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5 Westchester County Jacob Judd A publication prepared as part of New York’s celebration of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the American Revolution sought to summarize the results of that conflict. “When all the factors are taken into account the American Revolution was on the whole not an extremely radical movement. Except for the sundering of political ties with the British Empire, old usages were not torn up by the roots.”1 The veracity of this statement may be challenged by examining how the Revolution changed Westchester County. A civil war raged there from 1776 until 1783, a major transferal of property rights from the aristocracy to the average farmer took place following the conflict, and thousands of Loyalists were compelled to leave their homes. During the war, much of Westchester was part of the so-called “Neutral Ground,” an area located between the two armies, which neither side was able to control. Patriot and Loyalist clashes, along with major military engagements, occurred in the county from 1776 until the conclusion of hostilities in 1783. Here George Washington played a major role in the fighting during 1776 to 1777 and, in the later years of the conflict, Comte de Rochambeau and a French force were significant. The Revolutionary drama also included the capture of Maj. John André and the uncovering of Benedict Arnold’s treacherous machinations. The War for Independence brought profound political and economic changes to the county. The State of NewYork confiscated great manorial estates as well as smaller farms owned or controlled by Loyalists. Many properties were subsequently redistributed in smaller holdings to former Patriot tenants and to other approved purchasers.The Revolution also hastened the transferal of a substantial portion of the governmental powers formerly held by the landlords into the hands of local governmental units. 107 Colonial Westchester was larger than it is today, for it included what is now the Borough of the Bronx in New York City. It stretched from Dutchess County (whose southernmost portion is now Putnam County) in the north to the Bronx Kill in the south. To the east was Connecticut; to the west, the Hudson River; and to the southeast, the Long Island Sound.2 Not only did Westchester border the Hudson River and Long Island Sound, it also contained a number of importantrivers ,suchastheCroton,Pocantico,SawMill,Bronx,Hutchinson,Harlem, and East Rivers. These waterways provided easy access into the interior: waterpower to service saw, grist, and flour mills; and travel routes during those times whenroadswereimpassable.TheHudsonRiveropenedtheopportunityfortrading with settlements on its west bank, with northern sections of New York as far as Albany, and with New Jersey. The Long Island Sound provided a pathway for trade with Connecticut and Long Island. The wheat, rye, barley, Indian corn, and flax grown in the county soon found their way to New York City and beyond to the English sphere of trade. Westchester’s agricultural and animal productions helped supply a major portion of the food needed by New York City’s population. Forest products and trapped furs found ready markets. In addition to animal husbandry and agriculture, associated industries developed with grist, saw, and fulling mills; the development of water transport in the form of sails, skiffs, and local ferries; and the raising and driving of cattle. In sum, its geographical advantages, its proximity to New York City, its extensive frontage on the Hudson River and the Long Island Sound, and its rich agricultural base, all combined to makeWestchester one of the most prized regions during the long period of warfare from 1776 until 1783. Westchester was one of the few colonial counties where “manorial lords” held extensive land holdings. During the last half of the seventeenth century, prominent members of the Philipse, Pell, Van Cortlandt, DeLancey, and Morris families had acquired royal land grants, each for as much as 75,000 to 90,000 acres in Westchester and adjacent counties. By the Revolution a mixture of tenant farmers, freeholders (small-scale landowners), indentured servants, and slavesworkedtheselands.ThepopulationcamefromDutch,English,Germanic, Huguenot, Jewish, Native American, Scandinavian, and African backgrounds. They worshiped in the Dutch Reformed, Huguenot, Anglican, Quaker, Presbyterian, and Congregational churches. While some groups, like the Huguenots and the Dutch, created distinctive communities, others melded into diverse entities.3 Their eventual allegiances during the Revolution appear not to have been determined by religious or ethnic affiliations. It is difficult to determine the exact population of the county in the 1760s, but...

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