USA > New York > Nassau County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume II > Part 46
USA > New York > Suffolk County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume II > Part 46
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The next farm south of Parshall Tuttle on the stream was the Archie B. Ketcham farm which was idle for a while until 1946 when Harry Baker raised some ducks there. Directly south of the Ketcham farm was that of David H. Tuttle who was in business here first before moving north on the same stream. Next south was the farm of William H. Pye. Both of these last two farms now comprise the present farm of Peter Kostuk. Mr. Pye began to raise ducks about 1890 according to "Portrait and Biographical Record" published in 1896, which states as follows: "Mr. Pye resigned his position, in 1884, on a vessel plying between New York and Florida and came to East- port. In 1886 he bought land, where he now lives, erecting a cottage, which served him as a home until some two years ago, when it was disposed of and the present handsome residence erected. Some five years ago he established a duck industry, which. has become an ex- tensive business, putting into market each year between ten and twelve thousand ducks and chickens".
This was probably the largest duck farm on Long Island in 1900 as Pye wrote on Sept. 1, 1901, to the Prairie State Incubator Co .: "In the last season I have hatched 55,000 ducks". On September 4, 1907, he wrote to the Cyphers Incubator Co .: "I have been in the poultry business about 18 years and have had experience with four kinds of incubators". There are nine illustrations of his farm in the 1902 Prairie State Incubator Co. catalogue. There is an article on the Pye farm entitled "Duck Raising as an Industry" by Howland Gasper in the Jan. 7, 1905, issue of Scientific American Supplement with fourteen illustrations of the farm. The article states: "Mr. Pye was a bayman when he conceived the idea of starting a duck ranch. Being without funds he was obliged to secure credit for the lumber with
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which the first buildings were erected. At the end of the first season his returns enabled him not only to pay all indebtedness, but afforded a substantial profit in addition. The capacity of the ranch was in- creased, a proportionate increase in profits being realized, and a few years later the output of one season exceeded 25,000 ducks. Mr. Pye's experience led many other parties to adopt the same occupation, and ranches of more or less pretentious dimensions arose throughout that section. Overproduction, as might be expected, was the result, and a number of ambitious raisers were practically ruined. The busi- ness was then, however, reduced to a substantial basis, and those now engaged in it are receiving an adequate profit".
From my father's records I find that he sold 14 Pekins to Mr. Pye on September 9, 1885. By 1906 Mr. Pye was retired from the duck business. Hubert Drosser began to operate the farm in 1906. South of the railroad, about south of the church, is a small stream that runs south to southwest into the Town boundary stream. At the north end of this small stream (east of River Ave.) is the present farm of G. Henry Frey, the northern part of which was established by John WV. Tuthill. It was later operated by Leonard H. Tuttle who was in the grain business while raising ducks. My father bought some feed from him as early as 1906. Just to the north of G. Henry Frey's farm was the farm of Dubois D. Tuttle (brother of Leonard H.) located about 500 feet south of the railroad, east of River Ave. They were sons of David E. Tuttle, duck raiser on the west side of River Ave. The southern part of Henry Frey's present farm was the farm es- tablished by Luther Tuttle (brother of John W. Tuthill) in 1896 and continued in operation by him until 1922. The next farm south of Luther Tuttle was that of his brother Frank P., who owned the northern part of the present farm of Frank Lubniewski who stopped raising ducks about 1944. The southern part of this Lubniewski farm was established by D. Parshall Tuttle, father of four sons in the duck business-Luther, Frank P., and Richard C. Tuttle, and John W. Tuthill. It is believed that Parshall Tuttle and Brewster Tuttle, who were cousins, were two of the first raisers in Eastport.
