A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 159

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 159

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"Upon the decease of Brinley Sylvester his estate was left to his daughter Mary, who married Thomas Dering March 9th 1756. After his death, in 1785, it descended to his two sons Sylvester and Henry. After the

death of Sylvester (better known as General Dering) his estate was bought by Ezra L'Hommedieu, whose grandfather Benjamin had married Mary the daughter of the orig- inal Nathaniel Sylvester. It passed at his death into the hands of his daughter Mary, who married Samuel S. Gardiner, and for a long time is was widely known as the 'Gardi- ner Estate.' The offspring of this marriage was three daughters, one of whom married Professor Lane, of Cambridge, Mass .; the other two were successively the wives of Pro- fessor Horsford of the same place. At the setlement of the estate it finally passed into the hands of the latter gentleman, whose chil- dren are the lineal descendants of the first Sylvester."

The old manor house is now occupied by Miss Hosford, the last descendant of Na- thaniel Sylvester on the island, and the build- ing, together with its many interesting me- morials of a by-gone age, are carefully pre- served by her. Among these is a piece of gold chain, several links, which was given to a Sylvester by the redoubtable Captain Kidd in payment of some supplies. The local story is that the pirate, "as he sailed," got short of fresh meat and landed at the head of a party of his desperadoes on Shelter Island in search of some. In the Manor House yard they came across two pigs, which they appropriated in the easy manner usual with pirates. But the pigs objected and began to squeal, and the racket brought out on the scene a servant girl who defied the whole gang and demanded that the pigs be dropped. A cowardly historian has suggested that if she had known she was dealing with Captain Kidd and his freebooters she would have run away to the other end of the island. That, however, is a base slander. Captain Kidd saw he had a determined woman to deal with, so he called a halt, explained his necessity in the way of provender, tore off several links of the gold chain he wore-far more than the value of the pigs. She ac- cepted the payment and left the pigs to their

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fate, and 'handed the bullion to her mistress, who had watched the entire scene with fear and trembling from an upper chamber window. She had recognized Kidd and would willingly have let him take all the stock he could lay his hands on if only he and his crew would have departed in peace.

The old Sylvester burying ground, not far from the Manor house is one of the attractions to visitors in search of the ancient and the picturesque.

It occupies but a small space measuring about fifty by twenty-five yards. It is well shaded and is in every way such a spot as would be selected by the first resident pro- prietor of the manor of Shelter Island. Na- than Sylvester would have taken umbrage at one feature of his earthly resting place. It is enclosed by a fence made of oaken posts and iron piping. Of the latter there are two rows. Above the top row is a strip of barbed wire. It looks curiously out of place and one won- ders why it was put there. Had the fence been of wood the wire would have been no protection against relic hunters, but even the most feeble ininded of that class would hardly contemplate the demolition, bit by bit, of the iron piping. Besides there is something un- pleasantly incongruous about a barbed wire fence around a seventeenth century graveyard. Relic hunters have perhaps chipped away bits of the slate head stones, but the weather, doubtless, has had much to do with their time-worn appearance. The inscriptions upon the slate headstones are much more easily de- cipherable than those of the granite tablets. Of these headstones there are nineteen.

In the centre of the burying place is a monument of rather imposing dimensions. The upper and lower slabs are covered with inscriptions. The upper slab is of marble and the inscription denotes that buried beneath it is the body of Nathaniel Sylvester, "First Resident Proprietor of the Manor of Shelter Island, Under Grant of Charles II., A. D., 1666." It also contains the family coat of

arms. The monument is approached by three stone steps. These contain the following curious inscriptions :

"The Puritan in his pride, overcome by the faith of the Quaker, gave Concord and Lexington and Bunker Hill to history."

"The blood and the spirit of Victor and Vanquished alike are of the glory of Massa- chusetts."

"Daniel Gould bound to the gun carriage and lashed.

"Edward Wharton, the much scourged.

"Christopher Holder, the mutilated."

"Ralph Goldsmith, the shipmaster, and Samuel Shattuck of the King's missive : these stones are testimony."

"Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick, de- spoiled, imprisoned, starved, whipped, ban- ished.

"Who fled here to die."

"Mary Dyer, Marmaduke Stevenson, Will- iam Robinson and William Leddra, who were executed on Boston Common."

