USA > New York > Long Island historic homes, ancient and modern : including a history of their founders and builders > Part 13
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In 1647 or soon after, John Simonds was named among the proprietors of Hempstead. The spelling of the name on the New
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England records is always Simonds or Symonds, and the identity of this name with that of John Seaman is well established.
On December 11, 1653, Capt. John Seaman united with others at Hempstead, coming from different villages in a remonstrance ad- dressed to the Dutch governor of New York, against the abridge- ments of their freedom and privileges, expressing fears of an arbitrary government ( 1 N. Y. Doc. 552). In 1655 after the war, some of the same men met again.
On December 21, 1656, John Seaman and R. Gildersleeve were nominated by the town, and appointed by the Dutch governor mag- istrates of Hempstead. The inhabitants chose townsmen to regulate their affairs, and on April 16, 1657, an engagement was signed by the two magistrates "to stand by and bear out with full power" the townsmen chosen. On July 25th the town sent Capt. Seaman to the governor to disavow the act of the turbulent spirits, and to say they were content to pay one-tenth which was reserved in the patent by way of rent.
In March 1658, Mr. John Seaman, Robert Jackson and others, by the town vote were to go with the agent of the Montauk sachem to mark and lay out the general bounds of the town lands, to be known by marked trees and places of note "to continue forever." In 1662 he was nominated with others to the Dutch governor to be magistrate, but others were appointed. In 1664 he was appointed with others to assist about the bounds of the town. In 1665, called Capt. Sieman, he was on the jury at Hempstead in the witchcraft case and found no "considerable" evidence to convict the suspected persons, charged only with being suspected. In 1666 he was at Newtown. In May 1669, Thomas Rushmore was ordered to give up to Capt. Seaman the colors he received from the governor. On
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July 3, 1671, it was voted that Mr. John Seaman and Mr. Gilder- sleeve go down to New York and treat with the governor about the castern bounds of the town and have them confirmed and (if they see cause) join with Mr. Terry according to the conditions made between him and the town. In 1673 New York having been recaptured, he on September 4th with others, was chosen by the Dutch gover- nor and sworn in as for Hempstead, and he was dispatched by the governor to the east end of Long Island to demand oaths of allegiance to the Dutch, but was unsuccessful. The next year, 1674, he was chosen to hold court with the schout (sheriff ) at Ja- maica. In 1676 he and others were chosen to lay out Cow Neck into lots on the north side of the town, and on December 7th to lay out the common meadow. On July 7, 1677, there was a hear- ing before the new English governor and his counsel at New York, concerning the bounds to be allowed to Hempstead as conquered territory. It was found unsafe to treat all the private claims as for- feited. On the 12th he attended as one of the townsmen. Proofs were taken of the purchase from the Indians and payments in 1645 and 1656, and of the line run in 1658. The patent of 1677 was granted.
The History of Queens County in referring to the original pur- chase of Capt. John Seaman, says: "The resident Indians of the tract were of the Marsapegue tribe, of whom Tackaporshe was the sachem."
This tract appears to have claimed the attention of Capt. John Seaman and Robert Jackson while acting as a pioneer committee prior to the permanent settlement of Hempstead made by the colony from Stamford, Conn., in 1644, and a large part of it to have been secured by Capt. John Seaman from the Indians at that time, as
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more than 1500 acres of the same lying east of the township pur- chase of the Indians and the Governor Kieft patent, including all the meadow and uplands of Ruskatux Neck were held by him individu- ally. The selection of such a body of land shows the remarkable sagacity of these men, for it is almost certain that the same compact quantity of land of cqual fertility cannot elsewhere be found within the limits of the country.
Capt. John Seaman had eight sons and eight daughters. Some of the sons made their first homes on the purchase, and as patentees and proprietors of the town. It is pretty certain that Capt. John Seaman, his sons and one or two families with the children intermar- ried, Linningtons and Allens, took up and held up to the date of Capt. John Seaman's death, nearly all of the other three-fourths of the purchase. The will of John Seaman the elder, dated August 25th, 1694, gives to his sons some 2700 acres, 2200 of which were in the Jerusalem purchase; to his son-in-law Nathaniel Pearsall, 130 acres, which added to former gifts, and the holdings of the other children, would about take up the timber and meadow lands.
