A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 147

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

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The presidential campaign of 1900 was the most remarkable of all ever held in this coun- try, and from the beginning to the end Gov- ernor Roosevelt fought the battle almost sin- gle-handed and alone. He represented honest money, honest principles and a defense of President McKinley's administration; while his opponent, William J. Bryan, clung to his "16 to I" silver policy, on which he had been defeated four years previously, and exposed the "expansion" policy of the administration. Colonel Roosevelt traveled from one end of the country to the other, even invading the home territory of his opponent, speaking sev- eral times a day from the train platform, in the open air on improvised platforms and in public halls, and wherever the people could gather to hear him. With one or two excep- tions he met with a hearty reception wherever he went,-even in "the enemy's country." The result was one of the grandest victories ever achieved by the Republican party and Gov- ernor Roosevelt was duly inaugurated Vice- President of the United States on the 4th of March, 1901. In his inaugural address he said :

"The history of free government is in a large part the history of those representing

legislative bodies in which, from the earliest times, free government has found its loftiest expression. They must ever hold a peculiar and exalted position in the record which tells how the great nations of the world have en- deavored to achieve and preserve orderly free- dom. No man can render to his fellows greater service than is rendered by him who with fear- lessness and honesty, with sanity and disinter- estedness, does his life work as a member of such a body. Especially is this the case when the Legislature in which the service is ren- dered is a vital part in the governmental ma- chinery of one of those world powers to whose hands, in the course of the ages, is entrusted a leading part in shaping the destinies of man- kind. For weal or for woe, for good or for evil, this is true of our own mighty nation. Great privileges and great powers are ours, and heavy are the responsibilities that go with these privileges and these powers. According- ly as we do well or ill, so shall mankind in the future be raised or cast down.

"We belong to a young nation, already of giant strength, yet whose present strength is but a forecast of the power that is to come. We stand supreme in a continent, in a hemi- sphere. East and west we look across the two great oceans toward the larger world life in which, whether we will or not, we must take an ever increasing share; and as, keen-eyed, we gaze in to the coming years duties new and old rise thick and fast to confront us from within and from without. There is every rea- son why we should face these duties with a sober appreciation alike of their importance and of their difficulty. But there is also every reason for facing them with high-hearted res- olution and with eager and confident faith in our capacity to do them aright.

"A great work lies ready to the hand of this generation; it should count itself happy indeed, that to it is given the privilege of doing such a work. A leading part therein must be taken by this, the august and powerful legis- lative body over which I have been called to preside. Most deeply I appreciate the privi-

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

lege of my position, for high indeed is the hon- or of presiding over the American senate at the outset of the twentieth century."

On Friday, September 6, 1901, the start- ling news was flashed over the wire that Pres- ident McKinley, while visiting the Pan-Amer- ican Exposition, had been shot by a Polish anarchist named Czołgosz. Vice-President Roosevelt hastened to Buffalo as quickly as pos- sible, reaching there the following day. He was completely overwhelmed by the news, but on arriving at the house of Dr. Milburn, where the President had been taken and where he had been stopping with his family for some days previously, he was overjoyed to learn from the attending surgeons that the wound was not necessarily fatal and that there were hopes of his recovery. He remained in Buf- falo for a few days, until the danger point seemed past. He then went on a hunting trip in the Adirondacks. Soon after this a change for the worse took place in the President's condition, and as soon as it was found that death was inevitable, messengers were sent to the Vice-President, who traveled day and night, reaching Buffalo some hours after the President's death. He was driven at once to the house of his friend, Mr. Ansley Wilcox. As soon as he entered Mr. Roosevelt was told that it had been planned for him to take the oath of office at once. This agreement had been reached at a meeting of the cabinet held during the forenoon at the Milburn residence. The new President refused to recognize it as an agreement, and he declared he was not ready to take the oath yet. He was here more for the purpose of paying his respects to William McKinley than of qualifying as Will- iam McKinley's successor.

"But, Mr. President," he was expostulated with, "everything is in readiness. Don't you think it would be far better to do as the cabinet has decided?"

