USA > New York > Bronx County > The Bronx and its people; a history, 1609-1927, Volume I > Part 27
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The line thus established proved fruitful of civil strife. The Connect- icut officials induced Nicolls to believe that Mamaroneck was twenty miles east of the Hudson. Nicolls trusted them and hence arose the trouble, the real distance of Mamaroneck from the Hudson being only about ten miles instead of twenty. The intention was that this line, twenty miles east of the Hudson, should continue at that distance until it struck the boundary line of Massachuestts; but being given a north- west direction, it intersected the Hudson River at West Point and cut off a large part of New York west of that river. On November 24, 1683, negotiations were again undertaken to fix the boundary line, and articles were concluded between Governor Dongan and the Council of New York, and the governor and delegates of Connecticut, that the line should run as originally intended, twenty miles east of the Hudson River. But upon it becoming evident that such a line would deprive Connecticut of several towns which she had planted, it became necessary to vary the line in parts so that these towns should remain in Connecticut ; hence the zigzag boundary line at the southern end between the two States; and as an offset for the territory thus given to Connecticut, an "equivalent tract" was taken from Connecticut at the northern end of the line, and "The Oblong," of 64,000 acres, or a tract two miles in width and fifty in length, was given to New York from Ridgefield to the Massachusetts line.
The boundary thus agreed upon began at the mouth of Byram River at a point thirty miles from New York, and following that stream as far as the head of tidewater, or about a mile and a half from the Sound, to a certain "wading place," where the common road crossed the stream at a rock known and described as "The Great Stone at the Wading- Place." From that stone the line was to run northwest till it should reach a point eight miles from the Sound; thence a line running east- ward parallel to the general course of the Sound, and twelve miles in length was fixed upon. From its termination another line, eight miles in length, was to be run in a north-northwest direction, and from the end of that line the boundary was to extend north to the Massachusetts line, with the "equivalent tract" included. The boundary line thus agreed upon remained as such for many years, recognized but not legally es- tablished by the concurrent action of both States. The legislature of Connecticut, on May 8, 1684, formally approved the agreement and appointed the surveyor to lay off the line. In October following Gover- nor Dongan's officers met the surveyor of Connecticut at Stamford, and the amount of land conceded to Connecticut was ascertained, but their survey terminated with the line drawn parallel to the Sound as far as a point twenty miles from the river. Beyond this they simply in- dicated what they supposed would be the extent of "The Oblong" to
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be laid out as an "equivalent tract." This condition of the boundary line remained unchanged, when on March 29, 1700, King William III approved and confirmed the agreement of 1683 and 1684, whereby Rye and Bedford were included in New York. The boundary dispute con- tinued unsettled and in October, 1718, commissioners appointed by the two governments met at Rye, but failed to agree upon a method of procedure-the New York commissioners refusing to go on with the survey because those of Connecticut were not empowered to bind their government to any line that might be settled upon. In 1719, though Connecticut appointed new commissioners with larger powers, they were still without power to agree upon a final and conclusive settlement. "A probationary act" by New York followed, providing for the appoint- ment of a new commission for each colony, and requiring the New York commission to run all the lines in accordance with the agreement and survey of 1683 and 1684, and this duty was required to be performed, though no commission from Connecticut should be appointed. This act was conditional on the royal approbation. This proposition was not responded to by Connecticut until October, 1723, when a commission with full powers was appointed, and the two commissions met at Rye in April, 1725. Their work began at "the great stone at the wading- place," and extended to the "Duke's trees," at the northwest angle of the town of Greenwich, where three white oaks had been marked in 1684, as the termination of the survey of that year. Here want of funds suspended the work, which was not resumed until 1731, when the survey was completed to the Massachusetts line; the "equivalent tract" or "oblong" was measured and set off to New York, and the line desig- nated by monuments along the course. This survey was ratified as to the oblong of both governments and remained unquestioned until May, 1855, when