USA > New York > Suffolk County > Riverhead > Celebration of the 100th anniversary of the organization of the town of Riverhead, Suffolk County, N.Y. at Riverhead, July 4, 1892 > Part 1
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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02210 5800
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/celebrationof10000rive
CELEBRATION
OF THE
100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
ORGANIZATION OF THE TOWN OF RIVERHEAD, SUFFOLK COUNTY; N. Y.,
AT
RIVERHEAD,
JULY 4, 1892.
Printed by Resolution adopted at Annual Town Meeting, April 4th, 1893.
NEW YORK: THE REPUBLIC PRESS. 1894.
ORVILLA B ACKERIT
:
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Riverhead's Centennial.
At the annual Town Meeting of the Town of Riverhead. N. Y., held at the Town Hall, Tuesday, April 5, 1892, it was on motion adopted, that the town celebrate, on July 4, 1892, the 100th anniversary of the organization of the town, and the Supervisor was empowered to appoint a committee to carry out the same; and in pursuance of this motion the fol- lowing notice was forwarded by Supervisor George F. Homan to the following named gentlemen : Nat. W. Foster, D. Henry Brown, Jonas Fishel, Orlando O. Wells, J. Henry Perkins, Frank H. Hill, Elijah Griswold, George F. Homan, Timothy M. Griffing, James H. Tuthill, Charles M. Blydenburgh, Oliver A. Terry, Benjamin F. Howell, William C. Ostrander, J. Martin Wagner, Alonzo P. Terry, George H. Skidmore, Joseph M. Belford, John Bagshaw.
RIVERHEAD, N. Y., April ---- , 1892.
DEAR SIR :- At our last Town Meeting, a resolution was presented, and unanimously adopted as follows :
That Riverhead Town celebrate the 100th anniversary of its formation on the 4th day of July next, and the Supervisor of the town was empowered to appoint a committee to carry out the same. In accordance with that resolution, and being de- sirous of the aid of our prominent citizens, and particularly the old residents of Riverhead Town, I have appointed you a mem- ber of such committee, and respectfully request your kind assistance toward making the celebration a success. Kindly attend at a meeting to be held May 5, 1892, at 7 : 30 P. M., in the Town Hall.
Yours respectfully, GEO. F. HOMAN, Supervisor.
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The meeting was held pursuant to the foregoing, and fifteen. of the gentlemen attended. The Supervisor briefly stated the object therefor. Jonas Fishel was selected Chair- man, and Town Clerk John Bagshaw Secretary.
Remarks were made by several gentlemen as to their views in order to make the celebration a success, which terminated in several motions being adopted, making the following per- sons members of the respective committees, viz. :
Historical and other Addresses,
JAMES H. TUTHILL, TIMOTHY M. GRIFFING.
Parade,
OLIVER A. TERRY, J. MARTIN WAGNER, GEORGE F. HOMAN.
Finance,
JONAS FISHEL,
DANIEL R. YOUNG,
TIMOTHY M. GRIFFING,
EDWARD HAWKINS,
WILLIAM C. OSTRANDER,
ARTHUR H. TUTHILL,
NAT. W. FOSTER,
ZACHARIAH HALLOCK,
ELIJAH GRISWOLD,
SIMEON S. HAWKINS,
EDMUND F. TUTHILL,
GEORGE L. WELLS,
D. HENRY BROWN,
J. HENRY PERKINS,
ROBERT GOSMAN, JR.,
ALBERT S. TUTHILL,
SEPTER LUCE.
Fireworks,
ORLANDO O. WELLS, FRANK H. HILL, CHARLES M. BLYDENBURGH.
Music,
ALONZO P. TERRY.
