efore,
although in thinking the matter over a few days later I remembered that
I had met his mother and sister in society in New York. I did not see
him again until five years later, when our paths crossed in Washington,
and in due time I became his bride.

To return to the New York Assembly in 1841. Henry Delafield, whose name
appears on the card of invitation, belonged to a well-known family. His
father, an Englishman by birth, settled in New York in 1783 and is
described in an early city directory as "John Delafield, Insurance
Broker, 29 Water Street." The Delafields were a large family of brothers
and were highly prosperous. I remember once hearing Dr. John W. Francis
say: "Put a Delafield on a desert island in the middle of the ocean,
and he will thrive and prosper." Henry Delafield and his brother William
were almost inseparable. They were twins and strikingly alike in
appearance. General Richard Delafield, U.S.A., for many years
Superintendent of the Military Academy at West Point, was another
brother, as was also Dr. Edward Delafield, a physician of note, who
lived in Bleecker Street and in 1839 married Miss Julia Floyd of Long
Island, a granddaughter of William Floyd, one of the New York Signers.
About thirty-five years ago three of the Delafield brothers, Joseph,
Henry and Edward, all advanced in life, died within a few days of each
other and were buried in Greenwood Cemetery at the same time, the
funeral taking place from old Trinity Church. On this occasion all the
old customs were observed, and the coffins were made of solid mahogany.

[Illustration: SAMUEL L. GOUVERNEUR, JUNIOR.]

John Swift Livingston lived in Leonard Street, and I recall very
pleasantly a party which I attended at his house before the marriage of
his daughter Estelle to General John Watts de Peyster. The latter,
together with his first cousins, General "Phil" Kearny and Mrs.
Alexander Macomb, inherited an enormous fortune from his grandfather
John Watts, who was one of the most prominent men of his day and the
founder of the Leake and Watts Orphan House, which is still in
existence. John G. Leake was an Englishman who came to New York to live
and, dying without heirs, left his fortune to Robert Watts, a minor son
of John Watts. Robert Watts, however, did not long survive his
benefactor. Upon his death the Leake will was contested by his
relatives, but a decision was rendered in favor of the nearest kin of
the boy, who was his father.