A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 83

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 83

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

In another way the township of Newtown is peculiar among the old Long Island com- munities. In Jamaica, Flushing, Hempstead, Oyster Bay and other places the first settle-

ment, the first place which gave the name to the township, has retained its original impor- tance and maintained its place as the center of its population,-the local capital, as it might be called. Not so Newtown. In 1870 its most densely populated corner, including Astoria, Ravenswood, Hunter's Point, was concentrat- ed into one municipality and elevated into the dignity of a city, with the result that Long Island City now has a population of 52,240, while Newtown still struggles on as a village with a population of about 2,500. Still the old village is growing, has added about 1,000 to its population in a decade, and in spite of the prominence of the city it is to the village we must turn when we write of the history of the township until at least within the last three or four decades.

Antiquarians have decided that the first settlement in the township was made at what was afterward known as Fisher's Point and which is known at the present day as North Beach. The pioneer Hendrick Harmansen received a grant of land there from Governor Kieft in 1638, and appears to have at once settled. Not long after Richard Brutnell re- ceived a grant of land near the modern Dutch Kills, while amidst a slowly gathering pro- cession we find a blacksmith named Jorissen, who was the first white man to become pos- sessor of the beautiful tract later known as Ravenswood. That he was killed by a party of Indians is simply to say that he was the victim of a contingency which he and all other pioneers, and even dwellers in towns, in those picturesque but happily remote days had to face.

The first general name applied to the ter- ritory was Mespat, so named after a small tribe of Indians who hunted around Newtown' Creek. The Rev. Mr. Doughty's settlers twisted it to Maspeth, a name which still lin- gers in one of the villages of the township. After the Doughty forces were shattered by the terrible Indian rising of 1643, the whole of Newtown's territory was, in fact, pretty

540

HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

well cleared of settlers by the avenging hosts of the red man. When peace was restored and a truce had been made with the aborigines, the pioneers, who slowly returned, found they had a new grievance,-the pretensions of Mr. Doughty. That gentleman seemed to have caught the land fever pretty severely and tried to set up as a patroon, but the other original patentees stood up for their rights and won their case when they appealed to the Governor and his Council. So in his wrath Mr. Doughty gathered up his skirts and forsook Maspeth forever.

Immigration helped the territory but slow- ly, a spot here and there only being cleared, for although lying temptingly near to New York, the swift and treacherous currents in the river were not 'much to the liking of the longing eyes on Manhattan. In 1652, how- ever, a little colony came from Connecticut, mainly English people, and after prospecting around settled on a spot which answered all their requirements in the way of meadowland, abundant and pure water and the like. As was necessary, application was made to .Gov- ernor Stuyvesant for a town warrant or char- ter, which he at once granted, giving the name of Middleburg to the place and conferring on the colonists all the privileges which had been awarded to the other towns on Long Island which had asked that favor from him. This was the beginning of Newtown.

The first Magistrates were Robert Coe, Richard Gildersleeve and Thomas Hazard. The usual system of town meetings seems to have governed as far as possible all the local arrangements, but it is unfortunate that nearly all the early records have been lost. But enough has been left to show that Middleburg was a peaceable and law-abiding community, that it admitted newcomers to the privileges of settlement only after being satisfied as to character and after a vote had been taken, and when a citizen did not walk according to the local ideas of right and wrong he was un- .ceremoniously ordered to betake himself else-

where. Serious crimes were apparently un- known among them; they had no lock-up for offenders, and imposed liberal fines upon all who violated any of the local ordinances. Some offenses were too heinous to be condoned by a fine, no matter how severe, and in 1660 we read of the just and merited penalty in- flicted on a "ne'er-do-weel" who stole some corn from Magistrate Coe's barn. This rep- robate had to walk through the village with two rods under each arm and drums beating in front of him, and having suffered this humil- iation he was to make "amends" to the party he had robbed. Besides all this he was ordered

NEWTOWN'S FIRST HOUSE OF WORSHIP.

to keep to his house at nights and so give no cause for suspicion as to his movements. Why he was not summarily ordered out of the community is not disclosed. Very likely there were sufficient reasons for not imposing this last dread penalty. The citizens united in pay- ing premiums for the slaughter of wild beasts, especially wolves, and in mutual protection against the Indians, but the latter continued troublesome, and in 1653, so great was the apprehension of a general rising of the red men, that the whole colony passed over to Con- necticut for safety. They soon returned, how- ever, and resumed the usual tenor of their ways, but in 1655 the Indians did make a raid which caused much bloodshed and destruction.

