History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I, Part 81

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 81

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).

See, also, the Memorial of the Vestry of the City of New York to the Pro- vincial Congress, " May 30, 1776 ;" etc.

1 Bancroft's History of the United States, original edition, viii., 278 ; the same, centenary edition, v., 185.

2 " The Regiment here, from Connecticut, cau turn out many Carpen- "ters, who consent to work upon much more reasonable terms than the "artificers of this City. It would, I imagine, he worth while to pro- "vide, if possible, a sufficient number of tools: when the present work "is done, these tools cannot be considered an idle purchase : they will "'always be useful," (General Charles Lee to the Provincial Congress, "NEW-YORK, February 22, 1776.")

Already provided with quarters, rations, and pay, as soldiers, and without tools, these men could well afford to underbid the local Mechanics, whose houserents, food, and other expences, including their expensive tools, must be provided for, hy themselves. But how dreary the times must have been, even in Connecticut, when her Artisans, were compelled to go into the Army, in order to gaiu their needed shelter and their daily bread.

3 The Committee of Safety to General Schuyler, "IN COMMITTEE, NEW- "YORK, 17thi Jan'y., 1776."

4 Journal of the Committee of Safety, "Die Mercurii, 10 ho., A.M., "Jany. 24, 1776 ;" the same, " Die Sabbati, 3 ho., P.M., Feby. 3, 1776 ;" the same, " Die Veneris, 10 ho., A.M., Feb. 9, 1776 ;" Journal of the Pro- vincial Congress, " Die Veneris, 4 ho., P.M., March 8, 1776."

5 Journal of the Committee of Safety, " Die Salbati, 3 ho., P.M., Feby. 3, "1776 ;" the same, "Die Veueris, 10 ho., A.M., Feb. 9, 1776 ;" Journal of the Provincial Congress, " Die Veneris, 4 ho., P.M., March 8, 1776."

Mouies were also "advanced to the distressed wives and friends of sun- " dry soldiers, now in Canada, in the service of the united Colonies," (Jour- nal of the Provincial Congress, " Die Vencris, 4 ho., P.M., March 8, 1776.") 6 " The Inhabitants of this City are much alarmed at various confident

"advises of your destination, with a considerable body of forces, for

"active service, here. * *

* We should not have troubled you with "this application, had it not been to procure such information from you "as may enable us, in a prudent use of it, to allay the fears of our in- "habitants, who, at this inclement season of the year, will continue, as "they have already hegn, to remove their women and children, and "which, if continned, may occasion hundreds to perish, for want of " shelter," (The Committee of Safety to General Charles Lee, "IN COMMIT- "TEE OF SAFETY, NEW-YORK, 21st Jany, 1776.")

"This City is in Terror and confusion : One half of its inhabitauts "have withdrawn with their effects, hundreds without the nieans to "support their families," (Governor Tryon to the Earl of Dartmouth "' SHIP DUTCHESS OF GORDON OFF NEW YORK 8th Feby 1776.")

See, also, the Order of the Provincial Congress to the male Refugees, to return to the City-Journal of the Provincial Congress, "Die Veneris, 10 "ho., A. M., May 10, 1776 ;" Memorial of the Vestry of the City to the Provincial Congress, May 30, 1776 ; etc.

1 William Smith, Chairman, to the Committee of Safety, "SUFFOLK- " COUNTY, Jany 24, 1776 ;"

8 Governor Tryon to the Earl of Dartmouth, No. 22, "ON BOARD THE " SHIP DUTCHESS OF GORDON NEW YORK 1IARROUR, Gtl Decr. 1775 ;"' the same, No. 25, "ON BOARD THE SHIP DUTCHESS OF GORDON NEW YORK "IHARBOUR, 3d Janry 1776;" etc.

