USA > New York > Suffolk County > Babylon > Huntington Town records, including Babylon, Long Island, N.Y. 1688-1775, Volume II > Part 1
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1800
HUNTINGTON
TOWN RECORDS,
INCLUDING
BABYLON,
LONG ISLAND, N. Y.
1688 1775.
WITH INTRODUCTION, NOTES AND INDEX BY
·
CHARLES R. STREET.
VOLUME II.
TRANSCRIBED, COMPILED AND PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY AND AT THE EXPENSE OF THE TWO TOWNS.
1888.
1
9
COPYRIGHT, 1888, BY THE TOWNS OF HUNTINGTON AND BABYLON, NEW YORK.
by uansfer OCT 12 1915
THE "LONG ISLANDER" PRINT : HUNTINGTON, L. I.
COPY OF RESOLUTIONS.
Passed at the Annual Meeting of the Electors of the Town of Huntington, N. Y., April 5th, 1887.
Resolved, That the publication of the Town records be ontinued by the Committee appointed at the last Town Meeting, and that the sum of five hundred dollars be and ereby is appropriated for the purpose of continuing the [ ublication of such records, and that the Supervisor cause the said sum to be inserted in the next tax warrant, to be aised and paid over by the Collector to the Supervisor, › be drawn on the order of the said Committee.
Resolved, That the Committee on publication of Town records deliver the printed copies of the first volume to the Supervisor, and that the same be sold by or under the supervision of the Supervisor at one dollar and fifty cents per volume, the proceeds, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to be applied by him to the continuation of the work, except that one copy may be furnished gratuitously to each Town Clerk in Suffolk County, one to the County Clerk, one to the Suffolk County Historical Society, one to the Long Island Historical Society, one to the State Library at Albany, and two to the Congressional Library at Washington, D. C.
Resolved, That the electrotype plates of the first volume of Huntington Town Records be delivered by the Com- mittee on Publication into the care and custody of the Town Clerk.
iv
RESOLUTIONS.
TOWN CLERK'S OFFICE, Huntington, Suffolk County, N. Y. §
I hereby certify that the foregoing are true copies of Resolu- tions passed at the annual Town Meeting held in Huntington, April 5th, 1887, recorded on page 152, Vol. IV. of Town Meet- ings in my office.
PHILIP PEARSALL,
Town Clerk.
November 22, 1887.
TOWN CLERK'S OFFICE, Babylon, Suffolk Co., N. Y. S
I hereby certify that at the annual Town Meeting held in and for the town of Babylon, on the 5th day of April, 1887, the sum of five hundred dollars was appropriated for publication of old town records.
JOSEPH A. MOORE,
Town Clerk.
December 1, 1887.
TOWN CLERK'S CERTIFICATE.
I hereby certify that I have compared, or caused to be compared, this printed volume with the original manu- script records in my office, and I believe that the same is a correct and exact copy of said original records, " errata " excepted.
PHILIP PEARSALL,
Town Clerk.
November 22, 1887.
:
٨
INTRODUCTION.
The first volume of these records closed at 1688, thirty- five years after the first settlement of the town, and this volume continues the records from 1688 to 1776. The same plan adopted in the first volume, of printing the pa- pers without regard to their subject matter, in the exact order of their date, has been adhered to in this volume. All material papers, within the dates above mentioned, have been included except private deeds later than 1700, (the volumes containing them being in a fair state of preserva- tion) and two written volumes entitled respectively "Grants by Town Trustees" and "Surveys of Trustees' Grants." These latter are important records, being brief statements and descriptions of parcels of land granted by the town trustees between 1694, when trustees were first chosen, and about 1750, and they are the source of the individual title to nearly every farm and parcel of land in the present towns of Huntington and Babylon, but they have been omitted because it has been deemed by the Committee best that they should be printed in a separate book, un- mixed with other records. All other proceedings of the Trustees of the town have been included down to 1776. The rule adopted in the first volume, of strictly following the spelling, punctuation and capitalization, in the manu- script record, has been adhered to in this, and at the foot of every paper will be found a reference in italics showing the book, page, or number of the file, where the original record may be found, and the carefully prepared index at the end of the volume will enable any particular paper to
Vill
INTRODUCTION.
be readily found. The selection and arrangement of the material and preparation of the index has been a work of much labor.
