A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 143

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 143

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This shows that the good people of Oyster Bay were not afraid to express their views in plain language ; but when the question of sep- aration came before them in 1775 they were emphatically opposed to it. At the annual town meeting that year the clerk, Samuel Townsend, stated that he had received a letter from the Committee of Safety in New York recommending that the people of Oyster Bay should get together and elect deputies to the Provincial Convention. The letter and its pur- port were discussed at considerable length, somie urging the immediate election of deputies, some advocating delay and still others contending to leave the matter severely alone. The whole discussion finally resolved

itself into the simple question whether or not deputies should be selected, and when the vote was taken it was found that 205 had voted against deputies and only 42 were in favor of sending them. However, when the result was declared, the minority, who were enthusi- astic and active in the furtherance of their views, at once got together and elected a deputy in the person of Zebulon Williams. Field, the historian of the battle of Brooklyn, characterizes the entire proceedings as a bit of adroit politics. However that may be, Will- iams went to the Provincial Congress and was accepted as the representative of Oyster Bay. He bore with him the following document : To the Provincial Convention :

Whereas the unhappy dispute between the mother country and the American colonies, we humbly conceive, has arisen from assumed power claimed by the British Parliament to pass laws binding on us in all cases whatso- ever, and hath given us great uneasiness; and, as we conceive, unanimity among the inhabi- tants of the colonies is the only means under Providence to secure the essential rights and liberties of Englishmen ; and, in order that the inhabitants of the different colonies should know each other's sentiments and form gen- eral plans for the union and regulation of the whole, it is necessary there should be dele- gates appointed to meet in general Congress. And whereas the committee of correspond- ence of New York did request the people of Queens county to choose deputies, in conse- quence thereof there was a town meeting at Oyster Bay on April 4th, for the appointing of one deputy; but there appearing at said meeting a majority against it, yet nevertheless we the subscribers, freeholders of Oyster Bay, being determined to do all in our power to keep in unity with you and the colonies on the continent, and desirous of being in some meas- ure represented at the general Congress, do hereby appoint Zebulon Williams as our deputy, giving unto him full power to act in our behalf in the premises aforesaid. In con- firmation whereof we have hereunto set our hands respectively :

George Townsend, Micajah Townsend, William Seaman, David Layton, George Ben- net, Joseph Carpenter, John Schenck, Peter Hegeman, James Townsend jr., John Wright,

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OYSTER BAY.

Gilbert Wright, Richard Weeks, James Town- send, Wm. Townsend, Prior Townsend, Wm. Latting, B. Latting, Joseph Thorney Craft, William Hopkins, Joseph Coles, Albert Al- bertson, Jolın Luister, Rem Hegeman, Sam- son Crooker, Jacobus Luister, Albert Van Nostrand, Jotham Townsend, William Laton jr., William Laton, Peter Mutty (x mark), Benjamin Rushmore, William Wright, John Carpenter, James Farley (captain ), Samuel Hare jr., Benjamin Birdsall, Joseph Doty, Isaac Bogart, Samuel Townsend, Gideon Wright, Gilbert Hare, Benjamin Townsend, Josialı Lattin.

Emboldened by their success, the combined results of patriotism and politics, the Whig element at once, on learning of their recogni- tion by the Provincial Congress, proceeded to carry out their plans with a high hand. The Tory Justices, Thomas Smith, John Hewlett and John Townsend, protested against the rather high-handed doings at a town meeting ; but in December, 1775, they and 26 others were summoned before the Provincial Con- gress to explain their attitude, but a significant fact is that when the Oyster Bay company of militia was ordered to repair to headquarters there were more delinquents-they should hardly be called deserters-marked on the roll than the number of those who personally re- sponded. Captain Sands-now Colonel-in- stituted a ruthless search throughout the town- ship for deserters and Tories, and as soon as it was evident that the crisis was at hand and that Long Island was to be the scene of hostilities, the effort to crush out the op- position to the patriot cause throughout the whole of Kings and Queens counties was car- ried on with increased determination, and in some instances with increased cruelty. Civil law practically ceased to be enforced in Oyster Bay as elsewhere and the power was in the hands of the local Committee of Safety. On July 29, 1776, the following orders were sent to Lieut. Jotham Townsend :

I. You are to take command of the re- cruits, and march them down to Matinecock Point, where you are to place sentinels in the

most advantageous places to discover the enemy ; likewise to be very careful there is no communication to the ships of war. Should you discover any persons attempting it, you are to put them under guard.

