USA > New York > Westchester County > Little visits to historical points in Westchester County > Part 2
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
The Village of White Plains was incorpo- rated by an act passed April 3d, 1866. The
26
WHITE PLAINS
first officers of the village were: President, John Swineburne; Clerk, John M. Rowell; Trustees, Gilbert S. Lyon, Edward Sleath, H. P. Rowell, J. P. Jenkins, J. W. Mills, and Harvey Groat. The present population is about 10,000.
The trolley is exercising a developing in- fluence in this section of the country; the line from Tarrytown through White Plains to Ma- maroneck, is well patronized at all hours.
As a residential town, it is unsurpassed by any town in this locality; its government is con- ducted by energetic, progressive, business men. Within the last five years the village has acquir- ed the water works, the sewerage system has been extended to all parts of the town, fifteen miles of macadam roads have been built at a cost of $400, ooo, a free mail delivery has been established, the county buildings have been enlarged and improved, three school buildings and one church erected, the train service has been improved so that at the present, ninety-eight passenger trains
27
WHITE PLAINS
to and from New York arrive each day, a high- school organized and charted, and a public libra- ry established.
The streets are splendidly paved, and im- maculately clean. The houses are comfortable, and in many instances large and beautiful, and an air of contentment and civic pride appears to prevail.
Whitelaw Reid's beautiful residence, Ophir Farm, is justly admired; Mr. Reid is the leading envoy and special embassador from the United States to witness the coronation ceremonies of Edward VII. Among the most magnificent of palatial the residences are the Gedney farm of Howard Willets; Hillair of Paul G. Theobald; Hill Crest of Trenor L. Parks, etc.
The sanitariums are large and picturesque, not the least of which are the White Plains Hospital; the Keely Institute; the enormously wealthy Bloomingdale Asylum, which is a village in itself, covering with its fourteen great buildings and
28
WHITE PLAINS
beautiful grounds 308 acres, was originally found- ed in New York City in 1711 and remained there over one hundred years, being removed here about twenty years since.
All the Christian denominations are repre- sented at White Plains; as you enter the village from Mamaroneck Avenue the Baptist Church is the first to attract your attention, this is a substan- tial stone structure, with a congregation fully appre- ciative of its pastor the Rev. Dr. J.W.T.Boothe. There is also an interesting and steadily growing Baptist Colored congregation. The Presbyterians hold the oldest Church property in White Plains, dating back to 1727. The Episcopalians have a large and flourishing congregation. The first Methodist Church was incorporated in I795. The Roman Catholic in 1848.
The Police and Fire Departments next claim our attention. An efficient Police Department thoroughly housed and equipped. A Fire De- partment with modern apparatus. Lighting plant
29
WHITE PLAINS
fully up to date. The three Banks are in a flour- ishing condition and are ready to transact busi- ness to any extent. While the Hotels furnish ample accomadation to people visiting the town, all are under superior management and therefore it is unnecessary to make invidious distinction, although Admiral Dot's wide known popularity, being exhibited by P. T. Barnum, as the famous dwarf, brings his hotel into special notice.
The tax rate for State, County, School and local purposes is less than 2 per cent; and every- thing points to great future prosperity and pro- gress.
30
...
NEW Y : PLN - - LIBRARY I
- 11
ST. JOHN'S M. E. CHURCH.
3'IN SNHOP JS
-
Vol. I.
FEBRUARY 1902
No. 2
LITTLE VISITS TO HISTORICAL
POINTS IN
WESTCHESTER COUNTY
PART TWO
BY AN AUTHORITY
NEW ROCHELLE
MAMARONECK, N. Y.
.
PUBLISHED
BY THE RICHBELL PRESS . MC MI I
Copyrighted 1902 BY J. WALLACE CLAPP.
The Richbell Press . J. Wallace Clapp . Mamaroneck . N. Y.
LITTLE VISITS TO HISTORICAL POINTS IN WESTCHESTER COUNTY
NEW ROCHELLE
T HE town of New Rochelle, formerly a part of the Manor of Pelham, was orig- inally included in the grant made by the Indians in the year 1640 to the Dutch West India Company, but no settlement was actually commenced on it until long after Thomas Pell's purchase which occurred in 1654. The aborigines appear to have resided on Davenport's Neck, where they had a large settlement denominated, Shippa; a few settlements were also scattered along the fertile meadows bordering the various fresh water
31
NEW ROCHELLE
streams, especially in the northern part of the town.
