39° The Story of The Bronx 



of The Bronx Company, engaged in printing, dyeing, and 

 bleaching cloths. 



West Farms, though rapidly assuming a modern appearance, 

 is well worth a visit. Some of the houses are built of stone, 

 and, while not ancient, give a quaint air of substantial respect- 

 ability, comfort and easy means financially, and of a brisk 

 and active rural life. That this condition will last much longer 

 is not doubtful, for the old cottages, both stone and wood, 

 are disappearing, and streets and avenues are being built 

 Up in all directions. 



The mansion of the De Lanceys was on the east side of the 

 Bronx, and therefore in Westchester; but their name is in- 

 dissolubly connected with the settlement on the west side of 

 the river. It must have been a great sight in colonial days 

 to have seen the De Lancey coach, with its four horses and 

 outriders, convey the family to church at St. Peter's. What 

 a cracking of whips, scattering of slaves and dogs, as the heavy 

 lumbering vehicle went creaking, groaning, and tossing over 

 the rough road to Westchester! And what a time there must 

 have been in the mansion, in 1775, after days of preparation, 

 when the discontent of the colonists was ceasing to be a murmur 

 and was becoming a roar, when two daughters of the house 

 were wedded on the same day ! These were Jane, who married 

 her cousin, John Watts, a graduate of King's College (1766), 

 and son of John Watts, one of Governor Tryon's councillors, 

 and her younger sister who married Thomas, the son of the 

 Reverend Dr. Barclay. The invited guests drove out from 

 the city in old-time coaches and chaises, not a few performing 

 the journey on horseback. Such a ray and brilliant assembly 

 of all the best people of the Province had not met since the 

 marriage, eight years before, of the eldest sister of the brides, 

 Alice, to the famous Ralph Izard of South Carolina. 



