USA > New York > Suffolk County > History of Suffolk county, New York, 1683 > Part 41
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His father had a farm of about 60 acres of land, on which Henry used to work while a boy, but it was rather unproductive and offered small inducement for much outlay of time or labor. For a little revenue he took clams and sent them to New York market by his father, who ran a sloop on that route as his main occupation. In this way he had accumulated a little fund of his own before he was fifteen years old. His early education was obtained at the common schools in his vicinity. As he grew toward maturity he was tall and slender, and dis- liked farm work, to which he had applied himself vigor- ously. Among other labors he used to dig deep holes by the side of stones that were too heavy to draw off, into which holes the rocks were tumbled and buried out of the way.
Being of an active turn, and conscious of an impulse to go to some field where his youthful energies could have ample room for development, he went to New York city and engaged himself, not in a store, where too many young men seek light, genteel employment, but as an ap- prentice to learn the carpenter and builder's trade. Here he remained, working faithfully, four years, receiving the munificent sum of $32 per year. No four years of his
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THE TOWN OF BROOKHAVEN.
life were more advantageously spent however, for he Five years after the great fire, having amassed a property amply sufficient for all his wants, he decided to leave the city and the business he had followed, for the quiet enjoyments of a country home. Accordingly in 1840 he bought 200 acres in Bellport and 125 acres in Brookhaven, then called Fireplace. On the Bellport farm he built the house now owned and occupied by James Otis. In this he lived until Mr. Otis bought it mastered his employer's business in all its practical de- tails, so that he soon embarked on his own account, and commenced a remarkably successful career. Dur- ing his apprenticeship he was at one time employed on the lunatic asylum at Bloomingdale. But the city was growing rapidly, and competent contractors and builders had more than they could attend to without seeking outside work. Mr. Titus established a reputation for in 1865, with all the land Mr. Titus owned on the south side of the road. He then returned to New York; but his health failed, and he came back the next
prompt and good work among the solid men who were investing their funds in the multitudinous building enterprises of that day. He had large dealings with year and lived in the large building known as the Titus house, a part of which he had previously moved a few rods to the east, and enlarged to its present size. This dwelling was built by the Howells, over 100 years ago. Here he remained till his death, October 6th 1873, at the age of 76.
prominent men, among whom was Rufus L. Lord, for whom he constructed hundreds of buildings. In De- cember 1835 the great fire swept away thousands of dwellings and business blocks, creating immediately thereafter an enormous activity in rebuilding the burnt district. Mr. Titus and all other responsible builders were at once overwhelmed with work. Dr. Rice of Patchogue, who knew him from 1833 to the close of his life, says he has known him to have as many as 3,000 men employed on his various contracts at one time. So perfect was the understanding and so implicit the confidence between Mr. Titus and Rufus L. Lord that block after block was built for the latter by the former without a stroke of the pen to attest the stipulations between them. Mr. Titus's cares and duties at this time were equal to the burden that falls on the general of an army. His activity was incessant, and he was equal to all the exigencies of the situation; otherwise disaster would have come in the place of success. Doc- tor Rice says he would walk from one gang of men to another, giving the most minute directions, and then to another, till his feet were blistered. But such labor usually receives ample compensation, and in this case it was crowned with abundant success. Mr. Titus's constitution was equal to the strain, so that he did not break down and become incapable of enjoying the results of his exertions.
He was married July 25th 1826 to Susan Amelia Missillier, of New York, a lady of many accomplish- ments and of great personal worth. She was born in Elizabeth, N. J., and died September 5th 1855. Her mother was a French lady with a romantic history. She was born on the island of Hayti, and passed through the great insurrection, narrowly escaping with her life. A gang of the blood-thirsty insurgents went to kill her, but a faithful slave had secreted her in a field of sugar cane. She was a brilliant woman, of strong character, and a faithful mother. The children of Henry and Susan Titus were born as follows: Joseph Henry, Jan- uary 15th 1828; Joel M., March 22nd .1830 (died May 7th following); Susan Amelia, July 24th 1834 (died June 7th 1875); Gardiner Green Howland, April 7th 1847 (died April 12th 1849).
Mr. Titus was over six feet in height, with a compact, powerful frame. He was a great lover of outdoor life, fine horses, and all the exciting sports of the field, the woods and the water. He was a thorough farmer, and kept the best stock. of every kind, especially cattle and sheep.
