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October 7th Mrs. Daniel Edwards of West Farms: "By the old roads of the Revolutionary war, it was about four miles from West Farms to Morrisania, and about three from West Farms to West Chester. Graham's Neck was the first neck east of Morrisania, and the old road from West Farms to Morrisania, after run- -ning along or near the Bronx turned to the right of Graham's place, and so crossed Mill Brook near where the present bridge is, a little north of Morrisania Church. After the British took Fort Washing- -ton in 1776, it became necessary for them to build barracks and huts for the troops, for which purpose they took all the boards from the outbuildings of the farmers in the lower part of West Chester County, both whigs and tories. The barns and out-houses of nearly all the farmers in the neighbor- -hood of West Farms were stripped in
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this manner. These barracks and huts for the most part were erected in the vicinity of Fort Washington and Kingsbridge. Madam DeLancey was the only person in our neighborhood that kept a four wheeled pleasure carriage before the Revolutionary war. Her grand-daughter, Mrs. Powell, just previously to her death spoke to me about the fallen fortunes of the DeLancey family in a very lamenting strain. 'Formerly,' she said, 'the DeLancey's were numerous and looked to by all - but now they were almost extinct in West Chester, and held in reverence by none.' About two years before the block- -houses at West Farms were burnt, there was a battle between the British and Americans across the Bronx. [Mrs. Edwards says they fought across the Bronx