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Gc 974.702 M43c 1242346
M.L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01177 8435
REV. CHARLES EDMISTON CRAVEN.
A HISTORY
OF
MATTITUCK,
LONG ISLAND, N. Y.
BY
REV. CHARLES E. CRAVEN.
PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR.
Copyright, 1906, By CHARLES E. CRAVEN.
All Rights Reserved.
PREFACE. 1242346
Mattituck is one of the oldest of the second genera- tion of villages in Suffolk County, New York. The first generation included the original town settlements : South- old and Southampton in 1640, East Hampton in 1648, Shelter Island in 1652, Huntington in 1653, Smithtown about the same time and Brookhaven in 1655. The sec- ond generation of villages comprises the earliest settle- ments apart from the town centres. The villages of the first generation, holding the town records, have had their history more or less fully written, but the villages of the second generation, whose story is much harder to search out, have found few historians.
The writer taking charge of the old Mattituck Church in the latter part of 1895 became interested in the history of the village and its church. In 1898 a history of the church was prepared and publicly read on Thanksgiving Day. In the preparation of that history much material came to hand relating to the village but not specifically to the church and much genealogical information was acquired. The publication of the history of the church was therefore delayed that it might become a part of a larger and more comprehensive work.
Much time has been devoted to research-much more time and labor than will appear to the casttal reader. The
1
6
PREFACE.
Southold Town Records, both the printed and the writ- ten, have been studied with care, and many days have been spent delving in the records in the offices of the County Clerk and Surrogate and in the Surrogate's office in New York City. Such ancient documents as could be found in the keeping of the families of the village, wills, deeds, diaries, letters, scrap-books and other rec- ords, have been diligently sought out. Such time as the author could find amid his regular duties, for seven or eight years past, has been spent in this research. Some- times for months together this work has been pushed aside, and many good friends waiting for the promised history of their native village have suffered trial of their patience. Not only the obligation of the promise, how- ever, but personal interest and pleasure in the work have stimulated the writer to devote such time to it as was available.
It is believed that the historical and genealogical statements in the work are accurate. Little or no reli- ance has been placed in tradition, for tradition in many instances where it was possible to test it by original docu- ments has been found singularly inaccurate and mislead- ing. In matters of genealogy care has been taken to dis- tinguish between probability and ascertained fact, for the author has been convinced repeatedly that the most plausible genealogical conjecture is liable to be upset by a fuller knowledge of facts.
Frequent inquiries for information from the inscrip- tions in the ancient burying-ground and from the regis- ters of the Mattituck and Aquebogue (Jamesport) Churches make it plain that the appended lists of Bap- tisms, Marriages and Deaths and of Inscriptions from
7
PREFACE.
the Mattituck Burying-Ground will meet a widespread want, giving valuable genealogical material relating to many widely scattered families. In transcribing the parish records the peculiar orthography of the originals has been strictly followed except in the case of a few familiar names such as Israel, Nathaniel, and Temper- ance, where some strange habits of the Rev. Benjamin Goldsmith have been corrected. In transcribing the names and dates from the stones in the burying-ground the family names have been arranged alphabetically. In cases where there are many graves of the same family name the several branches of the family have been grouped separately as far as possible. In the column headed "Age" the date of birth is given, or the age at death, according to the inscription. In this column three figures separated by dashes, as 60-6-26, indicate years, months and days. When old and new style dates are both inscribed on monuments the new style is followed. The location of each grave is given in the column marked "Grave." In this column the letters designate the rows of graves in alphabetical order from east to west. The num- bers indicate the distance in feet from the grave-stone to the north fence. Thus "Go8" locates the stone of Mr. Jacob Aldrich in the seventh row west of the Presby- terian Church, ninety-eight feet from the north fence. In this column "Mid" signifies the middle portion of the grave yard, lying between the original burying-ground and Bethany Cemetery. In the middle ground the let- ters indicate the rows from east to west and the numerals indicate the number of feet from the path lying between the old and middle grounds. In the transcription of the records from the register and the stones the author has
8
PREFACE.
made occasional notes, which are invariably inclosed in brackets.
