2 62 C. Becker manor stretched twenty-four by twenty-eight miles along the Hudson, while still farther north on the Mohawk were the pos- sessions of Sir William Johnson, whose influence was perhaps great- est of all' The above brief summary will serve to indicate the chief families composing the New York aristocracy of wealth and ability. An extraordinary proportion of the wealth — especially the landed wealth — of the province was in their possession, and of the social position and political influence incidental to such possession they made good use — so good indeed, that their names mark every page of New York history in the first three-quarters of the eighteenth cen- tury. How, then, was this aristocracy organized for purposes of political control ? It was organized, according to the wont of aristocracies, in- formally, by as wide intermarriages as possible. Each man had an " interest " great or small. If he wished to increase it, it was well to have a large family and contrive to make marriage alliances with as many and important families as possible. The family and the family welfare, socially and politically, was the standard. Thus — to note only a few of the most striking examples — the De Peysters were united with the Alexander,^ the Van Cortlandt,' the Schuyler,* and the Livingston^ families. The Heathcotes were allied to the Smith^ and the De Lancey families,^ and through the De Lancey family to the Philipse,^ Van Cortlandt,^ Schuyler,'" and Morris" families. The Livingstons married into the Van Brugh '^ and Duane " families, and were united with the De Peyster " and the 'Kip, O/dc-n Time, 12, 13. For a map showing exact location of landgrants and manors in New York, see Documentary History of New York (1849), I. z Valentine's Manual {%^^), 556. » Ibid.
- Ibid.
5 Indeed there were few prominent families of the province who were not related in some way to the De Peyster family. At the funeral of Abram De Peyster, Jr. , whose death occurred in 1767, the following families were represented among the relatives of the deceased : Van Cortlandt, Beekman, Bancker, Rutgers, Bedlow, Livingston, De Lancey, De La Noy, Lott, Walton, Cruger, Bayard, Clarkson, Van Home, Philipse, Schuyler, Stuyvesant, Jay, Roosevelt, etc. Ibid. 'Valentine's Manual (1864), 665. Caleb Heathcote married the daughter of Chief Justice William Smith. ^ By the marriage of Anne Heathcote to James De Lancey. Ibid. 8Scharf, Westchester County, . 169. s Valentine, History of Netv York. 243-244. ^oibid. ^^Ibid. ^"^ Memorial History of New York, IV. 522, 523. ^^Ibid,. 436 n. •' Valentine's Manual ( 1861 ), 556.
