"In this city especially," he says, "the progress of a few years
effect what in Europe is the work of centuries." A shrewd and happily
tongued observer, is Mr. Verplanck; we shall have occasion, I believe,
to refer to him again.
The Adams' occupancy of Richmond Hill House was, we must be convinced,
a very happy one. It was a house of a flexible and versatile
personality, a beautiful home, an important headquarters of many state
affairs, a brilliant social nucleus. Washington and his wife often
went there to call in their beloved post-chaise, and there was
certainly no dignitary of the time and the place who was not at one
time or another a guest there. In the course of time, the Adamses
went to a new and fine dwelling at Bush Hill on the Schuylkill. And
dear Mistress Abigail, faithful to the house of her heart, wrote
wistfully of her just-acquired home:
"It is a beautiful place, but the grand and sublime I left
at Richmond Hill" ...
In 1797, the house went to a rich foreigner named Temple. I quote the
chronicles of old New York, but can give you little information
concerning this gentleman.
Pages:
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129