The 1790 U.S. Census and What It Reveals About Slavery in Pelham

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In late 1790 and early 1791, the United States conducted its first national census, known today as the U.S. Census of 1790.  The population count was required by the first census act signed into law on March 1, 1790.  The census records provide a fascinating glimpse of life in Pelham only a few years after the Revolutionary War ended in 1783.  Records reflecting several states were destroyed when the British laid waste to Washington, D.C. during the War of 1812.  Thankfully, the New York census records survived.

I have written about the 1790 U.S. Census and some of what it reflected for the Town of Pelham.  See Tue., Mar. 22, 2005:  The 1790 U.S. Census Information for the Township of Pelham.  Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog addresses the 1790 census in more detail and focuses on what it reveals regarding the issue of slavery in Pelham.  

1790 U.S. Census Returns Reflecting

the Town of Pelham.  NOTE:  Click

on Image to Enlarge.

Times were vastly different in 1790, of course.  Marshals in each state employed assistant marshals to perform the census.  A total of 650 people performed the census at an aggregate cost of $44,377 (about $2,186,000 in today's currency).  Census returns were recorded on whatever paper the marshals and assistant marshals could find and some of the returns were even bound in wallpaper.  

According to the 1790 census, there were 3,231,533 persons in the United States at the time.  The State of New York had 340,120 persons.  North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia had populations larger than that of New York.  

The population of Westchester County in 1790 was 23,941 persons.  Significantly, there were 1,412 slaves (about 5.9% of the population).  The populations of the different towns, including the Town of Pelham, were as follows:  

Bedford, 2,470
Cortlandt, 1,932
Eastchester, 740
Greenburg, 1,450
Harrison, 1,004
Mamaroneck, 452
Morrisania, 133
Mount Pleasant, 1,924
New Rochelle, 692
North Castle, 2,478
North Salem, 1,053
Pelham, 199
Poundridge, 1,662
Rye, 986
Salem, 1,453
Scarsdale, 281
Stephen, 1,297
Westchester, 1,141
White Plains, 505
Yonkers, 1,125
York, 1,609

The Town of Pelham, with 199 persons, had the second smallest population in the County of Westchster.  The schedule of heads of families for the Town of Pelham indicates that only 32 families lived in Pelham at the time.  As one might expect, members of the Pell family dominated the population of the Town.  Pelham families were led by Philip Pell, Thomas Pell, John Pell, David J. Pell, and James Pell, among others.  Other notable Pelham heads of families included Abraham Archer, William Bailey (i.e., Bayley), John Devoor, Benjamin Guion, Isaiah Guion, William Landrine, James Augustine Frederick Prevost, and Charles Ward.

Among the most notable aspects of the U.S. Census of 1790 as it relates to our community is what it reveals about slavery in the Town of Pelham at the time.  The 1790 census reveals that there were 38 slaves in Pelham.  It seems to have included all slaves regardless of age and did not break the numbers down between men and women.  Slave holders and the number of slaves they kept were reflected as follows:

William Bailey (i.e., Bayley):  6 slaves
John Devoor:  1 slave
Benjamin Guion:  3 slaves
Isaiah Guion:  1 slave
William Landrine:  4 slaves
David J. Pell:  5 slaves
James Pell:  7 slaves
John Pell:  1 slave
Philip Pell:  3 slaves
Thoas Pell:  3 slaves
Charles Ward:  4 slaves
Total Number of Slaves:  38

Members of the extended Pell family owned half the slaves in the Town of Pelham in 1790:  19 out of 38 slaves.  An analysis I performed for a paper I presented in 2007 to the Conference on New York State History indicated that Pelham's concentration of slaves (measured as a percentage of total population) remained nearly constant throughout the entire 18th century.  In 1712, twenty percent of the population of Pelham was held in slavery.  By 1790, seventy-eight years later, 19.10% of the population was held in slavery.  During the same period, the total population of Pelham had grown from 65 to 199 residents -- a 306% increase.  The number of slaves had increased from 13 to 38 -- a 292% increase.

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The article below, published in 1910, provides a little background regarding the U.S. Census of 1790.  The text is followed by a citation and link to its source.

"IN THE CENSUS OF A CENTURY AGO.
-----
Interesting Books at Local Library Giving Data of Nearby Towns.
-----

Among books which the Mount Vernon Public Library has few will attract more attention or prove more valuable than twelve volumes, printed at the government printing office at Washington, which have lately been received.  Each one bears the title:  'Heads of Families"  First Census of the United States, 1790.'  They are copies of the official returns for the first Federal census ever held.

On March 1, 1790, the first census act was signed after it had been passed at the second session of the first congress.  It required the marshals in each state to take an enumeration of the inhabitants in their districts, employing such assistant marshals as were necessary to do the work.  On October 27, 1791, the census returns were made to congress.  The work consumed a year and two months, for the enumeration was not to begin until August 1, 1790.

The census was taken in seventeen states, but unfortunately the schedules for six states were destroyed by fire when the British burned the capitol at Washington during the War of 1812.  The schedules for the state census of Virginia for three years were substituted for the schedules of the census of 1790 in this state, but they are not complete.

