THE TOWN OF OSSIN-ING. 



23 



articles of trade was a quanity of tea and loaf-sugar — at that time a 

 great luxury, and very difficult to procure. It was soon noised abroad 

 among the neighbors, and many of the old Dutch settlers longed for 

 a share ; accordingly a party of fifty women organized themselves into a 

 raiding party, and appointed a day when and where to meet, and then 

 proceed to the farm, now called the Secor farm. 



The day previous to the one fixed by this party, John Arthur set 

 out upon a journey from home on horseback; and when a little below 

 Tarrytown he saw a woman riding ahead, and putting spurs to his 

 horse soon overtook her, gave her the usual salutation, and entered 

 into conversation on general subjects; but the tea and sugar were 

 uppermost in her mind, and soon she asked him if he was going to join 

 the party. "There is one Arthur, she said, come up in the country above, 

 from New York — and has brought a fine lot of tea and sugar — and has 

 them in his house, and to morrow a number of us are going to make a 

 raid on his place." " Ah ! Ah ! " said Arthur, " is that so ? " He rode freely 

 along with her, until she had disappeared. Then he returned and rode 

 home, informing his family and consulted as to the best line of action. 

 They determined to bury the tea and sugar in the garden, and defend 

 themselves. They therefore barricaded the doors and windows, armed 

 themselves, and determined to resist all intruders. Early the next 

 morning Mr. Arthur dispatched his oldest son on horseback to Jacob 

 Ryders, now known as Willett Ryders farm — and from the barn which 

 stood near the road he stationed himself, awaiting the advance of the 

 raiders ; as soon as they appeared he rode home and gave the alarm. 

 They advanced twenty couple, riding two and two, with two men. One, a 

 Captain Owen, who lived, it is said, in Sleepy Hollow; the other was said 

 to be Abraham Van Tassel. They had their trouble for nothing, as 

 they found it impossible to gain admission into the house. There were 

 two Abraham Van Tassels that figure to a great extent in this section 

 of country ; one was the father of the celebrated Katrina, in the Sleepy 

 Hollow legend ; one was called Brim Bones, the other Brom Bounce. 

 Others say that Mr. Arthur treated the whole party to plenty of punch 

 with abundance of sugar, and they all separated peacefully, without tast- 

 ing the tea. 



The small but beautiful stone church, of All Saints, Briar Cliff, is situ- 

 ated at the junction of two roads, on a height behind Sing Sing, com- 

 manding one of the finest views along the whole length of the noble 

 Hudson. That beautiful river lies in the distance like a lake of ten 

 miles of extent, while the villages which dot its banks and the high 

 rocks which border its western shore and the plains and hills that lie 



