History of Suffolk county, New York, 1683, Part 89

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 89

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" Richard Smith the patentee of Smithtown, of the 'Bull' breed, purchased at New York a negro man named Henry, who lived with him, with his son and with his grandson, and died at Smithtown in the month of. December 1758, aged at least 120 years. This remarka- ble individual said he could remember when there were but very few houses in the city of New York. His memory must have extended back to the administration of the Dutch Governor Kieft. His health and strength of body continued until very near his death, and he could do a good day's work when he had passed 100 years."

In a note to Moulton's history of New York it is stated that there appeared in a newspaper printed in 1739 a notice of the death of a negro at Smithtown, re- ported to have been 140 years old, who declared that he well remembered when there were but three houses in New York. The memory of this man must have ex- tended back to the founding of New Amsterdam (as New York was then called) in the year 1626, and he must have come into this country with some of the first Dutch settlers.

We have thus described, as briefly as we could, one of the fairest portions of our land, which for com- bined beauty of scenery, healthfulness of climate, fertility of soil, and contentment and happiness of its people is hardly surpassed by any town of equal size in this or any other State. The value of a residence here can only be appreciated by those who have by experience actually known and enjoyed it.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES .*

J. LAWRENCE SMITH.

The subject of this sketch is descended from good old Revolutionary stock. His grandfather, Richard Smith, was a sterling patriot during the Revolution. Refusing to flee from his home and kindred, he by his energy and outspoken devotion to the American cause kept alive amongst his neighbors the embers of patriotism which were smothered by the oppressive presence of the British.

Judge Smith's maternal great-grandfather was Gen. Na- thaniel Woodhull, of Revolutionary fame, and his mater- nal great-grandmother was a sister of William Floyd, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. His grandmother, the only daughter of General Woodhull- the widow of Henry Nicoll and afterward the widow of General John Smith-will be remembered by the sur- vivors of the past generation as an elegant lady of the old school, who dispensed hospitality on the broad domain of her father, at Mastic, where she was beloved and respected. by a multitude of friends and relatives.

His father, Richard Smith 5th, a cultured gentleman of large property and influence, resided on the old homestead, at Nissequogue, and died there in 1830.

Judge Smith was born at Nissequogue, September 20th 1816.

We clip from the New Rochelle Press of May 22nd 1880 the following extract from an article by the pen of an eminent lawyer of Suffolk county, which fully expresses what we would say of our subject:

"Judge Smith has had a long, extensive and varied practice, and is well known throughout the district as one of the ablest and most experienced lawyers at the bar. He is a native of Smithtown, Suffolk county, and a direct descendant of the founder of that town. In his early years he was a student at the Clinton Academy at East Hampton, where he prepared for college, and entered Vale as a classmate of Samuel J. Tilden, William M. Evarts, Edwards Pierrepont, Morrison R. Waite, William W. Eaton, Benjamin Silliman, John P. Putnam, and other men of note and ability. In 1833 he left Yale and entered Princeton College, and graduated there in 1837; studied law in the office of the Hon. John L. Lawrence of New York, and was admitted to the bar in 1840. After a practice of four years in the city he removed to Suffolk county and was elected a member of the Assembly in 1846. In 1850 he was elected district attorney of Suffolk county, and in 1858 was elected county judge.

"So fitted did he show himself to perform judicial duties that he was renominated as county judge and sur- rogate in 1862, and, although the Republican majority in the county was 600, he was again elected, by 1, 100 majority, upon the Democratic ticket.

" Judge Smith unites legal learning with strong common sense, and has an intuitive perception of the controlling principles involved in cases before him, which he is

*These were written by others than Judge Smith, the author of the foregoing history.

Laurencefritte

Engt by H B HALI & Sons, 13 Barclay St. NY

RESIDENCE OF JUDGE J. LAWRENCE SMITH, SMITHTOWN, SUFFOLK CO. N.Y.

Edwin Smith

THE TOWN OF SMITHTOWN.

quick and ready to determine. He is industrious and conscientious in the performance of duty, and enjoys the respect and confidence, not only of his brother mem- bers of the bar, but of the people generally, wherever he is known."