Capt. Seaman was liberal in his religious views and was not or- iginally a member of the Society of Friends, although many of his descendants became prominent in the society. In 1678 Capt. Sea- man and another were chosen to agree with a carpenter to build a meeting-house 30 feet by 24, and 12 feet stud, with a lean-to on each side.
On May 26, 1679, Governor Andros in his attempt to dictate religious services, having ordered Richard Gildersleeve to found Quaker meetings, was informed by Gildersleeve that Capt. Seaman though fore-warned, had a very great meeting at his house the last Lord's day. In this Mr. Seaman adopted a course which he could
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casily defend and bid defiance to his "prosecutors," knowing that a man had a right to use his house as his castle, and could not be legally deprived of this use, even for public accommodation, without just compensation. He was not bound to exclude visitors, but had a right to exclude spies. There was no indication of religious ad- herance by him to the Friends before this. He defended his own right in protecting them from wrong.
In 1682 he was appointed one for managing a controversy about the town title to Cow Neck, and William Nicoll the lawyer, was added, and it was voted that they should have 100 acres each if suc- cessful. In September, 1683, the town by a full vote, appointed him and Mr. Nicoll attorneys to act in claiming Cow Neck. In October, by order of the governor and council, the town chose him and two others to attend at New York, and represent the town respecting its land titles. In 1684 there were repeated and renewed appointments and attendances at New York, the attorneys seeking a new patent with large bounds and having discussions and agreements with the towns of Flushing, Jamaica and Oyster Bay. In November, after a long struggle, 400 acres were given by Flushing to Governor Dongan, 200 acres by Hempstead; and 150 acres were given to John Spragg, secretary. The difficulties were overcome and a new patent with changed boundaries was obtained.
He was one of the signers to an engagement of a specific sum for the support of Mr. Jeremiah Hobart. In December, 1686, the town chose him and Mr. Seaman to answer at New York Mr. Ho- bart's petition respecting his salary. This was one of his last public acts.
In his will dated August 25, 1694, Capt. Scaman made liberal provision for his children. He gave to his eldest son John, the
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twenty-two acre lot, then in his possession where he lived, and a twenty acre lot of meadow on Great Neck eastward, within the bounds of the town. To his five sons Jonathan, Benjamin, Solomon, Thomas and Samuel, 400 acres, according to a patent granted by Col. Richard Nicoll at Jerusalem, within the bounds of Hempstead, and a neck of meadow eastward from the town, called in the Indian tongue Ruskatux Neck, bounded east by the Oyster Bay line and upon Hempstead westward. To his three sons John, Nathaniel and Richard, the remainder of meadow, "whereof one moiety is already conformed unto my son-in-law, Nathaniel Pearsall," with four or five acres of the up-land, "for his common use for vardage for win- tering his cattle" upon the Half Neck, called in the Indian tongue
To his eight sons (naming them as before, except naming Thomas before Samuel), all the upland lving and situate upon Rus- katux Neck, as also upon the neck called the Half Neck, "except- ing the four or five acres confirmed to my son-in-law, Nathaniel Pearsall." To his two sons Nathaniel and Richard, his lot of meadow lying at a neck called Stickling Neck, also a parcel of meadow upon Newbridge Neck; also 150 acres of upland at a place called Suc- cess, by virtue of an order from said town; and to the same a piece of land by estimation 316 acres, at or near the harbor head, so called, being already confirmed to my said two sons by deed of gift. To his eight sons all of his right in the undivided lands in the town of Hempstead. To his well beloved wife Martha Seaman, a home lot adjoining to the land of James Pine, by estimation three acres, dur- ing life or widowhood. At her decease or marriage this lot was to go to his two sons Nathaniel and Richard, in fee. To the same two sons the remainder of his home lot of pasture, and the field at the