Connecticut opened the subject again, because "ranges of marked trees had long since disappeared. Many of the heaps of stones originally erected had been scattered. Traditions were found inconsistent and contradictory, varying the line in places to a consider- able extent. Along the whole distance the greatest uncertainty existed, and a distrust and want of confidence in all the supposed lines, rather than a disposition to contend for any. Residents near the border re- frained from voting in either state; while officers of justice and collectors of revenue from both hesitated to exercise their authority up to any clearly defined limit. These circumstances were taken advan- tage of by those who desired to evade the payment of taxes or the severity of the law." To this statement of facts New York responded by the appointment in January, 1856, of C. W. Wentz of Albany, an engineer of established reputation, to survey, ascertain and mark the boundary line. No difficulty intervened from the initial point at the
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"wading stone," to the Ridgefield angle, but from thence to the Massa- chusetts line a radical difference interposed between the commissions. The representatives of Connecticut contended for a straight line be- tween the two extreme points, fifty-three miles apart, because the old monuments and marks upon the line were generally removed, and the original line could not be traced with any certainty by reference to them. On the other hand the commissioners of New York considered their authority limited to "ascertaining" the boundary as originally defined; no agreement was reached and in August, 1859, each State appointed new commissioners; but at their conference at Port Chester, September 13, of that year, the same difference of views confronted the commission and the conference resulted in no practical work. On April 3, 1860, New York passed an act empowering the commission formerly appointed to survey and mark with suitable monuments the "line be- tween the two States as fixed by the survey of 1731." Under this authority the New York commission fixed and marked the boundary line between the two States, placing monuments along the line at intervals of one mile from the Massachusetts line to the south of Byram River. Still unsettled, the question came up by Connecticut threatening to contest her claims and in 1878 and in 1879, both States appointed commissioners to establish the boundaries. An agreement was made, December 5, 1879, whereby the western boundary of Con- necticut was fixed as the ex parte line surveyed by New York in 1860, which was the old line of 1731. Connecticut therefore gave up her claim to the twenty-six hundred acres in dispute between the straight line and the line of 1731 as reached, in exchange for her southern boundary extended into the Sound. The agreement was ratified by the legislatures of both States and confirmed by Congress during the session of 1880-81.
Making up The Bronx-Thus, to recapitulate a little, the county of Westchester was formed in 1683. Its western boundary was the Hudson River; its northern, Dutchess, later Putnam County; its eastern, the Connecticut Colony and Long Island Sound; its southern, the East and Harlem rivers and Spuyten Duyvil Creek. What became later the Borough of The Bronx was included within the county until 1874 for the western part of the borough, and until 1895 for the eastern part. Its history is until those dates part of the history of the county. The county also comprehended the islands contiguous to its shores. By the act of the State legislature, March 7, 1788, all the counties were divided into townships. There were twenty-one of these in West- chester County, following very closely the lines of the ancient manors and patents. The section under consideration was formerly within the towns of Yonkers, Morrisania, Eastchester, Pelham, and West-
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chester. Yonkers was a part of the Philipseburgh Manor, sequestrated by the State in 1779, on account of the disloyalty of its owner, Colonel Frederick Philipse. The part of the township within the borough was known as Lower Yonkers; and it remained a part of the original town- ship until June 1, 1872, when the city of Yonkers was incorporated. At the same time the portion of the township lying south of a line drawn from the northwest corner of the land belonging to the Sisters of Charity, known as St. Vincent de Paul, due east to the Bronx River, was set off as a new township under the name of Kingsbridge. It remained a part of the Yonkers township until December 16 of the same year, when the selection of town officers was perfected. Its northern boundary was the line given above, from the Hudson River to the Bronx; its southern, the northern line of the ancient manor of Fordham, from the Harlem River at East 230th Street to a point on the Bronx River between First and Second avenues, Williamsbridge, and Spuyten Duyvil Creek; its western, the Hudson River.
