Description
The warrant to collect taxes on Shelter Island, signed by Brinley Sylvester and seven other men. Manuscript, ink on laid paper. 11 ¾ in x 8 in, with eight red wax seals of the eight signatories, two of which are now partially gone. Dated October 31, 1744. There is an identifying ink annotation on the verso. There are a few slight fold separations and a few instances of ink corrosion.
The military operations in North America that formed part of the War of the Austrian Succession, King George’s War (1744–1748) was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place primarily in the British provinces of New York, Massachusetts Bay (which included Maine as well as Massachusetts at the time), New Hampshire (which included Vermont at the time), and Nova Scotia.
As a result of these hostilities, the New York Assembly passed An act for repairing and compleating the Fortifications of this Colony; for Defraying the Charge of the several Services therein mentioned; for the Use and Security of the said Colony; and for building a new House, proper for the Residence of Governors thereof, for the time being. Pass’d the 19th of May, 1744. 17th George II A.D. 1744.
Accordingly, in Suffolk County, on Shelter Island, a warrant was given by the Supervisors of Suffolk County to the Tax Collector to collect three thousand, two hundred pounds sterling (3,200 £) “… for putting it in a Proper Posture of Defence, & for discharging the Several Services which ye Present State of Affairs make it necessary to provide for.” The tax was to be collected from Freeholders and Inhabitants of the Island in the assessed amount of “ye sum of four Pounds, twelve Shillings, & two Pence, one Farthing together with one Shilling on ye Pound out of which ye Collector may return in his Hands nine Pence on each Pound for his collecting and paying ye Sums …”. The money was to be collected and paid by “ye first Tuesday in June” of 1745, as the warrant is dated October 31, 1744.
Text of the document:
“Suffolk County}
To the Assessors & Collector of Shelter Island respectively
Pursuant to an Act of ye General Assembly on — an Act to raise and collect in this Colony the sum of three thousand, two hundred pounds for putting it in a proper Posture of Defence, & for discharging the Several Services which ye Present State of Affairs make it necessary to provide for. You are hereby authorized & required, to assess, —, & collect of & from ye several Freeholders & Inhabitants of your Island ye sum of four Pounds, twelve Shillings, & two Pence, one Farthing together with one Shilling on ye Pound out of which ye Collector may return in his Hands nine Pence on each Pound for his collecting and paying ye Sums, and ye Remainder to pay unto ye Treasurer of the County on or before ye first Tuesday in June most of being ye Proportion of ye said Island and paying ye Tax of three thousand, two hundred Pounds in ye said Act mentioned. And for your so doing this shall be your sufficient Warrant Given under ye Islands & seals of ye Supervisors of ye said County. Ye 31st day of October Anno Dom[ini] 1744.
Josiah Howell Brinley Sylvester
Daniel Smith George Phillips
Richard Lloyd
Isaac Brush
Cornelius Conkling Jr
Sam[uel] Landon”
Citation: Laws of New York, From The Year 1691, to 1751, inclusive. Published according to an Act of the General Assembly. New York: James Parker, Printer to the Government, at the new Printing-Office, in Beaver Street, MDCCLII.
Laws of New York, Chapter DCCLVIII, An act for repairing and compleating the Fortifications of this Colony; for Defraying the Charge of the several Services therein mentioned; for the Use and Security of the said Colony; and for building a new House, proper for the Residence of Governors thereof, for the time being. Pass’d the 19th of May, 1744. 17th George II A.D. 1744 Obsolete.
Manuscript Real Estate Transfer New York Christmas Eve 1696
Ten Letters 1702 – 1720 by Hannah Sylvester a Shelter Island Heiress
John Dunlap Printer 1775 a Bond Agreement Form for Philadelphia Loyalist Alexander Bartram