2. You are to build a shelter if there be none convenient. Should you want any ma- terials, take such as will answer your purpose best.

3. Charge your men that they insult nor abuse any of the inhabitants, or destroy their effects.

4. Should you discover the enemy at- tempting to land, you are to send off express to me, and order the owners of stock to drive them off with all expedition on the Great Plains.

5. Should any of your men disobey or- ders, steal, or abuse the inhabitants, you are to put them under guard.

6. Minute down daily what happens, and make a return Saturday next by 10 o'clock, at my house. JNO. SANDS, Col. . Westbury, July 29th, 1776.

Additional orders, August 3d :

Should you discover the enemy in sight you are to immediately hoist your signal, then send off your express.

You are not to suffer your men to play at cards, dice, or any unlawful game, nor in- toxicate themselves with strong drink. You are to observe that no small craft passes and repasses having any transient persons or ne- groes on board. Should you discover any you are to take them up. If, upon examination, you find them clear, discharge them; if guilty, put them under guard till discharged by the town committee. You are not to let your men waste their cartridges by firing wantonly at game. You are to exercise your men four hours every day.

But the disaffection could not be kept down. Many of the Tories to escape persecu- tion went into hiding, but on August 12, 1776, some 20 belonging to Oyster Bay were ar- rested and sent over to Connecticut. The com- mittee which represented the Patriot cause for a time in reality used the name of liberty to cover persecution.

When the news of the result of the battle of Brooklyn reached the township, a change came almost in the twinkling of an eye and

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

the hunters became the hunted. The Com- mittee of Safety, which received the news at Matinecock, disbanded in a hurry and some of them hurriedly departed to insure their personal safety within the Patriot lines. Joost Montfort ran away from the township, too, but he hurried to the British camp and gave himself up to General Robertson, who handed him a certificate of loyalty and so saved him further trouble. Several leading. Whigs took to the swamps where the Tories had so recent- ly been sheltered, and it was not long before British cavalrymen were engaged in the ugly task of hunting for them just as they a short time before had been engaged in "rooting out" the Tories from the same hiding places. The saddest fate befell George Townsend and John Kirk, both of whom had made them- selves particularly obnoxious during the reign of the committee. Townsend, in fact, was its chairman, and seems to have been almost rabid at the very name of Tory. Townsend and Kirk were arrested and taken to New York, where they were thrown into the Pro- vost prison, and endured its horrors for nine weeks-a sufficient punishment, it would seem, for any conceivable crime to be visited on men accustomed to the refinements and decencies of life! While there Kirk contracted small- pox and died from its effects. His wife and infant child died from the same disease, so that virtually three lives were thus made to pay the penalty of one man being just a little too positive and premature in his patriotism. Townsend came out of prison hating the Tories worse than ever, and in 1782 seems to have had another taste of the hospitality of the Provost.

Toward the close of 1776 Gen. Oliver De Lancey took up his headquarters at Oyster Bay and assumed military control of the dis- trict. Then the full force of martial law be- gan to be felt. Prices were fixed by the Brit- ish officials for grain, provisions, provender, horses, cattle, and all these had to be delivered up to the soldiers without question. Some of

the farmers were left with hardly enough fod- der to sustain their stock, teams were im- pressed without regard to their local necessity and while money was paid for all this to the loyal farmers, it was said that when the farm of a Whig was raided and emptied the money was generally retained at headquarters. Business was paralyzed under such circunı- stances and farming practically was at a standstill, for though payment was made for what was appropriated it was not enough to pay for the outlay and the labor, and the presence of the military guaranteed neither order or safety. The gold paid for the produce was really a burden to those who received it. They could not spend it, they had no place in which to deposit it and so had to conceal it about their premises, and a knowledge of this was an incentive to the thieves in the army and to the large body of desperadoes which followed the troops-as such men have fol- lowed all armies from the beginning of his- tory.

