History of Suffolk county, New York, 1683, Part 66

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 66

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Carll S. Burr married Emma F. Case, of New York, November 26th 1857. Their children are: Carll S., born September 26th 1858; Tunis B., born April 3d 1860; and Edward E., born March 24th 1863, who died January 8th 1865. Mrs. Burr is a granddaughter of Colonel Benjamin Case, of the war of 1812. His command was stationed at Sag Harbor, Long Island.

The oldest son, Carll S. jr., lives at home and takes a lively interest in his father's business in all its branches. Few middle aged men are as well posted in pedigrees and all other valuable knowledge of horses, and it would be very difficult to find any one of his years who in those methods, and show the confidence horse owners repose in him.

matters is his peer. He has been well educated in books and general culture, and if he chooses to adopt his father's vocation it is certain he has the necessary quali- fications. His younger brother, Tunis, is a member of the freshman class in Columbia College.

Mr. Burr did not have the advantages enjoyed by his sons. His education was all obtained in the common school. He early took a dislike to the vocation of horse training, because the horse fraternity were not up to his ideas of what business men should be. He had a natural taste for good horses, and his experience had ripened his judgment; but he never had that overweening love for

them that with many men leaves no room for anything else. Perhaps the unexpected success he had with a colt given him by his father determined more than anything else his future calling. He developed this colt, which he named " Rose of Washington," until she trotted her mile in 2.26-extraordinary time for those days-and sold for the then large sum of $3,000. Very soon after this "Lady Emma " and a sister of "Rose," named " Lady Woodruff," after the wife of Hiram Woodruff, the great driver, were brought to nearly the same point of excellence, and sold each for $3,000 at the ages of 4 and 5. This almost unparalleled success in training three colts in succession gave him a reputation that brought at once to his barn a large number of horses from far and near. The time had now come when one of two courses must be adopted. He must either not receive any horses or he must make a business of it and take all that were offered. He wisely chose the latter, to the delight and profit of hundreds of owners of valuable horses. The rush soon became so great that his accommodations were not sufficient. In the year 1873 he had to refuse 112 horses. Previous to this he had intended to settle in business in California, but this was all given up. Mr. Burr says, " I determined to build up a business and assist in placing the horse fra- ternity on a better basis." It soon became evident that his old half-mile track was insufficient for the improve- ment of his horses, and in 1879 he bought a farm of 350 acres and built one of the best mile courses in the coun- try. Among the celebrated horses that have been in- trusted to his care are "Lady Palmer," "Bruno," "Joe Elliot," "General Mcclellan," "Dame Trot," "Elaine," "Startle," "Young Bruno," "Crown Princess," and "Maud S." "Elaine" at that time had the highest rec- ord of any 3-year-old, viz. 2.28. Mr. Burr sold " Pros- pero" for $20,000. Robert Bonner paid $20,000 for "Startle" in an hour after he trotted at Prospect Park. About this time Mr. Burr realized $56,000 from the sale of eight horses. He belongs to the " National Trotting and Horse Breeders' Association," and attends their an- nual meeting, at which he usually enters colts in the 3-year- old and other races. In these he has never been beaten but once or twice, and then by colts that he had developed. In one instance he trained several colts belonging to as many different men, all competitors in the same race. These facts demonstrate the superior results of his

He always has on hand from fifteen to twenty valuable young horses of his own breeding, besides the large num- ber belonging to other parties, of the best stock in the nation, in the course of development. Among his patrons are Robert Bonner, W. H. Vanderbilt, Charles Bachman, Governor Leland Stanford of California, and many other prominent gentlemen. The business is pecul- iar and specal in its nature, and is entirely distinct from ordinary horse racing, dealing, or traffic, in any of their phases. Mr. Burr never traded horses but eight times in his life, and never bet one hundred dollars, all told, on

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any races. His business is legitimate and is conducted on a basis of principles as equitably high toned and hon- orable as those that govern any other calling or profes- sion.

When a man has attained to eminence in any pursuit of life the simplest statement of facts is his highest praise. To say that the subject of this sketch is the foremost man in America who is engaged in the business of breeding, training and developing horses is a truthful affirmation, that will probably not be questioned. This commanding success has been gained by combining all available knowledge of the art with the most absolute in- tegrity and fair dealing. Mr. Burr has so conducted this business that he has enlarged and perfected its results and added dignity to its practice.

