A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 138

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

USA > New York > A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 138

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"The cathedral idea is an element in the organic life of the visible church. It has been well said that its embryo was in the upper room in Jerusalem, where solemn conferences were held while awaiting the coming of the Com- forter. From then until now the necessity of a central rendezvous and rallying point for the church, a common altar and common confer- ence ground in devotion and debate, has been profoundly felt, and this necessity has been re- lieved by the cathedral. We rejoice, then, not so mtich over the architectural cathedral, whose walls rise and beautify this broad- bosomed plain ; nor again over the memorial cathedral, which shall in silent eloquence move the present and coming ages with the story of human love sublimed in Christ, honoring and soul-helping; but chiefly we rejoice over the great spiritual edifice, whose corner stone we have laid in the Master's name, whose walls

shall be salvation, and whose gates praise through a far-reaching gospel future.

"The cathedral, in its whole idea, its theory and method, is designed to fuse into a holy harmony the whole evangelical work and de- votional life of the diocese. To build a ca- thedral, equip it, and endow it, and then give it to God for the worship of his people, is something without precedent in the annals. of Christian charity. And then how beautiful the blending of the wifely affection and the Christly devotion, making a mausoleum for the loved and lost of earth, and vaulting it over with a temple for the worship of the King of heaven."

A fine pictorial view of this cathedral is given on page 582 of this volume.

The Cathedral School of St. Paul occupies a sightly position about a quarter of a mile northwest of the cathedral. It is in style an adaptation of English gothic, and is massively constructed of brick, made at the brick works of the estate, with brown stone and Dorchester yellow stone for windows, doorways, porches and other ornamental features.

The edifice consists of an imposing facade, which with the port-cochere is 290 feet long, and three wings 170 feet deep, forming a ground plan something like the letter E; and is four stories in height, with additional stories in the center and at the angles, which have high mansard roofs. Besides these projections the exterior is diversified with ornate porches of carved stone, a clock and bell tower and a broach spire in copper for the ventilation of the laboratory. Over the main entrance is in- scribed : "IN MEMORIAM ALEX. TURNEY STEWART," with the name of the school be- neath, and over the east and west doorways, "Historia et Scientia," and "Ars et Philoso- phia."

The interior arrangements have been care- fully planned, and appear to successfully com- bine the best features of modern collegiate edifices, whether in this country or abroad. The whole building is fire-proof, admirably ventilated, and supplied with gas and hot and

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cold water in every room, with abundant bath- ing facilities, and steam heating apparatus after the Holly system. The different stories are connected by two elevators, and several commodious stairways, constructed of iron and stone. The first floor comprises the main hall, 270 feet long and 10 wide, and lateral cor- ridors 170 feet long, wainscoted with tiles and marble, and paved with Minton tiles of beautiful designs; reception rooms on either side of the central entrance, connecting with a library and parlor, each 21 by 50 feet, the head master's and the matron's apartments, dormitories in the east wing; the dining hall in the central wing, 43 by 62 feet, with serving rooms; and the two assembly rooms in the west wing for the higher and lower school, about 50 feet square, with several recitation and lecture rooms, each 20 by 24 feet. The second story is devoted to teachers' and pupils' rooms, varying in size from 9 by 20 feet to 18 by 25 feet ; and in the center, occupying two stories, is the chapel, 42 by 65 feet, which is arranged with longi- tudinal sittings for some four or five hundred pupils, and has at the north end a chancel, organ and sacristy. On the third floor are sit- uated in front the music rooms, the art gallery, 25 by 62 feet ; the infirmary, 25 by 40 feet, with apartments for nurses, and in the corridors a large number of dormitories. The fourth story contains, besides dormitories, the labora- tory, 20 by 44 feet, studios for art pupils, and the gymnasium, 37 by 62 feet, with dressing rooms, in the central mansard. In the base- ment are play rooms in the school wing, the armory, the laundry and drying rooms, the steward's room and the servants' hall, the store rooms, butcher's shop, refrigerators, dairy, engine room, ovens, kitchen, scullery, etc .; and in the east wing the servants' dor- mitories. Throughout the building the wood work is of ash, black walnut, oak and mahog- any, finished in the most elegant and substan- tial manner, with solid and appropriate furni- ture specially manufactured for the school after the most approved designs.

