USA > New York > Suffolk County > Mattituck > A history of Mattituck, Long Island, N.Y. > Part 9
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A HISTORY OF MATTITUCK.
Long Island men appear in regiments of Regulars, and many that are probably Mattituck men. But in those days few men had middle names, and they cannot be distinguished with certainty in long lists of names with- out residences. Occasionally an unusual name, such as Phineas Mapes, of the Ist New York Regulars, marks one as a Mattituck man without doubt. All the well- known Mattituck names are scattered through the regi- ments of New York regulars, and certainly many of them served with the Connecticut troops. One of these was John Clark, 2d,* of Franklinville, who served as a pri- vate and who was a pensioner of the State of Connecti- cut, and afterwards of the United States.
It is an interesting fact that the Town Meetings were held in Mattituck for five years following the battle of Long Island, from 1777 to 1781. In the records of the meetings there is no clue given to the reason for this, and there is not even a traditional reason, for the fact seems to have passed from the public memory. In all probability the British authorities designated the place for the meeting, for such affairs were under their abso- lute control. In Mattituck they occupied a twenty-acre camp lot, and perhaps Mattituck, as being more central than Southold, was headquarters for the troops in South- old Town. If so, the Town Meeting was required to be held where it would be under the inspection and re- straint of the commanding officer. Certainly no business was transacted at these meetings that might not have
*This John Clark was the grandfather of Miss Clark and Mrs. George E. Post, of the Clark House in Greenport. His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Major John Corwin, whom he mar- ried in 1796.
WAR DEPARTMENT.
Revolutionary Claim.
I certify thaty in conformity with the law of the United States
of the 7th June, 1862, ) Che Clarke of the tales of New work
who was a Private in trest revolutionary 1. trong
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dollars und
cents per onmuifn, during his natural life, commencing on the 4th of March, 1831, and payable semi-annually on the 4th of March, and . Ath ( Centember, in every year.
GIVEN at the War Ofice of the United .
States, this ...... 11h - day of
tone - one thousand eight hundred and thirty there.
Examined and? Countersigued. J
Commissioner of Pensions
REVOLUTIONARY CLAIM OF JOHN CLARK. From original loaned by Mrs. Susan Clark Post, granddaughter of John Clark.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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LAND GRANT TO REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER. From original loaned by Mrs. Susan Clark Post.
148
A HISTORY OF MATTITUCK.
been done in the hearing of His Excellency the Captain General and Governor in Chief himself. The minutes of the first Town Meeting in Mattituck are recorded in Liber D of the Town Records, p. 30, and are copied again at p. 136. They read :
April the 1, 1777 att a publick Town meeting held att Mattituck In order to chose Town officers and other things necessarie first Major Wickham was chosen Mod- erator and Robert Hempsted clark. [Robert Hempsted was the official Town Clerk. ]
Second as the meeting hath not bin ussally held att this place itt is voted and concluded and agreed that what was voted shood be held good.
third Capt Christopher Youngs Decon Thomas Reeve and John Halliok was chosen to make a Return of votes and Two of them agreeing the votes to be entered.
foorth Jonathan Tuthill, Wheelock Booth, Ishmell Reeves, Nathanael Conkling, Ezekiel Petty Jun., Rich- ard Wood ware chosen Constables for the ensuing year.
fifth Azriah Tothill, Simon Moore, Decon Thomas Reeves, Daniel Howell, Overseere for the poor.
6 Assesors, Robert Hempsted, Daniel Wells Esq.
7 Parker Wickham Esq. Supervisor.
8 James Brown, William Horton Sen., Samll Cox, Jeremiah Wells and William Dickerson, Overseers for the High Ways.
9 fence viewers and prisers of Damage, Jonathan Tuthill, Christopher Brown, Joseph Horton, Simon Moore, Samll Cox, Silas Moore, John Corwin Junr. David Gardiner Junr. Diah Corwin, Stephen Aldrich, Nathanael Hudson, Manly Wells, John Tuthill, Isaiah Terry.
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A HISTORY OF MATTITUCK.
IO. Colector, Ezekiel Petty Junr.
