USA > New York > Nassau County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume I > Part 28
USA > New York > Suffolk County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume I > Part 28
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In order to improve the roads, it was necessary to form private companies in various parts of the Island. In Southampton the Sag Harbor and Bullhead Turnpike Company was formed in 1840. Its road ran between Bridgehampton and Sag Harbor. It was
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capitalized at $56,000 and was finally taken over by the town in 1906, but the old toll-house remained until destroyed by fire three years later. The toll charge was 8 cents for every wagon drawn by two horses, mule or oxen, 121/2 cents for stage coaches, 6 cents for two-wheeled pleasure carriages and 3 cents for every horse and rider. The advent of the Railroad was fatal to the Turnpike enterprise.
Transportation by water was, in the early days, somewhat hazardous. Many a ship went ashore on the south beach during a storm. During the War of 1812 the British sloop of war Sylph foundered off Shinnecock Point with a loss of almost her entire crew. The best remembered wreck is that of the Circassian, which went ashore off Mecox on December 10, 1876. The crew was saved, and it was decided to salvage the vessel, and a wrecking crew made up of men from New York and Shinnecock Indians, was placed on board. At 4:30 the next morning the vessel broke in two. The storm had made it impossible to launch any boat from the shore, and a few minutes after the vessel was shattered, the mizzenmast, on which all the crew had taken refuge, fell into the sea. Only four men were rescued and twenty-eight including all the Shinnecock Indians, were drowned. The Indians were the last pure-blooded members of their tribe. Today, the last remnants of the race live on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation.
During the course of the years controversy arose over the control of the waters of the town. It was debated whether their control was held by the proprietors or by the town itself, and in 1818 a law was enacted by the New York State Legislature which gave to the proprietors the undivided lands, meadows and mill streams, and to the town "the power to make laws, rules or regu- lations concerning the waters (other than the mill streams), the fisheries, the seaweed or any other production of the water," which were to be managed by the trustees of the freeholders.
In 1870, the Long Island Railroad was extended to Southampton and Sag Harbor. The result of this extension was a drastic altera- tion in the economic life of the town. Huge numbers of summer residents, attracted by the temperate weather, the bathing and the sailing, came to dwell in the lovely countryside, which the great American painter, Chase, described as being as beautiful as anything that could be found abroad. An impetus was given to commerce and in Sag Harbor, particularly, manufacturing was begun.
The physical aspect of Southampton has changed since its early days, but the character of its people, fortunately, remains the same. Their men fought in the two World Wars as bravely as they had fought in the Revolution. Southampton was founded for freedom, and her townsmen have always been ready to give their lives in her defense. Through their valor it has remained a town in which peace, prosperity and true friendship continue to reign.
Today the Town of Southampton has a permanent population of approximately 18,000, which is greatly increased during the summer months. Its assessed valuation is $40,690,350.
L. I .- I-15
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Sag Harbor became the town's first incorporated village on January 12, 1846, reincorporation taking place July 27, 1900. Its present population is 2444 and its assessed valuation $1,346,816.
The village of Southampton was incorporated July 17, 1894. It is the largest and by far the wealthiest municipality in the town with a population of 3800 and an assessed valuation of $12,328,013.
Quogue was incorporated May 28, 1928. Its all-year-round population is estimated at 623 and its assessed valuation at $2,761,907.
Westhampton Beach was incorporated December 14, 1928. Like that of other parts of the town, its population of about 963 is greatly increased during the summer season. Its assessed valuation is $3,375,421.
North Haven, the town's smallest and most recently incor- porated community, received its charter December 7, 1931. With a population of 240, its assessed valuation is $420,470.
The above statistics, graciously supplied by Town Clerk George H. Densing, are as of the end of 1946.
THE TOWN OF EAST HAMPTON MARY E. BELL Historical Student and Author
Three hundred years ago the 35,000 acres situated on the south- eastern point of Long Island and now called the town of East Hamp- ton was a wilderness. It must have been a pleasing wilderness, for we are told that men from the older town of Southampton explored to the eastward and "saw the land was good", so they purchased it in 1648.
