History of Queens County, New York : with illustrations, portraits, and sketches of prominent families and individuals., Part 21

Author:
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: New York : W.W. Munsell and Co.
Number of Pages: 703

USA > New York > Queens County > History of Queens County, New York : with illustrations, portraits, and sketches of prominent families and individuals. > Part 21

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The first of the name to reside in this town was Wynant Van Zandt, born in New York, August 11th 1767, and for many years a member of the mercantile house of Law- rence & Van Zandt. He served as an alderman of the first ward from 1802 to 1806, and, as one of the building committee who erected the City Hall, protested against the use of colored stone in the rear of that building, urging upon his colleagues the belief that in a few years the city would extend far beyond the hall, and that then their parsimony would be ridiculed. His "wild ideas," as they were called, were laughed at by the other alder- men, and the brown stone was used. When it was pro- posed to make the width of Canal street sixty feet he pleaded for one hundred feet, and it is due to his efforts that this important thoroughfare is wide enough to ren- der traffic on it possible. He married Maria Allaire Underhill, of Westchester county, by whom he had eleven sons, several of whom are still living. Although he had been for many years an attendant at the old Dutch church, under which lie buried nearly all the Van Zandts for generations, later in life he became attached to Bishop Hobart, purchased a pew in Trinity church, and had a vault built near the McDonough monument, in which were buried his father, the old alderman, who died in 1814, his business partner William Lawrence, and several others. He became a vestryman in Trinity, serving from 1806 to 1811.

About the year 1813 he purchased the Weeks farm at

HISTORY OF QUEENS COUNTY.

Little Neck, and, erccting on it a handsome mansion, le. moved there with his family, and in this beautiful home passed the remainder of an active and useful life. His residence here was marked by acts of liberality and pub- lic spirit; and his death, which occurred November 31st 1831, when he was sixty-three years old, deprived the town of Flushing of one of its most valued citizens. He is buried in a vault under Zion's church, where also lie his wife and several of his children; and, although no memorial stone was erected for him, the church itself is a sufficient and enduring monument. One of his sons, Henry, resided on a part of the old homestead until his death, since which time his widow has continued to make it her home. The only other representatives of the family here are Wynant Van Zandt's widow and his youngest daughter, who married the late Peter Munford, a New York merchant, and who occupies a pleasant place in Flushing, and with whom her mother makes her home.

Francis Lewis, the only one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence who was identified by residence with the people of Queens county, was a native of Landaff in South Wales, and was educated at Westminster. Born in 1713, he decided on entering mercantile life when of age, and in 1735 converted his patrimony into money and sailed for New York, and from thence went to Philadelphia, where he engaged in business. Two years later he returned to New York, and he became one of the great ship-owners of his time, whose successful ventures were the real groundwork of Great Britain's jealousy of her colonies. Led by his business interests to travel, he visited Russia and other parts of Europe, and was twice shipwrecked off the coast of Ireland. As a supply agent for the British army he was taken prisoner at Fort Oswego when it was surprised by Montcalm, was carried to Montreal, and from there to France. After his liberation he returned to New York to find the conflict between the colonies and the mother country already practically commenced; and, joining heartily in Revolutionary movements, he was in 1775 unanimously elected a delegate to the Con- tinental Congress, where his business experience, execu- tive talent and knowledge of commerce made him a valuable member. At the next session he with his fellow patriots signed the paper to the maintenance of which they pledged " their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor." Having some time previous pur- chased a country seat at Whitestone he removed his family to it in 1776, and then entered actively upon the performance of duties of importance with which he had been entrusted by Congress, one branch of which was the importation of military stores, in which he expended the bulk of his large fortune, and for which he was never repaid. Hardly had his family been settled at their home in Whitestone before they were visited, in the fall of 1776, by a body of British light horse, who plundered his house, wantonly destroyed his extensive and valuable library, and, taking Mrs. Lewis a prisoner, retained her several months, without a change of clothes or a bed to

rest on. Through the influence of Washington she was released, but with her health so broken by the abuses she had suffered that she drooped and died-another victim to English chivalry in the eighteenth century. Mr. Lewis resided here until 1796, when he disposed of his property and retired to New York, where he died December 30th 1803, in his 90th year.

