USA > New York > Bronx County > The Bronx and its people; a history, 1609-1927, Volume I > Part 40
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The smith of the village of Eastchester, Vincent by name, occupied this house during the Revolution. It is related that upon one occasion, the day being a Sunday, a French officer with the Americans insisted upon having his horse shod; and on the refusal of Gilbert Vincent to do work on a Sunday, the officer struck him to the ground, killing him. Elijah Vincent, in a spirit of vengeance, then took a commission from the British and became a terror in the apprehension of the American and French officers, who had occasion to operate in the neighborhood of Eastchester. According to the stories handed down by tradition, Elijah Vincent more than revenged his brother's violent death.
The references to wolf-pits in the records and to bounties offered for the extermination of the wolves show that there were many of these animals in the ancient township. Where wolves abounded there were also deer ; and the finding of quantities of arrowheads and other imple- ments of the chase shows that this was a favorite hunting-ground of the Indians. No signs of permanent habitation have been discovered, and it is supposed that the Siwanoys occupied the land only when hunting; that they claimed ownership and that this was admitted by the whites is shown by the early Indian deeds secured by the first settlers. Some years ago the National Government deepened the chan- nel of Eastchester Creek, straightened its course, and dredged out a basin so that vessels could ascend the stream at high tide and discharge
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their cargoes at the docks at Eastchester. Regular steamboats carrying freight made daily trips to and from New York as late as 1900.
"If anyone should ask what is the most conspicuous landmark in all East- chester, he would at once be told of St. Paul's Church," writes R. Comfort. One glance at the massive stone tower, with the date of erection (1765) quaintly carved over the doorway, one look at the well filled graveyard, containing six thousand bodies, lying peacefully asleep, one of them said to be petrified, and a single examination of the unique interior, with its strange collection of relics far up in the belfry, is enough to convince the most doubtful of its striking historic interest. Perhaps the ancient bell (1758), the treasured Bible, printed in London in 1759, and the immense Prayer Book, printed in London in 1715, are the greatest curiosities of all. In the sacred care of the big safe in the vestry room are kept these two latter. They have the distinction, all three of them, of having been buried during the War of the Revolution for safekeeping, dug up afterwards and restored again to the church. One thing about the great prayer book cannot fail to attract attention. This is the place where is printed, in large antique type, the prayer for King George. Just after the Revolution the rector, whose sentiments were far from being with the royal family across the seas, pasted a strip of paper across the king's name, writing in its place that of George Washington. Today those strips have been torn away, showing the page as originally printed, but the stubs are still to be seen where the patriotic rector showed his honor for the first American President.
A well-known tavern stood south of the old church, which was in 1728 kept by William Baker, and during the Revolution by Charles Guion, who was descended from the French Guion, original settler of New Rochelle. It is related that Washington was detained by sickness in this house, and that Mrs. Guion acted as his nurse. It is said that the tavern became widely known by the exhibition in it of the petrified body, discovered in this condition on its removal from a city cemetery to St. Paul's churchyard. There was also on the Boston Road the hostelry well known as "Odell's Tavern." The trees on the site and the moss-grown barns are evidences of the early date at which the original inn was built.
