History of Suffolk county, New York, 1683, Part 64

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 64

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).

Carl von der Luehe, 1879.

Among those here holding office may be mentioned Thomas Young, county judge of Suffolk county; Hon. George M. Fletcher, member of Assembly; Douglass Conklin, school commissioner; Stephen C. Rogers, super-

5º

THE TOWN OF HUNTINGTON.

visor, and George M. Tileston, postmaster. Many wealthy and prominent New York bankers, brokers and merchants have their country residences on the high ground about the village. The streets are well lined with shade treees, and the place attracts to it during the summer months a large boarding population from the city.

The officers of the town in the early times are entitled to credit for laying out the principal streets in Hunting- ton village with a liberal width. The road leading south from the harbor through the Town Spot, the road passing through the village from east to west known as Main street, and the road along the west side now known as Wall street were all at least four rods wide, and in places much more. The width of these roads contributes greatly to the convenience of the public and the beauty of the place.

THE GREEN.

What is now known as the Green in the east part of the village has a history which if fully told would be in- teresting. This in the olden time was the Town Spot proper; around it the first habitations of white men here were reared; the first fort and watch-house were here; here is where the "watch" made its nightly rounds to guard the infant settlement from marauding Indians; the public house, then called the "ordinary", was located here; town meetings were held here. At its southern end, where the brook ran clear and limpid, sheep were annually driven to be washed- preparatory to shearing. Here is where the train bands and troops of horse met for drill and display, and in times of great excitement the inhabitants of the town gathered here to discuss pub- lic affairs and choose delegates to act for them. Here the effigy of King George was burned at the opening of the Revolution. It was in fact for more than a hundred years the chief locality in the town.

The title to the premises adjoining on the west was in Thomas Weeks sen. About 1739 the trustees of the town conveyed this common to Thomas Weeks, a son or grand- son of the first Thomas and owner of the adjoining land on the west. There was a condition in the grant that he should convey it to the " neighbors living near," " to lay open in common, never to be fenced in; " and pursuant to this grant, which was dated August 18th 1736, the trustees had a survey made, as follows: "On the same day John Wickes and Thomas Brush, being two survey- ors of the said town, laid out to the right of Thomas Wickes 3 acres and 88 rods in several places in the said street, as may more at large appear by the return of said surveyors on the town records." After this survey and a map of the premises, with the streets running through, had been made and recorded, the grantee Thomas Wickes made a deed of the premises to the adjoining owners, John Wickes, Jonathan Wickes, Samuel Strattan, Philip Platt, Joseph Lewis, Thomas Wickes jr. and Eliphalet Wickes, " their heirs and assigns forever, to lie in com- mon for the use of them the purchasers, and never to be fenced nor inclosed nor any part thereof, by any person

or persons whatsoever, but to remain according to the true intent and meaning thereof forever." The trustees set forth in their grant to Wickes that the reason why they make the grant is that private persons had encroach- ed on the streets and commons and they desired to pre- serve the east street from such encroachments .. Many years afterward a deed of the premises was made by surrounding owners to Gilbert Platt, who then kept a hotel adjoining. It is understood that his heirs, the children of Henry Lewis, deceased, now residing in Kan- sas, claim the premises.

No opinion is here expressed upon the validity or ef- fect of these deeds, the purpose being to . simply state the facts. In later years the trustees of the town have sought to exercise some control over the land by leasing parts of it at a nominal rent for shops. In 1859 the ad- joining owners applied to the trustees and commissioners of highways to join with them in a plan for improving the property and converting it into a public park, and a survey and maps of it were then made; but little seems to have been done. Some of the streets then put down on the survey referred to are not now traveled by the public. The changes which the last hundred years have wrought have left this common of little use in its present condition, except as a goose pasture. If the title is in the town or in the surrounding owners it should have long ago been graded, laid out as a public park, planted with shade trees and so ornamented as to beautify the place.

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF HUNTINGTON.

