Shonnard, Frederic, and W.W. Spooner. History of Westchester County, New York, from its Earliest Settlement to the Year 1900. New York: The New York History Company, 1900.

These hills have very few interstices or breaks in them, but are more prominent in some places than others. The Sawmill River and the Sprain Branch occasion an entire separation of the hills above Philipse's from those below, commonly called Valentine's Hills. A strong position might be taken with the Sawmill (by the Widow Babcock's) in front and on the left flank, and this …

During the three weeks which had elapsed since the grand reconnaissance ofXew York, it was not alone Clinton who felt uneasiness and perplexity at Washington's apparent hesitation. The Americans and French themselves were at a loss to account for it; for not a whisper of the real considerations which were influencing the American commander was permitted to get abroad. The …

Besides beginning to build ovens in the vicinity of Staten Island, he had a large camp marked out there and much fuel collected, lie caused the Westchester County roads leading down to Kingsbridge to be cleared by pioneers, as if preliminary to a march in that direction, lie also adopted the familiar ruse of misleading dispatches, which were intrusted to ingenious scouts, who …

"The inhabitants of the country," says the Abbe Robin, " were greatly surprised to see us returning by the same road, so poor, and the Tories, with a malicious sneer, demanded if we were going to rest from our labors/' By the 2Cth both armies had completed their movement across King'?. Ferry. The advance through the eastern part of New Jersey was made so as to have it appear …

He directed Heath to have promineutly in view at all times the defense of the Highlands and the Hudson River. Secondarily he was to "cover" the country below, but " without hazarding the safety of the posts in the Highlands." Finally, Washington recommended that the position of the American forces should not be pushed farther down than the "north side of the Proton, ** and …

General Washington often spoke of the affair, and it was reported all over Europe, to show the utility of the bayonet and that a small party of infantry thus armed may successfully resist a strong body of cavalry." After the third charge the Americans fired with good effect, and the incident ended with the discomfiture of the British. At the end of January, 17S2, an expedition …

The first of these expeditions (March 4) was led by Captain Hunnewell, with a body of volunteer horse backed by infantry under the command of Major Woodbridge. The party assaulted the cantonment just before sunrise, taking the enemy completely by surprise, killing and wounding many, and carrying away twenty prisoners. During the retreat Abraham Dyckman, the heroic Kingsbridge …

De Grasse's fleet returned the West Indies, where" in April, 1782, it was totally defeated to by the British Admiral Rodney, de Grasse himself being made prisoner. Washington resumed the chief command of the army in the Highlands at the (Mid of March, 1782, making his headquarters at Newburgh. Rumors of British desires and preparatory measures for peace now began to arrive …

In this uncertain posture of affairs, and amid the general regret excited by the news of the French disasters at sea, Washington received intimations that Carleton was preparing to dispatch a large portion of his New York command to the West Indies for the purpose of conquering several of the French islands. He thereupon advised Rochambeau (still in Virginia) to march to the …

The remainder of the army marched down land." by The ceremonies and amenities attending the second junction of the French and American armies in our county are thus described by Thacher in his valuable Journal: The whole army was paraded under arms this morning in order to honor September 14. his Excellency Count Rochambeau on his arrival from the southward. The troops were …

These troops are Prussians." Several of the officers of the French army who have seen troops of the different European nations have bestowed the highest encomium and applause on our army, and declare that they had seen none superior to the Americans. The last of the French troops arrived on the 18th of September. The army of Rochambeau made its encampment at and about the on …

September 27, according to Heath, " General Washington, covered by the Dragoons and light infantry, reconnoitered the grounds on the east side of the river below the White Plains." Record of this enterprise appears also in Washington's "Accounts with the United States," as follows: "September, 1782.-- To the Expences of a Reconnoitre as low as Philipsburg & thence across from …

An officer in the army, he had repeatedly, during the progress of the Revolution, sought opportunity to come to America and fight under Washington, but to his intense clisgusi had been denied that privilege. Finally, in the spring of 1782, he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel in the regiment of the Soisonnais, then with Rochambeau in Virginia; and he also was intrusted by …

An amusing incident of local interest, which occurred just as the French were making ready to leave, is thus related by Segur: At the moment of our quitting the camp of Crampont (sic), as M. de Rochambeau was proceeding, at the head of our columns, surrounded by his brilliant staff, an American approached him, tapped him slightly on the shoulder, and, shewing him a paper he …

The American then withdrew; and the general and Ins army, who had thus been arrested by a constable, continued their march. A judgment of arbitration was afterwards pronounced, fixing two thousand francs, that is to say. a sum less than the general had offered, as the amount of damages due to this unjust proprietor, who had claimed fifteen thousand, and he was even condemned …

New York was then the only place in the United States still occupied by a British force. In April Sir Guy Carleton commenced to arrange the preliminaries necessary to be observed before withdrawing his command. The chief thing to be provided for was the conveyance of the Tory refugees out of the United States to the British dominion.1 As the refugees were many thousands in …

Lamb, mortgages, and contracts before the evacua" overwhelmed the Loyalists. New York City tion of the city should take place, for they presented a scene of distress not easily de- were penniless. The complications were insurscribed. Men who had joined the British army mountable, and nothing was accomplished in and had exhibited the utmost valor in battle that direction. Angry …

Local tradition also identified the Livingston house as the place where Washington and Rochambeau met upon the junction of the allied armies in July, 1781, and where they planned the Yorktown campaign upon receiving the news from de Grasse's fleet in August of the same year. Reposing confidence in the accuracy of the published statements and prevailing beliefs regarding the …

It is unnecessary to go into the particulars of the matter here, and indeed we fear that even the brief allusion to it Avhich we have permitted ourselves may wound the sensibilities of some of our readers. It is proper to add that the originators of the monument at Dobbs Ferry acted in entire good faith and with very praiseworthy motives, upon grounds deemed sufficient at the …

