Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume I, Part 2

Author: Bailey, Paul, 1885-1962, editor
Publication date: 1949
Publisher: New York, Lewis Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 590


USA > New York > Nassau County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume I > Part 2
USA > New York > Suffolk County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume I > Part 2


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).


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62


The author, whose first and only work was published in his ninety- first year, survived its publication by almost a decade. He had as a young man taught school at Minisink and at Blooming Grove in Orange County. Later, in addition to keeping a general store at Orient, he served that section of the island as an auctioneer. He was a good one and in 1820 disposed of the south half of the immense farm of Captain David Webb, some miles west of Orient.


The successful bidders for this large tract of land in Southold Town were David T. Terry, Silas Webb and Joshua Tuthill who developed it into what soon became part of the thriving village of Sterling (now Greenport). The sale is referred to in Griffin's Journal which was compiled with the aid of the author's son, Sidney L.


xiii


INTRODUCTION


Griffin, an attorney-at-law, from a diary which the auctioneer-store- keeper had kept for many years.


It is perhaps not generally known that one of America's present day historians of national repute made his debut on Long Island. James Truslow Adams' first published works were two small books on the histories of Southampton and Bridgehampton. They were printed at the plant of Bridgehampton's weekly newspaper, at the author's expense, and are now eagerly sought by collectors.


To list all the men and women who have contributed to the printed story of Long Island and sections thereof would make a bibliography of many pages. Their number runs into the hundreds and each, besides adding to the fund of information, has stimulated public interest in the subject to the extent that the study of island history has become one of the most popular of avocations.


PAUL BAILEY


Contents


VOLUME I


PAGE


Chapter I-The Geology of Long Island-Jay T. Fox. 1


Chapter II-The Archaeology of Long Island-Nat. E. Booth .. 17


Chapter III-Discoveries and Early Settlement 25


Chapter IV-The English Governors. 63


Chapter V-The Wars with England. 85


Chapter VI-The Indians of Long Island-John H. Morice. 107


Chapter VII-Suffolk's Northeastern Towns 147


Clarence Ashton Wood


Chapter VIII-The Town of Southampton-Robert P. Schur 207


Town of East Hampton-Mary E. Bell 226


Chapter IX-The Town of Brookhaven-Osborn Shaw 247


Chapter X-The Town of Smithtown-Rev. Brother Urban 303


Chapter XI-The Town of Huntington-Martha K. Hall 337 Town of Babylon-Lorena M. Frebert. 359


Chapter XII-Early Queens County-Herbert F. Ricard 389


Chapter XIII-Hempstead Town. 401


Chapter XIV-Town of North Hempstead. 431


Henry Wilson Loweree


Chapter XV-The Town of Oyster Bay. 457


Frances Irvin and H. P. Horton


Chapter XVI-Story of Glen Cove-Robert R. Coles 481


Chapter XVII-The Nineteenth Century. 513


Chapter XVIII-The Whaling Era on Long Island. 534


Nancy Boyd Willey


VOLUME II


Chapter XIX-Long Island's Shellfisheries-Lewis Radcliffe. .. 1


Chapter XX-Long Island's Agriculture-Halsey B. Knapp. . 17


Chapter XXI-The Presbyterian Church on Long Island. 35


Rev. Edward J. Humeston


Chapter XXII-The Episcopal Church on Long Island. 63


Rev. John H. S. Putnam


xvi


CONTENTS


PAGE


Chapter XXIII-The Quakers of Long Island 87


Jacqueline Overton


Chapter XXIV-Methodism on Long Island . 97


Rev. Alson J. Smith


Chapter XXV-The Catholic Church on Long Island . 113


Rev. John K. Sharp


Chapter XXVI-The Lutheran Church on Long Island. 127


Robert W. Brockway


Chapter XXVII-The Flora of Long Island-George H. Peters. 137


Chapter XXVIII-The Mammals of Long Island. 151


W. J. Hamilton, Jr.


Chapter XXIX-Long Island Bird Life. 163


Baldwin Bird Club-Edwin Way Teale


Chapter XXX-The Birth of Nassau County 215


Chapter XXXII-The Nassau County Charter. 221


J. Russel Sprague


Chapter XXXII-History of Long Island State Parks 243


.


