8 PROCEEDINGS S. I. ASS'n ARTS AND SCIENCES. [Vol. I 



rig-ht up to the times to show his keen appreciation of the demands of 

 the travehng- pubHc." It contained a treading-machine for the horse 

 to work in, and was propelled by side wheels. 



Governor Tompkins met with very formidable opposition in his line 

 of boats and stages, by Thomas Gibbons, of Elizabethtown, who ran a 

 boat that became quite famous and was known as the "Mouse of the 

 Mountain." Gibbons named the boat thus because Governor Tomp- 

 kins, in speaking- of the opposition line, said that "the mountain had 

 labored and brought forth a mouse!" Gibbons, however, had too much 

 money at his command for the Governor, who was crippled financially 

 in consequence of expenditures of his personal property in the War of 

 1812, and the latter died before his plans were fully matured. 



During the excitement, which was intense, Gibbons invited a number 

 of public men to dine with him at Nautilus Hall, Tom.pkinsville, among 

 whom was the Rev. Dr. Van Pelt, pastor of the Port Richmond Re- 

 formed Church. Mr. Gibbons incidentally remarked that he wanted to 

 get a good, reliable man to take charge of his boat. Dr. Van Pelt re- 

 plied that he knew of a young man who he thought would just suit him. 



"Who is he?" asked Gibbons. 



"Cornelius Vanderbilt," replied the Doctor. 



On the following day young Vanderbilt was engaged, and the future 

 millionaire proved true to h:'s trust. 



Some time in the latter '40's George Law and his associates became 

 successors of the Richmond Turnpike Company, and they held an in- 

 terest in it up to about twenty-five years ago. The ferry at Linoleum- 

 ville has been long since closed, and the tides and time have long since 

 removed the last vestige of the roadway to the water's edge. 



Mr. Morris also presented the original "Assignment of Lease by 

 William S. Pendleton and others to The North Shore Staten Island 

 Ferry Company, Dated 22nd Novr., 1862." 



Mr. William T. Davis read the following paper: 

 Location of Lake's Island. 



In "Staten Island Names, Ye Olde Names and Nicknames" (/'r^^, Nat. 

 Set. Assn. S. /., Vol. V. No. 5, Special No. 21, Mch. 14th, 1896), 

 Lake's Island is referred to, on p. 37, as "the rise in the meadow to the 

 east of Burnt or Dead Man's Island ^ t^ ^ " 



Some of the more recent maps of Staten Island, such as the "Atlas 

 of the Borough of Richmond, City of New York. E. Robinson & Co., 

 1898," and "Map of The Borough of Richmond, Staten Island, New 

 York. Interstate Map Company, Engravers & Publishers, Newark. 



