The Rombout Patent was a

Colonial era Colonial period (a period in a country's history where it was subject to management by a colonial power) may refer to: Continents *European colonization of the Americas * Colonisation of Africa * Western imperialism in Asia Countries * Col ...

land patent A land patent is a form of letters patent assigning official ownership of a particular tract of land that has gone through various legally-prescribed processes like surveying and documentation, followed by the letter's signing, sealing, and publi ...

issued by King

James II of England James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II of England, Charles II, on 6 February 1 ...

in 1685 sanctioning the right of

Francis Rombouts Francis Rombouts (22 June 1631 – 1691) was the 12th Mayor of New York City from 1679 to 1680. He was one of three proprietors of the Rombout Patent, and the father of the pioneering Colonial businesswoman Catheryna Rombout Brett. Biography F ...

and his partners

Stephanus Van Cortlandt Stephanus van Cortlandt (May 7, 1643 – November 25, 1700) was the first native-born mayor of New York City, a position which he held from 1677 to 1678 and from 1686 to 1688. He was the patroon of Van Cortlandt Manor and was on the governor ...

and Jacobus Kip to own some of land they had purchased from Native Americans. The Patent included most of what is today's southern

Dutchess County Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later org ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. It was the first of fourteen patents granted between 1685 and 1706 which came to cover the entirety of historic Dutchess County (which until 1812 included today's Putnam County). The first eleven, granted between 1685 and 1697, covered every foot of

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

shoreline in the original county. The last three, 1703–1706, laid claim to the remaining interior lands.

History

Rombout, a former

mayor of New York City The mayor of New York City, officially mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The Mayoralty in the United States, mayor's office administers all ...

, had gone into the fur-trading business with merchant Gulian Verplanck. A license for the pair to purchase an 85,000 acre tract from the

Wappinger The Wappinger ( ) were an Eastern Algonquian Munsee-speaking Native American people from what is now southern New York and western Connecticut. At the time of first contact in the 17th century they were primarily based in what is now Dutc ...

people was granted by Governor Thomas Dongan, February 8, 1682.''The History of Putnam County, New York''. Frank Hasbrouck, editor, 1909
/ref> They were joined in 1683 by

, the first native-born mayor of New York City and

patroon In the United States, a patroon (; from Dutch '' patroon'' ) was a landholder with manorial rights to large tracts of land in the 17th-century Dutch colony of New Netherland on the east coast of North America. Through the Charter of Free ...

Van Cortlandt Manor Van Cortlandt Manor is a 17th-century house and property built by the Van Cortlandt family located near the confluence of the Croton and Hudson Rivers in the village of Croton-on-Hudson in Westchester County, New York, United States. The coloni ...

Westchester County Westchester County is a county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The county is the seventh most populous cou ...

, who offered to put up one-third of the money in return for a one-third interest in the parcel. The purchase was completed on August 8, 1683, for $1,250 or so in guns, shot, powder, blankets,

wampum Wampum is a traditional shell bead of the Eastern Woodlands tribes of Native Americans. It includes white shell beads hand-fashioned from the North Atlantic channeled whelk shell and white and purple beads made from the quahog or Western ...

, alcohol, cloth and other goods,''History of Dutchess County, New York'', Chapter IV, Indian Deeds. Land Patents, Hasbrouck, Frank, publ. S.A. Matthieu, Poughkeepsie, New York, 1909
/ref> the deed signed by three representatives of the buyers, a Dutch interpreter, and twenty-two Wappinger

sachem Sachems and sagamores are paramount chiefs among the Algonquians or other Native American tribes of northeastern North America, including the Iroquois. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms (c. 1622) from different Eastern Alg ...

(who made their marks). Before a patent could be issued to the trio, however, Verplanck died, and his widow Henrica married Jacobus Kip. The patent was granted on October 17, 1685, with the Verplanck interest passing down through the Kip line.Genealogies of the State of New York: A Record of the Achievements, Volume 2, p. 744
/ref>

Goods traded

According to the deed, the following goods were traded for the land:

One hund Royalls, One hund Pound Powder, Two hund fathom of White Wampum, one hund Barrs of Lead, One hundred fathom of Black Wampum, thirty tobacco boxes, ten holl adges, thirty Gunns, twenty Blankets, forty fathom of Duffills, twenty fathom of stroudwater Cloth, thirty Kittles, forty Hatchets, forty Homes, forty Shirts, forty p stockins, twelve coattis of R. B. & b. C, ten Drawing Knives, forty earthen Juggs, forty Bottles, forty Knives, fouer ankers rum, ten halfe fatts Beere, Two hund tobacco Pipes &c., Eighty Pound Tobacco.

Maps

See a period map of the Paten

at th

References

{{reflist

External links

Map of the Rombout Patent at the town of East Fishkill website

History of Dutchess County, New York 1685 in the British Empire Colonization history of the United States

History

Goods traded

Maps

See also

References

External links