USA > New York > Suffolk County > Mattituck > A history of Mattituck, Long Island, N.Y. > Part 13
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Howell's) there was no public road leading north. The main street, as it now leads to the railroad, was not regu- larly opened until 1853. In 1728 a highway from the main highway to the creek, and extending ten rods on either side along the shore of the creek, had been laid out, but being used only in haying season and commonly closed with gates and bars it was forgotten as a public road. In 1818 it was reasserted as a public way, but again passed into oblivion. It started about where the village street now starts, but bore off more to the west, followed the hedge that still remains back of Mrs. Ruha- mah Hazard's house lot, and reached the shore of the cove. The hickory tree at the postoffice corner marks the line of the old hedge, and the postoffice stands in the middle of the ancient highway.
The road that runs from George Brown's house north- ward was nothing more than a private farm lane until 1868. The great lot that lay across its course, extending nearly to the creek on the north, to the hotel property on the west and to the hill back of Bryant S. Conklin's house on the southeast, including the Eureka House property and the late Peter Hazard's place, was the old training ground. Here from time immemorial the Suffolk militia- men gathered yearly for drill and training. Training day occurred in May and it was even a greater occasion than Town Meeting day, for it brought the men from thirty miles around to Mattituck. It was customary for wives and daughters to accompany the men, and a gen- eral holiday was enjoyed. Sports and games of all sorts were engaged in, and the social intercourse with distant friends was like that enjoyed now at the county fair. The railroad cut the famous training field in two, and only the
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oldest men in Mattituck today can remember the glorious training days. The lot, which had belonged for a cen- tury and a half to the Reeves, was sold in 1854 to Samuel Brown, and was ere long divided up into smaller parcels and cut by streets to become a part of modern Mattituck.
CHAPTER IX.
MODERN MATTITUCK.
The dividing line between ancient and modern Suf- folk County is the Long Island Railroad. The main line of the road was completed to Greenport and opened for traffic in July, 1844, and a new era was inaugurated. Before that event all things had continued as they were from the first settlement. Since that event change has been constant and material progress has been remarka- ble. The tax lists of 1844 are humorous reading today. The assessed valuation of the property of Mattituck's most substantial citizens seems ridiculously small.
Naturally there was much opposition to the opening of the railroad. When one remembers that within re- cent years there has been opposition to the project of opening a trolley line between Riverhead and Orient Point, there is no wonder that there was great opposition to the steam railway sixty-five years ago. Railways were comparatively new, having only a little more than four thousand miles of track in all the United States in 1844. The most visionary could not foresee all the benefits to come and the conservative masses foresaw little but slaughtered cattle and burned forests, and vaguely feared that the good old times would be changed, and that for the worse. When the trains actually began to annihilate time and space, taking passengers the whole length of the
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island in five or six hours, the advantages began to ap- pear.
When the railroad was laid out Mattituck was fortu- nate in having the station placed close to the village. Many villages along the railway lay from half a mile to a mile and a half from the track. The topography of the . region made such misfortune impossible for Mattituck. Before the day of the railroad the centre of population was more toward the east, but the station was naturally placed near the point where the track crossed the high- way and the centre of business and population was soon fixed in that locality. The clustering together of the sta- tion, the telegraph office, the postoffice, the stores, the churches, the library and its fine hall, the hotels and the bank, gives Mattituck a great advantage over most neigh- boring villages. Moreover, the same topographical fea- tures that insured the passing of the railroad near the vil- lage centre have compelled the convergence of highways from all directions at the same centre. Consequently the village has grown remarkably in population and impor- tance, and Mattituck is one of the most important sta- tions on the main line of the Long Island Railroad.
