Frederick Philipse was a landed proprietor in the North America from Netherlands.
Background
He was born on November 6, 1626 in Friesland, Holland, son of Frederick and Margaret (Dacres) Philipse. His name also appears as Vreedryk or Vrederyck Felypsen. His father removed with his family to New Amsterdam, probably with Stuyvesant in 1647. The son engaged in trade and rose to affluence.
Education
There is no information about his education.
Career
When New Netherland became an English province, he, serving as a merchant, accommodated himself to the new régime. Trade with the Five Nations, the East and West Indies, and Madagascar swelled his profits, further increased by importation of slaves. He also engaged in the manufacture of wampum.
During the years from 1664 to 1674, when Dutch and English authority alternated, Philipse preserved his political equilibrium, unaffected by excessive zeal for either cause. From 1675 to 1688 he served in the council of the colony. When the revolt in New York City made Jacob Leisler its head, Philipse and Stephen Van Cortlandt were in charge of administration, committed to them by Nicholson, the retiring lieutenant-governor. Yielding to the storm, they withdrew from public responsibility.
On the restoration of regular government, Philipse returned to the council, where he voted for the execution of the death penalty against Leisler and Milbourne. He served in this body until 1698, when his close relations with Governor Fletcher and reputed dealing with Madagascar pirates prepared the way for his final retirement. His resignation was ascribed to a discovery that the home government had determined to order his dismissal.
In 1672 Elias Doughty sold one-third of the former Adriaen Van der Donck estate, known as upper Yonkers or the Yonkers plantation, to each of three men, one of whom was Frederick Philipse, who thus acquired the nucleus of a magnificent property. The remainder of the estate subsequently became his.
By an Indian deed in 1680 he acquired title to land on both sides of the Pocantico River, and by a second deed four years later to all that tract between the Yonkers Creek and Bronck's River. Philipse's total acquisitions were consolidated in 1693 in the Royal Patent of Philipsburgh. The history of this manor is interwoven with the chronicles of the American Revolution and with American literature.
Philipse's skill in building was much prized during his first years in the colony, and he was commonly styled Stuyvesant's "architect-builder. " He was a carpenter by trade. In romantic Sleepy Hollow he erected a church and also the stone mansion, Castle Philipse. The Manor Hall of Yonkers, which he reared, has been purchased by the state for perpetual preservation in the city of his founding. His New York town house, at Whitehall and Stone streets, was confiscated after the War of the Revolution.
He died in Province of New York.
Achievements
Connections
Philipse married in December 1662, Margaret Hardenbrook (the name is variously spelled), widow of Pieter Rudolphus. Philipse's had eleven children with his first wife. For his second wife, he married November 30, 1692, Catharine Van Cortlandt, widow of John Dervall. His wealth was increased by his marriages.