Just south of Parshall Tuttle's farm at the southern end of this small stream were the farms of Richard C. Tuttle and George Williams. The latter stopped raising ducks about 1924. In July 1910 R. C. Tuttle bought forty-four drakes from my father. On the west side of the boundary stream between Southampton Town and Brookhaven Town, just south of the railroad, was the farm of William P. Howland (father of Fred P. who had a farm on the east side of the same creek). William P. was one of the earliest raisers in Eastport, according to "Portrait and Biographical Record" of 1896. This sketch on his life states : "When seventeen years old in 1853 he determined to try life on the water and followed the sea for fifteen or twenty years. Although our subject has raised a large number of ducks for the past twenty years, he has not given this business his exclusive attention until within the past three years, and during 1894 raised over 2,000 ducks". He bought drakes from my father in Aug., 1901.
The next farm south was that of Fred Tuttle (son of Brewster Tuttle) who was in the business at least until 1912. The next farm
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south was that of Elisha Cuffee, reported to be a Shinnecock Indian, who raised ducks before 1892. The next farm south is the present Eugene Warner farm established in 1893 by Capt. William H. Mott who was also a dealer in feathers and grain. Ben Seaman (brother of Capt. Gil) owned the next farm south. He was raising ducks before 1893. The farm was later operated by Stafford Robinson who came there soon after 1910 from directly across on the east side of this creek. This is now a part of the present Warner farm. South of the Ben Seaman farm was that of Jesse Rogers. The next farm south was that of Charles Steinke, who stopped raising ducks about 1913. He had raised up to 35,000 a year. Both the Jesse Rogers farm and the Steinke farm were operating prior to 1893. The Steinke farm is now the south part of the Eugene Warner farm. The present Mottus farm down on the end of this neck, on the bay, was started by Ben Seaman who later went north to establish the farm just south of Capt. Mott.
On Seatuck Creek, near the bay, was the farm of J. L. Tyler who bought some Pekins from my father in 1886. This is the present Z. Babinski farm. Tyler had a small farm; he was also a fisherman as my father bought fish from him in 1902. There were several upland farms in Eastport prior to 1900. John Edwards raised ducks north of the village, on the north side of the Country Road, at the extreme northern end of Bay Ave. Manasseh Penney established a farm north of the Country Road, west of the Eastport Country Club. Later John B. Keck and William J. Lukert were in partnership for about a year on the same farm in 1893. They bought incubators and ducks in April, 1893, and in March, 1895, Mr. Keck bought drakes from my father. In 1894 Mr. Lukert went to Moriches where he established the present Lukert farm. Mr. Keck worked on A. J. Hallock's farm at Speonk, presumably to get experience before going into business for himself. Mr. Keck went from Eastport to Amityville where he was manager of a duck farm for a city man, H. D. Klinker.
Pat Collins raised ducks for a while just south and. east of the Keck & Lukert farm. Roy Ketcham raised ducks upland about 1895 on the north side of Montauk Highway, about one thousand feet east of the church, where H. S. Sorrell's garage now stands. Harry Ket- cham raised ducks just to the west of Roy, his brother. They both had incubators. Frank Brown raised ducks just west of the church on the north side of Montauk Highway from about 1896 when he left the U. S. Life Saving Service until about 1901. He raised up to about 3,000 a year. Mr. Brown states that ducks were dry picked up to 1900 and that many farms went out of business at that time because the price went down to ten cents a pound. James Peterson raised ducks upland, just west of Mr. Brown, about where the school auditorium is now located. He started before Mr. Brown and had stopped raising ducks by 1900. He was the father of Mrs. A. K. Smith, duck raiser of East Moriches. Ralph Tuttle raised ducks upland, the third house west of the school house on north side of Montauk Highway. He was in the business before 1896 and had gone out of business by 1902. He was one of the largest upland raisers. Ralph and his father, George H., were the only ones in the grain business with a storehouse for feed
L. I .- II-30
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in Eastport prior to 1900. It was located on the duck farm. They delivered feed by horse and wagon to the duck farms and if they had any feed left over out of a carload they stored it in their warehouse so that they had a supply of feed on hand for the raisers. My father bought feed from them in May, 1903. Later they opened a warehouse south of the L. I. Railroad Station where the new duck packing plant is now being built. Later the Brooklyn Elevator & Milling Co. used this building to establish their Eastport branch warehouse there. This building has just been moved to the west of the new duck packing plant.
