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BENSONHURST AND WASHINGTON; CLAY'S APPLEJACK
An old millstone, worn smooth by time, lies in front of the
hospitable door of BENSONhurst. Years ago this stone was brought
from Holland, and, after passing decades in faithful service, was
finally preserved as a unique threshold for the ancient house that
has been famous for the welcome given its guests. Bensonhurst
stands near Gravesend Bay, between what is now BENSON Avenue and
Bay 24th Street. Near the homestead the British landed in Revolutionary
times, and far and wide spread themselves over the town, regarding
personal property as lightly as they might a wisp of hay driven by
the wind across their march.
Nicholas COWENHOVEN built the house more than a hundred years ago.
His grand-daughter Maria married Egbert BENSON, and since that time
until within a few years, from generation to generation, the BENSON's
lived and kept the latch-string out in their house by the sea. The
family became prominent in affairs of State, which they served with
honor. Fighting Anthony BENSON gave his life for his country in the
Revolutionary War, during which he was taken prisoner, and confined
in the old prison-ship, Jersey, where he died from starvation and
disease and was buried in Wallabout Bay.
Bensonhurst has opened her doors to many a distinguished guest.
General Washington was a frequent visitor there; and Mrs. Margaret
BENSON BERRY, daughter of the late George BENSON, has rare old
plates that were used when the first President of the United States dined
in her old home. Washington was fond of leisurely partaking of his
excellent meal, of praising it, and afterward he found pleasure in
walking arm in arm with his host down to the beach where the shad
for which New Utrecht was then famous were caught. He probably
lingered there to see this and that fisherman draw out his shad. This
home must have been a quiet retreat for the great man, though
before and after a visit there he was accustomed to meet the
groups that gathered to see and speak with him.
Henry CLAY liked Bensonhurst, and the elder. BENSON was a friend and
admirer of his. There is a tradition that they enjoyed many a pipe and
bottle of applejack together, and to-day Mrs. BERRY has a bottle of the
very applejack that came from CLAY's plantation in the South. This
is evidently a bottle that CLAY and the elder BENSON overlooked, or
else it may have been sent by the-latter after one of his visits
to the homestead. .
At Bensonhurst Martha LAMB wrote much of her History of New York,
gaining inspiration in the quiet of the old homestead and historical
facts from the old families of the vicinity by whom she was received.
"Welkom," the quaint motto that hung in the hall at Bensonhurst, now
hangs in Mr. and Mrs. BERRY's home in St. John's Place; and the homestead
itself was some years ago sold to Mr. Walter E. PARFITT, who still
resides there with his family. The house has been changed to suit the
needs of the present owners. The Dutch oven, in which so many famous
dinners were cooked, still stands in the old kitchen. The attic
has hand-hewn rafters put together with wooden pegs; and many of the
rooms, especially in the second story of the house, are quaint and rambling,
with nooks and crannies that are found only in houses of long ago.
In the rooms still linger memories of the old, old days when Washington came,
and CLAY, passing across the old millstone and on over the threshold of
the door bearing its hospitable "Welkom."
About a Lost Sunbonnet & How Mistress Van Brunt Conquered the British in the Van Brunt Homestead
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