CHAPTER XIX 



EASTCHESTER AND PELHAM 



OF the town of Eastchester, comparatively little was 

 added to the Borough. The name of Washington- 

 ville was that originally applied to the station on 

 the Harlem Railroad where the New Haven Railroad leaves 

 the Harlem tracks and swings to the eastward; but a few 

 years ago the name was changed to Wakefield, which has 

 thus become the upper end of the city. A small settlement 

 close to Wakefield was called Jacksonville. The section on 

 the east of the Bronx River abreast of Woodlawn Cemetery 

 still awaits development, though the proposed park reserva- 

 tion along the river will probably take considerable of the 

 land. 



About the year 1854, there settled on Matilda Street in 

 Washington ville an Italian family, in whom the neighbors 

 took great interest; for at all times of the day there issued 

 from the house the sounds of either vocal or instrumental 

 music. In fact, except when the children were attending the 

 union free school in Mt. Vernon, musical practice seemed to 

 be continuous. These Italians were the Pattis, and two of 

 the daughters became famous ; Carlotta, as both a pianist and 

 a singer, and Adelina as the owner of the most beautiful voice 



and as the most finished singer of the nineteenth century. 



421 



