Governor Thomas Dongan's Commission Appointing John Pell a Justice of the Court of Sessions in 1685

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Westchester County was formed by the so-called "Dongan Assembly Act" of 1683.  At its formation on November 1, 1683, the County included the Manor of Pelham then owned by John Pell, the nephew and principal legatee of Pelham founder Thomas Pell who died in late September, 1669.  Within a matter of months, the Court of Sessions of the County of Westchester was formed to handle judicial matters and held its first session on June 3, 1684 (Old Style, Julian Calendar).  It appears that John Pell was appointed First Judge of the first Court of Sessions.

The Dongan Assembly Act of 1683, named after Thomas Dongan (New York's colonial governor at the time), designated the tiny Village of Westchester as the County Seat where the Court of Sessions held many of its proceedings.  The Village of Westchester once stood roughly where today's Westchester Square is located in the Bronx and was founded by settlers to whom Thomas Pell sold lands from his original land purchase from local Wiechquaeskecks.  There are also indications that the rival adjacent village of Eastchester shared the hosting of some proceedings of the Court of Sessions.  In addition, Justices of the Court were assigned to "Ridings" and rode on horseback throughout their assigned jurisdictions to hear small matters (see below).

In their multi-volume history of the "Courts and Lawyers of New York," Alden Chester and Edwin Melvin Williams wrote:

"Under the Dongan Assembly Act creating Westchester County, the village of Westchester became the county seat; or at least shared the sessions of the County Court with Eastchester.  The first Court of Sessions held in Westchester, as shown by court records, was on June 3, 1684.  John Pell was, it seems, appointed First Judge of Westchester County in that year, but the records do not show whether he sat at the June session of 1684.  He seems to have been recommissioned by James II in 1688 [sic; should be 1685], after the status of the latter had changed from the duke to the king.  [See registered copy of the Commission and transcription thereof below.]"

Source:  Chester, Alden & Williams, Edwin Melvin, Courts and Lawyers of New York:  A History, 1609-1925, Vol. I, p. 1298 (Clark, NJ:  The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd., 2005).

Soon after his arrival in New England in late 1670, John Pell was accepted as a respected member of the landed gentry of the southern parts of the Province of New York.  When he was appointed Justice of the Court of Sessions of Westchester County, the court's jurisdiction was divided into three "Ridings" with Justices "riding" about the area to hold court in various places within each "Riding."  The three Ridings at the time were the North, East, and West Ridings.  John Pell was a Justice in the North Riding. 

The court of sessions was held by all the justices of the peace within their respective riding three times a year, June, December and March in the earlier years. (In later years some were held in November rather than December.)  During a court session, in the absence of a member of the Provincial Council, the oldest justice presided. The jury was composed of overseers elected from the various towns within the Riding. The court of sessions possessed both civil and criminal jurisdiction. It had cognizance of all actions of debt, account, slander, trespass and actions on the case, where the sum involved was more than five pounds and not over twenty pounds. Court days likely were lively affairs that attracted visitors from throughout the Riding to participate in markets and for the "entertainment" offered by lively court sessions. 

The Court of Sessions of the County of Westchester was somewhat different than what we may think of a court in our separate judicial branch of government today.  Some of the issues it addressed and relief it granted had legislative aspects.

John Pell's long involvement with the Court of Sessions and the many judicial proceedings that were held in the Village of Westchester are commemorated in a massive mural painted in 1932 that is ten feet high and thirty-six feet wide.  It was painted by James Monroe Hewlett on a wall of The Bronx County Building located at 851 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY, 10451.  The mural, which is shown below, depicts the first meeting of the Westchester County Court of Sessions in the Village of Westchester with Justice John Pell presiding.  Pell was painted from a portrait of him prepared during his life.  According to an article written by Bronx Historian Lloyd:

"The subject of the mural was chosen for two reasons.  First, the building in which it was displayed was a courthouse with several courtrooms.  Secondly, the structure was the Bronx County Building and the convening of the first county court on the soil of a county about to celebrate the twentieth year of its founding in 1914 seemed appropriate.  The central portion of the mural shows a trial in progress.  The litigants and the lawyers are around the table to the right.  They face Justice John Pell occupying the high seat with the bench in front of him.  The members of the jury sit in the seats in the background.  A small group of men, probably awaiting the next trial on the docket, confer in an alcove on the extreme left side of the mural.  On the extreme right, another group, probably including the man recording the trial, cluster around a table bearing documents.  On the wall beside them is a map showing the divisions of the area that is now The Bronx.  Hewlett's image of John Pell is a simplified version of a portrait of the man that has survived.  [See below.]  The courtroom, however, is far too large and spacious for the one in which trials were held in 1684.  In reality, construction on a building that would house this court did not begin until 1686.  The coat of arms of England is at the top center of the mural." 

Source:Ultan, Lloyd, The Bronx County Building's Historical Murals:  An Artistic Legacy, p. 7 (Bronx, NY:  The Bronx County Historical Society, 2018) (Written by Lloyd Ultan; Photos by Robert Benimoff, In Cooperation with The Bronx County Historical Society). 

