"TRINITY BUILDING, NEW YORK, _June 23d, 1879_.
"MY DEAR GOVERNOR TILDEN,--I was very glad to find that
no obstacle presented itself in the way of your completing the
arrangement for hiring Mr. Waring's place at Yonkers, and the
prospect of numbering you and your household among our residents is
a very gratifying one to me. I have lived nearly fourteen years in
my little suburban home there, and am satisfied that I have warded
off serious dangers to my own health and that of my family by the
change from city to semi-country life. I believe Yonkers to be in
every respect the most desirable suburb of New York, and I trust you
will conclude to purchase Mr. Waring's property on which I know a
vast sum has been well expended. I hired my house when I first went
to Yonkers, but in less than sixty days bought it, in the belief
that whether I remained or not it was a safe property, and I have
never regretted the purchase.
"Hoping to see you soon in our neighborhood,
"I am, yours sincerely,
WM. ALLEN BUTLER."
* * * * *
For some time previous to the receipt of the foregoing note, Mr.
Tilden had been encouraged by his medical advisers to provide
himself with a country home conveniently accessible from the city,
where he would secure as many hygienic advantages from its situation
as possible. He had been assisted by Mr. Trevor, himself an old
resident at Yonkers, in selecting a property in that city which was
for sale, and bore the name destined to become famous--"Graystone."
He leased it at first, but before his lease expired completed the
purchase of it. To the original purchase, he added several adjoining
properties in subsequent years. The cost of his purchases and
improvements at Yonkers may be stated with sufficient precision as
follows, and possesses a certain historic interest: