Loyalists in Pelham Were Punished with Targeted Taxes in 1784 Following the Revolutionary War

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At the close of the Revolutionary War, Americans were justly angry toward their British oppressors and the so-called "Loyalists" who resided in America and supported Great Britain during the War.  Indeed, among the many manifestations of such anger were the extensive forfeitures of Loyalist lands forced by New York and other states including forfeitures of lands in the Manor of Pelham authorized immediately after the War.  See Thu., Jun. 23, 2016:  Original Record of Forfeiture Sale of Lands of British Loyalists in the Manor of Pelham; Fri., Aug. 03, 2007: Abstract of Sale of Lands of Joshua Pell of Pelham Manor by the Commissioners of Forfeiture in the Southern District of New York State in August, 1784; Wed., Aug. 30, 2006:  1786 Notice Requiring Filing of Creditors' Claims Against Forfeited Estates of Loyalists Including Joshua Pell of the Manor of Pelham.

Another effort to punish those who either supported the British during the War or remained behind British lines and refused to support the American cause was a New York statute enacted over the Governor's veto on May 6, 1784.  Entitled "An Act for raising £100,000, within the several Counties therein mentioned," the statute ostensibly imposed a large tax on southern New York including the Manor of Pelham to be used to reimburse the middle Western and Eastern sections of the State for the burdens and expenses those sections suffered during the War.  

In reality, the statute imposed a tax on residents of parts of southern New York including the Manor of Pelham that were controlled by the British during the War but exempted all residents who fled the region while it was in the control of the British (whether such refugees fled elsewhere in New York or to any other State).  In short, the statute was an effort to tax Loyalists who remained in the region controlled by the British during the War and stayed after the War.  According to a preamble to the statute, the tax purportedly was imposed by consent of those taxed, but as one author has noted "the detailed provisions for collection cast great doubt upon its voluntary character."  Reppy, Alison, The Spectre of Attainder in New York (Part 1), 23 St. John's Law Rev. pp. 1, 37 (Nov. 1948).

The statute provides a fascinating glimpse of the times.  It imposed a £100,000 tax apportioned among the following communities in southern New York:  (1) City and County of New-York (£56,000); (2) County of Suffolk (£10,000); (3) Kings County (£13,000); (4) Queens County (£14,000); (5) County of Richmond (£5,000); and (6) "that Part of the County of Westchester comprised in the Bounds of the Borough and Town of Westchester, the Township of East-Chester, the Yonkers, Manor of Pelham, New-Rochelle, Mamaroneck and Scarsedale [sic]" (£2,000).  The tax applied to the real property and personal property of "all the Freeholders, Residents and Inhabitants" therein.  

Significantly, the statute contained the following exemption:

"Inhabitants of the Southern District, not in the Power of the Enemy during the War, exempted from this Tax.

VII.  And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That every Person who being an Inhabitant in the Southern District of this State, at the Time of the Invasion thereof by the Troops of the king of Great-Britain, who removed from the said District into any Part of this, or any other of the United States of America, in Consequence of the said Invasion, and whose stated Residence has, from the Time aforesaid until the first Day of March, 1783, been in such Parts of this State, or any other of the United States, not in the Power or Possession of the said Troops, and every other Person whose stated Residence during the late War has been in such Parts of this or any other of the United States, not in the Power or Possession of the said Troops, shall be exempted from paying any Part of the Rate imposed in and by this Act.  That it shall and may be lawful to and for the Assessors, and they are hereby required to omit the Names of such Persons respectively, in forming the Assessment-Rolls directed in and by this Act, to be made by such Assessors."

Source:  Laws of the Legislature of the State of New York, &c. in Force Against the Loyalists, and Affecting the Trade of Great Britain, and British Merchants, and Others Having Property in that State, CHAP. LVIII:  An Act for raising £100,000, within the several Counties therein mentioned.  Passed May the 6th, 1784,  pp. 145-51 (London:  H. Reynell No. 21 Piccadilly, 1786).  

The statute further specified extensive procedures for having assessors determine the value of lands and personal property held by those subject to the tax.  It required the tax to be paid only in gold or silver coin and provided procedures for pursuing and even punishing those who refused, or failed, to pay the tax.  

