History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 147

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 147

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"EDWARD CORNBURY."

This grant ended the contests which had been in progress for seven years, first with the Indians and afterward with the government, to obtain possession of the tract lying between the Mahanas and the Byram. How it happened does not appear, but Colonel Heathcote, who had been the controlling spirit in the purchases to the east and west, and who also began the negotiations with the Indians for this property in 1701, was entirely left ont. Possibly his colleagues in the Council thought he ought to be satis- fied with his other and larger possessions.

THE SETTLERS AND THE SETTLEMENT .- It is probable that the southern portions of the town were at quite an early date ocenpied by enterprising mien, who deemed it safe to abandon the villages along the Sound and establish friendly relations with the In- dians, and that in this way there was a sprinkling of English settlers already on the ground before the dates of any of the Indian deeds which have been re- ferred ta. As early as Governor Fletcher's time (1692-98) the records have the following : 2

I Book Patents, Albany. " Land Papers, Albany.

" The humble Peticon of John Brundage showeth, that whereas your excelly's peticioner being informed of A Certaine Parcell of vacante E J, purchased Land about the quantity of four hundred [acres] lying on Biram River in the County of Westchester, neur fourteen miles from the Sound, which land your Excelly's l'eticioner and his Brothers- in-law, desirons to settle and improve, linmbly prays Your Excelly would graciously be pleased to grant unto Your Excelly's Peticon's Your Ex. celly's warrt to purchase the same. And your Excelly l'eticon's, as in Duty Bound, will ever pray.

" The x mark of JOHN BRUNDAGE. "8

This land, no doubt, lay east of Byram River and near the colony line, and it seems probable that Brundage settled upon it. John Clapp also is sup- posed to have lived in the neighborhood of Rye Pond at an early date.

The oldest settlements in the town were doubtless. made in the part covered by the Ann Bridges patent. That tract was chiefly in the hands of men who had local interests and sympathies, and were of the man- ner of life of the settlers nearer the Sound, while the east and west ends of the town were in the possession of Walters, Heatheote and their associates, who were regarded as speculators and as enemies to the growth and prosperity of the colony. The advancement of this part of the county was much retarded also by the lack of the privileges of local government. The con- dition of affairs will be well understood from the peti- tion which Walters and his associates addressed to Governor Burnett in 1721, praying that their posses- sions might be erected into a town,-

" To his Excellency William Burnett, Esq., Captain General and Gov- eruor in chief, &e., &c.

" The humble l'etition of Robert Walters, Cornelius Depeyster, Lan- caster Symes and Peter Fauconnier, in behalf of themselves and others ; That whereas" . . . (The petition begins by reciting at full length the descriptions and dates of the West, Middle and Enst Patents, and then proceeds,-)

" And whereas umny of the said Patentees are, since the granting of the same three letters l'atents. dead, some buve left this Province und others of Them have wholy alienated and conveyed to Persons partly unknown to the rest Their right and title to the same Lunds, und among them the above named Barne Cosens, his whole right, title nud interest therein hath been for valuable considerations conveyed, made over nud transferred unto the above-numed petitioner, l'eter Faucon- nier, his heirs and assigns for ever, whereby he is lawfully become as one of the l'utentees of the said three Tracts of land which hy sitnate contiguous to one another, upon the buck of the Township of Rye in Westchester County, in the Province of New York, and of ser- eral other Townships in the colony of Connecticut, bordering upon the North and West limits thereof, and that notwithstanding the many obstacles and discouragements which lor above 16 whole years did hinder the Petitioners from settling of the said lands, occasioned by the in- sults ot the most part of the inhabitants of the said Townships, who, tho' the Division lines were in the year 1684 tixt and agreed upon be- tween this Province and Colony of Connecticut by Commissioners snf- ficiently authorized thereunto from both Governments, und confirmed by King William, of ever blessed memory, in March, 1700, by reason that In such length of time all the trees then marked for concluding the said Ilmits have been cut, blown or burnt down, not contented with enjoying quietly all the lands within their own, ont of their insatiableness would not be determined by any bounds, but continue to use for rangeing all your Petitioners nud others owners Lands nd- joining to the sald lines for one hundred miles long and several miles brond, tho' belonging to this Province; Imve and do still threaten to burn the houses and Barns and to reap, carry away or destroy the wheat and other grains that any settler should pretend to build, sow

3 Land l'apers, Albany.

633

NORTH CASTLE.

