The town of Pelham, New York is the oldest town in Westchester County, New York. It was founded by Thomas Pell who purchased the land from Cheif Wampage of the Siwanoy Native Americans in 1654. The town name became Pelham because Pell named his estate after his revered tutor, Pelham Burton. Pell assisted the English in driving out the Dutch settlers so that the area could be an English colony in the late 17th century, leading the English militia to Dutch New Amsterdam (New York's name under the Dutch) governor Peter Stuyvesant's surrender.
