USA > New York > Suffolk County > History of Suffolk county, New York, 1683 > Part 61
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The first three companies of this regiment elected their officers at the committee chamber in Huntington Sep- tember 11th 1775, as follows:
First Company .- John Wickes, captain; Epenetus Conklin, first lieutenant; John Wood, second lieutenant; Ebenezer P. Wood, ensign.
Second Company .- Jesse Brush, captain; Epenetus Conklin, first lieutenant; Philip Conklin, second lieuten- ant; Joseph Titus, ensign.
Third Company .- Timothy Carll, captain; Gilbert Fleet, first lieutenant; Joel Seudder, second lieutenant; Nathaniel Buffett jr., ensign.
At a meeting of committees of the companies at Smithtown soon afterward Captain Jesse Brush of Hunt- ington was chosen second major of the Ist regiment in place of Edmund Smith jr., declined.
September 14th 1775 Ebenezer Platt received from the Provincial Congress 100 pounds of powder for Hunt- ington.
As the process of arming and drilling went on signs of difference upon the subject of fighting Great Britain manifested themselves and lines began to be drawn be- tween rebel and loyalist. As early as December 10th 1775 Dr. Gilbert Potter, in a letter to John Sloss Hobart of the Provincial Congress, admitted that a large share of the people here were very indifferent to the contest. He complained bitterly of Queens county's being op- posed to the patriot cause, asserted that the loyalists there were inciting "our slaves" and servants to hostility, and expressed the opinion that unless a force could be raised sufficient to subdue the loyalists in Queens county there was little hope of success; he closed however by saying, "A's to myself I am determined to live and die free."
About the same time Major Jesse Brush was appointed by the committee to go to the Provincial Congress and lay before it the state of the town "as to their slackness in military preparations." The absence of some of the officers of the Huntington companies and other causes led to the election of others in their places in December 1775.
At a town meeting held January 29th 1776 in the meeting- house in Huntington a war committee was chosen, consisting of Joshua Ketcham, John Buffett, Platt Conklin, Platt Carll, Jonah Wood, Wilmot Oakley, Jesse Brush, Timothy Ketcham, Gilbert Fleet, Richard Conklin, Jonas Rogers, Thomas Wicks, Benjamin Y.
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THE TOWN OF HUNTINGTON.
Prime, Timothy Conklin, Solomon Ketcham, David Rusco, Henry Smith and Gilbert Potter. These were all substantial freeholders and devoted to the cause of the colonies.
Two more companies at Huntington, known as the 4th and 5th of the rst Suffolk regiment, were organized Jan- uary 12th 1776, as follows:
4th company .- John Buffet, captain; Isaac Thompson, first lieutenant; Zebulon Ketcham, ensign.
5th company (from Cow Harbor) .- Platt Veal, captain; Michal Hart, first lieutenant; Isaac Dennis, second lieu- tenant; Jacob Conklin, ensign.
The officers of the artillery were: William Rogers, of that town contributed by him to this work) shows captain; John Franks, first lieutenant; Jeremiah Rogers, second lieutenant; John Tuthill, fireworker.
One thousand pounds of powder were received by the Huntington committee July 5th 1776 from Congress.
The chairman of the Suffolk county committee, Wil- liam Smith, in a letter dated January 24th stated that the militia in the whole county did not exceed 2,000.
Political events followed each other in rapid succession. The leaders of the Revolution, having taken their stand for freedom, urged those who were identified with them in the Long Island towns to arms, and to organize and bring the people into a hearty support of the cause. The Declaration of Independence had been proclaimed. The way the people of Huntington felt at this time is perhaps best shown by the report of what occurred here, pub- lished at the time in Holt's New York Journal.
"HUNTINGTON, July 23, '76.
"Yesterday the freedom and independence of the thirteen united colonies was, with beat of drum, pro- claimed at the several places of parade, by reading the Declaration of the general congress, together with the resolutions of our provincial convention thereupon; which were approved and applauded by the animated shouts of the people, who were present from all the distant quarters of this district. After which the flag used to wave on liberty pole, having Liberty on one side and George III. on the other, underwent a reform; i. e. the union was cut off, and the letters George III. were dis- carded, being publicly ripped off; and then an effigy of the personage represented by those letters, being hastily fabricated out of base materials, with its face black like Dunmore's Virginia [negro] regiment, its head adorned with a wooden crown, and its head stuck full of feathers, like Carleton's and Johnson's savages, and its body wrapped in the union instead of a blanket or robe of state, and lined with gunpowder, which the original seems to be fond of-the whole, together with the letters above- mentioned, was hung on a gallows, exploded and burnt to ashes. In the evening the committeee of this town, with a large number of the principal inhabitants, sat around the genial board, and drank 13 patriotic toasts, among which were: The free and independent States of America, The General Congress, The Convention of the 13 States, Our Principal Military Commanders, and Suc- cess and Enlargement of the American Navy. Nor was the memory of our late brave heroes who have gloriously lost their lives in the cause of liberty and their country forgotten."
