178 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



Borough. The end of the neck opposite City Island with which it is 

 connected by a bridge, is known as Rodman's Neck, after Samuel 

 Rodman who purchased it from one of the manor-lords of Pelham. 

 It is separated from the mainland by salt meadows over which the 

 tide ebbs and flows. The City Island road passes over the meadows 

 on a causeway. 



Hunter's Island, which was originally part of the manor of 

 Pelham and is now included in Pelham Bay Park, was sold by 

 Joshua Pell to the Hunts and Hendersons, and after the latter it 

 was at one time known as Henderson's Island. In the latter part 

 of the eighteenth century it came into 'the possession of John 

 Hunter, of Scotch descent, from whom the island received its pres- 

 ent name. On the crest of the island is the Iselin mansion, which 

 had been erected about 1850 by Elias des Brosses Hunter, son of 

 John Hunter, but which was owned by Columbus Iselin at the time 

 Pelham Bay Park was formed in 1888. This mansion is now used as 

 the summer home of the "Little Mothers" Society of the Protestant 

 Episcopal Church. Opposite the gate-posts is the Hunter's Island 

 Inn, formerly the mansion belonging to Elizabeth De Lancey, a 

 daughter of Elias des Brosses Hunter. It is said that Joseph 

 Bonaparte offered a large sum for Hunter's Island before making 

 his home at Bordentown, New Jersey. 



On the southeast side of the island are the great Indian rock 

 "Mishow," — around which the Indians used to conduct their reli- 

 gious and other rites, — and the graves of two Indian sachems. On 

 the northeast is a great boulder known as the "Gray Mare." Many 

 Indian relics have been found in the neighborhood, including ar- 

 rows and javelins of flint, quartz, and horn, and hatchets and 

 tomahawks of stone. The Indian name for the entire region was 

 Laaphawachking (the place of stringing beads). 



Passing the white stone gate-posts "on the Eastern Boulevard, 

 the road on which the Boston Mansion is situated, we reach the 

 causeways connecting the two small islands called the "Twins" 

 with Hunter's Island. One of the grandest marine views can be 

 soon from the Ogden mansion on the outer Twin Island. 



In August, 1814, during the War of 1812, an engagement took 

 place off Pelham and New Rochelle between the American gun- 

 boats and the British warships. What saved the Americans was 

 the knowledge of the many rocks and reefs hereabouts. There is 

 a story current among the old residents that one of the Schuylers 