James Monroe Hewlett's Mural Depicting John Pell of the Manor

of Pelham Sitting as a Justice of the Court of Sessions of Westchester

County During a Court Session.  Text at Top of the Mural Reads on left:

"IN 1684 THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENT ESTABLISHED A COUNTY COURT

IN THE TOWN OF WESTCHESTER OF WHICH COURT THE HON. JOHN PELL

WAS THE FIRST JUDGE." and on Right:  "THE TRIAL OF GABRIEL LEGGETT A

COLONIST WAS HELD IN THIS COURT BEFORE JUSTICE CALEB HEATHCOTE

BENJAMIN COLLIER BEING HIGH SHERIFF OF THE COUNTY."  NOTE:  This

Copyright-Protected Image is Embedded Here from Another Web Location.  Thus,

if it is Taken Down from that Location or its URL is Changed, this Embedded

Version of the Image No Longer Will Be Visible.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

I have written about John Pell's service on the Court of Sessions before.  See Mon., Mar. 14, 2016:  Three Days of Westchester County Sessions Court Run by John Pell of Pelham Manor in June of 1687.  Today's Historic Pelham Blog article addresses the recommissioning of John Pell as a Justice of the Court after King James II rose to the throne in England.

When John Pell was first appointed as Justice of the Court of Sessions, it appears that he was commissioned under authority of Charles II who was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland.  Charles II died on February 6, 1685 and was succeeded, beginning that day, by his brother, James II.  James II is known as James II and VII since he was King of England and Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII.  He served as King from February 6, 1685 until he was deposed in the so-called Glorious Revolution of 1688.  He was the last Roman Catholic King of England, Scotland, and Ireland.  

Before rising to the throne, James II was designated "Duke of York" at birth. During the Anglo-Dutch Wars his brother, King Charles II, asserted England's claim to the New Netherland region in America by granting his brother, James (then Duke of York) a patent.  The new colony, of course, was named New York.  

The Duke of York succeeded to the throne upon his brother's death.  Thus, in 1685 New York Governor Thomas Dongan recommissioned John Pell and others as Justices of the Court of Sessions of the County of Westchester.  The commission named John Pell, John Palmer, William Richardson, Joseph Horton Sr., and Joseph Thealle as Justices and specified the scope of their powers as members of the Court of Sessions.  John Palmer was a member of the Provincial Council and, as such, also was a justice of the Court of Assize in 1684-85 and 1687-88.  He also was a judge of Admiralty in 1684.  William Richardson was a notable local citizen who operated a mill on the Bronx River.  

The recommissioning document was registered in the Westchester County Book of Deeds, Volume A-B, 1681-1698.  Images of the pertinent two pages are presented below, together with a transcription of the handwriting.

Portrait of John Pell, So-Called "Second Lord" of the Manor

of Pelham Who Was a Nephew and the Principal Legatee of

Thomas Pell, the Founder of the Manor of Pelham. NOTE: Click

on Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

"JAMES THE SECOND, BY THE GRACE OF GOD KING OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, FFRANCE [sic] AND IRELAND DEFENDER OF THE FAITH, &c, SUPREAME LORD AND PROPRIETOR OF THE COLLONY AND PROVINCE OF NEW YORK &c., 

TO OUR WELL BELOVED, JOHN PELL, JOHN PALMER, WILLIAM RICHARDSON, JOSEPH HORTON, SENIOR, JOSEPH THEALLE ESQRES. (GREETING) KNOW YEE, that wee have assigned you and every one of you dureing oe Will and Pleasure joyntely and severally our Justices to keepe our peace in the County of Westchester and to keepe and cause to be kept all lawes and ordenances made for the good of the peace and for conservation of the same and for the quiett rule and government of our People in all and every the Articles thereof, in our said County according to the force forme and efect of the same, and to chastize & punnish all persons offending against the forme of these laws and ordenances or any of them in the County aforesaid as according to the forme of these lawes and ordenances shall befitt to be done and to cause to come before you or any of you all those persons who shall threat on any of our People in their persons or in burneing their houses to find sufficiant securety for the peace or for the good behaviour towards us and our People and if they shall refuse to find such securety then to cause them to be kept in safe prison untill they find such securety wee have also assigned you and any three of you, whereof any of you the said John Pell, John Palmer, William Richardson, shall be one our Justices to enquire by oate of good and lawfull men of the County aforesaid by whom the trute may be the better knowne of all and all mannor of petty larcenys trespasses and extortions and of all and singular other misdeeds & offenses of which Justices of the Peace may or ought lawfully to enquire by whomsoever & howsoever don or perpetrated which hereafter shall happen howsoever to be done or attempted in the County aforesaid and of all these who in the County aforesaid have laine in waite or hereafter shall presume to lye in waite to maime or kill our people, AND ALSOE of Inholders ***** [asterisks in orginal] AND of all and singular other persons who have offended or attempted or hereafter shall presume to offend or attempt in the abusses of weights or measures or in the saile of victually against the forme of the lawes or ordenances or any of them in that behalfe made for the Common good of this our Province and the People thereof, in the County aforesaid and alsoe of all Sherriffs Bayliffs Constables Goalers [i.e., Jailers] and other officers whatsoever who in the execution of their offices about the premises or any of them have unlawfully demeaned themselves or hereafter shall presume unlawfully to demeane themselves or have beene or hereafter shall be careless remise or neglegent in the County aforesaid and of all & singular Articles & circumstances and all other things whatsoever by whomesoever & howsoever done or perpetrated in the County aforesaid or which hereafter shall happen howsoever to be done or attempted in any wise & to heare & determine all & singular the petty larseneys trespasses extortions aforesaid and all & singular other the premisses according to law and to chastize & punish the said persons offending & every of them for there offences by corporall punishment, ffines, ransomes, amercements, forfeitures or otherwise as ought to be don according to the laws, & whereas by an acte of oe Generall Assembly you are impowered in yoe sessions to trye as well Civill causes as causes Crimenall.  Wee have likewise assigned you and any three of you whereof any of you the said John Pell, John Palmer, William Richardson, shall be one in yoe said Courts of Sessions to heare trye & determin all such said causes as shall be brought before you according as in the said acts is prescribed & appoynted and according to the lawes of the province provided always that if a case of diffecalty upon the determenation of any of the premisses shall happen to arrise before you or any three or moore of you; your nor any three or more of you doe proceed to give judgmt therein except it be in the pressence of one of our Judges of our Court of Oyer & Termenor and Generall Goale delivery in the County aforesaid.  AND wee comand by vertue of these presence the Sherriffe of the said County that at certaine days & places which you or any such three or moore of you as aforesaid shall cause to be made knowne unto him he cause to come before you or such three or more of you as aforesaid such & as many good & lawfull men of his Baliwick by whome the trute in the premisses may be the better knowne & enquired of.  IN WITNESS WHEREOF wee have caused the seale of oe said Province to be hereunto affixed this 20te day of Octobe. 1685 & in the first yeare of our Reigne.

