USA > New York > Suffolk County > Mattituck > A history of Mattituck, Long Island, N.Y. > Part 7
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The following entry in Mr. Park's Record Book is interesting and sheds light upon the ecclesiastical cus- toms of the time :
"July ye 14th 1752. Att a Church Meeting regularly appointed and called at Mattituck Meeting House, then and there the following Votes were passed by the Church :
"Vote I. That the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper shall be attended every Seventh Sabbath after every Sacrament, alternately at Mattituck and Aquabauge.
"Vote 2. That Ordinarily Every One who offer themselves to full Communion with this Church shall be
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propounded three Sabbaths before the Sacrament, And on the Lecture preparatory to the Sacrament shall offer themselves to the Church Acceptance."
This shows that candidates for admission to the full communion appeared not before the session, but before the Church, according to the practice in Congregational churches. Confession of scandalous sins, as of drunken- ness or breach of the seventh commandment, were also made before the whole church, and it was not until 1767 that the session was recognized, and "at a meeting of the Church of Christ in Mattituck it was voted, That as for public Confession Cases that require it, It shall be made as usual in the broad Alley before the Congregation, Or before the Session, and declared by the Minister to the Congregation to have been there made upon the follow- ing Sabbath or as soon as He may judge convenient after said Confession is made before the Session."
The eastern end of Long Island in its settlement was really a part of New England, and the churches were the churches of the New England Puritans. Many of them were Presbyterian, but their type of Presbyterian- ism was different from the Scotch type which has become the prevailing Presbyterianism of the United States. The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America is practically the Constitution of the Scotch Church, in which the session is the governing body, and the Ruling Elder is an essential officer, while the Deacon, not a member of the session, is a subordinate officer, having charge of the funds collected for the poor, and sometimes of the temporalities of the congregation. In the New England and Long Island churches there was no session, there were no elders, and the deacon was
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the chief officer after the minister. As far as the Records inform us, there were no elders elected in the Mattituck Church until 1790, and then and long after deacons were still elected with dignity and authority at least equal to the elders. The first regular record of a session meeting in this church is of date, Dec. 22d, 1826. The inscrip- tions in the burying ground show how precious and hon- orable was the name "Deacon." If a deacon died his title was sure to be engraved upon his tombstone. In several instances the same man was elected both deacon and elder. His monument in the church yard will show that the "Deacon" was buried there. And to this day the name "Deacon" is sacred in the ears of Long Island- ers as of New Englanders. Few of the churches of east- ern Long Island have the deacon of the now established system, probably because it goes against the grain to con- fer the sacred name upon an inferior officer. Thomas Reeve and his nephew James Reeve were already deacons when Mr. Park came to Mattituck. Joshua Wells, rep- resenting Aquebogue, was chosen a deacon of the church in 1755.
Mr. Park seems to have been useful and acceptable in his charge, but the people found it difficult to support him. At his request he was released by the Presbytery from his pastorate, Feb. 11th, 1756, and he removed to New England. At that time ministers were not so hard to secure as in the early days of the parish, but they were still far less numerous than the churches, and Mat- tituck and Aquebogue were fortunate in securing a new minister almost immediately.
The Rev. Nehemiah Barker was pastor of the South Church in Killingly, Conn. The people of Mattituck
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and Aquebogue invited him to visit them with a view to settlement. On his way he visited the Presbytery, meeting at Southampton, June 2d, 1756, and that body expressed approval of the proposed settlement. Un- daunted by their recent difficulty in caring for the tem- poral needs of Mr. Park, the congregation agreed to pay the expenses of moving Mr. Barker's family from Kill- ingly, in addition to providing a stipulated salary. and, alas, this caused trouble afterwards.
Mr. Barker was a remarkably fine penman, and his records are beautifully engrossed. The first entry in his Journal is, "July [1756] John Corwin and Sarah his wife owned their Baptismal Covenant and John their first born was baptized." John Corwin and Sarah Hubbard had been married March 20th, 1755, by Mr. Park. To show how closely those days are linked with these: the child baptized that July day in 1755 became Major John Corwin, who was the grandfather of the late Mrs. Bethiah (Reeve) Cox. John Corwin the senior became an elder in 1790, and was accordingly known as Deacon John Corwin, and is so described on his tombstone. He died in 1817, aged 81. His great-granddaughter, Mrs. Cox, who died in her ninety-second year, in 1902, in the full and happy possession of her mental faculties. re- membered him distinctly. Thus these two lives that touched each other in the early part of the last century, spanned the years from 1736 to 1902.
