Manuscript Collection – Primary Resources
The following documents are primary sources created during, or in response to, the events of the Revolutionary War in Westchester County. Each item contains images of the document, descriptive information, a downloadable PDF of the images, and a downloadable transcription.
Paying Back a Loan
Description Thomas Thomas served as the colonel and commander of the 2nd Regiment of Westchester County Militia during the Revolutionary War. He was later elected to the New York State
A Payment From Colonel Thomas
Description Thomas Thomas served as the colonel and commander of the 2nd Regiment of Westchester County Militia during the Revolutionary War. He was later elected to the New York State
A Note from Colonel Thomas
Description Thomas Thomas served as the colonel and commander of the 2nd Regiment of Westchester County Militia during the Revolutionary War. He was later elected to the New York State
John Fisher Takes the Oath of Allegiance
Description Justices of the Peace Daniel Horton and Joseph Youngs of Westchester County certified that John Fisher of Philipsburg Manor took the oath of allegiance to the United States in
Nathan Clark Lends a Forage Team
Description Captain Thomas Pritchard of the 3rd Massachusetts Regiment issued this certificate to Nathan Clark, Jr. of Bedford to acknowledge his furnishing of a team to the unit for the
Questioning a Supposed Loyalist
Description At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, Solomon Fowler owned a farm in the portion of the Town of Eastchester that was later annexed to New York City in
Hannah Green Assists the American Dragoons
Description Henry Friedrich Helmershausen of the 2nd Continental Light Dragoons gave this receipt to Hannah Green, a widow who furnished the regiment with a team to transport forage. The receipt
A Crackdown on Loyalists
Description George Clinton, Governor of the State of New York, wrote this letter to John M. Beeckman of the Albany Committee of Correspondence. He notes that a number of men
Reimbursement for Stephen Ward’s Revolutionary War Work
Description Stephen Ward, a prominent resident of Eastchester who served as supervisor of that town prior to the Revolutionary War, was one of six men chosen by the Westchester County
Bread for the Soldiers
Description William Tallman, who had been appointed a commissary by the government of Massachusetts, asked Captain Gamaliel Church for 68 pounds of bread for the soldiers that he was responsible
Funding Counterintelligence Operations
Description Pierre Van Cortlandt, a resident of Westchester County and President of the New York State Council of Safety, directed the Treasurer of New York State to pay £200 to
Dominie Ritzema Inquires About His Son
Description The Reverend Johannes Ritzema served as pastor of the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow from 1744 until the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. Here, he writes a letter
Colonel Willett’s Promise
Description Marinus Willett (1740-1830) reached the rank of colonel during the Revolutionary War, and later served as Mayor of New York City. Here, he certifies that he had promised each
Receipt from the Commissioners of Sequestration
Description James Hunt was one of four men who were appointed Commissioners of Sequestration for Westchester County. The Commissioners of Sequestration “paid for bringing in the effects of the Disaffected;
The Burning of the Yorktown Presbyterian Church
Description Thomas Strang (1763-1851) was the son of Captain Henry Strang and the nephew of Major Joseph Strang, both of whom served in the Westchester County Militia during the Revolutionary
A Request for Help with Record-Keeping
Description Lieutenant Colonel William Hull was serving as Deputy Adjutant General of the Continental Army when he wrote this letter to his superior, Brigadier General Edward Hand, Adjutant General of
Instructions for Colonel Aaron Burr
Description Major Richard Platt (c.1755-1830) served as an aide-de-camp to Major General Alexander McDougall for most of the Revolutionary War. In 1779 he was in command of American forces along
Militia Roll
Description On June 18, 1776, Colonel Pierre Van Cortlandt (1721-1814), commander of the 3rd Regiment of Westchester County Militia, prepared this return of officers and privates, volunteers and drafted men,
A Request for Tents
Description Colonel William Malcolm, commander of Malcolm’s Additional Continental Regiment, wrote this letter requesting tents for his men stationed at Fort Clinton in Highlands, New York, on September 12, 1778.
Settling a Debt
Description On July 12, 1782, the New York State Legislature passed “An Act relative to Debts due to Persons within the Enemy’s Lines.” This act concerned debts that could not
Ebenezer Withington and the Battle of White Plains
Description Ebenezer Withington served in the Continental Artillery Regiment under the command of Colonel Henry Knox in 1776 and 1777. An unidentified researcher copied extracts from Withington’s diary from October
A Thank-You Letter from George Washington
Description This is a facsimile of a letter that George Washington wrote in response to a pastoral authored by Annis Boudinot Stockton (1736-1801). In her pastoral, Mrs. Stockton, a poet
Payroll of Lieutenant Isaac Keeler’s Company, Westchester County Militia
Description Isaac Keeler served as an officer in Colonel Thaddeus Crane’s 4th Regiment of Westchester County Militia, which was comprised of men from the northeast portion of the county. This
Continental Army Commissions
Description Abraham Hyatt was born in Westchester County in 1747. On November 21, 1776, he was appointment “second lieutenant of the company number eight of the Fourth Battalion of New
A Westchester County Militia Commission and A Loyalist Enrollment
This manuscript file includes an American militia officer’s commission and a certificate of enrollment for a Loyalist soldier. Ebenezer Purdy received a commission as a major of the Westchester County