[Frederic Shonnard & W.W. Spooner (1900)] Not an old man, ami yet arrived at an age of gravity; not a politician in the common sense, but well experienced in public af-fairs and having a reputation for great judiciousness and virtuous love of truth and right; the head of a family as reputable and as highly and widely connected as any in the province, his example was of inestimable moral value to a cause which, in this county at least, had little need for vehement and aggressive advocates, but much for courageous upholders from among the dignified and con-servative classes of society. His services to the patriot movement began in the colonial assembly, of which he was a member, and from that time until after the organization of the government of the United States he was one of the most earnest, useful, and prominent promoters of political independence and stable republican institu-tions. His private life was identified almost exclusively with West-chester County. Born on the 10th of January, 1712, he lived on the manor from boyhood, taking an active part at an early age in the family interests. His father, Philip, bequeathed to him " all that 1 He was the ancestor of the English branch ters marrying into the best English and Scotch of the Van Cortlandts— the " eldest " branch. families. The present Lord Elphinstone, one At the termination of the war, he went to of the Queen's lords in waiting, is a great-England to reside, and died at Hailsham, in grandson of Colonel Van Cortlandt. Of the 1S14.