He is a Republican in politics and always takes a warm, active interest in what he believes to be for the best interests of his country. His affluent home, presided over by his estimable lady and enlivened by her gifted sons, constantly attracts to its charming hospitalities many of the first people of the nation. Mr. Burr has nobly won his honors and his blessings, and has be- queathed a flattering future to his posterity.

REV. JOSHUA HARTT

was born at Dix Hills, near Huntington, September 17th 1738. He graduated from Princeton College, N. J., in 1770, and was ordained and installed pastor of the Pres- byterian church at Smithtown, L. I., April 29th 1774. He married Abigail Howell, of Moriches, by whom he had ten children. After the Revolution he went to Fresh Ponds, where he preached many years. Dur- ing the Revolutionary war his bold and uncompro- mising advocacy of the cause of his country caused him to be arrested a number of times by the adherents of the king. Once he was brought before the court martial held at Lloyd's Neck, but he was admonished and dis. charged. He was soon after arrested, tried and com- mitted to the jail in New York city, where he remained from May 27th 1777 until October 25th of the same year. During this imprisonment he came near dying from want and disease brought on through cruel. treatment by his jailer, the notorious Provost Marshal Cunningham. Among his fellow prisoners was the celebrated Colonel Ethan Allen, with whom he was on terms of intimate friendship, although their views of spiritual matters were totally at variance, Allen being at the time an infidel. While Mr. Hartt lay sick of a fever and his life was in danger Allen was active in his attention to the wants of the sick man, and by his lively manner and cheerful con- versation did much to make his sickness and confinement endurable. It was during Mr. Hartt's illness that Allen one day knelt down by his bedside and made a most fervent prayer for his restoration to health. (See Onderdonk's Annals.) Soon after this Mr. Hartt, prob- ably by the influence of some tory friend, was released from prison upon parole, and when he was about leaving

Allen took him by the hand and said: "Good bye, Mr. Hartt; when you go home tell your wife that while you were sick and nigh unto death Ethan Allen, a servant of the Most High God, prayed, over you, and you recov- ered."

Although released from prison he was not free from persecution. On one occasion while he was preaching in the church at Smithtown Branch a bullet was fired at him, lodging in the wall just above his head, where the mark remained for many years. For some time after the return of peace in 1783 Mr. Hartt was engaged with others in making surveys of the State lands in the neigh- borhood of Whitestown, Oneida county, N. Y. In 1790 he and Rev. Nathan Kerr were appointed missionaries by the Presbyterian General Assembly. They visited Whitestown, Cherry Valley and the Indian tribes of that vicinity. Their route was then regarded as in the far west.

During the war between this country and England in 1812 Mr. Hartt took strong ground in favor of sustain- ing the government in its efforts to punish Great Britain for her insolent treatment of our rights upon the seas. He preached several sermons in which he vindicated the acts of the government in declaring war, and in which he set forth the necessity of a hearty support of the gov- ernment while prosecuting the same. These sermons were printed in pamphlet form, and were extensively cir- culated, several copies being still preserved.

Thompson in his History of Long Island (Vol. I, page 463) says of Mr. Hartt that " he was considered a person of ability and learning, a sincere Christian and an ardent patriot; he was a man of large stature and of great bodily strength, and in disposition mild, playful and conciliatory." A portrait which was considered a good likeness of him was painted about 1827, and is now in the possession of his granddaughter Mrs. James B. Cooper at Babylon, L. I.

DR. DANIEL WHITEHEAD KISSAM,

who was so long identified with this town and county, was a son of Joseph and Mary Kissam of North Hemp- stead, Queens county, and a descendant on the maternal side, as his name indicates, of Daniel Whitehead, an ac- tive and influential citizen in the early settlement of this island and one of the patentees of the several towns of Oyster Bay, Newtown and Jamaica. He was born at Cow Neck, March 23d 1763, and received his prepara- tory education under Rev. Leonard Cutting, rector of St. George's church at Hempstead. He studied medi- cine under the direction of Dr. Richard Bayley of New York city, and was a fellow student with Drs. Samuel L. Mitchell and Wright Post.

