence if a Con- "gress [were] not speedily formed, so as to proceed to "business," etc.6 On the first of December, the Commit- tec of Orange-county was asked-the second request of the kind-"that you will not delay sending down your "members by next Monday morning, that the public " business may no longer suffer for the want of a repre- " sentation of your County ; for such is the perilous "state of America, and this Colony in particular, that

4 It will be seen that eight of the nine Delegates thus elected carried titles with their namics-the terms "EsQ." and "MR." at that time, having recognized places in the order of rank-aud that only one of the nine, William Paulding, was low enough, in the social rank, to be a płaiu, untitled MAN.

5 These words, taken from the letter sent to the Delegates-elect of Kings-couuty, on the twenty-second of November, represent the sub- stance of those sent to the Counmittee of Orange-county, on the follow- ing day : to the Delegates from Richmond-county in the preceding Con- gress, on the twenty-fourth of November ; and to the Delegates-elect and to the Committees in the several Counties of Tryon, Charlotte, Cum- berland, Orauge, Kings, and Duchess on the first of December. (Minutes of the Proceedings during the Recess of the Provincial Congress, by their Adjournment on the fourth of November, 1775.)

6 These were sent, on the first of December, to the Committees of Tryon, Charlotte, and Cumberland-counties, respectively.

319

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1774-1783.

" a Convention of the Deputies is absolutely necessary, " with the utmost despatch." To these pressing words, the following threat was appended: "But if, after " such repeated applications to your County, to be in " Congress, by their Deputics, if you continue to ne- " glect a measure so necessary for your reputation and " safety, you must not complain if the Congress de- " termine upon matters relative to your County, in " common with others, although yours should, by "your inattention, be unrepresented."1 Richmond- county was not inclined to send a Delegation ; 2 and was, first, coaxed to elect a Delegation, and, finally, threatened. 3 How much more, which was not re- corded, that handful of the leaders of the Rebellion, in Colonial New York, said and did, for the intimida- tion of those who were Icss zealous, in that cause, is not now known ; but the careful reader will not fail to inquire, without obtaining an answer, why the Home Government failed, during that long interval of hesitation and of doubt among the greater number of the Colonists, to strengthen the Colonial Govern- ment in the maintenance of order and obedience to - the Laws ; why those who were not inclined to rebel- lion were not protected in the quiet possession of their properties and in the peaceful pursuit of their respective vocations ; and why the price which would have obtained the marketable leaders of the Rebellion, for the use of the Home Government, was not paid, as the smaller and more effective investment,4 or, if

1 Letter to the Committee of Orange-county, "NEW-YORK, December Ist, "1775."

2 Letter from Paul Micheau to Robert Benson, "RICHMOND. COUNTY, De- " cember Ist, 1775."

3 " The evil consequences that will attend the not having a Provincial "Congress to determine on the measures necessary to be adopted and "carried into execution, at this unhappy crisis, are more easily con- "ceived than expressed ; and rest assured, Gentlemen, that the neigh "honring Colonies will not remain inactive spectators, if yon show a " disposition to depart from the Continental Union. Confusion and dis- "order, with numberless other evils, you must suppose, will attend the " want of a Congress for the government of this Colony, until a recon- "ciliation with the Mother Country can be obtained," (Letter to the Committee of Richmond-county, "NEW-YORK, 2d Dec. 1775.")

+ It is very well known that the Morrises were zealons loyalists, in Europe as well as in America, until the family lost its hold on the Colo- nial Government, by the removal of the elder Lewis, from the office of Chief Justice of the Colony. The appointment of Thomas Hutchinson to the Bench, to which James Otis, the elder, aspired, transferred the weight and intinence of the Otis family from the side of the Government to the leadership of the Opposition, in Massachusetts. Israel Putnam was too highly appraised for the Royal shambles, and so remained in the market, until, on the demand of the Livingstons, he was placed where he could do no further harm. The greater success of Benjamin Pratt, of Boston, and, subsequently, that of Daniel Ilorsmanden, in the race for the place of Chief Justice of the Colony of New York, when James De Lancey died, added fresh bitterness to the Morrises, in the disappoint- ment of Robert IInnter Morris ; and the disappointment of William Smith, on the same occasion, threw the Smiths into the front rank of the malcontents, in New York. Egbert Dimond, of Ulster-county, is said to have become informer of Congre-sional secrets to Governor Tryon, provisionally, with a hankering after the Shrievalty of Ulster-county, as James Duane had communicated the secrets of the Congress of 1774, to Lieutenant governor Colden, undoubtedly for an equivalent, present or prospective. Who supposes that Captain Gilbert Livingston, of Arnold's American Legion, and Robert G. Livingston, Junior, that Philip Jolin Livingston, the Royal Sheriff of Duchess-county, and his brother, Jolin

the heroic treatment of the troubles was preferred, why those leaders were not arrested and punished, as other and less distinguished violators of the peace were wont to be punished, in America and elsewhere.

