Philipse family explained

Philipse
Region:	New York
Origin:	Netherlands
Otherfamilies:	Van Rensselaer family Schuyler family Livingston family

The Philipse family was a prominent Dutch family in New Netherlands and the British Province of New York. It owned both the vast 81mi2 hereditary estate in lower Westchester County, New York, Philipsburg Manor, the family seat, and the roughly 250mi2 Highland Patent, later known as the "Philipse Patent", in time today's Putnam County, New York.

Loyalists during the Revolutionary War, the family had its lands seized in 1779^[1] by the Revolutionary government of the Province of New York^[2] and sold by its Commissioners of Forfeitures. Though never compensated for their losses by the Colonial government,^[3] various family members did receive payments from the British government in following years.^{[4] [5]}

History

The family is of Frisian origin. Frederick Philipse (1636–1702), first Lord and founder of Philipsburg Manor, had eleven children with his first wife, Margaret Hardenbrook de Vries.^[6] She died in 1691. A year later, Frederick married the widow Catharine Van Cortlandt Derval, who survived him for many years.^{[7] [8]}

She was the sister of Stephanus Van Cortlandt, an adviser to the provincial governor. Her brother Jacobus Van Cortlandt married Frederick's adopted daughter Eva and their son Frederick Van Cortlandt later built the Van Cortlandt House in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, New York.^[9] Jacobus and Eva's daughter, Mary, was the mother of John Jay by her marriage to Peter Jay.

Principal offspring

• Adolphus Philipse: In 1697 Adolphus, Frederick's second son, purchased a tract from Dutch traders which received British Royal sanction as the "Highland Patent". Subsequently, known as the "Philipse Patent", the roughly 250mi2 parcel extended eastward from the Hudson River at the northern border of Westchester County some 20 or so miles to the Colony of Connecticut.^[10]
• Philip Philipse, the eldest and heir to the Manor, hereditary title, and family commercial holdings, died in either 1699 or 1700.^[11] By predeceasing his father, the legacy that would have gone to Philip bypassed him and was distributed between Adolphus^[12] and Philip's son, Frederick Philipse II. By the terms of Frederick Philipse's last will and testament, dated 26 October 1700, proved 1702, Adolphus received all the Manor north of Dobb's Ferry, including the present town. He was also named proprietor of a tract of land on the west bank of the Hudson north of Anthony's Nose and executor of Philip's estate.^[13]
• Frederick Philipse II After the bachelor Adolphus' death in 1749 (Smith, others 1750), his Manor holdings and the Highland Patent passed to his nephew, Frederick Philipse II, his only heir-at-law, who became the second Lord of the Manor at Philipsborough.^{[14] [15]}
• Frederick Philipse III On Frederick II's death in 1751 all Manor holdings and the title went to his eldest son Frederick Philipse III, the third and final Lord of the Manner of Philipsburg. The Highland Patent  - today's Philipse Patent  - was divided among Frederick II's surviving offspring, son Philip Philipse, and daughters, Susannah (wife of Beverley Robinson), Mary (wife of Col. Roger Morris), and Margaret (who died intestate in 1752, her share being divided among the other three).^[16] It is claimed, without citation, that Frederick III leased the entirety of his property to a William Pugsley before siding with the British in the American Revolution and leaving New York City for England in 1783.

