delivered, through the courtesy of Sir John Sherbrooke, to Colonel Lewis Livingston, and, escorted by the Adjutant-General, with Colonel Van Rensselaer and a detachment of cavalry, it was brought to Albany and lay in state in the Capitol. The im- pressive ceremonies held there extended over the Fourth of July. Two days later commenced a funeral progress without parallel in the history of New York. Placed in a magnificent coffin and accompanied by a suitable military escort, the remains of the hero of Quebec were taken aboard the steamer Richmond, which had been temporarily converted into a funeral catafalque. The sombre spectacle made a deep im- pression upon the thousands of people who witnessed the departure. The villages along the course of this mournful procession paid every possible mark of re- spect and grief, and at some places the melancholy report of minute guns announced the passing of the steamer. But more impressive than the beat of muffled drums or the salute of the cannon, more significant than the emblems of mourning, more sad than the tears of a Digitized by Microsoft® 484 The Hudson River multitude, was the presence of one woman, past the prime of life, with hair whitened by nearly half a cent- ury of widowhood. At her own request, Mrs. Mont- gomery was left alone upon the piazza of her home, "Montgomery Place." There, unwatched, she could witness the pomp and ceremony of that melancholy progress that, while it could not fail to gratify her pride, yet renewed the anguish of her loss and brought the scalding tears to her aged eyes. The steamboat stopped before her house and the troops stood under arms as the distant strains of the dead-march came up from the river. At last the final honours to Montgomery were paid in New York City, and on the 8th of July, 181 8, his remains were interred under the monument in St. Paul's Churchyard. We have, in a former chapter, made reference to Hyde Park as the scene of James Kirke Paulding's re- tirement, and no account of the river written fifty years ago could have omitted to mention the beauties of his country home, " Placentia," and the fame of the author and public servant who lived there. But who recollects to-day in whose administration Paulding was Secretary of State — or was it war? — and what library in active circulation to-day would be cumbered by keeping his once-popular books on its shelves ? James K. Paulding is to most Americans a scarcely remem- bered name, recalled only because of his association with Washington Irving in some youthful literary Digitized by Microsoft® Saugerties and its Neighbours 485 ventures. His pleasant home at Hyde Park was re- christened by a subsequent owner, as though to em- phasise the vanity of popular reputation. An inquiry about the last scene of his earthly sojourn elicits from one whose leisure, if not elegant, is at least obvious, such a reply : Paulding's house? What Paulding? Th' feller that used to be barkeeper at the hotel? Well, then, I don't know who you mean: I guess he ain't lived round here none fer quite a spell. Digitized by Microsoft® Chapter XXIX The Catskill Region THE greater portion of that part of Greene County bordering upon the river was, in early times, held by a few proprietors. In accordance with the instructions of the Company, the lands were purchased from the Indian owners, being afterwards in nearly all instances confirmed by royal grants. The same method of procedure was followed along the shores of the lower part of the river. A little to the south of Catskill, a dozen or more yoemen settled with their families — numbering, slaves and all, seventy or more souls — upon land which was then, and has ever since been called the imhogt. This was included in the Loverage patent. Beekman's, al- ready alluded to, was in Kiskatom, adjoining Greene's. The land where the village of Catskill stands was in- cluded in Lindsay's patent. Silvester Salsbury and Martin G. Bergen, in 1677, purchased a large tract of land from the Indians. Sals- bury was a British captain, who had charge of the fort at Albany in the time of Governor NicoU. A patent for this land was not obtained till 1688, when Salsbury 486 Digitized by Microsoft® The Catskill Region 487 was no longer living; but his widow held his portion of the estate, which lay on Catskill Creek. Neither of the original patentees lived upon the land thus ac- WOODLAND BROOK NEAR CATSKILL {From the painting by A. B. Durand^ in the Lenox Library. By permission) quired, but continued residents of Albany; their sons, however, moved into the Catskill wilderness. Francis Salsbury, in 1705, built upon his portion of