Historic Pelham: How Did Pelham Get Its Name?

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The precise origins of the name of The Town of Pelham in lower Westchester County, New York, are shrouded in the mists of time. Yet, after years of work by local historians and Pell family genealogists, the origins of the name may be a little clearer.

The first written use of the term “Pelham” to describe the lands that Thomas Pell purchased from local Wiechquaeskeck Native Americans on June 27, 1654 (old style Julian calendar) appears in the October 20, 1687 patent issued to Thomas Pell’s sole legatee, his nephew John Pell. The patent, signed by New York Governor Thomas Dongan, confirmed John Pell as owner of the lands inherited from his uncle. Those lands included today’s Pelham. The 1687 patent refers to the lands as “the lordship and manner [manor] of Pelham.”

The lands were known as the “Manor of Pelham” for more than a century until the division of Westchester County into towns on March 7, 1788. As of that date, much of the land that formed the Manor of Pelham became, officially, the “Town of Pelham.”

For many years, local historians who considered the matter concluded that the name “Pelham” derived from an early English phrase meaning “home of the Pells.” Lockwood Barr, who published a history of Pelham in 1946, wrote that “The word ham was early English for home – so Pelham came to mean the home of the Pells.”

Barr apparently based his conclusions on the work of earlier historians, including the work of Robert Bolton, Jr. who first published a two-volume history of Westchester County in 1848. That work included a chapter on the Town of Pelham. Bolton wrote in 1848 that “The name itself is of Saxon origin, and compounded of the two words Pel (remote) and Ham (mansion.) The former, being the ancient surname of the manorial proprietors, affords us a very good reason for its adoption in connection with the last.”

Monumental work by Pell family genealogists in the last sixty years, however, has cast substantial doubt on Bolton’s theory. Although the matter is not free from doubt, the explanation may be simpler than Bolton supposed.

Thomas Pell, born in 1612, and his brother, John, never knew their parents well. The boys lost their mother and, a little later, their father by the time young Thomas was about four years old. A stepmother and two of their parents’ “Trustees” reportedly raised the boys. One of the “Trustees,” also the “Overseer” of John Pell’s will, was a man named Pelham Burton. Many now believe that Thomas Pell named the area “Pelham” in honor of his father figure, Pelham Burton.

Who was Pelham Burton? Some have described him as Thomas Pell’s “tutor.” Pelham Burton, however, was far more than a tutor. He was Thomas Pell’s family friend, benefactor, legal guardian, and surrogate father.

Pelham Burton seems to have been the single most important figure in the life of young Thomas. Thomas Pell’s mother, Mary, died in February, 1614/15. His father remarried to Joanne Gravette, but died a short time later on April 14, 1616/17. According to PELLIANA, a genealogical publication about the Pell family:

“The boys were orphaned when Mary, first, and then John, their father, died and were raised and educated by their stepmother Joanne Gravett Pell and John’s ‘Trustees’ or Executors, Pelham Burton and the Reverend Richard Vernon, Rector of Eastbourne.”

Just as Pelham Burton cannot be described merely as Thomas Pell’s tutor, he likewise cannot be described as a mere “Executor” of the will of Thomas Pell’s father. Rather, Pelham Burton became, in effect, a surrogate father to Thomas.

As the “Overseer” of John Pell’s will, Pelham Burton served as legal guardian of Thomas and his brother. According to PELLIANA, Burton “took in the boys and their widowed stepmother, made them a home at Compton Place and directed their education”. He sent them to the local “Free School” where the boys received a classic Latin education designed to prepare them to “read” for matriculation into Oxford or Cambridge.

Pelham Burton was a member of the local gentry and an honorable and respected member of the Southwyck community. According to genealogical research by the Pell family, Pelham Burton “took a prominent part” in the affairs of the Sussex area in England in the early 17th century. In addition, he built Compton Place, the estate where he brought the boys and their stepmother upon the death of the boys’ father. That magnificent estate later became one of the residences of the Duke of Devonshire.

There is no known documentary evidence that would prove that Pelham derives its name from Thomas Pell’s legal guardian and surrogate father, Pelham Burton. But, documentary evidence strongly suggests that Pelham Burton was an extraordinarily strong and positive influence on young Thomas Pell. This seems to provide overwhelming support for the theory that later in his adult life, Thomas paid homage to the only “father” he had ever known – Pelham Burton – and named the lands he purchased from local Wiechquaeskeck Native Americans 365 years ago “Pelham.”