Other descendants

• Eva Philipse, adopted daughter of Frederick Philipse I, born Eva de Vries 1660, married Jacobus van Cortlandt^[17]
• Margaret Philipse (b. 1733-1752),^[18] youngest daughter of Frederick II, heiress to one quarter of Philipse Patent, died intestate. Share redistributed to siblings Philip, Mary, and Susanna before 1754.^[15]
• Philip Philipse (1724–1768), son of Frederick Philipse II, partial heir to Philipse Patent.
• Susanna Philipse (1727–1822), eldest surviving daughter of Frederick Philipse II, married to Beverley Robinson, mother of Frederick Philipse Robinson, partial heiress to Philipse Patent. Possible romantic interest of George Washington.
• Mary Philipse (1730–1825) http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/notable/philipsem/, middle surviving daughter of Frederick Philipse II, and possible early romantic interest of George Washington, loyalist, wife of British Colonel Roger Morris, owner of the Mount Morris in Manhattan. Partial heiress to Philipse Patent.^[19]
• Margaret Philipse (1733-1752), youngest surviving daughter of Frederick Philipse II and one quarter heir to the Philipse Patent, who died before it was passed on to her.
• Sir Frederick Philipse Robinson (1763–1852), son of Susannah Philipse and Colonel Beverley Robinson, who fought for England during the American Revolution.
• John Jay (1745–1829), delegate and president of Continental Congress, U.S. minister to Spain, 1st Chief Justice of the United States
• William Jay (1789–1858),^[20] prominent jurist and reformer, active abolitionist
• Henry Brockholst Livingston (1757–1823), Justice of US Supreme Court
• John Marshall Brown (1838–1907),^[21] Captain and assistant. adjunct. general of ME volunteers and served in SC and FL; commanded regiment at Totopotomy and Cold Harbor and preliminary movements a Petersburg, VA.
• Samuel Sprigg Caroll (1832–1893),^[22] military officer in Northern VA campaign and Battle Cedar Mountain; commandant brigade at battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg.
• Matthew Clarkson (1758–1825), major-general of NY State Militia; served with Gen. B. Lincoln until end of Revolutionary War, participated in siege of Savannah, defense of Charleston, present at surrender of Yorktown (1781).
• Alexander Slidell MacKenzie (1842–67), an officer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War and his brother General Ranald S. Mackenzie.
• Jay Pierrepont Moffat (1896–1943), notable American diplomat, historian and statesman who, between 1917 and 1943, served the State Department in a variety of posts, including that of Ambassador to Canada during the first year of United States participation in World War II.
• John Watts de Peyster (1821–1907), brigadiergeneral in the New York State Militia during the American Civil War and philanthropist and military historian after the war.
• Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright III (1864–1945),^[23] US Congressman and Army officer in the Spanish–American War.
• Charlotte Margaret Philipse (Grand Daughter of Frederick Philipse II). Married Edward Webber, Lieutenant-General of the English military and lived in Wales.^[24]
• James Phillips Webber^[25] (1797–1877), son of Edward Webber and hence great grandson of Frederick Philipse II, obtained a grant of land in Paterson, NSW, Australia in 1822. He lived there until 1835, when he left the colony and eventually settled in La Maddalena, Sardinia, Italy, where he built Villa Webber (Villa Webber is named after him.) In 1943 Benito Mussolini was imprisoned in Villa Webber.
• John Phillips Webber^[26] (1800–1845), son of Edward Webber, also received a grant of land in New South Wales, Australia, and lived there for a while before returning to London, where he died in 1845.
• Edward Montgomery Affleck Webber (1802–1884), son of Edward Webber, lived in Wales all his life, in the Overton, Erbistock area.

