THE TOWN OF WEST FARMS. 515 



And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that the moneys 

 arising by such sale or sales shall not be disposed of to any secular use, 

 but the same shall be expended and used in purchasing or improving 

 lands and other real estate, in order to secure a better and more large 

 revenue or income towards supporting and maintaining of the said Dutch 

 minister, or ministers, of the said Dutch churches and congregations, as 

 near as may be agreeable to the will and intentions of the said donor, 

 Cornelius Steenwyck, &c." 



On the 25th of February, 1755, the above act was confirmed by the 

 king in Council.* 



The principal grantees of the manor under the Dutch Reformed 

 Church were Charles Doughty, who held 230 acres ; John Vanholst, 

 138 acres; Daniel Sicard, 108 acres, (of whom Benjamin Archer pur- 

 chased ;) Joseph and Bishop, 155 acres, the Dyckmans, &c. The resi- 

 due, consisting of forty acres, was sold to the Hon. Lewis Morris and 

 William Kelly in 1760. Upon the 2d of May, 1774, Lewis Morris and 

 William Kelly conveyed no acres to Peter Valentine, in whose de- 

 scendants this portion of the Manor is still vested. 



Through the liberality of Mrs. Steenwyck, three hundred acres are 

 said to have been exempted from the sale to the Dutch Church, upon 

 which was situated the old manorial residence. Be this as it may, how- 

 ever, we find Benjamin Archer, son of Samuel, and grand son of John 

 Archer, first grantor of the manor of Fordham, in 1780, seized in fee of 

 a portion of the manor. Upon the death of Benjamin it passed to his 

 children — Benjamin Archer, John .Archer, Sarah, the wife of Jac\}b Alord, 

 and Rachel, the wife of James Crawford. In 1786 Sarah and Rachel 

 conveyed their rights and interest unto Benjamin Archer, their brother; 

 whose sons, the late William and Samuel Archer, conveyed to Gustav 

 Schwab, James Punnett, H. W. T. Mali, Loring Andrews, and F. L. 

 Johnson. 



The family of Archer is of English origin — Fulbert L' Archer, (a sur- 

 name signifying for distinction's sake the archer, or bowman,) the first of 

 whom any thing is known, came into England with William the Con- 

 queror. 6 The Archers for many centuries held large possessions in the 

 County of Warwickshire. The representative of the senior branch in 

 1560 appears to have been Humphrey Archer of Warwickshire,' 5 who was 

 born in 1527 and died October 24th, 1562, eldest son and heir of Rich- 

 ard Archer, twelfth in descent from the above mentioned Fulbert. Hum- 



a In the ancient catalogue, or Roll of Battle Abbey, Sussex, England, occurs the name of 

 •'Archere," Arms of Archer, of Umbusdale County, of Warwick: Azure, three broad ar- 

 rows in pale or, Crest out of a mural coronet gu— a dragons head arg. 



6 Andrew Archer, armiger, of Tan work, was High Sheriff of Warwickshire, 6th of Jan. 

 160S ; arms as above.— Fuller's Worthies of England, vol. iii., p. 295. 