At the period of the opening of this second volume great changes had taken place since the first white men came here. About all who at the first settlement were old had passed away; those who were in the prime of life had be- come old, and the children of the pioneers had now come to be men and women. As those who have perused the first volume will have seen, the Indian title had been extin- guished to the necks of land on the north and south sides of the town, and to much of the territory inland ; the title had been confirmed by the Colonial Governors, and after many exciting controversies and vigorously contested law- suits with neighboring towns and settlements, the bound- aries of the town had been in a great measure settled. The people no longer dwelt in closely guarded habitations con- fined to the vicinity of the "town spot," but had gone out to the remotest parts of the town and built up homes, founded settlements, made clearings, erected fences, plant- ed orchards and cultivated fields of considerable extent. There were at least four flour mills in operation, two or three saw mills, several tanneries, one or more brickyards, a town dock, a town school, a town church, and a fort and depository for arms and ammunition. More or less small vessels sailed out and in the harbors, some running to ports on the Sound, and some to the West India Islands, taking out barrel staves, pork and other provisions, and bringing back sugar, molasses, rum and sack.
Quite a vigorous military organization existed, and the train bands were regularly drilled and on duty ready for any emergency. The Duke's Laws were still in force and minor offences were punished by confinement in the stocks, aud whipping posts existed, but were rarely used. A County organization had taken the place of the old scheme
ix
INTRODUCTION.
of "ridings" and taxes were regularly assessed and col. lected. A tax list, printed near the beginning of this vol- ume, gives the names of all the property owners in the town at this period, 1688, and discloses many names new to the town.
This time is memorable in history as the period of the English revolution of 1689, involving the overthrow of James II., the accession of William and Mary to the throne, and the establishment of a popular Assembly in the Col- ony of New York ; and in this connection it will be noticed that the first volume of the Huntington records ends at the beginning of the English revolution and the second volume at the beginning of the great American Revolution, histor- ical epochs which make a convenient division of the work. Huntington was in full sympathy with the revolutionary party in England, sided with Governor Leisler in his revo- lutionary proceedings at New York City, and sent soldiers there to aid in seizing the fort and raising the standard of William and Mary on Manhattan Island. Considering the intensely Puritan proclivities of the people of Huntington, it is natural that they should have ranged themselves with the Protestant party and a Protestant king, as against the Catholic James II., who had so relentlessly persecuted the Protestants. The revolution being a success, and a popu- lar Legislature having been established in the Province, which convened in 1691, Huntington was represented in it and continued to be represented in the Colonial Assem- bly down to the Revolution of 1776.
One who peruses this volume will find much interesting material. It will be seen how the first two patents of the town were seized and held by Colonial Governors for sev- eral years, but finally regained, and another patent granted in 1694, and how the boundaries of the town were finally readjusted with Smithtown, Lloyd's Neck and Eaton's Neck. He will read with some interest papers which are
x
INTRODUCTION.
now probably printed for the first time, giving a history of the violent controversy which raged in the town from 1711 to 1715, concerning the choice of a site for a new meeting house and which finally resulted in the selection of a loca- tion where the First Presbyterian Church of Huntington village now stands. He will read of further contests and law-suits concerning the lands purchased of the Indians east of the town line ; the division of the necks on the South side ; further purchases from the Indians of large tracts of land in the interior; the increase of negro slavery here, and a hundred other interesting matters connected with the progress of the rising settlement.
As above stated, this volume brings the printed records down to the opening of the Revolutionary war, and no further. The period of this war is covered by a great mass of very interesting and valuable papers, in the Town Clerk's office, which have never been printed, and their publication would add greatly to the general historic knowledge of this time. Several historians of acknowl- edged repute, who have examined these papers, state that Huntington has the most voluminous record of the local events of the Revolution of any town in New York State. Their publication is greatly to be desired.