"On the sixth day of October 1666, Richard Nicolls, governor of the province, dia give ratify and confirm unto Thomas Pell, all that tract of land lying to the eastward of Westchester bounds, being a portion of Pelham Manor, which said tract of land hath heretofore been purchased of the Indian proprietors, and ample satisfaction given for the same."
In 1669 the patentee devised the whole Manor of Pelham to his nephew, John, common- ly called Lord Pell, who obtained a further con- firmation for the same from Thomas Dongan, governor of the province, on the 28th of October 1687. "On the 20th of September 1689 we find John Pell, Lord of the Manor of Pelham, and Rachel, his wife, conveying to Jacob Leisler of the City of New York, merchant, in considera- tion of the sum of Sixteen Hundred and Seventy- five Pounds Sterling, current money of the prov-
32
NEW ROCHELLE
ince, all that tract of land lying and being within said Manor of Pelham, containing six thousand acres of land, and also one hundred acres of land more, which the said John Pell and Rachel, his wife, do freely give and grant for the French Church, to be erected by the inhabitants of the said tract of land, or by their assignees, being butted and bounded, as herein is after expressed, beginning at the west side of a certain white oak tree, marked on all four sides, standing at high water mark at the south end of Hog Neck, by shoals, harbor, and runs; northwesterly through the great fresh meadow lying between the road and the Sound, and from the north side of the said meadow, to run from thence due north to Bronx River, which is the west division line be- tween the said John Pell's land, and the aforesaid tract bound on the southeasterly by the Sound and salt water, and to run northeasterly to a certain piece of salt meadow lying in the sait creek which runneth up to Cedar Tree Brook
33
NEW ROCHELLE
or Gravelly Brook, and is the bounds to south- ern." "
Several of the leaders of the Huguenots entered into correspondence with Leisler, with a view to the purchase, by him, as agent, of eligible land for the establishment of a Huguenot Colony. The Edict of Nantes, a decree granting a meas- ure of liberty to the Protestants of France, pro- mulgated in 1598 by Henry IV., was revoked by Louis XIV., on the 22nd of October 1685, and by that act of state policy, the conditions of life in the Kingdom of France were made intol- erable to most persons of Protestant belief.
For a long time previous to the revocation an increasing number of French Protestants had begun to seek homes in foreign lands. America was especially attractive to them, and after the revocation (1685), the emigration grew to large proportions.
The French Protestants already in America were constantly looking about them for a suit-
34
NEW ROCHELLE
able place to plant a colony, and in 1686 and 1687, secured from John Pell, portions of land in that part of Pelham now embraced in the City of New Rochelle, and as the location met the ap- proval of the Huguenots, Leisler as the constitut- ed agent of the French Protestants was led to locate the settlement in that place; he was authorized by the Committee of Public Safety on the 16th of August 1689, "to use the power and authority of commander-in-chief, until orders should come from their Majesties King William and Queen Mary. And further to do all such acts as are re- quisite for the good of the province, taking coun- sel with the militia and civil authority as occasion shall require."
For assuming the government, Leisler was afterwards tried on a charge of high treason, and executed, May 16th 1691. Everything proves Leisler was condemned unlawfully and executed unjustly. A petition in favor of reversing Leisler's attainder was signed by the Huguenots
35
NEW ROCHELLE
of New Rochelle. "Jacob Leister was truly an honest man, but was a martyr to the cause of liberty, and sacrificed by injustice, aristocracy, and party malignity." Throughout the year pre- ceding his execution, we find Leisler releasing to the exiled Huguenots, the lands which he had purchased in their behalf of John Pell in 1689.
The Huguenots or French Protestants of New Rochelle came directly from England, and were a part of the 50,000 persecuted who had fled into that country before the revocation of the Edict of Nantes; this is confirmed by the Charter of Trinity Church, New Rochelle, where- in they specify that "they fled from France in 168I."
La Rochelle in France was the stronghold of the Protestants and the English favored them at every opportunity. "Assure the Rochellese that I will not abandon them," was the message of King Charles of England in 1627, and the same interest and sympathy was extended by
36
NEW ROCHELLE
King Charles II., who on the 28th of July 1681, granted letters of denization in council, under the Great Seal, and assured the exiles that, at the next meeting of Parliament, he would introduce a bill by which they should be naturalized; reliev- ed them at the moment from importation duties and passport fees, aud encouraged voluntary con- tributions for their support.