541

NEWTOWN.

The people from the first seem to have been dissatisfied with the Dutch government in New Amsterdam, although they fulfilled all their obligations to it honestly and paid their tithes with commendable regularity. In 1662 Con- necticut, under its charter, laid claim to juris- diction over Long Island and the English towns excepting Gravesend seem to have ac- cepted this claim joyfully. Those which were near New Amsterdam, however, had to be cautious in their preference, because the re- doubtable Peter, the doughty Silver Leg, had his eye upon them. So Middleburg had to await events while cherishing her hope of getting away from Dutch rule. In 1663, how- ever, her citizens openly professed allegiance to Connecticut, threw away their Dutch name and adopted that of Hastings. Then they were landed in a slough of despond by news that Connecticut had deserted them as the result of a treaty with Stuyvesant, and hailed the arrival of Captain John Scott as the direct representative of English authority, elected him their President, but he did not rule very long. Peter Stuyvesant had too much on hand to think of the contumacy of Middleburg or Hastings, and in 1664 Captain Nicolls wrested the entire province from his rule, and Middleburg or Hastings had an English government at last, an English gov- ernment de facto, which of course had never been realized under the Connecticut claims. With that change, too, the old names were abandoned and "the New Towne" took their place.

In the convention of 1665, which accepted "the Duke's laws," the limits of the different townships were discussed and to a certain extent determined, for the original charters were, as has been noticed frequently. So, too, was the determination of the convention. However, in the following year the freehold- ers secured by purchase all the remaining lands in the possession of the Indians, or lands claimed by them, and on March 6, 1667, Gov- ernor Nicolls issued a brand new charter in

which he gave the people all the privileges of a town government, ordered that the town should continue to be known as New Town and vaguely set out its boundaries as "east by Flushing Creek, north by the Sound, south by the Jamaica line which runs on the south side of the hill and west by Mespat Creek or Kills." The boundaries as thuis set forth continned practically to be those of the township al- though the courts had afterward to be ap- pealed to very frequently. A tract of meadow land which was in dispute between Bushwick and New Town was awarded to the former after quite cantankerous legal proceedings in 1669. In 1684 Newtown, Brooklyn and Bush- wick had a three-cornered fight over their boundaries, and a year later Flatbush secured a patent for some land which Newtown claimed. A long and wearisome contest en- sued, all the other towns apparently joining issue, most of them against Newtown, assert- ing that she claimed tracts of territory which had been patented to the others. Sometimes the trouble was before the law courts, some- times before the Governor, sometimes before the Legislature. There is no practical purpose to be gained by following its details and it may be dismissed by saying that after dragging along for some 80 years it was finally adjusted by an act of the Legislature in 1768. The sud- den overthrow of the English government and the appearance of Anthony Colve in 1673 as the representative of the Dutch authorities, appear to have been received by the Newtown people with equanimity. The Duke's laws and the Duke's methods had been tried and found decidedly wanting by a people who valued the privileges of freedom. However, when Colve's representative visited Newtown to administer the oath of allegiance he found only 23 out of the 99 male adults which his papers showed the place contained. New Town was united with "Rustdorp, Heemstede, Vlissingen and Oyster Bay in the election in the usual round- about way of a sheriff and clerk who were to . execute the laws in those five towns. Toward

542

HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

the close of 1674 the Dutch rule gave way to the English, the Duke's laws were again oper- ative, and the Dutch officials were removed. But the people were far from satisfied, and when the news came that King James had fled from his ancestral kingdom and been succeed- ed by the Dutch prince, William of Orange, there was great rejoicing among the freehold- ers generally, Dutch as well as English. They were represented in every convention and in their excess of zcal actually voted to provide two soldiers for the defense of the fort at New Amsterdam and to fully provide for the main- tenance of that brace of heroes !