An effort was made to enlist a corps of loyalists at Oyster Bay and Captain Henry Seton, who took charge of the recruiting, had stations at Oyster Bay, Huntington and Jer- icho. In March, 1778, a proclamation was issued calling for recruits and promising in- creased bounty money and all sorts of induce- ments to make up the strength of the Queen's Rangers, while $I was promised to each per- son instrumental in bringing in a recruit. It would seem that 350 recruits were obtained and the Rangers were stationed at Oyster Bay and on Lloyd's Neck until May 16, 1779, when they left for King's Bridge, New York. The following extract from the "History" of Lieut. Col. J. G. Simcoe, who commanded thie Queen's Rangers, refers to military operations in Oyster Bay Township in 1778:

There was a centrical hill [in Oyster Bay] which totally commanded the village and seemed well adapted for a place of arms. The outer circuit of this hill, in the most accessible places, was to be fortified by sunken fleches,

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OYSTER BAY.

joined by abattis, and would have contained the whole corps ; the summit was covered by a square redoubt, and was capable of holding 70 men ; platforms were erected in each angle for field pieces, and the guard-house in the center, cased and filled with sand, was ren- dered musket-proof, and looped so as to com- mand the platforms and surface of the para- pets ; the ordinary guard of 20 was sufficient for its defense. Some of the militia assisted in working one day when Sir Wm. Erskine came to Oyster Bay intentionally to remove the corps to Jericho, a quarter of the legion was to quit in order to accompany him to the east end of the island. Lieut. Col. Simcoe represented to him that in case of the enemy's passing the sound both Oyster Bay and Jericho were at too great a distance for any post to expect succour, but that Jericho was equally liable to surprise as Oyster Bay ; that its being farther from the coast was no advantage, as the enemy, being acquainted with the country and in league with the disaffected inhabitants of it, could have full time to penetrate undis- covered through the woods, and that the vi- cinity of Oyster Bay to the seacoast would enable him to have a more watchful eye over the landing places, and to acquire a knowledge of the principles of the inhabitants in these important situations ; and that provisions fromn New York might be received by water. Sir WV. Erskine was pleased to agree with Liet- tenant Colonel Simcoe ; and expressed himself highly satisfied with the means that had been taken to ensure the post. *

* * The gar- rison in New York being in great want of forage, Oyster Bay became a central and safe deposit for it, and frequent expeditions to- wards the eastern and interior parts of the island were made to enforce the orders of the commander-in-chief in this respect.

The people suffered much from the troops under General De Lancey, but when Fan- ning's Loyalists came along they found, Whig and Tory alike, that they were in the hands of a gang of thugs and cut-throats. Military law prevailed in its harshest form, corporal punishment was inflicted on the slightest provocation, the soldiers, most of them bil- leted in the villages, destroyed property, furn- iture and buildings without scruple. The of- ficers tried to stop the reign of plunder, but

seemed to be helpless. The Baptist meeting house became a barracks, that of the Friends a store house for the Commissary. A battal- ion of Hessians, commanded by Col. Von Janecke, robbed right and left in defiance of their officers and murdered in cold blood many citizens who opposed their designs. It was related that in one instance where Jacobus Montford wounded a Hessian who was rob- bing his yard and was arrested, the officer dismissed him, saying if Montford had shot the Hessian he would have given him a guinea, but as a general rule the citizens did not es- cape so easily when they attempted to defend their property from the blackguards who were arrayed on the side of King George and dis- graced the cause they were enlisted to support.

One of the most remarkable features of the story of the Revolution at Oyster Bay was what is known as the Whaleboat cam- paign, which resulted in much annoyance and loss to the Loyalists. The whaleboats were taken into the service of the Continental Con- gress and the purpose was to cut off the sup- plies being sent to Long Island from the main- land, to capture prisoners and the smaller boats in the service of the British, to harass the coast of the island, and now and again to make a descent and capture some prominent Tory, who might thus be made to serve his country by serving as a ready exchange for some equally prominent Continental held as prisoner in the camps or jails of the Royalists. Sometimes it must be confessed that, especial- ly toward the close of the struggle, there was little difference between the doings of many of the crews of these whaleboats and the acts of ordinary harbor thieves and coast pirates, but on the whole they fulfilled their purpose cred- itably. The following synopsis of their canı- paign is based on Onderdonck's researches, from which, indeed, the material on which this whole story of Oyster Bay in the Revolu- tion has been taken :

One of the first reports of the capture of a boat plying between the ports of this town and

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

New York was published in New Haven, Dec. 14, 1778 :- " 'Peggy' and cargo, Darby Doyle, master, navigated with forty men, under a commission of Val. Jones, to supply New York with fuel, forage, and provisions, was taken by Peter Griffing, captain of a company of rangers."

Dec. 22, 1777, Gaine says: "Sunday night, 14th, the rebels landed at Cold Spring, and carried off two market boats loaded with flaxseed, wood, cider, &c., &c." About the same time the sloop "Dove," with cargo, was taken in Cold Spring Harbor by Thomas Sel- lew, in the armed sloop "Lucy." The "Flying Fish," of Rye, captured the "Industry," Cap- tain Abraham Selleck, from Oyster Bay to New York, loaded with fifteen cords of wood, seventeen half-barrels of cider and vinegar, seven or eight bags of meal, and rigging and sails for another vessel.

