ever somewhere near the centre of the life of this great City, already stretching far to the north and the east. In Washington an inferior site was abandoned for the noble and ample spaces upon the hills just beyond the present limit of the City's population. Some years ago I asked Bishop Satterlee a question which I have often asked myself concerning site and architecture, if we were obliged to destroy every church in the City of New York but six or seven, which churches would we save? My list would be this: St. Paul's Chapel, Trinity, Grace, the First Presbyterian, St. Patrick's and St. John the Divine, and I am sure we will include the new church being built for St. Thomas's Parish. I believe that a hundred years from now they will be still standing."

Of the foregoing, Saint Paul's Protestant Episcopal Chapel is the oldest ecclesiastical structure within the limits of the City of New York, having been erected in 1764-66. It was the place of worship of Washington and has many other historical associations. Trinity Church, standing on Broadway at the head of Wall street, is the third house of worship of the mother parish of the Protestant Episcopal Church. The first edifice was built in 1697 and the present one in 1846. Grace Church, a daughter of Trinity, on the east side of Broadway between the lines of Tenth and Eleventh streets, at the end of the vista of lower Broadway, was erected in 1845. Saint Patrick's Roman Catholic Cathedral, on the east side of Fifth avenue between Fiftieth and Fifty-first streets, was begun in 1858. The contract for building the First Presbyterian Church, on the west side of Fifth avenue between Eleventh and Twelfth streets, was let July 4, 1844, and the church was dedicated January 11, 1846. It succeeded earlier edifices on the north side of Wall street between Nassau street and Broadway, the first of which was built in 1719. In our former Reports we have referred to the efforts to preserve this beautiful structure on its present site. It is earnestly to be hoped that Dean Grosvenor's prediction about these structures may prove true, and be equally so of other monumental church buildings.

Saint John's Chapel Again Threatened.

Not the least deserving of perpetuation is Saint John's Chapel, standing on the block bounded by Varick, Beach and Laight streets and St. John's Lane. In our Fourteenth Annual Report (1909),

we gave an historical sketch of Saint John's Chapel, which was erected in 1803-7 and referred to the uprising of popular sentiment against its abandonment and removal by Trinity Parish. During the past year the structure has been threatened from a new source. In September, 1911, the Board of Estimate and Apportionment voted $3,000,000 for the extension southward of Seventh avenue from Eleventh street to Varick and the widening of the latter thoroughfare to West Broadway and Franklin street. The widening of the thoroughfare to 100 feet along the lines of the plans prepared would cut off the front of Saint John's Chapel, and we memorialized the City authorities with a view to securing such modifications of the plan as would save the century old church. It has seemed to us that by taking the extra width from the west side of Varick street out of the land now occupied by the unsightly freight depot of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, the public needs could equally well be subserved and an interesting landmark preserved. On November 8, 1911, we invoked the influence of the Rector and Corporation of Trinity Church to save the building, saying that in the midst of the many changes in our fluid city we need some permanent landmarks to suggest stability, and to connect one generation with another in the higher things of life, and that we believed the preservation of St. John's Chapel was dictated by high moral as well as sentimental considerations. We still hope that the building may be saved.

HAMILTON GRANGE, NEW YORK CITY.

Movement for its Acquisition by the City.

In 1901 and again 1902, at the instance of Hamilton Post, Grand Army of the Republic, bills were introduced in the Legislature for the preservation of Hamilton Grange, the country residence of Alexander Hamilton at the time of his fatal duel with Aaron Burr, July 11, 1804. This building, which formerly stood about seventy-five feet west of Convent avenue on the south line of One Hundred and Forty-third street, in the Borough of Manhattan, was moved in 1891, and now stands on the east side of Convent avenue adjacent to St. Luke's Protestant Episcopal Church, which latter is on the northeast corner of One Hundred

and Forty-first street and Convent avenue. The building belongs to the church and has long been used for parish purposes. The American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society co-operated with Hamilton Post in the effort to secure the acquisition of the building by the State as an historic monument, but the bills of 1901 and 1902 failed to pass. On July 12, 1904, the Society, in co-operation with the Society of the Cincinnati, Alexander Hamilton Post, G. A. R., the Empire State Society of Sons of the American Revolution, and the Washington Heights Taxpayer's Association held public exercises on the original site of the house in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Hamilton's death, and again called public attention to the desirability of acquiring the house as a memorial of the soldier and statesman.

In 1908, the Legislature enacted a law which became effective May 6, 1908, as chapter 220 of the laws of that year, reading as follows:

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly do enact as follows:

Section 1. The corporation known as "The Rector, Churchwardens and Vestrymen of Saint Luke's Protestant Episcopal Church" is hereby authorized to transfer and convey to the City of New York, either with or without consideration, the Alexander Hamilton Mansion, known as Hamilton Grange, now owned by such church and located on the church property adjoining the church at the northeast corner of 141st street and Convent avenue in the City of New York. The City of New York is hereby authorized to acquire such property, either by purchase or as a gift, and the Board of Estimate and Apportionment is hereby authorized in its discretion, to appropriate sufficient funds for the purchase of such Grange and the removal of the same to a site in that portion of Saint Nicholas Park, which was formerly part of the Alexander Hamilton Farm. Such site shall be selected by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment and such authority as may be necessary for the utilizing of such park lands for such purpose is hereby granted. If such Grange be given without consideration to the City of New York and accepted by it, the City of New York shall bear the expense of restoring the premises from which it is removed in such manner as may be agreed upon by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment and such church corporation.