CHARLES R. STREET.
HUNTINGTON TOWN RECORDS.
Volume I of the Huntington Records closed with the confirmation grant of Governor Dongan to the Town of Huntington, dated Aug. 2, 1688, of all the territory of the town except such parcels of land as had not then been pur- chased from the Indians. The grant stipulated that, as quit rent, there was reserved to the King one lamb, or its value, to be delivered at the Governor's office in New York City, the 25th day of March in every year. Literally, therefore, " the lamb was in the lion's mouth " every year, and the annual bleating of the sheep chosen for the sacri- fice served as a reminder to the people that they were expected to submit to whatever the King demanded. British Colonial Governors may have dined annually on Huntington mutton for about one hundred years, but when, in the Spring of 1783, Col. Thompson's Dragoons marched away from here, after seven years' of war, no more sheep were sent "to York." The lion was now in the lamb's mouth .- C. R. S.]
[HORSE RECORD OF THOMAS BRUSH.]
[1688.]
Thomas Brush his Records.
A Brown Bay Mare 3 years old a white slip in the face the near eare croped Branded with B on the near buttock the towns E on the of buttock.
2
HUNTINGTON TOWN RECORDS.
A baye yearling horse Coult* with a star in the forehead on the neare buttock with B. and on the of buttock with the towns E. there.
A Bay horse colt with a white star in the forehead Brand. ed on the near buttock with B and on the of buttock with the towns brand E.
A sorrel mare 3 years old with a smale streke of white in the face with the of Ears cropt Branded with B. G. on the neare buttock and the towns brand on the of buttock Mare foole.
* This is given as a sample of a large number of similar rec- ords. Others are omitted. The date of this paper calls to mind the fact that it was just about this period, or a little later, that three Arabian blooded horses were first introduced into England, which are the ancestors of all the racing horses of our time. The first, Byerly Turk, was, according to the first vol- ume of the stud-book, Captain Byerly's charger in Ireland in King William's wars ; the second, Darley Arabian, was a bay stallion imported from Aleppo by Mr. Darley, of Yorkshire ; the third horse of the famous trio was Godolphin Arabian. It is said that all the horses now on the turf or at the stud, trace their ancestry in the direct male line to one or other of these three. In the female line their pedigrees can be traced to other sources. It was the grafting of this Arabian stock in the sturdy Saxon breed of horses that had existed there from before the time of Julius Cæsar that has produced the modern racing horse.
The horses owned by the early settlers of Huntington wers probably an inferior breed, judging from the descriptions given of them in this book of horse brands and "observable marks." In color the black predominated, and on an average they were under size. Many small, scrubby stallions and mares were running wild in the woods, and it was a standing rule that all such should be shot on sight in order to prevent a deterioration in the breed. In this they only followed a similar ordinance in force in England in the time of Henry VIII, the preamble of which runs thus : "Forasmuch as the generation and breed of good and strong horses within this realm extendeth not only to a great help and defence of the same but is also a great com- modity and profit to the inhabitants thereof, which is much
3
HUNTINGTON TOWN RECORDS.
A brown mare 2 year old with a star in the forehead with a crop on the near eare branded on the near buttock with B and on the of buttock with the towns brand E.
A Brown horse* 5 years old with a crope on the near year branded on the near shoulder with M. L. and on the near Buttock with S.
(Court Records, p. 233.)
[DEED .- JOSEPH BAILEY TO JAMES SMITH.] [Abstract.]
[1688, Aug. 19.]