Morrisania was the most sparsely settled section of the whole county, and why it should have been made into a township, is, as has been before intimated, not quite clear, unless it was by reason of the influ- ence and prominence of its owner, Lewis Morris, the signer of the Declaration of Independence. The new constitutional government had gone into effect in New York in 1789, but the site of the permanent capital of the nation was a matter of considerable discussion. Morris believed his manor to be an ideal spot for it; hence, its formation into a township. On October 1, 1790, the Congress in session in New York was made to determine the location of the new capital, and Morris memorialized it in favor of Morrisania. He told the Congress that the manor was more advantagously situated for the members of Congress's residence than any other place that has hitherto been proposed to them, and much better accommodated with the necessary requisites of con- venience of access, health, and security. He claimed moreover that vessels from the four eastern States may arrive at Morrisania through the Sound, in the course of a few hours, and that ships from the Carolinas and Georgia may perform voyages to Morrisania with much more safety and despatch than they can to the ports of Philadelphia and Annapolis, not being incommoded with tedious passages of two hundred miles each up bays and rivers which often consume a fortnight or three weeks - passages rendered hazardous by rocks and shoals, and annually obstructed by ice. Its owner declared that Morrisania was so situated that vessels might arrive from, or proceed to, sea, sometimes in six hours .... and that this passage, from the quantity and saltness of the water, has never been totally impeded by ice. He went on to say that Morrisania had always been noted for health and
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salubrity, that the fever and the ague were unknown there, and that persons from other places, emaciated by sickness and disease, there shortly recovered and were speedily reinforced in health and vigor. Morris claimed that Morrisania was perfectly secure from any dangers either from foreign invasion or internal insurrection and being only twenty miles from the State of Connecticut, and eight miles from the city of New York, that it therefore could be amply protected by the hardy sons of New England on the one side and the inhabitants of the populous city of New York on the other, and that as the chief defence of this country would have to be its militia there were more fighting men within a sweep of thirty miles around Morrisania than perhaps within the same distance around any other place in America, as there were many populous places which contain large proportions of inhabitants who were principled by religion against bearing arms, and other places which contained negro inhabitants who not only did not fight themselves, but by keeping their masters at home, prevented them from fighting also. However, the arguments of Morris appeared potent only to himself and Morrisania was not endowed with the honor of being made the capital of the United States. By an act of the legis- lature of February 2, 1791, it ceased even to be a separate township and became a part of the township of Westchester and later of West Farms. It so remained until December 7, 1855, when it again became a separate township. Previous to 1848 there were few settlers; but the revolutions that occurred in Europe at that time sent a stream of immigrants to the great continent in the west and many of them settled at Morrisania, developing the sites of field and farms until they became the homes of a village population. The bounds of the township at both creations, that of 1788 and that of 1855, were the same as those of the ancient manor. The southerly line, which was also the southerly line of Fordham Manor, began at the Harlem River immediately south of the present High Bridge, and extended east to Union Avenue between East 170th and 171st streets. Its eastern boundary was practically Union Avenue to Bungay Creek (Intervale Avenue), which it followed to the East River. Its other boundaries were the East River, Bronx Kills, and the Harlem River.
The township of Eastchester, created in 1788, had for its western boundary the Bronx River. On the north was Scarsdale; on the east the Hutchinson River; on the south, Black Dog Brook and a line drawn from the head of the brook on the line of 229th Street to the Bronx River. When the city of Mount Vernon was incorporated in 1892 the township of Eastchester was divided into two parts, entirely separated from each other by the newly formed, intervening city. The southern piece was the smaller; and when the question of annexation
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was submitted to the people in 1894 the inhabitants voted to be taken into the city of New York. Pelham township was what remained of Pelham Manor. It was triangular in form, New Rochelle being its base or northerly line, and the two sides being the Sound and Hutchinson's River. It also included Hunter, Twin, Hart, High, and City islands. The portion taken for the city of New York is almost entirely within Pelham Bay Park. The part annexed to New York was the ancient Annes Hoeck, or Pell's Neck, and Rodman's Neck, as well as the islands adjacent. The township of Westchester, created in 1788, in- cluded all the rest of the land within the limits of the borough; the ancient manor of Fordham, the West Farms tract, and all the land between the Hutchinson River, the Bronx River, and the Sound, with a northerly boundary at the Eastchester line from Black Dog Brook to the Bronx River. This included about one half the borough. The town was further increased by the accession of Morrisania, on February 22, 1791. It remained intact until May 13, 1846, when the township of West Farms was formed out of its territory. West Farms, created in 1846, comprised all the land west of the Bronx River, as far as the Harlem River, lying south of Yonkers, until December 7, 1855, when the township of Morrisania was once more formed from its territory. It thus included the manors of Morrisania and Fordham and the West Farms patent of 1663.
