USA > New York > Ulster County > Kingston > The history of Kingston, New York : from its early settlement to the year 1820 > Part 17
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The acts of this congress met with universal approbation throughout all the colonies. On the 6th of November a meeting was called of the citizens of New York, at which a committee of correspondence with the other colonies was appointed. One of the results of this appointment was the adoption of a measure of partial non-intercourse with Great Britain, by directing the Eng- lish merchants not to ship goods to this country until the repeal of the Stamp Act, and the adoption of a resolution that after the 1st day of January, 1766, they would not sell on commission goods shipped by any English merchants.
In December, 1765, Sir Henry Moore arrived in New York with the royal commission as governor. In a few weeks after his ar-
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rival there was brought an instalment of stamps. As soon as this was known, a party of citizens, armed, went at midnight to the wharf where the vessel lay, boarded and searched the brig until they found the ten boxes in which the stamps were con- tained, took possession of them, and removed them to the shipyards on the East River, where Catharine Street now is. There they made a bonfire of them with some tar-barrels, and after their entire consumption retired to their homes to rest.
Regardless of the acts of Parliament, matters progressed as usual in the courts and elsewhere in the transaction of all kinds of business without stamps, and no one dreamed of questioning the legality of such proceedings. If any one had attempted to set up the act in opposition, he would probably have been treated with an extra coat of tar and feathers. Marriage licenses were no longer called for, and those important contracts were formed and perfected without them.
The British Government, startled by the determined action of the colonies, found it the province of prudence to yield, and not attempt the enforcement of the act. It was therefore repealed in March, 1766. But this repeal was followed by a declaratory act of Parliament affirming their right to tax the colonies in all cases.
Sir Henry Moore, as governor, convened the Assembly on the 19th day of November, 1765. On the 9th day of December he sent a message to the Assembly, informing it that by an act of Parlia- ment the respective colonies were required to bear the expense of furnishing the king's troops in America with quarters, carriages, and other necessaries. The act thus referred to by the governor was styled the " Mutiny Act," and applied to any troops the king might choose to quarter at any place within the colony. Already the number of troops had been increased in New York, ostensibly on account of the opposition to the Stamp Act, and more were ex- pected, as General Gage, the commander-in-chief, made New York his headquarters.
On the 27th of June, 1766, the Assembly informed the governor that it would furnish the barracks of New York and Albany with bedding, firewood, candles, and utensils for cooking for two bat- talions, not exceeding five hundred men each, and would not do any more. This refusal to comply with the full requirements of the mutiny act occasioned great feeling in Parliament, and as a compulsory measure it passed an act prohibiting the Legislature of New York from passing any law until the mutiny act was complied with. The Assembly denied the authority of Parliament to suspend, abridge, or annul its powers ; that it could only be in- terfered with through the action of the crown, by prorogation or dissolution. It further declared that it had the right to corre-
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spond with citizens or representatives of the other colonies, and that a committee of its members should be appointed to correspond during recess with any of his Majesty's subjects.
This independent action of the New York Assembly was soon followed by the passage in Parliament, almost unanimously, and without any show of opposition, of an act introduced by Mr. Charles Townsend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, imposing duties on tea, glass, paper, and painters' colors imported into the colonies from Great Britain. This action of Parliament had no other effect in the provinces than to increase the exasperation, and Parliament soon became convinced of the wisdom of its re- peal ; but, in order that it might not be construed into an abandon- ment of the right to tax, Parliament, when repealing all the other duties, retained and continued a duty of threepence per pound upon tea, under the supposition that the tax was so light it would be overlooked. But the colonists saw the trap, and were deter- mined not to abandon the principle at issue, however small the tax might be. The drinking of tea was at once abandoned, and those who had it on hand were not allowed to sell it.
Soon after the news of this threepenny tax was received at New York, it was ascertained that a vessel laden with a large amount of tea was on its way from England to that city. The citizens were determined to prevent its being landed, and concerted meas- ures to that end. They watched for the arrival of the ship, and the pilots were notified not to bring it into the harbor, but to keep it outside. On its arrival the ship was boarded by a committee of citizens, and the captain was notified not to land. On being ap- prised of the state of public feeling in New York, he anchored his vessel near Sandy Hook, and came to the city to see the consignee. He declined to receive the tea, and advised the captain not to at- tempt to land it.
