Minthorn-NYC

This is an extended version of an article published in the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. 138, issues 2 and 3 (April and July 2007). That article had more comprehensive footnotes; this one adds one more generation.

1 Philip Minthorne. Philip Minturn first appears as a defendant in two cases in New Amsterdam in 1658.[1] From the late 1650s to at least the late 1670s, he lived in Westchester Borough Town, an English community in what is now the Bronx. It was briefly settled at Throgs Neck in 1642 by John Throckmorton and settlers from New England who abandoned it a year later after Indian attacks. It was resettled from New England, probably in the 1650s. The Dutch called it Oost-dorp (East town) and the English, Westchester. In 1657 a Dutch expedition to Oost-dorp reported on a number of settlers there and briefly jailed some of them until they took an oath to support the Dutch Government. Nevertheless it was run by the English along English lines and in 1660 Governor Stuyvesant wrote to the inhabitants of Oost-dorp naming three magistrates (schepens) from names submitted by them. One of these was Nicholas Bayley (Bailey), who later, along with John Ferris, son of Jeffrey Ferris, a founder of Greenwich and Stamford, Connecticut, was named a patentee of Westchester (Town) Patent after the English took over New Netherland.

Phill Mintorn, first appears in the Westchester records as Secretary of the Westchester Court of Sessions in 1659, serving under Bayley, the magistrate.[2] He is shown in Westchester Borough Town records as witness to three land transactions between 1662 and 1670.[3] On 6 June 1664, Philip was sole witness to the will of Jeffrey Ferris at Greenwich, Connecticut.[4] In 1672 in a sale of a house and orchard in Westchester, Philip Minton was listed as the occupant and given two years from 10 Jun 1672 to leave the property.[5] In April 1672 Philip sold two lots near the town commons to John Ferris, son of Jeffrey, and in November he was on a list of town inhabitants.[6] In 1678, a piece of land was sold at the passage into Frogs Neck bounded on the southwest by the meadow of Phillip Minthorn.[7] And he apparently was in Kingston, Ulster County, in 1686 and 1688 when his son Philip and daughter Sara were baptized in the Dutch Reformed Church though there is no record of his living there. His daughter ended up in Ulster County; his son in New York. Son Philip’s baptismal record listed Sara Thomson[8] as Philip’s wife; Sara’s baptismal record two years later listed Sara Harn[Horn].[9]

Field Horne, author of the well-documented The Horne Family of Bloomingdale Road (published by the author, 1974, in NYGBS Library) suggests that Philip¹Minthorn’s first wife, transcribed as Sara Harn, was Sara Horn, perhaps the sister of Jacob Horn(e). In 1685, Jacob leased a farm in Marbletown, near Kingston, for 7 years, refused in 1687 to take the oath there to support the British, and in 1696 was in Flushing when he signed a note prior to sailing on an ill-fated voyage with Captain William Kidd. Philip² Minthorn was baptized in Kingston and was from Flushing when he married Hillegond Webber. After Jacob Horn’s death, his widow, Sarah Horne, 30 September 1700, consented to a six-year apprenticeship of their 14-year-old son, John, under Philip Minthorne, wheelwright. On 11 April 1713, John married Hillegond’s first cousin, Rachel Webber, daughter of Aernout Webber. On 29 Feb 1716, Philip and Hillegond Minthorn were witnesses at the baptism of John and Rachel Horn’s daughter. In the same year, John and Rachel Horn obtained, through the Webbers, a 32 acre farm north of the Minthorn farm, opposite the Stuyvesant farm, on the west side of Bloomingdale Road (now Broadway) beginning at what is now Fifth Avenue and 23^rd Street. It stayed in the Horn family for over a century.

2 Philip² Minthorne (Philip¹)was baptized in 1686, [10] born ca. 1666, and died 25 December 1722.[11] On 19 July 1696 he married at the Reformed Dutch Church of New York, Hillegond (Hillegard) Webber, [12] daughter of Wolfert Webber and Geertruy Harsin.[13] She was baptized 25 March 1674,[14] and died 19 December 1725.[15] Both are buried in Trinity Churchyard. The marriage record listed him as born in (or from) Vlissingen (Flushing); she in New York.

In 1710 Philip was an ensign in the 6^th company of the New York Militia Regiment.[16]

Wolfert Webber, his father-in-law, was later a familiar name to thousands of deluded Americans in their more than century-long efforts to sue Trinity Church for their alleged share of a valuable estate left by Anneke Jans, consisting of a large farm that ran north along the Hudson River from present Warren Street to above Canal Street. Wolfert Webber was said both to be related to her and to be a descendant of William the Silent of Holland, with a vast fortune awaiting his heirs there also. None of this is true.[17] Wolfert’s father was an Amsterdam wine merchant, and Wolfert was born in Amsterdam in 1634 and came to New Amsterdam as a child. He was a prosperous farmer, tavern owner and land speculator and became the subject of one of Washington Irving’s satires, The Golden Dreams of Wolfert Webber.