When 12 years old he was put by his father in charge EDWARD HENRY SMITH. of the farm of 400 acres, and he has been a farmer ever since. Indeed, at the age of eleven he had developed The first condition of human greatness is a fair degree of physical health. Mental efficiency is impossible without it. When Archimedes discovered the lever he offered to move the world on one condition-" Give me where to stand." Without a sufficient body the mind has not where to stand. The test of power is endur- ance. Darwin's doctrine of "the survival of the fittest " is simply the continuance of the toughest. Every one sees the truth of this in the vegetable kingdom, because the ability to do things far in advance of his years. He went out by direction of his father with $200 in his pocket, with instructions to invest it in cattle to the best of his judgment. He went as far as East Hampton, where he laid out his money, getting trusted for $100 more, and drove his cattle home through a country very thinly settled. His father said the purchases were the best ever made for him. When between 10 and 1 1 years old he was sent with two. horses and a carriage to New the growth of the top shows the condition of the roots, York after John L. Lawrence, one of the first water com- the sources of life. So we enrich the soil and invigor- missioners of the city. The trip was successfully made. ate the plant. All of this is just as true in the animal Such responsibilities at so early an age indicate a boy kingdom. The human animal furnishes the highest of unusual promise of body and mind. illustrations. The strongest live, the weakest die. One of these days we shall get wise enough to bestow the same care in studying the causes that produce strength and weakness in human beings that we now display in growing plants and trees.

In the biography of Edward Henry Smith we have the study of a remarkably robust family. He is the old- est living scion of that sturdy plant of which Richard the " Bull-Rider " was the original on Long Island. Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes says the boys and girls who make the largest mark in this world are apt to have mothers of the "broad-chested, deep-bosomed type," which seems to be descriptive of a large proportion of Richard's descendants. Immense physical and mental vitality is apparent in almost every member. There is no guaranty of family perpetuity equal to this wealth of vital function. Every prominent, productive old family on the island is an example of this in some form, but none more strikingly so than the one of which we are writing.

Edward Henry Smith was born May 5th 1809, on the old homestead at the old Indian settlement Nissequogue. On the farm and in the immediate vicinity of the house all sorts of relics were continually being found, of a do- mestic and of a warlike nature. The Indian burying ground had been extensive, so that it was easy to find a mound covering the bones of some son or daughter of the forest. Sometimes skeletons of remarkable dimen- sions were unearthed. At one time, not many years ago, some flowering peas in the door yard were noticed to have an unaccountable growth. Mr. Smith on examina- tion found that the roots ran down among and fed on the bones of an Indian skeleton that measured over seven feet in length.

district school at home he went six months to Clinton Academy, at East Hampton, and several months to a school on Manhattan Island just opposite Blackwell's Island. He boarded with George W. Hall, near whom John Beekman then lived. The locality was called Mt. Vernon.

His father evidently saw he was equal to the situation, and took pride in developing his growing faculties. He had himself been always a man of extraordinary self- reliance. He was born in 1770 and died of gout at the age of 60. When he was only about 18 years old Rich- ard Platt of New York sent him through the west buy- ing military claims. He was at Cincinnati when that city was named. There was then but a single log hut there. He was a born gentleman, of fine personal ap- pearance, a commanding conversationist, and a man of magnetic presence. He was the charm of his entire circle of friends, for whom he often assumed obligations beyond the dictates of sound prudence. His portrait exhibits many of the strongest and at the same time most pleasing features we have ever seen combined in a single face.

Edward Henry Smith was married the day he was 22 years old, to Mary A., daughter of Nathaniel Smith of Patchogue. In six short months she sickened and died. In 1833, two years after, he married her sister Elizabeth, by whom he has had four children-Mary A., born in November 1834; Richard B., born in October 1835; Nathaniel F., born in July 1839; and Elliott R., born in May 1842.