The new centre of population was soon established, new houses being erected, and the value of property in that part of the village increasing. Some years passed before the community fully realized its new opportunities, and before the tide of improvement set in steadily. The Main street to the railroad and the street passing the depot were soon required, but for ten or fifteen years no other streets were opened. Then rapid progress in the making of highways began. In 1855 the road opposite to the Methodist Episcopal Church, now passing beside
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the Protestant Episcopal Church and the Library Hall, was opened as far as the railway. In 1860 Pike Street was dedicated to the public by Barnabas Pike. In 1860 also the road from the Mill Road to the Sound, between Thos. H. Reeve and Perry S. Robinson, was opened. In the same year Elijah's Lane became a public way. In 1866 Samuel Brown, who had bought the training lot two years before, staked out Love Lane and Maiden Lane, parallel and running from the Creek to the railway, and sold a number of lots adjoining. Love Lane and Maiden Lane have never been declared public highways. In 1868 Thomas Hallock opened and granted Pacific Street to the public and sold small lots on either side. 1868 also saw the Howell Road opened, crossing Long Creek and con- necting with the main highway through Henry D. Wick- ham's private road, next to the house of George Brown. This road was laid out through the enterprising efforts of the late Isaac R. Howell, who released much of the land through which it ran. Two years later Capt. Ells- worth Tuthill secured the opening of the road connect- ing Mill Lane with the Howell Road, donating the right of way for a large part of its length. In 1873 this road was extended eastward from Mill Lane to form the Mid- dle Road. Thus within thirty years after the coming of the railroad more streets and roads were opened in Mat- tituck than in two hundred years before.
The methods of farming were within those years revo- lutionized. From time immemorial farming had been carried on in the old way. The chief crops were hay, corn, wheat, rye and oats. Each farmer raised such vege- tables as his family required, and flax, which was dried on the slanting roofs of the barns. Cattle and sheep were
REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Henry Pike, Esq.
Irad Reeve.
Joseph P. Wickham. Capt. Ira Tuthill.
J. Smith Tuthill.
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raised in large numbers, and large sections of the farms were devoted to pasturage. On Cox's Neck was a "cow lot" that appears in several deeds. One is surprised to find that this "cow lot" comprised one hundred and fifty acres. The average farm fifty years ago was much larger than now, but was much less laboriously worked. One man, aided by his neighbors at harvest time and in turn aiding them, was abundantly able to work a large farm alone. His son or grandson today keeps two or three hired men busy throughout the season on a farm of half the size. In 1796 Deacon Micah Howell provided in his will for the economical use of his farm as follows: "Or- dering my farm to be used in the most prudent manner. with but little plowing, and to cut no more timber than what is necessary for ye use of the farm." This meant that stock-raising was considered more advantageous than agriculture, and fifty years later a similar direction for the most prudent use of a farm might have been given. The older men today remember when a com- paratively small part of farm-land around Mattituck was cleared and thick woods stood where now lie most pro- ductive fields. The northern half of Mill Lane ran through the woods and much of the "northside" was wooded.
Quick and reliable communication with the city markets invited the farmers to supply vegetables for the tables of the people of New York and Brooklyn. With the marvelous increase of urban population the market became more and more inviting. . When the Long Island Railroad first connected Mattituck with Brooklyn, the population of New York City was 370,000, and the popu- lation of Brooklyn was only 60,000. Fifteen years later,
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in 1860, New York's population had more than doubled, and Brooklyn's had increased fourfold, the two cities holding more than a million people that must be fed. Even this wonderful increase in population does not give an adequate idea of the rapid increase in the demands of the city market, for the increasing wealth and purchasing power of the cities advanced even more rapidly than the
RESIDENCE OF CAPT. ELLSWORTH TUTHILL AND HIS SON, NATHANIEL S. TUTHILL.
population. Such a tempting market necessarily led the farmers of eastern Long Island to turn their attention less to the old standard crops and more to the cultivation of vegetables for city consumption. It was then found that the soil and climatic conditions of eastern Suffolk County afforded peculiar and unsuspected adaptability to the raising of certain vegetables, such as potatoes, aspar-
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agus and cauliflower. The farmers who had formerly raised only enough potatoes for their own consumption began to plant potatoes where they had formerly raised corn and wheat. It was soon found that Long Island potatoes were the finest that reached the New York market and commanded the highest price. Woodland was cleared and the acreage of potatoes was rapidly in- creased. The conditions were also found most favorable for asparagus. This gave the farmers a profitable early harvest in the months of May and June, and cauliflower, to which the soil showed peculiar adaptation even more remarkable, afforded a late fall harvest of great value. Even later than this is the harvest of Brussels sprouts, the cutting of which runs far into the winter and some- times throughout the winter. In addition to these chief crops all kinds of market vegetables are raised with profit. The soil and climate have also been found exceptionally well suited to the production of cabbage seed, which af- fords a profitable crop.
