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 9
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42
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laws before in force. In fact the transient rule of the Dutch afforded time to introduce but few legislative changes. On the 5th of May, 1674, in pursuance of an order from Gov. Colve, Newtown elected Capt. Richard Betts, a gentleman of great popularity, to sit at Jamaica, with magistrates from the associ- ated towns, as a court of justice for the trial of civil or criminal causes, without the right of appeal, except they exceeded the sum or penalty of 240 florins.
In the early part of this year a treaty of peace was con- cluded between England and Holland, which provided that this province should be restored to the English in exchange for Surinam ; and the new governor, Sir Edmund Andross, arriving at New-York, October 31st, received the surrender of the place, and by proclamation restored the English form of government. The Duke's laws were therein revived and con- firmed, together with such grants and privileges as had previ- ously been enjoyed under his Royal Highness; all legal judicial proceedings during the late Dutch government were pronounced valid, while the inhabitants were secured in the possession of their lawful estates and property. An order was also issued on the 4th of November, reinstating in office for the period of six months, the magistrates, constables, and overseers who were serving when the Dutch came into power.
The people of Newtown, on receiving a copy of this pro- clamation, resolved to send a reply to his excellency. John Burroughes, the clerk, in performing this duty on the 16th of November, embraced the occasion to speak of the grievances they had endured by reason of the arbitrary course of the former English government. The court of assize shared the censure of Burroughes as with honest freedom he expressed the views and feelings of himself and townsmen. But Andross, who possessed a most irritable disposition, and was withal wholly averse to such freedom of speech, took umbrage at the plainness of Burroughes. He forthwith issued a warrant to Capt. Betts, residing at the English Kills, which after inform- ing him that he had received a paper from the clerk of New- town "wherein there are divers unbeseeming and reflecting expressions, particularly upon the authority ;of the general court of assizes," proceeded to direct him "to make inquiry and examine into the matters of the said paper, whether it be
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the act of the said town, or the contrivance of some particular persons," and to make report to the next court of sessions, to be held at Gravesend, on Dec. 17th.
Capt. Betts set about the investigation. A town-meeting was called Dec. 5th, and it being "put to vote whether the town sent the address to the governor, the town generally voted that it is their act: that is to say, the copy of the paper which came from the governor being read in the public meet- ing, voted that the town are willing to send an answer to the governor's proclamation, with thankfulness for his care towards us." Upon the strength of this somewhat enigmatical vote, Mr. Betts proceeded to prepare an excuse for his towns- men, while Burroughes, feeling himself as fully sustained, addressed another letter to Andross, on Dec. 8th, similar in tone to the former.
After the sitting of the court of sessions, both these letters were read before the members of the council, Jan. 8th, 1675, who thereupon directed that their author be summoned before them, together with the constable of Newtown, Jonathan Ha- zard, to whom a warrant was issued authorizing the arrest of Burroughes. On Jan. 15th, Hazard, with the clerk in his custody, appeared before the governor and council. After some deliberation, " the constable was discharged, and the fault of the town passed by upon the favorable recommenda- tion of the court of sessions, at Gravesend, to whom Mr. Richard Betts, a member of that court, had, in obedience to the governor's order, made report of the error of the town, and their acknowledgment thereof." But no plea availed for Burroughes. After a consideration of his case, it was ordered, "that he, the said John Burroughes be forthwith committed into the custody of the sheriff of this city, to remain in prison until some time on Monday next, then to be brought to the whipping-post, before the city hall, and being fastened there- unto, to stand an hour, with a paper on his breast setting forth the cause thereof to be for signing seditious letters in the name of the town of Newtown, against the government and court of assizes, and that he be rendered incapable of bearing any office or trust in the government, for the future."
Monday, Jan. 18th arrived, and at eleven o'clock, Mr. Bur- roughes, then fifty-eight years of age, was brought from his
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prison by Sheriff Gibbs, pursuant to Gov. Andross' warrant, and submitted to the humiliating sentence aforesaid, exposed to the gaze of the populace, and in presence of the common council of the city, who had been requested to attend. As Burroughes' letters have not been discovered, it is difficult to comment justly upon this proceeding. He probably handled the court of assize with some severity, having himself had a personal rupture with that body some years before; but if he was seeking to stir up sedition, it must be admitted that he took a very unusual and honest method to promulge his senti- ments and enlist partisans. But the truth is, Andross was "an arbitrary tyrant over the people committed to his care," and therefore determined to crush, by the imposition of galling penalties, every attempt on their part to make known their grievances or assert their just rights.
