THE TOWN OF WEST FARMS. 447 



co-heiress of John Richardson, (one of the joint patentees,) became pos- 

 seessed of a large portion of the Neck. By his last will dated 



"16th of April, 1676, Gabriel Leggett of tbe West Farms, bequeathed to his 

 wife Elizabeth, all hi9 household goods, <kc, <kc. To his son John, all his house 

 and out-houses, orchard, land and the meadows in the Planting Neck, and the 

 meadow, &c., also that messuage and tenement which Thomas Williams dwells 

 upon, and was formerly my father-in-law's, John Richardson, his now dwelling 

 house, and orchard and out houses with the land and meadow which I bought 

 of John Ferguson, Sen., and Robert Manning, together with fifty acres of wood 

 land, lying within the bounds of the patent of West Farms, &c. ' I say to my 

 son Thomas,' to his son William one hundred acres of woodland, and five acres 

 of meadow, lying behind the field, within the bounds of the patents of West 

 Farms together with all the undivided meadow, as also my house and house lot, 

 with an orchard thereon, lying in the town of Westchester. To his daughter 

 Martha, he bequeathed his little colored boy ; to his daughters Mary, Sarah, Alice 

 and Elizabeth, twenty pounds each."* 



John Leggett, the eldest son of the above testator, was the great 

 grand-father of the late Thomas Leggett. The following incidents are 

 related of Mr. Leggett, whose activity, energy and fearlessness of 

 character are well known. 



While a youth, at the commencement of the revolutionary war, he was 

 living with his father on the farm adjoining Morrisania. All he pos- 

 sessed at this time was a very fine young mare, the gift of his parent. 

 Prior to Colonel De Lance/ s taking possession of his father's house, a 

 party of British refugees took, with other property, his favorite animal, 

 whilst he, being unarmed, could only bluster and threaten. He refused, 

 however, to leave them, and actually accompanied the robbers two miles 

 on their route to head-quarters. As the party were passing the spot 

 which now makes the southern entrance to West Farms, two Continen- 

 tal soldiers rose up from behind a stone wall and fired. The man lead- 

 ing the mare was shot, and fell ; the mare turned round and ran home- 

 wards, to the great delight of the owner, who immediately followed. 

 Soon after this event the family, driven from home, were compelled to 

 seek shelter elsewhere. Mr. Leggett and his two brothers went to Sara- 

 toga ; here they cleared a small piece of land, erected a log house, and 

 prepared to spend the winter. But on the approach of Burgoyne, they 

 were taken prisoners by the Indian allies. His two brothers were car- 

 ried to Fort Edward by the Indians, whilst he himself was conveyed to 

 Burgoyne's camp. Here he fell in with a neighbor named Concklin, 

 who, after a fortnight's detention, forged a pass for both. By this means 



a Surrogate's office, N. Y. Lib. ii. 24. 



