USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York : its origin, rise, and progress. Vol. II > Part 5
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1 Philip Livingston died in 1749. His funeral services were conducted in the most stately and ceremonious manner. His city mansion in Broad Street, New York, and most of the houses in the block, were thrown open to accommodate the vast assemblage. A pipe of wine was spiced for the occasion, and to each of the eight bearers were given a pair of gloves, a scarf, a handkerchief, a mourning-ring, and a monkey spoon. The obsequies were repeated at the manor with increased formalities. In addition to similar gifts to the bearers, as in the city, gloves and handkerchiefs were presented to each of the tenants. The expenses were enormous. William, his fifth son, was struck with the absurdity of the custom, and subse- quently wrote a caustic article on " extravagance at funerals."
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of repelling the cruel invasions of the enemy. It was evident there could be no permanent repose until the French power was crushed in America. But Clinton was at variance with his counselors, and the assistance of the Indians was doubtful ; several of the elder chiefs manifested marked dis- inclination to pledge themselves to any belligerent action, until after a grand council of their warriors at Onondaga.
Portrait of Mary Philipse.
Upon his return to New York the governor stopped a few days at Phil- ipse Manor. Frederick Philipse, the second lord, had recently expanded the great old-fashioned roomy manor-house (the present City Hall of Yonkers, on the Hudson) into thrice its former size, by the addition of the elegant eastern front, with its regiment of windows, and two entrances, each ornamented with eight columns and corresponding pilasters. Among the horse-chestnuts and garden-terraces which skirted the velvety lawn between the mansion and Locust Hill, crept the Albany and New York post-road. Cultivated European tastes were everywhere distinguishable in the arrangement of the grounds and parks ; and immense gardens, through which stretched graveled walks bordered with box, delighted the eye with a wealth of shrubs and flowers rarely excelled in this or any other coun- try, or age. The greensward sloped gradually and smoothly to the river on the west. The roof of the edifice was surmounted by a heavy line of balustrade, forming a terrace, which commanded an extensive view.
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PHILIPSE MANOR-HALL.
The contrast from the scene as it appeared at the same point, when the ancient structure, fronting the south, was first erected in 1682, was striking indeed. It arose in the midst of a picturesque wild. To the north and east were wooded hills, vales, thorny dells, rocky steeps, and fenceless pas- tures; to the south was a mad and musical creek rushing down through a narrow ravine, and fretting and foaming over Dutch mill-dams in its way, until it often upset them altogether ; and to the west was the broad Hudson, with its opposite bank of feldspar and augite, and its waters un- ruffled, save by an occasional sloop and a few paddle-boats. To-day (in 1876) the ambitious city of Yonkers covers the romantic site, extending six miles along the river by three miles or more inland. And in its very heart stands the pioneer manor-house, a curious mixture of Dutch and English architecture, having externally undergone no special alteration.1
The interior of the new part was elaborately finished. The walls were wainscoted, and the ceilings were in arabesque work. Marble mantels were imported from England. The main halls of entrance were about fourteen feet wide, and the superb staircases, with their mahogany hand-rails and balusters were proportionally broad, and gave an air of grandeur to the premises. The dormitories for the fifty or more house- hold servants were in the gable roof.
The present lord of the manor had never been hampered by any of the cares which attend the accumulation of property. His whole life was spent in the enjoyment of it. His mother was an accomplished English- woman, the daughter of Governor Sparks of Barbadoes.2 He had been
1 In 1779 the Legislature of New York declared Frederick Philipse, the third lord of the manor, attainted of treason, and the manor confiscated. In 1784 the State offered it for sale in tracts to suit purchasers. The manor-house and lands adjoining were bought by Cornelius P. Low of New York, and became the rallying-spot for the village of Yonkers. Low did not occupy the mansion, but sold it again. Prior to 1813 it had had many owners. Then it fell into the hands of Lemuel Wells, who lived in it twenty-nine years. He died childless
and intestate, and, leaving no will, his estate was divided among sixteen heirs. Again the building had an uneasy and changeful proprietorship, until about eight years ago, when it was
purchased by the corporation of Yonkers, for a City Hall. It was necessary to alter the geog- raphy of the northern portion of the interior in order to provide space for a modern court- room. But good sense was displayed in the manner of its accomplishment, and, although the boundary lines of former centuries were obliterated in that particular part, yet the south- western apartments have been carefully shielded from modern innovation, and in their an- tique garments are among the last links which connect us with the remote period of tomahawks and scalping-knives.