There is no doubt that the "rebels" made it hot for the tories about this time. Some forty of the latter, some of whom had deserted from the patriot militia,
were concealed in the Marsapeague Swamp on the south side, over the line in Queens county. Colonel John Birdsall, with 200 men from Huntington and 200 from Queens county, undertook to "drive the swamp" and take these armed tories, but news of the disaster at Brooklyn arriving they withdrew.
Colonel Josiah Smith of Brookhaven was placed in command of the ist Suffolk regiment, and pursuant to orders from the convention marched from Smithtown August 12th to join General Greene at Brooklyn. The diary of Colonel Smith (recently discovered by William S. Pelletreau of Southampton, and printed in the history what part was taken by this regiment in the brief and disastrous campaign about Brooklyn. By the favor of Mr. Pelletreau we are able to give the names of the men in the two companies from Huntington under Colonel Smith's command, as follows:
Captain Platt's Company .- Nathaniel Platt, captain; Samuel Smith, first lieutenant; Henry Scudder, second lieutenant; John Stratton, first sergeant; John Carll, second sergeant; Jesse Bunce, third sergeant; James Hubbs, first corporal; Jedediah Mills, second corporal; John Hart, third corporal; William Newman, drummer.
Privates: Thomas More, Nathaniel Taylor, Daniel Smith, Epenetus Wood, Israel Mills, Nathaniel Smith, Nathaniel Sammis, Nehemiah Brush, William Mills, Mathew Smith, Job Smith, David Smith, Henry Shad- dain, Thomas Wheeler, Silas Biggs, Floyd Smith, James Hubble, Moses Soper, Jesse Bryant, Hezekiah Smith, Nathan Smith, Philip Bayley, William Gates, Jonas Wood, James Smith, Seth Jarvis, John Bayley, John Gil- dersleeve, Isaac Haff, Jesse Weeks, Jarnes Abbot, Simon Oakes, James Haff, Scudder Carll, Josiah Wicks, Samuel Rose, Alexander Fleet, Luke Ruland, Matthew Beale, William Taylor, William Smalling, Nehemiah Hart, James Griffis, George Beale, John West, Joseph Scid- more, Eliphalet Hill, Reuben Arthur, David Monroe.
Captain Wickes's Company. - John Wickes, captain; Thomas Brush, first lieutenant; Nathaniel Whitman, second lieutenant; Jesse Ketcham, Timothy Sammis and Samuel Vail, sergeants; Nathaniel Rusco, Ezra Conkling and Stephen Kelly, corporals; John Williams, drummer; John Bennett, fifer.
Privates: William Sammis, Thomas Conkling, Samuel Nostran, Robert Brush, Jonas Sammis, Joseph Wood, Benjamin Denton, Philip Sammis, James Brush, Ebene- zer Sammis, Gilbert Brush, Joseph Conkling, Jesse Smith, Alexander Bryant, Josiah Smith, Joseph Ireland, George Everit, Nathaniel Allen, Isaiah Jervis, Peleg Smith, Nathaniel Udall, James Higbee, Nathaniel Jarvis, Joseph Jarvis, Caleb Rogers, Samuel Wickes, Stephen Strattan, Obadiah Kellum, John McGear, Platt Sammis, David Ruland, Nathaniel Sammis, Eliphalet Chichester, Samuel Hart, Enos Bishop, Jesse Willmot.
General William Howe, commander in chief of the king's forces in America, had landed and issued his proc- lamation dated August 23d 1776, announcing that all who submitted as faithful subjects should be fully protected.
The following letter shows how Huntington was ex- cited over the arrival of the British fleet:
" HUNTINGTON, Aug. 26 '76.