Chester R. Blakelock


Chapter XXXIII-Education in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. . 297


Edmund W. Case


Chapter XXXIV-Long Island Census of 1781 313


Oscar G. Darlington


Chapter XXXV-Long Island Tribunals 331


Frederic White Shepard


Chapter XXXVI-Banking 339


Chapter XXXVII-Medicine-E. K. Horton, M.D. 361


Chapter XXXVIII-The Fisheries of Long Island. 371


M. C. Old and E. P. Creaser


Chapter XXXIX-Long Island Poets and Painters. 381


James G. Murray


Chapter XL-A Brief History of the Long Island Rail Road. .. . David Robinson George


397


Chapter XLI-Long Island's Windmills of the 18th Century. . .. 405


Meade C. Dobson


Chapter XLII-Aviation on Long Island-Preston R. Bassett. . 409 Chapter XLIII-Duck Industry-LeRoy Wilcox 439


Illustrations


VOLUME I


PAGE


A Long Island Landscape. 4


The Thompson House, Setauket. 13


Port Washington and Cow Bay 21


Henry Hudson. 26


Old Turnpike (Cox) House, Old Westbury


35


Dodge Homestead, Port Washington.


44


Peter Stuyvesant. 57


54


Suydam House, Centerport.


The Duke of York 65


Lord Howe. 87


Grave of Gen. Nathaniel Woodhull at Mastic


92


Raynliam Hall, Oyster Bay. 97


Long Island Brave.


108


Indian Relics


138


Horton's Point Lighthouse.


148 157


A Glimpse of Greenport.


Village House, Orient. 163


Doorway of Samuel Huntting House, Sag Harbor 164


The Horton-Wickham-Landon-Case House, Cutchogue: 165


Fleet-Goldsmith-Kendrick House, Cutchogue. 166 188


Sound Avenue Congregational Church, Riverhead.


Corwin House, Aquebogue. 195


Hampton House, Bridgehampton


218


Ship's Figurehead of the U. S. Frigate "Ohio" 220


Manor House, Gardiner's Island. 233 234


Montauk Lighthouse.


Historic Panorama at East Hampton 237


Clinton Academy, East Hampton. 240


Mulford Farmhouse, East Hampton. 243


Chapel Theatre, Formerly a Union Free Church, Great Neck. 244


First Congregational Church, Centereach 249


The Duke's Laws 257


House at Lake Grove, near Selden. 262


The Suffolk Home at Yaphank. 296


New Village Congregational Church at Centereach. 297


Patchogue in 1868 300


xviii


ILLUSTRATIONS


PAGE


Historic Presbyterian Church at Smithtown.


306


Moses Mills House, Smithtown. 308


Caleb Smith House, Commack 313


Sagtikos Manor


321


Joshua Brewster-Smith House, Hauppauge


334


Isaac Smith Farmhouse, Melville


338


Old Thimble Factory, Huntington.


344


Birthplace of Walt Whitman at West Hills, Huntington Town. . 357


Nat. Conklin House, Babylon. 362


Triangle Place, Amityville, 40 Years Ago.


380


17th Century Carman House, Amityville.


381


Municipal Building, Babylon 383


First post office on north shore of Queens County 397


Christ's First Presbyterian Church, Hempstead. 402


Carman-Irish House, Hempstead.


406


Sketch of Sammis Tavern Which Stood During Early Times at Hempstead.


416


Freeport Memorial Library


422


Baldwin Public Library, Baldwin


423


South Side High School, Rockville Centre.


425


"Nassau Daily Review-Star" Building, Rockville Centre. 426


428


The Saddle Rock Grist Mill, Great Neck


438


Eldridge Mill, Great Neck


440


Roslyn-Washington Tavern in Background


443


The Mill in Roslyn Park


445


Washington Tavern


446


The Searingtown Church


448 449


Historic Map of Cow's Neck


450


Post Office, Port Washington


452


Great Neck Library


454


Monument at Mill Neck, Oyster Bay, Erected to Captain John Underhill ..


460


Colyer House, West Hills, Inspiration for the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum.


463


Home of Smith Family on Centre Island, Oyster Bay. 464


The Historic Powell House at Bethpage. 466


Tryon Hall Which Stood Until Recent Years at Massapequa.


468


The Old Toll House, Montauk Highway


471


Roosevelt Memorial Fountain in Roosevelt Bird Sanctuary, Oyster Bay. 478


Coles Homestead, Oldest House in Glen Cove. . 485


Hempstead High School.


Sand's Point Lighthouse at Port Washington.


xix


ILLUSTRATIONS


PAGE


City Hall, Glen Cove.