On the first of December, competent Delegations appeared from the five Countics of New York, Al- bany, Westchester, Ulster, and Suffolk, with insuffi- cient Delegations from Kings and Duchess, and no portions of such Delegations from Richmond, Qucens, Orange, Tryon, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Char- lotte-counties ; and, consistently with usage and the Rules of the preceding Congress, " the Representa- " tives of a majority of the Counties not being pres- " ent," those who were present " could not proceed to " business, as a Congress."5 On the sixth of that month, competent Delegations appeared from the five Counties of New York, Albany, Westchester, Duchess, and Suffolk, with insufficient Delegations from Kings, Ulster, and Orange-counties, and no portions, of such Delegations from the Counties of Richmond, Queens, Tryon, Cumberland, Gloucester, or Charlotte; at which time, directly in violation of the rulings, on the first of that month, they declared that "the " Deputies from a majority of the Counties appeared," -a falsehood, which, to have established its true character, needed only a reference to the Credentials which were tiled, as their several authorizations, by the respective Delegations,-organized a Congress, and proceeded to the discharge of those duties to which they had respectively assigned themselves.6 There were five Delegations present, on the first of December, when it was declared that " the Represen- " tatives of a majority of the Counties not being pres- " ent," those who were present " could not procecd to " business, as a Congress :" five days afterwards, when no more than five such Delegations appeared, with an elasticity of conscience and of action which was worthy of those who were present, what had been declared, under similar circumstances, at their former meeting, was entirely disregarded ; and what, at that former meeting, was said to have been insufficient to have allowed the five Delegations who were then present, "to proceed to business, as a Congress," was declared, in this later meeting, to be sufficient to permit five Delegations-four of the five having been of the former five-to do what the former five " could not " do : with the authorized Delegations of

W. Livingston, Captain in Fanning's King's American Regiment, were not the better exponents of the real opinions of that office-seeking family of Livingstons ; and who can doubt, with the roster of subsequent office holding Livingstons before him, that much of additional influence, in favor of the Home Government, might have been secured from that family and its adherents, had that Government been as g nerons in the disposition of offices to members of that peenliarly office-seeking family, as the revolutionary authorities and the subsequent State Goverment, in New York, unquestionably were ?

5 Minutes of the Proceedings during the recess of the Proriuciul C'ougress, "NEW YORK, Friday, Dec. 1st, 1775."

6 Journal of the Provincial Congress, " Wednesday morning, December " Gth, 1775."

320

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

only five of the fourteen Counties then present, the Journal of the Provincial Congress bearing testimony to that fact, it will be seen and understood that the record which stated that " the Deputies from a ma- "jority of the Counties appeared," is a false reeord ; that there was, really, no quorum present, even under the rule and usage of that revolutionary body; and that, tested by that rule and that usage, even from the couvenient standpoint of rebellion, the Congress was not properly constituted and was without due revolutionary authority-of course, it possessed no other authority, in the slightest degree.1

What was thus called a Provincial Congress, elected Colonel Nathaniel Woodhull, of the County of Suf- folk, to be its President ; and John Mckesson and Robert Benson, the Secretaries of the former Pro- vincial Congress, were elected Secretaries of that.2 It assembled, day by day, until the twenty-second of December, when it took a recess, leaving a Commit- tee of Safety to discharge some of the duties which it had undertaken to perform.3 That Committee, of which Colonel Pierre Van Cortlandt, of Westchester- county, was the Chairman, continued in session, until the twelfth of February, 1776, when the Pro- vincial Congress was again assembled ; 4 and that Congress continued in session, until the sixteenth of March, in that year, when it took another recess, leaving, as before, a Committee of Safety, to discharge some portions of its self-imposed duties, during its absence.5 That Committee, of which Joseph HIal- lett, of the City of New York, was the Chairman, con- tinued in session, until the 8th of May, 1776, when the Provincial Congress was again assembled-it is writ- ten that " several matters of the utmost importance,

1 John Leffertse appeared in the Congress, nominally from Kings-coun- ty ; hut he did not pretend to offer a Credential, nor any other, even the slightest, evidence that he had been appointed, by any one, to appear as a representative from Kings-comty or in any other capacity, in the Provincial Congress or elsewhere.

Peter Clowes was said to have represented "Goshen Precinct in Orange- " county ; " hut the Credentials which were filed from Orange county de- clared that two Delegates should he required to represent that County ; and that only when one such Delegate should appear in the Congress from "the North side of the Mountains " [the Highlands] and one from the "South side " of those Highlands-Orangecounty, at that time, in- cluding what, now, is Rockland-county - should that Delegation he complete and authorized to represent the County. As there was only one, instead of two, Delegates; and hecause those Towns which were below the Highlands were entirely without a representative, there was no Delegation from Orange-county, in the Congress.