About 12 o'clock March 3, 1778, seven men, with arms, were discovered crossing Lloyd's Neck, bending their course for the narrow beach that leads off the Neck. They were pursued and taken by a party of loyal refugees. They were the noted William S. Scudder and his gang, as appears from his confession. He says he quit Long Island i: September of 1776. After going with several expeditions he went to Hog Island with a party to take Squire Smith, but missed of him and took a Quaker, and plundered the house of considerable value. He had been with all the expeditions which had come to the island, and was the man who took Mr. Ireland. He had been on the east end of the island in the interest of General Parsons, and some time afterward was of the party who took two sloops out of Cold Spring Harbor. He was of the party that had lately come over to Long .Island and burnt the three vessels cast away while coming from Rhode Island, and it was his design in coming over at present to collect what he could from the wrecks then burnt. They robbed Samuel Skidmore's cider-mill house, and then attempted to go over to the other shore; but, the wind being contrary, and the day becoming extremely cold, freezing their fingers and feet, they had to make for the first land, which proved to be Lloyd's Neck. The confession is dated March 3, 1778, and signed by William Smith Scudder, with Tyler Dibble, a refugee, and William Quarme, captain of the guard ship "Halifax," in Oyster Bay, as wit- nesses. The prisoners on Saturday afternoon,

March 7th, were brought to New York in the boat of the "Halifax," and secured.

General Putnam on the 22d of December following wrote a letter to Governor Clinton concerning Scudder, in which he mentions that Scudder had a commission from Governor Clinton to cruise the sound in an armed boat against the enemies of the United States ; but complained that he had violated the orders of the commander-in-chief by seizing private property on Long Island. General Putnam adds that he knows nothing, personally, against Scudder, but has heard that he is a brave man, has suffered much, and done con- siderable service in the cause of his country.

On a Monday evening in the latter part of April a party of loyal refugees were cutting wood on Lloyd's Neck when they were at- tacked by two row galleys and an armed ves- sel, and carried prisoners, eighteen in number, to Connecticut. A little later in the same month Tyler Dibble and 15 wood-cutters were carried from Lloyd's Neck by a galley carry- ing a 12-pounder, and four whaleboats. The alarm reaching the man-of-war on that station, the boats were pursued, but without success. On the 5th of May a small boat commanded by Captain Adamson, with six men and ten swivels, went into Oyster Bay and fell in with the tender of the British ship "Raven," which mounted eight swivels and had nine men armed. The boat, after discharging her swiv- els and small arms, boarded the tender, and carried hier the next morning into Stamford. She had on board three hogsheads of rum, several casks of bread, beef and other articles for the ship, and some dry goods.

Early in June the Schooner "Wild Cat," of fourteen swivels and forty men, came front Connecticut to Oyster Bay and landed four- teen of the crew, who shot some sheep at Oak Neck. This vessel is described as having a large number of oars, which enabled it at every calm to cross over and pillage the in- habitants of the island. A few days after this the "Wild Cat" and the "Raven's" tender, with four whaleboats well manned, came to Lloyd's Neck to harass the wood-cutters, when a number of boats from the British ship pur- sued them, capturing the "Wild Cat," and re- capturing the "Raven's" tender and a wood boat, which had been taken when coming out of the harbor, together with some of the whaleboats, and thirty prisoners, killing two men, with no loss to the pursuers.

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OYSTER BAY.

After the first of September the scale of success was changed again, and Major Grey, of Colonel Meigs's regiment, killed three Tories on Lloyd's Neck, and carried off fifteen. A privateer also carried off a sloop loaded with wood and provisions. A party consist- ing of James Ferris, a refugee from the island, Benjamin Howell, Nathaniel Sacket, of Bed- ford. Obadiah Valentine and Patrick Stout, came over from Connecticut on Thursday evening, a week after this, and plundered the house of William Cock of goods to the amount of £140, obliging him and his family to carry the goods nearly two miles to the whaleboats. On Saturday following another party came over, in two boats, to Red Springs, near Mos- quito Cove, and robbed the houses of Jacob Carpenter and John Weeks of a quantity of valuable effects, and then made off, but re- turned that evening and robbed two unfortun- ate weavers at Oak Neck. On the 9th of June following, Clark Cock, at Oyster Bay, was robbed of considerable cash, and goods to the value of over £400, by another band from over the sound. The "True Blue," Captain Elder- kin, captured the "Five Brothers," a schooner of 24 tons, with Abraham Cock master, nine miles west of Huntington Harbor, on the 3d of February, 1779. A sloop of 45 tons, going to New York, the property of one Youngs. was captured on the 15th, four miles west of Oyster Bay, on the high seas.

