John Pell of the Manor of Pelham Helped Settle the 1683 Border Dispute Between the Province of New York and the Colony of Connecticut

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John Pell arrived in Boston in 1670 and quickly made his way to the Colony of Connecticut to claim his inheritance from his deceased uncle, Thomas Pell, of the Manor of Pelham.  Unlike his uncle, John Pell moved to the Manor of Pelham to live there permanently.  It is believed he lived temporarily in a farmhouse built by his uncle on today’s Rodman’s Neck until he completed construction of his own Manor House near the location of today’s Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum. 

In very short order John Pell became a notable citizen and a respected Justice of the Peace and member of the General Court of Assizes in the Province of New York.  When Pell first arrived on the scene from England, however, the Province of New York and the Colony of Connecticut already had been embroiled in a boundary dispute for decades.  That boundary dispute erupted yet again in 1683.  Provincial Governor Thomas Dongan selected John Pell of the Manor of Pelham and a handful of others to serve as New York's commissioners to settle that dispute.

Border Tensions Between New Netherlands and the English Colonies

During the time the Dutch controlled New Netherland (including New Amsterdam on the Island of Manhattan), there were disputes over the border between New Netherlands and the Colony of Connecticut and other English colonies.  With English settlers pressing southwestward toward Manhattan and Dutch-sanctioned settlers pressing northeastward into areas including today’s Throggs Neck and Yonkers, in 1650, Dutch Director-General of New Netherlands, Petrus Stuyvesant, traveled to Hartford to negotiate a border with the governor of the Colony of Connecticut, Edward Hopkins.

Stuyvesant essentially traded Connecticut land claims (the New Netherland claim encompassed the full length of the Connecticut River and as far east as Narragansett Bay) in order to get a clear boundary on Long Island.  Stuyvesant and Hopkins agreed on a Connecticut line fifty Dutch miles west of the mouth of the Connecticut River.  On Long Island, a line would be drawn south from the westernmost point of Oyster Bay, through modern Nassau County.  Although the Dutch West India Company approved the treaty, the English royal authorities never ratified it.  Thus, the border remained in question and the so-called “Treaty of Hartford” remained a source of tension between the Dutch and English for many years. 

Efforts in 1664 to Settle the New York – Connecticut Boundary

In 1664, England took control of New Netherland from the Dutch.  Even before that, English settlers in Connecticut and those in the New York region were battling over the boundary that would separate the two colonies.  King Charles II of England sent Richard Nicolls to serve as Governor of the Province of New York and to lead a group of royal commissioners sent with him to “end unneighborly and unbrotherly contentions” regarding the border between New York and Connecticut.  The Commissioners met with the then-Governor of the Colony of Connecticut, John Winthrop, and a group of Connecticut commissioners.

In December, 1664, colonial authorities announced an agreement to place the boundary line running north-northwest at the mouth of the Mamaroneck River.  Long Island, however, was placed entirely within the Province of New York.  The new line on the mainland, however, was well west of the line that would have been established by the Treaty of Hartford had that treaty been ratified by English royal authorities. 

The Dutch Retake New York, Lose It, and Governor Edmund Andros Arrives

For a short time in 1673, the Dutch retook New York.  Because the 1664 agreement had actually added large swaths of land to Connecticut on the mainland up the Hudson River, Connecticut did not want the 1650 line proposed by the Treaty of Hartford to govern.  For a short period, Connecticut resisted any suggestion by the Dutch that the 1650 line governed the boundary between Dutch-controlled lands and Connecticut.