"I had not arrived at my house from Jamaica half an hour before I received information by express from Cap- tain Thompson of Brookhaven that two ships, one brig
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THE TOWN OF HUNTINGTON.
and three tenders had landed a number of regular troops between Old Man's and Wading River, who at 1 o'clock were shooting cattle. Major Smith has ordered the de- tachment designed for your party to the eastward, and as our men are gone and the wind fresh to the eastward I well know they cannot lay there. I expect them in our bay before morning, the only harbor in the sound. I have not ordered any men from here as yet, but am mus- tering them to make as good opposition as possible. We must have help here; everything possible for me shall be done. I think General Washington should be acquainted. Our women are in great tumult.
"In great haste, yours,, " GILBERT POTTER. "To Brig. Gen. Woodhull."
The battle of Brooklyn had resulted disastrously to the patriot cause, and the tories in the Marsapeague Swamp came out, threw up their hats, and hurrahed for King George.
General Woodhull had come to Jamaica. Colonel Potter sent him 100 men from Huntington on the 27th of August, and several days were spent in the vain en- deavor to prevent a drove of cattle on Hempstead plains from falling into the hands of the enemy. Woodhull was slain by the hand of a ruffian and his force dispersed. One of the greatest blunders of the period was the order of the convention of August 24th sending General Woodhull on this cattle expedition. His experience as an officer in the French war and his abilities entitled him to a different class of work.
On the 29th of August General Erskine, command- ing officer under General Howe for Suffolk county, issued his proclamation commanding all committeemen and others in rebellion to lay down their arms and bring in their cattle, and their horses and wagons for transporting baggage, etc., for all of which they were promised full payment, while on failure to comply the country was to be laid waste.
Judge Hobart and James Townsend, who had been sent from the Provincial Congress, were at Hunt- ington and made an effort to rally the militia at this point. They sent for Colonel Mulford, of East Hampton, to take command. August 29th Major Jeffrey Smith ordered the four companies in Brookhaven to march to Platt Carll's, in Huntington; three of the companies on their way there stopped at Epenetus Smith's and waited while Major Smith came to Hunting- ton and consulted with Hobart and Townsend. The militia were in high spirits and eager to march, but at dusk Major Smith returned, called the officers into a room and told them he thought it dangerous to march further west, as their force would not be sufficient to op- pose the enemy; if they must fall into the enemy's hands it would not be a good policy to incense a cruel foe by being taken in arms; if they remained quietly at home they would fare better. He said he should resign his commission and would give no orders, but advised them to take their orders from Hobart and Townsend. After
hearing this the militia returned to their homes.
Notwithstanding this we find Hobart and Townsend on the 30th of August writing to the convention that
they should try to gather a force and make a stand at Huntington; they say: "We have exerted ourselves to recover the people from the consternation into which they were thrown by the precipitate retreat of Woodhull's party; Major Brush is with us and begins to be in spirits."
But these efforts were all in vain. Two days after this the king's troops were in Huntington; the 17th regi- ment light dragoons took possession of the place. Sep- tember Ist General Oliver De Lancey issued his proclama- tion from Huntington commanding all to lay down their arms, take the oath of allegiance, and sign the roll of sub- mission, disclaiming and rejecting the orders of Congress and conventions; to obey the government, and in all places of worship in future to pray for the king and the royal family.
September 2nd Israel Wood, president of the trustees of Huntington, decided in favor of submission. Two hundred infantry and 100 cavalry held Huntington in their iron grasp. They tore the seats out of the Presby- terian church and converted it into barracks.
Large numbers of the inhabitants with their horses and teams were pressed into the king's service. Companies of provincials, to be composed of local militia, were ordered to be raised and forced into the king's service. All fat cattle and sheep in Suffolk county were ordered to be driven down to Jamaica, the loyalists to receive certificates of value which entitled them to pay, but "the cattle of those in rebellion to be forced down for the re- freshment of the king's troops."
By proclamation of Governor Tryon, the only way to save their lives and estates offered to those who had been in active rebellion was to deliver up all their arms to the commander-in-chief of the king's troops, and to enlist in the regular service for the term of the war, or, if not fit, to send a substitute.
Commissary-General Daniel Chamar issued orders to his subordinates to take into their custody all the grain, forage and livestock they could find belonging to persons in rebellion or who had deserted their habitations; and to impress boats, wagons, horses, drivers, mills, barns, and what other conveniences might be required for his Majesty's service.
This placed the lives and property of the people at the mercy of a haughty and cruel soldiery. Under these circumstances some of the committee in Huntington, as in other towns, signed a recantation of all their previous declarations.
Henry Onderdonk jr. in his " Revolutionary Incidents" gives the following as the form of the paper signed:
"HUNTINGTON, Oct. 21 '76.