The lieutenant-governor proposed that it should be landed and stored in the fort until some arrangement could be made. To that the citizens strongly objected ; they would consent to nothing except its return or destruction, and the captain was compelled to take his cargo back to the place whence he came.
About the same time it was ascertained that a vessel had ar- rived having a few chests of tea on board. A committee at once visited the vessel, and asked the captain if he had any tea on board ; he said that he had not. They told him that they had sat- isfactory evidence that he had, and then they proceeded to search the vessel, and found eighteen boxes of the contraband article. The boxes were at once broken open and their contents emptied into the river.
Aside from the difficulties arising upon this question of prin-
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ciple, bitter feelings were engendered between the citizens and the English forces, both military and naval, through the overbearing and contemptuous demeanor of the English officers and their com- mands. Collisions between the soldiery and citizens were not in- frequent. Liberty poles erected by the citizens were cut down by the soldiers, occasioning broils and contention.
Officers upon English war-ships in the harbors required Ameri- can vessels to lower their pennants as an acknowledgment of inferi- ority. If not done a blank shot was fired as a demand ; if that was not heeded, a cannon-ball was sent to enforce obedience. One affair of that kind in New York Harbor resulted in the death of a child in her nurse's arms on board a pleasure-boat.
In Providence River, a packet boat running from Newport to Providence was fired into for refusing or neglecting to lower its flag, and chased up the river until the British ship ran aground. That night some indignant Americans armed themselves, boarded and seized the vessel named the Gaspé, set the officers and men on shore, and burned the vessel to the water's edge.
The following incident connected with the burning of the Gaspé, which occurred to Admiral Montague, who commanded the British ships of war at Boston, when he was returning from a visit of inquiry into the destruction of the vessel, is strongly illus- trative of the character and feelings of the Americans at that period. The admiral was on his return from Newport to Boston, with several of his officers, just after the burning of the schooner, when the progress of his coach, not far from Dedham, was ob- structed by a charcoal cart. The coachman, feeling very conse- quential in driving a British admiral, and knowing that his master had an engagement to dine with Mr. B -- , called out in a very insolent manner to the collier to turn out and make way for Ad- miral Montague. The collier replied that he was on the king's highway, and would not turn out for any one except the king him- self, and thanked fortune that he had the law to support him. The admiral, perceiving there was an altercation, and discovering the cause, ordered his coachman to get down and give the man a thrashing ; but the coachman did not seem inclined to obey the order. One of the officers in the coach, a large, athletic man, alighted, reproached the coachman with being a coward, and was proceeding to take vengeance on the coal-driver, who, perceiving so formidable an adversary advancing, drew from his cart a stake, and placing himself between his oxen in an attitude of defence, said, " Well, I vow, if I must, darn me but I'll tarnish your laced jacket if you don't keep off." By this time the admiral and other officers had left the coach, and, finding that no laurels were to be gained in such a contest, the admiral made a conciliatory proposi-
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tion and condescended to ask as a favor what he had ordered his coachman to obtain by force. "Ah !"' said the collier, " now you behave like a gentleman, as you appear, and if you had been as civil at first, I vow I would have driven over the stone wall to oblige you. But I won't be drove ; I vow I won't !" The coal- driver made way, and the admiral passed on.
The admiral, on relating the story at dinner with good humor, apparently much gratified at the independence of the man, was assured by his host that " the collier had exhibited the true char- acter of the American People, and that the story was an epitome of the dispute between Great Britain and her colonies. Let the king ask of us our aid, and we will grant more than he will de- mand, but we will not be ' drove ;' we will not be taxed by Parlia- ment."