This order was issued the same year in which the Huguenots of New Rochelle fled from France, conclusive evidence that they constituted a portion of those exiles who accepted the royal offers, and afterwards under the patronage of the government, purchased and settled here in 1689, The Huguenots must have been aided in their escape from France by the English vessels that lay for some time off the Island of Rhe, opposite La Rochelle, in which they were conveyed to England.
Tradition says that they were afterwards transported to America in one of the King's
37
NEW ROCHELLE
ships. The point on Davenport's Neck, Bauffet's or Bounefoy's Point, was the spot where they first landed.
On the 17th of April 1695, we find letters of denization granted to Francis LeCount, under oaths appointed to be taken.
On the 6th of April 1595-6 letters of den- ization were issued under the Seal of the province. to twenty-eight persons of foreign birth; being fugitives by the persécution.
They continued to arrive from England, as far as can be ascertained, till the year 1700.
The settlement of New Rochelle was com- menced by the Huguenots in 1691, two years after the purchase of the town. The records of New Rochelle commenced on November Ist 1699 in the French language. The first independent election for town officers took place in 1783. The early settlers gave the place the name it now bears, in re- membrance of their native residence, La Rochelle, in France, and soon became noted on account of
38
NEW ROCHELLE
the hospitality and politeness of the people, and also for the facilities for acquiring the French language. Many people who afterward became distinguished, received under the charge of the French clergy, the elements of their education; mention may especially be made of Washington Irving, the author of numerous interesting books; John Jay, "who made the celebrated Treaty of Paris, for the independence of our Country, and exerted a powerful influence in extending the limits of the United States to the Mississippi," he was also the first Chief Justice of the United States.
Philip Schuyler entered the army during the French and Indian War; after the Revolution he became a member of the Colonial Assembly of New York, and resisted earnestly the British attempts to tax the Colonies without their consent; he was a delegate to the Continental Congress, by whom he was assigned to the command of the troops in New York, and of the expedition against
39
NEW ROCHELLE
Canada; he afterwards actively superintended In- dian affairs. Before the National Constitution was formed he became a member of Congress; and afterwards twice represented his State in the United States Senate. His name is perpetuated in this county, by naming the Fort at Throgg's Neck in honor of him.
For two generations the Huguenots of New Rochelle preserved in its purity the French lan- guage.
In the grant to Jacob Leisler, John Pell, Lord of the Manor, and Rachel, his wife, "did give and grant to the said Jacob Leisler, the fur- ther quantity of one hundred acres of land for the use of the French Church erected, or to be erected, by the inhabitants of the said tract of land." This property was long in dispute be- tween the Episcopalian and Presbyterian Cor- porations, each claiming to be the original French Church.
On July 22d 1700 in the general assembly
40
NEW ROCHELLE
of the inhabitants of this place, according to Justice Mott's warrant, "it has been agreed by the plurality of votes, that above the hundred acres of land given by Sir John Pell for the 1
Church of this place, the said hundred acres 1 shall be taken on the undivided lands according to the choice of the elders of the church, as they will find the more profitable for the church and people."
In 1763 the members of Trinity Church ob- tained a further confirmation of the grant from the heirs of John Pell, and subsequently released to each other.
On the 4th of February 1763, David Guion released the same to Trinity Church for the sum of One Hundred Pounds.
Isaac Guion, Peter Flandreau, Samuel Gelliot and Magdaline Stouppe also released to the Church in 1767.
Prior to the erection of the first Huguenot Church in New Rochelle the pious inhabitants
41
NEW ROCHELLE
of this town walked regularly every Saturday, starting about midnight, to New York a distance at that time of twenty-three miles, to attend the Sunday service at the old Church du St. Esprit in Pine street, New York City, and returned on Sunday evenings to their homes to be ready for their regular duties on Monday morning; always commencing their march by singing their beauti- ful hymns. Many continued to worship in this manner until the American Revolution broke out, when this part of the country became harassed and over-run by the British troops; the people in consequence were scattered, and the younger members of the community grew up without going to any regular place of worship .*
The Rochellese were the first to bring the Marigold to America; this was their national
*For further particulars on this subject see Rikeman's Evolution of Stuyvesant Village (New York City)
42
NEW ROCHELLE
emblem, and on all occasions displayed with pride.