At later meetings Dr. Henry P. Terry was selected Treasurer; Messrs. Homan, Wells, Tuthill and Foster were appointed Reception Committee: Messrs. Homan, Tuthill
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ALONZO M. ROBINSON,
ALBERT B. YOUNG,
MERRITT H. SMITH,
and Griffing elected Invitation Committee; J. Henry Perkins, Auditor; and Nat. W. Foster appointed to preside over the meeting, and Miss Minerva Mitchell was selected to read the Declaration of Independance. The Committee on Addresses reported that they had secured ex-County Clerk Orville B. Ackerly, formerly of Riverhead, and Prof. Joseph. M. Belford, of Riverhead, for the occasion.
In addition to the numerous meetings of the General and other committees, a public meeting was called and held and finally the arrangements were considered completed and sufficient money raised to carry out successfully the cele- bration.
Invitations were sent out inviting the presence of Wilmot M. Smith, County Judge; Benjamin H. Reeve, District At- torney ; all the County Supervisors, Hon. Henry P. Hedges, Wm. S. Pelletreau, Rev. Dr. Epher Whitaker, Richard M. Bayles, the President and Secretary of the Long Island His- torical Society, George R. Howell, State Assistant Librarian ; Prof. Eben N. Horsford and Charles B. Moore, Esq.
The day arrived (the weather was all that could be desired) and was practically given over to the affair in hand, most of the stores and business places being closed. Early in the morning the village was astir and soon wore a gala-day appear- ance, residences and business places being handsomely decorated with patriotic emblems and flags.
The parade formed on Main Street near the railroad at 10 : A. M., and moved west to Osborn Avenue, up Osborn Avenue to Court Street, through Court to Griffing Avenue, up Griffing to Lincoln Avenue, through Lincoln to Roanoke Avenue, down Roanoke to Second Street, through Second to East Street, down East to First Street, through First to Roanoke, up Roanoke to Second, through Second to Griffing Avenue, down Griffing to Main Street, east along Main and disbanded at Bridge Street. At the head was Benjamin T. Davis, Grand Marshal. Then came the Greenport Brass Band, Leader Geehring, making a fine appearance in their handsome uni-
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forms, and pleasing all by their excellent music. Following was Henry A. Barnum Post, G. A. R., Commander Thomas Britton ; then O. O. Howard Camp, Sons of Veterans, William C. Britton, Commander ; Chief Oliver A. Terry of the Fire Department, Red Bird Engine Company No. I, Assistant Foreman Magee in charge, with machine; Washington Com- pany No. 2, Foreman James L. Millard ; the portly forms of County Treasurer Perkins and Horatio F. Buxton at the head, and steamer; the engine of Rough and Ready Company No. 3 (members not in line, many being in the march in other capacities), Quickstep Ilook and Ladder Company No. 4, and truck, and a company of youngsters dragging the first engine owned in Riverhead. The apparatus were all gayly trimmed.
The Riverhead Brass Band followed, Leader Hill, playing lively selections in good style; then several young men on horseback, carriage containing Supervisor Homan, Town Clerk Bagshaw, County Clerk Fanning, Sheriff Darling, and ex- Sheriff Cooper; carriage containing Judge Tuthill, chairman of Reception Committee, Rev. Mr. Noble, of Greenport, J. M. Wagner and N. W. Foster; aged sleigh in which were seated Mrs. Everett Terry and Misses Fannie Terry, Mary Sayre and Lina Foster, dressed in old-time styles, with Fred. Reisdorph, representing "Uncle Sam," as driver; two box wagons filled with children ; a wagon --- Arthur H. Tuthill, of Jamesport, in ancient garb, driving-in which were seated two young ladies in costumes of many years agone, busily working a spinning wheel; citizens of the town in wagons. The parade was a creditable affair and was heartily applauded along the route.