The statute contains no indication as to why southern Westchester County including the Manor of Pelham (the Town of Pelham was not created by statute until four years later in 1788) was required to pay only two thousand of the one hundred thousand pounds required.  Most likely, however, the amount was comparatively low for southern Westchester including Pelham for at least two reasons.  First, the region was utterly devastated during the Revolutionary War.  It was part of the so-called Neutral Ground that was subject to marauding bands of irregulars known as "Cowboys" and "Skinners" that plundered the region and tormented, tortured, and even murdered its residents.  Little in the way of "wealth" remained.  Secondly, compared to the other more urban counties named by the statute, there were comparatively fewer residents in rural Westchester County to bear a share of the tax.

Nevertheless, the State of New York made its point.  It would continue to take its pound of flesh from Loyalists and others who failed to support the American cause during the War for Independence.

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The text of the statute on which today's Historic Pelham article is based appears immediately below, followed by a citation and link to its source.

"CHAP. LVIII.

An Act for raising £100,000, within the several Counties therein mentioned.  Passed May the 6th, 1784.

Preamble.  Reciting that heavy Burthens have been sustained by Part of the State, in Support of the War.

WHEREAS the several Counties in the middle Western and Eastern Districts of this State, and a Part of the County of Westchester have sustained many and heavy Burthens and Expences, in prosecuting the late War between these States and the King of Great-Britain.

And who ought to bear Part of Expenses

And whereas it is just and equitable, that all who participate in the Blessings derived from the Freedom and Independence which this State now happily enjoys, should contribute in the Burthens and Expenses whereby the same was obtained.

£100,000, deemed a Compensation for the Southern District.

And whereas the Citizens of the Southern District of this State, impressed with a just Sense of the Exertions and Sufferings of their Brethren in the other Districts, have by their Representatives declared their Readiness to afford a Testimonial of the Sense they have of the Exertions and Sufferings aforesaid, and it being conceived by this Legislature, that, if the Sum of One Hundred Thousand Pounds should be raised in the said Southern District, it would be such a Compensation to the other Districts as would prove satisfactory to the Citizens thereof, and that no future Compensation would be required from the Southern District:  And it being the Intention of this Legislature, that on all future Occasions where Burthens are to be borne by the Citizens of this State, each County shall be charged with a Proportion according to the relative Value of such County to the Whole.

Quota of different Counties in said District.

I.  Be it enacted by the People of the State of New-York, represented in Senate and Assembly, and it is hereby enacted by the Authority of the same, That there shall be raised within the City and County of New-York, the Counties of Suffolk, Kings, Queens, and Richmond, and that Part of Westchester County herein after described, the Sum of One Hundred Thousand Pounds; that the Quota of the City and County of New-York of the said Sum, shall be Fifty-six Thousand Pounds; the Quota of the County of Suffolk, Ten Thousand Pounds; the Quota of Kings County, Thirteen Thousand Pounds; the Quota of Queens County, Fourteen Thousand Pounds; the Quota of the County of Richmond, Five Thousand Pounds; and the Quota of that Part of the County of Westchester comprised in the Bounds of the Borough and Town of Westchester, the Township of East-Chester, the Yonkers, Manor of Pelham, New-Rochelle, Mamaroneck and Scarsedale, shall be Two Thousand Pounds.

How an Account of Inhabitants Estates to be taken.

II.  And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the Mayor, Recorder and Aldermen, of the City and County of New-York, or the major Part of them for the Time being, shall meet and assemble at the City-Hall of the said City, within ten Days after the passing of this Act, and then and there issue their Warrants to the several Assessors of the said City and County, 

When and how to be assessed.

to take a true and exact Account of all the Estates real and personal of all the Freeholders, Residents and Inhabitants, within the several Wards of the said City and County (and liable to be assessed by this Act) for which they at the Time of issuing such Warrants shall be Assessor or Assessors, and true, equal, and impartial Assessments to make, and at such Day to be therein prefixed, no more than fifteen Days after the Time of issuing such Warrants, to the said Mayor, Recorder and Aldermen, or the major Part of them to exhibit:  

Assessments being made, how Warrants to be issued to Collectors, and Monies collected.

