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Ryer, Christina Bowers

John M. McDonald interview — 1848

From the Westchester County Historical Society catalog:
Mrs. Ryer is likely Christina Bowers Ryer, who was married to Samuel Ryer. At the time of her interview, she was residing near the site of Fort Washington in northern Manhattan. She notes that she is a niece of Blazius “Blaze” Moore, and that her brother Jacob Bowers had purchased a farm belonging to the Underhill family in Westchester County. She describes the Blue Bell Tavern where her husband was born and raised. Mrs. Ryer notes that her husband is very knowledgeable about the history of the area but is in lower Manhattan at the time of John Macdonald’s visit.

Manuscript page facsimiles

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Transcription

- Hufeland Index Page 668 -

Mrs. Ryer of Fort Washington east side of the road, near Laurel Hill: “My mother was a sister of Blaze’s Moore. My brother Jacob Bowers sometime ago bought a farm of a Mr. Underhill, and lives in East or West Chester – I think in East Chester. The old stone house in the field west of the road at Fort Washington was the Blue Bell Tavern of the Revolutionary war. Mr. Ryer, my husband, was born and bred here, and knows a deal about the history of Fort Washington and its vicinity. He is at present in New York.”

Transcription from Experiencing the Neutral Ground of the American Revolution: The McDonald Interviews. Courtesy of the Westchester County Historical Society. No Copyright – United States. View the original manuscript at WCHS →