In Pelham-Nearly all of the part of the township of Pelham that was taken within the city of New York is included within Pelham Bay Park. There is a small section in the vicinity of the Boston Road not included in the park, and also City Island; the first part is negligible. There are now many different ways of reaching City Island. Until 1912 a one-horse, bob-tailed car, a relic of former days, used to connect with the railroad station, and for a fare of five cents, the passenger was taken to Marshall's Corners at the end of Rodman's Neck; for an additional fare, he was carried to the end of the island. In 1910 a monorail electric train was inaugurated ; but the first day of business was an unfortunate one, for the car met with an accident and several people were killed. City Island was originally called Minnewits, or Great
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Minnefords, Island. The origin of the name is doubtful, it being as- cribed to Peter Minuit, the Dutch Governor and purchaser of the island of Manhattan, and also to Minnefords, Minifers, or Minnewies, the original Indian proprietors. It was within Thomas Pell's purchase of 1654, and also within his manor-grant of Pelham. It received its name of City Island from a scheme of the inhabitants of 1761-62 to establish upon the island a city that was to outrival New York. General Heath uses the name "New City Island" in his "Memoirs," so that the name must have been well established in Revolutionary days. On May 10, 1763, a ferry was established "acrosst from Mr. Samuel Rodman's Neck to said Island." The same year a ferry was established from the north end of the island and leased to Mrs. Deborah Kicks, "the best and fairest bidder." On May 13, 1766, a ferry was established between the south end of the island across the Sound to Long Island; it was leased to John Barnes for five years. The first purchaser from Thomas Pell, the manor-lord, was John Smith, of the town of Bruckland (Brook- lyn). The island on June 19, 1761, came into possession of Benjamin Palmer, the builder of the free bridge at Spuyten Duyvil, for £2,730. He appears to have suffered considerable loss during the war; for, in 1788, he sent a petition to "His Excellency, George Clinton, Esq., Governor in and over the State of New York, and Vice-Admiral of the navy of the same," for relief. This failing he again petitioned for redress of grievances in 1789, this time to "His Excellency, George Washington, President of the United States." His distress was miti- gated by a subscription.
The Revolution prevented the accomplishment of the plan of building a city upon the island, though it was revived in 1790. The island was cut up into 4,500 lots, each twenty feet front and one hundred feet in depth, besides two squares, of thirty lots each, reserved for churches, meeting-houses, schools and the like. Ten pounds was the stated price of the lots, and many were bought and sold at that price. In 1818 Nicholas Haight and Joshua Husted owned nearly all of the island, as well as Rodman's Neck and what became later the Marshall estate. In the year following, forty-two acres passed into the possession of George W. Hoston. In 1804 the State Legislature passed an act allow- ing the construction of a bridge between the island and the mainland, and subscriptions were started for its erection; but the attempt failed for want of support. On December 1, 1873, a toll bridge, erected by a stock company, was thrown open to the public. It occupied the site of the bridge laid down on the map of 1761. It was one thousand feet long with a draw of one hundred and twenty feet; the draw being that of the original Coles, or Harlem Bridge, at Third Avenue. A large part of the materials used in its construction came from the old United
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States frigate "North Carolina," which had been condemned and sold by the National Government. This bridge was made a free bridge in 1895, at the time of annexation, and was replaced by the present fine steel structure, constructed at a cost of $200,000, not including approaches, which was opened for public use on July 4, 1901. Work had been begun upon it in December, 1898.
In spite of the ferry and the bridge, City Island had been more or less isolated before the opening of Pelham Bay Park in 1888, and the advent of the bicycle. The inhabitants were engaged chiefly in fishing, piloting, and oyster culture. The fishing was formerly very fine, and upon a Sunday or other holiday the old bridge was lined with ardent anglers. The demolition of the old wooden bridge drove many of the anglers to the wharf at the south end of the island, at the end of the island's one long thoroughfare. In 1762, the owners of the island petitioned for four hundred feet under water, and the land was granted to them by Lieutenant-Governor Cadwallader Colden, on May 27, 1763. When the new wharf at the lower end of the island was built in 1901, we find Mrs. De Lancey asserting her claims to the land under water as an inheritrix of the ancient grant, but the case was decided against her. There are several yacht clubs located here and the activities connected with the water constitute the principal business of the island. Several shipyards build and repair pleasure vessels, and in the winter season many of the crack yachts are laid up and housed there. Upon several occasions the defenders of America's Cup have been so laid up. The yachting industry is principally with sailing vessels; in stormy weather, many sailing vessels from the Sound find safe anchorage near the island until the weather moderates. There are numerous bathing pavilions, and the bathing is considered helpful, as the island extends far into the Sound. Rowboats, sail-boats, and small launches are plentiful, and there are many places where they can be hired for sailing and fishing, while several of the hotels and restaurants have more than a local fame. The population was self-contained and isolated, and it took the people a little time to get accustomed to interference from Manhattan, after annexation. Probably the greatest object of interest on the island is the "Macedonian Hotel." It bears the following legend :
"This House is the remains of the English frigate 'Macedonian,' captured on Sunday, October 25th, 1812, by the United States Frigate 'United States,' commanded by Capt. Stephen Decatur, U. S. N. The action was fought in Lat. 24º N., Long. 29° 30' W., that is about 600 miles N. W. of the Cape De Verde Islands off the W. coast of Africa and towed to Cowbay in 1874." However, it would appear that while the house is the remains of a ship "Macedonian," it was not the one captured in Decatur's gallant action. The original British "Macedonian"
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was a new ship at the time of her capture, and was afterwards repaired and taken into the United States Navy. She was blockaded in the Thames River, Connecticut, until the close of the War of 1812, and then served as a cruiser until 1828, after which she did nothing. In 1835 she was broken up at the Norfolk, Virginia, navy yard. In the meantime Congress appropriated funds to build a new ship of the same name, which was begun in 1832 and launched at Gosport, Virginia, in 1836. She was rebuilt at Brooklyn in 1852, and broken up in 1874 at Cow Bay, Long Island. For a time this second, American-built "Macedonian" was used as a practice ship at the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, where the figurehead of the original British frigate is still preserved as a relic of the heroic days of our infant navy.