"No," retorted the President; "it would be far worse. I intend to pay my respects at William McKinley's bier as a private citizen and offer my condolence to the members of the

family as such. Then I will return and take the oath."

In the face of such an emphatic stand by the new chief executive all arguments availed nothing and President Roosevelt had his own way. He left the Milburn house about half past two o'clock and entered his carriage alone. When he found that he was being escorted by a squad of mounted policemen he stood up and shouted : "Get back ! I want no escort. I will have no escort. I am now on a mission as a private citizen." He then drove swiftly to the Milburn house and after paying his respects to the dead President returned to the Wilcox house to take the oath, reaching there shortly after three o'clock. All the mem- bers of the cabinet and a number of others were assembled there. Among these was Judge Hazel, who was to administer the oath.

"President Roosevelt," said Mr. Root, "I have been requested by all the members of the Cabinet of the late President who are here in the city of Buffalo, being all except two, to request that for reasons of weight affecting the administration of government, you should pro- ceed without delay to take the Constitutional oath of office."

A silence fell upon the group. It lasted but a minute and then Mr. Roosevelt spoke: "Mr. Secretary, I shall take the oath at once, agreeable to the request of the members of the Cabinet, and in this hour of trouble and national bereavement I wish to state that it shall be my aim to continue absolutely un- broken the policy of President Mckinley, for the peace and prosperity and honor of our beloved country." He then took the oath and Vice-President Theodore Roosevelt became the twenty-sixth President of the United States. Although but a few brief months have since passed at this writing, his course is so clearly marked that all recognize his policy, and although the youngest who ever occupied the presidential chair he has the confidence and support of leading men throughout the nation.

It is difficult to conceive how any one so

OYSTER BAY.

thoroughly absorbed in public affairs could find time to devote to literary work, and yet Colonel Roosevelt has achieved a world-wide reputation as an author, and his works have become standard on the subjects he has treated. Among the best known are: "History of the Naval War of 1812" (1882) and "Hunting Trips of a Ranchman" (1883). As a biog- rapher he has won fame as the author of the "Life of Thomas Benton" (1886) ; and "Life of

the United States of the territory west of the Alleghanies, and in their intrinsic merit and their importance as contributions to history they rank with the works of Parkman. His books have been characterized as "marked by felicity, vigor and clearness of expression, with descriptive power."

As a man of letters it may be said as more completely true of Mr. Roosevelt than any other writer, whose books are as numerous

PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S LIBRARY.

Gouverneur Morris" ( 1888). He has also published "History of the City of New York" (1890); "Essays on Practical Politics" (1898) ; and has collaborated with Captain A. S. Mahan in writing the "Imperial History of the British Navy ;" he is also joint author with Henry Cabot Lodge of "Hero Tales from American History." The most important of his works, however, are the volumes bearing the collective title "The Winning of the West." These have for their subject the acquisition by

and widely read as his are, that he has merely adopted literary expression with the aim of placing before the public facts and ideas which he sincerely believes to be worthy of considera- tion and preservation. His presentation of facts, however, is useful and stimulating rather than merely entertaining, while his ideas represent an eloquent appeal for a gen- eral and wholesome examination of the truths which he so fervently believes and so ardently advocates. In other words, Mr. Roosevelt is

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

in no sense a professional author. The books he has written simply represent one phase of a very active career. On the title page of "Ranch Life and Hunting Trail" we find cited that passage from Browning ending with the words-

How good is man's life, the mere living.

which speaks more eloquently and is more characteristic of Mr. Roosevelt as a man, and, therefore, necessarily as an author, than all that litterateurs have written and all that poets have sung about the beauties of rhetoric and the philosophy of style.

