History of Suffolk county, New York, 1683, Part 49

Author: W.W. Munsell & Co., pub; Bayles, Richard M. (Richard Mather); Cooper, James B. (James Brown), 1825-; Pelletreau, William S. (William Smith), 1840-1918; Street, Charles R. (Charles Rufus), 1825-1894; Smith, John Lawrence, 1816-1889
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: New York : W.W. Munsell & co.
Number of Pages: 677

USA > New York > Suffolk County > History of Suffolk county, New York, 1683 > Part 49

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Until the year 1860 the people of. this place had at- tended church at East Hampton, but the increasing popu-

THE TOWN OF EAST HAMPTON.

lation here and the remoteness of that village rendered a 'the town. In 1713, when the queen's highways or pub- separation from the old Presbyterian congregation almost lic roads through the island were laid out, the record says: " The common landing place at East Hampton to bee at ye place called ye Northwest Creek, and ye high- way leading to ye same from ye said town to bee at the north end of ye street, & from thence in a highway by or through some land layed out about 150 poles from thence in a large common, ye way through ye same leading to ye east side of Captain Mulford's warehouse or wharf; the said landing place to bee 15 or 16 poles by ye water eastward of ye 'said warehouse or wharf." a necessity. With the full concurrence of the parent church this enterprise was carried into effect by the building of a new edifice, which was dedicated Novem- ber 15th 1860. The first pastor was Rev. A. A. Haines, of Hamburg, N. J., a descendant of the family that had emigrated from Southampton to " East Jersey " in 1690. He acted as a stated supply till August 5th 1862, when he was released from his charge to accept a chaplaincy in the 15th regiment New Jersey volunteers. For one year the pulpit was filled by Rev. Edward S. Beard, of Andover, Mass. Rev. William H. Dean was employed October 18th 1863, and he was settled, in response to PROMISED LAND. a unanimous call April 4th 1864, and was installed May 3d of the same year. This relation was dissolved by mutual consent in September 1866, at which time he be- came pastor of a Congregational church at Bridgewater, Conn. He afterward went to California as a missionary, and died there in 1879. Rev. Charles M. Oakley, of Melville, Suffolk county, commenced his labors in Feb- ruary 1867 and continued until September 7th 1879, when his failing health compelled him to resign.

Rev. J. B. Finch began his labors here in December 1879, and still remains, a faithful and acceptable pastor.

A Methodist Episcopal church, the only one in the town, was built here in 1850, but owing to the smallness of the society it has no regular pastor.

THE OLD SCHOOL-HOUSE IN AMAGANSETT,

which stood near the middle of the village, on the south side of the street, was afterward moved to a lot at the south end. of the village graveyard-a most appropri- ate spot, since it's utter unfitness for school purposes and its want of proper ventilation doubtless sent many a scholar to find a permanent resting place in the adjoin- ing cemetery. The writer can relate, from his own ex- perience as a teacher, that one day 95 pupils were crowded into a room hardly large enough for 40-every seat filled to its utmost capacity, one scholar in the teacher's chair, and Webster's Unabridged Dictionary brought into service as a seat for one small boy who could find none elsewhere. The people at length awoke to a sense of duty, and a large and beautiful school build- ing was erected in 1880, which is a credit to the village.

The town trustees of East Hampton are the cus- todians of a fund left by William I. Rysam, of Sag Harbor, some sixty years since. This fund (or its in- come) was intended by the generous donor to be applied toward lessening the school bills of poor children. As the free school law has rendered this unnecessary it is now employed to furnish school books for those who cannot afford to buy them.

NORTHWEST.

This place, which takes its name from the corner of the town in which it is situated, was the ancient port of |chase or the "Hither Woods."

A tract of worthless sand beach adjoining Peconic Bay has within a few years sprung into notoriety, by the name of "Promised Land," and what was once a des- olate and uninhabited place is now a village of " fish fac- tories," as they are called, and a business has sprung up involving over $500,000 capital and affording business for hundreds of men. Here millions of fish are yearly brought and rendered into oil, and the solid part, under the name of fish guano, is sent as a fertilizer to enrich the vineyards of Italy and the cotton fields of the south. The first factory was started in 1878, by. Hiram R. Dixon & Brother, and at the present time there are ten com- panies in full operation, with an assessed valuation of $104,000.

MONTAUK.