Thanks are due to many friends whose interest and helpfulness have made this book possible. Mr. William Y. Fithian, the Town Clerk of Southold, has shown great courtesy to the author, who has had frequent occasion to visit his office. To Surrogate Joseph M. Belford and his clerk, Mr. Robert W. Duvall, the author is indebted for valuable aid and kindly consideration. Mr. William F. Flanagan, Assistant County Clerk, has shown both ability and readiness to grant practical assistance and his kindness is highly appreciated. The author is greatly indebted to William Wallace Tooker, Esq., of Sag Har- bor, N. Y., and to the Rev. Joseph Anderson of Water- bury, Conn., both acknowledged authorities in Indian lore, who have given valuable aid in the interpretation of Indian names. All sons of Mattituck who read this book will be grateful for the courtesy of Mr. William S. Pelle- treau in permitting the author to copy the muster roll of Capt. Paul Reeve's Company of Minute Men from the History of Long Island published in 1903 by the Lewis Publishing Company.
Especial acknowledgment is due to Mr. Frank M. Lupton of New York. As a loyal son of Mattituck he has shown interest in his native village in many substan- tial ways, and to help forward the publication of this village history he has made available the complete re- sources of his printing house and besides this has given his personal supervision to the printing, illustration and manufacture of the book, all without charge beyond the actual cost. Not resting satisfied with thus reducing the cost to a minimum Mr. Lupton has joined with the trus-
9
PREFACE.
tees of the Mattituck Presbyterian Church, Messrs. Charles Gildersleeve, Benjamin C. Kirkup, Nathaniel S. Tuthill, Conrad Grabie, John G. Reeve and Henry J. Reeve, in assuming the entire expense for the manufac- ture of the book. The overwhelming generosity of these gentlemen deeply touches the author and for it he makes grateful acknowledgment. While realizing that love for Mattituck and a desire to preserve her history in perma- nent and fitting form account in part for this generous action he cannot fail to see and to value the unmistakable indication of good-will toward the historian. Owing to this kind and practical interest the book is published in better form than would have been possible otherwise and the author is relieved from the anxiety attending a doubt- fui venture.
The hope is cherished that this book will fill satisfac- torily its own place and need. It will preserve the an- nals of the village and the old church, and it is fondly hoped that it may help to bind the hearts of the scattered sons and daughters of Mattituck still more closely to the old home place and that it may have influence in con- serving the best elements of the character and marked individuality of the village, for there is no other village just like it. Mattituck is destined to outgrow the limits of the past in population, wealth and importance, but she must not outgrow her best traditions. A greater Matti- tuck let her become, but ever the same old Mattituck.
CHARLES E. CRAVEN.
Sept. 20th, 1906.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER
I.
The Beginning of Mattituck.
13
CHAPTER
II.
The Occupation of the Land.
33
CHAPTER
III.
The Earliest Settlers.
66
CHAPTER
IV.
The Founding of the Church.
86
CHAPTER
V.
Mattituck in Revolutionary Times. 119
CHAPTER
VI.
Parish History from Revolutionary
Times to 1845.
150
CHAPTER
VII. Church History from 1845 to the
Present Time.
174
CHAPTER VIII.
Mattituck Before the Railroad.
194
CHAPTER
IX.
Modern Mattituck.
222
Parish Registers of Mattituck and Aquebogue.
252
Mattituck Parish Burying-Ground
357
Index
397
A HISTORY OF MATTITUCK.
CHAPTER I.
THE BEGINNING OF MATTITUCK.
Mattituck is a village in the Town of Southold, County of Suffolk, State of New York. It lies between Long Island Sound and the Great Peconic Bay, near the eastern end of Long Island. It is about twenty-five miles west of Orient Point and eighty-three miles east of New York, on the main line of the Long Island Rail- road. It covers eight or nine square miles, the Sound and Bay being three miles apart on the north and south, and the neighboring villages, Cutchogue and Laurel, be- ing about three miles apart on the east and west. The Mattituck Creek, or Bay, is an estuary of irregular form extending inland from the Sound two miles toward the south and having several arms of considerable length reaching towards the east and west. Near the head of this Bay is the centre of the village, where the ancient highway from Orient Point and Southold divides, the north road extending through Wading River, Port Jef- ferson, Setauket and the villages along the north shore of Long Island, the south road passing through River- head and the central portion of the island. The popula- tion of Mattituck is about 1,200, largely of Puritan descent.
14
A HISTORY OF MATTITUCK.