or plant on the said lands; The Petitioners yet at their great charge and industry have within this 3 years prevailed to get out of Long Island, where, because of their increase, the inhabitants do want lands, so many industrious, good farmers to settle and improve upon their said lands in Westchester county, under the obedience of the Government of this Province, that they are already capable of mustering upwards of Thirty men able to bare arms, who are yet nevertheless inch disturbed and molested for the reasons above mentioned in their peaceable and quiet enjoiment of their improvements by the Inhabitants of the said several Townships within this and the other neighboring Government, who, besides the threats aforementioned to force to desert, do molest the said new setlers by calling from a vast distance often to attend before the Justices of their courts; by forcing them to train under the officers of their Militia ; by else imposing considerable fines on them ; by laying excessive part of their county Taxes on them, as if they did belong to and were within the limits of their pretended jurisdiction ; by distrain- ing for Towns rates and petty charges, and for not appearing in arms and other Town pretended duties, which said several hardships do not only greatly and absolutely obstruct the further settling of the said Lands, but so much discourage those already made thereon that it might in earnest force the settlers away from their new settlements and en- tirely waste and depopulate those confins of this Province, to the great prejudice thereof, if not speedily remedyed, which, as your Petrs humbly conceive being easy to be done, They most humbly pray-may it please your Excellency-That your Excellency be therefore graciously pleased to grant to your Petitioners, or such number of them as to your Excel- lency that seem meet, a charter of incorporation into a Township or Borongh to and for the use of the patentees aforesaid, their heirs and assigns and of the Inhabitants of the said 3 several tracts of land, con_ firming the same according to the bounds and limits thereof to them, the said owners and their successors for ever in such manner and way as by Council learned in the law may be drawn up and provided agreeable to an instruction from your Excellency to that purpose, as some other Townships within this province have at several times obtained and do actually enjoy ; That they be made one company of Militia by them · selves, yet belonging to the Regiment of Westchester Co., commanded by Officers from among themselves, or others, not of the Neighborhood of any of the adjacent Towns ; that the said Trustees be appointed Jus- tices of the peace in the said district and have amongst themselves and the Inhabitants of the said lands appointed in the commission of the peace, besides the said Trustees at least one Justice, two Constables, one Collector, one Assessor, one Surveyer of the Highways and such other Town officers as that be thought needful and proper for their quiet and good Government, the better to enable them to maintain the peace and the rights of this Province, adjoining to the division lines: and that your Excellency be pleased to give a name to the township or Borongh into which the said lands shall be incorporated.

" And as in duty bound the Petitioners that ever pray &c., 1

" LANCASTER SYMES, " P. FAUCONNIER, "R. WALTER, " C. DEPEYSTER."

This petition was considered by Governor Burnett and Council on the 24th of August, 1721, and they "were of the opinion that letters patent of iucorpo- ration be granted pursuant to the prayer thereof." The attorney-general, James Alexander, Esq., was thereupon duly direeted "to prepare draft of letters patent of incorporation."

No copy or record of the patent so issued can be found in the Land Papers at Albany, and the reasons that led to the choice of the name of North Castle, which the petitiouers left to the Governor, are un- known. The name first appears in the minutes of the eourt at Westchester on October 3, 1721. This eourt was then invested with certain powers now in the Board of Supervisors, such as levying taxes, ete., and it held sessions several times each year, at which each town was represented by the coustable and

usually by the assessors, After the above date this town was regularly represented. It is a matter great- ly regretted by all who are interested in the carly his- tory of the town that no record of town-meetings can be found nntil 1736, and that no record of deeds in the town can be found at all. These records of lands in other towns form a most useful source of informa- tion, and it is plain, from the minutes of the town- meetings, that such records were kept in North Cas- tle, but they have disappeared.

The petition of Walters and his associates for in- corporation as a town contemplated that their three tracts should be embraced in such a town, and de- scribed these tracts as "contiguous." This was an error, or else it was an effort to mislead the Governor, for while the East and Middle Patents were contiguous, the Middle and West Patents were separated by the Ann Bridges patent, in which Walters and the others had no interest, as has been shown. Nevertheless, the town of North Castle, as at first incorporated, appears to have included that, as well as the three patents of Walters and his partners, extending over the whole of the present town of New Castle and a large part of Poundridge. The annual town meetings up to 1744 appointed "sessors" and high- way masters for the East Patent, sometimes describing it as "old Pound Ridge." In 1745 that practice ecased, and it was apparently at that time that Pound- ridge ceased to be a part of North Castle. It is likely that the inhabitants of the Ann Bridges pat- ent acquieseed in the movement to incorporate, as there was every reason why it would be advantageous for them to do so.

