A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 39

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

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When peace was concluded the Axtell home at Flatbush was sold by the Commissioners of Forfeited Estates to Colonel Aquilla Giles, an American officer who had married Miss Ship- ton, a niece of Mrs. Axtell. In 1809 Colonel Giles transferred the property to another sol- dier of the Revolution. In 1836 it became the home of James Mowatt (husband of the once famous actress, Mrs. Mowatt, afterward Mrs. Ritchie), and so contined until 1841. In 1880 the march of "modern improvements" necessi- tated the removal of the old structure, and part of it-the central portion-was removed to Bedford avenue, near Winthrop street, where it still stands, shorn of its fine proportions, its historic fitness and its usefulness even as a "relic."

We may now mention another Tory, or rather a reputed Tory, who won renown much more widespread and lasting than the measure accorded to any treated in this chapter, but in an entirely different direction. This was Lind- ley Murray, whose name as a grammarian was for years a familiar one on the lips of children wherever the English language was taught, and even to-day, although his grammar has long since met the usual fate of school-books and been relegated to the catalogue of educa- tional curiosities, his name is still regarded as a synonym expressive of the study itself. I have designated Murray as a reputed Tory, for although up to a certain point in the contro- versy with the mother country he was in full accord with the Patriots, was even elected, in May, 1775, a member of the Committee of One Hundred, still when the war broke out his religious sentiments did not permit him to take

part in any bloodshed; and, to be away from the armed strife and also to recruit his weak strength, he removed to Islip, where he spent some four years mainly engaged in the enjoy- ment of country pleasures, boating, fishing, etc. It was while in retirement that he earned the title of Tory, the result of his kind and gen- erous heart. Speaking of this in connection with the measures adopted against the Tories prior to the defeat of August 27, 1776, Mr. Field, the historian of the battle of Long Island, says :

"There was at this time residing at Islip a Quaker gentleman of some estate in whom the troubles of the times developed a perspi- cuity of reason and an acuteness of expres- sion which have left their mark upon our lan- guage. Lindley Murray, whose name is almost as devoutly hallowed for his high virtues as it is famous for his eminence in learning, had retired to this remote and quiet spot to escape the angry turbulence of the city ; but his be- nevolence would not permit him to remain in idleness while so many of his countrymen were suffering for want of the common neces- sarics of life. The strict blockade of the port by the British cruisers had so obstructed the transactions of commerce that salt was sold at a price that made it almost unattainable by the poor. To supply this want Mr. Murray estab- lished salt works at Islip and devoted himself to its manufacture. The kindly Quaker was but little molested in person by his Whig neighbors, but he retired from the country to the city when he saw the rancor which was kindling between the factions and the severity with which some of his Loyalist friends were treated."

Such was the man whose innate kindness caused him to be dubbed a Tory at a time when every evil attribute possible to mankind was held to be included in such a title! It is very possible that Murray was a Loyalist in heart ; indeed, his career seems clearly to prove that ; but he was a non-combatant and unconnect- ed with intrigue, while his known philan- thropy and blameless life might have spared

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SOME LONG ISLAND LOYALISTS.

him the obloquy which was thrown upon him during those years of trial and long afterward.

Lindley Murray was born at Swataca, Pennsylvania, April 22, 1745. His father, Robert Murray, soon after Lindley's birth, removed to New York, where he became one of the greatest merchants of his time. His firm, Murray, Sansom & Company, occupied a large building on Queen (Pearl) street, be- tween Beekman street and Burling slip, and Murray became so wealthy that he was one of the five men in New York who owned a pri- vate carriage. Being a Quaker and not given to boasting, however, he never spoke of "my carriage," but always of "my leather conven- iency." The great merchant was a loyal Amer- ican and steadfastly kept abreast of the move- ment for reform which finally developed into a struggle for independence. His wife was even more pronounced in her patriotism, and it is said that her womanly wit had much to do with the successful retreat of the American army to King's Bridge in September, 1776. Walter Barrett, in his "Merchants of New York," says :

"Old Robert Murray had a farm out on the East River in the neighborhood of old Dr. Gerardus Beekman's place at the head of King's Road. There Mrs. Murray entertained General Howe and his staff with refreshments after their landing at Kipp's Bay on purpose to afford time to General Putnam to lead off his troops in retreat from the city, which he effected."

