41 6 HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER. 



yeoman, mortgaging two hundred acres of land lying on " the south- 

 easterly side of the road leading from Bedford to Ridgefield, etc.," to 

 Peter Jay, of Rye, for the sums of ^137. s 16. dj. a Mr. Brown one of 

 the principal founders and contributors towards the support of this parish 

 died at his residence in Lower Salem, on Sunday the 19th of February, 

 1786, aged sixty-six, fi and is supposed to have been interred at South Salem. 

 The old Brown mansion which was erected before 1750, and occupied the 

 site of the present shed on the opposite side of the road facing the resi- 

 dence of Mr. WakemanWood, was removed sometime in November, 1836. 

 In this house, Washington and staff took dinner on one occasion during 

 the Revolutionary war." Tower Hill, one of the old family slaves who 

 lived to a great age, but was at last frozen to death during the heavy 

 Christmas snow storm of 181 1, lies buried on the spot named after him 

 by the side of his ancient comrades Cato, Lucas and Dyar. Obediah 

 was fond of relating stories of his master's family, and telling how deer, 

 bear, wolves and other game once abounded in the neighborhood of 

 Cross Pond, and especially wild geese which he had frequently shot in 

 the marshy grounds, directly in front of the residence of Mr. Gardiner 

 J. Kellogg. At this early period " the old cart path " leading from 

 Ridgefield to Salem, was marked by notched trees. 



Mary Brown, the sister of James, married Samuel Isaacs, Esq., of 

 Norwalk, Conn., and died at Salem, November 26, 1801, aged seventy- 

 nine, or eighty-one, d leaving two sons, Isaac Isaacs, who died at Salem, 

 Oct. 2, 1820, and Samuel Brown Isaacs, Esq., who succeeded his uncle 

 James Brown, Esq., in all his rights, titles and interest in Lower Salem, 

 which is said to have amounted to five hundred acres of land. Upon 

 the 2ist of June, 1788, we find his relatives conveying to him much of 

 the real estate of his late uncle, besides what his mother and other near 

 relatives had already granted, etc. 



a Rec. White Plains, Lib. C. p. 42. 



b The Rev. Solomon Mead, records in his list of deaths from Dec. 22, 176", to May 20, 1805. 

 Pebuary 19, 1TS6, James Brown, Esq., "January 8, 1771, died Mrs. Brown." "January 

 16, 1T7.">, Samuel Brown.'' 



c The timbers of the old house are still preserved in the carriage shed, most of them meas- 

 ure Vi)4 inches by 15 inches, The ancient door step is still retained in front of the present 

 house, and the famous pear tree nearly two hundred years old is yet standing and bears fruit 

 yearly. 



d The following entry occurs in the family Bible of the Isaacs', (evidently written in the 

 hand of Sam'l B. Isaacs Esq.) "My d-ar mother, Mary Isaacs, departed this life, Nov. 20, 1S01." 

 The book itself is entitled. " The New Testament of our Lord Jesus Christ, translated out of 

 the original Greek, etc." New York : stereotyped and printed by B. & G. Bruce, 27 William St., 

 1815. 



