. When old New York was young . dthe clumsy wall whose only use had been toretard the growth of the town tt)ward the [209 I PLEASANT DAYS OF CHERRY HILL north, an Englishman, one Richard Sacket,set up as a maltster by the East River built a large house, and on the groundsabout it, which extended for more than 400feet along the river, he set out row upon rowof cherry-trees. It was one of the earliestcherry plantations in this country, and for atime there was strong question whetherthese trees would thrive. But they did, andwhen the strangeness of their appearancedrew so many sightseers
. When old New York was young . dthe clumsy wall whose only use had been toretard the growth of the town tt)ward the [209 I PLEASANT DAYS OF CHERRY HILL north, an Englishman, one Richard Sacket,set up as a maltster by the East River built a large house, and on the groundsabout it, which extended for more than 400feet along the river, he set out row upon rowof cherry-trees. It was one of the earliestcherry plantations in this country, and for atime there was strong question whetherthese trees would thrive. But they did, andwhen the strangeness of their appearancedrew so many sightseers, Sacket gave up hisbusiness and turned his house and orchardinto a place of entertainment. He called itthe Cherry Gardens. There were tables un-der the trees ; there was a bowling green ;and there was a summer-house for of which the people of the town tookmost kindly to and enjoyed to the height ottheir bent, for a score of years, when thegarden was sold to provide building-places forthe rapidly growing town. [aio]. PLEASANT DAYS OF CHERRY HILL By the time this much ot the story hadbeen told we were come to Franklin Square,which is at the top of Cherry Hill. Westood for a time to examine the tablet, set ina wall here at the hill-top, which gives noticeto all passers-by that here, when he was Presi-dent, George Washington lived. The cherry-trees were gone in Washingtons time, andhouses, each with a bit of the old cherryorchard as garden of its own, had taken theirplace. The road along the hill was QueenStreet, the main highway from the city, andlittle Cherry Street branched out from it andwent down the hillside just as it does now,just as it did when it was a lane that ran be-side Richard Sackets garden. This first Presidential mansion of whichthe tablet tells was built by Walter Franklin,a merchant of the city. It was three stories,of brick, with small-paned windows; itsmain entrance led to by half a dozen stairs [•213] PLEASANT DAYS OF CHERRY HILL on either side
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