[Peter Cutul (2025)] Philipse, bought the property from Sybrant and Dorland. 10 Amazingly, the next day Adolph received a royal patent from Governor Fletcher extending the eastern boundary approximately an additional 190,000 acres to the CT border! 11 Adolph’s cozy relationship with the governor more than likely facilitated the transaction. Taking advantage of the hazy description of the eastern boundary, one story even suggests that Philipse cut down the tree marking the eastern border, rode all day and remarked a tree near the CT border. 12 Although Adolph Philipse managed to acquire a patent for the enlarged property, no deed was ever recorded as he likely realized it would have been considered invalid due to the fuzzy Eastern boundary and because no additional compensation had been provided to the Wappinger for this massive eastward expansion. 13 The recording of deeds was—and still is—an important step in the legal process of authenticating land transactions. 14 In 1750 Adolph Philipse died, leaving the 200,000 acre plus holding to his nephew Fredrick Philipse II. Fredrick only lived a year before passing away and bequeathing the land evenly to his three children: Philip, Susannah, and Mary. The Philipse sisters, Susannah and Mary, married Beverly Robinson and Roger Morris respectively. Effectively marrying into wealth, Robinson and Morris each laid claim to approximately 60,000 acres of land, or roughly two thirds, of contested Wappinger land, encompassing over three quarters of today’s Putnam County . 15 6 Bernis Nelson, local real estate attorney at law/researcher, email correspondence, January 2019. Oscar Handlin and Irving Mark, “Chief Daniel Nimham v. Roger Morris, Beverly Robinson, and Philip Philipse - An Indian Land Case in Colonial New York, 1765-1767”, Ethnohistory, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Summer 1964), Published by Duke University Press: 198. 8 Henry Noble MacCracken, Old Dutchess Forever! The Story of An American County (New York: Hastings House), 52. 9 Bernis Nelson, local real estate attorney at law/researcher, email correspondence, January 2019. 10 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Philipse 11 Henry Noble MacCracken, Old Dutchess Forever! The Story of An American County (New York: Hastings House), 52. 12 Thomas J. Humphrey, Land and Liberty, Hudson Valley Riots In The Age of Revolution (Illinois: Northern Illinois University Press),15 13 Thomas F. Maxon, Mount Nimham: The Ridge of Patriots, Historical Timeline (New York: Thomas Maxon, 2009), 19. 14 Thomas F. Maxon, Mount Nimham: The Ridge of Patriots, Historical Timeline (New York: Thomas Maxon, 2009), 29. 15 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philipse_Patent 7 In 1756, taking advantage of the fact that the Wappinger men were off fighting for the British in the French and Indian War, Robinson and Morris began an aggressive campaign notifying tenants on Wappinger land that they had to sign new leases or vacate. Some of the tenants had leases with the Wappinger going back 30 years or more. 16 When the Wappinger returned from fighting for the Crown in the French and Indian War they were dismayed to discover that not only had their hunting grounds been disturbed, but that their land had also been claimed by Robinson, Morris and Philipse. Their consternation led Chief Nimham, representing the tribe, to file a claim against the landlords in 1762. 17 In 1763 tenants on Wappinger land who were forced to sign new leases with Robinson, Morris, and Philips, petitioned the King for assistance, complaining that the men had “Discouraged people from Building Houses and planting orchards” in addition to evicting tenants who had “good and warrantable title by Lease Deed.” 18 Robinson in particular was targeted for his especially aggressive approach and his refusal to acknowledge the life-long leases already present. A clash was in the making between the tenants’ belief in their right to the land because of land occupancy, labor, and existing Wappinger lease agreements, and the landlords view of ownership by title. 19 The 1765 Land Hearing for the Wappinger The increasing tensions motivated the New York Common Council in 1765 to finally grant a hearing to the Wappinger and aggrieved tenants. With the assistance of attorney and Wappinger tenant Samuel Munroe, Nimham presented his case to the Council detailing how Adolph Philipse had never purchased the land beyond the 15,000 acre holdings from Dorland and Sybrandt and that no Indian deed existed to legitimize the drastic 190,000 acre expansion of Philipse holdings by Governor Fletcher. As the case wrapped up, it was looking favorable for Nimham. However, in an 11th hour surprise, Beverly Robinson reached into his coat pocket and produced a deed dated August 13, 1702 which included language covering the whole 205,000 acre parcel and extended the Eastern border all the way to CT. 20 Nimham and Munroe were allowed to briefly inspect the document and just as Munroe “was about to point out some mark of Fraud attending it... one of the Gentlemen of Council took the Same from him, and turning himself to the