Newtown, throughout its early history, by which may generally be understood its pre- revolutionary history, was essentially an agri- cultural community, and it is said that it be- came so 'famous for its crops of wheat, rye, hemp, tobacco and potatoes, that in 1732 all of the land within its boundaries had been taken up mainly for farming, grazing or fruit grow- ing purposes. Horses, cattle and sheep were reared in great numbers and much attention was given to breeding, importations being made from New England and Holland. The fruit raised was particularly good and the Newtown pippins became famous at an early date. In such a community few trades were in demand, for the people were content with their own product and the wealthier had slaves who were generally handy men on the farm or did the rough work in the domestic estab- lishments. Then, too, money was scarce and business transactions were conducted on the basis of barter. Thus in 1661 a house was sold for "six hundredweight of tobacco, a thousand clapboards, and half a fat [vat] of strong beer." Still the community supported several such tradesmen as butchers, weavers, tailors, carpenters, coopers and blacksmiths. In some instances the trades were represented by a single representative, but there were half a dozen weavers although every household had its spinning wheel, and sometimes its own loom. Milling in such a community was a re-

munerative as well as a most necessary busi- ness and as early as 1657 John Coe had set up a flouring mill. The first trace of manufactur- ing pursuits occurred in 1691 when Thomas and Edward Stevenson were given permission and the necessary ground to set up a fulling mill. In 1721 a bark mill and tannery were put in operation by William Vallance. Then fol- lowed a starch factory, a brewery and a grist mill. Most of these were in operation when the Revolutionary War broke out and managed to struggle through it, although while the struggle lasted all business was depressed ex- cept agriculture and where that was permitted without molestation it was no longer profitable.

When the war broke out Newtown was found like every other town on the Island, es- pecially on the island west of Oyster Bay, to be hopelessly divided. The Newtown farmers saw their stock carried off by order of Con- gress to prevent it being used by the British and the news of the result of the battle of Brooklyn made it only too apparent that their property would never be returned. Some of their citizens, too, who formed part of General Woodhull's little force were captured along with that hero and sent to the prison ships. The British troops were visible in Newtown village on August 28 and the Whigs knew then that their doom was sealed. Those who could fled before the arrival of the redcoats, most of those who remained were seized and impris- oned or taken out of the town and their prop- erty confiscated. Feeling in the crisis rose high and a Tory thought it no disgrace to turn informer against his Whig neighbor, a pro- ceeding which the latter repaid with full in- terest when his turn came in course of time. Newtown on the surface, at least, became in- tensely loyal and joined heartily in a petition which prayed that the whole of Queens Coun- ty might be restored to royal favor. It was restored and Newtown raised a couple of troops of horse to guard its borders against the depredations of the despised Whigs. But the wages of loyalty was soon found terribly

543

NEWTOWN.

exacting, exasperating, and beggaring. Mar- tial law prevailed during the seven years of the "occupation" which followed the battle of Brooklyn, and the civil courts were suspended. Many troops were quartered at Newtown from time to time- the 17th dragoons, the Mary- land Loyalists, the 42d Highlanders, the 33d regiment and a battery of artillery. The sol- diers were mainly billeted in the houses of the Whigs, but the farmers, Whig or Tory, had to supply the army with their produce at a price named by the army officials, or see their oats, wheat, straw and provisions confiscated and themselves harshly maltreated by the sol- diery or imprisoned, perhaps both. Robbery was a matter of daily occurrence and toward the end of the seven years life, liberty and property were held by the slenderest of ten- ures. Little wonder that Newtown, Whig or Tory, hailed the return of peace with many manifestations of delight.

