Confiscated Properties of Philipse Highland Patent, Putnam County, New York, 1780-1785, Revised Edition

During the Revolution, various states enacted laws that allowed for the confiscation and sale of land which was held by known loyalists. In New York, following the 1779 Act of Attainder, the estates of fifty-nine individuals were confiscated. Four of those on the list were Roger Morris, Esq. (late member of the Council for the Colony of New York) and his wife, Mary Morris; and, Beverly Robinson and his wife, Susannah Robinson. As heirs of Frederick Philipse, his daughters, Mary Morris and Susannah Robinson, held approximately two-thirds of the Philipse Highland Patent. Their brother, Philip Philipse, held the other third. At the time of the 1779 act, there were several hundred farmers leasing land in the Highland Patent from the Robinson and Morris families. Most of the confiscated property was sold to the tenant farmers. This book gives an excellent view of the people living in two-thirds of the Philipse Highland Patent, which was located in the southern part of Dutchess County (present-day Putnam County), New York.

This revised edition has been produced to correct a flaw in the first publication. The Concklin maps for lot # 7 of Robinson were placed too far south relative to the USGS bases map. The northern portion of lot #7 actually belongs in what is now Dutchess County and was part of once disputed land in what was called the Beekman Gore. This edition properly places the Concklin maps for lot # 7 where they belong. The name index has been corrected as well to reflect this change to the property placement.

A brief historical background precedes a table of property transactions and maps of property which was confiscated by the New York legislature during the Revolutionary War. The table contains information about each property transaction, including parties involved, the date, the amount of the transaction, farms and/or bodies of water on the property, adjacent neighbors, and occupier (if other than the purchaser). The beautifully detailed maps allow researchers to easily find properties relative to today’s features. Indices to full-names and places add to the value of this work.