According to this census, which represents a complete list of the heads of families in the United States at the time of the adoption of the constitution, there were 3,231,533 persons in the country at the time, less than one twenty-sixth of the number of inhabitants at present.  These lists show the plain people, the 'common people,' as Lincoln called them, and they are consequently of very real interest.  The number of inhabitants mentioned is exclusive of slaves.

Families in those days averaged six persons, and as only the heads of families appear on the schedules, there were only about 540,000 names on these lists originally, or a little over half a million.  The schedules which were destroyed and not replaced contained 140,000 names, so that about 400,000 names appear on the schedules which have been published.

The gross area of the country then was 827,844 square miles, of which 29 per cent, or 239,935 square miles, was settled.  The schedules show the population of the different states to have been as follows:  Vermont, 85,539; New Hampshire, 141,885; Maine, 96,540; Rhode Island, 58,825; Connecticut, 237,946; New York, 340,120; New Jersey, 184,139; Pennsylvania, 434,373; Delaware, 59,094; Maryland, 319,728; Virginia, 474,610; Kentucky, 73,677; North Carolina, 393,751; South Carolina, 249,073; Georgia, 82,548.

The assistant marshals, it appears, were left pretty much to their own judgment as to the form in which they made their returns, except that a table was provided which they were required to follow.  It was made up of five columns, and the headings were as follows:  Names of heads of families; free white males of 16 years and up, including heads of families; free white males under 16 years; free white females, including heads of families; all other free persons; slaves.  Up to and including 1820 the assistant marshals used such paper as they had.  They usually employed merchants' account paper, and occasionally the returns were bound in wall paper.

The total cost of the census was $44,377, and it has been estimated that 650 persons were employed in taking it.  The returns were published in what is now a 'rare little volume.'  By comparison, the returns for the twelfth census fill ten large quarto volumes, containing a total of 10,400 pages.

The present publication of the first census is in response to repeated requests from patriotic societies and persons interested in genealogy, for the schedules form an admirable means of tracing genealogical history.  Congress provided for the publication of the schedules in 1907.  The work has just recently been completed.  

The schedules for each state are published in a separate volume.  In the front of each volume is a map of the state as it was at that tie.  The map of New York does not indicate Westchester county as such, as it has no designation of White Plains.  A town marked Westchester is in about the location of the old town of Westchester in the Bronx.  A town marked Eastchester is located evidently about where old St. Paul's now stands, for it is on the Boston Post Road, which passes only a short distance south of St. Paul's.  New Rochelle and Rye are marked, but no Yonkers.  Instead, the town of Phillipsburg appears evidently on the present site of Yonkers.  Altho not indicated on the map, both Yonkers and White Plains are included in the schedules, and their returns are listed with those of the other towns, as is the case with Westchester county.

The population of Westchester county in 1790 was 23,941, and there were 1,412 slaves.  The population of the different towns was as follows:  Bedford, 2,470; Cortlandt, 1,932; Eastchester, 740; Greenburg, 1,450; Harrison, 1,004; Mamaroneck, 452; Morrisania,, 133; Mount Pleasant, 1,924; New Rochelle, 692; North Castle, 2,478; North Salem, 1,053; Pelham, 199; Poundridge, 1,662; Rye, 986; Salem, 1,453; Scarsdale, 281; Stephen, 1,297; Westchester, 1,141; White Plains, 505; Yonkers, 1,125; York, 1,609.

All families which have sprung from true Revolutionary stock are represented in these lists, to scan which is something of an inspiration.  Among the names are recognizable many which have become more or less well known since.  The Pells are conspicuous in Pelham, which, by the way, contained just 32 families at that tie.  There is Philip Pell, Thomas Pell, John Pell, David J. Pell, and James Pell, and also James A. F. Prevost and Abraham Archer.

Yonkers, one of the largest of the towns, shows such old families as the Sherwoods, the Odells and the Valentines to have been represented very fully.  The Sherwoods included Moses, Abigail, Jeremiah, James and Thomas while the Odells were represented by Abraham, two Jonathans, Isaac, James Benjamin and Kessiah.  The Valentines consisted of Mary, Gilbert, Thomas, Frederick and Isaac, and there were also several families of Underhills, including those of Frederick and Nicholas.

In Eastchester,, there was the family of Elijah Purdy, and more Pell families:  Mary, Phoebe, Samuel and Caleb, as well as John Archer, farmer; Joseph Fredenburgh, Jonas Farrington, Anthony, Caleb, Abraham and Benjamin Valentine, John Flandreaux, John Archer, weaver, and five Hunt families, those of Moses, Jacob, Basil, Nehemiah and Gilbert.

It is easy to pick out the old Huguenot families in New Rochelle.  Some of the noticeable are Rancoud, Bayeaux, Coutant, Le Count, Ranoud, Rishe, Flandreau, Pintard, Badreau, Galladuett and a Gilbert Angevine.  There were also some families of Guions and Sherwoods.

There was Lewis Morris' family at Morrisania ,and four families of Merritts at Harrison -- Daniel, Mary Ann, Joseph and Underhill Merritt."

Source:  IN THE CENSUS OF A CENTURY AGO -- Interesting Books at Local Library Giving Data of Nearby Towns, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Jan. 24, 1910, p. 3, col. 1-2.  