Another upland raiser was William M. Edwards and his father, Moses, who raised ducks on the north side of Montauk Highway in the western limits of the village a short distance east of the branch railroad to Manorville. Later Wmn. M. Edwards raised ducks upland about 1891 on the Eastport Country Club grounds on the Country Road. Brewster Tuttle raised ducks upland on the south side of Montauk Highway, south of the school house, about one hundred feet east of River Ave., where Wm. M. Edwards now lives. Mr. Tuttle bought Pekin drakes from my father in September, 1888. He was probably out of the business by 1900. In 1906 and 1907 my father bought many wagonloads of grass for duck feed from him.
At East Moriches, southeast of the village near the bay, is located the present Stanley Ogeka farm, established about 1895 by H. D. Terry who was in business up to at least 1913 as he wrote a testi- monial on May 20, 1913, to the Candee Incubator Company. At that time he had 10,200 egg capacity incubators. Later his son-in-law, Mayhew Tower, operated the farm. Samuel S. Overton had a small farm in the eastern part of the village, a short distance south of Montauk Highway, directly south of the present garage of F. D. Anton & Son. In addition to raising ducks he also had a blacksmith shop north of his duck pond and to the north of his shop was the wheelwright shop of George Baker. This entire property is now known as Frank Anton's Garage. Mr. Overton raised about 1,000 ducks a year from 1893 to 1895 when he moved to Center Moriches and established a duck farm on the west side of Senix Ave.
Directly south of East Moriches on the bay was located the duck farm of Edward E. Brown & Deforest Hulse, operated from 1907 to 1910. In 1910 Mr. Brown established his own farm in the western part of the village on Bay Ave., where the farm is still in operation. Mr. Hulse also started a farm on Bay Ave. in 1910, the present Stanley Chornoma farm. On Bay Ave. the first farm south of and abutting Montauk Highway is the farm established by A. K. Smith in 1914 and still in operation under Mrs. A. K. Smith. Directly south of this farm is one established in 1911 by his brother Robert who operated it until 1913 when he was killed. His brother Townsend took the farm over in 1913 and it is now operated by the latter's son Walter R. Directly south of this farm is that of Reginald L. Smith who estab- lished the farm with his brother Robert in 1905. It was operated by both until Robert established his own farm in 1911. The next farm south was established by Deforest Hulse in 1910. It was operated by Erving Robinson from 1912 to 1917 and is now operated by Stanley Chornoma.
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George Sargent established the next farm south, buying the land in Aug., 1895. In 1906 Walter Chichester took the farm over and is still the owner although his son-in-law, John G. Leary, is operating it. Edward E. Brown established the next farm south in 1910 and it is still in operation under Mrs. E. E. Brown. Joseph Podlaski operates the next farm south. It was established by Dr. James Mad- dren in 1912. All of these seven adjoining farms on Bay Ave. are
Electric Incubators Showing the Author
on the west side of the road. At present there are twelve duck farms in East Moriches.
Charles Warner (brother of Eugene, Eastport raiser) was prob- ably the first one known to raise ducks in Center Moriches, beginning about 1885. He raised about 300 a year for two years, leaving Center Moriches in 1887. He raised ducks first in Center Moriches on the east side of Senix Creek about midway between Montauk Highway and the bay. Later he moved back to Center Moriches and after residing there some time he started to raise ducks again on the east side of the first stream cast of Senix Creek, west of Ocean Ave. and east of Union Ave. He continued in business up to about 1924. In 1920 or 1921 Mr. Warner bought Purina chicken laying mash for his duck breeders; probably the first commercial mixed feed used on a L. I. duck farm.