Mary, while on a foreign trip, married in Geneva, Switzerland, Caleb T. Smith, then a merchant in Hong Kong, China. After their marriage they remained over six years in China. They now live in the old house at Nissequogue that her father sold in 1854 and which her husband subsequently bought. The eldest son, Richard, after a clerkship of some years in China established him- self in business as a merchant in Japan, and he has since taken his brothers into partnership. Nathaniel is mar- ried, and has his family in Japan with him. Richard and Elliott have never married. The business has been well conducted and has proved very prosperous. The sons

Edward Henry had as good educational advantages as the country offered at the time until he was 12 years old, and then they ceased entirely. Besides attending are frequently at home. They are business men and

THE TOWN OF SMITHTOWN.

gentlemen of the best standing at home and abroad. They have brought their parents some of the finest and rarest curiosities from those old oriental countries.

Mr. Smith was elected justice of the peace when about 26 years old, and afterward highway commissioner and assessor. From 1854 to 1861 he was supervisor of Smithtown. In 1860 he was elected to Congress from his district, and served the two succeeding .years. Although always a Democrat, he describes his relations with Mr. Lincoln as having been very pleasant, the presi- dent always receiving him warmly, and asking him to come again, sometimes adding, " I like to visit with you, Mr. Smith; you ain't all the time asking for something." Mr. Smith has had one experience some men cannot boast of-he has never been defeated when he has been a candidate.

With his family he attends and supports the Episcopal church. His health is quite good, his iron constitution being yet unbroken. He bought the place where he now lives in 1856. He is of a positive, decided tempera- ment, always doing a thing with his might. His char- acter for honor and probity has universally been high at home and abroad.

JOSHUA B. SMITH.

Joshua Brewster Smith was born February 9th 1801, in the house on Hauppauge Neck known as the Joshua Smith homestead. His line of descent, starting with Richard, patentee of Smithtown, runs thus: Richard, Daniel, Daniel, Joshua, Joshua, Joshua Brewster.

Joshua 13 Smith

it accords well with that of most painstaking people. To the house thus built Joshua Smith brought his wife, Han- nah, daughter of Ebenezer Smith Ist and Anna his wife, who was a daughter of Job Smith 2nd. Ebenezer Ist and Job 2nd were both grandsons of the patentee. To Joshua and Hannah were born three sons and three daughters. Though pleased to gain his landed posses- sions the first Joshua seems not to have liked the cares they brought, and as early as possible devolved the management of them upon his oldest son, Joshua, who was born in 1763.

In the division of Smithtown lands the tract called Hauppauge Neck had fallen to the share of the second Daniel and his sister Deborah. The brother bought the sister's half for a trifle, either five or ten pounds. The tract contained some twelve hundred acres. Daniel 2nd had other landed property, and lived and died on his estate at Nissequoque. His wife was Hannah, daughter of Benjamin Brewster, and they had five sons and three daughters. Joshua, one of the sons, was, it would ap- pear, uneasy and adventurous, for he became dissatisfied at home and ran off to seek his fortune elsewhere. His This son was a man six feet in stature, with a massive frame, and fine head and face, which gave him a very father followed him to New York city, and tried to per- suade him to come home again. No persuasion availed | commanding appearance. His intellect corresponded till at last his father said, "Go home with me, my son, with his person. He looked well after large farm inter- ests; was a care-taker first for his father's household and later for his own, and gave much time to public affairs. He was a member of Assembly in 1794 and for several successive years. Again he was in the Assembly in 1825, and was State senator from 1826 to 1829, the period of office being then four years. For more than twenty-five years he held the office of judge. He could never be induced to have any portrait of himself made, though often urged to sit for one. and I'll give you Hauppauge Neck." The old narrators of the story always closed it with the words, "That brought him back." His portion was at once secured to him, and his father built him the house in which for three generations a Joshua was to stand head of the household and hold his property free from mortgage until it should pass out of the family. The date at which the house was erected is lost. It was some time before the death of the second Daniel, which occurred in 1763. A word from the builder has come down to us. On one occasion, when called away from his superintendence of the work, he found mistakes had been made. Said he: " Old Care must be here all the time to watch, or some- thing is sure to go wrong." If not an original thoughit,

He was three times married. The second wife left him a son Ebenezer, and a daughter Ruth. The third wife, Deborah, daughter of Epenetus Smith and Mary his wife, bore him six children, of whom three grew to maturity. One of these three.was a son, Joshua Brewster.

THE TOWN OF SMITHTOWN.