2 Frederick Philipse, the first lord of the manor, was born about 1626, at Bolswaert in Friesland. He married, in 1662, Margaret Hardenbrook, the widow of Peter Rudolphus De Vries, who had one child, Eve, at the time of her marriage with Philipse, and who was adopted by Philipse as his own. After the death of this lady, Philipse married (in 1692) Catharine, daughter of Oloff S. Van Cortlandt, and widow of John Derval. Philipse died in 1702. His children were, Eve (as above), Philip, Adolphe, and Annetje. Eve married Jaco- 38
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thoroughly educated under her immediate supervision, and had spent much of his early life in Europe. He married an English wife, Joanna, the daughter of Lieutenant-Governor Anthony Brockholls. He presided over his tenants and serfs like a right royal old feudal sovereign. He occupied in person the bench of the court-leet and court-baron of the manor (courts which were held in a building that stood on the site of the present Getty House in Yonkers), and took cognizance of criminal matters, administering justice and not infrequently capital punishment. He feasted his tenants on the two great rent-days, - one at Yonkers and the other at Sleepy Hollow. In lieu of rent, a couple of fat hens or a day's work was often received. The farmers near the river paid higher rates, from being guaranteed greater privileges.
The city establishment of Philipse was as pretentious as the manor- hall, and it was where the courtly aristocracy of the province were wont to meet in gay and joyous throng. Philipse was polished in his manners, hospitable, generous, cordial, manly. He had little taste for politics, and yet he mixed somewhat in public life. He represented Philipseborough for many years in the Assembly, and he was for a long period the baron and second judge of the Exchequer. Notwithstanding his Dutch ancestry on his father's side he was ardently attached to the Church of England. It was through the provisions in his will that St. John's Church in Yon- kers was afterwards erected by the family ; a glebe of two hundred and fifty acres of excellent land was also appropriated to the use of the church, and a parsonage built for the minister.1
bus Van Cortlandt, the younger brother of her step-mother ; Annetje married Philip French. Adolphe never married. Philip, the elder son, went to Barbadoes, where he married the daughter of Governor Sparks. He died some two years before his father, leaving an only son, Freder- ick, who subsequently became the second lord of the manor. Long Island Hist. Soc. Coll., Vol. I. 362, 365. Mrs. Catharine Van Cortlandt Philipse lived more than a quarter of a century after her husband's death. She was chiefly instrumental (in 1699) in building the church at Sleepy Hollow, nearly opposite Castle Philipse, which was done at the expense of herself and husband ; it is now supposed to be the oldest church edifice in the State. While superintending the work, she was in the habit of riding up from the city on horseback, mounted on a pillion behind her favorite brother, Jacobus Van Cortlandt. See page 305.
1 Frederick Philipse, the second lord of the manor, died in 1751. The first minister called to St. John's Church was Rev. Harry Munro, a man of ability and learning, a fine classical scholar, and versed in French, Italian, Hebrew, and Erse ; while his theological attainments were exceptionally good. He was the son of Robert Munro, of Dingwall, near Inverness, Scotland, who was great-grandson of Sir Robert Munro, twenty-fourth Baron of Fowlis, and third Baronet by his first wife. He came to this country (in 1757) as chaplain of one of the regiments specially raised for service in the colonies against the French. He was with the expedition against Fort Duquesne (Pittsburg), and he was present at the taking of Ticon- deroga and Crown Point. He was with the army until 1762. He went to Yonkers about 1765. He married for his third wife (March 31, 1766) Eve, daughter of Peter Jay and Mary Van Cortlandt (Mary Van Cortlandt was the daughter of Jacobus Van Cortlandt and Eve
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FREDERICK PHILIPSE.
