Significant Dates in the

History of the Site

1637  Oloff Stevense Van Cortlandt, progenitor of the family, arrives in New Netherlands.

 1642     Oloff marries Annetje Loockermans (d.1689) in the Dutch Church in New Amsterdam.  Between 1643 and 1658, Annetje gives birth to seven children.

 1680     Oloff’s youngest son Jacobus (1658-1739) is in the West Indies presumably serving as an apprentice in the family’s shipping business. 

 1689     Oloff is judged to be the fourth wealthiest man in New York having attained his money as a merchant involved in trading, brewing, manufacturing wampum, money lending and shipping.

 1691     Jacobus Van Cortlandt marries Eva Phillipse (b.1660), daughter of Frederick Phillipse.  Between 1694 and 1705, Eva gives birth to five children, Margaret, Anna (dies in youth), Frederick, Anne and Mary.

 1694     Jacobus makes first purchase of land located in present-day Van Cortlandt Park.

 1703     Census of the City of New York shows Jacobus owning two adult male slaves, two adult female slaves, and one boy slave.

 1704     About twenty families are living in Yonkers.

 1718     Jacobus makes in agreement with George Tippet, an adjacent landowner, to dam his brook (known as Tippet’s Brook) to provide water power to Jacobus’ grist and saw mill.  Upon agreement, the damming floods a portion of both men’s land.  The mill occupied this site from about 1690 until about 1915.

 1719     Jacobus serves two years as Mayor of New York City.  He is New York’s first native-born Mayor.

 1724     Frederick (1699-1749), son of Jacobus, marries Frances Jay (d.1780).  Between 1727 and 1737, Frances gives birth to six children, James, Augustus, Frederick, Eve (dies in infancy), Anna Marie and Eve.

 1728     Mary, Daughter of Jacobus, marries Peter Jay. Their son John Jay (1745-1829), serves as the first Chief Justice of the United States (1789-1795). 

 1732     Jacobus systematically adds to his original land purchase, and by this date, is operating a prosperous grain plantation and milling operation on the Van Cortlandt property. 

1733     Jacobus places an advertisement in “The New York Gazette” to recover a runaway slave named Andrew Saxton.  Saxton is “a tall lusty fellow; is very black walks stopping, and somewhat lamish with his left leg; the thumb of his left hand is somewhat stiff, by a wound he had in his hand formerly; the shirts he had with him and on his back are marked with a cross on the left breast.  He professeth himself a Roman Catholic, speaks very good English, is a carpenter and cooper by trade, and has with him a broad-ax, a two-foot rule, and a hollow howel.”  Jacobus likely used Saxton’s coopering skills to make barrels for shipping goods. 

 1739     Jacobus Van Cortlandt dies and is survived by his son Frederick and three daughters,  Margaret, Anne, and Mary.  Frederick inherits the Van Cortlandt land, livestock, farming implements, and slaves.

 1741     At age, 14, James (1727-1781), son of Frederick, is apprenticed to his Uncle Peter Jay for seven years. This form of family apprenticeship was repeated for cousins of James.

1748     Frederick begins construction of Van Cortlandt House.

 1749     Frederick states in his will of October 2, 1749. “ … I am now about building a large stone dwelling house on the plantation on which I now live … “ At this date, his three sons are age 22, 21, and 19 respectively, and his daughters are 13 and 12.

 1749     Frederick dies leaving Van Cortlandt House, its livestock, and farming implements to his eldest son James.  Frederick is the first Van Cortlandt interred in the family vault.  He bequeaths to his wife Frances “my two negro girls”, two chaises, and the use of his estate during her lifetime. Ten additional slaves are dispersed in Frederick’s will; Levelle, the boatman, to his son James, five slaves to Frances during his lifetime and upon her death to James, a negro girl to each of his daughters, Anne and Eve, a negro boy to each of his sons, Augustus and Frederick.  Several of this group of twelve slaves were originally owned by Jacobus and inherited by Frederick.

 1752     James travels to England on the Captain Bryant and returns in the fall of this year.

 1754     James marries Elizabeth Cuyler (1731-1815) of Albany, and she joins him in residence at Van Cortlandt.  They have no children.

 1756     James is named supervisor of the precinct of Yonkers and holds the office until 1774.

 1760     Augustus (1728-1823), second son of Frederick, marries his first wife, Elsie Cuyler (1737-1761). They have no children.

 1765     By this date, Augustus marries his second wife, Catharine Barclay (1744-1808), of Santa Cruz, West Indies.  Catharine gives birth to three children, James (1770-1773), Anne (1776-1814), and Helen (b. 1768).

 1770     James Van Cortlandt serves as Commissioner of Highways for Yonkers.

 1771     Frances Van Cortlandt, Frederick’s widow, drafts her will.  In it she bequeaths her personal estate plus a sum of cash to her daughters, Ann Van Horne and Eve White.  Additionally, she grants Ann her choice of “my negro girls” and Eve a “negro girl named Susan.”  To her son Frederick, she leaves a “negro wench Hester and a negro boy Pero.”  To James, with whom she lives, Frances leaves “a negro man, John, who now lives with him.”