John Pintard in his "Recollections", refers to the Huguenots of New Rochelle as receiving the Holy Sacrament four times a year-Christ- mas, Easter, Whitsunday and the middle of September; during the intermission that occurred the communicants walked to New York for that purpose. Previous to their departure they always collected the young children, and left them in the care of the friends who remained at home. The Huguenots were very solicitous in the do- mestic education of their children. In the com- mon sitting room of most houses, the mantle- piece was finished with Dutch tiles, containing chiefly the history of the New Testament, and the Parables; they used these object lessons with excellent effect, in connection with verbal train- ing.
The first minister of the French Reformed Church in New Rochelle appears to have been
43
NEW ROCHELLE
the Rev. Daniel Bondet, although there are some reasons for supposing that the Rev. Thauvet Ecotonneau occupied that position.
The year of the Rev. Daniel Bondet's set- tlement at New Rochelle was 1700. At first he used the French Prayers according to the Protes- tants Churches of France, but in 1709, his con- gregation unanimously, with the exception of two individuals, followed the example of their French Reformed brethren in England and New York, by conforming to the English Church. Upon this conformity we find the venerable Propagation Society making an allowance to the Rev. Daniel Bondet, and directing him to use Liturgy of the Church of England.
Governor Ingoldsby issued the following order or license empowering the inhabitants to erect a new Church.
"By ye Honorable Richard Ingoldsby, Esq. her majesties Lieutenant Governor and Com- mander-in-chief of ye province of New York and
44
NEW ROCHELLE
New Jersey, To ye Rev. Mr. Daniel Bondet minister, Chaplain Oliver Beesley, Mr. Isaac Vallian, Dr. John Neuille, Joseph le Villian, and ye other inhabitants of ye town of New Rochelle, in ye county of Westchester, communicants of ye Church of England, as by law established, greet- ing: Whereas, I am informed of your pious de- sign to build a Church for the worship and ser- vice of God, according to ye form and manner prescribed by the Liturgy of the Church of Eng- land, and have been applied to for lycense to erect it on ye public street. I have thought fit, and do hereby give leave and lycense to you to erect such building in such convenient place of ye street, as ye shall think most proper, provid- ed ye breadth of such Church do not exceed thir- ty foot. And further I do authorize and empow- er you to receive and collect such sums of mon- ey and other help, as charitable people shall be disposed to contribute to the good work.
Given under my hand and seal at New York,
45
NEW ROCHELLE
this 20th. day of March, 1709, and of her maj- esties reign ye ninth year."
"Richard Ingoldsby"
Church erected in 1710-II was constructed of stone, and formed nearly a square, being perfectly plain, within and without. The foundation stone was laid by Governor Hunter; and the people were so enthusiastic that even the women carried stones in their hands, and mortar in their aprons, to complete the work.
On February 7th 1714 Queen Annie of England was pleased to grant and confirm the new Church, and the ground whereon it stood.
During the incumbency of the Rev. Michael Houdin, Trinity Church, New Rochelle, receiv- ed her first charter from King George III.
Queen Annie in 1706, presented to Trinity Church a large chalice and paten; this beautiful service, was many years since deposited in the vaults of Tiffany, Mahattan. The Queen also presented a Church Bible, Book of Homilies, and
46
NEW ROCHELLE
cloth for the pulpit and communion table. About the same time, two small chalices were presented by a member of the Davenport family.
On the 28th of February 1808, the Presby- terian Church was incorporated under the title of the "French Church of New Rochelle," proving conclusively that many of the Huguenots did not enter the Episcopal fold; this congregation was at first attached to the Bedford presbytry. There is a tradition that one of the old Hugue- nots would daily repair to Bounefoy's or Bauffet's Point, the place where the Huguenots first land- ed, and turning his eyes in the direction in which he supposed France was situated, would sing one of Marot's hymns, and send to heaven his morn- ing devotions. Frequently his friends joined him in these pious remembrances of their God, and their beloved country, from which they had been so cruelly driven.
The Huguenots opened the road from New Rochelle to White Plains, this road seperated
47
NEW ROCHELLE
their farms into two sections, distinguished as the eastern and western division.
The land was originally laid out in parallel, narrow strips, containing each from fifty to sixty acres. Some of the early settlers purchased double lots, and a very few from eight to ten, containing four or five hundred acres in all.
The lower part of the town, designated as the southern division, was laid out in a similar man- ner, the lots extending from the south side of the Boston Turnpike to the Sound. Among those in the west division, were the Drakes, Badeaus and the Secors. In the east division the Le Counts, Soulices, Scurmans and Bonnetts. And in the southern division the Guions, Rhinc- landers and Flandreaus.
