CHAPTER XVII 



WEST FARMS 



The Homes of Notable Men: Foxhurst, Brightside, Sunnyside — The Quaint 

 Presbyterian Church at the Graves Where Heroes Lie Buried — The Draft 

 Riots During' the Civil War — "Wishing Rock," Where the Algonquin 

 Braves Wooed the Fair Stockbridge Maids. 



HE town of West Farms was formed from the town 

 of Westchester, by an Act of Assembly May 13th, 1846. 

 It includes the following villages: Fordham, Williams- 

 bridge, Tremont, Fairmount, Belmont, Monterey, 

 Mount Eden, Mount Hope, and Woodstock. Morrisania 

 was originally a part of West Farms, but on December 7, 1855, it 

 was formed into a separate township. In 1874, it was annexed to 

 New York City. All the villages now form a part of the Twenty- 

 third and Twenty-fourth Wards. 



Many quaint and interesting memories linger about West 

 Farms of the old days. The old Hunt inn, better known as the 

 "Fox Farm House," which stood on the west side of West Farms 

 Road near One Hundred Sixty-seventh Street was until, destroyed 

 by fire on Easter Sunday, 1892, one of the oldest and most pic- 

 turesque dwellings in West Farms, if not in the Borough. Many 

 interesting relics were found in its walls. It was erected in 1666 

 and stood on the large tract of land owned by Edward Jessup and 

 John Richardson, whose daughters married Thomas Hunt, Jr., and 

 Gabriel Leggett, respectively. 



During the American Revolution the old inn was the rendez- 

 vous for British officers. Colonel James De Lancey, commander 

 of the Loyalists in Westchester, frequently invited his brother 

 officers over from Queens County for a fox hunt. The chase being 

 started at the junction of West Farms and Westchester turnpike 

 and the locality became known as "Fox Corners." 



Foxhurst was another relic of bygone days. This splendid 

 old residence stood at the junction of West Farms Road and West- 

 chester Avenue, and was erected seventy-two years ago by William 



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