From this time the settlement of the town seems to have steadily advanced. There was · strong Quaker element which came from the older settlements on Long Island, up through Harrison's Purchase, and gave character to the early population, which, in a great degree, still remains. Availing themselves of the civil privileges which the formation of the town secured to them, the inhabitants began to apply them- selves to permanent improvements. Mills were es- tablished, and roads to give them aeecss to the neigh- boring towns were carefully laid out. At first it ap- pears that roads were laid out by county commis- sioners, and later, in ease they were in more than one town, by commissioners from sueh towns acting to- gether. The following original survey of the road from Bedford village through North Castle will be of interest :

" A publick Road Surveyed and laid out march 9, 1722, by Joseph Drake, John Stephenson & Lewis Morris, Jr., three of ye Com's. Begin- ing at ye house of Zachariah Mills, and so long ye south side of Bates's hill, Keeping four rods wide along ye south side of ye said Ridge of hills till you come to Theale's meadow, and so along ye north side of ye sd meadow till ye cross both ye brooks y' emptys by themselves in ye sd meadow, and from thence thro' Comonk Valley and over Comonk brook till you come unto Comonk Ridge, so over ye sd Ridge and thro' Comonk broken land till you come to Comonk pond, and so along Comonk pond, up another ridge till you come to ('leke's brouk, so over Clerk's Ridge, across ye northeast end of Nicholl's field and over Red brook ; so long

1 Petition from vol. wi. p. 61, Land Papers.

634

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

ye Rear of ye sd Lotts upon ye great Ridge till it comes to Samuel Cole's Land, and so between Samuel Cole's and Will Fowler's till you come to Samuel Cole's Barn, running along his lot, by a range of marked trees, till it meet with Pellham's land, so along his Lott till it meets with ye road laid ont by Connecticut, so along ye said road till it comes to Og- den's Mills,1 at Byram, so over Byram, and along ye north end of Aug- ustain Graham's Lott, and across Graham's brook till it meet with ye other road formerly laid out by the commissioners, to ye northward of Samuel Blackman's house, still keeping four rods wide.

" Surveyed and laid out by us,

" JOSEPH DRAKE. " LEWIS MORRIS, JR. "JNO. STEVENSON.

"Entered by W. Foster, Clerk. "2

Among the first who came were Nathan Car- penter, Samuel Coles, William Fowler, Francis Pel- ham,3 Jonathan Ogden, Thomas Golding, Joseph Dickerson, Ceuaman Merritt, Joseph Sherod [Sher- wood?], Thomas Green, Silas Carpenter, Timothy Carpenter, Job Wright, Robert Carpenter, Josiah Quimby, David Brundage, James Wood, Isaac Finch, Samuel Quimby, Beuoni Platt, Jacob Van Pelt, Moses Quimby. John Brush, Thomas Hutchings, John Wash- burn, Nathaniel Brundage, Solomon Wood, Benjamin Brush, Stephen Brush and Samuel Dean.

At the town-meeting on April 5, 1737, a vote was taken to allow Johu Hallock to build a mill on Wampus Brook, near Abel Weeks'. The mill on the Byram was evidently earlier. The one at Kensico is also of early origin.

Those who are curious about such matters may be able to trace the early growth and prosperity of North Castle to the following rigid enaetment of a protec- tive tariff for the town, in respect to domestic animals. On April 5, 1743, an act was passed "that any person that keeps any eattle that is bought out of any other town shall pay ten shillings for the good of the town."

The minutes of town-meetings for several years after 1740 are full of resolutions aud appointments of committees relative to collecting the quit-rent. It had been allowed to fall into arrears, until the receiver-general had taken measures treollect it, when the people found themselves obliged to make energetic efforts to relieve themselves of the burden. The fol- lowing will show the condition of the affair in 1747 :

" March ye 9th, 1747 .- Then settled with Moses Quimby in behalf of the town about the Quit. Rent, that the said Moses Quimby and twelve other men was chosen to settle at a town meeting on ye ISth day of Sep- tember, 1747 ; and some of the Persons or Possessors of the town being faulty in not paying the said Quit- Rent, was obliged to hire twenty- five pounds to make up the money the town was sued for.

"Settled by

" BENJAMIN SMITH."

