USA > New York > Queens County > History of Queens County, New York : with illustrations, portraits, and sketches of prominent families and individuals. > Part 93
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LLOYD'S NECK.
Lloyd's Neck (formerly called Horse Neck) contains about 3,000 acres of land projecting into the sound be- tween Cold Spring and Huntington harbors. It is con- nected with the town of Huntington by a low sandy beach or causeway, which is entirely covered with water at high tides, making the neck on such occasions an island. The soil is of excellent quality and part of it is cultivated. The fame of the timber grown on this neck extends back through the Revolutionary war. Although nearly a hundred thousand cords of wood were taken off during the British occupation the neck was soon after producing more than a thousand cords annually for the New York market. The business of shipping wood is still continued. Not only can the neck boast of its highly productive soil, but there is an inexhaustible mine of white clay suitable for the manufacture of pottery of a fine quality. Some years past a valuable deposit of yellow clay was found, which answers all the purposes for which yellow ochre is used.
The neck was made an independent plantation or manor, called Queens Village, in 1685, during the admin- istration of Governor Dongan, this then being the only manorial estate in America. In 1790 an application was made by the owners to the Legislature for a renewal of the privileges of the estate, but they were refused.
The neck (called by the Indians Caumsett) was bought September 20th 1654 from Ratiocan, sagamore of Cow Harbor, by Samuel Mayo, Daniel Whitehead and Peter Wright, some of the first settlers of Oyster Bay, for three coats, three shirts, two cuttoes, three hatchets, three hoes, two fathoms of wampum, six knives, two pairs of stock- ings and two pairs of shoes. The buyers sold out to Samuel Andrews on the 6th of May 1658 for £100, and the sale was confirmed by Wyandanch, the Long Island grand sachem, on the 14th of the same month. On the death of Andrews the neck was conveyed to John Rich-
Meetings of the congregation were first held in the old academy building (now the rectory of Christ Church), and subsequently in the Baptist church. The first church edifice was completed in 1848, at a cost of $3,000. It still stands on its original site in the center of the village. The lower part is used as a tinsmith's shop, and the up- per part as a tenement. The present church building was erected in 1873. It is beautifully situated on a hill bill, September 5th 1660, who obtained a confirmation
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LLOYD'S NECK AND MATINECOCK.
patent from Governor Nicolls December 18th 1665. Richbill sold to Nathaniel Sylvester, Thomas Hart and Latimore Sampson October 18th 1666, for £450. Syl- vester released to his cotenants October 17th 1668, hav- ing first procured an additional patent from Governor Nicolls November 20th 1667. James Lloyd, of Boston, who through his wife Grizzle Sylvester (by a will of said Sampson) became entitled to part of the neck, obtained a confirmation of the patent from Governor Andros September 29th 1677, and in October 1679 bought from the executors of Hart his part of the neck for £200. Through this purchase he became sole owner, and the neck has since that time been called after his name. Mr. Lloyd died at an early age, August 16th 1698, leaving three children-Henry, Joseph and Grizzle. He devised the neck to his children in equal parts. Henry purchased the interest of his brother and sister, became sole proprietor, and settled here in 171I.
The town of Huntington laid claim to Mr. Lloyd's purchase on the ground that it was included within the general bounds of that town, but on appeal to the court of assize Mr. Lloyd got a verdict in his favor; and to prevent a like occurrence he got most if not all the free- holders of the town to sign a release of all their interest in the neck, whatever it might be. The dividing line was some time afterward ascertained and established by David Jones, Richard Woodhull and William Willis, who were mutually selected by the parties in 1734. Henry Lloyd was born November 28th 1685, and died March 18th 1763. His remains, with those of many of his an- cestors, rest in the old family burial ground on the neck. There is a tablet erected over the remains, in a remark- able state of preservation. Part of the neck has since continued in the possession of the Lloyd family, although there are none now bearing the name who hold posses- sions there. This family has become related by inter- marriage to many of the first families of New England, New York city and Long Island. A number of the Lloyds have occupied with honor responsible positions of public trust. They have always been and still are noted for their gentlemanly and courteous manners.
The annual produce of this valuable peninsula has been very large, consisting of wheat, corn, oats, hay, and salt grass. There may still be seen the fort erected during the Revolution on the west side of the neck. Within recent years several stock farms have been started upon the neck on a large scale; some have been failures, some of them successful. The neck is now divided into numerous farms, some of which have come into the pos- session of their present owners by marriage, etc., some by purchase.