This indenture made ye nineteenth day of august in ye
decayed and diminished by reason that in forests, chases, moors and waste grounds within this realme little stoned horses and nags of small stature and of little value be not only suffered to pasture thereupon but also to cover mares feeding there, where- of cometh in manner no profit or commodity, therefore enacted that no horse being above the age of two years and not being of the height of 15 'handfulls' shall be put to graze on any common lands." By another section of the law all such horses and mares were to be killed. "It is claimed that the living horse did not exist in America at the time of its discovery, but this point is not fully settled. Bones of the pre-historic horse have been found imbedded in older rock in America than anywhere on the globe. Our ancestors in Huntington probably first ob- tained their stock from the older towns in New England and Virginia. The breed was doubtless a mixture between such as were imported directly from England and those brought over by Spanish adventurers into more southern latitudes and Cen- tral America at an earlier period. The Huntington horse of 1688, under size, scraggy and uncouth in form, branded, vented and re-branded every time it changed owners, both with the town and individual marks, until most of the hair had disap- peared under the searing hot iron, and with its ears clipped and gouged with sheep shears, must have presented rather a sorry appearance .- C. R. S.]
4
HUNTINGTON TOWN RECORDS.
third yeer of the Raine of our Sov" Lord Jams the second and in the yeer of our lord acording to ye computation of the Church of England one thousand six hundred eaghtie eaight Betweene Joseph Baily of the towne of huntington upon Long Iland in ye countie of suffolk and province of new yorke in America husbanman and alce his wife of the one partie and Jams smith of the same towne countie & province afore sd. cooper of ye other partie : Witnesseth that ye sd Joseph Baily and alce his wife have for divers good causes and considerations us their unto mov- ing but more especially for & in ye consideration of ye sum of five pounds in curant silvar coyne as it passeth in this province, A yoake of oxen that hee worketh with new cart and new wheels with a good sett of cart boxes and a sett of good Iorn hoops with the yoake & yoake irons boult & clevise yt ye said oxen worketh with all as allso the ballence of all acounts betweene ye sd Joseph baiely & Jams Smith from the begining of the wourld to ye day of ye datte heer of, all in hand secured before ye ensealling and delivering heer of have bargoned alenated sould and confirmed and by these presents from us our heairs execu- tors administrators and asignes doe alenate Bargen sell and confirme unto ye sd. James Smith his heairs executors administrators and asignes all that parcell of medow Land yt I have sittuate lying & on ye south side of this Iland on a necke of medowe comanly called or knowne by ye name of santepauge bounded one ye east with ye woods in com- anidge one the north side with ye medowe of John wickes on the west with A creeke that parteth the medowe of Robart Callem and mor on ye south or south east with ye medowe of Jonathan Rogers Runing to ye sound and from Jonathan Rogers line yt parts mee & Rodgers to the out- ermost edge of a pond and soe to ye sound soe the creeke and salt pond with a strait line too the sound is ye south or south east side of Robart Kellams bounds wee say all ye
5
HUNTINGTON TOWN RECORDS.
afore said medowe land fresh & salt exsept a way that the said Robart kellam have granted for ye carting his hay to him & his heairs for ever acording to ye tener of his deed of saille else all prevelidges yt doth or may heer after be- long to ye same by way of purchase of upland upon that necke wee have asigned over from us our heairs exsecutors administrators and asignes untto Jams Smiths his heairs exsecutors administrators & asignes to have and to hould for ever yeelding & paying therefore his anuall and yeerly proportion of what may be long to ye Goverment of this province (full covenant of title and warranty clause)*
in witness where of to this present indenture wee have set our hands and seales.
signed, sealed and delivered in the
JOSEPH BAILY the mark of
presence of us JEREMIAH SMITH THOMAS SMITH
ALCE X BAILY
august ye 20, 1688 there apeared before mee the within mentioned subscribers and acknowledged this instrument to bee their ackt and deed.
EPENETUS PLAT Justice of ye peace
A true coppy of ye originall deed compared August ye 30th 1688 p mee Isaac Platt, Recr (Deeds, Vol. 1, pp. 248-9.)