in what was circulated as money,9 were led to enlist in the short-term levies which then constituted the Continental Army, carrying into that service 110 greater sympathy for the Rebellion than they had previously possessed, and discharging the duties which were thus imposed on them, with perfect unconcern and with no greater animus than was produced by the expectation of receiving the stipu- latcd payment for the services which were promised. Indeed, the extent and character of the sympathy with the Rebellion, as a matter of principle, which prevailed among the Colonists, generally, may be seen, very clearly defined, in their hesitation t› take the field in support of it, even where no enemy was and where none was expected,10 and in their precision of movements, homeward, when the terms of service of those who had been induced to enlist had expired. There appears to have been a foundation in fact for what Governor Tryon wrote to the Home Govern- ment, that "was it not from the awe of the inhabit- "ants of the neighboring Colonies and the controul- "ing influence of the Continental Congress I am per- " suaded there would be an immediate End, in this " province, to all Committees and Congresses.""1

As the period of time which is now under review [November 4, 1775, until May 14, 1776,] included the later Autumn, the Winter, and the Spring, the farm- ers of Westchester-county, as far as they were per- mitted to do so, undoubtedly pursucd their usual vo- cations, with their usual diligence and quietness- they certainly harvested their various agricultural productions, and marketed the surplus of their crops,12

9 " With many, the principal inducement to enlist arises from the " hopes of Cash."-Abraham Y'ates, Junior, Chairman, to the Committee of Safety, " ALBANY COMMITTEE CHAMBER, 11th April, 1776."

10 Iu Orange-county, "none but the lower class of mankind will enlist ; "and these were conceived not to be the men to be depended on," (Elihu Marvin, Chairman, to the Provincial Congress, "IN COUNTY COM - "MITTEE, OXFORD, Feb. 15, 1776.") In Duchess-county, enlistments could be made ouly on the stipulation that the men thus enlisted should not be required to do service outside of the Colony of New York, (Zephe- nich Platt, Chairman, to the Provincial Congress, " POUGHKEEPSIE, Feb. 9, "1776.") In Albany-county, the recruiting-officers " found great diffi- "culties for want of money," (The Albany Committee to the Committee of Safety, "ALBANY, 2 April, 1776.") The enlistments were so few in num- ber, in Queens-county, that the recruiting-officers abandoned the under- taking, (Journal of the Committee of Safety, " Die Mercurii, 10 ho., " A.M., May 8, 1776.") In the City of New York, the success was so small that the recruiting-officers were dismissed, "with great re- "luctance," and their several recruits consolidated, (Journal of the Provincial Congress, " Die Jovis, 9 ho., A.M., May 9, 1776.")

11 Governor Tryon to the Earl of Dartmouth, No. 22, "ON BOARD THE "SHIP DUTCHESS OF GORDON NEW YORK HARBOUR, 6th Decr., 1776."

12 Journal of the Provincial Congress, "Die Jovis, 3 ho., P.M., December "14, 1775 ; " the same, "Die Veneris, 10 lio., A.)1., Decr. 15, 1773 ;" the same, " Die Mercurii, 10 ho., A.M., Feb. 21, 1776 ; " the same, " Die " Lunæ, 3 ho., P.M., March 4, 1776 ;" the same, " Die Mercurii, 10 ho., "A.M., March 13, 1776 ;" Journal of the Committee of Safety, "4 ho., " 1'.31., Feb. 10, 1776 ; " the same, "Die Luna, 10 ho., A. M.," and "4 " ho., P.M.," " March 18, 1776 ;" the same, " Die Mercurii, 4 ho., P. M., " April 17, 1776; " etc.

The great quantities of Wheat, Flour, fresh and salted Beef and Pork, Hlams, smoked Beef, Tallow, Lard, Poultry, and other products of the farms in Westchester-county, which, notwithstanding the disturbances which the farmers sustained, were marketel, exclusively of the supplies sent on the multitude of Market sloops to the City of New York, during

322

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

sometimes in the neighboring City ; sometimes for the uscs of distant communities, who sent there, for sup- plies; sometimes for the uses of the Armies, in the field; and, whenever an opportunity was afforded, to the men-of-war, in the harbor. The local Commit- tees, sometimes, consequentially assumed to interrupt their traffic ; 1 and the Committee of Safety, in order to prevent "sundry persons from Connecticut " from purchasing, for the evident purpose of forestalling the market, "requested the Committee of the County "of Westchester to take effectual means to preveut " the sale and transportation of any barrelled Beef "or Pork out of Westchester-county, to any person or "persons residing out of this Colony, or for the use of " any person or persons residing out of this Colony, " uutil the further order of the Provincial Congress "or of the Committee of Safety of this Colony ; " 2 but, nevertheless, the fertility of the County and the patient industry of the greater number of those who lived therein were known and utilized, throughout the entire seaboard.