In early 1674, however, Dutch and English authorities signed the Treaty of Westminster that, among other things, returned New Netherland to the English.  Governor Edmund Andros arrived in New York in 1674 with a new royal patent for the Province of New York claiming all lands up to the Connecticut River – well within the Colony of Connecticut as denoted by the line agreed to by the commissioners as announced in December, 1664.  Thereafter:

“Gov. Andros showed a markedly aggressive tack in his negotiations with Connecticut. In May 1675, Andros sent a letter asking for land west of the Connecticut River under the Duke's new patent.  When Gov. Winthrop objected, Andros sent a representative in June to demand Connecticut's submission, threatening to send soldiers against any rebellion.  During this time of high tensions between the colonies, King Philip's War broke out in 1675.  Andros attempted to use this to consolidate lands under the Duke's [new] patent [that granted lands all the way to the Connecticut River to New York]. At the start of the war, Andros sent troops to Fort Saybrook, nominally to defend.  However, Winthrop's troops arrived first, and held the fort themselves.  Andros requested that Winthrop temporarily relinquish Connecticut's claim to the area in order to strengthen the united defense.”

Source:  “Border Disputes Between New York and Connecticut” in Wikipedia:  The Free Encyclopedia (visited Jun. 25, 2016).

New Governor Thomas Dongan Arrives in 1683 and Settles the Matter – Again

In 1683, a new Governor arrived in the Province of New York.  He was Thomas Dongan.  One of Governor Dongan’s first official acts was to move to try to settle the border dispute with Connecticut – again.  It was during this time that Justice of the Peace John Pell of the Manor of Pelham became involved. 

During the autumn of 1683, likely at the urging of Governor Thomas Dongan, Justice John Pell issued a warrant requiring constables of Rye, Greenwich, and Stamford to appear before the General Court of Assizes in New York in October.  During that court session, Governor Dongan pled to the court that Connecticut had violated the 1664 agreement.  He also issued a letter to Governor Robert Treat of the Colony of Connecticut warning that “If you do not submitt to let us have all the land within twenty miles of Hudson’s River, I must claime as far as the Duke’s Pattent goes; which is to the River Connecticut.  There is land enough for us all, and I love not to do my neighbors ill offices.”

Source:  "GOVERNOR DONGAN TO GOVERNOR TREAT" in Trumbull, J. Hammond, ed., The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut May, 1678 – June, 1689; With Notes and an Appendix Comprising Such Documents from the State Archives, and Other Sources, as Illustrate the History of the Colony During the Administration of Sir Edmund Andros, pp. 329-30 (Hartford, CT:  Case, Lockwood & Co., 1859).

Representatives of the two colonies agreed to a new border similar to the one that exists today, placing the settlement of Rye in New York and the settlements of Greenwich and Stamford in Connecticut.  The Province of New York appointed a commission of four respected citizens, one of whom was a surveyor, to survey and place the new line.  Those commissioners were John Pell of the Manor of Pelham, John Youngs, Robert Vauqellin, and Phillip Welles (the surveyor).  The Colony of Connecticut, in turn, appointed a commission to join the New York Commission consisting of Major Nathan Gold, Captain Jonathan Sellick, Ensign Daniel Sherman, and Mr. John Harriman (a surveyor).

On Wednesday, October 4, 1684, the commissioners of the two colonies  met in Stamford.  According to a report filed by the New York Commissioners the following February (February 23^rd):