Judge Samuel Seabury described it in his historical sketch of 1926: "There is no more attractive section of New York State than that tract of land which now includes the town of East Hampton. Southampton adjoins it on the west, the sound on the north, the Atlantic on the south, while the commingled waters of sound and ocean form its eastern boundary.
"There is within this territory a rich fertile soil luxuriant with vegetable growth. Its southerly bounds consist of long stretches of white sandy beach which fringe a margin of irregularly shaped hills or dune land.
"Its climate is salubrious, its severity in winter being mitigated by the influence of the Gulf Stream, while in summer the cool breezes which sweep over the ocean bring refreshment even in the hottest weather."
In pioneer days, land was plentiful and the wide road which was then laid out formed East Hampton's main street and is today one of the charms of the town. Streets have spread in all directions.
Here the explorers found woods, interlaced with deer paths and Indian trails, rich fertile plains where the redman raised corn, and an abundance of game existed. The bay and harbors were full of eels, fish, and clams. There were herbs in forest and field to cure all
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ills and the little ponds were made musical by Daniel Denton's "green silken frogs".
There was the old ocean, ever rumbling and roaring its accom- paniment and often bringing ashore treasures from ill-fated ships at sea or stranded near at hand.
Numerous jungle-like swamps were here. These, with lakes and ponds, added to the beauty of the forest. At least two of the swamps had much to do with the early settlers. The "Little Swamp" must have been chosen first. Our ancestors huddled around its banks because here was easy access to water and thus was assured an unusually wide Main Street. Here the wells need be but twenty or thirty feet deep to reach sweet spring water. In other parts the depth was forty to sixty feet. These oldest wells they lined with stones of the field.
The forest was not far advanced because of the Indian custom of annual firing to provide new and tender undergrowth as sustenance for wildlife. The huntsman's people seldom went hungry here. With all the game and seafood, with the wild fruits of the woods, fields and dunes, with fertile plains for their corn, the Montauketts, who once owned all this sea-conditioned area, grew to be a powerful "tribe". They were tall and strong and more numerous because of Nature's greater resources here.
The deep rich soil here deposited in the ice age assured limitless treasures for millions of people to follow and for many centuries to come-although unknown tons of precious top soil have in past years blown and drifted and slid into the voracious ocean.
An old redman, on being asked how many Montauketts there used to be in ancient days before the English came, squatted low, touched the grass and said in effect, "If you can count these blades of grass, you will know how many of us were here." But by 1761 only 162 remained. Pequot Wars and epidemics had weakened the "tribe" before the white men came. Chief Wyandanch had died in 1658 and, in 1663, a smallpox epidemic killed his son.
The Narragansetts of New England had long plotted against these island Indians. Beyond the Sound less peaceable redskins had always envied the rich full larder of eastern Long Island's people and had frequently attacked them with savage fury. Thus the Mon- tauketts had suffered much. General MacArthur recently stated that one cause of war is wealth undefended and this seems to have been true in the case of the happy aborigines who once roamed Montauk's verdant plains.
It was during the Pequot Wars that Chief Wyandanch of the Montauketts became acquainted with Lord Lion Gardiner. The two formed a lifelong friendship that assured the settlements of eastern Long Island amicable relations with their red neighbors.
The western Long Island Chief, Penhawitz, sachem of Canarsie, was called by Brodhead the finest and most intelligent redman in America. But here at the East End the memory of Wyandanch is deeply cherished as one worthy of eternal gratitude. Loving Lion Gardiner as a brother, he was tolerant of other white men. He
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remedied many of their troubles and possibly saved the whole settle- ment from extinction.
Lyman Beecher said in a sermon of 1806: "One of the natives of Montauk who died about fifty years ago, aged it was supposed a hundred years, used to relate the following anecdote: Six families first planted themselves at the south end of the town. They were discovered by some Indians that were on a hunting party. The chief warrior applied to the sachem living then at Three Mile Harbor for leave to cut them off. The Indians who made the discovery were called in and interrogated. Did they invite you into their houses? They did. Did they give you to eat? They did. Did it poison you? It did not. The reply of the sachem, turning to his warriors was: You shall not cut them off." These six families may have been here in 1648 when the land was purchased, but they left no record of their presence.
