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The lifestyle of the Weckquaesgeeks
changed dramatically with the coming
of the white man to the New World. Exploration of the area around the
mouth of the Hudson River began with the voyage of Verrazano in 1524.
In 1609, however, it was Henry Hudson, an English explorer hired by the
Dutch East India Company to find a northwest passage to India, who was
able to explore and chart the Hudson River as far north as Albany,
before realizing that the river was not the elusive Northwest Passage.
But his enthusiastic reports on the fertility of the great Hudson River
Valley and the possibilities of profitable fur trading brought traders
to the scene within a few years. The first permanent settlers of the area in and around present day Mount Pleasant were the Dutch. By 1614 trading ports had been established in what is now Tarrytown and Albany. In 1612 the Dutch government gave the Dutch West India Company a charter to trade and colonize. By 1624 a permanent settlement at New Amsterdam (presently Manhattan) had been established with some 30 families settled. This charter allowed only a trickle of settlers because of its rather harsh provisions, so the Dutch West India Company issued a more liberal charter in 1640; but this charter also did little to encourage colonization. By 1640 the English began to move westward from their New England settlements, and by 1648 conflict between the Dutch and English erupted. In the 25 years following 1648 the Dutch and English fought three wars, all sparked by fierce commercial rivalry. In 1664 four British frigates entered New Amsterdam harbor demanding the surrender of the colony. Peter Stuyvesant, the last Dutch Director General of New Amsterdam was forced to surrender the colony when he failed to rally support from the people of New Amsterdam. The colony changed its name to New York. In 1673-1674 the Dutch briefly reoccupied it, only to have it fall into English hands again. The English then established sole claim to the area; and the Dutch settlers became loyal subjects of the King of England. One of the most significant events affecting the settling of Mount Pleasant was the establishment of what the English called "freehold" manors. There were six manors established in Westchester County: Fordham, Morrisania, Pelham, Philipsburgh, Scardale, and Cortlandt. The proprietor was called "lord of the Manor" but he was not a lord as |
in British nobility. He was more of an overseer, who was required to
lease
land to tenant farmers, provide livestock for farms, provide tradesman
and even schoolteachers, all in return for a portion of what was grown
or raised on manor lands. The entire area of the present Town of Mount Pleasant fell within the boundaries of the Manor of Philipsurgh. The Manor of Philipsburgh was established in 1693 by the British Crown, but Frederick Philipse, a Dutchman, began buying land from the Indians as early as 1681. He eventually bought 90,000 acres which included all of the land bounded by Spuyten Duyvil at the northern tip of Manhattan on the south, the Croton River on the north, the Bronx River on the east, and the Hudson River on the west. This land included present day Yonkers, Greenburgh, Mount Pleasant and Ossining. In 1682, he built the Philipse Manor Hall in Yonkers, an in 1683, Upper Mills, in what is now North Tarrytown. Upper Mills was the first white settlement in Mount Pleasant. Upper Mills served both as a mill for the local tenant farmers as well as a trade depot. With the death of Frederick Philipse in 1702, the manor passed to his son, Adolph. Adolph proceeded to enlarge Upper Mills by adding additional wheels to the mill. The manor prospered under both Frederick and Adolph. By 1695 tenant farmers began to arrive to work on the manor lands. One of the first of these new arrivals was Isaac See, who settled on tenant land in what is now Thornwood, but was then called Nannahagen. At about this same time, other settlements in Mount Pleasant sprang up: Valhalla, called Kensico after a Siwanoy Indian chief (O-ken-se-co) who had signed the deed for the tract of land which White Plains now occupies; the eastview area of Valhalla called Young's Corners, presently occupied by Blythdale; Hawthorne, then called Hammond's Mills; and the "Old Village" section of Pleasantville which was then called Clark's Corners. Adolph Philipse died in 1750, but left a legacy of progress for the manor. The population increased from approximately 200 in 1702 to 1100 in 1750. In 1750 the manor passed to Adolph's son, Frederick Philipse II, and in 1751 to Frederick Philipse III. Neither Frederick Philipse II nor Frederick Philipse III was interested in agriculture so the Upper Mills portion was leased to a William Pugsley to operate. Frederick Philipse III remained loyal to the Enlish Crown when the Revolutionary War broke out. Forced to flee to England with his entire family, Frederick Philipse III saw the entire Manor confiscated after the war and sold to tenants at auction.
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