USA > New York > Suffolk County > History of Suffolk county, New York, 1683 > Part 52
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GENEALOGICAL NOTES.
BARNES .- William Barnes, the ancestor of the families of that name, came from Southampton, and died Decem- ber Ist, 1698. He had a son William (2), and probably a son Charles. William (2) had a son William (3), from whom most of the name are descended.
DIAMENT .- This family, whose name has been cor- rupted into " Dimon ", is descended from Thomas Dia- ment, who died about 1682. He had sons Thomas, James (who married Hannah, daughter of Rev. Thomas James) and John, who died young. He also had daughters Sarah, Abigail, Hannah Bud, Ruth Dayton and Elizabeth Miller. His wife's name was Mary.
BAKER .- Thomas Baker the first settler had a wife Alice and a son Nathaniel. He died April 30th 1700, aged 82. Nathaniel had a son Jonathan Henry Daniel, from whom the present families are descended.
CONKLING .- Ananias Conkling had sons Jeremiah and Lewis; the latter had sons Isaac and Sineus; from the last are descended the families of the name in Amagan- sett.
OSBORN .- Thomas Osborn, the progenitor of this family, was born in 1622 and died September 25th 1712, aged 90. He had a son Joseph and probably a son John, the ancestor of the Wainscott families. The East Hampton families are descended from Joseph, who died October 2nd 1743, aged 83.
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THE TOWN OF EAST HAMPTON.
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STRATTON .- Richard Stratton had sons Richard, Thomas, Isaac, and Benjamin. His wife was Eliza- beth, daughter of William Edwards. He died about 1676.
Hand, Hannah, and Sarah, wife of Thomas Bee. He died in 1687. Onesimus died February Ist 1723, aged 61. Nathaniel died August 3d 1716, aged 72.
HEDGES .- William Hedges died about 1674, leaving sons Stephen and Isaac. The families of the name in the town of Southampton are descended from Daniel a son of Stephen. Most of the East Hampton families are
TALMADGE .- Thomas Talmadge, with his son Thomas, came from Southampton with the first settlers. Thomas jr. had a wife Elizabeth, and sons Nathaniel (who had a son Thomas), Shubael, and Onesimus, and daughters Mary | descendants of William Hedges 3d.
HUNTINGTON.
BY CHARLES R. STREET.
HE old town of Huntington as it was at the monly covered with all sorts of timber, standing however first settlement embraced a territory about 20 without order, as in other wildernesses." The trees, veg- etables, fruits and animals of Van der Donck's time were the same as those now found here, except that some wild animals of the more destructive character have fallen victims to civilization, and disappeared. The fauna and flora of this region have changed but little, showing that Bay. climatic influences and the laws of animal and vegetable life exert the same power and produce the same phenom- ena century after century. miles in extent from north to south, and about ro miles from east to west, being bounded on the north by Long Island Sound, east by Smithville or Smithtown, south by the Atlantic Ocean, and west by the town of Oyster This territory, stretching across Long Island, with gentle undulations of surface from each shore inland, cul- minates in a crown of hills near the center. In the early time-its primitive forests and open wooded parks, fringed with green meadows, abounding in wild game, its northern and southern shores washed by seas in which fish and wild fowl swarmed, its northern climate greatly moderated by the adjacent seas, healthy and salubrious, a soil nat- urally productive in its virgin freshness and compara- tively free from rocky obstructions and easily cultivated- it is not strange that this then wild region attracted to its borders those early immigrants who were seeking homes in the New World for themselves and their posterity.
