History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 42

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898,
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co.
Number of Pages: 1286

USA > New York > Westchester County > History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II > Part 42

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"There, at the headquarters, was that chivalrous young Swede, the Count de Fersen, first aide-de- camp of Rochambeau. He was one of the heroes of Yorktown, and you will find his portrait in a group of officers in Trumbull's picture of the surrender of Cornwallis, in the rotunda of the capitol in Washing- ton. Upon his return to France he became devoted to the Bourbons and commanded the famous Swiss

Land of Wm. H. Riq

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body-guard of Louis XVI. He was an especial fav- orite of Marie Antoinette, and, in the memorable flight to Varennes, de Fersen was the disguised coachman of the royal fugitives. He afterwards be- came the favorite of Charles XIII. of Sweden, and was finally tortured to death by a mob in Stock- holm.

"Now, let us look a moment at the beautiful dress and elegant equipments of the French regiments. The old Bourbonnais, and all the infantry, wore long waistcoats and coats of white cloth with crimsou lappels, white buttons and pink collars. The Soisonnais wore sky-blue collars, yellow buttons and red lappels. The Royal Deux Ponts had a blue uniform, with yellow collars and lappels. Upon the buttons of each soldier was the number of his regiment. The uniform of the artillery was gray, with lappels of red velvet. The non-commissioned officers wore a cluster of white plumes. The chas- seurs wore white and green, and the grenadiers red.

" These officers and regiments were intimately con- nected with three great eras of France,-the old Monarchy, the Revolutionary period, and the Em- pire. The object of their present junction with the American army in Westchester County was to capture New York ; but General Clinton had, by addition to his forces, made it advisable to change the plans to a southeru campaign.

"Immediately after the arrival of the French the days were spent in exchanging visits between the offi- cers of the two armies, -- our army, under Washing- ton, occupying the high grounds betweeu the Nep- perhan and the Hudson. The Americans were charm- ed with the beautiful equipment of the French Allies, and the French surprised at the fine discipline of the Americans : and each had something to learn of the other. No jar or collision occurred between the offi- eers of the two armies, although composed of men so different in race, habits aud religion.

"It is amusing to fiud, in the diaries aud letters of the officers of both armies, mention of incidents in the exchange of courtesies between them. Dr. Thacher speaks of a dinner given by some French officers to the officers of the regiment to which he was attached. They were received, he says, in an ele- gant marquee ; the dinner, served iu the French style, consisted of soups, roast beef, etc. The officers, he tells us, were accomplished gentlemen, free and affa- ble in their manner. What else could be expected of the highest nobility of the most polite court in Eu- rope ?

"On the other hand, M. Blanchard, the French commissary, did not express so much pleasure with a dinner he took with Washington. 'The table,' he says, ' was served in the American style,-vegetables, beef, potatoes, lamb, chickens, salad, pudding and pies, all being put on at the same time. They gave us, on the same plate, beef, potatoes, laub,' etc.

" There can be nothing more pleasing to an Ameri-

can, than the admiration with which Washington was regarded by the French; and I cannot close this branch of my sketch without giving you the impres- sions of the Marquis de Chastelleux in regard to Washington, as expressed in his account of his trav- els in America, written at that time.

"The Marquis had been invited by La Fayette to come and be presented to the commander-in-chief. As he approached, he found the headquarters in a large farm-house, with a spacious tent before it for the general, and smaller tents, in the adjoining fields, for his guards ; and everything in perfect order. He writes, 'As I rode up, I observed La Fayette in front of the house, conversing with an officer, tall of stat- ure, with a mild and noble countenance. It was Washington himself. I alighted and was presented by La Fayette and was invited into the house, where I met many prominent officers, and although dinner was over, a fresh dinner was prepared for me. A few glasses of wine accelerated the acquaintances I had to make, and I soon found myself at ease near the greatest and best of men. The goodness and benevo- lence that characterize him are evident from every- thing about him ; but the confidence he gives birth to never occasions improper familiarity; for the seuti- ment he inspires is a profound esteem for his virtues and a high opinion of his talents. The continent of North America, from Bostou to Charlestou, is a great volume, every page of which presents his eulogium.'

