USA > New York > Queens County > Newtown > The annals of Newtown, in Queens County, New York; containing its history from its first settlement, together with many interesting facts concerning the adjacent towns; > Part 14
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1706 to 1720.
The last legal proceedings touching the controversy with the three Dutch towns, left the people of Newtown apparently the victors, and for more than ten years nought had transpired to lessen their advantage. On the contrary, holding to the " let- ter of their patent," and pursuing what seems to have been a favorite policy, they had kept the field and striven to preoc- cupy the lands in dispute. This so chafed and inflamed the feelings of their Dutch neighbors, that, in the spring of 1706, a party of the latter proceeded in a riotous manner to vent their wrath upon the dwellers on the disputed territory. News of this disturbance reached the ears of Gov. Cornbury, who, on April 18th, informed his council of "a riot committed lately in Queen's county, by some of the inhabitants of King's coun- ty, occasioned by the uncertainty of the bounds of Newtown, Flatbush, Brooklyn, and Bushwick;" and his excellency un- derstanding that all parties were willing to submit their diffe. rences to that board for decision, the council directed that they be summoned to appear. But, on the meeting of the parties, the same month, the counsel for Bushwick stated that his
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clients objected to a decision of the question by that board. At the same time, the trustees of Flatbush presented a peti- tion "setting forth that they claimed no right to the lands whereon the riot was committed; but that the town of New- town, having encroached on their lands, prayed thereby, that the lines of the said town of Newtown, on which they are bounded, might be run in the presence of some of the honor- able board." Newtown agreeing to this, and also to abide the decision of the council, it was ordered that the surveyor general run the line between these two towns, in the presence of Col. Wenham and Mr. Phillipse, two members of the council. It was likewise ordered, "that for preventing fu- ture riots and unlawful disputes, the bounds of Newtown patent, which is of the oldest date, be esteemed to be within the limits of Queen's county, till the matter in controversy be determined, and that no waste be committed on the pre- mises, till the determination thereof." On the 6th of May ensuing, the people of Newtown vested Thomas Stevenson, Joseph Sackett, Sen. Richard Alsop, and William Hallett, Jun. with ample power to act in their behalf against the three opposing towns, and to determine their disputes, " either by law, or compliance of themselves, or by arbitration, which shall be thought properest and shall be advised by their coun- sel learned in the law."
Though on the point of an accommodation with Flatbush, it appears that nothing permanent was effected; however, the dispute seemed now to transfer itself to the parts adjacent to Bushwick, where the people of Newtown were to encounter a more potent adversary. Gov. Cornbury, who had been dis- tinguished above all his predecessors, for the profuse prodi- gality with which he disposed of the public lands of the pro- vince, conceived the idea, that there was a tract of ungranted land lying between the Newtown and Bushwick patents. By his order, Peter Cortelyou set about the investigation of this fact, and made a survey of the disputed lands. Running the west line of Newtown patent from near the house of John Denman1 in a south-east direction, till it met the north-west
1 The location of John Denman's house is uncertain, but it was probably that before referred to as " the Pole's house," which I have said stood on or
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corner of Jamaica patent, he thus left between Newtown and Bushwick some twelve hundred acres of land, which would fall to the government, should the survey be confirmed.
None of the inhabitants of Newtown were present at this survey, but both towns were now summoned before the go: vernor in council, and an examination made of their several surveys, patents, and evidences, though the counsel for New- town declared that they were not empowered to lay their cause before that body for adjudication. They were thereupon di- rected to obtain such power. But the case had now assumed a new and unforeseen aspect; the people of Newtown per- ceived the danger of submitting to a decision by the council, now so valuable a bait was presented, and they publicly re- solved, Dec. 27th, that they were "not willing to leave the abovesaid difference to that board." But Lord Cornbury, with views the opposite of those expressed by his predecessor, Fletcher, determined to proceed in the matter, notwithstand- ing the dissent of both the parties. Graham and Cortelyou, having explained their respective surveys to the council, were directed again to run out the lines of the two towns, in the pre- sence of Messrs. Beekman, Van Dam, Wenham, and Phillipse, or any three of them. This having been done, his excellency declared his intention to decide the controversy between New- town and Bushwick, on a given day, and desired the gentle- men of the board to prepare to give their opinions thereon.