" The committee of Huntington, being thoroughly con- vinced of the injurious and inimical tendency of our former meetings and resolutions, and willing to manifest our hearty disapprobation of all such illegal measures, do hereby dissolve this committee, and as far as in us lies revoke and disannull all former orders and resolutions of all committees and Congresses whatsoever, as being un- dutiful to our lawful sovereign, repugnant to the princi- ples of the British constitution, and ruinous in the ex- treme to the happiness and prosperity of this country."
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THE TOWN OF HUNTINGTON.
It is not probable that this was signed by a majority of the committee. Several of them had gone into the Continental army, had fled to Connecticut or were in Congress. Five hundred and forty-nine persons in Huntington took the oath of allegiance and peaceable be- havior before Governor Tryon. Thev ranged in age be- tween 15 and 70 years, and composed the greater part of the male population of the town. The original list of detestation of the people of Huntington. At the close of the war many of them fled to Nova Scotia and others hid themselves in unknown settlements.
their names, with ages and occupation, made at the time and certified by the hand of Governor William Tyron, is now in the town clerk's office. It contains all the lead- ing family names in this town. Huntington was no ex- ception; the other towns on Long Island pursued the same course. They took the oath as an outward form, but inwardly revolted against it. They yielded to the king a lip service extorted by force too great to be over- come, but mentally they abhorred the act, and all their sympathies were with the patriots who were fighting in the armies of Washington. It may be said that they should have organized and resisted, but it is easy now to see that resistance would have been of no avail; Gen- eral Howe could have sent a force sufficient to com- pletely crush them.
The course of those who remained here with their fam- ilies was probably the wisest in the end. Nevertheless we cannot help admiring that band of noble patriots whose undaunted spirit of resistance to tyranny could be broken by nothing but death; who refused to take the oath of allegiance to a king and government they hated, and at the approach of winter abandoned their comfortable homes and farms, gathered their wives and children, and fled to points within the lines of Washing- ton's army. It is probably impossible at this late day to make a complete list of those who abandoned their homes here, but some of them can be given. Captain John Squiers, a prominent citizen here then, pursuant to an order by a British officer, certified April 13th 1780 that the following persons had abandoned their farms in Huntington rather than submit: Thomas Weekes, Cor- nelius Conkling, Thomas Brush jr., William Sammis, Gilbert Bryant, Josiah Buffett, Joshua Rogers, Jesse Brush, Isaiah Whitman.
The names are also given of the loyalists who upon the vacation of the farms by the above persons took pos- session and occupied them. Their names are hardly im- portant, as the fiery indignation of the triumphant patriots in after years swept them from the town so completely that scarcely a vestige of their family names now remains.
The following persons at various times crossed the sound to Connecticut on service in the patriot cause:
Captain John Conklin, Dr. Gilbert Potter, Henry Scudder, Ebenezer Platt, Jacob Titus, Thomas Conklin, Zachariah Rogers, Ebenezer Conklin, Alexander Conklin, Carll Ketcham, W. Sammis, James Hubbs, Benjamin Blachly, Pearson Brush, Joseph Titus, Timothy Wil- liams, John Sloss Hobart, Selah Conklin, Ezekiel Wickes, John Carll, Jarvis Rogers, Jesse Arthur, Seth Marvin, Zebulon Williams, Richard Sammis, William Hartt, Stephen Kelsey, Eliphalet Bruslı, Benjamin Titus.
A list might be made of the tories in Huntington. We have no right to denounce those who were conscien- tiously devoted to the existing government and for that reason refused to join in a rebellion, but those tories who, while remaining out of the king's armies, acted as spies on their neighbors, exciting and piloting raids of soldiers upon a defenseless people, earned the everlasting
The king's troops having established their headquar- ters here, occupying the meeting-house and also barracks which they forced the people to erect, began to carry out the chief purpose for which they came. They plunder- ed the inhabitants of their fat cattle and sheep, grain, hay and wood, and transported them by means of ship- ping in the bay to distant points for the use of General Howe's army; so that the Huntington people not only had several hundred soldiers constantly quartered on them, but their property went to feed and maintain the British army on the mainland.