II. Allso voted yt fr the futer the Town Meeting shall be held at Mattituck.
12. Also voted that no Cattle shall be allowed to Rom at Large on the beach from the Duck pond to the Waideing River withoote being deemed transgressors and ye owners Liable to pay Damage.
CHAPTER VI. PARISH HISTORY FROM REVOLUTIONARY TIMES TO 1845.
In 1764, after Mr. Barker relinquished the care of the Aquebogue church and devoted all his time to Matti- tuck, the Rev. Benjamin Goldsmith took charge of the flock in Aquebogue. He was a son of 3rd John Gold- smith. His sister, Hannah, married 5th William Wells, and Joseph Wells of Laurel is her grandson. From the time of Mr. Davenport's departure from Mattituck, in 1776, Mr. Goldsmith often preached in Mattituck, and from his Record Book it appears that he attended to the marriages and baptisms of the Mattituck parish. In the midst of his journal, May 18, 1788, he writes, "From this time I take in Mattituck Parish." From that time onward until his death, in 1810, he preached alternately in the two churches, exercised full pastoral charge of both, and the parishes were again united, as they had been under the care of Messrs. Darby, Park and Barker. This union continued until 1817, when it was made even closer by the joining of the two in one legally incorpo- rated body known for nearly forty years thereafter as "Union Parish." But they were separate and distinct churches all the years of Mr. Goldsmith's life, and on April 8th, 1799, the Mattituck congregation met "to ap- point Trustees who shall be a Body Corporate" under the
-
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A HISTORY OF MATTITUCK.
Act of Legislature of April 6th, 1784, providing for the incorporation of religious societies. "Mattituck Society" was the corporate title chosen, and John Corwin, Elder, and James Reeve, Deacon, were chosen to sign the certi- ficate of the action. This certificate was duly recorded July 26th, 1799, on p. 16 of Liber A of Certificates of Religious Incorporations. The first Trustees of Matti- tuck Society were William Wells, John Hubbard, and James Reeve, Esq. The Cutchogue Church was incor- porated two years later, and its certificate is recorded on p. 17 of Liber A of Certificates of Religious Incor- porations.
Shortly after Mr. Goldsmith began ministering to both churches they were blessed with a precious revival. In the year 1790, thirty-six persons, partly in Mattituck and partly in Aquebogue, were received to full com- munion. Among these were Capt. James Reeve (then thirty-four years of age, the great-grandson of the donor of the church site), and Jonathan Horton, both of whom were chosen deacons the same year. Of the thirty-six brought into the communion at that time more than half were men.
Almost every year of Mr. Goldsmith's ministry saw some additions to the roll of communicants. and in 1809, the year before his death, his ministry was blessed with another season of refreshing, when twenty- two persons were received into fellowship. During the forty-five years of his ministry Mr. Goldsmith baptized nearly eight hundred persons, most of them children, and he united three hundred and eighty-three couples in marriage.
Near the eastern end of the Jamesport burying-
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A HISTORY OF MATTITUCK.
ground, a few feet from the highway, stands a stone with the following inscription :
In Memory of REV. BENJAMIN GOLDSMITH, Born at Southold, Educated at Yale College,
-
45 Years Pastor of the Churches at Aquebogue and Mattituck, Who died Nov. 19, 1810, Ae. 74 ys. and 14 ds. I am the resurrection and the life.
In that grave lies a man whose influence upon the people among whom he lived is beyond measuring. A native of this town, beloved and respected by the people, simple and unassuming in his ways, but withal strong and determined, sound in his doctrine and pious in his life, plain and practical in his preaching, judicious in the conduct of parish affairs, he left a blessed impress upon two generations.
The house in which Mr. Goldsmith resided stood un- til five or six years ago, when, for want of care and timely repair, being sadly dilapidated, it was torn down, and a modern dwelling was erected on its site. It stood on the north side of the highway, a half-mile east of the Jamesport church, and directly across from the sixth milestone from the County Court House. It was ap- parently one of the oldest houses in the town, and was a fine large dwelling in its day, with two full stories and an attic and an extension on the west side. It had a solid oak frame, and the doors within were provided
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A HISTORY OF MATTITUCK.
with the old-fashioned latch-string. The window over the front door, with fifteen little panes of glass, was the one window in the small room that is said to have been Mr. Goldsmith's study. This study was about six feet by eight, with a brick fireplace opposite the window. On the walls about the room, when the house was torn down, were the marks of the shelves on which the old pastor's books used to stand. A little study it was, but big enough for the man of God to kneel in prayer, or sit in meditation and study. From that sacred place he came forth to bless the people.