The band of colonists who set out from New Haven in 1640 and settled Southold in Long Island soon ac- quired "all that tract of land scituate lying and being at the Eastward end of Long Island and bounded with the River called in the English toung the Weading Kreek, in the Indian toung Pauquaconsuk, on the West, To and with Plum Island on the East, with the Sound called the North Sea on the North, and with a River or arme of the Sea on ye South,
together with all necks of lands meadows
Islands, rivers Kreeks with timber, woods and woodlands, fishing foouling, hunting, and all other com- modities whatsoever unto the said tract of land and Iseland belonging, . as Corchaug and Matta- tuck, and all other tracts of land." This description of the ancient boundaries of Southold Town is quoted from an Indian Deed of 1665,* wherein forty-three Indians confirmed the Town's right to the several tracts involved which had been previously "purchased, procured and paid for of the Sachems and Indians our Ancestors." The original deed for the tract known to the Indians as Mattatuck is preserved in the records of Brookhaven Town,t and runs as follows :
These presents witness that UXSQUEPASSEM, otherwise called the paummis Sachem, together with his three brothers, viz: WEEWACUP, NOWCONNEEY, NEESANT- QUAGGUS, for and [in] consideration of two fathome of wampum, one iron pott, six coats, ten knives, fower hooks and forty needles payd into their hands at the ensealing hereof, have granted, bargained and sold unto
*Southold Printed Records, Vol. II., p. 6.
*Brookhaven Printed Records, Vol. I., p. 76.
15
A HISTORY OF MATTITUCK.
MR. THEOPHILUS EATON, Governor of the jurisdiction of Newhaven, and to MR. STEVEN GOODYEARE, Deputy Governor for and in behalfe of the jurisdictions, all that land lying between Corchake and Ucquebaak, commonly called Mattatuck, or what name or names soever it be called, bounded on the East with the creek Conegums and the way leading thenc to Mattatuck pond, for the drawing over of their Canooes; and on the South with the great coo, and on the North with the Sea, and west- ward to Ucquebaak and beyond, So far as his right or any of theirs do extend, provided that he may enjoy the privilidges of his Ancestors, namely, the skins of such Dear as are taken by the Indians in the waters and the Indian Canoes drawn upon the shore, to have and to . hold all that tract of land as before expressed, with the creeks, meddowes, uplands, and all their appertenances to the said Theophilus Eaton and Stephen Goodyeare, Esquires, in behalfe of the jurisdictions to them, their heirs and assigns, with Warrantie against the aforesaid Paummiss Sachem and his three brothers and there hayres and assignes, and all, every other person what- soever claiming any right or title, by or under them, in or to all or any the above specified, or any parcel thereof. In witness whereof the aforesaid Usquepassum, Week- wacup, Noweonney and Neesantequaggus have sett their hands and seales the one and twenty of March, 1648.
Sealed and delivered
in the presence of us, Jo YONGS, SAM YOUNGS JOSH PARKER
HAMAIAM POM,
deceased grantee. UXSQUEPASSUM, WEEKWACUP, NOWEONNEY,
NEESANTEQUAGGUS.
16
A
HISTORY OF MATTITUCK.
This interesting deed conveyed Mattatuck to Gov.' Eaton as the representative of the New Haven Colony. The Colony strictly enforced at that time a law forbid- ding private purchase of land from Indians. The Col- ony of course held the land for the benefit of the South- old Plantation.
Ten years later, at a General Court in New Haven,* May 26th, 1658, "The Deputies of Southold propounded ye desires of their towne to repurchase of ye jurisdic- tion a pcell [parcel] of land called Mattatock and Akka- bawke, wch ye court considering, by vote declared, that they paying 7 li. in good pay, ye said land is theires, wch was accepted by their deputies." The two South- old deputies that year were Thomas Moore and Barna- bas Horton, both of whom are represented by lineal descendants in "Mattatock" today. The seven pounds were paid the next year "in wampom."
The Mattatuck that was thus sold to the New Haven Colony by the Indians and then by the Colony to the people of Southold lay between Corchake (Cutchogue) and Acquebaak (Aquebogue) and covered the western half of the present village of Mattituck. It extended from the Sound to Peconic Bay and from the Creek Conegums and the Indian Canoe Path on the east to an indefinite western boundary. The Indian name "Conegums" means "a boundary place," and the creek so called by the Indians is doubtless Reeve's Creek (sometimes called James' Creek) opening into the Bay a little east of the Bay Road. The "Mattituck Pond" of the Indian deed is Mattituck Creek. It is occasion-
*New Haven Colonial Records, Vol. II., p. 233.