"Of the suffering for conscience sake of friends of Nathaniel Sylvester, most of whoni sought shelter here, including

"George Fox, founder of the Society of Quakers, and of his followers."

Some of the above is apt to give one the impression that freedom of thought, par- ticularly religious thought, was a dangerous commodity in pre-Revolutionary days. Shelter Island was so named for the best reason in the world, because it was a place of shelter from all kinds of storms, of which those of the wind and wave seemed to be less danger- ous than the maelstrom of religious bigotry in which so many perished in the "godly" days when Miles Standish made the mistake of entrusting his courtship of Priscilla to John Alden. They were a dour lot in those days, and could they be transported in the flesh to-day to Shelter Island and brought face to face with the five or six hundred guests of one of the big hotels there about an hour after dinner, when dancing is in full swing and gleaming shoulders are much in evidence, they would either put every mother's son and

SHELTER ISLAND.

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daughter to the sword or drop dead of heart disease.

Shelter Island has changed much in the last couple of centuries. The husbandman no longer tills his fields with an uncertain flint- lock strapped across his back, with one eye on the furrow and the other on the surrounding territory. His ear no longer expects the fear- some war whoop, for it is many cycles since the gentle redskin was induced to remove to other hunting grounds. Captain Kidd's piratical craft would meet with a short shrift to-day as the target practice of the Essex and Lancaster, training ships, can be heard quite plainly on the island. Moreover, is not Station No. 5 of the New York Yacht Club on the island, and are not yachts almost as plentiful as sea bass in the vicinity ?

William Nicoll, the patentee of Islip, was in 1706 the owner of half of the island. At his death it was left to his son William, who was a member of the Colonial Assembly from 1739 to .1768 and was universally known as "Speaker Nicoll." He died without children in 1768, and the estate then went to his nephew William (a son of his brother Benjamin), who, having been county clerk from 1750 to 1775, was commonly called "Clerk Nicoll." By will made in 1778 he left it to his son, Samuel Benjamin Nicoll, during his life, en- tailing it to his oldest son, Richard F., who by the act abolishing entails became the owner in fee. He sold it to his brother, Samuel B. Nicoll, and from him it descended to its present owners in 1865; the estate has been in the possession of the family 187 years. The portion of the Sylvester estate that was owned by Henry Deering was sold to Lawrence V. B. Woodruff, and portions of the Nicoll and Havens estates were sold to various parties.

. At the first independent town meeting, in 1730, the names of the adult male inhab- itants of the island were as follows, the list being taken from Thompson's "History of Long Island:"

William Nicolls (supervisor).

John Havens (assessor).

Samuel Hudson (assessor).

George Havens. Elisha Payne.

Ivel Bowdelet.

Abraham Parker.

Edward Havens (collector). Samuel Vail.

Thomas Conkling.

Edward Gilman (clerk).

Brinly Sylvester.

Jonathan Havens.

Joseph Havens.

Noah Tuthill.

Henry Havens. Samuel Hopkins. John Bowdelet. Daniel Brown.

Slyvester L'Hommedieu.

Mr. Pelltereau estimated that these twenty names represented a population of 100 and figures that in 1790 the population was 201. It was probably about the latter figure during the Revolutionary War, during which crisis the island suffered little except from thefts by the whaleboats and from the carrying away of all its growing timber by order of the British authorities.

In 1742 Jonathan Havens gave half an acre of ground on which a church might be erected and a burial place laid out. The church build- ing was put up the same year, a little square box with a peaked roof. Its little pulpit was open to any clergyman who came along, al- . though it would seem William Adams, who was chaplain and tutor in the family of Brind- ley Sylvester, preached in it for over thirty years. In 1764 the famous George Whitefield preached in its pulpit at least once. In 1816 the old box church was pulled down and a new building erected, which, with improve- ments and alterations, has served until the present day. In 1812 the congregation placed itself under the care of the Long Island Pres- bytery, and in 1848 the Rev. Daniel M. Lord was installed as the first regular pastor of the island. In 1873 an Episcopalian church was erected on a site almost in the center of the

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

island, the gift of Dr. S. B. Nicoll, and it re- ceived the name of St. Mary's chapel, in memory of the wife of Matthias Nicoll, one of the most liberal contributors to its build- ing and a stanch and generous supporter.