TEST:  THO. DONGON.

Past the Offices, J. Spragg, Secr.
Compared with the origionall this being a true coppy from the same
Pr. me Joseph Lee, Registe."

Source:  County of Westchester New York Deedbook A 1681-1688, pp. 43-44 (via FamilySearch, New York Land Records, 1630-1975, Westchester, Deeds 1681-1698, Vol. A-B; free account registration required to access via this link).

First Page of Registered Copy of Governor Thomas Dongan's

Commission Appointing John Pell a Justice of the Court of Sessions

on October 20, 1685 (Old Style Julian Calendar).  Source:

County of Westchester New York Deedbook A 1681-1688, p. 43 (via

FamilySearch, New York Land Records, 1630-1975, Westchester,

Deeds 1681-1698, Vol. A-B; free account registration required to

access via this link).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Second Page of Registered Copy of Governor Thomas Dongan's

Commission Appointing John Pell a Justice of the Court of Sessions

on October 20, 1685 (Old Style Julian Calendar).  Source:

County of Westchester New York Deedbook A 1681-1688, p. 44 (via

FamilySearch, New York Land Records, 1630-1975, Westchester,

Deeds 1681-1698, Vol. A-B; free account registration required to

access via this link).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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Philip Pell of the Manor of Pelham Helped Complete the Stone and Brick St. Paul's Church in Eastchester

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Construction began in 1763 on the beautiful stone and brick church building located today at 897 South Columbus Avenue in Mount Vernon.  The structure replaced an earlier late 17th century square wooden meeting house that stood nearby, roughly 70 yards west of the present structure.  Today, the beautiful church building is the centerpiece of St. Paul's Church National Historic Site, an important historic jewel in the midst of our region.

The Ancient Church Building at St. Paul's Church National Historic Site

at 897 South Columbus Avenue, Mount Vernon, New York.  The Church

Served the Manor of Pelham and Surrounding Region for Much of the

Late 18th and Early to Mid 19th Centuries.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

When construction on the stone and brick church began, the building stood at the edge of Eastchester village green, important in its own right as the location of the Great Election of 1733.  Later the spectacular church building became the principle church for those who lived in the Manor of Pelham during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Once construction on the new church building began in 1763, progress was exceedingly slow.  At the time, Eastchester and the Manor of Pelham were sparsely populated.  Residents of the region found it difficult to fund completion of such a grand and substantial church building.

The church was still not complete when the American Revolution began.  Though the exterior was finished, the interior was incomplete.  For example, it had only a dirt floor and virtually no furnishings.  The beautiful bell tower of the church that we admire today was only about two-thirds complete.  Parishioners at the time still worshiped in the old wooden meeting house nearby.

Given the central location of the church as well as the fact that it was the largest and finest stone and brick structure in the region, the church was used repeatedly by the American, British, and Hessian armies during the Revolutionary War.  Indeed, after the Battle of Pelham on October 18, 1776, British and Hessian troops used the unfinished church building as a military hospital.  During the war, the wooden meeting house seems to have been dismantled, likely for firewood.

After the war ended in 1783, the citizens of Eastchester, the Manor of Pelham, and the surrounding region resumed efforts to complete construction of the church.  Famed Patriot Philip Pell Jr. of the Manor of Pelham played a critical role in completion of the church building.  I have written before about Philip Pell Jr., one of the most significant residents ever to live in Pelham.  See, e.g.: 

Fri., Nov. 25, 2016:  A Pelham Resident Rode With General George Washington on Evacuation Day in 1783.

Mon., Feb. 15, 2016:  More on Revolutionary War Patriot Philip Pell, Jr. of the Manor of Pelham.

Fri., Jan. 30, 2015:  Stained Glass Window Honoring Philip Pell of the Manor of Pelham in St. Paul's Chapel of Columbia University.

Mon., Jan. 27, 2014:  What is that Memorial Tablet Next to Pelham Memorial High School and Who Was Col. Philip Pell?

Tue. Feb. 9, 2010:  1755 Census of Slaves Older than Fourteen in the "Mannour of Pelham."  