On Sept. 10th, 1707, deputations from both towns attended, at the council-chamber, and the conflicting claims were argued by the respective attornies, at the conclusion of which, Lord Cornbury solicited the views of his council, which were given thus. Messrs. Phillipse, Beekman, and Van Dam, expressed the opinion "that the town of Bushwick have a good title to the lands in their patent, according to the boundaries thereof." On the contrary, Mr. Barberie urged "that the patent of Newtown, not on record, ought to subsist, and that the vacant land ought to be divided between the said towns." Differing from all these, Messrs. Mompesson and
near the spot occupied by the dwelling of Underhill Covert. Denman owned a farm of one hundred and seventy acres in this vicinity, which included the lands of Underhill Covert and George Debevoise. This farm was sold in 1717, by Denman's heirs, to Richard Hallett, and from him has descended to the present proprietors.
10
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Wenham contended that the statute of Charles I. taking away the jurisdiction of the privy council over estates, made it clear " that the matter in dispute does not lie before this board." Amid these diverse views his excellency preferred to post- pone his decision, and stated that he would take a day to con- sider the case.
But the subject not being immediately resumed, there oc- curred in the interim a shocking tragedy, which arrested and absorbed the attention both of the authorities and the inha- bitants at large. The particulars, as drawn partly from ac- counts written at the time, and partly from well accredited tradition, are these :- Upon property now forming the estate of Peter Marks, deceased, very near the present settlement of Middletown, there lived a thrifty farmer, William Hallett, Jun. who held a portion of the land which his paternal grandfather had purchased of the natives. Near neighbors there were few or none, but his domestic hearth was enlivened by the presence of five children and a fond wife, who was expected soon to add another to their store of conjugal comforts. In the family were two colored slaves, a man and a woman, the former an Indian. Incensed, as was said at the time, "be cause they were restrained from going abroad on the Sab- bath," the woman meditated revenge, and assured her hus- band that if he would only kill the whole family, then the farm and everything pertaining to it would become his own. He at last yielded to the wicked suggestion, and accom- plished the atrocious deed while his victims were asleep. It was on Saturday night, the 24th of January, 1708. Hoping to screen themselves from suspicion, they concluded to be the first to announce the tragedy, and with this intent the female fiend, the prime instigator of the deed, set out early the next morning for Hallett's Cove. Entering a house, her first ex- clamation was " Oh, dear ! they have killed master and missus and the children with an axe, and only Sam and I have escaped." The truth however was too palpable, and the guilty creature soon confessed who was the real murderer. Both were straightway arrested, and lodged in Jamaica jail. Tidings of the affair were at once sent to Gov. Cornbury, who immedi- ately issued a special warrant to the judges, before whom, at Ja- maica, the prisoners were arraigned for trial, and being found
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guilty, were executed on the plains cast of that village, on Monday, Feb. 2d, in the presence of a large concourse of spec- tators. The woman was burnt at the stake; her accomplice was hung in gibbets, and placed astride a sharp iron, in which condition he lived some time, and in a state of delirium which ensued, believing himself to be on horseback, would urge for- ward his supposed animal with the frightful impetuosity of a maniac, while the blood oozing from his lascerated flesh stream- ed from his feet to the ground. How rude the age which could inflict such tortures, however great the crime committed.
A letter written in New-York, on Tuesday, Feb. 10th, fol- lowing, states that the criminals were "put to all the torment possible for a terror to others, of ever attempting the like wick- edness; several other families were designed for the slaugh- ter, had they succeeded in this without discovery; on Saturday last, two negro men were also executed at Jamaica, as acces- sories to this barbarous murder, and several others are in custody ; our chief justices, judges, and attorney-general, are indefatigable in the discovery of this negro plot and bloody murder, and are still sitting at Jamaica in prosecution thereof."
Mr. Hallett was the son of Capt. William Hallett, then one of his Majesty's justices of the peace. He was in the prime of life, and had served the town in various public capacities. The event which so prematurely terminated his life and those of his family, produced a strong sensation in the province, and a law was passed shortly after, making mention of the occur- rence, and entitled, " An Act for preventing the conspiracy of slaves." The dwelling where the murder was committed is still remembered by many, it having remained until the be- ginning of the present century. It was built of brick, and stood in the hollow on the west side of the road, opposite the late residence of Mr. Marks, and within a few feet of the small house now erected there. The well which belonged to these premises still remains in use. With this spot the juveniles were wont to associate the idea of ghosts and hobgoblins; it was noted as the scene of marvelous appearances, witnessed by the timid traveller at the dim mysterious hour of twilight, and was often pointed at by the passing schoolboy as "the haunted house."
