Of the Palmer family, Richard served as supervisor of the town for thirteen years, between 1831 and 1837 and again from 1839 to 1844, and James F. Palmer, besides holding other offices, was town clerk in 1860. In the house of the latter, on the Mamaroneck road and in a central location, town-meetings and elections were held for a number of years until the erection of the new schoolhouse, and the occupation of its basement for town purposes.

The Drakes, whose name has been associated with Scarsdale for over a century, are of English descent, and the first to emigrate to this country, according to Bolton's account, was John Drake, who came to this continent early in the seventeenth century. On his death, he left several sons, one of whom, Samuel, settled in East Chester, and a grandson of the latter, also Samuel, was probably the first to settle in Scarsdale. The only record in connection with Scarsdale pertaining to this member of the family is that of his death, showing that Samuel Drake, son of Joseph Drake, of East Chester, " died at the Fox Meadows in 1774, aged seventy-five years." The present head of the family in Scarsdale is the venerable Elias G. Drake, now in his eighty-si.xth year, having been born just before the close of the last century, December 9, 1799. Mr. Drake is the great-grandson of Benjamin Drake, a brother of the Samuel just mentioned, and settled within the town about thirty years ago. Although of late years not taking an active part in town politics, he has figured in many of the older records as the holder of various offices in the town.