President Lincoln offered him the position of Secretary of the Treasury. The same position was offered him by President Arthur in 1881, but on both occasions he declined the honor.
He was a most generous benefactor to charitable institutions during his lifetime and also by virtue of his last will and testament.[31] The grounds attached to this house are extensive for New York City.
[Illustration: The Old Arsenal--Central Park]
The view of the Hudson, on a fine day, to a person looking northward from Claremont is one of the best on the river. Being on a high point that juts out somewhat into the stream, the spectator appreciates the river’s breadth. In former days the site of Claremont was remarkable for its magnificent trees, pine, oak and tulip, of extraordinary girth, height and spread, but the building of the railroad (which spoiled so many country seats) sounded its death knell in respect to its being a place of residence with appropriate surroundings. What is now known as Claremont appears at an early period to have been composed of two properties, the upper or northerly one being called “Strawberry Hill,” or “Claremont,” and the lower or southerly, one “Monte Alto.” Some of the early deeds were not recorded and the writer has not ascertained when or how the division was made.
A tract of land including that on which the house stands was conveyed in 1774 to Nicholas de Peyster, and in August, 1776, was sold by him to George Pollock, an Irish linen merchant.
Pollock endeavored to improve the place by clearing and cultivation, as is shown by the statement in a letter mentioned below, in which he says: “I have long considered those grounds as of my own creation, having selected them when wild, and brought the place to its present form.” He named the place “Strawberry Hill.” After living there for some years and after the loss of a child (said to have occurred by drowning) he withdrew to England.
Almost everyone who has visited Grant’s Tomb remembers the marble funereal monument in the form of an urn inclosed within an iron railing near the top of the hill. The inscription, much blurred by time, reads: “Erected to the memory of an amiable child, St. Claire Pollock, died 15th. July 1797 in the 5 year of his age.” Then follow some lines of verse. In a letter written from England by Mr. Pollock to Mrs. Gulian Verplanck, who had become the owner of that or the adjoining place, dated July 18, 1800, he writes: “There is a small enclosure near your boundary fence within which lie the remains of a favorite child, covered by a marble monument.... The surrounding ground will fall into the hands of I know not whom, whose prejudice or better taste may remove the monument and lay the enclosure open. You will confer a peculiar and interesting favor upon me by allowing me to convey the enclosure to you, so that you will consider it a part of your own estate, keeping it however always enclosed and sacred. There is a white marble funereal urn to place on the monument which will not lessen its beauty. I have long considered those grounds as of my own creation, having selected them when wild, and brought the place to its present form. Having so long and so delightfully resided there, I feel an interest in it that I cannot get rid of by time.”[32]