"The object of Washington, in concentrating the forces in Westchester County, having failed by reason of the great accessions to the army of Sir Henry Clin- ton in New York, plans were formed for a southern expedition to crush Cornwallis; and the scene of gayety, at and around the old Odell homestead, termi- nated on the 19th of August, when the encampment was broken up, and Westchester County, from White Plains to Peekskill was alive with the tramp of troops, the gleam of arms in the summer sun and the lumb- ering of artillery and baggage-wagons along its roads. And the brilliant French army left the green hills of Westchester county, which had witnessed its brief and joyous sojourn."

The portion of Greenburgh, however, most densely populated is that lying along the Old Post road from New York to Albany, and between the Hudson and the valley of the Nepperhan. The successive villages directly on the Hudson River, moving north ward from the southern line, are Hastings, Dobbs Ferry, Irving- ton and Tarrytown. In population, and as a centre of business and trade to the adjacent country, Tarry- town is by far the largest and most important, al- though it lies on the extreme northern limit of the township, with a considerable portion of it, formerly known as Beekmantown, and regarded as a suburb of Tarrytown proper, extending over into the adjoining township of Mount Pleasant, north of the Andre Brook. Tarrytown might be almost said to be equal- ly divided between the two townships. While to

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those from abroad it bears the one name of Tarry- town, it consists really of two distinet villages, each having its own post-office and its own incorporation, president and board of trustees. The name of Tarry- town belongs properly to the part lying in Green- burgh, while the name of North Tarrytown belongs to that lying in Mount Pleasant. .

There are other villages or settlements in the town- ship, such as Ardsley (formerly called Ashford), lying about a mile or a little over east of Dobbs Ferry, on the left bank of the Nepperhan, directly opposite to the Ardsley station, on the right bank and on the New York City and Northern Railroad (the station was formerly known as Ashford, but the name has lately been changed to Ardsley in compliment, it is said, to Cyrus W. Field, whose large landed estate, known as " Ardsley," is iu the immediate neighbor- hood); East Irvington, lying about a mile and a half east of Irvington proper, nearly midway between the Hudson and the Nepperhan ; Glenville, lying about a mile east of Tarrytown, on the stage road to White Plains; and Elmsford, formerly known by the name of Greenburgh and Hall's Corners, about three miles east of Tarrytown, where the White Plains road crosses the Nepperhan. The New York City and Northern Railroad runs through Elmsford, and it has there also a depot.

On the eastern side of the township, not far from the Bronx River and the Harlem Railroad, which in that vicinity runs for about two and a half miles through Greenburgh, are the hamlets, successively, moving from south to north, of Greenville, Hartsdale, Hart's Corners, and a part of the incorporated village of White Plains, the county-seat. The principal part of that village lies, however, on the opposite or east side of the Bronx River, in the township of White Plains. The extension of the corporate limits of the village over to the west side of the Bronx leaves the part thus ineluded, as it was before, still within the limits of Greenburgh. The simple fact is that it is one village lying in two townships.

The population of Greenburgh by the census of 1875 was ten thousand nine hundred and forty- three. By the census of 1880 it was nine thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, thus showing a loss of population in five years of one thousand and eighty-two. This period of time succeeded the great financial and business depression in New York City, by which Westchester County was severely affected.

Notwithstanding this loss of population, however, there was a marked increase in the value of property. The assessed valuation, as corrected and published in the supervisor's report for August, 1884, shows the following result: Assessed valuation corrected for 1874, 87,212,424 ; assessed valuation corrected for 1884, 810,157,752; thus showing a gain in ten years of 82,945,328. In 1874 the value of land per aere in the township of Greenburgh was 8413.98; the value

per acre in 1884 was $583.04,-thus showing a gain in the value per acre in ten years of $169.06.

THE VILLAGE OF HASTINGS,-Of the villages on the side of Greenburgh next to the Hudson River, the first one that is reached as the traveler moves northward is Hastings, eighteen and a quarter miles from the Grand Central Depet, New York, on the Hudson River Railroad. It is pleasantly situated on the elevated river-bank, and through it, at the bottom of a ravine or glen, there flows a small stream that empties into the Hudson. From many points the view of the river up and down, with its bold shores in the distance, and the Palisades imme- diately opposite, is very striking and impressive. Its present population is about one thousand.

