A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 158

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 158

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The history of the village of Southold is little more than a history of its church, and that has already been told. It now has a pop- ulation of nearly 1,000 and is already begin- ning to be appreciated by the summer board- ers who desire quiet and rest rather than ex- citement and "functions." Its old church still points upward, and since 1819 it has had a Methodist tabernacle as a neighbor, although since 1795 that body had a congregation in the village.

The business center of the township, how- ever, is Greenport, a thriving commercial city with some 3,000 inhabitants. It was orig- inally part of the land of Captain John Youngs. The territory was given the name of Stirling in honor of the first patentee. It seems to have been a favorite rendezvous for shipping from an early period, owing to the fact that its harbor was never frozen even in the severest winters. In early times a wharf was erected at the mouth of Stirling Creek, and not far inland was an inn and two or three houses. Such was the beginning of Greenport. Washington passed through the place in 1757 and in 1763 George Whitefield wrote on a pane of glass in Captain Webb's tavern, "one thing is needful," and the glass, with the inscription intact, is now one of the exhibits of the Long Island Historical So- ciety's collections. It was not until 1825, how- ever, that the town really entered upon its

progressive stage, owing mainly to the ship- ping which sought its harbor. In 1827 Main street was laid out and the trade with the West Indies seemed to steadily increase. In 1831, however, began its whaling industry, which first established its commercial activity on a sure basis.

"The first whaling ships which sailed from this port," writes Mr. Pelletreau, "were the 'Triad' and the 'Bayard,' the former com- manded by Captain Nathaniel Case and the latter by Captain Jolın Fordham, of Sag Har- bor. About the same time sailed the 'Potosi,' which was wrecked on the Falkland Islands. The first mentioned being successful, other vessels were purchased, among them the 'Delta' (commanded by Captain Isaac Sayre, of Southampton), 'Caroline,' 'Kanawha,' 'Neva,' 'Italy' and others, twenty in all, and most of them made full voyages. Captain David Wicks, of Babylon, commanded the 'Delta' twenty-one years, and died in 1870. The result of this prosperity was that the village was rapidly built up.

"The first house was built by Lester Brooks and stood not far from the lumber yard west of Main street. This house was afterward bought by John Ashby and moved, and it now stands two doors north of the corner of Main and Amity streets. The first store, built in 1828, by Walter Havens, stood at the foot of Main street, east side.

"The name Greenport was adopted at a meeting held in 1834. A postoffice was estab- lished in 1832, and John Clark was the first postmaster.

"The first vessel built here was a sloop named Van Buren, built by Calvin Horton in 1834. The first ship was the Jane A. Bishop, built by Hiram Bishop and named after his daughter. Steamboats began running here in 1836.

"The whale fishery had its decline and fall almost as sudden as its rise. It ended for this place in 1860, and the last ship was the Italy.

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SOUTHOLD.

"Since then a new business has sprung up in the shape of the menhaden fishery, and there at the present time twenty-one steam- ers engaged in the enterprise. The number of fish caught in 1881 was 211,000,000; fish oil made, 1,013,350 gallons ; tons of scrap, 22,100. The estimated catch of fish within the col- lector's district by bay and other fisheries is 400,000,000, with a value of $975,000."

In 1882 Congress passed a resolution to protect the harbor with a breakwater at a cost of $16,000, but it was not completed un- til 1893. It has proved a splendid improve- ment and done much to increase the business of the port, which is now estimated at 200,000 tons annually. Its shipbuilding trade is also advancing by leaps and bounds.

There has been a Baptist meeting house in Greenport since 1831, and a Presbyterian church since 1833. The Congregational church, which claims to be the real representa- tive of the first church at Southold, has wor- shipped in its own building since 1848. The school system of Greenport is justly regarded as inferior to none on Long Island-or any- where.

Mattituck lies on the shore of Mattituck Bay, which will be one of the best harbors on the Long Island coast when the Government completes the extensive improvements which it has promised and planned. But it is hard to tell when that will be, for in such matters Uncle Sam's ways "are peculiar." In the meanwhile it remains a quiet farming com- munity, although it boasts a population of about 1,200. Its settlement was begun about 1680, and in 1716 its population had so in- creased that a church building was erected on a couple of acres of ground presented for the purpose, and also for a burying place by James Reeves. A pastor was at once called- the Rev. Josepli Lamb-who seems to have remained over a long series of years. In 1752 the church was united with that at Lower Aquebogue and that arrangement lasted until 1853, since which time it has continued a sep-

arate charge. In 1878 an Episcopal church was built in the village."