Mr. Goldsmith was twice married, and left several sons and daughters. His daughter Amelia married James Hallock, and their son Benjamin Goldsmith Hal- lock was the father of the late James Richard Hallock, and of Mrs Fannie C. Dayton, and of Mrs. Josephine A. Halsey of Westhampton. A sister of Benjamin Gold- smith Hallock, Helen, became the wife of the late Allen Cox, and the mother of Mrs. Alexander Forman, of Brooklyn and Mattituck. Mr. Goldsmith's son Benjamin lived and died in Mattituck, owning the large farm that had long been in the Howell family, known as Howell's Neck, much of which came later into possession of Syl- vester Cooper, and now constitutes several comfortable farms.
Benjamin Goldsmith, Jr., was thrice married. By his second wife, Phebe, the daughter of Major Isaac Reeve, he had a daughter Phebe who became the wife of James Wickham Reeve. Their daughter Anna married the late Andrew Gildersleeve whose sons and daughters are among the descendants in Mattituck of the Rev. Ben- jamin Goldsmith.
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A HISTORY OF MATTITUCK.
One of the interesting old parish documents still: preserved dates from Mr. Goldsmith's day :
MATTITUCK, April 17th, 1809.
"Met at Mr. John Hubbard's [ the Mattituck House] in pursuance of public notice for the purpose of making board fence around the burying ground. Voted Ben- jamin Goldsmith moderator, John Reeve, Clerk.
"Ist Voted that there should be a board fence made of Albany boards and Locust posts, Suppose the mate- rials will Cost thirty Dollars.
"2d Voted that James Halliock, William H. Pike, be a committee to attend to this business."
Then follows a list of subscribers, with the amounts- subscribed to meet the estimated expense, ranging from "2 lb of nails," by William Simons, the blacksmith (the nails probably made at his own forge), up to one pound in money ($2.50).
The names are interesting today :
Jonathan Horton [Father of B.' Bailey, and grand- father of Andrew.]
William Wells [Father of John, next below.]
John Wells [Father of Joseph.]
Benjamin Goldsmith.
Barnabas Howell [Son of 2d Micah.]
Benjamin Reeve [Father of Deacon Henry, Richard S., Daniel, Mrs. Bethiah Cox, Mrs. B. B. Horton, Mrs. Esther Clark, Mrs. Amanda Terry.]
Jacob Aldrich.
Parshal Davis [Lived on Cox's Neck, Brother of Timothy below.]
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A HISTORY OF MATTITUCK.
William H. Pike [grandfather of Wm. H. Pike and Mrs. Alice Gildersleeve and Mrs. Frances M. Raynor.]
John Reeve [Brother of 5th James and Rev. Na- thaniel.]
John Hubbard [Kept Mattituck House.]
Phoebe Wickham [Probably wife of Ist Joseph P. Wickham.]
Timothy Davis [Lived on Cox's Neck. Brother of Parshall above. Father of Israel, Timothy, Parshall, Mrs. Elizabeth Homan and Mrs. Maria Clark.]
Isaiah Benjamin [Father of Austin W., John, George, Mrs. Mary Ann Reeve, Sarah Goldsmith, Mrs. Harmony Tuthill, and Mrs. Hannah Tuthill.]
James Aldrich [Probably James the son of Gershom below.]
John Clark, 3d [son-in-law of Jonathan Horton, above. Father of Silas H.]
John Tuthill [Lived where Alvah Mulford lives. Brother of Albert.]
James Reeve [5th James. Father of Jas. W., Irad, Edward, Jeremiah, Mrs. Hannah Conkling, Mrs. Phebe M. Wickham.]
John Corwin [5th John. Major Corwin.]