17
A HISTORY OF MATTITUCK.
ally called Mattituck Pond in the early Southold rec- ords .* The Canoe Path, along which the Indians trans- ported their canoes from creek to creek, leaving the head of Reeve's Creek (then "Conegums") passed a few rods east of the ninth mile-stone from Riverhead, followed the line of the hedge in the rear of the Meth- odist Episcopal parsonage and the other lots on the
THE COVE. The boats along the shore are near the Indian Canoe Place.
west side of Pacific street and crossing the north road followed the line now dividing the Donovan property from Mr. Edward S Horton until it reached the shore of Mattituck Creek.t This portage at Mattituck, to-
*Southold Printed Records, Vol. I., p. 61, p. 108.
The Canoe Path or Canoe Place at Mattituck is commonly supposed to have followed the line of Love Lane, passing
18
A HISTORY OF MATTITUCK.
gether with the corresponding one on the south side of Peconic Bay at the place still known as Canoe Place, gave the Indians a much traveled through route from the Sound to the Shinnecock and Great South Bays. The Shinnecock Canal now takes the place of the port- age on the south side, and it is proposed to cut a canal at Mattituck, opening up for navigation the very route frequented by the Indians hundreds of years ago. This project is feasible and will undoubtedly be carried out some day. Its utility would be considerable from a commercial standpoint and its strategic advantages for coast defence, opening up a remarkable system of in- terior water-ways for torpedo craft and small gun boats, would be of great value.
The meaning of the Indian name Mattatuck as ap- plied to this region is difficult to determine. The names of the adjacent districts present no difficulties. Cutch- ogue is Kehtchi-auke, "the principal place," the district in which the Indian village and fort were located. Aque- bogue is Ucque-baug, "the head of the bay." Peconic is Pehikkonuk, "the little plantation." Mattatuck is made up of an adjectival part, Matta, and a substantive part, tuck. The tuck may stand either for tugk, "wood," "tree," or for tuk, a "tidal river" or "estuary." Both were commonly written tuck by the colonists in tran- scribing Indian names, the deep guttural of the Indian
through the present centre of the village. Mr. J. Wickham Case, in a note in Southold Printed Records, Vol. I., p. 108, says: that it "was about where the hotel now stands." This is one of the few errors in Mr. Case's remarkably accurate and luminous notes. The Canoe Place became an important bound- ary line and its position is established by transfers of adjacent property.
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BERGEN AVE
A HISTORY OF MATTITUCK.
tugk being difficult for English ears and tongues. Spell- ing was far from an exact science in those days, and Indian names were sadly maltreated and often rendered unrecognizable in the effort to reproduce them in Eng- lish letters. For this reason also it is difficult to decide the value of Matta, or Matti, as the first part of the name was often rendered in the early records. There was a Mattatuck in Connecticut (now Waterbury), which Trumbull* renders "a place without wood, or badly wooded," taking the name to stand for Matuh' tugk. This would not seem a satisfactory description of the Long Island Mattituck, which was undoubtedly as heavily wooded as any adjacent land. To substitute tuk for tugk and make it "the bad creek" would seem likewise unsatisfactory for the Mattituck Creek is the finest and largest creek in this region. Mr. W. S. Pel- letreau has suggested that matta is a corruption of the Indian massa, "great," and Mattatuck, for Massatuk, means "the great creek." The writer is inclined to ac- cept this derivation, which as Mr. Pelletreau remarks "is amply proven by the geographical features of the place." The substitution of matta for massa is not un- exampled according to Trumbull.t The difficulty in the way of positively accepting this explanation is that the t is persistent wherever the name of Mattatuck is found in ancient records. There is not one known in- stance of the spelling Massatuck. On this account Mr. Wm. Wallace Tooker, recognized as the leading au- thority on Indian Names of Long Island, rejects this interpretation. It may be suggested, however, that the:
*Indian Names in Connecticut, p. 27.
¡Ibid., p. 26 ..
20
A HISTORY OF MATTITUCK.
existence of a Mattatuck in Connecticut might easily have misled the white settlers. They were for the most part ignorant of the language of the Indians and meet- ing a new name Massatuck would probably have iden- tified it with the familiar Mattatuck.