Since 1870, when a campmeeting ground of some 200 acres was purchased by the Methodists on the west side of Dering's Har-

bor, Shelter Island has slowly risen to the first rank among the summer resorts of Long Island. Its immense hotels and luxuriant cot- tages, its yacht houses, golf links and all the etceteras of a refined resort, together with its exclusiveness and its healthfulness, seem to make it become more and more popular sea- son after season.

CHAPTER LXXII.

SOUTHAMPTON.

N Governor Winthrop's "History of New England" (ed. Savage, 1853) we read that about forty families in Lynn left that town in 1640 to found a new home on Long Island. They organized a church before leaving, and with the Rev. Abraham Pearson, of Boston, as their min- ister, prepared to set out. The advance party went in a vessel in charge of Captain Daniel How to Cow Bay, bought some land there from the natives, tore down the insignia of the States General and prepared to settle. As we have seen, however, in the story of North Hempstead, this settlement was quickly and ignominiously dispossessed as soon as Gov- ernor Kieft learned of the presumption of the pioneers in settling without his leave and of the indignity they inflicted on the emblems of his Government. Sixteen of the Lynn contingent, however, were taken in Captain How's ship to the south fork of Long Island- too far away from Kieft's authority to be easily assailable by him, and there got a tract of land from the Indians and set up a colony- that of Southampton. Besides this purchase they had authority to effect a settlement from the agent of Lord Stirling. As soon as the preliminaries were adjusted the first settlers were joined by others, and within a few years Southampton was a Connecticut town and was represented in the General Court. Such in brief is the story of the founding of South- ampton.

From a reference in Winthrop's story one might think that the colonists were poverty-

stricken, but the opposite was the case, at least so far as the majority was concerned. Those who were its leaders-"Undertakers," they called themselves - possessed considerable available means. When the colony was in course of formation they bought a ship for transportation purposes, which they trans- ferred to Captain Daniel How under the fol- lowing restrictions, dated March 10, 1639:

March 10 1639 In consideration that Ed- ward Howell hath disbursed 15lb and Ed- mond ffarington Iolb, Josiah Stanborough 51b, George Webbe Iolb, Job Sayre 51b, Edmond Needham 51b, Henry Walton Iolb, and Thom- as Sayre 51b, itt is agreede upon that wee the forenamed undertakers have disposed of our severall pts of our vessel to Daniel How. In consideration whereof hee is to transporte them soe much goods either to them, their heirs, executors and Assignes (If they shall desire it) as their Several Somme or Sommes of Monney shall Amount unto. And more- over, to each of those persons Above named or their Assignes he shall transporte to each man A person and a tunne of goods free. But in case that any of the forenamed persons shall not haue occasion for the transportacon of soe much goods as his money shall Amount vnto, that then the said Daniell is to make them payment of the remainder of the monney by the end of two yeares next ensuing the date hereof. And likewise this vessel shall be for the vse of the Plantacon, and that the said Daniell shall not sell this vessell without the consent of the Maior pt of the Company. And that the vessell shall be reddy at the Towne of Lynne to Transporte such goods as the Afforesaid vndertakers shall Appoint, that is to say, three tymes in the yeare.

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

Ffurthermore, if In case that any Person or Persons shall not have occasion to Transport any goods, that then the said Daniel is to pay them their Somme or Sommes of Monney, to- gether with Allowance for A tunne of goods and A person, within the tearme of two years next ensueing the date hereof. And for the full performance of [two words gone] said Daniel How hath our [three lines gone]. Ffurthermore, whareas it is expressed for- merly that the vessell shall come to our In- tended Plantacon three tymes in the yeare, we thought good to express the tymes, viz. the ffirst Moneth, the ffourth moneth and the eighth moneth. Ffurthermore, ffor the rates of persons, goods and chattell if there prote any difference between vs the vndertakers and the Said Daniell How, that then it shall be referred to tue men whome they and he shall chuse. Ffurthermore, for as much as Allen Bread, Thomas Halsey and William Harker Are by the Consent of the company come into and party undertakers with vs, we Edward Howell, Daniel How and Henry Walton have consigned three of our parts-that is, to each man A howse lott, planting lott and ffarme, answerable to the rest of ye vndertakers-for their disbursement of five pounds A man to vs the above said vndertakers. That is to say, whereas Mr. Howell had 3 lots he shall have but two, and Daniel How for 3 lots shall have but two and Henry Walton for 2 lots shall have but one.

EDWARD HOWELL, DANIEL HOW, HENR. WALTON.