[*In this and other deeds headed "Abstract" the mere for- mal parts are omitted and only the essentials are given, in- cluding, in all cases, the full description of the premises con- tained in the deed. At this period the formal clauses of a deed came to be exceedingly verbose, abounding in useless repeti- tions, and the committee decided that abstracts, giving all the material portions of conveyances, would be better than to ex- haust so much space with immaterial matter. Those who desire to consult the language of the deed in full can easily inspect the original record, the reference being given at the foot of every paper .- C. R. S.]
6
HUNTINGTON TOWN RECORDS.
[TOWN MEETING.]
[1688, Aug. 20.]
August ye 20th 1688 it was at a towne meeting voated and consented to by ye towne that Captt Epenetus Platt and thomas Powell should goe to yorke to treat with gov- erner Androsse and Mr Graham about our Pattent and what thay judge meett to bee done in order to ye towne good as to procuring a Lysence to purchase what Land and meddows within our limits may bee benifishall to ye towne and what thay too shall doe in order to ye premises ye towne doth promise to Rattifie and confirme.
the day above written it was voated yt James Chiches- ter should bee Relaxd of what contrackt or bargin hee made with the towne for the swamp lying att ye Reer of thomas higbes home lott.
the day above written it was voated yt Jeremiah hub- bart shall have three acars of land in part of his division land att ye Reer of Joseph whitmans house Lott their must bee a hie way betwixt Joseph whitmans lott and his land.
(Town Meetings, Vol. 1, p. 160.)
[LAND OF ROBERT ARTHUR.]
[1688, Aug. 29.]
more delivered Robart arthor fiftie and 2 pole south- ward lying by ye side of the swamp bounded by the whitte oake at the foot of the hill from ye chesnutt tree that was first marked 80 pole by the cleft more wheare 2 white oaks out of one stump is marked.
A True Coppy of the originall deed p. mee
Isaac Platt Recor
August ye 29. 1688.
(Deeds, Vol. 1, p. 245 B.)
7
HUNTINGTON TOWN RECORDS.
[CHARGES OF TOWN'S AGENTS FOR "TREATING" WITH THE INDIANS, &c.]
[1688, 9th month.]
An acount what Tho: Powell hath done for ye towne.
1686 1687 for } bushell of oats caried to ye ferry 00 01 03
for I Journey to york with I. P. Is : 6ª : expended OI OI 09
of my own mony
I Journey more to yorke
I days discourse with Swanamee & Iqrt Rum then. 0 04 00
I day goeing to Sequetaug for Indians to mark boundys
O 04 00
a day my selfe & son to marke ye bounds for 4 qts & I pint Rume
o об 09
for Is paid wamehas
0 OI
00
for entertainement for Swanamee & his horse 12 days & 3 Indians more 2 daies for & of a day at Capt fleets 1688 : 3ªnº : gino : I Journey to yorke
O IO
00
O
OI
00
I
00 O
3ino : I Journey to yorke
O
14
6
gino : I Journey to yorke
O
14
6
for making ye Rat for defraying a charg Jonas Wood sr his accot
2
6
I day to Run the bounds with ye Indians
O
04
0
a day to oysterbay
0
04 0
¿ bushell of winter wheat to ye Indians
0
02
6
§ a day to view ye pattant & # a days ) discourse with Swanamee
0 02
6
13: 0
Thomas Fleett sr his acct.
£ s d
for & of a day about ye acct. 0: 01:00
for & a day to view ye Pattant
0: 01:03
s. d.
0
4
5
d
£ S
0 I7 00
o 05 00
8
HUNTINGTON TOWN RECORDS.
to ye value of 2 daies spent
0:05:00
0 07
II
for making ye Rat
2 6
1
10 5
(File No. 47.)
[DEED. JONATHAN SCUDDER TO THOMAS HIGBEE AND THOMAS FLEET.]
[1688, Sept. 3.]