“Wee went to Lions Point on ye east side of Birom River and from ye mouth of sd River where itt falls into ye Sea, we measured up the said River and found itt to be one mile and halfe and twenty rodds, bearing North halfe Easterly, and so came to a great Rock stone at ye Wading Place, where the road cutts ye sd River, and from thence directed our course North North West, six miles and a halfe, and there marked DRCC [In the form of a diamond with “D” containing a hooked line through it at the top and then, in clockwise order: “R” “C” and “C”] three white oake trees as in the margeant; thence directed our course West and by North seven miles and one hundred and twenty rodds, which brought us to ye Northernmost end of a Reach of Hudson’s River, which bears as we judged South and by West a quarter Westerly, and North and by East a quarter Easterly, which above-said line falls upon the sd Reach about Three miles above Frederick Philips upper Mills over against Tapan, and ye said River bearing North as to itts generall course upwards, we conclude the above mentioned West and by North line to be the shortest from sd Three marked Trees to Hudson’s River, and having unanimously concluded that part of the Sound from Lions Point Easterly to beare East North East, we did from said Trees at eight mile distance run a parallel to the Sound, vizt. East North East twelve miles, and still continued ye said Twelve Mile line East North East one mile and sixtyfour rodds, which then gave twenty miles from Hudson’s River, and is eight miles North North West from ye Sound.  Then finding the Oblong of twelve miles East North East and eight miles North North West did deminish sixty one thousand foure hundred and forty acres from ye twenty miles from Hudson’s River, we added to ye abovesaid twenty miles upon ye East North East line, three hundred and five rodds more, to run at yt additional breadth, parallel to Hudson’s River, till it meets with the Mathethusetts Line, which we demed one hundred miles distant from our eight mile line, which severall courses, with theire destances, together with the three hundred and five rodds added, doe clearly appear in ye Platt by the surveyers drawne and hereunto annexed; which addition of three hundred and five rodds we refer for itts confirmation and ratification to the two Governments from whence we are imployed; and that the above written is a true report of our proceedings, we have this tenth day of October, one thousand six hundred eighty and foure, subscribed our names in Standford.”

Source:  See full text of report and citation below.

Though John Pell and his colleagues did their part to settle the boundary lines, disputes over the line between New York and Connecticut continued for nearly another hundred years – long after the death of John Pell of the Manor of Pelham. 

Portrait of John Pell.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Diagram Depicting New York and Connecticut Border

Disputes Between 1636 and 1776.  Source:  

“Border Disputes Between New York and Connecticut” in

Wikipedia:  The Free Encyclopedia (visited Jun. 25, 2016).

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

“REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS AND SURVEYORS, FOR LAYING OUT THE LINE BETWEEN CONNECTICUT AND NEW YORK.

[Col. Boundaries, II. 46.]

Pursuant to a Commission from the Right Hon ble Thomas Dongan, Governour Generall of all his Royall Highnesses Territories in America, &c., bearing the date the 26^th day of September, 1684.*  [Footnote “*” reads:  “* Doc. Relating to the Hist. of N. York, III. 356.”]

Wee underwritten did upon the first Wednesday of this instant October meet, at ye towne of Stanford, Major Nathan Gold, Capt. Jonathan Sellick, Ensigne Daniel Sherman, Mr. John Harriman † Surveyor commissionated at a Generall Court held att Hartford, as by theire comission they produced bearing date May the eighth, 1684, doth fully appeare.  [Footnote “†” reads:  “† Mr. John Harriman, (grad. H. C. 1667,) had previously been employed by the General Court to make observations for determining the Colony’s north bounds, and the correction of Woodward & Saffery’s line.  See p. 33 ante.”]

Wee went to Lions Point on ye east side of Birom River and from ye mouth of sd River where itt falls into ye Sea, we measured up the said River and found itt to be one mile and halfe and twenty rodds, bearing North halfe Easterly, and so came to a great Rock stone at ye Wading Place, where the road cutts ye sd River, and from thence directed our course North North West, six miles and a halfe, and there marked DRCC [In the form of a diamond with “D” containing a hooked line through it at the top and then, in clockwise order: “R” “C” and “C”] three white oake trees as in the margeant; thence directed our course West and by North seven miles and one hundred and twenty rodds, which brought us to ye Northernmost end of a Reach of Hudson’s River, which bears as we judged South and by West a quarter Westerly, and North and by East a quarter Easterly, which above-said line falls upon the sd Reach about Three miles above Frederick Philips upper Mills over against Tapan, and ye said River bearing North as to itts generall course upwards, we conclude the above mentioned West and by North line to be the shortest from sd Three marked Trees to Hudson’s River, and having unanimously concluded that part of the Sound from Lions Point Easterly to beare East North East, we did from said Trees at eight mile distance run a parallel to the Sound, vizt. East North East twelve miles, and still continued ye said Twelve Mile line East North East one mile and sixtyfour rodds, which then gave twenty miles from Hudson’s River, and is eight miles North North West from ye Sound.  Then finding the Oblong of twelve miles East North East and eight miles North North West did deminish sixty one thousand foure hundred and forty acres from ye twenty miles from Hudson’s River, we added to ye abovesaid twenty miles upon ye East North East line, three hundred and five rodds more, to run at yt additional breadth, parallel to Hudson’s River, till it meets with the Mathethusetts Line, which we demed one hundred miles distant from our eight mile line, which severall courses, with theire destances, together with the three hundred and five rodds added, doe clearly appear in ye Platt by the surveyers drawne and hereunto annexed; which addition of three hundred and five rodds we refer for itts confirmation and ratification to the two Governments from whence we are imployed; and that the above written is a true report of our proceedings, we have this tenth day of October, one thousand six hundred eighty and foure, subscribed our names in Standford.