The settlers, too, were usually fair. On the records we find that, when the Indian corn was eaten by the horses of the Colonists, the damage was paid. Naturally, there were disagreements. One was about mowing the hay on Montauk. The Indians, rebellious, threat- ened to burn all the hay the white men mowed. But in their quarrels a way was always found to peace. This fortunate way of life was mostly due to the friendship and understanding of Lion Gardiner and Chief Wyandanch.
After the Chief's death, his son, Weancombone, still a child, became sachem but his mother, known as the Sunk Squaw, was the actual ruler. During this and succeeding regimes, no serious racial trouble ever occurred. In years of famine, the white men shared their corn with their copper-skinned brothers, and continued to protect them from the New England tribes. When Ninigret came from beyond the Sound to attack, the white men gave their Indian neighbors shelter in the south end of the settlement. On that spot where for a time their wigwams stood, many years later when a cellar was dug for a large new summer home, a number of Indian skeletons were unearthed and taken reverently to Montauk to be laid at rest with others of their tribe. Some years ago the New-York Historical Society pur- chased that building and there displayed many fine relics until quite recently when the place was closed and put on the market.
The home grounds of the Montauketts, called Indian Field, lay between Great Pond or Lake Montauk and Oyster Pond. Here ordi- nary stones of the field mark many Indian graves while some of the older graves, for fear of robbers, were never marked.
Many relics of the redmen have been found in this section. In the 1920's, the Museum of the American Indian made extensive ex- plorations and retrieved much material for its collections. The East Hampton Historical Society, located in Clinton Academy, also has a number of articles of interest while the Free Library as well as count- less individuals have small collections of arrowheads, paintpots and other items which were found at and near Indian Field.
After the 1938 hurricane, while strolling on Sammis Beach at Three Mile Harbor, the writer picked up an arrowhead which the storm had evidently raised from the sandy deep after long centuries.
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Stories of several unusual Indians are preserved in local history. Handsome Steve Talkhouse, a Civil War veteran, became a famous walker. Jacob Fowler served in the Continental Congress in 1776. Samson Occum, Jacob's brother-in-law, became a teacher at Montauk in 1749. Later he went to England as a lecturer and there raised a large part of the money used to found Dartmouth College. Some books which he bound in leather may be seen in the Long Island Collection of the East Hampton Free Library. Besides preaching, Occum was a hymn-writer. After the Revolution, he and other Chris- tian Indians founded a settlement for their people at Brotherton, in up-state New York, now Deansville and Vernon.
Those of East Hampton's first settlers who came from Southamp- ton in 1649 were soon joined by families from New England. Together they were "The Proprietors". The first allotments of land in what was then known as Maidstone were thirty-four in number. The town's original name is still preserved in various ways. A club, a park, a boatyard, a restaurant, hotel, and even boats are today called Maid- stone, although the town itself has long been East Hampton (more recently written as two words and leaving a one-word Easthampton to Massachusetts and another to Connecticut).
The heads of the first nine families of East Hampton town were: John Hand, Thomas Talmag, Jr., Daniel Howe, Thomas Thomson, John Stretton, Sen., Robert Bond, Robert Rose, Joshua Barns and John Mulford.
These families were soon joined by Thomas Osborne, William Hedges, Ralph Dayton, Thomas Chatfield, Thomas Osborn, William Fithian, Richard Brookes, William Simonds, Samuel Belknap, Samuel Parsons, Joshua Garlicke, Fulke Davis, Nathaniel Bishop, William Barnes, Lion Gardiner, John Osborne, Jeremiah Veale, John Miller, Charles Barnes, Stephen Hand, Thomas Baker, Richard Shaw and Jeremiah Meacham.
The Proprietors of East Hampton Town first bought land from the Southampton Town border to the highlands of Montauk, "with the whole breadth from sea to sea". Not until 1687 was Montauk made a part of the town. Local men had purchased most of it in 1660.