The first purchase of the town extended east to the highlands of Montauk, and beyond that lay an extent of land which for many years continued to be the home of the Indian, and ruled by him alone. The first purchase of land on Montauk was made February 11th 1661. The deed, which was given by the "Sunk Squaw, widow of Wyandanch, and Wiankombone, sonne of Wy- andanch, and Pokatonn, chief counsellor, and the rest of our trusty counsellors and associates," conveys "to Mr. Thomas Baker, Mr. Robert Bond, Mr. Thomas James, Mr. Lion Gardiner, Mr. John Mulford, John Hand, Benjamin Price, together with their associates the inhab- itants of East Hampton, all that piece or neck of land belonging to Muntauket land, westward to a fresh pond in a beach on this side, westward to the place where the old fort formerly stood; on the other side eastward to the new fort that is yet standing; the name of the pond being Quannontowounk on the north and Konhonganisk on the south." This deed recites the fact that a deed for the whole of Montauk had been given the year be- fore, the intention being that the Indians could have the power to take the same back into their possession. It also states that the Montauk Indians had been con- quered by the Narragansetts and had been forced to flee for refuge and safety to the people of East Hampton, who had protected them. This is called the First pur-

THE TOWN OF EAST HAMPTON.

On December Ist 1670 another deed was given, to John Mulford, Thomas James and Jeremiah Conkling, for the tract of land between Fort Pond and Great Pond. This is called the "Nine-score Acre purchase." The grantees afterward conveyed their interest to the town of East Hampton.

In 1687 another deed was given. This recites that the Indian sachems for £100 conveyed " all our tract of land at Mantaket bounded by part of the Fort Pond Bay west, the English land south, by a line run from the Fort Pond to the Great Pond, and soe from the south end of the Great Pond over to the South Sea, and soe to the utmost extent of the island from sea to sea." The grantees were "John Wheeler, Samuel Mulford, Thomas Osborn, Stephen Hand, Stephen Hedges, Samnel Par- sons and John Mulford, trustees of the freeholders and comonalty of East Hampton, and Benjamin Osborn, for the use of themselves and these proprietors, namely John Hand's widow, John Stretton, Thomas Talmadge, Thomas Osborn, John Mulford, Samuel Mulford, Thomas Baker, Thomas Mulford, widow Elizabeth Baker's 2 allotments, Samuel Fithian, Samuel Brooks, Joshua Garlick, Richard Shaw, Jacob Schellenger, John Miller sen., Nathaniel Bishop's lot, William Barnes, Samuel Parsons, the lot which was Birdsall's, John Edwards, William Edwards, Lieutenant John Wheeler, Captain Josiah Hobart, Robert Dayton, Thomas Chatfield, Jeremiah Conkling, Mr. Thomas James, that lot which was George Miller's, that lot which was Jeremiah Meacham's, Stephen Hedges, Benjamin Osborn, that which was Thomas Osborn's lot, John Hoppin, Thomas Diment's lot, Stephen Hand, John Osborn."

This tract is called the "North Neck," the "Indian Field " and the "Point Field." This same purchase was confirmed March 3d 1703 "to the trustees of the comon- alty of the town of East Hampton, for the use and be- hoof of the proprietors of the said town."

The purchasers of these several tracts occupied and a Shinecock Indian, was in the employ of the New enjoyed the same, not as public property belonging to the town, but as tenants in common according to their respective shares. Some owned more in one purchase than in another, and some owned in one purchase and owned nothing in another. But in 1748 all these in- terests were consolidated and made to extend equally to the whole of Montauk, and as a sort of basis for the new shares the value of a share in the first purchase was estimated at £8, in the second at £8, and in the third at £24, and a share throughout the whole was esti- mated at £40.

It had always been a subject of dispute whether under the Indian deeds Montauk did not belong to the town of hold from 300 to 500 men, and we do not believe the

entered in an action between Henry P. Hedges and the name which is very descriptive of the locality. The

East Hampton and not to the proprietors. This question was finally settled in 1851, when a judgment was duly rest of the proprietors, plaintiffs, and the town trustees, defendants. In this it was decided that the proprietors were the true owners, according to their shares as tenants in common, and that the trustees should execute to them a release and surrender of the premises under

their corporate seal. This was done March 9th 1852. In 1703 and 1754 agreements were made with the In- dians to the effect that they should have the power to fence in and use as a field either a portion of land west of the Great Pond, known as North Neck, or land east of the Great Pond, known as Indian Field; not to use both at once, but to have the right to change from one to the other at their pleasure. The cattle of the propri- etors are permitted to pasture on the Indian land from October till April, except some small fields not exceed- ing 30 acres. The Montauks were also to have the right to keep 250 swine, and horses and cattle not ex- ceeding fifty in all. They have no right to take in cattle or horses to pasture, nor can they sell or dispose of grass or hay, nor can they hire out land for planting.