Between Dec., 1756, and Oct., 1770, a space of four- teen years, Mr. Barker solemnized sixty marriages, all the well-known family names of the neighborhood ap- pearing in the list. And during these few years he per- formed no less than one hundred and seventy baptisms.
1
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FIVE GENERATIONS. 1. Mrs. Bethiah Reeve Cox. 2. Andrew Cox. 3. Mrs. Fannie E. Cox (Howard) Corwin, 4. Louis Howard. 5, - Howard,
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He received twenty-four persons into the communion of the church. These were:
Ruth Goldsmith, widow of Joshua, the eldest son of Joseph Goldsmith the blacksmith. Ruth was a daughter of Deacon Thomas Reeve.
Zerubabel Halliock, who was received in January, 1761, and died the following April. He was a son of Thomas, and grandson of William, one of the first set- tlers of Mattituck. The name Zerubabel was carried through four generations. Ist Zerubabel married Esther Osman in 1719, and had sons, Zerubabel, James, Joseph and Benjamin, and daughters Esther, who married Ist Richard Steer Hubbard, and Eunice, who married 4th Barnabas Wines. Nearly all of the old families of Mat- tituck have the blood of Zerubabel Halliock in their veins.
James Reeve, Jr., was the 4th James Reeve. He was a Lieutenant, and had married in 1755 Anna Wines, daughter of 3d Barnabas and Bethiah (Terrell) Wines. John Williamson, of the Williamsons of Laurel.
Phebe Howell, widow of Isaac, son of Ist Richard. She was mother of Daniel and Micah, and of daughters Phebe, Rachel and Hannah, the first of whom married Nathan Corwin and the second Jonathan Corwin.
Esther Hubbard, the daughter of Zerubabel Halliock and wife of Richard Steer Hubbard.
John Clark, son of John, Sr., and Anna Clark. Mar- ried, in 1762, Rachel Soper.
Thomas Reeve, only son of Deacon Thomas, and brother of the widow Ruth Goldsmith above. His wife was Keziah Mapes, daughter of Joseph and Keziah (Par- shall) Mapes.
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Sarah Howell, wife of Micah.
Phebe Tuthill, wife of Henry. Their daughter Anna married John Cleaves Symmes, whose daughter Anna married William Henry Harrison, 9th President of the United States.
Keziah Reeve, wife of Thomas above.
Anna Clark, wife of John, Sr., and mother of John above.
Deborah Reeve, perhaps a daughter of Deacon James.
William Wells, 5th Wm. Wells (1743-1825). Grand- father of Joseph Wells of Laurel. He was a harness maker, and married in 1769 Hannah Goldsmith, sister of the Rev. Benjamin Goldsmith. He built the house now the home of Joel Howell and lived there until the outbreak of war, when he moved to Connecticut, where his son John was born. In 1789 he purchased the Wells farm in Laurel.
Obadiah Hudson. Lived south of road near Geo. H. Fischer's ice house, owning the land through from the Lake to the Sound.
Bethiah Hudson, wife of Obadiah, and daughter of Capt. Isaac and Bethiah (Terry) Hubbard.
Sarah Wells, daughter of Cravit and Sarah (Reeve) Wells.
John Clark, Sr., father of John above.
Peter Halloc, son of Peter, and grandson of Ist Wil- liam.
Joanna Halloc, wife of Peter.
Dorcas, "negro wench of Peter Halloc"; wife of Pomp.
Experience Corwin, widow of Samuel, son of 2d Theophilus.
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Hannah Wells, wife of William above, daughter of 3d John Goldsmith and sister of Rev. Benjamin Gold- smith.
Selah Reeve, fourth son of Deacon James.
Mr. Barker and his wife Elizabeth came to Mattituck with a little daughter, about a year old, bearing her mother's name. They had three children born in Matti- tuck, all daughters, Bethiah, Mary and Hannah. Bethiah died in her fourteenth year. These four might be sup- posed to have been "the daughters of the parsonage," but they were not, for Mr. Barker was at the expense of erecting his own house, as he had occasion to tell the Presbytery, and the parsonage was sold during his resi- dence in Mattituck, in 1769, as has been stated. His house stood on the south side of the North Road, not far from the site of the canning factory.
