History of New Rochelle, New York
New Rochelle (French: Nouvelle-Rochelle [la nuvɛl ʁoʃɛl]) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. The town was settled by refugee Huguenots (French Protestants) in 1688 who were fleeing Catholic pogroms in France. Many of the settlers were artisans and craftsmen from the city of La Rochelle, France, thus influencing the choice of the name of "New Rochelle".
In 2007, the city had a population of 73,260, making it the seventh largest in the state of New York.
In 1689, the absolutist Catholic monarch of France Louis XIV unilaterally revoked the Edict of Nantes. This royal edict had protected the minority Protestant population from religious persecution within certain defined areas of France. Despite the fact that the Protestants were France's most industrious class, Louis XIV was determined to drive them out of France. Faced with the prospect of the resurgence of another war of religion, Protestant countries of Europe opened up their territories to these French Protestants, or Huguenots. John Pell, Lord of Pelham Manor, under warrant from the King William III of England, provided land to Huguenot families, most of whom were from the Province of Aunis and the city of La Rochelle.
Some 33 families established the community of New Rochelle. A monument containing the names of these settlers stands in Hudson Park, the original landing point of the Huguenots in 1688. Thirty-one years earlier, the Siwanoy Indians sold their land to Thomas Pell. His land patent was confirmed by his nephew, John Pell, who became lord of Pelham Manor - a feudal domain with its own civil and criminal courts. It was from John Pell and his wife that Jacob Leisler, acting as an agent for a group of Huguenots in New York, purchased the land upon which they would settle for a sum of 1,675 pounds. In 1689 Pell officially deeded 6,100 acres (25 km2) to Leisler for the establishment of a Huguenot community. In addition to the purchase money, Jacob Leisler and his heirs and assigns were to yield and pay unto John Pell and his heirs and assigns (Lords of the Pelham Manor) one 'Fat Calf' yearly as acknowledgement of their feudal obligation to the Manor.
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