A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 152

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 152

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Jonas Mills, Timothy Wheeler, jun., Stephen Nicoll, William Gerrard, Micah Smith, Israel Mills, Daniel Wheeler, Israel Mills, Jacobus Hubbs, James Paine, Zophar Wheeler, Platt Arthur, Benjamin Nicoll, Gamaliel Conklin, Thomas Wheeler, Jonas Mills, Jeremiah Wheeler, Epenetus Wood, Jonathan Sammis, sen., Nathanael Sammis.

The recusants were :

Isaac Newton, Caleb Newton, John New- ton, James Smith, Wiliam Smith, Jonathan L'Homdieu, William Thompson, Alexander Munsel, Peter Smith, John Edwards, Stephen Smith, Gershom Smith, Joseph Gould, jun., Silas Biggs, Zophar Scidmore.

During the occupation Smithtown was the scene of several encounters, chief of which was the fight at Fort Slongo, in which Col. Tall- madge figured so heroically. Many of the leading citizens, such as Richard Smith-the representative of the founder of the town- the third in direct descent-the Rev. Joshua Hart, the Presbyterian preacher, Zephaniah Platt, and others, were sent to prison in New York. Others fled over into Connecticut and all who remained were compelled to take the oath of allegiance. The coast line was a con- stant scene of turmoil and pillage and Whig and Tory alike proved equally welcome prey to the marauders, who under the guise of pa- triotism or loyalty really performed the erimes of shore pirates.

Smithtown recovered slowly, very slowly, from the effects of the occupation. Farming was resumed, a few mills were erected here and there, the oyster business was languidly prosecuted, and clamming formed quite an in- dustry, but fishing seemed more of an amuse- ment than a serious occupation. Until the advent of the railroad Smithtown was for- gotten by the rest of New York and seemed to be quite content with that condition of things. Even to the present day it is felt that the resources of the township have never been fully developed, and its healthfulness, picturesque coast and rich natural scenery have never been fully made known, and that it has not become the fashion among the "sum-

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mer people" as Islip or Southampton. But all things come to him who waits and it re- quires little of the gift of prophecy to say that the time is not far distant when Smithtown will fully share in the harvest reaped by her sister townships. Already it has two fashion- able clubhouses-the Wyandanch and the Rassapaque-and of late years many attrac- tive villas have been erected along the shore of the Sound. The "land boomers" have helped to retard the growth of the township, perhaps more than aught else in these modern days.

From a religious point of view the early history of Smithtown is pretty much a blank. It does not seem that the original Smith or his immediate descendants made any provision for the maintenance of a clergyman in their domain. Prime says that the first church was erected at Nissequague, but could not give any date for its erection. It seems that it was re- moved to Smithtown Branch in 1750, and that in 1751 it had seven members. Its minis- ters seldom stayed long and there were long intervals between the pastorates-20 years ou two occasions. In 1808 a Methodist church was erected at Hauppauge, and in 1845 a Roman Catholic congregation was formed there. In 1853 an Episcopalian church was built at St. James, the modern name for the village of Sherrawog.

Smithtown Branch, with an estimated population of 500, is the most thickly popu- lated of all the villages in the township, witlı the exception of Kings Park or St. Johnland, which mainly through its institutions claims some 1,050. Smithtown Village ("Head of the River") only has 215, and St. James, in spite of several years successive "booming," 400. Hauppauge has 380, but the rest of the villages will fall below the 300 mark.

It is the custom to treat of the homes of the Society of St. Johnland in a separate divis- ion from the other atractions of King's Park,

that is, they are regarded as in that village but not of it. There is no more useful or more truly charitable work carried on anywhere than in these institutions, where aged men are en- abled to await the close of life's generally dis- astrous and poverty-stricken journey in com- fort and peace and where children are received, clothed, fed and educated in a manner calcu- lated to develop them into strong, active and intelligent citizens whose labors in years to come will add to the general welfare of what- ever section where their lots may be cast. During the year ending December 1, 1901, the Society had maintained in these institutions 51 aged men, 83 boys and 60 girls, at a per capita cost of about $175, and had received legacies during the same period amounting to $27,761, which had been added to its general fund-the fund which insures the permanence of the work. Truly in this case the perpetual power of good is clearly illustrated. Dr. Muhlenburg, the founder of the institution, has long rested from his labors, leaving behind a sainted mem- ory, yet his example and his work still bring forth good fruit and daily render grand service to the cause of humanity-the cause of Chris- tianity. At the annual meeting of the Society of St. Johnland held in the closing week of 1901, the following officers were elected :