His children received every advantage in the way of instruction which it was in the power of wealthy parents to bestow. His elder son, Frederick (who became the third and last lord of the manor), was graduated at King's College in New York. He grew up an ardent Churchman, and opened his purse generously to all charitable purposes. His tastes were literary. He took very little part in public affairs, although he was a member of the Assembly for several years. He was known as a scholarly gentleman of the old school and an ornament in polite society. He lived in a style of magnificence exceeding all of his predecessors. The manor- house was furnished anew, and on every side there was costly and showy display. His wife was an imperious woman of fashion. It is said that it was her pride to appear upon the roads of Westchester, skillfully reining four splendid jet-black steeds with her own hands. She was killed by a fall from her carriage a short time before the Revolution. Her husband was one of those who tried to maintain so strict a neutrality in the commencement of the great struggle as to protect his property. But he failed. He was at heart a loyalist, and had no faith in the success of the American arms. He was very soon suspected of favoring the British, and compelled to seek safety in the city until the end of the war. He was, however, at the manor-hall until after the battle of White Plains, and Washington and his generals spent several nights under his terraced roof. It is said Washington occupied the southwestern cham- ber. It is an immense room, and has an old-fashioned Dutch fireplace with jambs about three feet deep, faced in blue and white tile, bearing scriptural illustrations and appropriate references. The chimney (now almost two hundred years old) is of peculiarly quaint construction, and has a secret passage-way from this apartment to some underground retreat, the object of which can only be conjectured. The bricks of which it was built were imported from Holland.
Philipse (the second lord) had three lovely and accomplished daughters, of whom Susan married Colonel Beverly Robinson, the son of Hon. John Robinson of Virginia, the president of that colony on the retirement of Governor Gooch. The bride received a handsome estate from her father, on the Hudson, opposite West Point, where, in 1750, they erected a ro- mantic dwelling for a summer home. It was fashioned according to the prevailing style of country-seats in England at that period ; its entrance-
Philipse), and sister of Sir James Jay (M. D.) and Chief Justice John Jay. Their only child was Peter Jay Munro, the celebrated lawyer ; he married Margaret, daughter of Henry White and Eve Van Cortlandt (Eve Van Cortlandt was the daughter of Frederick Van Cortlandt and Frances Jay, and granddaughter of Jacobus Van Cortlandt), and of his daughters Frances be- came the wife of Bishop De Lancey, Harriet of Augustus Frederick Van Cortlandt, and Ann of Elias Desbrosses Hunter. - New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, IV. 123.
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hall was immensely broad, and its apartments stately, although the ceil- ings were low. The carving and the tiles were of unique pattern. Gar- dens, lawns, fruit-orchards, highly cultivated fields, and great deer-parks soon surrounded the home of the military scholar, and, in deference to the family of his mother, the bride named the estate " Beverley." It was for the next twenty-five years the abode of a generous and courtly hospitality. Robinson was a major in the British army, under General Wolfe, and fought with heroic courage on the Plains of Abraham. When the Revo- lutionary controversy commenced, he opposed the measures of the Minis- try, gave up the use of imported merchandise, and clad himself and his family in fabrics of domestic manufacture. But he opposed also the separation of the colonies from the mother country. He was not a native- born citizen of America. He was a retired officer of the king's forces, liable to be called upon at any time in case of war. His idea of a sol- dier's first duty was obedience to superior authority. Hence, although he greatly desired to take a neutral part when hostilities broke out, the con- trary pressure was so strong that he yielded, and removed his family to his city mansion, whence they took refuge in Great Britain at the close of the war.1 His immense estate was confiscated by the Legislature of the State, and sold.
Mary Philipse, the younger sister of Mrs. Robinson, was born at the manor-house in 1730. She was the brilliant young lady who captivated Washington, when he was the guest of Colonel Robinson at the New York mansion of the latter, in 1756, while on his horseback journey from Vir- ginia to Boston. Whether the stylish Virginia colonel was backward about coming forward, or whether he was actually rejected by the beautiful belle, will ever remain a question. Colonel Roger Morris was the favored suitor, and shortly afterward the fashion, the rank, the beauty, and the scholarship of the capital were assembled at the manor-hall in Yonkers to celebrate the bridal. Morris had been a fellow-soldier with Washing-
1 The children of Colonel Beverly Robinson all attained distinction. Beverley was Lieu- tenant-Colonel in the British army, and settled at St. John's, New Brunswick, where he be- came President of the Royal Council. He died in New York City in 1816. John was a mem- ber of the Royal Council, and treasurer of New Brunswick ; also mayor of St. Johns, and president of the first bank ever chartered in that colony. Sir Frederick passed through all the gradations of army rank, commanded a brigade at the battle of Vittoria, at the siege of St. Sebastian, and at the passage of the Nievre ; he was commander-in-chief of the Canadian forces in the War of 1812, and was appointed governor of Upper Canada in 1815, at the same time receiving the order of knighthood. He was afterwards advanced to the Order of the Bath. He visited Beverly in his mature manhood, and is said to have shed tears while regarding with profound admiration the beauties which encompassed his birthplace. Sir William Henry was knighted by the king for valuable services rendered to the English gov- ernment. His wife was the daughter of Cortlandt Skinner of New Jersey.
