Thomas Pell
''Dates may not be entirely accurate in this article due to disagreements between sources.Thomas Pell (born ? -
1669) was a
physician who was famous for buying the area known as
Pelham, Westchester, New York, as well as land that now includes the eastern
Bronx and southern
Westchester County. He is recorded as travelling from
Fairfield,
England to North America to attempt to set up new colonies. He was the brother of the mathematician
John Pell and uncle of
Sir John Pell, first Lord of the Manor of Pelham.
Records state that he bought this from
Chief Wampage from the
Siwanoy Indian Tribe that owned it on
June 27,
1654. It has been indicated the alternative dates,
November 11 or
November 14 1654, are incorrect
[1]. It has been said that Pell "named his acreage Pelham in honor of his tutor Pelham Burton"
[2].
Pell was legally challenged by the Dutch courts who considered the "English were trespassing on Dutch territory"
[3]. This dispute was finally resolved by Pell in September
1664 when the British Navy, supported by a militia invasion force comprised largely of City Island colonists and led by Pell himself, entered the then
New Amsterdam and forced the Dutch Governor of New Netherlands
Peter Stuyvesant to surrender.
*http://www.pelhamny.com/history/index2.html
*
Historic Pelham site*
History of the town of Pelham*
Website of the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum
