British Loyalist Jonathan Pell of the Manor of Pelham

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Jonathan Pell was a British Loyalist who, prior to the Revolutionary War, lived in the Manor of Pelham. He was a well-known Loyalist who actively supported the British Crown and, thus, was hated by American Patriots in the region even before the War actually began. Thus, at the very outset of the War, Jonathan Pell fled the Manor of Pelham.  Though I have written of the exploits of many Pell family members who lived in the Manor of Pelham at the outset of the Revolutionary War, I never have written about Jonathan Pell.

Jonathan Pell was a son of Joshua Pell (born about 1710, died about 1786) and Phebe Palmer (born about 1710, died about 1796). Although before the Revolutionary Wary Pell clearly resided in the Manor of Pelham as period documents affirm, it is not clear if he owned property in Pelham. If he did, he apparently disposed of his Pelham real estate at or before the time he joined the British military as there appears to be no record of any confiscation of Pelham real estate belonging to him – only real estate in New York City. In any event, Pell fled to Long Island in 1776 where he joined the British Army. 

According to a Jonathan Pell filed with the Commissioners Appointed by Act of Parliament for Inquiring Into the Losses and Services of the American Loyalists, shortly after he joined the British Army: 

“[A] Part of the Army . . . marched from New York to the White Plains under the Command of Sir Henry Clinton and your Memorialist being acquainted with the Country offered his services as a Guide which was accepted of, & he accompanied them on that Expedition & returned with them to New York, and thereafter acted as a Lieutenant of the Militia at New York until the Conclusion of the Peace.” Pell owned real estate on Bowery Lane in New York City worth 700 pounds that was confiscated and sold by the United States after the war. He also filed a claim seeking compensation for a large 80-ton sloop “burnt by the Rebells [sic] at Cowneck Harbour near Huntington in the year 1782 valued at . . . } £400.” It appears that Pell was an owner of the sloop but did not serve as its master. According to his claim filed for compensation for the loss of the sloop, a man named William Hunt was the ship’s Master. The claim stated “the said Vessel was in June One thousand seven hundred & Eighty two, lying at Cowsneck Harbour near Huntington, at which time a number of Armed Men, in whale Boats, came from the Connecticut shore, seized upon the said Vessel & Burnt her.” 

At some point before the war, Pell purchased a mare worth £37.6.8 from Joseph Rodman and a black horse purchased from Samuel Rodman worth £40. According to a claim Pell later filed, in 1783, Pell sent these two horses from New York City to Pelham Manor “to pasture there.” Shortly after he sent the horses to Pelham, “a person calling himself a Serjeant in the American Army came and carried away the said two Horses & Mare against the will & Consent of this Deponent who used every means to prevent him from taking them away. And that the said Horses were never returned to the said Jonathan Pell or any satisfaction whatever made him.” 

After the war, Jonathan Pell fled to, and settled in, Shelburne, Nova Scotia. He later moved from Shelburne to Stamford Township, Welland County, Nova Scotia. From Nova Scotia, Pell filed his claim for Revolutionary War losses. It was heard by the Commissioners on December 16, 1785 (AO 13, Vol. 25, pp. 418-26). In his claim, Pell sought compensation for his burned sloop, a mare and black horse, and a lot on Bowery Lane. He sought £1,190.16.8 in “New York Currency” or £661.10.3 in “Sterling.” Interestingly, Benjamin Palmer and Enoch Hunt, both “at present of Shelburne,” submitted oaths in support of Pell’s claim. See “Revolutionary War Claims for Losses – Surnames ‘P’ Jonathan Pell” in Niagara Settlers (visited February 21, 2016) (scroll down to Jonathan Pell).

Low Resolution Image of Original Surveyor's Map

Entitled "Town of Pelham West Chester County

Scale Twenty Chains to an Inch James Davenport.

Surveyor.  22nd February 1798."  NOTE:  Click on

Link to Access High Resolution Digital Image of the Map.

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Pelhamite Rem Rapelje, a Loyalist, Was "Rode on Rails" During the Revolutionary War

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A prevalent extrajudicial punishment by mob during colonial times was known as "riding the rail" or being "run out of town on a rail."  A victim of such punishment was forced to straddle a rail, usually with his hands tied behind his back.  A group then lifted the rail to their shoulders and paraded the victim, who often also was tarred and feathered, throughout the community.  Although the treatment was quite painful, it also was intended to humiliate the victim and force him to conform to the mob's demands -- or leave the community.  

American patriots during the Revolutionary War used the mob punishment against Loyalists in their midst.  One such Loyalist who lived in Brooklyn at the time, but later became an important landowner in, and resident of, the Town of Pelham was Rem Rapelje.

I have written of Rem Rapelje and the Rapelje family in Pelham before.  For a few examples, see:

Wed., Oct. 03, 2007:  Book by George Rapelje, Pelham Resident Along With His Father, Rem Rapelje, Published in 1834.  

Mon., Feb. 27, 2006:  Another Description of the Farm of Rem Rapelje of Pelham Published in 1806.  

Wed., Aug. 24, 2005:  1807 Advertisement for Sale of Property of Rem Rapelje in Pelham.