May G, 1783, Washington and Sir Guy ■ The following entry appears in WashlngCarleton arranged for the evacuation of Amer- ton's •< Accounts with the United States," writ" To Expenditures upon ten in his own hand: lean soil by the British And opposite this point, May 8, 17S3, a Brit- an Interview with Sir Guy Carleton at Orange ish sloop-of-war fired 17 guns in honor of the …

As the great day approached, Washington made his arrangements for taking possession of the city in conjunction with The constituted authorities of the State of New York. lie dispatched from West Point, through our county, a force sufficient for the occupation of Kingsbridge and other outlying posts as they should bo surrendered. And (hen, attended by his staff and joined by …

Frydav morning [21st] we rode in company with the Commanderin-Chief as far as the Widow Day's, at Harlem where we held a council.1 at a fter Sir Guy Carleton m 1 Irving sa tifled Washi ys tli 1 of the time when the diffe it would be pleasing to believ QgtO] of Eastchester was the plac .■Hi posts w ould be v acated, Governor Clinto nil official arrangements wer men ibers of the …

White Plains, which had been the county seat since 1759, ceased to be adapted for that purpose, partly because of the burning of the court house on the night of the 5th of November, 1776, and partly because of the exposed situation of the village between the lines of the two armies. Upon the destruction of the court house the village of Bedford was made the seat of the county …

Plains court house of 1787 1 occupied the same site as the first, oil Broadway, and continued in use until 1857, when the present fine building on Railroad Avenue was finished. The Bedford court house, also erected in 1787, is still in existence, being now used as a town hall. After the Revolution the board of supervisors, which had had but a meager membership during the war …

In addition to the localities represented in this list was Ryck's Patent -- the present Peekskill and its vicinity, -- which had always retained an identity distinct from that of the Manor of Cortlandt, and even previously to the Revolution had been represented in the board of supervisors. No reconstruction of the civil divisions of the county having as \i'\ been effected …

al regret second the gene, • Plains, whii Whit ice to rn struct raging t<> the igether w lh tin adjoini ig pr< perty bel< pi county, passed into the hands of private parties several years ago, ami the building was torn down, carried off. anil passed into the unknown. The remembrance is all of the bistoric structure that remains.-- Smith's Manual of Westchester County. 2 Upper …

We have shown in a previous chapter (see p. 41 S) that there was an increase of only 2,258 in the population of the county from the time of the last colonial census, taken in 1771, to that of the first federal enumeration, made in 1790, and that the meagerness of this growth during nineteen years (including seven years of peace) is even more significant when it is remembered …

In due time provision was made d by the legislature to sell to private persons all the confiscate lands in the State (with the exception of certain properties which were re end commisserved for gifts to particular individuals), and to that sioners of forfeiture were appointed for the four districts into which the State was divided-- the Eastern, Western, Middle, and Southern …

Peter Forshee Jacob Smith Joseph Oakley John Browne. . . Andrew Bostwick Total ... ... 155| ... Eleazer Hart Isaac Odell Robert Reid Elisha Barton Dennis Post Nicholas Underbill Caleb Smith Dennis Lent John Devoe Abigail Sherwood Frederick Underbill Hon. Richard Morris (estimated) Henry Brown Parsonage Lot Elnatban Taylor Frederick Van Cortlandt (about) Margery Rich John …

Low, whose name appears in the foregoing list, was the Manor Hall property. Low was a Xew York merchant. Lie bought the Manor Hall property and three hundred and twenty acres of land for £14,520. lie never occupied it, but on May 12, 178G, sold it to William Constable, also a Xew York merchant. From the foregoing record it appears that in 1785 'the Yonkers,' as now bounded …

was the hostess of the Van Cortlandt house near Peekskill during the Revolution, and whose stern reply to an insolent soldier on a perilous occasion is celebrated (see p. 427). Mrs. Beekman died in 1S47 at the age of ninety-four. Besides Philipseburgh Manor, various (states of Tories scattered through the county were confiscated. All of these, however, were conproperties of …

The subdivision of the county into townships was made by an act of the legislature passed March 7, 1788. By this important statute twenty-one " towns " were erected, as follows: Westchester, Morris ania, Yonkers, Greenburgh. Mount Pleasant, Eastchester, Pelham, Now Rochelle, Scarsdale, Mamaroneck, White Plains, Harrison, Rye, North Castle, Bedford, Poundridge, Salem. North …

Greenburgh lias always retained the limits fixed tor it by the act of 1788. Its northern boundary, as described in that measure, was "a line beginning on the east side of Hudson's River at the southwest corner of the land lately conveyed by the commissioners of forfeiture for the southern district to Gerard G. Beekman, Jr., and running from thence along the southerly and …

the road leadhounds of the said farm of the said William David to in*, to the White Plains, and then easterly along the same road to the of Bronx River." To Mount Pleasant was assigned the remainder of Town new the cted constru was y territor the manor. Out of its Ossining by an act passed May .2, 1845. ster The bounds fixed for the Town of Eastchester were Westche north, at …

The township named Salem has long been popularly known as Lower Salem. By an act of April 6, 1806, its name was officially changed to South" Salem, and by a further act, February 13, 1840, to the present style of Lewisboro. The name of Lewisboro was given it in honor of John Lewis,1 a liberal benefactor of the public schools and donor of the glebe lands of Saint John's …

His fat her was i mary imec Ri soldier, wh o remove' Ollltll out t o Sol it li Salem i die son n iado in 1808. '] mrsuits ii large fort niir in mo rcantile if t York . He was ono Eounders <i N< of the • Now Free Academy in New York, and in 1840 save $10,000 to the support of the common schools in the .,t township now called ,i;,„l his T.owisboro homo by onhis thename.1st Ho of …

