THE TOWN 



OP 



RYE. 



This township, named after old Rye," in the County of Sussex, 

 England, formerly comprehended the present towns of Harrison and 

 White Plains, and was separately organized upon the 27th of March, 

 1788.^ It is situated directly in the south-east angle of West Chester 

 County, bordering the sound; bounded on the east by the State of 

 Connecticut and the Byram River, on the south by the sound, and on 

 the west and north by the townships of Harrison and Northcastle. 



In the year 1660, the lands of Rye were in the possession of Shan- 

 arockwell or Shanarocke, as he subsequently signed his name, an 

 independent sagamore or chieftain of the Siwanoy's, whose clan formed 

 a portion, if not one of the Mohegan tribes itself of the " sea coast." 



Peningoe, Peninggoe or Poningoe, the Indian name of Rye, is 

 apparently derived from Ponus, the title of the aboriginal proprietor of 

 this territory, A. D. 1640. The final termination oe or o?ig, denoting 

 locality. Thus the whole word may emphatically express the place, or 

 locality, of that sachems residence. Nothing however remains at this 



a Yeafce deduces this name, (Rye) from the British word 'rhy,' it signifying a ford, or, as 

 some say, a bay, &c, Allen's History of Surrey and Sassex, vol. II, p. 621. Camden, speaking 

 of Rye, says : ' But as to it's name, whether it took it from Rive, a Norman word, which sig- 

 nifies a Bank, I cannot say ; yet since, in the Records, it is very often called in Latin, Ripa, 

 and they who bring fish from thence are called Ripui-n ; I rather incline to this original, aud 

 should incline yet more, if the French used this word for a skvre, as Pliny does Ripa.' Cam- 

 d u, Brittannia, Bishop Gibson; edition vol. 1. p. 212. Hastings and Rye, whose names were 

 successively bestowed upon this place, are two neighboring towns on the south-east coast of 

 England, both of great antiquity, aud both numbered among the Cinqui Ports, or five privi- 

 leged seaport towns on that coast. Chronicle of a border town : History of Rye, West- 

 chester county, New York: 1660-1870; including Harrison and the White Plains till 17S8. By 

 Charles W. Baird— New York: A. D. P. Randolph & Co; 1871, Pp. i— xviii; 1—570— P. 35. 

 Laws of New York by Thomas Greenleaf , M. D. CO. XC : ii, Vol. II ; p. p. 153, 1 54. 



c From annotations by the late Henry R. Schoolcraft, in 1S40, upon the Indian names in 

 West Chester County, made for the author. 127 