Mrs. Lamb, in her "History of New York," tells the story in much similar style. "Mrs. Murray, the mother of Lindley Murray, the grammarian, was personally known to Tryon; he introduced the British Generals, who, charmed with the beauty of her cool parlors and the tempting wine with which she bountifully supplied them, loitered in gay and trivial occu- pation. For Mr. Thatcher, relating this inci- dent in his journal, says : 'It has since become almost a common saying among our officers that Mrs. Murray saved this part of the Ameri- can army.'"

Lindley was intended by his father to be his associate in business, but the young man seems to have had little taste for trade and ran away from home to escape from it. His escapade did not last long, but when he re- turned he was sent, in accordance with his own wishes, to study law, and in 1765 was ad- mitted to the bar. His legal business never amounted to anything, but his health was weak and he was unable to maintain the routine and study necessary to success in that most jealous of the learned professions.

I again quote Walter Barrett: "When the war broke out Lindley's law business was used up. So he retired to Islip and determined to stay there until the war storm had passed away. He kept quiet four years and then went to New York to try commerce instead of law. His father gave him a large credit to import goods from London. The goods arrived. He sold them at great profits and kept on doing so until the war closed. Every year added largely to his capital, and when independence was established he was well off and able to retire from business. He did so and purchased a country seat three miles from New York, at Bellevue. Alas! after a few months his health failed in this paradise and he removed to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Finding his health feeble, he consulted one of the first phy- sicians of New York. He advised a perma- nent change of climate, where the summers were more temperate and less relaxing and where he would not lose in warm weather the bracing effects produced by the rigor of win- ter. The advice was accepted. Yorkshire, in England, was thought a proper place. The voyage was made in 1784. He selected and bought a place at Holdgate, near York, and that became his habitation for many years of his life. There he wrote the books which have immortalized his name. His affairs in America were managed by his father until he died, in 1786, then his brother John managed them until Lindley died, in 1826."

Murray's first work, "The Power of Re- ligion on the Mind," was published in 1787,

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

and enjoyed a remarkable degree of success,' although in that respect it was far surpassed by his "English Grammar," written for the use of a female seminary near York and pub- lished in 1795. His other writings were main- ly of religious character and have long been forgotten, even his once famous grammar, as we have said, being little more nowadays than a name. Chambers's Encyclopedia contemptu- ously dismisses it with the remark: "There can be no stronger indication how entirely the systematic study of the English language was until recent years neglected than the fact that Murray's Grammar was for half a century the standard text-book throughout Britain and America."

In concluding several notices regarding the Murray family, Walter Barrett, in the

delightful work from which I have quoted, saysı:

"Lindley earned an immense sum by his various works, but the profits he invariably devoted to benevolent purposes. When he died he left by will several bequests to chari- ties in England. After his wife deceased thie residue of his property was to be transferred to New York City and vested in trustees so as to form a permanent fund, the yearly in- come in produce of which was to be appropri- ated in the following manner: In liberating black people who may be held in slavery, as- sisting them when free and giving their de- scendants or the descendants of other black people suitable education. What became of the money to do this is a question of curiosity that arises to one's mind when he reads this."

CHAPTER XX.

A FEW REVOLUTIONARY HEROES-GENERAL WOODHULL-COLONEL TALLMADGE-GENERAL PARSONS-COLONEL MEIGS.

T WILL not be out of keeping with the plan and scope of this work to pause before leaving the period of the Revo- lution and devote a chapter to briefly recording the life stories of several of those heroes belonging to the island who were foremost in the fight for liberty and in- dependence. Such a study will serve two ends: it will enable us to dwell more particularly upon the personal careers of these men than could well be done in the course of the general story, and it will afford room for the narration of several interesting details which throw instructive side lights upon the progress of that grand struggle which developed the American Colonies into a nation.

