largely owned, by the tenant farming families who had appeared as a landowner along the line of the Aqueduct, near Indian Brook in Mount Pleasant (today Ossining); Oscar Irving and his uncle Washington Irving had their neighbor George Harvey re-model Sunnyside in Greenburgh during this year; at the same time Alexander Hamilton's son. Colonel James Hamilton III, established columned Nevis, slightly to the south (still visible today from the Aqueduct Trailway in Irvington). The Gothic-style site we know as Lyndhurst in Tarrytown was built in 1838 for former New York City Mayor William Paulding (figure 33). In 1832 Van Brugh Livingston had village lots laid out with the intention of starting a town he called Livingston's Landing in what is today Dobbs Ferry. Stephen A. Halsey, who owned a parcel of figure 31, left: George Cartwright, Survey of the Croton. 1833, ink on paper Courtesy The Archives, Warren Hunting Smith Library, Hobart and William Smith Colleges figure 32, above: Croton Lake, wood engraving in "From Croton to Town," Harpcr'i Magazine, July 6. 1872 Courtesy Dobbs Ferry Historical Society (not in exhibition) Photo: J. Kennedy this land by 1837, received $4,000 from the Water Commissioners for the Aqueduct right-of-way there. By 1838 part of this property had been acquired by William V. Brady, future Mayor of New York.'' In 1834, Livingston sold a marble quarry in Hastings-on-Hudson and about 15 acres of land to George Harvey for $1,200^ (figure 34). In the midst of the June 1838 Aqueduct construction there, Harvey sold 1.354 acres just west of the quarry to the City of New York for $2,500, reserving a right-of-way for his inclined railway leading to the hver dock. The Aqueduct thus crossed the tracks on a bridge. By the mid 1830s there were about 200 landowners on the line of the Aqueduct and Croton Reservoir who would have to be dis- placed or compensated. Chief Engineer David B. Douglass recog- nized the "anxious expectations of the community"^ who were unsettled both physically and psychologically. These landowners would not be easily pleased. According to law, the state had the right to claim private lands for public works. As Charles King noted in A Memoir of the Con- struction, Cost and Capacity of the Croton Aqueduct .... there was ancient Roman precedent concerning the "taking of private property for public purposes, upon an estimate to be made by 'good men.'" He quotes Frontinus' ancient view: ... so admirable was the equity of our ancestors, that when on the line of an aqueduct, any owner of lands was unwilling to sell the por- tion required for the public work, the whole farm was bought by the State, and after taking what was requisite, the rest was resold. ' On May 2, 1834, meeting on this principal, the State Legisla- tors passed an act providing for the acquisition of lands and the creation of the Croton Aqueduct. The Water Commissioners deter- mined that the names of all holding land on the right of way should be ascertained and each resident visited in person by the engineer- ing corps. Chief Engineer Douglass found, not surprisingly, that landowners had their own idea of the amount they should be com- pensated for their property. Some of them are not at home when called on; others arc a mile or two away from their residences; and many who are seen want time to make up their minds as to the amount of compensation they ought to receive .... This to be effected on a line of 30 odd miles, is not very easily accomplished.^ Douglass continued adjusting the line of the future Aqueduct. By November 24, 1835, Douglass wrote to Commissioner Allen from Yonkers of success: / am happy to say that our location generally in the vicinity above this appears to give very general satisfaction. Mr. Oscar Irving, whose house we pass very near, expresses himself entirely satisfied. Mr. Hamilton [at Nevis] likewise. Mr. Livingston [at Dobbs' Ferry] / did not see, but as I have endeavored to meet the interest of his property . . . 1 trust he will be satisfied. Mr. Constant [Hastings] is much pleased with the present arrangements. J.W. Wells of this place [Yonkers] whom I met today, expresses the greatest cordiality and good feeling.^ In general. Douglass boasted "that a better disposed or more rea- sonable set of landholders than those on the line of the Croton Aqueduct is very seldom found. Very soon after, however, the disposition of Westchester land- holders worsened. Word spread that additional lands were needed along the line, and the belief spread with it that Westchester prop- erties to be taken for the Aqueduct were being undervalued. Land- holding farmers refused prices offered to them by the Water Commissioners, and lumbering court proceedings replaced on-site appraisals.