The nearby sign reads:
James McCord
Revolutionary War veteran, original settler.
James McCord. December 14, 1752 – September 5, 1833 was a private in Colonel Hammond‘s Militia along with his brother, Robert. Two younger brothers joined the British side, fought in Delancey’s Brigade and laster (sic – probably later) went into exile where they died. James is buried to the right of his mother, Jane McCord.
James’ father, John McCord was arrested at the beginning of the Revolution in 1776 for being neutral and was jailed in White Plains. later, he was tried at Fishkill, N.Y. by the Committee of Saftey (sic) which was headed by John Jay. At is (sic) trial on January 2, 1777 he made the following statement: “I am neither a Whig or Tory. My conscience won’t let me fight for either side”. He was jailed and reportedly died in jail on December 14, 1777. John is buried in the family plot in the first row near the road under a plain field stone with initials JMC carved in the top stone.
The McCords lived on a farm that covered some 200 acres in the Narraganstt Ave. area of the Village of Ossining for for 187 years. Eight generations of the family are buried in this plot. Many of them were born and raised on the farm.
James McCord was the first man in the Town of Mt. Pleasant, which then included all of Ossining, to free a slave. On November 2, 1795 he freed his African American slave, Abigail, about twenty -three years old and had this act recorded in the town records.
The McCord family was active in local affairs throughout the nineteenth century. In the 1880’s there were no less than forty registered voters with the name McCord in Ossining.
I think I have to comment on some of the typos in some (not all) of these signs. Here are just a few examples (from this and earlier posts):
laster – later?
is – his?
saftey – safety?
ploe – pole?
reliabkle – reliable?
amiril – admiral?
artical – article?
expedtion – expedition?
lauditory – laudatory?
Would it have been so difficult to have proofread them before they were printed.
