532 HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER. 



advowson, and family sepulchre, together with all the blessings which 

 the retirement of a country life and religion could afford. 



The old mill adjoining the mansion is quite in unison with the scenery 

 of the Hollow. In the palmy days of the manor, the tenants brought 

 hither their grain to be ground, and from hence the lords of the manor 

 shipped their flour for the metropolis. 



The keel of the famous Roebuck that so often navigated the neigh- 

 boring waters with her cargo to and from the city, quietly reposes in the 

 muddy bed of the Pocanteco creek. The old miller (who lived to the 

 advanced age of 94,) was in the habit of calling it his iron mine, as the 

 keel actually furnished him with bolts and nails for his lifetime. 



The manor house was for many years the residence of the late Mrs. 

 Cornelia Beeckman, widow of Gerard G. Beeckman, Esq. 



The old house is full of associations. In 1756 Colonel George 

 Washington, then Commander-in-chief of the Virginia forces, had occa- 

 sion to communicate with General Shirley, and for this purpose left his 

 head-quarters at Winchester and travelled to Boston on horseback, at- 

 tended by his aides-de-camp. On his way he stopped in New York for 

 a few days ; and, while there, was entertained by Mr. Beverly Robinson, 

 between whom and himself a strong friendship existed. It harjpened 

 while he was the guest of his host that he met Miss Mary Vlypse, or, as 

 we spell it now, Philipse — the daughter of Vrederyck Vlypse, who was 

 born and reared here — and was deeply impressed by her rare accom- 

 plishments and beauty. " My father," said the narrator, "used to tell 

 it as a fact, well established in his day, that the Colonel once rode up 

 here to pay his respects to the object of his regard. However that may 

 be, it is certain that he did stop at the castle very frequently in after 

 years, when the country was in the throes of the Revolution." 



A very singular story illustrates well the bravery of the matrons of the 

 times which tried men's souls. The subject of it was the before men- 

 tioned Mrs. Cornelia Beeckman : 



" Some time before the capture of Andre, John Webb, an aide-de- 

 camp of the Commander-in-chief, while on his way from New York to 

 Peekskill, stopped at the castle and asked Mrs. Beeckman to take charge 

 of his valise, which contained his new uniform and a sum of gold. ' I will 

 send for it,' he added, ' in a few days ; but do not deliver it to anyone 

 without a written order from me.' A fortnight after his departure, Mrs. 

 Beeckman saw an acquaintance, Joshua Smith, (whose loyalty to the na- 

 tional cause was doubtful.) ride up to the house, and heard him ask her 

 husband for Lieutenant Webb's valise. Mr. Beeckman was about to 

 comply with his request, when his wife advanced and demanded a writ- 



