History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 142

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898,
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co.
Number of Pages: 1286

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 142

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).

" By the Honorable John Nanfan, Esqr, Lient. Governor and Com- mander-in-chief of the Province of New York and territories depend- ing thereon in America and Canada.

" Yon are hereby required to prepare a draft of letters for Robert Walters, Leigh Atwood, Corneling Depeyster, Caleb Heathcote, Mathew Clarkson, John Cholwell, Richard Slater, Lancaster Syme, Robert Lurt- ing and Barne Cosens for all that certain tract of land Situate, lying and being in the county of Westchester, bounded Northerly by Croton River, easterly by Byram River and Bedford line, Sontherly by the land of Jobn Harrison and line aforesaid and Rye line stretching to Byrum River aforesaid, and westerly by the land of Frederick Philipse and Bronckx River, to Imve and to hold to them, their beirs and as- signs, to the only proper use and behoof of them, their heirs and as- signs forever, at and nuder the yearly rent of six pounds five shillings current money of New York, and for so doing this shall be your suffi- cient warrant. Given under my hand and seal at our Fort William Henry in New York, this 14th day of February, 1762, and in the 14th year of his Majesty's relgu.

"To Thomas Weaver, Exp .. Solicitor General of the Provinces of New York and of Canada.

" JONS NASTAN. "

This warrant, it will be seen, contained three names not in the petition-those of Heathcote, John Chol- well and Robert Lurting.

The latter really owned no interest, but represented Heathcote, so that Heathcote owned two shares in ten, or one-fifth. Of Cholwell little is known, except

1 The name is written both Walters and Walter.

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NEW CASTLE.

that he was a large land-owner. The patent was granted the same day, February 14, 1702. It is called the

WEST PATENT OF NORTH CASTLE.

" William the Third, by the grace of God, of England, Scotland, France and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, to all to whom these presents shall come, sendeth greeting : Whereas our loving subjects, Robert Wal- ters, Leigh Atwood, Cornelius Depeyster, Caleb Heathcote, Matthew Clarkson, John Cholwell, Richard Slater, Lancaster Sinyes, Robert Lurting and Barne Cosens, have by their petitions presented unto our trusty and well beloved Jolin Nanfan, Esq., our Lieutenant Governor and Commander-in-Chief of our province of New York and the terri- tories depending thereon in America, prayed our grant aud confirma- tion of a certain tract of land in our County of Westchester, bounded Northerly by the Manor of Cortlandt, and Eastwardly with Bedford line of three miles square, the white fields and Byram River, southerly by the land of John Harrison, Rye liue, stretching to Byram River afore- said and the White Plains, and westwardly by the Bronck's River and the manor of Philipsburgh, excepting out of the bounds aforesaid all the land in Mr. Richbell's Patent, according to the lines of said patent, now in the tenure aud occupation of Colonel Caleb Heathcote, wbich first above named tract of land was purchased by Caleb Heathcote and others with whom he has agreed, excepting James Mott and Henry Disbrow, whom he hath undertaken to satisfy. Within which bounds there are by estimation abont five thousand acres of profitable land, be- sides wastes and woodlands, which reasonable request we being willing to grant, know ye that of our special grace, certain knowledge and mere motion we have given, granted, ratified and confirmed, and by these presents doe for ns, our heirs and successors, give, grant, ratify and confirm unto our said loving subjects, Robert Walters, Leigh Atwood, Cornelins Depeyster, Caleb Heathcote, Matthew Clarksou, Johu Chol- well, Richard Slater, Lancaster Symes, Robert Lurting and Barne Cos- ens, all the above recited tract of land within our County of Westches- ter and witbin the limits and bounds aforesaid, together with all and singular, the woods, underwoods, trees, timber, feedings, pastures, mea- dows, marshes, swamps, ponds, pools, waters, water courses, rivers, rivu- lets, runs, brooks, streams, fishing, fowling, hunting and hawking, mines, minerals (silver and gold mines excepted), and all other profits and benefits, privileges and liberties, advantages, hereditaments and appertenances whatsoever to the aforesaid tract of laud, within the limits and bounds aforesaid mentioned, belonging or in any ways apper- taining, to have and to hold all the aforesaid tract of land, together with all and singular the woods, underwoods, &c., &c., &c. . . . to be holden of ns, onr heirs and successors in free and common soc- cage as of our Manor of East Greenwich in our County of Keut, within our Realm of England, yielding, rendering and paying therefor yearly and every year forever, at our city of New York, unto us, our heirs and successors, or to such officer or officers as shall from time to time be em- powered to receive the same, the annual and yearly rent of six ponnds five shillings current money of New York, in lien of all other rents, dues, duties, services and demands whatsoever.