Barnabas Wines [5th Barnabas. Father of Wm. and great-grandfather of Jas. H.]
Nathaniel Hubbard [Deacon. Cousin of John above. Son of 2d Isaac. Grandfather of N. Hubbard Cleve- land, of Southold. Lived where H. P. Tuthill now lives. ]
Daniel Downds [Grandfather of Arthur L. Downs.]
Ruporte Halliock [ Son of 3d Zerubbabel. Father of David B. and of Betsey, first wife of Edward Reeve.]
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A HISTORY OF MATTITUCK.
Joseph Aldrich [ His nephew, Sylvester Cooper, be- came his chief heir in 1819.]
Mrs. Mary Halliock [ Mother of Ruport.]
Ely Aldrich.
Richard Halliock [Son of 2d Zerubbabel.]
Richard Halliock, Jr. [Son of Richard, above.]
John Howell [ Father of Sylvester, and grandfather of Chauncey P.]
William Simons [Blacksmith, lived in house lately of Oliver Mayo. Son of Peter. Great-grandfather of Mrs. Richard Cox and Mrs. W. Gordon Hazard.]
Jacob Aldrich, Jr.
Benjamin Halliock [Father of Joshua and Benjamin H.]
Watson Aldrich [Son of Joshua.]
James Halliock . [ Son of James and Amelia (Gold- smith) Halliock.]
Jonathan Howell [Grandfather of Mrs. Betsey Jane Tuthill.]
Daniel Howell [Brother of Jonathan above, and of Mrs. Cynthia Moore.]
William Brown [Lived on east part of farm now of David Jenkins.]
Zachariah Halliock [Son of 2d Zerub. Brother of Richard above and of Ezra.]
Isaac Reeve [Major Isaac. Son of 3d James, and uncle of John and James above. Father of Isaac T. and Selah.]
Luther Reeve [Brother of Benjamin above. Father of late Thomas and of Mrs. Silas M. Hallock.]
Daniel Halliock [Brother of Richard and Zachariah above.]
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A HISTORY OF MATTITUCK.
Mr. Hedges.
Mehetable Halliock [Sister of Ruport.]
Thomas Reeve, Jr. [ Brother of Benjamin and Luther above. Grandfather of Thos. E.]
Wells Ely [Lived S. of Highway, east of Geo. H. Fischer's ice house. Father of Sophia, wife of Irad Reeve.]
Josiah Woodhull [Lived in Franklinville, now Laurel.]
James Worth [Father of John Worth and grand- father of Mrs. Alice H. (Worth) Boutcher. Lived then on Jas. J. Kirkup's farm.]
Jesse Reeve [Cousin of Benjamin and Luther above. Son of James and Parnel (Howell) Reeve. Father of Jas. M. and Edward Y.]
Nehemiah Simons [Brother of William above.]
Silas Reeve.
Gershom Aldrich [Father of Gershom and James ; grandfather of Gershom, Daniel, Elisha and Isaac.]
John Clark, Jr.
Hector Hubbard.
It is noticeable that several of these are Franklinville (Laurel) and Northville (Sound Avenue) names. In 1809 there were no such places known as Franklinville or Northville, or even Jamesport. Mattituck and Aque- bogue parishes covered the whole ground. The resi- dents of the eastern parts of the present Laurel and Northville belonged to Mattituck, and are prominent among the subscribers to this fence, as their dead were laid to rest in the sacred enclosure at Mattituck.
In 1809 the burying ground was nearly one hundred years old, and many were its occupants. Some were
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A HISTORY OF MATTITUCK.