494


Glen Cove High School


510


Birthplace, at Yaphank, of Mary Louise Booth.


520


Original Certificate. 524


Clipper Ship. 527


Old Steamboat Dock and Sea Cliff Inclined Cable Railway, Sea Cliff


530


The Whaler's Presbyterian Church, Sag Harbor. 534


Long Island Whaleship. 535


Fire Island Lighthouse, Town of Islip, Suffolk County


544


Ponguogue Lighthouse at Hampton Bays 550


The Whaling Museum, Sag Harbor 553


Homestead of a Descendant of Whalers, the Author of this Chapter.


554


VOLUME II


Inside the New Greenport Oyster Plant.


9


Long Island Potato Scene. 30


Potato Crop Scene. 31


Potato Crop Scene. 33


First Presbyterian Church, Huntington. 49


Christ's First Presbyterian Church, Hempstead. 54


St. George's Episcopal Church, Hempstead. 68


From an Old Photo of St. George's Rectory, Looking South Across Creek from Front Street, Hempstead.


70


Caroline Episcopal Church, Setauket . 72


The Cathedral of the Incarnation at Garden City.


82


The Bowne House, Flushing, Home of Quaker John Bowne 90


Friends Meeting House, Glen Cove, Built in 1725 92


Friends Academy, Locust Valley. 94


An Old Photograph of Sag Harbor's Methodist Episcopal Church


98


Methodist Church at Searingtown, 1785. 101


Smithtown Branch Methodist Episcopal Church 104


The Methodist Church at Hempstead 107


Brick Church, East Williston. 110


Old St. James' Church, Brooklyn.


116


St. Joseph's-in-the-Pines at Brentwood 118


Academy of Saint Joseph-in-the-Pines, Brentwood. 119


Immaculate Conception Seminary, Huntington 122


Giant White Oak at Locust Valley 140


Dogwood in Full Bloom 149


PAGE


ILLUSTRATIONS


PAGE


A Doe, Part of the Long Island Deer Herd.


160


Young Screech Owls. 166


Red Breasted Merganser (female) 170


Family of Mallard Ducks.


193


Breezing the Horses, Mineola Fair Grounds.


218


Parading the Prize-Winning Cattle, Mineola Fair Grounds. 225


Laying Cornerstone at Nassau County line, marking start of construction of Northern State Parkway in 1931.


243


Northern State Parkway. 246


A Bit of Northern State Parkway, Near Westbury 247


A Drawing of Northern State Parkway


248 250


Southwest corner of Main Street and Fire Island Avenue in 1892 Historic Fire Island Light.


View of Fire Island State Park


Birdseye View of Fire Island State Park


Montauk Light.


Camping at Wildwood


Airview of Sunken Meadow


The Belmont Mansion.


Park Commission office building


View of Belmont Lake. 262


Old dairy and livestock barns


262


Lt. Governor Herbert Lehman, Ex-Governor Alfred E. Smith, and August Heckscher


268


Commissioner Robert Moses at Dedication Ceremonies


The Taylor Mansion.


East Beach area, Heckscher State Park.


Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt at Jones Beach.


Jones Beach.


Water Tower, Jones Beach.


Two Views of Jones Beach.


Club House at Bethpage State Park.


The old Lenox Hills Golf Club House.


Bethpage State Park's Newest Facility 294


Polo at Bethpage State Park. 295


Central High School, Valley Stream


298


High School, Patchogue.


300 302


Roslyn High School


Great Neck High School. 303


The John Jermain Memorial Library, Sag Harbor 305


St. Paul's School, Garden City, 1899 306


Chaminade High School, Mineola. 307


252 253 254 256 257 258 260 260


270 271 272 283


285 287 288 290 292


ILLUSTRATIONS


xxi


PAGE


Public Library, Port Washington.


309


Public Library, Babylon. 309


Entrance to Adelphi College, Garden City.


Aerial View of Hofstra College. 310


311


Seaman House, Plain Edge.


320


Homestead at Jericho of Elias Hicks.


327


Carll Homestead (Barker Estate), South Huntington


329


Suffolk County Courthouse at Riverhead.


334


Home of the First National Bank and Trust Company, Freeport


341


Home of Nassau County Trust Company, Mineola. 346


First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Hempstead. 356


Mercy Hospital, Rockville Centre. 363


366


Nurses' Home, Southside Hospital, Bay Shore.


