Philip Wharton Skene (5 February 1725 in London, England – 10 June 1810 near
Stoke Goldington
Stoke Goldington is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority area of the City of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It is located about four miles NNW of Newport Pagnell, on the road to Northampton.
History
The village name 'S ...
, Buckinghamshire) was a Scottish officer in the British army, New York state "
patroon
In the United States, a patroon (; from Dutch '' patroon'' ) was a landholder with manorial rights to large tracts of land in the 17th century Dutch colony of New Netherland on the east coast of North America. Through the Charter of Freedoms ...
", and a figure in the
Saratoga campaign of the American Revolution.
Military career
Skene was from the branch of the family associated with
Hallyards Castle. He enlisted in the British army in 1739 and saw much action: the
Battle of Porto Bello (1739), the
Battle of Cartagena de Indias
The Battle of Cartagena de Indias ( es, Sitio de Cartagena de Indias, lit=Siege of Cartagena de Indias) took place during the 1739 to 1748 War of Jenkins' Ear between Spain and Britain. The result of long-standing commercial tensions, the war w ...
(1741), the
Battle of Fontenoy (1745), and the
Battle of Culloden (1746). In 1756 he arrived in the British colonies in North America. In February 1757 he was promoted to the command of a company in the
27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot
The 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot was an Irish infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1689. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 108th (Madras Infantry) Regiment of Foot to form the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in 188 ...
. He was wounded in
Lord Howe's 1758 attack on
Fort Ticonderoga
Fort Ticonderoga (), formerly Fort Carillon, is a large 18th-century star fort built by the French at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain, in northern New York, in the United States. It was constructed by Canadian-born French milit ...
. In 1759 he was appointed major of a brigade and in October of that year was left in command of
Crown Point with instructions to strengthen the fortifications. While he was stationed there he became convinced that the local area was a good one for trade and settlement. With the encouragement of
Lord Amherst
Field Marshal Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, (29 January 1717 – 3 August 1797) was a British Army officer and Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in the British Army. Amherst is credited as the architect of Britain's successful campaig ...
he started a small settlement at the head of Lake Champlain, purchasing land in the area.
In 1762 Skene was sent to the Caribbean and took part in the
capture of Havana, being the first through the breach into
Morro Castle. In 1763 he returned to North America and found his settlement reduced to 15 inhabitants. He travelled to England and in 1765 obtained a royal patent for a large tract of land known as
Skenesborough
Whitehall is a village located in the town of Whitehall in Washington County, New York, United States. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village population was 2,614 in 2010.
The village of Whitehall is located just ...
(now the village of Whitehall). Returning to New York, he again began to develop a tenant settlement on his property. When his regiment returned to Ireland in 1768, Skene transferred to the
Xth Foot, and then sold his commission in 1769. In 1770 he became a resident of his new community. Over the next 5 years he made many improvements to his property, such as a road to
Salem, New York and on to
Bennington known as "Skene's Road". He built mills, storehouses, and boats, including the schooner ''Katherine'' that later became the
USS ''Liberty'' when seized by the patriots.
Plan for a new colony
Shortly before the Revolution
Ethan Allen and other leaders of the
New Hampshire Grants
The New Hampshire Grants or Benning Wentworth Grants were land grants made between 1749 and 1764 by the colonial governor of the Province of New Hampshire, Benning Wentworth. The land grants, totaling about 135 (including 131 towns), were made o ...
came up with a plan to solve their disputes with the colony of New York by obtaining a charter for a new royal colony comprising the Grants and also land on the New York side of Lake Champlain. The colony was to be obtained by Skene, who would be the governor and reside at Skenesborough. In pursuit of this goal Skene went to England and was appointed lieutenant governor of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and royal surveyor of the woods around Lake Champlain. He was advised to gather petitions from the inhabitants before seeking a royal patent for the new colony; Allen and others arranged a meeting at
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...
in the Grants on 11 April 1775, which approved a resolution asking "be taken out of so oppressive a jurisdiction and either annexed to some other government, or erected and incorporated into a new one". This plan was interrupted by the Revolution. It came up again during
Vermont's negotiations with the British governor of Quebec in the early 1780s, where if Skene had actually obtained a secret charter (as
Ira Allen
Ira Allen (April 21, 1751 – January 7, 1814) was one of the founders of the U.S. state of Vermont and a leader of the Green Mountain Boys during the American colonial period. He was the younger brother of Ethan Allen.
Biography
Ira Allen w ...
and others claimed), Vermont could have been part of a larger autonomous province.