CHAPTER IX OFFICIAL RECORD AND PERSONNEL
The most important event in the history and official record of The Bronx was annexation to the city of New York. That event did not come about easily. It was preceded by years of struggle in which a few farseeing men fought the battle against those who did not equal them in foresight. There were bitter opponents of annexation both in the city and the territory above the Harlem. There were those in The Bronx territory who saw no advantage in being tied to more populous Manhattan ; and there were people in the city of New York who believed that there was nothing to be gained by the city in annexing what ap- peared to them to be a vast expanse of farm land. Nobody in the days that preceded annexation ever imagined that New York City would expand northward as it has expanded or that The Bronx would become so rapidly populous and wealthy. The development that fol- lowed annexation exceeded the brightest hopes of its promoters. It did enormous good to The Bronx and it added enormously to the greatness of the city. The Bronx grew in time by leaps and bounds, and its growth has been due in large part to its inclusion in the metro- politan area, its increase in self-government, and the extension of im- provement to the city limits, the marking out and grading of the streets, and the development of transportation. Three men were prominently active in putting annexation through, William Herring, William Cauld- well, and Senator Robertson. In the history of The Bronx these are destined to stand side by side as architects of its early greatness with men like James L. Wells, and Louis F. Haffen. Mr. Haffen's name meets us at every turn in the history of The Bronx during the last generation. Mr. Wells is known universally as "The Father of The Bronx." He had already represented the First District of Westchester in the Assembly at Albany in 1879, a district that in those days started at the Harlem River and ended at Hastings-now represented by nine members in The Bronx and four in Westchester. In 1880 he represented the 24th District of New York. Later he left the Assembly to become a member of the Board of Aldermen of New York primarily to carry into local effect the general legislation he secured at Albany, to regulate and grade the streets, organize the Board of Supplies, see to the building of sewers, and so on. He was the closest guardian of the interests of his native Bronx during the six years he was Treasurer of the State. But an
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interesting history that cannot be neglected was the prelude to this modern work.