Fri., Jan. 9, 2009:  Another Brief Biography of Philip Pell of the Manor of Pelham.  

Tue., Dec. 4, 2007:  Philip Pell of Pelham Elected to Chair Meeting of Supporters of the New York Gubernatorial Candidacy of George Clinton in 1789.  

Mon., Nov. 5, 2007:  References to Philip Pell in the Minutes of the Commissioners for Detecting and Defeating Conspiracies in the State of New York.  

Fri., Mar. 30, 2007:  Biographical Information for Philip Pell Published in 1895.  

Fri., Mar. 9, 2007:  Abstract of Will of Philip Pell, Sr. of the Manor of Pelham Prepared in 1751 and Proved in 1752.  [This is an abstract of the will of the father of Col. Philip Pell.] 

Wed., Oct. 18, 2006:  18th Century Statutes Appointing Philip Pell, Sr. of Pelham To Collect Taxes on "Strong Liquors Retailed in This Colony."  [This is the father of Col. Philip Pell.]

Thu., Aug. 24, 2006:  Philip Pell of the Manor of Pelham: An Early Victim of the "Spoils System" in New York at the Turn of the 19th Century.  

Mon., Jul. 17, 2006:  1780 Letter to George Clinton from American Patriot Philip Pell of Pelham Manor, Commissary of Prisoners of the State of New York.   

Thu., Apr. 20, 2006:  1788 Campaign Broadside Urging Support for Candidate Opposing Philip Pell of Pelham Manor.  

It seems that enactment of a new statute in New York State in 1786 played an important role in efforts to complete the interior of the church.  On April 6, 1784, New York enacted a law entitled "An Act to Enable all the Religious Denominations in this State to Appoint Trustees Who Shall Be a Body Corporate, for the Purpose of Taking Care of the Temporalities of Their Respective Congregations and for Other Purposes Therein Mentioned."  After enactment of the statute, the parishioners of the church nominated and elected Philip Pell Jr. of the Manor of Pelham and Benjamin Drake of Eastchester as Trustees to hold an election of a group of parishioners to serve as more permanent "Trustees of the Episcopal Church in Eastchester in the County of Westchester and State of New York."

On Monday, March 12, 1787, the "male persons of the Congregation" gathered and elected as Trustees of the church the following:  John Bartow, John Wright, Isaac Ward, Elisha Shute, Lewis Guion, and Philip Pell Jr.  The new Trustees met on July 2, 1787 in the home of Charles Guion of Eastchester.  The Trustees appointed Thomas Bartow as Clerk, Treasurer, and Collector of the Board.  They then drew lots to create three classes of Trustees with terms of one-year, two-years, and three-years:  (1) one year terms:  John Wright and Lewis Guion; (2) two year terms:  Elisha Shute and Thomas Bartow; and (3) three year terms:  Isaac Ward and Philip Pell Jr..

The Board of Trustees set out to sell to various families "seats" within the Church that consisted of private, high-walled pew boxes that still can be seen today.  These sales were intended to fund final construction costs and permitted completion of such furnishings as a pulpit and clerk's desk.  

The Trustees met at the home of William Crawford Jr. of Eastchester on Saturday, December 15, 1787 "for the purpose of disposing the pew ground" of the church.  Charles Guion purchased "Seat No 1" which was the pew box just inside and to the left of the main entry door of the church as one enters.  It remains there today.  He paid seventeen shillings.

For about the next seven months or so, the Trustees sold pews to members of the church.  Some members purchased a single "Seat" (pew).  Others purchased more than one.  Prices ranged from eight shillings to two pounds and one shilling.  A pew plan showing pew ownership as of 1790 appears immediately below.

Plan of Pews in St. Paul's Church, Eastchester, New York 1790.

Source:  Coffey, William Samuel, Commemorative Discourse Delivered

at the Centennial Anniversary of the Erection and the Sixtieth of the

Consecration of St. Paul's Church, East Chester, West Chester Co., N.Y.,

October 24th, 1865, p. 43 (NY, NY: Perris & Browne, 1866). To Read

More About the 1790 Pew Diagram of St. Paul's Church, see:

Wed., Aug. 15, 2007: Plan of Pews in St. Paul's Church, 1790.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Apparently confident in their ability to sell the pews and raise the money needed to complete the interior of the church, on December 10, 1787 the Trustees entered into an agreement with a local carpenter named William Hoskins.  Hoskins agreed to build a "pulpit reading desk" and a clerk's seat "in a workman like manner" like those at a church in Yonkers within two months of the date of the agreement for the sum of fourteen pounds.  

The Trustees, including Philip Pell Jr., wrote proudly to their pastor to announce their success.  They wrote:

"Reverend Sir

We have this day disposed of the pew ground in our Church in a manner that promises success to our religious endeavors we have a prospect of completing our Church in a respectable manner.  New Rochell [sic] will Join us in engaging a Gentleman of the profession of the Gospel to officiate in the two places from a reliance on your pious wish to promote the Christian religion, be beg leave that when ever a Gentleman of Character and qualified in your opinion for our purpose may come to our knowledge and whose Condition may be adapted to our Situation that you'll please to signify the same to us.

The Revd Benj Moore

We are Revd Sir, with much respect your Nble Servants  The Trustees"

Philip Pell Jr. played yet another important role in his life when he worked so hard to help finish what we know today as the lovely church building at St. Paul's Church National Historic Site.  At the time, Pell's critical efforts benefited not his nation but his Manor of Pelham community.  