He was always a Democrat in politics, but uniformly refused office. He was kind to the poor and charitable to all public enterprises. Although never an active church member he was instrumental in raising most of the funds that built the Presbyterian church at Bell- port .. He died universally regretted, and left a memory that his descendants can always contemplate with satis- faction.
His son Joseph Henry Titus, who had passed most of his life in New York, built in 1877 a very attractive and elegant house on the old homestead, into which he moved the next year, and he has made it his permanent home.
JOHN R. MATHER,
the son of Richard and Irene Mather, and the grand- son of Captain Alexander Mather, and of John Willse on his mother's side, was born at Drowned Meadow, now Port Jefferson, November 20th 1814. Prior to 1800 Captain Alexander, his grandfather, dwelt at Old Man's, now Mt. Sinai, in the house recently owned and occu- pied by the late Henry Hawkins, who pulled it down and built anew on the same site. When a lad the sub- ject of this sketch used to ride his father's horses to Mr. Hawkins's to be shod, he being the nearest blacksmith in those days to the Drowned Meadow people. Captain Mather afterward removed to the village of Huntington and lived nearly opposite the old Episcopal church, on the street running to the harbor, where he died in 1824, and was buried in the old Presbyterian burying ground in that village.
The house in which Mr. Titus lived while in New York, 117 Greenwich street, is still standing, unaltered, Previous to 1800 John R.'s grandfather Willse lived in with the old carpenter's shop in the rear-all in a good the house more recently known as the residence of the state of preservation.
late James Van Brunt, on the east side of Setauket
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THE TOWN OF BROOKHAVEN.
Harbor. About this time he purchased of Judge Thomas Strong a tract of land since owned by James R. Davis, and now in part by James M. Bayles, on which he built the house in which Mr. Bayles now lives. This he kept as a hotel, and a portion of the old house still remains. In those days that piece of ground was little else than an unsubdued swamp, prolific in briers and entangling shrubs. Judge Strong said while the terms of the sale were being agreed upon, "Willse, I thought you were a man of better judgment than to build a house in this swamp." In this house John R. Mather was born, in 1814, as before stated. Mr. Willse obtained from the town authorities permission to build a wharf, a portion of which is the same now used by J. M. Bayles. He was by trade a ship-builder, and is said to have built the first vessel ever constructed at Drowned Meadow, named the " Jay." How many he built is not known, but it is certain that he was the pioneer ship-yard pro- prietor and that he followed the business until removed by death in 1815, at the age of 50 years, at a time when he was in the midst of his greatest usefulness. He was a noble man, and to his forecast and energy the village of Port Jefferson owes its first start. He was the father of four sons and four daughters, of whom only two of the latter are now living.
Richard Mather, son of Captain Alexander Mather, learned the ship carpenters' trade of Mr. Willse by a regular apprenticeship. He married Mr. Willse's oldest daughter, Irene, and after her father's death continued ship-building on the site now occupied by J. M. Bayles & Son. In 1816, while vigorously prosecuting his bus- iness he met with an accident in masting the schooner 'Rogers,' that caused his death in the prime of young manhood, at the early age of 30. He was an excellent mechanic and an excellent man, and the entire commun- ity joined in the grief that enshrouded his young family.
Mrs. Mather was married five years later to William L. Jones, who in connection with her first husband's brother, Titus C. Mather, revived the ship-yard and con- tinued the business till about 1826, when Mr. Mather removed to Bridgeport, Conn., where he established him- self in the same occupation.
In the spring of 1831 the subject of this sketch, who was only two years old at his father's death, went to Bridgeport and engaged as an apprentice with his uncle to learn the trade his father had followed, remaining with him six years, till the spring of 1837. Previous to 1830 his stepfather, W. L. Jones, had bought what was known as the Point property, on which he built the house now owned by his son William M. Jones, standing on the street that bears his name. Here he conceived the notion of starting a ship-yard, which he carried into execution, though laboring under great disadvantages from the unfavorable makeup of the shore for floating vessels to deeper water. The first vessel was built at this yard in 1834, and was called the 'Pearl.' A few months after the expiration of his apprenticeship John R. Mather returned from Bridgeport and joined his step- father in the ship-yard business, which partnership con- tinued till 1844. During this time they constructed a road across the marsh now constituting a part of Jones street, leading to where the site of the present dock was then fixed upon. . A grant for constructing this dock was obtained from the town, and an agreement made to build a road 18 feet wide, with walls of stone, and a bridge, under which the water might flow and ebb; all of which being faithfully performed on the part of Jones & Mather, the said road or causeway reverted to the town, and was to be maintained as a highway. The con- struction of a dock running 500 feet into the bay, with an arm 50 feet long, in the shape of the letter L, was a great public improvement, but financially a failure. The next formidable undertaking was the laying of two sets of marine railway on the shore, which was so low that the whole territory had to be filled in from three to four feet to raise it above tide water, all of which was completed in 1841.