" In testimony whereof we have caused the great Seal of our Province to be bereunto affixed. Witness, John Nanfan, Esq., Lient Governor and Commander in-chief of our Province of New York and the terri- tories depending thereon in America, and Vice Admiral of the same, at our fort in New York, this 14th day of February, 1701-2, and in the 14th year of our reign.

" By bis honour's command, " JONN NANFAN. 1 "

M. CLARKSON,

Secretary."

On the 18th day of February, 1702, four days after the date of the patent, the ten patentees made an " Indenture Deeempartite,"2 in which it was agreed that there should be " no survivorship," but that the lands deseribed in the patent should be "with all convenient expedition " divided into "ten several distinct parts," so that each proprietor could have

his own separate possession, and until that could be done, they were to share equally in the profits and expenses. This division evidently never took place.

On the 29th of May, 1702, Robert Lurting conveyed the share which stood in his name to Caleb Heath- cote, and "did, among other things, declare that his name in the said letters patent was used only in trust for the said Caleb Heathcote, his leirs and assigns." On the 10th of August, 1702, Richard Slater conveyed to Thomas Weaver (solicitor-general and member of the Council) all his rights in all the patents in which he was concerned, and deelared that " his name was used only in trust for, and on the part and behoof of, the said Thomas Weaver, and that no cstate or inter- est in or to the premises in any of the said letters patent 3 mentioned, thereby doth, or of right ought to enure or acerue to the said Richard Slater." But worse thau this : Barne Cosens, on the 12th of Au- gust, 1702, " by indenture under his hand and scal, duly executed, did declare and acknowledge that his name in the said letters patent and indenture of Cov- enant, was used only in trust for, and in the part and behoof of, John Nanfan, of the City of New York, Esqr., his heirs and assigns," and so conveyed his share to the Lieutenant-Governor, who, on the 7th of November, 1704, sold his interest to Ebenezer Wil- son, Esq., high sheriff of the city and county of New York. Wilson held this share till October 25, 1710, when he, with Margery, his wife, sold it to " Peter Fauconnier,4 of the City of New York, Esqr.," who evidently beeame the managing man of the enter- prise, for the tract was known as "Fauconnier and Company's West Patent " for many years. He re- tained an interest in the patent until April 10, 1745, when he conveyed it to Magdalen Valleau, who was probably a relative.

Reference has been made to the circumstanee that the description found in the patent does not agree with that in the Indian deed. In the latter the eastern boundary is stated "Eastwardly by Byram

1 Original document in possession of Mr. David W. Smith, of North Castle.

2 The original, a formidable document on three immeuse parchment sheets, is in possession of Mr. David W. Smith, of Kensico.

3 The " syndicate " which began with the West Patent soon obtained control of all the land left up to that time unpatented in the county of Westchester. During the previous July, Colonel Heathcote, in connec- tion with Joseph Theale, John llorton and Joseph Purdy, all of Rye, had bought of the Indians the tract lying between Bedford line on tbe- uorth and the colony liue on the south, and embraced within the great bend of the Mianus River. The ten partners took these three men in, and on the 17th February, 1702, they were granted what bas become known as the Middle l'atent, from its position between the two great tracts, the East and West Patents. On the 25th of February, 1702 the syndicate, increased by the uame of l'eter Matthews, bought of the In- dians the great tract called the East Pateut, lying east of Bedford and extending to the colony line, out of which nearly all of Poundridge and Lewisboro have heen formed. They procured the patent ou the 2d of March. Colonel Ileatlicote obtained the royal grant for the Lord- ship or Manor of Scarsdale on the 30th of March following, having completed the Indian purchases necessary to that end but a few days before. Of course in that domain he was the sole owner. Whether his success in this respect had any connection with the other enterprises of those busy days the writer leaves others to guess.

+ " Fanconnier was a native of France, high in favor with Bellomont aud Cornbury, Governors of New York, and by the latter made collector and receiver-general in 1705."-Buird's " History of Rye."