The interval between the declaration of peace following the War of the Revolution and the adoption of the Federal Constitution in 1789 was marked in the country included within The Bronx and in the county to which it belonged by little of concerted action in reference to the politics of the State and national government. In 1784 General Pierre Van Cortlandt, of the town of Cortlandt, was lieutenant-governor of the State of New York, and General Lewis Morris, of Morrisania, and General Stephen Ward, of Eastchester, were members of the State Senate. General Thomas, of Rye, was a member of the lower house. His colleagues were Philip Pell, Jr., of Pelham, Abijah Gilbert, of Salem, Ebenezer Purdy, of North Salem, Zebediah Mills, and Samuel Haight. They are described as sterling men in the trying times in which their activities were cast, having shown their ability and devotion to their country. In the year that followed, the election substituted Ebenezer Burling, of Eastchester, and Ebenezer Lockwood, of Poundridge, in place of Mills and Haight. In 1786 Jonathan C. Tompkins of Scarsdale and Samuel Drake were chosen instead of Burling and Purdy; and in 1787 Jonathan Rockwell, Joseph Strong, and Ebenezer Purdy, the last of whom was again returned, took the seats of Drake, Gilbert and Pell, who had become Surrogate. Richard Morris of Scarsdale had been chief justice of the State during the period that elapsed following 1779, and John Thomas of Rye, and Jesse Hunt of Westchester, sheriffs from the year 1777. Richard Hatfield, of White Plains, was Surrogate from 1778 to 1787. In the list of supervisors of the county from 1783 to 1789 occur at least half a dozen of the names of the county officials just given, and to these may be added the following conspicuous members of the board :
Benjamin Stegenson, of New Rochelle; also one of the judges of the county ; Gilbert Budd, of Rye; Abel Smith, of North Castle; Hachaliah Browne, and Thaddeus Crane, both of Upper Salem; Daniel Horton, of White Plains; James Hunt, of Eastchester; William Miller, of Harrison ; James Kronkhite, of Ryker's Patent, or Cortlandt; and Philip Pell, of Pelham, who was, in 1787, also sheriff of the county. From these names and from the details previously given may be gathered a conception of the leadership in the political affairs of the region in review during the period immediately succeeding the termination of the War of the Revolution.
The earliest political differences of a serious nature which arose in the newly formed State sprang up as the generally realized insufficiency of the government by an authority arising out of the Articles of Confedera- tion, brought forth a variety of plans for the increase of its powers and
CHARTER REVISION COMMISSION OF NEW YORK CITY APPOINTED BY THEODORE ROOSEVELT. THIS COMMISSION PRE- PARED AND DRAFTED THE CHARTER WHICH GAVE BOROUGH GOVERNMENT TO THE BRONX AND OTHER BOROUGHS
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its efficiency. It was felt in that early time of formation that the union of the States was a union merely in name, inasmuch as the credit which that union established was at the mercy of the States in their dealings with it. To the disappointment keenly felt by the energetic friends of the Revolution was added a mortifying sense of the apparent fulfil- ment of the predictions of the enemy of the Republic, that the whole movement would prove a failure, not more from its own folly than from the incompetency of the untaught and inexperienced movers in it. In its characterization of John Hancock and Samuel Adams, one of the pro-British newspapers remarked: "When the lunacies of the former are separated from the villainies of the latter, the deluge of destruction that is certainly, though slowly, rolling after them, will rapidly come on and overwhelm them and their infatuated votaries in prodigious ruin." Throughout the region in which the "Westchester County Farmer" had poured forth his entreaties and forebodings in view of the uprising against British authority, the anxiety for the success of the new government could not but be intensified by these recollections, and by daily contact with the many who had anticipated disaster. But not- withstanding all this desire to avoid a failure, there was a strong feeling that the safety of the people's rights would be much better secured under the more readily invoked protection of the State than under the distant and often distracted care of the General Government. The political head of the State of New York at this time was George Clinton, its great war Governor, who, by his popularity, as much as by his office, was possessed of great influence with the people. While professing a sincere desire for the continuance of the Federal compact, and for its usefulness, and while declaring that the General Govern- ment should inspire respect at home and abroad, Governor Clinton resisted with ardor and firmness the making of any concessions which would weaken the State authority or further abridge its powers. The influence of his position of authority and of his arguments was con- siderable. But still abler and more practiced pens and voices werc showing into what a pitiable condition public affairs were running. General Schuyler, Chief Justice Livingston, John Jay and Alexander Hamilton, were setting forth and urging the necessity for a change. Another call, which commanded a hearing all over the country, was heard from Virginia, suggesting that the powers of the central govern- ment be increased.