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A Brief History of the Bartow-Pell Mansion Published in 1931

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The mansion that houses today's Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum and the property on which it sits together have quite a storied history.  Scholars believe that John Pell, a nephew and the principal legatee of Manor of Pelham founder Thomas Pell, built a home near today's mansion in the early 1670s.  Four generations of Pell family members resided in the home until, according to a variety of sources, it was destroyed by fire during the American Revolution.  

The property passed from the Pells to Herman and Hannah Leroy in 1813.  Robert Bartow, a New York city merchant, bought the property in 1836.  Shortly thereafter, he built the native stone mansion and moved with his family into the home by 1842.  The Bartow family remained in the home for more than four decades.  They attempted to develop an area around the nearby City Island Station on the New Haven Branch Line into a settlement that came to be known as Bartow and "Bartow-on-the-Sound."  (The station likewise came to be known as "Bartow Station.")

In 1888, while assembling parcels to create today's Pelham Bay Park, New York City acquired the Bartow estate.  (It likewise acquired the lands that formed the tiny little settlement of Bartow nearby.)  For nearly the next three decades, mansions in the region acquired by the City of New York -- including the Bartow mansion -- languished scandalously.  They were subject to vandalism, squatters, and municipal corruption involving "rentals" of some of the structures to well-placed City employees for virtually nothing.  

In 1914, the International Garden Club was formed "to promote hoticultural knowledge and to save the Bartow-Pell Mansion."  The organization raised funds and restored the mansion.  Today, the mansion and grounds including the Bartow carriage house built in the 1840s are owned by the City of New York but are operated by the International Garden Club, Inc..  The Mansion-Museum is a member of the Historic House Trust and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1931, The Daily Argus of Mount Vernon, New York, published a brief history of the Bartow Mansion.  Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog transcribes the text of that article and reproduces a photograph that appeared with the article.

I have written about the Bartow-Pell Mansion-Museum and members of the Bartow family on many occasions.  For examples, see the extensive bibliography with links at the end of today's posting.

"THE BARTOW MANSION  A view of the century-old house

builty by Robert Bartow on Pelham Road near Split Rock Road.

Robert Bartow was a descendant of the lords of Pelham, and

this house is near the site of Pelham Manor.  It is now the home

of the International Garden Club.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Source:  Cushman, Elizabeth, Near Pelham Manor In New York

Is Bartow Mansion, A House Which Holds Historical Importance --

It Is Hidden By Trees From View of Passersby on Pelham Road,

The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Jul. 29, 1931, p. 3, cols. 1-2.

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"Near Pelham Manor In New York Is Bartow Mansion, A House Which Holds Historical Importance
-----
It Is Hidden By Trees From View of Passersby on Pelham Road
-----
By ELIZABETH CUSHMAN

'Three goes into nine three times; three goes into 12 four times --'

What could this have to do with pink and blue water lilies drifting placidly in the square pool of a sunken garden behind an old stone mansion on the shores of Long Island Sound?  What could it have to do with high-ceilinged rooms and old marble fireplaces, with oil paintings of lords and ladies of long ago, with inlaid tables and slim-legged chairs?

What could it have to do with a wide shady walk, leadning among tall bushes to a little plot of land enclosed by low iron bars, meeting at the four corners, stone pillars on which pelicans are carved?

'Three goes into --' would have more to do with this old cemetery, a stone's throw from the water, than with the dignified old stone mansion known as the Bartow House, standing on Pelham Road not far from where it is joined by Split Rock road.  All this land has belonged to New York City since 1888, but in the days when the Bartow Mansion was built, in the days when those graves were dug, this was an important part of Westchester County.  Historically, it is essentially all Westchester, for its past is the past of this county.

The Bartow Mansion is now the home of the International Garden Club; the garden in back of it was created only in 1916, though it has about it the peace and the permanency usually associated with centuries of existence.  But before this estate was known by the name of Bartow -- which has been, probably, for something around a hundred years -- it was the site of the Manor house of Pelham; the lords of one of Westchester's greatest grants of land lived here for five generations.

The Pells of Pelham Manor were descended from a famous English mathematician who is credited with having been the first to use the present signs for division -- who then, would not stand by the lily pool on the old Pell land and repeat softly to herself, 'three goes into -- '?  This reverend and right honorable John Pell, who spoke 10 languages, taught at the University of Breda by invitation of the Prince of Orange, lectured in London and Switzerland and received a special card of invitation to Oliver Cromwell's funeral, was the husband of Ithamaria Reginolles, and the father of another John, second lord of the Manor of Pelhamm, here in Westchester.

The first lord was Thomas, the Rev. John's brother.  Thomas died childless and left his manor lands to his nephew, 'John Pell, living in ould England, the only sonne of my brother . . . '  This was in 1669.

Provided For Huguenots

John Pell promptly came over from 'Ould England' and assumed his manorial rights in America.  He was an important personage in Westchester, for he was first Judge of the Court of Common Pleas and first member of the Provincial Assembly for Westchester.  It was he who sold part of the Pelham Manor lands to Jacob Leisler, to provide a home for the French Huguenots, who in 1688, arrived here to found New Rochelle.  