When the excitement which this sanguinary affair had
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produced in Newtown was somewhat allayed, Gov. Cornbury, on April 23d, resumed the consideration of the dispute exist- ing between that town and Bushwick, with the intention of passing final judgment. The day previous, the inhabitants of the latter town had sent in a petition praying for a con- firmation of their patent. Lord Cornbury, after briefly advert- ing to the controversy, and the previous action of the board upon it, proceeded to state as his opinion, "that if the dis- pute in law between the said towns concerned the propriety of their lands, that then the law ought to determine it; but the dispute now appearing to him to be of another nature, viz. whether Newtown patent not on record is good ; his excellency said that by what had appeared to him he has cause to believe that there has been some sinister practice used therein, which if allowed in this case, may prove of pernicious consequence in other cases; and therefore is of opinion that the town of Bushwick ought to have a patent of confirmation according to the boundaries of their old patent."
The "Newtown patent not on record," twice alluded to, referred, it is presumed, to the Indian deed of 1656. As Bush- wick based her claim primarily on Gov. Stuyvesant's order, in 1661, authorizing the occupation of the land in dispute, it is to be inferred that the "patent" above mentioned, was of a date antecedent to this. Yet our records afford no intimation that Newtown enjoyed a patent under the Dutch, nor any prior to that of Gov. Nicoll. Besides, it was a fact understood, that no patent was issued from the secretary's office without first being recorded.1 Hence it is rendered nearly certain that the Indian deed of 1656, which was not recorded, is the docu- ment called a "patent " in the council minutes, perhaps an error of the recording clerk. It was to this deed that the peo- ple of Newtown had uniformly referred as the legal proof of their right to the soil, from which, in equity, they derived a far better title than a charter from the Dutch government
1 Mr. Berrien, on entering upon the office of town clerk, in 1704, and giving a receipt for the public books and papers received by him, enumerates " the Indian purchase," and " the old and new patent." This seems to esta- blish the point that Newtown had bnt two patents, namely, those of Nicoll and Dongan. These are recorded in the Secretary of State's Office, i. 105, and vi. 10, of original books of English patents.
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could have conferred. As that deed was doubtless obtained without the consent of Stuyvesant, this, probably, is what Cornbury was pleased to call "some sinister practice."
Pursuant to the governor's decision, a new patent was is- sued to the town of Bushwick, August 12th, 1708, confirming that of Gov. Nicoll, but making no reserve of Smith's Island in favor of Newtown, as was awarded by the arbitrators, and approved by the governors Lovelace and Dongan. But we have yet to behold the crowning act of Lord Cornbury re- garding this affair. He had trampled upon the religious rights of Newtown, and would now show them that their estates were equally at his mercy. Not content with yielding to Bushwick all the territory she had claimed, and assuming the correctness of Cortelyou's survey, he determined to dispose of the twelve hundred acres of land thus left unappropriated, as a munificent gift to certain of his personal friends. On the 27th of September, he gave a patent for this tract to Mrs. Ann Bridges, widow of the late chief justice of the province, John Bridges, doctor of laws; Robert Milward, attorney at law, who, with Dr. Bridges, had accompanied Lord Cornbury to this country ; William Huddleston, Adrian Hoogland, Peter Praa,1 Benjamin Aske, and William Anderson. Eight days before, Cornbury had given to Elias Boudinot the triangular plot of land lying in the extreme southwest corner of New- town's claim, and cut off by the Bushwick patent. And on the 30th of the same month, he granted to William Bond, who had been in the employ of the council as a surveyor, the two small islands in the Sound known as the Brothers, which by the act of 1691, were made a portion of Queen's county.
1 Capt. Praa sold out his interest in the patent (two days after it was granted) to Charles Crommelin, of New-York. The latter, and his father, Daniel Crommelin, were Huguenots, who had been dragooned out of France for their religion. They became wealthy merchants in New-York, and were admitted to freemanship in 1698. The elder Crommelin was a part owner of the Wawayanda patent in Orange county, where, in 1716, he made a set- tlement, calling it Greucourt, after a village in the circle of Grey, in Upper Saone, France. . He died in the city of New-York, aged seventy-nine years, March 22d, 1725, and his remains, with those of his son Charles, rest to- gether in Trinity Church yard. The latter married Hannah Sinclair, in 1706, and died, aged sixty, in 1739. His descendants are of reputable standing among us at the present day.