In 1670, Webber bought lands around the Fresh Water Pond, north of the town west of the Bowery road, and in 1699 and 1706 he conveyed them to his two sons-in-law Philip Minthorne and Jacques Fonteyn.[18] Before 1696, Webber bought several of the Negro farms farther north, adjoining the Stuyvesant farm in the Bowery.[19] He assemble d these into the farm on which he lived and which he left to Minthorne.

Wolfert Webber wrote his will 15 Apr 1715[20] saying in part: I make my well beloved son-in-law, Philip Minthorne of the Out Ward, wheelwright, executor….I leave to my granddaughter Geertie Minthorn, a silver cup of the value of Ł8, for her being called after the name of my wife Geertie Webbers, deceased. I do ratify and confirm the devise and bequest which I have willed, and declared to the said Jacques Fonteyn and his wife Anneken, and to Philip Minthorn and Hillegard his wife, each an equal part of my land at Poughkeepsie in Dutchess County, containing and bounded as by the several writings may appear, and made Mar 7, 1712.[21] I leave to Philip Minthorne and his wife Hillegarde, all that my dwelling house and lot, orchard, and pasture, with all that certain parcel of land at the Bowery, on the south side of Captain Blagge, joining the Kings farm commonly called the Negroes farm, about 32 acres, with all appurtenances.

The farm was well known in later days as the Minthorne Farm. It ran west to east from the Bowery to what is now Orchard Street and south to north from present day First Street to Fifth Street. On the south it bordered the later 340-acre estate of Chief Justice and Lt. Governor James de Lancy. On the north it bordered the estate of the Stuyvesant Family, originally the farm of New Amsterdam’s Director Peter Stuyvesant.[22] When the Minthorn farm was later divided up among nine heirs a tiny parcel was left over on First Street just east of the Bowery, which existed until the 1980s as Extra Place.

As will be seen below, Philip left some of the Fresh Water lands to his son John and the larger farm to his son Philip.

7 v Sara Minthorne, bap. 1708, m. (1) Samuel Romain (Romaine), m. (2) Arnout Webber.

3 Sara²Minthorne (Philip¹) was baptized at age 17, 5 Jun 1688, giving a birthdate of ca. 1671.[24] Sara married (1) James Pennick/Penning

i James³ Pennik, bap. 20 Oct 1689.[25] When he married he gave Marblehead, Ulster County, as his place of birth. He moved to Shawangunk, Ulster County after 1710.[26] In 1738, James Pinnick served in a New Pals militia company. [27]

Sara married (2) 6 September 1702, Jacob Jansen Decker, from Marblehead in Ulster County, son of Jan Broersen Decker and Heiltie Jacobs.[30] He and Sara also moved to Shawangunk.[31]

vi Andries Decker, bap. in Kingston 20 Jun 1708.[34] He m. 12 Apr 1730 [35] Diewrtje Maul, bap. 7 Sep 1712.[36]

4 Philip³ Minthorne(Philip^2-1), baptized 6 Dec 1696, [39] died 1756.[40] He married 9 February 1723[41] Johanna (also called Annetje) Roll, 1704-1787, daughter of Mangle Janse Roll and Annetje Hendrick Volcx.[42] Roll had a thriving farm and shipping business in Turtle Bay, just north of the present UN headquarters. He died in 1744, making Philip Minthorne one of his executors.

Philip was active in civic affairs, being elected an Assistant of the City of New York for the Bowery in 1718. This is the number two man after the Alderman and, as such, Philip participated in most meetings of the Common Council for 24 years—until 1743.[43]

On 28 Feb 1726, Philip Minthorne, yeoman, took an eight-year old girl, Mary Waters, with permission of her uncle Simon Grigeer, bricklayer, as an apprentice for 18 ˝ years. She was no doubt an orphan that Philip was undertaking to raise.[44]

In 1737, Philip, along with John Ustick and his brother-in-law John Rall entered into a 21-year lease with John Clapp to mine copper, tin, lead or any other metal, and to put up a brightening or slumping mill on 100 acres in Greenwich, Connecticut on the west side of the Byram River in the tract known as Cock’s purchase.[45] Clapp’s father was married to the widow of Peter Ferris, Jeffrey’s son. This suggests a continuing Minthorne connection to this area since the time of Philip’s grandfather.