Cadwallader D. Colden, the only son of David Colden, was born at the family mansion, " Spring Hill," in Flush- ing, April 4th 1769, and attended school at Jamaica. Only 15 years of age when his father's estate was forfeited for treason, he was too young to have taken any very de- cided stand on the political opinions of that day, but not too young to feel an ardent love for his native country. Although he accompanied his father to England in 1784, where he attended a classical school near London, he found means in 1785 to return to New York, and entered the office of Richard Harrison, a prominent lawyer. He was admitted to the bar in 1791, practiced at Poughkeep- sie five years, and then returned to New York, where he was soon after made district attorney. Young as he was he soon became a prominent rival of such men as Har- rison, Hamilton, Livingston and Jones, and for many years he was at the head of his profession in the specialty of commercial law. In 1812 he commanded a regiment of volunteers, and was active in assisting in building the forts and harbor defenses about the city. He served a term in Congress, and was afterward in the State Senate, where he became one of the most efficient promoters of the Erie Canal and a warm and faithful friend of De Witt Clinton. Mr. Colden died in 1834, at Jersey City. He was a descendant of the Willett family of Flushing, and one of whose birth within their borders the people of the town have a right to feel proud.

Dr. John Rodman was one of the pioneer physicians and for more than forty years his broad brimmed hat and Quaker costume were familiar to the people of this and adjoining towns. His charges were moderate, but by combining agriculture with the practice of his profession he was enabled to leave his family comfortably endowed. At his death, in 1731, the Society of Friends entered on their records a euology of his consistent deportment and fidelity.

The Lowerree Family are supposed to belong to the old Huguenot colony, who settled here about 1660. The name occurs infrequently in any of the early records, and family traditions are indistinct. It can, however, be traced by continuous residence for more than one hun- dred and fifty years. During the present century one of the family was a prominent merchant. Lowerree was the first president of the Flushing Gas Company, and Frank G. is proprietor of the Broadway stables. There are many persons of that name in the town.

The Embree name is also identified with the Huguenot settlements, the first of the name coming first to New Rochelle, and then to Flushing. Never very numerous, the representation of the family has been worthy of its sires. In past generations they intermarried with the Lawrences and Bownes, and became Quakers in faith

GBAN Y AY POWERS

1 MANSION HOUSE, SOUTH FRONT. NORTH FRONT GREENHOUSES BARN.

9 VASES AT COMMENCEMENT OF LAWNS.

VIEWS ON JOHN TAYLOR'S PROPERTY, AT BAY SIDE, L. I. KNOWN AS THE OAKS.

STABLE & CARRIAGE HOUSE GARDENERS VILLA THE OLD HICKS FARM HOUSE, 200 YEARS OLD. FARMERS COTTAGE.

OLD FAMILIES AND PROMINENT CITIZENS.

and practice. The only representative of the name now known to the writer as a resident of Flushing is Robert C. Embree, a gifted New York lawyer.

Colonel Isaac Corsa was a gallant soldier of the French and Indian wars. He served as lieutenant-colonel of the Queens county troops, and by his shrewdness in advising and gallantry in building and manning a battery at a particular point was chiefly instrumental in securing the surrender of Fort Frontenac. Retiring to his farm in Flushing he resigned his commission. In 1776, having been accused of loyalty to the cause of King George, he was arrested by a committee of Congress, and paroled. He remained at home a quiet spectator during the war, and died in 1807, at the age of 80 years. His only daughter married John Staples, of New York city.

The Valentines were early settlers in Queens county, none, however, appearing in Flushing until after the time of the Revolution. Jeremiah settled on the Black Stump road, near Jamaica village, in 1800, and twelve years later removed to the farm in this town now owned by his son Thomas. He was a native of Suffolk county, mar- ried Sarah Brooks, of Flushing, and had seven children, but two of whom are now living-one a daughter, who mar- ried John M. Stearns, of Brooklyn, the other Thomas, who married Cornelia Cornell, of Flushing. Jeremiah Valentine was for many years a magistrate and justice of sessions in the county, superintended the building of Christ's Church, Brooklyn, and was a director of the Wil- liamsburg Savings Bank. Captain John Valentine was born on Long Island about 1740, and was a soldier in the Revolution. He was at one time a prisoner in a house that stood where the Main street depot now stands in Flushing. He was the father of the mother of Edwin Powell. The last named, the oldest resident of White- stone, was born on his farm in 1809, where his father, William Powell, was born in 1783. John Powell jr., father of William, was born on Long Island in 1740. John Powell, father of John Powell jr., born in 1705, was also born on Long Island. John Powell jr. in 1780 moved o. to the farm now owned by Edwin Powell.