Mr. Mather remained at the old yard above the meadows till 1878, when he removed his business to his present location, west of the dock above referred to, where now stands the schooner "Bessie Whitney " on her keel blocks, soon to receive her christening. She is a noble vessel of 700 tons burden, and reflects credit on her builder and her owners.
It will thus be seen that "Boss " Mather has been continuously connected with ship-building in his native village for almost a half century, and that his family, commencing with his grandfather Willse, had for a like period, with slight intervals, preceded him in the same business. With a proud but not vain satisfaction he en- joys the reflection that his ancestors have been so promi- nently identified with this noble industry, which has built up and sustained Port Jefferson. That he has done well his part, and honorably continued the good reputation and enterprise of an old and honored family, a whole community will bear witness.
Mr. Mather married Sarah Jane, youngest daughter of Henry Wells of Smithtown, January 27th 1847. They have had three children-Sarah Jane, born September 2Ist 1849; Irena Willse, born October 23d 1851; and John Titus, born June 29th 1854-all of whom are living.
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M. Hand
NEHEMIAH HAND.
Nehemiah Hand, of Setauket, is one of the ablest representatives, in all respects, that Long Island has ever had of her leading manufacturing interest-ship- building. A perusal of his biography, which is given nearly in his own words, demonstrates that his brain is of the finest quality, large and well balanced, easily grasping and mastering every subject with which it has had to do. This mental machinery has been run in a body never strong since he had the rheumatism when 17 years old, by a will power and determination seldom equaled in any man's history. With characteristic readiness he furnished a full record of all his business operations, a thing few men can do. His account of his life is of interest to all classes, besides being valuable as a history of what has been done in this town. Mr. Hand says: " I was born in the village of Fireplace, in the town of Brookhaven, January 19th 1814. My father's name was Nehemiah, and he was a descendant of a family of Hands who were among the first settlers on the east end of Long Island. My mother was a daughter of General Mapes, who came to this country during the Revolution- ary war. My father was a small farmer, and followed gunning and fishing when not needed on his farm. He was drowned on the 22nd of November 1813, with ten other men, all heads of families, while fishing in the sea at New Inlet on the South Beach.
"I was born in January following, my mother being
left with five small children to care for. I staid with her till I was twelve years old, when I went to work on a farm at $5 per month. When 14 I drove a sand cart to help build the Bellport dock. For the next two years I worked with a house carpenter for my board and $25 per year to buy my clothes. I did not think much of this trade. It was all square work and did not require much skill to nail on shingles and clapboards. I soon learned to do that as fast as my boss. In my 17th year I determined to learn the shipwright's trade, and walked 18 miles to Stony Brook to see my brother, who was a shipwright. He agreed to give me my board and clothes and a quarter's schooling till I was 21. The schooling I did not get-never had but 72 days' schooling in my life. While with him I had the rheumatism so bad that I had to go on crutches three months, and was made a cripple for life. My friends thought. I had better give up the trade, but I stuck to it and have never been sorry. My boss came to Setauket and started a ship-yard when I was in my 19th year. In 1834 he sent me to North- port to take charge of a gang of men and finish up a vessel, which I did and launched her. January 19th 1835 I was 2 1 years old, and I staid with my boss till April Ist for $20. " That summer I worked for Titus Mathews at Bridge- port. In 1836 I built the schooner 'Delight' for Adam Bayles. In 1837 I made the model and moulds for the schooner 'Swallow' and helped build her by the day. In 1838 I was married to Mary Bennett of Setauket. That year I worked for Bell & Brown and learned to
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build square-rigged vessels. In 1839 I built the vessel ' Hardscrabble' for Louis Davis, of Miller's Place. In 1840 I bought a lot and built a house in East Setauket that cost $1,000, and it took me nine years to earn it. In 1841 I built a small vessel at Glen Cove called the ' Helen Jayne.' I did it by contract and cleared $500. In 1842 business was very dull and I worked for Bell & Brown in New York by the day. In 1843 I helped repair the sloops 'Globe ' and 'Aeronaut.'