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Thus summarily and by a most flagrant breach of the pa- tented rights of Newtown, were consummated acts of the gross- est dishonesty, in behalf of persons of whom better things might have been expected, for most of the grantees were warm supporters of the Church of England, and several were vestry- men of Trinity Church. It was by such means as these that Cornbury sought to secure "friends of the mammon of un- righteousness," for he saw his impolitic administration about to expire. These were some of the last drops added to the chalice of his iniquity. So odious was he, that the provinces of New-York and New Jersey united in complaints to the Queen, and obtained his recall.
In anticipation of his removal, the people began to breathe and the inhabitants of Newtown to enjoy with less restraint their religious privileges. Having been for a considerable period without a pastor, the people, in July, 1708, to the number of "some scores," drew up and signed an invitation to the Rev. Samuel Pumroy, of Northampton, Mass. then on a visit to their town, " desiring him to take the care of them as a minister of Christ; promising subjection to his doctrine and discipline, according to the rules of the gospel." Mr. Pumroy took the call into consideration, and at an appointed time gave a favorable reply. The following autumn, the congregation sent two of their number to New England, with whom he and his wife and child came to Newtown, where they arrived safely, on the 18th of September.
Mr. Pumroy was the youngest son of Deacon Medad Pumroy, a distinguished citizen of Northampton, Mass. and a member of the general court of that colony. He married, in 1685, as his second wife, Abigail, daughter of Elder John Strong, and widow of the Rev. Nathaniel Chauncey, the only issue of which marriage was Samuel Pumroy, born at North- ampton, Sept. 16th, 1687. In 1705, at the age of eighteen, he graduated at Yale College, and on July 23d, 1707, married Lydia Taylor, of his native place. He was nearly allied to several noted divines of that day, being a half-brother to Rev. Nathaniel Chauncey, of Durham, whose sister Sarah, born in 1683, married the Rev. Samuel Whittlesey, of Wallingford, and was the mother of Rev. Chauncey Whittlesey, an eminent minister of New Haven.
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He soon enlisted the affections of his people, who at a meeting held Feb. 18th, 1709, resolved, "that Mr. Pumroy shall be settled in the town, and have the town housing, and all the lands and meadows that belong to the housing, for his use as long as he shall be our minister." For his further sup- port, a subscription list was drawn up early in the succeeding fall, to which over fifty persons subscribed such sums as they could afford. And on the 30th of November, 1709, "at the earnest request of the members in full communion, and the rest of the congregation," Mr. Pumroy was ordained a minis- ter of the gospel of Christ, and a pastor of the church at New- town. The ordination service was performed at Northampton, his native place, " before a great congregation," by the Rev. Solomon Stoddard, of that town, the Rev. John Williams, of Deerfield, and the Rev. William Williams, of Hatfield.
Aside from the foregoing, the year 1709, and the two which followed, afford but few notable occurrences. The continuance of Queen Anne's war, led to several requisitions upon Queen's county for troops to aid in expeditions to Cana- da. A number, chiefly apprentices and servants, were induced to enter this service, and suffered many hardships on the fron- tiers, but were not engaged in any military encounters.
In 1711, a census of the town was taken, and showed the population to be 1003 souls, of whom 164 were negro slaves. Of the latter, 100 were above the age of sixteen years, namely, 52 men and 48 women. The white inhabitants were thus classified :- males, 190 over sixteen years, and 227 under that age ; and of females, 207 above sixteen, and 215 under.