Cutchogue is a farming village, which seems to have been peopled since about 1661. "Probably one of the first settlers," writes Mr. Pelletreau, "was Benjamin Horton, who had a house here in 1664. By various sales and exchanges he secured a large estate. His will is of such an extraordinary nature that we give it entire :

In ye name of God Amen. febr ye 19 1685-6, according to the computation of ye Church of England, I, Benjamin Horton, in ye County of Suffolk in ye Province of N. Yorke on Long Island, being in perfect mem- ory, doe make & ordain this my last will & testament.

Item .- I give to Caleb Horton & Joshua Horton & to Jonathan Horton & Mersy Youngs 80 bushels of wheate & Indian, 20 swine, 20 sheep, to be devided to them four alike.

Item .- I give my house & land & meadows except my Meadow of Common over the River to the Sacrament table yearly for evermore.

Item .- I give to my friend Thomas Tusten one lot of the common meadows over the River, and a coate cloth that is at Stephen Bayles, and the corne that is more than the 80 bushels I give to Thomas Tusten.

Item .- I give ten oxen for a bell for the meeting-house to call ye people together to worship the Lord God.

Item .- I give the rest to the poore.

Item .- I give to my man Joseph one sow, one gun, one sheep & his time, to be out next may day.

Item .- I give to my sisters my wives cloathes to be divided to them two.

Item .- I give all the rest of my goods to my brother Joseph Horton.

I make my brother Joshua Horton sole executor of this, my last will and testament revoking all other wills and testaments, to see all my debts paid. BENJAMIN HORTON.

The church referred to in the above will was the venerable house at Southold. It was not until 1732 that a church was erected in Cutchogue. It held an independent congre- gation until 1848, when it entered the Presby- terian fold. Four years later the old build-

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ing was pulled down and a handsome struc- ture erected in its place ; in 1830 a Methodist church was built and a Congregational church in 1862.

One of the most interesting of the villages of Southold is that known as Orient, which lies at the eastern extremity of the island on what is virtually an island. The land from Stirling Creek to the extreme point at Plum Gut was surveyed in 1661, and the 400 acres which now make up the center of the village of Orient became the property of Gideon Youngs, who held them until his death, in 1699, when they passed to his children. At that time the property was known as Oyster Pond Lower Neck. In 1650 there were prob- ably thirty persons resident in Orient, and in 1740 a wharf was built by Richard Shaw.

Mr. Pelletreau, from whom we have quot- ed so much in this chapter, thus sketches the church history of Orient:

A church was founded and a house for worship built previous to 1717. The earliest record we have found is this :

"David Youngs, in consideration of 5s. paid by the persons that have builded a meet- ing-house in ye Oyster Ponds Lower Neck, sells to them so long as they shall keep up a meeting-house all that piece of land that ye sd meeting-house stands upon; that is soe much of land as the sd meeting-house stands upon, bounded west by Thomas Terry's land, south by ye highway, north and east by land of mee the sd David Youngs .- Jan. 1, 1717."

According to "Griffin's Journal" (a work of the highest value wherever the venerable author speaks from his own knowledge, but wandering very far indeed from historic truth when he trusts to tradition) this building was a singular edifice. "It was about 30 feet square, two stories high, and on the top an- other building about ten feet square and nine feet high, and then a finish something like the lower part of a steeple, with an iron spire which supported a sheet iron figure of a game cock, showing the course of the wind." This building stood for a century, and was torn down and a new one built on the same site in 1818. This being inconvenient, a more ele- gant one was built on the same place in 1843,

which still remains, a very neat and commo- dious edifice. We have seen that David Youngs in 1717 sold the site for 5s. When the present church was built a few rods of land were added as a cost of fifty dollars. Griffin quaintly observes: "Thus we see that five shillings in 1700 were worth four hundred shillings in 1843. How things change !"

The first clergyman who labored here of whom we have any knowledge was Rev. Jona- than Barber, who, according to Griffin, was here in 1735, and the records of the pres- bytery speak of him in 1757 as having been here "some years." At that time the church appears to have been in a very weak condi- tion, and could hardly be said to be established.

