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History of Bronx Buiuugh
CITY O Niivv YOix
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RANDAIJ CO
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LOUIS F. HA
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History of Bronx Borough
CITY OF NEW YORK
Compiled for THE NORTH SIDE NEWS
By
RANDALL COMFORT, A. B., LL.B.
Member of the New York Historical Society with Collaboration of
CHARLES D. STEURER CHARLES A. D. MEYERHOFF
I
North Side News Press
i^gth Street and Bergen Avenue
New York
igo6
UBRARY of CONGRESS
IwcrOuuics Recetved
AUG 2/ i!JU6
(itASS ^ AAC. No, COPY A. J
COPYRIGHT 1906 By F. T. Smiley Publishing Company
c^
..^u ^
This work is Printed xifh Double-tone Sepia Ink Manufactured h\ Sigmund Vllman Co.
Views iy Randall Comfort Assisted b\ Dr. G. W. Nash and George E. Stonebridge
Portraits largely by Rockwood
PREFACE.
LOATING down the stream of ages have come to us many historical facts, many interesting traditions and many myths Irrevocably connected with that part of the American Metropolis known as the Borough of the Bronx, it has been the constant intention of the author to gather these into a brief and readable form for those into whose hands this history may fall. In doing this he has been confronted by a serious handicap that every historian must meet — the vast conflict of authority that is to be found everywhere.
Again, the historical portion of this book, It must be understood, dates from the time of the manuscripts having been handed in, as many changes may have occurred afterward, too late for insertion.
Notwithstanding these small perplexities, the collection and classification of these items, imperfect as they are, have been a source of deep gratification to the author, and he sincerely hopes that it may be equally satisfactory to all who read it. Finally, he wishes to express his many thanks to his army of friends who have so kindly guided him to interesting spots, and to those who have so hospitably thrown open their doors at his knock.
THE AUTHOR.
F
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
Glacial Age
The Glacial Man— Glacial Traces— Noted Boulders- The Indian P.alh— The Indian Cemetery.
CHAPTER H.
PAc:: I
Indians of the Bronx 3
Hendrick Hudson's Experience — Indian Names — In- dian Vdlages — Indian Deeds.
CHAPTER HI.
First White Settlers 7
Jjnas Bronek — Aime Hutchinson — John Throckmor- ton— Thomas Cornell — Dr. Van Der Donck.
CHAPTER IV.
■ Settlement of Westchester 1 1
Thomas Pell— His Deed of Westchester— St. Peter's Church— The Old Bowne House and Other Old Houses.
CHAPTER V.
tchester l.}
St. Paul's Church and Churchyard — The Vincent-1 lal- sey House — Reid's Mill — Mill Lane.
CHAPTER VL
igsbridge 17
Old King's Bridge — The Free Bridge — The Macomb Mansion — The "Cowboys" and "Skinners" — The Neu- tral Ground — The Bloody Well — The Tippett House — The "Cowboys' Oak."
CHAPTER VII.
tyten Duyvil and Riverdale 19
Spuyteu Duyvil Parkway — Origin of the Name "Spuy- ten Duyvil" — Canal Street Cottage — Old lladley House —The Van Tassel Household Dutch House— Anec- dotes.
CHAPTER VIII.
n Cortlandt Park Ji
The Van Cortlandt Mansion — The Death of Captain Rowe — The Rhinelander Sugar House Window — The Van Cortlandt Mills — The Old Burying Ground — Van Cortlandt Lake— The Van Cortlandt Vault— Vault Hill — The indii'n Field — Redoubts Overlooking Kings- bridge.
CHAPTER IX.
neral Montgoraery 25
His I'"arm at Kingsbridge — His Will — Lady Ranelagh, His Sister— Rev. John Peter Tetard— The Old Arch- way. N"*
CHAPTER X. PACE
The Old Boston Post Road, or Boston Avenue 27
The "Negro b'ort" — The Isaac Varian Farm House — The Williams' Bridge— The Old Williams' House— The Havens' House— The Hustace-Cash House.
CHAPTER XI.
Boston Road ■ ^^^
Name of Harlaem— The Ferry and Rates of Ferriage— The Three Harlem Bridges and Rates of Toll— Boston Road— The Gouverneur Morris Tree— The Old School House— Mill Brook— Charlotte Temple's Home— Ex- tracts from Washington's Diary— Madam Knight's Ex- periences.
CH API ER XII.
Gouverneur Morris and Old Morrisania .^3
Richard Morris— Gouverneur Morris— The Gouverneur Morris Mansion— Anecdotes—The Lewis Morris Man- sion—Morrisania Almost the Capital of America.
CHAPTER XIII.
Morrisania Village 35
The Two Houses that Date from the Period when Morrisania was Bought— The Old Stone Gate House and the Jennings' Old Homestead — Anecdotes — The "Huckleberry Road'— Ihe Old Stages— The William H. Morris Mansion — The Morris I'~arm House— The Georgi House— The Mott House— Other Old Houses- Robert Bonner's Advertisement— The Old Spy House.
CHAPTER XIV.
Crotona Park 39
The Indian Pond— Old I'ordham Avenue— The Bath- gate Homestead — Fairmount — The Old Shingle-Sided House — "The Rush."
CHAPTER XV.
West Farms and the Bronx River 41
West Farms— The Bronx River— Anecdotes— The Wal- ker Mansion— The De Lancey Block House— Uncle Daniel Mapes' Temperance House — Tlie Old Ford — The Hassock Meadow— Old Patents.
CHAPTER XVI.
jironx Park
De Lancey 's Mills— Lydig's Mills— De Lancey's Pine- Johnson's Tavern— The Zoological Park— Bronxdale— The Lorillard Estate— The Botanical Gardens.
CHAPTER XVII.
The Bronx Above Bronx Park
Source of the Bronx— The "Hermitage"— Washing- ton's Gun House — Indian Rock — Valentine Farm House — Woodlavvn Cemetery— Adelina Patti's House.
4.=
48
VI
Table of contents
CHAPTER XVIII. PACE
Eden wald 51
Seton Fallsl — Indian Hiding Place — Imdian Fortifica- tions— Seton Cave — Seton Mansion.
CHAPTER XIX.
Pclham Bay Park 5,3
Anne Hutchinson — Thomas Pell — Haunted Cedar Knoll —Glover's Rock— Battle of Pell's Point— Old Ferris House — Old Peil Cemetery — Collins' Homestead — Pell Mansions — Howe Chestnut — Twin Islands — Hunter's Island.
CHAPTER XX.
City Island 59
Ancient Horse Cars — Marshall Mansion — ^City Island Bridge — General History of the Island — Macedonia Hotel.
CTTAPTER XXI.
The Battle at Westchester Creek 63
General Account — Extract from General Heath's Me- moirs— ^The Old Westchester Bath — Old Milestones.
CHAPTER XXII.
The Devil's .Stepping Stones G5
The Satanic Legends — The Old Ferris Houses — The Spy Tree and its Legends — The Paul House — Kelly's Old Homestead — Thwaite's Old Homestead — "The Drovers' Inn" — The Adee Ccmeterv.
CHAPTER XXIII..
Fort Schuyler and Screven's Point
Fort Schuyler — Hart's Island' — Zcrcga's Point — Screv- en's Point — Castle Hill Mansion — The Wilkins' House.
67
Port Morris and
Riker's Island — Two Brother counts of the Lost "Hussar."
CHAPTER XXIV. The Hussar" 71
Islands — Various Ac-
CHAPTER XXV.
Leggelt's Lane and Westchester Turnpike 72
Leggett's Lane' — The Dater Mansion — The Dennison- White Mansion — The Revolutionary Cave — Oak Point — The Whitlock-Casanova Mansion — Westchester Turn- pike— Janes & Kirtland Iron Foundry — St. Ann's Church — The Pocahontas Branch Railroad — The "Great Eastern" — Bensonia Cemetery — The Bension Mansion.
CHAPTER XXVI.
'Fremont and Fordlmm 75
Ancient Bathgate Avenue House — Historical Tremont — Jacob Lorillard Residence — Old Stenton Mansion — Old Powell Farm House — Rose Hill Farm House — Fordham Heights Cemetery — Poe Cottage — Dutch Reformed Church — Ancient Manor of Fordham.
CHAPTER XXVIII. PAGii
Parks of the Bronx Sj
History and Description of the Parks and Parkways of the Bronx.
CHAPTER XXIX.
Railroads 85
General Description and History of the Railroads of the Br.inx from Early Days to the Present.
CHAPTER XXX.
Hunt's Point 87
The Vyse Mansion — The Old Hunt Inn — Fo.xhurst — The Fade Estate — The SpofTord Mansion — The Leggett Cemetery — The Baretto Mansion — The Hunt Cemetery — Joseph Rodman Drake — The Hunt Mansion^ — ^Lafay- ette Lane.
CHAPTER XXXI.
Jerome Park Reservoir Q2
Jerome Park — Old Bathgate Houses — Remains of Old Redoubt — Old Croton Aqueduct — Jerome Park Reser- voir— Polo Club House.
CHAPTER XXXII.
The Clack Swamp and Highbridgeville 95
The Mysterious Black Swamp — The Old Cromwell House — The Townsend Poole Cottage — Featherbed Lane — The De Voe Residence — Andrew Corsa.
CH'APTER XXXIH.
Places of More Recent Interest 09
Old Mansions and Families in Bronx Borough — The Stenton Willow — Annexation in 1874 — Annexation in 1895 — The Concourse — White Plains Road Widening — Westchester .Avenue Widening — The Bronx as a Sep- arate County — The Portchester Railroad — The Subway, Existing and Planned — ^Coming Improvements of the Harlem Railroad — A Wonderful Prophesy Fulfilled.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Ecclesiastical .Architecture in the Bronx 109
The Oldest and the Newest Houses of Divine Worship Shown — Commendable Progress in Developing Relig- ious Interests in the Borough — Some of the Pastors of Bronx CInirches.
CHAPTER XXXV.
Catholic Educational Institutions 121
New York Catholic Protectory, its Aims, Influence and Work — L^rsuline Academy — St. John's University, at Fordham — -Academy of Mount St. Vincent — Sacred Heart .Academy — Manhattan College.
CHAPTER XXXVI. Municipal. Medical, Charitable and Benevolent Institutions
and Societies in the Borough of the Bronx 13,
Son\e of the Leading Medical Men of the Bronx.
CHAPTER XXVII.
The Bridges of the Bronx
Bridges Crossing from the Borough of the Bronx to Manhattan Lsland — Their Various Histories and Points of Interest.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
79 Clubdom in the Bronx 163
Some of the Principal Social and Political Organiza- tions — Jefferson — Schnorer — Fordham — Brown- son — Chippewa — Longwood — Bronx — Union Re-
TABLE OF CONTENTS
publican — North Side Republican — Mohawk — Wam- panoag — Mott Haven — Men's Club of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
CHAPTER XXXVHI.
c Bodies in the Bronx 167
North Side Board of Trade — Twenty-third Ward Prop- erty Owners' Association — Taxpayers' Alliance — Im- provement League.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Association of the Bar in the Borough of the Bronx. . 174
CHAPTER XL.
■csentatives nf the Bar 177
Some of the Prominent Members of the Legal Fra- ternity of the Bronx.
CHAPTER XLI.
^ryphical Sketches 213
The Personal History of Many of Those Who Have Been and .'Hre Prominent in the Life of the Bronx and Have Aided in its Development.
CHAPTER XLII.
he Public Eye 272
Some of the Men Who Have Figured in Developing
the Borough, and Have Attained More Prominence Than is Accorded Most Men.
CHAPTER XLIII.
Manufacturing and Industrial Enterprises 292
The Bronx a Center of Commercial Activity — Marvel- ous Growth Shown in the Leading Channels of Manu- factures.
CHAPTER XLIV.
Prominent Men of Affairs 331
Who Have Made Their Mark in the Annals of this Progressive Borough.
CHAPTER XLV.
Educational Advantages 391
Colleges — Seminaries — Public Schools — Commer- cial Schools.
CHAPTER XLVI.
Transportation Facilities of the Bronx 305
The Portchester Railroad — Union Railway Company — New York City Interborough Railway — College Point Ferry.
CHAPTER XLVII.
About the Steurer Publishing Company 403
A Great Printing House Occupying Six Floors, Located in the Business Center of the Bronx.
GENERAL ILLUSTRATIONS
PACE
ioat Chill Scene on llic 1 larlcni 5J
:leniy al Ml. Si. \'incL-nl ij^
Joebns' I'lnn-ial anil Ivnlialmina l£sial)li.shnK'nl ,i,y)
ceiie on iht- I'mnx Ri\X'r near llie IK-nilork (onvc 6
cene on l'ron.\ River 48
)cene in l'"cho Park 60
His NiH.nday Meal ;/;
VTorris Park Race Track .8?
atic Bird Tlonse in I'.ron.v Park 8j
;1 Concert in Macmnli^ l)ani Park 60
;ba!l Game in Crolona Park . . 'lo
[gate House oj
igate Homestead ■ y-j
ionia Cemetery, Formerly Located al ihe Jnnction of St.
Ann's and P.rook .\\enne.; .. i itj
ian Cemetery, l'"ordham 1 lei.ulii ■, 76
seye View of llie Xew \'ork Catlmlic Prottctory ijo
on Road at Spencers Corner, luai- Williamsbridgc. . 29
nical Mnsenni in I'.ron.x Park ■. . . 50
ge as Proposed on the Ponchester Railroad 396
ge Connecting L.nrillard Mansion with llemlock Grove,. <S6
'ornia Sea l.mn — .-\ Scene in I'.ronx ['ark., Oq
nova Mansion , . 73
olic Protectory I'.and i-'.j
legie Library, .Mcxander .\ venue and i^oih .Stie^l .;.'o
ral L'nion Gashght Company's Office linilding, I42d
Street and .Mexander .\venue -'0-
)el and A-^seinhly Mall of the New York Catholic I'ro-
tectony .122
)el at Ml. St. 'Vincent . ijr
st Episcopal Clinrcli, Ri\erdale and .M.amo .Avennes... 2.)
Island Car 62
emont Park Congregational Clinrch , . ti;;
;on Avenne and 170th Street Soeiiieen ^'ear.. .\t;>. 70
;ge Point Ferry P.oat ( "Port Morris" 1 400
red Orphan Asyhnn. Riverdale .\venne 136
lieger's Son I'actc iry 323
liwell Farm I louse 06
Lanccy's Pine .|5
;ram of Pews of Old St. Paul's Chinch. Fastchester 14
sel Railwav Lamp Works ... 315
blishment of Kiny the I'lonst .. 38.;
npt Firemen on Parade 105
: German M. F. Church. Fllon .'\ venue and i5Sth Street. 110
itliill Castle." Academy of Mt. St. Vincent i.;o
cluirsl," Residence of William Simpson 377
Mansion 99
1/ Sigel Park 82
Bridge. Kingsbridge 18
em River, Looking North from MaduiMi Awnne Bridge, 97
em River, I.ooking West from Second .\veiiue Piridge. . 97
;ock Meadow . . 43
ry W. P.oettgcr Silk- Finishing Works ... 385
1 Bridge 80
le for Incurables, Third .\vcnuc between tSist and t,'^4i1i
Streets 1 .^^
le of the Friendless, Woodycrest .Vvenne 134
Hunt House, Boston Road,
I lunt Mansion
Indian Cemetery
Indian L;d<e. (."rotona Park....
91
4
82
Inihislnal liuilding, Male Department, of the New \nrk
Catholic Protectory . 120
Isaac V^arian llomestead. Van Cortlandt .Vvenue 27
lacol) Ijiill's Piano Factory 313
l.LCol) Ruppert's Jcc Plant 304
Jeimings' Old Homestead (Old .Sinne Jug) 37,
lohu Lanzer's Planing and Moulding Mill, L'nionport 327
Johnson's Tavern, West Farms 42
Joseph Rodman Drake's Monument ..go
lunior Flail, Fordham University 126
Junctioiii of 'I'hird Avenue and r.oston Ro.ad ir,2
Last of the Morris I'ret.- 51
Le'banon Hospital, \' .\venue 13c;
1-eggett's Lane . . , . 72
Lincoln Hospital, 141 m1 i n ird .Avenue 137
looking South froiij Junction of 148th Street, I bird and
Willis .'\ venues 08
Looking South from Jimction nf Third ,uid .Mexander .\\e-
nues and T43d Street 98
Lorillard Snuff Mill, Bronx Park . .17
Lorillard Studio, Bronx Park 47
Lydig's Mills .43
Macedonia Hotel bi
Macomb Mansion 101
Madison .Avenue Bridge, at I38tb Street, Over llarU-m River, yf^ Main Entrance from Westchester A\enue to the New York
Catholic Protectory 123
Map of "Bronckxncck." Showing Patents of Lewis Morris,
Sr., and Jesup and Ricbardson 103
Manhanset .Apartment House, Erected by Tames F. Meehan. 23. j
Manhattan College. New York 132
Mausoleum of Collis P. Huntin.glon. in Wnndlawn Cemetery,
Erected by Robert Calerson 321
Melrose Turn Verein Building 162
Metropolis 'I'heatre. :42d .Street and Third Avemie 337
Alontgomery Cottage ■ -5
Alorris Farm House 37
Morris High School, Boston .Avemic and looih .Street 32
Morris Park Race Track Club 1 louse 164
Mott Haven Refornicd Church. Known as the Old .Stone
Church. Third A\cnue. l''ormcrly Boslfin Road, and
146th St rcet 30
Mutual Milk and Cream Company's Depot. . 32S
M. E. Westergren's (Inc.) Factory . . 324
National Guard in Camp at Van Cortlandt Pai k 24
Nazareth Branch of Seton Hospital. Spnylen Dnyvil.... 140
New Beck Memorial Church. West Farins 4]
New Third .Avenue Bridge 78
New York Central I'lrid.gc at Park .Avenue. C)\er Harlem
River 78
\"ew York Central Railroad Tracks and .Station at 177th
Street (Treinont .Avenue) . . 108
f
GENERAL ILLUSTRATIONS
PACF
New York Stalf National (iiianl in Camp on iliu Papule- Ground in Van Corllanili I'arU 22
North New York Conyregatiunal Clinrch 112
Nortlt Side Brewing Compan\ 301
Old Batligate AveiUK- 1 louse 75
Old Berrian I louse, S|uiylen 1 )uy\ il ig
Old City Island liridgc 50
Old Hadley House, Mo.sh,.ln 20
Old Hunt Inn S;
Old Kingsbridge ! 7
Old Lady Washington Engine Company, i66tli Street, Near
Washington Avenue 38
Old Mill at West Farms 64
Old Mott Haven Canal, Looking South from 144th Street... 68
Old Mott Haven Canal, Looking Nonli tr(»ni i.^Sih Street.. 68
Old Map of Original West h'arms 9.1
Olin Methodist Episcopal Chiircli, Williamsliridge 112
Old Stone Gate House, Morrisama 35
Old Spy House. Near West Farms 43
Old 'Ihird Avenue 3'J
Old Wilkins' Farm liouse, Screven's Point g
Old Williams' House, Williamsliridge 27
(Jne Hundred and Sixty-third Street, East of Third .Ave- nue— To Left. Schnorer Cluli ; to Right, Eagle .\venue
School 100
Oppenheim's Furnishing Goods Store 355
Patriotic Celebration at the Gouvcrneur Morris Mansion on the Occasion of the Reception of the Liberty Bell from
F'aneuil Hall 34
Pell Burying Ground 56
Pell Mansion 57
Perspective View of the Reformed St. Paul's Church. 141st
Street, St. Ann's and Trinity .\venues 114
Philanthropin Hospital. Briggs and Maple .\venues, Wil-
liamsbridge 134
Poe Cherry Tree 105
Poe Cottage 76
Police Station. Fony-tirst Precmot. Webster .Avenue and
Mosholu Parkway 390
Port Morris Market 32S
Powell Farm House 7S
Princeton Dental Parlors 387
Prong- Florned Antelopi' ,36
Proposed Jefiferson Club House 163
Public School No 2, Third .Avenue Near 170th Street 304
Public School No. 6. Locust Avenue. West Farms 39.4
Public School No. 27, .St. Ann's Avenue. Opposite St. Mary's
Park 30.1
Public School No. 3;^. Jerome and Walton -Avenues 391
Public School No. 39, Longwood -Avenue, Kelly ;ind Beck
Streets .^92
Public School No. 41. Elliott .Avenue and 209th Street. Wil-
liamsbridge 392
Residence of Dr. George .A. Strader 161
River Park, St. Vincent's Point 128
Rocking Stone of Bronx Park 2
Ruined Chimney in Lord ilowe's Head(|uarters, Clason
Point 9
Ruins of Lord Howe's Headtpiarters. Clason Point 9
Sacred Heart Academy 124
Scene on Bron.x River in Bronx Park 12
Scenes at Clason Point Inn. the Favorite -Amusement Resort. .386
Scenes of the Seasons in the Bronx .=8
Scene; in the Parks of the Bron.\ "^o
VAr.t
.scenes Huring Construction ol ilie Subway in llu- llronx,
at I4ylh Street and Third -\\enne 106
;->cenes on the Bronx Shore I- runt 51
.Schieft'ehn & Company t Lahor.itory 319
School Building 01 the New York Catholic I'roleciory 122
Senior Hall. F'ordham Univer^iiy 126
Second Iron Bridge at Third .A\eiuie Replaced by Xew
Third Avenue Bridge 7S
Seton Falls Cave 5j
Seton Hospital, at Spuyten Duyvil 138
Miain Battle at Van Cortlandt Park 18
Sigmund Ullman & Company's Ink Manufactory 328
Signature of Thomas llunt, Jr 89
Signatures of Thomas and Elizabeth Hunt 88
Site of Revolutionary Cave 73
Some of the A.ttractive Spots in the Bronx ^1
Specimen of the American Uison at the "Zoo" in T.ronx
Park 107
Specimens of the .AnimaK at the Bronx "Zoo" 36
Spy Tree, Pelham Road 65
Stenton Mansion 75
Style of Cars for the Portchester Railroad 39(1
Sunday School May Walk in Claremont Park 60
St. Ann's Avenue. Opposite St. Mary's Park 100
St. John's Hall, Fordham University 126
St. John's German Evangelical Lutheran Church. T'ulton
Avenue 1 11
St. Joseph's Hospital. East 143d and I44tli Streets. Brook
and St. -Ann s .Avenues 130
ot. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church. Piathgate .Avenue
Near 177th Street 112
St. Margaret's Protestant Episcopal Church 112
St Mary's Lyceum, 151st Street, West of Melrose Avenue, 164
St Paul's Church, Eastchester 14
St. Peter's Church. Westchester 1 1
.St. Raymond's Roman Catholic Church, Westchester no
The Black Swamp 95
The Blue Bridge, Bronx Park so
The Bostonian Dry Goods Store 361
The Bronx Club House 165
The "Campus" at Fordham University 126
The Fordham Club House 166
The Gorge. Bronx River, Bronx Park 26
The Heine Monument, l6ist Street and Mott Avenue X4
Temple Hand-in-Hand, 145th Street, East of Willis avenue, no
The Flemlock Grove. Bronx Park 44
"The Locusts," Hunt's Point Road 88
The Original Building of the First Presbyterian Church of
Tremont 212
The Race Course at Morris Park 164
The Schnorer Club 162
Third Avenue Elevated Road, Opposite the Home for Incur- ables at 180th Street 104
Third and Tremont Avenues — Borough ?IalI to the Right. 101
Thirty-seventh Precinct Police Station 401
Tremont Avenue Presbyterian Church. Washington .Avenue
Near iTtth Street no
Two-family Houses Erected by the .American Real Estate
Company on Faile Street 255
Townsend Poole Cottage 9^)
Uncle Daniel Mapes' "Temperance House." West Farms.... 42 Union Railway Company's Office, at i2Sth Street and 'Third
Avenue 400
L^rsuline .Academv at Bedford Park 132
GENERAL ILLUSTRATIONS
n Cortlaiult MIIIn .nul l.akf, \':m C'nrllaiult I'ark 21
11 Cortlaiult X'aiilt 23
:inity of Rathgatc A\oniio, North of 177th Street. Show- ing the New Church of St. Josejih Xeariiis CmiipK-tion. loS
;w of Treniont in the Year 1854 212
iceiit-llalsey } louse. Eastchesler t*!