Dr. Kissam commenced the practice of medicine at Mosquito Cove, now Glen Cove; removed to this village after the death of Dr. Sanford, in 1795, and purchased the residence of Timothy Jarvis, on River street a little east of the "Town Spot," where he lived, practicing in

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this county and Queens, until 1830, when he was visited old age of 86, leaving one daughter, who married Wil- with paralysis, which disease affected his left side and liam Smith and was the mother of George W. Smith, now of Greenlawn. gradually wore down his constitution until it terminated his life. Endeared to his patients as well as his rela- tives, and highly esteemed by all who knew him, he died EZRA C. PRIME. November 21st 1839.

In the language of Hon. Silas Wood, in an obituary Ezra C. Prime is the oldest thimble-manufacturer in notice of him: " He had both a discriminating mind and the United States. He was born December 20th 1810, a sound constitution, and by great industry soon rose to eminence in his profession. He practiced nearly forty years in Huntington, and during the greater part of the time had a greater range of practice than any physician on the island. As a physician he was always attentive, punctual and faithful, and no man had more confidence placed in him, and perhaps no man deserved more than he. He devoted himself wholly to his profession and became distinguished for his ability and success in every branch, and in one or more departments was perhaps unrivaled. As a citizen he was distinguished for his in- tegrity, prudence and economy. He was ardently attach- ed to St. John's church in this village, and had been the senior warden and its main supporter for many years in but Sambo was true and did not tell, and they did not its languishing condition." on Catherine street in New York city. His father, Ebenezer Prime, was born October 7th 1775, in the town of Huntington, as was also his grandfather Doctor Benjamin Y. Prime. If the doctor could speak to us he would be able to tell much that happened in this town during the Revolutionary war. He was educated in Edinburgh, Scotland, and was very active with his pen in behalf of the rights of the colonies. The British knew this and took possession of his house as soon as they reached this town, expecting to find him in it. They found no one but an old colored servant, who claimed not to know where his boss was. They put a rope round his neck and threatened to hang him if he did not tell, hang him. The doctor went to New Haven and staid till it was safe to come back. He lived on the old home- stead, his house being near where Ezra's house now stands. Near it was the old block fort, built by the British out of the timbers of the Presbyterian church. Dr. Prime died and was buried in Huntington in 1790.

Dr. Kissam was twice married. His first wife, Eliza- beth, daughter of Dr. Benjamin Tredwell of North Hempstead, died April 3d 1803. His second wife, Phebe, daughter of Wilmot Oakley, formerly of this town, died November 13th 1861. His children were: Benja- min T., Joseph, Daniel Whitehead, Maria, Samuel, Eliza- beth H., Timothy T., William Wilmot, Seabury, George, Margaret, John O., Edward and Sarah Jane. Six of his sons were merchants in the city of New York, and two graduated there at the College of Physicians and Sur- geons: Daniel Whitehead jr. in 1815, who practiced medi- cine in that city, and William Wilmot in 1828, who set- tled in Jamaica, L. I. The father was succeeded in his practice by Dr. Charles Sturges, his son-in-law. For an interesting notice of the Kissam family the reader is re- ferred to W. W. Munsell & Co.'s "History of Queens County," page 437;

Ebenezer Prime went to New York in 1791, and was a merchant tailor on Catherine street. He returned to Huntington in 1814 and died on the old homestead, February 20th 1842.

Ezra C. Prime went to New York in 1826, when he was 16 years old. Education in the district schools was all he got except, as he facetiously says, " what I got in the clam marshes; I saved $40, proceeds of clams at 35. per bushel, and gave the money to my father." He was apprenticed to George W. Platt, 361 Pearl street, to learn the thimble-maker's trade, and staid with him until he was of age. Mr. Platt used him well, but a brother of his, who was taken as a partner in the shop, was GEORGE OAKES, domineering, and struck him on one occasion. This was too much for Ezra's proud nature to who held the office of justice of the peace for a long period of years, was born in 1780. His father, Ephraim Oakes, was a soldier of the Revolution, and one of that band of brave men who, rather than submit to the tyran- nical orders of Governor Tryon, shouldered their mus- kets, went into the continental army and helped achieve their country's independence. The descendants of these endure, and he went to the police headquarters, made complaint and had him arrested. This made some trouble for a time, but the young man's sense of his per- sonal rights was vindicated and his employer did not take sides against him. When his time was out Mr. Platt offered him the foremanship of his factory. This he did not accept, but went into business for himself, few battle-scarred soldiers from Huntington may well be taking for his partner John Roshore, a brother of Mr. proud of their ancestors. George Oakes was a man of Platt's wife, who had worked in the same shop with him. George W. Platt was an uncle of ex-Senator T. C. Platt, of recent history. The new firm, Prime & Roshore, began business at the head of Chatham Square in New York city, and did a successful business. more than ordinary capacity; possessed of sound judg- ment, unbending integrity and great experience, he per- formed the duties of justice of the peace in a manner so highly acceptable to the people that he was elected term after term until great age prevented. He held many In 1836 Mr. Prime's health became poor and he came to Huntington and established there the thimble-manu- other offices, and kept a hotel at Old Fields (now Green- lawn) for more than thirty years.