There have been various conjectures as to the appear- ance of this part of the island at the time of the settle- ment, with respect to whether it was covered with forests or was a treeless region. What evidence we have goes to show that it abounded in great open parks of woodland free from underbrush, with occasional patches of thick timber in low places where there.were springs or streams which prevented the spread of fire; for, as a general rule, all uncultivated regions are devastated by annual fires which destroy the underbrush. But much of the terri- tory toward the center of the island was doubtless a tree- less plain, covered with wild grass, like the Hempstead plains, for it is repeatedly referred to in Indian deeds as "the great plain." In 1649 Adrian Van der Donck says in a letter to the Dutch government: " On the sea side the land is commonly sandy or compact, not very high, yet tolerably fertile, so that it is for the most part covered with handsome trees. There are many fine flats and maize lands, together with extensive valleys, some of which are salt, others again are fresh, all very good mead- ows. With the exception of the maize lands, flats and valleys, which have few or no trees and could with little labor be converted into good tillage land, the soil is com-
Though Dutch and English navigators had previously sailed around Long Island, and rude and imperfect charts and maps had been made of the island and its adjacent waters, the first record we have of white men having vis- ited Huntington is found in a letter of " information re- lating to taking up land in New Netherlands in the form of colonies or private bouweries," by Secretary Van Tienhoven, to the States General of the United Nether- lands, dated March 4th 1650, found in the royal ar- chives at the Hague. After discovering many bays and harbors on the coast of Long Island, and particularly Oyster Bay, Van Tienhoven next refers to a bay which he calls Martinnehouck, as follows:
" This bay is much deeper and wider than Oyster Bay, and runs westward in, divides into three rivers, two of which are navigable; the smallest stream runs up in front of the Indian village called Martinne-houck, where they have their plantations. This tribe is not strong, and consists of about 30 families. There were formerly in and about this bay great numbers of Indian planta- tions, which now lie waste and vacant. This land is mostly level and of good quality, well adapted for grain and all sorts of cattle; on the rivers are numerous val- leys of sweet and salt meadows. All sorts of fish are caught there."
Such was apparently the first written report of the re- gion about Huntington Bay. It is worthy of note here that it was the custom of the early Dutch navigators to call harbors running far inland rivers, regardless of whether the water was salt or fresh. Cold Spring Harbor was called Nachaquetack River, Smithtown Harbor Nes- aquake River, etc.
THE INDIANS OF HUNTINGTON.
At the date of Tienhoven's report there were, as far as
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THE TOWN OF HUNTINGTON.
now known, no white men living anywhere in this terri- tory. The country about Huntington Bay was inhabited by the Matinecock Indians, hence the term above used- Martinne:houck. The Indian village above referred to was probably located at the head of Huntington Harbor, and whoever will examine with an eye accustomed to an Indian country the slightly elevated mounds just to the north of where the road now crosses the creek, and near where the old Mill House (lately torn down by the Rev. Mr. Hill), was located, will detect in the materials and color of the earth abundant evidence that it was once the site of an Indian village. The same may, however, be said of what is evidently the site of another Indian village, on lands now owned by Dr. Daniel T. Kissam, adjoining a cove near his residence on the east side of Huntington Harbor, and formerly the homestead of Thomas Scudder; and it is possible that the Indian vil- lage referred to by Van Tienhoven may have been there located.
There were three tribes of Indians then occupying the territory embraced in the town of Huntington. The Matinecocks held all the country on the north side, their eastern limits being Fresh Pond, and so westward as far as Flushing, and southerly to the middle of the island. The Secatogue tribe inhabited the southeasterly part of this territory, where Babylon now is, and from the sea inland to the middle of the island, adjoining the Matine- cocks. The Marsapeague tribe occupied the southwest- erly part of the territory, extending westward into Oyster Bay, and from the ocean northward to the middle of the island.
It appears by Indian deeds and other authentic evi- dence that the territory of the Matinecocks within this town was called by the Indians Katanomocke. The chief of the Matinecocks then was Raseocon, and he was called the sagamore of Katanomocke, or, as called by the English, Huntington. Resossechok was then the chief of the Secatogue tribe, and Tackapousha was the chief of the Marsapeague tribe.
These three tribes, with all other tribes on Long Island, were claimed to be subject to the Montauks, at the east end of the island, at one time said to have been the most powerful tribe on the island. The chief of the Montauks was Wyandance, and his authority was recognized by the tribes in this part of Long Island, and in all the earliest deeds of land by the chiefs of these tribes to the settlers the sanction of the Montauk sachem was required in order to make the conveyance valid, or at least its ab- sence was a serious cause of trouble.
Wyandance early fell into the power of several white men at the east end of the island, who had rendered him aid in his wars with the New England tribes; among them was Lion Gardiner. Though Wyandance held the high-sounding title of chief of all Long Island, his power and that of his tribe had long been broken, and left to themselves the western tribes would not have acknowl- edged his authority. But Wyandance was a convenient puppet for Lion Gardiner and other able white men to use for their advantage.