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HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

River and Bedford line." In the patent it reads, " Eastwardly with Bedford line of three miles square, the White fields aud Byram River." This expression, " Bedford three miles square," was employed to desig- nate the Bedford first purchase, or Hop Ground, a tract of about that size in the southeastern part of the town. But a patent for the whole town of Bedford had been granted by the Governor of Connecticut in 1697, while Bedford was under the jurisdiction of that colony, and that patent the colony of New York was bound to respect and to confirm. The eastern bound- ary of the West Patent, therefore, should have been, as in the Indian deed, "Bedford line and Byram River." The effect of the crror was to include within the West Patent nearly a quarter of the town of Bed- ford, that is, the Southwest Corner, which had been confirmed to her people four years before. It is not easy to determine whether this was merely a blunder on the part of the solicitor-general in preparing the patent, due, perhaps, to his oversight of the facts in the case of the Bedford Patent, or whether it was a deliberate attempt to ignore that transaction and to in- crease the possessions of himself and his partners. It may have been a blunder caused by some one un- familiar with the region mistaking the west line of Bedford first purchase for the west line of Bedford new purchase; but it may have been an attempt to " grab " a tract, which, so far as the records of New York then showed, was not yet granted to auy one; for, though the great boundary line dispute between the two colonies was settled a year before, New York had not yet confirmed to the Bedford people the Connecticut charter, and it was not so confirmed till 1704, but was at this very time held in abeyance, to their great anxiety and disquietude.1 Had the solicitor-general followed the Indian deed as pre- pared by Heathcote and the warrant of the Governor, which was based upon the deed, instead of going out of his way to say "Bedford line of three miles square," no trouble would have occurred. It seems difficult, on the whole, to avoid the inference that it was the intention to quite ignore the rights of the Bedford people to the lands they had bought and settled upon, for the East Patent, granted a fortnight later, was so described as to include within its limits the southeastern quarter of the town of Bedford. Thus these inen took, or tried to take, all of Bedford south of the line which Van Cortlandt had caused to be surveyed across that town for the southern bound- ary of his manor, but which he had to abandon. ? The confirmation of the Bedford Patent by the author- ities of the province of New York in 1704, of course, deprived the ten patentecs of the advantage that they expected to derive from the bold act of the

solicitor-general, if such it was ; but the complications arising from it were not so easily disposed of. As time passed on it was found, of course, that the government failed to receive quit-rents for the parts of the East and West Patents which have been described as erroneously included within their bounds, for neither the original pateutees nor those deriving titles from them had ever had possession of those lands, or any profit from them. There grew up, there- fore, arrears of quit-rent, and on January 8, 1762, the Lieutenant-Governor, Council and General Assembly of the colony (the legislative power) passed au "act for the more effectual collecting of his Majesty's Quit-Rents in the Colony of New York, and Parti- tion of Lands in order thereto." Charles Clinton, Jonathan Brown and Elisha Budd were appointed commissioners to partition and survey the lands in question. They undertook to survey the tract in the southwest corner of Bedford, wrongly included in the West Patent, but were driven off by the outraged farmers. Finally, by aid of the sheriff a survey was completed, and the lands were advertised for sale in June, 1766. It was found that this tract consisted of four thousand one hundred and fifty-one acres. The same commissioners also made a survey of a tract wrongly included in the East Patent, comprising some sixteen thousand acres, of which a quarter, perhaps, was in Bedford. Maps of these surveys, with the field-books of the surveyor, Nathaniel Merritt, were filed iu the office of the Secretary of State, where they are still preserved, and duplicates were placed in the county clerk's office of this county, but only the map of the East Patent tract is now found. 3

(For copy of the map of part of West Patent, and its relations to the boundaries of Bedford and New Castle, see Bedford, Patents and Boundary Lines.)

The northern boundary of the traet bought from the Indians by Heathcote was the Croton River; but before the patent was issued Van Cortlandt had obtained the charter for his manor, the southern limit of which was a due cast line running twenty quiles from a point near the mouth of the Croton; hence this was fixed as the north boundary of the West Patent, and so remains, Van Cortlandt's line dividing New Castle from Yorktown and Cortlandt on the north. Until 1846 Somers, (formerly called Stephen- town) extended south to this liue. Ou May 12th, of that year, the act was passed, annexing to New Castle that part of Somers lying south of the Croton River.