MATINECOCK.
Matinecock in early days embraced far more territory than the Matinecock of to-day. In 1697 it appears to have been bounded west by Hempstead Harbor, south by Hempstead Plains, east by Papequatunek River, and north by the sound or north sea; including " Musceato
Coufe" and "Cillingworth" or the Matinecock of to-day. These two places are the only ones named, though the bounds include Glenwood, Greenvale, Locust Valley, Dosoris, Lattingtown and Mill Neck.
The question to whom did Matinecock belong was a vexing one for some time. Hempstead under its grant of 1644 claimed a portion of it. Oyster Bay claimed to have bought part of it from the Indians in 1653. Por- tions of it were also claimed by some parties from grants through Farrett, the agent of the Earl of Stirling.
The town of Hempstead granted Thomas Terry and Samuel Deering, under date of July 4th 1661, the right to settle on Matinecock land and hold the same as their own, with the same privileges enjoyed by other towns- men of Hempstead. One of the conditions of this grant was as follows:
"Not to trespass against the town of Hempstead by letting of any of their calff trespass on any great playne and spoil thire corn or dooe like harm; and if they shall, to make satisfaction to ani person or persons soe ronged; also the above sayd planters dooe ingage themselves or ani that they shall bring or thire successors not to bring
* in any Quakers or such like opinions. * *
Sayd planters shall or ought to be such as the inhabitants of the towne of Hempstead shall approve of; that is to be soe understood that these shall be admitted as inhabit- ants of the aforesaid place shall have letters of recom- mendation and approbation from the magistrate or towns- men of the place from which they came, that they have been and are like to be good members."
A memorandum states that they are to settle on the land within two years. Another memorandum requires that Terry shall settle seven families on the land, and the town reserves the right to make the number ten.
It would seem from the last memorandum and later writers that Deering had withdrawn.
Terry did not occupy and improve the land as con- tracted, but sent a petition "To the Noble, Great and Respectful Director General and High Council in New Netherlands" asking that the limit of liis time for in- provement be extended one year. The petition was granted, and the seven families were settled on the land.
In the petition Terry mentions one Mr. Nichol, a resi- dent of Oyster Bay, who claimed that the Matinecock land was covered by his patent; but this is not recorded in the Oyster Bay records, as deeds were not given by the town until some years afterward. The earliest men- tion of Matinecock lands found on the Oyster Bay rec- ords is the appointment on March 2nd 1664 of Francis Weeks, Jacob Youngs and John Coles " to use their en- deavor to bie Matinecock land of the indians." What success attended this "endeavor" does not appear.
Among the first permanent settlers of Matinecock was Captain John Underhill, who settled on a piece of land (150 acres) granted him by the Indians for services ren- dered them.
The Hempstead people continued up to 1666 to claim Matinecock lands by virtue of their purchase from the Marsapeague Indians; but they were defeated in their claims by the Indians acknowledging that they never claimed to own any part of the Matinecock lands.
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HISTORY OF QUEENS COUNTY.
The Matinecock Indians also complained to Governor Nicolls of the people of Hempstead for intruding upon . their lands without paying for them. The Indians how- ever agreed, by request of the governor, to allow the seven families to remain in peaceable possession of the lands occupied by them. This lengthy dispute was set- tled soon after, we know not how. The territory came into peaceable possession of the people of Oyster Bay, who had been and were from time to time purchasing it from the Indians.