Mr. Roosevelt's first published work was his history of "The Naval War of 1812," which bears the date of 1882, and it is a singu- lar coincidence that his most recent production, written just as his term as Vice President of the United States was to be brought to a fate- ful close, should be a contribution to an English work on the same subject,-"The Royal Navy," Vol. VI, by Laird Clowes. A com- parison of these works offers an excellent op- portunity to observe the mental development of the man in a most important field of his- torical study and observation. One was writ- ten at the age of twenty-three; the other at forty-two. It is not from the fact that we find the patriotism less intense, or the presence of any taint of Anglomania in the later work, but because the man has learned to think for him- self, has freed himself entirely from the anti- British prejudices which for years have in- spired the makers of many American school books; and he has from a fuller knowledge been able to appreciate the merits of the enemy and to point out the reasons for his misfor- tunes in a clear, almost scientific manner and without undue laudation of American enter- prise and courage. Moreover, it is not singu- lar that his historical works, particularly "The Winning of the West," should have a vitality which few histories possess. It is because he has lived with and knows intimately the trap- per, the hunter, the frontiersman of to-day, that he has been enabled to reproduce the dis-

tant predecessors of these men and their sur- roundings with marvelous intimacy.

In the last nineteen years Mr. Roosevelt has written over a dozen books, which are in- cluded in many departments-history, biogra- phy, travel, observation and politico-ethical discussion. At the same time he has occupied successively various positions in public life upon which he has left the stamp of his indi- viduality and the results of his tireless energy. What these offices were and what he did in them have taken their place in our State, mu- nicipal and national history, and are now more or less familiar to every one. But the more one becomes familiar with Mr. Roosevelt's public achievements the more must one marvel that he could have produced the books that he did, which, from the point of view of mere mechanical and mental labor, would have been considered more than adequate to establish the literary reputation of a professional writer.

To attempt a character sketch of Colonel Roosevelt is a most difficult undertaking. He can be judged only by his acts. His motive is always apparent, for he is incapable of du- plicity. His utterances both public and pri- vate are clear, distinct and unequivocal. Whether his opinions are right or wrong they are honestly held and are stated with simplicity and directness. He is emphatically a man of action, and his writings deal with matters of observation rather than thought; he is no theorist, but intensely practical. With deter- mination and undaunted courage he combines tenacity of purpose. If he ever experienced the sensation of fear it is known only to him- self. He has the instinct of a soldier, and in emergencies does not stop to consider whether or not the odds are against him, but obeys orders with decision and accepts the conse- quences. He is as generous as he is brave ; bears no malice; and after inflicting punish- ment on an adversary he would instantly seek to alleviate the pain he has caused. With the heart of a lion in danger, he is moved to pity at the sight of suffering, and without a mo- ment's hesitation would befriend a fallen ad-

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OYSTER BAY.

versary. His qualities and achievements have made him a popular hero, and in a democratic society like ours there is no distinction which he may not hope to attain.

Colonel Roosevelt married, first, Miss Alice Hathaway Lee; second, Miss Edith Ker- mit Caron, and his children are Alice, Theo- dore, Jr., Kermit, Ethel, Archibald and Quin- tin. The children rough it at their country

cool breezes of Oyster Bay in summer and a. warm, comfortable stall in winter.

The entrance to Sagamore Hill is up a winding road through a thickly wooded coun- try for some distance until a "private road" turning sharply to the left is reached, which leads up to the home of the Vice-President. The view on reaching the crest of the hill is a most beautiful one, although partly obscured

PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S HOME, OYSTER BAY.

home, Sagamore Hill, as did their father, en- joying the utmost freedom, apparently un- conscious of the honors that have been show- ered upon the father by a grateful and appre- ciative constituency. The veteran war horse "Texas" that carried him through the Santi- ago campaign munches his oats and hay in the stable in peace and quietness, glad no doubt that his campaigning days are over and that for the remainder of his life he can enjoy the

on the west and south sides of the house by the dense growth of forest trees. From the east and south sides a fine view of the bay is presented. A lawn of several acres slopes down to the wall of forest trees, and the other side, which is nearly level, is devoted to farm- ing purposes. The character of the exterior of the dwelling is known as the Queen Anne style of architecture. It is a substantial edi- fice, the first story being of brick, the second

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

and third stories of frame. A wide piazza ex- tends around two sides, from which a beautiful view of the surrounding country is obtained. The entrance to the house is through a vine- covered port-cochere. The wide hall, simply furnished, contains numerous trophies of the Colonel's life in the far West. The large

library looks like the workshop of an active brain worker. A portrait of the father which hangs on the wall looks benignly down on the son, who, with unceasing energy and tire- less industry, works out the great problems of life, stimulating in others a desire to be some- thing and do something for their fellow men.