The Right Rev. A. N. Littlejohn, D. D., the first Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Long Island, took up his headquarters at Garden City as soon as a home was prepared for him and from there managed the affairs of the dio- cese until his death on August 3, 1901. The sad event took place at Williamstown, Massa- chusetts, where the venerable prelate was spending a brief vacation from his many and exacting duties. His sudden death created a profound sentiment of regret, not alone on Long Island but throughout the Church of which he was so long recognized as a leader.

Dr. Littlejohn was born December 13, 1824, at Florida, Montgomery county, New York. Entering Union College, Schenectady, when seventeen years old, he was graduated with honors in 1845, and, after a course of three years in theological studies, he was ordained a Deacon by Bishop William H. De Lancey in 1848. His first church position was that of assistant in St. Anne's, Amsterdam, New York, whence he went not long afterward to accept a corresponding place in St. Andrew's, Meriden, Connecticut.

In 1850 he was called to Springfield, Mas- sachusetts, as rector of Christ Church, but he remained there only a year, leaving to take charge of the important parish of St. Paul's, in New Haven, Connecticut. It was while in this church that he began to be well known throughout this country and Europe, his writ- ings on ecclesiastical and literary subjects at- tracting favorable attention generally.

After ten years at New Haven, Dr. Little- john, who in the meantime had been hon- ered with the degree of Doctor of Divin- ity by the University of Pennsylvania, came to Brooklyn to be rector of the Holy Trin- ity Church, at Clinton and Montague streets. Before this he had been offered the Presi- dency of Geneva College, now called Ho- bart College, but had declined the position. He had also been a lecturer on pastoral the- ology in the Berkeley Divinity School, Middle- town, Connecticut, for seven years. He was the second rector of Holy Trinity Church in

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Brooklyn, succeeding the Rev. Dr. William H. Lewis.

During the nine years Dr. Littlejohn stayed there the debts of the church were paid off, and the steeple, which had been unbuilt for lack of funds, was reared to its full height.

Dr. Littlejohn's career was distinguished by an occurrence that is said to be unique in the records of the Protestant Episcopal Church in this country. When the Dioceses of Central New York and Long Island were formed he was elected Bishop for both of them, almost simultaneously. His acceptance of the latter teritory was made on the ground that he was more familiar with the needs of the diocese where he had been working than with those of the one up the State. He was consecrated on January 27, 1869, Bishop Henry C. Potter officiating, with the assistance of eight other Bishops.

In 1874 Bishop Littlejohn was appointed to take charge of churches established in Eu- rope by the Protestant Episcopalians of Amer- ica, and he consecrated the Church of St. Paul's-Within-the-Walls, in Rome, and opened the American Church in Paris. Later, how- ever, he was forced to transfer his foreign duties to the Bishop of North Carolina, church affairs in Long Island demanding his entire at- tention.

The University of Cambridge, England, made Bishop Littlejohn a Doctor of Laws in 1880, and he received the degree of Doctor of Civil Laws from the University of the South, at Sewanee, Tennessee, in 1897. From the time of his residence in New Haven he continued to write regularly. Among his pub- lished works are "The Philosophy of Re- ligion," "The Metaphysics of Cousin," "The Life and Writings of Coleridge," "The Poetry of George Herbert," "The Bible and Com- mon Sense," "The Outwardness of Popular Religion," "Human Progress," "The Alt- Catholic Movement," "Conciones ad Clerum," "Stephen's Lectures on the History of France," "Roger's Eclipse of Faith," and "The Christian Ministry at the Close of the Nine- teenth Century."

In February, 1899, services commemora- tive of the Bishop's thirty years of service were held in the Cathedral of the Incarnation. The last public service of unusal importance that Bishop Littlejohn attended was that which celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the or- ganization of the Church Charity Foundation, in which he had always been interested. It was noticeable at this service that he was very feeble, and since then there has been frequent talk of his having a coadjutor. He persistent- ly refused this offer, even taking occasion to say at a meeting of the clergymen and lay- men of the diocese that he was well able to take care of the affairs of the diocese.

