A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 108

Author: Ross, Peter. cn
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1188

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"Very near the present settlement of Mid- dletown there lived a thrifty farmer, William Hallett, Jr., who held a portion of the land which his paternal grandfather had purchased of the natives. Near neighbors there were few or none, but his domestic hearth was en- livened by the presence of five children and a fond wife who was expected soon to add an- other to their store of conjugal comforts. In the family were two colored slaves, a man and wife, the former an Indian. Incensed, as was said at the time, because they were restrained from going abroad on the Sabbath, the woman meditated revenge and assured her husband that if he would only kill the whole family

then the farm and everything pertaining to it would become his own. He at last yielded to the wicked suggestion and accomplished the atrocious deed while his victims were asleep. It was on Saturday night, the 24th of Janu- ary, 1708. Hoping to screen themselves from suspicion, they concluded to be the first to announce the tragedy, and with this intent the female fiend, the prime instigator of the deed, set out early the next morning for Hallett's Cove. Entering a house, her first exclamation was: "Oh, dear! they have killed master and missis and the children with an axe, and only Sam and I have escaped." The truth, how- ever, was too palpable, and the guilty creature soon confessed who was the real murderer. Both were straightway arrested and lodged in Jamaica jail. Tidings of the affair were at once sent to Governor Cornbury, who imme- diately issued a special warrant to the judges, before whom, at Jamaica, the prisoners were arraigned for trial, and being found guilty, they were executed on the plains east of that village, on Monday, February 2d, in the pres- ence of a large concourse of spectators. The woman was burnt at the stake. Her accom- plice was hung in gibbets and placed astride a sharp iron, in which condition he lived some time; and in a state of delirium which ensued, believing himself to be on horseback, would urge forward his supposed animal with the frightful impetuosity of a maniac, while the blood oozing from his lacerated flesh streamed from his feet to the ground. How rude the age that could inflict such tortures, however great the crime committed! * ** Mr. * Hallett was a son of Captain William Hallett, then one of His Majesty's justices of the peace. He was in the prime of life, and had served the town in various public capacities.

"The event which so prematurely termi- nated his life and those of his family produced a strong sensation in the province, and a law was passed shortly after, making mention of the occurrence and entitled 'An act for pre- venting the conspiracy of slaves.' The dwell-

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ing where the murder was committed is still (1852) remembered by many, it having re -. mained until the beginning of the present cen- tury. It was built of brick and stood in the hollow on the west side of the road, opposite the late residence of Mr. Marks and within a few feet of the small house now erected there. The well which belonged to these premises remains still in use. With this spot the juve- niles were wont to associate the idea of ghosts and hobgoblins; it was noted as the scene of marvelous appearances witnessed by the timid traveler at the dim, mysterious hour of twi- light, and was often pointed at by the passing school boy as "the haunted house." By some it is stated that the assassination of the Hallett family was only part of a plot among the slaves of the vicinity to possess themselves of the property of their masters. There must have been some evidence in support of this theory, for it is related that on Tuesday, Feb- ruary loth, a week and a day after the exe- cution of the murderers, two negro men were put to death for complicity in the crime and several others had been arrested and were awaiting trial. Yet, had the murderous move- ment been a general one, it would doubtless be recorded that still others were punished. In the absence of such a statement it is fair to presume it was not."

The Burroughs family in Newtown can trace its American genealogy back to 1637, when John Burroughs landed in Salem, Mas- sachusetts. In 1643 he seems to have settled in Newtown, where he occupied a farm that remained intact in the possession of his de- scendants until about 1835. Another noted Newtown family was that of the Rikers, whose American ancestor, Abraham Rycken or de Rycke, received a grant of land at the Walla- bout from Governor Kieft in 1638. He got possession of what is now known as Riker's Island about 1650. His sons Abraham and Andrew proved shrewd business men, and their extensive land purchases made them rich. Abraham was a public-spirited citizen of New-

town, and took a prominent part in the erec- tion of the old Dutch Church there.

