[J. Thomas Scharf (1886)] " Israel Putnam. '' P. S. He has been accordingly executed." The tree which was called into service in carrying out the sentence against Palmer stood for a long time afterwards, but eventually rotted away. It is said Palmer met his fate with great fortitude, in the pres-ence of a large number of people who had assembled from far and near to witness the spectacle. To the region of the hill the American forces re-treated when Peekskill was sacked and burnt by the British, our advanced guard being stationed at the 1 Journal of the Provincial Committee of Safety. Van Cortlandt house, in the valley below. This old mansion, in which General Pierre Van Cortlandt re-sided until his death, stands back at a little distance from the road, on the west side, among tall locusts. The house, which has been greatly altered in appear-ance of late years, is of brick, and was built by the Hon. Pierre Van Cortlandt in 1773. This gentleman was, at the outbreak of the Revolution, the principal representative of this old and very distinguished family. President of the Committee of Safety, mem-ber of the First Congress, and one of the framers of the Constitution of the State of York, he, from the commencement of the troubles, was foremost among those who sought to throw off the British yoke. In 1774 Governor Tryon visited him at his old manor-house on the banks of the Croton, and made him large offers from the government to abandon the American cause: but the proposition was rejected by Mr.