JOHN YOUNGS

JOHN PELL

ROBERT VAUQELLIN

PHILLIP WELLES Surv r. *  [Footnote “*” reads “* The names of ‘Nathan Gold, Jonathan Sellick, Daniel Sherman and John Herriman, Commr’s for Connecticut,’ are also subscribed to this report, -- as published in the Report of the New York commissioners, (1857) App. O. p. 118.”]

Millford, February the 23d, 1684-5.  The Report made by the within mentioned persons is this day assented unto, and ratified by us; & it is ordered that it be recorded in the books of Record for both Governments, as witnesse o r [our] hands.

[Signed] Tho: Dongan

[Signed] Robert Treat

Witnesses.

J. PALMER

J. SPRAGGE

JOHN YOUNGS

NATHAN GOLD

WM JONES

JOHN ALLYN

JOHN NASH

WILLIAM PITKIN.”

Source:  Trumbull, J. Hammond, ed., The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut May, 1678 – June, 1689; With Notes and an Appendix Comprising Such Documents from the State Archives, and Other Sources, as Illustrate the History of the Colony During the Administration of Sir Edmund Andros, pp. 337-39 (Hartford, CT:  Case, Lockwood & Co., 1859).

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Pelham Once Was Part of Yorkshire in the Province of New York

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The period between 1664 and 1683 is a fascinating time in the history of Pelham.  Thomas Pell, who acquired the lands that became the Manor of Pelham from local Native Americans in 1654, did not reside on his lands.  Rather, during the period before his death in late September, 1669, he managed those lands from his home in Fairfield in the Colony of Connecticut.  In 1670, Pell's nephew and principal legatee, John Pell, arrived in New England and proceeded to Connecticut and then to Pelham to claim the lands he had been bequeathed.  

During this time, the region was experiencing great change.  On August 29, 1664, forces loyal to the Proprietor of the Province of New York, the Duke of York, captured New Amsterdam from the Dutch and proceeded to take all of New Netherland.  They renamed New Amsterdam as New York and constituted the Province of New York to include large parts of today's New York (including New York City, Long Island, Westchester County, and Albany) as well as parts of New Jersey, Vermont, and even southeast Pennsylvania and Delaware.

The first English colonial governor of the Province of New York was Richard Nicolls.  Under his guidance, the so-called "Duke's Laws" were prepared and distributed throughout the Province.  This was, in effect, New York's first set of English statutes to govern the conduct of New Yorkers.

