"Tlie memory of the just is blessed ; "-- Prov. x : T.

May death's best slumbers occupy thy urn-- The heap that hides thee nature's livery wear ; O be thou sacred in the silent bourne, Till time rolls round the great Sabbatic year.

born at New London the 5th of November, 1770, she deceased at her residence, Peekskill, on the 10th January, 1811, aged 40 years, 2 months and 5 days, &c, &c.

Likewise a marble obelisk to the memory of Anne Van Cortlandt, wife of Gen. Pierre Van Cortlandt:

"She is not dead, but sleepeth."

Also monuments to Stephen, Gilbert and Gertrude Van Cortlandt. To the west of the cemetery, at the entrance of the neck proper, stood the Indian Castle or Fort of Kitchawan, one of the most ancient fortres-

196 • HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER.

ses south of the Highlands. The narrow pass which it occupied was well protected on the north by Indian Swamp, and on the south by the salt meadows. It is said to have been erected at a very early date by the sachem Croton, as a convenient rendezvous for the assembling of his war and hunting parties, and also for the object of commanding the rich treasuries of the Hudson and the wide estuary of the Croton. We have previously shown that Matsewakes was chief sachem of Kitchawan as early as 1641.

At a short distance east of the fort, on the south edge of Haunted Hollow, is situated the Indian burying ground of Kitchawan. Nothing can be more romantic and beautiful than its locality, "a clear proof of the good taste of those who selected and consecrated it for that object." There was formerly a current belief in the neighborhood that the forms of the ancient warriors still haunted the surrounding glens and woods.