The west boundary of the town was the same from the beginning-that is, the slanting line which origiu- ated as the northern boundary of the lands of Fred- erick Philipse, his possessions extending along the Hudson River to Kitchawan Creek, "and so east- ward into the woods along said creek or river two English miles, and from thence upon a direet east

1 See Bedford, Patents and Houndary Lines,

2 See Bedford, Patents and Hondary Lines. Poter Matthews, one of the grantees of the Kast Patent, was at this very time retained by the Bedford people to seenre the confirmation of their patent. Little did they imagine why he did not anreeed.

3 Map No. 564, Register's Office.

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NEW CASTLE.

line to Bronx's river, and so running southward along the said Bronx's river,"1 etc.

It was supposed when this deseription was written, that a " duc east line " from the point mentioned on the Croton would find the source of the Bronx ; but when the survey came to be made, it was found that the Bronx had its origin too far south for that, so the present line was run southeasterly to the Bronx River at the point known in the early descriptions as " the head of the Bronx," where the towns of North Castle, New Castle and Mount Pleasant now come together. Had the theory of Frederiek Philipse proved correct, his manor would have been bounded on the north by the Manor of Cortlandt and would have extended east nearly to the Bedford line. As it was, there remained be- tween the two manors an irregular tract, running to an aeute angle at the Cro- ton River two miles from its mouth, which has be- come the present town of New Castle, the shape and origin of which were doubtless well understood by Heathcote and his partners.

The history of the settlers of the early West Patent is obscure. There are traditions of settlers, here and there, who had bought farms from the Indians and occupied them, but they had no title which was valid in the view of the government. The patentees, it has al- ready been stated, did not live here. Their interest was not that of settlers seeking a home, but mere- ly that of speculators. From them all actual set- tlers must obtain their titles. They had intended to par- tition the tract, so that each partner eould have his separate share, which he could sell without regard to the others, but this was not done, and persons who wished to buy land could only perfect their titles by obtaining releases from all the partners. This was an obstacle to rapid growth. Some of the patentees died within a few years, and none were easy of | access. Their enterprise seemed to them to be re- garded with hostility by the adjoining towns, espe- cially those in Connecticut. The few settlers, having no local government or township, were threatened,

Levi Round 1.

taxed and made to do military duty, by whichever neighboring town could easiest enforce its semblance of authority. "For above sixteen full years," the pat- entees complained, did these " obstacles and discour- agements " hinder the settling of their lands. But in the three years following (1718-20) the patentees suc- ceeded in persuading some good farmers from Long Island, where land was already becoming scarce, to take up farms, and in August, 1721, in their petition to Governor Burnett for the incorporation of their lands into a township, they boasted of thirty men able to bear arms. 2

These men from Long Island were the Quakers,- who eame into this town by way of Harrison's Purchase. Their deseendants from that day to this have constituted a large part of the population. Among the families which have been here longest arethose of Haight, Weeks, Car- penter, Quimby, Hunt, Sutton, Birdsall, Barnes and Haviland.

The first representatives of the Hunt family in America were English. They originally settled in Connecticut, a branch of their number afterward removing to the town of Westchester. Mr. Levi Hunt, the representative of the family in New Cas- tle, was born. in the town of Westchester, July 15, 1815. He attended the district sehool at West- chester during his child- hood, and also spent two years at the Friends' school there. For a short period following his last term he remained at home, helping in the manage- ment of his father's farm and preparing himself for the profession of a teacher, which he followed for nine years in the distriet school at West Farms. He also taught, during the greater portion of this time, a large class of young ladies at a private academy in the same neighborhood. In 1846 he decided to give up his profession and embark in the mercantile busi- ness at Chappaqua, in which he has since been en- gaged. He has not failed to identify himself with local polities in the town of New Castle. He has always been a thorough Democrat, and was elected by that party to the superintendency of the publie

2 Petition of Walters, Fanconnier, Depeyster and Symes. See North Castle.)

1 Patent of the " Lordship or Manor of Philipsbourgh." ii .- 54

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HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

schools of the town. At a special town-meeting held for the purpose of providing ways and means to fur- nish the military quota required by the government from the town for the defense of the Union during the late war, he was elected treasurer of the fund raised for bounties, and so successful was he iu the management of affairs that the town was enabled to escape the first draft by the provision of substitutes. He lias also held the offices of commissioner of high- ways and justice of the peace. Mr. Hunt married, July 5, 1842, Phebe Cock, daughter of Stephen Cock, of Newburgh, N. Y. He has two children,-Char- lotte Ann, and George.