In 1738, Philip was an ensign in Capt. Gerard Stuyvesant’s Militia Company and on August 28 of that year he was promoted to Second Lieutenant.[46]

In his will of 18 August 1732, probated 10 March 1756, Philip Minthorne’s executors were his wife, his brother John Minthorne and his brother-in-law John Roll, and he named wife Johanna, children Philipp, Johanna, Hillegonda and Margaret, sisters Geertje, Sarah and Hannah, land on Manhattan Island, called the Negroes Cagee, tan yards on the Fresh water and personal property.[47] At his death the Minthorn Farm was to be divided among his children. In 1765 the nine surviving children hired an expert to map and divide up the land and filed a lengthy document with the County Clerk that tells us who they were and who the women married.[48] It was divided into 9 larger pieces fronting on the Bowery and 18 smaller pieces in back; each heir got three pieces.[49] I show 13 children below; those in bold are the nine who survived to 1765 with the names they used at that time and their names at christening in parentheses.

i Philip (Philippus)⁴ Minthorn, bap. 7 Oct 1724[50], died before 1728 when another Philip was born.

ii John Minthorn, bap. ca 1725/6, died before 1743 when another son was so named.[51]

13 ix Sarah (Sara) Minthorn, bap. 22 Oct 1735, m. (1) Jan (or Jonas) Ryt, m. (2) Samuel Hallet.

15 xi Mangle Minthorn bap. 1740, m. (1) Sarah Cock, m. (2) Aryet (Arietta) Constable

xii John (Johannes) Minthorn, cooper, bap. 20 Jul 1743.[54] In 1772, John was arrested for debt and his property forfeited and put up for sale by the Coroner. Mangle was the high bidder for the land, which John acknowledged 2 May 1785.[55] There is no evidence that John ever married.

xiii Henry (Hendrick) Minthorn, tinman, bap. 5 Feb 1746,[56] m. 30 Aug 1770 Mary Van Vleck.[57] When he was dying, Henry sold his share of the farm to Mangle, apparently in a private sale that does not appear in the land records. Mangle did not obtain the signature of Henry’s wife Mary, who had dower rights in the property and in 1784 she and her second husband Lucas (Luke) Stoutenburgh obtained Ł75 from Mangle to settle their claim.[58] The next year the other heirs of Philip Minthorne forced Mangle to hand over further money on grounds that he had purchased from Henry his three inherited lots plus a leasehold on Water Street at a price “not entirely equal to the value of the places purchased.” [59]

5 Geertje³ Minthorne (Philip^2-1), baptized 13 October 1703,[60] will probated 26 August 1790,[61] married 12 June 1725[62] to Johannes Van Deursen, baptized 7 February 1700 – died < 1770, son of Jacobus Van Deusen and Catharine Burger (Bogert).[63] Johannes was a cordwainer and was made a Freeman of New York 7 November 1738. Johannes’ brothers, Isaac and Shadrach moved to Cornwall in Orange County where they changed the spelling of their name to Van Duzer. Several of their children and grandchildren later lived in Goshen and Warwick where they were prominent citizens.[64]

i Philip⁴ Van Deursen, bap. 6 Oct 1725,[66] m. 25 Sep 1754 Susanna Blanck.[67]

v Geertje Van Deursen, bap. 21 Mar 1733,[71] m. 28 Nov 1754 Abraham Knickerbakker[72]

6 John³ (Johannes) Minthorne (Philip^2-1) baptized 6 March 1706,[76] died in 1751. He married 19 April 1733[77] Jane (Jannetje) Elsworth, daughter of George Elsworth and Jane Meserole.[78] In 1738 he was a private in the Militia Company in which his brother was Second Lieutenant.[79] In 1742 he was elected New York Assessor.[80] His father left him part of his farm and before Philip’s nine grandchildren divided the farm they bought it back from John’s widow and daughters Hillegunt and Jannetje.[81] In his will of 20 March 1750, proved 6 February 1751, John left all personal estate to his wife. He left a 100 x 120’ lot in the Out Ward to his daughters Jannetie and Hillegunt and another lot adjacent to the Freshwater Pond to his nephew Phillip Van Dursen; the remainder of his lands were to be sold with half the proceeds to his wife; half to his two daughters.[82] This indicates that his other three children were dead by 1750. After her husband’s death, Jane married Jacob Reed.[83]

i Hillegunt⁴ Minthorn, bap. 10 Apr 1734,[84] m. 1752 William Waldron, son of Daniel Waldron.[85]

ii Jane (Jannetje) Minthorn, bap. 15 Sep 1736[86], d 1798, m. William Bocke 5 Nov 1756[87]

7 Sarah³ Minthorne (Philip ^2-1) baptized 29 September 1708,[91] married (1) 30 September 1727 Samuel Romain (Romaine),[92] married (2) 7 October 1733 to Arnout Webber, baptized 22 May 1698, son of Wolfert Webber and Grietje Jacobs (Stille).[93]

i Nicholas Romaine, bap. 13 Nov 1728,[94] m. 9 Jun 1753[95] Margaret Minthorn, daughter of Philip Minthorne and Johanna Roll.[96]

iii Heligond Webber, bap. 28 Nov 1736,[98] m. 9 Nov 1760 David Banta, the youngest brother of Wiert and Paul Banta, below. He was a mason and was admitted as a Freeman in 1765. On 12 Oct 1764 he bought a house on Partition Street, now Fulton, St. opposite St. Paul’s Church.[99]