In many respects the greatest of the Long Island Revolutionary heroes was General Na- thaniel Woodhull, a man of most lovable char- acter, a stanch patriot, a sincere Christian, a statesman, and a soldier who had won a repu- tation for personal courage and military skill long before the time came for him to give up his life in the service of his native land.

Nathaniel Woodhull was born at Mastic, Brookhaven township, December 30, 1722. He was the son of Nathaniel Woodhull of Brook- haven, who was descended from Richard Woodhull, a native of Thetford, Northamp- ton, who had to leave England in 1648 on ac- count of some political trouble shortly before the restoration of Charles II to the throne. He was one of the original settlers of Ja-

maica, his name being recorded in the original deed as one of the "proprietors ;" but he seems to have soon ( 1655) removed to Brook- haven, where he settled on an extensive tract of land. Thompson, in his sketch of Wood- hull, says : "An original paper of Lord Crew to him (Richard) dated in 1687, in answer to. one of his, is among the papers of the late Abrahamı Woodhull, Esq., of Brookhaven, in which he styles him as cousin and speaks of his relations, among whom he enumerates a bishop [of Durham] and a number of families of the first rank in society."

The accuracy of all this is rendered some- what dubious by the fact that in 1687 there was no personage as "Lord Crew" or Crewe, that title in the baronage having only been created in 1806, and that the head of the Crewe family and holder of the estate in 1687 was a young woman. However all that may be, there is no doubt that Richard Woodhull, when he arrived in New York, was a man of considerable means, and the possessor also of much personal influence. He received two patents for his property, one from Governor Richard Nicolls in 1666 and one from Gov- ernor Dongan in 1686. He soon acquired a measure of importance in his Long Island home, for we find that in 1663 he represented Brookhaven in a General Court convened at Hartford, Connecticut. This importance fol- lowed him throughout his career, whether British or Dutch held sway. The former ap- pointed him in 1666 a Justice of the Court

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of Assizes, and the latter in 1673 commissioned him a Magistrate for Brookhaven. He died in 1690, at the home he had founded.

General Nathaniel Woodhull was third in descent from this pioneer, and being the eldest son was educated according to old English ideas, with the view of his being called upon, in time, to the duty of administering the family estate. His many excellent qualities and emi- nent ability soon marked him for public serv- ice, and he seems to have early entered upon a military career. There is some doubt as to when he entered the military service, but in 1758 he served as Major under General Aber- crombie in the campaign against Crown Point and Ticonderoga, and distinguished himself by his gallantry at Fort Frontenac (Kingston). In 1760 he took part, as colonel of the Third Regiment, New York Provincials, in the cam- paign under General Amherst, which resulted in the conquest of Canada, and at the close of the campaign he returned to his home on Long Island with the view of enjoying a life of pleasant retirement. In 1761 he married Ruth, daughter of Nicoll Floyd, of Brookha- ven, and sister of General William Floyd, one of the Signers of the Declaration of Independ- ence representing New York.

In 1768 the New York Assembly passed a resolution to the effect that no tax could or should be imposed upon the people of New York without the consent of the people through their Representatives in the Assembly, and that they had a right to consult with other Colonies on all matters pertaining to the lib- erties of the people. As a result Governor Moore, having no use for men who held such sentiments, dissolved that Assembly. In the election which followed in the spring of 1769 the people of Suffolk county by their votes upheld the position of the Assembly, and to represent their views elected William Nicoll (a member of the former Assembly) and Na- thaniel Woodhull. For the six years which followed of peaceful struggle to preserve the freedom of the people, the two representatives from Suffolk gave many evidences of. their

sincere and disinterested patriotism. As a re- sult, when the crisis approached, Woodhull was the chosen Representative of his county in the convention which met in New York City April 10, 1775, to elect delegates to the Con- tinental Congress. On May 22, 1775, he rep- resented Suffolk in the Provincial Congress, which then met in New York, and which body at once assumed complete sovereign control over the affairs of the Colony. This Congress, as one of its first steps, reorganized the militia service, dividing it into brigades, and in this arrangement the forces of Suffolk and Queens counties were united with Colonel Woodhull as Brigadier General, and Jonathan Law- rence, Representative of Queens in the Provin- cial Congress, as Brigade Major, or, as it would now be called, Adjutant. In August, 1775, General Woodhull was elected Presi- dent of the Provincial Congress, and was re- elected to that office in the still more pro- nounced anti-British Congress which was elected in 1776 and which on July 9 of that year, as soon as it met for the first time, at White Plains, adopted the immortal Declara- tion of Independence, which had been signed at Philadelphia on the Fourth, a few days preceding.