Annexation to the City-The annexation of a part of Westchester County to the city of New York was a question that arose long before any formal action was taken by the authorities. As early as 1864 it was proposed to unite the townships of Morrisania and West Farms under a special city charter; but the objections of the inhabitants of West Farms defeated the project. In 1869 one of the Tweed members of the legislature from Mount Vernon proposed the annexation of a large portion of the county to the city; but as the action was taken without any reference to the wishes of the inhabitants or their immediate repre- sentative, that representative arose in his place and announced that, in a few days, he would introduce a bill to annex the city of New York to Morrisania, a piece of sarcasm which defeated the movement at that time. In the autumn of 1872, the people of West Farms and Morrisania came together; and the following year the bill referring the question of annexation to the people was enacted. Owing to disputes among the officials the bill provided that the streets should be placed under the Park Department, a scheme that worked more harm than good to the newly annexed district until the streets were put under a special Department of Street Improvements of the Twenty-third and Twenty- fourth wards on January 1, 1891. On January 1, 1874, by the act of the Legislature before referred to the townships of Kingsbridge, West
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Farms, and Morrisania became a part of the city of New York, and were formed into the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth wards. The new wards were also spoken of as Annexed District; they constitute that part of the borough lying west of the Bronx River and comprise 12,317 acres.
During the election of November 6, 1894, the question of the Greater New York was submitted to the inhabitants of the localities affected, including Westchester, Eastchester, Pelham, and the city of Mount Vernon. The result of the referendum showed good majorities for annexation in Eastchester and Pelham, while Mount Vernon and West- chester voted against, the former by a large majority, and the latter by a majority of one. The adverse majority in Westchester was so small that it was ignored by the annexationists; and July 1, 1895, the whole section east of the Bronx River became a part of the city of New York, forming part of the Twenty-fourth Ward. It comprised nearly 14,000 acres, making the total area taken from Westchester County by the two annexations 26,017 acres, or about thirty-nine and a third square miles. On January 1, 1898, the charter of the Greater New York went into effect, and the whole annexed section north of the Harlem River became officially known as the Borough of The Bronx. On January 1, 1902, the revised charter of the Greater New York went into effect. It gives a certain amount of autonomy to the different boroughs, especially in the matter of local improvements, though many acts of the local boards are subject to the Board of Aldermen or Board of Estimate and Apportionment, or both, when the outlay authorized by the local board exceeds two thousand dollars. The local boards of The Bronx are composed of the borough president and the aldermen of the local improvement districts. There are four such districts in the borough: the Twenty-second, or Morrisania; the Twenty-third, or Chester; the Twenty-fourth, or Crotona; and the Twenty-fifth, or Van Cortlandt.
When the two annexations took place the sections ceased to be parts of Westchester County and became parts of New York County. In the matter of congressional, senate, assembly, and judicial representa- tion, however, portions of the borough were at first attached to West- chester County; though there is now separation. The borough con- stitutes the eighteenth congressional district; but on the basis of population as shown in the recent federal census it is entitled to increased congressional representation. There are eight aldermanic districts, and four local school districts, each having its own board. The borough is allowed two municipal courts where civil cases may be tried in which the value in controversy does not exceed two hundred and fifty dollars. There are also two police magistrate's courts for the settle-
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ment of minor cases of crimes and misdemeanors and for preliminary hearings in cases of felony. For police protection the borough is divided into nine precincts with 756 men.
Prior to its annexation to New York City the section which then comprised The Bronx lying west of the Bronx River, covering inore than twelve thousand acres, consisted of fifty-two sparsely settled villages and hamlets with an approximate population of thirty-three thousand. The annexation of the territory east of The Bronx came twenty years later. Following the borough's annexation to New York City, when it became familiarly known as the North Side, its rate of growth was greatly accelerated.