Like his predecessor, Mr. Barker was constrained to ask the advice of the Presbytery because of defect in his temporal support, and it appears that the agreement to defray the expense of moving his family was not ful- filled. The Presbytery urged the two churches to fulfill their engagement, and gave Mr. Barker liberty to go or remain. In 1759 he was provisionally dismissed, being recommended to the New England churches in case he should conclude to leave. He settled the matter by with- drawing from Aquebogue and remaining in Mattituck. At what precise time he ceased to minister in Aquebogue is uncertain. It must have been about 1759 or 1760. In 1764 Benjamin Goldsmith was ordained and installed pastor of Aquebogue, and the records speak of "ye reset- tling of ye Gospel Ministry at Aquabauge" at that time. It appears that the two churches that could not support
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one minister between them, did better when each had the responsibility alone.
Mr. Barker was never installed as pastor in Matti- tuck, but acted as a stated supply. In 1771 he had it in view "to settle with them as pastor for life," so that his relations with the people of Mattituck must have been altogether kindly. Alas for human plans, however, he died the next year, March 10th, 1772, in the 52d year of his age. The last entry in his records bears date of Oct. 27th, 1771. At the Presbytery meeting in Huntington that month he was present. In the Presbytery's minutes of the next April his death is noted. It would seem that he was suddenly laid aside from active labor after his trip to the October meeting of Presbytery, continued all through the winter, and died in the early spring. He was the first minister of this church to die in its service, and he was laid to rest in the church-yard beside his little daughter's fresh-made grave.
His widow and her three children continued to re- side in Mattituck, and we may be sure that she was most kindly befriended by the people. Four years later Mrs. Barker became the wife of the Rev. John Davenport, then supplying this church, and her eldest daughter, Elizabeth, married Joseph Prince, of Southold village.
For some time after Mr. Barker's death the neigh- boring ministers, the Rev. Benjamin Goldsmith of Aque- bogue among the number, saw that the Mattituck pulpit was supplied at least once a month.
At the Presbytery at South Hampton, October, 1772, the Rev. Jesse Ives, "a member of ye Eastern Associa- tion of New London District," was present as a corre- sponding member, and the Presbytery signified its ap-
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proval when Deacon Micah Howell reported that the Mattituck Church had invited Mr. Ives "to Come and Preach among them." All that is known further of the Rev. Jesse Ives is that he baptized a few children here between Sept., 1772, and June, 1773, and solemnized one marriage.
It is not generally known that Mattituck and Cutch- ogue were at one time under the care of the same min- ister, but such was the case for two years. In June, 1774, John Davenport, son of the famous James Daven- port, the fourth pastor of Southold, then recently grad- uated from Princeton College, was ordained by the Presbytery in East Hampton and was directed to supply the churches of Mattituck and Cutchogue alternately un- til the next stated meeting. He continued to supply them for two years. Dec. 28th, 1775, he married the widow of Mr. Barker. He was then twenty-three years of age, and his wife's oldest daughter was twenty. Prime tells us that "notwithstanding the great disparity of their ages" this proved a happy marriage. An interesting sketch of Mr. Davenport's life may be found in Dr. Epher Whitaker's History of Southold, p. 321. After leaving Mattituck and Cutchogue he continued for sev- eral years within the bounds of Suffolk Presbytery, and then removed to Deerfield, N. J. He died at Lysander, N. Y., July 13th, 1821. Prime says, "He was one of the first ministers on the Island that refused to administer baptism on the indulgent plan." Reference to his Record Book confirms this statement, as his baptisms were few and were of children of members in full communion. Evidently with intent to supply a need that this course created he kept a "Record of Births in Mattituck Par-
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ish." This was a brave as well as proper stand for Mr. Davenport to take. More than one able minister on the Island was unsettled because of strictness in this matter. Today it is well established that the children of such only as profess their faith in Christ and obedience to Him are to be baptized.
CHAPTER V.
MATTITUCK IN REVOLUTIONARY TIMES.
