🏘️ Croton Local History
Blog posts, articles, and community histories by local historians
1,661Passages
207Source Documents
Sources
Passages
crotonhistory.org
common large sail-boat. The passengers sit flat upon the platform, and with a good wind are moved rapidly over the ice, oftentimes at the rate of a mile in a minute.” ↩ Tomkins Cove is on the west side of the Hudson River, opposite Verplanck. ↩ Share
47 words
crotonhistory.org
this: Print (Opens in new window) Print Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Share on X (Opens in new window) X Share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest Share on Tumblr (Opens
46 words
crotonhistory.org
in new window) Tumblr Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn Like Loading... Related Tagged Dunderburg ice boats Ice fishing Peekskill Bay Tomkins Cove Published December 22, 2013 December 23, 2013
32 words
crotonhistory.org
Clement C. Moore, author of the beloved poem ’ Twas the Night Before Christmas , had a family connection to what was then called the village of Sing Sing. According to the biography by Samuel White Patterson, Moore “had once contemplated making a
43 words
crotonhistory.org
summer home on the Hudson. In 1839, he bought a beautiful estate at Sing Sing.” Moore let his son Benjamin “have the property” and the famous scholar and poet “journeyed to Sing Sing from time to time to visit Benjamin and his wife.” 1 The Benjamin
46 words
crotonhistory.org
Moore estate (left) from the Atlas of Westchester County, New York by G.W. Bromley & Co., 1881. The website for Dale Cemetery has additional details. “The Moore Family resided in Ossining from about 1839 until the early years of this century. . . .
44 words
crotonhistory.org
The family resided in one of Ossining’s oldest houses located near the river in the Brayton Park area. The house, known as “Moorehaven” was built around 1740 by a Dutch family named Auser, original settlers in the area. It was the scene of a
44 words
crotonhistory.org
Revolutionary War skirmish between an American raiding party that had stopped there briefly on a return trip from behind the British lines, and a British detachment that had pursued them from the Bronx. Clement Moore, although a visitor to Ossining,
40 words
crotonhistory.org
was not known to have resided here other than for brief visits. . . . The Moore Family were prominent Ossining residents. They were members of Trinity Church and donated the clock and chimes to the church in 1894.” 2 Tonight, before the kids are
45 words
crotonhistory.org
nestled all snug in their beds, with visions of sugar-plums dancing in their heads, tell them that many years ago—just a short sleigh-ride from Croton—a famous author was tucking his grandchildren into bed on Christmas Eve and he read them one of his
43 words
crotonhistory.org
poems called A Visit from St. Nicholas . It goes like this: ’ Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon
47 words
crotonhistory.org
would be there; The children were nestled all snug in their beds; While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads; And mamma in her ’ kerchief, and I in my cap, Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap, When out on the lawn there arose
48 words
crotonhistory.org
such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash. The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow, Gave a lustre of midday to objects below, When what
51 words
crotonhistory.org
to my wondering eyes did appear, But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein-deer, With a little old driver so lively and quick, I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick. More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, And he whistled, and shouted, and
47 words
crotonhistory.org
called them by name: “Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blixen! To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall! Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!” As leaves that before the wild hurricane
47 words
crotonhistory.org
fly, When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky; So up to the housetop the coursers they flew With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too— And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof The prancing and pawing of each little hoof. As I
50 words
crotonhistory.org
drew in my head, and was turning around, Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound. He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot, And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot; A bundle of toys he had flung on his back, And he
51 words
crotonhistory.org
looked like a peddler just opening his pack. His eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry! His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;
48 words
crotonhistory.org
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath; He had a broad face and a little round belly That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly. He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
52 words
crotonhistory.org
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself; A wink of his eye and a twist of his head Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread; He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk, And
54 words
crotonhistory.org
laying his finger aside of his nose, And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose; He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, And away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight— “Happy
50 words
crotonhistory.org
Christmas to all, and to all a good night!” The Poet of Christmas Eve, a Life of Clement Clarke Moore, 1779-1863 by Samuel White Patterson. New York, Morehouse-Gorham Co., 1956. See the book here . ↩ See this page on the Dale Cemetery website . ↩
46 words
crotonhistory.org
Share this: Print (Opens in new window) Print Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Share on X (Opens in new window) X Share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest Share on Tumblr
46 words
crotonhistory.org
(Opens in new window) Tumblr Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn Like Loading... Related Tagged Christmas Clement C. Moore Published December 24, 2013 December 24, 2017
28 words
crotonhistory.org
Ice Boating on the Hudson River, N.Y. Post card by the Hugh C. Leighton Co., circa 1910. As a follow-up to our recent post, Winter on the Hudson River , here’s a postcard showing an ice boat in action on the river, circa 1910. This image is part of
49 words
crotonhistory.org
the Waterways Post Card Collection at the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, Queens College (CUNY), New York—a collection of “historically significant cultural heritage materials documenting the waterways of New York state.” Here are
35 words
crotonhistory.org
links to this collection, which is part of a much larger treasure-trove of New York-related documents and images: The Waterways Post Card Collection The New York Heritage Digital Collections Share this: Print (Opens in new window) Print Email a link
40 words
crotonhistory.org
to a friend (Opens in new window) Email Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Share on X (Opens in new window) X Share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr Share on LinkedIn (Opens in
45 words
crotonhistory.org
new window) LinkedIn Like Loading... Related Tagged Hugh C. Leighton Co. Post card Published December 27, 2013
17 words
crotonhistory.org
Below is issue 2 of Theodore J. Cornu’s extraordinary hand-drawn, hand-lettered, self-published journal, Hudson Valley Echoes . To see issue 1 click here . Issues 3 to 4 are coming soon . . . When the publication opens you can click on the pages and
45 words