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COLONEL ROGER MORRIS.
ton on the field of Monongahela, where Braddock fell, in the summer of 1755. He built, shortly after his marriage, the fine old mansion at One Hundred and Sixty-ninth Street, which was the residence (until her death in 1865) of the widow of Aaron Burr, Vice-President of the United States, known as Madame Jumel. It was surrounded by highly ornamented grounds, and its situation, from its commanding view of the Harlem River at High Bridge, to Long Island Sound and beyond, was one of the finest and most attractive on Manhattan Island. Morris adhered to the crown after the Declaration of Independence in 1776, and when, in the autumn of that year, the American army under Washington encamped upon Har- lem Heights and occupied Fort Washington, he fled to Beverly for safety, and Washington made the handsome Morris mansion his headquarters for
Roger Morris Mansion.
a time. The estate of Adolphe Philipse reverted at his death to his nephew, the second lord of the manor. At the death of the latter the land in Put- nam County was divided between his younger children. The part around and including Lake Mahopac fell to Mary (Philipse), Mrs. Roger Morris. She was in the habit of visiting her tenants in that region semi-yearly, up to the time of the Revolution, and was very much beloved by them. She occupied the little log-house of her great-uncle at first ; but she. finally caused to be erected a much larger and better structure of logs, where she passed several weeks every season. This log-house is still in existence, a
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
frame-house having been built around it. It is occupied by a man so aged that he can distinctly remember when boats could sail from the Hudson River through Canal Street, in New York City, to the Fresh Water Pond in Centre Street. It is near the famous "Red Mill," which was built by the Philipse tenants in 1745, some giving timber, some boards, and some labor, as it was esteemed of great importance to have a place to grind the grain which was raised in this reniote country. The loft of the mill was used as a church for many years, and Mrs. Morris al- ways attended divine service there whenever on a visit to her tenants. During the Revolution the mill was converted into a storehouse for the American army, and Mrs. Morris's log-house was more than once occu- pied by Washington, and was the scene of many tragic events.
A slice of the Philipse estate bordering upon the Harlem River (ex- tending towards Yonkers) had been conveyed by the first lord of the manor to Jacobus Van Cortlandt,1 the husband of his eldest daughter, Eve.
1 Oloff S. Van Cortlandt (the first Van Cortlandt in this country) was married to Ann, the sister of Govert Loockermans, in the Dutch Church, New York, February 26, 1642. Their children were, 1, Stephanus, born 1643, married Gertrude Schuyler ; 2, Maria, married Jere- mias Van Rensselaer ; 3, John, died unmarried ; 4, Sophia, married Andrew Teller ; 5, Cath- arine, married John Derval, afterwards Frederick Philipse ; 6, Cornelia, married Brandt Schuyler ; 7, Jacobus, born 1658, married Eve Philipse.
Stephanus Van Cortlandt and Gertrude Schuyler's children were, 1, John, married Anne Sophia Van Schaack, and left an only daughter, Gertrude, who married Philip Verplanck ; 2, Anne, who married Stephen De Lancey ; 3, Margaret, who married Samuel Bayard ; 4, Oliver, who died unmarried ; 5, Maria, who married Kilian Van Rensselaer, the fourth pa- troon of Rensselaerswick, and the first grantee of the manor under the English patent in 1704 ; 6, Gertrude, died young ; 7, Philip, married Catharine De Peyster ; 8, Stephanus, married Catalina Staats ; 9, Gertrude, married Colonel Henry Beekman ; 10, Gysbert, died unmarried ; 11, Elizabeth, died young ; 12, Elizabeth (born 1694), married Rev. William Skinner, the first rector of St. Peter's Church, Perth Amboy. His true name was McGregor ; he was one of the clan proscribed for supporting the Old Pretender in 1715. He changed his name, came to America, and became an Episcopal clergyman. His oldest son was Cortlandt Skinner, whose daughter married Sir William Henry Robinson, of "Beverly" ; his youngest son, William Skinner, married his cousin, Susan, daughter of Admiral Sir Peter Warren and Susan De Lancey ; 13, Catharine, married Andrew Johnston, second son of Dr. John Johnston, speaker of the New Jersey Assembly and member of the governor's council of New Jersey. 14, Cornelia (born 1698), married Colonel John Schuyler, the son of John Schuyler, the younger brother of Hon. Peter Schuyler. Colonel John Schuyler and Cornelia Van Cortlandt were the parents of the celebrated General Philip Schuyler of the American Revolution.