Under their manipulation he
made grants and deeds of land to them and their friends in all parts of the island. Deeds made by the native chiefs in Huntington, which were not confirmed by Wy- andance, were disputed, and the white ministers of this sham Indian emperor at Montauk usually had influence enough in later years with the governors, council and courts to get their views sustained and procure the re- jection of titles not confirmed by Wyandance. The ab- surdity of his claim to supremacy over other Long Island tribes is shown by what is recited in certain deeds by the Montauks to eastern towns, concerning the condition of the tribe. In its deed to Southampton and East Hampton the chief consideration was " that the sayd English shall defend us the sayd Indians from the unjust violence of any Indians that shall illegally assail us." And the Mon- tauks gave the peninsula of Montauk to " our trusty and beloved friends of East Hampton " for "the preservation of our lives, and the lives of our wives and children to this day, and of the land of Montankett from the hand of our enemies, and since our coming among them the re- lieving us in our distresses from time to time." (They had fled from their enemies the Narragansetts to East Hampton village.) This is the language of a conquered people, shivering in their lodges in fear of their enemies, and not that of a powerful tribe dictating to other tribes.
The Indian of "Katanomocke," or Huntington, in 1650, just prior to the settlement by white men, probably dif- fered little from the Indian of to-day in his native wilds. These bronze-colored children of the forest dressed in skins, lived in smoky lodges, and moved from place to place as the seasons changed. Their tall slender forms stealthily moved through the wooded land, with bow bent, in quest of deer and other game, or silently pad- dled the canoe along the shores of the South Bay or in the coves, creeks and harbors of the north side, ready to capture the fish with their spears or send their swift- flying arrows after the wild fowl. Brave but treacherous, vengeful and cruel, these Huntington Indians did not much differ much from that conception of Indian char- acter with which the American people are familiar. These were the Indians our forefathers settled among, and it does not appear that in subsequent years they had much difficulty with them.
THE PIONEERS.
Turning now from the aborigines, let us inquire who were the white men that first settled in this town? from whence came they? when and how? and what manner of men were they? These questions, perhaps the most in- teresting connected with the history of Huntington, will be answered as accurately and fully as the materials at hand, gathered with much labor and research, will per- mit; though errors and imperfections must necessarily creep into statements that deal with a period compara- tively so remote.
Huntington was settled by Englishmen. Wood, Thomp- son and other historians of Long Island fix the date of the first settlement at 1653. Whether this date is taken on account of the first purchase from the Indians having
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THE TOWN OF HUNTINGTON.
been made that year, or whether there were formerly
We are told by Silas Wood in his history of Long ist- documents or traditions which fixed this as the date, it is and that Huntington was first settled by eleven families, difficult to tell. No such documents or verified authority seem to exist at this time, and we are compelled to rely on a statement that has not been contradicted. As set- tlements had been made several years before this at Southampton and Southold on the east, and at Hemp- stead and other points at the west, it is not unreasonable to suppose that white men had passed through this vicin- ity before 1653, and possibly some of them had located here without having acquired the Indian title. who were followed by constant accessions of new comers. The names of the eleven are not given. If the statement was founded on any written authority such writing has not been found. The records of the town are silent upon the subject. The story of the journey and arrival of the first families here is lost to history, excepting a few fragmentary statements embodied in the records, relating to individuals known to have been among the first set- tlers. Aside from this all we know is that these persons and their families were here at a certain date, engaged in all the vocations necessary to the founding of a settle- ment in a new country.
We know that the pioneers were intensely puritan; they were thoroughly impregnated with the social, po- litical and religious opinions of the puritans. They were, so to speak, a portion of that crop of zealous non-con- formists and outspoken enemies of Charles I. and his profligate court who a few years before the elevation of Oliver Cromwell, finding the persecutions of the cava- liers intolerable, fled to America.
If Huntington had been settled a few years later, when the cavaliers were fleeing from puritan vengeance, it would in all probability have received a population which would have been essentially cavalier in quality, habits and manners, and corresponding opinions would have been stamped upon succeeding generations. As it was, more southern settlements received this later immigration, and the present widely diverse characteristics found in the two sections may be traced back to these early canses.