probably buried there in 1715, the year it was given to the parish. No stone in it bears older date than 1723, but this is not strange, for the stones had to be brought from a distance, many of them from Connecticut and some from England, at considerable expense. Those strange little blue slate grave-stones of the 18th century cost more, comparatively, than fine marble monuments today. Not one-half of the earliest graves are marked. There are thirty-five stones placed earlier than 1750. Of these the oldest are inscribed to the memory of two infant children of Lieut. (afterwards Deacon) Thomas Reeve, who died Nov. 13th and Dec. 2d, 1723. Their graves lie near the middle of the old ground, in the row next east of that in which their father and mother and the Hon. James Reeve, Esq., were later buried. There are twenty-five stones that mark the graves of men and women whose lives dated back into the 17th century. If all the graves were marked this number would be greatly increased. A study of the inscriptions forces the con- clusion that parents were more careful to mark the graves of their children than surviving children were to mark the graves of their parents. The stone that carries us farthest back into the seveteenth century is that of John Parker, in the Wickham lot. He died Feb. 7th, 1727, in his 70th year. He was born then as early as 1658. He was a Southampton man, a man of wealth and conse- quence. He was known as Doctor Parker, and was also a fuller, with a large fulling mill at the Riverhead. He was the father of two daughters, one of whom, Abigail, married Justice Joseph Wickham, of Cutchogue; the other, Mary, married Wm. Albertson. After leaving Southampton he dwelt at the Riverhead, but probably
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A HISTORY OF MATTITUCK.
ended his days with his daughter, Abigail (Parker) Wickham. He was the grandfather of Thomas Wick- ham, who was the grandfather of Charles W. Wick- ham. He was also the great-grandfather of Parnel Wick- ham, who was the first wife of 5th James Reeve, and the mother of James Wickham Reeve and Irad Reeve.
The original burying ground extended to the south- ward only so far as the path that runs from east to west, a little south of the Chapel of the Presbyterian Church. About 1847 the ground was enlarged by the purchase of a strip of ground some sixty rods wide from north to south, running the whole length of the old burying ground. In 1883 another strip of ground, south of this was purchased by the Bethany Cemetery Association, the lots in it were sold to individuals, and this is known as the "Bethany Cemetery."
The "New Bethany Cemetery" across the South Road from Bay Avenue, and extending to the railroad, com- prising five acres, was purchased by the Mattituck Cem- etery Association in 1870, and was sold in 1894 to the Bethany Cemetery Association.
In April, 1809, the Presbytery of Long Island (re- placing since 1790 the Presbytery of Suffolk) met in Mattituck. Mr. Goldsmith was its moderator. That day a Mr. Benjamin Bailey was introduced as a candidate for license to preach the gospel. That young man be- came .Mr. Goldsmith's successor in charge of Mattituck and Aquebogue. Mr. Bailey was probably a Southold man. He was licensed the following year, shortly before Mr. Goldsmith's death, and in Sept., 1811, received a call from the united churches. At the same meeting of Pres- bytery at which he received his call, another young man
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of Southold Town preached his trial sermon for ordina- tion. This was Abraham Luce, who became the pastor of Mattituck and Aquebogue about fifteen years later.
On the 6th of November, 1811, Benjamin Bailey was. ordained and installed in the Aquebogue Church as pastor of Mattituck and Aquebogue. Mr. Bailey remained with these churches until May 18, 1816. It is hard to forgive him for leaving not one scrap of records for these four and one-half years. The late Mrs. Bethiah Cox remem- bered Mr. Bailey and his wife. Benjamin Reeve, Mrs. Cox's father, lived in Mr. Bailey's day in the house now owned by Wm. Broderick and occupied by Thos. Kelly and his sisters. Mrs. Cox remembered the Baileys as oc- cupying the old house on the hill, later owned by John Franks Horton, Esq., and now superseded by the Wick- ham cottage. Mrs. Cox's mother, Joanna (Corwin) Reeve, and Mrs. Bailey were intimate friends, and used to ex- change visits frequently. In those days the ladies used to take their spinning wheels when they went to spend an afternoon together, just as their daughters and grand- daughters took their knitting, and their great-grand- daughters take their fancy-work.
Mr. Bailey removed from Mattituck to Newark, N. Y., and organized the church there that now has a member- ship of over six hundred. He preached later in East Palmyra, N. Y., but being in poor health he was com- pelled to cease from the active work of the ministry, and settled on a farm near Newark, where he died about 1848, in the neighborhood of sixty years of age. He was a graduate of Union College, and studied theology with Dr. Lyman Beecher. It was his desire to become a foreign missionary, but ill-health prevented. He is said
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A HISTORY OF MATTITUCK.
to have been a man of beautiful Christian spirit, and his ministry in Newark was blessed with a remarkable re- vival. His grandchildren remember hearing his wife, who survived him some twenty-five years, tell of his death. "He stood with his wife at the window, facing the west, admiring a beautiful sunset. He talked of heaven long and earnestly, of its jasper walls, of its streets of gold, of its gates of pearl, of its crystal stream. He seemed almost glorified. He then sat down and died in his chair shortly after."
