King William III granted by Royal Charter, Van Cortlandt Manor to his grandfather, Stephanus Van Cortlandt. Originally, it was a tract stretching from the Hudson River on the west to the first boundary line between the Province of New York and the Colony of Connecticut, on the east, twenty English miles in length by ten in width, in shape nearly a rectangular parallelogram, forming, "The Manor of Cortlandt." The massive holding was acquired by direct purchase from the Indians, in part, by Stephanus van Cortlandt, a native born Dutch gentleman of New York, and in part by others whose titles he subsequently bought, this tract, together with a small tract on the west side of the Hudson River opposite the promontory of Anthony's Nose, which he also purchased from the Indians. The Van Cortlandt Manor House was built sometime before 1732 but was not any owner's principal residence until Pierre moved there in 1749. Inheritance In 1748, Pierre inherited from his father the Van Cortlandt Manor House and significant surrounding lands. He diversified and organized the Croton lands to develop income-producing tenant farms. Pierre maintained the Van Cortlandt Manor House and lands as a farmer/planter. Upon the survey of the Manor of Cortlandt, Annsville and lands adjoining constituted a portion of Front Lot No. 10, the river portion lot that was bequeathed to Gertrude Beekman, Pierre's aunt and daughter and devisee of Stephanus Van Cortlandt. It was on 340 acres of Gertrude's land where Pierre built the Upper Manor House and farm. Two miles to the north was Front Lot No. 10, on which another Van Cortlandt mansion, Oldstone, was built, and later near the bay the Fort Independence Hotel. Fort Independence was located on the high bluff on the western end of Roa Hook. Mrs. Gertrude Beekman, one of the original heirs of the first Lord of the Manor, died on March 23, 1777, leaving what was known as the "Peekskill estate" to her great nephew, Pierre's son Gilbert L. Van Cortlandt. It comprised that part of the manor lying on the river from the line of Putnam County and two tracts of land in Peekskill being about 340 acres, embracing Anthony's Nose, Roa Houk, Annsville and the large estate on which, in later years, was the residence of Pierre Van Cortlandt, Jr., where a spacious mansion [Oldstone, discussed below] was probably built about 1769. These properties were eventually