For the last 170 years they have confined themselves to the Indian field east of the pond; so long as they lived in wigwams it was their custom to live in the open plain in the summer, and in the winter move to the shelter of the woods. It was also a part of the agree- ment that in case any native squaw should marry "any strange Indian or foreigner " she should forfeit all her right; and any " Mustee, Mulatto or stranger or foreign Indian," who might go there should be considered a trespasser and put off the land. The result is what might have been expected; the Montauk tribe has dwindled down to five or six individuals, but the blood that runs in their veins is pure. Many attempts have been made to civilize and Christianize this tribe of In- dians. Rev. Thomas James was employed about 1660 by the "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel." He learned their language and is said to have written a catechism in it for their use, but we have no information as to the result of his labors. In 1741 Rev. Azariah Horton, of Sonthold, was employed as a missionary; he often labored and preached among them, and he men- tions that some. received the gospel. Rev. Paul Cuffee,

York Missionary Society, and had a regular circuit, em- bracing the Poosepattuck, Shinecock and Montauk tribes. The celebrated Sampson Occum commenced a school here in 1755, and labored until 1761; at that time the Montauks numbered 182 individuals. As to their number when the great Wyandanch ruled in the height of his glory we can form no opinion. The tradition that they were as numerous as the leaves on the trees must of course be the wildest hyperbole. We have no actual statement by an authority worthy of the name. The author of "Chronicles of East Hampton ", in de- scribing the Indian fort on Montauk, stated that it would

tribe ever exceeded that number. According to the same author the word Montaukett signifies Hilly Place, a

tribe has always had a nominal "king," the last being Stephen Pharaoh, who died in 1880. He was a perfect specimen of the Indian-tall, with straight black hair and the true copper colored complexion and aboriginal features.

THE TOWN OF EAST HAMPTON.

The area of Montauk is about 9,000 acres. Of this about 750 are rock and barren ridge, about 1,900 are woodland, and out of the whole not more than 3,500 are capable of successful cultivation.

The bays and ponds on Montauk are a very important feature. Fort Pond Bay is one of the best harbors on the island, with deep water and good anchorage. Fresh Pond is situated in the Hither Woods, and is about 50 acres in extent. Fort Pond is half a mile in length, the water fresh and very deep. Great Pond is about two miles long, and covers 1,200 acres. Oyster Pond is con- nected with the bay, and the tide ebbs and flows.

At the eastern extremity of the point the United States government is in possession of a tract of ten acres for light-house purposes, purchased in 1792.

Since the year 1748 the relative interests of the owners of Montauk have been expressed in pounds, shillings and pence; the sum of all the interests was £1,417; £40 was called a share and £5 an eighth.

About 1875 Washington L. Tyson, of New York, be- gan to buy up individual rights, and other parties from the city also invested in the same. In 1878 a suit for the sale or partition of Montauk was begun by Robert M. Grinnell against the rest of the owners, their wives, and all claiming any interest in the premises. The sum- mons and complaint were very voluminous, the defend- ants being 241 persons. The number of whole shares was 3538, each share being £40. The largest owner was Washington L. Tyson, representing £305 9s. 8 5-18d., and the smallest Hannah Parsons, owning 5-21 of a penny. The principal owners besides Mr. Tyson were: Jonathan Baker, £10; Joseph H. Barnes, £12; Abra- ham D. Candee, £37; Edward Dayton, £46; Samuel B. Gardiner, £66; Benjamin Hedges, £80; George O. Post, £20; David Emmet Peirson, £22.

Upon the case being brought to trial a judgment was given for the plaintiff, and Everett A. Carpenter, of Sag Harbor, was appointed referee. His elaborate report recommended a sale; the matters of fact were decided by Judge J. O. Dykman, and Montauk was sold by auc- tion on the 22nd day of October 1879, and was purchased by Arthur Benson of Brooklyn, for the sum of $151,000. The dream of the present moment is that the south branch of the Long Island Railroad will be extended to Fort Pond Bay, which will be a harbor for European steamships.

GARDINER'S ISLAND.

The full history of this island would require a volume in itself, and our limits will allow only a brief sketch of the most important events connected with it. There are few families in this country whose history has been more carefully traced, or whose members have held stations of higher importance than the Gardiners; and few in- deed are the estates that have descended from father to son in an unbroken line for so great a length of time, in a land where change is the rule and continuance beyond a few generations the rare exception.