The Homestead of Colonel Philip Pell III that Once

Stood Near Today's Colonial Avenue (the old Boston

Post Road) and Today's Cliff Avenue. Source:

Montgomery, William R. & Montgomery, Frances E.,

Colonel Philip Pell (1753-1811) Abridged from "The Pells

of Pelham," The Pelham Sun, Oct. 21, 1938, pg. 11,

col. 3.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

"Page 4

Whereas at a meeting of the male persons of the Congregation of the Episcopal Church in Eastchester in the county of Westchester and State of New York held on Monday the twelfth Day of March in the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven hundred and Eighty Seven at the said Church in pursuance  of an Act of the Legislature of the said State, entitled an Act to enable all the Religious Denominations in this State to appoint trustees Who shall be a Body Corporate, for the purpose of taking care of the Temporalities of their respective Congregations and for other purposes Therein Mentioned passed April the 6th 1784 in Order to elect nominate and appoint Trustees of the said Church the said persons (     ) did previously proceed to nominate and elect two members of the Said Church to preside at and hold the Election for the date as aforesaid.  And Whereas Philip Pell & Benjamin (Drake) were appointed and elected to preside at and hold the said Election and the same being duly held, at the close thereof (     ) Bartow, John Wright, Isaac Ward, Elisha Shute, Lewis Guion and Philip Pell Junr were elected to serve as Trustees of the Episcopal Church in Eastchester in the County of Westchester and State of New York at the Election held as aforesaid, and we do accordingly return the said persons as duly elected, Witness our Hands and Seals the twelfth of March One thousand Seven hundred and eighty seven

Signed and Sealed in the presence of

(Jacob) Sahw [sic]
(     ) Crawford Junr
Philip Pell
Benjn Drake
(A Copy)
(Original document filed with the Chr papers vide overleaf)

Page 5

Westchester County Fs.  Be It Remembered that on this fourth day of April One thousand seven hundred and eighty seven personally appeared before me Stephen Ward Esquire first Justice of the Superior Court of Common Pleas for the County of Westchester William Crawford Junior who being duly sworn deposeth and saith that he was a subscribing witness to the execution of the within writing and that he saw the within named Philip Pell and Benjamin Drake Sign and Seal the same as their voluntary Act, and at the Same time saw Jacob Shaw . . . the other subscribing witness sign his name as a witness thereto and having examined the said writing do allow the same to be Recorded. . . . . . . . . . . . 

Stephen Ward

Entered on the Records of Westchester County
in Lib A of religious Societies pages 10  11  &  12
this 4th June 1787     Richrd Hatfield Clk

(a copy)
(The original is filed with the Church papers)"

Source:  REGISTER OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF ST PAULS CHR at East Chester June 1787 to 1834 For contents of this book vide pe. The property of St. Pauls Church East Chester Parish Register 1787, pp. 4-5 (Typewritten manuscript transcribed by The Eastchester Historical Society, 1966; copy in possession of the author).

"Page 2

At a meeting of the Trustees of the Episcopal Church in Eastchester in the County of Westchester and State of New York held at the House of Charles Guion in the said Township of Eastchester on Monday the 2 day of July one thousand seven hundred and Eighty Seven.

Present

Thomas Bartow
John Wright
Isaac Ward
Elisha Shute
Lewis Guion
Philip Pell Junior

The said Trustees proceeded to appoint a Clerk, Treasurer and Collector of the said Board.

Resolved that Thomas Barton [sic] be the Clerk Treasurer and Collector of the said Board for the purposes by Law directed

The said Trustees then proceeded under the Act of the Legislature for their Incorporation, to divid [sic] themselves by Lott into three Classes as directed by the said Act where the Classes respectively were driven out as follows viz.

John Wright       Lewis Guion     Whose seats become vacant at the end of the first year.

Elisha Shute      Thomas Bartow      Whose seats become vacant at the end of the second year

Isaac Ward        Philip Pell Junior      Whose seats become vacant at the end of the third year

Page 3

At a Meeting of the aforesaid Trustees held at the House of William Crawford Junior on saturday the 15th day of December 1787 (present all the aforesaid Trustees) for the purpose of disposing the pew ground of the aforesaid Church.  The pew ground being exposed to sale according to a plan or draft exhibited on such day were sold to the persons and under the conditions under mentioned.

paid     Charles Guion     Having purchased of the Trustees of the Episcopal Church in Eastchester Seat No. 1 in said Church agrees to erect a pew thereon in six months from the date hereof according to the form to be directed by the said Trustees on performance to have conveyance for the same under the Seal of the aforesaid Trustees on failure to forfeit the seat of ground so purchased nevertheless liable to pay seventeen shillings being the purchase money on demand dates the day above mentioned

s/s Chas Guion

paid     James Morgan     having purchased of the said Trustees Seat No 2 agrees in like manner as above, the purchase money being twenty shillings

s/s James Morg----

paid      Lewis Guion     Having purchased of the said Trustees Seat No 3 agrees in like manner above the purchase money being twenty one chillings [sic]

s/s Lewis Guion

paid     Samuel Webb      having purchased of the said Trustees Seat No 4 agrees in like manner as above the purchase money being nine shillings

s/s Saml Webb

paid     Stephen Ward     having purchased of the said trustees Seat No 5 agrees in like manner as above the purchase money being two pounds one shilling

s/s Stephen Ward

Page 3 (con't)

Philip Pell Junior having purchased of the said Trustees Seat No 6 agrees in like manner as above the purchase money being one Pound"

Source:  REGISTER OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF ST PAULS CHR at East Chester June 1787 to 1834 For contents of this book vide pe. The property of St. Pauls Church East Chester Parish Register 1787, pp. 2-3 (Typewritten manuscript transcribed by The Eastchester Historical Society, 1966; copy in possession of the author).

