THE OLD TIMERS' ASSOCIATION 185 



Timers remember the period when a few hundrds of sturdy 

 pioneers formed the nucleus of the future towns of Melrose, Mor- 

 risania, and West Farms, which are now populous sections of the 

 Greater City. 



Among the important objects sought to be carried out by the 

 Old Timers is the preservation of the ancient landmarks of the 

 Borough for, unless this be speedily done, every vestige of many 

 of its interesting historical mementoes will be ruthlessly destroyed 

 or obliterated by a new generation who apparently neither know nor 

 care about the history of the past. Already a number of new dwell- 

 ers of The Bronx, actuated solely by commercial instincts and per- 

 sonal aggrandizement, have built their homes on spots made sacred 

 by the deeds of our ancestors. In cases like these it is the impera- 

 tive duty of all of us, before it be too late, to mark by tablets places 

 of such inestimable value not only to the antiquarian but to every 

 true lover of his country. 



In addition to such ends and aims, old monuments, books, 

 papers and documents have been collected by the Society, and will 

 in the future be presented to appropriate Municipal authorities. 

 Surely such footprints in the sands of time must be carefully 

 guarded lest they be stamped out by the heedless and careless 

 strangers who rush in where angels fear to tread. 



Again, we must not forget the old families, whose haoitations, 

 tho widely scattered, might well be considered mile-stones in the 

 original settlements north of the Harlem River. These families 

 have representatives in the Old Timers whose members served 

 under Grant, Sherman and Sheridan in the war of the rebellion 

 and at the meetings of our novel Society, these old soldiers, compare 

 their experiences on many hotly contested fields in the far south 

 and, with one accord, propose to preserve and protect the burial 

 places of the martyrs of the war, many of which the City authori- 

 ties have altogether neglected and forgotten. Nor do the Old 

 Timers purpose to allow the present generation to overlook the 

 invaluable services rendered but a few years ago by the Volunteer 

 Fire Department of the Annexed Wards when there were no 

 bounds to the district this department considered within its limits. 

 Not a few of us recall incidents of those days when in search oi 

 fires and in the performance of their duties The Bronx firemen took 

 their machines as far south as Fourteenth Street. Naturally a 

 great number of the Old Timers are exempt firemen in the broadest 