The names of Kipp, Concklin, Acker, Van Tassel aud Beeckman doubtless indicate that another ele- ment found its way into the West Patent from among the Dutch tenantry of Frederick Philipse, the near- est neighbor on the west.

The growth of the town after its incorporation was apparently more rapid ; but as time went on and the original patentees died, and their heirs and assigns became more numerous and more scattered it be- came more difficult to obtain. clear titles to land. There were undivided lands full forty years after the date of the patent. Under these circumstances the collecting of the quit-rent was difficult, and the town was often in arrears. Entries like this are found in the North Castle record; "Caleb Fowler has uuder- took to gather the quit-rent money for the right of J. Cholwell, from the year Forty-one to the year Forty-three." " Feb. ye 25, 1744: Then met at a Lawful Town Meeting to consider about the Quit- Rent money that is behind; then chose William Dusenbury and Benjamin Smith to act and serve upon the Right of Robert Walter, etc."

Much of interest pertaining to this period is lost on account of the lack of the town records of deeds, which cannot be found. Minutes of town-meetings refer to the duty of the town elerk as a recorder of deeds, and it was usual at that time to so record them. In other towns the records of early transfers of lands are a valuable source of town and family history, and it is greatly to be regretted that in this town and North Castle this source of information has disappeared.

The rights of the ten patentees continued to " en- cumber the ground " for more than sixty years. Their children and grandchildren were now their successors. The titles to nearly all the land in the town, some of which had been in the possession of the occupants for half a century, were clouded by the valid claims of forty or fifty people, scattered over New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Canada and Europe.

Whether some aggressive persons among these leirs began to urge their claims, or whether it was the sense of insecurity and the quit-rent annoyance, which led to netion on the part of the farmers, cannot now be told. But it is evident that they determined to rid themselves of the burden that they had so long car- ried. Benjamin Smith, Caleb Fowler and Joseph

Sutton were selected to represent the people con- cerned, and to obtain warrantee deeds from every possible claimant. There is no mention of the matter in the town-meetings ; it was apparently a voluntary and private undertaking. How long it required, or what obstacles were encountered, cau only be sur- mised, but there is reason to think it was the work of years. They obtained releases from all the heirs and assigns of the ten patentees, and all these transfers, except those of the rights of Walters, Cholwell and one-half the right of Slater, are on record in the register's office. Isabella Davis, sole executrix of Chol- well, had sold his right to Richard Ogden and Josiah Quimby, January 24, 1720, for one hundred and seventy-four pounds. It would appear that Smith, Fowler and Sutton acquired this right first.

Little is known about the Walters right except that they secured it. The half-right of Slater, really owned by Thomas Weaver, was inherited by his daughter, Anna Fox, who sold to Wetmore. This was also secured.

The rights originally represented by the names of Heathcote, Lurting, Symes and Cosens, half the rights of Atwood and Clarkson and the remaining half of the Slater-Weaver right, making five and one-half shares, were conveyed to Smith and his associates by deed bearing date June 7, 1763, and recorded in the register's office of this county, Liber H, pages 276- 305. This deed is a marvel of skill and labor, and a last- ing memorial to the patient thoroughness with which these three men carried out their purpose. It traces the ( family record of each patentee; it shows who died childless, who intestate, and what heirs were then surviving. In cases where heirs were represented by an attorney, it cites the provisions of the power of attor- ney and shows why a power was necessary. With special minuteness it lays bare the fact that Lieuteu- ant Governor Nanfan, through his clerk, Cosens, corruptly obtained a share of the public lands, which he was supposed to protect, and that his solicitor- general, Thomas Weaver, did the same. It shows how the active and thrifty Fanconnier got into the enterprise which has ever since borne his name, and how Heathcote, by the use of Lurting, held two shares instead of one, in the scheme which he had vainly hoped to control alone.

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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. II, Part 142

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898, Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co. Number of Pages: 1286

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898,
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co.
Number of Pages: 1286