On the 6th day of February, 1768, the Assembly was dissolved by Governor Moore, and writs for a new election, returnable on the 22d day of March, 1768, issued. When the French, with their Indian allies, were endeavoring to overrun the country and snatch it from the English grasp, marking their course with firebrands, torture, and death, Ulster County gave, besides her full quota of men and officers to fill the ranks of the defending armies, the ser- vices of her distinguished son, Charles Clinton, to command a por- tion of her forces in the field. And now when the clouds of oppression and tyranny were gathering thick and fast in the ho- rizon, and it became essential that the representatives of the people should not only be discreet, wise, and talented, but thoroughly imbued with the spirit of liberty and patriotism, the citizens of Ulster County, as if instilled with wisdom from on high, again drew upon that family, and selected one of her distinguished sons, George Clinton, with a fitting, able, and patriotic associate in the person of Charles De Witt, of Greenkill, to represent them in the coming Assembly. These men made their mark, and exhibited the wisdom of the choice of their constituents not only in their capac- ity as representatives at that time, but in all the subsequent dis- tinguished positions they were called upon to occupy in the then near future.
That Assembly of 1768 proved too independent to suit the rep- resentative of royalty, and on the 2d day of January, 1769, the governor dissolved it and ordered a new election .. In his message for dissolution, among other things, he said :
"The extraordinary nature of certain resolves, lately entered on your Journals, some flatly repugnant to the laws of Great Britain, and others with an apparent tendency to give offence, where common prudence would avoid it, have put it out of my power to continue this Assembly any longer."
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Through the kindness of Sutherland De Witt, of Elmira, a de- scendant of the Hon. Charles De Witt, the author has been kindly furnished with copies of some old letters and documents, which in their proper order will be introduced into this work.
The following is one of them, directed to Charles De Witt and dated " Witts Mount Feb 1769." A part of the letter refers to the. re-election of Mr. De Witt to the Assembly, and the other politi- cal portion refers to the election in Dutchess County which had not then taken place. The two persons specifically named as having votes, Hoffman and Elmendorf, owned real estate in that county, and could therefore vote therein :
" DR COUSIN CHARLES
"Your favor of the 30th Ult. I have received, but as our elec- tion is near at hand, which I expect will be the hottest that ever was in this county, makes upon that account time very scarce with me, so that I shall only give you a sort of general answer until more leisure time. I feel glad that you arrived safe home, after a long and tedious session, and that you found your little ones, with the rest of your family well. I am sorry for Mr Clin- ton's severe visitation, of which I have reason of a self feeling.
" I observed, that your friends would not discharge you : that you seemed to submit to their heavy burthen, and that your opin- ion was there should not be much stir concerning the same. But yesterday I was informed, that a resemblance of a Gunpowder plot was discovered on Tuesday evening last. But the more danger the more honor ; I hope you got clear with whole bones. I should be glad to know the event.
"Your solicitation to me, in favor of Judge Livingston, came too late to take effect on me. You had better use all possible means to discover and animate their friends in Ulster who have votes, as Anthony Hoffman, John Elmendorph, who else I know not, because I am almost a stranger to my native country, and my countrymen more so to me : I fear they shall be wanted, where- fore they should try to be at our election. At all events, I hope you will allow the Freeholders to give reasons, why Dirck and Leonard are not fit persons to represent the many thousands in this poor county, or else you will not like the enclosed address, which nevertheless I desire you will take the trouble to read, and after that with all possible speed, have it stuck up at the most public place in Kingston.
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" Farewell : Affectionate Cousin
"P. DE WITT."
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Ulster County stood by and sustained its able and patriotic representatives, Clinton and De Witt, by a triumphant re-election and return, notwithstanding the " Gunpowder plot " or Tory op- position referred to in the preceding letter. The new Assembly convened on the 4th day of April, 1769. The governor at that time succeeded in securing an Assembly with a majority of Tory repre- sentatives ready to sustain his administration and the demands of royalty. The Whigs, however, were represented by a powerful · minority, including George Clinton and Charles De Witt, of Ulster, Colonel Philip Schuyler, of Albany, Colonel Nathaniel Woodhull, of Suffolk, Mr. Van Cortlandt, of Van Cortlandt Manor, John Thomas, of Westchester, Colonel Abraham Ten Broeck, of Rens- selaer, Captain Seaman, of Queens, Colonel Philip Livingston, Mr. Nicoll, and Mr. Boorum. The Hon. Robert R. Livingston was elected and returned from Livingston Manor ; but the Assembly, by a party vote, refused to allow him to sit because he held a com -. mission as judge. His constituents returned him a second time ; he appeared and demanded his seat, he was again rejected, and the Manor was left without any representation.