isliiiigton Aveiuie ami I7.iil .Street I'efore Widening. ,. . loi
ishington Rriilge 79
Washington Gun llnne 40
Vyfebb Aea'lemy 40!
Webster and Urook .\veinies, North of Melrose X'iailuct... 10-
William 11. Morris' .Mansion. Morrisania 37
V\'inter Scene in Crolnna Park 105
Works of the N'.an Nest Woodworking Company 32J
York & Swift's 1 "ndertaking Kslablishnient 373
Young Female ^^■o(ldland Carilioii 36
/-uorowski Mansion 83
ADDENDA AND ERRATA
Page 9 — The btiildmgs on Clason's Point, long known ;is ; Christian Brothers' Academy, now bear the title of the ison Point Military School.
Page g — The following interesting inscription is found on ' walls of the Clason's Point Inn :
IX THE YEAR 1643 lOMAS CORNELL liOUGllT TlllS POINT OF THE
by DL\NS. HIS TITLE Wa> Conlirnied Dutch Governor
the
is left" and He Settled Here. Part of Tbis Building House
the by nstructed by Cornell. It W.i^ Ibirned Indian^ the Fii st
the ar He Came.
Page 2/ — The older wing of the Varian homestead has re- cently been torn down and the nilier portion modernized. While :'.t work the men disccnered some rare coins, most of them_ English, and liearing the mint marks of the seventeenth ani! eighteenth centunes.
Page '=, — (hi ihi- p.ige the names of the Powell Farm Hon-'; and the .Stenton .Mansion should be interchanged.
Page 79 — Ina'^nincb as Hudson was an English navig.ato: and a citizen of 1 ondon. his name sliould be Henry Hudson.
Page 15.^ — Coroner Schwannecke is the son of the late Dr. Schwannecke, who was one of the most prominent pbysicians of- the Bronx.
Page iSo — Judge Matthew P. Breen was born December 4. 1847. and not December 4, 1845, as stated on this page.
Page 261 — Mrs. William H. Keating is an accomplished musician and not her husband as erroneously stated on this page.
CHAPTER I
THE GLACIAL AGE
The Glacial Man — Glacial Traces — Noted Boulders — The Indian Bath — The Indian Cemetery
Who were the very first dwellers of this borough of ours, where land is rapidly becoming so valuable, and residents pour in so that we shall expect to see sky-scrapers being erected in place of the magnificent apartments that almost amaze us to look at, to-day? The Indians, perhaps you will say, the "painted brothers of our common race." No, indeed! Go far back of their time, centuries, even ages. Look at the whole country just after the immense layer of ice left it, and perchance you may find an answer to the question.
The very first man that trod on these shores is styled the "glacial man," and he is described as in manners ruder than the rudest savage, and in appe.'irance closely resembling the present Esquimau of the north.
In the books of science we learn that a mass of ice once moved slowly but surely over this district, leaving the traces that still exist to-day in the form of gigantic boulders and layers of rock that are polished uniil they fairly shine. "Looking back- ward through the centuries," we read, "the populous city fades from sight as a dissolving view, and a great sheet of ice appears. It is the glacial epoch, the ice age, and we are looking backward, not through hundreds of years only, but through thousands ot years. We are contemplating 'terrestrial map-making.' The Divine Builder is laying the foundations."
Scattered throughout this borough evidences everywhere :xist that were left when the immense glacier receded towards the north, leaving the traces that it brought from perhaps thousands of miles away. The principal, the best known of these, las vanished from sight, blasted mto countless fragments and Tiost likely forming part of the foundation of scores of houses in ;he neighborhood. This was old "Pudding Rock," that was once iuch a prominent landmark at the intersection of Boston Road md Cauldwell Avenue.
Many are the tales recounted about this huge mass of rock. Rising "not unlike a pudding in a bag," it was gracefully orna- nented at the top by an attractive group of cedar trees, its dimen- sions being twenty-five feet high and thirty-five feet in diameter —truly a gigantic boulder in every sense of the word. The .ndians of old were not slow in discovering that on one side is )ossessed a natural fire-place, where they cooked their oysters md clams and held their "corn feasts."
When that well known artery of travel, Boston Road, was ipened, Pudding Rock became the camping place of the Hugue- lots, driven from France by the persecutions there. Here they tar- •ied for many a day before they selected New Rochelle as the inal place to settle and worship according to the dictates of their )wn consciences. Later on, we are told, it was chosen as the lalf-way point to rest, when they made their w-eekly journeys on
Sunday from their homes at New Rochelle to worship at the shrine of old Trinity Church at Broadway and Wall Street, New York City.
Finally came the scientist, "with his big brain and his little lianimer," who announced that Pudding Rock was a glacial waif, left stranded by the mass of ice as it receded to the north, leaving this section "open to the tread of the mastodon."
Another famous glacial stone is the Split Rock of Pelhani Bay Park, on Collins' Lane or "Split Rock Road." Cleft direct- ly in the middle, with a good-sized tree growing in the fissure, this great boulder is one of the sights of the neighborhood, and stands a few feet south of this historic roadway, not far from the city line.
Rivalling Split Rock m historic interest is the famous Rocking Stone of Bronx Park, just west of the buffalo range in the south- erly portion of the Zoological Park. Accounts tell that this was a source of wonder and amazement to the Indians, who would gather about these various balanced rocks and hold many a medicine- dance in their weird and peculiar fashion. Many years ago, long before the Bronx Park was even thought of, this rocking stone stood on the extensive estate of the Lydigs, and the foreman of the place attempted to drag it away from the spot it had occu- pied for so many generations. The combined efforts of twenty- four oxen proved unavailing to stir it from its place, and yet one person, by pushing from the right direction, can easily cause it to rock back and forth.
"A rock, chance poised and balanced lay. So that a stripling arm might sway, A mass no host could raise.
"In nature's rage at random thrown. Yet trembling like the Druid's stone On its precarious base."
Historians tell us that this Rocking Stone, which it is lucky the farmer could not dislodge, is entirely different in geological formation from the rock on which it rests. Had the glacier carried it but a little further south, it would now be in soft earth instead of on ice-polished veins of rock, and the Bron.x would have lost one of its most cherished curiosities.
But to return to Pelham Bay Park. On a section of the same historic roadway from which the Split Rock may be seen, between Bartow station and City Island, rises a solitary sentinel, emblazoned with a bronze tablet and known as "Glover's Rock," in commemoration of the masterly retreat conducted by Colonel Glover during the Revolution, holding in check the red coats
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
under Howe and enabling Washington with his men to reach a point of safety. It is about opposite "Jack's Rock," one of the best fishing resorts in the vicinity.
Within the hniits of picturesque Bronx Park of glacial curiosities, too important to be passed by without a little notice, there are the "glacial grooves," or indentations in the solid rock, showing where the mass of ice plowed its way along, leaving these deep furrows in its wake. In the precipitous side of a clifif is the "Indian Well," also styled the "Indian Bath,", a rocky basin perhaps used by the red men as a place to grind their corn, in the hollow of which some stone, in days of yore, was whirled around and around by the powerful mass of ice until it ground this deep hole. Then the outside of the cliff evi- dently fell forward towards the river, releasing the stone that had done the work, but leaving its results behind.
A little to the south will be found the "Bear's Den," a ro- mantic spot where the rocks were pded perpendicularly by some immense force, between them being a natural cave in which a family of bears may have made its home and reared its cubs in these wild, rocky fastnesses. To the south of the "Bear's Den" may be seen the "Indian Burying Ground," where a mass of stones is standing on end in truly Druidical fashion. Whether this be the work of the ice or the Indians or of the white man, there it remains, one of the curiosities of the Botanical Garden.
Now to take a glance at some of the other interesting, glacial
freaks. There is the great boulder, styled "Black Rock," partial- ly imljcdded in the salt marshes to the south of the Westchester Turnpike, not far from Pugsley's Causeway. I have been told that this is a meteorite, but at any rate there it lies, probably deeply sunken in the ground, almost within sight of the great stone "Watson Mansion." the home of the Westchester Golf Club.
Overlooking the new Jerome Park Reservoir, just in front of the engineer's office, stands another immense rock, fortu nately on the city's property and so likely to be preserved. If we pass to the southwest, just outside the reservoir's domains, we shall come upon a flat surface of rock, plainly bear- ing the marks of the passing of the glaciers in centuries gone by. Plainly indented here are two depressions, the exact size and shape of human feet. If we can imagine that some "glacial man" stood here when the rock was yet plastic, he must have stood with his toes turned far out, almost too far to have rendered it possible. A photograph of this freak of nature would indeed be difficult, unless the camera were pointed directly downwards.
There are many other boulders that have as yet withstood the advancing march of civilization, such as the one on top of the ridge overlooking Jerome Avenue, and the great rock near the southerly limit of Clareniont Park. A large boulder stands near the corner of the Southern Boulevard and Home Street, but it will soon yield to the "advancing tide that flows not from the waters of the Sound but from New York City."
Rocking Stone of Bronx Part
CHAPTER II
THE INDIANS OF THE BRONX
Hendrick Hudson's Experience — Indian Names — Indian Villages — Indian Deeds
The thirteenth day of September, 1609, says a writer, marked the point of division between the prehistoric and the historic pe- riods of our district. It will be remembered that that great structure of the future, tlie Hudson Memorial Bridge, that is to span Spuyten Duyvil Creek at its confluence with the Hudson River and connect the Boulevard Lafayette with the beautiful Spuy- ten Duyvil Parkway, is located almost at the exact spot where the "Half Moon" came to anchor and was met by the innumerable canoes of the dusky race, who came out from their villages and hiding places to witness the wonderful flying bird with white wings that had come from such a far distant country. Earlier than that date all is uncertainty, almost ignorance. Afterwards we know something, but far too little, of the many events that make up the history of our borough.
Whence came these red men that once inhabitated our dis- trict and whose traces we behold even to-day? Of the Indians' own history they seemed strangely ignorant. If we ignore the "indigenous" theory, we may believe that possibly they strayed from the Orient to this country by means of Behring Strait, or were brought in ships that had been wrecked on these shores. Japanese vessels that have not infrequently been cast on our northwestern shores and the islands in tlie Pacific as well as the Atlantic Oceans may have been the means of bringing these early dwellers to our region.
Occupying our entire .\tlantic seaboard was one great tribe — the Algonquins. This was divided into many subdivisions, speaking many different tongues. Occupying the large portion along the sea coast were the Siwanoys. or .Sewanoes. In the interior the Mohicans or Mohegans seemed to have held sway. As to the opinion of an early Dutch settler in regard to the Indians, it was as follows : "They call themselves Manettas ; they are the devil himself!" Probably he had reference to the tribe inhabiting Manhattan Island, which is said to have overflowed to the lower part of Bron.x Borough.
An e.xact allotment of the territory occupied by each branch of the great Algonquin tribe might be given up as hopeless; their subdivisions and overlappings would puzzle even a Philadelphia lawyer. Oysters were their favorite food, as the shell beds bear distinct evidence. One on City Island may especially be men- tioned, while on Pelham Neck once existed two villages, one on the extreme point and another further on the mainland, nearer tlie Eastern Boulevard. I have in my collection two curiosities that were dug up from here. One is a highly polished "banner- stone" and the other a portion of an Indian's skull, exhumed from the extensive burying-ground tliey once had here.
.'\n early traveler in this borough tells us that "the salvages are the most salvage of any I ever saw," If we were more exact.
we should refer to these red men as "Amerindians," as this title was adopted not long ago by the Bureau of Ethnology.
"And still the lofty hills abide
Where sped their moccasined feet.
Still flows and ebbs the river's tide
Where skimmed their birch bark fleet.
"But from the hills and river's shore
Their dusky race has fled. The pale-face thoughtlessly treads o'er
The places of their dead."
Go where you will, you will find the old Indian names still in use. As we have seen, Muscoota was their name for the Har- lem River — perhaps on account of the numljer of "mosquitos" they found there, as the name signified "the river of the grass lands." The River Bionx they termed "Aquahung," while the Hudson was in their language "Shatemuck." Mill Brook, whose waters once flowed, clear and crystal, through the Webster and Brook Avenues valley, was known by them as "Acrahung" and Spuyten Duyvil Creek "Papirinamen." This gave rise to the "Island of Papirinamen," lying to the north of old King's Bridge and east of Tippett's Brook, which was in truth an island when the tide was high.
The northern bank at the mouth of Spuyten Duyvil Creek was the site of a fortified Indian village "Nipinichsan." It proved both a dwelling place and a defence against the savage "Sank-hi-can-ni (Fireworkers) living on the west side of the "Shatemuck" (Hudson). Some years ago Uie distinct remains of Indian shells were visible in the rear of the fortress, "Nipinich- san," of the Mohegans.
A brief glance may be taken at the various Indian villages, strongholds and burying grounds that once dotted this borough. They dwelt on the Bronx, on the shores of Tippett's Brook and on the banks of the Hudson. When Hendrick Hudson came sail- ing up in his "Half Moon," and stopped at a point near Spuyten Duyvil. he tried to capture two of the Indians, who had come out in their canoes to meet him, but, jumping overboard, they es- caped. What was his dismay, on returning down the river, a month later, when they swarmed out in their canoes to seek re- venge. Hudson describes the attack in his own words as fol- lows : "Whereupon two canoes full of men, with their bows and arrows, shot at us after our Sterne, in recompense whereof we discharged si.x muskets, and killed two or three of them. Then above a hundred of them came to a point of land to shoot at us. There I shot a falcon at them and killed two of them; where- upon the rest fled into the woods. Yet they manned ofif another
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
canoe with nine or ten men, who came to meet us. So I shot a falcon and shot it through, and killed one of them. So they went their way."
Many interesting tales are told about the Indians that once dwelt among the wilds of Pelham Bay Park. Indeed we may describe this as the paradise of the red men. It was here they as- sembled in hordes to fish; among the rocky fastnesses they se- cured an almost unlimited supply of their beloved "quckog," from which they fashioned their primitive "seawant" or wam- pum. Hence arose what is known as the Indian name for this section "Laaphawachking," the "Place of Stringing Beads."
A few years ago, two men were exploring in this neighbor- hood for Indian relics, when suddenly their spades struck against the bones of a human foot. What was their delight in unearth- ing the complete skeleton perfect, save for the absence of the lef* hand, while lying in the hollow of the right arm was a sharp stone weapon, resembling a knife! It was suggested that the
and Ann-hook, once chiefs of the powerful Sewanoes. "We examined several mounds near the water's edge." writes a his- torian, in speaking of Pelham Neck. "One held the remains of an Indian boy about twelve years old, in a sitting position, together with a beautiful specimen of native pottery, formed by the hand alone, rudely ornamented with zigzag lines, in which we discovered an arrow-head of quartz and the bones of a small animal."
But to turn to the ancient town of Eastchester for a moment. All along the banks of the "Aqueanoncke," or East- chester Creek, were numerous Indian wigwams, while a castle of the Sewanoes stood on a hill at the rear of one of the best known residences. Traces of these were recently discernible, while many arrow heads and implements were fo^ind.
In the Indian deed of K!astchester. dated December 3d. 1700, the following is the consideration: "Fourteen guns, twelve coats, twelve Indian kettles, twelve Indian axes, four adzes and four
Indian
skeleton was that of a criminal, whose right hand had been cut off before his execution, and the stone weapon with which the deed was done, buried with him, to take with him to the happy hunting grounds.
The opinion is that the skeleton is that of a very aged Indian, who had lain buried for three hundred years and perhaps much longer. This discovery is of the greatest scientific value and it has been added to the many treasures of antiquity in the Museum of Natural History.
"The Indians long are gone.
With their forests wide and deep. And we build our homes upon
Fields where their fathers sleep." One authority tells us that close to an immense rock on Hunter's Island are the grave? of the famous Sachems, Nimham
Cemetery
barrels of cider." The deed from the Indians of Westchester, May 27, 1692, from the Indian Sachems Maminepoe and Wampage, gives as its consideration:
Two guns Two coats Two shirts Two kettles Two adzes One barrel of cider Six bits of money. Following are the disbursements upon the Indian purchase:
£ s d
William Barnes, One Kettle 220
To expences to }'e Indians o 6 o
John Hunt, One Coate o 12 o
For Money o I 0
To Indian Supper and other Expences 030
William Richardson, Two Shirts 0 12 0
John Ferris, senior. One Coate o 12 o
To One day with the Indians ,. o 3 q
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
Joseph Hunt, Two Adzt^s (and 3s 8d in money) o IS o
Samuel Palmer. One gun 100
Thomas Baxter, One Gun I 2 0
Joseph Hunt, One Barr.^1 of Cider o 3 0
£846
27" of March, 1704, Joseph Hunt was directed to go to the clerk of the County and see the Indian deed recorded.
The deed conveys :
"All that tract of land lying on the east side of Brunx's river beginning at the Pine Trees, compassing all the land uhicli we the said Maminepoe and Wampage layes claim to, until they come to the head of Rattle Snake brook, and froin thence northeast to Mr. Pell's land, so north by said Pell's marked tree to Brunk's River .... (only reserving to our- selves the privilege of making use of wliitewood trees for our particular use.)"
Not a very exact description, and one that would hardly pass the particular attorneys of to-daiy. But it was fully in keeping with the old deeds and descriptions of that age where land, not being in the great city of New York, was not quoted at such a high premium as it is to-day.
Passing south along the Sound from Pelhani Bay Park we find that a well fortified Indian castle stood on Screven's Point. Indeed one authority describes it as the original settlement of the Weckquaesgeeks. Here they had a permanent camp, pro- tected by a fort, and on this locality also was their burying- ground. A mortar, cut in the solid rock, shows plainly where they ground their corn. The name, "Castle Hill," still clings to this place, as a memento of the by-gone days of the savages. The old Bear Swamp Road, between Westchester and Bronx- dale, on the outskirts of Bronx Park, is so styled from the large swamp near which the led men had quite an extensive village. Of this settlement they remained in possession until 1689.