In 1667 there was a disagreement about the East Hampton- Southampton line, but the question, judged by a commission, was peacefully and democratically settled. Two squaws from Montauk were among the witnesses, testifying that they had formerly lived at "Acabuck" and knew the bounds of several plantations in those parts. One of these witnesses was called "Akkobauk Homes Squaw"; the other, "The Wompquaine Squaw". It is recorded in both towns that these two witnesses identified the boundary line as where they had once seen a drowned deer in a creek and also a dead bear close at hand. The older squaw pointed to her teeth, thus implying that she had eaten from one carcass-which may or may not have added weight to her testimony.
According to the records, to this pleasant wilderness came nine families, mostly farmers, as England was then forbidding artisans to leave her shores. But these first farmers of East Hampton gradu-
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ally learned the essential trades and made what they needed for existence as shown today in the rough but strong equipment preserved in Clinton Academy by the East Hampton Historical Society.
As time went by, skilled mechanics were induced to move to East Hampton-a weaver from Southold, a blacksmith from Huntington, and a carpenter from Connecticut. The first schoolmaster, however, was one of their own number. Charles Barnes by name, he was paid thirty pounds a year for teaching "the young idea" how not to shoot, but to read, write and do arithmetic. The thirty pounds was paid in beef, oil, pork, hides, tallow and whalebone. Having come from a cultured family in Norfolk County, England, he soon became promi- nent in the affairs of the East End community. In 1657 the town gave him "a thirteen acre lot without meadow". He took his public duties seriously, even to the point on one occasion of soundly thrash- ing one Daniel Fairfield, a servant of Joshua Garlicke, when Fairfield, having been drinking, burst into the classroom and began to abuse the pupils.
The men who founded East Hampton were not rough adven- turers, but freedom lovers, tyranny haters, men of force, intelligence and solid principles. They were careful in their business dealings, just to the Indians and to each other and faithful to their contracts.
This character made the redmen their friends and warded off the anger and rebellion which had proved so tragic in other parts of the new country. It drove the Indians at Montauk, when attacked by strong enemy tribes from the North, to seek their protection which was always given them.
The policy of cooperation early adopted at East Hampton is shown by such official entries as: "January 24, 1654: It is ordered that every man shall clear the highway in the street six foot from the pales all moveables as namely, carts, ploughs, wood, stones, or any- thing that is an annoyance to the traveler either by night or day."
The records state that in 1653 the settlers were much troubled by wolves attacking their stock. "The Great Swamp" lay between the ocean and the homes around "The Little Swamp" which now comprises Town Pond and the village green. "The Great Swamp" was then a muddy jungle where wolves found shelter, prowling forth by night to do such damage that the town offered bounties for their destruction by trap and gun, at the same time regulating the use of these implements in the interest of public safety.
Today several of East Hampton's finest streets pass through what was once "The Great Swamp". Hook Pond, the Maidstone golf course and a lovely oriental garden called "Nature's Trail" now occupy much of the area.
Eight acres of the original swampy wilderness are still left. Here the coloring in the autumn is brilliantly beautiful. When this tract was given to the village by its owner there was some talk of making it a park and garden. But so many expressed a preference for that last bit of the old historic swamp in its wild state that the idea was abandoned.
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In East Hampton's early purely democratic town government, all matters were decided by vote of the freeholders long after the town joined Connecticut in 1657. As the colony grew, representation became necessary to administer the town's affairs between town meetings and there came into existence the Court of Three Men. Representative government, of course, continued to grow with the population until, as in other towns, East Hampton necessarily acquired the complicated civil government of the present time.
When England conquered New Netherland in 1664 and "The Duke's Laws" were inflicted upon the Long Island towns, East Hampton was perhaps more resentful of the change than were those towns which had never enjoyed the freedom of thought and action that had prevailed here from the very beginning.
A copy of the Duke's Laws is preserved in this town whose official historian, Morton Pennypacker, has ably analyzed them in a treatise published by New York University Law School.
East Hampton's Old Town House, built in 1731 and used for many years for town meetings, is said to be the oldest public building in Suffolk County. It was for a time used as a school before "The Hook" district built its district school.
The following entry in the town records in 1652 eloquently por- trays the spirit that prevailed among the freeholders of this town: "If any man be aggrieved at anything that is done by the men in authority, he shall have liberty to make his appeal to the next General Court (Town Meeting) or when men are assembled together on the public occasions". At sessions of this court, which convened at drum beat, voting was done by raising the hand. Thus they guarded their liberty, but at the same time respected those in authority.