The Havilands, Benjamin, Joseph and William, settled here prior to 1680, the names of the last two appearing on the list of patentees of 1685. But little is known of the families, except that in some instances they became prominent in wealth and mercantile enterprise. The best known member of the family in this town during the present century was William, who for about fifty years was a farmer at Little Neck, and died there about 1840, leaving six children. Mrs. Maria Smith is the only rep- resentative of the eldest, whose name was Roe.

The Walters brothers, Henry, Samuel and John, were settlers in the east end of the town, in the Little Neck district, prior to the Revolution, and Henry served in Young's militia, under Hamilton. John had a son Ben- jamin, born February 22nd 1755, who married Elizabeth Valentine. They had eleven children. One of their sons, Charles, was born in 1801, and married in 1832 to Elizabeth Roe. They had a son and daughter, Charles WV. and Mary (now Mrs. Hendrickson), who are the only

representatives of that branch of the family now here. Samuel Walters, a brother of Benjamin, enlisted from Flushing in the war of 1812, served at Fort Greene, and was honorably discharged and pensioned.

The Farringtons, once prominent in Flushing, des= cended from Edward Ffarrington, a brother-in-law of John Bowne. Mandeville relates that in his will, dated April 14th 1673, he bequeaths, after the decease of his wife Dorothy, to his " eldest son John all his housing, land, orchard, gardens in the town of Fflushing, etc, to returne to ye next heire male of the blood of ye Farring- tons and soe from generation to generation forever." It seems that even Quaker humility did not wipe out the pride of race, and prejudice in favor of primogeniture, and it is a somewhat singular proof of the greater effi- ciency of American habits and customs that the writer fails to find a single person in Flushing of that name even remotely interested in the old estate that was to be so carefully kept in the family.

The Thornes trace their ancestry on the island back to William Thorne jr., who was the original owner of an estate at what is now Willett's Point, which for many years was called by his name. His family, large and respectable, were prominent citizens of Flushing many years; some of them, settling in adjoining towns, became active patriots during the Revolution, and Thomas Thorne, who was one of the Whig committee of Flushing, was seized by the British on their first visit here and ended his days in the prison ship.

The Hicks Family descend from Robert Hicks (a des- cendant of Sir Ellis Hix, who was knighted by the Black Prince at the battle of Poictiers, in 1356), who came to America in the ship " Fortune," landing November 11th 1621 at Plymouth. He settled in Roxbury, Mass., and in 1642 two of his sons, John and Stephen, came to Long Island, the former being one of the original patentees of Flushing, and active in public affairs. His son Thomas drove out the Indians from Little Neck, and settled there. The family were early identified with the fortunes of the Society of Friends, to which many of them still adhere. Elias Hicks, the famous preacher and founder of the Hicksite branch of that body, is a prominent instance. In 1880 Miss Anna L. Hicks and Mrs. A. W. Cock, of Flushing, were among the most prominent rep- resentatives of the family in the town.

The Cornell Family .- This name is variously written. We meet it in early records as Cornhill, Cornwell and Cornell, according to the ignorance or indolence of the scribe. Onderdonk classes the family under the name of Cornwell, and is probably correct. The progenitors in this country seem to have been three brothers, who joined one of the early Massachusetts expeditions, and afterward scattered; one settling in Connecticut, another in Dutchess county, N. Y., and the third, Richard, coming to Flush- ing about 1643 and being one of the patentees liere, and for many years a magistrate. His descendants be- came numerous, scattered throughout the country, and seem to have evinced a taste for public life both military and civil. The old pioneer was a consistent Quaker, and so were many of his descendants.

HISTORY OF QUEENS COUNTY.

William Hallet, one of the first sheriffs of Flushing, had a singularly checkered career. In 1655 he was a planter near Hell Gate, and was driven from home and his house and plantation laid waste by the Indians. He fled to Flushing, and was appointed sheriff; but lost his position the following year, and was fined £50 for allowing a Baptist preacher to hold meetings in his house. The people petitioned for and obtained a remission of the fine. He seems to have been a builder, as the records show that he was the contractor on the first "session house " or court-house built in Jamaica. The family af- terward became prominent in Newtown. S. J. Hallet was the only known representative of the family in Flushing when this sketch was written.