American Revolution
When the American Revolution began, Skene's son Andrew was arrested as Crown Point and Ticonderoga were being seized. Skene himself was returning from England; on hearing of the outbreak of the Revolution, his ship was diverted to Philadelphia. His arrival there alarmed the
Continental Congress to the extent of appointing a committee headed by
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of t ...
to look over his papers; after their report, he was sent to Connecticut under arrest. John Adams wrote of Skene,
We have an infernal scoundrel here, a certain Col. S——, who comes over full of plans and machinations of mischief. He has had the most unreserved and unlimited confidence of Lord Dartmouth
Earl of Dartmouth is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1711 for William Legge, 2nd Baron Dartmouth.
History
The Legge family descended from Edward Legge, Vice-President of Munster. His eldest son William Legge was ...
, during the whole of the past winter, and it seems for some time before; and together with a contemptible puppy of a parson, V——, has been contriving to debauch, seduce, and corrupt New-York.
After giving parole, Skene and his son lived with
Sarah Hooker at her house in
West Hartford, Connecticut
West Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, west of downtown Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. The population was 64,083 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census.
The town's popular downtown area is colloquially ...
. While he was there, there was some alarm when Skene's "negro" slave John Anderson was appointed "governor of the negros" by the previous incumbent. Governor
Trumbull and his council appointed a committee headed by
Jesse Root to call on Skene and examine whether this was part of some plot, which Skene denied. Skene was eventually exchanged for
James Lovell
James Arthur Lovell Jr. (; born March 25, 1928) is an American retired astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot and mechanical engineer. In 1968, as command module pilot of Apollo 8, he became, with Frank Borman and William Anders, one of the f ...
in October 1776.
On his return to England in 1777 he enlisted with General
John Burgoyne
General John Burgoyne (24 February 1722 – 4 August 1792) was a British general, dramatist and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1761 to 1792. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several bat ...
's expedition and was given the rank of colonel. Burgoyne used Skene's home in Skenesborough as a headquarters in early July 1777, and Skene served Burgoyne as an advisor on local conditions and a commissary. Skene was sent along with
Baum
Baum is a German surname meaning "tree" (not to be confused with the French surname Baume). Notable people with this surname include:
* Bernie Baum (1929–1993), American songwriter
* Carol Baum, American film producer
* Christina Baum (b ...
's expedition that ended at the
Battle of Bennington
The Battle of Bennington was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, part of the Saratoga campaign, that took place on August 16, 1777, on a farm owned by John Green in Walloomsac, New York, about from its namesake, Bennington, Vermont. A r ...
to recruit Loyalists; he was sent back by Baum to hurry along the reinforcements. As the reinforcements came up, reputedly Skene hailed some American scouts with a cry of "Are you for King George?" and got his horse shot out from under him. He also may have been influential in Burgoyne's decision to cut a road from Skenesborough to
Fort Edward, perhaps with a view to improving access to his settlement. Skene was later part of the surrender of Burgoyne's army.
Later life
In 1779 Skene and his son Andrew were
attainted as Loyalists by New York State, and their property seized. Skene attempted vainly to regain his property, and then appealed to the British government for compensation and received in 1784 a pension of £180 per year, and later a lump sum of £20,000, which he used to purchase property in Buckinghamshire and
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by
two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
. He died in 1810 at his home Addersey Lodge, near Stoke Goldington and
Hartwell Hartwell may refer to:
Places
* Hartwell, Victoria, a neighbourhood of Camberwell in Melbourne, Australia
** Hartwell railway station
England
* Hartwell, Buckinghamshire
* Hartwell, Northamptonshire, a village
* Hartwell, Staffordshire, a l ...
, and is buried in the chapel at Hartwell.
Family
Skene's father James Skene was a
Jacobite who was captured at the
Battle of Preston in 1715 and several times narrowly avoided execution; he died in 1736. His mother was Mary Ann Smith, the daughter of a
Battersea minister. Skene's brother James was a surgeon for the East India Company. He died in 1780 in London. Skene himself married Katherine Heyden, an heiress from Ireland, and they had three children: Andrew Philip (b. 1753), Mary Ann Margaret (b. 1755), and Katherine (b. 1756).
[Skene, pp. 58–9]
References
Further reading
*''Philip Skene of Skenesborough'', Doris Begor Morton, Granville, NY: Grastorf Press, 1959
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skene, Philip
1725 births
1810 deaths
Military personnel from London
Loyalists in the American Revolution from New York (state)
Scottish soldiers