The same local terrorism which had prevailed, throughout the County, under the auspices of the former Provincial Congress, was continued, with the sanction of this;3 numbers of the inhabitants of the County were seized, only on information secretly conveyed by unseen accusers, and cast into prison, without a hearing ; + and some of them were severely

the period now under examination, prove, beyond a question, and apart from every other consideration, how short sighted the leaders of the Rebellion were, when, through the violence of their lawlessness, they impaired the productiveness of so fruitful a source of supplies, both for the City and for their Armies.

1 See pages 325, 326, post.

2 Vide pages 326, 327, post.

3 William Sutton, Esq., of Mamaroneck, appeared before the Congress, personally, and informed that body that he had been obliged, for fear of injuries, to leave his home ; and requested protection to return to his house, aud to occupy it. Ile is understood to bave been the ten- ant occupying what is kuown as De Lancey's Neck, (Journal of the Provin- cial Congress, " Die Veneris, 10 ho., A.M., Decr. 15, 1775 ; " Information received, personally, from Edward F. de Lancey, Esq., one of the present own- ers of De Laucey's Neck. )

Thomas Merritt was arrested and taken hefore the Committee of Safety, in the City of New York, "on information of persons from " Westchester-county, that be had declared he had seen people casting "great quantities of Bullets, to kill the Whigs; and that he knew "where great quantities of those Bullets were "-a trumped-up charge, which was so entirely transparent that, after his accusers and their wit- uesses had been examined by the Committee of Safety, whose fondness of persecutiou was known to all, Merritt was promptly discharged.

These may serve as specimens of the whole number.

4 Benjamin Hunt and - Oakley, of Eastchester, were arrested be- cause they had taken some Sheep, Pigs, and Poultry, to Brooklyn, said to bave been for the Asia. William Weyman was arrested for having assisted in taking some produce to the Asia. Dr. Azor Betts, of

--- , was arrested for violent words of denunciation, wben tbe Cou- gress arbitrarily broke down bis husiness, as an inoculator for the Small- pox, and deprived him of the means of support for his family. Godfrey Haines, Bartholomew Haines, Isaac Gedney, and - Palmicr, all of them of Rye or Mamaroneck, are already known to the reader, in tbe sad story of the Sloop Polly and Aun, (page 295, ante ;) and James and William Lounsberry ; Isaac, Jobn, and Joshina Gedney; John Fowler ; Isaac and Peter Valentine; Isaac, Joseph, and Josbua Purdy ; William Arm- strong ; William Sutton ; John Flood ; James, John, Thomas, and Wil- liam llaines; and Josbua Burrell, besides several others, were ar-

treated, while they were prisoners.5 They were plundered of their Arms, again and again, some- times by Connecticut-men called in by the County Committee 6 or by the brutal General Charles Lec,7 and sometimes by orders from the Provincial Cou- gress or its Committee of Safety ; 8 levies were made on her Militia, for the construction of the defen- sive works in the City of New York; 9 and two Companies of the uew Regiments in the New- York Line of the Continental Army were assigned to be raised in Westchester-county.1º It is also note- worthy, as a portion of the history of that period, that Westchester-county afforded the first evidence of the alteration of a Provincial Bill of Credit-one of the last emission, for five dollars, having been altered so that it appeared to have been one of ten dollars.11

The opening of the new year-the exact date does not appear, if it was cver definitely known-witnessed a transaction by which the lower portion of the County of Westchester, especially the Towns of Mamaroneck, Eastchester, Westchester, and Yonkers, was greatly disturbed ; and yet it was an occurrence

rested in connection with spiking of the Cannon, near Kingsbridge, of which more will he scen, hereafter, (pages 323, 324, post.)

