Billop Family & House

of Staten Island, New York

The Billop Family was well known in New York during the 18th Century.

The Rev. William Edward Wyatt married Francis "Fanny" Billop in 1812. She is burried in Baltimore where Rev. Wyatt was rector of St. Paul's Episopal Church. This is a picture of her grave in the church graveyard:

Fanny was the daughter of Christopher Billop (1737 to 1827) who owned the home during the Revolutionay War. Christophers Parents were Thomas Farmer Billop and Sarah Leonard.

The Billop House, shown below was the cite of a "conference" between British and American Forces during the Revolutionary War. 

From: http://www.preserve.org/hht/info.htm

THE CONFERENCE HOUSE ASSOCIATION
Conference House Park, 7455 Hylan Boulevard, Staten Island, NY 10307
Mailing address: P.O. Box 171, Staten Island, NY 10307
15 April to 15 November: Friday to Sunday, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Call to confirm: (718) 984-6046.
Directions to the house.

C O N F E R E N C E   H O U S E

This beautiful fieldstone house, built around 1670, is one of very few Pre-Revolutionary War manor houses still standing in New York City. Located in the 226-acre Conference House Park at the southernmost tip of Staten Island, it was once part of a 1600-acre estate, Billop Manor, which became the site for the Staten Island Peace Conference in 1776. Here representatives of England and the Colonies met in a last attempt to reconcile their differences. The colonists, led by Benjamin Franklin, reasserted their drive for independence, and soon after, war was declared. Restoration of the house, now owned by the City of New York, was undertaken in 1925. It features 18th-century furnishings and gardens.

Lord Howe tried to end the Revolution at Billop House, on Staten Island, sept 11, 1776. However, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Edward Rutledge refused to accept his terms.