USA > New York > Nassau County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume I > Part 26
USA > New York > Suffolk County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume I > Part 26
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 Evangelical Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer was organ- ized in 1918 at Foresters Hall, Riverhead. The first service was in charge of Frank Schwarz of Port Jefferson. Three years later a church was erected at the corner of Griffing Avenue and Cemetery Street. In 1939 it was renovated and a parish hall added during the pastorate of C. Wollslager.
The Jewish Synagogue at the Northville Turnpike and East Ave- nue was erected in 1924. Samuel Harding was the leading spirit in organizing a Society of Jewish Brotherhood which was established with eighteen members. He was the first president.
The First Baptist Church of Riverhead for colored people first held meetings at Baiting Hollow at the home of William Harris. In 1916 a small chapel was erected at Roanoke with Harris as pastor. In 1925 an old dairy barn in Riverhead was purchased and remodeled into a church. There is also the Goodwill African Methodist Church.
Riverhead's first newspaper, the Suffolk Gazette, was issued from the building of Squire Nate Corwin in 1849 with Gilbert P. Lewis as editor. It was a supporter of the Whig Party. Early in 1851 it was removed to Sag Harbor, where it came under the editorial manage-
206
LONG ISLAND-NASSAU AND SUFFOLK
ment of John Hancock. In December 1854 it was returned to River- head and shortly thereafter ceased publication. In 1859 the Suffolk Union was founded by Washington Van Zandt but ceased publication in 1862. In 1868, Buell G. Davis of Greenport started the Suffolk County Monitor at Riverhead. It was purchased by James S. Evans and merged in a paper he was publishing at Setauket. This establish- ment was afterwards removed to Patchogue and survives as the Patchogue Advance.
In March of 1868 James B. Slade founded the Riverhead News. Associated with him was Rev. Charles C. Lord who had just been called to the pastorate of the new Swedenborgian Church in the vil- lage. Slade sold out in 1875 to William R. Duvall, Sr., at whose death in 1882 it passed to his son William R. Duvall, Jr. Upon his election as County Clerk in 1899, Duvall sold the paper to Horace Hallock Williamson who continued as owner and editor until his death in 1929 when it was acquired by Lewis C. Austin. The latter died May 24, 1946, and the paper descended to his son.
The County Review was founded in 1903 by John H. Hagen and Harry Lee. Hagen eventually sold his interest to Lee. The latter became Republican county leader and made the Review one of the widest read country weeklies in the State. Its present owner and publisher is T. Harold Forbes.
Riverhead village has four banks. The oldest is the Riverhead Savings Bank, organized in 1872 with Dr. R. H. Benjamin as presi- dent; John S. Marcy, vice president; James H. Tuthill, attorney, and the following trustees: Orville B. Ackerly, Moses F. Benjamin, Thomas Coles, John R. Corwin, John Downs, Jeremiah M. Edwards, Jonas Fishel, Nathaniel W. Foster, Daniel A. Griffing, Isaac C. Halsey, Simeon S. Hawkins, Gilbert H. Ketcham, R. Thomas Osborn, J. Henry Perkins, Edwin F. Squier and J. Halsey Young.
The Suffolk County National Bank was founded at Riverhead in 1890, the Suffolk County Trust Company in 1910, and the Long Island State Bank and Trust Company in 1925. All four banks in the vil- lage have been active in the development of the community, the town and the great farming area of which it is a part.
The Suffolk County Historical Society was formed on September 28, 1886, at the office of Surrogate James H. Tuthill who was chosen its first president. Succeeding presidents have been Nathaniel W. Foster, Augustus Floyd, Willard P. Harmon, Elihu S. Miller, Charles J. Werner, Charles Crave, Ralph J. Hawkins, Alice B. Vail, Willis B. Holcombe, Walter F. Barnes, and John D. Hallock.