The settlers were puritan Congregationalists, and they were very intolerant of any other form of religion, and especially hostile to the Quakers. There was an inten- sity in the religious opinions of these people which is but faintly shadowed in the formalism of these later times; they believed in a personal God, whose flaming sword hung in the heavens, ready to smite the wicked and the enemies of the true church. The devil with them was a personal demon roaming up and down the earth, seeking whom he might devour. Christian life with them was a state of holy warfare. The self-sacri- ficing, stern, unyielding puritan principles and habits which they brought with them served as a coat of mail in which to fight their enemy the devil. If they obeyed their illustrious leader Oliver Cromwell in praising God, they were no less careful to heed his other injunction to keep their powder dry.

For several years after the first settlement they were without a regularly established place of public worship. They met at the houses of the most noted members of the church, and without doubt their services were kept up with regularity.

Rev. William Leverich was the first regularly estab- lished minister here. He came from England with Cap- tain Wiggen in 1633, first to Boston, thence to Plymouth, thence to Duxbury, and thence to Sandwich. In If ~~ he left Sandwich with a company of men for Oyster I They made the first purchase of lands from the Indi

THE TOWN OF HUNTINGTON.

at Oyster Bay. The exact date when Mr. Leverich first for his ycarly benefit so long as he continue the minister of Huntington." The effort to buy a house seems to have succeeded, for we find that in October of the next year an order was made that Caleb Corwith and Thomas Skidmore be chosen to make the rate to pay for it. This house continued to be for the use of the ministers until about 1672, when it would appear to have fallen into partial ruin, and was sold by the town to one Martha Nabour, who converted it into an "ordinary" or public house. came to Huntington cannot be stated. We know that he was here as a settled minister as early as 1657; prob- ably he preached here one or two years earlier. Before the arrival of Mr. Leverich Henry Whitney had offici. ated in some form in the church; for when difficulties afterward arose between Mr. Leverich and Mr. Whitney the latter reminded the former that the people had pros- pered better while they had him, Whitney, than since the arrival of Mr. Leverich. Mr. Leverich was a man of property and seemed to be engaged in enterprises out- side of the ministry. He had also studied Indian lan- guages under Elliot, and spent much time laboring to ning through the center of Huntington village, and about christianize the Indians on Long Island. This gave him an advantage over others in securing advantageous pur- chases of land from them. Ile was an educated minis- ter and possessed very considerable ability, which, joined with great physical powers of endurance and extraordi- nary enterprise, well fitted him to be the leader of men in a new settlement.

The first church in Huntington was erected in 1665, on what was known as Meeting- House Brook, a stream run- where the thimble factory of Ezra C. Prime now stands. It was a small frame structure, but large enough to ac- commodate the inhabitants of the town at that period. The times of church service, instead of being announced by the ringing of a bell, were proclaimed by the beating of a drum. The pulpit and seats were roughly con- structed, the floor was carpetless, and no provision was made for heating the church in cold weather. Many per- sons brought hot bricks or foot stoves with them. The service began in the morning, and, except a short recess at noon, continued until late in the afternoon. When we consider these facts, together with the imperfect condi- tion of roads at that period, they being mere cart paths, and the rude structure of all vehicles for travel, we can imagine something of the hardships these zealous Chris- tians endured in the winter in attending church. .

Henry Whitney above mentioned, though a man of ability and influence, had a violent temper and a very provoking tongue. Between Mr. Leverich and Mr. Whitney a feud arose, which considerably disturbed the peace of the community and especially the church. These parties carried their grievances into the courts, and a number of spicy lawsuits were commenced in January 1659. Whitney began by suing Mr. Leverich in the town court for debt, and a few days after followed it up with a suit for slander. Mr. Leverich then brought The church government, if not entirely blended with the town government, was an active agent in moulding the laws and enforcing obedience by the people. Both were founded on the underlying principle of obedience to God and submission to the powers that be. The church was supported by a tax levied on all the property of the town, in the same way that the town government was sup- the minister's salary and all such expenses were put in- to the town rate and levied and collected. four suits against Mr. Whitney for slander, breach of contract, defamation and debt. An examination of the voluminous testimony on record shows that Mr. Leverich had complained somewhat bitterly of the people's having failed to pay him according to contract, and he had threatened to preach no more in Huntington. Whitney charged him with saying that he (Leverich) lived among ported. The cost of building the church and parsonage, a company of hypocrits and disemblers," and declared that Leverich "was guilty of a breach of the Saboth and profained it." These charges were denied by Mr. Lev- There was one old man in the town who often rebelled against being compelled to pay for the support of a re- ligion in which he disclaimed all interest. This was the Quaker Thomas Powell. He refused to pay his tax for six years (from 1676 to 1681 inclusive), £8 15s. rod., but eventually such a pressure was brought to bear on him that the only alternative left was to pay up or leave the town. He paid the taxes and remained. erich and were the foundation of his suits for slander against Whitney. As to the slander the court required both parties to make a public acknowledgment that they had done wrong, or submit to a fine of £5. Each side recovered more or less in the actions for debt, and either Mr. Leverich or Mr. Whitney-from the records it is impossible to determine which-was fined for disor- derly speaking in court. Mr. Leverich came out of the controversy without any serious injury to his character or influence as a minister. This is shown by the fact that he continued to officiate as minister here for ten years after these troubles.

