Historic Pelham: Significant Discovery: In 1680 and Before, John Pell Sought to Colonize Pelham With Settlers

Through separate purchases, I recently have assembled a set of the published papers of New York Provincial Governor Edmund Andros published as part of The New York Historical Manuscripts Series (THE ANDROS PAPERS 1674-1676, THE ANDROS PAPERS 1677-1678, and THE ANDROS PAPERS 1679-1680). As I suspected, these three volumes have turned out to contain a wealth of information concerning the history of Pelham.

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog details a significant reference contained in THE ANDROS PAPERS 1679-1680. It reveals that much earlier than previously thought, John Pell apparently was engaged in efforts to colonize his lands with new settlers.

On December 23, 1680, a man named Thomas Kyrke (i.e., Kirk) submitted a petition seeking redress from New York Provincial Governor General Edmund Andros. Kyrke alleged that John Pell, the nephew of Pelham Founder Thomas Pell who inherited all of Thomas Pell's lands and property after Thomas Pell's death in late September, 1669, reneged on a promise to allow Kyrke, his eldest son and their family to settle on lands in Pelham that Kyrke believed were special.

Kyrke claimed in his petition that he was a poor petitioner ("poore pettons") who had received multiple letters written by John Pell containing "Large promisses" to induce him and his eldest son, together with their families, to settle on Pell's lands in the Manor of Pelham. According to the petition, Kyrke claimed that Pell had promised that Kyrke could have all the upland and meadow at a place called Whitlock's Crook (actually, "Whttlocks Krooke"), a place name now lost in the mists of time. Kyrke alleged that John Pell further promised to include with the land for Kyrke an area that included a little creek lying to the south of Whitlock's Crook. Thomas Kyrke and his wife implored Governor Andros to enforce John Pell's promises and allow them and their family to settle on Pell's land. The entire petition is quoted below.

The petition is significant because it suggests that well before Pell sold to Jacob Leisler the lands that became today's New Rochelle in 1688, Pell was trying to market portions of his lands and to encourage others to settle on them nearby. Previously, one of the earliest instances of John Pell attempting to sell portions of his land was Pell's sale of today's City Island to John Smith of Brooklyn in 1685. After Smith's death, John Pell purchased back the land by making a payment of 50 pounds to Smith's widow and her new husband to "void" the earlier sale. See Fri., Oct. 20, 2006: John Pell, Second Lord of the Manor of Pelham, Sells City Island and Then Buys It Back.

It is believed that by the time that Thomas Kyrke and his wife filed their petition, John Pell was no longer living on today's Pelham Neck but had built his own manor house on a spot either just southwest of, or nearly on the location of, today's Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum on Shore Road in Pelham Bay Park.