While we do not think of Newtown as a religious settlement such as was Gravesend, or even as a theocracy like Hempstead or Ja- maica, there is little doubt that the pioneer settlers were earnest God-fearing people, fully imbued with the devout spirit of New Eng- land. Still their purpose in leaving the land of the Puritan was to secure a stretch of fertile soil and earn a livlihood rather than to ob- tain any further religious freedom than the law or public sentiment there tolerated. Mr. Doughty, of course, might be cited to prove an exception to this, but while he had to leave New England mainly on account of his views on baptism, there is no evidence to show -that he intended setting up a religious community when he settled in "Mespot." Indeed he ap- pears more anxious to attain the dignity of patroonship rather than the barren honor of spiritual leadership. But his connection with Newtown was too brief to give full scope to his ambition, temporal or spiritual, while cer- tainly the course of events showed that what- ever his views may have been as to the found- ing of a little theocracy, they were not shared

by those who were his fellow-patentees in 1652. It has been asserted, however, that the first settlers were organized in a congregation prior to setting up their homes in Mespot and that accompanying them was their pastor, the Rev. John Moore. That this minister was among the pioneers seems undoubted, and it is very likely, nay it is certain, that he would preach to his neighbors and perform his holy offices among them; but there is nothing to show that he was accepted as their leader, that his voice and influence were all-important in their councils as was so often the case in other settlements. We are told that he preached in the "town house," which served him also as a dwelling, and which had been erected soon after the settlement was effected, but all that relates to him is so disjointed and meagre that his personality adds little to our history. He died in 1657, so that at best he was not permit- ted to enjoy for many years the associations of the community he had helped to found. It was not until 1671 that the first church building was erected in Newtown. The Rev. William Leverich was at that time the pastor and he is generally regarded as the first settled minister in the town. Mr. Leverich had quite a history before settling in Newtown, where his life work was destined to end, about 1694. It seems, however, that several years before that he had retired from the active duties of the ministry. He was a native of England, and after being educated for the ministry at Cam- bridge crossed the Atlantic in 1633 to become pastor of the church at Dover, N. H. He re- mained there two years or so and then, after holding several brief charges, became, in 1640, minister at Sandwich, Cape Cod, where, it seems, he took a particular interest in the work of spreading a knowledge of the Gospel among the Indians. He removed to Oyster Bay in 1653, where he had acquired some land, and was chosen as minister by the people at an annual salary of £15. He remained there for some two years as pastor and then became minister at Huntington, where he remained

544

HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

until 1670, when he settled in Newtown. He seems to have been a man of singular ability, about as learned in the law as in the Gospel, and seems to have engaged in many enterprises outside of his sacred calling, and his lawsuit or lawsuits with his predecessor as religious teacher in Huntington still form an interesting story in the early annals of that town. Mr. Leverich certainly prospered in his worldly affairs and seems to have been much beloved in Newtown. His descendants are still among the most prominent citizens of Long Island.

The successors of Mr. Leverich at New- town were amiable men, and the church pros- pered so that about 1697 or thereabout a house and lot were set apart for the use of the ministry. In 1703 the church was taken posses- sion of by the Rev. Mr. Urquhart of the con- bined charge of Jamaica, Newtown and Fluslı- ing, under the orders of Lord Cornbury, just as in the case of the Jamaica church, and an effort was made to suppress Presbyterianism. The Rev. John Hampton was openly arrested in Newtown and imprisoned for attempting to preach without first obtaining a permit from the precious scamp who then represented the majesty of Britain-Lord Cornbury. In spite of this the Presbyterian flock was able to keep together and in 1708 the Rev. Samuel Pumroy accepted a call to the pastorate and entered up- on his duties on September 18th, that year, al- though he was not ordained for some fourteen months later. Under hil . the church waxed strong and in 1715 it was received into the Presbytery of Philadelphia and built a new and much larger tabernacle, which seems to have been used for religious services from that datc, although it was not fully completed until 1741. By that time, however, the labors of Mr. Pum- roy were nearing an end, for he died in 1744. The most noted of his successors was the Rev. Simeon Horton, who held the charge for some 26 years. Then he retired and waited for the' end, which came to hin May 8, 1786. He had the mortification of seeing the church in which he had labored so long without a pastor (for

his successor, Andrew Bay, was not a success in any way and only lasted a couple of years), used by the British troops as a hospital, a guard house, and finally demolished. It says wonders for the steadfastness of the people that in 1787, four years after the last British troops sailed through the Narrows homeward bound, they commenced the erection of a new house of worship.