One of the first acts of the British officers here was to seize 160 casks of oil and 20 hogsheads of molasses that had been stored in Huntington. Joseph Bunce and Jonas Higbee, who each owned a vessel here, were or- dered to move them up to the dock on the east side of Huntington Harbor and receive the oil and molasses on board, which they did and took the cargo to New York city under the convoy of his Majesty's ship "King- fisher," delivering it to a quartermaster of the king's troops. The greater part of the horses in the town were " pressed " into the service, and a large number of able- bodied men were in the fall of 1776 compelled to go with their teams to distant points in all parts of the island, transporting the baggage of troops who were con- stantly on the move.
It was in the latter part of September 1776 that Nathan Hale, around whose name melancholy reflections always cluster, was captured here by the British, taken to New York, condemned as a spy and hung. There are many conflicting accounts as to the place and manner of his capture. As near as can be determined he was sent into the British lines by Washington to gather information con- cerning the enemy's strength, fortifications, etc. He crossed over from Norwalk to Huntington in a boat which was to return on a given day and take him back to the Connecticut shore. He made his way successfully through the lines of the British troops under the pretense that he was a schoolmaster seeking a situation, and, hav- ing succeeded in his mission, returned to Huntington, stopping over night in the house of William Johnson at a place called the "Cedars," near the shore of Huntington Bay. The next morning, seeing a boat approaching the shore, he took it to be the boat coming for him, and went to the shore. As the boat struck the beach Hale dis- covered his mistake and turned to retrace his steps. He was ordered to stop; on looking over his shoulder he saw the whole crew standing with their guns leveled at him. Escape was impossible; he was taken on board the
THE TOWN OF HUNTINGTON.
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frigate "Halifax," then in Huntington Bay. His papers revealed his true character. He was taken to New York in the boat of the " Halifax ", and on the 22nd of Sep- tember 1776 was by order of General Howe executed as a spy.
During the gloomy winter of 1776 the inhabitants were literally "hewers of wood and drawers of water " for the British soldiers. Information of the progress of the war in other parts of the country usually came through highly colored tory accounts, so that little hope was en- tertained by the people here of the final success of the American cause.
In the spring of 1777 the second and third battalions of De Lancey's brigade were quartered on Huntington. John Wood, Nathaniel Harrison, Selah Sammis and many others, with their teams, were compelled to haul the clothing and baggage of the brigade from Jamaica to Huntington. There were also two companies of tories stationed here at the time.
Rev. Joshua Hartt, a bold and outspoken patriot, was arrested by the notorious Provost Marshal Cunningham, and first confined in jail at Jamaica, then in jail at New York, where he remained until October 25th, when he was liberated on parole. .
The local militia companies here were made the ser- vants of the regular troops and were ordered out by the regular officers to perform all sorts of duty, chiefly to work on barracks and forts and transport provisions and baggage from place to place. The names of these mil- itia are on record, and among them were the most influ- ential men of the town. They were compelled to per- form duty as guards on horseback, six being detailed for such duty every night; 300 horses were pressed into this service. In August 1777 there were 300 British soldiers in Huntington, and barracks, magazines and storehouses were erected around and near the church.
In November 1777 the bell was taken from the meet- ing-house by order of the trustees and placed in care of John Wicks for safe keeping. Soon afterward a party of armed men came to his house with two British officers- one the captain of the "Swan," an armed brig lying in the bay. The latter pointed a pistol at Wickes and said if he did not tell where the bell was he would blow him through; upon which he told them it was at his house, and they took and carried it off. Gilbert Platt stated that in November 1777 he was compelled by the master of the "Swan " to carry a bell belonging to the inhab- itants of Huntington from Captain Wickes's house to the water side, and that it was delivered on board a barge of the ship. Zebulon Platt stated that in the last of No- vember or first of December 1777 he was taken prisoner and carried on board of the "Swan; " that when he ar- rived on board he saw the bell, and he and the bell were shifted from the brig to a tender and sent to the main guard in New York. The trustees of Huntington after- ward petitioned Admiral Digby for the return of the bell, saying it was on his Majesty's ship "Rhinoceros," lying at the dock near the shipyards in the East River. The bell was afterward returned, but so cracked as to be
worthless, and Dr. Davidson says it was recast into the bell now in use. It cost in London when new £75, and had the word Huntington cast upon it.
A fort called Fort Franklin had been built at the west end of Lloyd's Neck in which four twelve-pounders and two three-pounders were mounted, and a garrison of about 300 men was stationed there. This fort was mainly built by Huntington men whose names can be given, be- longing to Captain Conklin's militia. Relays of 30 nien of the company were put on this work daily. Besides these there were many others who worked there with picks and shovels, oxen and horses.
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