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east end of the town called Holly, with the boons, to be equally di- vided. To his wife the half of his dwelling house, and at her death or marriage, to his son Richard in fee. To his son Nathaniel the other half of the dwelling house in fee. To his wife one-third part of his moveables within doors, to give and dispose of as she shall deem meet. To his sons Richard and Nathaniel, the other two- thirds of his moveables within doors, to be equally divided. To his wife six acres of meadow at Half Neck, and at her decease to his sons Nathaniel and Richard. To his sons Nathaniel and Richard, all his arms except his large gun, which should be for the use of all his sons. To his wife one pair of oxen, one horse, one breeding mare, four cows, seventeen sheep, one breeding sow; to his son Richard, one pair of oxen, one three-year-old mare, two cows, one pair three-year old steers; to his son Nathaniel, one pair of oxen; to his daughter Mary Pearsall, two cows and six ewe sheep; to his son Samuel, one pair of oxen, one cow; to his five daughters Martha Pearsall, Hannah Carman, Mary Pearsall, Sarah Mott and Deborah Kirk, two-thirds of all the rest of his flock of neat cattle and sheep; to his eight sons one-third of the same. To his daughters Elizabeth Jackson, some sheep, to be paid her when division was made of the estate; to Nathaniel and Richard all his instruments of husbandry; to his eight sons all his horse kind; to his wife and sons Nathaniel and Richard, the rest of his swine. He appointed executors his wife and his sons Benjamin and Thomas, and requested his two loving friends Thomas Powell and John Townsend, Sr., to be overseers. The will was proven March 25th, 1695.
Capt. Seaman was twice married; his first wife was Elizabeth, daughter of John Strickland, who came from county Westmoreland, England. He was an original settler of Charlestown, Mass., 1629-
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30; made freeman of Massachusetts in 1631. Became a member of the church at Watertown, and was later at Withersfield and Fair- field, Conn. His son Thwaite settled at Wethersfield, and his son Samuel came to Long Island. In 1644 the Charter of Hempstead was granted unto John Strickland, Robert Fordham, John Ogden, John Carman, John Lawrence and James Wood. In 1647 John Strickland shared in the first division of land. In 1650 Mr. Strick- land of Hempstead, by his deputy Jonas Wood, his son-in-law, drew a three hundred pound lot in Southampton. In 1653 Mr. Strick- land, Mr. Washburne and Mr. Gildersleeve were appointed by the authorities at Fort Amsterdam to administer the law and justice in the village of Hempstead to the best of their knowledge and infor- mation, in accordance with their privileges and the laws of New Netherland.
By his wife Elizabeth (Strickland ) Scaman, Capt. John Seaman had issue,
I. John; married Hannah, perhaps daughter of Robert Williams.
11. Jonathan; married Jerie or June.
11I. Benjamin; married Martha, daughter of Edmund Titus.
IV. Solomon; married Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Linning- ton.
V. Elizabeth; married to Col. John Jackson, son of Robert and Agnes Washburne Jackson.
Capt. Seaman married for his second wife Martha, daughter of Thomas Moore, born in England before 1600. He was a ship- builder in Salem, Mass., 1676, and came to Southold, L. I., in 1650. His wife was Martha Youngs, born 1613, daughter of Rev. Chris-
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topher Youngs (Vicar of Reyden, Suffolk County, England), and Margaret Elvin, daughter of Richard.