The smallest of the original towns were Pelham (3,200 acres), Mamaroneck (3,900 acres*, Scarsdale (3,900 acres), and New Rochelle (5,200 acres). The first federal census was taken in 1790, two years after the organization of our county into towns. The following were the totals for the various political divisions then existing: TOWNS POPULATION North Castle (including New …

For example, Bedford, lying in the northern central part of the county, remote from New York City, peopled exclusively by farmers, and from its natural conditions incapable of any development other than agricultural, had nearly as many inhabitants as Westchester and Yonkers combined, although the united area of Westchester and Yonkers was some 1,500 acres greater than that of …

The purely agricultural character of Westchester County at the end of the eighteenth century is perfectly demonstrated by these In truth, there was at that time no single village census returns. displaying circumstances of local activity from which the prospect The existence of any substantial ultimate growth might be deduced. of the foundations of such thriving communities as …

There were hours of the day when the roads, it is said, were fairly blocked by the heavy traffic upon them, and eyewitnesses declare that at night even the floors of the bar and sitting-rooms of the taverns were spread over with the sleepers tarrying to rest themselves and their teams for a few hours on the way." To the national convention at Philadelphia which framed the …

In the last continental congress held under the old confederation of the State, that of 1788-89, Philip Pell, of our county, had the honor of being one of the representatives from the State of New York. Daring the eight years of Washington's administration as president the Federalist party usually enjoyed the preponderance in AYestchester County. With the incoming of …

In such a work as this, which makes no pretensions except as a narrative history of the county, it is impossible to note, progressively, the names and services of the various incumbents of the many offices, legislative, judicial, county, and local, elected or appointed from time to time. Such an exact record does not come within the scope of a general history. An exhaustive …

He was appointed He accompanied the Marquis de Lafayette in lieutenant-colonel in the continental army, and his tour of the United States in 1824, and remained in active duty until the end of the entertained him at the Manor House. He died war, retiring with the rank of brigadier-gen- November 21. 1831. oral. He rendered very distinguished services -The Halsey house was owned …

From 1802 to 1807 the distinguished John Watts, Jr., occupied the position of kk first judge" of our county court, lie was the son of The John Watts, Sr., and Ann, daughter of Stephen de Lancey. father was a member of the king's council and a stanch adherent of the 3*&! crown; his magnificent estate on Manhattan Island was confiscated, and lie died, an impoverished exile, in …

A notable statue of Judge Watts stands in Trinity Churchyard, New York, erected by his grandson, General J. Watts de Peyster. In 1807 Daniel I). Tompkins, a native of our county, son of the eminent patriot, Jonathan Griffon Tompkins, was elected governor of the State of New York, an office in which he continued to serve until 1817, when he resigned it to become vice-president …

In 1802 he was elected to the assembly, and in 1S04 he was chosen a member of congress, but resigned that office to accept an appointment as justice of the Supreme Court of the State. He resigned the justiceship when elected governor. His career as chief magistrate was distinguished especially by his great services to the country during the War of 1812-15. lie was elected to …

Hugh Hastings, Historian of the State of New York: He was fully alive at all times to the dangers which menaced this State during the war [of 1812], and his energy and enterprise were n<> less surprising than the knowledge which lie displayed, though he had never acquired any experience as a military man, regarding the care, transportation, equipment, and welfare of the troops …

He created our common school system, and suggested carrying into effect the law of 1805, which created the common school fund, whose interest was to be distributed among the schools of the State. . . . One of his last acts as governor of the State, the special message which he sent to the legislature February 24, 1817 -- the day he resigned as governor,-- carried the …

This was the passage up the stream, on its trial trip to Albany, of Robert Fulton's steamboat, the " Clermont." It came almost unheralded on the afternoon of September 11, and to most beholders must have been an had been to object quite as astonishing as Hudson's "Half-Moon" the Indian aborigines two hundred years before. Although it was known to specially well informed people …

In these first days of steam naviTHE "CLERMONT. gation on the Hudson intense prejudice was h a r b o r e d against the " Clermont " by the owners of trading sloops, who feared that the successful operation of steamboats would render their property worthless; and it is recorded that attempts were repeatedly made to sink or disable her, which caused the legislature to pass an …

In 1810, as determined by the federal census, the population of Westchester County was 30,272; but according to an enumeration made in 1811 it had declined in the latter year to 20,307, a shrinkage of nearly 4,000. This loss is easily accounted for. Our county responded with especial alacrity to the calls of the national and State governments for troops to serve in the second …

It is observable that during the twenty years from 1790 to 1810 there was, so far as can be discovered from the census figures, no change in the distinguishing aspect of population in Westchester County. Although the increases in several of the towns were considerable, clearly indicating the rise of hamlets, in no case was the growth large enough to promise any extensive …

The wording of the act of incorporation is as follows: The district of country in the Town of Mount Pleasant, contained within the following limits, that is to say : Beginning at the Hudson River, where a run of water, hetween the lands of Daniel Delavan and Albert Orser, empties into the said Hudson River, north of Sing Sing, from thence eastwardly on a straight line to the …

The first village election of Sing Sing was hold on the first Tuesday of May, 1813, when " seven discreet freeholders " were elected trustees. Their names are not preserved, all the early records of the village having been destroyed by fire. In 1813 the celebrated authorization was made to Robert Macomb, from which resulted the construction of " Macomb's Dam " and the …

Thereupon he erected a four-story gristmill extending out over the creek, whose power was supplied by the alternate ebb and flow of the tide against its undershot wheels.1 Alexander was succeeded in his property rights by his son Robert, who, not satisfied with the supply of water for the mill, procured a grant to build a dam across the Harlem River from Bussing's Point, oi) …

The utter obstruction to the navigation of the river thus introduced continued until 1838, when, as we shall see, it was forcibly removed by the enterprise and courage of a number of citizens of Westchester, and the mischievous and unwarranted interference with tin1 natural function of the Harlem River as a public waterway was brought to an end. Macomb's Dam was the only …

