392 The Story of The Bronx 



going to all parts of the Borough and to Mt. Vernon and New 

 Rochelle. It is amusing to see the crowds alight from the 

 trolley cars and rush for the subway as if their very lives de- 

 ponded on their not missing a second. In the cars, they 

 usually begin to get up from their seats and crowd the aisles 

 a half mile from the terminal. What is the cause of this? 

 Is it a national characteristic of wanting to get ahead of 

 somebody else, or is it a childish trait showing fear of not 

 getting to a place on time? 



The West Farms Soldiers' Monument, the only one in the 

 Borough, was erected, by the subscriptions of a few patriotic 

 citizens, in the West Farms Cemetery, adjoining the graveyard 

 of the old Presbyterian Church. A Mrs. Cunningham, the 

 widow of a soldier, was the first to draw attention to the neg- 

 lected and desecrated graves of a number of soldiers who 

 were buried here. She was passing the graveyard when the 

 street was being widened and saw a number of bones thrown 

 into a cart by the laborers. An examination of one of the grass- 

 covered and decrepit tombstones showed that it was over the 

 grave of "William J. Rasberry, Captain Co. C, 6th Heavy 

 Artillery, killed Oct. 19, 1864, at Cedar Creek, while leading 

 his men up the hill." Other graves were found, and the 

 matter of erecting a suitable monument was taken up by a 

 committee of which Captain Charles Baxter was chairman. 

 The monument was erected in the fall of 1909, and was 

 dedicated with appropriate ceremonies May 29, 19 10. The 

 remains of eleven soldiers, two of them of the War of 18 12, 

 are within the plot near the monument. Three brass howit- 

 zers are used for ornamental purposes, and a flag is kept 

 flying from the staff erected for the purpose. 



During the Civil War, the same diversity of opinion pre- 

 vailed throughout the Borough as in all sections of the country, 