"Simcoe's Journal," dated April 18, 1779, relates that a party of refugees, led by Captain Bonnel, with Captain Glover and Lieutenant Hubbell, furnished with arms, agreeable to or- ders from headquarters, went from Oyster Bay to take the generals, Parsons and Silli- man, from the opposite shore. They did not risk an attack on General Parsons, but brought Brigadier-General Silliman to Oyster Bay. He was sent next day to New York. About the first of September following, Captain Glover, who headed this party, was himself, with twelve others, with some plunder, carried off from Lloyd's Neck by a whaleboat from Connecticut. On the IIth of the next month a continental armed schooner, commanded by T. White, captured the "Charming Sally" and cargo in Oyster Bay. Justice Hewlett and Captain Israel Youngs were carried off in June by a party from Connecticut. A number of refugees soon after went over to Connecticut and returned with thirteen prisoners, four horses, and forty-eight cattle.

"Rivington's Gazette" tells us that on Monday night, July 3d, a party of rebels, sup- posed to be from Horse Neck, headed by one Benjamin Kirby, attacked the house of Abra- ham Walton, at Pembroke, Mosquito Cove, and took him, together with his silver plate, and Mrs. Walton's money. They then pro- ceeded to the neighbors, and took Dr. Brooks. Albert Coles and eight more Loyalists, and carried all to Connecticut. In the latter part of July, at 2 o'clock on a Tuesday morning. John Townsend of Oyster Bay was carried off by a company of rebels, led by one Jonas Youngs. They also carried away most of the valuable articles in his house, besides partly demolishing the house itself. Arnold Fleet, a millwright, was carried off at the same time. The men, fearing the militia, several com- panies of whom were stationed near, hastened away, carrying their boats over the beachı, and left their sentinel, a young man, on Mill Neck. He wandered about the neck until compelled by starvation to give himself up.

On a Monday in October five vessels came into Oyster Bay and captured a guard brig pierced for 14 guns, with 10 mounted ; also a sloop of six guns, commanded by Samuel Rogers, who had been taken and carried to Connecticut three times since the first of March preceding. Three other sloops, also a schooner from under the battery at Lloyd's Neck, were taken and all safely conveyed into port on the Connecticut shore.

Hon. Thomas Jones, Justice of the Supreme Court of New York, a noted and active Loyal- ist, was much coveted by the Americans as an offset for General Silliman, whose capture has already been mentioned. An attempt was made for his capture and conveyance to Con- necticut ; the mode and results are recorded as follows :

"Fishkill, December 9th, '79 .- On the evening of November 4th about twenty-five volunteers, under Captains Hawley, Lockwood and Jones, and Lieutenant Jackson and Bish- op, crossed the sound from Newfield [since Bridgeport] to Stony Brook, near Smithtown, and marched to the house of the Hon. Thomas Jones, justice of the supreme court of New York, at Fort Neck, where they arrived about 9 o'clock on the evening of the 6th, hiding in the woods by day. The whole distance was 52 miles. There was a ball in the house, and the noise of music and dancing prevented the approach of the adventurers being heard.

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

Captain Hawley knocked at the door, and, re- ceiving no answer, forced it and found Judge Jones standing in the entry. He told him he was his prisoner, and immediately conducted him off, and a young man named Hewlett. A guard of soldiers was posted at a small dis- tance from the road. When they came near the spot the judge hemmed very loud, but was forbidden to repeat it. He did, however, but on being further threatened desisted. An alarm arose, which obliged the men to retreat rapidly, traveling 30 miles the same evening, and to secrete themselves the next day, by which time the British light horse were near. The next evening they reached their boats, having taken two prisoners more, and arrived safe at Black Rock, Fairfield county, on the 8th, except six men in the rear, who were overtaken and captured by the light horse. Judge Jones was taken to Middletown, and in May, 1780, was exchanged for General Sulli- van, a prisoner at Flatbush. Mr. Hewlett was exchanged for the general's son, one Washburn being thrown in as a make-weight. After the exchange the judge and general dined together."

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A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 143

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