Jacobus Van Cortlandt (the ancestor of the Van Cortlandts of Yonkers, the youngest branch of the Van Cortlandt family) and Eve Philipse's children were, Margaret, married Abraham De Peyster, Jr., Treasurer of New York province forty-six years ; Anne, married Judge John Chambers ; Mary, married Peter Jay ; and Frederick married Frances Jay.
Philip Van Cortlandt (who lived at the manor) and Catharine De Peyster's children were, 1, Stephen (born in 1711), married Mary Walton Ricketts ; 2, Abraham, died unmar- ried ; 3, Philip, died unmarried ; 4, John, died unmarried ; 5, Pierre (born 1721), first lieu- tenant-governor of New York as a State, and ancestor of the present Van Cortlandts of Cort-
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CLINTON AND THE ASSEMBLY.
The great substantial country-house, now standing, was built upon this property in 1748, by Frederick Van Cortlandt, who had married Frances Jay.1
It was a weary drive from Kingsbridge to the city, the roads not being cared for in the best manner, and Clinton was overtaken on his wintry journey (it was late in the autumn) by a driving northeastern storm of sleet and rain, which occasioned an attack of rheumatic gout from which he did not recover for months. His family were sick at the same time, and he wrote dolorous accounts of the general health of the people to his friends in England, which created an unfavorable impression concerning the climate of New York. Fevers had indeed prevailed to an alarming ex- tent during the season, also the small-pox. But an old certificate, signed in the presence of the justices of the peace - Gerardus Stuyvesant, William Roome, Simon Johnson, John Marshall, and Stephen Van Cort- landt - by the physicians of New York, shows that about the middle of October the sickness had materially abated. The names of those who were practicing medicine in the city, in 1745, were Doctors Archibald Fisher, William Beekman, Isaac Du Bois, Roelof Kiersted, John Van Bueren, E. B. Kemmena, Abraham Van Vleck, William Heweot, William Blake, David Hay, Alexander Moore, William Brownjohn, and Joseph Bruning.
The House was in session when the governor arrived, and although in great bodily suffering he reported the demand made upon New York for assistance by the other colonies, and the temper of the Indians. He recommended the raising of money for building forts along the frontiers, for equipping a guard-ship to defend the coast, for fitting out an expedi- tion against Crown Point, for providing provisions for the Oswego gar- rison, for more money to strengthen the hands of the commissioners, for the punctual payment of the militia, and for a thousand and one contin- gent expenses.
The response was slow and measured. Why must so weighty a bur- den be borne by New York ? The members of the Assembly were nearly all rich men, and consequently large tax-payers. The bleeding process was becoming painful. England ought to come to the rescue.
landt Manor, married Joanna Livingston ; 6, Catharine (born in 1725), was killed by the bursting of a cannon at the Battery.
1 The children of Frederick Van Cortlandt and Frances Jay were, James, married Elizabeth Cuyler ; Frederick, died unmarried ; Augustus, married Helen Barclay ; Ann, married Na- thaniel Marston, afterwards Augustus Van Horne ; Eve, married Henry White.
Augustus Van Cortlandt and Helen Barclay's children were, Ann, who married her cousin, Henry White, the son of Henry White and Eve Van Cortlandt ; and Helen, who married James Morris of Morrisania.
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
Clinton wrote to the Lords that the Assembly was extremely backward in promoting any public good; he said: "While so many Dutch prevail in the province, I can have but little hopes of succeeding in any enterprise, though ever so well concerted, unless they are compelled to do their duty more cheerfully by a superior power." He intimated that the Dutch of Albany wanted to maintain neutrality with the French savages for pur- poses of trade, and actually exchanged ammunition with them for skins while the same wretches were murdering the New England people in the most shocking manner. He charged Philip Livingston, in particular, with having been engaged in the nefarious business. He urged the British Ministry to take cognizance of the " disobedience and indolence of the New York Assembly."
In the spring Clinton begged to be allowed to return to Eng- 1746. land for the recovery of his health. His hearing and eyesight. were very much impaired, and he had lost strength and flesh. One of his children had died, and a son, who had been afflicted with fever and ague for ten months, had already sailed for Europe. The Assembly treated him with disrespect, and the counselors were ill-natured. The government was not likely to fill his purse, and he was heartily disgusted with New York.
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