His widow was considered a ver}^ desirable match, and no dotibt had many suitors, but she conveyed her goodly inheritance, along with her buxom person, to the grave and reverend Domine Everardus Bogardus, stated minister of the Dutch Church. What a ])air they were! he with his austere bearing, his ministerial garb, and theological bent ; she sprightly and not too unworldly. It must have been an interesting sight when Madame Bogardus danced and the Domine paid the piper. He was a loyal gentleman and knew what his position demanded. We read that when some jealous dame declared that Anneke had coquettishly shown more of her clocked stocking than propriety demanded, her reverend husband promptly brought suit for slander, and received damages. It appears, indeed, that Bogardus was something of a fighter, and figured as plaintift' or defendant in several law-suits. But to return to the farm : e\'ery one who knows his New York at all knows what years of litigation over the inheritance of part of that property ha\-e made it one of the most famous pieces of real estate in the
6o The Hudson River
world, and its mistress as well known as Queen Anne or Pocahontas. And wherever the name of Anneke Jans is mentioned, and the now fabulously valuable property becomes a subject of conversation, the tall spire of old Trinity begins to rise upon the mental vision like a finger of warning against all profane claimants.
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NEW YORK HARHOUR FROM ONE OF THE SKY-SCRAPERS