5 Doctor Azor Betts, Godfrey Haincs, William Lounsberry, Joshua Gedney, Joscph Purdy, Joshua Burrell, and Thomas Haines were among those who were manacled and otherwise treated with great inhumanity. €See pages 288, 289, 290, 299, ante.

7 Colonel Samuel Drake to the Provincial Congress, "NEW-YORK, Feby. "16, 1776 ; " Journal of the Provincial Congress, "Die Veneris, 3 bo., "P.M., Feh. 16, 1776 ; " the same, "Die Sahhati, 10 ho., A.M., Feb. 17, "1776 ;" the same, " Die Veneris, 10 ho., A.M., Feby. 23, 1776."

Colonel Waterbury, who accompanied General Lee, through West- chester-county, acknowledged bis possession of thirty Guns, two pairs of Ilolsters, niue Cutlasses, and three l'istols-how many more he bad seized, and retained or sent back into Connecticut, are now unknown ; aud no record was taken of the names of those who had been this plundered. They must have been taken, however, on the line of march of his Regiment, bet weeu the Sawpits and Kingsbridge ; and there was not the slightest shadow of even revolutionary authority for tbe seizure, except the law of the stronger and that of thieves.

8 See pages 288, 297, 298, ante.

O " RESOLVED AND ORDERED, That Colonel Joseph Drake and Colonel "Thomas Thomas, of Westchester-county, do draft out of their Regiments "two hundred men, in the following proportions, to wit : Two Compa- " nies of sixty-five Privatcs each, besides the Captains and other inferior " Officers, out of Colonel Joseph Drake's Regiment ; and one Company "of sixty-five Privates, with the Captain and other inferior officers, in " Colonel Thomas's Regiment, and as many more men out of those two " Regin.ents as will turn out, voluutcers for that service, to he imme- "diately sent to the City of New York, armed and accoutred in the "hest manner possible, and to he joined to Colonel Samuel Drake's " Regiment," [of Westchester county Minute men (pages 284, 285, ante) which was then in the City] "and to receive the same pay and provisions as the "other Continental forces in this Colony." (Journal of the Provincial Congress, " Die Jovis, 4 ho., P.M., March 14, 1776.")

Colouel Samuel Drake's Regiment, referred to in this Order, was the skeleton Regiment of Westchester-couuty Minute-men, which was tben in the Continental Service, and posted at Hoern's Hook, on the Island of Manhattan, at the mouth of the llarlemu-river, and opposite to IIell-gate, where was one of the passes to Long Island.

We have not found any record of the three Companies which were tbus drawn from Westchester-county, if they were drawn.

10 Journal of the Provincial Congress, " Die Solis, 10 ho., A.M., Feh. 18, " 1776."

11 Journal of the Committee of Safety, "Die Vencris, A. M., April 19, "1776 ;" The Committee of Safety to the Committee of Westchester-county, "IN COMMITTEE OF SAFETY, NEW-YORK, April 19, 1776."

323

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1774-1783.

which might have been certainly forescen and easily prevented, had those who were immediately concerned in preventing it possessed the forcsight and caution which are usually attributed to intelligent men.

We have already noticed the fact that, at the be- ginning of the active revolutionary movements which followed the receipt of intelligence that General Gage had unwisely eommenecd active military operations in the field, many of the Canuon which belonged to private individuals, in the City of New York, werc drawn to Kingsbridge; 1 and, subsequently, as the political feeling became more intense, cvery gun in the City, no matter how useless for any other purpose than for old metal it might have been, was ordered to the same place.2

It is not clear what good was expected to be de- rived from those movements of the guns; but it is very elear that, before the close of the year 1775, be- tween thrce and four hundred Cannon, of all calibres, grades, and conditions-some of them good and ser- viceable; others, less valuable and less useful ; the greater number, honeycombed and worthless, unless for old iron ; and all of them, unmounted and with- out carriages-were aecumulated in three large gath- erings, one, of about fifty guns, being at " John Wil- "liams's," 3 the Williams-bridge of the present day ; one, "at or near Kingsbridge; " and the third, or larger, pareel within two hundred and fifty yards of Isaac Valentine's house, the Valentine's-hill of that period, as well as of this.4 They were entirely unguarded ; and it is very evident that they were lying side by side, presenting an apparently formidable array, not- withstanding their actually existing harmlessness.

