While preparing the " Guide to New Rochelie " he became interested in Westchester County history, and at once began the collection of the materials which he published in two volumes in 1848. The labor involved in this work, in the searching of collections
1 of documents, the examination of papers and the personal visitation of every spot of interest and nearly every person of advanced age, was very great. His knowledge of the history of county localities was remarkable. He was actively engaged in the revi-
I sion of his history at the time of his death. He was also the author of the " History of the Protestant
HISTORY OP WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Episcopal Church in Westchester County," and of the " Memoirs of the Bolton Family."
In 1838 he married Elizabeth Rebecca, daughter of James Brenton, of Newport, R. I.; she died in 1852. In 1854 he married Josephine, daughter of Brewster Woodhuli, of Patchogue, L. I., by whom he had eleven children.
Mr. Bolton's father founded the celebrated Bolton Priory, at Pelham, with which the family name has been so prominently connected. He purchased this estate, charmingly situated upon the shore of Long Island Sound, in 1837, and erected thereon a handsome stone edifice f )r a residence, and laid out the grounds with surpassing taste. This was afterward used for a young ladies' school, and under the management of Miss Nanetta Bolton, became justly famous. Here Robert Bolton, the historian, died October 11, 1877.
Beside being a laborious, painstaking historian, a diligent teacher and an earnest minister, Mr. Bolton was accomplished in many ways. He was dexterous in wood-carving, apt with his pencil and skillful in painting. He had a passion for the antique, and was a man of peculiarly fine and cultivated tastes.