The Lent family is of common origin with the Riker family, being descended from Ryck and Hendrick, the eldest and youngest sons of Abraham Rycken, who, for reasons not clearly known, renounced their own name and as- sumed the name of Lent. Abraham Lent, son of Ryck, came from Westchester county to- Newtown in 1729 and took possession of a farm left him by his uncle, Jacobus Krank- heyt, on Bowery Bay. He resided here until his death, in 1746, when his son Jacobus, for years a ruling elder in the Dutch Church, suc- ceeded to the farm. His death occurred in 1779. Daniel Lent, youngest son of Jacobus, was the last of the family who occupied this estate. It was sold just prior to his death, which occurred April 20, 1797. Daniel, his only child that survived infancy, removed to. Flushing Bay, and for years resided upon the farm.

The Alsop family goes back, or could go- back if any of its representatives still exist, which is doubtful, to the roll of the first set- tlers of Newtown. Thomas Wandell, a major in Cromwell's army, seemed to get involved in some dispute with the Lord Protector,-a dispute, whatever its nature, so serious that Wandell had to fly for his life. He made his- way across the Atlantic, and in 1648 we find him in Maspeth. In 1659 he bought a farm at Newtown and took up his residence there, marrying the widow of its former owner. He was quite an influential member of the local society, and was held in high esteem even on Manhattan Island. Having no children, he invited a nephew in England to join his for- tunes with his in this country, and when he died, in 1691, he left his estate to that nephew, Richard Alsop. That young man had "taken" to the new country almost as soon as he ar- rived. He fell in love with a Dutch lady, but as she could speak no English and he did not know a word of Dutch, the billing and cooing customary to courtship had to be car-

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ried on with the aid of an interpreter. How- ever, love, which laughs at locksmiths, tri- umphed over such an obstacle, and the pair were married. They lived very happily to- gether on the Wandell property until h's death, in 1718. His widow survived until 1757, when she passed away in her ninety-first year. Their son Richard succeeded to the property, and it remained in possession of the Alsop family until 1837, when the last of the name died and the property was sold to strangers- all except the old family burial plot, which is now enclosed in Calvary cemetery, a little Protestant plot in the midst of that great city of Roman Catholic dead.

The two following sketches of other New- town worthies are from the pen of the late William O'Gorman, of Laurel Hill, and were written for the Long Island Star :

"Captain Richard Betts, whose public serv- ices appear for fifty years on every page of Newtown's history, came in 1648 to New Eng- land, but soon after to Newtown, where he acquired great influence. In the revolution of 1663 he bore a zealous part, and after the con- quest of New Netherlands by the English was a member from Newtown of the Provincial Assembly held at Hempstead in 1665. In 1678 he was commissioned high sheriff of 'York- shire upon Long Island,' and he retained the position until 1681. He became a bitter oppo- nent to Director Pieter Stuyvesant and the lit- tle town of Bushwick, which he had founded. Under leave from the Governor, the English settlers had planted their town, hut were re- fused the usual patent, and in 1656 Richard Betts administered a severe blow to Stuyvesant by purchasing the land for himself and fifty- five associates, from the red men, at the rate of one shilling per acre. The total cost amounted to £68 16s. 4d., which, with the sum of £76 9s. paid to the sachems Pomwaukon and Rowerowestco, extinguished the Indian ti- tle to Newtown. For a long series of years Betts was a magistrate. During this time he was more than once a member of the high

court of assize, then the supreme power in the province. He became an extensive landholder at the English Kills. His residence was here, in what is still known as 'the old Betts house.' It is further said that here within sight of his bedroom he dug his own grave, in his one hundredth year, and from the former to the latter he was carried in 1713. No headstone marks the grave, but its absence may be ac- counted for by the fact that his sons had be- come Quakers and abjured headstones. The old house, which we may enter by lifting the wrought-iron latch of heavy construction, worn by the hands of many generations ; the polished flags around the old deep well, where the sol- diers were wont to wash down their rations, are still as the British left them on their last march through Maspeth. This house is but one of several most ancient farm houses still carefully preserved for their antiquity, on the old Newtown road, between Calvary cemetery and Maurice avenue. These venerable com- panions have witnessed many changes, and now enjoy a green old age, respected by the community in which they stand.

"John Moore, the early ancestor of the Newtown family of this name, was supposed to be of English birth, though it is unknown when or whence he emigrated. He was an Independent, and the first minister of the town. Though not authorized to administer sacra- ments, he preached to the people of Newtown until his death, in 1657. In consequence of his interest in the purchase of Newtown from the Indians the town awarded eighty acres of land to his children, thirty years after his de- cease. One of his sons, Samuel Moore, be- came a grantee of land in Newtown village in 1662, and afterward bought an adjacent tract, previously owned by his father, which subse- quently came into the hands of John J. Moore. In 1684 he bought a farm near the Poor Bow- ery, to which he removed.