The public meeting was held in Riverhead Hall at 2 o'clock. The room was crowded. Upon the platform sat many of the town's representative men. Nat. W. Foster presided. The exercises were opened with prayer by Rev. Mr. Chalmers of the village Congregational Church. A choir of about thirty local singers, with Sidney H. Ritch as chorister and Prof. A. M. Tyte at the organ, excellently rendered a selection. Sec-
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retary Bagshaw read the following letters of acceptance and regret :
PATCHOGUE, N. Y., June 28, 1892. JOHN BAGSHAW, Esq. :
DEAR SIR :- I regret that previous engagements will pre- vent my attendance at your Centennial Anniversary. I have no doubt the occasion will be both pleasant and profitable. The Town of Riverhead is the connecting link between the east- ern and western towns of our County, and that she will con- tinue to join them together in the future, as in the past, is the hearty wish of the loyal sons of Suffolk.
Yours truly, W. M. SMITH.
NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY, ALBANY, June 29, 1892.
MR. JOHN BAGSHAW,
.Secretary of the General Committee, etc .:
DEAR SIR :-- Your kind invitation to me to be present at celebration of the Centennial of the formation of the Town of Riverhead, on the 4th of July next, was received this morning. I regret to say I had made arrangements to be elsewhere engaged, and, therefore, can only send regrets that I cannot be with you on so interesting occasion. I trust you will do as all the other towns have done, send the State Library a pub- lished copy of the proceedings.
Respectfully yours, GEORGE ROGERS HOWELL. . SOUTHAMPTON, June 29, 1892.
MR. JOHN BAGSHAW, Secretary :
DEAR SIR :- Please accept my thanks for your invitation to be present at the Centennial Anniversary of the formation of your town on the 4th.
It is hardly probable that I can come, but I will do so if possible.
Trusting you will have a good time,
I am, yours truly, JAMES H. PIERSON. SOUTHOLD, June 29, 1892. JOHN BAGSHAW, Esq. :
DEAR SIR :- Most gratefully appreciated is your kind invitation to be present at the Centennial Anniversary of the
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formation of the Town of Riverhead, on the 4th of July next. It is my purpose to attend the public meeting which you will hold at 2 P. M.
Thankfully yours, EPHER WHITAKER. KINGS PARK, June 30, 1892.
. JOHN BAGSHAW, Esq., Riverhead, N. Y. :
DEAR SIR :- Your kind invitation at hand. Am sorry to say I cannot come on account of a prior engagement.
However, you have my best wishes that you may have a rousing good time.
Thanking you, I am yours
Very truly, B. F. CURTIS. BABYLON, L. I., June 30, IS92. JOHN BAGSHAW, Esq. :
Your very cordial invitation to attend the Centennial An- niversary of the Town of Riverhead is duly received.
I regret that a previous engagement will prevent my accept- ance, for I have no doubt that those present will have a royal good time, and the celebration will be worthy the good old Town of Riverhead.
Yours truly, RICHARD HIGBIE. BRIDGE HAMPTON, 30th June, 1892.
JOHN BAGSHAW, Esq. :
DEAR SIR :-- Your invitation that I attend the coming Centennial Celebration of the formation of the Town of River- head is received, and I am obliged therefor.
It would give me great pleasure to attend the celebration and I intend to do so if my health permits, but that is un- certain.
I am yours truly, H. P. HEDGES. SPRINGS, L. I., July 1, 1892.
JOHN BAGSHAW, Esq. :
DEAR SIR :- Accept thanks for the invitation duly received to attend Riverhead's first Centennial Celebration. I regret exceedingly that I cannot be present with you. I extend con- gratulations, however, that this "Chip of the (South) old
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block," which had been fashioned into the centre pin of old Suffolk machinery, can call attention to its career with so much honest pride.
Very truly yours, GEO. A. MILLER.
MR. JOHN BAGSHAW :
DEAR SIR :- Please accept for your committee my thanks for your cordial invitation to be present at the Centennial Anniversary of the formation of your town. I regret that circumstances, over which I have no control, render it im- possible for me to be present with you on that day.
Hoping that you may be favored with a perfect day and that your celebration may prove a most gratifying success,
I remain yours, BYRON GRIFFING.
SHELTER ISLAND HEIGHTS, July 1, 1892.
