1 This sketch was prepared and inserted by the editor.

tinuously till the close of 1883. Upon the occasion of his retirement from a position he had so long and worthily filled, he was presented by the officers of the court with a beautiful gavel, as a token of their high appreciation of the dignity and impartiality which had ever characterized his discharge of official duties, and of their esteem of his many excellencies as a citizen.

He was appointed a member of the Recruiting Committee during the late war, was instrumental in organizing several companies of volunteers, and by his active energy the quota of troops required from his town at that time was supplied without the necessity of a draft. During long years of prominence in political affairs he has always been recognized as among the leaders of his party, and his official career has been an honor to himself and to the community whose suffrages placed him in a well-deserved position. He married Miss Elizabeth, daughter of John Rae. They have two children, Jessie and Stanley, both now living with their jjarents at Marble Hall.

Judge Gifford lives in the village of Tuckahoe, in the town of East Chester, in a mansion known far and wide as "Marble Hall." It stands upon the site of the home of Stephen Ward, a prominent Revolutionary hero, who was surrogate of the county and a citizen of character and influence. This locality was the scene of a sanguinary conflict between the contending forces in the Revolution, when Ward's house was burned.