82 The Story of The Bronx 



wealthier and more aristocratic neighbors, Philipse or Van 

 Cortlandt; in fact, the Van Cortlandt estate was made up of 

 the Hadden tract and a large part of the Betts and Tippett 

 tract. Hadden, having lost his two sons-in-law, returned to 

 Westchester. Descendants of Betts and Tippett held portions 

 of the ancestral domain until the beginning of the last century. 

 The neck upon which the village of Spuyten Duy vil is situated 

 was called Tippett's Neck, and the ridge up which the present 

 Riverdale Avenue goes is called Tippett's Hill ; but that by 

 which the name of the former proprietor is best preserved is 

 Tippett's Brook, the Mosholu of the Indians. Jacobus Van 

 Cortlandt dammed this brook about 1700, forming the lake 

 above, and erected a mill; below the dam it is a tidal stream. 



The name De Lancey has already appeared in the report of 

 the case of Chief Justice Lewis Morris, his subsequent election 

 to the Assembly, and at the Zenger trial. The first De Lancey 

 came to America in 1686; this was Etienne, or Stephen, De 

 Lancey, a French Huguenot, who fled from France after the 

 Revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV. in 1685. 

 He became a successful and wealthy merchant, and married 

 Ann, the second daughter of Stephanus Van Cortlandt. 

 Their eldest son was James De Lancey, who was sent to 

 Cambridge, England, to be educated. In 1729, when only 

 twenty-six years of age, he became a member of the Governor's 

 council, and two years later an associate justice of the Supreme 

 Court of the Province, becoming chief justice in 1733, upon the 

 removal of Judge Morris. His actions during this period 

 rendered him unpopular, as he upheld the royal prerogatives 

 as exemplified in the actions of the royal governors. Later, 

 he severed his adherence to the party of the Governor, and 

 in revenge Governor Clinton withheld his appointment as 

 Lieutenant-Governor for six years, or until his own departure 