Another interesting name for Mattituck is Nabia- chage, which Mr. Wm. Wallace Tooker defines as "the place of the divided hills." This is a peculiarly appro- priate name for Mattituck Creek, passing as it does be- tween high hills on either side. It is a name little used, however, by the white settlers, appearing in the records only once so far as the writer has discovered. This one reference is in the will of the first Thomas Mapes, who leaves to his son Jabez, "all my land* at Nabiachage or Mattituck houses with all the meadow adjoining to it." The final age in this name stands for auke, "place," the same as the final syllable of Cutchogue (Kehtchi-auke).
The woodland at Mattituck was held in common by the people of Southold until 1661 when it was divided among individual proprietors and in 1662 the actual settlement of the place began. But the meadow lands were allotted as soon as the district was made over to the Town by New Haven. This appears from entries in the early records like the following record of land of William Purrier :+ "All that parcell of meadowe, fresh and salt lying next the Canoe Place att Mattituck of late years in his possession beinge and to him given by the Towne at their meetinge held the eight and twentieth of
*This did not refer to Mapes' Neck, on which the first Thomas Mapes never resided, but to property which is now part of the estate of Charles W. Wickham.
¡Southold Printed Records, Vol. I., p. 47.
21
A HISTORY OF MATTITUCK.
October 1658." This was the extensive meadow land lying to the east of Reeve's or Conegums Creek. Hor- ton's Creek derives its name from the fact that Barna- bas Horton became the owner of the meadow beside it and probably Brush's Creek takes its name from Thomas Brush for a similar reason though Brush failed to record the ownership. The "Great Meadow" lying west of the present village of New Suffolk was divided early into a great number of small holdings from one to four acres each. These meadow lands, though mostly salt, were esteemed very valuable and the salt hay or "creek thatch" was cut from them regularly. The woodland was comparatively useless, requiring years to clear it and bring it under cultivation, and for a long time a few acres of salt meadow were counted more valuable than a hundred acres of woodland. This fact, that the mead- ows were allotted earlier than the upland or when not allotted were held in common as a most valuable posses- sion, accounts for the curious circumstance that to this day many small patches of meadow, now regarded as of little or no value, are held by others than the owners of the adjoining upland .* And there are many old rights of way recorded in ancient deeds whereby owners of meadows were enabled to cart their "creek thatch" across adjacent farms. The only hay that the early set- tlers used was this that they cut from the meadows, un- less occasionally a ship-load was imported from the
*For instance, Dec. 1st, 1686, "It was given and granted by vote that Thomas Terrill and Theophilus Corwin should have
a scertain parcell of creek thatch Lieing in common * * * adjoining to the eastward side of James Reeve his neck of up Land at Mattetuck."-Liber D, Town Records.
22
A HISTORY OF MATTITUCK.
mother country. This explains the term "English hay" that is sometimes used to this day to designate the crops that are sown and harvested on the upland hay-fields. For many years the meadow lands about Mattituck Creek were held in common and the right to cut the creek thatch was sold to individuals year after year. Entries like this appear in the town books: "Oct. 1725. William Coleman, Dr. for the common creek thatch at Matetuck, 10 shillings, 3 pence." "Sept I,
1724. Gershom Terry Jur. for Matetuck creek thatch (221/2 shears was kept back for Lt. Winds rights) 17 shillings, 1/2 pence." "May 4, 1731. Lt. Thomas Reeve for Matetuck creek thatch, 4 shillings 4 pence." The busy farmers today have no time to waste in cutting creek thatch, but in their boyhood it was considered im- portant. The following sentence from a conveyance of a hundred years ago illustrates the importance of this item. In an instrument conveying a hundred and fifty acres of land there is added, "Also a piece of meadow lying in Mattituck Creek, said to cut three loads of hay, west of Thomas Reeve's springs, surrounded by water."
Since these meadow lands were used from the first it was necessary to cut the main highways through the wood-land of the town to give access to them, as well as to reach the neighboring towns of Southampton and Brookhaven. Doubtless very soon. after 1640 the high- way was laid out from Southold village westward through Mattituck to the head of Peconic Bay (now Riverhead) there to meet a highway laid out at the same time from Southampton. This was at first known as the highway to Southampton. The Brookhaven settlement at Setauket was made in 1655 and the "Setacut Road"
23
A HISTORY OF MATTITUCK.
was probably opened as soon thereafter as possible from Mattituck. The highway through Mattituck lay to the south of the fresh water pond now known as Marra- tooka Lake until 1710 when it was changed to its pres- ent position.
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