The spring of this year was marked by the omission of the usual election for constable and overseers, and the old ones continued to serve till after the June sessions. The reason assigned at that court was, as recorded on the minutes, "noe new election, having not timely notice." However, several regulations were made, in April, for the public convenience, namely, that swine should no longer run in the streets, and " that all the streets and lanes shall be fenced, and gates made convenient for travellers.1
But the year 1675 was marred by events even more pain- ful than the indignity offered to their town-clerk. At the English Kills there resided several individuals holding the religious opinions of the Friends or Quakers, and who had without doubt received the articles of their faith from the lips
1 The farmers early adopted the practice of setting up gates on the public roads crossing their land, so as to exclude strange cattle, and prevent their own from straying. The privilege to do this was usually obtained by a town vote. The first instance I notice, was in 1664, when John Ramsden was permitted "to hang two gates in the highway that goeth to Stevens' Point across his land, provided that he doth not damnify the highway, but that all as have occasion thereof have free passage to drive cattle or cart without damage." A like privilege was granted to others on sundry occa- sions, and these gates were maintained in most cases, I believe, until within a few years, and in several instances are still kept up. It was accounted a serious breach of courtesy, if not a violation of the farmers' rights, for a per- son to pass these gates without closing them behind him.
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of the distinguished George Fox during his recent visit to Long Island. Among them was Thomas Case who assumed the office of a preacher, and at his house at the Kills the faithful were wont to convene for worship. He "set up a new sort of Quakerism," and labored with great zeal to pro- mulgate his views, not unfrequently continuing his meetings for many days in succession. But alas! what extravagancics will men entertain. Inspired with a fancied holiness of his character and office, he " asserted that he was come to perfec- tion and could sin no more than Christ." Nay more, he de- clared himself to be God, but afterwards qualified it and said he was of God. And he maintained that when he should die, he would rise again the third day. Against the people, and often against particular individuals, he would denounce the judgments of the Lord. On one occasion he significantly remarked to John Woollstoncroftes, that he perceived a great smell of brimstone. To which the latter retorted, "he was afraid Case was going that way." One of his adherents claimed to have the gift of languages, and Case, on certain occasions, pretended to raise the dead. Among other vile principles they condemned marriage, and said it was of the devil, perverting that text of Scripture, "The children of the resurrection neither marry nor are given in marriage."
Most strangely were the meetings at Case's house con- ducted ; some singing or making odd noises, and either mov- ing about "in a dancing quaking manner," or "lying like dogs, hogs and cows." Attracted by Case's preaching and novelties, both men and women were led to forsake their families and neglect their household duties. This soon caused trouble. William Smith complained to the town court, May 16th 1674, in substance, that his helpmeet had become no longer such, by reason of her constant presence at these meet- ings. Upon which the court ordered, "that Thomas Case shall not entertain William Smith's wife in his house unknown unto her husband, as he will answer the contrary." This public proceeding gave occasion for an audible expression of secretly cherished prejudices. William Albertus protested that "the Quakers should have no right in court." However illiberal such sentiments, it must be admitted that the fanati- cal conduct of Case and his sect was calculated to excite them.
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The conduct of the Quakers was at length declared to be a disturbance of the peace, a public scandal. Case and two of his adherents, Samuel Scudder and Samuel Furman were reported to the court of sessions, held at Gravesend, June 15th, 1675, whose action thereon is thus recorded. "The court hav- ing taken into consideration the miscarriages of Samuel Scud- der and Thomas Case, Quakers, by disturbing and seducing the people and inhabitants of this government, contrary to the peace of our sovereign lord, the king, do therefore order that they forthwith give security to the value of forty pounds each, before Mr. Justice Betts, for their good beha- viour and appearance at the assizes." Samuel Furman was bound over in the sum of twenty pounds, and charged "to go home about his occasions, and not to disturb the people."