In view of the sccming importance of that impos- ing park of artillery and of the entire absence of the slightest care for its safety-in retaliation, also, it may have been, for insults offered and wrongs and in- juries inflicted-somebody, early in January, 1776, cffeetually spiked all the guns and plugged many of them with large stones forced into them, and escaped without having been discovered. The exploit was

soon made known, however ; and, as may be reason- ably supposed, not only Westchester-county, but the Committee of Safety, in the City of New York, the Provincial Cougress having taken a reeess on the twenty-second of December preceding, was thrown into the greatest excitement.

The local Committee of the County of Westchester, amply cudowed, by its own lawless zeal and by the equally lawless grace of the Provincial Cougress, with entire authority to arrest anybody and everybody on whom its whims or its animosities might rest, very promptly exercised its ill-founded prerogatives ; and a large number of the residents of the three Towns of Westchester, Eastchester, and Mamaroneck, and some of those of Yonkers, was seized, and carried before it, and examined. Many of these were evidently dis- charged, because nothing was shown to sustain the suspicions or antipathies which had prompted those who had seized them ; but there were others, a con- siderable number, who were filtered out from the great mass of the suspected, because of their seeming or construed connection with the spiking of the guns, and sent down to the City of New York, to be dis- posed of, by the generally relentless Committee of Safety, agreeably to the dictates of its stern, imperious will. Among those who were thus selected to face the ordeal of that Committee, in which the great professional experience of John Morin Seott was com- bined with the savage coldness of Alexander McDou- gal and John Brasher, werc John Fowler, Peter Val- entine, William Lounsberry, James Lounsberry, Joseph Purdy, William Armstrong, William Sutton, John Flood, Isaae Purdy, John Gedney, John Haines, Joshua Gedney, Josiah Burrell, William Haines, Janics Haines, Junior, Thomas Haincs, Isaac Geduey, Isaac Valentine, William Diekcn, Isaac Valentine, Junior, and Cornelius MeCartney- the latter a sehoolmaster, in Yonkers-and several of these were subjected to great hardships and cruelty, in the confinement to which they were subjected.5

On the thirty-first of January, 1776, the Committee of Safety dirceted Jacamiah Allen to remove those of the guns which were near Kingsbridge, as well as those which were near Jolin Williams's, "to the " larger parcel at Valentine's, so as to have them all "brought together, for the greater couvenience of "guarding them and drilling out the spikes ; " and, at the same time, the Committee agreed to give Allen twenty shillings apicce for elearing aud unspiking the whole of the guns and for removing those at Wil- liams's ; but those at Kingsbridge werc to be removed at the expense of the Commitee.6

1 Vide pages 251, 274, ante.

2 " While this immaculate General " [ Charles Lee, ] " had the command " in New York, about 200 pieces of heavy cannon which were mounted "in Fort George and upon the Battery, were forcibly taken away by " his orders, and lodged upon the Common," [the Park, } " facing his

" Quarters. But, lest upon the arrival of the British Army, they " should be retaken, he ordered them to be carried up to King's Bridge, "about 14 miles from New York. The persons employed in this service " wanting horses, applied to the General to supply the defeet. An hon- " est, a virtuous man, and n Christian, will shudder at the answer : " 'Chain 20 damned Tories to each gun, and let them draw them out """and be eursed. It is a proper employment for such villains, and a "'punishment they deserve for their eternal loyalty they so much ' ' boast of,'" (Jones's History of New York, during the Revolutionary War, i., 82, 83.)