In 1893 the Society acquired the building of the Riverhead Sav- ings Bank which had moved into its present home. The present building of the Society was erected in 1930. Colonel Walter F. Barnes served as president from 1928 to his death in 1945. Ernest M. Robinson is the efficient custodian of the present building and its large collection of valuable items.
Today there are few villages in the State more progressive and thriving than Riverhead, which is not only Suffolk's county seat but has become the shopping center of an area known throughout the nation for its unexcelled potatoes and cauliflower. The assessed valuation of the town is $18,280,333.
CHAPTER VIII.
The Hamptons of Suffolk ROBERT P. SCHUR Attorney at Law
THE TOWN OF SOUTHAMPTON
S Y OUTHAMPTON is a monument to the foresight and bravery of its founders. They, themselves, modestly summarized their achievement when they wrote to Governor Andros, "We have with long and hard labour subdued parte of these lands with the perill of our lives, especially in those times when wee were few in number but ye heathen (the Indians) numerous."
Heine, possibly the most brilliant coiner of the paradox the world has ever known, said, "We learn from history that we do not learn from history." It would be well for us, however, were we to learn from the annals of our town that we, like its founders, can protect and preserve our liberty and prosperity only by the work of our own hands and by eternal vigilance against the incessant encroach- ments on our freedom.
Today Southampton is a town of beautiful homes and prosperous farms, a haven where commerce and industry flourish. At the time of its settlement, however, it was largely an expanse of virgin forest in which grew huge trees, many of which were destined to become the masts of the King's ships. The woods were inhabited mostly by game. There were bears, wolves, beavers and deer in large numbers, and tradition has it that buffaloes were to be found here. Here and there in the forest were glades where the Indians had set fires to destroy the trees and permit the growth of pasture for deer. The great whales rolled and spouted in the ocean and became the prey of the Indians who were expert whalers.
On the shores of the bays stood the lodges of the Shinnecocks, the aboriginal owners of the territory, who sustained life by catching the fish and shellfish with which the bays abounded, and hunting game in the dark recesses of the woods. I shall not treat of the aboriginal inhabitants in detail because an eminent authority on that subject, Mr. John H. Morice, has done so in another part of this work.
With the foundation of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630, the peopling of New England commenced at a rapid rate. The oppression of the Puritans in England caused an accelerating influx of pioneers. That arrogant and foolish monarch, Charles I, whose insistence upon the divine right of Kings was to lead to his execution, granted Long Island to one of his favorites, William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, in 1636, from whose agent, James Farrett, the settlers of Southampton procured a grant.
208
LONG ISLAND-NASSAU AND SUFFOLK
The early settlers of the town were inhabitants of Lynn in Massachusetts. The original founders were eight in number: Edward Howell, Edmond Farrington, Josias Starborough, George Welbe, Job Sayre, Edmond Needham, Henry Walton and Daniel How. They were joined by John Cooper, Allen Bread, William Harker, Thomas . Halsey, Thomas Newell, John Farrington, Richard O'Dell, Philip Kyrtland, Thomas Farrington and Thomas Terry. On March 10, 1639 they signed a document commonly called "The Disposall of the Vessell," which provided for the formation of a company for the permanent settlement of the town. As this is the first and basic document in our town history, it is inserted here :
THE DISPOSALL OF THE VESSELL
March 10, 1639 (1640 N.S.)