" In 1844 I found I must make money faster to support my family, and so I laid down the first set of ways ever built in Setauket, for repairs. Many said all they could against it, and I have found out by a long experience. that it is the character of old settlers generally to oppose all improvements. I soon got a vessel to rebuild, the ' Martha Ann,' and before she was done I contracted with Captain Charles Tyler to build the sloop ' Com- merce,' and to own one-quarter of her when finished. She was 36 years old in October 1881, and is a good vessel yet, and has been very profitable to her owners. In 1846 I built the schooner 'Nancy Mills' for Captain Joseph Tyler, besides having all the repairing I could do; employed about 20 men. In 1847 I built the schooner ' Mary Rowland' for Captain Thomas W. Rowland, which proved to be a good sailer. I owned one-quarter of her. The same year I built the schooner 'Albermarle' for William B. Whitehead, of Suffolk, Va. In 1848 I built for the same man another schooner, the 'South Hampton.' These vessels brought pine wood from Vir- ginia to Providence for steamboat use before coal was used.
"In 1849 I built a schooner on my own account, and called her 'Marietta Hand,' after my oldest daughter. I sold one-half of her to Captain Micah Jayne, the boat to be commanded by Captain Scudder Jayne. In four years she had earned us $7,200, when we sold her for $5,800, $200 more than she cost us. In 1850 I built the schooner 'Nassau ' for Stephen H. Townsend and Cap- tain Richard Edwards. She was built for the Mediter- ranean fruit trade, and was capsized in a storm two years after. One man only was saved. He lashed himself to the wreck, and after a dreadful exposure of six days was picked up by a passing vessel. I owned one-fourth of this vessel, which I got insured really after she was lost, but before we heard from her. The insurance was paid. In 1851 I built the brig 'N. Hand' for Turner & Town- send. I owned one-fourth of her. She cost $14,600. In less than four years she had paid her owners $22,562, when we sold her for $10,250. Business for all kinds of vessels was first-rate at this time. In 1852 I built the large sloop 'Chase.' She was used as a packet between New York and Providence, and lost her mast (95 feet long) one day racing with the sloop ' Pointer.' The prin- cipal owner was on board and said to the captain: 'Never mind, we are alead.'
"In 1853 I built the schooner 'Flying Eagle' on my own account. I sold half of her to Captain Benjamin Jones and others. I sent her to Constantinople in the time of the Crimean war, with a cargo of rum and pepper. I thought that would warm them up, and make them
fight if anything would. We got $5,000 for carrying it. She was a good sailer, and paid her cost in the first four years. In 1854 I built the bark ' C. W. Poultney ' for Baker & Studson. She cost $39,000, and ran as a packet between Philadelphia and New Orleans. In 1855 I built the brig 'T. W. Rowland.' She cost $28,000, and I owned one-fourth. The same year I sold my ways and place on the shore to Joseph Rowland, and bought the place and built the house where I now live. Setauket was a lively place that summer, from 90 to 100 men being constantly employed. Mechanics came in from all quarters, more than there were houses for. I started the bark 'Urania,' and finished her in 1856 for Captain William R. Turner. She cost $31,000, and I owned three-eighths. She was built for the coffee trade between New York and Brazil. Two years after she ran as a packet between Shanghai and Nangasaki, when Japan was first open to the commerce of the world. She brought home a cargo of tea and silks, the freights on which amounted to $12,000. In 1857 I built the schooner 'Andromeda' for Captain T. W. Rowland. He owned one-fourth and I three-fourths of her. We ran her three years between Bridgeport, Conn., and „Washington, carrying marble to enlarge the capitol. In 1859 I built the bark 'Palace ' for a contract price of $24,000. I delivered her in New York three days before the time had expired, but had to sue for several thousand dollars due on her. I collected the whole and cleared $3,000 on the job. Samuel J. Tilden was lawyer for the contractors who refused to pay me.