The only unit of local government created by the Duke's laws was a unit named "Yorkshire."  Though often referenced as a county, Yorkshire was a slightly different entity that might best be described as a governmental administrative area.  It encompassed parts of the region of today's New York City that included English settlers:  Manhattan, today's Westchester County, Long Island, and Staten Island.  It was named after Yorkshire, England in northern England, an administrative area or "shire" so named-because it encompassed the City of York.  As one scholar has written about Yorkshire in the Province of New York:

"The only unit of local government created by the Duke's Laws was the county of Yorkshire.  It contained the areas of English occupation -- Long Island, Westchester, and Staten Island -- and like its namesake, it was divided into three ridings.  The east riding comprised the towns at the east end of Long Island (now Suffolk County); the west riding, the middle section of Long Island (parts of Suffolk, Nassau, and Queens counties) and Staten Island; and the north riding, the west end of Long Island (Queens and Kings counties) and Westchester.  The focus of administration in the ridings was the court of session.  The officers of the court were justices of the peace and under-sheriffs who were chosen by the governor.  Their duties were to hear appeals from the town courts, supervise the collection of taxes, and entertain petitions from aggrieved individuals or towns.  The high-sheriff of the county supervised the work of the courts of session.  In theory, he was chosen from nominations made by the sessions in a three-year cycle.  In practice, the governor chose his own man and kept him in office as long as he liked.  As the chief liaison with the towns the sheriff had to be someone who had the confidence of the governor."

Source:  Ritchie, Robert C., Duke's Province:  A Study of New York Politics and Society, 1664-1691, p. 35 (Chapel Hill, NC:  The University of North Carolina Press, 1977).

After his arrival in the Manor of Pelham in late 1670, John Pell became a friend of then New York Governor Francis Lovelace.  Pell was appointed a Justice of the Peace to serve in  the north riding of Yorkshire encompassing the west end of Long Island (today's Queens and Kings Counties) and today's Westchester County.

The Dutch briefly recaptured New York from the English in August, 1673.  Within a few weeks the local government structure returned to that which had been in place during the original Dutch reign over New Netherland.  Theoretically, at least, Yorkshire was no more.  

Only weeks later, on February 9, 1674, the Treat of Westminster ended the Anglo-Dutch War and transferred the territory that had been the Province of New York back to British control.  The English colonial authorities promptly re-instituted the governmental structure that previously existed, including Yorkshire that included the Manor of Pelham.  

On November 1, 1683, English colonial authorities eliminated Yorkshire.  The various ridings were converted into counties.  The North Riding that included the Manor of Pelham was converted into Westchester County (including much of the modern Bronx County), Queens County (including much of the modern Nassau County), and New York County.  

Thereafter, the Manor of Pelham no longer was part of the administrative area known as Yorkshire.  Rather, it was part of Westchester County.

Burr, David H., "Map of the County of Westchester" (1829).

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Thomas Pell's Plantation at West Chester Petitioned New York Colonial Authorities in 1664 Seeking Understanding for their Oaths of Allegiance to the Dutch

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The tiny settlement of West Chester originally was an English plantation established by Thomas Pell near today's Westchester Square in The Bronx only months after Pell acquired the lands that became the Manor of Pelham from local Native Americans in 1654.  Ten years later, in 1664, the handful of West Chester residents who remained seemed to feel they were in a tight spot.  After being imprisoned and forced to swear allegiance to the Dutch in 1656 to remain in their homes, the settlers now faced a change in control of the region.  In September, 1664, England took control of all of New Amsterdam and the surrounding region from the Dutch.  The little settlement of West Chester found itself having to deal with yet another reversal of allegiance and a need to explain to the English colonial authorities who controlled the region their years of allegiance to the Dutch.  This "explanation" ripened into a "petition" to English authorities issued in 1664 that is the subject of today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog.

In late 1654, shortly after Thomas Pell purchased the region from local Native Americans, Pell arranged for 23 settlers to plant their homes at West Chester.  The Dutch promptly demanded that the English settlers remove from the area -- an area that the Dutch insisted they previously had acquired from other Native Americans.  For a more complete understanding of the circumstances surrounding the competing Dutch and Pell purchases and the early days of the settlement at West Chester, see, e.g.:

Mon., Aug. 17, 2015:  Buyer's Remorse: After Thomas Pell Bought Pelham From Native Americans, He Wanted His Money Back!