Goodwife Edwards found this out when she was ordered either to pay three pounds for a spiteful remark or place her "tongue in a cleft stick". Other punishments mentioned in the early records were the stocks, public whipping, imprisonment and, for a scold, a ducking in Town Pond.
It has been well said that East Hampton was "born a town". On the first of October, 1650, was held the first General Court which arranged for the representative Court of Three Men, a constable, and a seven-man jury. Thomas Talmage, whose descendants still live in the town, was the first recorder or town clerk, at twenty shillings a year.
Although the general form of government was democratic, yet the original proprietors held the power to keep out undesirable settlers and to exile any who proved not good citizens. All men were compelled to vote at the General Town Meeting or pay a fine. The Court made laws respecting Indians as well as colonists. It forbade the sale of guns and ammunition to the redmen, while at the same time every white man was ordered to be armed. No Indian could go through the settlement on the Sabbath Day and the sale of liquor was strictly regulated.
Connecticut's code of government served as model for East Hampton which, however, never wholly accepted New England's
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"Blue Laws". Like New England, East Hampton held the Bible as the true guide for official as well as private procedure.
Different rulers beyond the ocean from time to time foisted new governors and new laws upon the East End towns. These governors were often selfish and greedy and exploited the settlers. Over and over again East Hampton had to pay to hold its land. Altogether, the little town had a hard time of it but proved unconquerable although taxes oppressed them and even the church shared in the whales which they killed.
The Town soon included several small villages besides East Hampton village. Nearly as old as the latter are Amagansett (1668) and Wainscott (1670), both settled for farming and fishing. Amagan- sett, the larger of the two, has been called East Hampton's little sister, and has a notable off-shore whaling history. The skeleton of the whale in the American Museum of Natural History is a product of Amagansett. The whale was caught by members of the Edwards family, purchased by the Museum, and cut and boned by Roy Chap- man Andrews, the famous naturalist explorer. Taken February 22, 1907, it was the last large right-whale caught at Amagansett, although eleven years later, a smaller specimen was killed there.
East Hampton, the largest village in this town of small villages, was incorporated in 1921. It is largely known over the world as the place of "Home Sweet Home" and has been called "America's most beautiful village".
The little village of Springs, which used to have a post office of its own, is now served from East Hampton by Rural Free Delivery. It is five miles northeast of East Hampton village. It has a pleasant, peaceful atmosphere, reminding one of "Sweet Auburn" of Oliver Goldsmith fame. Its light sandy soil is considered ideal for chicken farming. It is nicely situated too, for the homes of those sturdy men who know how to make a living from Gardiner's Bay.
Three Mile Harbor has always been a joy to the town's people. It lies three miles from East Hampton village and from the Head of the Harbor to the Bay is about the same distance. It is a safe land- locked harbor, surrounded by wooded banks with constantly flowing springs of fresh cold water. The west side is called "Springy Banks" and is a happy choice for picnics and camps although the grove has been somewhat shattered by hurricanes. There the Indians dug clams and made wampum.
The Records mention the spot as "The Springing Banks where the Indians commonly dwell in summertime". Lyman Beecher's autobiography speaks of the "cartload of eels" he brought home from Three Mile Harbor. Today there are numerous small boats anchored there all summer and two boatyards carry on the business of repairs.
Northwest has been called the "Vanished Village". It was settled after the lands were divided in East Hampton about 1651 and the first road there was laid out in 1652. Here were built a mill, a few houses, a wharf, a pesthouse and, a hundred years later, a tiny dis- trict school. Still later came a fish factory and a sawmill. Now,
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however, there is nothing left but wild apple orchards, stony excava- tions that once were cellars; rose bushes, lilac trees, and a few other signs of past habitation.
Northwest, named for its direction from East Hampton, is a favorite Sunday drive for people who like the woods and the bay. It was the earliest landing place for the town and was used as a harbor as early as 1652. Here were landed cargoes from New England and from here the town's produce was shipped to market.
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