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On the west side of Senix Ave., on West Senix Creek, is the present farm of Clifford B. Bowditch, started by him and R. A. Tuttle (son of Brewster Tuttle, Eastport raiser) in 1912 and operated as a partnership until 1919. The next farm south is that of Victor Jaroszewicz. It was formerly two old farms; the north one owned by Isaac Smith from 1888 to 1911, then operated by R. A. Tuttle down to the present owner, and the south farm established by Samuel S. Overton in 1895, later operated by Eggelston & Deary for about two years and by Merritt from 1914 for about two years. Below this farm was one established by Elkana Robinson in 1891 and operated until 1894. Another farm south of this was established by Al Seaman in 1897 and operated about two years; in 1913 Fred Edwards & Hamm operated it for about a year; Hamm & William Smith ran it from 1914 to 1915 and Walter Newins from 1915 to 1917, after which it was no longer used as a duck farm.
On the next stream west, a branch of Forge River, are located two adjoining farms. The north farm was established in 1891 by Stephen B. Wilcox who came from Speonk after raising ducks there for several years. He was killed shortly after by a well caving in. The farm is now operated by his son, Chester H., who is president of the L. I. Duck Farmers Association. There are twelve illustrations of this farm in the 1902 catalogue of the Prairie State Incubator Co. In 1908 the capacity of the farm was 20,000 to 25,000 a year. The farm produced 90,000 ducks annually by 1922. The next farm di- rectly south was established by T. V. Cox about 1906 with R. A. Tuttle as manager. Before the advent of electricity (March, 1916, at Brushy Neck, Speonk) Mr. Cox, according to information available, was the only raiser to use lanterns at night in his duck buildings to quiet the ducks. About 1926 W. G. Matteson took over the farm and is still raising ducks there. These two farms are on the west side of Old Neck Road. At present there are five farms in Center Moriches.
In Moriches there are now seven duck farms but only one has been long established. It was started in 1894 by William J. Lukert who raised ducks at Eastport before going to Moriches. It is now operated by his sons.
At Brookhaven, just south of the railroad station, on the east side of Railroad Ave., is the farm of Egnatz Leszkowicz, probably the third largest duck farm on L. I. It comprises what were three separate farms. The southern part of the present farm was estab- lished by Victor T. Knies in 1905 who operated it for about a year or two. Tony Savage operated it later. The other two farms were started much later. An interesting side light on the originator of this farm, Mr. Knies, is that he came out to Speonk in 1899 to visit my father. Later he wrote to my father from New York City on Oct. 23, 1899, stating that he was still looking for land suitable to start a duck farm. He had been out to Lake Ronkonkoma but could not find a suitable tract of land. He wanted to locate on a creek and said he expected to go out soon to Patchogue.
There is a duck farm at South Haven on Carman River, between the Montauk Highway and the railroad, established in 1922 by Charles E. Robinson.
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Gallo Bros. have a farm at East Patchogue, north of Robinson Blvd., established by them about 1920. They raise about 150,000 ducks a year. To my knowledge there are no farms at present west of Patchogue raising market ducks.
There was a farm at Islip established in 1920 by Roy E. Pardee, who is now Town Clerk of Islip Town. The farm was discontinued in 1936. He and I took the poultry course at Cornell University in 1919-1920. He worked on the Hallock farm at Speonk for a few months to learn the business, as other duck raisers had done before. He was the first L. I. duck raiser to have an electric incubator. In 1915 he spent six months in Pekin, China, "looking for outstanding white ducks, but found nothing to compare with those grown here on L. I. In fact most of the so-called white ducks were gray or had black spots or a few black feathers. They weighed about 3 to 31/2 pounds". Mr. Pardee had two aunts at Baldwin who made quite a reputation with ducks in the 1890's. They bought drakes from my father in Feb., 1891.