On July Ioth the New York Provincial Congress threw royalty aside without cere- mony. While busy with his legislative duties General Woodhull was unceasing in his efforts to wheel Long Island into line on the side of the Continentals, and although his work was by no means successful in Kings or Queens it was amply so in Suffolk. He certainly, however, reduced the Tory resistance to its narrowest dimensions in the two first-named counties, and as certainly prevented many wa- verers from going over openly to the enemy. If, sometimes, we cannot justify all that was done in his name as President of Congress against the Loyalists, we must remember that a state of war prevailed, and such a state is never conducive to the exemplification of the Christian beatitudes, even though, at times, Psalm-singing and prayer may accompany it.

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Meanwhile the British force had landed on Staten Island.

O11 August 10, General Woodhull obtained leave of absence from Congress to attend to some private affairs at Mastic, and he was there when word was received that the enemy had landed troops near Bath and seemed to be threatening New York from Brooklyn. It should be remembered that even then the pre- cise British plan of operations for the capture of New York had not become fully evident. Orders were at once sent to him to call out the entire militia of Queens county and part of the forces of Suffolk county and remove, or when that was not practicable, destroy, stock and such other supplies as might be use- ful to the invaders on the island, or on such parts of it as were likely to be reached by their scouting and foraging parties. Accord- ingly he at once proceeded to Jamaica to carry out his orders, but found that the whole force consisted of about 100 men, led by Colonel Potter, of Suffolk, and fifty horsemen, repre senting Kings and Queens. The other forces ordered to support him did not, for many rea- sons, do so, and the Queens county militia, by its unwillingness to serve or open desertion, had dwindled down to a mere skeleton organi- zation. Despite the weakness of his force, General Woodhull at once proceeded to carry his instructions into effect as well as he could, and he succeeded in capturing a considerable quantity of cattle and other live stock, which he sent out of the immediate reach of the foe. In the course of these operations his little army steadily dwindled until it numbered less than 100. The result of the battle of Brooklyn on August 27th completely cut off Woodhull's little force from the rest of the army, and he retired to Jamaica with the view of awaiting developments or new orders. He had sent Ma- jor Lawrence to the Provincial Congress and to General Washington asking instructions and reinforcements. Congress sent messages to Connecticut asking the aid of the towns on the Sound in removing the stock from Long Island and forwarded a letter to General

Washington requesting that the two Long Island regiments, or what was left of them, be snet to Jamaica. It also sent two of its mem- bers with instructions and advice to Woodhull, who, it was hoped, was able to maintain his headquarters at Jamaica.

These representatives never reached Ja- maica. Washington, for sufficient military reasons, refused to send him the two regi- ments, or 1,000 men, as one communication put it. All this dickering and letter-writing occupied time, and the delay somehow in- spired Woodhull with the belief that the rein- forcements so much needed would be sent. Therefore he decided upon remaining at Ja- maica until these arrived or until orders to retreat had been received, although instant re- treat across the Sound or to the east end of the island would have been amply justified. But he believed a soldier should obey orders, and having received no fresh orders, he felt that he could not honorably leave the post to which he had originally been assigned. Early on August 28th he ordered his handful of men to take up a position four miles east of Jamaica, but he lingered in that village himself until the afternoon in the hope of receiving some message from Congress or from General Washington. But none came and he then re- luctantly and with a sorrowful heart proceeded to join his troops. Two miles east of Jamaica he was surrounded by a detachment of the Sev- enteenth Dragoons.

Thompson, in his "History of Long Island," gives the following account of the capture of Woodhull :

"The General, immediately on being dis- covered, gave up his sword in token of sur- render. The ruffian who first approached him (said to be a Major Baird of the Seventy- first), as reported, ordered him to say 'God save the King!' the General replied, 'God save us all!' on which he most cowardly and cruelly assaulted the defenseless General with his broadsword, and would have killed him on the spot if he had not been prevented by the in- terference of an officer of more honor and hu-

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manity (said to be Major Delancey of the Dra- goons), who arrested his savage violence."