The excitement already produced was now heightened by the improper conduct of Mary, wife of Thomas Case. En- tering the church at Newtown on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 5th, she thus addressed Mr. Leverich, who was in the pulpit : "Come down thou whited wall, thou art one that feedest thyself and starvest the flock." She was led out of the meet- ing by Samuel Moore, the constable, and persuaded to be quiet, but this interruption of public worship was deemed too serious an offence to be passed by, and Mr. Moore pre- ferred a complaint against her at the assizes in October, at which time Case and Scudder were also arraigned for trial. The witnesses against them were Capt. John Coe, Thomas Wandell, David Jennings, John Woollstoncroftes, Jonathan Hazard, James Way and Thomas Morrell, the two latter being "half Quakers." To the charges brought against her, Mrs. Case could only reply that she "went in obedience to the Lord, to declare against Mr. Leverich's doctrine." But the divine agency in this affair being not so apparent to the court, she was fined five pounds. Samuel Scudder, when charged with having written a "scandalous letter " to Mr. Le- verich, acknowledged it, and was sentenced to pay a fine of six pounds or suffer two months' imprisonment, and then to be of good behaviour in the penalty of twenty pounds.1
1 Samuel Scudder was the son of John Scudder, who was born in 1619, and came from London to New England in 1635, and thence to Mespat Kills prior to 1660. He died near the close of that century. His sons were the
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Thomas Case was fined twenty pounds, and bound for his good conduct till the next assizes under a penalty of forty pounds, "and in case of his pursuing his evil practices to the disturbance of the government, or be found amongst any con- course of those which do the like either at home or abroad " he was to be imprisoned without bail or mainprize.
But the year 1675 was not to pass without a third excite- ment among the inhabitants of Newtown. This was caused by the opening of an Indian war in New England which awakened painful apprehensions in the province of New- York, lest the Long Island Indians, influenced by King Philip, the shrewd and powerful sachem of the Wampanoags, and joining the hostile confederaey which this chief was exerting himself to effect among the eastern tribes for the destruction of the English settlements, might carry their savage warfare into the towns and villages of this province. Great alarm en- sued, and prudence demanded the immediate adoption of de- fensive measures. The council at New-York having issued a proclamation in which they endeavoured to allay the fears of the inhabitants by assuring them of the falsity of "the late reports of Indians' ill intents," advised each town on Long Island to prepare some place of security to which they might flee for safety, should the enemy make his appearance.
The people of Newtown, who shared largely the pre- vailing alarms, assembled on October 2d. They selected the meeting-house as the most commodious and defensive posi- tion, and resolved to surround the building with a stockade at the distance of twelve feet from the wall, and to erect two flankers ; the work to be commenced on the eleventh instant and to be completed, "with all expedition," between that and the sixteenth of the month. Every man was to lend a hand said Samuel, and John, the first of whom married Phebe, daughter of Ed- mund Titus, of Westbury, L. I., and died in 1689. His son Samuel died an old man. Aug. 31st, 1764, having issue, Samuel, Mary, who married Peter Renne, Sarah, who died single, and Deborah, who married Daniel Denton of Elizabethtown, N. J. Samuel, last named, married twice, but died without issue, Aug. 31st, 1771. John Scudder, son of John 1st, married in 1669, Joanna, daughter of Captain Richard Betts, and died in 1732, aged about 87, His son John settled at Elizabethtown, N. J. where he died in 1739, leaving sons John, Thomas, Richard and Samuel, whose descendants there are highly respectable.
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till the work of defence should be finished, and a fine of four shillings a day was to be imposed on each absentee.
For further security a military watch was maintained in the village, which the same month was ordered by the gover- nor to be increased to a "double and strict watch " in the several towns, a report having reached New-York that the neighboring Indians were embodying in force, and designed the next moon to lay waste the settlements along the Connec- ticut shore as far west as Greenwich. The court of assize prohibited the promiscuous sale of spirituous liquor, powder and ball to the natives, and to prevent those of Long Island from crossing to the main and holding intercourse with the hostile Indians, it was further directed that all canoes on the north shore of Long Island, east of Hellgate, should be se- cured by the constables of the several towns on the island, and deposited near their blockhouses. Owing in some mea- sure to these precautions, the waves of savage warfare did not reach the shores of Long Island. The brave Philip, the mov- ing spirit in the New England war, and whose very name was a sound of terror to the colonists in this province as well as New England, was slain, after a fierce and lengthened struggle to avenge the wrongs which his countrymen had experienced from the whites, and to sweep off these invaders, who, he fore- saw, must eventually extend their ambitious sway over the en- tire dominions of the red men. The fall of this celebrated chieftain, and the dispersion and ruin of the hostile tribes, ter- minated the war, restored public tranquillity in the provinces, and quiet to the circles of Newtown, so late the scene of gloomy apprehension.