There was a duck farm at Amityville established about 1895 by H. D. Klinker who bought 260 breeders from my father on Sept. 13, 1895. John B. Keck, manager of the farm, came from Eastport where he had a duck farm prior to that. He reported in the 1901 catalogue of the Pineland Incubator Co .: "that out of 22 Pineland Incubators he recently hatched over 8,500 ducks".
In the December, 1887, issue of The American Poultry Journal was an advertisement of Blithewood Poultry Yards, Parkville. Kings Co., which read as follows: "Long Island poultry and eggs are justly celebrated the world over. Pekin Ducks - Eggs in Season".
On July 27, 1905, a Mr. Harrington who, presumably, had a duck farm at Wantagh, bought 20 drakes from my father.
Since writing the above I have learned of the existence of two more early farms at Westhampton. They were located on the east side of Beaver Dam Creek. The first farm just south of the Montauk Highway was established by Frank Gordon who was out of the business by 1905. Just south of him was the farm of Daniel Skidmore who bought 18 drakes from my father on Oct. 15, 1895. He too raised ducks only a few years.
William Bonner had a duck farm at Rockville Centre established in 1902. He had an advertisement in the January 15, 190S, issue of Farm Poultry, advertising Pekin ducks (eggs, ducklings and breeders). He introduced new blood in his flocks by imported Japanese ducks.
This completes all the old duck farms known to the writer on the South Shore of Long Island.
There was a farm on Fishers Island (part of Suffolk Co.), in L. I. Sound, operated by E. M. and W. Ferguson according to a letter of Oct. 3, 1899, written to the Cyphers Incubator Co. They raised Pekins mainly for the summer hotel trade there. At Flanders is the oldest known duck farm on the north side of Long Island. This is the present Thomas I. Havens farm established by his father-in-law. Samuel S. Griffin, about 1885. Mr. Griffin followed the sea from 1865 to 1885 when he came home to manage the farm. By 1895 he was raising 5,000 ducks a year besides large numbers of turkeys and
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geese. The farm is located on Peconic Bay. Mr. Griffin obtained his first breeding ducks from his brother-in-law, George Foster, at Pon Quogue (Hampton Bays). This is still the only farm in Flanders at present.
In Aquebogue there are four farms. The L. E. Hulse farm on Peconic Bay Blvd. was established by Mr. Hulse in 1913 and is still in operation. Harry Corwin established in 1913 the present farm of Harry Corwin & Son. The present farm of Joseph P. Celic was established by John Warner (father of Hollis, Wesley and Olin - all duck raisers) in 1914. William Worm was the next owner and Mr. Celic came there in 1936. This is probably the second largest duck farm in the world.
Apparently the first duck farm. in Riverhead was established by George Pugsley about 1892. It is now the eastern part of Hollis Warner's farm at the extreme eastern end of Riverside Drive, on the north side of the road, across from A. B. Soyars & Sons farm. Mr. Pugsley operated the farm until about 1897 when Joe Worm took it over. Dennis Homan was the next owner. Hollis Warner, the present owner, with the production of two other farms, now has the largest duck farm in the world with a yearly output of about 500,000 ducks. In 1897 Mr. Pugsley left this farm and went west of Riverhead to establish a duck farm, now owned by Carmine Bruno. Asa D. Fordham established in 1894 the present A. B. Soyars & Sons farm selling out to Mr. Soyars about 1902. Luther Skidmore started a farm south of Riverside Drive, about three-quarters of a mile west of the Pugsley and Fordham farms, about 1897. He oper- ated it only a few years up until his death. Mr. Skidmore built and used some of his own incubators. It has never been used as a duck farm since.
At Upper Mills, about a mile west of Riverhead village, is the farm of Carmine Bruno established in 1897 by George Pugsley. It is on the north side of the main road to Calverton and probably pro- duces a heavier duck on an average for the entire season than any other farm, due to the fact, supposedly, that the ducks are not as crowded as on most farms and have access to good water and shade during the hot months. Careful selection of breeders no doubt is another important factor. There are now eleven duck farms in Riverhead.