This structure continued in use until about 1855, when it was replaced by the (old) Third Avenue Bridge. Previously to the construction of Coles's Bridge there were two bridges connecting Manhattan Island with the main land, both being across Spuyten Duyvil Creek -- the King's Bridge, erected in 1G94 by Frederick Philipse, who, with his successors, collected tolls from all …

Mount Pleasant, with its village of Sing Sing, still led, having 3,684 inhabitants; Cortlandt was second, with 3,121; Bedford third, with 2,432; Westchester fourth, with 2.10)2; and Greenburgh fifth, with 2,001. The population of Yonkers was 1,580, being exceeded by that of Yorktown and Seniors, in addition to the towns above named. In the year 1824 this county was the scene …

By an act passed March 7, 1824, the construction of a new State prison was authorized in the 1st and 2d senatorial districts, and the SingSing site was selected on account of its marble quarries -- which afforded a means for the advantageous employment of convict labor. -- its accessibility by water, and its salubrity. At that time there Mere only two State prisons in …

These cells are seven feet in depth, seven in height, and forty-two inches wide, which gives but one hundred and seventy-one cubic feet of space for each convict." The institution was long officially known as the "Mount Pleasant State Prison." and the substitution of the style of the "Sing Sing Prison " was distasteful to the citizens of the village. In consequence various …

Isaac Coutant was the first keeper of the almshouse, receiving a salary of $300 per annum. The institution has always since been maintained at the original location. The village of IVekskill, whose incorporation was authorized in 1816 but was not effected under the original act, received a new charter from the legislature on the 9th of April, 1827, and shortly afterward …

A visitor to the present village in 1781 described it as consisting of some twenty houses, quite close together. This considerable growth in population of the Town of Cortlandt, as evidenced by the census returns, between 1700 and 1820, was largely contributed by Peekskill village. According to the author of the article on the Town of Cortlandt in Scharfs History, iron …

An earnest laborer in the cause of freedom for the negroes, and the first president of the old New York society for the manumission of slaves, his closing years had been marked by much interest in the rising movement of the times, and two years before his death he had had the great satisfaction of witnessing the permanent abolition of slavery in the State of New York …

Peter Augustus Jay resided for most of his life in New York City, where lie was a prominent lawyer and citizen, lie tilled various importa.nt public positions, was a leading anti-slavery advocate, and was president of the New York Historical Society. In 1821 he was a delegate from Westchester County to the State constitutional convention. William day (born June 1<>, 1780; died …

tion of population in the county. In 1825 the total inhabitants were 33,131, and in 1830, 36,456. Mount Pleasant and Cortlandt continued far in the lead of all the other towns. Yonkers had a population of only 1,761. No new village was incorporated between 1830 and 1810. .This decade is memorable for the projection of the first railway enterprise in which Westchester County …

On the 17th of April, 1832, another company was incorporated, the New7 York and Albany, whose line was to start at a point on Manhattan Island where the present Fourth Avenue terminates, cross the Harlem River, and proceed through the center of Westchester County. (At that period the Hudson River route was not seriously thought of,1 and indeed it was not chartered until 1846.) …

By that time "the capital had been swollen to $1,1)50,000, and stili another increase of 81,000,000 was needed to carry the road through the county." The railway was constructed and in operation to Fordham by October, 1841, but had not been extended to White Plains until late in 1844, and it was not until June, 1847, that it was opened through to Croton Falls. Thus from the …

The grade was required to correspond with the regulation of the streets, which had required much deep cutting and some high embankment. About four miles of the road are now in use. upon which pleasure cars are constantly run. for the accommodation of those who desire to get out of the city for a short time. When completed, there will be a tunnel of some length through a rock …

On November 10, 1832, the joint committee on tire and water of the New York City common council engaged Colonel De Witt Clinton, a competent engineer, to examine the various sources and routes of water supply which had been suggested up to that time, and to make a careful report on the subject. Colonel Clinton recommended the Croton watershed as the source of supply, and …

It is of interest that in July, 1774, a proposal made by Christopher Colics to erect a reservoir, pump water into it from wells, and convey the water through the several streets of the city in pipes, Avas adopted by the authorities of New York; ami that land for the purpose of a reservoir on Great George Street, owned by Augustus Van Cortlandt and Erederick Van Cortlandt, of …

Brown's plan was to dam the Bronx about half a mile below Williams's Bridge. Calculating, however, that the elevation the Bronx at that point was not sufficient to admit of drawing the of water to the city by natural fall, he proposed that it should be raised to the requisite height by pumping machinery. Mr. Weston fully indorsed the Bronx project, but thought that " the Bronx …

Moreover, various eminent citizens, among whom was Alexander Hamilton, were skeptical as to the practicability of raising the money necessary for the Bronx enterprise as a public policy. The movement ended in the organization of the so-called k' Manhattan Company,'' in which the city vested the sole right of procuring and furnishing an additional water supply. This company was …

A committee of the fire department, made a searching examination of the merits of the old proposal to utilize the Bronx water, and submitted a favorable report, which was approved by the common council ; and the latter body, in January, 1832, applied to the legislature for authority to borrow |2,000,000, the sum estimated as necessary to accomplish the object resolved upon …

The public mind shrank from such a tremendous and seemingly fantastic proceeding as the construction of an aqueduct from the far distant Croton; whereas the Bronx, running straight down into the Harlem River, seemed to have been appointed by nature for the exact emergency. Previously to the sending out of Colonel Clinton, the only thought bestowed upon the Croton in this …

But if it were necessary, more than 7,000 acres could be ponded, and the water raised from six to sixteen feet; and also other supplies could be obtained, as I have before stated, in alluding to the Sharon Canal route and the East Branch of the Croton River/' He favored the conveying of the water to New York in an open canal, and calculated that the total cost of the work …

