POLLY VAN WINKLE AGAIN.
It seems that Polly Van Winkle, mentioned in connection with the River road, was an inhabitant of Bloomfield and used Murphy’s lane as one of her routes to and from the water side. She left the same general memory here that she did elsewhere—a little, old woman, bent nearly double with years and the weight of an enormous pack, which was her constant companion.
MURPHYTOWN.
Not much has been learned of the Murphys, who appear to have been brought over to work in the calico mills, and who settled so thickly about midway of the lane that the spot became known as “Murphytown”.
A Bit Of Murphy’s Lane. As it was twenty years ago.
THE GYPSIES DO BUSINESS.
Some time before the Civil War a small band of gypsies, headed by one James Trail, who had been in the habit of camping in the woods on the south side of the lane, purchased some of the Murphy property for the purpose of establishing a winter home. In those days this was an out of the way spot and quite suitable for the nomads.
During the warm months these gypsies wandered over the country and at one time, while in Tennesee, they came upon a gullible person named Ferris. Him they induced to bury a pot of gold, or at least to allow them to bury it, at an auspicious moment when the moon and stars favored increase, on the theory that if left a certain length of time, long enough to allow them to get well out of the country, it would multiply the dollars to a marvellous extent.
At the proper time Mr. Ferris dug up the pot and found it heavily laden with—lead, and was sorely vexed. So far the plans of the gypsies had worked as they wished, but what they had not counted on was the persistence of their victim, who managed to trail them to their winter lair. He then sought out ’Squire Sandford of Belleville, and offered him a reward if he would capture the thieves and get the money back, which the ’Squire did in short order.