# Staten Island, Richmond County, New York in the 1760s

> A rural, ferry-linked island county of farms, churches, enslaved labor, militia duty, and roads running through woods to the shore.

- Place: Staten Island, Richmond County, New York (40.562, -74.140)
- Years: 1760 to 1769
- Known then as: Richmond County
- Page: https://yorehistory.com/place/staten-island-richmond-county-new-york/1760s
- Step into it (interactive): https://yorehistory.com/?step=Staten%20Island%2C%20Richmond%20County%2C%20New%20York%2C%20United%20States&at=40.5623,-74.1399&year=1765

## Looking around

You stand on a broad island still treated as one county, with salt water around it[1] and farm roads leading toward landings. Turning inland, the country is largely rural[3], with orchards beside farmhouses[4] and wheat and rye fields[4] laid in furrows rather than ditches. Some houses are wooden, with a few of stone[4], and near the farms are cider presses worked by horse power[4]. Toward Richmond, county business gathers around a courthouse, jail, taverns, stores, and churches[5]. The church calendar is divided among St. Andrew's Church[6] and Dutch, French Huguenot, and Waldensian traditions[7] that have blended over generations. Roads run through woods to the water side[4], and at the shore a traveler may board a yacht for the eight-mile crossing to New York[4]. The decade still carries the memory of British regiments camped on the island in 1761[4].

## Work: Farms, orchards, army market

Work centers on wheat and rye fields[4], orchards and cider presses[4], stock, and produce. In 1761 the British camp itself created a market, asking farmers to bring stock and produce for sale[4].

## Faith: Several churches, blended peoples

The Anglican presence is visible at St. Andrew's Church at Richmond[6], but it is not the only religious world. Older Dutch Reformed, Huguenot, and Waldensian[7] worship still shapes names, burial grounds, and memory.

## Law & power: County court and freeholders

Power gathers at Richmondtown's courthouse and jail[5] and in the hands of magistrates, sheriffs, militia officers, and freeholders. Road orders and militia needs show local government reaching into everyday movement and defense.

## What people feared: A watched frontier county

Only a few years before the decade, Richmond County called itself a frontier county liable to be the first invaded[4]. The fear was practical enough to raise lottery money for arms and accoutrements[4].

## Home & table: Wood, stone, cider, pewter

The ordinary house is likely wooden[4], though some are stone. Meals and furnishings range from wooden trenchers[4] to pewter, with suppawn and milk[4] and cider appearing in remembered colonial foodways.

## Money: Pieces of eight tickets

One printed measure of money is the militia lottery: 1,000 tickets at two and a half pieces of eight[4]. Its proceeds were meant to arm men too poor to equip themselves.

## Who lived here: Dutch, English, French roots

A mid-century traveler found the older population largely Dutch in origin but speaking English for the most part[4]. Church history also preserves French Huguenot and Waldensian[7] roots.

## Roads & news: Roads to landings

News and strangers move by road and water: roads were laid so people could carry goods to the waterside[4]. From there, the city is a yacht crossing of eight English miles[4].

## Year by year

- **1756** (here): Richmond County advertised a lottery to raise up to £150 for arms for men unable to equip themselves.[4]
- **1760** (the world): George III became king of Great Britain, making Staten Islanders subjects of a new monarch.
- **1761** (here): Eleven British regiments camped in central Staten Island after service on the Canadian frontier.[4]
- **1761** (here): General Jeffery Amherst was invested as a Knight of the Bath at the Staten Island camp before provincial dignitaries and spectators.[4]
- **1763** (the world): The Treaty of Paris ended the Seven Years' War and confirmed British control of Canada.
- **1765** (the country): The Stamp Act made printed legal and commercial paper a subject of imperial taxation and colonial protest.
- **1766** (the country): The Stamp Act was repealed, but Parliament asserted its authority over the colonies in the Declaratory Act.
- **1767** (the country): The Townshend duties taxed imported goods such as glass, paint, paper, lead, and tea, feeding arguments heard across the colonies.