This story, which seems to be based mainly on the details given us by Silas Wood in his "Sketch of Long Island," is apocryphal-one of the wonder tales with which the details of the incidents of every war are embellished by the ignorant narrators who, in the spirit of na- tural poetry which is part and parcel of every intelligent peasantry, seek to bring such details into prominent relief by the introduction of matter which lightens the glory of the success- ful party. It is this spirit of natural poetry to which England and Scotland owe their un- rivalled stores of ballad minstrelsy. Of such minstrel tales this is a fitting example, and the entire story seems strangely familiar. There was no "Major Baird of the Seventy-first" at that time, or indeed at any time. In the affi- davit of Colonel Robert Troup to the Conven- tion, sworn to January 17, 1777, before Gou- verneur Morris, the affiant states that when Woodhull was carried on the transport "Snow Mentor," where he was for a time confined, "deponent asked the General the particulars of his capture and was told by the said Gen- eral that he had been taken by a party of light- horse under the command of Captain Oliver Delancey ; that he was asked by the said Cap- tain if he would surrender; that he answered in the affirmative, provided he would treat him like a gentleman-which Captain Delancey as- sured him he would, whereupon the General delivered his sword, and that immediately after the said Oliver Delancey, Jun'r., struck him, and others of the party, imitating his example, did cruelly cut and hack him in the manner he then was."

Edward F. De Lancey, in Appleton's Cyclopædia of American Biography (Vol. 2, page 133), tells a different story. He says : "On the evening of the 28th of the same month (August) Sir William Erskine, with the Seventeenth Light Dragoons and the Sev- enty-first Foot, about 700 men in all, sur- prised and seized at Carpenter's House, Jamaica, General Woodhull and many of his

men. The General, who tried to escape un- der cover of the night, being discovered by the sentries getting over a board fence, was cut down, severely wounded in the head and arm, and only saved from instant death by the interference of Captain De Lancey."

The affidavit made by William Warne be- fore the New York Committee of Safety a few days after the capture, says that :

"One of the light-horsemen told him (Warne) that he had taken General Wood- hull in the dark in a barn and that before he would answer, when he spoke to the Gen- eral, he had cut him on the head and arms."'

Of the truthfulness of the two affidavits (Troup's and Warne's) that of Troup is the only one worth considering; but in the con- dition in which he met his former chief (he had been aide to Woodhull), wounded, fever stricken and despondent, it might be regarded as the ravings of a man unconscious of his utterances owing to his physical pains. It certainly seems unlikely that De Lancey would so treat one who was his kinsman. Then, too, in another important factor all tlie stories fall short, for it was not in keeping with the character of General Woodhull, as described by those who could correctly esti- mate it, to tamely deliver up his sword ; nor is it in keeping with the probabilities for solitary captives when surrounded by an enemy's force to dictate or attempt to dictate ternis to their captors. The true story seems to be that Woodhull was captured sword in hand and that he was struck down by one or more of the dragoons when trying to effect his escape.

Another traditional story given by Thomp- son may be repeated here:

"It is said that one of the battalions em- ployed in this inglorious warfare against an unresisting individual was commanded by a Major Crew, a distant kinsman of the Gen- eral, and that, when he came to be apprised of that fact and of the circumstances of the case, he was so disgusted that he either re- signed his commission and. quit the service,

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or obtained permission to leave the army and return to England."

This is simply a historical embellishment, having no foundation in truth. There was no "Major Crew" near General Woodhull when he was captured, or even in this coun- try during the Revolution. So he has to figure in the same shadowy gallery along with "a Major Baird." Historic statements whose

his wounds bleeding he was mounted behind one of the troopers and taken to Jamaica. It is thought that the soldiers were suspicious of being surrounded by the troops which Woodhull had in the vicinity, not being aware as to their strength, and on that account hur- ried along with their charge more rapidly than humanity should have dictated.

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A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 39

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