Dr. Littlejohn was a strict Churchman, and was heard to express himself emphatically more than once about certain innovations in the worship of his church that he regarded as altogether wrong. Although his reputation as a writer and scholar was the greater, he achieved no small note as an orator, and there were those who ranked him among the best pulpit preachers.

Eveni with all its advantages, the population of Garden City has crept up but slowly. In 1891 it had something like 600, in 1896 it had increased to 700, in 1900 it had added about fifty more, and there it remains. But time is on its side and it will undoubtedly grow in importance and influence as time speeds on. It is now recognized as a splendid center of church and education work ; and the beauty of its streets and of its situation is yearly becoming more widely known: its hotel has even now become a resort and in many respects it is the pride of Nassau county. Mrs. Stewart has been lying at rest in the crypt for several years : it is presumed that the body of her husband is there too, although nothing on that point is known. The Stewart millions have been dissipated, some of them in a fashion that would have roused his indignation. But the haste which his widow showed in erecting this great architectural pile and in so lavishly providing endowments have been amply justified by the story of the dispo-

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sal of these millions, and prove that her native shrewdness had almost forecasted the end of it all. So Garden City's cathedral has become the merchant's enduring monument, and still keeps by its healthful agencies part at least of his own great fortune engaged in useful and beneficent work.

There has been talk, more or less vague, for some time of a municipal union between Hempstead village and Garden City, and while the time for it seems hardly ripe, there appears no reason to doubt its taking place ultimately unless the Greater New York takes another leap and adds Nassau county to its domain. Even that has been talked about, and certainly as unlikely things have happened in the history of the big city.

Rockville Center, which now claims a.pop- ulation of some 2.500, was settled mainly in 1854, but its Methodist Church has an exist- ence dating back to 1790, when a small hamlet sprang up around it. The first church was torn down in 1817 and a new edifice was built on its site, which served until 1874, when the present structure was erected. As usual, the first church was erected as a meeting-house for the use of any body of worshipers, and its surrounding cemetery was for the reception of the fathers of the little hamlet as one by one they fell into that sleep which knows no waking. But after a while it appears that there were no residents of the vicinity who belonged to other than the Methodist body, and so they seem to have entered into full pos- session. In 1870 the Methodist Episcopal Church of St. Mark erected a temporary church, which in the following year gave way to the now existing building. Rockville Cen- ter remains a residential village, its high school is a most attractive building, and as a spot for home building it possesses many peculiar at- tractions.

As much may be said of Pearsalls, which also dates practically from the middle of last century, but without any old church to bind it to the remote past. From a religious point

of view Pearsalls may be regarded as the sister of Rockville Center, for the religious work and influence of the one is always shared by the other. In 1841 the old Methodist Church at Rockville helped to found a church at Pear- salls, and St. James' Church at the last named was the result of a division of the work at St. Mark's. A school-house was one of the first buildings erected at Pearsalls after it was laid out, and the construction of the water-works ' for Brooklyn made it a busy place in 1857. After that commotion passed it assumed its proper place as a residential point, which it has since retained. Its present population is esti- mated at 1,400.

Freeport, one of the centers of the oyster industry; New Bridge, the happy hunting grounds of the Merrick Indians and possessing some weird local traditions of Revolutionary events ; Seaford, Bellmore, Valley Stream, Ridgewood, Baldwin's, Norwood, are all pleas- ant villages devoted to summer visitors, or oystering, or both. Some of them are beauti- fully located, and in all of them the village church is generally the most noticeable feature of the landscape.

One of the most lovely of these smaller villages is Merrick, or Meric, Moroke, or Merihoke, as the name has been variously spelled, and which thus keeps alive the name of the old Indian tribe which formerly owned its land. The history of the town has recently . been written by Mr. Charles N. Kent, and from his monograph we gather many details of much interest not only regarding the village itself, but of this section of Long Island.

The Carman family early sent representa- tives to Merrick from the settlement on Hemp- stead Plains. To John Carman was born, January 9, 1645, the first white child in the settlement. He was christened Caleb. The Carmans and Smiths intermarried, and appear to have held in common land westward from the eastern line of what is now the property of Mr. H. H. Cammann, on Merrick avenue. There is also evidence that these two families pre-empted the entire territory "from Merrick

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river east to Cove Spring Landing, Merrick Cove, and from the bay north to Hempstead Plains."