"Page 6

paid     Isaac Ward having purchased of the Trustees aforesaid Seat No 30 in the said Church agrees in like manner as aforesaid the purchase money being ten shillings

s/s Isaac Ward

paid     Benjamin Drake having purchased of the Trustees aforesaid Seat No 37 in the said Church agrees in like manner as aforesaid the purchase money being 10 shillings

s/s Benjn Drake

paid     Benjamin Morgan having purchased of the trustees aforesaid Seat No 36 in the said Church agrees in like manner as aforesaid the purchase money being ten shillings

s/s Benjn Morgan for C. Morgan

paid     William Crawford Junior having purchased of the Trustees aforesaid Seat No 35 in the said Church agrees in like manner as aforesaid the purchase money being nine shillings 

s/s Wm Crawford juner

paid July 28  89     Maj. Daniel Williams having purchsed of the Trustees aforesaid Seat No 31 in the Said Church agrees in like manner as aforesaid the purchase money being Sixteen Shillings

s/s Daniel Williams

paid     Israel Honeywill [sic] having purchased of the aforesaid Trustees Seat No 32 in the Said Church agrees in like manner as aforesaid the purchase Money being Sixteen shillings Decmr 19    87

s/s Israel Honeywell

paid     Lancaster Underhill having purchased of the Trustees aforesaid Seat No 20 in the Said Church agrees in like manner as aforesaid the purchase money being Sixteen Shillings     January 12, 1788

s/s Lancaster Underhill

Page 7

entered in his act     William Pinkney having purchased of the aforesaid Trustees Seat No (     ) in the said Church agrees in like manner as aforesaid the purchase money being Twenty three shillings

s/s William Pinkney

paid     Thomas Bartow having purchased of the aforesaid Trustees Seat No 9 in the said Church agrees in like manner as aforesaid the purchase money being Twenty Shillings

s/s Thomas Bartow

paid     Anthony Bartow having purchased of the aforesaid Trustees Seat No 10 in the Said Church agrees in like manner as aforesaid the purchase money being Seventeen Shillings

s/s Anthony Bartow Jun

entered in his account     John G. Wright having purchased of the aforesaid Trustees Seat No 13 in the Said Church agrees in like manner as aforesaid the purchase money being fourteen shillings

paid     Philip Rhinelander having purchased of the aforesaid Trustees Seat No 26 in the Said Church Agrees in like manner as aforesaid.  the purchase money being Twenty shillings

s/s Philip Rhinelander

paid     Benjamin Morgan having purchased of the aforesaid Trustees Seat No 27 in the said Church agrees in like manner as aforesaid the purchase money being ten shillings

s/s Benjn Morgan

paid     Elisha Shute having purchased of the aforesaid Trustees Seat No 28 in the said Church agrees in like manner as aforesaid the purchase money being eight shillings

s/s Elisha Shute

paid     Daniel Townsend having purchased of the aforesaid Trustees Seat No 29 in the said Church agrees in like manner as aforesaid the purchase money being eight shillings 

s/s Daniel Townsend

Page 8

paid     Alexander Fowler having purchased of the Trustees aforesd Seat No 21 in the said Church agrees in like manner as aforesaid the purchase money being sixteen shillings     January 15, 1788

s/s Alexander Fowler

Gilber [sic] Valentine, having purchased of the Trustees aforesaid Seat N [sic] 12 in the said Church agrees in like manner as aforesaid the purchase money being sixteen Shillings     February 12, 1788

Ram [sic] Rapeljay [sic] having purchased of the Trustees aforesaid Seat No 34 in the said Church agrees in like manner as aforesaid the purchase money being sixteen shillings     feb 25, 1788

paid     David Huestic [sic] having purchased of the Trustees aforesaid Seat No 22 in said Church agrees in like manner as aforesaid the purchase money being Sicteen [sic] Shillings     Feb. 28, 1788

paid     Moses Fowler having purchased of the Trustees aforesaid Seat No 23 in the said Church agrees in like manner as aforesaid the purchase money being Sixteen Shillings     feb. 28, 1788

paid     William Fowler having purchased of the aforesaid Trustees Seat No 33 in the said Church agrees in like manner as aforesaid the purchase money being Sixteen Shillings     April 1st 1788

s/s Wm Fowler

Page 9

paid     William Stanten [sic] having purchased of the Trustees aforesaid Seat No 24 in the said Church agrees in like manner as aforesaid the purchase money being sixteen shillings     April 21st 1788

s/s William Stanten [sic]

paid     James N. Roosevelt having purchased of the Trustees aforesaid Seat No 11 in the said Church agrees in like manner as aforesaid the purchase money being Sixteen Shillings     April 21, 1788

paid     Moses Hunt having purchased of the Trustees aforesaid Seat No 25 in the said Church agrees in like manner as aforesaid the purchase money being Sixteen shillings      April 29, 1788

paid     Theodosius Bartow having purchased of the Trustees aforesaid Seat No 38 in the said Church agrees in like manner as aforesaid the purchase money being fourteen Shillings     May 26, 1788

paid     William Vartow [sic] having purchased of the Trustees aforesaid Seat No 19 in the said Church agrees in like manner as aforesaid the purchase Money being fourteen Shillings     May 26 1788

paid     Israel Underhill having purchased of the Trustees aforesaid Seat No 18 in the Said Church agrees in like manner as aforesaid the purchase money being Sixteen shillings     May 27 1788

