USA > New York > Westchester County > Little visits to historical points in Westchester County > Part 7
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At a town meeting held on the first of April, 1699, a committee was appointed 'to agree with Greenwich men to run the preamble line'. At a similar meeting held on the first of November, 1707, Thomas Merrit, Deliverance Brown, senior, and Robert Bloomer were chosen a committee to agree with Greenwich men to settle and run the line between the town of Greenwich and the town of Rye. In 1722 the inhabitants of Rye near
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Byram River again complained and another mimic war was enacted .*
Governor Hunter lost no time in transmit- ting to Connecticut a copy of these complaints from Rye. In his letter to Governor Saltonstall, he expressed his hope that there had been some mistake in the matter, as otherwise he must regard it as 'the most extraordinary method of procedure in disputes about boundaries between two provinces, under the same Sovereign, that has been hitherto known.'
'You see' he adds, 'the necessity of your having a law passed, previous to the running the line in your Colony as has been done in this, declaring the line which shall be so run to be forever hereafter the true division line betwixt the two. The minute that is done, I shall appoint Commissaries and Surveyors who shall, in con- junction with such as you shall appoint, forthwith set about it to prevent all future disputes. We
*Town Meeting Book, No. C. p. 4; No. G. p. 23.
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have hitherto,' concludes the good-natured gover- nor, 'at least during my time, lived together in good and friendly correspondence, and I hope nothing can intervene that shall be able to break. it off.'*
This episode at Rye may have had some effect in hastening the movement for the settling of the boundary line. In October of the same year, 1718, commissioners appointed by the two governments met at Rye, but failed to agree upon a method of procedure. The com- missioners from New York refused to go on, be- cause those from Connecticut were not empower- ed to complete the line, and bind their govern- ment to its adoption. In 1719, Connecticut ap- pointed new commissioners with larger powers; but still without pledging itself that the survey should be final. New York, meanwhile, without taking any notice of this action passed what was termed 'a probationary act.' It provided for the *New York Colonial MSS.
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appointment of commissioners on the part of that province, in conjunction with others from Con- necticut. These were to run all the lines in accordance with the agreement and survey of 1683 and 1684. But if no commissioners should be sent from Connecticut duly empowered, those from New York were authorized to go on alone, taking every precaution to do justice to both provinces, and to conform to the agreement and former survey; and the line so run was to remain forever as the boundary. This act was made conditional on the royal approbation.
Four years elapsed before this proposition was responded to. At length in October 1723 the General Assembly of Connecticut appointed commissioners with full powers, as requested by New York. A meeting was arranged to be held at Rye on the fourth of February, 1724. But tedious negotiations followed, and it was not until April 1725, that the commissioners met at the appointed place. Their first business was to agree
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upon the mode in which the survey should be made. This accomplished they entered upon their work, starting at 'the great stone at the wading-place"* which had been designated as the point of beginning forty-one years before. Their survey was extended as far as that of 1684, to 'the Duke's trees', at the northwest angle of the . town of Greenwich, where three white oak trees had been marked as the termination of the former
survey. Here the work was suspended for want of funds and it was not resumed until the spring of 1731. The survey was then completed to the Massachusetts line; the 'equivalent tract' or 'Oblong' was measured, and set off to New York; and the line dividing the province of New York from the colony of Connecticut was designated by monuments at intervals of two miles.
This survey was ratified by both govern- ments, and terminated all local differences res-
*This stone is at the northeastern end of the bridge cross- ing the Byram River.
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pecting the boundary. The town of Rye espe- cially felt the benefit of the decision. During much of the time that this controversy had been waging, it was even doubtful to which territory the town belonged. And, to the very last, its eastern limits remained uncertain, to the great annoyance of the increasing population in that quarter.
