314 The Story of The Bronx 



Many of the ancient inscriptions have been recarved so 

 that they are fairly legible. The oldest bears the following : 



"HER LYES ISEC PELL D. DEC. 14, ANNO I748." In 1862, 



a white marble slab was erected by James K. Pell, Esq., "to 

 mark the spot where lie buried the mortal remains of several 

 of the descendants of john pell, the son of the rev. john 

 pell, d.d. and nephew of thomas pell, the first proprietor 

 of the Lordship and Manor of Pelham." 



There are also several mounds upon the place, supposedly 

 of Indian origin. Upon the lawn in front of the house used 

 to stand in solitary state the stump of a fine oak tree, whose 

 top had been blown off in some storm about twenty-five feet 

 from the ground, so that it looked like an enormous bush. 

 This is stated to have been the identical tree under whose 

 branches the original proprietor, Thomas Pell, bought from 

 the Indian sachems the lands in the vicinity. The tree was 

 protected for many years by an iron fence ; but leaves and other 

 rubbish gathered inside and were not taken away. Some 

 careless person threw a lighted article of some kind among 

 the rubbish, with the result that the tree was entirely destroyed 

 April 8, 1906, and nothing now remains except the fence. One 

 of the manor-houses also stood on the same lawn southwest 

 of the present Bartow mansion, erected about 1850. 



Going north on the Shore Road, we pass the public golf 

 links and come to the stone gateway marking the entrance to 

 Hunter's Island. This was originally a part of the manor of 

 Pelham, and has also been known as Appleby and Henderson's 

 Island. In 1743, it was owned by Joshua Pell, a grandson of 

 the first manor-lord, from whom it passed to the Hunts and 

 Hendersons, and from them, in the latter part of the eighteenth 

 century, to John Hunter, a gentleman of Scotch extraction, 

 from whom it received its present name. His son, Elias des 



