Editing Briarcliff Manor, New York (section)

=== Names ===
[[File:JohnDavidOgilby.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.6|alt=Portrait of clean-shaven man with light shirt and dark formal jacket|John David Ogilby]]
Part of modern-day Briarcliff Manor was once known as Whitson's Corners for brothers John H., Richard, and Reuben Whitson, who owned adjoining farms in the area totaling {{convert|400|acre|ha}}.<ref name="1939history"/><ref name="OssHist"/> Whitson's Corners was named after the corner of Pleasantville and South State roads, where John H. Whitson's house, the Crossways, stood from 1820 until the 1940s.{{refn|group=nb|John H. Whitson was the first village [[postmaster]], and his house was the village post office's third location.<ref name="1939history"/>}} The Briarcliff Congregational Church's parish house currently stands at its former location.<ref name="1977history"/>{{rp|page=17}} The neighboring community of Scarborough was known as Weskora until it was renamed in 1864,<ref name="1977history"/>{{rp|page=11}} after resident William Kemey's ancestral [[Scarborough, North Yorkshire|hometown]] in Yorkshire.<ref name="FamilyAlbum"/>{{rp|page=4}} After the community was incorporated into Briarcliff Manor in 1906, the [[New York Central and Hudson River Railroad]] put up a sign reading "Briarcliff West" at the village's [[Scarborough (Metro-North station)|Scarborough station]]. Soon afterward, attributed to the neighborhood's pride over their name,<ref name="1952history"/>{{rp|page=54}} that sign was thrown into the Hudson River and replaced with the original Scarborough sign.<ref name="1977history"/>{{rp|page=15}}<ref name="Changing Landscape"/>{{rp|page=101}}

Briarcliff Manor derives from "Brier Cliff", a compound of the English words "brier"{{refn|group=nb|"Brier" is a variant spelling of "briar", used for a number of unrelated thicket-forming thorny plants.}} and "cliff". The name originated in Ireland as that of the family home of John David Ogilby, a professor of ecclesiastical history at the [[General Theological Seminary]]. Ogilby had named his New York summer home ''Brier Cliff'' after his family home in Ireland. In 1890, [[Walter W. Law|Walter Law]] bought James Stillman's {{convert|236|acre|ha|adj=on}} [[Briarcliff Farm]] and further developed it, later using the name ''Briarcliff'' for all his property. Law's friend, [[Andrew Carnegie]], called him "The Laird of Briarcliff Manor"; since the title appealed to all concerned, the village was named "Briarcliff Manor".<ref name="Changing Landscape"/>{{rp|page=43}}<ref name="NYTBriarcliff"/> By 1897, the village post office and railroad station bore the name Briarcliff Manor.<ref name="1939history"/> The village (and its name) were approved by its residents in a September 12, 1902 referendum; the name prevailed over other suggestions, including "Sing Sing East".{{refn|group=nb|''Sing Sing'' was the name of the neighboring village [[Ossining (village), New York|Ossining, New York]] until 1901.<ref name="Changing Landscape"/>{{rp|page=18}}}}<ref name="FamilyAlbum"/>{{rp|page=5}} On November 21, 1902, the village of Briarcliff Manor was established.<ref name="Changing Landscape"/>{{rp|page=43}}

The village is also known by several other names. It is conversationally called "Briarcliff", and often erroneously written as "Briar Cliff Manor" (although historically there has been little distinction).<ref name="RealtyTransfer"/><ref name="BriarCliff"/><ref name="FireFighter"/> The village has been called "Briarcliff on the Hudson" by [[Mark Twain]] and [[Aileen Riggin]];<ref name="Twain"/><ref name="AileenRiggin"/> it is also known as "the Village of Briarcliff Manor".<ref name="1977history"/> The name Briarcliff has also been applied to other municipalities, including the 470-person town of [[Briarcliffe Acres]] in South Carolina; in naming it, the town's founder had drawn inspiration from Briarcliff Manor's name.<ref name="BriarcliffeAcres"/> One of the village's mottos, "A village between two rivers", can also refer to the municipality;<ref name="2007Plan"/> another official motto is a Walter Law quote, "Only the best is good enough".<ref name="OTBest">{{cite news|title=Manor Briefs|newspaper=Ossining Citizen Register|date=June 17, 1978}}</ref>