2,28 The Story of The Bronx 



"Upper Cortlandt's, " to distinguish it from the mansion 

 in Van Cortlandt Park. The British maintained a post at 

 Upper Cortlandt's from 1777 to 1779; it was this post that 

 General Lincoln captured during the attack upon Fort Inde- 

 pendence under Heath. The British afterwards reoccupied 

 it, and from it went many an expedition to harry the occupants 

 of the Neutral Ground. The old house was burnt about 1822. 

 Its site is occupied by a large stone house, formerly belonging 

 to Waldo Hutchins, at one time surrogate of the city of New 

 York. The property passed by inheritance from Frederick 

 Van Cortlandt to his brother Augustus, the city clerk of New 

 York in 1776. By purchase from his heirs in 1836, James R. 

 Whiting became the owner, and in 1840 he erected a large 

 stone mansion overlooking the Hudson. The next year he 

 disposed of parcels of the property, and the section is now one 

 of fine residences, most of which are a half to three quarters 

 of a century old. 



In 1892, the remnant of the Whiting property came into 

 possession of the Sisters of Charity, who occupied the large 

 and roomy mansion as a hospital for the care of consumptives 

 in the first stages of the disease. Later, a fine hospital build- 

 ing was erected on Spuyten Duyvil Parkway, the whole insti- 

 tution being known as Seton Hospital. It furnishes free 

 relief for those unable to pay, and has thirty rooms for pay 

 patients; it can accommodate three hundred and forty. 



Upon its extensive grounds formerly stood an ancient syca- 

 more tree which was known as the "Cowboy tree," a local 

 tradition asserting that the Americans had hanged a British 

 marauder upon it in the days of the Revolution. Several 

 gorges lead from the steep hillside to the Hudson below, cut 

 out of the sandstone by the erosive action of water. At the 

 head of one of these gorges a small stream issues from under 