On the 26th of May 1663 the Indians sold a part of Matinecock to Captain John Underhill, John Frost and William Frost; another part on the 20th of April 1669 to Richard Latting; another on the ist of December 1683 to Thomas Townsend; and on the 9th of January 1685 the chiefs-namely, Susconaman alias Runasuck, Chechagen alias Quaropin, and Samose, son of Tacka- pousha-being empowered thereto by the rest of the In- dians, conveyed the residue of Matinecock, with some other lands, for the price of sixty pounds current mer- chantable pay, to James Cock, Joseph Dickerson, Rob- ert Townsend, Samuel Dickerson, Stephen Birdsall, James Townsend, Daniel Weeks, Isaac Doughty, John Wood, Edmund Wright, Caleb Wright, John Wright, William Frost and John Newman, and thereupon the grantees agreed to accept as joint purchasers with them the following inhabitants and freeholders of the town- comprising the most complete list of names which the records present at that period: George Downing, John Townsend sen., Richard Harcutt, Daniel Townsend, Na- thaniel Coles jr., John Dewsbury, John Cock, William Crooker, John Weeks, John Applegate, Henry Franklin, Thomas Youngs, John Townsend jr., John Rogers of Lusum, Hannah Forman for her son Moses, Henry Bell, Richard Willett, John Robbins, Meriam Harker, Thomas Townsend, Hope Williams of Lusum, Samuel Birdsall, Josias Carpenter, Lawrence Mott, Sampson Hawxhurst, William Buekler, Adam Wright, Josias Latting, Thomas Weeks, Thomas Cock, John Pratt, William Hawxhurst, Thomas Willets, Elizabeth Dickson, Samuel Weeks, James Bleven, Joseph Weeks, Daniel Whitehead, Peter Wright, Samuel Tiller.
We give here a portion of an original deed from the Indians, now in the possession of Valentine Frost, con- veying Matinecock lands:
" This instrument of writing or deed of sale witnesseth to all Christian people to whom it may come or any ways concern. Know ye that for us we underwritten, Suscona- man alias Runasuck, Samouse And Querripin, all three Indians, being empowered by ye rest of ye Indians and proprietors of Cheaf ye lands called by ye English Matin- ecock, situate, lying and being within ye patent of Oyster Bay wth'n Queens county upon Long Island, And by Virtue whereof And for ye ffull of twenty pounds silver or equivalent to silver money in goods, to us paid before ye signing and sealing thereof, have bargained and sold and by present possession deliver unto John Underhill, John Ffeexes, and William Ffrost, all three inhabitants of Matinecock, all that our Comons, or individual lands unsold, lying and being to ye northward of ye now high- way between ye Beaver Swamp so called and Mosquito
Cove, lands being to be understood ye the highway from Oyster Bay to Mosquito Cove to ye sound or North Sea, be it more or less; excepting twenty acres to be laid out to John Pryor at ye rere of his lands bought of Joseph Eastland fforman, by grantal. * *
* It is to be un- derstood that every inhabitant below the path settled are to have equal privileges, provided they pay ye above three persons nominated their equal proportions in money ac- cording to agreement."
CAPTAIN JONIN UNDERHILL.
It is now time to give a sketch of some of the early settlers of Matinecock. Captain John Underhill came from England to Massachusetts soon after the first settle- ment of that colony. He had served as an officer in the British forces in the Netherlands, in Ireland and at Cadiz, and had a command in the war with the Pequots during the year 1637. After the termination of the Pequot war he removed to Connecticut and settled at Stamford. He was a delegate from that town to the general court at New Haven in 1643, and was appointed an assistant justice there. During that year he was sent for by the Dutch governor at New York to take a com- mand in the war in which the Dutch were then engaged or were about to engage with the Indians north of the sound and west of the Connecticut settlements. This war lasted till the summer of 1646, and was terminated by a great battle at Strickland's Plain, Horse Neck, in which the Dutch with difficulty obtained the victory. It is supposed that Captain Underhill had the chief com- mand under the Dutch governor in this war, and it is stated by Trumbull in his history of Connecticut that he destroyed 300 Indians north of the sound, and 120 upon Long Island who had crossed the sound in order to rav- age and destroy the Dutch plantations there. After the conclusion of the war he settled at Flushing. He dis- covered and disclosed the intrigues of the Dutch fiscal with the Indians to detach them from the English and to excite them to hostilities against them in 1653. On the refusal of the commissioners of the united colonies to embark in the war then in progress between England and Holland he applied to Rhode Island, which colony had taken part with the mother country, for assistance. He received a commission from that colony, with the aid of a small number of volunteers, authorizing him to act in defense of the English towns against any attack of the Dutch or Indians, and with regard to further hostilities to act in conformity with such orders as the colony should prescribe. Under this commission he made the attack on the Indians at or near Fort Neck and took their fort, and thus contributed to arrest the defection of the Indians, to defeat the hostile designs of the Dutch against the English settlements, and to preserve the peace of the island.
In 1665 he was a delegate from the town of Oyster Bay to the assembly held at Hempstead by Governor Nicolls, and was appointed by him under sheriff of the " north riding of Yorkshire," or Queens county. In 1667 the Matinecock Indians gave him a deed for 150 acres of land, which has remained in the family ever
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OLD FAMILIES OF MATINECOCK.
since and is now in the possession of Mrs. Anne Elizabeth Underhill, wife of George R. Underhill and a direct descendant through eight generations from the old pioneer, her father being Robert F. Underhill.