They marked out a route from Macomb's Dam to the Bronx River, which they declared to be the proper one for the long desired supply, and added: "The Croton cannot be brought in by this route, and cannot ever be needed, seeing that the quantity which can be obtained at a moderate cost through the valley of the Bronx will be sufficient for all city purposes." At the same time an …

be necessary to arrive at a right conclusion in the premises.'' This bill was passed by the legislature on the 26th of February, 1833, and the governor appointed as water commissioners, for the period of on*1 year, Stephen Allen, B. M. Brown, S. Dusenberry, S. Alley, and William W. Fox.1 The commissioners engaged two engineers, Mr. Canvass White and Major Douglass, formerly …

imaginary, and heeding not at all the efforts still to cause the Bronx to be preferred, held fast to the Oroton." Major Douglass disposed forever of the Bronx proposal by demonstrating thai it was impossible, by whatever expedients, to procure from the Bronx a supply which for any considerable period would be satisfactorily large. Regarding the quality of the Oroton water, he …

Specimens were taken up both in the high and low state of the river, and have been analyzed by Mr. Chilton, and the results obtained fully corroborate these statements. It appears from his report annexed that the quantity of saline matter, probably the salts of lime and magnesia, does not exceed two and eight-tenths grains in the gallon; a quantity, he observes, so small that …

They made a thorough re-examination of the matter, concluding with the opinion that "the whole [Croton] river can be brought to Murray Hill in a close aqueduct of masonry, at an expense of $4, 250,000, " and that the revenue accruing from water-rates would " overpay the interest on the cost of the work." The plan was referred to the people of the city for ratification, and at …

Much trouble was experienced in satisfying the land owners along the line of the proposed aqueduct, who made vexations demands, among them the extraordinary one (expressed in a memorial to the legislature) that the legal possession and use of the land should remain with the original proprietors, notwithstanding the circumstance of its having been paid for by the city. A …

Apprehension having been harbored by the citizens of Westchester County that disorder and malicious destruction of property would result from the employment of the thousands of laborers, the contractors were required not to " give or sell any ardent spirits to their workmen," or to permit any such spirits to be given or sold, or even brought, upon the line; and that any …

The old plan to bring the Bronx water into New York had been hampered by the fact that the Bronx River did not have a sufficient elevation at any point of its lower course to admit through the process of natural flow of the reception of its water in New York at a height suitable for distribution to the upper sections of the city; and to overcome this difficulty it had been …

This circumstance that the Bronx scheme involved, as one of its essential features, the conversion of the Harlem River into a mere producer of water power -- and that in perpetuity -- strikingly illustrates how contemptuously the Harlem and Spuyten Duyvil waterway was rated. When it became certain, in 1831, that the water-supply problem was to find its solution in a continuous …

land-owners held a meeting at Christopher Walton's store, at Fordham Corners, and appointed a committee to memorialize the legislature against the proposed low bridge, and also to ascertain the best method of removing the existing obstructions in the Harlem River. The committee, acting on the advice of counsel, decided to proceed against Macomb's Dam as a nuisance and to clear …

Some Hat boats which had heeii provided had on hoard a band of one hundred men ; and Feeks not opening the draw, Mr. Morris with his men forcibly removed a portion of the dam, so that the " Nonpariel " floated across. From that time a draw was always kept in the bridge, but for many years the passage was very difficult, the tide being so strong that it was only possible to …

In such circumstances it is highly improbable that any change in the plan for the aqueduct bridge would have been made if the people of Westchester had not compelled itby their aggressive acts. ( >n the 3d of May, 1839, the legislature passed the following law: The water commissioners shall construct an aqueduct over the Harlem River with arches and piers ; the arches in the …

" hydraulic stone masonry, connected with an earthen embankment," the embankment being two hundred and fifty feet long, sixty-five feet high at its extreme height, two hundred and fifty feet wide at the base, and fifty-five feet wide at the top, " protected on its lower side by a heavy protection wall twenty feet wide at base." On the night of the 7th of January, 1841, in …

A boat called the 4k Croton Maid," carrying four persons, was placed in the aqueduct, to be floated down by the stream. The water, with the boat, arrived at the Harlem River during the night of the 23d. On the 27th it was allowed to enter the receiving reservoir at Yorkville, and on the 4th of July the distributing reservoir on Murray Hill,1 both events being observed with …

But within thirty years even this amount was found inadequate; and by permitting the water to rise in the aqueduct to within twelve and one-half inches of the crown of the arch -- thirty-two inches higher than had been originally intended-- a daily supply of 05,000,000 gallons was forced, which, in turn, was found so far from meeting requirements that two new sup1 This was the …

At the termination of the Revolution what is now the City of Yonkers at the mouth of the Xepperhan was represented by a very tew buildings, most of them widely separated. There were the Manor House of the Pliilipses, Saint John's Episcopal Church and parsonage, the immemorial mill, and some scattered farmhouses. The Manor House, with three hundred and twenty acres of land …

He was seldom induced to sell or even to lease any of it, but he was not particularly averse to settlers ami would offer now and then to build a house on his property for them as tenants." "Of the twenty-six buildings of all kinds," he adds, "including barns, sheds, and little shops, then [1813] on the three hundred ami twenty acres of land, about twelve could have been …

At the time of the death of Mr. Wells, says Allison, Yonkers was " a hamlet of one hundred people -- more or less -- and a little more than a score of houses/' Meanwhile, however, there had been a gradual accession of valuable citizens in the sections bordering the manor property -- some of them land purchasers of substantial means, and others men of enterprising traits, all …

In 1828 William 0. Waring and Hezekiah Nichols began to manufacture bodies for wool hats. This was the first introduction of the hat industry -- now so .important-- in Yonkers, and it was also the first appearance of the name of Waring. The Warings were from Putnam County. -John T. Waring came some years later. Rut our space does not admit of any attempt to recapitulate the …