Westchester and the Constitution-In the convention which met at Philadelphia the county shares indeed with the State-at-large in the honor of being represented by General Hamilton, but it has also to be recalled that in the person of Gouverneur Morris, who was a delegate
Bronx-23
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from Pennsylvania, but who was born on Westchester soil and who returned again to represent her in the United States Senate, this region had an additional representative in the work of fashioning the important instrument which was its chief result. In due time the amended Constitution was offered to the States for adoption. It met in some quarters with the most energetic opposition. Not only were its main proposals violently criticised, but the conduct of the convention, in transcending, as it was claimed, its legal powers, was bitterly assailed. "Instead of amending the Constitution, it had framed one," was the gravamen of one accusation. In Albany the new copy of the Constitu- tion was publicly burnt. In the choice of delegates to the convention which was at that time ordered to meet at Poughkeepsie, to pass upon its adoption by the State, the greatest excitement prevailed, and the terms Federalist and anti-Federalist, as applied to separate parties, began to be used. The result in Westchester County proved that a deep interest was felt in the maintenance of a union of the States. Thaddeus Crane, of North Salem, Richard Hatfield, of White Plains, Philip Livingston and Lewis Morris, of Westchester, Lott W. Sarles, of New Castle, and Philip Van Cortlandt were chosen over their anti- Federalist opponents by very large majorities. The convention met, and on July 26, by a vote of thirty to twenty-seven, ratified the proposed Constitution. In the affirmative vote are found the names of all the Westchester delegates. At the election for members of the Assembly the strong party feeling was manifested by a complete change in the representation, the following persons, loyal Federalists, being returned : Thaddeus Crane, of North Salem; Jonathan Horton and Philip Liv- ingston, of Westchester ; Judge Nathan Rockwell, of Lewisboro; Walter Seaman and General Philip Van Cortlandt. At the assembling of the Legislature in December, such was the political complexion of the two houses that the five delegates to represent the State in the Conti- mental Congress were chosen from the anti-Federal party, one of the five being Philip Pell, of Pelham. The satisfactory working of the new Constitution, the popularity of Washington's administration and the great advantages which the proximity of the seat of government was offering, were all favorable to the Federal Party. Majorities in its favor continued throughout the succeeding ten years, in which two of the elections held, those of 1792 and 1796, had a direct bearing on national politics. Washington entered without dissent upon the second term of office, General Stephen Ward, of Eastchester, being one of the electors of the State of New York, and in 1797, John Adams, with the twelve votes of the State of New York, was chosen in opposi- tion to Thomas Jefferson. At the election in 1798 there were plain in- (lications of the falling away of the strength of the administration party
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throughout the State, which, although not borne out by the result in the year that followed, were more than realized at the presidential contest of 1800.
Among the electors chosen by the Legislature was Colonel Pierre Van Cortlandt, Jr., who had married a daughter of ex-Governor Clinton, still the leader of the Democratic-Republican Party in the State. Gen- eral Thomas, of Rye, an active Democrat-Republican, who had been out of the Assembly for some years, was again restored to it. The hold thus taken upon the popular vote was retained with much tenacity during the whole period of Jefferson's administration. The country was on the high road to prosperity. All interests shared in the general thrift. The ruling party had naturally to benefit from such circum- stances. Its leading men in Westchester County in those days of Jefferson rule, besides Judge Thomas and Colonel Van Cortlandt, were Senator Ebenezer Purdy, of North Salem; Abijah Gilbert, of Salem ; and Jonathan Ward, of Eastchester. The position of Senator Purdy was also a commanding one in the Democratic-Republican Party at large. In 1802 he was a member of the Council of Appointment, in whose hands was the political patronage of the State. In 1803, as chairman of the caucuses of the Democratic-Republican members of the State Senate, he exercised a commanding influence in securing the nomination of General Morgan Lewis and preventing that of Aaron Burr as the standard bearer of the Democratic-Republican Party in the State in the election for Governor. There is no doubt that the move- ment which forced his resignation of his seat in 1806 arose from the knowledge of his devotion to Governor Lewis, whose prestige and strength it was thought desirable to destroy. It would seem that Gen- eral Thomas, who was transferred from the House to the Senate in 1804, was in perfect accord with Mr. Purdy, and being himself a mem- ber of the Council of Appointment in 1806, joined with his associates in removing De Witt Clinton, the pronounced opponent of Governor Lewis, from the mayoralty of the city of New York.
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