For many years after the zealous Mr. Ur- quhart captured the Presbyterian meeting

OLD FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, NEWTOWN, L. 1.

house at Newtown, the story of the Episcopal Church in Newtown is bound up with the story of its progress in Jamaica and Flushing and has already been told in the sections devoted to these towns. It does not seem that at first the old meeting house was much used or that Newtown was regarded as much more than a preaching station. But in 1735 a building was erected for the use of the church and services were commenced in it although it was not completed until 1740. Newtown continued

545

NEWTOWN.

part of the tripartite charge until 1797, when the Episcopalians attained the long sought privilege of having a minister of their own and the Rev. Henry Van Dyke entered upon the sole charge. Five years later he retired. New- town then united with Flushing and the Rev. Abraham Clarke became joint rector. This ar- rangement lasted until 1809, when it was dis- solved and Mr. Clarke was rector of Newtown until his death in 1810. The Rev. Evan Mal- bone Jolinson became rector in 1814 and con- tinued until his removal to Brooklyn in 1827, when he was succeeded by the Rev. George A. Shelton, who was rector for the long period of 33 years, from 1830 to 1863.

The first Dutch Reformed Church was erected in Newtown in 1732, but the congrega- tion for several years thereafter was dependent upon the service of such ministers as might be sent them from New York or Kings County. In 1739 the people united with the other Re- formed churches in Queens County and this arrangement continued until 1802, when the Rev. Jacob Schoonmaker became minister of Jamaica and Newtown jointly. He labored in Newtown until 1849 and the church throve under him greatly and built in 1833 a new house of worship. But years began to limit even his great capacity for work, so he con- fined himself for the remainder of his days to Jamaica, and Newtown went forth alone and prospered under the care of the Rev. Thomas C. Strong, who was installed December 12, 1849.

As early as 1661 a school was held in the town or meeting house under the direction of Richard Mills and thereafter under a succes- of high attainments. The children in the county sion of teachers, some of them apparently men were never without means of learning as much at least as the three R's, which was all that the American common school system aimed at until within comparatively recent years. As the population increased schools were estab- lished at different points and by 1740 there were no fewer than five in the town, and in 35

1762 an advanced school, where writing, arith- metic, the "Italian method of book-keeping by double entry," Latin and Greek were taught, was opened at Hallet's Cove.

After the Revolutionary struggle had been fought and won Newtown relapsed into its old quiet ways as an agricultural community and ¿lumbered on. It had a population when the rule of Uncle Sam commenced of about 2,000 : forty years later (in 1830) it had only in- creased by some 500. Communication with the outside world was difficult and dangerous on the one side and. expensive and tedious on the other. The currents on the East River were treacherous and a knowledge of their peculiarities had never been thoroughly mas- tered even by those living on its banks, so that a voyage from Newtown Creek to the oppo- site shore might last an hour or take up the best part of a day, and the landing place de- pended not on the will of the passenger but on circumstances. All was well provided fair weather was vouchsafed; if not the simple trip might furnish terrors enough to enthrall a farm fireside for a generation to come. If the journey was made by land up to 1798 the means of accomplishment were few and far between, unless one had the command of hors- es and wagons. In that year, however, a "light, airy coachee, hung on springs," was put on the route between Newtown and Brooklyn, running through Maspeth, across Penny Bridge to Bushwick, Cripplebush and Bed- ford, and the cost for the trip was 3 shillings. The "coachee" carried seven passengers and left Newtown three days in each week. In 1805 the extension of the Cripplebush road brought Newtown more easily in touch with Brooklyn and in 1816 it was placed in direct communication with the Williamsburg ferry and so in easy reach, comparatively, of Man- hattan Island. It was not, however, until 1854, with the opening of the North Side Rail- road, that Newtown was brought into touch not only with Brooklyn and New York but with the outlying sections of its own territory

546

HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

and began to make ready for the great ad- vance which was in time to come with the trolley, railroad, rapid transit and annexa- tion.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 83

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