The village and its environs contaiu many beauti- ful residences and country-seats. Among them are those of Mrs. A. M. Minturn (widow of the late Rob- ert B. Minturn), of W. F. Christie, of E. S. Mills, of Dr. Daniel S. Draper (son of the late eminent Pro- fessor John W. Draper, whose home was here until he died, January 4, 1882, and here still on the Draper grounds is the telescope that was used by Professor Draper in taking those beautiful photographs of the moou, which awakened so deep an interest when they were given to the world), of Mrs. M. A. Hoppoek, and also the handsome marble residences of the late Thomas Fraser and Dr. Gerscheidt, together with many others. Farther down toward the water-front is a large establishment for manufacturing artifical stone, and also a stone-yard, and the Composite Car- Wheel Company.

There are two Revolutionary incidents connected with the locality, although the name of Hastings, as applied to it, was then unkuown. One was the crossing of the Hudson River at this point by Lord Cornwallis, with six thousand British troops, after the battle of White Plains and the fall of Fort Washing- ton, both toward the end of 1776, when he was marehing to attack Fort Lee, whose guns endangered the British communications by water up and down the river, and to pursue the retreating Americans under Washington through New Jersey. The other was the encounter said to have taken place in what was known as Edgar's Lane, in the early spring of 1777, between a troop of Colonel Sheldon's horse and a body of llessian soldiers under Lieutenant Wurtz, who had come up on a maranding incursion in the neighborhood. Colonel Sheldon, having been ap- prised at New Castle of the enemy's intention, came quietly down under the guidance of Isane Odell, and secreting himself and his troop in ambush among the trees along the lane through which the lessians were to pass, awaited their coming. He did not have to wait very long. Misled by the answer to their inquiry given by Peter Post, a patriot yeoman, the Hessians went galloping down the lane with a feeling of calm security, when suddenly Colonel Sheldon and his troop burst upon them in a furious charge that

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threw them into confusion and panic, so that they all fled, vainly hoping to escape their pursuers. Many of the Hessians were left dead or wounded along the lane, some were taken prisoners, and others attempt- ing to escape by the river were drowned. Colonel Emmerick, at Yonkers, on hearing of the disaster from one who had succeeded in getting back to his quarters again, was greatly exasperated and sent a detachment to avenge the disgrace and loss. The unfortunate Peter Post, whose misleading answer was the occasion of their disaster, was a special object of their anger and rough attentions. They beat him unmercifully, and left him for dead. But his body, like his patriotism, was too vital to be thus extin- guished, and he returned to life.

The history of Hastings, as connected with its present name and development, may be said to have commeneed between forty and fifty years ago. A inill was crected not far from the spot where the Hudson River Railroad depot now stands, and by it the little stream was converted to a useful purpose as a water-power. Owing to the steep ascent of the hill, there was a difficulty in going to and fro between the river-shore and the country on the plateau behind it. But a roadway was at length graded down, which gave access to the water-front and led to the opening of transport communication on the river. Among the carliest to engage in business enterprise was a Mr. Sheckler, a German of large natural ability, who gave an impulse to trade by sailing a sloop to and from New York City. Unfortunately, however, Mr. Sheckler adopted some methods of making money which were not satisfactory to those who afterwards moved in. He set up a bone-factory, which tainted the air. He manufactured sulphur, which was not agreeable. He opened a distillery for the production of cheap spirits, which was detrimental in several ways. And yet, after all, it was to him very largely that the new life and activity were due.

A little later there came upon the scene a gentle- man of fortune, Mr. Anthony Constant, who owned much of the land upon which the village was after- wards built. He was a resident during the time when the Croton Aqueduct and the Hudson River Railroad were in process of construction. Mr. Con- stant is remembered as a man of agreeable manners, with a charming domestie circle about him, and as having had a residence in the city as well as a country-seat on the Hudson. Owing to large ex- penses, it is said, he was induced to dispose of some . of his real estate, and lie accordingly laid out the village, and sold his land in small lots. One of the principal streets running north and south through the heart of the village is Constant Street, which was located upon his own property, and hence took its name from him. The village, in fact, then as- sumed the form which it still, for the most part, .retains.