This son, like his father, grew up a practical farmer and was also much in public life. A sketch of him found in a collection of biographical sketches of State officers and members of the New York Legislature, pre- pared by William D. Murphy in 1858, speaks as follows:

"In 1827 he was appointed an adjutant of the 137th regiment of the New York state militia, under a commis- sion of the late Governor Marcy, and one year after was made lieutenant-colonel of the same regiment. In 1827 he was also elected justice of the peace of the town in which he lives, and is said to have discharged the duties of his office in a highly satisfactory manner. In 1832 he was appointed one of the judges of the court of common pleas, with the approval of the governor of the State, which approval was in those days indispensable, and held the office for two terms, a period of ten years. In the fall of 1838 he was chosen a member of Assembly, and was re-elected to the session of 1843, during the adminis- tration of Governor Bouck. In the fall of that year he was elected to the Senate, from what was then known as the second Senatorial district, embracing a territory of nine counties. The State was then divided into eight Senatorial districts, and each district was entitled to four senators, who were elected for four years. In the fall of 1857 the Democratic party again nominated him for the Senate, and he was elected from what is now known as the first district, embracing the counties of Suffolk, Queens and Richmond."

It was his last public honor. During this term in the Senate his health began to fail, and he died two years later, on the 17th of June 1860.

He had married, on May 7th 1832, Mary, daughter of Jarvis Rogers and Mary his wife, who was the only daughter of the second Anning Moubray, of Islip. He was the father of two sons and six daughters, of whom his second daughter, Ellen, alone survived him. She was mar- ried January 9th 1861 to Jarvis R. Moubray, M. D., of Islip.

The mother of J. B. Smith died when he was a boy of eight years, but she had made an impression upon her children which was never effaced. The old people who held her in remembrance were wont to say many things in her praise. The summing up of all was that she was a beautiful, tender-hearted woman, with piety of the highest type. She was converted under the preaching of Rev. Paul Cuffee, the Indian preacher of whom Thompson makes mention, and she showed in her life the spirit of true Christianity. She strove to lift up, strengthen, comfort, and direct in the best way, to the extent of her power, all who came under her influence. It was not strange that her son should have had a deep reverence for sacred things, and should have been faith -. ful in discharge of public duty.

Hauppauge Neck as owned by the Smiths was only that portion of it which lay in Smithtown. The neck ran across the town of Islip and was the tract included in Gibbs's patent of 1692. The road which is the boundary line between Smithtown and Islip separated the Smith estates from the settlement on the Islip side of the road, which was composed of a number of families mostly of the name of Wheeler. The settlement was always spoken of in the plural, as " the Hauppauges." The Indian name means sweet waters, and is rightly bestowed. All the springs are pure and cool, and four

brooks, sources of Nissequogue River, cross the road within the space of a mile.

A volume could be filled with records of the neighbor- hood life in the old social time. The second Joshua Smith was on especially happy terms with his neighbors. He had an easy good-nature, a merry fashion of jesting and telling stories to suit all occasions, and a native helpfulness, which combined to make him a great favor- ite. Abundant instances are preserved of his kindly in- terest in those about him.

Most of the families in the Hauppauges were Meth- odists. Jonas Wheeler wanted a residence in Smithtown, that he might vote at Smithtown Branch, which was hardly three miles distant, instead of Islip, which was distant nearly eight miles. He bought a building lot of Judge Smith, and left the house he built thereupon un- finished above stairs, in order that it might be used as a place of Methodist Episcopal worship. It was so used until a church was erected in 1806, on land given by Judge Smith, who took part in the raising, while his little son Joshua Brewster was playing about. Long afterward the son added land for cemetery purposes.

It is right to say here that when the Joshua Smith homestead was sold, in 1868, and it was found necessary to remove the remains from the family burying ground, a lot was given to the family in the M. E. cemetery and they were kindly permitted to make their own selection.

The post-office nearest the Hauppauges was that at the Head of the River. When it was that all the mail matter for the neighborhood began to be brought to the home- stead, and thence distributed, we do not know, but such was the custom for a long period; a short time be- fore his death Joshua B. Smith took the proper steps for obtaining a post-office, and saw it established.

