his personality has attracted the friendship of the most distinguished men of his times. He began his life at Maiden, N. Y., and Digitized by Microsoft® Fishkill to Poughkeepsie 425 finally retired to his delightful home near the shore of the Hudson. There is an Indian legend connected with the name of Poughkeepsie, which is said to be derived from the Mohegan word apo-keep-sinck — " a safe and pleas- ant harbour." Between the rocky bluffs called Slange Klippe and Call Rock, the Fall Kill flowed into a bay near which was formed the earliest nucleus of the vil- lage. The Indian legend, giving a plausible genesis to the name apo-keep-sinck, is to the effect that a Pequod warrior, being captured by some Delawares and condemned to torture, was offered his liberty if he would renounce his own tribe and become a mem- ber of theirs. He rejected the proposition and was bound to a tree for sacrifice, when a sliriek from a tliicket startled the executioners. A young girl leaped before them and implored his life. She was a captive Pequod, with the turtle on her bosom, and the young chief was her affianced. The Delawares consulted, when suddenly the war-whoop of some fierce Hurons made them snatch their arms for defence. The maiden severed the thongs that bound her lover, but in the deadly conflict that ensued they were separated, and a Huron chief carried off the captive as a trophy. Her affianced con- ceived a bold design for her rescue, and proceeded immediately to execute it. In the character of a wizard he entered the Huron camp. The maiden was sick, and her captor employed the wizard to prolong her life until he should satisfy his revenge upon Uncas, her uncle, the great chief of the Mohegans. They eluded the vigilance of the Hurons, fled at night, with swift feet, towards the Hudson, and in the darkness shot out upon its bosom, in a light canoe, followed by bloodthirsty pursuers. The strong arm of the young Pequod paddled his beloved one safely to a deep, rocky nook near the mouth of the Winnakee, Digitized by Microsoft® 426 The Hudson River concealed her there, and with a few friendly Dela wares, whom he had secured by a shout, he fought, conquered, and drove off the Huron warriors. The sheltered nook where the maiden lay was a safe harbour for her and the brave Pequod, and his friends joy- fully confirmed its title of Apo-keep-Sinck. Should there be any so skeptical as to question this ingenious tale, he must be allowed to cherish his doubt unchallenged, for, unfortunately, there are no docu- ments by which it may be verified. It was a long time afterwards, quite near the close of the seventeenth century, that the Dutch settled Poughkeepsie. They not only discovered the little safe harbour, but contrived more than twenty ways to spell it, ultimately choosing the most difficult. Near the spot where the Indians were supposed to have landed, Baltus Van Kleeck built a stone house in the year 1705. This house stood till after the Revolution, and was used by the Legislature of New York after the burning of Kingston. About 1835 it was torn down. Poughkeepsie was incorporated as a city in 1854. It early became the centre for the trade of Dutchess County, which, it must be confessed, was at first but meagre; but it was also connected by the Dutchess turnpike with Sharon, Conn., and thence with Litch- field, and over this line the stages and market waggons travelled with profitable frequency. Mr. Joel Benton, long a resident of Poughkeepsie, has written concerning its early history : In colonial days few were the people here; but they were a bright and stirring handful. It seems as if every man counted Digitized by Microsoft® Fishkill to Poughkeepsie 427 as ten. ... I suppose it need not now be counted strange that the strong mixture of Dutch and English settlers, with a few Huguenots, which finally made Dutchess County, were not a little divided between Tory and Whig inclinations. Around Poughkeepsie, and in its aUied towns stretching between the Hudson River and the Connecticut line, there was much strife. Gov. George Clinton in his day ruled in the midst of much tumult and turbulence; but he held the reins with vigour, in spite of kidnappers or critics. When the British burned King- ston he prorogued the Legislature to Poughkeepsie, which still served as a "safe harbour." As the Revolution progressed, the Tory faction was weakened, either by suppression or surrender. It was in the Poughkeepsie Court House that, by one vote, after a Homeric battle, the colony of New York consented to become a part of the American Republic, which consent was practically necessary to