The Newtown bee., 1880-03-10
JAMES LEsOx's THIRTY ACRES.

JAMES LENOX'S THIRTY ACRES. An Interesting Account, Showing How
 Enormously Property i'm New York
 Has Increased i'm Value.
 The..Geath of James Leaox, who was | tie last survivor of that little company | of z at New York landholders which | included Mir. William B. Astor, Mir. | A. T. Stewart, and the two Goelets, again calls attention to the vast wealth which came to men fortunate enough to own, and liable or sufficiently persistent large tracts of land on this island. The Astors have clung to every inch of their landed property for two generations, and old Peter Goelet only once, and then by force, parted with real estate, as long as he lived cherishing grudge against Commodore Vanderbilt for wringing the site of the Grand Central depot out of his tight grasp.
 Whatever may have been the adnoni- tions given to the Astors and the Goelets concerning the management of the land they inherited, Mir. Lenox came into possession of the property which so greatly and especially enriched him after many years, with an express in- junction from his father to hold fast to it with view to its ultimate rise to
 great value. In the will of Robert
 Lenox, the father, dated May g. 1929.
 with codicils of January g, 1892, and
 October 4, 1889, the following is the
 ninth section:
 ''I give, devise and bequeath to my
 son, my only son, James Lenox, My
 farm at the five-mile stone, purchased
 in part from the corporation of the city
 of New York, and containing about
 thirty acres, with all its improvements,
 stock of horses. cattle and farming
 utensils, for and during the term of his
 life, and after his death to his heirs for
 ever. My motive for so leaving this
 property is firm persuasion that it may
 at no distant day be the site of village :;
 and as it cost me more than its present
 worth, from circumstances known to
 my family, I like to cherish the belief
 it may be realized to them. At all
 events, want the experiment made by
 keeping the property from being sold"
 My farm at the ive-mile stone "
 was tract of land extending from what
 is now Sixty eight street to Seventy
 fourth street, and between Fourth and
 Fifth avenues. The first purchase here
 was made by MT. Robert Lenox in 1877.
 It was ofabout half of the whole farm,
 and he bought it at a foreclosure sale,
 paying $6, ,42O, much more than its
 present worth," in order that the estate
 of his friend Archibald Oracle, of which
 he was executor, might not be loser by
 reason of a toreclosed mortgage. Shortly after, he bought the remainder of tn, farm from the city, at only $500. Th' whole property, therefore, in lSl7-lS
 cost him but S6, ,920, and if all had beer purchased at the same rate as the second , part of it the cost would have beer S5,926 less than it was.
 : Therefore this land, which now 3 among the most valuable property il 5 the city, and is to-day worth S1O, ,OO0, ,0OC 3 cost MT. Robert LenoX in 1918 ''mor ? thanits present worth " at that time b = nearly six thousand dollars, when h
 gave less than seven thousand dollar g for it.
 e Though in the original will he directe : his son to keep unsold this property, c e whose increase in value he had so wis - a provision, MT. Robert Lenox fortu a nately gave his heir full power of sal f in the codicil of 1892, else one of th F finest situations in New York migf e now be unimproved. MT. James Leno1 d however, scrupulously respected the at e vice of his father regarding this no7 n 1864. Then he began to reap the proti e of his prudence. His first sales were | h MT. Robert Lenox Kennedy, his nephew J. a whole block of land, for which he
 got S25O, ,000, and to Messrs. Robert l
 Stuart and Alexander Stuart of anothC
 block, for which he obtained the san
 price. This property. was conveye r March B, IS64, and has since enc :: mously increased in value.
 l. But Mir. Lenox's great gifts of sites c h the farm which added so much to h d fortune are of more public interest. IT ,- first of these, made in 1868, was to il :; Presbyterian hospital, and consisted , s the whole block between Seventieth an n Seventy-first streets, Madison an e Fourth avenues. It was then estimate 1T at S250, GOO, and MT. LenoX besides gay $ the hospital in money over S300, ,0o' tt The second gift was of the site for til
 Lenox library, ten lots, comprising th IS whole front on Fifth avenue betwee n Seventieth and Seventy-frst streets Il He likewise built and equipped the I $ brary at his own expense, and hG ,f doubtless provided an ample endowmeT O for its permanent nlaint enancc. H h other gifts in that region were of sit IS for the Phillips Presbyterian church an o the Presbyterian home for aged womel t Five years ago, putting the value of tl s land bestowed for these purposes at tt $ lower prices of real estate then prevai n ing, Mir. Lenox's gifts to the four inst $ tutionS named, iii money, books, worE a of art and land, were estimated to aggr' - gate value of nearly S2, 800, GOO. l. Thus my farm at the tive-mile stone, t of an actual value of about Sl ,00Oss,i v 1918, has, in sixty-two years, risen to | j. worth SIO, GOO. 900; and the little estai n which Robert LenoX was in 1929 frml l persuaded might ''at no distant day ! l the site of a village" has become one ( : the most elegant neighborhoods of Ne . York. Moreover, of its present valu S the son and heir of the old SCotchma t gave to the public and to charitable use S the munifcent sum of e-quarter.- n NeaO York Sun.
 q Story of an Adventures. = Tho Naur Vnrl- c(,craSpopla,F nf fl