In Calverton the first farm was started by Porter Howell in the fall of 1914. This is the present farm of Olin F. Warner. There are now five farms in Calverton. There is a small farm, recently estab- lished, at Manorville by Stanley Horton.
This completes the history of the early duck farms in each village as far as known to the writer, who would appreciate additional information on any farms not mentioned.
INDEX
Acadian French exiles, I, 284-285, 395; II, 114 Act of 1807, II, 279 Adams, Dr. James Truslow, I, 52 Adams, John, I, 101 Adelphi College, II, 310 Agricultural advancements (Riverhead), I, 201 Agriculture, II, 17-34 Air Mail, First Official, II, 417 Air Mail, First Transatlantic Service, II, 430 Albany (Fort Orange), I, 5, 32, 52, 83 Alexander, William, Earl of Stirling, I, 49, 59 Algonkins, II, 331 Allen, Ethan, II, 56 Amagansett,. I, 232, 236 America, The, I, 519 American Journal of Science, The, I, 1 American-Marconi Company, I, 376
American Naturalist, II, 2
American Population Before the Census of 1790, II, 313 American Poultry Book, The, II, 439 American Presbyterianism, II, 38 American Reader, The, II, 301 American Revolution, I, 91, 352, 355, 371, 376, 393, 395, 404, 410, 414, 415, 417, 431, 433, 436, 462, 491, 537; II, 24, 99, 339 Amityville, I, 364, 365, 380-381
André, Major John, II, 98, 476
Andrews, Roy Chapman, I, 232, 536
Andros, Major Edmund, I, 71, 73, 218, 269, 277, 410, 459, 488; II, 36 Andros Patent to Musketa Cove, I, 4SS, 489 Antiquities of Long Island, I, 109, 224 Appalachian Region, I, 13 Apprentice Library, I, 514 Aquebogue, I, 19, 185, 189, 194
Arboretum, Bayard Cutting, II, 273 Archaeology of Long Island, The I, 17-24 Argall, Sir Samuel, I, 30
Argyle Park, II, 263
Armstrong, Major Edwin H., I, 376 Arnold, Benedict, I, 98, 476 Arnold, Lt. H. H., II, 417 Articles of Confederation of Perpetual Union, I, 104 Artist Lake, I, 6 Asbury, Bishop Francis, II, 100, 103 Ashamomoque, I, 147-149 Assembly of 1685, I, 73
Astoria, I, 7, 398 Atlantic Communications Company, I, 332
Audubon, John James, II, 164, 167
Augsburg Confession, II, 135 Augustana Synod, II, 132
Avery, Humphrey, I, 269 Aviation on Long Island, II, 409-437 Ayres, Sister Annie, I, 316
Babylon, I, 1, 3, 104, 224, 237 Babylon, Town of, I, 359-387 Babylon Railroad Company, I, 374, 375 Babylon Village, I, 382 Bailey, Paul, I, 380 Baiting Hollow (old Fresh Ponds), I, 184, 193 Baiting Hollow Station (Calverton). I, 194
Baiting Place Purchase, The, I, 360 Baldwin, I, 417, 423-424 Ballad of the Swabs, The, I, 544; II, 387 Bank Holiday, II, 352 Bank of New York, The, II, 339
Banker's Association, Nassau County, II, 343 Banking, II, 339-360
Banking Act of 1838, II, 343
Banking, Suburban and Rural, II, 339
Banks of the State of New York, Historical Directory of, II, 340 Banks and War Bonds, II, 357
Bar Beach (North Hempstead), I, 434
Barentz Island, I, 69
Bassett, Preston R., author, Aviation on Long Island, II, 409 Bates, John Pettit Greene, I, 102
Battle of Fort Neck, I, 109, 115 Battle of Long Island, I, 89, 90, 91, 98, 278, 288, 322, 327, 395, 537; II, 319, 339
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