The first settler upon the Andrew Johnson patent upon which Little Britain now stands was John Humphrey, 1724; Peter Mullinder, 1729; also Mary McClaughry, John Read, Robert Burnett, in the same year; Charles Clinton, Alexander Denniston, John Young, Andrew McDowell, 1731.
The Mailler family were here prior to 1730, who sold to Robert Carscadden. Among others who settled here with the Clintons were the Armstrongs, Beatty, Barkly, Brooks, Denniston, Davis, Dunlap, Frazer, Gordon, Gray, Hamilton, Little, Mitchell, McDowell, McClaughry, Oliver, Nicholson, Thompson, Wilson and Young, whose descendants are numerous in the county.
The Low and Co.'s patent of 3,292 acres was granted to Peter Low, Garret Schuyler and John Schuyler and was divided among them. The third portion of John Schuyler passed by will to his nephews, Brant and Samuel Schuyler. Brant Schuyler eventually becoming sole possessor. Low and Garret Schuyler sold a considerable portion to Allen Jarrett, April 5th, 1720, Low sold 600 acres to John Vance, September 1st, 1734, and 200 acres to Jarvis Tompkins, May 22, 1738. Other settlers on this patent were: John Slaughter, 1720; Thomas Shaw, 1729; William Miller, 200 acres, November 12th, 1746: Charles Beatty, 200 acres of Brant Schuyler's, August 22nd, 1744, which he sold to James McClaughry, July 14th, 1749, the latter the colonel of the 3rd Regiment of Militia, who fought at the Highland forts in 1777. Beatty, the son of a sister of Charles Clinton, became a distinguished clergyman, some of whose descendants still reside at Salisbury Mills in this county.
James Gambell and John Humphrey purchased of the Hume patent 300 acres, April 6, 1730, and divided it equally between them. Gambell sold to Patrick Byrne, March 12, 1744, and Humphrey sold to Patrick McClaughry, February 22, 1769. The remaining portion of this patent was sold by James Ludlow, a nephew of the patentee, to James Neely, Henry M. Neely, William Young and Patrick McClaughry. William Young sold to Samuel Sly 233 acres, and Gambell and Humphrey sold their portion to William Tilford and Samuel Falls.
Cadwallader Colden became the owner of the John Johnson patent of 2,000 acres at the date of its issue. A portion of the Belknap family settled upon it in 1750.
The Van Dam patent of 5,000 acres passed into the possession of Jessie Woodhull in 1753, also a portion to Peter Gallatin, John Moffat and the Walling Brothers. This tract is now included in the present town of Blooming Grove.
The small Henderson patent early passed into the possession of John Wandel and David Edmonston.
The Lewis Morris patent of 1,000 acres was owned by Alexander Denniston, Francis Crawford, Thomas Cook and William Denniston in 1786, purchased from earlier settlers.
We have already mentioned under the head of patents, many of the early settlers. The earliest were those of Colonel McGregorie at Plum Point in 1685, and the Reverend Richard Charlton, sent out by the London Missionary Society in 1732, for the parish of New Windsor, which was connected with the Church of England. Among the names of the owners of the village were: Ebenezer Seeley, Brant Schuyler, Henry Case, Vincent Matthews, Michael Jackson, Daniel Everet, Even Jones, Hezekiah Howell, Joseph Sackett, Jr., James Tuthill, John Sackett, Jr., Colonel Charles Clinton, 1731; Dr. John Nicoll, 1734; William Ellison, 1732; John Ellison, Captain Jas. Jackson, William Jackson, Thomas Ellison, Isaac Shultz, Messrs. Logan, Bryam, Halstead, Denniston and others. At Little Britain, John Humphrey, 1724; Peter Mulliner, 1729, who gave it the name from Windsor Castle in England; Robert Burnett, John Reid, 1729; Charles Clinton, John and James McClaughry, Alexander Denniston and John Young in 1731. Among those who came from Ireland were James Edmonston, 1720; the Clintons, Alsop, Chambers, Lawrence, Haskins, etc., 1731, who settled in the eastern portion of the town, while the Coldens, Matthews, Wileman, Mcintosh, Bulls, settled in the more western portion.
NOTED RESIDENTS.