At that time, as well as before and after, a colony

of Italians constituted what has been described by a long-time resident as "a picturesque and pleasant element" in the community. Mr. Bagioli erected several houses, one of which he occupied with his family, and the others he either rented or sold. Mr. Ferrero, a member of the old Chambers Strect Opera Company, purchased a residence, and Mr. Rapetti, a leader of the orchestra, built a large house. They attracted many of their countrymen to the neighbor- hood. Mr. Foresti, a friend of Silvio Pellico, Mr. Salvi, an eminent tenor, Benedetti, and, in fact, many others with the peculiar talent of Italians for amus- ing themselves, made the place lively and bright. , They gradually fell away, however, from one cause or another, until now they are all gone.

After they had in a great measure disappeared, the place they filled was largely taken up by another nationality of adopted citizens, the Germans. They resorted to the place at first as a summer sojourn, but their growing interest led afterwards to their making homes, and to the ercetion of large sugar-factories, which at one time were very prosperous. The village seemed, indeed, at that period to be taking on distinc- tively manufacturing characteristics. A man of ster- ling virtue and noble impulses, a Mr. Saunders, had also, in this early history of the village, established a patent axle-factory, while an enormously large quarry of marble, out of which the custom-house at Charles- ton, S. C., was built, gave employment to a great number of hands.

But later experience showed that land which was exceedingly valuable for summer residences, when homes were costly, and which was detached from any large business centre, could not be made renumera- tive to the holder in a purely business form. Accord- ingly, almost every industry of that kind in the vil- lage has been now abandoned, a result which was probably hastened by the fire which, in 1872, laid the large sngar refinery in ashes. The present position of Hastings, therefore, is that of a country place on the river-bank, attractive for a residence or summer so- journ, and convenient of access from the city.

Hastings has three churches and a mission ehapel. The churches are the Reformed, the Baptist and St. Matthew's Roman Catholic. The mission chapel is in connection with Zion Episcopal Church of Dobbs Ferry.

The oldest of them is the Reformed Church, which was organized October 29, 1850. Its brick edifice was erected mainly by the efforts and contributions of Mr. Albert Chrystie, whose memory is still gratefully cherished. His first intention was simply to erect a building, and allow it to be used by any clergyman of any denomination ; but foresceing the inconvenience likely to result from this management, he was after- wards induced to place it under the charge of the Re- formed Dutch Church. Its cosmopolitan character- istic impressed upon it in the beginning still remains, for its worshippers are gathered not from one denomi-

ite

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. nation only, but from several. There are about seventy families in the congregation and about one hundred and eleven communicants in the member- ship. The church was for a long time very prosper- ous, but it was much affected by the troubles that came on in all business departments, and by removals from the place.

Its first pastor was the Rev. Philip Phelps, Jr., afterwards Dr. Phelps, principal of Hope College, in Michigan. ITis term of service continued from 1850 to 1859. He was succeeded by the Rev. Daniel McL. Quackenbush, D.D., who served the church from 1850 to 1860. He was followed in 1861 by the Rev. Henry H. Johnson, who remained until 1865. The Rev. Thios. R. G. Peck was his successor in 1865, and continued as pastor until April, 1882. For a year the church was then without a pastor until, in May, 1883, the Rev. Mattoon M. Curtis accepted its eall, and entered upon his pastoral duties. He remained until Janu- ary 1, 1885. At the present time the pastor is the Rev. Wm. A. Dumont, lately graduated from the Uniou Theological Seminary, New York City, and ordained and installed as pastor July 21, 1885. The church property is valuable, and almost free of debt.

Out of respect to the memory and services of the late Albert Chrystie, the congregation some years ago erected a tablet in the church, on the east side of the pulpit, with the following inscription :

" A Memoria] of ALBERT CHRYSTIE, who departed this life, in the city of New York, April 23, 1856, aged 66 years, 5 months and 8 days. To his instrumentality the origin and prosperity of this Church were, under the Divine blessing, mainly owing ; In token of which, and of his Christian character, the congre- gation worshipping here have erected this tablet. ' Them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.' 1 Thess, (. 4, V. 14."

It is fitting to notice here that Mrs. Frances Few Chrystie, the venerable widow of Albert Chrystie, just referred to above, died at her residence in Hast- ings, on Thursday morning, March 26, 1885, in the ninety-sixth year of her age. It was the privilege of the writer to converse with her in her own house with a view to obtaining information for this history, on March 19th, just one week before she died. IIer funeral took place on March 29th, and the following notice of her herself and husband appeared the next morning in one of the daily papers of New York :

Funeral of Mrs. Chrystie at Hastings.

