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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



December, 1910 



Olcl South Salem 



By Theodore Langdon Van Norden 



1^' 



O metropolis In the world has at its very board announces "Entertainment." This is the inn of the 

 gates, a country more picturesque, m,ore "Horse and Hound," where meals may be had, and even 

 varied in aspect, and more touched with a room or two if desired. It is a favorite place for motor 

 the magic of charm than that which lies "■ parties, and many people of the neighborhood drive there 

 directly north of New York. Westchester >. for afternoon tea under its quaint old roof. The house is 

 County, by reason of its hills, long re- ,known to have been standing in 1799 and is probably much 

 mained primitive, and, an hour from the .older than that. It belonged to the Keeler family, a name 

 roar of Broadway, until recently seemed remote. White . still prominent in conservative South Salem. The Keelers 

 cottages characterize the countryside. And here and there have in their possession a relic well considered prlceless- 



a great house stands in wide stretching grounds, reminding 

 one that Westchester, for all its quiet, or because of it, has 

 been for over a century a favorite residence for New York 

 families. 



Near its northern border stands one of the county's 

 most charming villages. South Salem merits the adjective 

 "old" because it is now two centuries since the white man 

 established himself there and the village has, in its small 

 way, been a sharer in many and varied events. As early 

 as 1640 the Indians sold the land to the pale-faced 

 strangers, but there was no permanent settlement until the 



a sword presented by La Fayette to Jeremiah Keeler at the 

 siege of Yorktown. The boy was but seventeen years old 

 when he joined the patriot army, and at Yorktown stormed 

 the breastworks with so heroic a courage that his older fel- 

 low soldiers, catching his spirit, followed him in the face 

 of a devastating fire, and carried the day. La Fayette after 

 the battle made the presentation. 



Many must have been the tales of battle and suffering 

 told under the old roof which covers now so much good 

 cheer. And it may be added that the French hero's sword 

 is not the only relic of which South Salem can boast. 



eighteenth century was a year old. In 1701 the great chief Within a mile of the village too is the chair in which Major 



Catoonah, whose name survives in the village of Katonah, 

 deeded the land all about South Salem to the inhabitants 

 of Stamford, Connecticut. The purchasers this time made 

 good use of their acquisition and from that year the his- 

 tory of the little village properly begins. 



If history justifies the title "old," the village itself, in its 

 clean, well-kept qualntness, 

 picturesquely lives up to its 

 reputation. With Its pros- 

 perity and trimness there is 

 happily little modern about 

 South Salem. It would 

 often seem as if this cen- 

 tury of ours had Insepar- 

 ably linked comfort and 

 convenience with ugliness, 

 but here in the hills Is a 

 spot where progress has 

 not spelled deformity. 



The white houses line a 

 shaded street. Each has 

 its bit of garden, and each 

 the air that marks a village. 

 Over several of the houses 

 hang signs, painted an- 

 nouncements of the char- 

 acter of the house, quite in 

 the spirit of the past. The 

 blacksmith's shop has a 

 pole from which swings a 

 picture of an honest smithy 

 at his toil, and within the 

 ancient little building the 

 trade Is carried on, as It has 

 been on that same spot for 

 one hundred years. Only, 

 there Is another sign which 

 ofFers South Salem's shop to 

 the Twentieth Century, and 

 it reads: "Gasolene." 



Another painted sign- 



Andre wrote his famous letter to Washington, although the 

 house in which the pathetic drama took place was, through 

 carelessness, demolished many years ago. Andre, captured 

 at Tarrytown, was taken to Lower Salem, as the little town 

 was then called, and given in custody to one Colonel Shel- 

 don. Anderson he named himself, and his pleasing manner 



made friends for him 

 among the officers. His 

 roommate, Mr. Bronson, 

 records that he amused the 

 company by drawing cari- 

 catures until he asked for 

 writing materials and wrote 

 his manly letter to Wash- 

 ington, disclosing his iden- 

 tity. Washington, by the 

 time the letter arrived, had 

 full knowledge of the great 

 conspiracy on foot and or- 

 dered Andre removed un- 

 der a strong guard, but the 

 famous prisoner had given 

 South Salem its little niche 

 in history. 



Again in the street, one 

 is confronted by a third 

 sign. This stands in front 

 of a small house and holds 

 out the alluring promise of 

 old furniture within. It is 

 quite as good as its word, 

 and might blazen forth the 

 virtues of the shop it 

 guards with a more clarion 

 tongue, for the shop holds 

 genuine furniture of other 

 days. 



When the traveler can 

 finally turn from the study 

 of mahogany curves and 

 seek the sunshine again, if 



Presbyterian church 