And when the said Assessments shall, by the said Assessors, be compleated, and a full Account of the same, made and cast up according to the pound Value of the Estates of Persons, by this Act liable to be assessed, then the said Mayor, Recorder, and Aldermen, or the major Part of them, shall issue their Warrants to the several and respective Collectors in the City and County (within fifteen Days after the Day on which such Assessments to be laid by the Assessors of the respective Wards as aforesaid shall have been exhibited) to collect the Monies so assessed, 

And paid to the Treasurer, by 1st of August next.

and pay the same from Time to Time to the Treasurer of this State never retaining in the Hands of any such Collector, more than the Sum of Five Hundred Pounds, and so that the Whole of the Monies to be raised in the said City and County, be paid to the said Treasurer of this State, on or before the first Day of August next.

Assessors to take an Oath before they proceed to assess.

III.  And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That each of the Assessors of the said City and County of New-York, shall, before he enters on the Performance of the Duties required of him by this Act, take an Oath before the said Mayor, Recorder, and Aldermen, or the major Part of them, in the Words following, viz.

Form of such Oath.

'I ________ do solemnly swear and declare, that I will well, truly, equally, and impartially, in due Proportion, according to the best of my Skill, Knowledge, and Understanding, assess and rate the Freeholders, Residents, and Inhabitants of the Ward for which I am Assessor, who are liable to be rated and assessed in Pursuance of the Law, entitled, "An Act for the raising the Sum of One Hundred Thousand Pounds within the several Counties therein mentioned, agreeable to the Directions of the said Law.'  

To be taken before Mayor, Recorder, &c.

Which Oath the said Mayor, Recorder, and Aldermen, or the major Part of them are hereby empowered, required, and directed to administer.

Gold and Silver only to be taken in Payment, and on Refusal to pay it, to levy by Distress, &c.

V.  And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That Gold and Silver Coins only shall be received in Payment for the said Rate.  --  That if any of the Persons so rated, shall neglect or refuse to pay the Rate imposed on them, the Collector shall levy the same by Distress and Sale of the Goods and Chattels of the Persons so refusing or neglecting; that where Distress and Sale shall be made in either of the Cafes above-mentioned, the Overplus, after deducting the Charges of such Distress and Sale, shall have been made -- 

For Want of Goods, to commence a Suit, before a Justice of Peace,

That for Want of Goods and Chattels whereon to levy the Rate, the Collector shall be, and is hereby authorised and required to commence a Suit in his own Name, before any Justice of the Peace of the County, and the Justice or Jury shall give a Verdict and Judgment for the Amount of the Sum at which the Defendant shall be so taxed, with Costs, upon the Rate Lists being duly proved to have been signed by the Supervisor or Supervisors or Justice; which is hereby declared to be conclusive Evidence to entitle the Plaintiff to recover;

Whole Authority is extended to all such Actions, &c.

and the Authority and Jurisdiction of such Justice is hereby extended to such Actions, notwithstanding the Sum to be sued for shall exceed the Sum of Ten Pounds:  And it shall an may be lawful to and for the Justice giving Judgment as aforesaid, and he is hereby strictly enjoined and required, to award Execution forthwith after such Judgment, and former Law to the Contrary in any Wise notwithstanding,

And direct a Return, &c.

therein directing the Officer to make Return of such Execution within ten Days from the Date of the said Execution, and to pay the Amount of the Rate to be paid by the Person against whom such Execution shall have been awarded, to the Collector who sued for the same, within fifteen Days from the Date of such Execution; or if the Person is committed to the Custody of the Sheriff, or cannot be found, to give such Collector a Certificate thereof, which Certificate shall be, by the said Collector, delivered to the Treasurer of the County, and who is hereby directed to credit the said Collector for the Amount of the Rate mentioned in such Certificate -- 

Collectors Allowance for collecting Rates.

That the Collectors shall be allowed, and are hereby authorised to retain in their Hands, out of the Rates by them collected, Four-pence in the Pound, for their Services in the Execution of this Act, except in the City and County of New-York, where the Collectors respectively shall only retain Two-pence in the Pound -- That the County Treasurer shall pay the Monies they shall respectively from Time to Time receive from the Collectors into the Treasury of this State, within fifteen Days next after the Days and Times in which the Collectors, by this Act, are directed and required to pay the same into the County Treasury -- 

And retain 8s. for every 100l.