Sim Gardener

Lion Gardiner, the ancestor of this family, tells as fol- lows the story of his coming to America, in an entry made in his family Bible, which is now a treasured heir- loom in the hands of his descendants:

"In the year of our Lord 1635, July the 10th, came I Lion Gardiner, and Mary my wife, from Worden, a towne in Holland, where my wife was borne, being the daughter of one Derike Willemson, deurant. Her mother's name was Hachin, and her aunt, sister of her mother, was the wife of Wouter Leonardson, old burgermeester. We came from Worden to London and from there to New England, and dwelt at Saybrook fort 4 years (it is at the mouth of Connecticut River). of which I was commander; and there was born to me a son named David, 1636, the 29th of April, the first born in that place; and in 1638 a daughter was born to me, called Mary, the 30th of August; and then I went to an island of my own, which I bought of the Indians, called by them Manchonake, by us the Isle of Wight; and there was born another daugh- ter, named Elisebeth, the 14th of Sept. 1641, she being the first child of English parents that was born there."

Governor Winthrop thus records Gardiner's arrival:

" Nov. 28 1635 there arrived a small Norsey barque of 25 tons, sent by the Lords Say and Brooke, with one Gardiner, an expert engineer, and work base, and provis- ions of all sorts, to begin a fort at the mouth of the Connecticut River. She came through many great tem- pests, but through the Lord's great providence her pas- sengers and goods all safe."

According to a statement written by John Lyon Gar- diner in 1793 the name of the island was pronounced by the oldest Montauk Indian Mashong-go-nock (the second and third syllables being accented), and the name, accord- ing to the same authority, was derived from the fact of "there having been a distemper that was here a great many years ago and killed a good many of the Indians."

Upon this island Lion Gardiner remained, with none but the Indians for his neighbors, until 1653, at which time he removed to East Hampton, leaving his son Da- vid in possession, who remained here till 1657, when he went to England and remained some years.

The original deed from the Indians, if any was ob- tained, is no longer in existence, and of the price paid we have no knowledge, but it was a tradition that a.large dog was one of the articles given in exchange. On the roth of March 1639 a grant was obtained from James Farrett, agent of the Earl of Stirling, which confirmed " to Lion Gardiner, his heirs and assigns for ever the isl- and he hath now in his possession;" it being stipulated that there should be paid a yearly charge of five pounds, the first payment to be in 1643, as three years' payment had been advanced for the use of Farrett. This instru- ment was signed in presence of Fulk Davis and Benja- min Price, both of whom were afterward settlers in East Hampton. The island itself was not connected with the town till 1788, when it was annexed by the Legislature. Lion Gardiner died in 1663. His will, written August 13th 1658, was entered in the town clerk's office in South-

THE TOWN OF EAST HAMPTON.

ampton, and may be found in Vol. II of the printed rec- ords. In it he leaves all his real estate to his wife, "to dispose of it before her death as God shall put it into her mind, only this I put her in mind of, that, whereas my son David, after hee was at liberty to provide for him- self, by his owne engagement hath forced me to part with a great part of my estate to save his credit, soe that I cannot at present give to my daughter and grandchild that which is fitting for them to have." The executors named were Thomas James, John Mulford and Robert Bond. An inventory of his estate was presented to the court at Southampton April 12th 1664; and, notwith- standing what he says about parting with a large part of his estate, he was considered a very wealthy man. His estate in East Hampton was inventoried at £256, and his property on the island at £511. The latter inventory throws much light on the style of living at that time and harm commissioners appointed came to the island, and we give it below:

The Island itself, £700; ye great house and long, £100; the new house, £30; ye new barne, £40; ye old barne, £10; the house Simons lives in, {20; ye bake house and cellar, fro; ye old mare, £15; gelding 2 years old, £8; a yearling colt, £6; 6 oxen, 640; 7 cowes and some calvs, £35; 1 steer 4 years old, £6; 3 3 years old, £13; 6 2 years old, £18; 5 yearlings, £7 10s .; 1 great Bull, £5; ewe sheep 114, 657; of wethers & rams 66, £49 10s .; a jack, £1; 4 boxes for wheels, Ios .; I broad ax, 2 narrow axes, 16s .; 2 adzes, 8s .; a bung borer, 2s .; 2 wedges, 6s .; a tennon saw, 8s .: 2 pair fork tines, 2s .; stilliards, £1 10s .: 5 sieles, 4s .; a chest, 8s .; a feather bed and bolster and two old blankets, £3; a hogs head & 6 bushels of salt, £1 Ios .; 4 barrels of pork, £14; a grind stone and irons to it, £1 10s .; I hammer, Is .; a punch for hop poles, 3s .; 2 great bookes, £2 5s .; part of a corslet, los .; cross staff and compass, £4 Ios .; steel mill, £2; 4 chains, f2 Ios .; 2 shares and 2 coulters, £1 16s .; 2 pair clevises, Ios .; 2 setts of hoops for a cart, {I Ios .; hooks and staples for 4 yokes, £1; 2 bolts and collar, 6s .; axle tree pins, linch pins 8, and 3 washers, 14s .; 11 harrow teeth, 5s .; total, £511, 78.