In 1729 the town appointed a committee 'to meet Greenwich men concerning running the preamble line between Rye and Greenwich, and to act in this matter to the best of their discre- tion.'t
The boundary laid down in 1731 remained without disturbance until 1855 when the question arose as to its existing definiteness. On some portions of the line the marks had disappeared, and along the whole distance the greatest uncer- tainty existed. Residents near the border refrain- *Dr. Baird.
ĮTown of Rye, Records p. 33.
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ed from voting in either State, while officers of justice and tax collectors hesitated to exercise their authority up to any well-defined limit. These circumstances were taken advantage of by those wishing to evade the payment of taxes or the en- forcement of the law. In May, 1855, the General Assembly of Connecticut took steps to have the true position of the line ascertained, by means of a new survey and the erection of new monuments. In the following year the New York legislature took similar action, and the commissioners ap- pointed under the several acts employed engineers to run the line. The commissioners could not agree, however, as to the method of running the line and nothing was done. In August 1859, new commissioners were appointed on the part of each State, but owing to the tenacity with which Connecticut adhered to the claim that a straight line should be run, regardless of existing monu- ments to indicate the original course, no agreement could be reached.
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The last step in the matter was taken in 1860. On the third of April in that year the legislature of New York passed an act empower- ing the commissioners formerly appointed "to survey and mark with suitable monuments" the line between the two States, as fixed by the sur- vey of 1731."
They were to give due notice of their purpose to the commissioners of Connecticut, inviting them to join in the duties imposed upon them. But in case of their refusal or neglect to do so, they were to proceed alone and preform the work assigned. The commissioners of New York, acting under their instructions, held several conferences with those of Connecticut, but the latter adhered inflexibly to the principle that the boundary to be established must be a straight one. The commissioners from New York therefore pursued the course enjoined upon them. They fix- ed and marked the boundary line between the two States, placing monuments along its course at in-
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tervals of one mile, from the Massachusetts line to the mouth of the Byram River. The work was undertaken on the eighth of June, 1860, and was completed in the autumn of that year. On the fifth of December, 1879, this line was agreed upon by the Legislatures of New York and Connecticut, and confirmed by Congress during the session of 1880-81.
Thus ended the most remarkable boundary case on record.
As we have before stated Rye had unwilling- ly belonged to the Province of New York, and for just cause had seceded. It renounced the author- ity of the provincial government and returned to the colony of Connecticut. Rye continued a part of Connecticut from 1697 to 1700 inclusive, and then in 1700 the King's orders in Council placed them back within the jurisdiction they had renounced, 'forever thereafter to be and remain un- der the government of the Province of New York.' The people acquiesced in this decision, and the
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following action of the town is the record of the last protest made against an unrighteous procedure to which they were obliged in the end to submit. 'At a lawful towne meeting held in Rye, on the twenty-ninth day of September 1701, Deliverance Browne, senior, is chosen to go down to New York to make the towne's aggrievances knowne unto the Governor and Council, and also to make inquiry concerning the Claim that John Harrison makes to our lands, and to use what methods he shall see good for securing the towne's interest."* It must be remembered that at this period Harrison and Bedford were included in the Rye limits, and that John Harrison in company with several other Quakers from Flushing had bought of the Indians, without the consent of the Rye authorities, the tract of land since known as Harrison. The worthy Brown appeared to have met with but little or no success. Harrison and his compan-
*Town and Proprietors' Meeting Book, No. C. p. 20.
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ions were permitted to retain their purchase, and heavy taxes were levied on the inhabitants of Rye. The simple inhabitants of Peningo Neck did not know that while they were prancing from colony to province, and from province to colony, their taxes were accumulating with accruing interest. From this time they submitted though unwillingly to the Government of the Province of New York. The Justice of the Peace of the County of Westchester sent orders to the Town of Rye for the assessing and levying of several taxes laid on the inhabitants of this Province during the time of the unhappy separa- tion. These amounted to considerable sums of money. Brown asks that this tax might not be insisted on until a more equal apportionment shall be made, and promised that the quota shall be collected and paid with all expedition .* This was not the worst, the town troubles caused dis- sensions in families that in some instances were *New York Colonial MSS., Vol. XIV. p. 38.
