[36] Who lately died at the age of ninety-eight.
[37] “The Hudson from the Wilderness to the Sea,” p. 388.
[38] It has been suggested that these trustees, being relatives, held the property in trust during the minority of Gulian C. Verplanck, who in later life became the noted Shakespearian scholar.
[39] Miss McEvers married Sir Edward Cunard.
[40] “The Battle of Harlem Heights,” by Thomas Addis Emmet, M.D., _Magazine of American History_, September, 1906.
[41] During the War of 1812, defenses were erected in this section as a protection against anticipated attacks by the British. Mrs. Lamb says (“History of the City of New York,” vol. II, p. 661): “On the bank of the Hudson, near the residence of Viscount Courtenay, afterwards Earl of Devon, was a strong stone tower connected by a line of intrenchments with Fort Laight.” Fort Laight was at the north on an eminence overlooking Manhattanville.
[42] Mrs. Hamilton was the daughter of General Philip Schuyler.
[43] Some time before this his eldest son had lost his life in a duel.
[44] This is one of the best examples of a Colonial manor house now standing with wainscoted walls, ornamental ceilings, carved staircase, mantels, etc. The establishment was a large one for the time, maintaining thirty white and twenty colored servants.--“Bolton’s History of Westchester County.”
[45] “Bolton’s History of Westchester County,” vol. II.
[46] At the outbreak of the Revolution the manorial families of the province held various sentiments regarding the relations with the mother country. Families like those of Philipse and De Lancey were loyal to the crown and lost everything. Others, like those of Livingston and Schuyler, espoused the cause of the “rebels” or “patriots.” Again, there was a third class, embracing families like those of Van Cortlandt and Morris, that had representatives on either side. The Patroon, being a minor, was legally incapable of choosing and saved his vast estate.
[47] The Government of France had certain claims against this Government. An agreement was made to release these claims upon the express consideration that the United States would pay _their own citizens_ the claims that they had against France.
[48] Mrs. Lamb’s, “History of the City of New York.”