"In 1860 I built the schooner 'Aldebaran ' and gave my son Robert N. Hand one-eighth of her. He took charge of her as captain when but 19 years old and sailed to Charleston. She left that harbor the day before Fort Sumter was fired on. Robert took as his first mate Edward Hawkins and they went to Oporto-captain and mate not yet 20 years old. February 27th 1863 she left New York with a cargo bound for Marinham. She was cap- tured March 13th by the rebel privateer 'Florida,' Cap- tain Moffitt, plundered and burned .. Her captain and all hands were taken on board the privateer and kept ten days, when the captain, mate and apprentice boy were put on board the brig 'Run In Need' and sent to Greenock, Scotland, with nothing but their clothes. The captain asked Moffitt for his chronometer, charts, and nautical instruments, as they were given him by his father, but Moffitt said they were contraband of war, and refused. This Captain Moffitt was a son of the sensa- tional Methodist preacher Moffitt, who used to preach on Long Island. It cost the boys $350 io get home. I im- mediately employed Judge Marvin and filed a claim in Washington for the value of the vessel, and after waiting 13 years we got $30,160, with interest at 4 per cent. "In 1862 I built the brig 'Mary E. Rowland,' and sold her in 1863 at a handsome profit, as property went up. The same year I bought a farm of 16 acres for $3,- 800. I took my son George E. Hand as partner in 1863. We built the brig 'Americus' in 1864-65. We were paying our men $4 for ro hours work, and they struck
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THE TOWN OF BROOKHAVEN.
for the same pay and eight hours work. We refused to pay it and I went to Albany to buy timber for a house. Ashes were only 1272 cents per bushel there and I con- tracted for all I could buy at Troy, Albany, Kingston and Poughkeepsie. When I got them to Long Island they brought me 24 and 25 cents per bushel. I bought and sold some gold, and anything else I could make money on. The 'Americus' cost $42,000. Robert Hand bought one-sixteenth of her and took charge as captain. In 1867 I built the bark ' Mary N. Tyler,' costing $24,000. I owned one-half of her. In 1868 I built the brig ' Mary E. Thayer' for Captain Henry Baker. She went into the Mediterranean fruit trade. She was un- fortunate; was dismasted twice, the last time in 1879. She once put into Lisbon and was robbed of $1,750. I paid $2,117 for a collision where the captain came across the Atlantic without any lights.
"In 1869 I built the 'Georgetta Lawrence,' a three-mast- ed schooner costing $32,000. Last summer we opened her and found everything sound. She was once struck by lightning off the cost of Cyprus with a load of coal oil in cases. The lightning shivered her mizzen mast in splinters, went through both decks and set the oil on fire. The mate, Charles Robinson, opened the hatches, jumped in between decks and threw out the burning cases, the men throwing water on him all the time. The vessel was saved by his heroism. Afterward Captain William Overton made a voyage in her to East London. On his way home he fell in with the bark 'Calcutta' with her rudder gone, and towed her to Cape Town in two days, for which the court awarded $5,000 salvage. She has paid her owners over $45,000. In 1870 I built the bark 'De Zaldo' for Waydell & Co. She went into the West India trade; cost $40,000 and paid her first cost in five years. In 1871 I built the brig ' Daisy ' for Cap- tain Casty for $32,500. She was much admired and a very fast sailer. She sailed from Cape Henry to Stet- tien in the German Baltic in 26 days, with a load of case oil, and paid her owners $10,000 the first year. In 1872 I built the barkentine 'Thomas Brooks,' which went into the West India trade, carried 660 hogsheads of sugar and cost $42,000. In 1873 I built the schooner 'N. Hand ' on my own account.
" I then retired from ship-building and left the busi- ness to George N. Hand, my son and for the last ten years my partner. I have since enjoyed myself at home, seeing how much a little land will produce by good cultivation. I was one of the assessors of the town of Brookhaven from 1862 to 1865. In 1863 we raised $85,000 taxes and paid every drafted man $300. I was opposed to bonding the town, believing it the true policy to pay as we went along.
Island road, and to superintend the building of the road. We encountered many difficulties. There are eight iron bridges in twenty miles. The shortest is 100 feet long and the longest 450 feet. The road cost $35,000 per mile. "In my experience with shipping I have never paid $500 for insurance. I thought if insurance companies could make money insuring poor vessels I could save money by running my own risk on good ones. I have met with some losses, but have never been cheated out of a dollar in my life. By dealing honestly with others I have received the same treatment from them."
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