368


Bunker Fishing in Peconic Bay


374


Boats at Greenport. 376


383


"Cedarmere", Home of William Cullen Bryant, Roslyn 388


Library at Cedarmere. 388 391


Hallock's Inn, Smithtown.


The Brookville Church. 394


Long Island Rail Road Wood-burning Locomotive, circa 1878. 398


First Electric Train to Hempstead, 1908. 402


The Gardiner Windmill, East Hampton


406


The Windmill at Water Mill, Southampton Town.


406


Old Windmill at Hayground, near Bridgehampton


407


Sperry-Curtiss Aerial Torpedo.


418


Enlisted Men's Club, Mitchel Field


420


The Navy Airplane NC4.


422


Curtiss Navy Racer with test pilot "Casey" Jones


424


Wiley Post and the "Winnie Mae"


427


Republic P-47 N Thunderbolt.


432


Republic Amphibian "Seabee"


432


Grumman TBF Avengers.


434


Grumman Hellcat. 434


Republic P-84 Thunderjet. 436


One of Long Island's Duck Farms 440


World's Largest Duck Farm, Riverhead. 446


Electric Incubators. 455


Southside Hospital, Bay Shore.


"Home, Sweet Home" House at East Hampton.


The old mill on Sylvester Manor, Shelter Island. 407


Advisory Board


Dr. Paul Dawson Eddy, President Adelphi College, Garden City Dr. John C. Adams, President Hofstra College, Hempstead George H. Hauser, Vice President, Liberty Aircraft Products Cor- poration, Farmingdale


Hon. Henry J. A. Collins, County Judge, Nassau County, Seaford John D. Hallock, President, Suffolk County Historical Society, Riverhead


Preston R. Bassett, President, Nassau County Historical Society, President, The Sperry Gyroscope Company, Far Rockaway Nelson C. Osborne, former Chairman Suffolk County Board of Super- visors, East Hampton


Dr. Malcolm M. Willey, Vice President, Academic Administration, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis and Sag Harbor


Hon. Perry B. Duryea, Commissioner, Conservation Department, State of New York, Albany and Montauk


Dwight T. Corwin, Chairman, Suffolk County Civil Service Com- mittee, Riverhead


Dr. A. Elwood Curtis, President Chamber of Commerce, Hicksville Dr. Lewis A. Eldridge Jr., Historian, Great Neck Hon. Richard W. Hawkins, Surrogate Suffolk County, Northport Robert R. Coles, Historian, City of Glen Cove, Glen Cove Dr. John C. Huden, President State Teachers' College. Castleton. Vermont and Sag Harbor


Hon. S. Wentworth Horton, State Senator, Southold Hon. Leone D. Howell, Surrogate, County of Nassau, Mineola Hilbert R. Johnson, President, Freeport Historical Society, Freeport Cyril A. Lewis, President, Nassau County Art League, East Williston Jesse Merritt, Official Historian, County of Nassau, Farmingdale James E. Stiles, Publisher "Nassau Daily Review-Star", Rockville Centre


xxiv


ADVISORY BOARD


Hon. Charles N. Wysong, former District Attorney, Nassau County, Port Washington


Dr. Clarence Ashton Wood, Author and Lecturer, Southold


James W. Carpenter, Vice President, Long Island Lighting Company, Mineola


Leslie C. Disbrow, Town Clerk, Oyster Bay


Ralph J. Hawkins, former President, Suffolk County Bar Association, Patchogue


Meade C. Dobson, Managing Director, The Long Island Association, Forest Hills.


Dr. Oscar G. Darlington, Professor of History, Hofstra College, Hempstead


May T. Van Scoy, Librarian, Hampton Library, Bridgehampton Philip A. Hattemer, Banker, Patchogue


Burdge P. Maclean, M.D., Deputy Commissioner, Department of Health, County of Suffolk, Huntington


Edgar F. Hazelton, Attorney, Huntington


Augustus B. Weller, President, The First National Bank of Merrick, Merrick


CHAPTER I


The Geology of Long Island JAY T. Fox, P.S.A. Fox Museum of Natural History Seaford, Long Island


INTRODUCTION


F OR the past thirty years I have been engaged in the study of the Natural History of Long Island. My investigations into the flora and fauna of Long Island have taken me into every nook and corner of this territory. A naturalist cannot come in contact with the plant and animal life of a region without also noting the Geologi- cal aspects of the countryside. It was in the interest of trying to discover the Geologic changes through the interpretation of topo- graphical contours, that I took the trouble to examine and study with considerable care, the glacial history of this island of ours.


