Westchester County

Westchester County. Historic New York. , The rugged shore of the Hudson River and the rocky hills north of Manhattan did not encourage early settlement. Patents were issued in 1639 to Jonas Bronck (Bronx) and in 1646 to Adriaen Van der Donck (Yonkers). After the overthrow of Dutch rule in 1664, manorial patents were issued for Van Cortlandt, Phillipsburg, Pelham, Fordham and Scarsdale manors on which tenants paid a yearly quitrent. In the eighteenth century these were subdivided, but large landholdings prevailed., In the revolution General Washington’s troops retreated from Long Island and Harlem Heights through the British at White Plains October 28, 1776, and then crossed the Hudson River to New Jersey. New York City remained in British hands and Westchester was largely Loyalist in sympathies. In 1779, New York State confiscated the lands of leading Tories but the pattern of large estates remained after the revolution some owned by patriot leaders such as Pierre Van Cortlandt, John Jay and Gouverneur Morris., Riverfront and picturesque valleys became sites for homes of prominent New York families while artists and writers like Washington Irving found here a romantic setting. Population increased ,with many residents commuting by a network of railroads and highways to New York City.