Page 10

paid     Lewis Guion having purchased of the Trustees aforesaid Set No 14 in the said Church agrees in like manner as a aforesaid the purchase money being Twelve Shillings     June the 2th 1788

paid Sepr 9     Charles Morgan having purchased of the aforesaid Trustees Seat No 15 in the said Church agrees in like manner as aforesaid the purchase money being Twelve shillings     June 14 1788

s/s Charles Morgan

paid Sep 5     Augustus Van Cortlandt having purchased of the aforesaid Trustees Seat No 16 & 17 in the said Church agrees in like manner as aforesaid the purchase money being One pound Twelve Shillings     July 15, 1788

Page 11

Articles of agreement entered into the tenth day of December 1787 between lewis Guion  Elisha Shute  Isaac Ward  Thomas Bartow  and  Philip Pell Jun a majority of the Trustees of the Episcopal Church in Eastchester of the one part and William Hoskins   Carpenter of the other part.  1st the said William Hoskins agreed to erect and build a pulpit reading desk and Clerks seat in the said Church at East Chester according to the dimentions [sic] in the plan by his exhibited to the said Trustees and the form of of the pulpit in the church in Yonkers in the space of Two months from the date hereof.  2d the said Trustees are to furnish the materials for the aforesaid purpose and to pay the said William Hoskins the sum of fourteen pounds when the said work shall be completed he the said William Hoskins during the time he shall be at work to find himself with necessaries  3d the said William Hoskins engages to perform the above job in a workman like manner

In Witness whereof the parties hereto have set their hand the day and year above written

Witness
Ward Hunt
Stephen Ward
Lewis Guion
Elisha Shute
Isaac Ward
Thomas Bartow
Philip Pell Junier [sic]
William Hopkins

(A copy)

Reverend Sir

We have this day disposed of the pew ground in our Church in a manner that promises success to our religious endeavors we have a prospect of completing our Church in a respectable manner.  New Rochell [sic] will Join us in engaging a Gentleman of the profession of the Gospel to officiate in the two places from a reliance on your pious wish to promote the Christian religion, be beg leave that when ever a Gentleman of Character and qualified in your opinion for our purpose may come to our knowledge and whose Condition may be adapted to our Situation that you'll please to signify the same to us.

The Revd Benj Moore

We are Revd Sir, with much respect your Nble Servants  The Trustees
(copy)"

Source:  REGISTER OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF ST PAULS CHR at East Chester June 1787 to 1834 For contents of this book vide pe. The property of St. Pauls Church East Chester Parish Register 1787, pp. 6-11 (Typewritten manuscript transcribed by The Eastchester Historical Society, 1966; copy in possession of the author).

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More About the History of Goose Island, Once the Home of Mammy Goose

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Goose Island is a tiny little island near Pelham Bridge in Eastchester Bay.  The island is only about one and a half acres in size.  Goose Island was so named because of a massive flock of wild geese that first landed on the island in about 1810 and thereafter made the island an annual resting place.  

The tiny little island has a storied history that revolves around a colorful character who resided there from about 1843 until shortly before her death in 1885.  Her name was Abigail Tice.  She was nicknamed "Mammy Goose."  I have written about Mammy Goose and Goose Island on a number of occasions.  See:

Thu., Mar. 10, 2005:  "Mammy Goose" of Goose Island.

Tue., Apr. 25, 2006:  More About "Mammy Goose" of Goose Island.

Detail from Map Published in 1893 Showing Goose Island

on Left Near Branch Line Railroad Tracks Crossing

Eastchester Bay.  Source:  "Towns of Westchester and

Pelham (With) Villages of Westchester and Unionport

(With) Village of Pelhamville" in Atlas of Westchester

County, New York Prepared Under the Direction of Joseph

R. Bien, E.M., Civil and Topographical Engineer from

Original Surveys and Official Records, pg. 3 (NY, NY:

Julius Bien & Co., 1893).

As a young girl, Abigail eloped with a stone mason named William Tice.  The couple moved to Mount Vernon in about 1840.  William Tice began working for Joshua Leviness, a prominent oysterman on City Island in the Town of Pelham.  

In 1843, Abigail and William Tice reportedly visited Goose Island.  It was "a lonely, barren spot and hadn't even a good reputation".  Even so, according to one account, "it pleased Mrs. Tice and she said to her husband, "Here I'm going to make my home."  Captain Joshua Leviness provided building materials to the couple who cleared trees, stumps, and stones from the island and built a tiny home with the materials provided by Leviness.  

To support themselves, the couple fished and clammed throughout Eastchester Bay and its shores.  Abigail Tice began hosting local recreational fishermen with broiled clams, oysters, and beer.  Her reputation as a hostess grew and she became known as "Mammy Goose."  By about 1850 or early 1851, however, William Tice died.  Abigail buried her husband on Goose Island near their little house.

