Sound, and likewise command a view of Harlem plains to their southerly limit. As a point of observation it is hardly to be excelled; and for the facilities which it afforded it was selected during the war of the Revolution, first by General Washington and afterwards by the commanding officers in the British service, as their headquarters.

The first house built on Harlem heights was erected upon this spot by Jan Kiersen. In March, 1695, he obtained the signatures of every inhabitant of the town to an instrument granting him a half-morgen of land from the common woods on which to have a house, barn and garden. Kiersen received his deed March 7, 1700. The property was sold in 1765 to James Carroll for £1,000, and soon afterward became the property of Col. Roger Morris. The new purchaser was the third son (born Jan. 28, 1727) of Roger Morris of Netherby in Yorkshire, Eng., by his first wife, daughter of Sir Peter Jackson, knt. He had come to America as an aide on the staff of General Braddock in the French war. He was in the expedition to Fort DuQuesne and was wounded in the fatal engagement. After his recovery he became the hero of a romance which imaginative writers have invested and afterward embellished with a vast amount of fiction. In it they have made him the successful rival of Washington, who had been his comrade in the Braddock expedition and had rescued him on that occasion. In 1756, while on his way to Boston to visit the commander-inchief, General Shirley, Washington was entertained by Col. Beverly Robinson, also a native of Virginia, who was then living in the Highlands. Col. Robinson had recently married Susanna Philipse, the elder daughter of Frederick Philipse, the former owner of the manor of Philipsburg, an estate comprising most of the territory now included in Westchester county and part of the counties of Putnam and Dutchess. At this time, however, the entail had been broken and the lands divided among the heirsat-law. Present at the house of Colonel Robinson was the sister of his wife, Mary Philipse, celebrated for her beauty as well as for her ample fortune of fifty thousand acres. Washington remained there several days, and it is further said that he stopped again on his return from Boston. It has also been represented that he was a rejected suitor of the distinguished heiress, whereas he was then actually paying his court to Miss Sally Cary, who afterwards became the wife of his friend, George William Fairfax.

Roger Morris was married to Mary Philipse at Philipsburg manor in March, 1758. He again entered active service and was with General Wolfe at Quebec. He was brevetted a LieutenantColonel and left the army in 1764 to make his home in New York. Here he became a member of the King's Council and was one of the leading citizens. He purchased the Kiersen estate on Harlem heights and built the present mansion, making it a gift to his wife. Here they led in society side by side with the De Peysters, De Lanceys, Bayards, Van Courtlandts, Livingstones and others of the same distinction. Among their visitors from elsewhere were Major General Moniton, Sir Henry Moore, the Earl of Dunmore, Sir William Tryon and Dr. Benjamin Franklin, then postmaster-general of the colonies. With the breaking out of the Revolution the social reign of the Morrises came to an end. They were loyalists and were subjected to the treatment which was meeted out with severity to tories in New York. They were included in the bill of attainder in 1779, and after peace was declared their house with the landed property was confiscated and sold. Col. Morris went with his wife to England with the British troops after the evacuation of New York, and the government made him compensation for his losses. He died in 1794. A claim was afterward made in behalf of Mrs. Morris for the restitution of the property as having been solely hers by a pre-nuptial agreement. The claim was sold to John Jacob Astor for $100,000 and he is said to have realized half a million from the transaction. Mrs. Morris died in London, July 18, 1825, at the age of ninetysix.

The house was occupied during the Revolutionary war by the commanders of both armies in turn. After the disastrous battle of Long Island, August 27, 1776, the American forces retired to New York. On the 14th of September General Howe moved upon the city. The Americans retreated to Harlem. The British commander immediately threw a line of intrenchments across Manhattan Island from Kipp's bay to Bloomingdale, at the point now 94th street. General Washington took up his headquarters at the house of Colonel Morris, which its owners had deserted. Situated two hundred feet above the river it afforded admirable facilities for observation. From the little balcony above the hall door he was able with a field glass to survey the country at the north and the region eastward where the enemy was entrenched, and likewise all along both sides of the Hudson.

During the period of Washington's stay there many events occured which possess historic interest. We need only to allude to the tragic fate of Nathan Hale, the heroic soldier who consented to imperil his life by serving as a spy, and having been recognized by a relative who had enjoyed his father's hospitality a short time before, was captured and executed; his only regret being that he had but one life to give for his country. Col. Thomas Knowlton had named him to General Washington as the best man for the dangerous service. Now, by one of those strange operations of mysterious destiny, he was himself required to give up his own life a week before the death of the illustrious martyr. He had been ordered to make a reconnoissance of the enemy's position, going before day on the 16th under the protection of the dense woods. While it was yet dark he came unexpectedly upon a superior force, and an engagement took place. He was driven back to the Point of Rocks. Washington, learning of the battle, hastened to the place and ordered a flank movement. Both parties were reinforced, but the Americans won the victory. General Washington had gone back to the Morris house, and was busily engaged in preparing his dispatches to Congress, when he received the sad intelligence that Col. Knowlton and Major Leitch had been brought in from the battle mortally wounded.* He at once included a special mention of them with a tribute to their worth. Both had fought under Prescott at Bunker Hill, and Washington held them in high

esteem.

Two other men, afterward conspicuous for their fatal rivalry as well as for their extraordinary talent and ability, had also attracted the favorable notice of the commander-in-chief. One of these was Aaron Burr, who was now holding the position of aide, or secretary, to Washington. One day, while he was busily engaged in writing from the dictation of the General, they were surprised by the visit of a deputation of Indians who came into the room in grave silence and ranged themselves around. At a sign from the leading man of the party the interpreter stepped forward and spoke: "Head of the Great Company who fight for liberty and country: we the braves of the Council of the Six Nations come to do you honor, and to gladden our eyes with a sight of the Greatest Warrior of the Pale Faces." The whole group then cast at the feet of the General the green branches of laurel, pine and hemlock which they were holding, and saluted him respectfully; after which act of homage they went silently out. Alexander Hamilton also at this time attracted the notice of the commander-in-chief by the skill with which he had constructed some earthworks. They constituted a fortification which commanded a view of the site where he afterward built his mansion and planted the thirteen trees in commemoration of the thirteen states of the new union, and likewise of that doleful precinct on the Jersey shore where was fought the fatal duel.

The two armies now remained several weeks in their entrenchments. Washington then learned that General Howe was advancing by way of Throgg's Neck with the design to cut him off from communication with the eastern states. He left the Morris house, having issued his last order on the 21st of October. Withdrawing his army from Manhattan Island he marched to White Plains. A battle ensued in which the Americans were defeated. He then retired to New Castle. General Howe found him too strongly intrenched for safe attack and moved toward Fort Washington. The fort was invested on the 15th of November and taken the next day On the 17th, Washington, in company with Generals Greene, Putnam, Mercer and others, crossed the river from Fort Lee and proceeded to the Morris house. Here they viewed the position of their own forces and the movements of the enemy. They then repaired to their boat and went back to Fort Lee. But they had little conception of the peril which their temerity had incurred. While they had been engaged in their reconnoissance the 42d Highlanders under their Lieutenant-Colonel, Sir Thomas Stirling, came across the Harlem river with a force of Hessians, scaled the ledge on the bank and marched directly to the Morris house. He took possession within fifteen minutes after the American officers had left. Just as

• Col. Knowlton was taken to the Cross Keys tavern then situated on the King's Bridge road at what is now 165th street. This tavern was used during the Revolution as a hospital. (Authority of Mr. Nelson Chase through Aaron Burr.)