Michael Millner was the pioneer inn-keeper of this town, and it was at his house town gatherings were held. Hare the people met to protest against Stuyvesant's proscription of the Quakers, and for allowing what it would seem he could not well prevent, were he so dis- posed, Millner was punished.

claiming continuous residence here, and resides on the old home farm, now in the heart of the village, in a house dating back to the early part of the last century.

The Lawrence Family trace their patronymic back to the ancient Romans, claiming that from some of the Laurentii of that noble race descended their English an- cestry; of whoni the first named in the Doomsday Book was Sir Robert Lawrence, of Ashton Hall, who in 1119 planted the banner of the Cross on the battlements of St. Jean d'Acre, and received for his gallantry the honors of knighthood and a coat of arms from Richard the Lion- hearted, the latter of which was in use (as a seal) by the family in America for many years. Three brothers of this family, William, John and Thomas, came to Long Island about the year 1643, and the first two were among the patentees of Flushing recognized by Governor Kieft in 1645. John, although an owner of land here, removed to New York, where he became an alderman, mayor, judge of the supreme court and member of his Majesty's council. William became the largest landed proprietor in Flushing, settling at Tew's Neck (afterward called Lawrence's), now College Point. He was a magistrate under the Dutch government in 1655, held a military commission under the British, and was in the magistracy of the " north riding." He was a man of marked abil- ity, active in public affairs, and a fair type of the old fashioned country gentleman. His second wife was Elizabeth Smith, of Mishaquaked, L. I., whom he mar- ried in 1664. He died in 1680, and his widow married Sir Philip Carteret, governor of New Jersey. She was a woman of more than ordinary endowments; she was acting governor during Sir Philip's absence in Europe, and many of the important acts of that period were " passed under the administration of Lady Elizabeth Carteret." Elizabeth, New Jersey, is named after her. From this and a previous marriage of William Lawrence's descended the Flushing family of that name.

The Bloodgoods are of purely Knickerbocker origin, Francis Bloctgoct being the earliest settler of the name in Flushing, and, being recognized by the Dutch authori- ties as " chief of the inhabitants of the Dutch nation re- siding in the villages of Vlissingen, Heemstede, Ruds- dorp and Middleborg," was made their commander and ordered to march with them toward the city should a hos- tile fleet appear in the sound. This was in 1674. In the year previous he was made a magistrate, was one of the privy council who advised with the governor on the sur- render of the territory to the English, and was appointed a commissioner to visit the Sweedish settlement on the Delaware. Of his immediate descendants but little can be learned, although it is reasonably certain that some one of the name has ever since resided in Flushing. Two of his grandchildren, Abram and James, were left orphans under the care of a relative; but preferring to make their way in the world for themselves emigrated to Albany, Bernard Sprong was an early resident of Jamaica, where he was born in 1727, and where he died in 1779, leaving three children, the oldest of whom, his namesake, entered the employ of John Jacob Astor. The second son, Daniel, married Ida Van Law and settled in Flush- ing, where he became a farmer. Of his five children David was run over and killed while a student of Union Hall; two daughters died without issue, and John mar- ried Elizabeth Robinson, by whom he had seven chil- dren, of whom Mrs. Ida A. Foster was the oldest, and is now the only one on the island. where they became successful business men and amassed handsome fortunes. Abraham was born in Flushing, in 1741. He became also a merchant in Albany, and mar- ried Mrs. Lynott, one of whose daughters by a former husband became the wife of the celebrated Simeon De Witt. Abraham Bloodgood was for years a councilman of the city, was a member of the convention that ac- cepted the constitution of the United States, and one of the famous ten who, in the old Vanden Heyden house, founded the Democratic party of the State. He left four sons, the younger of whom, Joseph, graduated from THE COLORED POPULATION. the University of Pennsylvania in 1806, and was appointed trustee of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New The early growth of material wealth in this part of the island was marked by the accession of considerable prop- erty in slaves, and historians agree in the conclusion that the pioneers of Queens and Suffolk made kind and in- dulgent masters, and that, in fact, the kindheartedness of the Hollanders and Quakers was rather a bar to the main- tenance of a state of discipline sufficient to make slavery a pecuniary success. Instances of cruelty there were; York in 1811. . Invited by a large number of the most prominent citizens of Flushing to settle here, he came to this village in 1812, and was for many years an em- inent physician and a public spirited citizen. He died March 7th 1851, aged sixty-seven years. He had twelve children, four daughters and eight sons. Isaac, a prom- inent merchant, is now living in Flushing. Mrs. G. R. Garretson is a descendant of the branch of the family | but they are rare, while the fact remains that any elements