.
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not healed for many years. We see from this that the good people of Rye did not "go to heaven on flowery beds of ease." They struggled on for many years hardly able to hold their own.
At the breaking out of the Revolution, Rye stood bravely by her country and furnished some excellent soldiers, one of the most prominent was Judge Thomas. Still there was no consider- able increase in the population.
Rye was the same quiet, obscure village as for generations past. In 1836 it contained but thirty houses, with less than two hundred inhabi- tants. In time the outside world recognized the natural, political and religious capabilities of the place, and beautiful villas were erected by summer residents, who found the old town so delightful that they remained permanently, and now among the inhabitants may be seen many prominent people. The Wainwrights direct descendants of 'good old' Peter Stuyvesant the last and best of the Dutch Governors, the Shermen descendants of a
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Signer of the Declaration of Independance, Seth Low, Mayor of Greater New York, and others
During the Rebellion, the Town of Rye furnished about 350 men, beside many who enlist- ed in New York and Brooklyn Companies.
Who has not heard of Rye Beach? Not Rye in Sussex England; not Rye Beach in New Hampshire, but Rye Beach on the Sound, a popular resort for recreation from the earliest period until the present. Here our native Indians assembled for their pow-wows, and not unusually remained a week or more to enjoy a jolly good time. The Indians never dreamed of the crowds that frequent their oft time bathing and canoeing place, and picnic on the very spot where their braves were interred. Burying Hill is well known to have been a place of sepulchre.
Rye Beach with its warm sands inviting the visitor to repose after the plunge, its charming scenery on land and water, its beautiful rocks rising complactly, forming low bluffs, or broken
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in large irregular masses of coarse granite forming islands curiously worn and perforated by the action of the waters, its unrivaled facilities for boating and yachting, its pleasant company both at Rye and Oakland Beaches, a portion of the Beach frequented by the more conservative class, and its pretty cottages in increasing numbers. One of the most attractive cottages is that occu- pied by the Westchester Wheelman of Mount Vernon. The New York Yacht Club is on Milton Point.
The facilities for reaching Rye Beach are to say the least, up to date; the trolley from the Hudson River by way of White Plains connect- ing at Mamaroneck with the Greenwich Tramway, and also with the trolley from New York City by way of Mount Vernon and New Rochelle brings the visitor directly to the shore. The syndicate of millionaires who purchased Beck's hotel property at the beach, propose to erect a large country club house on it and make it the
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rendezvous of the Westchester Hunt Club and the new yacht club.
The beautiful half-tone illustration on the frontispage of this number showing the Pier at the beach, and Burying Hill in the middle distance, was photographed by W. W. Holly, Rye Beach.
Union Cemetery originated in 1837; in that year three acres of land were purchased by private individials and presented to the authorities of the Episcopal Church, Rye, to secure to the Church a suitable burial place. In 1855, the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Rye bought eight acres contiguous to this tract; and in 1864 to 1868 they added more than six acres. The grounds thus owned by the two congregations have been graded, inclosed and laid out uniformly, with no visible separation between them; they form one of the most beautiful cemeteries in this part of the country.
Here we find interred, the authoress, Mrs. Alice B. Haven, for many years a resident of Rye
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Neck, her monument in a cross, upon which is her favorite motto "Bear ye one anothers burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ."
The first Chief Justice of the United States, John Jay, died on the seventeenth of May, 1829, and was buried in the Jay Family Vault in the Town of Rye. He was an earnest laborer in the cause of freedom for the negroes, and the first president of the old New York society for the manumission of slaves.
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Old Presbyterian Church, Rye.
An oil painting of Dr. Baird's old church and the stone bridge, for sale. Inquire of A. A. RIKEMAN Mamaroneck, N.Y.
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