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. II > Part 100
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The first election of officers for the town of Cort- landt took place April 1, 1788. Philip Van Cortlandt was elected supervisor; Joseph Travis, town clerk ; Daniel Birdsall, Nathaniel Brown and Pierre Van Cortlandt, poor-masters ; David Ferris, constable; John Paulding, collector, and other officers were also chosen. The names of the supervisors and town elerks from that day to the present are as follows :
SUPERVISORS OF THE TOWN OF PORTLANDT.
April 1, 1588-89.
Philip Van Cordande.
1790-1802.
. Pierre Van Cortlandli, Jr.
1803. .
. Joel Frasl.
1804-11.
. Pierre Van Cortlandt, Jr.
1×12-15.
,lolin Jones.
1×16.
. Philip Van Cortlatult.
1817.
Jonathan Ferris,
1×19. . . Philip Van Cordande.
1×19-20. James Wiley.
1821-22. . Daniel W. Birdwill.
1×23-26.
olin W. FreI.
1827. .
. Wurd B. Howard.
1828-31. John W. Frost.
1×12.
. . Joseph W. Strang.
1833.
St. John Constant.
1831-35.
Nicholas ('ruger.
1836.
Daniel C'arpenler.
1837-39.
Nicholas U'ruger.
1841.
Henry M. Depew.
1×12.
Nicholas Cruger.
1843-44
William Royce.
1815.
Gilbert DI. Hurt.
1846-17.
James R. Travis.
1848.
. Isaac Seymour.
1819.
Mead Barmore.
1850.
. Thomas A. Whitney.
1851.
William Illeakley.
1852.
Enoch Orie
1×53.
Thomas A. WIutney.
1851.
Caleb L. Ferris.
1×55-58.
Frost Horton.
1859.
Owen T. Collin.
1×60.
Frost Horton.
1861-6.1.
Coffin S. Brown.
l'riah Hill, Ir.
1868-69. Collin S. Brown.
1870.
. William N. Anderson.
1871-77.
. Coffin S. Brown.
1878-79.
David W. Travis.
1880-82. . William Mabie.
1883.
Collin S. Brown.
1881.
. Cyrus Travis.
1 " Diary of Brigadier-General Philip Van Cortlandt, " quoled by Bol- lon, Vol. 11., p. iii., (oll edition).
RESIDENCE OF LOUIS ETTLINGER, CROTON FALLS, N. Y.
423
CORTLANDT.
TOWN CLERKS.
April 1, 1788-92.
. Joseph Travis.
1793-95.
Solomon llawes.
1796-98.
. Joseph Travis.
1799-1802.
Joel Frost.
1803-04.
David Stanley.
1805-08.
. David M. Ilyatt.
1809-11.
John Cooper, Jr.
1812.
William Nelson.
1813-15.
Solomon Hawes.
1816-20.
. Daniel W. Birdsall.
1821.
John Cooper, Jr.
1822-27.
Williant D. Everson.
1828-32.
Judson H. Gilbert.
1833-39.
William D. Everson.1
1840-41.
Thomas Sonthard,
1842.
William Royce.
1843.
Thomas Southard.
1814.
. Edwin Mabie.
1845.
. Jahiel Owen.2
1846-49.
. Thomas A. Whitney.
1850.
Samuel Bard.
1851.
. George P. Marshall.
1852.
William H. Briggs.
1853.
William Il. Russell.
1854-55.
. Francis P. Clark.
1856.
William H. Briggs.
1857-60.
Francis P. Clark.
1861-62.
Hackaliah B. Strang.
1863-61.
Edgar D. Bassett,
1865-66.
Henry Abbott.
1867.
Edmund R. Travis.
1868-72.
. George E. Craft.
1873-75.
. Charles R. Swain.
1876. .
. Carlton B. Jordan.
1877. .
. John McCord.
1878-79.
. James McLuckey.
1880-82.
. John S. Jones.
1883.
. Cyrus W. Horton.
CENSUS-CORTLANDT.
1712 .- 91.3
1850 .- 7,758.
1782 .-
798.4
1855 .- 8,468.