THE COLORED PEOPLE OF FLUSHING.

of discord to which we may allude were sown among the is, however, in the Colonial History of New York, Vol. faithful slaves by a class of idle, dissolute freedmen from II., page 158, where it is written that this part of the island "produces from the servants' labor corn, beef, pork, butter, tobacco and staves, which they exchange for liquors and merchandise." other localities, who were drawn here by the supposition that the well known sympathy of the Friends for their race would show them the means of securing the blessings of liberty without its cares and responsibilities. The On the court records of 1726 is an account of the ex- ecution of "Samuel, a colored man of Flushing, for burglary committed in that place." emancipation of the slaves left them, in the main, res- idents of their old homes, and where they were worthy of the confidence of their former owners the relation of Although nothing in the general conduct of the slaves in this locality had indicated any feeling of insubordina- tion, yet the year 1741 was a period of anxious uncer- tainty and general suspicion. The " negro plot " in New York had been discovered and many slaves executed ; and in Kings and Queens counties a number of arrests were made, but no sufficient cause was found to imperil the colored people or their masters in Flushing. master and servant was practically unchanged. The Friends, under the teachings of Fox, were led by their fine sense of justice and humanity to be the pioneers in the matter of schools for the negroes, and funds were early contributed for their education, and the lady mem- bers of the society were active in the work. Churches of the denominations whose devotional exercises best com- ported with the emotional nature of the race were estab- On the 20th of May 1756 two slaves belonging to Ber- nardus Ryder and Benjamin Fowler were drowned in Flushing Bay while fishing. lished early in the century, and Flushing at that time of- fered special inducements for the retention of a class of people fond of gaiety, and not ambitious to become either An advertisement in the New York Postboy of April 14th 1760 reads as follows: " Ran away from Bernardus Ryder, Flushing, a negro man named Cæsar, aged twenty-five; this country born, not a right black-has a little of the yellowish cast; a pretty lusty fellow; talks good English; if frightened stutters very much; has lost one of his front teeth; had on a light-colored Devon- shire kersey coat, a soldier's red jacket, breeches and hat, and a pair of old shoes. 4os. reward if taken on the island, or £3 if taken off the island." wealthy or famous. Old residents relate that from 1820 to 1825 this element of the population had grown so nu- merous and become so aggressive that the streets were filled with them at night, and a system of out-door dances, equivocal serenades and barbecues became so frequent that they proved a serious annoyance to the staid citizens who believed that "nights were made to sleep in." Town ordinances and the mild expostulations of their Quaker friends proved alike unavailing; but ingenuity will over- come all obstacles, and the spirit that was to restore In 1788 a New York paper contained the following non-committal item: " Michael, a negro man slave of John Allen, of Flushing, died by chance-medley and misadventure from a correction he appeared to have from some person unknown." Onderdonk appends this note: " Allen liad lost money, and severely flogged the negro,but could not extort a confession." This is the only instance of brutality recorded in the annals of Flushing. peace to the streets of this ancient village was moving, not in the placid bosoms of the russet-clad Quaker, but in the restless brain of Young America. Parties of young men gathered on the outskirts of these noisy conclaves, and nightly disturbed their harmony with volleys of stale eggs and other disagreeable missiles, gaining the name of the " Rotten Egg Club." The remedy was effectual; peace reigned in Flushing, and the dusky orgies were transferred from the public squares to the shanties of Crow Hill and Liberty street.

From that time to the present the colored population has in the main proved quiet and orderly, and supplied a place in domestic service. A few have become clergy- men, lawyers and small dealers, while a considerable number have found employment in minor positions in the New York custom-house and post-office. They have two churches, Methodist Episcopal and Baptist; and, although poor in this world's goods, evince that keen interest in devotional exercises that is to so great an extent a race characteristic. Education not being a prerequisite for the performance of pastoral duties, their preachers are often found following the Pauline practice of working with their own hands in humble avocations.

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History of Queens County, New York : with illustrations, portraits, and sketches of prominent families and individuals., Part 21

Author: Publication date: 1882 Publisher: New York : W.W. Munsell and Co. Number of Pages: 703

Author:
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: New York : W.W. Munsell and Co.
Number of Pages: 703