Program

NYS Historic

Subject

Site

Location

287 Beechmont Dr, New Rochelle, NY 10804, USA

Lat/Long

40.931274, -73.779027

Grant Recipient

Beechmont Association

In August and September of 1776, George Washington and his Patriot army suffered two British defeats at the Battles of Long Island and Harlem Heights in New York. The British, despite their victories, were unable to capture Washington. William Howe, who was promoted to general and took command of all British troops in early October, wished to cut off Washington’s escape route before he reached White Plains, NY. Traveling north with his troops, General Howe encamped and made his headquarters at the home of James Pugsley in New Rochelle, today located just west of Huguenot Lake on North Ave.

Between 1844 and 1851, lawyer-turned-historian John McDonald compiled a series of over 400 firsthand accounts during the Revolutionary War in Westchester County, an area considered “neutral ground.” Interviews from 1844 with eyewitnesses Moses Clark and John and Isiah Coutant confirm General Howe’s travels and stay.

In his 1789 will, James Pugsley, a Quaker, bequeathed his home to his daughter Hannah and freed two enslaved servants, a young woman named Nanne and boy named John. Hannah, as stipulated in her 1828 will, wished to leave her land and furniture to her Black servants Lewy, Caty, and Plato. After Hannah’s death, portions of her land were divided at auction in 1860. Part of her estate was sold to Romanzo W. Montgomery. In 1902, City Realty Company acquired the Montogomery estate with plans for development. Today, concealing both Revolutionary history and the once Pugsley homestead, is the residential community of Beechmont.