Joshua Brewster Smith was known among his towns- people as Judge Brewster and his father as Judge Smith or " the old judge." They had many tastes in common. Both were fine natural singers, both fond of planting trees and making improvements, both keenly interested in politics. The word here is used in its best sense. The interest felt by father and son arose from a profound sense of the worth of that government under which they lived, and a grateful reverence for those who had by numberless sacrifices upreared it-not only for those whose names were famous, but for the undistin- guished many who in army ranks or in lonely homes had bravely borne their share of privation in the dark Revo- lutionary days. The family experiences in themselves had been enough to inspire such feeling. Many anec- dotes were kept and re-told by the winter fireside, with flashing eyes and vehement gesture.

The mail for the neighborhood was always deposited on the east end of the high sitting room mantel piece. In a winter evening one and another neighbor would drop in for his paper, take a seat before the fire crack- ling in the Franklin stove, talk over neighborhood items, and branch off into all the affairs of the nation. Gra- vest questions were well discussed by thoughtful men in that cheery room of the old homestead.

Lyman 3 Smith

LYMAN B. SMITH.

Lyman Beecher Smith, whose portrait is here shown, was a son of Adam Smith, whose father was Obadiah and his grandfather Daniel Smith. Daniel Smith was a son of Richard Smith, the original Smith after whom the town was named, and known as the "Bull-Rider." Daniel, Obadiah and Adam all lived and died on the old home- stead, which descended to Lyman and on which his family still live.

When a boy Lyman went to the district school in his neighborhood and finished his education at East Hamp- ton Academy, which at that time was one of the best schools on Long Island. He early chose farming as the business of his life, and his choice was a wise one. He was trained to industry from the start, so that hard work was his element and his delight. In person he was tall and straight, with brown hair, blue eyes and a sanguine- nervous temperament. His body was large and very strong, his weight being generally over 200 pounds, and his height was about six feet. With such a build, his activity was really wonderful. Action was his life, and being so full of vitality he always loved horses, cattle, sheep and other animals. He soon became an expert judge and a dealer in livestock of all kinds, but sheep were his specialty. On this stock his judgment was a finality in all this section. He bought and sold and bred sheep, | possessor judgment and honor.

and if a buyer wanted an animal he had not got he would hitch up and go with him to the spot where it could be found. He also became a large local dealer in wool, buying most of that which was raised in his section of country for a series of years, extending to the time of his death. His farm contained 450 acres, on which were large areas of timber. For a period of 25 years he cut and ship- ped on the average over 300 cords of wood annually.

In 1839 he was chosen one of the town assessors, in which office he served for eight terms. He was elected highway commissioner in 1840, and served seven terms in that capacity, and was inspector of elections eight terms. In 1869 he was elected supervisor of Smithtown, which office he held until 1880, when he declined being again a candidate. When a young man he was a Whig, but he espoused democracy with all his heart when the great Whig party began to go to pieces. As a proof of his popularity and the esteem in which he was held by his townsmen, it is only necessary to say that his town had many times gone Republican, but he never failed of election on the Democratic ticket.

He was active in building the Smithtown and Port stagnation or idleness his abhorrence. From his makeup Jefferson Railroad, and was treasurer of the company during its construction, receiving and paying out the funds till its completion.

Lyman B. Smith possessed that rare combination of good common sense and justice that always gives its He was chosen one of

THE TOWN OF SMITHTOWN.

the executors of the largest. estate on Long Island, that of Jonas Smith. He was repeatedly chosen appraiser of property in dispute or belonging to estates of persons deceased. In no way can we better show his standing among his fellow men than by extracting from the news- papers some notices of his death. Judge John R. Reid, editor of the Babylon Budget, said:

" Mr. Smith occupied a prominent position in Smith- town, both as a citizen and an official. He held his trusts for the people with a strict regard for their best interests, and deemed a political rascal no better than any other vagabond. The soul of honor himself he ad- mired integrity in others, and he belonged to that grand old school in which a man's word was reckoned as good as his bond-both inviolable. His house was Liberty Hall to all his friends, and they never forsook him. He leaves this world with a large balance to his credit on heaven's ledger, and will long be remembered as a good man."

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