On June 11, 1851, Tice married her second husband, Ogilsby Stinard, in Pelham.  Reverend Henry E. Duncan performed the ceremony.  The couple lived in the tiny shack on Goose Island for more than thirty years.  Stinard died in 1884.  Accounts differ over how he died.  According to one account, during a terrible nor'easter in the winter of 1883-84, Stinard, froze to death in the couple's shack on the island.  According to another account, Stinard waded into deep water while drunk and sank to the bottom and drowned.  Accounts agree, however, that like William Tice, he was buried on the island after his death.  

Captain Leviness kept a close watch on Mammy Goose and helped her fill her basic needs by supplying her "few wants".  When she grew too old to take care of herself, he arranged to bring her as a guest to a hotel he owned on City Island.  Although he planned to open a small shop for her to oversee during the summer of 1885, Mammy Goose died in her room at the hotel on March 26, 1885.  People believed her to be about 92 since she always said she was born in 1793. 

Only two days before her death, Mammy Goose made a will. In it she gave everything she owned to her friend, Captain Joshua Leviness.  Among the things she bequeathed to Captain Leviness, was Goose Island "on which she has always paid taxes."

Mammy Goose, it turned out, did not own Goose Island even though she purported to bequeath it to Joshua Leviness when she died.  Rather, she had leased the island for her "natural life" in exchange for the payment of property taxes on the island.  The Town of Eastchester claimed ownership of Goose Island and claimed to have leased it to Mammy Goose.  About a year before the death of Mammy Goose, it was discovered by Eastchester authorities that Mammy Goose was in arrears on her property taxes.  The Town began efforts to address the issue.

With the death of Mammy Goose, Captain Joshua Leviness wasted no time.  Within a month he already began construction of a dock on the tiny island and announced his intention to open a "summer resort" on the island.  It is unclear whether he was aware that Mammy Goose leased the island and that the Town of Eastchester claimed to own it and claiimed that Mammy Goose had failed to pay the property taxes for the island as required under her lease.  It seems very odd, however, that the will that 92-year-old Mammy Goose prepared two days before her death while in the care of Joshua Leviness bequeathed to him Goose Island "on which she has always paid taxes."

Eastchester hired a Mount Vernon attorney named Norman A. Lawler to file a lawsuit to reclaim Goose Island from Joshua Leviness.  By late September, 1885, the case was ready for trial in what one report described as the Circuit Court in White Plains, New York.  Thorough search has been made, however, and no report of the case or its results has yet been located.  

Nevertheless, Goose Island was part of the lands that became part of Pelham Bay Park and that were annexed by New York City in the mid-1890s.  Joshua Leviness clearly reached some arrangement to continue his use of Goose Island after the dispute with the Town of Eastchester.  He received a license from the New York City Department of Parks to rent boats from Goose Island and to sell refreshments to boaters and fishermen there.  In 1894, that license was renewed in the name of his son, George Leviness.  See Minutes and Documents of the Board of Commissioners of the Department of Public Parks for the Year Ending April 30, 1893, p. 43 (NY, NY:  Martin B. Brown, Printer and Stationer, 1894).

"TOWN OFFICERS ACCOUNTS. . . . . 

The property known as Goose Island was also referred to in their report as having been originally leased to Mrs. Stinard during her natural life in consideration that she should pay the taxes on the same which she had failed to do, and that the Recever of Taxes had never made a levy.  They recommended that the receiver cause a levy to be made for this years [sic] taxes.  

That there should be a revenue from that pleasant little spot, Goose Island, there can be no question, and when a lease was given to Mrs. Stinard, some specified sum of money should have been named as the yearly rental, and that amount ought to have been collected or else she should have been compelled to vacate for a more profitable tenant, but why Goose Island should be assessed as taxable property, sold, and the town take leases of the same, any more than the town dock, or any other town property, we are certainly at a loss to know.  We certainly can see no reason why any of property owned or held by the town as town lands should be assessed.

The trustees recommended that $300 be appropriated for the purpose of taking action against some of the above named parties or any one occupying or claiming to own any town lands, that the same may be recovered for the use of the town. . . ."

Source:  TOWN OFFICERS ACOUNTS, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Mar. 28, 1884, Vol. XV, No. 758, p. 1, col. 7.

"PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND. . . . 

--Capt. Josh Leviness is building a dock on Goose Island and intends to open a summer resort there.  He claims to own the Island under the will of Mrs. Tice, otherwise known as Mrs. Stinard, who lived there for nearly forty years.  She recently died at the residence of the Captain, City Island."

Source:  PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND, New Rochelle Pioneer, Apr. 25, 1885, p. 3, col. 6.  

"COUNTY ITEMS. . . . 

--The Trustees of Public Lands have taken the initiatory steps toward getting possession of Goose Island, in the Sound, near City Island, now claimed by Joshua Leviness.  They have appointed Norman A. Lawler, of Mount Vernon, counsel, and proceedings will be instituted at once."

Source:  COUNTY ITEMS, Supplement to Eastern State Journal, Jun. 12, 1885, p. 1, col. 3

"LOCAL NEWS. . . . 

The town of Eastchester has taken steps to eject Capt. Josh Leviness from Goose Island, and get possession of the property.  The case may be reached on the calendar this week, in the Circuit Court, at White Pains. . . ."

Source:  LOCAL NEWS, The Chronicle [Mt. Vernon, NY], Sep. 25, 1885, Vol. XVII, No. 836, p. 3, col. 1.  

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