" I eounted two hundred and eighty pieces of Cannon, from twenty- " funr to three pounders, at Kingsbridge, which the Committee had se- " cured for the use of the Colonies," (Doctor Benjamin Church's treasonable letter, intercepted in July, 1775.)

3 Stephen Wurd to the Provincial Congress, " Marchi 6, 1776."

4 Journal of the Committee of Safety, "Die Mercurii, 10 ho., A.M., " Jany. 31, 1776."

6 There are so many entries, in the Journal of the Committee of Safety, concerning the spiking of the guns and those who were supposed to have been interested in the transaction, that we cannot pretend to refer to them, separately. The reader is referred to the body of the Journal, during January and February, 1776.

See, also, the Journal of the Provincial Congress, during Mareh, 1776; ete. 6 Journal of the Committee of Safety, "Die Mercurii, 10 ho., A. M., " Jany. 31, 1775."

324

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

On the twenty-second of January, one of the Inde- pendent Companies of the City of New York,1 prob- ably "THE BROWN BUFFS," commanded by Captain Jonathan Blake,2 was ordered into the service of the Colony, for the protection of the guns ; but a draft was subsequently made from the Minute-men of the County, to discharge that service,3 a Captain, a Lieu- tenant, two Sergeants, a Corporal, fourteen privates, a Guardhouse, and all the surroundings of a permanent outpost having been provided for that easy purpose.4 It might have been expected that that favored party of White Plains Minute-men would very soon excite feel- ings of envy among those, surrounding its position, who were not enjoying the feast of fat things which it had secured; and it was so-David Barclay, recom- mended by Stephen Ward, the latter a Tavern-keeper, near where Tuckahoe is, and a deputy in the Provin- cial Congress,5 applied for the job of guarding the guns, offering to do so for thirteen pounds per week, which was less than one half the amount which had been expended on the skeleton Company of Minute- men who had previously discharged that duty ; 6 and the offer was promptly accepted.7 Jacamiah Allen, who was drilling the spikes from the guns, appears, however, to have been unwilling that any others should poach on his manor; and, very promptly, he underbid Barclay, offering to do the same guard-duty which Varian and Barclay liad successively done, the former at a cost of more than twenty-six pounds and the latter at thirteen, for only six pounds, ten shill-

1 The Committee of Safety to Lieutenant-colonel Graham, " IN COMMIT- "TEE OF SAFETY, NEW-YORK, Jany. 22, 1776."

" Compare Captain Jonathan Blake's letter to the Committee of Safety "HEAD QUARTERS IN WESTCHESTER, Jany. 31, 1776," with the Roster of Colonel Malcom's Regiment, -Historical Muuuscripts relating to the War of the Revolution, in the Secretary of State's Office, Albany : Military Returns, xxvii., 1.

. The Committee of Safety to Lieutenant colonel Graham, "IN COMMIT- "THE OF SAFETY, NEW YORK, Jany. 22, 1776."

"1 hereby acquaint you that I have taken an account from Capt. "Variau what the expense of guarding the guns at Valentine's and " Williams' will be, this week, vizt .: 1 Capt., I Lieut., 2 Sergeants, 1 " Corporal, and 14 Privates. 6 of the above men board at 10s, per "week, and the others draw provisions from the Commissary, with a "Guard room and firewood, at £3. per week, besides items, making in " the whole about £26., aud last week it was considerably more." (Stephen Ward to the Provincial Congress, " March 5, 1776.")

It will be remembered that James Varian, the favored commander of the Guard, lu this instance, with eighteeen others, had been constituted a full-fledged Company of Westchester-county Minute-men, on the four- teenth of February preceding (ride pages 284, 285, ante :) and it will be seen, from that letter which has been quoted, how soon and in what manner those nineteen Westchester-county "patriots" reached the sweets to which they hud aspired-five held offices of greater or less dignity, while the fourteen who hehl no offices enjoyed the comforts of drawing their support from the Commissary or from the Treasury of the l'rovincial Congress, in addition to the pay of soldiers and what, by hook or by crook, they could pick up, in the neighborhood of their quarters.

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 81

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