He had three children, William, Benjamin and Har- riet ( Mrs. Foster), who are all dead. Several of his grandchildren survive, one of them being Benjamin Pliny Foster, of Newark, N. Y., to the kindness of whose wife the writer is indebted for these facts in regard to Mr. Bailey's life and death.
The only record preserved pertaining to the church in the time of Mr. Bailey's pastorate is "An Inventory of the Property Belonging To the Corporation of Mattituck Society," April 5th, 1813, giving a list of notes and in- terest due the "Bank," aggregating $658.02, to the cor- rectness of which James Reeve. James Halliock and John Hubbard made oath before Judge Jared Landon.
The year following Mr. Bailey's departure, 1817, is prominent as the date of incorporation of "Union Parish." In that year the two societies that had been associated together for the best part of seventy years in the support of a common pastor determined to establish a still closer union, to be no longer the United Parishes of Mattituck and Aquebogue, but one solid society to be known as Union Parish. Accordingly,
"The Inhabitants of the parishes of Mattituck and
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Aquebogue in the towns of Southold and Riverhead in the County of Suffolk and State of New York, taking into consideration the importance of having the Gospel preached in our parishes, and feeling our inability to support a Minister in each parish, Do most Cheerfully and Unanimously agree to unite and become one parish and be Incorporated with the pleasing hope that by doing so we may obtain the desired object, viz., The establish- ment of a Gospel Minister."
Such was the preamble to the certificate of incorpora- tion adopted at a meeting in the Middle School-house (Franklinville, now Laurel) May 7th, 1817 .. It was decided that the consolidated societies should be known as Union Parish, and the following trustees were elected : James Reeve, William H. Pike, Nathaniel Hubbard, John Woodhull, Jabez Corwin, and Selden Herrick. The cer- tificate of incorporation is recorded in Liber A, p. 33, of Certificates of Religious Incorporations, in the County Clerk's office.
From that day to Aug. 29th, 1853, or more than thirty-six years, there was no Mattituck Parish, and no Aquebogue Parish. They twain became one body. It is not unlikely that the desire to hold a parsonage in com- mon was a prime motive in forming the union, for the first thing the trustees of Union Parish are known to have done was to purchase a parsonage farm of twenty-three acres, near Jamesport, for $1,236.00. This must have been purchased partly with the Mattituck bank's funds, an equal amount probably being subscribed in Aquebogue.
The farm lay on the north side of the highway, bounded west by the present line of Herrick's Lane. The dwelling house was burned down some years ago.
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A HISTORY OF MATTITUCK.
Its successor, on the old site, sheltered by a huge weep- ing willow, stands directly across the road from the residence of Senator Edward Hawkins, and about a quar- ter of a mile east of the Rev. Benjamin Goldsmith's ancient dwelling.
The only minister to occupy the parsonage farm was the Rev. Nathaniel Reeve, a son of Mattituck, who as- sumed charge of Union Parish as a stated supply in the year of its organization. He was the third son of 4th James and Anna (Wines) Reeve. His father was a graduate of Princeton, in the class of 1754, but he studied at Yale. His studies were interrupted by the Revolu- tionary war, and he served when but eighteen years of age in Washington's army. After the war he returned to New Haven, but his college course was broken again by ill-health. Perhaps attracted to it by his own condi- tion, he studied medicine, and his health being re-estab- lished, he also gave attention to theology, being licensed to preach in 1791. He then went South, and took up the practice of medicine, preaching also, in Liberty (now Bedford City), Virginia. While there he married Miri- am Erwin, in 1795. Returning to Long Island some ten years later he became pastor of the West Hampton Church. From there he went to Deerfield, N. J., and in 1817 came to the Union Parish.
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