He died at the good facturing business, in which he still continues. During

Gra 6. Primo

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the period of poor health, however, he went to Oberlin, Ohio, and staid two years, taking a course of study that included Latin and Greek.

In 1842 he married his first wife, Charlotte Seely of Bridgeport, Conn. She lived but two months after their marriage, dying very suddenly of apoplexy. His second wife was Martha Smith of Smithtown, whom he married in 1859. Their children were: Theodore, born June 9th 1859; William Lloyd Garrison, born September 15th 1861; Clarence, born December 23d 1863, who died when two years old; and Ernestine Rose, born October 3d 1865. His sons are active, enterprising young men, and employ their time on their father's farm, and in the care of his estate. As may be surmised from the naming of one of his sons, Mr. Prime was an abolitionist of the old school, and admired its sturdy, renowned leaders, Garri- son, Phillips, Goodell, Gerrit Smith, Samuel J. May, John G. Whittier, and a host of others. These men were in- tellectual and moral giants, standing up for the pure Ameri- can. idea of liberty, embodied in the Declaration of Independence and written in every man's consciousness by his Maker. Opposed to them were the political par- ties, the churches and the prejudices of race. At that time to be an abolitionist was to court unpopularity, rid- icule and ostracism; all prejudicial to society relations, and frequently to business. Abolitionists alone were far sighted enough to see that slavery must end in blood, their predictions being spoken and printed long before the bloody war broke out. Next to the Revolutionary fathers, who achieved the first independence of our country, they should stand in point of reverence; for they prepared the way and educated the nation to a point that made the civil war a victory for liberty. Mr. Prime became so convinced of the justice of the abolition movement that he brought his own father to his ways of thinking. To-day every one admits that these men were right, and the number of those who object to their methods of agitation is rapidly growing smaller.

Mr. Prime has an active, nervous temperament, doing with all his might whatever he undertakes. His body and mind are both of elastic fibre, producing intensity of thought and action. Such men are in danger of bank- rupting their nervous system by over thinking, over working, taking too little sleep and too little rest. Friends and physicians seldom realize or foresee the dan- ger till it is too late and the collapse comes. Sometimes it takes the form of softening of the brain, sometimes it results in a general loss of power or a paralysis of the nerve centers. Sometimes the nerves suffer the tortures which we call neuralgia; and occasionally the intense friction of the machinery of life resulting from its terribly accelerated motion produces an internal heat that nothing but rest can subdue. There is in some con- stitutions a point beyond which activity becomes chronic, and quiet will not come when it is sought. This inflammatory state of the brain and nerves is often mis- taken for real insanity. Conciousness, reason and reflec- tion are not prostrated, they are over excited. Persistent

