In vain their victim plead in broken English for his life, numbering his children upon his fingers. The lot fell upon one Totten, who, approaching the doctor, instantly shot him dead as he knelt on the ground. He was now stripped of his clothing, watch and money, and dragged a few rods further into the bushes- The skeleton was afterwards found and interred upon the spot.^

Near the centre of the town is situated the small hamlet of Sarlesville. Here the town business is principally transacted.

In the southwest corner are located the Friends' meeting houses. The Friends' Society was organized here some time prior to the Revolution. c

The general surface of New Castle is uneven, hills and vales

'^ Heath's Mem. 328.

b Tradition reports, that the following remarkable accident befel the assassin sooa after : he was struck by lightning, which dissolved the metal on his shoe buckles. When asked if this was a fact, the conscience stricken murderer replied, " If I should say yes, that would be an admission of my guilt." Totten is said to have been a terror not only to himself, but all who knew him. This miserable man lieg J n the Friends' burying-ground at Pines Bridge.

= The Methodist Episcopal Church was erected ia 1845.

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372 HISTORY OF THE

interspersed ; soil gravelly, clay and sandy loam. The natural growth of wood is of various kinds, as oak, chestnut, hickory ash. maple, walnut, elm and v/hitewood, <fcc. The Chappequa Isills in this town are worthy of particular notice. They begin near the great hill known by the name of the Buttermilk Mountain, and extend north easterly four miles, terminating northward in the Kisco Mountain. These hills are very stony and rocky in general, but afford vast quantities of excellent timber.