John Rock Smith settled west of the pres- ent lakes on either side of Merrick road-his house on the north and barn on the south side. Jonathan Smith Black laid out his farm east of Merrick path, which afterward became the Hempstead turnpike; and Jonathan Smith Rock settled to the west, there being between them a wedge of land known as the Hewlett farmı. It is reported that this wedge was contributed equally by the two Smiths to in- . duce the Hewletts to settle thereon.

Richard Valentine had land, undescribed, in Merrick as early as 1657. He was a town marshal and a man of some parts.

One of the first houses was built by Jona- than Rock Smith. It is still in existence, and stands back from the present residence of Mrs. Elijah Smith. The house of Mr. William E. Hewlett was erected at about the same time.

From carefully preserved records now in the possession of Mr. George T. Hewlett and Mr. George M. Hewlett it appears that the first of that family to reach America was one of the judges who passed sentence of death upon King Charles (1648). The name in the King's death warrant is differently spelled, and it is supposed to have been purposely changed afterward to avoid pursuit and de- tection. The first Hewlett settlement (about 1649) was on Riker's Island, near Hell Gate; the house was destroyed by Indians, although the family being warned, escaped, and we next hear of them in Hempstead, whither they prob- ably migrated. There were then three broth- ers, George, John and Lewis, and one sister. George and John both died unmarried, the former at Hempstead, the latter at Cow Neck. Of the others there is no record. The first George Hewlett to come to Merrick settled "between Whale Neck and New Bridge road," including what is now known as Cedar Swamp. There is also record of an early Hewlett set- tlement upon the farm of Mr. George M. Hewlett, which has always remained in the family. The original house has been incor- porated in the more modern residence occu- pied at the present time. An old clothes press brought from England is still in its garret, as well as portraits of Colonel Hewlett and his wife. The people were largely Tories in the early period of our struggle for independence. Washington wrote to the Committee of Safety

(1776) : "The inhabitants of L. I. have dis- covered an apparent inclination to lend a help- ing hand to subjugate their fellow citizens," and Jonathan Sturges writes to Governor Trumbull: "Long Island has the greatest proportion of Tories of any part of this col- ony." The women, too, assumed a royal atti- tude, and went even to greater lengths to sig- nify their devotion to the crown. We may be pardoned, perhaps, for copying the following statement from an old record: "A young woman in our town [Hempstead] formed an intimacy with a Highlander in the British army. When the British were about to evac- uate the island she was missing. The dis- tressed father expressed his apprehensions to the commanding officer that his daughter had eloped, and was now in the company of her lover. Forthwith the men were drawn up, and the father walked along the ranks, wherein

he discovered his daughter, in Highland uni- form, and in the guise of a soldier, by the whiteness of the skin where the garter is usually tied." The Hewletts were among the leaders of the Royalist party, and at times were in imminent danger, but finally a declaration of submission to the Continental Congress was drawn up, and among its signers were John Carman, John Smith Rock, William Smith Black, Benjamin Hewlett, Benjamin Hewlett (2d), Joseph Hewlett, George Hewlett and John Hewlett. The Hewlett coat of arms rep- resents two owls upon a shield, with the mot- toes: "To stake one's life for the truth," and "By courage, not Dy craft." The name was sometimes spelt Hulit, and also "Owlett," the latter probably derived from the Yorkshire dialect and the representative owls. In the last generation of our first George Hewlett's descendants there were twelve brothers and sisters. Of these Mr. George T. Hewlett and Mrs. Mary Willetts are now ( 1900) the sole survivors.

As an illustration of the deserved pros- perity and enterprise which have ever char- acterized the Hewletts the following, copied from an old newspaper dated February 28, 1800, will serve as an example : "The curious are invited to a sight of one of the most as- tonishing productions in nature, a large ox, raised by Mr. George Hewlett. He is to be seen at Mrs. Delouf's Flymarket. Admittance, one shilling. To give an idea of this ox, it need only be mentioned that he is nineteen hands high, seventeen and a half feet in length,

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and nine feet in girth, forming a tremendous mass of animation. Not to view him as he now stands argues that want of curiosity which tends to enlarge the mind." And again, in 1831, we read: "George Hewlett, of Mer- rick, has a cornstalk on which grew thirteen perfect ears."