PATCHOGUE, N. Y., July 1, 1892. JOHN BAGSHAW, Esq. :
DEAR SIR :- Many thanks for your kind invitation to be present. at the Centennial Anniversary of the formation of your Town of Riverhead, on July 4th.
It would afford me pleasure to be present, but visiting friends, who will be in Patchogue over the 4th, will claim my attention, so that I hardly feel justified in being absent on that day.
Yours very truly, JOHN M. PRICE. MIDDLE ISLAND, N. Y., July 2, 1892.
MR. JOHN BAGSHAW, Secretary :
DEAR SIR :- Your invitation to attend the Centennial Celebration of the organization of Riverhead Town is received with grateful appreciation of the honor thereby conferred upon me. I have always felt a deep interest in Riverhead as a model town in many of its points of character, and should take great pleasure in attending the celebration. Circumstances may favor my doing so.
I am, yours respectfully, RICHARD M. BAYLES.
After another selection from the choir, Miss Minerva Mitchell read the immortal Declaration of Independence. The
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historical paper which followed, after music by the band, pre- pared and read by Orville B. Ackerly, Esq., now a resident of Yonkers, N. Y., is here given in full :
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen:
We have been passing through a period of centennial an- niversaries, the first in our history as a nation. Beginning with the celebration of the Declaration of our Independance at Philadelphia in 1876, which must always remain the greatest event in our national life, our birth; hardly a week, certainly not a month, has passed, that has not witnessed in some part of the territory comprising the original thirteen States the centennial anniversary of some important event: the battles on land or sea, victories or defeats of the Revolutionary War, the final surrender of Cornwallis, the evacuation of New York, the adoption of the Constitution, the inauguration of President Washington, and like events, so that, as much as possible, we have lived over again the stormy scenes of our early history, and we appreciate more than ever before what it cost to make us a free and independent nation. In many places, celebration of events that took place two hundred years ago have occurred. The county celebrated its bi-centennial nine years ago, and the towns of Southold and Southampton only two years ago rejoiced over the fact that they had lived two hundred and fifty years. Last autumn the churches at Upper Aquebogue and Baiting Hollow invited their friends to enjoy with them in the festivities that appropriately marked the conclusion of one hundred years of useful existence, and now the Town of River- head finding itself one hundred years old, proposes to cele- brate the fact, selecting the glorious national anniversary day, that the fires of local pride and national patriotism may mingle and make brighter and more memorable the happy occasion. Next year this notable period of anniversaries may be said to close with the celebration of the greatest event known to modern times, that which made all the rest possible-the discovery of a new world by Columbus. Occurring somewhat
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tardily, it may be all the more successful. No lover of his kind and of his country but rejoices over the fact that the public enters so heartily into the spirit of these celebrations.
Let us consider briefly the condition of our own country and the world at large at the time this town was organized. The new constitution was almost an experiment, for less than four years had passed since it had been made the supreme law of the land. No addition had been made to our territory. Maine was still a province of Massachusetts, and Vermont had just been made a State only to prevent it from any longer being debatable ground between New York and New Hampshire. The vast valley of the Mississippi was a part of France, while Florida and the immense region north of the Rio Grande were still under the rule of Spain. Thanks to enterprising and in- trepid explorers, we to-day know a great deal about Central Africa. But the generation that lived when this town was established knew nothing of the unknown land beyond the Mississippi. In all maps of the world at that time the region was a blank. It was, of course, supposed that there must be rivers and mountains there, and so they were put down appar- ently at random and by guess-work. It was the custom of geographers to people these unknown wastes with strange and uncouth animals, or monsters rather, which makes one of the poets of that day declare,
"Geographers on Afric maps With savage pictures fill their gaps; O'er uninhabitable downs Place elephants for want of towns."