According to another authority it was the Sewanoes that lived at Castle Hill and Bear Swamp. They are known as "one of the tribes of the seacoast, dwelling along the shore of the Sound frotii Norwalk to Hell Gate, while their deeds of sale
covered parts of Morrisania, Pelhatn, Eastchester, Westchester and West Farms. One of the best known warriors, who lived about 1644, was Mayane, described as "a fierce Indian who alone dared to attack with bow and arrow three Christians armed with guns, one of whom he shot dead, and whilst engaged with the other was killed by the third and his head conveyed to Fort Amsterdam."
An early historian thus describes the Indians of upper Bronx Borough :
"They are well shaped and strong, having pitch-black and lank hair, as coarse as a horse's tail, broad shoulders, small waist, brown eyes and snow-white teeth ; they are of a sallow color, abstemious in food and drink. . . . Their clothing is most sumptuous. The women ornament themselves more than the men. . . . Both go for the most part bare-headed. Around llie neck and arms they wear bracelets of 'seawant,' and some around the waist. Moccasins are made of elk hides. . . . The men paint their faces of many colors. The women lay on a black spot only here and there.''
This same authority writes that when the Indians went "a-hunting bears" they dressed themselves, "as Esau did, in clothes that have the fl:i\or of the woods," that they might not be discovered by the sharp-smelling animals. Great quantities of arrow heads and spear heads have been dug up in the vicinity of Eastchester, showing it to have been a great hunting district.
In the year 188a we are told that there were but fifteen civilized Indians in all Westchester County, and ten years later, only four. "The passing away of a race is sad. The wail of the red man as he looked for the last time on the graves of his kindred and set his face toward the sunset, touches a respon- sive chord in all sympathetic breasts."
"I will go to my tent and lie down in despair;
I will paint me with black and will sever my hair;
I will sit on the shore where the hurricane blows,
And reveal to the God of the tempest my woes.
I will weep for a season on bitterness fed.
For my kindred are gone to the mounds of the dead."
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CHAPTER III
THE FIRST WHITE SETTLERS
Jonas Bfonck — Anne Hutchinson — John Throckmorton — Thomas Cornell — Dr. Van Der Donck
"I hear the tread of pioneers,
Of nations yet to be;
The first low wash of waves, where soon
Shall roll a human sea.
"The rndimcnts of empire here Are plastic yet and warm ; The chaos of a mighty world Is rounding into form."
How many of those Avho admire the many glories of the Bron.x River, its romantic gorge near the Lorillard Mansion and its broad artificial lake* above West Farms, where hundreds and even thousands glide in row-boats in summer or in autumn, enjoying the rich coloring of the foliage on either side, ever stop to think that this little river was named after one Jonas Bronck, who, in 1639, settled near its mouth, erecting his house there, the traces of which have entirely disappeared? As early as 1628, the white population of Manhattan Island was given as two hundred and seventy ! What a wonderful difference from to-day! Two years earlier, in 1626, the whole of Manhattan Island was purchased from the Indians "for the value of sixty guilders," or twenty-four dollars ! As Frank Moss expresses it, they were buying "a pig in a poke." They knew but little of the vastness and extent of what they were getting. Hut it turned out to be a most fortunate and lucky "pig!"
As we have said, the first settler of Bronx Borough ap- peared in the year 1639. At that time the ship "Fire of Troy" arrived at New Amsterdam in July, bearing Bronck, his family, farmers, servants and cattle. Soon afterwards he bought from two Indian sachems, Ranaqua and Taekamuck, some five hun- dred acres, which became known as "Bronxland," and were described as "lying betv cen the great kill" (Harlem River) and the Aquahung, afterwards known as the "Bronx." In this way we easily see the derivation of the name Bronx (Bronck's) River. The "Fire of Troy" set sail from Hoorn in Holland. We learn that while Jonas Bronck's last residence was in Amsterdam, where he married his wife, Antonia Slagboom, he was originally of Swedi.sh descent, and that great and wondrous tales had come to him of the marvelous fertility of the strange country beyond the seas.
The New York Colonial Documents tell that he built for himself on his new possessions a stone house with a roof of tiles — evidently as a safeguard against the flaming arrows of the Indians — and two barracks, a barn and tobacco house. On an old map of "Bronxland" filed in the office of the Secretary of State at Albany, it would appear that Bronck's house, as clearly as this old tracing indicates, was not far from the mouth of the Bronx River, perhaps close to the present Harlem River station
of the branch road of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. Bronck may have imported bricks from Holland with which to build his home m the Westchester wilderness, as the Dutch word for stone — steen — is, always ambiguous unless accom- panied by some words of description. Two of Bronck's friends who came over with him in the "Fire of Tray," leased part of his land for cultivation in order to raise tobacco and maize, and to reimburse him for their passage money out of the products.
In Bronck's library in his home at Morrisania, which was called "Emmaus," were found a number of Danish and Latin works, together with several law, history and divinity books. In the year 1642 Jonas Bronck's house was chosen as the place for the signing of the treaty of peace with the Indians, which unfortunately did not last long, and in the following year he died, his estate being administered by his friend across the river at Harlem. One of those who made up the inventory was the Dutch minister at New Amsterdam, Everardus Bogardus, the husband of the well known Anneke Jans. Among those present were his widow and his son, Peter Bronck. We find that the Rev. Mitchell Bronk, formerly of the Ascension Church in Mel- rose, was a descendant of Jonas Bronck of old.
Returning to the invonlory. it shows quite clearly that Jonas Bronck was a gentleman of culture, as well as refinement and learning, for he is said to have used silver on his table and had lable-cloths and napkins and to have possessed as many as six linen shirts. We are told that his belongings included pictures, silver cups, spoons, tankards, bowls, a silver-mounted gun, fine bedding, satin, gros-grain suits and gloves. How fortunate are we when we stop to consider that the name Bronck is perpetu- ated for all time to come in the Bronx River as well as Bronx Park and the Borough of the Bronx.
It was unfortunate that the treaty of peace signed at Bronck's house proved of but little avail. Back in 1626 two of the Weckquaesgeek Indians journeyed southward, crossing the Harlem River until finally they reached the "Kolck" or Col- lect Pond, near Canal Street, with a quantity of beaver skins for trading. Here they were met by servants of Governor Iilinuit, who not only stole the skins but murdered the older Indian. The younger savage, a nephew of the elder, managed to escape, but vowed that he would seek revenge, and when he came to manhood he redeemed his vow. He came one day to Harlem, seeking to trade some skins for "duffels," and while the white man with whom he was about to make the barter was stooping over his chest, the treacherous red man quickly raised an axe and killed him on the spot, escaping with his plunder across the Harlem into \Vestchester.
Prompt satisfaction was demanded by Governor Kieft, but tlie chiefs refused to surrender the culprit, although soldiers
8
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
were at once sent from Now Amsterdam in an unsuccessful at- tempt to capture him. Then it was that the short-lived treaty of peace which was signed at Bronck's house came to an end. The savages, in no manner satisfied, began committing depredations on all sides, until at last Governor Kieft decided upon a war, placing Captain John Underbill in command of the expedition. This intrepid Indian fighter writes as follows in his "News from America :"
"Myself received an arrow through my coat sleeve, a second against my helmet on the forehead; so as if God in His provi- dence had not moved the heart of my wife to carry it along with me, which I was unwilling to do, I had been slain. Give me leave to observe from hence, let no man despise advice and counsel of his wife, though she be a u'oinan."
Turning to the English settlers, we learn that one of the earliest as well as most important was Mrs. Anne Hutchin- son, who has given her name to the Hutchinson River or East- chester Creek, which after passing under Pelham Bridge widens into that noted fishing resort, Pelham Bay. The summer of 1642 saw her advent to the vast wilderness of Pelham Bay Park, to- gether with her son-in law, Mr. Collins, his wife and family and Mrs. Hutchinson's younger cliildren. Driven from both Boston and Rhode Island because of her peculiar religious ideas, she sought the forest as a refuge. Crossing from Flushing so as to avoid the Dutch who did not look upon her ideas with favor, she had her house built upon the rising ground not far from the Hutchinson River and, as near as the authorities agree, back to the famous Split Rock. The exact spot remains unde- cided.
Among her scattered neighbors she still continued to ex- pound her peculiar views. Among others that came to hei meetings was big Captain John Underbill — and rumor has it that he may have cared less for her teaching than for her hand- some self.
"What have you done since you were here last that you should have left undone?" she would ask.
Then the man, who was not afraid of the savages, would quail under her glance and confess his sins, the worst being drinking rum or dancing at a tavern with some girl.
"Will you never become good?" she would say in despera- tion, and then to one of her followers: "Bring me the fool's cap."
Then on the head of the daring Indian fighter would be placed the long, peaked cap, and he would sit in front of the others to do his penance. But just as soon as the cap was re- moved from his curly locks, he would again become the same roistering, good fellow.
We may trace for a few minutes the ancestry of this re- markable woman who had left her home in civilization to seek religious freedom among the Indians of Pelham. She is said to have been related, collaterally, to the poet Dryden. Her bus band is described as a "mild, amiable and estimable man, pos- sessed of ac onsiderable fortune, and in high standing among his Puritan contemporaries," who died a short time before her pil- grimage to Pelham. Accompanied by her husband and children she left the shores of England, coming to Massachusetts Bay in 1636. 'When she aroused the ire of the Puritans, she sought shelter in Rhode Island. Her husband dying in 1642, she and what was left of her family came to Pelham, at that time a primeval wilderness.
One day an Indian appeared at the door of her little cabin.
Anne received him cordially, feeding him on fresh bread and cakes and clams.
"Where are all the men ?" he asked of her.
"There are no men here," she declared, and, pointing to her oldest son, "this is the only man I have."
"Ugh!" was the response. "Him no man; only little boy."
The Indian went his way with a smile on his face, promis- ing to bring some more game the next time he came. He came again, all too soon, and the game was an Indian game. That same niglit the savages came in force, setting fire to her cabin and slaying the inmates, including Anne Hutchinson herself. Her little eight-year-old daughter was carried ofif into captivity by the Indians, only to be taken from them so long afterwards that she had almost forgotten her native language and was de- cidedly unwilling to leave her captors.
It so chanced that John Underbill was in his tavern when be learned of the news of the massacre. Dashing his mug of ale from his lips he resolved to seek vengeance on the guilty savages, if possible. Following the Indians into Connecticut, he completely encircled their camp so that hardly an Indian escaped. Standing on the edge of the bluff, and gazing at the blood-stained snow, the ruins of the camp and the bodies below, he said, quietly :
"I have done my best, but if we had killed a thousand more of the red devils, it would not have paid for a single drop of Anne Hutchinson's blood!''
Along in the fall of 1642 another early settler made his ap- pearance in the Borough of the Bronx. He selected Throgg's Neck as a dwelling place and his name was John Throckmorton. With others he had secured from the Dutch government a license, bearing date October 2, 1642, allowing him to settle within three Dutch, or twelve English, miles of New Amsterdam. What was styled a "land brief" was granted to "Jan Throckmorton," in- cluding "a piece of land — being a portion of Vredeland — con- taining as follows: Along the East River of New Netherlands, extending from the point half a mile, which said piece of land aforesaid on one side is bounded by a little river, and on! the other side by a great kill, which river and kill, on high water running, meet each other, surrounding the land."
This locality, from the name of its original occupant, be- came known as "Throckmorton's Neck," soon shortened into "Throgg's Neck." It even appears as "Frog's Point." By way of explanation it may be stated that the "Little River" re- ferred to, is Westchester Creek, and the "Great Kill" the Sound or East River.
Associated with Throckmorton was another emigrant from England, by name Thomas Cornell, who settled on the long neck of land south of Throgg's Neck, which was styled after him "Cornell's Neck." Below is an abstract of Governor Kieft's patent to Cornell, taken from the translation of the Book of Dutch Patents :
"We, William Kieft, Director General, and the Council . . . in New Netherlands residing . . . have given and granted unto Tomas Coornal a certain piece of land lying on the East River, beginning from the Kill of Bronck's land, east south east along ihe river, extending about half a Dutch Mile from the River till a little Creek over the Valley (Marsh) which runs back around this land. . . .
"Confirmed with our seal of red wax here and under- neath suspended. Done in the Fort Amsflerdam, in New Netherland, this 26lh July, A. D., 1646.
"Willem Kieft."
Hon. RICHARD H. MITCHELL
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
Cornell's Neck has almost lost its familiar, old name in the modern title of "Clason's Point," and the romantic roadway that leads from the old Westchester Turnpike is one of the most- ideally shaded and rur;d in our neighborhood. Cornell, it is stated, had come here along with John Throckmorton and
Old Wilkins* Farm House. Scrtven Point
Roger Williams. Together they had journeyed from Rhode Island, where they had been the most intimate friends. Both Throckmorton and Cornell at first settled on Throgg's Neck until driven away by the attacks of the hostile Indians in the next year. The savages "killed several persons belonging to the families of Mr. Throckmorton and Mr. Cornell," say the early reports.
Of this Indian war Roger Williams write: "Mine eyes saw the flames of their town, the frights and hurries of men, women and children." In the words of Governor Winthrop we learn that "by the mediation of Mr. Williams, who was there to go on a Dutch ship to England, the Indians were pacified and peace was re-established." Thus much do we owe to the efforts of Roger Williams.
When the war was over, Cornell came back again, this time taking up his residence on Cornell's Neck or Clason's Point. In 1665 he was "driven off the said land by the barbarous vio- lence of the Indians." The name of Willett's Point, which is given to this section is after a Thomas Willett, who married
John Dolling, one of her many admirers, was forthwith "ordered by the court not to trouble or annoy Sarah Willett." Shortly afterwards we learn that her anxieties in this direction were over when she married Charles Bridges, Governor Stuyvesant's English Secretary of the Province.
In this same connection we may say that, seven years later, a Colonial maid produced several letters-promissory of mar- riage, from a young man, and the Court ordered that he be "condemned to marry her." Another young man of New Netherland declared that instead of being obliged to wed his fair sweetheart "he would rather go away and live with the Indians"— a truly terrible threat !
From tradition we learn that the Willett mansion stood on the present Clason's Point Road, about opposite the Christian Brothers' Academy, but it was burned many years ago. This Academy is described as a large stone chateau, the most im- portant house on the point, and built towards the end of the eighteenth century by a wealthy New York merchant, Dominick Lynch, for his own home. From the balconies of this stately building may be seen a fine prospect of the Sound and the sur- rounding region, with Flushing Bay and College Point in the distance. On the extreme end of Clason's Point there stood
Ruined Chimney in Lord Howe's Headquarters. Clason's Point
Cornell's daughter. And right here we may mculion that one of the early Willetts died, leaving a widow, young, attractive and worth a small fortune in Bronx Borough real estate. Result — she had suitors too numerous to mention, so that she was obliged lo appeal to the courts for protection. On August nth, 1647,
Ruins of Lord Howe's Headquarters. Clason's Point
until recently, the ruins of an ancient farmhouse, the stones of which have in great part found their way into the present Clason's Point Inn. This old house, which even in its ruined state presented a most picturesque appearance, was one of the early Willett houses, and its immense fireplace and oval brick oven were one of thi? borough's most striking reminders of the past. Another name of this ancient structure was "Lord Howe's Headquarters," and I have been told that the British commander made it his place of residence while his men were in the region.
It is interesting to note a remarkable Indian deed, conveying property in this vicinity and signed by the most famous sachem, Saringo. It is as follows:
"The: 4: of July-1701.
"Biet (be it) known to all home it may consarn. That I, SARINGO, hafe This day Sold unto Joseph Horton, saner (senior) A sarten Track or parsal of land Setuaten & Lyen within the profence of Nu Yorcke, which land beginned at the purch(ase) lastly purch'ed by Cornal Hacoc't. John Horton, Cap'tt Thall, Joseph Purdy. and all the Land wassward un- purch'd and so to run upwa-d to brunkess reuer (Bronx River), and I SARINGO do oblidge myself, my ars (heirs) or assins (assigns) to marcket (mark it) oute by Mark Treese as may aper her agan (appear here again) & This To be marcked oute
10
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
The Sext, or Saventh Day of This entant (instant) munth and for the Tru Berformance I haf Sat my hand & Sale Sinedee, Saled and DIeaved In prants (presence) of us This been in order To a furder confmashon.
"SARINGO; X "(and three other Indians, names illegible.)"
Endorsed on this deed is the following :
"I, Joseph Horton oblige mysalfe To pay one Sarengo he performen his part accorded to bagen (bargain) as may apen consarned land which he Is or . . . (illegible) ... to per- forme.
"The a buv named horton Is obliged To Pay Sringo the ras (rest) of his . . . (illegible) ... as follas : i barrel of Sidar, 6 shurts, 5 galans of rum, I Cot (coat) i shepe. And this is to be payd at or before The furst day of Jnery nex in . . . (illegible) . . . The day manshshened (mentioned) July: 4: 17001 (so in original) : i hors, I sadal, i bridal, 2 cots, I calf, 2 shurds (shirts), i ancher of rum."
Figuring most conspicuously among the first settlers of our borough was Dr. Adrian Van der Donck, a native of Breda in Holland. His land embraced the tract from Spuyten Duyvil Creek north to a stream styled the Amackassin, in Yonkers, and extending eastward to the Bronx River. It was a portion of the Indian Keskeskeck region, purchased from the natives by Secre- tary Van Thenhoven for the West India Company in 1639.
"Appeared before me Cornelius Van Thenhoven, Secre- tary of the New Netherlands, Frequemeck, Rechgawac, Peckan- niens, owners of KEKESHICK, which they did freely convey, cede, &c., &c., to the behoof of the General Incorporated West India Company, which lies over against the flats of the Island of Manhates, beginning at the source of said kill, till over against the hill of the flat lands, to wit, by the great kill, together with all the rights, estate, title to them the grantees, &c., &c.
"In testimony of which the truth of this is subscribed by witnesses.
"Done 3d of August, at Fort Amsterdam, in New Nether- land,
"CORNELIUS VAN DER HOYKEN, "DAVIDY PIETTERSEN DE VRIES, "In presence of me, (As witnesses.)
"CORNELIUS VAN THENHOVEN, Secretary."
About this time a slave averaged sixteen dollars, a horse fifty pounds, a pair of oxen forty pounds and a good cow thirty pounds, while during harvest the day's wages of a laborer were thirty cents.
Dr. Van der Donck was certainly one of the most pictur- esque figures of our early settlement. We learn that in 1646 an Indian sachem, Tacharew, granted lands in Neperhaem, to one Adriaen Van Der Donck. But being a true Dutchman what he wanted was "that indispensable requisite of a Dutch farm — a salt meadow." This he succeeded in finding in the level marshes just above King's Bridge, described as "a flat with some convenient meadows about it," and this he at once ob- tained both by a further grant from Kieft and by a purchase from the Indians. On the ancient corn ground of the Indians he laid out his "Bouwerie" or farm, including a "planting ground," extending from what are now the Colonial Gardens in Van Cortlandt Park up to the heights above, and from Broad- way (the old Albany Post Road) to and possibly beyond Van Cortlandt Lake on the east.
Van der Donck's land became known as "Colen Donck," or
Donck's colony. The entire patroonship of Van der Donck afterwards became known as "De Jonkheer's Land," or "De Jonkheer's," signifying the estate of the young lord or jonk- heer. From this is easily traced the present name of the City of Yonkers, "On the flat just behind the present grove of locust trees, north of the old mill, he built his farmhouse, with his planting field on the plain, extending to the southerly end of Vault Hill." Most likely the residence that Van der Donck began to build before' hi^ departure for Holland in 1649 was on that very plain, and its location was a short distance north of the old Van Cortlandt Mills.
Many interesting tales are recorded about this Van der Donck. He wrote a :
"BESCHRYVING
van
"NIEUVV-NEDERLANDT"
Beschreven door ADRIAEN vander DONCK."
Following is the translation of the entire title page:
"Description of New Netherland, Comprising the Character, Situation, and Fertility of the Said Country; and also the Man- ners and Peculiar Qualities of the Wild Men or Natives of the Land. And a Separate Account of the Wonderful Character and Habits of the Beavers . . . Described by Adriaen Van der Donck, Doctor in Both Laws, Who at present is still in New Netherland."
A few quotations from Van der Donck's book may prove of interest:
"Buffaloes are tolerable plenty. These animals must keep towards the southwest, where few people go." In March, 1647, "the whales swam up the (Hudson) river forty (Dutch) miles, from which place one of them returned and stranded about twelve miles from the sea, near which place four others also stranded the same year.
"I have been frequentl)' told by the Mohawk Indians tliat far in the interior pa'rts of the country there were animals, which were seldom seen, of the size of horses, with cloven hoofs, having one horn in the forehead . . . and because of their fleetness and strength they were seldom caught or en- snared. The deer are incredibly numerous in this country. Al- though the Indians kill many thousands throughout the year, and the wolves also destroy many, still the land abounds, with them everywhere, and their numbers appear to remain un- diminished."
Van der Donck enjoyed the distinction of being the very first lawyer to practise in the Colony of the New World. In Court the judges "agreed to allow Lawyer Van der Donck to give advice, but forbade him to plead on the novel ground that there w-as no other lawyer in the colony to oppose him."