All we know of Lion Gardiner indicates that he was, in whatever position he might be placed, a foremost man. His history of the Pequot war is a document that bears on every page the stamp of truth. It is a manly and in- dignant protest against the actions of those for whose benefit he came to the western world, but whose faith with him was not kept. It shows most clearly that the prudent counsels of a wise and cautious man were un- heeded by men whose judgment and experience were far inferior to his own, and how bitterly those who neglected his advice atoned for their madness and their folly.

After the decease of Mrs. Gardiner, in 1665, the a very brief vocabulary is all that he took pains to record.

island descended to David, the eldest son, who was the first white child born in Connecticut. He was educated in England, where he married Mary Lerningman, of Westminster. He died in Hartford, July 10th 1689, and the inscription on his tombstone in the old burial ground in that place states that he was " well, sick, dead in one hour's space." He had four children-John, David, Lion and Elizabeth.

the famous Captain Kidd, " as he sailed," made a very unwelcome visit to the island. As John Lyon Gardiner describes it, "he took what fresh provisions he wanted; came in the night and cut the old gentleman's hands in the dark with their cutlasses; destroyed feather beds; scattered the paper money about the house; staid seve- ral days, and lived well; tied the old gentleman up to the mulberry tree, which is now standing at the north house; left money etc. with him. It was hid in a swampy place at Cherry Harbor. He showed Mr. John where he put it, told him if he never called for it he might have it, but if he called for it and it was gone would take his or his son's head." It is needless to say that, with this understanding, the deposit was much yafer than in some modern banking institutions. After Kidd was arrested and sent where he could do no more the valuables were delivered up. Mr. Gardiner died June 25th 1738, and left sons David, Samuel, John, Jo- seph and Jonathan.

David, who was the fourth proprietor, was born Janu- ary 3d 1691, and was the last owner who could speak the Montauk language. He had four sons-John, Abraham, Samuel and David. The second son, Abraham, was a very prominent citizen in East Hampton during the Revolution, and known as Colonel Gardiner. He died in 1782.

John the fifth proprietor was born June 7th 1714. His first wife, Elizabeth, died in 1754. He afterward married Deborah Avery; she survived her husband and married General Israel Putnam. This John Gardiner died May 19th 1764, and was buried on the island. He left sons David, John and Septimus. John settled at Eaton's Neck, in Huntington.

David, the sixth proprietor, was born in 1738, and was educated at Yale. He married Jerusha, daughter of Rev. Samuel Buel. His life was cut short by an untimely death at the age of 36. He left sons John Lyon and David.

John Lyon, the seventh proprietor, has left a monu- ment to his name in the shape of a very carefully pre- pared sketch of local history, abounding in curious in- formation, and which will always be an authority on the subject. His "Notes and Observations on the Town of East Hampton," printed in the Documentary History of the State of New York, is a paper of great value. To him we are indebted for all that is known of the language of the Montauk Indians; it is greatly to be regretted that He died November 22nd 1816, in the 47th year of his age.

His eldest son, David Johnson, inherited the island. He died at the early age of 26, December 18th 1829, without children.

The island then passed into the hands of his brother John Griswold Gardiner, who died in June 1861, at the age of 50.

John, who inherited the island, was born April 19th Hon. Samuel Buel Gardiner, the tenth proprietor, was 1691. It was in his time (in the summer of 1699) that born April 6th 1815, and married Mary G., daughter of

THE TOWN OF EAST HAMPTON.

Jonathan Thompson, formerly collector of the port of mourning the loss of one whose life and acts were worthy New York. He was a son of John Lyon Gardiner, the of his ancient name. seventh proprietor of the island, who was born No- The estate of Hon. Samuel B. Gardiner descended by will to his eldest son, David, the present representative of this ancient line. It will be seen that this estate has been in the possession of the family 243 years, an aver- age of 24 years to each proprietor. vember 8th 1770 and married Sarah, daughter of John Griswold of Lyme, Conn., March 4th 1803. The off- spring of this union were: David Johnson Gardiner, born August 16th 1804 (who died unmarried and in- testate); John Griswold Gardiner, born September 9th 1812, who became the owner of the estate after his brother's decease; Sarah D. Gardiner, who married Da- vid Thompson of New York; Mary B., who died unmar- ried; and Samuel B.

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