9 Hannah⁴ (Annetje) Minthorn (Philip^3-2-1) baptized 26 March 1727,[104] married 22 January 1746[105] at Hackensack, New Jersey, Wiert Banta, born 25 October 1719, died > 1790, son of Hendrick Banta and Trintie Loots. He was probably the first of his family to move from Hackensack to New York City. He was a house carpenter and was made a Freeman in 1748.[106] In 1771 he took out a Ł300 mortgage on the land he and Hannah had inherited. The land was put up for sale in 1791 when the principal and much of the interest remained unpaid.[107] Wiert and Hannah moved to Tenafly, Bergen County, New Jersey. He should not be confused with his cousin Wiert Banta, who was infamous as a Tory military activist.[108]

i Henricus⁵ Banta, bap. 1 Mar 1747, d.1791, m. 15 Jun 1766 Johanna Edsall. She was the daughter of Samuel Edsall and Mary DeKay. [110] (John Edsall, son of Richard and a nephew of Samuel, above, m. in 1756 Abigail Minthorn,[111] a sister of Capt. John Minthorn of Warwick.)

iii Tryntje Banta, bap. 15 Jun 1757 – 1782, m. --- Lozier. Daughter: Hannah Lozier m John Demarest.

iv Francyntje Banta, bap. 15 Apr 1761, m. Nicholas Nagle. Issue: Jacob. Nagle, bap. 19 Apr 1784 and Annetie Nagle, bap. 13 May 1786.

10 Philip⁴ Minthorne (Philip^3-2-1) 15 Oct 1724 – 22 Mar 1802,[114] married 1 August 1746,[115] his second cousin once removed, Tanneke (Annetje) Harsing 28 August 1722 – 4 November 1794.[116] He was listed as a weigh master in 1785 and later moved to a farm in Harrington Township at the north end of Bergen County, New Jersey near or on the New York border.[117] Philip and Tanneke were enrolled in the Tappan Dutch Reformed Church August 1788.[118] He sold one of his inherited lots in the Bowery in 1791 and the other two in 1795.[119] After Tanneke’s death he married 14 May 1795 at the Tappan Reformed Church in Rockland Co, New York, [120] Margaret Turk 25 August 1732 – 28 Dec 1802.[121] He died at Harrington and his will was probated 30 Mar 1802 in New York. He left his estate to his wife Margaret, Margaret Myers, niece of his wife, and his grandson Philip Minthorne. His executors were Margaret Minthorne, Mangle Minthorne and Jacob Harson (Harsing) of New York.[122]

16 i Philip⁵ Minthorn, bap. 31 Jul 1748,[123] m 18 Mar 1773[124] Catherine Montanye.

11 Hilah⁴ (Hillegond) Minthorn, baptized 23 September 1729[129], married Abraham Cock, cooper, at Trinity Church on 29 January 1756. Abraham Cock died about 1786 when his property was sold, consisting of 8 acres, a two-story brick house and sundry fruit trees. Mangle Minthorn, who lived next door, was one of his executors.[130]

12 Margaret ⁴ (Margarietje) Minthorn (Philip^3-2-1) baptized 9 January 1732,[132] died 17 February 1825, age 94; married 9 June 1753[133] Nicholas (Netkles) Romaine (Romein), baptized 13 November 1728,[134] son of Samuel Romaine and Sarah Minthorn.[135] Other probable children are Philip (born ca. 1755?) who married Catherine Banta 24 March 1783, and Nicholas. Nicholas Romain, gardener at Bowery Lane, was listed in the 1797 New York Directory.

iii Sarah Romaine, b. ca 1759, m. 2 Jan 1790 Barent Simonson, b. 8 Dec 1759.[138]

13 Sarah⁴ (Sara) Minthorn (Philip^3-2-1) baptized 22 October 1735,[139] married (1) Jan (or Jonas) Ryt

Sarah m. (2) (as Sarah Wright) 8 Sep 1764 at Trinity Church,[141] Samuel Hallet, house carpenter[142] and gardener.[143] Samuel Hallet Senior and Junior, gardener and grocer, at Bowery Lane were listed in the New York Directories between 1787 and 1804-5, suggesting that Samuel Junior was born well before his baptism.