The earliest settlers of Huntington had all resided several years either in New England, Virginia or the Bahama Islands before coming here, and, except a few who were born in America, they had landed in this country during the twenty years immediately preceding the settlement of this town. The causes of their leaving England were the imposition of forced loans by Charles I. about 1630, and the oppressive pro- ceedings taken against the non-conformists to the church of England about 1650. The counties of Essex, Lincoln, Northampton and Gloucester and the city of London furnished a large share of these immigrants, as will be found by consulting Hotten's list of those who removed from England to America between 1600 and 1700.
At the period of settlement the New England colonies claimed jurisdiction over the territory east of the Oyster Bay line under the grant of Charles I. to the Earl of Stirling, and they maintained the claim with more or less success until the revolution in 1664, when the Dutch
It was natural that these Englishmen should select homes in the New World in a territory at least claimed by the English government. The eastern boundary of New Netherlands, then held by the Dutch government, was near the western boundary of Oyster Bay, in Queens county.
A careful study of all the facts at hand bearing upon the question leads to the conclusion that the following persons arrived in Huntington and resided here for some length of time between 1653 and r664:
John Adams came in the " Fortune " from London to New England in 1621, and removed from Hartford to Huntington very soon after the settlement. He had children John and Jeremiah. He built the first mill at Cold Spring.
Robert Arthur was probably a son of John Arthur, of Salem, Mass., who married the daughter of John Gardi- ner; after her husband's death she lived at Nantucket, and is believed to have removed to Huntington, bringing her son Robert. The widow Arthur is often mentioned in the record in the first years of the settlement. Robert's wife's name was Mary, and she was a daughter of Thomas Scudder. There were Arthurs in Virginia as early as 1623.
George Baldwin was at Boston in 1639, and purchased Eaton's Neck of Robert Seely in 1663, and it was long called Baldwin's Neck, after him.
Joseph Bayle is represented by Moore as the son of John Baylie, who was born in England in 1617, sailed in the " True Love " from London to the Bermudas in 1635, and subsequently settled in Southold. Joseph came to Huntington among the first settlers; was town clerk here several years (beginning in 1666) and a captain of the train bands. His home lot was a little north of the pres- ent St. John's Church in Huntington village. He was one of the patentees in the second town patent.
Thomas Benedict, called Goodman, is said to have been the only son of William Benedict of Nottingham- shire, England. He came to Massachusetts about 1639, were subdued. at New Amsterdam, and the colony of aged perhaps 22, and soon after married Mary Bridg- New York was founded, under the Duke of York. So that practically Huntington was founded by Englishmen, upon English territory, as an English town, and always continued such, regardless of occasional pretensions of the Dutch at the west. ham, a passenger in the same ship he came in. They had children Thomas, John, Samuel, James, Daniel, Bettie, Mary, Sarah and Rebecca, all born at Southold, L. I. Mr. Benedict came from the latter place to Huntington about 1665, possibly earlier; remained here a few years, and then moved to Norwalk, Conn., where he died in 1690, having held the positions of deacon, town clerk and representative.
John Betts, probably a son of Thomas Betts of Nor- walk, Conn., was at Wethersfield in 1648, and probably came to Huntington via Stamford. He was here as early
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THE TOWN OF HUNTINGTON.
1660. His wife's name was Abigail. Savage is authority for the statement that he obtained a divorce from her. He left children John and Abigail. His home lot was adjoining that of Thomas Scudder, on the east side of Huntington Harbor.
Samuel Blackman came from Stratford, Conn. He Conklins.
was a son of Rev. Adam Blackman, and married the daughter of Moses Wheeler. He died in 1667. His father, a noted preacher, was born in Staffordshire, Eng- land, and preached there until about 1638, when he came to New England, living first at Guilford and then at Stratford.
William Brotherton was here at an early date, and had lands at Fresh Ponds.
Thomas Brown came to Huntington from Southold previous to 1664.
Thomas Brush was born about 1610 and came from Southold to Huntington about 1656-7. He died here shortly after 1670, and left children Thomas, Richard, John and Rebecca, who all settled in Huntington. He was a large landowner.
Richard Bryant was a son of Ann and Alexander Bryant, the latter a merchant of Milford. Richard came from Milford to Huntington among the first settlers. At one time he and his father owned Eaton's Neck. Richard had a homestead nearly north of the present old Burying Hill in Huntington village. He had broth- ers Alexander and Samuel. His first wife's name was Mary; second, Elizabeth. His sons were Alexander, Samuel, John, Robert and Joseph, and his daughters Mary, Hannah, Abigail, Frances, Sarah and Elizabeth.