The vexatious controversy in which Newtown and the adjoining towns were involved, seemed as far as ever from adjustment. Newtown exhibited an unflinching purpose to contest the validity of Cornbury's grants, and had taken prompt measures to maintain to the letter the bounds of her Indian purchase, though she now found new opponents in the persons of the patentees, Ann Bridges and company. Assert- ing their ill-gotten rights, the latter entered suits against such of the inhabitants of Newtown as were settled on their patent, and succeeded in ousting them. The town undertook their defence, and on May 23d, 1712, deputed Judge John Coe and Richard Alsop to appear at court, in New-York, in behalf of
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the persons ejected; which gentlemen, together with Robert Field,1 and Capt. Joseph Sackett, were also by a vote then taken, and by an instrument in writing, dated on Oct. 23d succeeding, fully empowered to treat with the neighboring towns, and settle all differences as to boundaries. In 1713, they added to the above persons Thomas Stevenson, Joseph Sackett, Jun. and Peter Berrien, and levied a tax of a hundred pounds on the purchase lands, for the defence of the township, because, says the record, "the inhabitants of the towns of Flatbush, Brooklyn, and Bushwick, one Elias Boudinot, and
1 The Fields, of Newtown, were of respectable English origin, and are believed, by those who have investigated the subject, to have sprung from the ancient family of De La Feld, or Delafield, after their removal to Eng- land, from the Vosges Mountains, in France, as stated in Burk's Landed Gentry. The first of the family in this town was Robert Field, whose father, Robert, was a patentee of Flushing, in 1645. As early as 1670, the younger Field was a landholder of Newtown, where he subsequently held the office of overseer. He died, April 13th, 1701, leaving four sons, Robert, Nathaniel, Elnathan, and Ambrose. Robert, the person named in the text, married, in 1690, Phebe, widow of Samuel Scudder. He was a prominent member of the society of Friends, and owned the farm, now of the widow Vanderveer, near Newtown village, which at his death, Jan. 28th, 1735, without issue, he left to his nephew, Robert Field. His brother, Elnathan, died aged, on Jan. 3d, 1754. He had issue, Robert, Benjamin, Elizabeth and Susannah, who became in succession the wives of John Sackett, Phebe who married John Coe, and Mary, who married Robert Coe. Benjamin owned the farm now of Col. Hunt, at White Pot, and had one son, the late Hezekiah Field. Ro- bert, the son of Elnathan, was born May 12th, 1698, inherited the farm of his uncle Robert, married Elizabeth Hicks, and died Sep. 19th, 1767, having had issue, Elnathan, Robert, Thomas, Benjamin, Jacob, Stephen, Whitehead, Abi- gail, who married Samuel Moore, and Deborah, who married successively Daniel Betts and Waters Smith. Of these sons, Elnathan and Benjamin re- . moved to Middletown, N. J. where they left families. Whitehead had sons, Daniel and Austin. Jacob married Charity, daughter of Thomas White- head, and died in his 82d year, April 26th, 1815. His children were Mary, who married Samuel Blackwell, Elizabeth, Henry, and Jacob, whose widow survives. Stephen, the sixth son of Robert and Elizabeth, remained on the paternal farm, married Helena, daughter of Thomas Whitehead, and had issue, Frances, Deborah Smith, now the widow Van Dam, Sarah, who mar- ried Thomas Keeler, Waters, Hannah, now the widow of Jacob Field, Rich- ard, and Stephen. The latter, born Oct. Ist, 1774, married Sarah, daughter of Samuel Blackwell, and died April 15th, 1828, having issue, Abigail, Hellen, wife of Cornelius Luyster, Sarah Maria, now deceased, Robert M. of New- York city, Stephen, and Cornelia.
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Ann Bridges, with divers other people, have and are endeavor- ing to encroach upon the right of the purchase and general patent of said town of Newtown, by entering writs of eject- ment upon the people of said town, and by suing them in actions of trespass and otherwise." To provide further means for conducting the public suits, the above committee were em- powered to sell "the town-house and land adjoining to it." Subsequently, considerable public land, and finally all that re- mained unoccupied, was sold for the same object by order of the purchasers. The last survivor of the original purchasers, Capt. Richard Betts, died on Nov. 18th, of this year, at the patriarchal age of a hundred years. None in the township had been so eminent as he, for commanding influence and valuable public services. His remains were interred on his own estate, at the English Kills, on the 20th, with a funeral service by Mr. Poyer, reetor of the Jamaica Parish.
It was now proposed to obtain the passage of a law pro- viding for the settlement of this tedious controversy. Pursu- ant to a petition of the justices and other freeholders of Queen's county, presented to the assembly, May 6th, 1714, a bill was introduced the next day, entitled "An Act for the ascertaining of the bounds of Queen's county." But this bill died in the hands of a committee, to whom on its second reading it was re- ferred, with power to send for persons, papers, and records ; they never reported.
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