340 The Story of The Bronx 



Among the papers found by Arnold in Montgomery's 

 quarters at Quebec after his death, was his will, by which he 

 left the Kingsbridge farm to his sister Sarah, Viscountess 

 Ranelagh. The Montgomery house on Fort Independence 

 Street is known to the inhabitants of the vicinity, but there 

 is doubt as to its genuineness. Edsall, the historian of 

 Kingsbridge, states that the original house was burned and 

 completely destroyed by the British during the Revolution, 

 while the late Mr. William Ogden Giles, who bought the prop- 

 erty many years ago and erected his own house within the 

 ramparts of Fort Independence, declared that it was the 

 original Montgomery house, and called attention to the fact 

 that its beams are of hewn oak, in most cases, a sure sign of 

 antiquity. 



Fort Independence stands on the crest of the hill directly 

 above the Montgomery house. The square tower of the 

 house built upon its site is a prominent object, and is visible 

 for miles in all directions, which shows the commanding 

 position of the ancient redoubt. 



Both the old and the new Croton aqueducts pass through 

 the former township ; and the Catskill aqueduct, now building, 

 will do likewise. In 1869, a portion of the Van Cortlandt 

 estate, lying between Fort Independence hill and Van Cort- 

 landt lake, was bought and laid out by the purchaser in build- 

 ing lots. The tract was called "Oloff Park," after Oloff 

 Stevensen Van Cortlandt, the first of the name in the New 

 World, and the ancestor of the Van Cortlandt families. Oloff 

 Park, which contained about one hundred acres, has nearly 

 all disappeared within the park or the reservoir. 



Nearly all the rest of the former township is taken up by 

 the public park and by Woodlawn Cemetery, both of which are 

 described elsewhere in this volume. In the northeast corner 