BY COURTESY OF THE LONG ISLAND RAILROAD COMPANY.

OLD WINDMILLS ON LONG ISLAND.

CHAPTER LXIII.

SUFFOLK COUNTY.

UFFOLK county includes all of Long Island lying to the east of the town- ship of Oyster Bay. Its greatest length is about ninety miles and its greatest breadth, from Eaton's Neck to the Great South Bay, twenty miles, and its area measures about 1,200 square miles. The east- ern extremity of the county is divided by Great and Little Peconic Bays and Gardiner's Bay, into two narrow, unequal branches, be- tween which are Gardiner's, Shelter, and Rob- in's Islands, which, with a number of smaller islands, form a part of the territory of the county.

From 1665 to 1683 the county formed the East Riding of Yorkshire. The first settle- ment of white people was made in 1639 on Gardiner's Island, and then in quick succes- sion settlements were effected on the mainland and town governments set up. The settlers were mainly from New England and most of them were devout, God-fearing people, strong- ly imbued with Puritan doctrines and zealous in their religious observances. Some of the towns they founded were even more thorough- ly theocracies than was to be found in New England. They kept aloof from the Dutch and held that whatever state allegiance they owed was to Connecticut. In the Revolution the county was strongly patriotic, and willing- ly contributed its quota of troops to the forces of the Committee of Safety. "Suffolk county," writes the historian of the Battle of Brooklyn, "had early given evidence of its hearty zeal for republican doctrines. Out of its whole popu-

lation of freeholders and adult male inhab- itants, numbering 2,834 between the ages of sixteen and sixty, only 236 were reckoned as being of loyalist proclivities. The enrolled militia of the county exceeded 2,000, of whom 393 officers and privates were in the ranks of Colonel Smith's regiment, the best disciplined and armed on the island. It was the only one that could be considered in any form to have survived the shock of, the 27th of August, and only a small part even of this body ever did service after that fatal day." General Nathanael Greene seems to have fully appre- ciated the value of Colonel Smith's regiment, if we correctly interpret the following letter he sent that officer :

Camp at Brookland, Aug. 9, 1776.

Sir : Enclosed are the resolutions of the Provincial Congress ordering you to join my brigade immediately. On the receipt of this you will march the troops under your com- mand immediately to this camp. You will make all possible expedition, as the enemy has embarked part, if not all, the troops on Staten Island, and are making dispositions as if they meant to land here. You will send out scouts and parties to get intelligence. If the enemy should make their landing good on any part of the island and hear of your coming they may send out a party to intercept your march. Keep good front, flank and rear guard to pre- vent being surprised.

I am, Sir, your most obedient, humble servant, NATHANAEL GREENE.

Colonel Josiah Smith.

After the battle some, at least, of the Suf- folk and Queens troops joined the main body

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

of the patriot forces, but the hearts of the men seem to have been in their defenseless homes. Onderdonk says :

"The Committee of Safety on September 3, 1775, in session at Fishkill, hearing that Col- onel Smith's and Remsen's regiments are dis- persed or have been disbanded without per- mission of the State, resolved 'that General Clinton detain as many of said levies as pos- sible, even if they produce passes, it being of the utmost consequence that so large a num- ber of armed men should not be added to the enemy's power on Long Island, and that the committees of West Chester, Horse Neck, Stamford and Norwalk diligently watch all boats passing from the main to Long Island.'

"Most of the militia recrossed to Long Island and took British protection to save their property from confiscation and their families from insult. Some followed Congress to Fish- kill, where we find Lieutenant Onderdonk 'in some distress' and Captain B. Coe 'in dis- tressed circumstances, who recovered £20 due him. Colonel Smith returned to Long Island and was subsequently taken from his home at Moriches and thrown in Provost by the British. His daughter, Hannah, in her labors and excursions to procure his release, caught a cold that brought on a deafness, from which she never recovered."