John Budd came from London in the "America" in 1635; was at New Haven in 1639; engaged in the settle- ment of Southold; is supposed to have afterward returned to England and taken part against the king; was at Southold in 1655; was tried at New Haven in 1661 for protecting Quakers. He owned land and resided in Huntington a part of the time between 1658 and 1664, but is said to have died in Westchester county, about 1670, though the records of the surrogate's office in New York city would indicate 1684 as the date. He left children John, Joseph and Judith.
James Chichester was a son of James Chichester sen., who was at Taunton, Mass., in 1643 and at Salem in 1650. The name was originally written "Circencester." Probably he came via Southold, with the Scudders and others. His home lot was at Huntington Harbor. He married Eunice, a daughter of Jonathan Porter, and had sons James, David and Jonathan.
Of John Coles it is only known that he was among the pioneers.
John Conklin came from Nottinghamshire, England; was at Salem, Mass., in 1649, and afterward at Southold from which place he came with others to Huntington among the first. He died about 1683. The sons of Mr. Conklin and his wife Mary were John, Jacob, Benjamin, Joseph, Timothy and Moses, and their daughters Eliza- beth and two others. Of these children John and Tim- othy and perhaps others settled in Huntington; the
others settled in Southold. They were all located at an early period at the north end of West Neck. Goodman Conklin held a high position in the church and was in- fluential in the affairs of the town. His son Timothy was probably the ancestor of most of the Huntington
John Corey came to Huntington from Southold, and was here as early as 1659. He is said to have been a Quaker. He married Mary Cornish, who survived him, and died here about 1684. His children were Mary, Abigail, Elizabeth, John, Martha; Elnathan, Thomas and Abraham. He was town clerk in 1664 and later, and a man of very considerable influence in the town. John Sammis and Nathaniel Williams each married one of his daughters.
Robert Cranfield was one of the early settlers.
Richard Darling was here before 1665; and was a car- penter.
Jeffrey Esty was at Salem in 1637, and probably came with the Scudders from Southold about 1653. He was then an old man, and he died in 1659. His homestead was at East Neck. His children were Tonsfield, Isaac and Catherine. Savage says that Tonsfield's wife, Mary Esty, was executed as a witch, September 26th 1692, and that she begged of Sir William Phelps, the governor, not for her own life, but that no more innocent blood be shed. The daughter Catherine Esty married Henry Scudder, and after his death married Thomas Joanes. She was a woman of superior ability and great influence at that period.
Gabriel Finch was a weaver.
John Finch came from London in the "George" in 1635, then aged 27. He was a. charcoal burner. He died here in 1685. Some of his lands were sold at " an outcry" to pay rates, and the overseer seized all bis property in order to indemnify the town against having to support him.
Thomas Fleet was among the prominent and influential early settlers in this town. He came here from England before 1660, accompanied by his family, in his own ves- sel. Having anchored opposite Lloyd's Neck he soon discovered the advantages offered for his contemplated business by the favorable position of Huntington Bay, with its convenient approach and well protected -harbor. He located himself near its head, and soon commenced | his trading operations between the places on this coast and the West Indies, exchanging his exports there for cargoes that could be disposed of in New York and else- where. As the commerce of the country increased he enjoyed its advantages, and some idea may be formed of his commercial operations by the fact that as early as 1675 he was assessed on the rate list of this town for forty vessels, besides land and stock. Between 1681 and 1685 Captain Fleet became an extensive freeholder, and in 1688 was one of the patentees named in the patent for lands granted by Governor Dongan. There is a tradition in the family that he was descended from Admiral Fleet- wood, a historical personage of Cromwell's time, and that the name was shortened from Fleetwood to Fleet.
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ยท THE TOWN OF HUNTINGTON.
Nathaniel Foster came from London to Lynn in the "Abigail " in 1635, when two years old, with his parents Christopher and Francis Foster. He had brothers John and Jeremiah, and a sister Rebecca. His wife, whose name was Joanna, was a relative of James Chichester. Mr. Foster's home lot was on the east side of Hunting- ton Harbor. He had a son Nathaniel.
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