Section 2. Upon the removal of such Grange to Saint Nicholas park, the same shall be under the jurisdiction of the Commissioner of Parks, who is authorized in his discretion to transfer the

custody thereof to the Sons of the American Revolution or any similar society of the War of the Revolution, for such a period of years, and on such terms and conditions as he may deem advisable for the establishment therein of a public museum for the collection, preservation and exhibition of historical relics.

Section 3. The Comptroller shall upon the requisition of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment issue revenue bonds in such amount as may be needed to pay the expenses of purchasing and removing such Grange and relocating the same as provided by this act.

Section 4. This act shall take effect immediately.

During the first week of 1912, the representatives of various societies including the Daughters of the American Revolution called the attention of the Hon. Charles B. Stover, Commissioner of Parks for the Boroughs of Manhattan and Richmond and President of the Park Board, to this act and the Commissioner manifested a cordial interest in the preservation of the building. Under date of January 9, 1912, the Commissioner asked our advice as to the best course to pursue and we furnished the Department with data concerning the Hamilton property and maps of the old farm boundaries and made certain recommendations concerning the acquisition and location of the building. In order that the latter may better be understood, we give herewith a copy of the deed by which Jacob Schieffelin and his wife Hannah conveyed to Alexander Hamilton on August 2, 1800, a tract of between fifteen and sixteen acres which formed the greater part of the farm which Hamilton named "The Grange," after an ancestral property in Scotland. The deed was recorded in liber 218, page 225, of Conveyances in the Register's Office in New York at the request of John C. Hamilton, April 5, 1827. It reads as follows:

This Indenture, made the second day of August, one thousand eight hundred, Between Jacob Schieffelin of the City of New York, Druggist, and Hannah his wife, of the one part, and Alexander Hamilton of the same place, Counsellor at Law, of the other part,

Witnesseth: That the said Jacob Schieffelin and Hannah his wife, and in consideration of the sum of Four thousand dollars, lawful money of the State of New York, to them in hand paid by * So in original.

the said Alexander Hamilton at or before the sealing and delivery of these presents, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, Have granted, bargained, sold, aliened, released and confirmed, and by these presents Do grant, bargain, sell, alien, release and confirm unto the said Alexander Hamilton, his heirs and assigns, All that part which lies Eastward of the Bloomingdale road of a certain Lot or Parcel of Land, in an indenture bearing date the fifteenth day of January in the year one thousand Seven hundred and Ninety-Nine between Samuel Kelly and Johanna his wife of the one part and the aforesaid Jacob Schieffelin of the other part, thus described, Viz. All that certain Lot of Land lying and being at Harlem in the Seventh Ward of the City of New York aforesaid, Containing Thirty-four acres (or more if the same shall on Survey be found to record that quantity), being the southwesternmost halfpart of Lot Number Six or Thirty-three Morgen Lot, and is bounded as follows, Viz. Northerly by the Northernmost half-part of said Lot Number Six, late in the possession of Lieutenant Colonel John Munsell, now in the possession of Dr. Bradhurst,* Westerly by North River, Southerly by the Land late of Aaron Bussing now of Mott, and Easterly by the Land of John Myer, and which part of said Lot, according to a Survey thereof by Benjamin Taylor, City Surveyor, as exemplified in the Map hereunto annexed by outlines coloured with green, is Bounded Eastwardly by a line North thirty-nine degrees East, nine chains and eighty-five links; Westwardly by a line Sixty-eight degrees and thirty minutes West, Ten chains and forty-five links, being the Eastwardly side of the said Bloomingdale Road; Northwardly by a line North Thirty-nine degrees West, thirteen chains and Seventy links; Southwardly by a line South Forty-one degrees East, Seventeen chains and Seventeen links, and containing Fifteen acres, one rood and ten perches, be the same more or less. Together with all and singular the houses, the outhouses, stables, barns, gardens, orchards, fences, woods, underwoods, waters, watercourses, passages, profits, commodities, privileges, hereditaments and appurtenances thereunto belonging or in anywise appertaining. And also a proportional share and right of and into the Common of Harlem. And also the use, privilege, benefit and advantage in common with the said Jacob Schieffelin, his heirs and assigns, of the road now laid out and running through the remainder of the aforesaid Lot of Land in the possession of the said Jacob Schieffelin, being the Southern extremity thereof, in breadth twelve feet, from Bloomingdale Road aforesaid to the North River aforesaid; so nevertheless that the said Alexander Hamilton, his heirs or assigns, shall never cut