THE TOWN OF NEW ROCHELLE. 671 



from England in 1687, having fled from La Rochelle in 1681; letters 

 of denization were granted under the great seal of the province to Louis 

 Guion and his son Louis, Feb. 6th, 1695-6. Louis Guion, Sr., of New 

 Rochelle, in 17 10 appears to have been born in France in 1654; Mary, 

 his wife, in 1656. Their children were Louis, Aman, Isaac, and Susan- 

 na. There was a Gregory Guion in New Rochelle in 1 7 1 o, who, by his 

 wife Mary, had five children — Gregory, Judy, Hester, Joanna and Anna. 

 The oldest residence of the Guions was erected in 1696, and stands a 

 little to the west of the more modern mansion, erected in 1800 by Mr. 

 Frederick Guion, and is now occupied by William Lawton, Esq., who 

 has done so much towards bringing into notice the celebrated black- 

 berry which bears his name. This famous berry was discovered about 

 twenty-five years ago on the old parsonage property given by John Pell 

 to the Huguenots in 1689 which is now owned by Frederick Prime, Esq. 

 Some of these plants were removed by Mr. Lewis Secor to his garden in 

 New Rochelle where he began to cultivate them. Mr. Lawton took 

 great interest in the berry and brought it to the notice of the American 

 Institute and the Farmer's Club — where from its size and flavor it was 

 universally admired; and there it received the name of the Lawton 

 Blackberry. In a short time this new fruit became widely known and 

 has spread all over the country. 



In a portion of the Guion property once owned by the late George 

 Case, Esq., and nearly opposite the old Eels mansion on North street, 

 leading to the depot, was discovered a few years since the remains of a 

 large bed of charcoal, marking the site of the summary execution of a 

 negro, one hundred and ten years ago, for murder, as appears from the 

 following : 



" New York Post Boy, January 16th, 1766 : A few days since a negro 

 man belonging to Mr. George Trail, of New Rochelle, killed a woman, 

 (Miss De Blez), his house-keeper, by a blow with a small ax on the head, 

 of which wound she expired; the villain immediately fled and concealed 

 himself in a haystack, where he was found after a diligent search, tried 

 by three Justices of the Peace and ordered to be burnt, which sentence 

 was put into execution in New Rochelle last week." 



Near the western entrance of the village stands the Presbyterian 

 church — a beautiful goihic stone edifice with tower and spire. The 

 Presbyterian Society claims succession from the original French church 

 gathered together soon after the settlement of the place in 1689. In 

 this view, they must represent some minority of the Huguenots ; for in 

 1709 the majority conformed to the Church of England, according to 

 the charter of Trinity church, New Rochelle — which specified that on the 



