510 HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER. 



"We, the said testators, do declare that our earnest -will and last desire is, that 

 the general inheritance of us, the said testators, and between our heirs, shall be 

 regulated after the form, manner, custom and practice of the Nether Dutch Na- 

 tion, and according to the articles made upou the surrendering of this place. 

 And I, the said testator, with the free consent of my wife, by form of a legacy, 

 have given, grant and legacicd as I, the said testator, by form and legacy, do 

 give and grant by these presents, for and to the proper use and behoof of the 

 Nether Dutch Reformed congregation within the city of New York, for the sup- 

 port and maintainauec of their ministers, ordained according to the church orders 

 of the Netherlands, now at present here in being ox hereafter to be called, ordained, 

 or to come, all the testators right, property, title, and hereditaments in and to 

 the manor of Fordham, lying in the county of Westchester, together with all the 

 lands, meadows, fields, woods, creeks, rivulets, and other waters, as also all the 

 said testators jurisdiction, right, title, action and property, in and to the said 

 Manor of Fordham, with all the patents, deeds, schedules, hypothets, mortgages, 

 and other instruments of writing, to the said manor of Fordham, belonging or in 

 any wise appertaining, in as full and ample as the said manor of Fordham now 

 already in property is belonging, or hereafter more amply shall be confirmed 

 unto the said testator by deed conveyance, transport, hypothet, mortgage, judg- 

 ment or otherwise, from or by any manner of way or means, of John Archer, 

 deceased, last owner and proprietor of the said Manor of Fordham. 



And I. the said testator, doe further order and declare, as my last will and 

 testament, the said manor of Fordham, together with all the benefits, profits, in- 

 comes, advantages, rents, and revenues, and all appurtenances thereof, shall be 

 conveyed, transported and made over, in a fee, quiet, and full property and en- 

 jojinent by the testator's appomted executrix, within the space of six mouths 

 after the testator's decease, or upon lawful demand, to the elders and overseers 

 of the Nether Dutch congregation, for the proper use and behoof of the minister 

 of the said congregation, as herebefore at large is expressed and set forth, to be 

 held in full property, possession and eujoyment, inheritably and forever, by the 

 said elders or overseers at the time of the testator's decease in being, and all 

 others that from time to time shall succeed in their places, to the end and use as 

 aforesaid, without any let or hindrance or contradiction of any person or persons 

 whatsoever.* 



Provided always that none of the lands of the said manor shall be made away, 

 alienated, or contrary to the tenor of these presents, or otherwise disposed of, 

 but from thenceforth forever be and remain as lands of inheritance towards the 

 support and maintaining of the church ministry of the said congregation as before 

 expressed and recited and not otherwise. And finally, I, the said testator, do 

 hereby declare that I have nominated, appointed, and authorized my aforesaid 

 dear and loving wife Margarite Ricniers b to be my only and lawful executrix 



a On the 14th of Nov., 1C71, occurs an agreement by which John Archer was to pay ten 

 per cent, upon the 7th of May, 1G74. Thomas Gibs and John Curtis complained to the Gov- 

 ernor that John Archer, at Fordham, is owing them some money, and that said Archer is dis- 

 posing of his effects with intention to defraud his creditors of their just right ; therefore the 

 Schout and Magistrates of the aforesaid town of Fordham, are hereby ordered and com- 

 manded to arrest, on the complaint of said persons, the estate and effects of the above men- 

 tioned Archer, and to allow said persons, after due examination, and according to the state 

 of the case, to receive good law and justice."— N. Y. Col. MSS. vol. ii, 708. 



b Margaret De Keimer was the daughter of De Reimer and Elizabeth Grevenrack. 



Margaret, after the death of Steenwyck, married Dominie Uenricus Selyns. 