In 1702, this second lord of the manor fell off his yacht and was drowned in the water of Long Island Sound.  His son, Thomas, born in Pelham Manor about 1675 then became third lord.  Thomas' wife is said to have been Anna, the daughter of Wampage, the Indian chief, who tradition tells us, slew Anne Hutchinson.  Wampage was also known as Annahock, a name relating to his great prowess in the massacre of the Hutchinson family.

A Few Names

The fourth Lord of the Manor was Joseph, son of Thomas and the Indian Princess, and with this family, the name Bartow appears for the first time in relation to the Pells.  Joseph Pell's sister, Bathsheba, married Theophilus Bartow.  This was the first of several marriages binding the two families.

In the next generation Thomas, son of Joseph and grandson of the Indian Princess, married Margaret Bartow.  Their daughter, Ann, also married a Bartow, and it was to this couple, Anna Pell Bartow and her husband, John Bartow, that Ann's father turned over the lands where the Bartow mansion now stands, but the mansion itself was not built for two generations.  Then, Robert, grandson of Ann Pell and John Bartow, erected the building that stands today, but the exact date it was put up has never been determined.

Hidden Gold?

There had been a dwelling here previously, of course -- the famous Manor house of the Lords of Pelham.  Its site is not definitely known, but it is thought to have stood near the present Bartow mansion.  Those graves, hidden from today's mansion by thick clusters of trees, are Pell graves -- the birds carved on the corner posts are pelicans, the symbol of the Pells.  There is a marble tablet here, giving a clue to the identity of those who rest beneath the quaint old brown stones with their crude carving.  The tablet, erected in 1862 by James K. Pell, gives the date of John Pell's death as 1700.  As late as 1911 vandals dug here one night in search of the gold and jewels which, tradition declares, were buried with the Pells of long ago.

Meanwhile the Bartows, who have given their name to the place were of no little significance in Westchesterwhen they became affiliated by marriage with the Pells.

The Bartows

The family was founded in America by John Bartow, a minister.  Though he was an Englishman he came, curiously, of Huguenot stock.  His ancestor had fled from France to Holland in 1572, following the massacre of Saint Bartholomew.  The name was then Bertaud or Bretagne or Brittany, but when this refugee reached England from Holland, it became Bartow.

Early in the 18th Century -- probably about 1702, John Bartow came to Westchester to officiate as minister for the parish of Rye, but Caleb Heathcote, Lord of the Manor of Scarsdale and a prominent and indefatigable churchman, decreed he should remain in Westchester.  This parish then included the village or rather the borough town of Westchester-Eastchester, Yonkers and the Manor of Pelham.  The difficulties of administering a parish of that size, in days when horseback travel was over roads that were scarcely more than the ruts that had developed from Indian trails, were tremendous, and poor Mr. Bartow had his troubles.

His Troubles

Witness this letter which he wrote home to England in 1706:

'My great business is to plant the Church of England amongst prejudiced, poor, and irreligious people, who are more apt to receive than to give, who think it a hardship to pay their dues; and we dare not use the law for fear of bringing an odium on the Church, and on all occasions except to be civilly treated by the minister.  My task is greater than I can bear; I will hold out as long as I can with submission to the Divine will who feedeth the fowls of the air; trusting he will still feed me, by your means, when you come to be sensible of our wants.'

Was there a bit of sarcasm or bitterness in that last line?

More Connection

Despite his doubts, the Rev. John Bartow held out for more than a quarter of a century.  He had married Helena Redi, who bore him two [sic] sons three of whom died in infancy and one of whom died young.  It was their son, Theophilus, who became the husband of Bathesheba Pell; Theophilus and Bathsheba's son, John, took Ann Pell for his second wife.  Their daughter, Margaret, married Thomas Pell.  Thus, John Bartow, who inherited this portion of the Pell Manor lands, was the grandson of the first John Bartow.  (Incidentally, Theophilus had a brother, Theodosius, a lawyer.  The lawyer's wife was one Ann Stillwell; their daughter, Theodosia Bartow, had a British soldier, Colonel James Marcus Prevost, as her first husband, and an American soldier, Aaron Burr, as her second husband. . . .)  It gets more and more involved as it goes on. . . . 

Theophilus and Theodosius

Theophilus Bartow and his wife, Bathsheba, had nine children in all.  One of them, the Rev. Theodosius, named for his lawyer uncle, was rector of Trinity Church in New Rochelle for 29 years.  His grandfather had on occasion preached here before him.  A Theodosius Bartow also served as minister in Bedford, resigning in 1976 [sic], but whether or not this was the same person, let someone else decide.

You might think of these things -- beginning with the 'three goes into' -- as you motor along Pelham Road.  You might think of the fine traditions the Pells brought with them to America -- They had been manor lords in old England before they came, for the father of the famous mathematicians was second lord of the manor of Shouldham Priory and Brookhall and Mayor of Lynn Regis.

You'll see, as you ride down Pelham Road, a circular iron fence around a tree on the grounds before the Bartow mansiion.

The Indians Treaty

This is supposed to encircle the site of the famous old charter oak under which Thomas Pell made his treaty with the Indians.  The claim, however, is disputed -- a local story says that one of the Bartows had a favorite horse which he buried here on this place.  But whatever the site is or is not, it helps to keep alive the story of Thomas Pell and the Indians and so serves the purpose quite adequately.