The Undertakers also drew up an agree- ment among themselves, the agreement clearly showing that when it was agreed to no exact location for the proposed colony had been determined on. But they arranged what might be called a constitution for the govern- ment of the intended "plantacon," the most interesting features of which were that the Undertakers were to dispose of the land with- in the limits of the colony, "so that what they laid out for a house lot should always continue so and that but one dwelling house should be builded upon it," regulating the transfer of the lot, providing against absentee- ism, and also the foundation of a church.

The influx of new settlers was also carefully guarded against unless with the consent of the Undertakers. It was to be a Christian com- munity. "Whensoever it shall please the Lord and He shall see it goode to adde to us such men as shall be fitt matter for a church that then we will in that thinge lay ourselves downe before ye constituters thereof, either to be or not to be received as members thereof according as they shall discerne the worke of God to be in our hearts." The entire pro- duction was simply drawn up from that of most of the New England town governments, excepting that those who paid out the neces- sary money for the purchase of the land or the transportation of the settlers claimed the right of disposal of the lands outside of those apportioned at the beginning among the orig- inal members of the colony.

Having thus arranged their preliminaries, the Undertakers secured their first warrant -. that of a permit from the agent of the patentee to settle on eight square miles of land on Long Island. That patent, still preserved in South- ampton, reads as follows :

Know, all men whom this present writing may concerne, thatt I James Farrett, of Long Island, Gent., Deputy to the Right honorable the Earle of Sterling, Secretary for the King- 'dom of Scotland, doe by these presents, in the name and behalf of the said Earle, and in mine own name as his deputy, as it doth or may in any way concerne myself, Give and Grant ffree leave and liberty to Danyell How, Job Sayre, George Webbe, and William Har- per, together with their associates, to sitt downe upon Long Island aforesaid, there to possess, Improve and enjoy Eight miles square of land, or so much as shall containe the said quantity, not only upland butt alsoe what so- ever meadow, marrsh ground, Harbors, Rivers and Creeks lye within the bounds or limitts of the said Eight miles, the same and every part thereof quietly and peaceably to enjoy, to them and their heires forever, without any disturbance, lett or molestation from the said Earl, or any by his appointment or procure- ment for him or any of his; and that they are to take theire choyce to sitt downe vpon as

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SOUTHAMPTON.

best suiteth them. And allsoe that they and theire Associates shall enjoy as full and free liberty in all matters that doe or may con- cerne them or theires, or that may conduce to the good and comfort of them and theirs, both in Church order and civell government, to- gether with all the easements, conveniences and accomodations what soever which the said place doth or may afforde, answerable to what other Plantations enjoy in Massachusets Bay. Butt in as much as itt hath pleased our Royall King to give and grant the patentee of Long Island to the aforesaid Earl, In consideration thereof itt is agreed upon that the trade with the Indians shall remaine to the said Earle of Sterling, to dispose of from time to time and at all times as best liketh him; Onely the aforesaid Daniel How and his co-partners shall have liberty to make choyce of one man amongst them that shall freely trade with the Indians in their behalf for any victuals within theire owne plantations, but not for wampum. And if any of the aforesaid persons or any for them shall secretly trade with the Indians for . Wampum, whether directly or indirectly, with- out leave or license from the said Earle or his assigns, the person or persons soe.offend- ing shall pay for every fathom so traded, to the said Earle or his assigns, the sum of twen- ty shillings. Ffurther itt is Agreed vpon that what soever shall be thought meete by the Right Worshipfull John Winthrop, Esq., Gov- ernor of the massachusets Bay, to be given to the Earle of Sterling in way of acknowledge- ment as the Pattentee of the place, shall be duly and truly paid; and ffurther more it is agreede upon that noe man shall by vertue of any gift or purchase lay claim to any land lying within the compass of the eight miles be- fore mentioned, but only the aforesaid Inhab- itants shall make purchase in their owne names and at their owne leisure from any Indians that Inhabit or have lawful right to any of the aforesaid land or any part thereof, and thereby assume itt to themselves and their heires as their Inheritence for ever. In wit- ness whereof wee have hereunto sett our hands and seals the 17th day of Aprill 1640.

