THE TOWN" OF OSSIN-ING. 21 



five per cent. ; also iron pyrites. Sulphuret of zinc, and oxide of mang- 

 anese occasionally occur in the lime-stone rock. " Sing Sing is also cel- 

 ebrated for its marble quarries, which are worked to a great extent by 

 the State prison convicts — who have here erected two large prisons, a 

 keeper's house, and several ranges of work-shops, from materials found 

 on the State farm." The marble found in this vicinity is the dolomitic 

 or white coarse grained, of excellent quality, and almost inexhaustible ; 

 large quantities are annually quarried and sent to the city of New York 

 and other places. 



The Mount Pleasant State Prison, situated about half a mile south 

 of the village of Sing Sing, is thirty-three miles north of New York City; 

 it contains about 1,500 convicts. The prison grounds used to consist 

 of 130 acres of land, lying between the villages of Sparta and Sing Sing, 

 bounded on the east by the Highland turnpike, and on the west by the 

 Hudson river ; since which time the land has been sold, and but a few 

 acres retained. An Act of the Legislature, passed March, 1824, author- 

 ized the building of a new State prison in the first and second senatorial 

 districts, with commissioners appointed for the purpose; they selected 

 the present site, owing to its exhaustless bodies of marble, its healthy 

 situation, and its accessibility by water. It was completed in 1S29, 

 when it contained eight hundred cells ; it has been enlarged, and now 

 contains one thousand cells. In 1828 the convicts then in the old 

 State prison, in the city of New York, were removed to Sing Sing ; and 

 the old city prison was abandoned. 



Zion Hill, a mile below the prison, the property of Mr. Peter Weath- 

 erby. is famous as being the scene of Matthias' impositions ; this was 

 the property of Henry R. Runson. 



A few Revolutionary incidents connected with Sing Sing deserve to 

 be recorded here. 



In the year 1774, a regiment under the command of Colonel James, 

 (director of the silver mines in this place,) was stationed at Sing Sing. 

 Upon the breaking out of hostilities it was ordered to Boston. 



Some days previous and subsequent to the memorable battle of 

 White Plains, the British vessels of war — consisting of the Tartar, Roe- 

 buck and Phoenix — lay off Sing Sing. 



"On the 28th of October, 1799," observes General Heath, "Captain 

 Hopkins of the dragoons took the Captain of the Bellona transport, a 

 serjeant and corporal of the 64th British regiment, and two seamen who 

 had ventured too far on the shore near Sing Sing." a 



a Heath's Mem. 214. 