The Rev. Dr. Henry Mottet, President ; William Alexander Smith, Vice-President ; Dr. Frederick D. Hyde, Secretary ; Francis M. Bacon, Treasurer. Trustees-W. Alexander Smith, Bishop Henry C. Potter, A. W. Hard, George Blagden, the Rev. Dr. Mottet, Jolin A. McKim, Joseph Park, J. H. Hewson, James McLean, F. M. Bacon, Theodore Thomas, Roswell Eldridge, Dr. F. E. Hyde, the Rev. Dr. W. M. Grosvenor, John H. Cole, George E. Chisholm, John Seely Ward, Jr., the Rev. James E. Freeman, Avery D. Andrews, Alfred G. Vanderbilt, S. Nicholson Kane, William N. Wilmer, James K. Gracie, and William G. Davies. Superintendent-Rev. N. C. Halsted.

CHAPTER LXVII.

ISLIP.

F Babylon Township be practically stripped of its ancient history, its neighbor, Islip, fully makes up for it in this regard, even although its career as a township only dates from 1710 and the township records from 1720. It has an area of about 72,000 acres, is about 16 miles in length, and in breadth measures about 8 miles, from the "backbone" of the island to the shores of the Great South Bay. It never was, it prob- ably never will be, a fertile region, except in its southern portion, and it was a region of slow growth until it was discovered by the summer boarder. In 1880 its population was 6,490, in 1890 II,073, and in 1900 12,545. In the latter decade it had not only been discov- ered by the summer boarder but had been taken up by society and been made fashionable.

In his survey of the history of this town- ship, Mr. Prime commences with a plaint that is much better founded than most of his pessi- mistic utterances-and these are many. He said : Here we have a striking illustration of the pernicious influence on the interests of pop- ulation resulting from the accumulation of land in the hands of a few owners ; especially where that accumulation is perpetuated by the old feudal law of entailment. Although a large portion of this town is naturally incapa- ble of maintaining a large population, as it embraces extensive tracts of sterile plains and vast swamps, yet the necks and other tracts of land are good and capable of sustaining a much larger number of inhabitants than it now con- tains ; and as the law of entailment is now ab-

rogated, it may be expected that the evil will be gradually remedied, though time will be required to render the work effectual." This was written in 1845, and the trouble com- plained of has been most effectually remedied, but it is to be questioned whether Islip's real popularity and prosperity were retarded even for a year by the arrangement so denounced. The iron horse was the great clearer of feudal notions and Puritanic isolations on Long Island as elsewhere.

Its coast, on the Great South Bay, is an exceedingly beautiful one, while the waters of the bay itself afford aquatic sport of all kinds. Its shores are lined with pleasant cottages and huge hotels, summer boarding places of all de- scriptions, while here and there rise veritable palaces, and now and again we encounter enclosures of private property almost rivaling in size baronial manors and certainly exceed- ing most of such old-time relics in the elegance of their equipment and the extent of their re- sources. Even Fire Island, that part of the great sand bar which separates the Great South Bay from the Atlantic, has been brought into requisition for the summer boarder trade, al- though, it must be confessed, without the same degree of financial success that has crowned the efforts of the upbuilders of such resorts on the mainland of the township.

The story of Islip, the story, that is, from the time when the white man generously took up its burden from the red man, introduces us in the first place to a single landgrabber rather, as in other townships, to an organization of

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men seeking to benefit their worldly prospects or to promote their religious freedom and fel- lowship, or to enjoy civil liberty according to their own ideas. Matthias Nicolls, the com- piler, it is alleged, of "the Duke's laws," and secretary of the Province, and connected in one way or another with it in an official capacity almost until his death, in 1687, was so fond of Long Island that he secured quite a large es- tate at Great Neck in the present township of North Hempstead. His son, William, followed in his footsteps and became famous as a law- yer and local politician. In 1683 he purchased a large tract of land from the natives, of which

AN ANCIENT HOME NATHANIEL SMITH'S HOUSE, EAST MORICHES.