Until about thirty-five years ago the principal fertiliz- ing material used by the farmers about Peconic Bay was in the shape of fish spread over the land. The fish known as menhaden, or moss-bunker, used to come into the bay in immense shoals. For the purpose of catching these large seines were used, from half a mile to a mile in length. These seines were owned in shares, or rights, usually ten rights to a seine. Some owned whole rights and some were content with half rights. They shared the fish caught in proportion to their rights in the outfit. About the beginning of May the fishing began. Ten men manned a seine, two or three old and experienced fisher- men being assisted by younger men from the neighboring
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farms. There was hard work in it, but much pleasure also. On the beach at the place of fishing was a house or shanty in which the fishermen camped out for a week at a time, returning home for Sundays and going again to the beach for three or four and sometimes as many as six weeks. The long seines could be hauled in only once or twice a day. They were drawn in by a horse circling about a large windlass. There were posts along the beach, at convenient distances, and the windlass, or "whirl," was shifted from one to another of these as de- sired. The principal fishing places near Mattituck were "the cove" in Cutchogue harbor, on the western side of Nassau Point, and on the beach between Reeve's Creek and Horton's Creek. The proverbial fisherman's luck obtained. Sometimes the hauls were very small and sometimes there was a great draft of more than a million fishes. There is a tradition of a phenomenal catch, many years ago, of two and a half millions of fish at one haul. Counting the fish was laborious and the custom was es- tablished of calculating the number roughly by measuring the wagons in which they were hauled away. Twenty cubic inches were allowed for a fish and the sides of the wagons were marked for a thousand, fifteen hundred, two thousand fish, and so on. Only light loads could be hauled over the sandy beach. These were carted to the upland at some near and convenient place and from there transported to the farms in larger loads of three or four thousand fish. The fish were spread over the fields lav- ishly, ten or fifteen thousand to the acre. When more were secured than could be used at the time, they were laid down in long rows and covered with earth by running a plow along both sides. These reserve rows afforded rich
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and ripe fertilizer when needed. The fish made rich fields and fine crops. It is needless to say they did not smell good. Before the fish were plowed under-and for the best results they must not be plowed under too soon-the atmosphere was redolent of their perfume from River- head to Orient Point. Through-passengers on the rail-
"MO-MO-WETA," SUMMER COTTAGE OF FRANK M. LUPTON.
road and strangers in the villages did not enjoy it, but the inhabitants had little sympathy with their expressions of disgust. The smell signified rich crops and increasing wealth.
The menhaden long since ceased to enter Peconic Bay in great numbers except in rare and infrequent years. Many persons suppose this is because they have been
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driven away from these shores by the numerous fishing steamers of the companies engaged in making commer- cial fertilizers. Occasionally large schools of the fish are caught now in the bay, and they are used to some extent on the farms, but the rules of the modern board of health require them to be plowed under promptly. Vast amounts of commercial fertilizer are now used. In the olden time, not only were the moss-bunkers used on the land, but the farmers kept much more live stock than now, and their barn-yard manure was much more considerable. It is estimated that Suffolk County consumes more than one-half of all the commercial fertilizer used in the State. Under the encouragement of this demand the Hallock & Duryee Fertilizer Company, of Mattituck, was incor- porated in 1890, with a capital of $15,000.00. The seven trustees were Geo. W. Cooper, Chas. W. Wickham, P. Harvey Duryee, Otto P. Hallock, Jas. L. Reeve, D. Edgar Anthony and Samuel H. Brown. The fertilizer factory was built near the railroad, a half mile west of the village centre, and for some years a large business was carried on, but successful competition with the great combina- tions of capital engaged in the business proved hopeless, and the company wound up its affairs. The factory was purchased recently by the American Fisheries Company, and is now used as a storehouse, from which hundreds of tons of fertilizers are supplied annually to the farmers of the region. The farmers today spend for the one item of fertilizer several times as much money as all the product of the fields was worth a generation ago, and one suc- cessful farmer of the present generation handles more money than all his fathers combined from the settlement of the town.