"Among the distinguished members of the Moore family was Benjamin Moore, who was born at Newtown October 5, 1748. He re-

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ceived his education at Kings (now Columbia) College, and afterward became its honored president. After pursuing theological studies he went to England and was ordained to the Episcopal ministry. In 1800 he was appointed rector of Trinity Church, and in 1801 was elected bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of New York, and he con- tinued in this relation until his death, Febru- ary 16, 1816. His wife was a daughter of Major Clement Clark, of New York.

"His brother, William Moore, born at New- town January 17, 1754, was a medical student and a graduate of Edinburgh in 1780. He then returned home, and for more than forty years was engaged in the duties of an exten- sive practice. For many years he was presi- dent of the New York Medical Society, and trustee of the College of Physicians and Sur- geons. His wife was a daughter of Nathaniel Fish, of Newtown. One of their sons, Na- thaniel F., succeeded his uncle as president of Columbia College.

"Captain Daniel Sackett Moore was a suc- cessful and respected ship-master. He owned the Moore residence near Newtown village, and died here in 1828. His son, John Jacob Moore, the last of the sixth generation of the Moore family, died June 14, 1879, aged sev- enty-three years. The ancestors of this gen- tleman form an unbroken line of proprietors in fee from the original Indian purchase, in 1656, in the following order: Rev. John Moore, died 1657; Samuel Moore, died 1717; Benjamin Moore, died 1750; John Moore, born 1730, died 1827; Captain Daniel Sackett Moore, died 1828; John Jacob Moore, died 1879.

"The venerable Moore house standing on the Shell road was one of the mansions of the colonial period. It is carefully preserved and has been occupied constantly by the Moore family since its erection, more than a hundred years before the Revolution ; no part of it is allowed to go to decay, nor is there much change save by additions, which are not al-

lowed to displace the old structure. The same hall door-in two sections, of solid oak and secured by the original strong hinges, bolts and locks, and with the original ponderous brass knocker-is still spared; the old well built stairway give access to the upper rooms ; the ancient beams still exhibit their full pro- portions and are well varnished. This house occupied the center of the British camp for many years. The well beside it requires but one glance down its mossy stones to discover its antiquity."

The Kissam family of North Hempstead can point in its records to the names of many who have been prominent, locally at all events, in public and professional life for over two centuries and a half-a long time as geneal- ogies go in the United States. The name of the American founder of the family has been lost "through the vicissitude of time," as Burkes' "Peerage" gravely puts it, and so gets over such a snag in its story of the origin of many noble families in Great Britain. Had the town records of Flushing not been de- stroyed by fire in 1789 it is possible that the name of the American pioneer would have been extant and so the genealogical tree of the family might have had a more symmetrical beginning. This now nameless pioneer seems to have arrived in America about 1640 and settled on a piece of land in Flushing. He did not long survive the change of country, for- when he died he left his property in the care- of guardians for the benefit of his only son, John. John was born in 1644 and in due time entered upon possession of his father's acres and like a good Dutchman settled down and cultivated them, bringing to the homestead as. its mistress a Jamaica girl, Susan Thorne, whom he married in 1667. Their family con- sisted of three sons. The second son, John, in after years married and settled in Freehold, New Jersey, and it is thought that the young- est, Thomas, also removed to that colony. Daniel, the eldest, appears to have left Flush- ing and secured a farm on Great Neck. In

JOHN HOWARD PAYNE.

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1703 he was elected a vestryman in St. George's Church, Hempstead. He had a large family, one of whom, Joseph, also be- came a vestryman in St. George's, and had a farm at Cow Bay. Daniel, a nephew of the last named, son of an elder brother, who also held a farm at Cow Bay, had quite an ex- perience in public life, as he served as county treasurer from 1759 to 1782 and was for many years a member of Assembly and a justice of the peace. Some of his family, at least, were opposed to the Patriots during the Revclu- tion, for we find one of his sons, John, accept- ing a commission as major from Governor Tryon in 1776. Another member of the fam- ily active in public life was Daniel Whitehead Kissam, who served in 1786 as a member of Assembly.