Notes and References

1. http://www.geni.com/people/Frederick-Philipse/6000000000986388435 Frederick Philipse genealogy
2. Purple, Edwin R., "Contributions to the History of the Ancient Families of New York: Varleth-Varlet-Varleet-Verlet-Verleth", New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, vol. 9 (1878), pp. 120–121.
3. http://westchesterarchives.com/ht/muni/wca/forfeitSumm.html Description of the Abstract of Sales, Commissioners of Forfeiture
4. Life of Sir John Beverley Robinson, Bart., C.B., D.C.L.: Chief-Justice of Upper Canada, by Major General Charles Walker Robinson, C.B. (1904), as cited at Loyal American Regiment, Beverley. Ultimately the British Compensation Commission granted them £24,000 toward the original £80,000 value of he and Susanna's personal estate (reflecting about £16,000 Sterling, plus the 60,000 Philipse Patent acres and some city property valued together at about £64,000), though only about £17,000 was ever paid.
5. http://www.hudsonrivervalley.org/library/pdfs/articles_books_essays/americanloyalist.pdf An American Loyalist: The Ordeal of Frederick Philipse III
6. Morris, F. O., "Philipse of Philipsburgh", in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 10 (1856). Married 1662, name listed as "Philipszen", New York Genealogical & Biographical Record (quarterly), 1875, selected extracts
7. Glenn, p. 258: Her will is dated 7th January, 1730
8. Glenn, Thomas Allen, Some colonial mansions and those who lived in them: With genealogies of the various families mentioned, H. T. Coates & company, Philadelphia, 1900
9. Jeff Canning and Wally Buxton, History of the Tarrytowns. Harrison, NJ: Harbor Hill Books, 1975.
10. Smith, Philip Henry, General History of Putnam County: From 1609 to 1876, inclusive, published by the author, Pawling, NY, 1877, p. 44
11. Morris, F.O., Philipse of Philipsburgh, in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 10 (1856), p. 26: "PHILIP PHILIPSE, of Philipsbourg, born in 1656, who married, at Barbadoes, in 1697 (whither he had been sent by his father to an estate he had there, called Spring Head, and where he quickly recovered his health, having been before of a very delicate constitution), Maria, youngest of the four daughters of ? Sparkes, Esq., governor of Barbadoes, by Joyce, his wife, daughter of ? Farmer, Esq., (two of whom had retumed to their father's estate in Worcestershire, and the others accompanied their parents to the island), and, dying in 1700, left a son and successor. She also died in 1700."
12. Web site: Philipse family history . 2019-03-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070928174739/http://www.pchs-fsm.org/pchs-genePhil.html . 2007-09-28 . dead .
13. Glenn, p. 258: "By the will of Frederick Philipse "all that portion of the manor north of Dobb's Ferry, including the present town, became vested in Adolphus Philipse, his second son. This individual " was also proprietor" of a great tract of land north of " Anthony's Nose " and the executor of his brother Philip Philipse's estate, the latter having died in 1714. Adolphus died without issue in 1750, and the whole manor of Philipsborough descended to his nephew, Frederick Philipse, the nearest male heir of the grandfather. This nephew was born in 1698 upon the island of Barbadoes, at an estate called Springhead belonging to his father."
14. http://www.pchs-fsm.org/pchs-genePhil.html Philipse family history
15. Pelletreau, William S. History of Putnam County, New York  - With Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men, W. W. Preston & Company, Philadelphia, 1886.
16. French's Gazetteer of the State of New York (1860): "The Philipses Patent… divided among the remaining three [children] Philip… Susannah married to Beverly Robinson, and Mary married to Col. Roger Morris. On the 7th of Feb 1754, the patent was divided into 9 lots: 3, each 4 mi. square, bordering upon the Hudson and denominated ‘water lots;’ 3, each 4 mi. wide by 12 long, extending N. and S. across the patent, and denominated "long lots"; 3, each 4 mi. square, upon the E. border denominated "back lots". Philip, Susannah and Mary Philipse each owned one of each kind of lots.
17. born July 6, 1660; married May 31, 1691
18. http://www.hudsonrivervalley.org/review/pdfs/hrvr_23pt2_gherke.pdf The Example of Married Women in New Netherland and New York in the Seventeenth Century, Michael Gherke.
19. http://philipsemanorhall.blogspot.com/p/philipse-history-fun-facts.html Philipse Memorial Hall website
20. https://web.archive.org/web/20080706234322/http://www.answers.com/topic/jay-william William Jay
21. https://archive.today/20130201031749/http://brown.rays-place.com/brown-jm.htm Bio of John Marshall Brown
22. https://web.archive.org/web/20160609145401/http://www.rocemabra.com/~roger/tagg/generals/general13.html Colonel Samuel Sprigg Carroll
23. https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/W000023 WAINWRIGHT, Jonathan Mayhew 1864 – 1945
24. Walsh, B. P. (2008). James Phillips Webber: The Man and the Mystery. CB Alexander Foundation.
25. http://www.patersonriver.com.au/people/webberjames.htm James Phillips Webber
26. http://www.patersonriver.com.au/people/webberjohn.htm John Phillips Webber