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An amusing story is told by Mr. Joseph Wells, of Laurel, of a newly-married couple who, in his youth, some seventy years ago, displayed great extravagance in housekeeping. A small house was built for the young people on the corner of the great farm, and they did their share in the prudent use of the land. At the end of the first year it was found that the young man and his wife
SUMMER COTTAGE OF JUDGE HENRY F. HAGGERTY.
had actually expended more than one hundred dollars in cash. Such extravagance was almost unparalleled and was sadly deprecated. It seemed to forebode financial ruin. One hundred dollars would hardly suffice for the young farmer's wedding trip now. A comparison of the value of farm land then and now exhibits strikingly the advance in wealth. In 1830 150 acres of land in "Ore-
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gon" were sold for $3,000.00, twenty dollars an acre. To- day this property is held at two hundred dollars an acre. Even more surprising is the purchase in 1838, of eighty acres, comprising the farms now of Peter Wyckoff and W. V. Duryee, for $300.00, or less than four dollars an acre. The land was then unimproved. A few years later it was sold in two parcels for $1,050.00. In 1860 this land was worth nearly $100.00 per acre, and now it is worth at least $200.00 per acre.
The increase in the value of land in the heart of the village has been even more striking. In the days before the railroad there was not much selling of village lots, but fifty dollars an acre would have been a good price. Nine or ten years after the opening of the railway the Mattituck real estate market was active, and property on the highway in small lots sold for $200.00 per acre. Lots north of the railway were not worth half so much. In another ten years, about 1864, property near the village centre was worth $300.00 an acre. From then onward an increase of nearly fifty per cent. for each decade has been maintained. In 1900 the acre of land on which the schoolhouse stands was bought for $1,000.00 and is now probably worth $1,500 without the building.
Mattituck has now three hotels, open the year round, and many summer boarding houses, large and small. It has also numerous stores and business institutions, but probably not so many distinct industries as many years ago. Before transportation was easy and before com- binations of capital had gotten control of many lines of business, various trades were represented in Mattituck. Today Mattituck, as every thriving village, has its black- smiths, wheelwrights, carpenters, masons, painters, shoe-
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maker and saddler; years ago it had all these and coop- . ers, weavers and tanners as well. Now the village shoe- maker does little but repair work; then he made most of the shoes for the community ; the saddler made the har- ness and saddles, and the wheelwright made the wagons .. The blacksmith made the nails, andirons, flat-irons, shovels and all manner of implements for the household. and the farm. The carpenters felled the trees, squared the timbers, sawed the boards, made doors, sashes and all that went to make up the houses and barns. The coopers made not only casks and barrels, but before the days of cheap tin pails, made all the milk and water pails for the. neighborhood, as well as butter tubs. The small tanner was long since driven out of business, but years ago Mat- tituck had its tan yards. Obadiah Hudson, who dwelt before the Revolutionary War north of the lake, east of Daniel Broderick's house, and owned the property north of his house extending to the Sound, was a tanner. His tan vats were perhaps located where George H. Fischer's market garden now lies. Later, Deacon Nathaniel Hubbard, who died in 1834, had a tannery near his house, where Postmaster Henry P. Tuthill now resides.