more anon, and the same year he was appoint- ed clerk of Queens County. In 1687 he was appointed Provincial Attorney General. After his father's death he settled in New York and became a leader in politics and at the bar. He opposed the little movement of Jacob Leister, and was held by that serio-comic potentate as a prisoner. When that crisis was over he got his reward in being made a member of Coun- cil, and in 1695 he was sent by the New York Assembly on a mission to the crown with the view of getting the other colonies to share in the cost of the defence of Britain's strip of coast against the inroads of the French, which fell almost wholly upon New York from its geographical position. In 1698, in the course

of the kaleidoscopic change so frequent in the history of American politics, Nicolls was again among the outs. Gov. Bellomont summarily dismissed him from the Council. However, he soon showed the extent of his influence, for in 1701 he was elected a member of Assembly from Suffolk county, but was not permitted to take his seat on the ground that his election was illegal, he being a non-resident. He got over that by erecting a mansion-Islip Grange -on the Great South Bay, and in 1702 was again chosen to represent Suffolk and so con- tinued for 21 years, and for 16 years was Speaker of the Assembly. He died at Islip Grange in 1723.

The land which in 1683 Nicolls bought the Indians was confirmed to him by patent issued in the following year by Gov. Dongan. In 1686 he still added to his holdings by fur- ther purchases from the Indians, and again Gov. Dongan issued a confirmatory patent, and he secured another addition in 1697 by deed from Gov. Fletcher. Thompson estimates the area of Nicolls' holdings at 60 square miles. In 1692 Nicolls had a neighbor in Andrew Gibb, Clerk of Queens county, who that year got a patent for a big tract at the east side, while in 1695 a tract on the west side of the Nicolls lands was given by Gov. Fletcher to Thomas and Richard Willets. Other patents were those in 1692 to Stephen Van Cortlandt, and in 1708 to John Mowbray, who is de- scribed as a tailor from Southampton. All the patentees seem to have settled more or less on their respective holdings, excepting Van Cort- landt, who was probably the most active of the local statesmen of his time, filling every office of importance in the Province except that of Governor. He was a soldier, a merchant, Mayor of New York, member of Council, Judge of the Common Pleas in Kings County, and it is hard to tell all what.

Practically all of the present township of Islip was held by these men, excepting a small portion in the north which no one seemed to want. Mowbray seems to have gone into the

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business of selling portions of his extensive real estate as soon as all the legal requirements which invested him with proprietorship had been complied with. The others, however, held on to theirs, probably, as in the case of Nicolls and his heirs, with the view of keeping intact a great estate, which would by its very extent confer distinction.

But under such circumstances the territory did not attract much additions to its popula- tion. William Nicolls did not spend much of his time for many years at Islip Grange, and there is a tradition that Andrew Gibb, in his anxiety to have a neighbor he could speak to, deeded a large share of his land to Amos Wil- lets, a Quaker, on condition that the latter should live near him, and the bargain was car- ried out. There is also a tradition that Will- iam Nicolls tried to induce a settlement in or near the present village of Islip but was not very successful. It was probably not until all of the original patentees had been gathered to their fathers that the entrance gates were un- barred sufficiently to permit others to enter and "enjoy the land."

In 1720, when the records of the township, as such, commence, the freeholders were :

Benjamin Nicolls ( Supervisor),

Thomas Willets ( Assessor),

John Mowbray (Assessor), Isaac Willets (Collector),

David Akerly, ·

Joseph Dow, John Moger, James Saxton (Constable),

William Gibb, George Phillips, jr.,

John Arthur, Amos Powell,

John Smith, Samuel Muncy,

William Green, Richard Willets,

William Nicolls,

Anning Mowbray,

Joseph Saxton,

James Morris, Israel Howell,

Jolın Scudder,

Ananias Carll, Stephen White, Amos Willets, Daniel Phillips, Joseph Udall, Samuel Tillotson.

