Philipse' was born at Spring Head, the estate of his father in Barbados,. He was the only son of his parents, Philip Philipse, and Maria Philipse, who both died in Barbados shortly after his birth in 1698. Following their deaths, young Frederick went to New York to live with his grandfather, who immediately sold the Barbados estate to ensure that young Frederick would not be induced later to settle there, which reportedly greatly upset his mother's relatives. His mother was the youngest of the four daughters of Joyce Sparkes and Sparkes, Esq., who was reportedly a governor of Barbados. Two of his maternal aunts had returned to their father's estate in Worcestershire, England, and the others accompanied their parents to the Barbados. When his paternal grandfather died on November 6, 1702, Frederick was thereafter raised by his grandfather's second wife, Catharine Philipse, the daughter of New York mayorStephanus Van Cortlandt, who took him to England to be educated. His grandmother and the elder Frederick's first wife was Margaret Hardenbroeck Philipse, who predeceased his grandfather. While in England, young Philipse studied law, and upon reaching his majority, inherited a large part of the Philipse estate and became the 2nd Lord of Philipsburg. Upon the death of his bachelor uncle Adolphus Philipse, Frederick II inherited Adolphus' share of Philipse lands and commercial interests received from Frederick I, as well as the upper Highland Patent that Adolphus had been granted by the Crown for lands purchased north of Westchester County between the Hudson River and the Connecticut Colony.
Career
Philipse II served as a Justice of the Peace, an Alderman and was repeatedly elected as Representative for the County of Westchester in the New York Assembly for the last twenty-seven years of his life until 1751, serving as Speaker of the Assembly between 1721 and 1728. In the assembly, he served alongside Robert Livingston, the 3rd Lord of Livingston Manor, who represented Livingston Manor from 1737 to 1790. He was appointed Third Justice of the Supreme Court of Judicature in 1731. He took office as Second Justice in 1733, a position that he held until his death in 1751. On April 6, 1733, Philipse II, as a committee member, helped to lay out the original Bowling Green in lower Manhattan. Later that year, he became one of the lessee's in charge of Bowling Green at the cost of one peppercorn per year. Justice Philipse was a member of the majority that found in favor of Governor William Cosby in Cosby v. Van Dam, the 1733 case that precipitated the political crises that led to the Zenger trial. As Second Justice, Philipse participated in the New York Slave Conspiracy trials of 1741 which, based upon questionable testimony, resulted in death sentences for thirty-four defendants and the deportation of ninety-one others away from the colony.
Philipse died of consumption in New York on July 26, 1751; and was buried in the family vault in the Dutch Church at Sleepy Hollow, near Tarrytown. In his will, he left Philipsbourg and most of his houses in New York to his son Frederick. If his son Frederick did not marry, his son Philip would inherit, and if neither of them married or had only daughters, then the properties were to go to his own daughters, Susanna Philipse Robinson, and Mary Philipse Morris. His widow was killed by a fall from her carriage on the Highland estate, in 1765.
Legacy
Upon his death Philipsburg Manor was bequeathed to his son, who became Frederick Philipse III, the 3rd Lord of Philipsburg Manor. The Highland Patent was divided among Frederick's other surviving offspring, Philip, Mary, and Susanna Philipse. Later known as the Philipse Patent, the roughly 250 square mile parcel became today's Putnam County, New York. Philipse was the founder of St. John's Church in Yonkers.