And it was so on the maps of America. The "western country " meant then the middle of the State of New York. New York was a respectable sized city of about 30,000 inhab- itants, where everybody knew everybody, and on the east end of Long Island there were many who had heard of the great city and longed to see it, but "died without the sight," for want of courage enough to brave the long and dangerous jour- ney. George Washington was serving his first term as Pres-
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ident, and "His Excellency, George Clinton, Esq.," was our Governor. The great men of state were Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, Robert R. Livingston, John Jay and Gouverneur Morris; De Witt Clinton was but a young lawyer only five years out of college. Fulton had not yet made the dream of his life a reality; the sloop on the river and the stage coach on the land were the means of conveyance, and the only means. Political parties had no platforms, at least no written ones, but the dividing line between the Federalists and Repub- licans were as strongly drawn as any party lines at the present time. The followers of Jefferson and Burr denounced Wash- ington and Hamilton in terms which would be considered out- rageous even to the political rancour of to-day, while they in return were accused in most vehement language of a base con- spiracy to destroy religion, the Bible and all that respectability then held dear, and to emulate the Jacobins of France in their deeds of blood. George III. was still the King of Great Bri- tain, and destined to continue so for a score of years to come. Louis XVI. and his ill-fated Queen, Marie Antoinette, were still the rulers of France, but only in name, for the time was brief indeed before they would leave the palace for the prison, and the prison for the scaffold. Robespierre was but a young attorney, and had not yet made his name infamous for all coming time. Mirabeau, whose power and political genius might have turned the tide of revolution into more peaceful channels, had but lately passed away. The French philoso- phers, who had done their best (or their worse) to destroy all faith in religion and the Bible, and had conjured up in their place atheism and anarchy, were destined soon to be among the first victims of the fiends they had raised. Among the spectators of the events that "passed with giant steps" was a young man maned Napoleon Bonaparte, then twenty-three years old, a captain of artillery, who was shortly to change the map of Europe and make the earth shake with the tread of his armies. Wellesley, afterwards the Iron Duke, Napoleon's conqueror to be, was twenty-two years of age and preparing
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for service in India. Spain was then but a shadow of the power that had been, but even then how vast was its territory. Prussia had become powerful through the mighty military genius of Frederick the Great, but what is now the German Empire was then but a group of petty States powerless for want of union. Italy, partly ruled as "the States of the Church," partly under independent rulers, and all over- shadowed by Austria. The only place in Europe where freedom was enshrined was on the mountain top of Switzer- land. Turkey was not then the "sick man of Europe," but it power fully capable of taking care of itself. Greece was but a name on the map; it had its ruins and its records of the past, nothing else. It now seems hardly credible that the piratical fleets of Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli were then the terror of the seas, and the most powerful nations of Christen- dom were compelled to pay them tribute as a protection for their commerce. It was the beginning of a new order of things when the young nation beyond the Atlantic returned a- an answer to their demands, "Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute." Lastly there was Russia, vast in its extent of land, great in the numbers of its people, but as a nation just emerging from barbarism, and with a young Alex- ander for an Emperor. We might add as an item of interest, that when this town was established, the first newspaper on Long Island was but a year old, Frothingham's Long Island Herald, established at Sag Harbor, May 10, 1791.
Seventeen hundred and ninety-two seems to have been a year prolific of events worth noting. Kentucky, created a State out of Virginia's large territory, was that year admitted to the Union, becoming the fifteenth State. The manufacturing city of Paterson, N. J., was founded that year and is now celebrating the fact. A Boston captain, cruising in the Pacific, by acci- dent discovered the largest river on the coast, and named it after his ship, the Columbia. The New York Stock Exchange was started that year; coal gas was first used as an illuminant, and the canal system of this State originated in 1792. And
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down at East Hampton, in a very humble dwelling, on the 9th day of June, in that year, to the first teacher of Clinton Aca- demy, the first academy in this State, there was born a son, who, in a wandering, checkered career covering sixty years, as clerk, actor, manager, playwriter and diplomat, achieved nothing else of note, but made himself famous as long as the English tongue shall last, as the author of "Home, Sweet Home"-John Howard Payne.