1 Ogden's Mills, known afterward as Nash's Mills, were located on Byrum Hiver, and on the rond leading from Smith's Tavern, across the corner of Connectient, to the head of King Street, which street It inter- sects a little south of the Smith homestead. It was this will that the first settlers of North Castle patronized. It was burned during the Rev- olutionary War.

: Entries of highways, County Records, vol. i. p. 2.

3 Francis Pelham was u justler of the peace and a commissioner to lay out highways. lle hecame very obnoxious on account of his arbitrary ways and jutemperate hablta, and, In consequence of a petitlon of the prople, he was removed from hls office of justice by Hip Van Daru, the acting Governor, about 1731.

Entries like these in the town records were not iufrequent : " Caleb Fowler has undertook to gather the quit-rent money for the right of Robert Walters, from the year Forty-one to the year Forty-three: "Joseph Fowler has undertook to gather the quit-rent money for the right of John Cholwell." "February ye 25, 1744, Then met at a lawful towu-meeting to consider about the quit-rent money that is behind ; then chose William Dusenberry to act and serve upon the right of Robert Walter," ete.

The patentees, as it has been said, did not live in the town, and as time elapsed, their representatives became seattered and difficult to find. It will be perceived that this state of affairs made it almost impossible to obtain a elear title to land, and it was without doubt an obstacle to the growth and advance- ment of the town. In many cases farmers appear to have taken titles from sueh of the patentees as they could easily reach. About 1760 the rights of the patentecs of the West Patent were purchased, and releases were obtained from all their heirs, by a com- mittee consisting of Benjamin Smith, Joseph Sutton and Caleb Fowler. This work, which was performed with the greatest care and thoroughness, is described at length in the history of New Castle. It is prob- able that similar measures were taken to elear the titles in the Middle Patent, but there is no record of it, so far as the writer is aware.

In the latter part of the last century the popula- tion rapidly increased, and in 1790 it was the most populous town in the county except, possibly, Bed- ford. In the following year New Castle was taken from it, and since that time its boundaries have re- mained unehanged. The following documents, taken from the Documentary History of New York, show the slave population of the town in 1755 :

" NORTH CASTLE, May 4, 1755.

" This comes to let you know that Aron Forman had one Negro man Named frances, and George Knitfin hus two Negro men, one named pomp and the other Coffe, and Thomas Golding has one wench named Eliza- beth, and Antoni Trip has one Negro fellow Named Ned, and a wench Named francis, and Roger Lyon has one wench Named Mereum, and Sammel Banks has one wench Named Marget, aud Timothy Carpenter has one wench Named Susanah. This from your friend to serve,

"AARON FORMAN, Capt." 4

" A list of ye Negroes in Captine Dusenbury's Company, for year 1755,-

Robert Dickenson, 1 man, Dick.

Nathaniel Carpenter, 1 wench, Dinah.

Abel Weeks, I man, Lewis.

Joseph Sutton, 2, a man and woman, Roger aud Dorithy.

Peter Toten, I man, Prins.

Elias Clup, 1 man, Nurow (Ner»).

Caleb Fowler, 1 wench, Peg.

Elizabeth Fowler, I wench, Teen. "3

The following table shows the population of the town by the several eensus returns from 1790 to this tine :

4 Doc. Ilist. of N. Y., vol. iii., p. 855.

6 Doc. Ilist. N. Y., vol. lil., p. 856.

635

NORTH CASTLE.

1790 .

2478

1845 2010

1800.

I1€8

1850 .

. 2189

1810.

1366

1855 .

. 2415

1814 .

1220

1860. . 2-187

1820

1480

1865

2198

1825

1543

1870

1996

1830 .

1653

1875.

. 1961

1835

1789

1880.

. 1818

1840

2058

MILITARY HISTORY AND INCIDENTS .- The town of North Castle was an important part of the county during the Revolutionary War. Its geographical position was such that the American troops could be safely held there, within easy reach for operations against the enemy about New York, or for the defense of the lower towns; and at the same time, the High- lands of the Hudson were accessible by a direct road. The whole French army seems to have been encamped here for a time, probably on the ridge north of Rye Lake, where the remains of an extensive earthwork are still to be seen. The old house at Sands' Mills which was Jamison's headquarters in September, 1780, when Andre was brought there by his captors, still exists as a barn. For a century it has been despoiled by relic-hunters. In the immediate vicinity, grew until a few years ago a black walnut tree, to which, the local tradition says, Andre was bound while he and his captors had dinner, and out of which a neighboring citizen has made an article of furniture, which is shown to visitors. It is to be hoped the tradition is a mistake, as it does not sceni probable that Paulding, Williams and Van Wart con- sidered such an indignity to be necessary. It would not be difficult to occupy more of space than the limits of this sketch will permit, with this and kindred subjects, but as the history of the county dur- ing the Revolutionary period forms a separate part of this work, it need not be further treated herc. The population of the town during that time was, like the people of other towns, divided in political sentiment. Along the Connecticut border and in the northeastern part there was the strongest sympathy for the American cause. The town suffered severely,1

