6 The Story of The Bronx 



with a northerly boundary at the Eastchester line from Black 

 Dog Brook to the Bronx River. This included about one 

 half the Borough. The town was further increased by the 

 accession of Morrisania, February 22, 1791. It remained 

 intact until May 13, 1846, when the township of West Farms 

 was formed out of its territory. 



West Farms (1846) comprised all the land west of the Bronx 

 River as far as the Harlem River, lying south of Yonkers, 

 until December 7, 1855, when the township of Morrisania was 

 once more formed from its territory. It thus included the 

 manors of Morrisania and Fordham and the West Farms 

 patent of 1663. 



The annexation of a part of Westchester County to the city 

 of New York was a question that arose long before any formal 

 action was taken by the authorities. As early as 1864, it 

 was proposed to unite the townships of Morrisania and West 

 Farms under a special city charter; but the objections of the 

 inhabitants of West Farms defeated the project. In 1869, 

 one of the Tweed members of the Legislature from Mount 

 Vernon proposed the annexation of a large portion of the 

 county to the city; but as the action was taken without any 

 reference to the wishes of the inhabitants or their immediate 

 representative, Senator Cauldwell, he arose in his place and 

 announced that, in a few days, he would introduce a bill 

 "to annex the city of New York to Morrisania," a piece of 

 sarcasm which defeated the movement at that time. Yet 

 Senator Cauldwell was, later, one of the foremost in advocating 

 annexation and in bringing it about. 



In the autumn of 1872, the people of West Farms and Mor- 

 risania came together ; and the following year, the bill referring 

 the question of annexation to the people was enacted. Owing 

 to disputes among the officials, the bill provided that the 