In 1655 Van der Donck, the Patroon, died, and in that year occurred a serious massacre by the Indians of the residents of the outlying settlements, that compelled the others to seek the walls of Fort Amsterdam for protection. We can look back, "through the lenses of history," and see the early Dutch settlers, dressed in their quaint costumes, surrounded by the usual crowd of Indians, conversing with them, not in broken English, but in broken Dutch. "As the wood-choppers swung their axes, the trees came rustling, crackling, crashing, thundering down. The white chips flew in every direction as the beams were hewn !"
CHAPTER IV
THE SETTLEMENT OF WESTCHESTER
Thomas Pell — His Deed of Westchester — St. Peter's Church — The Old Bowne House and Other Old Houses
Among the early settlers who came to this region may be lassed Thomas Pell, after whom the beautiful Pelham Bay 'ark takes its name. A curious fact led him to make his home 1 what was then the remote wilderness north of the Hutchin- 3n River. He had come from Connecticut in 1654, and after btaining a deed from the Indian sachems Maminepoe and innhoocg his first thought was to seek a site for a dwelling lace. He had seen fish-hawks nesting in the great oaks and lestnuts near Pelham Neck. Now he was a great believer in le fact that where this kind of bird nested, there good luck ould come. So he built his house, as I have been told, on the 1st side of the Eastern Boulevard, almost in front of the pres- it immense Bartow Mansion, and just above the Split Rock oad. Another authority places the "Old Pell House" "just ver the brow of Prospect Hill and in full view of the Boston ost Road."
It need not be mentioned that the word Pelham is made p of two others, Pell and ham (home.) The story runs that ahn Pell, the second Lord of the Manor and nephew of homas Pell, had been confined to his bed for years with rheu- latism. One day, much to his amazement, a slave came run- ing into his room shouting that there was a mad dog running lose. Rheuinatism or not. it produced a magical effect on the ivalid. Jumping from his bed, he displayed wonderful agility ! climbing the stairs to escape the enraged beast and we learn lat the cure was permanent, although the mad dog story was othing but a hoax, gotten up to frighten the slave.
But to turn to Thomas Pell's deed of Westchester: On No- jmber 14, 1654. Thomas Pell purchased from the Indian chief- lins, Maminepoe and Annhoocg and five other braves, "all thai act of land called Westchester, which is bounded on tlie east y a brook, called Cedar Tree Brook or Gravelly Brook, and .so uining northward as the said brook runs into the woods lout eight English miles, thence west to . . . Bronck's River I a certain bend in the said river, thence by marked trees south ntil it reaches the tide waters of the Sound . . . together ith all the islands lying before that tract."
A few days before the execution of Pell's deed from the idians, on the fifth of November, 1654, we learn that English ?ttlers had begun to put in an appearance in Westchester. An Id record tells us :
"Whereas a few English are beginning a settlement at no reat distance from our outposts, on lands long since bought nd paid for, near 'Vredeland," an interdict was ordered sent ) them by the council and director-general of New Nether- nd, asking them not to proceed further, and commanding them ) leave the spot. One of the very first acts of the English
colonists was to nail to a prominent tree the arms of the Parlia- ment of England.
Soon afterwards the English dwelling there were firm in al- legiance to the Dutch rule, although practicing the English form of worship, as we find by the following entry :
"31 December, (1656) — After dinner Cornelius Van Ruyven went to see their mode of worship, as they had yet no preacher. There I found a gathering of about fifteen men and ten or twelve women. Mr. Baly said the prayer, after which one Robert Bassett read from a printed book a sermon composed by an English clergyman in England. After the reading Mr. Baly gave out another prayer and sang a psalm, and they all sep- arated."
One of the landmarks of Westchester is St. Peter's Church, the front portion of whose property has been unfortunately diminished by the widening of the street in front. The pres- ent building is the fourth of the series, the first having been
St. Peter's Church, Westchester
creeled in 1700. In that year the trustees met and resolved "to build a church twenty-eight feet square, with a terret on top." It cost the then large sum of forty pounds, and stood on the old "Town Green." close to the former County Court House, about on the site of the present Sunday School building. The congregation increased ; its members were ambitious, and in 1762 they took the important step of securing from King George III a charter, styled:
"The Royal Charter of St. Peter's Church, in the Bor- ough Town of West Chester."
To proceed with the history of this church — the second edifice, much larger and more imposing, was built ninety years later, in 1790, at the increased cost of 336 pounds. The year 1854 beheld a sad sight in Westchester — St. Peter's a smoking
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HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
13
and blackened ruin. _ Nothing daunted, however, the parishioners in the following year erected a new and more modern edifice, which was fated only to fall a second victim to the pitiless flames.
The St. Peter's of to-day is of solid stone, as imposing without as it is beautiful within. To the landed possessions of the church, close to the parsonage, is added a portion of the "Ancient Glebe," given by the town in 1703, and otherwise styled the "Parsonage land," while an adjacent roadway bears the appropriate name of "Glebe Avenue."
Westchester was the ancient "Vredeland" of the Dutch, a term signifying "Free land," or Land of Peace. Another name was Gostdorp, or Eastern Village, perhaps to distinguish it from the "West Farms," further to the westward.
Westchester, although a portion of New York City, still re- tains its countrified aspect, and- a number of ancient houses are still to be found close to that modern means of transportation, the trolley car. One of these is the shingle-sided, old-fashioned house, once so well known as the country store of S. B. Bowne & Son, close to Westchester Creek. This is said to have been a sales-place for almost anything under the sun. Some young men, to annoy the storekeeper, who was a staunch old Quaker, once asked him if he had in stock such a thing as a pulpit. With great slowness of speech, the Quaker settled the question by saying to his assistant: "If thee will go up in the garret, thee will find Parson Wilkins' old pulpit behind the chimney."
Another landmark of Westchester, once located on Main Street, was an ancient stone building, erected over 100 years ago by Captain Bowne, who brought the stones used for its construction in his sailing vessel from England. The old house is said to have been intended for a bank, but it was never used for that purpose. The first drug store in Westchester was located here.
Under the shadow of St. Peter's spire lies the venerable church-yard, dating as far back as the very first settlement of the village and numbering amongst its interments many of West-
chester's most illuslrious dead. One or two of the inscriptions may here be quoted :
Here lyeth the body of
WILLIAM (BAILY) QUERY, ESQ.,
H. 1718 aged 50 years B. P. O. 1727.
Deceased, March 27th, 1702
In memory of
PHILIP HONEYWELL, ESQ.,
Died ... on the 8th day of September, 1813,
In the 5.3d year of his age. He was an active character during the Revolu- tionary War. He lived respected, and died regretted. Near St. Peter's burying-ground is the Ferris graveyard, also known as the Pasture Hill Burying Ground, in which are the family vaults of Benjamin Ferris, also numerous head- stones to the Pell family.
Many of the monuments and gravestones in line with the new grade of the avenue have been removed to other ceme- teries. The handsome monument to George Townsend Adee, who>e name appears on the "three-keyed bells" in St. Peter's tower, now stands in Woodlawn Cemetery, near Central Ave- nue, not far from the southern entrance.
Until recently, the ancient Orthodox Quaker Meeting House, built in 1723, and afterwards occupied by the Hicksite parly, stood a short distance south of the church, while nearly opposite was that of the Orthodox Friends, built in 1828. Both within a few years have been burned to the ground and, as rumor goes, on the same night. Just beyond flows Indian Brook, on whose banks the celebrated George Fox is said to have addressed the first Quaker meeting ever held in America. On the opposite side of Westchester Road St. Boniface's Inn used to display this curious inscription :
"No Really Destitute Person Need Pass This House Hungry."
CHAPTER V
EASTCHESTER
St. Paul's Church and Churchyard— The Vincent-Halsey House— Rcid's Mill— Mill Lane
To describe the whole of Eastchester is a difficult under- taking, as a portion of it lies within the Borough of the Bronx, while the northern part is outside of the city. The best way, therefore, is to go beyond the exact limits of this work, and tell of Old Eastchester as a whole, disregarding the northern t>oundary of the city.
If any one should ask what is the inost conspicuous land- mark in all Eastchester, he would at once be told "St. Paul's Church." One glance at the massive stone tower, with the date of erection (1765) quaintly carved over the doorway, one look at the well filled graveyard, containing six thousand bodies, lying peacefully asleep, one of them said to be petrified, and a single examination of the unique interior, with its strange col-
St. Paul's Church
lection of relics far up in the Ijclfry, is enough to convince the most doubtful of its striking historic interest.
Perhaps the ancient bell (1758), the treasured Bible, printed in London in 1759, and the immense Prayer Book, printed in London in 1715. are the greatest curiosities of all. In the sacred care of the big safe in the vestry room are kept these two latter. They have the distinction, all three of them, of having
been buried during the war of the Revolution for safekeeping, dug up afterwards and restored again to the church. One thing about the great prayer book cannot fail to attract attention. This is the place where is printed, in large antique type, the prayer for King George. Just after the Revolution the rector, whose sentiments were far from being with the royal family across the seas, pasted a strip of paper across the King's name, writ- ing in its place that of George Washington. To-day these strips have been torn away, showing the page as originally printed, but the stubs are still to be seen where the patriotic rector showed his honor for the first American President.
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While making a visit to these curiosities in the church rector, who by the way, has been in charge ever since 185^, told me a characteristic story of the olden time, wdien the pulpit was directly opposite the side door, the reverse of its present arrangement. In those days it was a "triple-decker," the pulpit proper being at the top, the reading desk below, while under- neath was the "dark's stall."
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
15
It was a beautiful, warm, summer morning, the doors all being thrown open to admit the slightest breeze. During the quietest part of the service, in strolled a great dog. Slowly he mounted the steps of the "triple-decker," to the amazement of the minister and the "dark." Finally he settled himself in the pulpit, looking down in dignified silence upon the minister, dark and congregation below. Then from one of the pews arose a young lady, w'bo with a set expression followed the in- truder.
"Do not move or attempt to touch him!" she exclaimed to tlie minister as she climbed the steps. "He is our dog and he will bite all strangers." Then grasping the collar of the dog, she descended the steps and led the animal out of the church. Quiet and coinposure having been once more restored, the interrupted service went on again as usual.
In front of the old church, on the grassy lawn, may yet be seen a space between the row of giant locust trees that lines the roadside. Here once stood the original wooden building, erected in 1698 and torn down by piecemeal, during the Revolution, by the British soldiers, who were using the present stone structure for a hospital and who sadly needed firewood. As a result the ashes of the earlier edifice are in the cellar of the newer one, where they were thrown by the English as the easiest means of getting them out of the way. The locust trees of which we have been speaking still contain in their thick bark the deep marks where once were fastened the iron bands to which criminals were tied, years ago, to receive their punishment.
Before the first church building was erected active endeavors were made to establish a place of worship in the vicinity. Ih 1677, we read that a "house and land and forty pounds a year is determined upon for a minister settling in the town." while in l6g2 several of the inhabitants "promised to contrybute unto Samuel Casting, he being chosen to Read the bibell and other good sermin books, and so to carion the Sabbath day Exercises as according to our Honorable Col. Heathcut's order unto us. Henry fifowler promises to give one Bushell of good winter wheat . . . and John Pinchey five pecks of Indian corn."
When the war was over, the solid structure of St. Paul's Church, which had seen far more service as a hospital than as a church, was utilized as a court of justice, and "that ro- mantic wrong-doer," Aaron Burr, then in the zenith of his powc. is on record as having pleaded a cause with this church as a forum. I have seen a legal paper, carefully framed, and signed by Aaron Burr and used in connection with one of these cases. Four years after the war the parish was organized, but it was not until 179S that it was re-incorporated, then taking for the first time the name of St. Paul. About three years ago the old willow tree that stood for more than 100 years near the door- way of the church was found to be a thing of the past. It was planted by Mrs. Lancaster Underbill, the wife of an early warden of the church. One of the first popular elections ever held in the United States took place on Eastchester Common, under the branches of th's willow.
A well known tavern stood south of the old church, which in 1728 was kept by William Baker, and during the Revolution by Charles Guion. who was descended frotn the Huguenot Guion, one of the original settlers of New Rochelle. Tradition tells us that Washington was detained in this house by sickness for several days, Mrs. Guion acting as his nurse. In return for her kindness, on leaving, he stooped down and kissed her on the cheek. Her husband felt so honored that for a long time he would not allow her to wash the place that had been kissed.
The Rev. Mr. Coffey tells us that "the tavern became wide- ly known by the exhibition in it of the petrified body, dis- covered in this condition on its removal from a city cemetery to St. Paul's churchyard directly opposite." All that now remains of this famous inn is the foundation wall
On the Boston Road is situated the famous hostelry known for the past half century as "Odell's Tavern." The present building is comparatively modern, but the immense trees in front and the ancient, moss-grown barns are evidences of the early date at which the original inn was built.
Included in the list of rectors of St. Paul's from 1700 to the present time, are to be found the names of the most prominent men then in this part of the country. We may mention a few, such as the Rev. Joseph Morgan, whose salary was thirty pounds a year ; the Rev. John Bartow, who was associated with the old Bartow family; the Rev. Samuel Seabury, the first Bishop of the Protestant Church in America, who made the long voy- age over to England in order to be ordained, and last, but not least, the Rev. William S. Coffey, who since 1852 has continu- ously held the rectorship.
A brief description may be made of the ancient burying ground surrounding St. Paul's Church, whose walls, by the way, are said to bear the bullet marks made by a band of Americans in a brave though ineffectual attempt to dislodge a company of Hessians who had made a firm stand in this minia- ture but secure fortress. The very oldest tombstone is roughly inscribed
M. V. D. FEB. THE
IS
1704. Another is :
R. S. DEC. 14 1704 Again wc read :
I. P. D. NOVE MBER THE FOURT ETH. DAY. 1724 Still another :
I D I D N . 20 I 7 I 4 Again we find
MAJOR SAMUEL PELL, OB. 29. DECR 1786 IN THE 32nd YEAR OF HIS AGE. THUS AFTER RETURNING VICTORIOUS. FROM THE FIELD OF MARS, HE. CHEERFULLY OBEYS THE SUMMONS FROM WHENCE THERE IS NO
RETURN. Among the further inscriptions we find the names of those foremost in the land, Drake, Pell, Odell, Reid, Valentine, Ward and Hunt. There is al.so the Comfort Sands — of Sands Point, Long Island — family vault, and once when I was strolling in the old burying-ground I noticed, among the scores of other quaint inscriptions, the following
"Afflictions sore, long time she bore ; Physicians were in vain ; Till God did please with death to seize ; And ease her from her pain." As has been said, the side entrance of the old churcli was originally the front door, and in a book of the Town Minutes
16
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
are given the sittings and names of the pew holders. I have been recently told that it is planned to restore this arrange- ment in place of the present manner in which the pews are placed.
To the south of old St. Paul's Church is a most curious gateway, the entrance to the ancient Halsey House, which in Revolutionary days was the property of the Vincents. The older portion, evidently the wing towards the south, with its sloping roof and quaint dormer windows, was undoubtedly the pre-revolutionary part, belonging to the Vincents.
A striking tale is told of these Vincents during the war for independence. It seems that they were the village smiths in Revolutionary times, and were highly respected. One day an impatient American officer demanded that his horse be shod on a Sunday. The Vincents firmly refused, and the angry officer struck one of them to the ground with his sword. His brother,
W^m
Vinccnt'Halsey Hcuse. Eastchester
Elijah Vincent, at once entered the ranks of the enemy, and as a result no one was a greater terror to the Americans than this man who might have so strongly helped the patriot cause.
In an old issue of "Holden's Magazine" is a most exciting story, entitled "The Whispering Bell." It has for its foundation the fact that the prayerbook of St. Paul's Church, together with the, Bible and the bell were buried for safekeeping near one of the trees that make the old Halsey mansion one of the most picturesque and secluded nooks in our borough.
Hunting bears, wolves and rattlesnakes were among the diversions of "good old Eastchester." Rattlesnake Brook, that fiows close by, still bears the title that recalls the early times of the "rattlers." The ancient forests were fairly alive with deer and wolves and the great quantity of arrow heads and spear heads that are found on all sides in this sparsely settled dis-
trict prove that it was literally a hunting paradise for the dusky population, centuries ago. A friend told me, a while ago, that he knew of a spot where any number of arrow heads might be picked up merely by stooping over and getting them in. So with a companion he started off, picturing in his mind's eye a return with pockets filled to overflowing.
They found the quarry all right — but not a single arrow head was there to greet them.
"You told us that there were piles on piles of arrow heads in your old quarry!" they cried in despair to the owner.
"Them sharp stones, do you mean?" came the unruffled reply. "Well, you're a day too late. I was just thinkin' I didn't want them lyin' round in the way, so yisterday I went ancf filled a lot o' barrels with 'em, an' dumped the whole lot in the river to git rid of 'em!"
If you turn sharp to the right at Eastchester and follow the windings of the shady and serpentine "Mill Lane " you will at last come to a most desolate spot where the road abruptly ceases, and nothing is left but a dreary and forbidding expanse of salt marsh. This was originally known as Sanders' Landing, and here, in 1739, Thomas Shute and Joseph Stanton erected a mill, known afterwards as "Bartow's" and lastly as "Reid's Mill." In Volume H, of the Records at White Plains, pages 162 and 166, and L.. page 42, is recorded that John Bartow sold this historic mill in 1790 to John Reid, father of Robert Reid, the last miller.
To this old wooden structure the farmers from the whole country around would bring their corn to be ground. Before the building yielded to the fierce gales of one winter, not long ago, I climbed all through it, examining its ancient shingled sides. It is too bad that it was not preserved as a relic of the past, for we have far too few of these mementoes remaining. Even the grinding of western grain was done in its interior. One can imagine the bustling activity of old Mill Creek and the flotilla of craft that once plied on the waters, all striving to reach the mill. What a change there is now in this region ! Even the stout, hand-hewn timbers and sturdy beams at last have fallen a prey to the elements. "The quiet which now pervades this lo- cality is a commentary on the uncertainty of everything human, for here, if anywhere, was the promise of unfailing prosperity."
Just opposite is a decidedly ancient building, its huge sloping roof bearing evidence to its great age. We may imagine fnat this was the miller's house, so that he might be handy and 'ready to meet the demand of the early-rising residents. Soon this old house will follow the lead of the mill across the way, and leave the spot to its original solitude.
Tell any one that Reid's Mill was built seven years after Washington w'as born, and see them rack. their brains to find out the date of its erection. Perhaps most of the readers of this book will have to turn back to the pages of history themselves, to ascertain the e.xact year !
CHAPTER VI
KINGSBRIDGE
Old King's Bridge— The Free Bridge— The Macomb Mansion -The "Cowboys" and "Skinners" —The Neutral Ground— The Bloody Well— The Tippett House— The '-Cowboys'" Oak
We are now entering upon a most interesting historical locality, widely extended, both in area and time limit, and the best way to begin is perhaps to quote from the pages of the journal of a woman who made the trip lietween the cities of
Old King's Bridge
Boston and New York in the depths of winter, during the far distant Colonial year of 1704.
To-day we think nothing of making the trip, in the easiest of cars in the almost incredible time of five hours. How about Madame. Sarah Knight, who, on horseback, took a fortnight to accomplish the journey? We are vexed and annoyed at a de- lay of a few minutes. But just listen to the Madame's experi- ences :
Being compelled, on account of the bad condition of the roads, to travel on horseback, her returning route lay up the old King's Bridge Road in the upper part of Manhattan Island, thence across old King's Bridge itself. Here the two early roads branched. One of them, the Albany Post Road — erected in 1669 and perhaps the very oldest road in this part of the country — extended north along the east bank of the Hudson. For many miles it is known as the "Old Post Road," and in other place; as "Broadway." -At King's Bridge the "Boston Post Road" — built in 1672 — branched towards the east, crossing the Bronx River at Williams Bridge and reaching New Rochelle by a winding and circuitous route.
It was this latter highway that Madame Knight traveled. Part of it is in existence yet, although known by a variety of names. Near Kingsbridge it is styled "Boston Avenue," and must not be confused with the present Boston Road that was laid out much later, and which, crossing the Harlem Bridge,
extends almost in a straight course nearly to New Rochelle, where it meets the old Boston Post Road.
On her return, Madame Knight left New York, "with no little regrett. ' About five in the afternoon she reached "Spiting Devil, else King's Bridge, where they pay three pence for pass- ing over with a horse." Madame Knight also tells us that "be- ing come to Mr. Havens' I was very civilly received and courte- ously entertained. But I could get no sleep because of the clamor of some of the Town topers in the next Room. I set my candle on the chest by the bedside, and setting up, com- posed my resentment in the following manner:
"I ask thy Aid, O Potent Rum,
To charm these wrangling Topers Dum.
Thou hast their giddy Brains possest —
'I he man confounded w'th the Beast — ■
And I, poor I, can get no rest.
Intoxicate them with thy fumes;
O. still their Tongues till morning comes."
"And I know not but my wishes took effect, for the dis- pute soon ended with tother dram, and so good night."
Old King's Bridge itself is said to have stood just cast of the present structure, and to have been built in 1693. A wad- ing place was near by. Not to be daunted by the tolls im- posed on those that crossed King's Bridge, the people erected another, about 1759, a little below, called variously, the Free, the Farmer's or Dycknian's Bridge. The rates of toll for the King's Bridge were : "I Penny for each head of neat cattel. 2 Pens for each mann or horse.