Methodism was introduced in this village in the autumn of 1802, and the first preacher of that denomination was Rev. John Finnagan, an Englishman. As in many other places at that time, there was much prejudice excited against the new sect, whose religious exer- cises were in those days not unfrequently con- ducted in a manner more likely to excite the ridicule of the profane than the veneration of the righteous. The first meetings were hekl in the school-house, contrary to the wishes of many, but before spring some of the promi- nent families of the place became more fa- vorably inclined, and no further opposition was made. From Mr. Finnagan's departure in 1803 until 1820 there was very little preach- ing by any clergyman of this denomination, and the Rev. Cyrus Foss was the first who made any stay. That the prejudice was fast wearing away is shown by the fact that the church was used by him when not occupied by the regular pastor. The corner stone of the Methodist church was laid June 3d, 1836, the services being conducted by Rev. Samuel W. King. From that time the pulpit has been regularly supplied and the congregation is prosperous and increasing.

The author of "Griffin's Journal" gives from his own experience a description of a re- markable storm, which we quote as an un- doubtedly truthful account :

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SOUTHOLD.

"On the afternoon of the 24th of Decem- ber, 1811, the wind was light, from the west; at II P. M. very moderate, and cloudy, gentle breeze, S. E .; at 12 o'clock nearly calm, with a little sprinkle of rain. In one hour after it commenced almost instantaneously blowing a gale, with snow and the most intense cold. A more violent and destructive storm has not been known for the last hundred years. Many young cattle froze to death in the fields. Two vessels bound to New York were lost and most of the crews perished."

Griffin also narrates the accounts he had heard of the great snow storm of 1717, which was doubtless the most remarkable fall of snow that has ever occurred in this country since the settlement. Houses in Orient were buried to the second story windows, and one on Plum Island was entirely covered. Cotton Mather states that the snow in Boston was twenty feet in depth. This storm occurred in February. The winter of 1780 was remark- ably cold, and the ice was so thick that Noah Terry rode on horseback from Orient Harbor to Shelter Island.

On the 23d of September, 1815, occurred one of the severest easterly storms of rain and wind ever known, and it is still spoken of as the "September gale." About II A. M. the wind blew so violently as to unroof houses, blow down barns and uproot trees. The tide rose to a wonderful height, and Griffin nar- rates that one of the families living near the wharf came in a boat and landed near his house. The Atlantic coast was strewn with wrecks, and many a sailor sunk into a watery grave.

The year 1816 was remarkable as having a frost every month.

In the summer of 1849 this place was vis- ited by a very fatal epidemic, to which physi- cians gave the name of "cholera dysentery." Within a space of half a mile there were more than sixty cases in two weeks. In the street leading to the wharf scarcely a house es- caped. Mr. Griffin records that within a hun-

dred rods of his house there were twelve deaths, and in one district one-fourth of a mile square thirty persons died in two months. All business was at a stand and the place seemed almost deserted.

The other settlements in Southold are small and unimportant. Peconic is the modern name of a village once known as Hermitage, and has now a population of 385, mainly de- voted to farming, and Franklinville, another farming community, has barely 200, althoughi it lies in two townships, being on the River- head boundary line. East Marvin, in the other extremity, a neighbor to Orient, is a fishing village, with a population nearly reaching to 400.

Of the dependencies of Southiold-as its islands might be called-Fisher's Island is the largest and claims a population of 250, which in the summer season is increased to about 1,000. Its association with Southold is a freak of political geography, as it is in close prox- imity to Connecticut. In 1668 Governor Winthrop accepted a patent for the island from Governor Nicolls, of New York, thus acknowledging the New York title, and the island remained in the possession of Win- throp's descendants until 1863. It has since been opened for settlement. Robin's Isl- and is mainly a game preserve. Plum Island, which once bore the more distinguished name of the Island of Patmos, supports a popula- tion of fifty, and the Gull Islands are useless except for lighthouse purposes, although the Government has utilized Great Gull Island by erecting important fortifications on it as part of the system of coast defense. Pl11111 Island has also been fortified.

The Gull Islands got their name, as miglit be supposed, from the vast quantities of gulls, or terns, which used to make their home there. But as a result of the depredations of plume hunters these birds began some years ago to leave their habitat, and the military opera- tions frightened away altogether what re- mained, so that now a gull is rarely seen in the islands bearing its name. The headquarters

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of these beautiful birds are on the eastern end of Fisher's Island and the small islets-Flat Hammock, Wicopesset, mainly-beside it. Between Fisher's Island and Gardiner's Island is the famous waterway known as the Race, the most famous fishing ground off the Long Island and Connecticut coasts. Immense catches are made there every year; vast schools of bluefish, mackerel and menhaden and small fish in limitless number pass through the Race every day or linger awhile in its swirling, dashing, ever white-capped waters. The Race is also the happy hunting ground of the tern and it is said their movements are of great importance to the fishermen. The latter watch the careening of the birds and know from experience that where they congregate most numerously in that bit of water will be found the best fishing ground, for that day at least. The Race is well watched by these beautiful little birds, and the presence of a school of bluefish is known to them long be- fore man discovers the fact, and these active aerial beauties have generally hunted to their hearts' content before the fishermen begin op-

erations by driving them away. A recent writer says :

