most southerly of the residences that surmount High Ridge, and commands a beautiful view in every direction. The old homestead of General Joshua King stands on the main street. It was to General King's custody that Major Andre was entrusted immediately after his capture. General King was then a lieutenant in the second regiment of Light Dragoons stationed at South Salem. In a letter to a friend he has preserved a most interesting account of Andre when brought to him a prisoner.

Dear Sir:

66

Ridgefield, June 17. 1817.

I was the first and only officer who had charge of Andre whilst at the Headquarters of the 2nd Regiment of Light Dragoons, which was

then at Esquire Gilbert's in South Salem. He was brought up by an adjutant and four men belonging to the Connecticut militia under the command of Lieut. Col. Jamison from the lines near Tarrytown, a character under the disguised name of John Anderson. He, looked somewhat like a reduced gentleman. His small clothes were nankin, with long white top boots, in part, his undress military suit. His coat purple, with gold lace, worn somewhat threadbare, with a smallbrimmed tarnished beaver on his head. He wore his hair in a quieu with long, CANNON BALL IN THE TIMBER, KEELER'S TAVERN. black band and his clothes somewhat [From a photograph by the Author.] dirty. In this garb I took charge of him. After breakfast my barber came in to dress me, after which I requested him to undergo the same operation, which he did. When the ribbon was taken from his hair, I observed it full of powder. This circumstance, with others that occurred induced me to believe I had no ordinary person in charge. He requested permission to take the bed, whilst his shirt and small clothes could be washed. I told him that was needless for a change was at his service, which he accepted. We were close pent up in a bedroom with a guard at the door and window. There was a spacious yard before the door which he desired he might be permitted to walk in with me. I accordingly disposed the guard in such a manner as to prevent an escape. While walking together, he observed, he must make a confidant of somebody and he knew not a more proper person than

myself, as I had appeared to befriend a stranger in distress. After settling the point between ourselves he told me who he was and gave me a short account of himself from the time he was taken at St. Johns in 1775 to that time. He requested pen and ink and wrote immediately to Gen. Washington declaring who he was. About midnight the express returned with orders from Gen. Washington to Col. Sheldon to send Major Andre immediately to Headquarters."

J. Howard King, Esq., has in his possession the chair used by Major Andre while in General King's custody at Squire Gilbert's house, in South Salem, and seated in which he penned his letter to General Washington.

At the commencement of the Revolution Ridgefield was strongly under Tory influence. When the first signs of the impending conflict became manifest the towns-people, at a special town meeting held January 30, 1775, to consider the action of the late Continental Congress, resolved not to adopt or conform therewith, and publicly disapproved of and protested against said Congress and the measures adopted by it as unconstitutional. Not content with this rebuke to the spirit of patriotism, the meeting proceeded to pass a series of resolutions in acknowledgment of his most sacred majesty, King George the Third; the three branches of the legislature, the King, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons, and ordered

that the resolutions be printed in New York that "they may be published to the world." Although those who succeeded in carrying these resolutions were few in number, the emphatic language they used in denouncing the spirit of liberty caused bitter discord and separated the village in factional controversy. The sturdy American could not submit to such humiliation, and the young patriots determined to remove, if possible, what they considered a blot upon their town records. They, therefore, called two town meetings, one on March 7, 1775, and one on April 10, 1775, for the purpose of reconsidering the resolution of January 30, 1775, but were unsuccessful. Finally, however, at a town meeting held December 17, 1775, it was unanimously resolved to disannul the resolution of January 30, 1775, and to adopt and approve of the Continental Congress. This early but persistent fight was the first stand taken by the villagers in the struggle for independence, and although now no details remain of how bitter and hostile it must have been, the flame of true patriotism, once ignited in the inhabitants, continued to burn with unwavering fidelity until liberty was proclaimed throughout the land. The town meetings were always held in the Congregational Meeting House. The present building was erected at the beginning of the present century, on the same site occupied by the original church, and in the centre of the village green.

The Keeler tavern stands to-day as it stood on the day of the battle; and in the generations that have since passed away one can fancy seeing the Boston and New York coaches draw up under its quaint swinging sign, as they always used to do, while the relays of horses were changed. The original sign was taken down in 1856, so as to preserve it from further decay, after having kept tune on its creaking hinges since 1794. Ridgefield was on the great thoroughfare between the two cities, and the stage coach took four days in ordinary weather to make the journey. Many distinguished men have put up for the night at "Keeler's," as the tavern was familiarly called. In the old days it was the custom to erect buildings with the gable end towards the highway, and this is frequently the striking feature of an old house. The tavern was so built, and from the front porch a beautiful view of the rolling country towards Danbury is obtained. The old sign-board bears four dates upon its faded sides, showing how often it must have been retouched in order to attract wayfarers along the public road. One of the doors is over two inches thick, studded with hand-wrought nails, and is guarded over by an English lion-faced knocker of determined mien. T. Keeler, the name on the old sign-board was Squire Timothy Keeler, a grandson of one of the original settlers of Ridgefield. He maintained the tavern for many years

as a favorite resort for the traveling public. At no other place on the road was the fare so well and daintly served, the linen so crisp and white, or the welcome more hearty. Squire Keeler's youngest daughter, Anna, married Abijah Resseguie who has recently died, and who, although ninety-six years of age, was always glad to talk over the recollections of the many years of his control over the destinies of the old inn with the same vivacity and zest as when the powdered-haired and knee-buckled aristocrats dismounted at his door. His pleasant greeting and cordial and courteous manner were retained till the last.

For many years there was a small addition attached to the tavern and used as a store. "I remember," said Mr. Resseguie, "when it was the daily custom for farmers to bring in wood-ashes and barter them for goods." In the autum of 1804, says Samuel Goodrich (Peter Parley) in his Recollections of a Lifetime, I remember Jerome Bonaparte coming up to Keeler's tavern with a coach and four, attended by his young wife, Miss Patterson, of Baltimore. It was a gay establishment, and the honeymoon sat happily on the tall sallow strapling and his young bride. Another event I remember, and that is the celebration of the inauguration of Jefferson, March 4, 1801. The old field piece, a four-pounder, which had been stuck, muzzle down, as a horse-post, at Keeler's tavern, since