14 Frankie⁴ (Francyntje) Minthorne (Philip^3-2-1) baptized 25 January 1738,[144] died 18 March 1821,[145] married 5 June 1756, Paulus Banta,[146] died 18 October 1791, younger brother of Wiert Banta above.[147] He was a carpenter and builder in NYC, sold many properties, and was made a Freeman in 1765. On 16 October 1776 Paulus was among the Loyalists who signed an address to General Howe, Commander of British troops in New York City. In 1790 Paul was listed in the New York Directory as a farmer on Bowery Lane. Thomas Devoe in his Market Book, p 331, referring to the Oswego Market built in 1772 at Broadway and Maiden Lane, said that one of the principal market venders was Mrs. Frances Banta (usually known as Aunt Frankey) one of the daughters of Philip Minthorne and a sister of Mangle Minthorne. “On some eight or ten acres left to her by her father, near the present corner of Third Street and the Bowery, she lived and grew her produce. Each market day found Aunt Frankey ready for an early start with her produce placed in her market cart over night, and before daylight she was on her way down Bowery Road. She raised a large family, two of whom were daughters that she taught the same accomplishments.” In 1784 Paulus got into debt and one of his lots, valued at Ł800, was seized and sold at public venue. Mangle Minthorne bought it for Ł690.[148]

i Hendrick⁵ Banta, bap. 20 Jan 1761[149] – 11 Feb 1819, m. Nancy Lippincott.

15. MANGLE⁴ MINTHORN (Philip^3-2-1) baptized 20 August 1740,[157] died 20 April 1824[158]. Of all the heirs of Philip, the best known and most successful was Mangle Minthorn. His occupation shown in succeeding deeds went from cooper to shop keeper, to merchant, to gentleman. He was sometimes a little unscrupulous in his dealings as evidenced by the problems he had buying inherited properties from his siblings for a fair price, discussed above.

He was a Captain in John Jay’s 2^nd regiment of the NY Militia at the beginning of the Revolution but his command was taken away from him a month before the Declaration of Independence when he was denounced for violating the Congressional resolution against the sale of English tea. The NY Committee of Safety reported on 6 Jun 1776:

“Complaint was made to the general committee for this city and country against Mangle Minthorne, a shop keeper on Batteau [Dey] Street, for violating a resolve of the hon. continental congress in the sale of tea and as he made oath that he had not seen either the resolves of congress or this committee…did agree that publication of his affidavit would be satisfactory for that offense—but have since on the fullest proof found that by an avaricious principle he has not only violated his promise but that he is so lost to public virtue and love for his country, as that he not only in several instances has again violated the resolves of the continental congress, by selling that detestable article of tea, at a higher price than by them limited, but also has said several disrespectful things of the resolve of this body. This committee, therefore, in consequence of the trust reposed in them, are obligated to publish to the world, that Mangle Minthorne is by them unanimously voted and ought by the public to be considered and treated as an enemy to the American cause and ought to be forbid of all trade and intercourse.” [159]

Mangle reportedly denied that he charged 6s per pound for the tea but admitted that he charged 2s for paper and twine.[160]

Congress later certified that Minthorne acted through ignorance and inattention and voted that he be restored to favor, and by the solicitation of Col. Jay his commission as captain in the 2^nd New York Regiment was returned to him.[161] He apparently did not serve again, however.

Mangle, like most residents, may have left the City for a safer location when the British attacked in August 1776, for the following December Mangle and John Staples bought three adjoining farms, totaling 211 acres, in Cornwall, Orange County.[162] With the war seeming to favor the British, he went back to New York City during the British occupation, was married there for the second time in 1778, and kept his shop where he advertised “Gather Pease in any quantity at his farm near the Two-Mile Stone.”[163] After the War his Orange County property was confiscated, and the NY Auditor General, on claims for unjust sales of personal property, wrote:[164]

“Claims of Mangel Minthorne and John Staples--Ł217.14.6 for Rent Received of their Farms by the Commission’rs of Sequestration of Orange County. Both of them were out of the Lines first, & afterwards when they thought it a gone case went into N. York and joined the Enemy. It is true they have procured a certificate that they contributed to the relief of the Prisoners, but this is no proof to me that they were friends. It might have proceeded from fear when they found that we would succeed in the end. Therefore their claim is inadmissible.”

On February 16, 1788, Minthorne and Staples petitioned the New York Assembly for restoration of the rents on their farms. Six years later an Assembly committee recommended that the money be paid them but the House non-concurred.[165]

Mangle was elected Assistant for the 6^th Ward in the Common Council, 8 October 1792 and re-elected annually for the 6^th or 7^th Ward until 1800 when he was elected Alderman for the 7^th Ward, continuing until 1805 when he stepped down.[166] He was elected Alderman for the 10^th ward in the 1808 charter election, serving one year.[167] Assistants voted along with Alderman and the Common Council Minutes show pretty regular attendance. In 1797 the Council authorized payment to him of Ł4/2/11 for supplying firewood to Belle Vue Hospital.[168] And he was perhaps able to engage in a little nepotism since two of his relatives living on the Minthorn farms were named as firemen in 1798: Nicholas Romine, Jr. and Samuel Hallet.[169] He was a member of the building committee for the new City Hall in 1803 and his name was so inscribed on its corner stone.[170]

