An Account of How Soldiers Were "Recruited" in Pelham in 1758 for the French and Indian War

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In 1952, Frederick C. Haacker prepared an interesting typewritten manuscript entitled "WESTCHESTER COUNTY NEW YORK AND THE FRENCH & INDIAN WARS 1755 - 1762". In it, among other things, he provided an account of how soldiers were "recruited" for the 1758 Campaign during that War. The example he used was that of Benjamin Palmer of the Manor of Pelham. The brief account is transcribed in its entirety below, followed by a citation to its source.

"BENJAMIN PALMER OF PELHAM

1758

An interesting account of how soldiers were 'recruited' during 1758, is related to us by Benjamin Palmer, one of the leaders in the movement for a free bridge across the Harlem River. In a letter to Colonel Aaron Burr, Member of the New York State Assembly, from the City and County of New York, in the year 1798, Palmer explains how the Free or Farmer's Bridge was built across the Harlem, he spending £140-14s to finish the bridge, in 1758.

'Besides this loss', he states, 'I was twice pressed in one year, as a soldier to go to Canada, there then being a War between England and France, therefore I was obliged to hire two men to go in my place, - the one cost me £5 and the £20, supposed by the people in general as well as myself, to have been the orders of Colonel Philipse, because he knew I would stop his bridge from taking toll. Notwithstanding this I continued building the free bridge until finished.'

'Benjamin Palmer'

Benjamin Palmer was from City Island, and in 1763, appears as a Freeholder, in the Manor of Pelham.

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The Harket Book, by Thomas F. Devoe, p. 64 1862
The New York Gazette, Sept. 6, 1806.
New York Historical Society Quarterly Bulletin, July 1951, p. 315
The Borough of the Bronx, Harry T. Cook, p. 47 1913"

Source: Haacker, Frederick C., Westchester County New York and the French & Indian Wars 1755 - 1762 (Typewritten Manuscript 1952).

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