February roth 1662 it was ordered at a town meeting that Francis Noakes and Thomas Jones should "do their best to buy a house and land in ye town to be and continue the town's for the use and benefit of the minis- try, wherein to entertain a minister." The same year it The contrast between the simple primitive church ac- commodations of the period of which we write and the was voted "that Mr. Leverich shall have all the meadow that lyes about Cow Harbor, on both sides the creek, comfort and elegance of modern churches and church

April 12th 1699 Mr. Leverich sold all his lands and property in Huntington to Jonas Wood, and began to make preparations to leave Huntington. April 4th 1670 at a town meeting it was voted and agreed that if Mr. Leverich went from the town it was " the town's mind " that they would have another minister, "and that there should be some speedy course taken to seek out for some other to supply us." Mr. Leverich left Huntington for the western part of Queens county in 1670.

THE TOWN OF HUNTINGTON.

worship is very great; but we must remember that many of these people fled from England to the New World for the special purpose of worshiping God according to their conscience, and the zeal and energy with which they went about it smothered all obstacles and gave to religion a charm that warm churches, velvet carpets and grand organs can scarcely supply.

Mr. Leverich having left Huntington Rev. Eliphalet Jones came here to officiate, and remained several years before he was regularly settled as a minister. It was in June 1677, on a training day, when the train bands were out under Captain Joseph Bayle, that the matter of Mr. Jones being the minister was submitted to the people. Captain Bayle put the question, and it was voted nearly unanimously that he should be minister, and the engage- ment was made. It was also then voted that Mr. Jones should have built for him a study 16 feet square.

Rev. Eliphalet Jones was the son of Rev. John Jones, who came' to Charlestown, Mass., in 1635, and subse- quently settled at Fairfield, Conn. Eliphalet was born at Concord, in 1641, and in 1669 was a missionary at Greenwich, Conn., from which place he came to Hunt- ington about 1673. He remained in Huntington until his death, being the pastor of this church 59 years. He died in 1731, aged 90, and left no children. That he should have given satisfaction in the discharge of his duties here for half a century is highly creditable, if not remarkable. The church building erected on Meeting- labors.

of some of the inhabitants scarce deserve the name, which may have caused some stand and denial, and I hope your care in your station will prevent and see the Lord's day well and solemnly observed by all, and not spent so vainly as I am informed it is by some. To the last, Mr. Jones hath satisfied me that it was for arrears long since ordered to be paid, it being but reason that what is provided him should be satisfied, but the moder- atest way to obtain it is the best," etc.

In 1691 a considerable sum that had accrued from the sale of lands was appropriated to the repair of this church, and it stood until about 1715, when it was torn down and another erected.

Under the law then in force two of the overseers were to have charge of assessments for all church purposes and the disposition of the monies. It was enacted that "every inhabitant shall contribute to all charge both in church and state whereof he doth or may receive bene- fit, according to the equal proportion of his estate." At the same time it was declared that " no congregation shall be disturbed in their quiet meetings in the time of prayer, preaching or other divine service, nor shall any person be molested, fined or imprisoned for differing in judgment in matters of religion who professeth Chris- tianity." They might worship as they pleased, but must pay for the support of the church established by official authority. Every minister was required by law to preach every Sunday and pray for the king and queen, the Duke House Brook in 1665 was long the place of Mr. Jones's of York and the royal family, and to visit the sick.