In consideracon that Edward Howell hath disbursed 15 lb. and Edmond ffarington 10 lb., Josias Stanborough 5 lbs., George Welbe 10 1b., Job Sayre 5 lb., Edmond Needham 5 lb., Henry Walton 10 lb., and Thomas Sayre 5 lb., Itt is Agreed vpon that wee, the forenamed vndertakers haue disposed of our seueral pts of our vessell to Daniell How. In Consideracon whereof hee is to transporte them so much goods either to them their heirs, executors and Assignes, (If they shall desire it) as their Several Somme or Sommes of Monney Shall Ammount unto, and moreover, to each of those persons Aboue named or their Assignes, he shall transporte to each man A person and A tunne of goods free. But in case that any of the forenamed Persons shall not haue occasion for the transportacon of soe much goods as his money shall Ammount vnto, that then the said Daniell is to make them payment of the remainder of the monney by the end of two yeares next ensueing the date hereof, and likewise this vessell shall be for the vse of the Plantacon, and that the said Daniell shall not sell this vessell without the consent of the Maior pt. of the Company. And that the vessell shall be reddy at the Towne of Lynne to transporte such goods as the aforesaid vndertakers shall Appointe, that is to say, three tymes in the yeare, ffur- thermore, if In case that any Person or Persons shall not haue occasion to Transport any goods that then the said Daniell is to pay them their Somme or Sommes of Monney together with Allowance for A tunne of goods and A person within the tearme of two years next ensueing the date hereof, And for the full performance of * * * * said Daniell hath *
* our (three lines gone) ffurthermore where as it is expressed formerly that the vessell shall come to our Intended Plantacon three tymes in the yeare, we thought good to express the tymes, viz: the first Moneth, the fourth moneth and the eighth moneth.
ffurthermore ffor the rates of persons, goods and chattell, if there proue any difference betweene vs, the vndertakers
209
THE HAMPTONS OF SUFFOLK
and the Said Daniell How, that then it shall be reffered to two men whome they and he shall chuse.
ffurthermore for as much as Allen Bread, Thomas Halsey and William Harker Are by the Consent of the company come into and party vndertakers with vs, we Edward Howell Daniell How and Henry Walton have consigned three of our pts, that is to each man a howse lott, plantinge lott and farme answerable to the rest of ye vndertakers for their disburse- ment of five pounds A man to vs the aboue said vndertakers, That is to say whereas Mr. Howell had 3 lotts he shall have but two, and Daniell How for 3 lotts shall have but two and Henry Walton for 2 lotts shall have but one.
Edward Howell Daniel How Henr. Walton.
Forasmuch as wee, Edward Howell, Edmond ffarington, Edmond Needham, Daniel How, Josias Stanborough, Thomas Saire, Job Saire, George Welbe and Henry Walton & Thomas Halsey, Allen Bread and William Harker haue disbursed four score pounds ffor the settinge fforward A Plantacon and in regard wee have taken vpon vs to transporte at our owne prop costs and charges all such persons as shall goe at the first voyage when those of our company that are chosen thereunto shall goe upon discouery and search and to beginne and settle a plantacon. and ffurthermore, in regard all such persons soe goinge upon our accompt, haue in our vessell the ffreedom of half a tunne of goods a person it is thought meete that wee the forenamed undertakers should not at any tyme nor tymes here after be lyable to any rates, taxes or Impositions, nor be putt vpon any fenceing, building or meet- ing house, erectinge ffortifications, buildinge, of bridges, prepairinge highways nor otherwise charged for any cause or reason whatsoever during the tyme of our discontinuance in our Intended Plantacon except yt in the fenceing in of plantinge lotts, euery man shall with his neighbors fence or cause to be fenced by the first day of April wch shall be 1641.