Mr. Davenport shepherded the flocks at Mattituck and Cutchogue during the first part of the Revolutionary period. Neither his records nor the fragmentary notes following make express reference to the trials of those days. But it is a matter of well-known history that all the people of Long Island were sorely pressed in those terrible years. Because of the distractions and terrors of the war-time there was no meeting of the Suffolk Presbytery from Oct. 31st, 1775, to April 4th, 1784. Nothing could indicate more clearly than this the dis- tressing situation of the ministers* and their suffering people. British troops were encamped in Mattituck on the land where the parsonage and athletic grounds now are. A twenty-acre lot lying along the highway from the present residence of Joel C. Howell to the Lake was long known as the "camp lot." The house across the highway, the homestead of Deacon Thomas Reeve, was used as headquarters for the officers. Many officers were quartered in the houses of the people. The products of the farms were taken to supply the invading army.
*The name of the Rev. John Storrs, the pastor of Southold, appears in the Connecticut records as a refugee from Long Island, and it is probable that Mr. Davenport, of Mattituck, and many others of the ministers, were so outspoken in their patriotism that they were compelled to flee from the Island.
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If the meeting' house was not used for barracks the British were more considerate here than in many other places. Many of the younger men left the Island to fight for freedom. Some patriotic fathers removed their families across the Sound to Connecticut. It was be- . cause of such removal of William Wells that his son John, the father of Joseph Wells of Laurel, was born in Connecticut. Some, like James Corwin, the probable builder of the old Corwin house in Mattituck, never re- turned.
Those who remained on the Island were compelled to swear allegiance to King George. Some did this with good grace, and some of necessity. To none was it so distasteful as we are disposed to imagine. The men of that day had all the inveterate respect and affection for the sovereign that British subjects have today. The revolution began in protest against injustice, but with loyalty to the king unimpaired, and with no thought of ultimate separation. Washington, when he took com- mand of the continental army, desired to right the wrongs of the colonies but "abhorred the idea of independence." Thomas Jefferson was of the same mind. Reasonable concessions and a conciliatory spirit on the part of the king would have ended the struggle before it was well begun. Loyal subjects who asked for nothing but re- dress of grievances were treated as rebels, stern and un- just oppression followed, and eventually the sovereign whom they loved was become the tyrant whom they hated. Before things had gone to such lengths the peo- ple of Long Island were forced to make their decision, for the British forces were in absolute possession. Some of the best and most honorable men of the Island were
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thoroughly loyal to the British crown and were after- wards despised as Tories, and suffered the confiscation of their estates. Some were on fire with colonial pa- triotism and could do nothing but flee to parts not occu- pied by British troops. Most were undecided, as most of the men at that time in any of the colonies would have been under similar circumstances, and let necessity shape their course. Their homes, their lands, their flocks and herds, all their wealth, present and prospective, were on the Island, and the Island was wholly in the hands of the army of King George. To flee was to leave all and go out empty-handed. For the aged, the sick, those en- cumbered with dependent families, flight was impossible. The few who had ready money might flee with some hope, young men or unattached men might flee, but the majority had no choice but to remain and give up their arms and take the oath of allegiance. Many who had fought in the disastrous battle of Long Island had noth- ing for it, when once the invaders were established in the Island, but to return to their homes and families and submit to the inevitable. There were no other people in all the bounds of the colonies so helpless as the Long Islanders, utterly cut off from their fellow Americans.
And there were no people of the colonies who suffered more. The farmers were required to give large portions of their grain and other crops, and all their hay and straw to the invading army. For these things they were supposed to receive receipts, with view to future pay- ment, but they never were repaid. Besides this, the sol- diers, with little restraint, committed continual outrages upon the defenseless people. A story is handed down of how Joanna (Mapes) Corwin, the wife of Major
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John Corwin, bravely withstood a British officer who proposed to turn his horses into her husband's wheat- field. Such outrages were common. The men were made to haul, dig, build and perform all manner of labor for the army. Many were abused and maltreated, and those whose loyalty was under suspicion were beaten and sometimes killed. Those whose loyalty was beyond question, such as held commissions in the colonial militia but had refused to fight against the mother country, were given special protection papers in which "All officers, soldiers or followers of the army are hereby strictly for- bid to molest or injure" the designated man or his fam- ily or property. But if such protection was required for these, it is readily understood that the state of the unpro- tected was almost intolerable. As for those who fleď from the Island, their farms were by express order sub- ject to the pillage of the soldiers.