"One of the colonies from Gull Islands migrated to Gardiner's Island, and the birds have even since nested and bred there, in spite of opposition, persecution, and persistent de- struction. There are two large colonies on Gardiner's Island, one located at the north and the, other at the south side of the island. These colonies are the largest in existence in the Sound or anywhere along our neighboring beaches, and they have received more atten- tion and protection as a consequence than any other. Two wardens have been employed right along to protect these colonies and to see that robbers did not take the eggs or kill the old birds. The colony on the north side of the island numbers 2,000 or more birds, while the one on the south side is rather larger, if anything, making nearly 5,000 terns on Gardi- ner's Island .. This number constantly in- creases every year. The birds show every dis- position to make this their permanent home, and they return to it regularly season after season to nest and breed."

CHAPTER LXXI.

SHELTER ISLAND.

HIS is the smallest of the townships in Suffolk county in extent of terri- tory and in population. Just why it should have been elevated to the dig- nity of a separate town is not easy to imag- ine, except that the difficulty of attendance at the Southold town meetings, of which town- ship it was virtually a part until 1730, led to its securing in that year the right to a town meeting of its own. Its acreage seems to vary according to the surveyor. It has been placed as high as 10,000 and as low as 7,298, and is generally placed at 8,000, which is probably correct enough for all practical pur- poses. Its name is probably derived from its Indian cogomen, which in English was the "island sheltered by islands." It was evidently at one time the home of quite a powerful tribe of red men, but the last of the race-an aged woman-died in 1835.

The island was sold , by James Farret, Lord Stirling's agent, to Stephen Goodyear, of New Haven. In 1651 it was sold by Goodyear to Thomas Middleton, Thomas Rouse, Constant Sylvester and Nathaniel Syl- vester for 1,600 pounds of "good merchantable muscovado sugar," and this syndicate secured, in addition, a deed to the island from the In- dians in 1652, which is generally held to be the year that the white settlement was be- gun. By 1664 the Sylvester brothers had be- come sole owners of the island, and as a result of a lump payment to Governor Nicolls, partly in money, partly in pork and partly in beef,

obtained a release from taxation in the follow- ing patent :

Richard Nicolls, Esq., Governor under his Royoll Highness James Duke of Yorke and Albany &c. of all his teritoryes in America, to all to whom these presents shall come. Where- as Nathaniel Sylvester of Shelter Island, Mer- chant, ffor and on the behalfe of himselfe and of his brother Constant Sylvester of Bar- badoes, Esq., hath, of his own voluntary free will and good affection to this government, ad- vanced and paid toward ye support and main- tainance thereof the sum of £150, the receipt whereof I doe hereby acknowledge, Now know yee that, by virtue of commission and au- thority given unto me by his Royoll High- ness James Duke of York, I, for and in con- sideration of the afore said sum of £150 and for other good causes and considerations me thereunto moving, doe hereby grant unto ye said Nathaniel and Constant Sylvester, and to their heirs and assigns forever, That ye said Island called Shelter Island is and forever hereafter shall bee by these presents dis- charged, exonerated and acquitted from all taxes and rates either civill or military, and from all traynings, setting forth and keeping any souldiers, horses, arms, troops or other warlike provisions, other than what they shall voluntarily do for the defence of their said island and this government in case of a for- eigne invasion, or disturbance by the natives. Given under my hand and seal in ffort James ye 25 day of May in ye yeare Anno Dom. 1666. RICHARD NICOLLS.

Within a short time a patent of confirma- tion of their rights to the island was granted by Governor Nicolls to the two brothers Syl- vester, conveying the following :

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

A tract of Land lying and being in a cer- tain bite, bay or arm of the sea, which runneth between the lands of East Hampton, South- ampton and Southold, in the East Riding of Yorkshire upon Long Island, heretofore pur- chased from the Indians by James ffaret, agent to William Earl of Sterling, and which hatlı since canie by several deeds, conveyances and grants to the said Constant Sylvester of the Island of Barbadoes, Esq., and Nathaniel Syl- vester, then inhabiting and residing in Shelter Island aforesaid, merchant; and which sand island shall be held, reputed, taken, and be an entire infranchised town ship, manor and place of itself, and forever have, hold and en- joy like and equal privileges and immunities with any other town, infranchised place or manor within this government ; but not to ex- tend to the protecting any traitor, malefactor, fugitive or debtor flying into the said island, to the damage of any person or the obstruc- tion of the laws. The same to be held as of his Majesty the King of England, in frce and common soccage and by fealty only, yield- ing and paying yearly one lamb upon the first day of May, if the same shall be demanded. RICHARD NICOLLS. Dated June Ist 1666.