On 14 Feb 1811, now the father-in-law of Gov. Tompkins [see below], he chaired a meeting of some 800 people at the Martling Tavern in opposition to the Clinton branch of the Republican Party. This led to a string of editorials in the papers over several months and the digging up and publication of his tea selling difficulties during the Revolution.[171]

The 1790 and 1800 Censuses showed that Mangle had three slaves. In 1811 Mangle freed his slave Nicholas.[172] In 1820, he had no slaves.[173]

When he died in 1824, the feeling against him of half a century ago was so completely forgotten that he was spoken of as one of the few surviving patriots of the Revolution.[174] In his lengthy will, Mangle left his wife Aryet $1000 a year and use of his two story brick front house; he left his three story brick house to his daughter Hannah; and all the residue of the estate to Hannah, her children, and his grandson Mangle Minthorne Quackenbos. We can assume that these were his only descendants who had survived to 1821. He specified that the remaining 18 acres of the farm were not to be sold until 1829.[175]

“Minthorn fortified his position in the city and enhanced his respectability by an ostentatious support of religious institutions, particularly St. Marks in the Bowery, not far from his estate. St. Marks was a fashionable church with a large, affluent and loyal congregation. The Minthorns were regular Sunday communicants; the head of the family patronized St. Marks generously and served as trustee, vestryman and churchwarden….

“Any man that prominent would almost certainly have injected himself into New York’s political picture. Minthorne who was 58 when Tompkins became his son in law had established himself as a foremost member of the Republican Party [the party of Jefferson], an alderman of the city’s seventh ward, and a ranking chieftain of the Tammany Wigwam.”

Mangle Minthorne married (2), 8 October 1778, Aryet (Arietta) Constable at Trinity Church.[179] She was born ca. 1743 and died 10 February 1830.[180]

v Mangle Minthorne, b. 7 Sep 1782, bap. at Trinity Church. Mangle is buried in the family vault in St. Paul's Chapel churchyard.[182]

16 Philip⁵ Minthorn, (Philip^4-3-2-1) baptized 31 July 1748,[184] married 18 March 1773[185] Catherine Montanye, daughter of John Montanye and Mary Daly.[186]

Philip⁶ Minthorn bap. 13 Jan 1774.[187] He was probably the Philip Minthorn who married Sophia Waldron 28 Jul 1792,[188] and was listed in the 1795 to 1804-5 New York City directories as a tailor.[189] Sophia was b. ca 1776 and d. 28 May 1807 and is buried in the Red Mills Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Mahopac Falls, Carmel, Putnam County, NY.[190] Children of Philip and Sophia (Waldron) Minthorn: Philip⁷b. 16 Nov 1795;[191] Maria b. 4 Apr 1798,[192] m. 17 Sep 1818 Jacob Powel (Powell);[193] and Catherine b. 11 May 1800.[194]

17 Sarah⁵ Minthorn (Mangle⁴, Philip^3-2-1) married Joshua Pell Jr., 9 July 1783,[195] son of Joshua Pell and Abigail Archer and a descendant of Thomas Pell of Pelham Manor.[196] Joshua Pell Junior was a lieutenant in the British Army during the War and his diary has been published.[197] In it he reported arriving in Canada in April 1776 and fighting around Lake Champlain that year and the next, and finally serving in the Battle of Saratoga. I would assume that he was captured and, as an officer, later paroled to New York City. In April 1783, Joshua Junior was listed among the group of loyalists evacuated from NYC by the British and carried to Nova Scotia.[198] If he went he obviously didn’t stay long since he married Sarah Minthorne the following July (and their first son was born ten days later). Joshua Pell Junior inherited in 1782 an estate in Pelham Manor from his father that was confiscated and sold to Isaac Guion, however it included a dower right to the widow, which Guion did not pay. Aaron Burr, as attorney for the plaintiffs, ultimately got a ruling on their behalf directing the State Treasurer to pay them Ł988.[199] Joshua was listed as a grocer, then merchant, in New York Directories beginning in 1789.

iii Mangle Minthorne Pell, b. 21 Oct 1786, d. 16 Aug 1803 in the yellow fever epidemic in New York City. His tombstone in the churchyard of St Paul’s Church is pictured on its Web site.

18 Elizabeth⁵ Minthorn (Mangle⁴, Philip^3-2-1) born ca. 1769, died 2 April 1794,[202] married (1) 1789 at Trinity Church John Henry Merkler. He died in 1791 and she married (2) 5 March 1792 John Quackenboss 20 June 1772 – 12 September 1795, son of Johannes Quackenboss and Catharina DeWitt, a niece of Gov. George Clinton.

i Mangle⁶ Minthorne Quackenboss, 2 Dec 1792 – 17 Jul 1864, m. 8 Jul 1815 Juliana Clark.[203]

19 Hannah⁵ Minthorn (Mangle⁴, Phiip^3-2-1) Hannah was born 28 August 1781[204] and died 18 February 1829 in Tompkinsville, Staten Island, New York. Hannah married February 1798 Daniel D. Tompkins,[205] later to become Governor of New York and Vice President of the United States.