Post-Revolutionary Days-However, a good deal of interesting his- tory flowed beneath the bridges in the territory of The Bronx before it became a part of New York City. It may be readily imagined that years must have elapsed before the memory of the wrongs and of the emotions which they aroused should have disappeared to any extent among the inhabitants of the valley of the Bronx and the adjacent neighborhoods, who had suffered so much in the Revolutionary conflict. The bitter animosities in families and between neighbors which had been engen- dered, it were hard for the most considerate to lay aside. "The high- handed measures of confiscation, which followed the proclamation of peace," writes one Westchester commentator, "served to inflame the old sores ; and the accusations, indictments, prosecutions, and inflictions for offenses of the war-time, which filled up, for several years after it, the proceedings of the County Court of Sessions, are but indications not more of the outrages reprehended, than of the subsequent unwillingness to condone and forget them. The many missed faces, the traces of care and anxiety on those one did meet, the decayed and vacant houses and dilapidated barns, the marked change in the circumstances of the well-to-do families, the alteration in the moral tone, not only of the young, but of many past the years of early life, who, in them had been most exemplary, the number of diseased and wounded men, many of whom were hastening to their graves, the often felt presence still of the lawless marauder daring enough to follow his once reckless trade -all this kept up long the general sadness and fearfulness. The story indeed would be incomplete if mention were not made of the hundreds of excellent people who reluctantly left the county for foreign homes. But for those who did remain is the credit due that they settled them- selves to their old employments, much impoverished, but with strong wills, and not a few with great hopes. Patriotic expressions, declarations of the difficulties of the situation, wise counseling as to the public policy, and as to the courses of action in the several industries and interests,
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mingle in the letters of the day, with the usual detail of incident, and ever and anon with passionate denunciation of the past follies of neigh- bors bringing so much trouble. The farms of the county, with soil none the best to be sure, were in a while restored to their former yielding power, and signs of the old comfort and thrift began to appear. It was not long before it was realized that the former strength and prosperity were fast returning. The population, which had decreased some one thousand or twelve hundred, began to show marks of increase. Perhaps nothing gave a stronger impulse to the improvement in the condition of the county than the demand, at the beginning of this century (the nineteenth), for the products of the American soil in foreign markets, during the distracting and devastating war on the European continent. The prices which the farmer obtained were almost fabulous, and all the other industries, of course, flourished under the good fortune. In connection with this it must also be stated that the freedom of the seas was now open, unrivaled, to the new nation, whose fine harbors so distinctively seemed to point out the commercial consequence to which, under a wise policy, she might attain. The Port of New York was especially marked for its activity, and the number of vessels which weekly started, freighted for foreign markets, seem, under all the cir- cumstances, almost incredible. Of course, from this prosperity of the city, Westchester County, in its turn, derived much advantage. In noting the progress of the several towns we are struck with the steadily increasing traffic by land and water, and with the multiplication of the facilities for intercommunication. Smaller roads are being constructed and ready access afforded to the mills, to the villages and to the river and the Sound. The old thoroughfares are being improved and new lengths of road take the place of impracticable old ones. On the east side of the county, by act of the Legislature of 1800, under a company of which Philip Pell, John P. Delaney, Cornelius Roosevelt, Peter J. Munroe and Gabriel Furman are the members mentioned in the bill, a turnpike road was constructed from East Chester to Byram River, over which soon passed the eastward stage to Greenwich, Stamford, Danbury, New Haven and on to Boston, of course covering the various villages of the county which were on the route. But still other matters attract our attention. The religious services have been resumed at all the old points and the church edifices have been repaired or rebuilt. Where titles were defective and action of the town was required, the steps thought proper were taken at town-meeting, or where an act of the Legislature was needed to protect a neighbor or his family from wrong, it was applied for and obtained. Take as an instance the act passed June 19, 1812, for the heirs of a valued citizen and patriot, John G. Wright, in which it was provided that 'letters patent issue for Charity
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