The town meeting was a humble affair until long after the 19th century had dawned. It could not be otherwise in the presence of the large landed interests which were on every side of "the precinct of Islip." In 1737 Anan- ias Carll, John Arthur and John Scudder were elected Overseers of the Poor, which may be accepted as evidence of increasing population and advancing civilization, but the principal work of the town meetings even up to 1820 was to attempt to restrict the harvest of the sea, or as much of it as lay before them, to the actual residents. Fishing was for long the main industry of the people, and clamming and oystering in time reached large proportions, and continues to afford employment to several thousands of people in one way or another. For many years the forests of pine and oak, which seem to have in primitive times covered the township, afforded a revenue for the pat- entees and much employment to the people. But as the timber was cut down it was not re- placed, and as the supply of nature gave out the employment ceased, the mills which had been built to cut the wood into staves, etc., fell into decay, and the ground on which the "mon- archs of the forest" stood was given over to brushwood. Several mills were started from time to time, and no part of Long Island was better adapted for manufacturing purposes, but few had any pronounced success, few last- ed over a decade in any one's hands. Stock- raising, although extensively engaged in for some years, gradually became unprofitable, and in 1876 was abandoned altogether as a recog- nized industry. The population increased slowly; in 1820 it was figured as 1,156, in 1830 as 1,653, in 1840 as 1,909, and in 1850 as 2,602. It was not until the land monopoly was aban- doned and the railway crossed its territory that

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

Islip began to assume its modern position and popularity.

The early church record of Islip is an ex- tremely scanty one, as might easily be imag- ined from the way in which its territory was portioned off. Thompson gives the first church building as that of St. John's Episcopal, "a grotesque-looking edifice of small dimensions and singular shape, standing upon the country road near the middle of Nicolls' patent. It was erected in the year 1766, principally, if not entirely, at the expense of the then opulent proprietor of that immense estate." Prime places the erection of the building three years later, saying: "In 1769 a small church edifice was erected by the patentee near the middle of the town on the south road, designed for the celebration of divine worship according to the forms of the Episcopal Church, and was occasionally used for that purpose, though it long remained unblessed by prelatical hands. From 1814 the Rev. Charles Seabury, rector of Caroline Church, at Setauket, acted as mis- sionary to this congregation and devoted a portion of his time to its service. In 1843 this church was repaired and enlarged, and on the 6th of July duly consecrated by the Bishop." Prime also mentions an Indian congregation but seems to doubt if it had a regular house of worship.

The Methodist Church in Islip village dates from 1810, although the first church was not erected until 1828. It was a wooden structure measuring about 22 feet by 32, and was erected so as to be as convenient as possible to the brethren in Penataquit as Bay Shore was then called. It was not until 1850 that Methodism organized a separate society at Bay Shore, and about 1854 a small chapel was erected. The best of feeling during all the separation pro- ceeding seems to have prevailed between the brethren at Islip and those at Penataquit. Amos. Doxsee, the leader of the first class at the latter place, was, like all of his family, a stanch supporter of Methodism, a believer in the most literal interpretation of the Scrip- tures and in their verbal interpretation. It is

told of him that at a meeting of the clergy and laity to give expression of their views on danc- ing, which was beginning to creep into the early church, having held back and being ap- pealed to by the pastor for his opinion, he stood up and, slowly raising his tall, gaunt fig- ure on tiptoe, said : "Now I'll tell you what I think about dancing. Let a man be filled with the Holy Ghost and if he wants to dance, let him dance."

One of his brothers, Leonard, was class leader for over 20 years, and another brother, Benjamin, was a trustee for some 40 years and was proud at being able, in spite of the weight of years, to work a little on the walls of the Tabernacle of 1892, the latest development of the home congregation which his family had been so prominent in founding. Many of the old members of the church even now recall the grand "seasons of refreshing" in 1877 and 1878, when the Rev. Stephen Rushmore led in a series of revivals which are said to have stirred Bay Shore to its depths.

A Methodist class at Sayville was organ- ized about 1838 by members of the church at Patchogue, but it was not until 1847 that a house of worship was erected, and it continued to be associated with Patchogue until 1866, when it became a separate charge. A class was formed at Great River in 1872 and at Bay- port in 1874.

St. Mark's Episcopal Church at Islip was organized in 1847 under the Rev. William Everett. Its present building was erected in 1880 by William H. Vanderbilt. This church has mission stations at Central Islip since 1869, and at Brentwood since 1872. Emanuel Church at Great River was organized in 1862 by St. Mark's, but in 1878 it was erected into a sep- arate parish. Christ Church, West Islip, dates from 1869, and St. Ann's at Sayville from 1866. The Presbyterian Church of Islip had its beginning in 1854, and the Dutch Reformed Church dates its entrance into the township from 1866, one year before its church at Say- ville was erected.