Chancellor Kent, in one of his productions referring to transac- tions of those bygone years, well said, "the leading patriots of that day were Colonel Schuyler, Colonel Woodhull, and Mr. Clinton."
The majority of that Assembly were entirely subservient to the dictates of royalty, and on the 28th of December, 1769, the As- sembly, by a party vote, passed a bill appropriating two thousand pounds for furnishing his Majesty's troops with necessaries. The vote on its passage stood, affirmative, 12; negative, 10. It con- tinued to make a similar appropriation from year to year for six years by the same party vote, to support troops kept in this coun- try for the purpose of enslaving it.
That Assembly was the last one elected under the colonial Gov- ernment. It met for the first time in the spring of 1769, and a majority being, as before stated, subservient to royalty, it was prorogued. and then again convened from time to time, to suit the convenience and wants of the governor, up to the 3d day of April, 1775. It then adjourned, and was thereafter prorogued from time to time, but never convened. It was finally dissolved by Governor Tryon, on the 2d day of January, 1776, after he had fled from the city of New York and taken refuge on board of an English man- of-war lying in the harbor.
The proceedings of the Assembly will be referred to occasionally as they become relevant.
In the winter of 1771, probably owing to the great discomforts felt in winter travel in those early years, the attendance. of a quorum could not be obtained. This circumstance led to an in-
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teresting letter from George Clinton to his associate, Mr. De Witt, dated March 8th, 1771, of which the following is a copy :
" DEAR CHARLES
" Don't you think it is highly derogatory to the honor, power and dignity of the Body of Representatives of the good people of this Colony, that a majority of their members should not attend, and a minority attend agreeable to adjournment, adjourn over from day to day for a whole week, then be prorogued for another week without being able to do any thing. This is the case, how- ever, and while you think of it, tremble. You know you are one of the delinquents, and if the Lord had pleased, you would have been waited on by that tremendous man the Sergeant at arms. How foolish you would have looked to have been brought down neck and heels to have answered for your delinquency, and per- haps expelled from the Unrighteous forever doomed to live at home among Honest men in peace.
"But to be serious, the packet arrived on Saturday, brought no further news about war, but such as we formerly had pr via Boston, nor any other account that required sitting, so that on Monday we were prorogued to the Monday following, being the 11th ins't, not to meet however until the receipt of a circular let- ter. A confirmation, by the Packet of his Lordship's (Moore) appointment to the Dominion of Virginia, and Mr. Tryon for this Colony, by a letter from Lord Hilsborough. He is loth to leave us, and doubt not but he has interest enough to have the appoint- ment changed and left to remain here, for which he has written home.
"The Packet also brought an account of the repeal of four of our laws, to wit, the act against non residents, the act extending the statutes, the fifty pounds and ten pound acts. For the last thing I am heartily sorry. The power of Justices is now reduced to forty shillings and under. You remember, I told them, I feared this might be the case, when I moved that a committee might be appointed to bring in a bill to amend and continue the £5 law. Kissam and others would have me alter my motion to a £10 law. I refused and gave for reason, it might occasion the loss of both perhaps, and then I would incur blame. That if they chose the £10 bill, they might make it so in the Committee, which they did, and if this has brought upon us the loss of the £o law, they are welcome to the blame. Rather they, than me though, so much as I love them. However I believe there is a much better reason for the repeal of these laws, for the above would only operate as to the £10 act, and not as to the others. I believe the true cause is this, the majority of our house have carried their powers high,
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in maturing laws by a resolve, and new modelling the whole sys- tem of the Laws. That they have at length alarmed the ministry, and Lords of Trade, and stirred up in them a spirit of distrust and enquiry, which has carried them back to look into our laws, and so reported all those that had any thing new in them, for the Royal disallowance. What confirms me in this opinion is old Colden's disgrace, who played in their hands, and the severe report, previ- ous to the repeal of the act, disqualifying the Judges last year.