Richard Sharpe Kissam, born in 1763, was educated for the medical profession at Edin- burgh, Scotland, and entered upon practice in New York in 1791. For thirty years he stood at the head of the active members of his pro- fession in the city, and until his death, in 1822, he was regarded as one of the foremost sur- geons of his time. From one of his brothers Governor John T. Hoffman of New York was descended. It is impossible to trace here all the ramifications of this family to the present time. Its members have married into nearly all the old families of New York and Long Island and it almost seems to us that a history of the various generations would almost in- clude the story of the legal and medical pro- fessions in Manhattan from the beginning of the story of the United States.

In Suffolk county the number of old fam- ilies which are still represented in every town- ship is such that a volume or two would be needed to present even the usual meagre de- tails of births, marriages and deaths, which form the genealogists' stock in trade. Here, however, a few may be selected at random to illustrate all the rest.

We may begin with a family whose con- nection with Long Island has long since ter-

minated, which was really connected with it for a few years, genealogically speaking, yet some of the credit of affiliation with it must be given to Suffolk county, because there seems little doubt that when the most famous member of the family wrote the heart-touch- ing words of "Home, Sweet Home," it was the memory of the interior of a little cottage in East Hampton that inspired the theme.

John Howard Payne was born in New York City, June 9, 1792. He was destined for a business career but early showed a predilec- tion for literature and the stage. He edited some trifling publications while still in his teens,-publications now interesting only as curiosities,-and in 1809 made his first profes- sional career as an actor in the old Park The- atre, New York, taking the part of Norval in Douglass' tragedy of that name, a part which used to be the starting point in the career of every budding Roscius. The play has long been relegated to the bookshelf and is never now acted, but in the early part of the past century it was a prime favorite. Payne's suc- cess in the part was nost flattering and after playing it in many American cities he re- peated it in Drury Lane Theatre, London, with equal commendation from the critics and the public. That success determined his career and for some twenty years thereafter he was associated with the stage as actor, manager and playwright. General James Grant Wil- son writes: "While living in London and Paris, where he was intimate with Washing- ton Irving, Payne wrote a host of dramas, chiefly adaptations from the French. In one of these, 'Clari; or, The Maid of Milan,' oc- curs his deathless song of 'Home, Sweet Home,' which made the fortunes of all con- cerned, except the always unfortunate author. By it alone, Payne will be remembered after his multitude of poems and dramas have been forgotten, which, indeed, has almost hap- pened already. His tragedy of 'Brutus,' pro- duced in 1818, with Edmund Kean in the principal part, is his only dramatic composi-

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tion that still holds possession of the stage, with the single exception of 'Charles the Sec- ond,' the leading character in which was a favorite with Charles Kemble." In 1832 the wanderer returned to America, as poor as when he left it, and pursued his theatrical career with varying fortunes, generally brief bits of success mingled with long periods of misfortune and poverty. Home he had none throughout his career since the death of his mother when he was a lad of thirteen years, and it was destined that he should die in exile from his native land. In 1841 he was ap- pointed consul at Tunis and there he resided until his death, in 1852. His body was in- terred in a little cemetery on the shores of the Mediterranean until 1883, when it was re- moved to Oak Hill cemetery, Washington, and so poor Payne was home at last. His career was a sad one; poverty and he were close acquaintances, he "fattened on trouble and starvation," as he said himself, and he often in later years told a story of the bitter- ness he once felt on hearing his famous song sung one night in London when he himself was unable to raise the price of a night's lodg- ing and had to find a home in the streets. He made plenty of money but had no idea of how to keep it, and a hit, when it was made, only carried him and his friends-partners in his joys and often strangers to his sorrows- through for a few days and then the weary round of misery was faced again. The pen- alties of genius were never better illustrated than in the sad career of this gifted singer. The genealogy of the Payne family has been made a theme of special study by Mr. Henry Whittemore, and as much misunderstanding exists concerning the poet's ancestors and even concerning his birthplace, we give the record in full:

Thomas Paine, the progenitor of the fam- ily from which John Howard Payne descend- ed, was the son of Thomas, supposed to have come from Kent, England, and presumably identical with Thomas Payne of Yarmouth,

the first Deputy from that place to the Old Colony Court at Plymouth in June, 1639.