12 Pens for each score of hoggs and sheep passing the lirige. g Pens for every boat, yessell or canoo that shall pass the said brige and cause the same to be drawne up." Picturesquely hidden behind a forest of its own, stands one of Kingsbridge's oldest hou.ses, the Macomb mansion. This was the old tavern of Colonial days, at whose doors the early travelers halted for rest and refreshment. The King's Bridge itself was styled the "barrier" and this old hostelry the "walch tower" of Revolutionary times. Although many changes have been made in its appearance as shown to me by the late owner, it is still the same old structure, built at an age when the Indian was the principal resident of this region, and is said to antedate the Van Cortlandt mansion itself. Speaking of the Indians, the traders used to complain that "the red men were never known to hurry except when Satan himself was at their heels." Over this old King's Bridge streamed bands of "Skinners"
18
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
and "Cowboys." "The 'Skinners' fouglit, or rather marauded," says Irving, "under the American, and the 'Cowboys' under the British banner. In the zeal of service botli were apt to make blunders and confound the property of friend and foe. Neither of them, in the heat and hurry of a foray, had time to ascertain the politics of a horse or cow which they were driv- ing into captivity, nor when they were wringing the neck of a rooster did they trouble their heads whether he crowed for Congress or King George."
Following the line of the old Ailiany Post Road, we find we are traveling through the famous Neutral Ground, the scene of many depredations of by-gone days. Numerous cases are
Free Bridge. Kingsbridge
related where the "Skinners" and "Cowboys" sulijected defense- less persons to the most cruel tortures, in order to compel them to give up their money. It seemed a favorite pastime to hang a man until apparently dead, then restore him to consciousness, repeat the experiment and finally abandon him for dead !
A certain peaceable Quaker, living near Kingsbridgc, was once visited by these miscreants, who called for his money, and when they had got it demanded more. The old man de- clared he had no more. Thereupon they dragged him out- side and hanged him to a tree, cut him down and repeated the operation a second and even a third time, at last leaving him almost lifeless.
Standing in the lower part of the Neutral Ground was a well known tavern called the Old French Inn. It was once at- tacked by the "Cowboys" who received such a shower of bul- Itts that they fled in the greatest haste, carrying with them one
of their number who had been wounded. While approaching Kingsbridge, it soon became apparent that their comrade could not last long. So, under the shade of an apple orchard, they stooped to rest, only to discover that he had died. Quietly pick- ing up the body again, they bore it to a well nearby, and letting i: slip into the dark waters, continued on in their mad flight.
Next morning, imagine the surprise and dismay of the peo- ple to find the water of the well as red as blood ! From that time the spot has been called "The Bloody Well," and the strangest sights and sounds are reported to have come there- from. But a comparatively short time ago, the remains of a man's body were removed from the depths of this well, and since then the mysterious apparitions have ceased, and the well is itself again.
To the west of the Macomb mansion is pointed out the Tip- pett House, solid and squarely built. After the Tippett family were named Tippett's Hill and Tippett's Brook, the outlet of Van Cortlandt Lake. They were mostly Tories, and one of them was arrested in 1776 by General Clinton for "practices and declarations inimical to American liberty." The "ear-mark" of George Tippett's stock, roaming through the woods, is said to have been "the cutting off of their ears so close that all other marks would be cut off by it."
"Don't talk to me," says Felix Oldboy's grandmother. "Don't talk to me, Felix, for I always felt as if it was flying in the face of Providence to use a tea-kettle to travel with. I am out of all patience with steamboats and locomotives. No, I am not going one step out of town this summer. There's all the coun- try I want this side of Spuyten Duyvil Creek, and I can get there without a sputtering tea-kettle to drag me."
A wildly magnificent primeval forest lines picturesque Riverdale Avenue as it winds its way northward from Kings- bridge. One of these immense trees, a gigantic white oak. said to be over three hundred years old. is called the "Cowboys' Oak." Just think, it must have been growing when Hendrick Hudson sailed up the Hudson and fought his battle with the Indians near Spuyten Duyvil Creek ! Whenever the "Cow- boys" were captured they were at once hurried to this place and strung up from the huge branches of this oak. Over thirty gentlemen of the Cowboy persuasion met death in this way, and even to-day people living in the vicinity have a strange dread of passing the tree after nightfall. When the moon is at the full, we are told that the ghostlike forms of the dead "Cow- boys" may be seen dangling from the mass of branches !
Sham BattIc,".Van Cortlandt Park
CHAPTER VII
SPUYTEN DUYVIL AND RIVERDALE
Spuyten Duyvil Parkway -Origin of the Name "Spuyten Duyvil "-Canal Street Cottage Old Hadley House
— The Van Tassel House — Old Dutch House — Anecdotes
Situated at tlie southwestern corner of Spuyten Duyvil Heights near the western end of Spuyten Duyvil Parkway, was an American battery, erected in 1776. It commanded a fine view of the Hudson as well as of the "Cock Hill Fort" on Inwood Heights, on the other side of the creek. To the northeast stands the solid stone Berrian farmhouse, one of the very oldest landmarks in the neighborhood. Tippett's Hill and P.errian's Neck are other names for this same elevation. Close by were three American forts, built in I'/fi and occupied by the
Old Bcrri.in House, Spuyten Duyvil
British from 1776 to 1779. They were known as "British Forts Nos. One, Two and Three."
Where Spuyten Duyvil Parkway crosses Riverdale Ave- nue, or very close to Thorn's Corners, was a "Yaeger Camp" from 1776 to 1781. A large, old-fashioned stone building on the picturesque and serpentine curve of Dash's Lane, is known by the name of the "Upper Cortlandt's" to distinguish it from the "Lower Cortlandt's," in the park below.
Many have wondered what the derivation of the name "Spuyten Duyvil" really was. Some have thought it came from the "outpour" from the guns of the "Half Moon," or from the gushing waters of "Cold Spring," under Cock Hill. Others sup- pose it to be the same as "Spouting Devil," from strange out- bursts of water as the tide rushed over the cliff. The best ex- planation is in Irving's quaint legend of the "Doleful Disaster of Anthony tlie Trumpeter." Anthony Van Corlear, be it known, was the trumpeter and right-band man of Governor Stuyvesant. "As he wished to defend his beloved New Amster- dam, he commissioned Anthony to go forth and with the sound of his trumpet arouse all the yeomanry and warriors of the neighborhood, charging them to take up arms and come down to Manhattan.
"On reaching the brink of the creek, he swore he would swim across 'en spuyt den duyvil' (in spite of the devil.) Find- ing that the billows were about to overwhelm him, he blew a final blast, and sank to rise no more." Irving further says that bis restless ghost for years has haunted the neighborhood, and that his trumpet is often heard on a stormy night.
Snugly nestling among the woodland fastnesses of River- dale, and within a stone's throw of the Hudson River, stands one of the Bron.x's quaintest cottages, with a real history attached to it. Many, many years ago, when an actual waterway existed in Canal Street, New York City, there stood fronting on this thoroughfare a small cottage. Then began its journeyings. On a canal boat it was carried to the Hudson, and so up to River- dale, where it "debarked" and was placed in its present position. .A sort of a platform is built over the tracks of the New York Central Railroad, and from this vantage point can be seen an almost incredibly long stretch of river. On a clear day I was told that the range extended from Jersey City on the south to the gray walls of Sing Sing Prison on the north. By*«pecial invitation I visited the interior of this cottage, and. much to my surprise, found it to be one of the most luxuriously fur- nished homes I ever saw. Even in the midst of the advance of our modern civilization, this tiny abode has stood distant and luitouched, guarded by Riverdale's magnificent forest trees as silent sentinels.
One has but to descend the almost precipitous hills of River- dale Lane to the old Albany Post Road, and turn to the south, to come upon the Old Hadley House, one of the curiosities of the borough and almost facing the level stretch of "Van Cort- landt Park's Parade Ground. As to its date, no one seems to know when it was built, except that it is stated to have ante- dated the old Van Cortlandt mansion.
"Isn't the owner proud of possessing such a fine old build- ing?" I once asked the residents. "No, indeed," they replied. "He has often said he wished it was destroyed and out of the way."
In the second story of the stone portion, which is the older part, is something novel in the way of sleeping apartments, the "old stone room," which is nothing more than a cellar-room upstairs, with the walls neatly whitewashed. Here it was that the slaves slept in days of yore. They showed us where once was a little staircase for the slaves to use. so that they might go up and down without disturbing their betters. Now both stairs and slaves are gone, but the "Old Hadley House" still re- mains as it was a century and a half ago
On the -Mbany Post Road, near the southwestern corner of Van Cortlandt Park, stands the Thirteenth Mile-Post, slanting
20
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and seemingly about to fall. Another old house standing just below the "Old Hadley House," was built by the Va.. Cortlandts as a residence for their miller. "My father only moved twice," said an old man to me. one day. "Once when he set up housekeeping in this new house the Van Cortlandts built for him. and once when he was carried out after his death. Now how old do you think I am?" he asked.
Old Hadley House, Mosholu
with a twinkle in his eye. "Well, sir, if I live to see the thir- tieth of next February. I'll be eighty-five years old! Fooled you all, didn't I?" he added. Then it suddenly dawned upon us that there was no thirtieth of February, and we left without finding out how old he really was.
Also on the Old Albany Post Road, just norlh of Rivcrdale Lane, is another old homestead that shows evidence of its Dutch architecture. Looking down from the height and viewing the little abode outlined on all sides by grassy lawns and tall trees, we can feel that we are transported bodily back to the times of the sturdy Hollanders, when Indians were hiding behind every rock.
A short distance above, the Old Albany Post Road is merged
into Yonkers Broadway, and near the top of the hill the Yonkers line is reached and Bronx Borough ceases.
Returning towards Kingsbridge we come upon the residence of the late Dr. Varian, one of the best known residents. Here he had lived for nearly half a century, and would tell me many interesting tales about the past. In the early days of his prac- tice he would ride to patients from Dobbs' Ferry on the north lo I loth Street on the south, often crossing the Hudson River in a small boat to visit people in New Jersey. During the Civil War he was a strong Abolitionist, and in the days of the riots it was his custom to make his professional calls armed not only with a large revolver, but with a double-barrelled shotgun as well.
One of the finest collections extant of Revolutionary relics is to be found at the house of Dr. John Parsons, at Kingsbridge. Besides the interesting muskets, many of which have seen actual service, is a case of pistols, claimed to be those used by Hamilton and Burr, The one used by the latter is designated by a mark. Originally they were of the flint-lock style, but with the intro- duction of percussion caps they were accordingly changed. The descent through the line of successive owners has been distinctly traced. It reads as follows:
"These pistols were the property of General Oliver De Lancey, the grandfather-in-law of James Fenimore Cooper, and were used in the duel in which Aaron Burr killed General Hamilton. The one with the tag attached is the one used by Burr on that occasion. The pistols came down through the De Lancey family to T. J. De Lancey, Esq., and after his death were given by his widow to Dr. 'Wm. A. Varian of Kingsbridge. In i8q4 Dr. Varian presented them to Dr. John Parsons of Kingsbridge. New York City."
My mother has often told me that Hamilton's eldest son, then an old man, used to visit at my grandfather's country place in Morrisania in 1862. As the afternoon advanced the old gentle- man would grow sleepy, and, coming to my mother, would say, plaintively :
"Read to me a little, my dear. I feel just like going to sleep."
Christ Episcopal Church. Rivcrdale and Alamo A'venucs
CHAPTER VIII
VAN CORTLANDT PARK
The Van Cortlandt Mansion — The Death of Captain Rowe — The Rhinelander Sugar House Window — The
Van Cortlandt Mills The Old Burying Ground — Van Cortlandt Lake — The Van Cortlandt
Vault — Vault Hill — The Indian Field — Redoubts Overlooking Kingsbridge
Who has not heard of the famous stone mansion in the lower part of the great Van Cortlandt Park, once an old Dutch farmhouse, and now guarded in the safe custody of the Colonial Dames? One visit to it, one examination of its many treasures is sufficient to carry one back to the old times "when history was warm in the making."
The numerals engraved on the stone front distinctly show the time of erection, ■ 1748. A still earlier structure stood a little to the southeast, nearer the lake, but this was taken down in 1825. The records show that it was built in 1700.
For a brief time during the war of the Revolution, Wash- ington occupied this house, and in 1783 lodged there ni one of the second story rooms the night before his triumphal entry into the City of New York at the close of the war. A whole chapter might be devoted to the quaint and interesting curiosities con- tained in this old house. It has been furnished as one might expect it to have been during the old historic days, with high canopied bedsteads and innumerable other relics of olden times ; and in the kitchen may still be seen the old fashioned utensils of Colonial days, while the cavernous fireplace, with its great glow- ing log form a most picturesque background.
In the pages of history we turn to the following exciting incident in which the Van Cortlandt mansion plays an important part :
"On Wild Boar Hill the American water guard were wont to watch, to intercept traders on their way down the Hudson to the British lines. A company of light dragoons is approaching. Among them rides Captain Rowe, of the Yaegers. This is his last tour. He is engaged to an accomplished Harlem lady, Miss Elizabeth Fowler, but alas for him and the lady he loves ! Sud- denly there is a sharp report and the captain, reeling in his saddle, falls. With disciplined severity the Yaegers make cap- tives of the water guard, but the captain has received a mortal wound. 'J'hey dispatch a messenger to bear to the affianced lady the sad news of her lover's severe wound. Tenderly the pale captain is conveyed down the private road in Tippett's Valley. They halt to obtain a drink of water at the farmhouse of Frederick Post, a few rods northwest of the present stone bridge which arches the railroad near the Lincoln Park station. Then they resume their sad, southward way. When they arrive at the Van Cortlandt mansion, the dying officer faintly speaks a few words to his broken-hearted bride-elect, is exhausted by the effort, and lies in her arms, a bleeding corpse."
"O that some sweet bird of the South Might build her nest in the cannon's mouth ; Till the only sound from its rusty throat Would be a wren's or a blue bird's note."
Just to the northeast of the old mansion is a portion of the ancient "Rhinelander Sugar House," once the dreaded down- town prison of so many multitudes of patriots. As it stands to-day it is one of the tiniest and most picturesque of our ancient relics, yet, strange to say, one of the most recently erected.
It is nothing more than a small, grated window, its solid iron bars securely anchored in a stone casement, and the whole surrounded by an irregular mass of stones and bricks. Yet, stone for stone, brick for brick, and iron for iron, it stands just as it stood in Revolutionary times, when hordes of American prisoners strove to press their faces against those self-same bars in their wild struggles to obtain a few breaths of pure outside air ! '-
The last remaining trace of the historic Sugar House at Rose and Duane Streets, Manhattan, it is all that is left of the ancient British military prison, the rest of which was torn down in 1892. This old window, which stood on the Rose Street side, was, about three years ago. reinoved to the Bronx and re-erected near the \'an Cortlandt mansion.
Van Cortlandt Mills and Lake. Van Cortlandt Park
Following down the picturesque lane, lined on either side by tall trees, we come to the site of the two old Van Cortlandt Mills. One of these, built in 1700, had "ground corn for both the friends and foes of American independence." The other, erected about the same time, also did efficient service for both hostile parties, being used as a saw mill, to cut up the logs used for building tents, roads and bridges.
Closely adjoining the first Van Cortlandt house built in 1700 and destroyed in 1825, as we have seen, was an old burying ground. It is due north of the very lower portion of Van Cortlandt Lake. Small though it be, it is the last resting place of many of our best known families, including the prominent
NEW YORK STATE NATIONAL GUARD IN CAMP ON THE PARADE GROUND IN VAN CORTLANDT PARK
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
23
Berrians. To the east is a second collection of tombstones, where the negro slaves were interred. It is said that negroes were always interred in "the back yard of a cemetery." The cutting through of the Putnam Branch of the New York Central Railroad has sadly interfered with this little graveyard, as have also other subsequent improvements.
While speaking of Van Cortlandt Lake, it seems a pity to inform the young people, who "glide upon its smooth surface in summer, gathering white water lilies in their hands, and in winter gathering red roses on their cheeks," that it is not a real lake at all, but was made in 1700 by throwing a little embank- ment across Tippett's Brook.
To the northeast of the Van Cortlandt mansion, on the heights known as Vault Hill, is situated the old Van Cortlandt vault, for generations the burial place of the Van Cortlandt family. In its dark recesses the records of New York City — Augustus Van Cortlandt was then City Clerk — lay in safety for a while, even escaping the ever-watchful eyes of the British
colonel of the Legion Dragoons, had a' very narrow escape dur- ing the pursuit. While striking at an Indian he lost his bal- ance, thus falling from his charger. Fortunately for him, his dusky foe had just discharged his musket and had no bayonet. About forty were either killed or desperately wounded, including the famous chieftain Nimham and his son.
The old chief, in calling to his people to fly, said "that he was old and would die there." He had wounded Simcoe, one of the British commanders, but was killed by Wright, his orderly Hussar. The bodies of perhaps forty of the Indians were buried in this "Indian Field of Van Cortlandt Park," a level plateau on the old Mile Square Road.
" The time is now at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves," is a memorable sentence in an order delivered to the Americans at Kingsbridge in 1776. In June of that year Washington had inspected with great thoroughness the region around Kingsbridge. Finding seven places wsW fitted for defence, he promptly gave orders,
Van Cortlandt Vault
spies. Five years later, George Washington himself stood on the sloping terraces of Vault Hill, superintending the lighting of the many lines of camp fires that so successfully deceived the British, while the rest of his army was speeding towards York- town in order to join General Lafayette.
Go up to the northeast corner of Van Cortlandt Park's eleven hundred acres. There you will find a plot of land styled the "Indian Field of Van Cortlandt Park." Here lie the re- mains of a band of Stockbridge Indians, who died fighting on the side of the Colonists. We read that the Indians fought most bravely, pulling several of the redcoats from tlieir horses. But, overwhelmed by superior numbers, they were obliged to flee over Tippett's Brook and down through the Van Cortlandt woods to the heights beyond, where quite a number found re- fuge behind the trees and rocks. Tarlcton, the lieutenant-
as he "esteemed it a pass of the utmost importance in order to keep open communication with the country." Two Pennsylvania regiments were at work at fortifying, while bodies of militia were far from idle as fast as they arrived. In July, the British ships of war, "Rose" and "Phenix," came sailing up the Hudson, entirely unaware of the batteries that had just been placed on Cock's Hill and Tippett's Hill. When they anchored off Spuyten Duyvil, a number of guns opened fire, and as we are told "did great execution." In every circle great anxiety was felt lest Kingsbridge should fall into the hands of the British.
A bird's-eye view may be taken of the fortresses that were erected overlooking the valley of Kingsbridge, in addition to the ones on Tippett's and Cock's Hills. Before their completion the English had succeeded in uniting their forces from the north with thuse that already held Manhattan Island.
24
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
Following is a list and location of the forts:
No. I — On the grounds of the late Peter Strang, overlook- ing the Hudson and Spuyten Duyvil Creek. No traces of this are now visible.
No. 2 — A circular redoubt on Spuyten Duyvil Hill, the walls of which are yet to be seen. It was the American Fort Swart- wout and was erroneously called Fort Independence.
No. 3 — On the easterly crest of Spuyten Duyvil Hill, styled Fort Prince Charles by the British.
No. 4 — The American Fort Independence, which was per- haps the most important of all. Its location was where the house of William O. Giles now stands, on the former farm of General Richard Montgomery. We find that several si.x-pounders were dug up on its site. This fort had a very commanding position
between the Albany Post Road and the Boston Post Road. Near by is Fort Independence Avenue.
No. 5 — .\ square redoubt north of the Claflin stables, on the old Tetard farm, the walls of which are yet standing.
No. t'l — A short distance west of the present road to High- bridge, its site being occupied by a house once owned by John B. Haskin.
No. 7 — Of this no trace remains. All that is known is that it stood on the Cammann estate.
No. 8 — On land now occupied by Gustav Schwab's house, and extending over to the property of H. W. T. Mali.
The King's Battery is yet preserved, on the grounds of N. P. Bailey, from whom Bailey Avenue derives its name.
National Guard in Camp in Van Cortlandt Park
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ch are yet to
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haps the most important of all of William O. Giles now Richard Montgomery. \' dug up on its ?■
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CHAPTER IX
GENERAL MONTGOMERY
His Farm at Kingsbridge — His Will — Lady Ranelagh, His Sister — Rev. John Peter Tetard — The Old Archway-
While in the last few pages we have strayed a little from the strict limits of Van Cortlandt Park, we may now turn to one of the most interesting characters of early Kingsbridge — General Richard Montgomery. Those were certainly strange days, when we learn that the Grand Jury brought a presentment against a young couple "for sitting together on the Lord's Day under an apple tree."
In 1772 a captain in the British army was sent over to America. Later he resigned his post, and, purchasmg a large tract of land on Kingsbridge Heights, devoted himself to farm- ing, his favorite pursuit. He was Richard Montgomery, de- stined to rise in the American army to the rank of General.
Shortly afterwards something happened to him, as clippings from the following letters will show. Perhaps it was not en- tirely unconnected with w-arfare, but let the reader judge for hmiself :
Kingsbridge, May 20. 1772.