The Sylvesters came to America about 1640, and were representatives of an old Eng- lish family. Nathaniel Sylvester has been de- scribed by Alden J. Spooner as "a man of . great enterprise and integrity, and who re- ceived and protected on Shelter Island a number of families of fugitives from the per- secution of the colony of Massachusetts in early times, some of whom died on the island." Another writer, basing his story on an article in the Magazine of American History, wrote :

"The island did not get its name from the Indian's phrase, but from the fact that some Quakers, exiled by the Puritans, and wander- ing, heart-sick and weary, in search of a ref- uge, here found a shelter, under the protect- ing arm of the tolerant Nathaniel Sylvester. To these Quakers it was a "rock in a weary land, and a shelter in the time of storm;" and in gratitude for the haven they bequeathed to it the name of Shelter. Sylvester was en- gaged in the sugar trade in the West Indies

when he acted the part of patron to the friendless Friends, and permitted their foun- der, George Fox, to preach from the front steps of his manor-house. This structure, the center of much gaiety and hospitality, was built of bricks brought over from Holland, with queer biblical tiles for the chimneys, and with windows and doors from England or Barbadoes. The prime floral denizens of the old-fashioned garden were immigrants, too, and to this day a flourishing boxtree and a hawthorn hedge attest the loving care of the first lords of the manor. The surrounding woods were cut away to furnish timber for hogsheads used in the sugar trade. The pres- ent manor-house, almost on the site of the original one, belongs to a later day, yet it is over one hundred years old. It was the sum- mer residence of the late Professor Hosford, of Harvard, and with his co-operation a monu- ment was erected commemorating the landing of those early Quakers. These were not the only exiles to whom Sylvester extended a brotherly hand. When the uncompromising Puritans had imprisoned, whipped and bail- ished Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick from Boston because of their faith, these un- fortunates also found a refuge in Shelter Isl- and, where they passed the rest of their lives with the kindly inhabitants."

The subsequent changes in the ownership of the island have been thus successively traced by Mr. W. S. Pelletreau :

"In July, 1673, by the recapture of New York, the Dutch regained possession of this lost territory. It was at this time that the Dutch government sent an armed vessel to the east end of Long Island to bring the different towns to their allegiance. According to one account Constant Sylvester was reported to have made a will leaving his half of Shelter Island to his sons. This will he had left at home and was absent at the time of the visit of the Dutch force. Under the supposition that he was dead the Dutch officers undertook to confiscate the interest of his heirs, and liis

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SHELTER ISLAND.

portion was sold for £500 to Nathaniel Syl- vester, who thus became the sole owner of the island. He had five sons-Giles, Na- thaniel, Constant, Peter and Benjamin, and left his island to them in equal parts. Three of these sons died without issue. Their parts reverting to Giles, he became the owner of four-fifths of the island, and Brinley Sylves- ter (son of Nathaniel last mentioned) owned the remaining fifth. In 1695 Giles Sylvester sold to William Nicoll, the patentee of the town of Islip, one-quarter of the island, which included the part still known as Sachem's Neck, for the sum of £500. Nathaniel, father of Brinley Sylvester, had previous to his death (which occurred in 1695) sold 1,000 acres of his part to George Havens. Giles Syl- vester died in 1706 without issue, and left one-quarter of the island to William Nicoll, who thus became the owner of half of the whole. The remainder, excepting the 1,000 acres in the middle of the island which be- longed to George Havens, still remained in the hands of Brinley, the son of Nathaniel. He had been living in Rhode Island, where his father had resided at the time of his de- cease, but at this time he returned to this island. The portion of it which he now owned was all that part north of a line drawn from the head of Dering Creek to Cockle's Harbor. In 1737 he built a stately mansion, which is now standing, a most interesting relic of a long-past age. The residence of the first Nathaniel had stood very near the spot where the new house was reared. The doors and many other portions had been brought from England, and were of a make and material impossible to procure in the infant days of the new world. These were made a part of the new building, and are now existing after a lapse of two centuries.

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A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 158

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