Memorandum .- That the true meaning of Mr. Farrett is that, whereas he hath formerly purchased certain lands in Long Island for the Earle of Sterling or him selfe, that he doth by these presents fully release all claims and interest in the land aboue mentioned or per- sons that shall sitt downe upon it, with all

title to government, whether in Church or Commonwealth, all which is to bee clearly and fully drawne up accordinge to the true mean- ing of this agreement when things shall be set- tled and concluded by the Right honorable Jolın Winthrop above named.

JAMES FFARETT. [L.S.]

Sealed and delivered in Presence of Theoph. Eaton, John Davenport.

Upon the back of this document was after- ward written the following:

I John Winthrop within named, having seariously considered of that which in this writing is reffered to my determination, al- though I am very unwilling to take it vpon me & as unfitt also, the rather being to seeke of any rule or approued precedent to guide me herein, yet being called hereunto, I shall ex- press what I conceive to be equall vpon the considerations here ensueing, viz .: The land within granted being a meere wilderness, and the natives of the place pretending some In- terest which the planters much purchase, and they might have had land enough gratis (and as convenient) in the massachusets or other of the Collonies, with liberty to trade with the Indians (which they are debarred from), and for that they had possessed and improved this place before any actual claim made there- to by the Right honbbl the Earle of Sterling or had any neede of his lordships patent ; and whereas his lordship (vpon consideration I suppose of the premises) required nothing of them but in way of acknowledgement of his interest, I doe hereupon conceive and doe ac- cordingly (soe farr as power is given mee) order and sitt downe that the Inhabitants of the tract of land within mentioned, or the plantation now called Southampton, vpon Long Island, and their successors for ever shall pay yearely to the said Earle of Sterling, his heirs or assigns, vpon the last day of 7 ber, att Southampton aforesaid, foure bushells of the best Indian Corne there growing, or the value of soe much, in full satisfaction of all rents and services (the 5th part of gold and silver oare to the Kings majesty reserved allways excepted). In testimony whereof I have hereunto sett my hand, dated 20 (8) 1641

Jo. WINTHROP.

The legal right being thus established, the settlers made an agreement with the Indian

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

tribe occupying the land, and on the 13th of December, 1640, obtained the following deed :

This Indenture, made the 13th day of De- cember Anno Dom. 1640, betweene Pomatuck, Mandush, Mocomanto, Pathemanto, Wybbe- nett, Wainmenowog, Heden, Watemexoted, Checkepuchat, the native Inhabitants & true owners of the eastern pt of the Long Island, on the one part, and Mr. John Gosmer, Ed- ward Howell, Daniel How, Edmond Needham, Thomas Halsey, John Cooper, Thoinas Sayre, Edward ffarington, Job Sayre, George Wel- bee, Allen Breade, Willm Harker, Henry Wal- ton, on the other part, witnesseth, that the saved Indians, for due consideration of six- teen coats already received and alsoe three score bushells of indian corne to be payed vpon lawfull demand the last of September, which shall bee in the year 1641, & further in consideration that the above named English shall defend vs the sayed Indians from the uniust violence of whatever Indians shall illegolly assaile vs, do absolutely & for ever give & grant, and by these presents do acknowledge ovrselues to have given & granted, to the partyes above mentioned, with- out any fraude, guile, mental reservation or equivocation to them and theire heires & suc- cessors for ever, all the lands, woods, waters, water courses, easements, proffits & emolu- ments thence arising whatsoever, from the place commonly knowne by the place where the Indians hayle over their cannoes out of the North Bay to the south side of the Island, from thence to possess all the lands lying east- ward between the foresaid bounds by water, to wit, all the lands pertaining to the parteyes aforesaid, as alsoe all the old ground formerly planted lying eastward from the first creek at the westermore end of Shinecock plaine ; to have & to hold forever, without any claime or challenge of the least title, interest or pro- priety whatsoever of vs the sayd Indians or our heires or successors or any others by our leave, appointment, license, counsel or author- ity what soever, all the land bounded as is above said. In full testimone of this our ab- solute bargaine, contract & grant, indented, & in full and complete satisfaction & estab- lishment of this our act & deed of passing over all our title and interest in the premises, with all emoluments & proffits thereto apper- taining or any wise belonging from sea or land, within our limits above specified, with-

out all guile wee have set to our hands the day and yeare above sayd. Memorand .- Be- fore the subscribing of this present writing it is agreed that the Indians aboue named shall have the libertie to break vp ground for theire vse to the westward of the creek above men- tioned on the west side of Shinecock plaine.

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A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 159

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