His heirs were numerous, including his widow, three brothers, and their children. The estate was partitioned in 1843. the principal representative of the heirs being Lemuel W. AYells, familiarly known in Yonkers (where he lived until his death in 1861) as " Farmer" Wells. From this event dates the t of Yonkers. "Released from beginning of the serious developmen the hand that …

Among the new citizens acquired by Yonkers through the partition of the Wells estate was Ethan Flagg, one of the heirs, who bore an exceedingly important part in the building up of the Thus at the period at which we place. have arrived in our general narrative, Yonkers, destined to a position of unquestioned supremacy among the municipalities ofWestchester County, was just …

avenues, reserving portions of it for parks; but lot purchasers did not appear, and after a year or two the undertaking was abandoned with heavy loss. Thereupon John Henry, one of the chief members of the syndicate, acquired substantially the whole of the Point, and proceeded to organize the brick-making industry which has since become so extensive at Verplanck's. lie was …

Apples and other fruit, butter, potatoes, cattle, sheep, calves, live pigs, and dressed pork were the principal articles of shipment, and were received in such quantities as to give employment at one time, when this commerce was at its height, to six market-sloops, while three passenger steamboats also shared in the business." The early days on the river, when it furnished …

The losses occasioned by the cutting of rates resulted in some of the stockholders in the " Water-Witch " losing courage, and the wily Commodore was enabled to buy a controlling interest in her. After that the rivalry ceased. The " Water-Witch " was but one of several boats owned at different times by similar associations, all of which brought loss to the stockholders. June 6 …

The present wellknown Ben Franklin Transportation Line of Yonkers took its name from a sloop of fifty-seven tons, launched July 4, 1831, which was for the exclusive service of the people of Yonkers and vicinity; and even the original " Ben Franklin " had several predecessors devoted to the local interests of Yonkers. The organic law of the State of New York, as established by …

From 1821 to 1816 this comity belonged to the 2d senatorial district, embracing also Dutchess, Putnam, Rockland, Orauge, Sullivan, Ulster, Queens, and Suffolk. Westchester County's representatives in the assembly, at first six in number, were reduced successively to five, four, three, and finally (May 23, 1836) to two. The number was again increased, in 1857, to three, at …

The moneys were distributed by school commissioners specially selected. But the present system of school commissioners dates from the legislative act of 1819.' Ever since colonial times, the people of this county had always been rated as exceptionally intelligent, with but a small percentage of illiteracy. The New York newspapers enjoyed a very considerable patronage among our …

In 1810 the population of Westchester County was just about double that attained in 1790. During the half century there had been an average growth every ten years of slightly more than 1,000. The original character of the population had not yet been materially modified. Men engaged in active daily business in New York had not become regular inhabitants, although there was an …

By purchasing the rights of his brother, General Staats Long Morris, of the British army, he became possessed of all the Morrisania estate east of Mill Brook. He did not, however, abandon his residence in Philadelphia, and in 1787 he was elected a delegate from Pennsylvania to the federal constitutional convention. He spent the next ten years in Europe, and during the most …

He passed the remainder of his life at Morrisania. ' An ample fortune, numerous friends, a charming retreat, and a tranquil home were the elements of his happiness and filled up the measure of his hopes.' " x The leisure of his closing years was devoted to study, literary pursuits, and the advocacy of 1 This citation well indicates the tastes and temperament of the man. He …

He died at Morrisania on the 6th of November, L816, in the sixtyfifth year of his age. " His remains were buried where Saint Anne's Church now stands, the east aisle covering their original restingplace. They were afterward transferred to the family vault, which is the first one east of the church. His wife caused a marble slab to be placed over the temporary tomb, and that …

Many of his poems were written while musing by the side of the Bronx. His career was cut short by consumption at the early age of twenty-five. He died on the 21st of September, 1820. His grave and the simple monument which marks it long ago fell into extreme neglect. In the present march of city improvements in the Borough of the Bronx the plans adopted for street extensions …

In a letter to his sister in 1832 he wrote: 11 I am more and more in the notion of having that, little cottage below Oscar's house, and wish you to tell him to endeavor to get it for me." This cottage was a small stone Dutch dwelling, the identical "Wolfert's Roost" of his well-known sketch, built in early times by a member of the Acker family, and at the period of the …

There are sufficient reasons for believing that the house was not built until many years later. Irving always inclined to the opinion that Tarrytown was settled previously to 1650, and he even concluded that some of the graves in the Sleepy Hollow cemetery went back to that year. But Irving was entirely unacquainted with the early chronology of Westchester County. His …

The record of the marriage, preserved in the register of the old Dutch Church of New York, describes him as " a young man of Midwout " [Long Island], and adds that both he and his spouse were at the time " on Frederick Philips land," and were •' married on Frederick Philips land." (See Raymond's " Souvenir of the RevolutionarySoldiers' Monument Dedication at Tarrytown." p …

His gentle ways, his simplicity and kindness of manner, his courtesy to all, and his frequent mingling with the neighbors, who made up all sorts and conditions of men, women, and children, made him very popular and much loved." He died at Sunnyside suddenly and peacefully on the 28th of November, 1859. His funeral was an event never to be forgotten by the people of Tarrytown …

Though his genius was recognized and lie had many sincere friends, he did not attain substantial success in New York City. It is related that his principal regular employment after coming there was as a writer for the Evening Mirror, on a salary of ten dollars a week. While living in New York he wrote the " Raven." In the spring of 1846 lie removed to Fordham, renting for a …

Even while they were living in Philadelphia she kt could not bear the slightest exposure, and needed the utmost care; and all those conveniences as to apartments and surroundings which are so important in the case of an invalid were almost matters of life and death to her. And yet the room where she lay for weeks [in Philadelphia], hardly able to breathe, except as she was …

