At some i)oint of the ridge near this place the batteries of the British troops were stationed, and under the cover of their fire the British flat-boats were able to descend the river and scale the heights of Laurel Hill, immediately opposite, when the attack was made on Fort Washington. From Mr. Williams' house the earthwork at Laurel Hill is discernible. Immediately opposite Mr. Camp's entrance-gate, on the site now occupied by the embankment of the Croton Aqueduct, stood the residence of Richard Morris, colonial judge of Vice Admiralty, and afterwards second chief justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York. Mr. Lewis G. Morris, who owns a part of the original farm of Judge Morris, occupies the adjoining place, Mount Fordham, inherited by his father, Robert Morris, from the chief justice.

Still farther south on the same ridge are several beautiful residences. At the beginning of the century this tract was known as the Poole Farm, and John Poole, one of the original family, still occupies a portion of it. The most northerly of these places is High Cottage, belonging to the estate of the late Romanzo W. Montgomery, a wealthy merchant of New Orleans, though originally from the Eastern States. The view from High Cottage is one of the finest on the Ridge. Mrs. Lees, widow of the late James Lees, of the well-known firm of Lees & Walker, now succeeded by Lindlaw & Company, occupies the next place, and the most southerly property on the former Poole Farm is Villa Boscobel, the residence of the late William B. Ogden, the first mayor of Chicago, and a railroad king of the West. During his later yean< he gave full rein to his refined taste and Villa Boscobel, with its beautiful grounds, green-houses, choice shrubberies, flowers and arboretums, is a fit monument to his taste and re6nement.