" Van Kleeck and Ja's De Lancey may now move to New York and keep their seats, though non residents, and there is some rea- son to suspect that the repeal of that law has been solicited. Jno. Watts says he always thought it a bad law, as abridging the free- dom of elections, though he highly approved of it, when it passed the Council to deprive Col. Morris and Philip Livingston from sit- ting. Circumstances alter cases, it answered that purpose. It would now stand in the way of his tools.
" Adieu Charles My love to your family. My letter will show I am in haste
" Yours Most Affectionately "G. W. CLINTON.
"PS. The regiments have to be completed, twenty men extra added to each company, and a company to each regiment."
England and the colonies were now fast drifting to a point where an appeal to arms could be the only remedy. A mine was being formed which needed only the smallest spark to explode. England, impatient and indignant at the opposition of the colonies, was determined to force them to submission. The colonies, on the other hand, raised their liberty poles and flung their motto to the breeze : " No taxation without representation."
The English ministry at first directed its avenging arm wholly against Boston, and by blockading her port with its ships of war, and a large army to act in concert, thought to starve her into submission, although New York had shown equal obstinacy. Boston had emptied a cargo of tea into the salt waters of the bay, but New York had prevented an English ship from landing her cargo of the contraband article, and turned her prow homeward with her cargo unladen. New Yorkers also had seized a number of chests of tea brought there in a vessel on private account, emptied it into the salt waters of her harbor, and made it desirable for the captain bringing it to escape to England on board the Eng- lish tea-ship, to recount to sympathizing Englishmen his woes and misfortunes. There was evidently a policy in the English dealing thus gently with New York. Encouraged by a sympathizing gov- ernor and a Tory majority in the Assembly, the ministry supposed
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that New York could be conciliated and the colonies thus divided. But her sons were not truly represented by the governor and the Tory representatives. The patriotic citizens of New York took the matter in hand independently, and appointed a large executive committee for action. They at once opened a correspondence with all the colonies. to procure an early Continental Congress of dele- gates from all the provinces, in order to create concert of action in this great emergency. Pursuant to such request delegates from all the colonies, except Georgia. met in convention at Philadelphia on the 5th day of September, 1774.
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It was truly a fitting congress for such an important occasion. It was composed of sterling, firm, talented, and patriotic men-the great men of the country-men who subsequently took prominent and distinguished parts in the struggle for independence, in lay- ing the corner-stone of the republic, and raising and completing the structure-such men as the Great and All-Wise overruling Providence ever has in store, and brings forth for great emergen- cies to accomplish some great and beneficent purpose.
The action of that Continental Congress called for such confirm- atory action not only on the part of the several provinces, but also of the inhabitants of the various townships, that a history of Kingston requires a statement of some of the important proceed- ings of that body, to show the action of this old town under its direction. The limits of this work do not justify the insertion of the entire declaration of rights and articles of association issued by that Congress. They deserve a place alongside of the Declaration of Independence in every household. The author is compelled to limit himself to a few extracts.
On the 14th day of October, 1774, after several preambles recit- ing the grievances of the colonies and the unjust claims and des- potic action of the English Government, Congress declared :
"That the inhabitants of the English Colonies in North America, by the immutable laws of nature the principles of the English Constitution, and the several charters and compacts have the following rights :
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" Resolved 4th That the foundation of English Liberty, and of all free Governments is a right in the People to participate in their Legislative Council, and as the English colonists are not rep- resented, and from their local and other circumstances cannot be properly represented in the British parliament, they are entitled to a free and exclusive power of legislation in their several Provincial Legislatures, where their right of representation can alone be pre- served in all cases of taxation, and internal polity, subject only to
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