On the first visit she was sitting in the sun on the little porch of the cottage, wrapped in what appeared to be a counterpane, her husband on one side of her and her mother on the other. At the next visit she was on a couch covered with a man's overcoat, for the weather was chilly and the house was cold. The recollection of her appearance is still vivid as of a picture of a …

He accomplished little literary work of importance, and when the winter of 1847 came on the family was in great destitution. " Mrs. Gove, hearing of this, visited the family, and found the dying wife with only sheets and a coverlet on the bed, wrapped in her husband's coat. She appealed to Mrs. Maria Louise Shaw, who immediately relieved the necessities of the family and …

His literary ductions assignable to the period of his Fordham abode are mostly of the hack variety, although interspersed among them are such gems as " Annabel Lee," " The Pells," the " Cask of Amontillado," the " Domain of Arnheim," and "Lander's Cottage." Also "Eureka" and " Ulalume " were written at Fordham. lie died at Baltimore on the 7th of October, pr< 1819, aged …

Thomas Scharf, in his History of Westchester County, dovotes a separate chapter to the literati identified by birth, residence, or otherwise with our county. Among the names which we have not previously mentioned, belonging to the first half of the nineteenth century, are those of William Leggett, the able journalist, a descendant of Gabriel Leggett, of West Farms, and a …

The early operation of this first railway in Westchester County was naturally conducted in very imperfect fashion, but its completion through the whole extent of the county was an event of great importance, not only to the people residing along the route, but to those of all other sections, stage communication with the various stations being immediately established from …

In a sober official report it was declared that the chief value of a river route would be its " novelty," whereas the already chartered road "leading from the City of New York through the heart of Westchester County, at nearly equal distances from the waters of the Hudson on the one hand and of the East River and Long Island Sound on the other, and extending from thence …

John B. Jervis, the engineer of the Croton Aqueduct, being employed as chief engineer. Work was begun toward the middle of 1847, the entire line being placed under contract by sections, and the work was prosecuted so diligently that by the 29th of September, 1840, passenger travel was commenced between New York and Peekskill. " The average number of passengers per day for the …

The following advertisement was published in the New York Herald: "Passenger trains will commence to run between New York and Peekskill on Saturday, the 29th instant (September, 1849), stopping at the following places and at the rate of fare respectively stated, viz.: Manhattan ville, twelve and one-half cents ; Yonkers, twenty-five cents, etc. Omnibuses will be provided at …

Day, 1818, and the next day the road was opened for business. " It was at first a single track road. . . . The numerous curves on the road were caused by the restricted financial condition, making it necessary, as far as possible, to avoid cuttings and embankments. The desire had been to build the road in a substantial and permanent manner, but it was found difficult to …

The present New York and Putnam Railroad at its inception (1871) was designed to run from High Bridge to Brewsters, and there connect with the so-called New York and Boston. This road was not finished until 1881. It was long styled the Now York and Northern. Its complete development was effected by the extension of the line from High Bridge to the terminus of the Elevated …

Two new townships were erected -- Ossining (1845) and West Farms (1840), and the territorial dimensions of four others were somewhat changed by the annexation of a portion of North Salem to Lewisboro in 1844, ami of a portion of Seniors to New Castle in 1840. From 1810 until 1845 Mount Pleasant, embracing the village of Sing Sing, had been the most populous township of the …

We arc told that the word ossin, in the Chippeway language, signifies 'a stone'; that ossinee or ossineen is the plural for 'stones.' This etymology was accepted, and in May, 1845, when our town was taken from Mount Pleasant, it received the name of ' Ossm-sing/ In March, 1846, it was changed (by dropping the third s) and made to read k Ossiii-ing,1 and still later omitted." …

The three component pans of West Farms Township, being much more accessible to New York City than Westchester proper, had increased far more rapidly in population, and as they were separated from the parent town by a broad line of natural division, the Bronx River, it was esteemed very proper to organize them into a distinct political unit. West Farms Village, as has been …

At the State census of 1845 -- the last enumeration taken before the railways came into operation -- Westchester County had 47,394 inhabitants, some 1,300 fewer than the number awarded the county by the federal census of 1840. The greater population of 1840 was probably due to the inclusion in the census at that time of the numerous workmen employed on the Croton Aqueduct. As …

Bedford Cortlandt Eastehester . . . . Greenburgh . . . . Harrison Lewisboro Mamaroneck. . . . Morrisania 1 . . . Mount Pleasant. New Castle New Rochelle.. North Castle . . . llation for 1845 included 8,468 4,715 6,435 1,271 1,775 3,205 1,039 1,541 1,068 2,778 1,495 1,977 Westehest* 1 Mr. Scrugham also had the honor of being the first citizen of Westchester County elected to …

In former times, before railways existed, the local gains in population had invariably been without special reference to nearness to New York. A journey to the business sections of the city, even from Morrisania or Fordham, then involved a ride by carriage or stage of protracted duration; and thus for persons having daily business in New York, regular residence in any section …

aspects or ill relation to its later developments, was unquestionably the foundation of the Village -- now the prosperous and handsome City -- of Mount Vernon. Unlike any other considerable community of Westchester County, Mount Vernon owes its very existence to the railroad. Yonkers, Tarrytown, Sing Sing, Peekskill. New Kochelle, Mamaroneck, Rye, and Port Chester, with White …

The total population of the township in the same year was 1,709. There was also a settlement of some size at Tuckahoe, resulting from the opening of marble quarries there about 1823. and Tuckahoe was consequently one of the original stations of the Harlem Railroad. In 1850 there was organized in New York City an association called the " New York Industrial Home Association No …

It is said that the selection of the site for the desired village was determined by a suggestion from Gouverneur Morris (son of the statesman of the same name), who, commenting on the extensive growth attained by Morrisania, observed that the next large settlement should naturally be at a point near the intersection of the New York and Harlem and the Now York and New Haven …