Rem Rapelje was born in Brooklyn, New York during the mid-1700s.  He lost his father as a young child.  His mother remarried but his relationship with his stepfather was quite poor and, according to his son, George Rapelje, Rem "sought for friendly aid elsewhere."  As a young man, Rem Rapelje hustled for his living.  As a very, very young man, he was a ship owner.  He also dealt in general merchandise and kept a store on Maiden Lane in New York City "directly in rear of his dwelling."  An uncle who was in the "corn, grain, and flour business" and owned a store for the business took him into the store "which was at the fork of Maiden Lane and Crown Street."  Soon, on behalf of the business, he was sent in a schooner to Curacao.

Rem Rapelje was a Loyalist, but he remained in the New York region after the Revolutionary War.  When the war ended, he purchased a farm known as "Glass House Farm" located along the Hudson River about three miles from New York City.

By 1790, according to both the 1790 U.S. Census and a plan of pews for St. Paul's Church in Eastchester, Rem Rapelje had moved to Pelham.  See Wed., Aug. 15, 2007:  Plan of Pews in St. Paul's Church 1790.  He purchased a massive 300 acre farm on Pelham Neck and the surrounding region.  He had a brother-in-law named John Hardenbrook who also resided in Pelham.  He lived in Pelham on that farm until his death in about 1805.

Notice Published After Rem Rapelje's Death in the November

30, 1805 Issue of The Evening Post.  [Text Transcribed

Immediately Below].  Source:  TAKE NOTICE [Advertisement],

The Evening Post, Nov. 30, 1805, p. 2, col. 2 (NOTE:  Paid

subscription required to access link.)  NOTE:  Click on Image

to Enlarge.

"TAKE NOTICE. . . . . All persons having just or legal demands against the estate of REM RAPELJE, late of the town of Pelham, in Westchester County, and formerly of the city of New York, merchant, deceased, are requested to present their accounts well authenticate for instant payment; and those indebted to said estate to make payment to GEORGE RAPLJE, Executor, 14 Vesey street.  Nov. 29 1m"

Before Rem Rapelje's death, his son, George Rapelje, moved to Pelham and lived for a time with his father.  Thereafter, George Rapelje sold the farm in Pelham and moved to New York City.  (As a source for much of this background information, see Rapelje, George, A Narrative of Excursions, Voyages, and Travels, Performed at Different Periods in America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, pp. 2, 3, 11, 56-57 (NY, NY: West & Trow, 1834).

As a Loyalist during the Revolutionary War, Rem Rapelje found himself subject to  humiliation by a mob of American Patriots, at least according to a letter found in the collections of The New-York Historical Society.  That letter, dated "Staten Island, August 17, 1776," states:

"The persecution of the loyalists continues unremitted.  Donald McLean, Theophilus Hardenbrook, young Fueter, the silversmith, and Rem Rapelje of Brooklyn have been cruelly rode on rails, a practice most painful, dangerous, and, till now, peculiar to the humane republicans of New England."

[For a full citation to the letter and a published version of it, see the end of today's posting.]

Image Depicting a Colonial Mob Riding a Poor Victim

Who Has Been Tarred and Feathered on a Rail.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Detail of Map Prepared in 1853 Showing Pelham Neck and Lands

Owned by the Rapelje Family. Source: Dripps, Matthew & Conner,

R.F.O., Southern Part of West-Chester County N. Y. (1853) (Museum

of the City of New York, No. 29.100.2628).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

"In the 'Upcott Collection' in the New York Historical Society Library, Vol. IV., p. 288, is a letter dated 'Staten Island, August 17, 1776,' which says:

'The persecution of the loyalists continues unremitted.  Donald McLean, Theophilus Hardenbrook, young Fueter, the silversmith, and Rem Rapelje of Brooklyn have been cruelly rode on rails, a practice most painful, dangerous, and, till now, peculiar to the humane republicans of New England.'"

Source:  De Lancey, Edward Floyd, ed., History of New York During the Revolutionary War and of the Leading Events in the Other Colonies at that Period, by Thomas Jones, Justice of the Supreme Court of the Province, Vol. I, p. 597 (NY, NY:  Trow's Printing & Bookbinding Co., Printed for the New York Historical Society, 1879) (New York Historical Society -- The John D. Jones Fund Series of Histories and Memoirs).  

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References to Pell Family Members in "Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution"

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In 1864, Little, Brown and Company published a book by Lorenzo Sabine entitled "Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution with an Historical Essay" in two volumes. Sabine provided brief biographical data for many Loyalists including a couple of Pell family members from the Manor of Pelham. Below are the brief entries with citations to their sources.

"PELL, JOHN. Of New York. Ensign in the Queen's Rangkers. A prisoner in Northampton, Massachusetts; released from jail, November 5, 1779."

Source: Sabine, Lorenzo, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution with An Historical Essay by Lorenzo Sabine in Two Volumes, Vol. II, p. 157 (Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company 1864).

"PELL, JOSHUA. Farmer. In 1782 a Loyalist Associator at New York to settle at Shelburne, Nova Scotia, the following year, with his family of fourteen persons."

Source: Id., p. 565.

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