An Early and Unique American Settlement ew Rochelle in the 17 th and 18 th Centuries
In the early years of New York, when only a few small hamlets dotted the forests and fields of what is now Westchester County, a small group of French Protestant refugees called “Huguenots”, made their way to a stretch of land that began at the banks of Long Island Sound. Having fled their homeland to realize a life in which they could practice their Protestant religion freely, the dozen or so families, with Jacob Leisler acting as the go-between, purchased 6,000 acres from John Pell, signing the deed in 1689. They named it after the last Huguenot stronghold in France, the Port of La Rochelle.
These early settlers chose their new home wisely. The land was fertile and farmable. Its Long Island Sound location provided for abundant fishing, gainful tidal mills and lucrative water- related trade and industry. The new community was connected to northern settlements and to New York by the Boston Post Road—the leading thoroughfare of the Colonies, which traced the ancient pathways of the Siwanoy Indians along the Sound shoreline. It was also only 18 miles to reach the French Church in Manhattan, and about 24 miles to the mercantile hub of New York.
Merchants, landowners, tradesmen, farmers… despite their varied backgrounds, the first forty or so families shared a desire to worship freely. They had the joint disadvantage of having little money or material goods. All had been left behind in France during their flights to safety.
The Huguenots were not alone in the establishment of this new community. Many brought slaves with them as they traveled through the West Indies before coming to New York. Records from 1698 give a count of 231 inhabitants. 43 were “Negroes”, presumably slaves. In a letter of December 1727, Rev. Stouppe gave an account of his new “flock” and their environs, writing that there were about 400 persons in town, including two Quaker families, three Dutch, four Lutherans, and 78 slaves. Even earlier, around 1700, Michael Jechiel de Hass (Hays) is believed to have been the first Jewish settler in America. Of Sephardic descent, he sailed from Holland to New York with his wife and children and began a farm in New Rochelle. A sixth son was born in 1732 (by his second wife), becoming the first Jewish child born in Westchester.
Customs and manners from the Huguenots’ homeland were retained well into the 18 th century. Town Meeting continued to be conducted in French until 1738. Records of those meetings are largely concerned with the height of fences, building roads, keeping livestock in check, and tending to the poor.
Thousands upon thousands of British soldiers, along with colorfully-uniformed troops of Waldeckers and Hessians, inundated the farms of New Rochelle during the critical weeks of the Revolutionary War, October 1776. En route to the Battle of White Plains, Gen. William Howe on top of the ridge opposite North Avenue, commanded his British troops from the home of Quaker James Pugsley, whose land encompassed what is now Beechmont. In the lawless days immediately after the war, marauders attempted to hang his daughter, Hannah. As local legend relates, she was saved by a slave. As the Town Records of August 15, 1799 document, Miss. Puglsey freed her slave, also named Hannah Pugsley.
The war took a heavy toll on New Rochelle and the other towns that dotted Westchester. Families often chose conflicting sides; those who remained neutral were torn apart by the casualties of battle or the loss of home and farms to raiders. Rebuilding was begun in earnest. The Town Records once again focused on matters dealing with day-to-day governance of a few hundred families. Crops were grown and milled for local use and to be shipped to New York or more distant destinations.
A Few Prominent ew Rochelle Residents and Visitors of the 17 th and 18 th Centuries
Drake, Joseph (b. July 12, 1737 – d. September 11, 1836) Colonel Joseph Drake, born in Eastchester, was a prominent merchant when he moved to New Rochelle in 1770. He served as Supervisor of the Town of New Rochelle, Captain of the New Rochelle and Pelham Company of the Militia, delegate to the first and second Provincial Congresses of the New York Colony, and Colonel of the First Regiment of the Westchester County Militia.
Faneuil, Peter (b. June 20, 1700 – d. March 3, 1743) The son of a Huguenot settler, Peter Faneuil was born on a New Rochelle farm (where Wykagyl Country Club now stands.) He became a wealthy merchant and erected a hall in Boston that would be used for critical meetings during the Revolutionary War, earning it the name “The Cradle of Liberty.” Fanueil Hall is now a popular tourist destination.
Jay, John (b. December 12, 1912 – d. May 17, 1829) As a young man and living nearby in Rye, John Jay attended the French-speaking school of Reverend Stouppe, pastor of Trinity Church. Jay would become Minister to foreign countries and negotiator of the peace that ended the Revolutionary War, governor of New York State, and the country’s first chief justice of the Supreme Court.
Knight, Madam Sarah (b. April 19, 1666 – d. September 25, 1727) In 1704 a brave and pioneering woman by the name of Sarah Kemble Knight rode on horseback from Boston to New York, by herself. Madam Knight, as she was referred, documented her unprecedented journey in journals. Published in 1825, after her death, her accounts now provide us with rare documentation of how New Rochelle – and other fledgling comunities along her route- appeared in the colonial days.
Leisler, Jacob (c. 1640 – d. May 16, 1691) Born into a prominent Calvinist family that included Huguenot theologian Simon Goulart, Leisler came to America as an employee of the Dutch West India Company. He became one of New York’s most prominent merchants, land developers and political ideologist. In 1688 he acted as agent for a group of French Huguenots in the purchase of 6,000 acres from John Pell. The deed for the land that would become New Rochelle was signed in 1689, the same year Leisler assumed the role of King William III's governor of New York. Two years later he was tried for treason and executed, only to be exonerated after his death.
Pintard, Lewis (b. 1732 A prominent merchant of Huguenot descent, Lewis Pintard was a member of the Committee of One Hundred, which organized the defense of the colony of New York. He received commendation from General George Washington for his many Revolutionary War efforts, including securing a ship to purchase war supplies and his work as the Commissary for American Prisoners for New York. In 1774 Pintard married the widow of Huguenot-descendant Pierre Vallade. Her house in New Rochelle became their country home. The house, although greatly altered, still stands next to the Presbyterian Church.
Schuyler, Philip John (b. November 20, 1733 – d. November 18, 1804) Philip Schuyler, who would become an important major general in the American army during the Revolutionary War, attended Reverend Stouppe’s parsonage school as a young man.
Seton, Elizabeth (b. August 28, 1774 – d. January 4, 1821) The first American-born person to become a saint, Elizabeth (nee Bayley) Seton spent many of her childhood summers at the New Rochelle home of her Aunt and Uncle William Bayley. (The c. 17 th century house still stands, straddling the New Rochelle-Pelham border at 140 Pelham Road, Pelham.) Raised in an Episcopal family (she attended services at New Rochelle’s Trinity Church with her aunt and uncle), she converted to Catholicism after her husband died in 1805. Seton established a girls’ school in Baltimore and became a nun in 1809, founding the Sisters of Charity in America. She established the first parochial school in America. Washington, George (b. February 22, 1732 – d. December 14, 1799) On October 15, 1789, six months after General George Washington was elected President, he began a tour of the eastern states in Westchester. He and a small entourage "passed through Eastchester, New Rochelle and Mamaroneck," before they "proceeded to the Tavern of Mrs. Haviland in Rye." His own diary, one of the few accounts of the historic visit, also indicates that he again journeyed through the farming community on his return trip, back-tracking along the Boston Post Road a month later.