and common sense efforts to obtain rest are the only remedy in such cases. Stop the machinery and let it cool off, and give it time to secrete and exude its own lubri- cating oil. Then all will be well. Let us apply these vital facts to a passage in Mr. Prime's history which is about to be recounted. In 1836, only five years after he had set up business for himself, his health gave out and he had to leave his New York factory and come to the country, where he got strong again. He rested and re- cruited. In 1871, thirty-five years after the first break- down, his health failed again. What had he been doing in those thirty-five years ? He had developed and con- ducted a business that had given him a reputation the country over, and a handsome competency at home. In doing this he had worked to excess, exposing himself in out-door improvements toward the last in the hot sun, until he had almost a sunstroke. His labors drew on his nerve force, by strong will power, until his vital force was brought down so far below par that nature gave the alarm and demanded a settlement. Body and mind had worked too hard during the day, and when night came the mind could not stop its morbid activity and let the body rest. Spasmodic extremes of mental reaction and over action disturbed his sleep, making the unconscious restoration of the vital powers that the night should bring for a time impossible. This condition of inter- rupted and impoverished life forces was mistaken for in- sanity, and he was hurried off to a lunatic asylum. The recital of his experiences at Bloomingdale should sink deep into the memory of every person who has any re- gard for the possible condition of some dear friend or rel- ative who may have the terrible misfortune to be confined in one of these scientific Bastiles of torture. Within a year an authorized commission of investigation has reported that it discovered abuses in every asylum but two within the State of New York. Mr. Prime was handcuffed and taken forcibly from his home in 1871, and conveyed to New York city, where ex-Surgeon General Hammond examined him and at once ordered the handcuffs re- moved, declaring that he was not insane, and only needed rest and sleep. He said a quiet retreat would restore him in two weeks; but a Dr. Firch, of New York, who had him in charge, did not heed what Dr. Hammond said, but hurried him off to Bloomingdale. There he did not see the head physician for weeks. The very first night he was put in a straight-jacket. A young

doctor seemed to have charge of him, but in fact he was left to the tender mercies of some Irish bulldogs, called attendants. These fellows struck him on his face, knocking some of his teeth loose; kicked him savagely in his stomach, and seized him by his whiskers and pulled out a handful by the roots. Mr. Prime begged them to kill him at once, but not by slow torture. Not a word of reproof to the keepers was uttered by the doctor. Any one can see what effect such treatment must have on a sensitive, high-spirited man, who caused the arrest of a boss for striking him during his apprenticeship, when no one pretended he was insane, and one who was so deeply moved by the wrongs of the slave. Could he grow calm

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and be restored to mental and bodily health in such a

and a sister to the late Isaiah Scudder. She survived place? Impossible. The first public journals of the land her husband over forty years, and died in 1881, at the have been filled repeatedly with just such details of cases in this and other asylums, and storms of public condem- nation have arisen wherever they have been read. Again and again these acts were repeated. Being a skilful me- chanic, and having a wiry and elastic frame, Mr. Prime managed to get out of straight-jackets, remove hand- cuffs, and out of some pieces of wire construct several keys, which he hid in crevices and with which he could

advanced age of 79 years. His grandfather Nathaniel Jarvis Street was a native and resident of Norwalk, Conn., and a soldier in the war of the Revolution; and his grandfather on his mother's side, Gilbert Scudder, was devoted to the patriot cause, and a sufferer from British depredations in Huntington during the occupation of the place by the British army. The families of Street and Scudder have been long in America, their arrival dating and did open the door of his cell whenever he chose. back to the first settlement of the country, and they were These things enraged the keepers and caused fresh in- of English origin. The Street family is now numerous at West Norwalk and New Haven, Conn. dignities. After a few weeks he found means to elude the vigilance of the attendants, opened the outside door Mr. Street was born at the old Street mansion, West Norwalk, Conn., February 26th 1825, and much of his with his keys, walked out of the gates one Sunday morn- ing and came to New York, and from there came home. childhood was spent at Norwalk and in its vicinity ; but. Who could expect a man to be quiet and gentle after his parents moving to Huntington when he was about eight years old, his residence thereafter until he became passing through such an ordeal. The same judgment that deemed it best to send him to Bloomingdale the first of age was in or near the latter place. His education time now thought best to return him there. Again he was bound and forcibly hurried back to prison, and put in charge of the very man who had struck him. The worst cell in the institution was opened and in it he was con- fined behind doubly locked doors and bars for two Huntington Academy, but, like most young men who weeks. Mr. Prime reports the fumes and stenches of that hole beyond description. There was a fiendish sat- isfaction expressed by his keepers that he was at last in a spot whence he could not escape. Finally the rigors were relaxed and he was allowed a little more liberty. Friends of his in this town had become interested in his behalf and several visited him. Among them were Rev. Mr. Dougal, Rev. Mr. Emerson and W. A. Conant. Not one of them thought him insane, nor did the head physi- cian, who now examined him for the first time and or- dered his discharge. After 63 days' imprisonment he finally was allowed to come home.

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