Capt. John Seaman, by his wife Martha ( Moore) Seaman, had
1. Thomas; married Mary.
II. Samuel; married Phebe Hicks, daughter of Thomas.
III. Nathaniel, born about 1670; married 1695 Rachel Wil- lis, daughter of Henry and Mary ( Peace) Willis.
IV. Richard, born 1673; married 1693 Jane Mott, daughter of Adam and Mary (Stilwell) Mott.
V. Sarah, born about 1675; married to John Mott, son of Adam and Jane ( Hulet) Mott.
VI. Martha, born about 1677; married Nathaniel Pearsall, son of Henry.
VII. Deborah; before 1694 married a Mr. Kink and had two sons, none of the name being on the census list of 1698.
VIII. Hannah; before 1694 married Carman.
IX. Mary; married Thomas, son of Henry Pearsall, and brother of Nathaniel.
X. -; died unmarried.
RICHARD SEAMAN, favorite child and youngest son of Capt. John Seaman, was born in 1673-5, and died July 25, 1749. He was a man probably of liberal education and devotedly attached to the principles of the Society of Friends. Early in life he became a min- ister in the society, and traveled extensively in the service with Samuel Prior for a companion, and a minute of unity from the monthly meetings at Westbury. He visited in 1725, the Friends in New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia. In 1740 Henry Pearsall accompanied him with a minute to visit Friends toward
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Carolina. He was earnest in his efforts to promote the teachings of the Society, and was recognized as a very useful man. At his death, aged 75, he was called "a sound minister of the gospel for many years, having led a solid and exemplary life from his young days." His will dated April 5, 1749, mentions the orchard adjoining James Pine, and names his wife Jane, his sons Richard, Thomas, Adam, Giles and Daniel, his daughters Jane Titus, Sarah Dusenbury, Han- nah Dotv, Elizabeth Townsend, Phebe and Mary, son-in-law Benja- min Dusenbury and cousin Patrick Mott. Will proved April 5, 1750.
Richard Seaman married Jane Mott, daughter of Adam and Mary (Stilwell) Mott, and had issue
1. Richard, born 1694; married Sarah.
II. Thomas, born 1696; married 1722 Philadelphia Titus, daughter of John and Sarah Titus.
III. -- , born 1699.
IV. Jane, born 1701; married James Titus.
V. Adam, born 1704; married 1730 Hannah Pine.
VI. Sarah, born 1706; married Henry Dusenbury.
VII. Hannah, born 1710; married 1733 Isaac Doty; she died 1753. VIII. Giles, born 1712; died 1782; married Letita Onder- dunk, 1735.
IX. Elizabeth; married Townsend.
X. Phebe.
XI. Mary, born about 1720; married William Mott, son of James Mott of Mamoroneck, N. Y.
GILES SEAMAN, seventh child of Richard and Jane ( Mott) Seaman, was born about 1712. He married 1735 Letitia, daughter of Hen-
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drick and Mary ( Foster) Onderdonk, son of Adrian, who came to America from Holland about 1637 and settled in New Castle, Del., removing from thence to Flatbush, L. I., in 1672. He was the son of Andreas of Holland. The legend on the coat-of-arms is Van der Donck. The children of Giles and Letitia ( Onderdunk ) Seaman were
1. Jordan, born Feb. 17, 1743; married 1764 Mary, daughter of Zebulon and Phebe Seaman.
II. Giles (2), born 1748; married Lydia Mott, and had Le- titia, who married Elisha Carpenter.
III. Richard; married 1789 Sarah Smith. No issue.
IV. Mary; married Jacob Hawxhurst.
V. Hannah; married Henry Oakley.
VI. Zipporah.
HON. JORDAN SEAMAN, eldest child of Giles and Letitia (Onder- donk) Seaman, was born Feb. 17, 1743. The History of Queens County says: "From Jonathan and Richard descended Jordan Seaman, a sturdy patriot of the Revolution and judge of Queens county. He was a brother-in-law of John W. and Zebulon." He married Mary Seaman, daughter of Zebulon and Phebe (Valentine) Seaman, daughter of Obadiah Valentine and his wife Martha Willets. This Zebulon was in the assembly at Albany from 1769 to 1775. The assembly offered a premium for the best linen that the assemblymen could produce, they to raise the flax, the wives to spin (and perhaps weave) the cloth. Zebulon raised the flax, Phebe spun the thread, and they took the premium. A specimen of this homespun linen is in the possession of Mary Powell Bunker, compiler of "Long Is- land Genealogies." Zebulon was the son of David, son of Jonathan, son of Capt. Seaman.
