The Westchester County Archives has recently added over 400 firsthand accounts of the Revolutionary War in Westchester County to its digital archives collection.
The collection is called “Experiencing the Neutral Ground of the American Revoluation” and includes not only Westchester but all of present-day Bronx County and parts of Fairfield County, Connecticut. During the American Revolution, this area was considered a “Neutral Ground” due to its location between the British lines “below” near New York City and the American lines “above” in northern Westchester and eastern Fairfield counties.
From 1844 to 1851 lawyer-turned-historian John M. Macdonald travelled through the former Neutral Ground to conduct interviews with residents who had either lived during the American Revolution or were born shortly after. He listened to the memories and stories of people still living in the area and recorded what they remembered themselves, or what family, friends, and neighbors had shared with them about living through the uncertainty of the Revolutionary War period.
The collection can be searched by last name. To find out more information and to start searching, go to: https://collections.westchestergov.com/digital/collection/mcdonald