The windows of the Bartow mansion look out on lands that both British and American soldiers trod -- and disrupted in Revolutionary days.  The military history of this part of Westchester, however, does not belong here.  All that belongs here is a sign over a lilly pool, a glance at a grave and a thought of that gentleman of far away and long ago who first made up the signs for 'three goes into --'"

Source:  Cushman, Elizabeth, Near Pelham Manor In New York Is Bartow Mansion, A House Which Holds Historical Importance -- It Is Hidden By Trees From View of Passersby on Pelham Road, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Jul. 29, 1931, p. 3, cols. 1-2. 

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Below is a bibliography of articles I have prepared regarding the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum, members of the Bartow family, the settlement known as Bartow, and the little horse railroad that once ran from Bartow to City Island.

Tue., Jul. 28, 2015:  John Bartow Who Lived in the Manor Home Built by John Pell in About 1672.

Thu., May 21, 2015:  Pelham Manor Romance: A Tale of Aaron Burr and His Love, Theodosia Bartow Prevost of the Manor of Pelham.

Thu., Jan. 22, 2015:  Lawsuit in 1884 Cleared the Way for Construction of Horse Railroad from Bartow Station to Lower Part of City Island in Pelham.

Mon., Nov. 03, 2014:  More on the 17th Century Location of the Manor Home of John Pell of the Manor of Pelham.

Fri., Sep. 5, 2014:  Post Card Image of Bartow and City Island Stage Coach With Driver.

Thu., Aug. 28, 2014:  Gouverneur Morris Jr. Lived His Later Years, and Died, in Bartow-on-the-Sound in the Town of Pelham.

Tue., May 4, 2010:  Questions Regarding the Trolley Franchise from Bartow Station to the Tip of City Island Arose in 1915.

Fri., Apr. 2, 2010:  More on the So-Called "Horse Railroad" that Once Ran from Bartow Station to City Island.

Wed., Feb. 3, 2010:  Early Information Published in 1885 About the Organization of the "City Island Railroad", a Horse Railroad from Bartow Station to City Island.

Fri., Jan. 22, 2010:  1884 Account of Early Origins of Horse Railroad Between Bartow Station and City Island.

Mon., Jan. 4, 2010:  1888 Local News Account Describes Altercation on the Horse Railroad Running from Bartow Station to City Island.

Fri., Jan. 1, 2010:  1886 Dynamite Explosion in Baychester Kills Four and Shakes Residents of Bartow-on-the-Sound in Pelham.

Thu., Oct. 22, 2009:  Dynamite Explosion in 1890 Breaks Windows and Shakes Residents of Bartow-on-the-Sound in Pelham.

Tue.,Sep. 1, 2009:  Pelham News on February 29, 1884 Including Talk of Constructing a New Horse Railroad from Bartow to City Island.

Thu., Nov. 29, 2007:  John Bartow Offers His Pelham Farm for Sale in Advertisement Published in 1807.

Mon., Jul. 2, 2007:  Notice of Auction Sale of Lots at Bartow-on-the-Sound in Pelham in 1874.

Mon., Jun. 4, 2007:  Abstract of 1797 Will of John Bartow, Sr. Who Owned Land in Pelham and Whose Family Became Early Pelham Residents.

Wed., Feb. 28, 2007:  Lord Cornbury Installs John Bartow as Rector of the Parish of Westchester, Eastchester, Yonkers and the Manor of Pelham in 1702.

Fri., Jan. 12, 2007:  A Brief Description of Scott's Grocery Store at Bartow Village in Pelham.

Tue., Sep. 12, 2006:  Evidence Sheds Light on Location of An Early Home of John Pell, 2d Lord of the Manor of Pelham. 

Wed., Jan. 4, 2006:  Another Post Card Image of the Horse Car That Ran Between Bartow and City Island.

Fri., Dec. 30, 2005:  Subdivision Development Map Created in 1873 for Bartow Village in the Town of Pelham.

Mon., Dec. 12, 2005:  19th Century Subdivision Map of Planned Bartow Village.

Thu., Jul. 21, 2005:  Today's Remnants of the Bartow Station on the Branch Line Near City Island.

Tue., June 14, 2005:  Ceremony in 1915 to Open Bartow-Pell Mansion as Headquarters of International Garden Club Marred by Tragedy.

Thu., Mar. 24, 2005:  The Bartow Area of Pelham in the 19th Century: Where Was It?

Bell, Blake A., The Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum and Carriage House, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 31, Aug. 6, 2004, p. 9, col. 1.

Bell, Blake A., The Manor House of John Pell, Second Lord of the Manor of Pelham, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 51, Dec. 24, 2004.

Bell, Blake A., Bartow-on-the-Sound, Once a Hamlet in the Town of Pelham, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XV, Issue 5, Feb. 3, 2006, p. 13, col. 1.

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Lean Roast Beef Is NOT a "Fatt Calfe" Though Pell Family Members Accepted it in 1956

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On September 20, 1689, John Pell, and his wife, Rachel, sold to Jacob Leisler of New York City 6,000 acres of Manor of Pelham land.  At the same time they gifted to Leisler another 100 acres for use as church grounds.  Leisler reportedly had been commissioned to acquire the land on behalf of French Huguenots seeking to relocate to North America, many of whom fled from La Rochelle in France.  The land became today’s New Rochelle, named in honor of La Rochelle from which many of the Huguenots fled religious persecution by the French Catholics. 

