BRONX SCENE REPRINTED FROM 3-25-2010
Throggs Neck’s earliest days
The outline of Throggs Neck has changed some over the last few hundred
years but the basic concept can be visualized by examining this photo
taken from the air.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, J BTR ANUARY 25-31, 2019 45
The earliest history of
Throggs Neck begins at the harbor
in Bristol Bay on December
1, 1630 when John Throgmorton
and his wife Rebecca boarded
the “Lyon” for their trip to
Massachusetts. The ship held
only 20 passengers and upon
its arrival at Nantasket Beach
on February 5, 1631, Governor
John Winthrop duly recorded
the names of all the passengers
into his diary. Roger Williams,
who also found a place in history
as the founder of Rhode Island,
was also among them.
The Throgmortons settled
in Salem but when Roger Williams
was ousted in 1637, they
decided to join him in Rhode
Island. Anne Hutchinson was
also among those who found refuge
there. That colony was considered
the swill-pot of North
America by Governor Winthrop
and others and constant
threats came from the Massachusetts
Bay Colony. Fearing
that Providence might, indeed,
be raided, some chose to fi nd
refuge elsewhere.
Thus it was in 1642 that John
Throgmorton and 35 of his associates
moved south to an area
controlled by the more tolerant
Dutch. Throgmorton had
applied for and been granted a
ground brief by Dutch Governor
Wilhelm Kieft for a parcel
of land known as the Vriedlandt.
The term meant “land
of peace,” which sounded wonderful
to the new inhabitants.
Using today’s names, the land
was bounded on the south
by East River, on the west by
Westchester Creek, and at the
north by the inlet of what we
now know as the Hutchinson
River, and on the east by the
Long Island Sound. By the time
the ground brief or land patent
arrived, it was dated July 6, 1643
but it turned out to be a very important
document in that it attested
to Throgmorton’s ownership
of the land.
Later in 1643 the Vriedlandt
and much of the rest of
the area we know as the Bronx
was engulfed in war with Native
Americans who attacked
the colony. Throgmorton lost
17 members of his group but he
and the remainder managed to
escape thanks to a passing ship.
It is interesting that, although
he resided there for such a
short period of time, the peninsula
still bears his name albeit
in the abbreviated form of
Throggs Neck and, for a while
it was even called Frog’s Neck
which was simply a misnomer
based on someone’s bad pronunciation.
Throgmorton was always
interested in real estate and
moved back to Rhode Island
where he increased his holdings.
He also invested in the
Monmouth Patent in New Jersey
where some of his children
later settled. He sold the Vriedlandt
to Augustine Hermans
in October of 1652. Herman’s
began subdividing the land
selling 50 morgens (a morgen
is about two acres) to Thomas
Hunt who received a confi rmatory
patent to the land from
British Governor Richard Nicolls
dated December 4, 1667.
This was later confi rmed by
Governor Thomas Dongan in
1686/7 under the name, the
Grove Farm Patent. This area
is now covered by Monsignor
Scanlan High School and the
surrounding area.
It’s interesting that the
town of Westchester tried to lay
claim to the Vriedlandt by virtue
that they always enjoyed access
to it. The British governor
denied their claim as full title to
the land had been properly conveyed
by royal patents. There
did, however, come a time when
a bridge was constructed over
Westchester Creek by the town
and that was in 1677. The Vriedlandt
continued to be subdivided
and I wonder what the
original settlers would think
if they could see Throggs Neck
today.