Mattituck has always had sons who "followed the wa- ter." In the days when the whaling fleets sailed from Sag Harbor and Greenport, many Mattituck men went on whaling voyages, and a number have been engaged in the coast trade. One son of a Mattituck sea-faring fam- ily, Salem Wines, became a boat builder in New York City and was the inventor of the widely-used centre- board, replacing the clumsy lee-board that was thrown over the side in former years. Salem Wines never pat-
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ented this important invention and it was promptly adopt- ed by all boat builders. He knew it was of great value and was glad to see it in general use. In this he was like Benjamin Franklin, who did not patent his stove or any of his numerous inventions, saying, "As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by an invention of ours ; and this we should do freely and generously." Tak-
RESIDENCE OF ARTHUR L. DOWNS.
ing this admirable position Wines is like to lose the credit as he lost the emoluments of his invention. For the honor of this generous man it is pleasant to record that the centre-board was given to the world by Salem Wines, a native of Mattituck.
The late Daniel R. Cox was a builder of small boats. P. Harvey Duryee and Elmer D. Tuthill carry on this in-
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dustry at present on the shore of Mattituck Creek. They make excellent small boats of every description and have launched several staunch and swift power boats of beau- tiful workmanship.
The bays and creeks about Mattituck abound in sea food of every description, and from the earliest times to the present some of the inhabitants have devoted most of their time, and most of the inhabitants have devoted some of their time, to fishing and procuring eels, clams and crabs. The oysters of Mattituck Creek have been recog- nized for many years as of superior quality, but it was not until the tide gates at the mill were removed that their cultivation on a considerable scale was successful. Since 1903 large quantities have been planted and Mattituck Creek oysters have a well-established reputation as of the very best quality and of peculiarly fine flavor. There is a large demand for them from the best restaurants and most famous hotels of New York City.
In the escallop fleets that dot the Peconic Bay from September to December, and later when the winter is open, many boats are manned by Mattituck men. The masters of these trim sloops and of the graceful pleasure craft that sail about the bay in the summer season would be interested to see such a boat as that described by Amasa Pike, of Mattituck, in 1796, when he mortgaged, besides his one acre of land with dwelling (probably F. C. Barker's house), "one-third part of a certain Petti- auger called the Nightingale of Southold and lately com- manded by said Pike." This name "pettiauger" stood for the more common "perriauger," signifying a small schooner with a lee-board. Both words are remarkable corruptions of the French "pirogue," which stood for an
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Indian word meaning a dug-out, or canoe shaped from the trunk of a tree. Webster gives seven or eight corrupt spellings of pirogue, including perriauger, but pettiauger is not in the list. It is needless to say that there are no perriaugers in the waters about modern Mattituck. The armed boats on the Sound in Revolutionary times may have been of this description.
RESIDENCE OF HON. JOHN M. LUPTON.
An industry of many years' standing that modern. Mattituck has lost, owing to changed conditions, is the milling business. One hundred and fifty years ago, per- haps two hundred, there stood a windmill for grinding grain on the elevated ground east of the lake. This was operated by Henry Pike, who in his will, 1780, ordered it to be sold. Its location leads one to suppose that it was
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erected before 1710, conveniently situated with respect to the old highway. There was another windmill in the early days, probably somewhat further east, belonging to the Corwin family. It is mentioned in the will of John Corwin, son of Theophilus, in 1740, and again in the will of Jonathan Corwin, who left it in 1798 to his sons, Selah and Asa. The tide-mill, near the inlet, was built in 1821 by Richard Cox, of Oyster Bay, who secured permission from the town to erect and maintain the dam and tide gates. This mill was run for some years by Cox and his sons, who did a large and increasing business. The prop- erty became valuable and shares in it were sold after five or ten years to several parties. James Worth bought a half interest in 1825, and Barnabas B. Horton a quarter interest in 1833. Walter Terry and Edward H. Terry, Martin L. Robinson and George W. Cooper were part owners at different times. The late Capt. Joshua W. Terry became the miller in 1847, retiring from a sea-far- ing life, and continued the business until the growing in- firmities of age compelled his retirement in 1902. He sold the mill to Yetter & Moore, of Riverhead, retaining the house, in which he died in 1904, at the age of 82, hav- ing been born the year that the mill was erected. His widow survives him in the old home, where she spent nearly sixty years of married life. The mill is now used as a place of public entertainment. The tide gates are removed and ere long the old dam, with its low bridge, will give place to an elevated steel bridge, with a draw, spanning the entrance to Mattituck harbor.
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