Thomas Pell
Encyclopedia
Thomas Pell (1608–1669) was a physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
who was famous for buying the area known as Pelham, Westchester, New York
Pelham, New York
Pelham, New York is the name of two locations in Westchester County, New York:*Pelham , New York, the Town of Pelham*Pelham Manor , New York, the Village of Pelham Manor*Pelham , New York, the Village of Pelham...
, as well as land that now includes the eastern Bronx
The Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
and southern Westchester County
Westchester County, New York
Westchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Westchester covers an area of and has a population of 949,113 according to the 2010 Census, residing in 45 municipalities...
. He founded the town of Westchester at the head of navigation on Westchester creek
Westchester Creek
Westchester Creek is a tidal inlet of the East River located in the south eastern portion of The Bronx in New York City. It is 2.1 miles in length...
in 1654.http://www.bronxhistoricalsociety.org/Bronxhistorychron.html He is recorded as travelling from Fairfield
Fairfield
-Australia:*Fairfield, New South Wales, the most populous place in Australia with that place name**Electoral district of Fairfield, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly*Fairfield, Queensland*Fairfield, Victoria...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to North America to attempt to set up new colonies. He was the brother of the mathematician John Pell
John Pell
-Early life:He was born at Southwick in Sussex. He was educated at Steyning Grammar School, and entered Trinity College, Cambridge, at the age of thirteen. During his university career he became an accomplished linguist, and even before he took his B.A. degree corresponded with Henry Briggs and...
and uncle of Sir John Pell, first Lord of the Manor of Pelham. The Pell family lived in this area until the Revolutionary War and has remained prominent to the present, with family members including U.S. Ambassador Herbert Pell
Herbert Pell
Herbert Claiborne Pell, Jr. was a United States Representative from New York, U.S. Minister to Portugal, U.S. Minister to Hungary, and an instigator and member of the United Nations War Crimes Commission....
and U.S. Senator Claiborne Pell
Claiborne Pell
Claiborne de Borda Pell was a United States Senator from Rhode Island, serving six terms from 1961 to 1997, and was best known as the sponsor of the Pell Grant, which provides financial aid funding to U.S. college students. A Democrat, he was that state's longest serving senator.-Early years:Pell...
. Thomas Pell's grandson Philip Pell II built Pelhamdale
Pelhamdale
Pelhamdale, also known as The Old Stone House of Philip Pell II, is a historic home located at Pelham Manor, Westchester County, New York. It was built about 1750 as a single story dwelling and expanded after 1823. It is a two story, five bay, stone residence faced in coursed, rock-faced stone...
at Pelham Manor, New York
Pelham Manor, New York
Pelham Manor is a village located in Westchester County, New York, USA. As of the 2010 census, the village had a total population of 5,486. It is located in the town of Pelham.- Demographics :...
about 1750.
Records state that he bought this from Chief Wampage
Chief Wampage
Wampage I, aka Anhõõke was the Chief of the Siwanoy Indians of Westchester County, New York.It is believed that the Siwanoys, under the leadership of Wampage, lead the massacre of the family of Anne Hutchinson...
from the Siwanoy
Siwanoy
The Native American Siwanoy or Sinanoy were a band of Algonquian-speaking people, the Wappinger, in what is now the New York City area. By the mid-17th century, when their territory became hotly contested between Dutch and English colonial interests, the Siwanoy were settled along the East River...
Indian Tribe that owned it, on June 27, 1654. It has been indicated the alternative dates, November 11 or November 14, 1654, are incorrect http://www.bartowpellmansionmuseum.org/pages/350oaks.html. It has been said that Pell "named his acreage Pelham in honor of his tutor Pelham Burton" http://www.townofpelham.com/townhistorian/.
Pell was legally challenged by the Dutch courts who considered the "English were trespassing on Dutch territory" http://www.pelhamny.com/history/index2.html. This dispute was finally resolved by Pell in September 1664 when the British Navy, supported by a militia invasion force consisting largely of City Island colonists and led by Pell himself, entered the then New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. It later became New York City....
and forced the Dutch Governor of New Netherland Peter Stuyvesant
Peter Stuyvesant
Peter Stuyvesant , served as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664, after which it was renamed New York...
to surrender.
External links
- http://www.pelhamny.com/history/index2.html
- Historic Pelham Site
- Historic Pelham Daily Blog
- History of the town of Pelham
- Website of the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum
- Bronx County Historical Society