In brief summary, the present paper has not attempted to cover all of my findings, and I regret that it is not possible here, on account of space, to give more details.


In order to present an adequate analysis of the Geology of Long Island, I have also read many papers and articles on this subject and I thought it might be interesting to the reader to meet some of the early Geologists and become acquainted with some of their "findings".


EARLY GEOLOGISTS


The presentation of the first paper on this subject seems to have been written by Dupont de Nemours, who published a paper in 1750, giving a brief résumé as to how the island was formed.


In 1800, Samuel L. Mitchell wrote the Mineralogical History of New York. He described the topography and erosion of Long Island. Mitchell referred to beach dunes, large-sized boulders, and also touched upon the Marine fossils that were found when drilling for some deep wells at that time. In 1809, William MacClure published the first Geological Map of the United States of America. On it he shows the Northern half of the island as "alluvial"-a term used then which meant-"an unconsolidated bed of the Coastal Plain".


The first Geological Survey of New York was made in 1837 when W. W. Mather was State Geologist. In his 1843 report, Mather went into great detail about the Long Island clays, fossils, lignite and peat deposits. He also wrote a complete summary on the description of the large boulders left by the glaciers. He is accredited with com- piling the first detailed account of the Geology of Long Island. In the American Journal of Science, dated 1857, G. W. Cooke published a Geological Report that concerned, in most part, the submerged timber and marshes in the vicinity of Hempstead, Babylon and Islip.


L. I .- I-1


2


LONG ISLAND-NASSAU AND SUFFOLK


J. D. Danna, the eminent Geologist, published in 1863 his first edition of the Manual of Geology, in which he shows that he recog- nized the glacial origin of the surface deposits of Long Island. An article was written in the American Naturalist in 1876 which states that D. S. Martin discovered fossils of the Silurian Age in large boulders, thus proving that these same boulders were glacial borne. Warren Upham, in 1880, wrote on the Glacial Moraines that were situated at Roslyn and Shinnecock Hills, Long Island. N. L. Britton, in 1883, gave an account of fossils found in sandstone, and he also mentions the clays of Long Island.


Geologists like F. J. H. Merrill, W. J. McGee, John Bryson, W. H. Dall and G. D. Harris followed with their various "finds" or geological discoveries. They then contributed this important scientific data for publication, thus increasing the amount of printed material on the Geology of Long Island. In the beginning of the 20th Century, we find many detailed reports on the Geological aspects of Long Island written by Arthur Hollick, W. O. Crosby, J. B. Woodworth, J. E. Woodman, A. C. Veatch, G. B. Shattuck and many others. The most complete report, however, is that by Myron L. Fuller, known as "Professional Paper #82 of the United States Geological Survey". Entitled "The Geology of Long Island New York", this paper was published by the United States Government Printing Office, but it is unavailable, having long been out of print.


DESCRIPTION


While Long Island is a part of the State of New York, only its far Western sector, namely Kings and Queens counties, actually adjoins the state. It is approximately 120 miles long and 20 miles in breadth at the widest part of the island (from Lloyds Neck on the North Shore to Seaford on the South Shore). The major portion of the island, running West to East, lies adjacent to and directly South of the State of Connecticut. Long Island is separated from that state by a body of water known as Long Island Sound. Long Island is extremely long and narrow and it resembles, figuratively speaking, a gigantic whale. The Western end seems to represent the head, while the Easterly end looks like the tail, with Orient and Montauk Points appearing as the flukes of the tail. Consequently, the high ridges that run through the center of the island from East to West can, with little imagination, be called the "backbone".


TOPOGRAPHY


A cross-section of the island, from North to South, at a point somewhere near Port Jefferson, would show the Geological Contour as follows : starting at the Sound, first, the sloping North Shore beach; then an escarpment or high plateau 100 feet or more in height, which tapers toward the center of the island. Here in the center, one would encounter two (2) distinct ridges, known as glacial knobs. These reach an elevation of 200 feet or more. From the base of the most Southerly knob or ridge the topography then continues on a gradual


3


THE GEOLOGY OF LONG ISLAND


slope or decline, for some 10 or 12 miles to Great South Bay, diminish- ing at the rate of 20 feet to the mile, to actual sea level. All of this territory from the foot or base of the "backbone", southward to the Great South Bay, is Geologically called, the Glacial Out-wash Plains. These morainal aprons are covered extensively with sand and fine gravel. Villages such as Hempstead, Freeport, Seaford, Amityville and Babylon are built on these great outwash plains.