September the third 1688
Whearas at a towne meeting october ye 14th 1686, the towne sold a piece of medere to Jonath. Scuder these prsents testifie yt all that meddewe in the east neck yt Insigne Jonathan Scuder bout of ye towne at an out cry at ye sd. meeting above named hee ye said Scuder with con- sent of his wife doth aknowledge yt they have sold and made over from them their heirs, executors administrators and asigns for ever all yt parsel of medowe before named wee say wee have sould it to thomas higbe and thomas fleet to them their heairs exsecutors administrators and asignes to have and to hould for ever and further acknowl- ege yt wee have Reseved full satisfaction for ye a bove named meddowe as wittnes our hands ye year and day above written
the interlinin between ye first & second lines was before signment
Witnesses ISACK PLATT
JONATHAN SCUDDER SARAH SCUDDER
RICHARD WARD (Town Meetings, Vol. 1, p. 144.)
.
9
HUNTINGTON TOWN RECORDS.
[DEED. JOSEPH WOOD TO WILLIAM JARVIS.] [Abstract.]
[1688, Sept. Io.]
This Indenture made ye tenth daye of september In ye fourth yeare of ye Raigne of (&c) & In ye yeare of Christ 1688 betwen Josep wood of Merick In ye towneship of Hemsteade upon Longe Island being in the Qunes County yeoman & Joanna his wife of ye one partey and Willam Jearves of Huntington In ye Countey of suffolk upon ye sd. Island both In ye Juredcktion of yorke In Amarack husband man of the other partey witneseth that ye sd. Joseph Wood for & in consideration of thes severall sumes of Money heare bye secured to bee payed by ye saied William Jearves his heyers executors administrators or asignes to ye sd. Joseph wood his heyers executors &c at times & places hereafter expresst yt Is to saye ye just & whole sume of seaven poundes thirteene shillings fower pence at or before the first of Maye next Insuing if ye sd. willam have a good voyage In Whaling ye are before if not then to paye the fore sd. sume of good & Lawfull money without fraud or further Delaye att or before ye first of Desember next Insuing & shall bee In ye (yeare) of our Lorde 1689 att ye now Dwelling house of Ebenetus plat sq' In Huntington afore sd. & allsoe ye Like sume of seven pounds thirteen shillings fower pence of Like Law- full mony to paye att or before ye first day of Maye which shall bee in ye yeare 1690 if he have a good voyage in whal- ing ye yeare before If not then to paye ye fore sd sume att ye place afore sd. without fraude or furder Delaye att or before ye first of Desember next after & allso ye like sume of seven pounds thirteene shillings foure pence to paye att or before ye first of Maye which shall bee in ye yeare of our Lord 1691 if ye sd. willam have a good voyage in whal-
IO
HUNTINGTON TOWN RECORDS.
ing ye yeare before & if not then to paye ye fore sd sume att or before ye first of Desember next after att ye place before sd. with out fraud or aney furder Delaye for & In consideration of these fore sd. sumess thus secured to bee payed ye sd. Joseph wood & Jonanna his wife Doth here bey bargan sele allenate enfeef confirme & make over all our Right title Intrest claime & Demand unto ye sd. wil- lam Jarvace his heyres &c of all that house & building to- gether with that lott of Land upon which it standeth being by estemation thre ackers bee ye same more or lese abut- ing upon ye north side of ye Lott whare Captune Bayle now liveth & upon ye north east side upon ye way that Leadeth to ye Harbur with all ye fences Liberties ease- ments, water woods, under-woods, & emallumetis what soever being part or parcell of my hundred pound right which I latley purchased or had granted from & bey the free houlders of Huntington as by ye Records of ye Court will a peare with all our Right & title theare unto pertain- ing whither it bee in Land layed out or to bee layed out with all or Right of Comanage there to belonging or ap- purtaining to have and to hould to him his heyers execu- tors administrators or asignes for ever all ye oreg. divised premises with all its Appurtenances from ye sd. Joseph wood & Jonanna his wife or their heyers (&c) he ye sd william Jarves paying & discharging all Debetes & De- mandes & doinge & perferming all such securetes as per- taine to ye premisses (covenant and warranty) In witnes heare of ye parties above named to thes Indentures Inter- changbley have set their hands & seales thee Daye & yeare before expresed, sealed signed & Delivered In ye presents of us.
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