Scraps of paper, yellow and worn, covered with writ- ing, when two hundred years old sometimes have a value of ye Wigwam Swamp a top on ye hill reserved for a and awaken interest. Such a paper, only a few inches square, dated June 3d 1681, is now in the county clerk's of- fice. It bears in the handwriting of Mr. Jones the heads of a sermon probably preached by him on that day. On the other side of the paper are a variety of memoranda and the following poetical effusion, likewise in the hand- writing of Mr. Jones:

"Good friend, who e'er thou art,

I speak to ye unknown ; Think always in thy heart Each man would have his own. If I this book should lose, And thou perchance it find, Remember thou God's holy word, And to the owner be thou kind."

After fifty years of preaching in Huntington perhaps this scrap is the only thing remaining in writing of all his literary work, except the charge given by him at the ordi- nation of Rev. Ebenezer Prime.

In 1684 Captain Brockholst, of Governor Dongan's council, wrote to Justice Jonas Wood of Huntington in- forming him of complaints made that Mr. Jones had re- fused to baptize the children, and that the cstates of in- habitants were violently taken from them for his main- tenance. The reply of Mr. Jones seems to have been satisfactory, for Captain Brockholst in a subsequent let- ter to Justice Wood says: "I find him [Jones] willing in conformity to the law to baptize the children of all With the usual enthusiasm in a work of the kind a sub- Xtian parents, but am sorry to hear that the loose lives

" April Ist 1690 voted and consented to that there should be laid out sixty acres of land upon ye north side parsonage lott." This 60-acre tract was located on the hill just north of where Cold Spring village is now situ- ated, and is included in lands now owned by H. G. De Forest, purchased by him of the late Richard M. Conk- lin. It continued to be held as the parsonage land of the church for a long period. Finally at a town meeting held in 1773 it was voted that this parsonage land, together with various parcels of meadow lands, should be sold by the trustees and the proceeds, together with monies re- ceived on previous sales, should be applied to the pur- chase of a parsonage house and lot in the Town Spot, to be for the use of the Presbyterian church and congrega- tion, "to lye forever for that purpose as long as the town endures." Pursuant to this the land was sold the same year and the proceeds of it and of the meadows sold amounted to £305 16s. Afterward this fund was in- vested in the premises in the village of Huntington now owned and occupied by this church as a parsonage.

As we have seen, the first church in Huntington was erected on Meeting-House Brook in 1665. Fifty years had now passed since this church was built. It had grown old, and Mr. Jones, the minister, had also grown old; the people were about to provide him with an as- sistant; the population had greatly increased, and the want of a new and more commodious church was felt. scription was started in 1711 to raise money. A paper

THE TOWN OF HUNTINGTON.

bearing this date shows £180 subscribed for the purpose.

Three years afterward we find a notice addressed to the inhabitants to meet at the house of Justice Wood, with their teams, to aid in getting timber for a new church. About this time the people at a town meeting ordered the old church sold to the highest bidder at ven- due, and it was sold to . Jonas Platt jr. for £5 2s. At the same town meeting it was voted that Mr. Woolsey be engaged to assist Mr. Jones in the ministry.

An unfortunate division about this time arose between the inhabitants who resided in the east and those who resided in the west part of the town concerning the site to be chosen for the new church. What were called the east-end people wanted it on the hill where the meeting- house now stands; the west-end people desired to have it in the valley west of the hill and where the old church then stood.

The advocates of the site in the hollow prevailed at first, and had erected the frame of the building there when the discontent of the eastern people was so great as to threaten a serious division in the church. Finally committees were appointed to confer and it was decided to leave the matter to be determined by the ministers of Jamaica and Oyster Bay and the Rev. Mr. Pomeroy of New York. Whether it was submitted to them does not appear, but at a meeting held June 14th 1715 the difficulty was amicably settled by an agreement, certified by the signatures of committees of both sides, to the effect that the frame of the meeting-house just erected should be moved by the east-end inhabitants to the site on the hill at their own expense; that they should reimburse those who had expended money and labor in erecting the frame in the hollow, and that all should have equal privi- leges in the new church, which was to be completed at the joint expense of both sides. The church was erected, and stood until destroyed by the British in the Revolu- tion. It was furnished with a bell, probably the first that ever sounded its notes over the hills and valleys of Huntington.