Sir — 1 have ventured at last to request that you will consent to a union which has to me the most promising appearance of happiness, from the lady's uncommon merit and amiable worth. Nor will it be an inconsiderable addition to be favored with the title of son, should 1 be so fortunate as to deserve it.
I am, sir, with great respect, your obedient servant,
RICHARD MONTGOMERY.
The coveted answer ran as follows :
Claremont, 21st June, 1773.
Sir — Since Mrs. Livingston and I heard of your intentions, we have made such inquiries as have given a great deal of satis- faction. We both approve of your proposal and heartily wish vour union may yield you all the happiness you seem to expect.
I remain, with due respect your most humble servant, ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.
Two months later, we are glad to add, the wedding took place, and the happy couple found a most ideal home in their "King's Bridge farm." In 1775, Montgomery wrote to his wife:
"If you can be spared, and wish to make a trip to New York, and wilt not stay too long, I shall be very glad to see you."
As I write, a copy of General Montgomery's will lies on the table before me. After his sudden death at Quebec, it was found among his papers by Benedict Arnold, and carefully preserved. Among the items it is interesting to note the following:
"I give to my sister. Lady Ranelagh, of the Kingdom of Ireland, my estate at King's Bridge, near New York."
It also adds:
"My dear sister's large family want all I can spare."
At the end we find these words :
"My brothers will accept of what alone I have in my power to give — my warmest wishes for their happiness."
That Lady Ranelagh came over and lived on her brother's
King's Bridge farm is attested by the ruins of an old house, still to be seen close to the Albany Post Road. Dr. John Par- sons, of King's Bridge, who now owns this historic site, has told me that he would gladly have preserved the old mansion, had there been anything to work upon, but, unfortunately, there was nothing.
Among the witnesses to General Montgomery's will was the Rev. John Peter Tetard, one of his nearest neighbors and most intimate friends. Mr. Tetard's house stood almost oppo- site to General Montgomery's, on the old Boston Post Road and
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was built about 1776. In the neighborhood of that year h« opened a French boarding school, probably tlie first of its kind near New York City. When the Revolution broke out in all its fury , both Montgomery and Tetard entered the Continental ranks, the former as an officer and the latter as his chaplain.
On the Tetard grounds, formerly known as Tetard's Hill, there once stood a most unique stone archway, variously styled "The Old Bakery," and "General Washington's Powder Maga- zine." Some have gone so far as to call it "The Dominie's Secret Wine Cellar." It was probably part of an old powder magazine used by the British in Revolutionary days, but its real purpose remains unknown.
While passing this locality a short time ago, I was rather astonished to see an immense sign that read :
"THIS PROPERTY FOR SALE APPLY TO
RICHARD MONTGOMERY."
My first thought, on reading these lines, was that I had been transported backward over a century and a quarter. Surely the strange coincidence in the names fully justifies this natural im- pression.
o
CHAPTER X
THE OLD BOSTON POST ROAD, OR BOSTON AVENUE
The "Negro Fort'
-The Isaac Varian Farm House — The Williams' Bridge — The Old Williams' House — The Havens House — The][Hustace-Cash House
This ancient higlnvay, dating from 1672, as we have seen, branched from the Boston Post Road at Kingsbridge, and ex- tended northeast over the hill, past the houses of Dominie Tetard and Richard Montgomery. Just beyond Montgomery's residence, as we have noted, stood the redoubtable Fort Inde- pendence, overlooking the now peaceful Spuyten Duyvil valley.
Isaac Varian Homestead, Van Cortlandt Avenue
Branching almost to the east, close to an old house marked "Betts, 1776," this ancient highway is now lost in the vast extent of the new Jerome Park Reservoir. After crossing the present Jerome Avenue, we find on the early maps that it passed to the northward of the "Negro Fort." There is to-day a stone struc- ture, about on this site, squarely and solidly built, that may have been the "Negro Fort" of early days.
After crossing the old Williamsbridge Road, now being widened into the Mosholu Parkway, the highway passes in front of the Isaac Varian Homestead, almost in the shadow of the Williamsbridge Reservoir. With stone walls that look as if they would last for centuries, and bearing the appearance of a miniature fortress, the mam part of this house was built in 1776, while the older wing dates from 1770. On the old maps it is styled "Valentine, 1776."
I have said that it locked like a fortress; it was one. Go back to January, 1777, when the whole region was swarmnig with hostile bands. Encamped in this old, old stone mansion was a strong force of the redcoats. A second detachment lay under cover of the "Negro Fort." Carefully and stealthily a band of Americans was advancing from dififerent directions on Fort Independence. Just at this moment two British cavalrymen were reconnoitering along the line of the old Colonial Road ( Bos- ton Post Road), above Williamsbridge. Suddenly they caught sight of the approaching Americans.
"The Rebels! The Rebels!" they cried, as tliey dashed back up the hill. The horse of one falling, the rider was prompt- ly made a prisoner, while the other fairly flew over the road to give the alarm. From every door and window of the old Varian Homestead poured the British, only to be joined by the fugitive^ from the "Negro Fort." Close behind them followed the Ameri- cans, chasing them along the old Boston Post Road, and never pausing until they were safe within the protection of the walls of Fort Independence. The report of this affair that readied General Vv'ashington and was forwarded to Congress, was that Fort Independence had been destroyed and its garrison cap- tured. Unfortunately this was too good to be true, as subse- i|uent accounts showed. Fort Independence, it appeared, was by far too hard a nut for our boys to crack.
There is yet another tale that may be told about the old Isaac Varian Homestead. In 1776, lying in the fields and woods adjoining were about four hundred cannon, good and bad, of all sizes and conditions. When tlie order came to get them ready for service, it was found that they had been "spiked." Some miscreants had secretly been driving rat-tail files into their touch-holes and plugging their openings with big stones. Twenty shillings was the cost to the army for each gun to have the spikes removed, and at the end of two months only eighty- two were fit for service again. In excavating for the residence of William Ogden Giles, on the site of did Fort Independence, several Revolutionary cannon are reported to have been un-
Old Williams' House, Willi.imsbridgc
e;;rthcd. and while passing in front of the old Van Cortlir^dt mansion recently, I had pointed out to me two well rusted fieltl- pieces. both of which, I was told, were securely spiked.
In descending the hill towards Williamsbridge, the semi- circular remains of an American redoubt, styled on the map
2&
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
"American Fort, 1776," may yet be seen just inside the fence of Woodlawn Cemetery. It is said to be one of the breastworks thrown up by that intrepid American leader, GL-neral Heath. The present bridge is the fourth at the same spot, the third being an old fashioned covered wooden structure.
The Boston Post Road, after going practically through the Williamsbridge reservoir and passing several ancient houses whh old-fashioned fireplaces, crossed William's Bridge itself, and after a short distance took a northeasterly direction, becoming lost in the modern "gridiron" streets of what is known as Williams- bridge. The old Williams house stood close by, a quaint old structure which has disappeared in the widening of White Plains Road. Near by, and once fronting on this Boston Post Road, is the Hustace-Cash house, standing almost in the middle of 22ist Street. This is one of the quaintest abodes in the bor- ough, with its slanting roof, the house being built partly of stone and partly of wood.
Another old house is situated near the intersection of Gun Hill Road and White Plains Road, on the southeast corner. Standing at a peculiar angle with every surrounding street, it is sometimes erroneously styled the Williams House, and it is extremely hard to photograph, unless one gets around behind it and looks upward.
At the corner of White Plains Road and 222(1 Street. Wil- liamsbridge, I believe is yet standing one of the landmarks of the region — the old Havens House. We may well pause to glance at the many relics that this old house contains. There is an old chair said to have been presented to an old settler by General Washington, and bequeathed by him to Mr. Havens. Mrs. Martha C. Havens, who with her daughter lives on the premises, is the widow of Captain William C. Havens and the adopted daughter of James Clinton, whose father was the first Governor of New York. There is a most interesting collection of shells, formerly belonging to De Witt Clinton, that have never been touched since he first arranged them. We also note a silver medal, presented by the City of New York to De Witt Clinton, inscribed :
"Erie Canal Commenced 4th July, 1817 ; Completed 28th October, 1825."
It is recorded that the box in which this medal is kept was made out of a portion of the "Seneca Chief," the first canal boat, while another prize is a handsome mahogany bedstead, in which Commodore Perry died.
At 228lh Street and White Plains Road stood Washington's Headquarters, torn down about twenty years ago, as it was in the middle of the street. It was known as the "Shingled House." Reports tell us that the piano at Washington's Headquarters at Newburg was Mrs. Havens' instrument when she was a young lady in the Clinton family.
The name Hustace is spelled in a great number of ways — Hustead, Hustis and Hustace, although Valentine's Manual of the Corporation of tlie Citj' of New York gives it as Hustead, we liave adopted the Hustace spelling. In conclusion we may state tliat the old Havens house never had but two owners — Augustus Hustace and Martha Havens.
Originally the "Hustace-Cash" house was the residence of Augustus Hustace who owned all the broad acres that were bounded on the east by Seton's falls and the Schieffelin domain, on the west by the Bronx River, on the north by 229th Street and on the south by 216th Street, the latter Deing the northerly boundary of the Williams farm, and which comprised the greater part of the original village of Wakefield. Upon the sale of his .\ugustus Hustace, who owned all the broad acres that were bounded on the east by Seton's Falls and the Schieffelin domain, the most elevated portion on what is now 232d Street, and at his death it was purchased by Francis Crawford, the well known Prohibitionist. The original farm house is still contained in the building which was remodeled by the Squire's son, William A., who lately sold it to Mr. Crawford by whom it was still further improved as at present. Through the old Hustace acres the Kingsbridge Road wound in a devious way, crossing tlie present White Plains Avenue in several places.
Passing further to the north, we learn of several immense trees, obliterated by the widening and straightening of White Plains Road. Where this road joins Demilt> Avenue, was to be seen, in the centre of the roadway on the eastern side a magnifi- cent black walnut tree, surrounded by a stone wall. The inter- esting story of this tree follows :
"In the early days when what is now styled White Plains Road was then known as the Kingsbridge Road to Bedford, the county seat, the owner of the farm, who by the way, was a relative of the Paulding who captured Major Andre, planted a small black walnut tree for each of the thirteen colonies. They all thrived, but as this section developed, they had to give way to the march of progress. The widening of the roadway has rendered necessary the removing of the last three of the thir- teen original trees. When the saws were put to work, the trees measured three feet eight inches at the butt, and they were found to be perfectly sound, while the rings in the wood indi- cated the truth regarding the antiquity of the trees."
In its ancient days the Old White Plains Road is said to have crossed the present one, between Gun Hill Road and the city line, no less than seven times.
Such seems the weight of authority about the most im- portant landmarks in the northern portion of Williamsbridge. -■Kbout 225th Street the Old Boston Post Road branched towards Eastchester, not joining the present Boston Road until at a point near New Rochelle.
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CHAPTER XI
BOSTON ROAD
Name of Harlaem— The Ferry and Rates of Ferriage— The Three Harlem Bridges and Rates of Toll— Boston
Road — The Gouverneur Morris Tree— The Old School House— Mill Brook— Charlotte Temple's Home —
Extracts from Washington's Diary -Madam Knight's Experiences
By this term we mean the present Third Avenue, a con- tinuation of the early "Eastern Post Road." It crossed the Harlem River near the Harlem Bridge, proceeding northeasterly to New Rochelle, where it joined the early Post Road previously mentioned.
When the original Dutch settlers began to tlock to the hills and valleys of "Harlaem," the first thing they did was to look around for a suitable name. Immediately a great dissension
peared on the steam railroad cars: "New York and Harlaem Railroad."
In the year 1666, when the sleepy residents of Harlaem were comfortably settled and enjoying life around their immense fire- places, with long-stemmed pipes in their mouths, and all accus- tomed to going to bed at four o'clock every afternoon, someone made the startling announcement that beyond the broad river that flowed past their doors was to be found the most beautiful
Boston Road at Spencer's Corners, near Williamsbridge
arose, eacli stout burgher insisting that the spot should be called after his own native town in old Holland. Finally they decided upon a most happy expedient; they resolved to style the place "Harlaem," for the simple reason that none of them had come from that village, and as a result, no one could object. Such, we learn, is the origin of the name which for a long time ap-
farming land imaginable, just the site for their favorite "boueries." This was enough. For once they hastily rose to the occasion. They must have a ferry at once to carry them across to those fair shores where their "boueries" were to be.
The site selected was about 126th Street and the East River, where the old "Harlaem Road" terminated. The peculiarly slant-
30
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
uig and irregular boundary lines, which even to-day are found in this section of Harlem and which are so at variance with all existing streets and avenues, and form such a bclc-iioir alike to title-searchers and surveyors, are lasting evidences of the former existence of this early highway.
A ferry meant a ferryman, and in 1667 Johannes Verveelen was duly installed, with a gigantic negro, called Matthys, as his assistant. He was allowed to furnish food, drink and lodgings to the weary wayfarers he ferried across, but not a drop to the Indians.
Here are some of the curious rales that he charged for carrying travelers from Ilarlaem to the Bronx shore:
"For every passenger, 2 pence silver or six pence wampum ; for every ox or cow that shall be brought into his ferry-boat, 8 pence or 24 stivers ; and cattle under a year old, 6 pence or 18 stivers wampum; all cattle that are swum over pay but J4 price.
"He is to take for diet, every man for his meal, 8 pence or 24 stivers wampum; every man for his lodging, 2 pence a man or 6 stivers wampum ; every man for his horse shall pay 4 pence for his night's hay or grass, or 12 stivers wampum, provide! the grass be in fence. "Signed,
"THO: DE LAVALL, Mayor.
■■Dated July 3, 1667."
A distinguished clergyman, who in 1777 traveled through this section, has written the following graphic description :
"Amid the appearance of desolation nothing struck me uiore forcibly than the sight of the highroad. Not a single, solitary traveler was seen from week to week, or from month to month. The world was motionless and silent except when one of the unhappy people ventured to the house of a neighbor no less unhappy, or a scouting party alarmed the inhabitants with the expectation of new injuries or sufferings. The very tracks of the carriages were grown over, and when they were discernible, resembled the faint impressions of the chariot wheels of Hercu- laneum. I strongly realized for the first time the import of that picturesque declaration in the Song of Deborah :
'"In the days of Shamgar, the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the hig'hways were unoccupied, and the travelers walked through by-paths. The inhabitants of the villages ceased. They ceased in Israel."
In 1790, however, Lewis Morris, of Morrisania, was author- ized by the Legislature to construct a bridge from Harlem across the river to Morrisania. He sold the privilege to a Mr. Coles, who, about 1795, built the first Harlem Bridge, an exceedingly antiquated looking affair, which nevertheless did noble service for perhaps seventy years, when the second one was erected.
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Mott H.ivcn Reformed Church, known as the Old Stone Church. Third Avenue "formerly Eoston Road) and 146th Street
In the early days of public accounts, we read:
"June IS, 1667 — To 4% pints rum and 15 cans measured beer, used in the agreement with Verveelen f 20.
"Feb. 18, 1678 — To I .^nker good beer, dispensed when Do. Nieuwenhuysen was here to ordain the Deacon f 7: 10.
"Sept. 9, 1688 — To rum at his funeral f 7."
In the vestry book of an ancient parish is to be found this curious old entry :
■'March 13, 1759 — To Ebenezer Kniffin, for ;l. gallon Rum for ye burying of Patrick Holoday "
A short time after the Revolution, when the scattered resi- dents of Morrisania had settled comfortably to peace, the plan of a bridge across the Harlem River began to be discussed. During the war there was not the slightest need for such a structure, as Morrisania and the neighboring regions formed a portion of the dreaded "Neutral Ground."
This was such a substantial iron structure that people declared its only fault was that it contained too much iron. In its turn it was removed only a few years ago to make room for the gigantic bridge that to-day spans the Harlem River at this point. The Laws of 1808 give the following rates of toll which early travelers had to pay when crossing Harlem Bridge :
Every four-wheeled pleasure carriage and horses 375^ cts.
Every two-wheeled pleasure carriage and horses 19 cts.
Every pleasure sleigh and horses 19 cts.
Every common wagon and horses 12H cts.
Every common sled and horses I2j<> cts.
Ox cart and oxen 12'.^ cts.
Every one-horse cart and horse 9 cts.
Every man and horse 9 cts.
Every dozen hogs, sheep or calves 6 cts.
Every foot passenger 3 Cts.
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
3t
Troops with their stores, artillery and carriages, were passed free.
Hunt as one will through the old records, there is no men- tion at all of the rates charged to bicycles, automobiles or even policemen. This must have been an oversight.
In the same year that the first Harlem Bridge was built, the Legislature decided to lay out a road, through Morrisania, to connect with the main turnpike at New Rochelle. Once more
stage coach is still quite good enough for me, even though the farmers do have to come to its rescue on almost every trip, and lift it bodily out of the mud and set it on all fours once more!" Some distance above Harlem Bridge, a woodland private lane branched off, leading to the historic residence of Gouverneur Morris on the Harlem Kills. As a boy I clearly remember see- ing the double line of ancient cherry trees that once flanked its sides. Where arc those cherry trees to-day? Swallowed up in
Last of the Morris Trees
Mr. Coles appears on the scene as the contractor, and in 1797, after seven years were spent in making eight miles of road, the Legislature finally declared it open as a public highway.
If we could imagine an ancient denizen of times of yore, standing and watching the incessant stream of carriages, wagons and automobiles now rattling bj', and gazing at those marvelous cars that ring a bell whenever he looks at them, and eyemg suspiciously that mystifying railway up in the air, he would in his agony of surprise shriek out :
"Give me back my rural Boston Road with its woods and fields and its majestic weeping willows! The lumbering old
the immense multitude of apartment houses that have sprung up like mushrooms in their place.
What is styled the "last of the Morris trees" was located near Willis Avenue, Mott Haven, and a photograph taken over forty years ago shows it even then lo have been a grizzled and ancient veteran.
About iS7th Street, east of Third Avenue, and close to the tracks of the Port Morris Railroad, there stood until recently the tiniest little school house, almost literally as old as the hills. Under its low thatched roof the children of peasants and gentry alike gathered to receive their early education. There the daugh-
32
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
ters of the soil met on equal terms the sons of the Morrises, whose splendid mansions still remain as orname.nts to the fast changing vicinity.
"The mosses of a century seem to have gathered on the long slope of its roof," wrote a talented author, some years be- fore the destruction of the little school, "and it appears in every part to be slowly withering to decay, like a dried leaf on a November oak. Most of the little ones who crept and danced along by country paths to the pedagogue who flourished a good birchen rod there, have grown old and tottered back to Mother Earth's embrace, but the frail little temple of learning has sur- vived them and still shelters life and love under its mosses."
At what is now i6oth Street, Boston Road made a sharp turn to the right, to cross a little brook, whose waters, once clear and crystal, babbled merrily along over their pebbly bed under a double line of stately weeping willows. While this sounds far from a description of what I remember Mill Brook to be, yet it is strictly correct. Many wonder where the old stream received its name. On its banks in early days once stood a large sawmill, and we find, back in the old histories, that it was styled "The Saw Milf Brook."
Near Tremonf, not far from the same Mill Brook, is said to have been the home of the celebrated Charlotte Temple. Only a pile of stones served to designate the site. "Alas, poor Char- lotte ! The tears that have been shed over thy tragic fate would easily make another such rivulet !"
From 163d Street, that venerable tliornughfare Boston Road, extends up the hill, skirting what was once the "Village of Morrisania," up hills and down dales, until it joined the original Boston Post Road near New Rochelle.
It is to be feared that early travelers did not fall in love with what they found in this region. In 1692, Colonel Heathcote wrote : "When I first arrived ... I found it the most
heathenish country I ever saw in all my life, where the inhabi- tants called themselves Christians."
General Washington, while on his way homeward from New England, writes in his diary the following: "The badness of these roads having been described as I went, I shall say nothing of them now. The road for the greater part, indeed the whole way, was very rough and stoney, but the land strong, well covered with grass, a luxuriant crop of Indian corn. The farms are very close together, and are separated by fences of stone, which indeed are easily made, as the country is inuiicnsc- ly stony. The road is hilly and trying to wheels and carriages."
"Pretty strong language this," some one has observed, "for the calm rnd benignant Father of his Country. It is to be feared that the road tried his patience as strongly as it tried his car- riage."
It is not out of place here to quote from the journal of Madame Knight and see what she has to say :
"We hasted along, walking and leading our horses neer a mile together up a prodigios High Hill, and descending Moun- tainos passages that almost broke my heart in ascending before.
"They told me there was a singing Quaker lived there, says the woman, 'are you singing Quakers?' 'Yea,' says they; 'then take my squalling Brat of a child here and sing to it,' says she, 'for 1 ha\e almost split my throat with singing to him and can't get the rogue to sleep.'
"I was shewn up a pair of stairs which had a narrow pass- age which was almost stopped by the Bulk of my Body. Never- theless, being exceeding weary, down I laid my poor Carkes (never more tired) and found my covering as scanty as my Bed was hard. My poor bones complained bitterly, not being used to such Lodgings, and poor I made but one Grone which was from the time I went to bed to the time I Riss, which was about three in tlie morning. Setting by the Fire till Light."