On the 12th of November, 1850, the site was visited by a large number of members of the association and practically dedicated to the uses of the new village, Mr. Greeley making an address in which he spoke in complimentary terms of tin1 wisdom displayed in the choice of locality and predicted rapid growth for the community about to be established. In the spring of 1851 the …

The lots not improved, as so required, were, however, in a few years relieved from this incumbrance by releases freely given." 1 By the fall of 1853 the settlement of the place had been so satisfactorily accomplished, and its preparation in other respects for organized government so far advanced, that its people were ready to consider the question of its incorporation as a …

This also was begun under the auspices of an association organized on principles of economy-- the Teutonic Homestead Association, composed, as its name indicates, mostly of Germans. The number of the Teutonic associates was five hundred, and The land which they bought consisted of about one hundred ami thirty-one acres. Subsequently a third settlement, Central .Mount Vernon …

On the other hand, it is undeniable that the peculiar character given the community at the beginning operated continuously to attract to it, in the succeeding years, citizens of the same general spirit, aims, and conditions of life as the original associators -- men chiefly of moderate means, but of providence, thrift, foresight, and energetic traits. For many years few men of …

Getty erected the Getty House at a cost of between |40,000 and f50,000, and other public-spirited citizens were active in promoting the general good. Meantime several new settlements were founded in the Township of Yonkers. In 1852 Elias Johnson, David B. Fox, and Joseph R. Fuller, of Troy, N. Y., purchased land near Spuyten Duyvil inlet and had surveys and plans made for a …

Its average breadth was eight-tenths of a mile. Edward F. Shonnard's farm was on the north and Thomas W. Ludlow's on the south. The area of the incorporated village was about 4^ ^ r,„ °« ABOVE Pasture R , V£ WVEBEKCEAv-OeENE I? Fiji* Sr ' §P^ 4^ ■•';. ">V ^ s'.^ ,_7r> i.,^ SH<wvncM,M*QRMU, KNO THi LOWER P IVRT OF SMMMHA SMOwmcMftWfcMU,KN0TMt\-OVgERPlUVr0f$hWN TME1 RWEJS.WITH …

New Rochelle would naturally have drawn to itself a very considerable element of the large numbers of New York people who sought homes in Westchester County after the completion of the railways, had it not been for the organization of the new village, which offered superior advantages to most persons of that class. Thus the immediate progress of New Rochelle was effectually …

The village, from its organization in 1858, endured until 1899, when the present City of New Rochelle was instituted. It is noteworthy that the three cities of Westchester County -- Yonkers, Mount Vernon, and New Rochelle -- all had their birth as incorporated villages in the decade 1850-60. In this decade also the Township of Morrisania -- now the most populous portion of the …

Its east boundary was Union Avenue, continued to the head of Bungay Creek, and thence to Harlem Kills, and its south and west boundaries the Harlem River and Kills/' The first supervisor of the town was Gouverneur Morris, son of the famous statesman. Morrisania Milage was incorporated in 1801, when the town was divided into four wards, in each of which three trustees were …

The son studied medicine in England, but did not practice that profession. In 1830, at the age of thirty-two, he engaged in farming pursuits at Bronxville in the Town of Eastchester, and ever afterward he was a citizen of our county. He lived at various times in New Rochelle. Tarrvtown, Bedford, Lewisboro, and Pelham. For many years he conducted select schools, but later was …

His labors also included " personal visitation of every spot of interest and nearly every person of advanced age.'' In addition to his History of the county, he published a " Guide to New Kochelle " and a " History of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Westchester County." At the time of his death he had nearly completed a revision of his History of the county, which was …

On the spot where Major Andre was captured by Paulding, Williams, and Van Wart, September 23, 1780, a monument in commemoration of that event was unveiled with much ceremony, the governor of the State and other distinguished guests being in attendance. In a previous chapter the particulars of this event and also of the dedication of the " new " monument on the same spot in …

from to the " Clay " being slightly in advance. As she passed Yonkers, moving at a high speed, smoke was seen issuing from her sides. She was at once headed for the dock at Riverdale, but meantime the flames had burst forth and it was necessary to beach her with all the haste possible. " Mr. Edwin Forrest, the actor, who lived near, was there, and soon others came. It was an …

The year 1857 witnessed the completion and occupation of the The commispresent court house of the county at White Plains. ktand jail were sioners in charge of the construction of the court house Supervisors Abraham Hatfield, of Westchester; States Barton, of New Kochelle; Daniel Hunt, of Lewisboro; William Marshall, Jr., of Somers; and George C. Finch, of North Salem. R. G …

The further political history of the county to I860 includes nothing of importance, aside from the party struggles on the great questions of the times. The presidential votes of W7estchester County from 1S48 to I860, inclusive, were as follows; 1848.-- Lewis Cass (Dem.), 2,146; Zachary Taylor (Whig), 4,312; Martin Van Buren (Free Soil), 1,312. 1852.-- Franklin Pierce (Dem.) …

party, organized on the issue of non-extension of slavery, made its first appearance, with John C. Fremont1 as its candidate. Fremont received less than thirty per cent, of the total vote. In I860, despite the great distractions from which the conservative forces suffered, they still rallied a united vote some 1,300 larger than that cast for Lincoln.2 1 General Fremont resided …

The total population of Westchester County in 1860 was 99,497 -- all but reaching the hundred thousand mark. So far in our narrative, whilst progressively noticing the principal aspects of local change and development, we have not devoted any formal attention to the minuter facts of conditions in the townships and their numerous localities severally; and as the year 1800 is a …

Mount Kisco, a station on the Harlem Railroad; contained 200 5. Whitlockville, « a station on the Harlem Railroad near the north border." inhabitants. Cortlandt.-- Population, 10,074. Local particulars :-- 1 . Peekskill ; an incorporated village ; population, 3,538; contained ten churches, the Peekskill Academy, four boarding schools, a bank, newspaper office, six iron …