ffurthermore because of the delayinge to lay out the bounds of townes and all such land within the said bowndes hath bene generally the ruin of townes in this country, there- fore wee the said vndertakers haue thought good to take upon us the dispose of all landes within our said boundes soe yt wch wee lay out for A house Lott shall at all tymes from tyme to tyme here after continue to be A house lott and but one dwelling house shall be builded vpon it, and those lotts yt wee lay out for plantinge lotts shall not at any tyme nor tymes hereafter be made house lotts whereby more Inhabit- ants might be received into our said Plantacon to the ouer chargeing of Commons and the Impoverishinge of the towne, and yt alsoe what is layed out for commons shall continue
L. I .- I-14
210
LONG ISLAND-NASSAU AND SUFFOLK
commons and noe man shall presume to Incroach vpon it not so much as A handes breadth. and what soever we lay out for farmes shall so remaine for after tyme, and ye disposall of all such lands soe layed out shall be at all tymes and from tyme to tyme hereafter at the will and pleasure of vs, the vndertakers, or executors, administrators and assigns (3 lines gone) and alsoe, who soever selleth his Accommodations in the towne shall sell house lott and plantinge lote or lotts and meadow Intirely and if hee sel his farme he shall not deuide it but sell it together, viz: his ffarme Intirely and his Accom- modations in ye Towne Intirely. Moreouer whosoever cometh in by vs shall hould himselfe satisfyed with four Achres to an house lott and twelve Achres to a plantinge lott and soe much meddow and vpland as may make his Accommodations ffifty achres, except wee, the said undertakers, shall see cause to Inlarge that proportion by A farme or otherwise. ffurthermore noe person nor persons whasoeur shall challenge or claime any proper Interest in seas, rivers, creekes, or brooks howsoeuer bounding or passing through his grounds but ffreedom of fishing, fowling and nauigation shall be common to all within the bankes of the said waters what- soeuer.
And whosoever shall fell any tree or trees in highwayes, is either to grubb them vp by the rootes or else to cut them smooth up even by the grounde, and take the tree or trees out of all such highways. And whosoever felleth any tree or trees in the commons shall either carry away the body or bodyes thereof with ye Aptnances or else sett or lay it up on heapes so as the pasture for chattel or passage for man or beaste may not have any Annoyance. Likewise noe person nor persons whatsoever shall fell or lopp or carry away any tree or trees, firewood or otherwise, off or from any lott or lotts whatsoeuer for as is the lande so shall ye Aptnances bee every mans owne peculiar property.
Neither shall any person make or use any highwayes, paths or otherwise ouer any persons howse lott, plantinge lott or meadow, but shall upon all occasions use the Alloued wayes layed out for yt end.
ffurthermore it is thought meete that if the said vnder- takers make any Composition with any person or persons yt claime * * manifest his or their * * in any part * or parts in all * of the place where god shall cause *
* * or direct us to beginne our Intended plantation * the (2 lines gone) And it come to pass yt wee the said under- takers shall either in our owne names or in the names of the Inhabitants In generall promise to pay or cause to be payed any somme or sommes of money, goods or chattell, fines or rates, or the like as may hereafter be thought meete propor- tionably to what they Inioy and that then every person or persons Inhabitinge within the boundes of our plantation,
211
THE HAMPTONS OF SUFFOLK
being owners of land there, that they shall be contented and pleased to help to beare A share or shares from tyme to tyme and at all tymes hereafter, of all such payments as may be required of vs, the forenamed vndertakers, or executors, Administrators or Assigns, and yt his or their subscribinge to these presents may be a sufficient declaration under all such persons handes, yt they doe Approue of all the premises here specified.
Lastly, wee the said undertakers testify by these presents in our admittinge of Inhabitants to our Intended plantacon that wee without any kinde of reservation, leave men ffree to choose and determine all causes and controuerseys, Arbi- trary among themselves, And that whensoever it shall please the lord, and he shall see it goode to adde to vs such men as shall be fitt matter for A church, that then wee will in that thinge lay ourselues downe before ye constitutes there of either to be or not to bee receaued as members thereof accord- ing as they shall discerne the worke of god to be in our hearts.
Edward Howell,
Edmond Needham,
Josiah Stanborough,
Ye marke of Edmond X ffarington
Job Sayre
Daniell How,
George Welbe,
Thomas Halsey,
Allen X Bread,
William Harker
Undertakers.
The mark of Thomas + Newell
Philip Kyrtland Nathaniel Kirtland
John ffarington the mark of Richard O Odell ( ?)