During the occupation of Long Island Suf- folk county was in a terrible plight. British troops were stationed at various points; de- scents of patriots, Tories and pirates on her coasts were frequent, the exactions of the mil- itary were most severe and military law was often exerted in its most cruel form. The people seemed to have remained, outwardly at least, quite passive, and Governor Tryon, after a tour through Long Island, wrote to his home government as follows, in a letter dated December 16, 1776:

"On the Ioth inst. I reviewed the militia of Queens county at Hempstead, when 820 men were mustered, and on Thursday follow- ing I saw the Suffolk militia at Brookhaven,

where nearly 800 appeared, to all of whom, as well as to the militia of Queens county, I had in my presence an oath of allegiance and fidelity administered. * *

"A very large majority of the inhabitants of Queens county have indeed steadfastly maintained their loyal principles, as have small districts in Suffolk. Some men from Soutlı and East Hampton, who attended the review, assured me that rebel parties from Connecti- cut were then on the easternmost part of the island, and which prevented in general the set- tlers in that quarter from attending my sum- mons, but that they are very desirous to be under a peaceable obedience to his Majesty's authority. * * Three companies, I learned, had been raised out of Suffolk for the rebel army, most of whom, I was made to understand, would quit that service if they could get home. I have the pleasure to as- sure your Lordship that through the whole of this tour I did not hear the least murmur of discontent, but a general satisfaction ex- pressed at my coming among them, and, to judge from the temper and disposition I per- ceived of them, there is not the least appre- hension of any further commotions from the inhabitants on Long Island.

* The General has been pleased to give my Secre- tary, Colonel Fanning, a warrant to raise a battalion of Provincials for the American serv- ice, and for the term of two years, or during the war, at the General's discretion."

When the occupation was over Suffolk county was assessed £10,000 as her share in the cost of the war, or, as Silas Wood puts it, "for not having been in a position to take an active part in the war against the enemy!"

The county lost no time after the declara- tion of peace in getting back to its old quiet and prosperous channel. Its farmers resumed work in their fields, the deep-sea whale-fishing trade was inaugurated, and by 1791 the coun- ty had progressed far enough to see its first newspaper, the "Long Island Herald," estab- lished at Sag Harbor by David Frothingham.

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SUFFOLK COUNTY.

In the war of 1812 a British fleet was sta- tioned off its coast and several trifling de- scents were made, but practically, except for the worry and excitement, that conflict inter- fered but little with Suffolk county. Since then its progress has been slow but steady until within a few years ago, when the ex- tension of the railroad to its eastern end by degrees brought even its extreme points into close touch with the rest of the county, and made much of it available for the summer colonies which are now so numerous and im- portant.

Up to 1872 Suffolk county was divided into nine townships. In that year the present town of Babylon was formed, making the entire number ten, as follows :

Huntington. Riverhead.

Babylon.

Southampton.

Smithtown.

Easthampton.

Islip.

Southold.

Brookhaven.

Shelter Island.

At the annual meeting of the Historical Society of Suffolk County, held at Riverhead in February, 1900, the Rev. Dr. Epher Whit- aker delivered an address on "Fifty Years of Suffolk County," which, with his permission, is here reproduced :

The life of any region springs funda- mentally from its physical basis. In its condi- tions and relations of land and water our country for the last half-century has main- tained the attractive and desirable features of its earlier years. The sinking of the land along the Atlantic shore from Cape Cod to Florida has been too slow to produce much effect upon our condition. This decadence of the land may be due merely to those changes in the life of our planet which cause the cease- less cooling and consequent shrinkage of the surface of the earth. This solid surface may be fifteen miles in thickness, and equal in depth to that of the atmosphere surrounding our globe-not as thick in comparison with the earth as a sheet of tissue paper on a man's head in comparison with the height of a man. This decadence has given us a few earth-

quakes within the last fifty years, but none like that which gave Charleston so dreadful a shake.

The new lighthouse, built in water several feet deep, at Orient Point, stands where living men have seen fields of grain ripening for the harvest. Along the shores of the ocean and the Sound we have lost a small quantity of fruitful land. We have gained as much by the accumulation of rich soil around lakes and ponds and other bodies of shallow water. Furthermore, this natural make of rich and valuable soil has been wisely increased in many places by human implements and industry.

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A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 147

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