On January 11, 1792, there was presented to the Assembly, then in session in New York City, the petition of Peter Reeves and others that the town of Southold be divided into two towns. At the same time, the petition of John Wells, Justice of the Peace, and others praying for a postponement of such action by the Legislature, until the next session, was read. Benjamin Horton, Jr., Henry Herrick and others also prayed for an Act authorizing town meetings to be held alternately at the old Town Meeting House (the First Presbyterian Church at Southold) and the Aquebogue Meeting House. The last refers doubtless to the old church, 24x33, which then stood on the south side of the road, nearly opposite the present church at Upper Aquebogue. The petitions were referred to the appropriate committee, which reported on the 16th of the following month in favor of an Act dividing the town, and the Assembly concurred. The Act passed the House March 3, and passed the Senate five days later. The law was approved by the Council of Revision, a feature in our first constitution, and Riverhead became a town March 13, 1792. These petitions cannot be found, and we are left to surmise the reasons for and against the change. No matter what they were, the town became a fact, and she has no doubt as to the date of her birth, unlike her mother, Southold, and her aunt, Southampton ; for these dear old sisters, having long passed the period when ladies expect to be thought young, are now claim- ing, each that she is older than the other. On this question Riverhead is neutral; in fact, we do not want it settled; it keeps alive interest and stimulates inquiry, benefiting us by
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increasing our knowledge of the beginnings of history on the east end of Long Island.
The first town meeting was held at the Court House (the old Court House) April 3, 1792, and Daniel Wells was chosen Supervisor ; Josiah Reeve, Town Clerk; John C. Terry, Joseph Wells and Benjamin Terry, Assessors; Jeremiah Wells and Spencer Dayton, Highway Commissioners; Deacon Daniel Terry, Zachariah Hallock and Daniel Edwards, Overseers of the Poor; Nathan Youngs, Eleazer Luce, Rufus Youngs, John Corwin, Zophar Mills, Peter. Reeve and Merrit Howell, Over- seers of Highways; Sylvanus Brown, Collector, and David Brown, Abel Corwin and Benjamin Horton, Constables. These names sound familiar; for although all long since dead, others bearing the same names, certainly same surnames, are among us to-day. In later years new and strange names have ap- peared on the town tickets, like Perkins, Millard, Stackpole, Homan and Bagshaw, but only because the people are hospit- able, unselfish and like to encourage immigration. Daniel Wells, the first Supervisor, was re-elected the next year, but died before completing the term of office. Josiah Reeve con- tinued to be Town Clerk for four years, and was succeeded by John Woodhull (afterwards Judge John Woodhull), who held the office for eleven years.
In the early days the circumstances and conditions of establishing a new village or settlement were very different from those of the present time. The main points to be considered then were: How near to a bay or harbor? Is there plenty of meadow land? This was a most important consideration, for the crop of meadow hay which, without care or cultivation, came with annual regularity, was a thing of the greatest value. And last, not by any means least, "Is there a stream for a mill?" How greatly times have changed may be known by the fact that when a country place is now spoken of as a desirable place of residence the very first interrogatory is, " How far from a railroad station?"
The main settlement of Setauket, the parent hive of the
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town of Brookhaven, soon sent out small swarms of inhabitants to establish new villages. The native Indian inhabitants have a right to the soil, which, to their credit be it said, the settlers of the towns in Suffolk County never failed to recognize, and under date of June 10, 1694, we find that the Indian Sachem, "John Mayhew, doth freely give, grant and surrender, unto the Committee of Connecticut for settling business on Long Island, for the use of the town of Seatalk, the feed and timber of all ye lands from ye Old Man's to the Wading River." This was signed by the Sachem and duly witnessed by John Cooper and Richard Howell, who were prominent residents of the village of Southampton. This John Mayhew, an Indian with an English name, must have been a powerful chief and well recognized as one in authority, for we find him giving to the original purchasers of Moriches their right and title to the land, and his name is connected with other trans- fers on the south side of the land.
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