Wed., Aug. 12, 2015:  Significant Research on the First "Indian Deed" Reflecting the Dutch Purchase of Lands that Included Today's Pelham.  

Mon., Oct. 22, 2007:  Dutch Authorities Demand That Thomas Pell Halt His "Intrusion" at Westchester in 1656.

On April 19, 1655, Dutch Province Fiscal Cornelis van Tienhoven issued a formal protest "To you, Thomas Pell, or whom else it may concern" warning that the settlers at West Chester had settled on lands that belonged to New Netherland by virtue of "title deeds" obtained by former Director General Willem Kieft. The protest further warned the settlers that they were subject to prosecution for their actions.  The settlers seem virtually to have ignored the Dutch protest.

Apparently fed up that the English settlers at Westchester ignored their warnings and protests, on March 6, 1656, the Director General and Council of New Netherland ordered Captain Frederic de Coninck and Lieutenant Brian Nuton [i.e., Brian Newton] to lead a group of soldiers to West Chester to arrest most of the male settlers and to demolish all but three or four of the structures (leaving some buildings to store personal goods until the remaining women and children could depart). Within days the Dutch soldiers overran the tiny little settlement and took leading male settlers prisoners. They took the prisoners to a prison ship named the "De Waagh" anchored off the shores of Fort Amsterdam. 

After the women of the settlement petitioned and begged the Dutch authorities for release of their husbands, fathers, and sons, the Dutch agreed to release the imprisoned English settlers if they would leave New Netherland or take oaths of allegiance and submit to the rule of the Dutch authorities in New Netherland. Virtually all of the settlers chose the latter alternative and, on March 16, 1656, the settlers petitioned the Dutch authorities to allow them to submit to Dutch rule and re-settle on their lands in Westchester. The petition was granted. 

Eight years later, on September 8, 1664, England took control of New Amsterdam and the surrounding region from the Dutch.  Dutch Director-General Peter Stuyvesant surrendered New Amsterdam to an English naval squadron.  Colonel Richard Nicolls became the English colonial governor.  New Amsterdam was renamed New York.  

Only a few miles away, the little settlement named West Chester still stood.  Though it began as an English settlement planted by Thomas Pell, it had changed its allegiance to the Dutch under threat of force.  That tiny settlement faced a change in control in colonial government back to English authorities.  Its residents were in a tight spot and had to explain themselves.  Their explanation took the form of a petition to the new English colonial authorities.  

The petition is fascinating.  It indicates that Thomas Pell purchased his tract "for large Sumes."  (See Bell, Blake A., How Much Did Thomas Pell Pay for the Manor of Pelham?, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XV, Issue 43, Nov. 3, 2006, p. 10, col. 1.).  The petition further suggests that Pell purchased his tract for the benefit of England, saying he bought it "under the Title of England."  The petition also detailed a little of the horrors suffered by the early West Chester settlers who were imprisoned in the prison ship "De Waagh" shortly after Pell established the plantation.  The petition reads as follows (all spelling as in original source):

"Petition of inhabitants of Westchester

To the Hono. ble his Ma. ties Com. rs for the affaires of new England, The Inhabitants of West Chester Humbly Shew.

1  That the said Tract of Land called West Chester, was purchased for large Sumes, under the Title of England by Mr Tho. Pell, of the knowne Auncient proprietors in ye yeare 1654.

2  The pretended power of the Manhatoes, did thereupon continue protesting ag. st and threating of the said Plantacon keeping the Inhabitants at continuall watch and ward, untill at length the persons of Tewnty three Inhabitants of west Chester aforesaid, were Seized under Commission from the said Powers, committed Prisoners into the Hould of a Vessel, where they continued in restraint from all friends, for the space of thirteene dayes, fed wth rotten Provision creeping wth wormes, whereby some of them remaine diseased to this day, after wch, they were carryed away in Chaines, and layed in their Dungeon at Manhatoes.