“The future vice president began his education at a New York City grammar school, later transferring to the Academy of North Salem and entering Columbia University in 1792. An exceptional scholar and a gifted essayist, Tompkins graduated first in his class in 1795, intent on pursuing a political career. In 1797, he was admitted to the New York bar and married Hannah Minthorne, the daughter of a well-connected Republican merchant. Tompkins’ father-in-law was a prominent member of the Tammany Society, a militant, unabashedly democratic political organization that would one day challenge the Clinton dynasty for control of the New York Republican Party…. Tompkins began his political career in 1800, canvassing his father-in-law’s precinct on behalf of candidates for the state legislature who would, if elected, choose Republican electors in the forthcoming presidential contest. He was a skilled and personable campaigner, never forgetting a name or a face; by the time the election was over, he knew nearly every voter in the Seventh Ward.”[206]

Daniel D. Tompkins was born 21 June 1774 in Fox Meadows, Scarsdale, Westchester Co, New York and died 11 June 1825 in Tompkinsville, Staten Island. Beginning in 1814, Tompkins bought nearly 700 acres of land there and developed it, laying out the streets which he named for his children: Arietta, Griffin, Hannah, Sarah Ann and Minthorn; there is also a Tompkins Street, and a Van Deusen Street. Tompkins had ambitious plans to improve transportation between New York and Philadelphia with a ferry service from the lower tip of Manhattan Island to Tompkinsville, then a turnpike from Arietta Street across Staten Island to a new ferry on the opposite side of the island. He had difficulty financing these developments and Mangle Minthorne endorsed one of his notes to a bank.[207]

Daniel and Hannah Tompkins are buried in the Minthorn vault at the Church of St. Marks on the Bowery.

i Arietta⁶ Minthorn Tompkins, b. 31 Jul 1800 in Somers, New York; d. 3 Oct 1837 in Opelousas, Louisiana, m. 28 Jun 1818 Gilbert Livingston Thompson, son of Smith Thompson, Secretary of the Navy and Supreme Court Justice.[209]

iii Hannah Ellsworth Tompkins, b. 21 Sep 1803, m. 8 Jun 1825 John Sloat Westervelt, M.D. who became the first Public Health Officer of the Port of New York.[210]

v Mangle Minthorn Tompkins, b. 26 Dec 1807, d. 5 Jun 1881, m Susan Lawson. Like his grandfather, Mangle was active in politics and was elected to the State Senate, 1^st District, in 1840, resigning in 1841. In the 1840s he was one of the local leaders of the Barnburners, the “radical Democrats” who believed that slavery should not be extended to free territory.[211]

vii Susannah MacLaren Tompkins, b. 10 Sep 1812, d. 6 Jun 1882 m. 1829 Richard Green Smith.

viii John Ray Tompkins, b. 20 Nov 1814, d. 4 Apr 1892 m. 12 Nov 1834 Susan Norton Titus.

There was another Philip Minthorne who does not easily fit among the people we have examined. In 1767 Timothy Shaver deposed that he was acquainted with the Phillipse Upper Patent [which became Fredericksburg Precinct in lower Dutchess—now Putnam—County, New York] for near 25 years and among the settlers when he got there was Philip Minthorne.[212] The Dutchess County tax lists for the South Ward or Southern Precinct (same area) show John Bayles 1732-33, 1735-36, a number of Baileys in 1740-41 and later; and Philip Minthorne Feb 1741-42 and Feb 1745-46.[213]

Philip Minthorne is again listed in 1765-1771 along with Philip Jr. 1765-1770. Later, in the Town of Fredericksburg we find Philip Minthorn 1772 along with Benjamin Minthorn, 1772-1774.[214] In 1789 Philip Minthorne of Fredericksburg Precinct, Dutchess County wrote his will giving 5 shillings to Benjamin Minthorn, Sr. and everything else to his wife Elizabeth. She was made executor along with William Teed, of Cortlandt Manor. In 1792, Teed was granted administration. Witnesses were Reuben Bloomer (who was married to Teed’s daughter Nancy) and James Surine Jr.[215] This suggests that Elizabeth may have been the daughter of William Teed, the immigrant founder of that family in New York and a fairly prosperous person.