"Mrs. Frances Few Chrystie, of Hastings-on-the- Hudson, having lived to the ripe age of four-score and sixteen years, was buried yesterday. A special car on the 11.35 A. M. train from the city, carried many friends and relatives, who gathered in the old home- stead, where the last fifty years of her life had been spent, and listened to the Rev. M. M. Curtis, as he read the funeral services. Mrs. Chrystie came of a

Revolutionary family, and held in personal recollec- tion the faces of many of those who shaped the desti- nies of the Republic. Her father, Colouel William Few, led the sturdy yeomen of Georgia through many battles of the Revolution, and when the colony became a State he was sent as its representative to the con- vention which framed the Constitution ; he was after- ward the first to sit for Georgia in the Seuate. Wash- ington was a frequent guest at his house, while among the treasured traditions of the family is that which tells of his dancing with MIrs. Chrystie's mother. Her two uncles, Major Chrystie and Lieutenant-Colo- nel John Chrystie, after whom Chrystie Street, in this city was named, were officers in the regular army, serving in the War of 1812. Her husband, Major Al- bert Chrystie, went through the Mexican War, and his father was also an officer of the Revolution. Mrs. Chrystie was a niece of Albert Gallatin, and, in her younger days, mingled much in the gay society of Washington."

The next church erected was the Baptist. Mr. C. W. Thomas, a retired gentleman of ureans, contributed the funds. His death, however, and the pecuniary losses that afterwards overtook his family, gave the church a blow from which it never recovered. It has now for some considerable time been closed.

The Roman Catholic Church, erected at a more re- cent date, is uumerously attended and prosperous. It is under the charge of Father O'Connor, who is much respected, outside of his church, as well as in.

The mission chapel here of the Episcopal Church at Dobbs Ferry has been generously aided by the widow aud family of the late Robert B. Minturn, whose benevoleut efforts, during his life-time, were so well known.

DOBBS FERRY .- The next village north of Hastings, on the line of the New York Central and Hudson Riv- er Railroad, is Dobbs Ferry, nineteeu and one-half miles distant from the Grand Central Depot, in New York City. In compliance with the writer's request, the Hon. D. Ogden Bradley, president of the Tarry- town National Bank, who has long been a resident of Dobbs Ferry, and for several years President of the village, has kindly furnished the following sketch of its history :

Dobbs Ferry is an incorporated village, lying on the east bank of the Hudson River, commencing two miles north ofthe northerly line of the city of Yonkers, and five miles north of the northerly line of the city of New York, as now established. It is near- ly square in form, and its boundary lines are a trifle in excess of a mile in length on each of its four sides. It covers the ridge lying between a small ereek, known as Saw-Mill River, and the Hudson, and its bounda- ries touch the waters of both streams. It has a popu- lation of two thousand five hundred inhabitants. It lias no manufactories, and its only tratlic is in the supply of the daily current wants of its people. Its property is assessed, for purposes of taxation, at one million

"MALVERN."

RESIDENCE OF D. S. APPLETON, DOBBS FERRY, N. Y.

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four hundred and forty-five thousand one hundred and eighty dollars, which figures, in view of the low stand- ard of valuation adopted by the assessors, show an actual valnation of quite three millions of dollars. It contains twenty-six country-seats, which are valued at over thirty thousand dollars each, some of which are estimated at a much higher figure. It has many beautiful cottages and homes of less pre- tension.

Its government springs out of four elections held every year, cach of which is of importance. The elec- tion of president and trustees for the village takes place near the middle of March. The election for supervisor and justices of the peace for the town in which the village is located, and which has concur- rent jurisdiction, follows one week afterwards. The election of a Board of Education, to which is given control and direction of the free schools, takes place in the latter part of August. The election for Repre- sentatives in Congress, and for members of the State Legislature, and for other county, State and national officers, takes place in November. So many elec- tions exhaust the vigilanee, and weary such citizens as are actively engaged in private business. They give dangerous prominence and force to a elass of persons whose only quality lies in their power to vote.

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History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 42

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898, Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co. Number of Pages: 1286

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898,
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co.
Number of Pages: 1286