3  That the said Inhabitants, had perished wth famine in the said Imprisonm t, but for the reliefe obtained at other hands.

4  That all this suffering was inflicted on them under noe other pretence, but that they were opposers of ye Dutch Title to the Lands aforesd.

5  That when the said pr tended powers, had freed the said Prison rs and introduced their owne Governm t over the sd Plantacon, They drove away such as would not Submit to their pr tended Authority, to their greate Endaagem t, and the enslaving of Such as remained.

6  That when in May 1663.  the said Plantacon was reduced to the Kings Authority, by vertue of his Ma. ties Patent to Conecticutt, the pretended powers aforesaid, sent in hostile manner, for certaine Inhabitants of West Chester, whom they confined in Manhatoes, and the next day sent for one Mr Richard Mills,a [Footnote "a" reads:  "a  A schoolmaster who had taught school previously on Long Island."] whom they case into their Dungeon, and afterwards soe used him for thirty eight dayes space, as there are yet, strong and crying presumtions they caused his death, which followed soone after.

7  That the unreasonable damage of the Purchaser, and the low estate of this Plantacon, occasioned by the premisses, hath had no other recompense to this day, but new threatenings, and thereby an utter obstruction from the peopleing and improving of a hopefull Countrey, all which as an unsufferable abuse to his royall Ma. tie and Our English Nation, is humbly offered to the consideracon of the Hon. ble Commission rs."

Source:  "Petition of Inhabitants of Westchester" in State Library Bulletin History No. 2 May 1899 -- Colonial Records General Entries V. I 1664-65 -- Transcribed from Manuscripts in the State Library, pp. 83-84 (Albany, NY:  Univeristy of the State of New York, 1899).  

Detail from 1776 Map Showing Manor of Pelham Area

Including West Chester, Shown as "W. Chester".

Source:  Muller, Johann Carl, "Der Teufels Belt gemeiniglich

genannt der Lange Insels Sund [Long Island Sound

and Vicinity] (Leipzig Germany, 1776).

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July 3, 1666 Letter on Behalf of the Governor of the Province of New York To Thomas Pell

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In 1666, Mathias Nicolls wrote a letter on behalf of the Governor of the Province of New York,. Richard Nicolls, to Thomas Pell addressing his complaints regarding efforts by others to receive land patents that he believed infringed upon his own holdings. The letter is transcribed below, followed by a citation to its source.

"A LETTER WRITTEN BY YE GOVERNORS ORDER UNTO MR. THOMAS PELL, CONCERNING HIS LAND IN WESTCHESTER.

MEMORANOCK, July 3d, 1666.

Sr.

The Governor having been Informed by Mr. Delavall and others that you Complaine of very hard Measure that you have rec d in that hee disposeth of the Lands at Westchester and there about to which you pretend a Title; his Honor gave mee Order to acquaint you, that for ye present hee hath putt a Stopp to Westchester Patent, as well as others there about (although they have for some time laying ready for his Passing) That if you have any just Clayme to those Lands or Exceptions to what hee doth, or is about to do, you may deliver them in to him, But hee conceiveth , no Person hath a more Lawfull Power to dispose thereof, than himselfe by vertue of his Commission and Authority from his Royall Highnesse And hee did believe the Tryall about Cornhill's Neck, was a Sufficient President for the Clearing of the Title to the rest; However, Its his pleasure to heare what you can alleadge or object, so that you do it Speedily for he thinkes it not convenient, to leave those matters much longer in Suspense; yor Answer hereunto by the first oppertunity will bee expected. This is all I had in Charge to deliver unto you, So I subscribe Sr.

Your humble Serv t

MATHIAS NICOLLS."

Source: Fernow, Berthold, Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York, Vol. XIII, p. 403 (Albany, NY: Weed, Parsons and Company 1881).

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