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The local American Legion post reached out to me with an interesting question just before Memorial Day–could I provide the number of veterans that served in the American Revolution that hailed from Riverdale, Kingsbridge, and Spuyten Duyvil. The trouble with the question is that there was no militia company composed of soldiers entirely from our neighborhood as there just were not enough men in the area to form a complete unit. It was a rural area with a small population.
However, a South Yonkers company was formed in 1775 after the battles of Lexington and Concord. This was composed of men from historic South Yonkers, which included our neighborhoods but also the settlement of Mile Square, which is about where the Cross County Shopping Center is today. It also included areas to the east bordering on the Bronx River. So many of the men listed on the militia roll are not from our neighborhoods. However, I have been able to find some of the locals using a combination of maps, deeds, wills, and miscellaneous surviving correspondence. As best I can tell, the below men were all from our neighborhood (also included is the general vicinity of where they lived):
William Betts – Kingsbridge Heights
Robert Brown – Riverdale near W. 246th and Post Road
John Cortright – probably Riverdale South of W. 251st Street and Post Road
Edward Cortright – probably Riverdale South of W. 251st Street and Post Road
John Cregier – Kingsbridge in Van Cortlandt Park near nature center
John Devoe – In Van Cortlandt Park, north of Van Cortlandt Park East and Oneida Ave
Abraham Emmons – Kingsbridge near W 242nd and Broadway
William Green – Riverdale W. 251st Street and Post Road
Isaac Green – Riverdale W. 251st Street and Post Road
George Hadley – Riverdale W. 254th Street and Post Road
Isaac Hadley – Riverdale
Joseph Hadley – Riverdale
William Hadley – Riverdale South of W. 251st Street and Post Road
Edward Ryer – probably Riverdale North of 254th Street and Post Road
John Ryer – probably Riverdale North of 254th Street and Post Road
Frederick van Cortlandt – Spuyten Duyvil at W. 238th Street and Waldo Ave
John Warner – Riverdale Palisades Ave and Sigma Pl
William Warner – Riverdale W. 260th Street and Broadway
George Berrien – Spuyten Duyvil in Lower Henry Hudson Park
There are some interesting names on the list. John Cregier seems to have been the area’s first physician and he served in the Revolution as a surgeon. Robert Brown was the only man of African ancestry in the unit, which was quite uncommon in Westchester County at the time. He continued to live in the area after the war. William Green was a local guide to the Patriot army when they needed someone with local knowledge to help guide the army through the trails and forests of Riverdale.
The complete militia company roll for South Yonkers is listed in Thomas Henry Edsall’s book, History of the Town of King’s Bridge:
There are some interesting names on this list as well including Anthony Allaire, who ended up fighting for the British and wrote a detailed account of the battle of King’s Mountain. And there is John Odell, another valuable guide to the Patriot army as they tried to find their way around in Westchester.
And there were others, who were not in the militia but also served such as:
General Richard Montgomery – Kingsbridge Heights (He died in the battle of Quebec in 1775 and many places in New York are named for him including Montgomery County)
John Peter Tetard – Kingsbridge Heights
Capt. Thomas Cregier – Van Cortlandt Park near Nature Center
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Yes, I believe it is. Robert Brown is a pretty common name but he was the only one with that name in our area that I could find. After the Revolution, there is a reference to a “Free Robert” in the 1790 Yonkers census and I think that is probably him as well.
The 1752 will that you mentioned is the document that freed Robert from slavery. And the 1790 census lists 4 people at the house of “Free Robert” in the column entitled “all other free persons” so that’s why I think it is him.
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