Added to the burden of the insolent and rapacious British troops was the misery inflicted upon the peo- ple by Americans making incursions from the Sound. The State of Connecticut commissioned many men as. captains of small armed boats for service in Long Island Sound and to make predatory incursions against the British in the Island. For instance, at a meeting of the Governor's Council of Safety,* May 22, 1779, it was voted, "That his Excellency the Governor be desired to deliver to Colo. Davenport three blank commissions to be by him filled up for persons to go to Long Island to take and capture the enemies of the united American States: Such persons as commissioned to give sufficient bonds
*Records of the State of Connecticut, 1776-1780, Vol. II., p. 346.
PROTECTION.
LL OFFICERS, SOLDIERS Or FOLLOWERS of the ARMY, are hereby ftrictly forbid to moleit or injure Lupton Inhabitant of Suffolk - County in the Province of New York- Family or Property, as they will anfwer the fame at their Peril.
Given at Head Quarters - this Swith Day of Deen __ 1776.
By ORDER of the COMMANDER IN CHIEF. Robert
BRITISH PROTECTION PAPER.
From original in possession of Mrs. Eliza Lupton Mather, granddaughter of Capt. Josiah Lupton,
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not to plunder any of the inhabitants of said island or to exceed the instructions that may be given them." It will be seen from this, as from many similar indications, that the people on the main land understood the position of the Long Islanders, and regarded them as friends. However, "sundry and repeated complaints" were made* "that persons under authority of commissions given to armed boats to go on shore on Long Island to act against the enemy have unjustly and cruelly plundered many of the friendly inhabitants." Some of these complaints related to depredations in or near Mat- tituck, and are of interest. A number of the captains of these armed boats were Long Islanders. Such was Capt. Peter Hallock, a West Mattituck man. To him and his associate, Jonathan Solomons (Salmon) the fol- lowing letter was addressed by Governor Trumbull :+
"LEBANON, Augt 11th 1778.
"GENTN: It being represented and complained to me that sundry persons belonging to your or one of your armed boats commissioned to cruise on the Sound have, contrary to the tenor of your commission and bond, made descents upon the island of Long Island and plundered the inhabitants of their stock and effects, and that with- out distinction, and in particular have lately violently taken about six oxen from Colo. Phinehas Fanning and brought over to this State-this conduct you must be sensible, is unwarrantable and renders you liable on your bonds &c. I would, with the advice of my Council, ad- vise you, or either of you, so far as you may be respect-
*Records of the State of Connecticut, 1776-1780, Vol. II., p. 110. +Ibid., Vol. II., p. 110.
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ively concerned to settle-compound the matter with Colo. Fanning, and restore him his property, lest you be exposed to further consequences.
"I am, your humble servant, JONTH TRUMBULL."
Capt. Peter Hallock was then about fifty years of age, and should have known better. Perhaps he held some old grudge against his neighbor Col. Fanning. Or per- haps it was not Peter Hallock at all, but Jonathan Sal- mon who was to blame. A similar letter* written the week before is of even greater local interest in Matti- tuck. It recites that "Mr. John Gardiner, late of South- old, now of Norwich, has represented to me and my Council of Safety, that in an excursion made by you upon Long Island about three weeks ago, among a number of horses and cattle you took from other people and brought off, you took a large dark-brown white-faced two year old stallion from him; also a white-faced sorrel mare from Parnel Wickham of said Southold, which mare was given her by her grandfather. It being beyond the limits of your commission to go upon the land, or any orders received from me, and said Gardiner being a friendly refugee, it is thought advisable you should settle with him and prevent trouble. Also it is said that Miss Wickham is a friend and the owner of said mare: that being the case you will think it advisable to settle with respect to the mare likewise."
The John Gardiner referred to was the proprietor of Gardiner's Neck, the Indian Pessepuncke Neck, in Matti- tuck. He returned home, and dying in 1795 was buried in the Mattituck churchyard. His wife did not long
*Records of the State of Connecticut, 1776-1780, Vol. II., p. 107.
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survive the trials of the war, dying in 1781, in her fifty- first year. Miss Parnel Wickham, the owner of the sorrel mare with the white face, just one year later, Aug. Ist, 1779, became the wife of James Reeve, who had served as an Ensign in the battle of Long Island. Parnel Wickham was a daughter of Joseph and Abigail (Par- ker) Wickham, and lived in Cutchogue at the time of the raid. She was sister to Parker, Joseph, Thomas, John, and Daniel Hull Wickham, and to Elizabeth and Sarah, who ten years later married Samuel Reeve, brother of James. She became the mother of James W. and Irad Reeve, and has many descendants in Mattituck.
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