Thomas Palmier and Moses Cantine were the only Delegates, out of the seven who had been elected, and who were present, to represent Ulster- conuty ; hut those who had elected them and given to them all the au- thority which it was said they possessed, had declared that three of those seven should he required to constitute a duly authorized Delegation from that County. The two, therefore, left Ulster-county without a competent Delegation.

2 Journal of the Provincial Congress, " Wednesday morning, December " 6th, 1775."

3 Journal of the Provincial Congress, "Die Veneris, 9 ho., A.M., Decem- " her 22nd, 1775."

4 Journal of the Provincial Congress, "Die Innæ, A.M., February 12th, " 1776."

5 Journal of the Provincial Congress, "Die Sahhati, 9 lio., A.M., March "16th, 1776."

" as well to the United Colonies, in general, as to this "Colony, in particular, rendering it necessary for a " speedy meeting of the Provincial Congress of this " Colony, the Committee of Safety, therefore, or- "dered Circular Letters to be sent to all the mem- "bers, requesting their attendance, in Provincial " Congress, at New York, on the first day of this inst.

" May. On that day, and every day, since, many " members attended, but not a sufficient number to "make a Congress,6 until this afternoon " [May 8, 1776,]7 when a quorum was found to be present, and the business was resumed and continued until the afternoon of the thirteenth of that month, when the Congress was dissolved.8

During that short period of about six months, the progress of events, in America, was peculiarly re- markable.

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The entire Colony, as far as Commerce, Trade, and the Mechanic Arts were concerned, was plunged into the greatest distress :9 the seamen were idle, iu the Ports, because there was an interdiction of Commerce with foreigu Ports; and commercial Non-inter- course prevailed : 10 the Mechanics and Work- ing-meu in the Citics-some of whom had been the ever-ready and noisy tools of the dema- gogues of faction, iu the earlier days of the dis- turbances-were suffering, unemployed : 11 to add to

" That old story of the dilatoriness of the country members, even in the face of the most pressing necessities and of the most urgent calls, cer- tainly confirm the reports that the great body of the Colonists, especially that of the country-people was lukewarm and indifferent, if they were not positively unfriendly, to the Rebellion. If the leaders among the disaffected, and surely no others were sent to the Provincial Congress, were as tardy, in their attendance, even when the most urgent appeals for their attendance were sent, as these were, in the preceding December and in May, 1776, how much more indifferent must those have been, who had other and legitimate demands on their time and attention, and by whom an office was neither looked for nor desired.

7 Journal of the Provincial Congress, "Die Mercurii, 4 ho., P.M., May " 8th, 1776."

8 Journal of the Provincial Congress, "Die Luna, 3 ho., P.M., May 13, "1776."

There is no record of a formal adjournment ; and it looks very much as if the end of this Congress was like its beginning, without a quorum. 9 The Committee of Safety to General Schuyler, "IN COMMITTEE OF "SAFETY, NEW YORK, 17th Jany., 1776," and General Schuyler's reply, "ALBANY, Jannary 25, 1776 ;" Journal of the Committee of Safety, "4 ho., " P.M., Feh. 10, 1776 ;" etc.

10 The action of the Continental Congress of 1774, concerning the Com- merce of the Colonies, may he seen in the Association which it "recon- " meuded."

"We beg leave to hint, that in the present declension of Trade, the "seamen of this Port ought to be employed upon this article of service " [batteaux-men, for the Northern Army,] "as well as that of building " batteaux," (Committee of Safety to General Schuyler, "IN COMMITTEE OF "SAFETY, NEW- YORK, 17th Jany., 1776.")

11 " We would beg leave to mention it as necessary to employ as many "of the Carpenters of this City, as possible " [in the construction of batteaur, for the Northern Army] "to prevent them and their families "from starving hy means of the stagnation of business, which is more "severely felt in this City than in any other part of the Province," (The Committee of Safety to General Schuyler, "IN COMMITTEE OF "SAFETY, NEW-YORK, 17th Jany., 1776.")

" I cau easily conceive that it is very difficult, at New York, for arti- " ficers to procure a subsistence for their families-the like difficulty "prevails here," (General Schuyler to the Committee of Safety, "ALBANY "January 25, 1776.")

321

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1774-1783.

their troubles, the troops from Connecticut, who had been unnecessarily brought to the City of New York -" the movement seemed to have for its end to coerce " rather than to defend New York 1" -- who were unem- ployed, endeavored to make additions to their military pay, by underbidding the local mechanics, for work to be done, in that City :2 and the Provincial Con- gress was compelled to seek employment, for both classes, elsewhere ; 3 to establish manufactories for the employment of them; + and to supply provisions and firewood, to prevent their families froin starving or perishing from the cold.5 As many as could do so, said to be one-half of the population, abandoned the City of New York, with their families, to find safety and employment and charity, elsewhere ; 6 and many, driven by necessity 7 and the neglect of the Govern- ment to protect them,8 as well as for the promised pay

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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 80

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