GLACIERS


A glacier is : a mass of ice, formed in a region of perpetual snow, moving down a slope or spreading by its own weight. As this mass of ice moves, it picks up many tons of rock, sand and other debris (drift). The combined action of the advancing of the Glacier and the drift settling to the base of it, causes the underlying bedrock to become cut, scratched and grooved. As the Glacier melts or retreats, these boulders, rocks, etc., are finally deposited.


There were four Glacial and three interglacial periods on Long Island. These four Glaciers, named locally by Fuller, are in the order of their antiquity, the Mannetto, the Jameco, the Manhasset, and the Wisconsin. These four Glaciers can be correlated with the four named Glaciers of the Mississippi Valley; the Nebraskan, the Kansan, the Illinoisan, and the Wisconsin, commonly known as the Continental Glaciers. They also correspond, in time period, to the four Glaciers of the European Alps; the Gunz, the Mindel, the Riss, and the Wurm.


These Glaciers were composed of ice fields estimated to have been thousands of feet in thickness. No one knows definitely when the first or, for that matter, the last Glacier was formed, but it is the consensus of scientific opinion that the last ice sheet began to melt or retreat about 40,000 years ago and retreated approximately at the rate of 30 miles every 2000 years.


GLACIAL PROCESS


Almost everywhere on land there is a surface covering of soil and sub-soil lying in contact with bedrock. This soil is really a prod- uct of disintegration, or the breaking down, of the bedrock itself. In the territory North of and adjoining Long Island, namely New York and the New England States, we find that this soil rests in sharp contrast on the bedrock itself, with little or no evidence of decayed bedrock. This soil and sub-soil is filled with boulders, smaller stones, rubble and sand formed from various kinds of rock, but differing entirely in structure from the native bedrock itself.


If one were to clear this soil and sub-soil away from the under- lying bedrock, one would find running North and South, straight parallel scratches or grooves. Some of these striations on bedrock surfaces are as wide as 6 inches and some are equally as deep. This peculiar abrasive feature, namely the grooving or scratching of the bedrock, proves to us that a great scouring or scratching action took place during the transportation of the soil and sub-soil from some Northern locality, other than New York and the New England States.


(By Wm. S. Mount)


A Long Island Landscape


5


THE GEOLOGY OF LONG ISLAND


Only a large field of Glacial Ice carrying, or pushing, ahead of it loose material, could produce these markings on the face of this bed- rock. Every Geologic surface has features which deserve an explana- tion. The scratched bedrock under the Glacial deposits in this area show that these ice fields moved Southward from points as far Northi as Canada, Labrador, etc. Many of the larger rocks and boulders that were left in the wake of the last Glacial retreat are definitely from these Northern points of origin.


The large granite boulders found along the North Shore of Long Island were carried here from the vicinity of Yonkers, Westchester and sites farther North. Smaller stones and pebbles have been found in and about Roslyn which contain fossils and fossil impressions of snails, corals, etc. These are identical to the marine fossils found in the Catskill Mountains today. Then again, some of the boulders found on Long Island are of Sedimentary origin, particularly the large ones deposited on the North Shore. In these boulders, one can find fossils that are identical to those found today, in abundance, in Northern New York State. Fossils are the remains of animals and plants, or direct evidence of their presence, preserved in the rocks. It is chiefly by the aid of fossils that the age of rocks is determined.


Long Island is without doubt a most outstanding locale for the Geologist to study Glaciology, because it is here that the most South- erly limit, or stopping point of the aforementioned four Glaciers is found. These ice fields grew very slowly and the advance, or South- erly movement, was also a very languid process, the assumption being that they moved at the rate of 1 mile in 20 years. The animal and plant life existing prior to the coming of the first ice sheet, was greatly affected by the great climatic change, and it has been common in recent years to find prehistoric animal and plant fossilized remains while excavating in New York State. The fossil material thus un- earthed shows that the climate was far more temperate then than after the Glacial epoch. I speak particularly of the Mastodon skeletal material found in the vicinity of Cohoes, New York. These remains prove conclusively that the territory surrounding Albany, New York, was temperate enough to give sustenance to these prehistoric fore- runners of the present day Elephant.




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.