## What the sources say

- Richmond County in this decade meant Staten Island together with nearby Shooter's Island and the Islands of Meadow on the west side. (from the sources)[1]
- A modern archaeological report summarizes the island's population as about 1,889 in 1737 and around 3,000 by 1776. (from the sources)[2]
- The map point lies on the south-central part of Staten Island, so the safest scale for the 1760s is Richmond County rather than a named village at that point. (inferred)
- Staten Island remained largely rural through the colonial period and into the nineteenth century. (from the sources)[3]
- A 1694 Richmond County road record laid out highways for people living back in the woods to carry themselves and goods to the waterside. (from the sources)[4]
- Richmondtown had become the county center by the eighteenth century, with descriptions of a small village containing a courthouse, jail, taverns, stores, and churches. (from the sources)[5]
- Pehr Kalm's mid-eighteenth-century travel account described most Staten Island farmhouses as wooden, though some were built of stone. (from the sources)[4]
- Kalm observed orchards near almost every farmhouse and cider presses at farmhouses on Staten Island. (from the sources)[4]
- Kalm described Staten Island fields as sown with wheat or rye and bordered by furrows rather than ditches. (from the sources)[4]
- Kalm crossed from Staten Island to New York by yacht, calling the sea passage eight English miles and taking about three morning hours. (from the sources)[4]
- St. Andrew's Church at Richmond was an Anglican parish founded after Aeneas Mackenzie arrived in 1705 and chartered by Queen Anne in 1712 or 1713. (inferred)[6]
- Older Staten Island worship included Dutch Reformed, Huguenot, and Waldensian congregations, with French churches at Fresh Kill and Stony Brook remembered in later county history. (from the sources)[7]
- In August to November 1761, eleven British regiments returning from the Canadian frontier camped in the central part of Staten Island. (from the sources)[4]
- The 1761 army camp formed a market and invited Staten Island farmers to bring stock and produce for sale. (from the sources)[4]
- In 1756 Richmond County was described in a lottery notice as a frontier county liable to be the first invaded in case of attack, and the lottery sought up to £150 for arms and accoutrements for men unable to provide them. (from the sources)[4]
- The 1756 lottery sold 1,000 tickets at two and a half pieces of eight each, with prizes printed for publication in the New York Gazette. (from the sources)[4]
- Colonial household accounts for Staten Island mention wooden trenchers among poorer people, pewter dishes among wealthier people, feather beds, suppawn and milk for breakfast, and cider or chocolate with toasted bread. (from the sources)[4]
- St. Andrew's missionary system had the island divided into three precincts with a teacher in each, supported by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in London. (from the sources)[7]
- Enslaved people lived and worked on colonial Staten Island, but the opened sources here do not give a reliable 1760s Richmond County count. (not known)
- No online source opened here gives a precise 1760s price for a day's farm labor or a bushel of Staten Island wheat. (not known)

## Sources

1. History of Richmond County (Staten Island), New York, Part 31. LDS Genealogy, transcription of 1887 county history, 1887. https://ldsgenealogy.com/NY/books/History-of-Richmond-County-Staten-Island-New-York-from-its-discovery-to-the-present-time-part-31.htm
2. Archaeological Documentary Study, Staten Island. New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, 2018. https://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/arch_reports/1877.pdf
3. Richmond Town Historic District. Living Places. https://www.livingplaces.com/NY/Richmond_County/Staten_Island_Borough/Richmond_Town_Historic_District.html
4. History of Richmond County (Staten Island), New York, Part 14. LDS Genealogy, transcription of 1887 county history, 1887. https://ldsgenealogy.com/NY/books/History-of-Richmond-County-Staten-Island-New-York-from-its-discovery-to-the-present-time-part-14.htm
5. The Staten Island Historian, April-June 1956. Staten Island Historical Society, 1956. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b24209fda02bc5bf5953ca1/t/65c2613c662fd2589c1ff1f2/1707237694558/SIHistorian_April-June1956.pdf
6. Our History. Church of St. Andrew, Staten Island. https://www.standrewssi.org/our-history
7. History of Richmond County (Staten Island), New York, Part 33. LDS Genealogy, transcription of 1887 county history, 1887. https://ldsgenealogy.com/NY/books/History-of-Richmond-County-Staten-Island-New-York-from-its-discovery-to-the-present-time-part-33.htm

## The same place in other decades

- [Staten Island in the 1720s](https://yorehistory.com/place/staten-island-richmond-county-new-york/1720s/md)

## Nearby, about the same time

- [Morristown, Morris County, New Jersey in the 1760s](https://yorehistory.com/place/morristown-morris-county-new-jersey/1760s/md) (39 km)
- [Somerset County, New Jersey in the 1760s](https://yorehistory.com/place/somerset-county-new-jersey/1760s/md) (41 km)
- [near High Bridge, Hunterdon County, New Jersey in the 1760s](https://yorehistory.com/place/near-high-bridge-hunterdon-county-new-jersey/1760s/md) (65 km)
- [Newton, Sussex County, New Jersey in the 1760s](https://yorehistory.com/place/newton-sussex-county-new-jersey/1760s/md) (75 km)
- [Greenwich, Sussex County, New Jersey in the 1750s](https://yorehistory.com/place/greenwich-sussex-county-new-jersey/1750s/md) (79 km)
- [Greenwich or Lopatcong area, Sussex County, New Jersey in the 1780s](https://yorehistory.com/place/greenwich-or-lopatcong-area-sussex-county-new-jersey/1780s/md) (79 km)
- [Sussex County, New Jersey in the 1730s](https://yorehistory.com/place/sussex-county-new-jersey/1730s/md) (79 km)
- [Greenwich Township, Warren County, New Jersey in the 1760s](https://yorehistory.com/place/greenwich-township-warren-county-new-jersey/1760s/md) (80 km)

---
Researched by Yore's AI historian (gpt-5.5) on 2026-10-13 from the sources listed. It is about the place and the time, not about any person. Statements marked "inferred" are conclusions, not records. Cite as: Yore, "Staten Island, Richmond County, New York in the 1760s", https://yorehistory.com/place/staten-island-richmond-county-new-york/1760s