1790 .- 1,932.
1860 .-- 10,074.
1825 .- 3,385.
1865 .- 9,393.
1830 .- 3,840.
1870 .- 11,694.
1835 .- 3,994.
1875 .- 11,928.
1840 .- 5,592.
1880 .- 12,664.
1845 .- 6,738.
r.f. Cummings
THE VAN CORTLANDT FAMILY.
BY MRS. PIERRE E. VAN CORTLANDT.5 Of the Manor Honse, Croton.
This family has been for over two centuries identified with the history of Westchester County. The great manor of Cortlandt comprehended within its bonnda- ries, the towns of Cortlandt, North Salem, Somers and
1 Died in 1839, and succeeded for the rest of his term by William II. Briggs.
2 Succeeded during his term, on account of sickness, by Thomas A. Whitney.
3 Manor of Cortlandt.
4 West Ward of Manor of Cortlandt and Ryck's Patent.
5 Copyrighted by Mrs. Pierre E. Van Cortlandt, 1886.
Yorktown with a large part of the town of Lewisboro'. Its northern boundary began on the Hudson River at the dividing line between the present counties of Westchester and Putnam, running twenty miles cast to the boundary of the colony of Connecticut. Before proceeding to the history of the family, when resident on their manor, a brief sketch of their early settlement in this county will not be out of place.
Olaf Stevense Van Cortlandt, the first of the name who came here from Holland, was from Wyk bij Durnstede,6 a village in the Netherlands thirteen miles southeast of Utrecht, and was the son of Stevan and Catharine Van Cortlandt. The latter, according to the date on the portrait her son brought with him, was born in 1566 and died in 1630.7 Stevan, his father, was living in South Holland in 1610. 1 branch of the Van Cortlandts came to Holland from Courland and entered into the military service." Their coat-armor is recorded in the Hall of Records at Amsterdam, and was brought by them to this country in 1636.9 Oloff or Olaf Van Cortlandt was a soldier in the ser- vice of the West India Company and came to America in the "Haring" accompanying William Kieft, director-general of the company's North American Provinces.
They reached New Am- sterdam in 1638, having wintered at Bermuda. He continued in the ser- vice of the company until 1648, and the next year THE VAN CORTLANDT ARMS. 10 he was chosen one of " The Nine Men," and was one of the signers of the remonstrance sent to the company complaining of
6 Wyk by Duurstede Fortress, the Batavodurum of the Romans, was in the time of Charlemagne a city of important commerce. Baedeker's " Belgique et Hollande." Its present population is not over three thousand.
" The portrait, painted on panel, is in the possession of the Jay family, at Rye. It was taken there from one of the Van Cortlandt residences in New York, and has always been supposed to be the portrait of Cath- arine Van Cortlandt.
8 " The order of Sword Bearers, in 1186, united with the Teutonic Knights, and dissolved in 1561. The grandmaster, Gothard De Kettler, was created Duke of Courland." " Military Religious Orders," by F. C. Woodhouse, London.
9 Burke's " Landed Gentry," vol. 4, p. 291 See also "Reitstap's Ar- moreal General," Holland. Only fifty copies of this work were printed. There is in it a description of the arms of Van Cortlandt. Dr. O'Calla- ghan presented the writer with two seals taken from documents signed by Oloff Stevense in 1661, and Stephanns Van Cortlandt 1661, both bearing the family arms. The use of the arms on official documents, this publicly made, shows the unquestionable and undisputed right of the Van Cortlandts to bear them.
10 Arms of Van Cortlandt : Argent, four wings of niell, sable and gules (forming St. Andrew's Cross), five estoiles gules.
Crest : Over an esquire's helmet, a wreath argent and gules, sur- mounted by an estoile gales.
Motto : Virtus sibi munus.
424
HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Kieft and Stuyvesant and boldly insisting upon re- forms. Their petition being unheeded, they renewed a demand " for a good and wholesome government," and the company found it needful to defend its course, but steadfastly opposed the spirit of liberty shown by their Dutch colonists. Van Cortlandt was chosen Schepen in 1654, with a'salary of two hun- dred and fifty guilders, and was sent to confer with the Indians at Esopus, who had risen and slaughtered the settlers in that region, and a treaty was made with them.
