the United States and the State of New York." They asked that the act be repealed and that they be left, "as all good citizens should be left, free from any such intrusion or dis- seizin, peaceably to enjoy, retain or dispose of their respective real estate and property, as to them, respectively shall seem meet."^^ Writing nearly a century ago, historian Edward Wegmann dis- missed the protest rhetoric of the memorial as part of the attempt by landowners to inflate their property values, make negotiations more difficult, and force the State to condemnation proceedings. Wegmann characterized the opposition as merely obstructionist, which of course is the way they must have appeared to a city water supply engineer.^^ But from the standpoint of a Westchester resident, it may well have seemed like an assault on one's rights and property, an unconstitutional attack not only on one's land but on one's way of life as well^' (figures 31 & 41). In their memorials to the State Legislature, they attacked the notion that the lands were taken for the public good. They argued that they understood the public to be synonymous with the interests of the people of the whole state and not, as in the case of the Aqueduct, with the exclusive interests of the people of the county of New York. Earlier takings for canals and roads were justified, according to the memorialists, because these improvements served the needs of the whole State. Similar protest rhetoric appeared in the other parts of the United States, such as in the Waltham-Lowell area of Massachu- setts, where control over rivers and the commodification of water was also an issue. Merrimack Valley farmers, home owners, and small manufacturers protested the flooding of lands, the diverting of waters, and disruption of the local economy. It even reached the level of attempts at dam breaking. While Westchester residents did not go to such extremes as dam breaking, they expressed many of the same feelings of anger when they interfered with the work of the engineers, blocked survey- ing parties from certain properties and, on one or two occasions, assaulted the surveyors. ^° This was certainly more than a strategy by a few landowners or real estate speculators to raise property val- ues. What was at stake for many of the small farmers and manufac- tures was control over their lands and their livelihood. Whatever forebodings local residents had expressed in these protests were confirmed on January 8, 1841, when heavy rain and melting snow destroyed 200 feet of the earth embankment of the nearly complet- ed dam and created a freshet which sent water rushing down the Croton to its juncture with the Hudson. In its wake, earth and flood waters carved a path of ruin and death through the valley. The Hudson River Chronicle, published in Ossining, provided a local view of the dam collapse; ...at about four o'clock on Friday morning the embankment gave way and the Croton . . . rushed down its course with resistless force. It first encountered the mills and dwelling house of Mr. Samuyel Tompkins, an aged and infirm man had barely time to escape . . . pass- ing on and tearing up in its course earth, stones and trees it next reached the extensive rolling mills of the wire factory of the Messrs. figure 41: Untitled Survey of Farmland, c.1835, ink on paper Courtesy Jervis Public Library, drawing #291. Photo: G. R. Farley Bailey, situated on the hanks of the Croton which it instantly carried away, together with their dwelling houses and tenant houses, barns, etc. — making all together twelve buildings — and all their machinery, stock, furniture and goods, etc. This was an extensive establishment, and employed about fifty men, and was situated about two miles from the dam .... William Evans and Robert Smith, who were overtaken in their flight were obliged to ascend a cedar tree of smaller size, which was home down by the ice, and floating timbers, into the current, and they were carried away amid their unavailing cries for assistance.... From this place the accumulated waters dashed furiously onward, along the valley of the Croton to its mouth, a distance of about three miles carrying away m its course, Quaker bridge, Holman 's mills, and the old piers of the old Croton bridge.... All the bridges below the dam were carried away, and above the dam. Pines Bridge, and we are informed Wood's Bridge also — leaving no crossing over the Croton from its mouth to Golden's bridge ....■^^ The newspaper account provides us with the local view of the incident and tells a story of tlie cost in human lives and livelihood. One account estimated the damage to surrounding lands, houses, and buildings at $500,000, far exceeding the