Morris High School, Boston Avenue and I66th Street
CHAPTER XII
GOUVERNEUR MORRIS AND OLD MORRISANIA
^Richard Morris Gouverneur Morris — The Gouverneur Morris Mansion — Anecdotes — The Lewis Morris Mansion
-Morrisania Almost the Capital of America
About the year 1670 the fouiulatioiiN i>f the immense Morris estate were laid when Captain Richard Morris, a British mer- chant from Barbadoes, bought in behalf of himself and his brother Lewis, the former "Broncksland." He had serv "d in Cromwell's army, and after his stay in Barbadoes had drifted to our shores. A few years later, we read, both Richard and his wife died, leaving behind them an infant son, Lewis, who in after years became possessed of about 1,920 acres of land, and was made the first Lord of the Manor of Morrisania.
The story is told that his tutor, a pious old Quaker, while once engaged in meditation in the woods, heard a voice, as he supposed from Heaven, directing him to go and spread the gospel among the Indians. The old man was actually on the point of starting when he discovered that the mysterious voice was that of young Lewis Morris, who had climbed into a tree where he thought his tutor would be likely to pass.
In tlie year 1752 Gouverneur Morris began his remarkable career. When only 2"] years of age, he was summoned to at- tend Washington, spending three long months in conference with his chief at Valley Forge. A few years later, on being thrown from his carriage, his leg was so severely injured that it was amputated, an operation that modern surgery declares to have been entirely unnecessary. A clergyman once sought to con- vince him that the loss of his limb was really a blessing in dis- guise, when Mr. Morris laughingly replied : "My dear sir, you argue so handsomely and point out so clearly the advantages of being without legs, that I am almost tempted to part with the other."
In his old mansion formerly standing near the foot of St. Ann's Avenue, could be seen the marks made by his wooden leg as he went up and dow-n the stairs. And it is said that this historic piece of wood — described as merely a rough piece fitted to the limb — is carefully preserved as one of the treasured relics of the family.
The wf.r being over, Gouverneur Morris received the honor of being appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of France, remaining there during the Reign of Terror, after al- most every one of the diplomatists from other countries had left the scene. "For." he said, "it is not for me to desert my post in the hour of difficulty."
When Lafayette was imprisoned liy tlie Prussians. Morris generously supplied him with funds whicli were afterwards re- turned to him by the United States Government. And when Lafayette came to America on his noted visit, one of the first persons he came to was Gouverneur Morris at his home at Mor- risania.
Mrs. John Jay once wrote : "On Wednesday, when the President was away, Mrs. Washington called on me, and on
1 hursday, after an early breakfast of our own, we went, agree- ably to invitation, to breakfast at General Morris's, Morrisania."
A noted Englishman was once the guest of Judge William Jay, and together they made a tour of calls on many prominent families. After visiting the Schuylers, Van Cortlandts and V,t Rensselaers, t^hey came to call upon Gouverneur Morris. Scarcely had they entered the spacious grounds when they un- expectedly came upon a man in his shirt sleeves, without coat or vest, his trousers tucked up, a scythe over his shoulder, the perspiration streaming down his face and his head crowned with an old straw hat with a hole in the top. It was Gouver- neur Morris himself ! Small wonder, then, that we are told that Morris could lead the field with his scythe as well as re- cite whole verses of Virgil by heart.
The picturesque, vine-laden mansion of that time is said to iiave been erected in 1789, comprising but one-third of the original structure so tastefully modelled after a celebrated French chateau. Of his dwelling Morris once wrote : "I have a terrace roof — and by the by I will send you a receipt of how to make one — of 130 feet long, from whence I enjoy one of the finest prospects, while enjoying the most salubrious air."
It is long since I visited the old house, but I have heard many interesting tales about it. In the library stood his private desk, whose secret recesses contained a mysterious drawer, where 784 livres were concealed, which had been intrusted to him by King Louis XIV, to aid in the escape of himself and his family from Paris. As Morris was unable to assist him, the money was returned to the Duchess d'AngouIeme, the daughter of the unfortunate King.
On all sides of ihe old mansion spacious halls and mas- sive staircases, with walls two feet thick. It has been aptly stated that in every one of the thirty-two rooms you can swing a cat without injuring in the least either the walls or the cat.
Within almost a stone's throw of the Gouverneur Morris Mansion, Lewis Morris erected his own residence, now de- stroyed. One incident about this ancient house will perhaps al- ways be remembered. When Lewis Morris affixed his signature to the Declaration of Independence, he was only too well aware that, anchored within easy firing distance of his splendid man sion, were the hostile warships of the British fleet, ready at any moment to begin the work of destruction. But sign he did. and the British did not see their way clear to reducing his house to a mass of ruins.
How many are there of us who know that Morrisania — the Morrisania of the Morrises, and afterwards styled "Old Mor- risania— cante within an ace of being chosen as the all-important Capital of America? About 1790 a petition was forwarded by Lewis Morris to Congress, urging in very strong terms the
34
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
selection of Morrisania as a seat for the new American govern- ment. Among the other advantages it was stated that "there were more fighting men within a sweep of thirty miles around Morrisania than perhaps within the same distance around any other place in America. Persons emaciated by sickness and disease," it said, "there shortly recover and are speedily rein- stated in health and vigor." And lastly: "Other places contain many negro inhabitants, who not only do not fight themselves, but by keeping their masters at home, prevent them from fighting also."
Unfortunately, however, the hard-hearted Congress turned a deaf ear to these pleadings, choosing another site nearer the waters of the Potomac. But we of the Bronx cannot help think- ing how nice it would read :
"Morrisania on the Harlem, the Capital of America."
The title to Morrisania is most interesting, but perhaps more so to lawyers than to the world at large. A few of the most salient points, however, may be quoted :
"William, or Wilhelm Kieft, Dutch Governor, by patent dated October 20, 1644, granted to Arent Van Curlear, tlie land form- erly in the tenure of Jonas Bronk-K, called by the Indians Ranachque, and by the English Bronckx Land, lying on the Main to the East, and over against Harlem town, near Hell Gate and a greater creek or river which divides it from Man- hattan's Island, containing about 500 acres or 250 morgens of land."
.Many deeds follow, one of which is in Dutch, all b.'ing
formerly in tlic possession of the late Gouverneur Morris. Sam- uel Edsall and wife convey the same premises on June 4, 1668, for 140 pounds, to Richard Morris. Lewis Morris remained in possession of the premises until 1673, when, the Dutch taking the place, his family was forced to leave the land. In 1674 the place was surrendered and Colonel Lewis Morris took possession again.
On February 7, 1684, six Indians signed a deed of confirma- tion, in I be presence of six witnesses, of the same premises to Colonel Morris. This was also in the possession of Gouver- neur Morris.
"Morrisania remained but sparsely settled for years," says an early writer. "During the Revolution its forests formed secure hiding places for the Loyalist refugees, and its thick coverts abounded in wolves. It remained in the family of its ancient owners until the first advent to its fields in 1848. An association then purchased 200 acres of its northern part and liegan a village. At that time there were but three houses on the purchase. At first it was called the New Village, but as it grew it assumed the name of Morrisania. while Bronck"s origi- nal property was known as "Old Morrisania."
Only a short time ago Mrs. Augusta Morris de Peyster and .\ugustus Newbold Morris sold a portion of the old Fleetwood Park Race Course, a section that has been in the possession of the Morris family since 1668, the conveyance at that time repre- senting an adjustment of the English grant, the Dutch grant and pii Indian deed.
patriotic Celebration at the Gouverneur Morris Mansion, on the occasion of the Reception of the Liberty Bell from Faneuil Ha!l
CHAPTER XIII
MORRISANIA VILLAGE
The One House that Dates from the Period when Morrisania Was Bought — The Old Stone Gate House and
the Jennings Old Homestead —Anecdotes The "Huckleberry Road" — The Old Stages — Tfce
Wm. H. Morris Mansion The Morris Farm House The Georgi House — The Mott
House — Other Old Houses— Robert Bonner's Advertisement The Old Spy House
Passing to a later date. 1848. Gouverneur Morris the Second divided up a portion of his vast estate, offering it for sale in lots of an acre each. He wished to form an ideal village. At pres- ent there is but one house known to be standing in all the 200 acres that was in existence when Morris was interviewed by the men who wished a suburban Eden for a home.
It is a small, square stone structure, evidently a farm build- ing on the Morris farm, just west of Third Avenue, below 167th Street. I have been told that it was originally a gate house to the William H. Morris mansion, and probably built in 1816, or earlier, when Fordham Avenue was the most prominent artery of travel in this neighborhood. It has but one room on each floor, each with two windows, fronting towards the south, now closed by the erection of a shed on that side. The laths are of oak, hand-hewn, curiosities in themselves. A second, recently torn down, was an ancient stone house, covered with brown stucco on the front, standing on the west side of Boston Road, south of Jefferson Place. Its proper title was the Jennings Old Homestead, although it was also styled the Drovers' Inn and the Old Stone Jug. The Jennings family has served in the Revo- lutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican and the Civil Wars. .Mr. Jennings himself was one of the first settlers of Morrisania. The old h(.use was one of this locality's most ancient landmarks.
Old Stone Gate House, Morrisania
as.serted tu be over 150 years old. At one time it was occupied by memb.^rs of the De Lancey family, while in the rear the great barn has also recently been demolished, with its massive b-ind- hewn beams, and shingles twenty-eight inches long. I have had given me one of the hinges of the barn doors, thirty-one inches
long, weighing eight pounds, and containing five great hand- forged spikes, the largest I have ever seen.
In examining the Jennings old homestead, I discovered that there were several doors and windows, one arch-shaped, on the side, showing that it must have once stood by itself, with these.
Jennin}i;s' Old Homestead (Old Stone Jug)
openings leading to the open air. The greater part of the lath- are hand-hewn, and in one place is a most curious stat^ of affairs — the stone walls are papered and at some later date they put up cleats and laths and paper directly over the original paofv.
An old resident of this time-worn abode told me: "About 1841 we moved to the Drover's Inn, living in it many year* ■|"hat was seven years before 'Morrisania' came into existence. Way up in the garret there were lots of bullet holes, which musf have been made during the Revolution, for 1 have no idea h'jw long ago it was built. Come' to think of it," she added, laugh- ing, "1 am not sure whether those were bullet holes or bnmbU- bee holes. They looked as if they might have been either."
Morrisania — for a long time called the "New Village, e\en on the time tables of the Harlem Railroad — possessed at lli:it period all the delights of the true country. We are told that there were fire-flies of inunense size that would flit through thf air of a summer night, of which the glare of the old-time street lamps was but a feeble imitation. An Irishman met rmc of the Morrisania turtles out for a stroll, and announced that he had just seen "a strange animal with a saddle on his back, that swal- lowed his head with his mouth."
Both Harlem and New Haven trains used to dash along at a fearful rate of speed, regardless of life and limb, so that Morrisania soon became well known for its long list of railroad
PRONG-HORNED ANTELOPE.
COFVKICHT, 1900, BY THE NEW VOKK ZUUUIGICAL SOCIETY.
YOUNG FEMALE WOODLAND CARIBOU.
SPECIMENS OF ANIMALS IN THE BRONX ZOO
AT HIS NOON-PAY MEAL.
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
3?
disasters. One peculiar accident may be mentioned, fortunately not fatal. Two trains were approaching in opposite directions, when a village farmer tried to drive a big herd of cows acres'! the tracks. Nothing could persuade the cows to hurry. Crash went both trains into the drove! Result: "Nine cows killed, eleven cars wrecked and piled up in a manner that beggars de- scription, and that could not have been done by all the mechanics in the universe !"
One of the curiosities of Morrisania was the "Huckleberry Road," an ancient horse railway that in 1892 became the more modern and ever extending Union Railway. Old residents are never tired of telling of the peculiar experiences they went through in "Huckleberry" times. Getting out in the mud on a dark night to help lift the car on the track was looked upon as a common experience. One man told me that when the car unexpectedly stopped, the passengers got out to see what was the matter, and found that the horse had fallen down in the water between the tracks, which was deep enough to drown him ! In winter they would put straw in the cars as the best method of keeping the passengers' feet warm.
Previous to the advent of the horse car a great, lumbering stage coach would creep slowly along to Harlem Bridge, where travelers would take either the Third Avenue horse-cars or steamboats to carry them down town. One instance is related of this stage. While passing the house of an old resident, the servant came rushing out, crying: "Please wait a few minutes. Mr. Blank is just finishing shaving and wants to go down town." And the stage waited.
The multitudes of apartments that are springing up on all sides are leaving but little of old Morrisania itself. On the high ground wes^ of Webster Avenue still stands the great square mansion of William H. Morris, erected in 1816. Just to the east is a smaller stone erection said to have been a school house. Almost on the same sites stood the old wooden house, built by James Morris, with dormer windows, whose date was about 1795, while a short distance to the west is one of the quaintest
Wm. H. Morris Mansion, Morrisania
of Structures, the Morris farm house, built about 1792. The caretaker of the large mansion told me that ever since an occa sion when burglars broke into it, there has been an underground communication between the two, to be used in case of sudden emergency.
As we have seen, the "New Village" was sold by Gouver- neur Morris the Second to a company of prospectors for about $34,600. Of the original 200 acres purchased, forty-three were taken for streets and avenues, the remainder being divided into 167 lots of one acre each, thus averaging about ten dollars for
each city lot. Quite a difference from to-day's prices, but fifty- seven years have wrought miracles.
What was known as the old Georgi house, that stood on the Morris farm before it was divided into acre plots, was located just west of Fordham (Third) Avenue between l62d and l53d Streets. I just remember seeing it partially burned when it faced oil 163d Street or old First Street. Afterwards it was moved so as to front on l62d Street. Originally it was used as a hotel, facing the old race track of the Morrises, traces of which were visible in 1849. About seven years ago it was torn down to r.iake room for a row of gigantic apartment houses.
Morris Farm House
Another old house, the fifth to be built in the Village of Morrisania, just south of the Georgi house, was erected by th» late De Witt C. Mott. Formerly standing at the southwest corner of Third (Fordham) Avenue and i62d Street (Union Place), irs situation, far below the present level of the avenue, showed v/hat the early grade used to be. It used to stand on "Lot No. 2 of the Village of Morrisania" and has since been moved around the corner and now fronts on i62d Street, sti.U being occupied by Mr. Mott's son, Frank P. Mott, Superintend- ent of Station R., N. Y. P. O., who has lived there for fif^y-six years.
On "Lot No. I," a great change has taken place. The new Court House is taking the place of the ancient "Hammer's Hotel," a typical country tavern half a century ago, with its old porch in fiont for guests to sit and rest in old-fashioned, hard- seated chairs. To the west of this, beyond what was known as the "Dry Bridge," stood the old "Town Hall," although south of the true limits of Morrisania. It has recently been torn down and a new police station has been erected on the site.
Almost opposite, the De Graaf or IngersoU residence, built about fifty years ago, stands on the lofty heights of Grove Hill. From its roof the whole surrounding country could be seen, including the famous Crystal Palace in the far distant Forty- second Street. On the north side of 163d Street the Schnorer Club House is a conspicuous landmark, built in the early fifties. It was formerly the handsome residence of George Hand, and afterwards the home of Judge Welsh.
In the rural district of West Morrisania, the well known Robert Bonner, proprietor of the "New York Ledger," had his home, and in his barns was stabled the famous racer "Dexter." Mr. Bonner, however, did not fancy the location, and so he offered the place for sale, sending an advertisement to the "New York Sun." Mr. Dana, the editor, replied that he could not print it on his advertising pages, but would like to use it in his
38
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUCJH
editorial columns, and pay well for it, too. It ran in part as follows :
"I h'.-reby offer for sale my country seat at West Morrisania, where I have lived for the last three summers and do not think I can live much longer. Now. I offer for sale a real curiosity — somethin.? rare — the exact spot where fever and ague may be found. I warrant it to be there. Three of my children have it. my gardener has it, my groom has the sure symptoms, and I have a sufficient inkling of it myself. Besides the fever and ague, the estate consists of a fine double house surrounded by trees. These trees furnish a fine harbor for mosquitoes that do not seem sufficiently affected by the fever and ague to prevent their biting. I bought it to please my wife; I leave it to please the whole family. Terms cash. I am afraid any security on it would get the fever and ague and become shaky. I want to get away as fast as De.xter can carry me. P. S. — The town authori- ties are making alterations in the street adjoining. If they drain the place as well as they do the pockets of the landholders, it may become healthy !"
A little north of the limits of Morrisania Village, on the westerly side of Boston Road, opposite Bristow Street, stood an old house, the wing to which was attached when the thorough- fare was widened. This wing formerly stood on the other side of Boston Road, just this side of the Southern Boulevard, and is said to have been the dwelling, in Revolutinnary days, of a
spy, who in the garb of a British peddler, passed at will acros= the English lines, thus gaining valuable information to the .\mcri- can cause. A short distance beyond, on the southwest corner of the Southern Boulevard and the Boston Road, is still to be seen another ai.cient home, the old Hunt house, where Washington IS reported to have passed one night, evidently in close confer- ence with the spy, whose identity was known to him alone. I was recently driving near by with an old resident who had not been in the district for years.
"What has become of the old Spy House?" he asked, anxiously, as we passed the spot. I told him u had been moved about a quarter of a mile further south.
"I am so glad it is still in existence," was his reply. "I could not bear to think of anything happening to my friend the old Spy House." And only recently this old landinark has been torn down, revealing a mass of hand-split shingles used in its construction.
There is a rumor that, when the early residents of Morris- ania became especially elated over the future of their village, the large bull frogs in the marshes on the west side of the railroad, would seem to croak out loud: "A BIG THING! A BIG THING! A BIG THING!" But when their spirits fell, and some of the settlers threatened to return to the city in disgust, once mo/e would be heard the voices of the frogs, saying: "I UON'TSEEIT! I DON'T SEE IT! I DON'T SEE IT,"
Old Lady Washinjsrton Engine Coinpa
Wailiington Avenue
CHAPTER XIV
CROTONA PARK
The Indian Pond — Old Fordham Avenue— The Bathgate Homestead — Fairmoont — The Old Shingle-Sided
House— "The Rush"
For many years this part of the Bathgate estate lay in its original condition, except as it was laid out into meadows or fields. A portion was known as the "real woods." Its 155 acres were accjuired hy the city as a public park and since then it lias been one of the prettiest of our metropolis's playgrounds. 'I'hc many evidences of glacial action, the interwinding roads and paths, and the broad meadows so suitable for athletic sports are to-day the rendezvous of multitudes. The well known "Indian
Old Third Avenue
Pond." so popular both in summer and winter, is one of its chief attractions. At the lower end tlic low ground has been filled in, making a level and well patronized athletic field.
Just beyond the western boundary extends our noisy, bust- ling Third Avenue, once a quiet farm road through the Morris estate. On the westerly side of this, below Wendover Avenue, stood the white, old-fashioned Bathgate homestead, now having yielded to the usual advance of city flats. It is said
that the Wendover Avenue station — within sight of which Con- gressman Wendover had his residence — was placed almost directly at their duor because the Bathgates would on no other
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Bath}!;ate Homestead
condition give their consent to the construction of the elevated road. A few trees of the old Bathgate apple orchard may still be seen, but this is the only trace remaining of the family, sav- ing two houses on the Boston Road.
On the old maps this highway is styled Fordham Avenue. It seems indeed a great pity that this name was not retained, as Third Avenue is a sort of "sui generis," being the only num- bered avenue corresponding with the New York avenues that we find in the Bronx.
On the high ground north of Crotona Park lies the old village of Fairmount, almost as it used to be fifty years ago, its fine old-fashioned residences being "kissed by the sun long before it reaches Fremont." Just north of Tremont Avenue, about where Clinton Avenue is cut through, stood an exceed- ingly old house, its shingled sides betokening its great age. But, look as you will, no trace of the old house is now visible, nor can one find the "Rush," once a well known skating pond on whose smooth surface thousands used to glide in the crisp, frosty weather.
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JAMES BUCKHOUT
CHAPTER XV
WEST FARMS AND THE BRONX RIVER
West Farms — The Bronx River — Anecdotes — The Walker Mansion— The De Lancey Block House — Uncle Daniel Mapes' Temperance House— The Old Ford — The Hassock Meadow — Old Patents
Bronx Park, West Farms and the Bronx River are so closely interwoven that it is hard to dissociate them, one from the other.
In earlier days Boston Road did not enter West Farms by
One wag fitly remarked, a nnmlier of years ago, that he was not only in the country, but in the sleepy old town of West Farms, whose inhabitants had been stationary for a hundred years, never forgetting anything and never learning anything new.
-^;
New Beck Memorial Church, West Farms
the same direct route that is used now. Just beyond the car Many of the Morrisanians were declared to have been up and in
barns it turned to the north, following tlie general line of the the city in the morning and at th«ir places of business before
present Bryant Street until Tremont Avenue was reached, when those drowsy West Farmers had done yawning after their first
it branched to the right towards West Farms centre. morning nap ! Whenever their business demanded that they
42
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
bhoiild go to West Farms, they always felt a sense of drowsi- ness come over them on their return, with an irresistible desire to go to bed. Indeed some joker has ventured to say that Wash- ington Irving really wrote: "West Farms" instead of "Sleepy Hollow" in his tale of Rip Van Winkle, and that the substitu- tion of "Sleepy Hollow" was simply a mistake of the printer !
