Home / Bolton, Robert Jr. A History of the County of Westchester, from its First Settlement to the Present Time, Vol. I. New York: Alexander S. Gould, 1848. / Passage

A History of the County of Westchester, Vol. I

Bolton, Robert Jr. A History of the County of Westchester, from its First Settlement to the Present Time, Vol. I. New York: Alexander S. Gould, 1848. 358 words

The mill and adjoining property, at an early period, belonged to the late Lnncasler Underhill, who lived to the remarkable age of 9S. Thronghout the trying period of the Revoluiion, this individual resided on his farm, and appears to have suffered severely both in person and estate. Durifjg many a severe winter nig!u he lay concealed beneath the body of an oxcart, (which he had taken the precaution to cover with hay,) and on each returning day blessed his good fortune that his liouse had escaped the flames. Near the mill is located the Bronx Railroad depot, distant about four and a half miles south of White Plains.

Upon the Long Reach, in this town, are situated the farms and residences of John Townsend, Esq., (former sheriff of the county, and senator for the second district in 1821,) Alexander Pirnie, Mr. Headly, Alexander Masterlon, Abijah Morgan, Charles Morgan, and Mr. Pinckney, (fcc.

The whole of this elevated district commands extensive views of the Sound and surrounding country, in the innnediate vicinity stands Marble Hall, the site of which is celebrated in our Revolutionary annals. From the petition of Jonathan Ward (one of the former proprietors of this place) to Congress in 1825, we learn, " that at the commencement of the Revolutionary war, Stephen Ward (the petitioner's father) resided in Eastchester, and county of Westchester, seven miles south of White Plains ; that the British troops took possession of the city of New York and the southern part of the county of Westchester, in the autumn of 1776 ; that in consequence of which, the said Stephen Ward left his residence, consisting of a large and valuable dwelling, barn, and sundry other buildings ; that between this period and the autumn of 1778, those buildings were occupied, a large portion of time, by the American troops, at which place there were several engagements between them and the British ; that in November, 1778, a large body of the British forces, commanded by General Tryon, made an excursion as far as Ward's house, and, by the g:eneral's orders, totally destroyed, by a fire, the buildings, with considerable other property.''^