This land consigned by the Indians to Captain Under- derhill he named Cillingworth or Kenilworth. On the old farm mentioned above is the grave of this remark- able man, of whose singular career so much is said in the histories of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecti- cut and New York. He was the trusted companion of distinguished men and held many important and respon- sible trusts. Few individuals were more conspicuous or rendered more important services to the colonists than Captain John Underhill.
JOHN FEAKES
mentioned in the above deed was the son of Henry, who came from England about the year 1630 and settled in Lynn, Mass. John removed with Captain Underhill to Matinecock, where they purchased land of the Indians and built their houses in fields contiguous to each other, now known in each family as the "old orchard," although the trees have entirely disappeared in the one and almost in the other. They established a burying place common to the two families on a beautiful elevation overlooking the sound, the creek and much of the surrounding coun- try. A tradition in the family makes John Feakes and Captain Underhill brothers-in-law. John Feakes was a preacher in the Society of Friends, and was buried by them in their burying ground at Westbury. He died in March 1724. His wife, who was Deborah Pryor, is sup- posed to have been the daughter of Matthew Pryor. John Feakes left one son, afterward the Rev. Robert Feakes, a Baptist minister at Oyster Bay, and several daughters.
Rev. Robert Feakes inherited the estate of his father, to which he greatly added by his marriage with Clemence Ludlam, of Hog Island. He owned in addition to the homestead a large tract of land on Mill Neck, all the farm now owned by Stephen C. Underhill, a part of John Van Cott's farm on the east side of the neck, and a farm on the south side of the road leading to Oyster Bay. He built the mill now owned by Abraham Underhill and pre- viously by Henry Demilt, Thomas Covert and Thomas Cock. He built his house on the site of the residence called " Meadow Side." Shortly before his death the house burned, together with all its contents, consisting of the furniture, title deeds and a valuable collection of paintings by his son Robert. The house was rebuilt im- mediately, and remained until it was torn down to make way for the present one, built on the old foundation by his great-great-great-grandsons in 1849. Rev. Robert Feakes died April Ist 1773, aged 89, leaving a large fam. ily. Henry, the eldest child, inherited the homestead, but sold it to his brother Charles, from whom the present family is descended. John Feakes, another son, inherited a farm on Mill Neck and left one child, who was the grandmother of the present Henry Ludlam, of Center Island. Robert Feakes, another son, was
one of the most eminent painters of his time in this country.
THE FROSTS AND VALENTINES.
Next comes the Frost family, but from want of data which have failed to reach us we are unable to give a history of it. We know it was one of the first and prin- cipal ones, and has done much toward making Matine- cock what it is to-day.
The Valentines were another family which came into the town about 1716. Daniel Valentine is the first men- tioned. He was born about 1689 and married Charity, daughter of Nathan and Rachel Coles, of Mosquito Cove, now Glen Cove. On the 11th of March 1719-20 he bought of his father-in-law property costing him £500. This place has never passed out of the family, being now in possession of the daughter of the late El- wood Valentine. We pass down through a long list of descendants till we reach Mary Valentine, daughter of David, who married Lot Cornelius, their issue being Valentine M. and Amanda, who married Jarvis Under- hill. Catherine, daughter of David, married Isaac B. Lewis. She was the mother of Mary Anna, who married Daniel Vail and has issue Louis Herbert and Clara Irving.
Others of the Valentine family were Thomas and Rob- ert Valentine, who were brothers and resided on their father's old farm near West Hills. This farm was divided between them, and was supposed to contain 1,000 acres. Thomas married Elizabeth Hewlett and resided upon his part of the farm. Of Robert's farm there is a tradition that a brook ran through it which emptied into Cold Spring mill pond, and which was. never dry or frozen over. This Valentine farm is now owned by Benjamin Brush. There is an old burial ground upon it which is thought to contain the remains of some of the ancestors of the two brothers. It was once owned and occupied by Hewlett, father of James W. Valentine, now of Green Point.
SOCIETY OF FRIENDS, MATINECOCK.