A condition of the sale in 1689 was that Jacob Leisler, his heirs and assigns should deliver to “John Pell his heirs and assigns Lords of the said Manor of Pelham . . as an Acknowledgment to the said Manor one fatt calfe on every fouer and twentieth day of June Yearly and Every Year forever (if demanded).” The June 24th date was not chosen randomly.  June 24 is the annual date of The Feast of St. John the Baptist when a "fatt calfe" would be particularly welcome for a feast and celebration.

1938 New Rochelle U.S. Commemorative Silver Half Dollar

(Obverse) Depicting John Pell Receiving the "Fatt

Calfe" in 1689.  Photograph by the Author.

Every few generations, it seems, there is a "rediscovery" of that ancient provision in the deed by which John Pell transferred the lands to Jacob Leisler. With each such "rediscovery," members of the Pell family approach the City of New Rochelle and "demand" delivery of a "fatt calfe" -- typically as part of an anniversary or family reunion celebration.

During the 1950s, future United States Senator Claiborne Pell (who served as a Senator representing Rhode Island from 1961 to 1997) served as chairman of the Pell Family Association.  Claiborne Pell was particularly active in pushing the City of New Rochelle to honor its purported obligation annually during much of that time.   

Beginning anew in 1950, the Pell Family Association began requesting annually that the City of New Rochelle deliver the famed fatt calfe on June 24.  Although the City obliged, soon its elected officials and taxpayers tired of the annual ritual as a calf had to be located, transported, symbolically "delivered" and returned.

New Rochelle mayoral candidate George Vergara even made a campaign promise in the mid-1950s to rid the city and its taxpayers of payment of an annual tribute to Pell family members.  After his election, Mayor Vergara broached the topic in a letter to then-chairman of the Pell Family Association, future United States Senator Claiborne Pell.  Vergara suggested in the letter that the entire tribute be "called off." 

Claiborne Pell was direct in his response.  Without regard to whether the City of New Rochelle could be considered an heir and assign for owners of land in New Rochelle, Claiborne Pell responded by warning that if New Rochelle abrogated the agreement "it would seem to me that the whole assignment to Jacob Leisler of the land on which New Rochelle now stands is null and void."

Mayor Vergara relented on the condition that the "fatt calfe" be delivered in the form of a steak dinner rather than a live calf.  Moreover, proceeds from the dinner were to be for the benefit of the New Rochelle Hospital.  Nearly three hundred people including 26 Pell family members attended the dinner that year.

Within a few short years, however, the annual tribute lapsed.  The demand was honored in 1963 on the occasion of New Rochelle's 275th anniversary, but not again until 1966.  At that time, for whatever reason, the tribute had reverted to the symbolic "delivery" of a live calf.  Two Pell family members, dressed in period garb that would have been worn by John Pell and Rachel Pinckney Pell at the time of the sale to Jacob Leisler, accepted a live calf in payment of the tribute.  

The tradition has continued and has been honored as recently as 2004 at the time of Pelham's 350th anniversary celebration -- a tradition that, hopefully, will continue for at least another 350 years . . . . 

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I have written about the requirement that the "heirs and assigns" of Jacob Leisler, as purchaser and recipient of the 6,100 acres that became today's City of New Rochelle.  For examples, see:

Bell, Blake A., Tradition of Demanding a New Rochelle "Fatt Calfe", The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 16, Apr. 16, 2004, p. 8, col. 2.

Thu., Sep. 10, 2009:  1909 Dispute Among Pell Family Members Over Who Would be the Rightful Recipient of the Fatt Calfe from New Rochelle.

Fri., Mar. 04, 2005:  In 1909 Fear of "Sharp Lawyers" Prompted Cancellation of the Pell Family's "Fatt Calfe" Ceremony.

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Below are transcriptions of the text of several articles addressing the delivery of the "fatt calfe" to Pell family members during the 1950s and 1960s.  Each is followed by a citation and link to its source.  

"Mayor Conditionally Breaks Campaign Promise

NEW ROCHELLE, May 15 UPI -- The mayor today broke a campaign promise and gave in to the Pell family's historic annual tribute of one 'fatt calfe' -- but on condition that it is served at the dinner table.

The tradition of the well-fed calf goes back to 1689, when John Pell sold the land on which New Rochelle now stands to Jacob Leisler.  Pell stipulated that his heirs should be paid a 'fat calfe' on the 24th of June each year in perpetuity.

For a long time the Pells forgot but one Pell revived the custom about the calf that was due them six years ago.  New Rochelle has been paying the tribute since then.  

The present mayor, George Vergara , promised during his campaign to rid the city of the tribute, and early this month wrote to a representative of the Pell family suggesting they call the whole thing off.

But Mayor Vergara got a letter a few days later from Claiborne Pell of Washington, D.C., chairman of the Pell Family Assn., warning that if New Rochelle abrogated the agreement 'it would seem to me that the whole assignment to Jacob Leisler of the land on which New Rochelle now stands is null and void. . . '"

Source:  Mayor Conditionally Breaks Campaign Promise, Plattsburgh Press-Republican [Plattsburgh, NY], May 16, 1956, p. 15, cols. 2-3.  

