The record-union., 1894-04-28
the waters of a once winding brook into
an annie copduit
THE yAyDERRIr.T COTTAGE.


ing - aoic .. "a. ~ il trees. shrntis =;
lawn, is the aauer.llt cottage. i!
mouse is very old anu III an excellent Sta
OF preservation, kept up by George ".
vanderbilt, its owner.
One first hears of the Vanderbilts on
Staten Island about 100. A very OLD
Dutch Bible in the possession of the late
Captain Jacob III. Vanderbilt's family
gives the genealogy OF his race some time
before that date. The original ancestor,
Jan 81. Vanderbilt, came from Holland
| IN 1850 and settled on Long Island, some
OF the DESCENDANTS going to Staten Island.
Cornelius Vanderbilt, the father of the
Commodore, married Phebe Hand in
1857. He owned farm which comprises
considerable part of Stapleton, now coy
cred with hundreds of buildings. Mrs.
Vanderbilt purchased the cottage and
lived in it a very long time, dying at an
advanced age She was remarkable
woman, of great executive ability, ster-
ling integrity and sound sense, but kindly
and courteous to all, reverenced and
| looked up to by her children, grand
children and a large circle of friends.
The Commodore owed many OF his char
acteristlcs to her. Her portrait represents
her late in life, with the old-fashioned
| cap and frill and the folded shawl about
her.
THE VAN DUZER HOMESTEAD.
A short distance to the northward of
the Vanderbilt cottage we come TO the
Van Duzer homestead-a great, rambling
| building, not at all picturesque, but
| showing its antiquity.
Standing on slight eminence, the do
| mains of the family once stretched three
quarters of a mile along the shore north
ward. The house is probably loo years
! old, and was opposite the dock which
was known as the Van Duzer dock. This
n
| 17SS in the description of the town OF
! Castleton. In deed dated 1885 to Abra-
ham Van DuZer, called the Admiral from
! the many boats and sailing vessels owned
! by him, the property is bounded by
brook on the south, short distance from
the house of Nathaniel Johnson, inn
keeper. This house is evidently the old
tavern, and the brook still runs near by.
The communication with New York was
by sailing vessels, and the Van DuZer
ferry was well known. The Van DuZers
were comfortable folks. showing their
Dutch descent. The Vanderbilts and
| Van Duzers were rivals in boating, but
intermarriage made them no longer so.
THE BARTON COTTAGE.
1t is a pleasant walk this spring day
along the shore toward the Narrows.
| The business places become scarcer, and
there are more or less pretentious dwell
| ings scattered along the way. We are
stopped at last by the Barton, now
Austin, cottage.
Standing higher than it's surroundings,
it is one of the most picturesque of old
dwellings,. 1t commands a magnificent
view of the Narrows and the upper and
lower bays, and the channel comes 50
close to the foot of the bluff on which the
| house stands that one looks down on
the decks of incoming vessels waiting to
be boarded by the Health Officer. The
house is said to have been erected by
Dutch merchant in ITO, afterward COM
| ing into possession of the Bartons, one of
| the oldest families of the island. They
! held offices in the county, State and Con-
gress, and were universally respected.
The interior of the cottage is as quaint as
the exterior, the ceiling beams exposed
to view, the small-paned windows and
numerous pictures and objects of an
| tiquity and curios which adorn the walls.
THE PERINE HOMESTEAD.
| We have long walk before US, and are
soon entering the winding and tree-cov-
cred tingerboard Road. We meet very
few people. but the silence of the woods,
the song OF the birds, the CLINT of small
lake, the glimpse of Sir ROderick Cam
eron's villa, approached by winding
road, and few other residences, aad we
come to the Richmond Road, and
presently the level prairie lands of the
| south shore come into view. Winding
along the base of the hills we come to the
long, one-storied house of the Perines.
This place is remarkable as having
| been the home of one family for over two
hundred years. The original owner was
Edward Perine, his son Joseph Perine,
grandson Simon S. Perine and great
grandsons, Cornelius l.. and Joseph E.,
| succeeding each other in living in this old
house, which is still in fair state of pre-
servation. Before the dwelling rises the
| high hill called in old colonial documents
the Iron Hill, and from which at various
time ore has been extracted.
The rear of the house looks out upon a
plain stretching over mile to the lower
bay, and extending to the southwest as
far as the eye can discern. The farms
along this road run from it to the river
and across thence long distance. In
colonial days one family of Holmes
owned a large amount of land in this vi
cinity, afterward subdivided among the
descendants, making long and narrow
| farms.
Proceeding in our journey we pass on
| the right the beautifully situated Morav-
| ian Church and cemetery, extending for
more than a mile from the Richmond
road to high hills crowned with the Van
derbilt mauSoleum. Here ever since
! Huguenot days the Moravians have wor-
SHIPPED, first in small unpretentious
| building, covering both church and par
sonage. Commodore Vanderbilt added
| large amount of land to the cemetery
grounds, which have peen picturesquely
laid out, the lower part by Frederick Law
| Olmstead. There is gradual ascent to
the hills, with a constantly increasing
panorama, until a magnificent view is
obtained of the wooded nights of the
island and the meadow lands below, the
1@xr how
by the ocean and the blue hills of the
Navesink.
THE FAMOUS BLACK HORSE TAVERN.
A short distance beyond the cemetery
at the intersection of the Richmond and
Amboy roads stands the Black Horse
Tavern, famous in revolutionary annals.
Opposite stood, on bluff, the Rose and
Crown Tavern, the latter having been
! torn down some years ago. The old sign
of the former, with the dim figure of
black horse, swings in grassy circle at
the meeting of the two roads.
There were at one time during the revo-
lutionary war $4,000 British troops quar-
tered at various places on the island. Cen
eral Howe's headquarters were at the
Rose and Crown, W here he consulted with
his staff. The Black Horse was the rem
devious of the troopers. The tap room
was on the front of the main floor, and
the sleeping-rooms back of it. The Sec
ond story was used as ball room. The
ceiling in the main story had uncovered
beams, and great fireplace monopoliZed
the west wall. This old tavern could tell
many stories OF adventure if we could
get at them.
THE GUNYON HOUSE.
Resting while in the old hostlery, now
considerably modernized, we walk down
New Dorp lane, which was in a nearly
straight course for over mile to the lower
| bay. The large farm of the late William