 1775     James, a colonel in the Westchester County Militia, serves as a chairman of the meeting to elect deputies to the new Provincial Congress.  He and his brother Frederick are elected to represent Westchester.  James also serves on a committee assessing the feasibility of erecting a fort in Kingsbridge.

 1775     Augustus, a clerk of the city and county of New York, is told by the New York Provincial Congress to secure the city records from the British due to the “alarming state of public affairs.”  He “caused the publik records to be put into chests, and secured them in a cellar in his garden made for that purpose, of stone and brick, well arched and exceedingly dry … (and) should the city be invaded by an army from Great Britain …  he … intended to remove them to his brother’s at Yonkers.

1776     Augustus visits his ailing mother Frances at Van Cortlandt House and takes the opportunity to transport the city records to the family vault on Vault Hill north and slightly east of the house.

1776     Colonel Bernardus Swartwout sets up the first military encampment of the Revolutionary War on the Van Cortlandt grounds.  His men stay for three days in August, and the Colonel uses the House as his headquarters.

1776     General George Washington sets up headquarters at Van Cortlandt prior to the battle of White Plains.  Phillip Van Cortlandt, James’ cousin, states in his memoirs, “ … I arrived at the headquarters of General Washington at Kingsbridge at the house of my kindsman Colo. James Van Cortlandt the day the British landed at Throgs Neck (10.12.1776) … I remained a few days as aid to the Commander in Chief.”  On October 18, Washington’s troops departed Van Cortlandt for White Plains.

1776     After the battle of White Plains, British General Sir William Howe uses Van Cortlandt House as his headquarters as he moves his army to New York City to attack Fort Washington and pass the winter in the City.  For most of the remaining years of the war, Van Cortlandt House sat behind or near British lines.

1778     On the Riverdale Ridge, the home of Frederick Jr., (1730-1800), James’ youngest brother, is taken over by Hessians.  Frederick leaves his occupied home and joins James at Van Cortlandt House staying until 1783.

1780     Frances Jay Van Cortlandt, the widow of Frederick Sr., dies at Van Cortlandt House where she lived with James and his wife Elizabeth.  She is 79 years old.

1780     James becomes ill and moves to New York City to seek medical treatment.  He dies there the following year leaving no heirs to his Yonkers property. 

1781     Horse thieves break into the Van Cortlandt barn and steal five horses, three belonging to James and two belonging to Frederick.

1781     Augustus inherits Van Cortlandt House from his brother and moves in with his wife and two daughters, Anne and Helen, by 1783.  When they move into Van Cortlandt, Anne and Helen are age 17 and 15 respectively.

1783     General George Washington and his troops stop at Van Cortlandt between November 17 and 20 on their way to New York City behind the evacuating British Troops.

1787     Augustus becomes one of the first trustees of the new Yonkers Episcopal Society.

1790     The Federal Census finds Augustus and Catharine Van Cortlandt living with three other women (perhaps his two daughters aged 22 and 24, and another).  Seventeen slaves live on the property.

1795     At about this date, Augustus becomes one of the first vestrymen of St. John’s Church in Yonkers.

1800     The Federal Census finds Augustus and Catharine sharing their home with a young woman under age 26.  At this date 10 slaves live on the property.

1808     Catharine Van Cortlandt dies at age 64, having been cared for by her slave Dinah.

1810     The Federal Census finds Augustus living at Van Cortlandt House with two men between 26 and 45, one woman between 26 and 45, one woman over 45, and 2 undetermined persons.  Fifteen slaves live on the property.

1821     Augustus drafts his will and in it mentions Mary Buchanan, “who now resides with my family,” and James Barton, “in my service or employ.”  Both receive a suit of mourning clothes, and Mary receives a small cash bequest.  These two are probably hired servants at Van Cortlandt House.  In his will Augustus also states,  “ I manumit my Negro Slave Dinah in consideration of the great care and attention she paid my deceased affectionate wife during her last illness.”

1823     Augustus dies at age ninety-five after living in Van Cortlandt House for nearly forty years.  Augustus leaves no male heir, and Van Cortlandt House passes to his grandson, Augustus White, with the stipulation that he and all successive heirs to the estate take the name Van Cortlandt. 

 1874     The southern portion of Westchester west of the Bronx River is annexed to the City of New York. Negotiations begin to create public parkland in the area.

 1889     After 140 years of Van Cortlandt family occupation, the House and land is sold to the City of New York for use as a public park. 

 1896     The National Society of Colonial Dames in the State of New York enters into a licensing agreement with the City to operate Van Cortlandt House as a public Museum.

1897     Van Cortlandt House opens to the public.

1913     Norman Isham, Colonial Revival architect, begins consultation with the NSCD to renovate portions of the Museum interior. Renovations continue through 1918.

1960     Dr. Abbott Lowell Cummings begins the second series of renovations of Van Cortlandt House.

1988     The East and West Parlors are restored to their original paint colors.

1997     The National Society of Colonial Dames in the State of New York celebrate the 100th anniversary of Van Cortlandt House Museum.

1998     The 250th anniversary of the construction of Van Cortlandt House is celebrated.