In 1663 he was one of the commissioners appointed to treat with the authorities of Connecticut to decide on the disputed boundary line, but the conference ended without coming to any decision, and the same year he, with several others, was sent to Jamaica, 1. 1., to meet Scott, an Englishman, who was striving to secure Long Island for England. Some agreement was reached, but Scott left for home, threatening that ere long the Duke of York would possess the country. The end was near and an English squadron appeared in the Narrows summoning the town "on the Island- of-Manhattoes to surrender." The Director-General Stuyvesant was furious, but the citizens urged the uselessness of resistance, and six prominent men, among them " Old Burgomaster Van Cortlandt," met in conference with Colonel Nicolls, and the town capitulated. All magistrates kept their places, old Burgomaster Van Cortlandt with the rest, and things went on quietly. Charles II., at the instance of Stuyvesant, who had returned to Holland, licensed several ships to be sent from that country to New York, and Van Cortlandt went over to attend to their lading. Soon after his return the Dutch regained possession of New York, Colve assuming the govern- ment, while Lovelace was ordered to leave; his affairs being found unsettled Van Cortlandt was com missioned to investigate them.
The treaty of Westminster placed New York once more in English hands ; Sir Edmund Andros was made governor, and he selected Van Cortlandt as one of his council. In the tax list of this year (1674) Van Cortlandt's property was estimated at ferty-five thou- sand guilders, and he owned a large amount of real estate, beside his residence in Brouwer Straat. He had married, in 1642, Annetje Loockermans, of Turnhout, a town in Belgium, twenty-five miles east of Antwerp. She was the sister of Gowvert Loockermans, who had come out with Van Twiller.' Their married life seems to have been a happy one; he was " a worthy citizen and most liberal in his charities."
1 lackermans snilod from Hollaml in the "Sontberg," with Van Twiller. On the voyage they captured the "Saint Martin," a Spanish caravel, bringing it safely into New Amsterdam. In common with all hils associates in the signing of the " Vertoogh," he came nader the ban of Tienhoven, who speaks of him disrespectfully, but as Hermans calls Tienhoven " that infernal swaggerer, " and his reputation was not of the faire4, it is quite probable that Tienhoven was bissel. Certainly he way wrong in the statement that lawckerinns came from Holland in the "Sunt Martin. "
Six children gladdened their home-Stephanus, Maria (Mrs. Van Rensselaer), Sophia (Mrs. Teller), Catharine (Mrs. Derval, afterwards Mrs. Frederick Philipse), Cornelia (Mrs. Schuyler), and Jacobus. The latter married the step-daughter of the Herr Frederick Philipse, and was the ancestor of the Yonkers branch of the Van Cortlandt family. Be- side owning the Yonkers estate he was a large landed proprietor in the town of Bedford, Westchester County. He was an eminent merchant, and filled many offices in New York, holling that of Mayor from 1710 to 1719. His son, Frederick, succeeded to the Yonkers estate, dying in 1749. By the will of Jacobus the estate devolved to his grand-son, James, a man held in the highest respect for his many good qualities and for the help generously extended during the troublons days of the Revolution, to his suffering neighbors. Dying chiklless in 1781, the estate reverted to his brother Augustus, at whose death, in 1823, the prop- erty went into the female line, the descendants tak- ing the name of Van Cortlandt, and the present rep- resentative is Augustus Van Cortlandt.
Of Madame Olaf Van Cortlandt, Valentine writes :2 "Every one will recognize the Goet Vrow of the famous Burgomaster of Nieuw Amsterdam, and the mother of his family. Little is known of her personal history, save that she lived on the Brouwer Straat, in a good okl double stone house with little windows, immense fire places and a steeple roof. Weknow that it was a noisy household, for the burgomaster had never less than a dozen negroes lounging round his establish- ment, 3 and madame must have been a patient lady." The good man went to his rest sometime previous to 1683, full of years and of honours. His widow died May 14, 1684, and good Dominio Selyns, whose muse was always ready with poetical effusions for fonts, bells, marriages or funerals, wrote her epitaph.4
Stephanus Van Cortlandt, the eldest son of Olaf, was born in New Amsterdam in 1643; he was
2 Mannal of the Common Conneil.
8 Among them was no doubt Christopher, laken from the ship " St. An- thone, " Silvester Perez, skipper, by the privateer " Raven," commanded by Caplain Sebastian Raett, near Cape Morante. The cargo of the "St. Anthony " was a valuable one, consisting of sixty negroes, manufactured silverware, strings of large pearls, etc. The slaves were disposed of in various ways, John und Madelina, the property of the pllot, Inan Gal- liardo Ferrara, being bought by Govert ( lockermans) : Christopher, also the property of the pilot, by Olof Setens .- Holland Documents, vol. il. p. 31.
4 TRANSLATION .- Epitaph by Rev. Henriens Selyns for Madan Nuna Lockermans, widow of Olaf Stephenson Van Cortlandt, Eng., derrand, May 11, 1684,-
"Here rests who after Cortlandt's death no rest possessed And sought no other rest, than soon to rest beside him lle died. She lived and died. Both How In Abram rest And there, where Jesus is, true rest and joys abide in. God's will did Anna* serve, Goul's aid did Hannaht pray. In this alone alike that both have passed away."
* ] Luke ii., 36. tl Sannoel i., 10, 11.
From 11. 1. Murphy's Anthology of New Netherland ( Bradford Club, No. 1), New York, 1865.
425
CORTLANDT.
carefully educated under a learned tutor from Europe, and very early entered into public life, his first ap- pointment being to the Court of Assizes. At the age of thirty-fonr he was chosen mayor, being the first American born mayor of New York. In 1685 Nicholas Bayard was made mayor, and with Van Cortlandt, drafted the famous Pongan charter under which New York became a city. Ile was also in military life, rising from the rank of ensign, in 1668, to that of Colonel in 1693. At that date he com- manded the King's County militia.1 In 1677 he was appointed the first judge in Admiralty by Governor Edmund Andros, who held him in high esteem and in his letters home represents him to be " an eminent man and well deserving to be one of the Royal Coun- cils." In 1686 and 1688 he was again named one of the council by James II., and the colonial docu- ments bear ample testimony to his worth and ability. Andros was his fast friend and stood as godfather for the little Mary Van Cortlandt (Mrs. Van Rensselaer). It is hardly probable that the wise, well-balanced Van Cortlandt would admit to intimate relations a man who possessed no good qualities.2 Van Cort- landt received from Edmund Randolph the appoint- ment of deputy seeretary and register of the Pro- vince of New York, bearing date " New- Yorke, ye 23d day of October, 1688." 3 Not only was he Judge in Admiralty, but associate judge in the Colonial Court, holding also the offices at one time of deputy auditor, receiver-general, secretary of the province and sur- rogate. In 1696 he was chosen chancellor, then col- lector of the revenue and lastly elief-justice of the Supreme Court.
Van Cortlandt's place of business was on the northeast corner of Pearl and Broad Streets, and here this busy merchant found time to serve the interests of church and state. He was made senior warden of Trinity Church and was a member of the council and board of trade. In 1671 he married Gertrude, the daughter of Philip Pieterse Schuyler, of Albany, a woman of strong character, who proved a true help- meet. Soon a large family of children gathered in the old house, and all went well with him. The colonial documents evince the feeling of trust in his worth held by all. and the clergy in an elaborate Latin testimonial give evidence of their opinion, elosing with the hope that the two good men (Van Cortlandt and Bayard) may be spared many years, " for the greater propagation of truth and the inerease of Christ's kingdom."+ Like all his family, Van
1 Governor Fletcher ordered Van Cortlandt to hold a " court martiall " to investigate "Severall disorders and misdemeanors " committed by the militia of this county, bearing date June 8, 1692. (Original in Van Cortlandt papers).
2 Brodhead defends Andros from the charges taade against him by New England historians and asserts that he did his duty faithfully and fearlessly, "his only fault being that he administered his government too loyally to his sovereign and too much like a brave soldier."