"Pell Family Gets Its 'Fatt Calfe"

NEW ROCHELLE, June 24 UPI -- The Pell family - 26 members strong - got its 'fatt calfe' from the City of New Rochelle tonight, only it was lean roast beef.

And it wasn't on the hoof, but on plates at a banquet.  Thus did the city pay off its 269 year-old obligation to the Pell family to pay over one fatt calfe each year forever and ever.

And thus did the Pells and the city fathers inaugurate a new method of payment -- a dinner to which all the Pells and the citizens of New Rochelle are invited.  The proceeds go to the support of the New Rochelle Hospital.

Ancient Contract

The annual fatt calfe was in return for a deed to much of the land on which the city of 60,000 now stands.  

The Pells demanded -- and got -- a fat calf on the hoof in 1953, and each year since.  The 1953 calfe recently gave birth to twins.  

This year Mayor George Vergara decided to pay the old debt by 'doing something useful,' and broached the matter to Claiborne Pell of Washington, D.C., chairman of the Pell Family Assn.

Pell Replies

Pell replied 'if the self-respect of your city fathers would be better served by this year having the Pells partake of the calf at such a meal on Sunday, June 24th, rather than leading it away, such an arrangement would be agreeable to me.'

Altogether, 300 persons attended the dinner, including representatives of four foreign governments.  

The British representative was invited because the Pell family has a little obligation of its own -- payment of 20 shillings to the crown for some bygone privilege.

The others were asked as a neighborly gesture."

Source:  Pell Family Gets Its "Fatt Calfe", Plattsburgh Press-Republican, Jun. 25, 1956, p. 5, cols. 4-5.  

"OUT OF THE PAST

NEW ROCHELLE -- Demand for payment of a 269-year old debt of 'one fatt calfe' incurred by the Huguenot founders of New Rochelle in 1689, is again presenting a problem for Mayor George Vergara and members of the municipal government.  Claiborne Pell III of Washington, D.C., has requested satisfaction of the ancient agreement 'on behalf of the heirs and assigns' of John Pell, second lord of Pelham Manor, and in accordance with the covenant of Sept. 20, 1689 between him and Jacob Leisler.  Thomas A. Hoctor, city historian, has been named general chairman of a committee to plan a 'fatt calfe' dinner for June 20 here."

Source:  OUT OF THE PAST, New Castle Tribune, May 15, 1958, p. 8, col. 3.  

"WANTS FATT CALFE

NEW ROCHELLE -- Today is the 4th and 20th day of June and the city barn is empty.  According to an agreement made in 1688, the city is to give the Pell family, who once owned the and, a 'fatt calfe.'  But last March, Claiborne Pell of Maryland told the city their [sic] would be no demand this year.  Today, Duncan Pell of Walnut Creek, Calif., filed a demand for the calfe.  But Mayor George Vergara said he would recognize only Claiborne as head of the family."

Source: WANTS FATT CALFE, New Castle Tribune [Chappaqua, NY], Jun. 25, 1959, p. 17, col. 4.  

"Rodman Pell Receiving New Rochelle's 'Fatt Calfe'"

Source:  Rodman Pell Receiving New Rochelle's 'Fatt Calfe',

The Long Island Traveler, Mattituck Watchman [Southold,

NY], Jul. 7, 1966, p. 1, cols. 2-4 & p. 3, cols. 4-5.  

"Rodman Pell Receiving New Rochelle's 'Fatt Calfe'

New Rochelle Mayor Ruskin, (left) William Rodman Pell II and Miss Florence Secor are shown above as on June 24 the city of New Rochelle once again paid the unique debt incurred by its Huguenot founder 177 years ago.  The Huguenots, who had fled from La Rochelle, France, contracted in 1689 with Sir John Pell, Lord of the Manor of Pelham, for the land which was to become the city of New Rochelle.  The price for the 6000 acres was 1,625 pounds sterling and the payment, whenever demanded, of 'one fatt calfe' on June 24th yearly and forever to the heirs of John Pell.  The last demand was honored in 1963 and was tendered to a member of the Pell family on the oc- (Cont. on Page 3)

'Fatt Calfe' 
(Continued From Page 1)

casion of the 275th anniversary of New Rochelle.

This year the demand was received by Mayor Alvin R. Ruskin from William Rodman Pell II, President General of the Pell Family Association, and a direct heir of Sir John Pell and fourteenth claimant to the Lordship and Manor of Pelham.  Mr. Pell resides at 214 Atlantic Avenue, Greenport.  

City officials presented the calf at City Hall at 4:30 P.M. on June 24th to several members of the Pell Family Association.  Speakers were Mayor Ruskin, Senator Claiborn Pell (Democrat, Rhode Island), and William Rodman Pell II.  The latter, and Miss Fllorence Secor, a granddaughter of Samuel Treadwell [sic] Pell were dressed as the Lord and Landy of the Manor of Pelham.  Following the ceremony a dinner was held at the Bartow-Pell mansion in the Bronx.