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Honorable Jordan Seaman, by his wife Mary Seaman, had
I. Jane, born 1764; married Garret Layton.
II. Esther, born 1766, died Sept. 14, 1834; married Peter Willets.
III. Henry O., born 1769; married Almy, daughter of Richard and Rosetta Jackson.
IV. Zebulon, born Jan. 31, 1771. (See record.)
V. Andries, born 1780; married Sarah, daughter of Israel Underhill.
VI. Rachel , born 1782; married Isaac, son of Israel Underhill.
'Zebulon Seaman, favorite child of Hon. Jordan Scaman and Mary Seaman, was born Jan. 31, 1771. He married Mary, daugh- ter of Thomas Scaman of Jerusalem, and Martha ( Rowland ) Seaman. She was the daughter of Jonathan and Hannah ( Marvin) Seaman. Thomas Seaman above named, was the son of John Seaman and Sarah Allen. He was the son of Thomas, son of Capt. John. Zebulon Seaman by his wife Mary Seaman had
I. Ardon, born Sept. 5, 1795; married March 26, 1817,
Elizabeth Merritt, daughter of Jesse.
II. Mary L., born May 11, 1799; married June 14, 1818, Isaac Wigham.
III. John G., born Nov. 20, 1802; married Oct. 31, 1835, Ann R. Wall.
IV. Charlotte B., born Oct. 31, 1805.
ARDON SEAMAN, eldest child of Zebulon and Mary Seaman, was born at Jerusalem or Jericho Sept. 5, 1795. He was a devout and earnest member of the Society of Friends, and early became a preacher
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in the Society. Though a man of only ordinary education, he had a gift of language, a magnetic and spiritual power, that gave him great power in the Society, and he was much beloved by the members. He was gentle and kind, vet forceful and earnest, and like young Timothy of old, he had the "power of persuasion." He died Feb. 4, 1875. He married Elizabeth Merritt, daughter of Jesse, son of Nathaniel and Ann (Fowler) Merritt. Nathaniel Merritt was a man truc to his convictions, and adhered to the cause of the royal- ists. For this he suffered persecution at the hands of his neighbors. He was a man of spirit and determination, and resented the inter- ference of his neighbors. During the War of the Revolution he was residing at Peekskill, in Westchester county, N. Y. He was finally obliged to leave there, and took his little son Jesse in a small boat and rowed to New York. The rebels sent word ahead, and on his reaching the city, he was met by a mob who would have done him harm, but was rescued by the mayor, who imprisoned him, and sent the son Jesse home to his mother in Peekskill. He was subse- quently released and became more confirmed than ever in his adher- ence to the cause of the loyalists, and organized a company of militia in the king's service. He had been a resident of Westchester county, N. Y., for many years, and was a man of great prominence there be- fore the troubles commenced. He was tax collector in North Castle in 1758; also engaged in the settlement of the leases and releases between Pierre Van Cortlandt and Robert Gilbert Livingston. The lieutenant-governor and assembly appointed him to survey 4151 acres of land in 1760. He was constable of Cortlandt Manor from 1763 to 1766. He was a merchant at Peekskill for some years un- til the beginning of the war of the Revolution. He went to Long Island while it was in the possession of the British, and then entered
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the king's service as captain of a company. In 1780 he had a store at Ravnorstown, L. I. On Aug. 3, 1783, Capt. Nathaniel Merritt's company left New York in the sloop Cynes for New Brunswick. He subsequently opened a store at Gage Town, N. B. He was no- tary public, registrar, surveyor and farmer during the five years that he was in New Brunswick. After the excitement of the war was over he returned to Long Island, and in 1789 he and his son Jesse were in partnership in two stores, one at Jerusalem, where his daugh- ter Elizabeth was born. They had another store in Huntington township. Nathaniel the father, died at his son Jesse's house in Beth- page, May 17, 1803. Jesse Merritt, his son and the father of Eliza- beth, was born at Peekskill. Feb. 20, 1769, and was with his father on Long Island in 1781, when 3.2 15s. 6d. was paid for his schooling. Their home was then at Raynorstown, now Freeport. He went with his father to New Brunswick, and subsequently returned with him to Long Island. He received the following certificate April 17, 1787, from George Sproule, surveyor-general: "This certifies to whom it may concern, that Mr. Jesse Merritt, Deputy Surveyor, has attended my office for some time to qualify himself as a Deputy Sur- veyor, having before studied the theory of that business, and I do on strict examination find him qualified in all respects to execute that duty." In 1788 he requested and became a member of Jericho Monthly Meeting of Friends. He was married by Friends' cere- mony June 5, 1789, at Bethpage, to Mary Cornelius, daughter of John and Mary ( Powell) Cornelius. He became a warm friend of Elias Hicks, and traveled with him through the West in 1828. They held and attended many meetings, often meeting with oppo- sition and persecution. He continued to carry on his business as merchant, farmer and surveyor, and was often called upon to write
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wills, deeds, and to attend to other legal business. He took care of his father in his old age, and made many improvements in the prop- erty at Bethpage, where they resided.
