THE PIERREPONT MANSION ON THE HEIGHTS.

WASHINGTON'S SIGNAL STATION DURING THE SIEGE OF BROOKLYN


	The PIERREPONT mansion, which has come down in history as 
"The Four Chimneys," stood on a line with the present Montague Street, 
when the Heights of Brooklyn had many green fields and open
spaces. The little bridge which to-day spans Montague Street 
is close to what was once Mr. PIERREPONT's cellar. It is said 
that during the siege of Brooklyn a signal was established 
upon the roof of "The Chimneys" in order to cormnunicate with 
New York, and from it by means of a tall liberty pole information 
concerning the movements of the troops there were sent to the 
headquarters in Brooklyn. Orders from WASHINGTON also were sent from 
the station on the roof.

	General LAFAYETTE, when he visited Brooklyn in August, 1824,
was entertained by Hezekiah PIERREPONT in his mansidn on the Heights.
Among the distinguished guests were Colonel Fish, father of Governor 
Hamilton FISH, and Judge DAGGETT, of New Haven, both of whom had 
known WASHINGTON well and had been associated with him as secretaries 
or aides during some part of the Revolutionary War. Ater the dinner 
given to Lafayette, the guests assembled on the piazza.

	"By the by, general," said Colonel FISH, "are you aware that this
house has a great historical interest? This is the room in which the 
council was held which decided upon the retreat from Long Island."

	The panic into which the troops were thrown during the retreat
was recalled, and Judge DAGGETT said that the confusion was frightful.
In spite of the commands of the officers the soldiers crowded into the
boats that were to carry them to Manhattan, until there was no possible 
way of moving them. WASHINGTON, in the mean time, was keenly observing 
the situation, and his patience was rapidly ebbing. When a man leaped 
out from the throng, WASHINGTON seized a stone, which probably few men 
in the army could have lifted, and, raising it in his hands, shouted,--
	
	"If every man in that boat doesn't instantly leave it, I'll sink it 
to -!"

	For an instant he towered there with the huge stone in his up raised 
hands. The boat was instantly cleared, and no act of insubordination is 
recorded during the rest of the retreat.

	Mr. PIERREPONT, master of "The Chimneys," was one of the most 
inftuential men of his time in Brooklyn. He was a merchant, 
traveler, and humanitarian, delighting in the progress of Brooklyn and 
taking great pride in the beauty of his surroundings. He was 
frequently abroad, and was in France at the time of the Revolution, 
witnessing there the bloodiest of the days, and present when 
Robespierre was beheaded, July 28, 1794- So overcome was he by 
the sight of blood that he feared for his personal safety among 
the mob that revelled in those scenes. 

	Early in 1804 he purchased what was known as the BENSON Farm 
on the Heights, where the Plaza now stands on Montague Street, 
commanding a fine view of the Hudson and East Rivers. Later he
bought land adjoining this, and had in all about sixty acres, 
with a frontage of eight hundred feet on the East River, going 
back about half a mile to Love Lane on the north and Remsen 
Street on the south, as far as the old Jamaica road and Fulton 
Street, as it is now known. While in Europe, Mr. PIERREPONT met 
Robert Fulton, and they formed a friendship that was lasting. 
Mr. PIERREPONT aided the inventor in the establishment of 
Fulton Ferry, and was one of the directors until his death.

	A series of stone steps, during the early days of his occupancy 
of "The Chimneys," led down to the shore, where Mr. PIERREPONT kept 
a "small boat in which he was accustomed to row himself each day to 
New York. He was deeply interested in beautifying the Heights, and 
he cut up his land into streets, which he named for many of his 
neighbors.

	Mr. PIERREPONT once said that the people of Brooklyn and 
vicinity often dug for Captain Kidd's treasure, and that the hills 
were full of holes made by searchers. He added that such explorations 
had been made on his own estate and in other places on the Heights. 
On November 25, 1783, when the British troops formally evacuated 
New York, from the flagstaff of the PIERREPONT mansion the 
American flag was unfurled.




The Old Fort upon the Heights & Love Lane
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