The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-08-11
History in Tabloid.
BY EBERT HUBBARD.

1 InS SfoiuI1Olol Tok
Roger Morris, of Putnam County,
New York, made the mistake of sid.
ing with the Tories.
A moi collected, and Morris and
his family escaped, taking ship to
England.
Before leaving Morris declared his
intention of coming back as soon as
"the instruction was quelled."
The British troops, we are reliably
informed, failed to quell the insur-
%rection; and Roger Morris never
came back.
Roger Morris is known to history
as the man who married Mary Phil
ipse. And this lady lives in history
because she had the felicity of hay-
ing been proposed to by George
Washington. 1t is George himself
who tells of this in his journal, and
George, you remember, could not tell
a lie.
George was twenty-five. He was
on his way to Boston, and was en-
%tertained at the .Philipse house, the
Plaza not having then been built.
Mary was twenty, pink and lis
some. She played the harpischord.
Immediately after supper, George,
finding himself alone in the parlor
with the girl, proposed.
He was an opportunist.
The lady pleaded for time, which
the Father of his Country declined to
give. He was a soldier, and demand
ed immediate surrender. A small
quarrel followed, and George saddled
his horse and rode on his way to
fame and fortune.
Mary thought he would come back,
but George never proposed to the
same lady twice. Yet he thought
kindly of Mary, and excused her
conduct by recording: Il think ye
ladye was not in ye mode"
1t was Washington who formally
confiscated the property and turned
it over to the State of New York as
contraband Of al
The Morris estate Of about fifty
thousand acresswas parcelled out and
sold by the State Of New York to
settlers.
1t seems, however, that Roger
Morris had only a life interest in the
estate, and this was a legal point so
fine that It was entirely overlooked
in the Joy Of c~onfscation:
Washington was a great soldier, but
an Indifferent lawyer.
John Jacob Aston accidentally es-
certained the facts. He was con.
vinced that the heirs could not be
robbed Of their rights through the
acts of a leaseholder, which, legally.
was the status of Roger Morris.
Aston was a good real estate lawyer
himself, but he referred the point tc
the best counsel he could find. They
with him. He next hunted ur
the heirs, and bought their quit
for 100000.
He then notified the parties who
had purchased the land, and they, in
turn, made claim upon the State for
protection.
After much legal parleying, the
case was tried according to stipula'
ton, with the State of New York d.
rectly as defendant and Aston and the
occupants as plaintiffs. Daniel Web
5ter and Martin Van Buren, appeared
Tor the State, and an array Of lesser
.egal lights for Aston.
The case was narrowed down tc
he plain and simple point that Roger
Morris was not the legal owner Of the
estate, and that the rightful heirs
Gould not be made to suffer from the
treason, contumacy and contraven-
of another.
Astor won, and as a compromise
he State issued him twenty-yeat
,onds, bearing six per cent. interest.
or the neat sum Of S500,O00-not
hat Astor needed the money, but
nance was to him a game.-New
FORK. American.