424 HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER. 



In the possession of this family is a curious copy of the Baskett Bible 

 containing the Prayer Book of the Church of England and the Psalms 

 in metre, entitled the New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 

 Christ newly transcribed out of the original Greek and with the former 

 translations diligently compared and revised by His Majesty's special 

 command appointed to be read in churches ; Oxford, printed by Thomas 

 Baskett, printer to the University, MDCCXLIX. On the inside is this 

 memorandum : " Jeremiah Keeler was married to Huldah, April, 1788. 

 Took this holy Book out of the estate of his deceased father, the 1 6th of 

 April, 1799." There is but little doubt that this is the very Bible and 

 Prayer Book combined which was presented by the Venerable Propaga- 

 tion Society to the church of Lower Salem in 17 71. 



At an early period, perhaps, before the erection of the church in 1771, 

 James Brown made a liberal benefaction of one hundred acres of land, 

 within the Patent of Lower Salem, for the endowment of the Church of 

 England as established by law. These Glebe lands are claimed to be 

 what is still denominated, " The Lower Parsonage Lands? lying be- 

 tween the two roads, one leading from Ridgefield to Bedford, the other 

 from Ridgefield to South Salem ; which lands,* as we have already seen, 

 were surreptitiously conveyed by the so-called proprietors of the " Low- 

 er released ten miles of the Oblong or Equivalent lands, yet undivided " 

 (on the 23d of December, 1751,) "for the use and improvement of the 

 first Presbyterian or Independent minister that should be settled and 

 ordained in the town of Salem." Now the truth is that James Brown 



a By some it is said that James Brown gave the property as Glebe Lands to endow the first 

 church edifice that should be erected and consecrated (or dedicated as the Presbyterians, In- 

 dependents and Romanists term it,) In Salem ; and that as the Episcopal church (which was 

 the first edifice ever erected for religious worship in Lower Salem,) had never been consecrat- 

 ed, it had lapsed to the Presbyterians. This, however, is a very improbable story ; as no Epis- 

 copal church could then be consecrated for want of a Bishop, and consequently no Churchman 

 would be likely to put such a restriction on a deed of gift. It is very remarkable that this 

 story is attributed to Timothy Keeler, one of the signers of the surreptitious deed in 1751. One 

 thing is certain, that while the first church was building in 1770-1771, the Rev. Solomon Mead, 

 the first Presbyterian minister of Lower Salem, who was then in the habit of coming from 

 Norwalk on horseback to perform services, threatened the builders and endeavored to stop 

 them in their work. A portion of these Glebe Lands, as we shall have occasion to show pres- 

 ently, were sold by the Presbyterian Society under an act of Assembly in 1800, " for the pur- 

 pose of procuring other lands on which a parsonage house might be more conveniently erect- 

 ed and for erecting the same ; "' but we believe no warranty deeds have ever been given in any 

 case of sale; but simply quit claim deeds, all of which is something unusual. The trustees of 

 the Presbyterian church of South Salem, sold to Gould Hawley in 1833, lands bordering on "so- 

 called Parsonage Land." White Plains Rec. Lib. xlix, p. 255. Gould Hawley's title came from 

 Trustees, and his widow conveyed to Cyrus Lawrence and others. Joseph S. Wood and wife 

 sold lands to Wakeinan B. Wood in 1837, bounded westerly by lands of Joseph Webster and 

 the '■ Parsonage Land so-called." Maltby Webster and wife, Nancy, convey land to Terry A. 

 [rancher, 18th of March, 1830— "also one other piece ly, at the south-east corner of Joseph 

 Webster's land formerly belonging to the parsonage, at a pile pf stones and running northerly 

 by said Webster's, 14 chains and 35 links to a pile of stones at the coiner of said Webster's 

 land, from thence westerly 5 chains to a pile of stones by Gould Hawley's land, thence south- 

 erly by said Hawley's land, I(i chains and 25 links to a pile of stones by the highway that leads 

 from Ridgefield to Bedford, from thence easterly by the highway 6 chains to the place of be- 

 ginning containintr 7 acres.?' White Plains Rec., Lib. xxxviii, p. 183. The two meadows, one 

 opposite the residence of Uriah Slawson, the other almost in front of Sandy Barrett's house, 

 are said to have been a portion of the Parsonage Lands. 