Thomas ffarington Thom Terry
These are to give notice that wee, the aforesaid company of vndertakers, doe fully and ffreely give our consentt that John Cooper shall and is admitted an vndertaker with the like full and lymited power with our selues in all cases yt may concerne our Plantacon.
Edward Howell, The marke of Edmond X ffarington, Edmond Needham; Thomas Halsey, The marke of Allen X Bread, Daniel How, Henr. Walton,
A DECLARATION OF THE COMPANY
Know all men whome these presents may concerne yt whereas it is expressed in one Artickle that the power of
Henr. Walton, mark of
212
LONG ISLAND-NASSAU AND SUFFOLK
disposinge of lands and Admission of Inhabitants into our plantation shall at all tymes remain in the hands of vs the said vndertakers to vs and our heirs forever, that our true intent and meaninge is that when our plantacon is layed out by those Appointed according to our Artickles and that there shall be a church gathered and constituted according to the minde of christ that then wee doe ffreely lay downe our power both of orderinge and disposeing of the plantacon and receiv- ing of Inhabitants or any other thing that may tende to the good and welfare of ye place at the feete of Christ and his church, provided that they shall not doe anythinge contrary to the true meaneinge of the fformer Artickles.
ffurthermore whereas it is expressed in A fformer Artickle yt the lande of ye undertakers shall at all tymes remaine ffree from affording any helpe to builde meetinge house or making of bridge or bridges or mendinge of high- wayes or the lyke during the tyme of their discontinuance from our Plantacon it is thought meete that it shall take place and stand in force but two yeares vnless there bee some goode reason given for it and then those shall have land only for the third year provided that within the third year they come back againe * * * 16
* ye 4th day of ye 4th * (one line partly gone).
In Witness of these two Artickles foregoinge we have set to our handes.
The marke of
Edmond X ffarrington, John Cooper,
Edward Howell, Thomas Halsey, Daniel How,
Edmond Needham,
Thomas Sayre,
Henr. Walton,
These are to give notice that wee the afore sayd vnder- takers doe fully and freely give our consent that Mr. John Gosmere shall and is admitted an vndertaker with the like full and limited power with our selues in all cases vt Con- cerne our Plantacon.
Edward Howell, The marke of
Edmond Needham,
Allen X Bread, Thomas Sayre,
Henr. Walton, John Cooper, The marke of
William Harker, Edmond X ffarington,
Job Sayre,
Thomas Halsey.
On April 17, 1640, the company procured its patent from Farrett for "Eight myles square of land * *
* & that they are to take their Choice to sit downe upon as best liketh them." Soon there- after the ship bearing eight men, one woman and a child sailed for Long Island. They landed at Manhasset Bay, known in the old Dutch records as Schout's Bay.
213
THE HAMPTONS OF SUFFOLK
When the settlers landed, they found that the Dutch had fastened to a tree the arms of their High Mightinesses. The settlers promptly pulled down these arms and in derision carved on the tree what the old chronicle calls "An un-handsome face." The Indian Sachem Penhawitz, whose tribe inhabited those parts, promptly advised the Dutch, who claimed dominion over all Long Island, of their arrival. Blazing with wrath, the Dutch Council directed the arrest of the immigrants, and Secretary Van Tienhoven, with a sergeant and twenty-three men, seized the English and brought them to New Amsterdam.
The settlers admitted that they had come over "to make a planta- tion and that many people were expected to come." They stated in their extenuation that they did not know that they were encroaching upon Dutch territory and said that the "Un-handsome face" had been carved by either Farrett or How, who had left for New Haven in the sloop before the arrival of the Dutch soldiery to arrest the settlers. The council found that the trespass by the settlers had not been wilful and they were freed upon agreeing in writing never to return.