8 Original in Van Cortlandt papers,
4 Documents relating to the Colonial History, New York, vol. iii. page 588
C'ortlandt was an enthusiastic politician, and when the tidings arrived that a son was born to James HE., he beeame so excited that he threw his hat in the air and sent his peruke to follow it; and this loyal burst of patriotism was afterwards brought up against him, when, says Brodhead, " the remembrance was very in- convenient." He was now called upon to inquire into the trial of the Magna Indians-Roman Catholic converts taken in arms while aiding the French in ('anada-and gave much time to the investigation of the evidence.
Troubles were now coming thick and fast to the royal eouneji, but space forbids any lengthy account- of the doings of Leisler and Milborne and of the in- sults offered to those in office. J. Romeyn Brodhead and Mrs. Martha J. Lamb, the two best anthorities on thesc matters, detail at length the trials and dis- comforts to which Van Cortlandt, Philipse aud Bay- ard were subjected during the usurpation of their powers. Van Cortlandt managed to escape, but the other councillors were treated with the utmost indig- nity, and Madame, " the mayoress," was grossly in- sulted by the creatures of Leisler, when they came to demand from her the mayor's seal of office and the municipal papers left in her charge by her husband when he was obliged to seek safety in flight. She was equal to the occasion and spite of threats, faith- ful to her charge.5 In 1691 Sloughter came over; Leisler and Milborne were brought to trial, cou- demned and executed. William III. named royal councillors for New York, and as among the number were Philipse, Van Cortlandts and Bayard, it was manifest their course was approved.
For a long time Van Cortlandt had been advancing moneys to the government and had suppred the forts in New York and Albany with necessaries, and the debt was constantly increasing. He had purchased large tracts of land from the Indians, some under an order from Andros in 1677,6 laying out much money in improvements. Tenants settled upon these tracts, houses were built, orchards set out, gardens made and
" See letter of Van Cortlandt to Sir Mimund Andros, detailing the in- sults offered to his wife and the sufferings of his family .- Documents re- lating to the Colonial llistory, New York, vol. iii., page 714.
G Original Order ( l'an Cortlandt papers).
" BY THE GOVERNOR
"Whereas, Application hath been made nuto mee by divers persons for lands at Wijckerscrecke or adjacent parts on the East side of Hudson's River the which have not as yet been purchased of the Fudyan Proprie- tors & These are to authorize to appoint you Col Stephanus Van Cort- land, Mayor of this City, if fitting opportunity shall present to treate with and agree for any part of the said Land for weh there may bee present Occaseon of settlement or for the whole with the Indyan Sachems or Proprietors. The payment whereof to bee made publickely at the Fort or ('ity llall. Given under my hand in New-Yorke this 16th day of Novembr 1677.
" ANDROSS. " Recorded for the Province of New York in Lib. No. 27 Page 228, 229 this 17th day of July 1686.
" Recorded in the County Register for the County of Westchester in the Province of New Yorke in Lib. No. A in ffolio 128.
"JOSEPH LEE, Registr
"May 24th 1687 "
426
HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
ferries established, while he seems to have been on amieable terms with the former owners. In 1683 he purchased lands and meadows of the Sachems of Haverstraw and that neighborhood.1 Colonel Don- gan, the Governor of the province under James II., had, in 1686, made purchases from the Indians of lands adjacent to those bought by Van Cortlandt.