Probably some of the residents of Matinecock, partic- ularly of Cillingworth, became members of the Society of Friends as early as 1659, and attended the Oyster Bay meeting or held meetings in private houses. It was agreed in 1671 that First-day meetings should be held alternately at this place and Oyster Bay.
The Friends liere soon began to suffer from the law; many of them having their property sold to pay fines imposed for refusing to train and to work on a fort.
In 1725 it was decided to build a meeting-house. Thomas Pearsall and Samuel Underhill were the builders. In 1751 some gravestones were set up in the burying ground, with superfluous inscriptions engraved thereon contrary to the practice of Friends. The relatives of the deceased were requested to remove them. Repairs on the house were made from time to time. The building is now in good condition and the society prosperous.
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Dormirud. Dock
HON. TOWNSEND D. COCK.
Townsend D. Cock was born at Locust Valley, on the farm on which he now resides, on the 3d day of Decem. ber 1838. His father was Alfred Cock, and his mother was Phebe Ann Townsend, a daughter of Jackson S. Townsend. The author of the " Townsend Memorial," in speaking of the subject of this sketch, says: "This gentleman is most appropriately named. being descended in ten different ways from the three Townsend brothers."
The foundation of Mr. Cock's education was laid at the district school, and later he was a student at the pri- vate school founded and maintained for so many years by that successful educator Lot Cornelius.
In 1867 Mr. Cock was chosen supervisor of the town of Oyster Bay, in which position he was continued by the people until April 1872.
In the fall of 1871 the Democratic party of the district selected him as its candidate for State senator. After an active and exciting canvass Mr. Cock was successful, re- ceiving a majority of 868. He had the support of many of the intelligent and independent Republicans of the district, who were dissatisfied with the nominee of their own party. The sessions of the Senate of which Mr. Cock was a member were memorable ones. The down fall of the Tweed ring in New York and the develop-
ments that led up the dethronement of this remarkable combination suggested the necessity of measures looking to the purification of the judiciary of the State. The bar association of the city of New York preferred charges against some of the judges then upon the bench, and the Senate was called upon to examine into the truth of those charges. John H. McCunn, a judge of the superior court of New York city, was the first one against whose official conduct charges were preferred. The governor transmitted these charges to the Senate, with a recom- mendation to that body to inquire into their truth. The result was that the Senate after an exhaustive examina- tion found them sustained, and Judge McCunn was re- moved. George G. Barnard, a judge of the supreme court, was impeached by the Assembly, and the Senate, associated with the court of appeals, was called upon to try the charges. The hearing was had at Saratoga; by a unanimous vote of the court Judge Barnard was found guilty, and by an almost unanimous vote he was debarred from ever after holding any position of honor or trust in the State. This was the first and only court of impeachment ever held in this State. H. G. Prindle, judge of Chenango county, and George M. Curtis, a judge of the marine court of New York, were afterward tried by the Senate, but a majority of that body voted against their removal. After the expiration of his senatorial term Mr. Cock
Mr & Took
511
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, OYSTER BAY.
remained in private life until the fall of 1875, when, at the earnest solicitation of the leaders of the political party of which he is a member, he accepted a nomination for the Assembly, and was successful. In 1881 he was urged to accept the nomination for the same position, and reluctantly consented. He was again honored with the public confidence, and took his seat in the body that secured for itself historic prominence in consequence of the senatorial deadlock occasioned by the feud in the Republican party, growing out of the course pursued by Senators Conkling and Platt in their disagreement with the action of President Garfield in the appointment of W. H. Robertson as collector of the port of New York. Mr. Cock was also elected to the Assembly of 1882, and served during the session as chairman of the committee on commerce and navigation, and a member of the ways and means committee.
Mr. Cock was chosen a vice-president of the Queens County Agricultural Society in 1863, and re-elected in 1864 and 1878; in 1879 he was chosen president of the society, and served three consecutive years. He has been an industrious contributor to the journals of the day, and has occasionally delivered addresses upon topics perti- nent to the times.
WILLIAM TOWNSEND COCK.
The subject of the present memoir was born the 26th day of November 1803, in the village then called Buck- ram, in the town of Oyster Bay. (The village is now called Locust Valley, but was originally called-and more properly-Matinecock, that being the name of much of the surrounding country.) His parents, Samuel and Elizabeth Cock, reared a family of eight children, six of whom married and settled in the same neighborhood; one died in early life, and William T., being the youngest, remained with his parents, expecting that to be his per- manent home.
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