THE TOWN OF WHITE PLAINS. 



553 



the first settlement of this place, which commenced soon after its pur- 

 chase from the Indians in 16S3, it has continued steadily to progress. 



White Plains being a shire town the courts are all held here. The 

 court-house, a handsome stone building, stands near the centre of the 

 town on Railroad Avenue. The first court-house was erected in 1759, 

 upon the removal of the courts from Westchester. The first court of 

 Common Pleas assembled here on the 27th of May, 1760. The first 

 court-house was burnt soon after the battle of White Plains, and the 

 second built on the same site, about 1784 or 1785. The third, or new 

 court-house and jail, were erected in 1854. 



There are events connected with this spot, which will long live in the 

 pages of American history. It was here that the Whigs of Westchester 



Second Court House, White Plains. 



County appointed to meet the committees of the several towns to elect 

 deputies to the Continental Congress, who were to assemble at Phila- 

 delphia, on the first day of September, 1774. The proceedings of the 

 various meetings held here would afford matter for a good size volume, 

 we shall therefore present our readers with a small part only of the im- 

 portant productions of those eventful times. The following resolutions 

 were adopted by the freeholders and inhabitants of Rye and West- 

 chester : — 



" On the 10th day of August, 1774, the freeholders and inhabitants of 

 the township of JZyc, made.choice of John Thomas, Jr. Esquire, Robert 

 Bloomer, Zeno Carpenter and Ebenezer Haviland, for a committee to 

 consult and determine with the committees of the other towns and dis- 