The Philip Philipse Patent tax list of 1777 does not show Minthorne but grouped pretty close together in his neighborhood, are James Surine, Nathan Teed, Nathaniel Bailey, Gilbert Bloomer and Reuben Ferris.[216] Col. Reuben Ferris was later Supervisor of Frederickstown.[217] These people were leaseholders in Lot 5 of the Philipse Upper Patent. After the War when their lands were forfeited by members of the loyalist Philipse family, those who had been in the military were able to buy their farms, or others nearby, from the State. Charles and James Surine bought farms below Mahopac Lake, about a mile from the Westchester border. Northwest of the present Carmel Village, just south of Kent Cliffs in the Town of Kent, lies China Pond. A map of lands conveyed by the Commissioners of Forfeiture in 1779-86[218] identifies this as Minthorn’s or China Pond. This implies that Minthorn’s farm adjoined it. It’s a hilly area that would make a poor farm. Philip Minthorne never served in the militia—probably because he was too old—so he never got to buy his farm and all the land around the pond was sold to others. The Surine farms were about five miles south of Minthorn Pond.[219] Perhaps Philip moved down there after losing his farm.

Philip was dead or incapacitated by 1790 because Elizabeth Minthorne was head of family in that Census with one male over 16 and 3 females. She was next to Charles and James Surine. Dr. Elias Cornelius of Somers later reported in his ledger:

Minthon, Mrs. 30 July 1798. Visit and medicine for her charged to James Seryne Jr’s Account 26 Mar 1801. 22 Jan 1799 cash paid for her by Judge Crane.[220]

Obviously, Elizabeth Minthorne had a close connection to James Surine, Jr. Perhaps she was a sister (meaning she was not a Teed). Surine was not married to a Minthorn; there might have been a marriage among their children.

To summarize: Philip Minthorne of Dutchess County was probably born before 1720 and had two sons, Philip and Benjamin. Benjamin moved on to Greene County and was shown in the 1790 and 1800 Censuses for Coxsackie. I have found no further record of Philip Jr. who probably died before 1790.

Who was the father of Philip Minthorne, Sr.? Of the known sons among the New York City Minthornes, the only possibility was Wolfert Minthorne, baptized 1698, about whom we know nothing further. Most likely he died young. The 1703 Census of New York City shows Philip with three male children. It is possible that one could be another son who never got onto the baptismal list and became the father of Philip of Dutchess County. Or, could the first Philip have had another son of whom we find no record? There is a five-year gap between Philip and Sara.

Here is my guess. Nathaniel Bailey of Rye, grandson of Judge Nicholas Bailey of Westchester Town, wrote his will in 1740, mentioning his daughter Abigail, widow of John Minthorn.[221] We don’t know anything about this John Minthorn but he could have been living in the Patent and not have appeared on the tax lists since he was dead before 1740. Four of Abigail’s Bailey’s brothers moved up to that area. According to one author, Nathaniel took up lands in North Salem and may have moved to the Oblong in South East when it was opened for settlement in 1730.[222] The tax lists show a Nathaniel in the Southern Precinct in 1753 and in Fredericksburgh 1763-79; Nehemiah is shown in the Southern Precinct 1740-41; and Nathan in Fredericksburgh 1773.[223] Levi bought a farm just across the county border in Croton Falls, Somers, Westchester County, in 1769 when the land was first sold, but was probably living there earlier.[224] It is not unreasonable to believe that Abigail Bailey met John Minthorn somewhere around there.

We know that Abigail and John Minthorn had three children—Nathaniel, John and Abigail Minthorn—who moved on to Orange County.[225] Abigail was probably too young to be his mother, but John could have been Philip’s father with an earlier wife. Some evidence suggests that John may have descended from Richard Minthorne of Long Island.[226] But he might also have been another son of the first Philip Minthorne who never got into the records.

All we have to support this theory are the names and the associations with the Baileys. Perhaps some researcher in the future will find the Rosetta stone for his connection.

In the preparation of this article I am greatly indebted to Sarah Batchelor [sbatchelor1718@hotmail.com] who has done more original research on the Minthorns than anyone else.

[1] Berthold Fernow, tr., Records of New Amsterdam from 1653 to 1674, 1897, Vol. 2, Minutes of the Court of Burgomasters and Schepens 1656 –Aug 27 1658, pp 372; 411. Both were suits by Jan Copal regarding payment for tobacco. Minthorn testified in English and at one stage asked for a translator to make sure his declaration had been properly translated into Dutch. This suggests that Philip might have come up from Virginia where on 5 June 1657 Richard James obtained land for transporting three persons, one of which was Philip Minton. (Nell Marion Nugent, Cavaliers and Pioneers, Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Co. 1983, p. 356.) It is also possible that Philip came down from New England with the other men who settled in Stamford, Greenwich and Westchester.

[2] Dixon Ryan Fox, editor, Minutes of the Court of Sessions (1657-1696) Westchester County, White Plains: Westchester County Historical Society, 1924. Page 24: an order of the court, 17 Jul 1659 “ritten by me phill mintorn, Secrettary”. He is mentioned also on pp 12, 17, and 19, all cases during 1659.

[3] Westchester County NY Miscellanea: Abstracts from records at the Comptrollers Office, Municipal Building, NYC, New York Genealogical and Biographical Record 60:106, 110, 112, Apr 1929.

[4] Fairfield County, CT Probate Book 1665-1675, p 20. The will can also be found with a go