Upon accepting the 'Fatt Calfe,' Mr. Pell spoke as follows:

'As the fourteenth successor of Sir John Pell who made the sale and grant of the rolling hils and dales of Pelham to Jacob Leisler to harbor a persecuted people, the Huguenots of France, I accept the 'fatt Calfe,' from your Honor, representing what has grown from a humble settlement in the wilderness into a proud city, New Rochelle, I have by my side my cousin, Miss Florence Romola Secor.  She is taking the place of Lady Rachel Pinckney Pell, and together we speak, in commemorating this historic occasion, for a Pell family united in an Association, and whose President, Mr. Clarence Pell, is also by my side.

'The Pell family has a long history and it has many proud moments in it, but perhaps the prodest when, a century before the founding of our American Republic, Sir John Pell offered his acres to men and women and children fleeing tyranny and helped them by every means at his command to found a new home, where they could worship as they chose and live untrammeled as free men.  Sir John looked far into the future.  But he would have been astonished -- pleasantly -- if his vision could have projected to this scene today, marking nearly three centuries of close association between the Pell family and New Rochelle in a setting where men of many faiths and origins live and work and learn side by side and dream of an ever more radiant future for the generations to come.

'The Pell family through me, as President General, accepts the calf from New Rochelle as a symbol of our long association and friendship.  Moreover, following the precedent which has now been established, it will mark the occasion by joining with New Rochelle in the support of the Wildcrest Museum for Children.  We consider it a privilege through this participation to play our part in the progressive community of New Rochelle, and we are confident that this privilege will be ours for years to come.  

'Thank you, Mr. Mayor.  Thank you, citizens of New Rochelle for reconsecration with us in 1966 this noble bond, in the spirit in which it was entered into by Sir John Pell in 1689.'"

Source:  Rodman Pell Receiving New Rochelle's 'Fatt Calfe', The Long Island Traveler, Mattituck Watchman [Southold, NY], Jul. 7, 1966, p. 1, cols. 2-4 & p. 3, cols. 4-5.  

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Was it Mary Pell of Pelham Who Scandalized the Town of Eastchester in 1696?

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Occasionally, it is fascinating merely to speculate. That is all today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog does. It speculates regarding the identity of a woman identified as "Mary Pell" of "Seabrock in New England" referenced in an intriguing record contained in the seventeenth century records of the Town of Eastchester.

The record reflects a scandal involving a woman named Mary Pell (also referenced as "Mary Pelle") who is described as a resident of "Seabrock [Saybrook] in New England in America". Although it cannot be known with certainty, I ask today whether there is some possibility that the woman may have been Mary Pell of the Manor of Pelham. She was the daughter of John Pell, Second Lord of the Manor of Pelham.  Although this seems highly unlikely, it is interesting to consider within the context of the few facts that can be established.  

I have been unable to locate any late seventeenth century record of a Mary Pell or a "Mary Pelle" of "Seabrock" or Saybrook. While, of course, it is possible that such a woman existed, I offer for consideration the possibility that the woman lied about her residence given her scandalous circumstances (at least as viewed through seventeenth century eyes), described below.

Mary Pell, daughter of John Pell (Second Lord of the Manor of Pelham), was born in about 1682. The Eastchester record does not explain the scandal in which this "Mary Pelle" was involved. The record strongly suggests, however, that a pregnant Mary Pell arrived at the home of "Joseph Tayller Senr" [Joseph Taylor, Sr.] in Eastchester "near hear time of being dellivered".

Apparently fearful that this girl would be a bad influence on residents of the Town or that she and her child might be unable to take care of themselves and would become wards of the Town, the Town obtained an indemnification from "Joseph Tayller Senr" and another man named "John Tomkings Senr" [John Tomkins, Sr.] to hold the town "harmless by Reason of hear being hear". The entire record is transcribed immediately below.

"Att a town meting called March the 3th 1696 whereas Mary Pelle now being in Eastchester and sojourning at the house of Joseph Tayller Senr and being great with chilld and near hear time of being dellivered and the Town being unsatisfied doe desier that sequirity shall be given for hear good behaviour and that the said Mary Pell nor hear chilld that she is now going with shall not be chardgabell unto the Town wereon John Tomkings Senr and Joseph Tayller Snr have bound themsellves thear heirs and suckesors to keep and beare the town harmless by Reason of hear being hear as witnesseth our hands this day & year befor written

This aformenshoned woman declared hear selfe to be named Mary Pell & that she bellongs unto Seabrock in New England in America

The mark of
John Tomkins
Joseph Tailer"

Source: Records of the Town of Eastchester, New York, Book Three, pp. 5-6 (Typewritten manuscript of records transcribed by the Eastchester Historical Society Jan. 1964).

 

Part of Pelham and Eastchester Border in 1851.

Source:  Dripps, Matthew & Conner, R.F.O.,

Southern Part of West-Chester County N.Y. (1851).



There are, of course, problems with any speculation that this "Mary Pelle" was Mary Pell, a daughter of John Pell of the Manor of Pelham. If the young woman lied about her residence, why not her name? The record refers to her as a "woman" -- not a girl, suggesting that she may have been older than 13 or 14. Additionally, the Manor of Pelham was adjacent to Eastchester and, thus, it seems at least plausible that someone in Eastchester would have known John Pell's young daughter, Mary.

In any event, the record is sufficiently intriguing and may possibly be tied to the Pell family (so integral to the early history of Pelham) that it is worth transcribing so that others may be able to see it, provide their own speculations, and comment on it.

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