That the several County Treasurers shall be allowed and are hereby authorised to retain in their Hands, out of the Monies they shall respectively receive from the Collectors, a Commission of Eight Shillings for every Hundred Pounds, for their Services in receiving the said Monies, and paying the same into the Treasury of this State.

Inhabitants of the Southern District, not in the Power of the Enemy during the War, exempted from this Tax.

VII.  And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That every Person who being an Inhabitant in the Southern District of this State, at the Time of the Invasion thereof by the Troops of the king of Great-Britain, who removed from the said District into any Part of this, or any other of the United States of America, in Consequence of the said Invasion, and whose stated Residence has, from the Time aforesaid until the first Day of March, 1783, been in such Parts of this State, or any other of the United States, not in the Power or Possession of the said Troops, and every other Person whose stated Residence during the late War has been in such Parts of this or any other of the United States, not in the Power or Possession of the said Troops, shall be exempted from paying any Part of the Rate imposed in and by this Act.  That it shall and may be lawful to and for the Assessors, and they are hereby required to omit the Names of such Persons respectively, in forming the Assessment-Rolls directed in and by this Act, to be made by such Assessors.

Assessors may summon any Persons before them, to examine them on Oath relative to Personal Property.

XXI.  And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the Assessors or a Majority of them may, by Writing under their Hands, summon any Person actually resident within the City, Town, Manor, District, or Precinct, to appear before them at such Time and such Place within the City, Town, Manor, District, or Precinct, respectively, as they may think proper, to be examined on Oath (or if of the People called Quakers) on Affirmation, which Oath or Affirmation the Assessors, or a Majority of them, are hereby authorised to administer, touching the Value or Amount of any personal Estate; 

On Refusal to appear, such Persons to forfeit 5l. for each Offence.

and if the Person so to be Summoned, shall not, upon being served with such Summons, appear before the Assessors, or appearing, shall refuse to answer to Interrogatories upon Oath (or if of the people called Quakers) on Affirmation, touching the Value or Amount of the personal Estate or any person or Persons within such City, Town, Manor, District, or Precinct, the Person or Persons so offending, shall, for every such Offence, forfeit the Sum of Five Pounds, to be recovered with Costs in an Action of Debt, in the Name of the Treasurer of the County; and when recovered, paid in like Manner as last aforesaid, so as the person to be summoned, shall not be compelled to answer to any Interrogatories touching the Value or Amount of his or her Property.

Proviso.  By the 7th Section of an Act of the 26th November, 1784, all legal Remedy against any Collector barr'd.

Provided always, That no such Evidence shall be conclusive for forming any Assessment, but that the Assessors shall be at Liberty to determine the actual Value of such personal Property as aforesaid, by such Evidence as aforesaid, or any other Means, which in their Judgment, may be deemed most proper for estimating such actual Value.

Lands vested in the State, not to be taxed, i.e. the forfeited Lands

XXVI.  And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That any Lands vested in the People of this State, as Sovereign thereof, shall not be subject to be rated by Virtue of this Act."

Source:  Laws of the Legislature of the State of New York, &c. in Force Against the Loyalists, and Affecting the Trade of Great Britain, and British Merchants, and Others Having Property in that State, CHAP. LVIII:  An Act for raising £100,000, within the several Counties therein mentioned.  Passed May the 6th, 1784,  pp. 145-51 (London:  H. Reynell No. 21 Piccadilly, 1786).  

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Stagecoach Lines Proliferated in Pelham in the 1870s, Part of Pelham's Old Stage Coach Days

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On August 7, 1874, a cryptic announcement appeared in the New-York Tribune regarding the opening of a new stagecoach line through City Island and Pelham Bridge in the Town of Pelham.  It read:

"CITY ISLAND. -- A stage line was recently established between Mount Vernon and Yonkers, connecting with trains on the New-Haven, Harlem, and Hudson River railroads.  The success of the line has induced the proprietor to establish another line between Mount Vernon, Eastchester, Pelham Bridge, and City Island, so that persons can now cross between Long Island Sound and the Hudson River, passing through the villages named."