Ardon Seaman and his wife Elizabeth (daughter of Jesse Meritt) Seaman, had issue
I. Ann Merritt, born Feb. 19, 1818, died May 26, 1864; married 1838 Adam Emeigh.
II. Mary Powell, born Feb. 27, 1820; married Oct. 17, 1839, Alexander C. Bunker.
III. Edward Hallock, born March 8, 1822, died September 12, 1891; married June 18, 1848, Martha Althanes Seaman, daughter of Benjamin. (Sec record.)
IV. Caroline E., born Feb. 20, 1829; married Oct. 19, Wil- liam Garner. He died October, 1875.
Edward hallock Seaman, third child of Ardon and Elizabeth ( Merritt ) Seaman, was born at Jerusalem, March 8, 1822. With a limited environment few men have accomplished more or achieved greater distinction locally. He seems to have inherited all the energy, force and strength of character of the Merritts, and the very best qualities of the Seamans. Though not having even a classical education, he was a man of fine intellectual attainments, and a born leader of men. Though trained in the simple faith of the Friends, he followed the bent of his own inclinations regardless of the opin- ions of others. When once he decided upon a course of action nothing could induce him to swerve either to the right or to the left. Long before he reached his majority he became actively interested in the great political questions which agitated the country. In 1848 he was known as a free soil democrat, and had grown to be very popu- lar with the people of Queens county. Had he "trimmed his sails to
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catch the popular breeze" he could have been elected to any office in the gift of the people, but he chose to follow his own convictions, and like Clay he would "rather be right than be president." He was opposed to slavery and became one of the pioneers of the repub- lican party that formed the nucleus of that party in Queens county. He was one of the first thirteen in his native town who voted the republican ticket and assisted in organizing that party in his native county, much against the wishes of his old friends. At the breaking out of the Civil war he was first and foremost in his efforts to aid the government by furnishing the sinews of war. In the political cam- paign which preceded the war he organized a company of "Wide Awakes," which contributed materially to the success of his party, and when hostilities commenced as the result of the election of Abra- ham Lincoln, he did all in his power to promote enlistments, and although himself exempt, and being under no obligations, he sent a substitute. He helped to organize Company H, commanded by Capt. Benjamin A. Willis attached to the 119th Regt. N. Y. Volun- teers commanded by Col. Peissner. He organized a local branch of the Sanitary Commission which sent large quantities of supplies to the army. His time and money were fairly spent in support of the government until the war ended. New issues arose and he became a strong advocate of tariff reform. In 1872 he was sent as a dele- gate to the National convention at Cincinnati, as a liberal republi- can, but was prevented from taking his seat when Greeley captured the convention. The same year he helped to organize the Fifth Avenue Conference which resulted in the nomination of Charles O'Connor for the presidency. He became finally a Tilden Demo- crat and took an active part in the campaign which resulted in the first election of Grover Cleveland.
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