The refugees escaped from France, with only a few articles concealed about their persons; the woman hiding their small bibles in their high dressed hair. Their farms were not paid for until after many years of toil, rigid economy and
48
NEW ROCHELLE
firm reliance in the All Powerful One® "What sought they thus afar,
Bright jewels of the mine ? The wealth of war, the spoil of seas ? They sought a faiths pure shrine."
This ceaseless toil and endeavor, developed still further their already well-rounded characters, and placed them among the noblest of our national pioneers.
A descendant of one of "these men of sterl- ing worth" has recorded his name on Boston's great Hall. Peter Faneuil a native of the "Town of New Rochelle," went to Boston in the year 1720, at the age of eighteen; his uncle Andrew Faneuil, was a wealthy merchant of that place, and Peter obtained employment with him, and inherit- ed his fortune. In 1740 the people of Boston were divided in opinion upon the question of the erection of a new Central Market Hall, and much bitter feeling was aroused. Thereupon, Peter Faneuil, actuated by public spirit, erected Faneuil
49
NEW ROCHELLE
Hall, and presented it to the City.
During the Revolutionary War New Ro- chelle appears to have endured her share of suffer -. ing from the incursion of the enemy, and their emissaries. On the 18th of October, Lord Howe, the British commander, took post in the village, General Washington occupying the in -- termediate heights between the two rivers the enemy was joined by the second division of Germans, under the command of General Knyp- hausen, and by an incomplete regiment of caval- ry from Ireland, some of which had been captur- on their passage.
The Scotch Highland battalion occupied the heights of New Rochelle. From this place both armies moved toward White Plains, on the 25th of October, 1776. On the 29th of January 1777, General Wooster's division was ordered to New Rochelle.
At the east end of the village a severe skir- mish took place between a body of American
50
NEW ROCHELLE
light horse, under Colonel Moyland, and the Queen's Rangers, commanded by Lieut Colonel Simcoe. In this affair, Colonel Moyland greatly distinguished himself, by beating off the enemy, and making good his retreat to Greenwich. During the War, the entire coast suffered sev- erely both from the enemy's shipping and the incursions of the whale boat-men.
Shortly after our Country's strugle for Inde- pendence the State Government conveyed to the notorious Thomas Paine, a large tract of land in the eastern division of New Rochelle, for services he had rendered during the War. Paine came to this Country under the auspices of Franklin, Rush and other prominent people. In 1774 he composed his first song, followed soon after by "Common Sense,""Crisis,""The Age of Reason," etc. Paine was a companion of Robespierre, and was on the trial of the Innocent Louis. He several times escaped a miserable death, and spent a large part of his time in the New Rochelle
51
NEW ROCHELLE
house, but at one period lived in a house that stood not far from Prince and Marion Streets, N. Y., he was invariably seen sitting before an old table, on which stood a jug of spirituous liquors.
Paine died on the 8th of June 1809, aged 72 years and 5 months. His body was brought up from New York, and interred on his farm; his bones were afterward disinterred by William Cobbett, and taken to England for exhibition. Some authorities assert that the remains were re- interred in the original ground, and others with equal certainty, claim that after the death of Cobbett, a box of human bones were found among his goods and chattels. In the early four- ties, Paine's friends purchased the site of his sup- posed grave, and erected a handsome monument to his memory, to which for a long period they made an annual pilgrimage.
Many of the towns in Westchester County owe their very existance to the railroads, but not so with New Rochelle, nearly two hundred years
52
NEW ROCHELLE
before railroads were even thought of, the town was occupied by a prosperous community.
The Churches in the town are commodious and every way attractive; the Episcopalians were, after the Huguenots, the first to erect buildings, followed by the Presbyterians in 1754, the Meth- odists in 1791, the Baptists in 1849, the Roman Catholics in 1850 and later by the Lutheran and Colored Congregations.
Among New Rochelle's literati may be men- tioned, Rev. Dr. C. W. Bolton, Rev. Mr. Cane- dy, William Leggett, an able journalist, who died at the early age of 37, Frederick Remington, artist and author, etc.
The islands off the coast are picturesque and useful; David's Island has been used by the Government for military purposes since 1861.
Starin's Glen Island is a popular resort and is connected with the mainland by trolley and steamboat.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.