For the purpose of showing that our forefathers ex- perienced some of the difficulties even now existing in the preservation of order in churches we give the follow- ing from the town records: "It was voted that the con- stable shall set above and Timothy and Jesse Ketcham below to see that good regulations be kept among the boys and negroes, and if any be and will not submit to good order their names shall be taken down and brought to the authority."

sensation made was great and long remembered. It was also while Mr. Prime officiated here that the form of church government was changed from Congregational (which it had been from the first settlement) to Presby- terian. This took place March 30th 1748. As Mr. Prime was growing old the Rev. John Close was in 1766 or- dained as colleague pastor, and assisted as such until 1773, when he was dismissed. Two or three years after this, the country having been plunged into the disorders of the Revolutionary war, the regular services of this church were suspended. Mr. Prime, being an ardent and outspoken "rebel," was compelled to fly from the British invaders, with such goods as he could suddenly get together, and conceal himself in a solitary retreat in the vicinity. He died October 3d 1799.

Dr. Davidson says Mr. Prime was the last minister settled by the town, and this is probably so, though the connection between Church and State seems to have died out very gradually. The decisive act which marked the separation was taken April 26th 1785, when the church congregation elected John Brush, Timothy Conklin, Thomas Wickes, Samuel Oakley, Josiah Rogers and Tim- othy Carll trustees, under the style and title of "The Corporation of the Presbyterian Church in Huntington."

Since the connection between the church and the town government was severed the following ministers have been settled over the church, in the order named: Rev. Nathan Woodhull, Rev. William Schenck, Rev. Samuel Robertson, Rev. Nehemiah Brown, Rev. Samuel F. Hal- liday, Rev. James A. McDougal, Rev. Thomas McCauly, Rev. Robert Davidson, Rev. Samuel T. Carter.

In the spring of 1863 the Second Presbyterian church society was organized in Huntington village, taking off one-third of the communicants of the old church and the same proportion of families. The Rev. Mr. Wynkoop was the first pastor. About 1867 this young society built the very commodious church now occupied by it on Main street, at a cost of about $10,000. Mr. Wynkoop was followed by Rev. W. W. Knox, who remained until 1882.

ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

St. John's, the only Episcopal church society in the town, was founded, as near as can be ascertained, about 1746. It was first called "Trinity," then " Christ's " church, but finally took its present name.

The Rev. Samuel Seabury sen., who was the incumbent of St. George's church, Hempstead, a few years before and after this time, had extended his ministrations to Huntington, and had found here a few zealous church- men, anxious to organize a society. They were chiefly in the Rogers family, but included Dr. Samuel Allen, Captain John Bennett, Thomas Jarvis and others.

Rev. Eliphalet Jones, having died at a good old age, was succeeded by Rev. Ebenezer Prime, a son of Jonas Prime, of Milford, Conn. Mr. Prime was first engaged as assistant to Mr. Jones in 1719, when about 20 years old, and in 1723 was ordained as his colleague. There were then 41 members in the church. During his pas- The elevated ground between Huntington Harbor and the village, where St. John's church now stands, a beauti- ful and commanding eminence, had long been owned by torate 328 new names were added; there were 2,381 baptisms and 822 marriages. It was during Mr. Prime's labors here (about 1740) that the celebrated Whitefield |the Jarvis family, and upon the highest part of the hill created great excitement by his preaching. He is said to have preached in Huntington several times, and the

was a family graveyard which had finally become the resting place of the dead of many families, most of them

THE TOWN OF HUNTINGTON.

adherents of the Episcopal faith. At first a small lot for a church was purchased east of and in front of the bury- ing place, from Captain John Davis, for £5. Services had so far been performed at the houses of the friends of the church. In 1747, as near as can be ascertained, the first move was made toward building a church. The tim- ber was cut on Lloyd's Neck and brought into Hunting- ton Harbor and thence taken to the site of the church, and the work was prosecuted so that in the summer of 1749 the church was nearly or quite completed.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.