The Van Cortlandt Manor
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TH E V AN C O RTLAN DT MAN O R ANONYMO'S ADDRESS READ BY O THE LATE MRS . JAMES MARSLAND LAWT N PRESIDENT- GENERAL THE ORD ER OF COLONIAL LORD S OF MANORS IN AMERICA W m L W r n 9 n WTM‘ WM E a'o THE SI'TH ANN'AL MEETING OF THE NEW YOR'BRANCH HELD IN THE CITY OF NEW YOR' ' 26 1918 JAN ARY , V AN CORTLANDT ARMS Arms 'Argent'four Wings of a windmill conj oined in sa ltire sa ble 'voided le et een five sta rs l a ced crossw e gu s b w p is of the la st . e ' l s Cr st A sta r gu e . M otto'V irtus sibi munus. ' V AN CORTLANDT MANOR Cortla n dt The great Manor of , as granted to its first Lord , Cortla n dt l Stephanus Van , extended for ten mi es along the Hudson River , from the southerly shore of the Croton River to the line dividing Westchester and Putnam Counties , and ' hi t enty miles east to the Connecticut boundary line . T s large ‘ tract of beautiful country included the present townships of “ Cortla n dt ' , North Salem , Somers and orktown , with a part of ’ the town of Lewisboro . Cortla n dt Stephanus Van , first Lord of the Manor of Cort O Steve n se Cortla n dt soldie r in landt , was the son of laf Van , a _ di his the service of the West In an Company, who left home at D urn ste de v ' Wyk by in Holland , a illage not far from trecht, ' 1638 i . and came to this country in w th Wm ieft, Director ' ‘ ’ r l o f ge n e a the Company s North American Provinces . t o The family , an ancient one , had come Holland from Courland . Their coat armor is recorded in the Hall of Records d O in Amster am , and laf brought his coat of arms , as well as a ' Cor tla n dt portrait of his mother , Catharine Van , with him ' i n H r n 1 3 when he came over with ieft the ship a i g in 6 8 . Olaf Van Cortla n dt became a ma n of wealth and in'uence a n O fi m d held ma ny public f ces in New A sterdam . He married An n e t e Loocke rma n s urn hout a . j of T , town in Belgium She i was possessed of a considerable fortune , and hav ng made e m large investments in the N w Netherlands , came to A erica o oocke rma n s i with her brother , G vert L to make inqu ries into the success of her ventures . They had six children , of whom 43 h 1 t e . Stephanus , born in 6 , was eldest He received his c excellent education from tutors . He entered into the publi ‘ life of the City at an unusually early age , his first appointment t e t i' a n - being to h Cour of Ass es , d at thirty four , he was chosen - n Mayor , being the first American bor Mayor of New York C . He 1693 ity entered the Militia , and in _ was the Colonel ' . commanding the ings County _ Militia He was the first in b A Judge _ Admiralty , appointed y Governor Andros'an sso o ciate Judge of the Colonial Court , and was in rapid successi n chosen Chancellor, then Collector of the Revenues and lastly , e Chief Justice of the Supreme Court . H was also a merchant , i h Of w t a place business at, the northeast corner of Pearl and a a Broad Streets , and with all these m ny and v ried claims upon his time , he yet found , or made , leisure to serve the interest Of . Church , as well as State , as Senior Warden of Trin ity Church Cortla n dt n t Early in his career , Stephanus Van bega o Of acquire large tracts land , in what is now Westchester County , u on which he settled tenants , b ilt houses and established ferries . His earliest movement toward Obtaining these lands , afterwards hi s to comprise magnificent Manor , was to take out , pursuant f O m di . to the law the Provin ce , a license to purchase fro the In ans The original of this license from Governor Edmun d Andros IS preserved among the Van Cortla n dt papers . It is dated m 1 16 6 7 7 . Nove ber , i w s Cortla n d Th s license a general , and permitted Van t to “ buy of the Indians whenever it could be conveniently done. N0 time was mentioned and it operated as an indefinite per mission to extinguish the Indian title to the regions named hi s 1683 and establish own . Six years after its date in , he ’ o s V a n b ught the penin ula , now known as erplanck s Point , d another large tract adjoining it to the 'eastward called by the A h a ma a . Indians , pp p g These lands were conveyed to him ‘ 1683 by deed . In he also purchased lands and meadows on the ‘ western shore Of the Hudson from the Sachems Of Haver a str w and that neighborhood . In this purchase was included ’ ' Salsbury s Island , now known as Iona Island . “ - In 1686 d , Thomas Dongan , Governor of the Province un er h James II purchased from the Indians , lands adjacent to t ose l d bought by Van Cort a n dt . These lands Dongan later conveye Cortla n dt W wa s to Van , hose final purchase , so far as is known an exten sive tract on the east side of the Hudson belonging to “ ' Ma c Gre or e Hew g , g ntleman of the City of New York , who O had btained it from the Indians . Van Cor tla n dt now set himself to the task of setting the hi H Peria ua ew boundaries of s e state . e set out in his g from N _ surve m a s York, leisurely y g the shores of the river he sailed , ’ Of w until he reached a point just North An thony s Nose , hich is now the dividing line between Westchester and Putnam . S Counties Here he disembarked, ending his Indians to go “ ' u a days jo rney into the wilderness . This days journey was just t wenty miles a nd terminated at the boundary line of “ hi n Connecticut . T s Indian Walk , a exact straight line , is t Of Cortla n dt oday the accepted boundary of the Manor , and t h e northern boundary of the county . 8 THE OF THE M 'SE S W P ES FOR E E CE FRONT DOOR ANOR HO , HO ING LOO HOL D F N D L ‘ He had now acquired some acres . e a n cey gives it a s and nothing remained but to apply for a Royal c n firma tiOn i o . H s Charter, fitting of this princely estate s request for thi Charter, with the varied rights appertaining thereto was granted , and the territory was confirmed to him and erected i nto a Lordship and Manor by a Manor Grant a be ring date , June This original grant in perfect preservation is at the Manor House at Croton . It is beautifully i a n d engrossed upon two sk ns of vellum , the initial letter highly ornamented , has a portrait of William III . The great seal of l En g and IS attached to the document . s fOr h e hOldin o f our o u The Charter provide t g C t Le et a n d. C r t a n d s o Baron , and gives all the advowsons right f patronage in over all Churches that may be built on the Manor, appoint g ‘ in also the Lord of the Manor sole and only Ranger , as our i u realm of England . It provides n the f llest manner for all “ hunting and fishing rights and ends by giving the Lords of Cortla n dt the extraordinary privilege of sending a representa tive to the Provincial Assembly . This privilege was of so high an order that it wa s granted to but two more of the New 'ork — ' Ren ssela e rw ck 1705 a n d 1 7 15 Manors to y in Livingston in , r the forme eight, and the latter eighteen years later than the rtl n t grant to Van Co a d . r th r e . The topog aphy of e Mano is varied , and most b autiful “ ’ The majestic mountain Of Anthony s Nose at its northern s i n o sse sssi on Co rtla n dt boundary i still the p of the Van family, the e O t e as is also its southern boundary, beautiful vall y f h Croton River . Between these two points and stretchin g eastward lay a re gio n remarkably wooded and watered and n i abounding in game of every description . Deer were ple t ful - h the w . a t e as were their foes , olves Be ver inhabited streams , and to this d y a branch of the Croton bears the name of “ a' Beaver Dam a n d a high wooded ridge near it is still called D ’ The eer s Delight .