The old Merrick Path, beginning near the present Hempstead turnpike and passing east of the house of Mr. Benjamin Seaman, in a northerly direction to the plains, probably first did duty as a road in this part of the new township. It is said that one with sharp eyes can still discern its outlines. It was simply "brushed out," and indicated more distinctly by "blazed trees." This path later on was known as the "Hempstead Road," and then as the turnpike.

The Merrick Road, or as sometimes desig- nated, the great south road, came next in order. It was built in sections, not continui- ously ; and not until about 1850 was it com- pleted between Merrick and Freeport. Before that time its local terminus in Merrick was west of Merrick river, where a connection was made with the southerly Freeport road, soutli- west to the old mills and again in a northerly direction into Freeport village.

At about this time (1850) a company was organized for the construction of the South Oyster Bay Turnpike, including the Merrick Road from Babylon to the old Hempstead Turnpike in Merrick, and thence north to Hempstead Plains. The work seems to have been accomplished with but little delay and re- sulted in pretty general satisfaction to all but stockholders. The original road in Merrick ran within twenty feet of the front door of Mr. John J. Hewlett's house, now occupied by his son, Mr. William E. Hewlett. When the Commissioners reached that point in laying out the new turnpike, to obviate an unnatural curve the course was laid further south, as the road now runs. To this the senior Hew- lett strenuously objected, urging as a suf- ficient reason therefor that it would "cut him off" and leave his house too far away from the travelled thoroughfare. A still more po- tential argument on his part was a refusal to take additional stock in the company if the change was insisted upon. This might have brought the company to terms had there not been-unfortunately for Mr. Hewlett-an- other householder further west who insisted with equal pertinacity that the southerly course

should be confirmed, in order that he might thus secure a "larger door yard," and agree- ing in consideration therefor to take and pay for more stock than would otherwise be pur- chased by Mr. Hewlett. Such diplomacy was irresistible and the road was changed accord- ingly.

There were regular lines of stages on the new turnpike from Babylon to Hempstead- thence to Jamaica and Brooklyn. South Oys- ter Bay had a postoffice. and one was soon after established for Merrick in the old hotel and store combined on the Hempstead Turn- pike north of the present railroad crossing. The building was destroyed by fire in 1896. The Merrick postoffice was a general point for distribution, and the nearest station for people residing in Freeport.

To the west of Mr. Cammann's present residence, and extending from the road in a northerly direction, was a high board fence erected to screen from view objectionable farm buildings further on. In course of time, how- ever, the southerly boards of this fence were cut off at a reasonable height so that stages might the more easily be seen from the house as they passed to and fro upon the Merrick Road.

The Plank Road to Jamaica was built about 1854. It commenced at the junction of Hemp- stead Turnpike with the Merrick Road and ex- tended over the latter in a westerly course, bridging Freeport swamps, and furnishing a direct thoroughfare between that village and Merrick. The new road was not a profitable investment, and was soon acquired by the town.

Merrick avenue, extending from the Bay north to the railroad and thence to and beyond the camp grounds, is perhaps as fine a road with its surroundings as can be found on Long Island. It is, the greater part, beautifully shaded, and has a macadam foundation. Pre- vious to 1850, however, it was but a cow path, more particularly designated as "Whale Neck Road," from the stranding of a whale at Whale Neck Point, which whale was later subdivided and transferred in carts over the cow path to settlements further north. A pair of bars then closed Merrick avenue to the pub- lic at its junction with the Merrick Road. The necessity for making the path a highway soon became apparent, and it was accordingly set apart for that purpose and reconstructed. Freight from the Merrick dock, at the foot of this avenne, before the days of a railroad,

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was then received from vessels and conveyed in wagons to all parts of the surrounding country. Indeed, at this period, nearly all freight to and from Hempstead and New York was so transferred. The good ship "Native of America," commanded by Captain Thomas Raynor, made regular trips between the two ports.

To go back to an earlier date, we find what might now be called private roads, but laid out by Commissioners, and entered in the town records. The following is a copy of one of these entries :

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A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 138

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