When the sloop returned from New Haven, it sailed in an east- ward direction down Long Island Sound and finally cast anchor at Home's Hill. The precise date of the landing is not known, but it was probably close to June 12, 1640, when the colonists received from Farrett a deed which granted to them "All those lands lying and being bounded by the Peaconeck and the easter-most point of Long Island, with the whole breadth of the said island from sea to sea * * in consideration of Barge Hire besides they being drove off by the Dutch from the place where they were by me planted, to their great damage by and with a competent summe in money in hand paid before the sealing and delivering of these presents, all amount- ing unto 400 pounds."
The boats from the sloop entered North Sea Harbor, and tradi- tion has it that the first woman who stepped ashore cried out, "For conscience sake, were on dry land." To this day the site is known as Conscience Point and June 12th is celebrated by the Town of Southampton as Founder's Day.
Over the old Indian trail that has now become North Sea Road the settlers made their way to Old Town Pond near the site of the Southampton Hospital, and until 1648 they lived at this so-called "Old Town."
The priority of the founding of the towns of Southampton and Southold has been debated with much learning and considerable acrimony by two eminent historians, the Rev. George Rogers Howell and the Rev. Epher Whitaker. The details of that dispute need not here concern us; suffice to say that a scholarly monograph on the subject, written by Judge Henry P. Hedges, favors the earlier founda- tion of Southampton.
The colonists lived under the most harsh and austere conditions. The matter of tilling the soil was, of course, of prime importance, and from the Indians they obtained corn for their planting and were
214
LONG ISLAND-NASSAU AND SUFFOLK
instructed, like the Pilgrims, to fertilize it with fish. The first corn fields were apparently on what was known as "Little Playne", which extended from the Old Town Pond to Town Pond. Nearby were the habitations, most of them were cellars or pits in the ground roofed over with sods.
Five of the early settlers call for special mention: Edward Howell had owned a manor at Marsh Gibbon in Buckinghamshire and had become a freeman in Massachusetts and a land owner in Lynn. He was the proprietor of the first grist mill in Southampton which stood on the east side of Benedict's Creek north of the present railroad track. Probably next to him in importance must be ranked the Rev. Abraham Pierson, described by Governor Winthrop as "a Godly, learned man" who was ordained Minister of Southampton in November, 1640. In the ancient records of the town will be found laws prepared in what appears to be the Minister's own handwriting; fortunately for the colonists no attempt was ever made to enforce these laws, for they punished with death many things which we would now regard as rather petty offenses. Pierson found himself frequently in conflict with his parishioners, believing as he did that only Church members should vote in the local elections, while most of the colonists believed that every land owner should have the right of vote. He opposed the decision of Southampton to unite itself with Connecticut when the New England Confederacy was formed because that confederacy did not limit voting to Church members. In 1647 he left Southampton. His son, Abraham Pierson, Jr., was the first president of Yale College.
John Cooper was also prominent among the early settlers. He kept the town tavern and had the exclusive monopoly of erecting stages for drying and salting fish and also raised and sold horses. Among these settlers were Richard Woodhull, later the founder of the Town of Brookhaven, and Richard Smith, who was to become the founder of Smithtown.
The relations of the Indians with the settlers were usually amicable but, mindful of the excesses of New England, the colonists enacted an ordinance against giving or lending the Indians any firearms or gun powder.
The settlers had not been long at Southampton when they obtained from Farrett (July 7, 1640) a confirmation of their patent which described the bounds as follows: "It is to begin at a place westward from Shinnecock, entitled the name of the place where the indians draw over their cannoes out of the North Bay over to the south side of the island, and from there to run along that neck of land eastward the whole breadth between the Bays aforesaid to the easterly end of an island or neck of land lying over against the island, commonly known by the name of Mr. Farrett's Island." Incidentally, Governor Winthrop fixed the price to be paid for the grant on October 20, 1641, when he wrote: "I doe hereupon Concerne & do accordingly (so farre as power is given me) ordr & sett downe that ye Inhabitants of ye Tract of Land within Mentioned on ye Plantation now called SOUTH-HAMPTON upon LONG ISLAND & their
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.