Source:  CITY ISLAND, New-York Tribune, Aug. 7, 1874, p. 8, col. 5 (Note:  Access via this link requires paid subscription).  

Although the announcement did not identify the "proprietor" of the new line, it noted that it was the same proprietor who had recently established a stage line between Mount Vernon and Yonkers to connect with trains on the New Haven, Harlem, and Hudson River railroads.  Thus, it seems nearly certain, the unidentified "proprietor" likely was Theodore Valentine who was the man who ran "Valentine's Mount Vernon and Yonkers Stage Line."  For a time in the 1870s, that stage line ran three trips daily.  It ran from Mount Vernon to Yonkers at 7:53 a.m., 12:00 noon, and 4:15 p.m.  It ran from Yonkers back to Mount Vernon at 9:15 a.m., 2:00 p.m., and 5:30 p.m.  The fare on Valentine's Mount Vernon and Yonkers Stage Line was twenty-five cents each way.  

1878 Advertisement for Valentine's Mount Vernon and

Yonkers Stage Line.  Source:  VALENTINE'S MOUNT

VERNON AND YONKERS STAGE LINE [Advertisement],

The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Jul. 5, 1878, Vol. IX,

No. 459, p. 4, cols. 5-6.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

The move by Theodore Valentine to establish a stage line " between Mount Vernon, Eastchester, Pelham Bridge, and City Island, so that persons can now cross between Long Island Sound and the Hudson River, passing through the villages named" may have played some role in the decision by Robert J. Vickery of City Island to establish his stage line that shuttled between Bartow Station on the New Haven Branch Line and City Island.  I have written before of Robert J. Vickery and his stage.  See, e.g.:  

Fri., Jul. 25, 2014:  Stagecoach Accident in Pelham in Early 1883. 

Fri., Mar. 21, 2014:  Examples of Very Early Merchant Advertisements in the Town of Pelham. 

Wed., Mar. 03, 2010:  1879 Advertisement for Robert J. Vickery's City Island Stage Line, A Predecessor to the City Island Horse Railroad. 

Thu., Sep. 24, 2009:  Brief Newspaper Account of the January 1, 1883 Annual Meeting of the Pelham Manor Protective Club (article includes account of an accident involving one of Vickery's stages). 

Tue., Jan. 27, 2009:  Biography of William Vickery, a 19th Century Resident of City Island in the Town of Pelham.

No definitive history of stagecoach transportation in the Pelham region has been written.  That history, however, can be pieced together from a variety of sources and sheds light on the growth of the region and the role Pelham has played over the last few centuries as a small town along Boston Post Road near the metropolis of New York City.  (Included at the end of today's article is a bibliography of links to other Historic Pelham articles that touch on stagecoach days in old Pelham.)

One of the earliest efforts to provide regular stagecoach from New York to Boston on the Boston Post Road that passed through Pelham at the time via today's Colonial Avenue occurred in 1772, shortly before the onset of the Revolutionary War.  A carriage-maker in Hartford, Connecticut named Nicholas Brown partnered with a driver named Jonathan Brown to offer stagecoach service along the Post Road between New York City and Boston.  According to one account:

"[T]he partners had trouble attracting patrons.  The Browns may not have made any trips at all until late July.  Even then they had only enough interest to go twice a month, and be fall they went no more."

Source:  Jaffe, Eric, The King's Best Highway -- The Lost History of the Boston Post Road, the Route that Made America, p. 80 (NY, NY:  Scribner, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2010).  

It was not until Autumn 1784 that another attempt to establish stagecoach travel between New York and Boston on the old Boston Post Road through Pelham.  That year, a group of four local stagecoach proprietors in the northeast successfully joined their various stagecoach lines to make stagecoach travel from the old Morris mansion in New York City to Boston.  See id., pp. 81-83.  These local stage lines included those of Jacob Brown (New Haven to Hartford to Springfield), Levi Pease and Reuben Sikes (Hartford to Somers to Boston), and Talmadge Hall (New York City to Norwalk).  For the next few years, the stage lines that made up the service were able to survive by supplementing their income carrying newspapers and U.S. mail back and forth along the Post Road.  

