138 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



city, from 1813 to 1816, President of the New York Order of 

 the Cincinnati. 



' The details of the celebrated Miranda expedition, in which he 

 and his son were involved and which caused a profound stir in the 

 country at the time, it is believed, were hatched in the Halsey 

 mansion while he was its tenant, — altho on this point there is 

 some doubt among historians. 



With the outbreak of yellow fever in Philadelphia, then the 

 nation's capital, President Adams and his family accepted the in- 

 vitation of Col. Smith and his wife, Abigail Adams, to make their 

 home with them in the Bronx mansion. During this period the 

 Halsey homestead, being the residence and office of the country's 

 Chief Executive, was the center of the new Republic's official and 

 social life. In the old library of the mansion, which was assigned 

 to the President as an office, he dictated the policy of the Govern- 

 ment and there indited a number of important papers. Believing 

 that the fever which destroyed thousands in Philadelphia would 

 not abate sufficiently to make it safe for him to venture there for 

 the opening of Congress, he urged that the session be held in New 

 York. It would be more convenient for him, he said, to keep in 

 touch with its deliberations from the Halsey mansion than would 

 be possible if the session convened in the City of Brotherly Love. 

 The following is one of his letters to Secretary of State Pickering, 

 directing him how to forward the mails to him at the mansion : 



East Chester, 12th of October, 1797. 



To T. Pickering, Sec. of State. 



Dear Sir: I arrived here at Col. Smith's last night with my family and 

 I shall make this house my home until we can go to Philadelphia with 

 safety. ... If you address your letters to me at East Chester and 

 recommend them to the care of my son, Charles Adams, Esq., at New York, 

 I shall get them without much loss of time, but if a mail could be made up 

 for East Chester they might come sooner. I know not whether this can be 

 done without appointing a postmaster at this place, and I know of no one 

 to recommend. I shall divide my time between New York and East Chester 

 till the meeting of Congress. 



With great regards, etc. 



John Adams. 



By the friends of the Adams family it was considered a 

 singular coincidence that years after they had left the Halsey 

 mansion the body of George Washington Adams, son of President 



