THE TOWN OF WESTCHESTER. 



429 



considerable time sheriff of Westchester county. He took a battalion 

 in the brigade of his uncle Oliver de Lancey, called the Loyalist Ran- 

 gers, or " De Lancey s Horse." In consequence of his familiarity with 

 the county, Lt. Col. James de Lancey was stationed most of his time in 

 Weschester, to keep open the means of procuring supplies. His corps 

 made free with the cattle of that part of the country, and got the soub- 

 riquet of " Cow Boys," in revenge for their knowledge in the article of 

 beef. The colonel finally fixed his residence in Nova Scotia, and in 

 1797, was sworn in as a member of the council of that colony. He 

 died at Annapolis, N. S., about the year 1809. Martha Tippett, his 

 widow, also died there in 1827, aged 73, and where his sons are still 

 living. Oliver de Lancey, third son of Peter and Alice, threw up his 



De Lancey Mills, Westchester, the head-quarters of Lt. Col. James de Lancey. 

 From the original picture in the possession of Dr. Bayard of West Farms. 



commission in the British service at the commencement of the Revolu- 

 tionary war. His children are resident in the town. Peter, the fourth 

 son, and Lt. Col. Warren de Lancey, besides four daughters. a 



By an indenture bearing date the 29th of July, 1774, the trustees of 

 Westchester, for divers considerations, sold to James and Oliver de 

 Lancey, and their heirs and assignees, the ground under the water of 

 Broncks's river, and all such lands as has been granted or appointed by 

 the town, for the use of the mills, etc.*' The present proprietor, Philip 

 M. Lydig, Esq., holds by conveyance from under Oliver de Lancey, 

 Esq. The dwelling-house which once served as the head-quarters of 

 Washington, was destroyed by fire a few years since. 



a For many of the above particulars we are indebted to Mr. Cooper's correspondence in 

 the Home Journal in 1848. 

 b liec. of Trustees, pp. 88, 89. 