During the latter part of the eighteenth century the stages run by Talmadge Hall routinely rumbled through Pelham on today's Colonial Avenue carrying passengers, mail, newspapers, and more.  At the same time, Levi Pease played an ever greater role in the expansion of stagecoach transportation from Boston to as far as Philadelphia and even Baltimore in the later years of the eighteenth century and the first two decades of the nineteenth century.  

In 1796, the First Massachusetts Turnpike opened along the Boston Post Road near Boston in an effort to charge travelers fees that could be used to improve the rough roadway.  Soon, "turnpike fever swept the country" including the New York City region.  Soon a turnpike was built and opened through Pelham to shorten the travel between the Bronx and New Rochelle via the Boston Post Road.  

Thus, in about 1804, stagecoach traffic shifted in Pelham from the old Boston Post Road (today's Colonial Avenue) to the new Westchester Turnpike (today's Boston Post Road).  The Westchester Turnpike included toll gates along the roadway not far from the Shrubbery that once stood near today's Split Rock Road in Pelham Manor.  

At about this time, stagecoach lines popped into and out of existence, sending stagecoaches back and forth between New York and Boston through Pelham on the Westchester Turnpike.  For example, In 1813, New York City newspapers published announcements of the opening of another new stage coach line:  the New-York & Boston New Line Diligence Stage running from New York City to Boston by way of New Haven, Hartford, and Providence.  See Tue., Dec. 27, 2016:  Stage Coach Days In Old Pelham.  

For the next few decades, stagecoach and wagon traffic along the Westchester Turnpike through Pelham continued to grow.  During this time, however, the population of Pelham was beginning to grow on City Island and on Pelham Neck and along Shore Road on the mainland.  Shortly before the widespread advent of trains on the east coast, stagecoaches along the Boston Post Road were being engineered for speed for the benefit of passengers and the U.S. Mail.  Indeed, Pelham became a regular station stop for the mail and passenger stagecoaches of Dorance, Recide & Co.  According to an article published in The New York Times on May 8, 1880:

"A few New-Yorkers still remember the old stages of Dorance, Recide & Co., which used to carry the United States mails between this City and Boston. Fifty years ago two stages started from the corner of Bayard-street and the Bowery every morning. One of them was an especially fast stage. It carried the mails and never booked more than six passengers, and when the mails were unusually heavy no passengers were allowed at all. 'Six passengers only allowed inside,' was the announcement contained in the words painted on the panels of this nimble vehicle, which legend many a time carried dismay to the hearts of impetuous business men who arrived at the stage office only to find the last seat taken. The slow stage carried nine passengers inside and two upon the box. These two stages always left the hotel in company and proceeded up Third-avenue. They crossed Harlem bridge and stopped for dinner 28 miles out. The mail stage usually arrived at Boston half a day in advance of its companion coach. The principal stations on the route were East Chester, West Chester, Pelham, New-Rochelle, Port Chester, Horse Neck, Stamford, Norwalk, Hartford, Springfield, and Worcester."

Source:  Before the Locomotive - The Ways over Which the Stage-Coach Rumbled, N.Y. Times, May 9, 1880, p. 10.

By the early 1870s, the New Haven Main Line and the New Haven Branch Line had been built through Pelham.  Paradoxically, the advent of the railroads prompted local expansion of stagecoach lines that ferried passengers between the various railroads that traversed the region such as the stagecoach lines of Theodore Valentine described at the outset of today's article.  Similarly, local stagecoach lines such as that established by Robert J. Vickery between Bartow Station on the New Haven Branch Line and City Island sprang up to ferry passengers from railroad stations to specific nearby locations.  

By the 1880s, however, horse car railroads and, a little later, electric trolleys were beginning to overtake the region marking the decline of the stagecoach days in old Pelham.  Another chapter in the transportation history of Pelham was drawing to a close.

Post Card View of "Bartow and City Island Stage Line."

Post Card is Postmarked September 6,  1910.  NOTE:

Click on Image to Enlarge.

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Below is a bibliography of links to other Historic Pelham articles besides those already listed above that touch on stagecoach days in old Pelham.  

