LENG: REMINISCENCES OF Davip M. Van Name A5 
the village of Union, N. Y. .. . [He] was instrumental in saving 
the retreat of Gen! Washington’s army after crossing the Delaware 
River by discovering a boat and destroying it.” 
“Moses Van Name was my grandfather and in his early life 
followed the sea, and during the Revolutionary War was called 
upon by an English officer to obey the order of Sir Lord William 
Howe. During his encampment on Staten Island, the people had 
become so terrorized by the treatment of the English soldiers, they 
were willing to consent to most any request, not by love, but by 
fear. Winter approaching, soldiers in camp, they needed fuel. 
An English officer was commissioned to call on the farmers or 
captains, who owned wooded tracts, each to cut so many cords of 
wood and deliver it to be placed on my grandfather’s vessel to be 
delivered at Quarantine. They dare not refuse, expecting no re- . 
turns for their wood and labor. After the delivery was complete, 
one of the officers asked him 1f he would like to have some money? 
Imagine the surprise by such an interrogatory, he was delighted to 
answer in the affirmative. So the commissioner gave him an order 
to go to the city of New York, at a certain building of business 
conducted by and for the English Government at the present Bowl- 
ing Green. So one fine day he set sail for the city; with his order 
he entered, was ushered in the Banker’s office. Such a sight as 
never to be forgotten by him. Gold piled on a table uniformly in 
rows, representing stipulated amounts in each pile. The banker 
in charge took a large knife and placed it between rows and put it 
outside, which constituted the value of the order. The officer 
commanded him to put it in his hat, and count it when he got at 
home, and divide it among his neighbors in proportion: to the wood 
furnished by each, and take his out and for services in delivering 
it. Rejoicing fell on the lips of all.” 
“The oyster business was the life of the town. . . . The occu- 
pants of property on the North Shore and the side avenues were 
mostly engaged in this line. A very interesting sight could be seen 
on a Sabbath morning in the waters of the bay and Kills, when the 