"My father and mother were sleeping. when, at the break of day, the rushing tramp of British horsemen awoke them. Said father, ' Anna, the Ilessians are upon us !' Mother sprang ont of bed, and raising the window-curtain, saw the troop passing the house, remarking at the same time, 'No, Jonathan, I believe they are our own Colonel Sheldon's army.' In another moment, however, the presence of an enemy was verified by the dashing in of the front window, which was followed by a scene the description of whichi, as given by mother, I have often listencd to with breathless interest.

" At the time of the capture of my father he had been married just six months. Father was taken to New York and confined in the old Sugar House, which was the most popular receptacle for Whig prisoners. . . The party of cavalry who made a prisoner of my father also compelled my grandfather, who was an aged and infirm gentleman, to give up his money. They also drove away liis cattle and literally pil- laged his dwelling of cvery portable article of any value. My father's and mother's wardrobe, containing not only the marriage suits of eachi,

many houses being burned by Tarleton on his way down from Bedford in July, 1779, by the White Plains road, and the whole region being greatly harassed by the raids of the British regulars and Tory sympathizers, except when protection was afforded by the presence of the American army.

It is stated that the town was well represented in the armnies and camps of the government during the War of 1812. The writer, however, has not been able to obtain particulars, or even the names of soldiers who thus served.

But in the War of the Rebellion, North Castle made a record of which she is justly proud. Early in the war enlistments began, and the various methods for rendering assistance to the brothers and sons in camp, field and hospital, which were practised all over the North, were adopted here. As the war lengthened, the town voted liberal measures of aid to the national arms, creating for that purpose a debt of some fifty thousand dollars. The last of this war debt was paid off several years ago.

The following is believed to be a correct list of the soldiers (officers and privates) who enlisted from this town during the war :

Edgar Ferris.

Othniel Merritt.

Charles Ferris.

William B. Williams.

John Ferris.

John Kinsley.

Felix Ackerley.

William Glenning.

William Tuttle.

William Angeviue.

George W. Knapp.

John Terrell.

George W. Gale.

Charles Vredenburgh.

Thomas J. Ackerman.

James Brundage.

Daniel Fleming.

Henry C. Vredenburgh.

Richard Boyce.

James N. Angevine.

Jeremiah Mathias.

George W. Zarr.

Edward Tucker.

Alonzo F. Carpenter.

William II. Farrington.

Jotham Cs penter.

John Robbins.

Henry R. Finch.

Samuel T. Tucker.

John Nugent.

Charles P. Tucker.

James Sheridan.

Jolin Tucker.

Cass. A. Dan.

Charles Raymond.

Augustus Wood.

Edward Riley.

John Woolsey.

Sylvester Ackerman.

Charles Palner.

Lawrence Green.

William French.

Albert II. Ransom.

Edward T. Palner.

Frederick Kratz. Hudson Reynolds.

Henry J. Williams.

Leander Reynolds.

John W. Sniffen.

Joseph L. Brundage.

George Reynolds. Mathias G. Ilobby.

George W. Brundage. John W. Lockwood.

William II. Dayton.

George G. Lockwood.

George 11. Brundage. William O. Scribner.

Caleb Valentine. Abraham Phillips.

Joseph Cunningham.

George W. Hall.

Samnel Cunningham.

George Tallman.

Samuel W. Palmer.

Banks Lounsberry .

but all of the linen and woolen cloth, spun and woven by my mother, shared the same fate. I have heard my father tell of his putting on his beaver hat, as he was leaving his young wife, and that an officer took it off his head and gave him one in return that he took from the head of lis colored scrvant. They took father a mile below his house, where they stopped for breakfast. Then they stripped him of his cloth- ing and scourged him with whips of raw hide, on his naked flesh, till his sufferings had become so intense that his tormentors thought death would ensue. He survived the outrage, but lie carried with him to the grave the scars of the British scourge and the British sword."

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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 147

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