Tue., Dec. 27, 2016:  Stage Coach Days In Old Pelham.

Fri., Nov. 11, 2016:  John Robert Beecroft and the Beecroft Family of Pelham Manor (describes December 19, 1900 NYAC stagecoach accident that led to death of Beecroft).

Fri., Mar. 11, 2016:  How Did Pelhamites Travel To and From Nearby New York City in 1857? 

Fri., Sep. 05, 2014:  Post Card Image of Bartow and City Island Stagecoach With Driver. 

Wed., Aug. 13, 2014:  The Nineteenth Century Stagecoach Presented to Local Boy Scouts by Famed Illustrator Edward Penfield During the 1920s. 

Fri., Aug. 08, 2014 1894:  Pelham School Budget Vote: Stagecoach Authorized To Transport Pelham Students in Days Before Autos and Buses. 

Mon., Apr. 12, 2010:  New York Athletic Club Stagecoach Accident Leads to Death of Pelham Manor Man. 

Mon., Oct. 26, 2009:  Pelham Was a Principal Station on the Stagecoach Route of Dorance, Recide & Co. Which Carried Mail Between New York and Boston. 

Mon., Mar. 21, 2005:  Pelham Was A Station Stop for the Stagecoach That Carried Mail from New York To Boston in the Early 19th Century.

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Original Record of Forfeiture Sale of Lands of British Loyalists in the Manor of Pelham

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Following the close of the Revolutionary War, the "Commissioners of Forfeitures in the Southern District of New York State" conducted forfeiture sale proceedings involving confiscated lands of those who were not loyal to the Patriot cause during the War.  On August 25, 1784, the Commissioners of Forfeitures sold a 146-acre farm located in the Manor of Pelham that once had belonged to Loyalist Joshua Pell, Jr.  Pell served as an officer in the Bugoyne campaigns during the War.  (To read portions of his diary, see Mon., Oct. 2, 2006:  The Revolutionary War Diary of Loyalist Joshua Pell, Jr. of the Manor of Pelham.)  

I have written before about an abstract of the original record of the forfeiture sale of Joshua Pell, Jr.'s lands.  See Fri., Aug. 03, 2007: Abstract of Sale of Lands of Joshua Pell of Pelham Manor by the Commissioners of Forfeiture in the Southern District of New York State in August, 1784.  Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog, however, provides an image of the original record as well as a transcription of the text of the record.

The record reflects that on August 25, 1784, the Commissioners of Forfeiture sold to Isaac Guion of New York City for 980 pounds the dwelling ("messuage") and farm land of deceased British Loyalist Joshua Pell, Jr., excepting from the sale only the right of Dower for Pell's wife (i.e., the portion of a deceased husband's real property allowed to his widow for her lifetime).

Two years later, in 1786, the Treasury Office of the State of New York published a notice to inform Joshua Pell, Jr.'s creditors to come forward and file any claims they might have against the monies derived from the sales of his lands or be barred from pursuing such claims thereafter.  I have written about that notice before.  See Wed., Aug. 30, 2006:  1786 Notice Requiring Filing of Creditors' Claims Against Forfeited Estates of Loyalists Including Joshua Pell of the Manor of Pelham.

In the meantime, Joshua Pell, Jr. had fled to Canada.  There he engaged in efforts to pursue claims with British authorities for the property he had lost in Pelham Manor.  See Mon., Aug. 20, 2007:  Canadian Records of Claim Asserted by Joshua Pell, Formerly of Pelham Manor, A Loyalist Who Fought for the British in the Revolutionary War.

The Joshua Pell, Jr. farm that was confiscated and sold to Isaac Guion was the well-known farm along today's Split Rock Road in the Village of Pelham Manor where the mansion known as "The Shrubbery" once stood.  The Shrubbery was built in about 1750 by Joshua Pell, Sr.  Joshua Pell, Sr. bequeathed the 146-acre tract to his son, Joshua Pell, Jr., who owned the farm at the time of the Revolutionary War.  To read more, see:

Wed., Dec. 16, 2015:  The Will of Joshua Pell Sr. of the Manor of Pelham Dated March 1, 1758.