Thomas Paine (2), son of Thomas (I), came to New England when a lad ten years of age, and settled in Eastham before 1653, as he was constable there at that date. He was admitted freeman 1658. He represented Eastham at the Colony Court 1671-2-3, 1676- 78-80-81, and in 1690. He removed to Boston before 1695. He was a man of more than or- dinary education, and was a very fine pen- man. He died at Eastham August 16, 1706. He married Mary Snow, daughter of Hon. Nicholas Snow, who came in the Anne to Plymouth in 1623, and in 1654 removed to Eastham, Massachusetts. He married Con- stance Hopkins, daughter of Stephen Hopkins, of Plymouth, fourteenth signer of the "May- flower Compact."

The children of Thomas and Mary (Snow) Paine were: Mary, Samuel, Thomas, Elea- zer, Elisha, John, born March 14, 1660-1, Nicholas, James, Joseph, Dorcas.

Deacon John Paine, sixth child of Thomas (2) and Mary (Snow) Paine, was born in Eastham, Massachusetts, March 14, 1660-1. He was admitted freeman June, 1696. He was elected clerk of the town 1706 and re- elected until 1729. He was Treasurer from 1709 to 1736, and Representative to the Gen- eral Court at Boston 1703-9-14-16-18-24-5. He was of a literary turn of mind, and some of his spare moments were devoted to literary pursuits. Scraps of prose and poetry written by him are still in the hands of his descend- ants. He died October 26, 1731.

He married first Bennet Freeman, daugh- ter of Major John and Mercy (Prence) Free- man, born March, 1671. She was "a pleasant companion, a most loving and obedient wife, a tender and compassionate mother, and a good Christian." By her he had John, Mary, William, born June 6, 1695, Benjamin, Sarah, Elizabeth, Theophilus, Joseph, Nathaniel, Re- becca, Mercy, Benjamin again.

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He married, 2nd, Alice Mayo, and had by her Hannah, James, Thomas, Alice, Hannah.

Lieut. William Paine, third child of Dea- con John and Bennet (Freeman) Paine, was born at Eastham, June 6, 1695. He was a Representative to the Provincial Legislature from Eastham 1731-32-35-38-39-40-43-44. He was appointed one of His Majesty's Justices in 1738. He took part with the Colonial forces in the capture of Louisbourg as Lieutenant in Capt. Elisha Doane's company, Col. Gorham's Seventh Massachusetts Regiment, and died in service in 1746.

His first wife was Sarah Bacon, of Barn- stable, who he married in 1727. He married, 2nd, June 14, 1741, Elizabeth Myrick, a widow, the daughter of Rev. Samuel Osborn, pastor of the South Church in Eastham, and sister of Dr. John Osborn, the distinguished physician and poetical writer of Middletown, Connecticut. By his first wife he had Sarah, Ruth, Josiah, Jedediah. He had one child by his second wife, William, born 1746.

William Paine, or Payne, (2), son of Lieut. William and Elizabeth (Myrick nee Osborn) Paine, was born in 1746, the year his father died in the Colonial service. His mothi- er remarried and he was placed in the family of Rev. Joseph Crocker, pastor of the South Congregational Church of Eastham. He com- menced the study of medicine under Dr. Jo- seph Warren, who fell at Bunker Hill. He was interrupted in his studies by the events which immediately preceded the Revolution, and opened an English Grammar School in Boston, but on account of the occupation of that city by the British he gave it up and be- came a tutor in a private family. Writing to a friend, of his experience at that time, he says: He was obliged to be in his school "from the first entrance of light till nine in the evening." While on a visit to Barnstable he married Lucy Taylor, who died shortly after the marriage. He went to New London, Con- necticut, and there engaged in a mercantile ad- venture to the West Indies. On his return he

formed the acquaintance of Miss Sarah Isaacs, of East Hampton, Long Island, who was on a visit there, and soon after married her. Her father was a convert from the Jewish faith, who came from Hamburg, Germany, previous to the Revolution, and settled at East Hamp- ton. He was a man of education and wealth, but difficulties in his own country and the Revolution in his adopted country induced heavy losses and left him comparatively poor. His wife, a Miss Hedges, was the daughter of a lady whose maiden name was Talmage. His uncle Talmage was the Earl of Dysart, a Brit- ish nobleman.

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A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 108

Author: Ross, Peter. cn Publication date: 1902 Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1188

Author: Ross, Peter. cn
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1188