These grants Dongan now sold to Van Cortlandt, who received a further confirmation of these rights from the Indian owners, and set himself to the task of fixing the boundaries of his estates. Tradition tells that he set out in his Periagua from New York, leis- urely surveying the shores from the little craft until he reached a point, now the dividing line between the counties of Westchester and Putnam. Here he disembarked, sending his Indians "a day's journey into the wilderness." This was just twenty miles, and terminated at the colony of Connecticut. This Indian track, in an exact straight line, is to-day the accepted boundary of the Manor of Cortlandt, and the north- ern boundary of the county. He now applied for a royal charter, with the varied rights appertaining thereto. His request was granted, and the territory was erected into a Lordship and Manor, containing eighty-three thousand acres, the fees amounting "to three hundred pieces of eight."? The charter pro- vides for the hokling of Court Leet and Court Baron," and gives all advowsons and rights of patronage over all churches that may be built on the manor, appoint- ing also the Lord of the Manor sole and only Ranger, with all the rights that belong unto a Ranger, as in "Our realm of England." It provides in the fullest manner for all the fishing and hunting rights in the manor, and winds up by giving the " Lords of Cortlandt the extraordinary privilege of sending a representa- tive to the Provincial Assembly."4 By the feudal tenures under which this Manor was held, a rental -
1 Original Indian deed, signed by Sachems, witnessed by fredwyck Appensen Guilian Verplanke and others, endorsed " Indian deed for the Land & Maddows opposite Anthony's Noos in ye highlands."
2 Bolton's " History of Westchester," vol. i .. page 94.
3 " These manorial jurisdictions havo descended from a time previous lo the accession of Edward the Confessor. A tradition has come down in Maryland that the courts were held occasionally by members of the proprietory familien owning manors. It seems probable that in the early period of the existence of the colony manorial courts were not uncom- mon."-" Old Marylaud Manors," by John Johnston, A. B.
" There is a record of a Court-Baron held at St. Gabriel's Manor in 1659 by the steward of Mistress Mary Brent. There is also extant the original record of Court-Baron und Court-Let held at St. Clement's Manor between the years 1659 and 1672. It is reasonable to suppose that on other munors, also, these courts were held, and the fact that these records were kept on the manors themselves and not with the pub- lie records at St. Mary's sufficiently accounts for their disappearance."- Scharf's " History of Maryland."
No records have been found of any proceedings of the holding of these courts on the Manor of Cortlandt, probably for the above reasons.
" The Manor of Cortlandt sent its Hist Representative, Philip Ver l'Ink, lo the Twentieth Colonial Assembly July 23, 1728. He served until the close of the Twenty-ninth Assembly, February 6, 1768. That year Pierre Van Cortlandt was chosen a Representative, the certificate of his election being signed by Jeremiah Traviss, Richard Currey, Abrum Purdy, Moses Travis, laure Hatfield (constable), Inchallah Brown and Jeremiah Drake.
was paid to the Crown of forty shillings on " the feast day of the Annunciation of our Blessed Virgin Ma- ry." This royal charter, with the great seal of Eng- land attached, and headed by the grim visage of William III., is among the heirlooms preserved in the old Manor-house on the Croton River.
The Hon. De Heer Stephanus Van Cortlandt (for by this title he is named in all the old papers) now took formal possession of his manor. It is more than probable that as soon as he had purchased of the In- dians and before he received the royal charter, he had built the present Manor-house and also the Ferry- house ; certainly the charter distinctly states that he built houses. The Manor-house was obviously built for defense, and when the Indians held their annual feasts and Kintekoyes,3 the tenants with their fam- ilies took refuge here for shelter and safety. The walls are pierced at intervals of two feet with loop- holes for musketry, and a row of these apertures ex- tends along the present Hooring of the second story, reached no doubt in those days by platforms or lad-
CORTLANDT MANOR HOUSE, CROTON.
ders from within. The size of the house shows the fact of its purpose, as it is only forty by thirty-three feet, and had it originally been intended for a dwell- ing-house it would have been more spacious and the comfort of its prospective inmates better con- sulted.
The old Ferry-house is quite a different structure. It is apparently as oll as the Manor-house; its roof slopes steeply from the front, and originally a long room was prepared for the waiting travellers, with a large fire-place set corner-wise at either end. Here they awaited the convenience of the phlegmatie ferry- man, a Dutchman, no doubt, who slowly and carefully propelled a large seow across the Croton River by ropes. This ferry-house is built of brick and timber, while the Manor-house, or fort, was of solid red free- stone, brought from Nyack in the useful Periagua. Over each window (when windows and doors were inserted) were small Holland bricks, presumably put
6 kintekoyo, nn Indian dance ; as the ludians were liberal in the use of "lire-water," they became at those dances ferocious and dangerous,
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