Wed., Feb. 10, 2016:  Slaves Likely Were Held, and Forced to Work, at the Shrubbery, Once Located Near Split Rock Road in Pelham.

The Shrubbery, Home of Joshua Pell, Sr., Joshua Pell, Jr.,

Isaac Guion, and Augustine J. Frederick Prevost Before

It Burned in the 1890s.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Detail from 1868 Beers Atlas Map Showing Location of

"THE SHRUBBERY" (Lower Left) Just Off Today's Boston

Post Road in Area Between Today's Split Rock Road and

Today's Boston Post Road. Source: Beers, Frederick W.,

"City Island, Pelham Township, Westchester Co., N.Y. [With]

Town of Pelham, Westchester Co, N.Y." in Atlas of New York

and Vicinity from Actual Surveys by and Under the Direction

of F. W. Beers, p. 35 (NY, NY: Beers Ellis & Soule, 1868)

NOTE: Click Image to Enlarge.

The collections of the Westchester County Archives include records of the Commissioners of Forfeitures in the Southern District of New York State.  One of those records reflects the confiscation and sale of The Shrubbery and the farm on which the home stood.  An image of that record appears immediately below.  The image is followed by a citation and link to its source, then a transcription of its text.

Record of August 25, 1784 Sale of Messuage (i.e., dwelling)

and Farm of Land Belonging to Joshua Pell, Jr. to Isaac Guion

of New York City.  Westchester County Archives, Commissioners

of Forfeiture Proceedings, 1784-1786, Page 2 (Copied by Clerk

on Aug. 4, 1788).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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August 25th 1784 

No. 3 Sold to Isaac Guion of the City of New York, Merchant for the sum of nine Hundred and eighty eight pounds. -----

All That certain Messuage and Farm of Land Situate lying and being in the Manor of Pelham in the County of Westchester and State of New York being bounded on the North by Lands of James Pell on the West by East Chester Creek on the South by the Land of Edward Pell and on the East by the Lands forfeited to the People of this State by the Conviction of John Pell containing One Hundred and forty six Acres more or less Forfeited to the people of this State by the Conviction of Joshua Pell [excepting and reserving thereof to Phebe Pell, Widow and Relict of Joshua Pell, late of Westchester County Farmer deceased her Right of Dower in the Premises hereby granted. 

A Copy of Abstract, taken and Entered this 4th August 1788 
Richard Hatfield, Clk

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Abstract of Sale of Lands of Joshua Pell of Pelham Manor by the Commissioners of Forfeiture in the Southern District of New York State in August, 1784

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Following the close of the Revolutionary War, the "Commissioners of Forfeitures in the Southern District of New York State" conducted sale proceedings involving lands of those who were not loyal to the Patriot cause during the War. On August 23, 1784, the Commissioners of Forfeitures sold a 146-acre farm located in the Manor of Pelham that once had belonged to Loyalist Joshua Pell, Jr. Pell served as an officer in the Bugoyne campaigns during the War. (To read his diary, see October 2, 2006: The Revolutionary War Diary of Loyalist Joshua Pell, Jr. of the Manor of Pelham.)

Below is a transcription of an abstract of the Commissioners' records of that sale from abstracts published in The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record in April, 1928.

"ABSTRACTS OF SALES BY THE COMMISSIONERS OF FORFEITURES IN THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK STATE

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COPIED AND CONTRIBUTED BY THERESA HALL BRISTOL. (MRS. ROBERT DEWEY BRISTOL), Life Member and Member of the Publication Committee of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society.

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* * *

August, 1784. . . .

No. 3. Sold to Isaac Guion of the City of New York, Merchant; a farm in Manor of Pelham; bounded N. by James Pell; W. by Eastchester Creek; S. by Edward Pell; e. by lands forfeited by conviction of John Pell; 146 a.; forfeited by the conviction of Joshua Pell [excepting and reserving thereout to Phebe Pell, widow and relict of Joshua Pell late of Westchester Co., farmer, her right of Dower]."

Source: Bristol, Theresa Hall, Abstracts of Sales by the Commissioners of Forfeitures in the Southern District of New York State in The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. LIX, No. 2, pp. 108-09 (NY, NY: The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, April 1928).

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Located at http://www.historicpelham.com/.
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