Writing 20 years ago, one of Islip's histo-

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rians said that "so thickly are summer resi- dences scattered along the South Road through this town that it is almost a continuous vil- lage." For some years past that word "al- most" could be eliminated and the sentence would hold good to-day. All along the line of the railroad and the South Road is a contin- uous succession of villages, hamlets, county seats and villas from Udall's Road to Bayport. Some of the villages have considerable popu- lation-Bay Shore, 3,135; Islip, 1,956; Say- ville, 3,369; Youngsport, 571; Central Islip (including the Manhattan State Hospital), 1,600 ; Great River, 571,-but all are new-too new to have acquired much in the way of his- tory, except such society data as might pass as such among a class, but data of that kind, do- ings of coaching and kennel clubs, the progress of horse shows and the ups and downs of the ancient and royal game of golf are hardly worthy of serious chronicle. Bay Shore, which was once called Mechanicsville, and then Penanquit (the Indian name of a small stream in the vicinity) is, next to Islip, the most an- cient village in the township, but like Islip, its modernity is its chief characteristic. The main business of all the villages except, per- haps, Bohemia, is summer-boarding; and sum- mer boarders, especially of the class which seems to have taken hold of Islip, want modern improvements; for Islip has become fashion- able. Its splendid hotels and clubhouses, and the magnificent estates of W. K. Vanderbilt, F. G. Bourne, W. K. Aston, the Cutting fam- ily, as well as the hundreds of palatial villas which have been erected mainly by New York- ers for their summer homes, have drawn to it

people of the very highest class, people who by their means and tastes have made even much of its sandy wastes blossom into verit- able gardens. There is an air of exclusiveness outside of the villages and hotels which seems to be especially pleasing to those who regard themselves as the fashionable world, while such enterprises as the group of Moorish houses, erected by H. O. Havemeyer at Bay- berry Point, near Islip, is an experiment in the way of co-operation among the very rich which will be watched with curious interest. The Vanderbilt estate at Oakdale, with its new mansion costing, it is said, $1,600,000, and its thousand acres of farm garden and wood land, and its iron fence, beautiful entrances, lodges, farm buildings, game preserves, and it is hard to tell all what, is a veritable fairy-land and one of the wonders of Islip. It is a part of the old Nicolls patent, and when it first passed into the hands of the Vanderbilts was a mass of brush and shrub, half-starved fields, and brok- en-down steadings. Now its gardens, its groves of oak and maple, its well kept lawns and smiling fields seem to speak eloquently of how man can triumph over nature with the aid of determination, taste, ambition and money. During late years trees have been planted liberally all along the line of popula- tion, and Islip now boasts of her pine and other forests, while nature has also been at work replacing the damage done by the deple- tion of a generation that has now passed, and it is safe to say that the value of such forests is now too highly appreciated to permit again of their wanton destruction for purposes of firewood.

CHAPTER LXVIII.

BROOKHAVEN.

B ROOKHAVEN is the largest town- ship on Long Island. It extends the entire width of the island and has 20 miles of coast line on the Sound, 221 on the Great South Bay and about 30 on the Atlantic, facing Fire Island or Great South Beach. Its acreage has been figured at 152,500, its square mileage at 250, and besides it rejoices in the possession by geographical and legal right of some 70 square miles of water.

The first purchase of land was made in 1655 from the Setalcott Indians by a party of 6 pioneers, who were evidently acting on be- half of others, prospecting, as it were, for a spot on which to establish a colony. Five of these were from Massachusetts-John Scud- der, John Swezie, Jonathan Porter, Roger Chester and Thomas Charles, and one, Thomas Mabbs or Mapes, belonged to South- old and was one of the original settlers of that township. Probably he accompanied the others as being a man of experience in dealing with the natives ; it could hardly be because he had any knowledge of the land. The party had with them the usual collection of coats, hatchets, powder, knives and the like with which to do a land business with the Indians, and appear to have driven a fairly good bar- gain.

Pretty soon those for whom the prospec- tors were acting began to arrive ; most of them were from New England, but several came from other portions of Long Island, from Southampton and even from Jamaica. Within

years the following were found in the settle- ment according to a list in "Thompson's His- tory":

Richard Woodhull, Thomas Ward,

Zachariah Hawkins, John Roe,

Peter Whitehaire, John Budd,

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A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 152

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