After many windings, the River Bronx narrows down and passes through West Farms. Numerous tales are told about this river, which, were it not for the niill-dams, would be noth- mg but a narrow silvery stream. The poet Coleridge styles it "the noble Bronx." We hear of an order commg from the British War Office, directing its warships to proceed at once up the Bronx and attack the Yankee ships supposed to be in hiding above. How far they got is not known, for a tug has difficulty, even at high tide, in reaching West Farms. Another story that is too good to be missed is the report that an Eng- glish commander sent to his home office the dispatch: "We have crossed the Bronx without the loss of a single man !" Why, there are plenty of places where one can easily ford the stream by jumping from stone to stone!
One of the earliest landmarks of West Farms was the great Walker mansion, north of the West Farms public school. It is now destroyed, but in its prime it was described as "an old-fashioned, English-looking place, with its tall shrubbery of venerable box and massive hedge rows." Indeed the school house was built on the site of the apple orchard of the Walker family, while the timbers of the old mansion are declared to have been hewn of live oak. "In front still stand, in towermg majesty, the two finest elms that Westchester County ever pro- duced." Gone is the old house, and only one venerable elm is left, now reduced to a bare skeleton, to guard the spot with jealous care.
There was a British block house about on the site of the present "Peabody Home." It was erected by Colonel De Lancey as a protection for his outposts at Morrisania, and until the unexpected arrival of Aaron Burr with an efficient force, had withstood all attacks of the Americans. Though but tw-enty-one years of age at that time. Burr was appointed by Washington and rendered incalculable service in suppressing lawlessness in the Neutral Ground. At all hours of the day and night he was on hand, accomplishing wonders in his line, so much so that Parton wrote : "The effects produced were magical. Not an- other house was plundered, not another family alarmed while Colonel Burr commanded in the Westchester regions. The mys- tery and swiftness of the detection, the rigor and fairness with which the marauders were treated, overawed the men whom three campaigns of lawless warfare had corrupted, and re- stored confidence to the people who had passed their lives in ter- ror."
The greatest achievements of Colonel Burr's men w'a> the complete annihilation of the De Lancey Block House at West Farms, "a feat performed, like Wayne's storming of Stony Point, without firing a musket." At two o'clock in the morning Burr arrived with his followers, sending ahead forty men, "who rushed past the sentinels, placed the ladders against the fort, mounted them, hurled the combustibles with slow matches attached into the port-holes, and then threw the hand- grenades inside. Almost instantly the fort was on fire, and every man, except a few who escaped, surrendered. Not an American was injured."
Another interesting landmark of West Farms has recently been moved to a new locality. This was the original buildmg of the Peabody home, on the easterly side of Boston Road at the corner of Clover Street. Its small windows and long
piazzas all betokened that it had been a hostelry in by-gone days, and so it was — "Uncle Daniel Mapes' Temperance House." 1 think. Iinwever, that the same old house altered and com^
Uncle Daniel Mapes' Temperance House, West Farms
plclely changed is standing a few blocks to the west, while a fine new brick building has been erected for the Peabody Home.
About two blocks north, Kingsbridge Road joins Boston Road, while close by a bridge leads across the Bronx just south of the falls. How many are there crossing the span at Tre- mont Avenue, amid the confusion of trolley cars, who realize that this bridge near Kingsbridge Road was once the only way to reach Westchester and points beyond? In the woods south of the falls can be traced the route of the disused roadway that crossed the Bronx by ford at this point. In other words, sup- pose we lived in the old, old times on Manhattan Island and wished to travel to Westchester, we should have to journey slow- ly up the whole length of the island, cross the King's Bridge or perhaps the Farmer's Bridge, and then branch southeast, up Breakneck Hill, through Fordham, down to West Farms, and cross the Bronx by this still rural lane before we reached our destination !
Somewhat to the west of the old village of West Farms, and south of the present Tremont Avenue, lay the historic "Hassock Meadow," iiientioned in many of the early deeds. By the filling in of the new Crotona Parkway, which adjoins the Southern Boulevard towards the east, the greater part of this quaint meadow has disappeared. We find it also mentioned as
Johnson's Tavern, West Farms
one of the boundaries of the "West Farms" in the early deed of 1664, in which Edward Jessup and John Richardson, two of this borough's first landed proprietors, purchased from the Indians
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
43
a large tract uf land, afterwards called West Farms, and de- scribed in the records in the office of the Secretary of State at Albany as follows :
"Westchester, March the I2th, 1(104. "These may certify whom it may concern that wee, Sli.AW- NEROCKETT. WAPPAMOE, TUCKORE, WAWAPE- COCK, CAPPAKAS. QUANUSCOE, SHEQUISKE, PASSA- CHEM and HARRAVVOCKE have aliened and sold unto Edward Jessup and John Richardson, both of the place aforesaid, a certain tract of land, honnded on the east by the River Aque- hung or Bronckx, to tlie midst of the river ; on the northward by the trees markt and by a piece of Hassock Meadow; west- ward by a little brook called Sackwrahung; southward by the sea, with a neck of land called Quinnahung, with all the mead- ows, uplands, trees and whatsoever else besides be upon ye said .parcel of lands .... quietly to possess, enjoy the same from us our heires and successors . . . and for their cattle to range in the Wood so Farre as they please.
"Wee have sett to our hands, the day and yeare above written.
Wappamoe, Shawnerockett,
Wawapekock, Tuckore,
Shaquiske. Passachem,
Harrawocke, Cappakkas.
Quanuscoe, Signed in presence of,
Edward Waters, Richard Ponson, Nathan Bayly. (Their marks were set, to.")
Old Spy House near West Farms
In order to make matters sure, this old deed was two years later confirmed by two patents, obtained by Jessup and Richard- son, separately, that of the former, secured from Governor Nichols, reading in part in these words :
"Richard Nichols, Esq., Governor under his Royal High- nesse, James, Duke of York, etc., to all his Territoryes in America, To all whom these Presents shall come Sendeth Greet-
Whereas there is a certaine Parcell or Tract of Land within this Government . . . (here follows a description, in which the llasscock Meadow jilays a prominent part) . . . Know Yee that by venue of tlic Commission and ."Kuthorily given unto me liy his Royal Highnesse, the Duke of Yorke, 1 have thought fitt to rati- fy Confirme and Grant unto Edward Jessop aforesaid . . . the Moyety or one halfe of all the Woods. Meadows, Pastures or Marshes thereunto belonging . . .
"Given under my hand and Scale at Fort James in New Yorke the 25th day of Aprill, in the i8th yeare of his Majesties Reigne, and in the Veare nf ciur Lord God, 1666.
RICHARD NICHOLLS."
Hassock Meadow
As for the white oak tree, "ye corner tree of Jessup and Richardson," which marked the extreme northwestern corner of the Patent, it is thought to have stood just south of the Home for Incurables, on the east side of the present Third Avenue, between Tremont and Fordham. It is mentioned in the Indian deed to Lewis Morris and marked the important point where the three patents of Morrisania, Fordham and that of Jessup and Richardson joined. On an old map, this section south of the Home for Incurables, and just below where the old Quarry Road climbed up the steep rocky hill, is styled the "Oak Tree Plot," showing that possibly the celebrated oak tree stood with- in its limits.
In referring to the "Hassock Meadow," one who has lived for many years in the "West Farms" once told me : "I thought they would never be able to fill in Tremont Avenue through this Hassock Meadow, as load after load disappeared in its swampy grasp. And as for the Hassocks, there they are to this day so plentiful that I told some one that he had better kneel down and say his prayers on them !"
The east branch of the Subway terminates abruptly at i8oth Street, which also marks the southerly point of Bronx Park. About this neighborhood are grouped a number of highly inter- esting sites that may more appropriately be described under the heading of Bronx Park.
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H I H
CHAPTER XVI
BRONX PARK
Dc Lancey's Mills— Lydig's Mills— De Lancey's Pine— Johnson's Tavern— The Zoological Park— Bronxdale— The
Lofillard Estate — The Botanical Gardens
Tlie very first striking spectacle tliat greets the visitor to this charming locahty is the silvery stream that dashes over the embankment just above the old fording pLace, and about on a line with i8ist Street.
On the east side of the river, close to this spot were all the lands of the famous De Lanceys, the mills themselves stand-
Lydig's Mills
ing nearly opposite the foot of the present i8ist Street. No re- mains of them, unfortunately, are now visible, as they fell a vic- tim to the flames about 1845, being entirely of wood, save for the foundations. Even the stones of this foundation were washed away by the rush of water when the dam broke, as it has done several times since the fire. De Lancey's Mills were comprised under one building, and have been described as both a "neigh- borhood" saw and grist mill. They were run by "overhead" water power, being so close to the dam.
On the other or west side of the river, a short distance further from the dam, were the old Lydig's Mills. The build- ings were constructed about a year after the fire of 1845, and a little further down the stream than De Lancey's Mills. This re- quired a race-way to bring the water to the three overhead water-wheels, which were afterwards replaced in part by tur- bine wheels. When this property was taken as a portion of Bronx Park the mills were torn down, but the foundations still exist, and a view of the falls through the archway — now ruined — formed one of the prettiest vistas in the whole of Bronx Park.
Lydig's Mills, we are told, formed also one building, and ground grist for the whole neighborhood, and also grain brought from the then distant City of New York by means of sloops up the Bronx River.
Although both De Lancey's and Lydig's Mills have vanish- ed, there still remains one relic of the past, close to the site of the De Lancey mansion, which stood on tflie east shore of the Bronx and is said to have been the great rendezvous of Loyal- ists living in the region. One of the De Lancey family, Peter
by name, lived at West Farms and became known by the title of "Peter of the Mills." Among his sons was James, high sheriff from 1770 to 1/77, and the famous Colonel of the West- chester Light Horse, also known as "De Lancey's Horse" that proved such a terror to the Americans of the vicinity. After the Revolution, when the patriots reigned supreme, he moved to Nova Scotia, dying there as a refugee.
Another son was Oliver De Lancey, also of West Farms, a lieutenant in the English Navy, who resigned his command sooner than fight against his own land, and after returning to this country, lived the rest of his life at Westchester.
The famous relic of the past to which we have just referred, is the sturdy De Lancey pine, a veritable monarch of the forest, towering to a height of over one hundred and fifty feet, and quite dwarfing all its surrounding brothers. To all appear- ances it is almost as robust and strong as when, in the days long gone by. Colonel De Lancey built under the very shadow of its immense branches that elegant mansion of his, now long since razed to the ground.
Dc Lancey's Pine
One single glance .U the De Lancey pine seems to carry one back to the woodland days when the surrounding forests were full of wild beast.s. Once again is this magnificent tree a neigh- bor to the savage cries of animals, only this time they come from the New York Zoological Park, and the noises are rapidly becom-
46
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
ing more varied and much louder than ever they were in early days. When all other animals are silent, the peculiar and penetrating cry of the sea-lion re-echoes through the woods.
"Where gentle Bronx clear winding Hows
The shady banks between ; Where blossomed bell or wilding rose
Adorns the brightest green ; Memorial of the fallen great,
The rich and honored line. Stands high in solitary state,
De Lancey's Ancient Pine.
"There once at early dawn arrayed,
The rural sports to lead. The gallant master of the glade
Bedecked his eager steed. And once the lightfoot maiden came,
In loveliness divine, To sculpture with the dearest name
De Lancey's Ancient Pine.
"But now the stranger's foot explores
De Lancey's wide domain. And scarce one kindred heart restores
His memory to the plain. And just like one, in age alone.
The last of all his line, Bends sadly where the waters moan,
De Lancey's Ancient Pine."
Almost directly opposite De Lancey's Pine stood until re- cently, a quaint old building, on the east side of Boston Road at its intersection with Kingsbridge Road. This was Johnson's Tavern, -m inn of olden times, where both man and beast were wont to be refreshed, it being the last place where the stage- coach changed horses on its way from Boston to New York. "The Mill" seems to haye been the best customer of all, for it was apparently the practice for the millers to furnish their em- ployees with stimulants gratis, in order to secure their best ser- vices.
Here i."^ a bona-fide extract, quaint spelling and all, from the old tavern ledger:
S E T H R A M O N D' S DAY BOOK. At the Old Tavern at West I-'arms.
.\pril 1815. £ s d
John Embrie, to i Gug o o 6
James Hill, to i lb shugar o i 3
Elvin Doty, to sider o o 9
Hugh Wallace, to ^-2 lb Candals o i o
Philip Hunt, to I Gil Gin o o 6
To Paper Mill, One Quart Spirits o 2 6
James Briggs, to String o i o
John Strech, to Yz pt gin, 2 loafes o 2 9
John Lounsbury, to i Oz Tobaco o o 3
Hugh Wallis, to i lb Ghees o i 4
James Stone, I Qt Eggcider o i 6
To the Mill, i Qt Gin 030
The Mil, to i Qut Gin 030
John Embrie, to i Teapot. . . .' o 2 6
Do I Qt Eggcider o i 3
Do I Gil Sp 006
Do I Qt. Sp 026
Above "Johnson's Tavern" the River Bronx widens into a genuine lake, and is a famous place both for boating in the gentle summer days and for skating when the ice has reached the regulation four inches. Nearly half a mile above the falls is still plainly to be seen the spot where the roadway in days of yore turned to the right down to the water's edge, there to be met by a corresponding road on the other side. Here was the ancient fording place, and the houses that once stood inside the park limits of Bronxdale, formerly fronting on the old highway lead- ing from the ford, used afterwards to stand with their backs to Boston Road, and the effort to make a front out of a rear prospect often resulted in the most striking effects.
The New York Zoological Park has only to be seen to be appreciated. It is located in what was the old Lydig estate, and many thanks are due to the Lydigs for their thouglitfulness in leaving the great forest trees that add so much to its pictur- esqueness and beauty. Before the Zoological Park was laid out, I have often driven through these dense woods, following noth- ing but a scracely perceptible trail. When the snows fell, and I had to rely on the trees themselves as guides, urging the horse over the hard crust, I felt that I must indeed be miles and miles away from New Y'ork City's sights and sounds.
No attempt will be made to describe the animals ; the crowds that visit the park are best qualified to do that, from the huge Kadiak bear of Alaska down to the diminutive prairie dogs whose tiny heads appear at the entrance of their burrows, looking every way to scent any possible danger.
If we follow up the Boston Road, above the ancient fording place, a few steps will bring us to one of the glacial curiosities, a round hole worn in the solid rock by the ice as it passed, cen- turies ago, over this region. Descending the hill, over the bridge across the Bron.x, from which one of the loveliest prospects of the river can be obtained, one comes to the old-fashioned hamlet of Bronxdale. This unique settlement was styled "The Bleach" as the Boltons had extensive bleacheries there, which were re- moved to West Farms after the city stepped in and bought the property for a park. Old Mr. Bolton was entitled "the Patriarch of the Bleach," and there were many quaint cottages built in the English fa.shion and populated "with its curious stock of Lan cashire folk." One of tliese, with its low sloping roof and whitened walls, standing at the intersection of Pelham Parkway and Snuff Mill Lane, reminds the spectator quite forcibly of the lower town of old Quebec.
Gone are all the Bleach Mills and the queer houses that sheltered their employees. In the mind's eye, one can see the pleasing image made by their picturesque appearance and tall, tapering chimneys, mirrored in the clear waters of the Bronx. The solid old Bolton homestead, once standing on a lane of its own, just south of Pelham Parkway, was aljout two years ago razed to the ground. .\ very large, thirty-room gray stone house, erected by James Bolton, the "Patriarch," in 1820, it was so well built that dynamite was actually required to destroy it. Several jf the tiny, diamond-shaped beveled-glass window panes were still in the house at the time of its destruction, and it seems a great pity that such a substantial building could not have been preserved as city property.
Bronx Park, properly speaking, consists of but one hundred and fifty acres. Y'et the official statement is that it comprises 661 acres. This is explained by the fact that the one hundred and fifty acres lie between the Zoological Park and the Botani- cal Garden, and are reserved strictly and entirely for park pur- poses.
The magnificent Lorillard estate might indeed deserve a whole chapter, but we can spare but a few word^ for it. When
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
47
old Pierre Lorillard built his great stone mansion, now used as the Forly-first Precinct Police Station, and shortly to be given up to the uses of those connected with the park, he certainly "builded better than he knew." I have been all over the great house, then deserted, and have admired the elegant but plain style that characterizes the Lorillard buildings. Some say the
Lorillard Snuft M.ll. Bronx Park
house has sixty rooms, others assert that it contains ninety. From a careful outside scrutiny of all its various extensions and wings, one might easily think the latter estimate correct.
A little to the southeast are the Lorillard private stables, in appearance far more resembling a picturesque chapel than a stable. Old Mr. Lorillard's famous "Acre of Roses," with whose fragrant petals he used to perfume his snuff, has been transformed into the beautiful "Old Fashioned Flower Garden." with its glittering green houses and brilliant blossoms, its nar- row roads and artistic stone grottos. This lovely nook is one of the gems of the Botanical Gardens.
South of this we come to the famous Lorillard Snuff Mill, with its thick stone walls, standing on the very brink of the river. It is now a general store house and work shop for the Park Department, but when I visited it a few years ago, the old water wheels and other machinery were still in distinct evidence. Still south of this stood another older wooden mill with a tall chimney, now destroyed. A splendid macadamized road leads northward from tTiis old Snuff Mill, close to the river's bank. This tine roadway is built directly over the long sluiceway that in times past led the waters to the mill and enabled Mr. Lorillard to gain fame and fortune out of his investment. Evidently this romantic place was once used for rowing, as I have seen the remains of steps, probably used to descend to row-boats when the estate was in its glory.
Following this road you hear the distant rumble of the "Lorillard Falls," after you have passed through perhaps the most picturesque portion of the whole park — the "Gorge." Here the Bronx River dashes through a narrow, rock-bound chasm, the walls of which tower in some places to the height of nearly one hundred feet. At the northern end, almost feeling the dash of the spray from the falls, stood what was called the "Studio." a most romantic little building, with Gothic windows, set with diamond-shaped panes. A studio it might indeed have been, and
none could have been more delightfully located, but from the large tanks contained in its basement and from its vicinity to the water, it has always seemed to me to have more likely been a picturesque laundry. I took a photograph of it one afternoon and as it was before the bridge was built and also while there was a sluiceway on the easterly shore, I was obliged to scramble down the steep rocks of the "Gorge," and have the camera lowered to me afterwards. But when they destroyed this beauti- ful "Studio" I felt as if my labors had not been in vain.
High above the falls, on the west shore of the river, and covering a large area, is the great Forest Congress known as "The Hemlocks." One is instantly struck with the want of underbush, so prevalent in these woods in general. But this serves only to make "The Hemlocks" more beautiful. In sum- mer they are grand ; hardly a ray of sunshine can penetrate through the dense mass of branches. But in winter, when the snow lies deep on the ground and clings to each individual twig, often weighing the lower ones to the ground, the effect is in deed wonderful. Woe betide the unhappy person that happens lo be underneath when a sudden wind shakes the branches. He is apt to emerge from "The Hemlocks" looking for all the world like a perfect snow man.
You are now in the midst of the beautiful Botanical Gar- dens. Passing through the many trails that the Lorillards laid out through this entrancing wilderness, and following the ser- pentine "Beaver Swamp Road," one comes to the magnificent Botanical Museum, with its splendid approach, built of snow white stone. A little below this rise the charming crystal domes of the "Glass House," with its wealth of palms. An idea of the size of this building may be obtained when we realize that the total floor area is nearly one acre. Its length reaches over
Lorillard Studio, Bronx Park
five hundred feet, while the great central dome is over eighty feet high. Taken all in all, it is a veritable glimpse of fairy land, especially so when the sun is redecled from the polislied glass surfaces, and shining roofs.
They are building a bridge just beyond the lake thai lies east of "The Hemlocks" and north of that romantic path on the east shore of the Bronx, known very fitly as "Lovers' Lane." Above h;re a densely shaded roadway leads through the upper part of the park, past a second new bridge, to Williamsbridge.
^^
CHAPTER XVII
THE BRONX ABOVE BRONX PARK
Source of the Bronx — The "Hermitage" — "Washington's Gun House — Indian Rock — Valentine Farm House —
Woodlawn Cemetery — Adelina Patti's House
"More artists yet? More writers yet? Even so, oh, Bronx the long suffering! How many of the trihe have already come unto you and sketched you and painted you in oils and water colors, and written poems and rhapsodies upon you? Better count the brown leaves on the floor of the hemlock grove or the bubbles that sparkle and lireak bencatli the falls."
west shore of the Bronx, and finally pouring its waters intj the Williamsbridge Reservoir.
A story is told that when the embankment at West Farms was constructed to raise the waters for the use of Lydig's Mills, it had to be so high as to form the artificial lake that extended for al)out a mile, even under tlie bridge at Bronxdale. Then, whm
A Scene on
How many have asked : "Where is tlie source of the Bronx?" On the slopes of Bear Ridge, near Pleasantville, there is said to be a single spring that sends one-third of its flow to form the Bronx, one-third to swell the Byram and the remaining third through