The events just recited did not prevent a due attention to public concerns of a more pacific nature. At a meeting of the town court on March 29th, 1676, and in consequence of a recent requisition of the court of assize, Theophilus Phillips was chosen to the office of packer, to inspect all provisions put up in the township for exportation ; this being the first appointment of this kind in the town. At an annual town meeting, which took place on the day succeeding the last men- tioned date, James Way, of the English Kills, a professed Quaker, was elected to the office of overseer. This affords evidence that the staid and sober portion of that sect enjoyed,
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equally with other men, the confidence and respect of the community. It was only the wild fanatic who distracted so- ciety and set authority at defiance, that forfeited that respect. Of this class was the misguided Case, whom we last saw ar- raigned before a legal tribunal. The discipline then adminis- tered was but a temporary check to his zeal. He still held meetings at his house, to which those of his sect loved to re- sort. As an itinerant also he visited the neighboring towns, proclaiming his tenets and his warnings in the several villages. But while he preached at Matinnecock, in May, 1676, he was suddenly arrested by the constable of Oyster Bay, pursuant to an order from Gov. Andross. The charges made against him are thus expressed in the warrant for his arrest: he " doth continue his extravagant, illegal courses, to the great scandal and disturbance of this colony and government, and hath par- ticularly deluded and drawn away Ann, the wife of'John Rogers, and Susannah, daughter of Henry Townsend; and notwithstanding the demand and endeavour of the husband and father, still deludes, deters and detains them from return- ing, and continuing to their duty ; and publicly from place to place, hath and utters many unfit gestures and words against the law of God and authority, to a general scandal and disturbance."
Again the unfortunate Quaker was immured in a cell, at New-York, and even here he preached with unabated ardor to crowds who came to visit him. The court of assize consi- dering his case, ordered the last fine to be levied by execution, and offered him his liberty if he would give new security of the like sum of forty pounds, for his good behaviour. This he refused to do, and was recommitted to jail, where he lay several months longer, but remained firm in his contumacy. At a special court, held Jan. 12th, 1677, the following order was taken : "Whereas Thomas Case doth refuse to give security for his good behaviour, according to the order of the last general court of assizes ; it is ordered, that in regard thereof, and the great concourse of people resorting to him in prison, to the great disturbance of many of the neighborhood, he shall be so restrained as that no person shall be admitted to come to him as formerly, only the officers to supply him with his necessary provision of meat, drink, &c." How Case was libe-
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rated does not appear, and I leave him without further com- ment upon his erratic course, or the stern necessity for the interposition of the civil authority. As for his sect, it spread even to New England, and into New Jersey, and was widely known as "Case's Crew." Writers of that day give a most unfavorable account of them, and they were disowned by the more consistent Quakers, to whom they proved a source of great annoyance and vexation.1
The year upon which we have entered spread a mantle of gloom over the township. Their pastor, the Rev. William Leverich, died in the early part of 1677. Mr. Leverich ranked high among the divines of his day, as an indefatigable laborer in the cause of religious truth, to which he brought the highly important qualifications of an ardent piety and extensive learn- ing.2 His loss was therefore deeply felt by the people of his charge, who convened a meeting on July 28th, to make pro- vision for the future sustaining of the public worship of God in their midst. After a formal vote to obtain a preacher of the gospel, it was resolved that a house should be built, "for the accommodation of a minister," upon land that had been -
1 Thomas Case lived at Fairfield, Conn. in 1661, and having prior to that, married Mary, widow of Peter Meacock, of Newtown, he removed hither within two or three years. He survived his adversities, and died in 1692, on his farm, at the English Kills, now owned, I believe, by Edward Waters. Having no issue, he left a large estate to his nephew, William Case, son of his brother William. John Case, a resident for a time at Mespat Kills, whence he removed to Simsbury, Conn. was probably another brother of Thomas. His said brother William died in 1727, having had issue William aforesaid, who died in 1716; Thomas, who succeeded to his father's farm in Newtown, but I believe finally removed to Salem county, New Jersey ; and daughters Mary, Meribah, Elizabeth, Abigail, and Martha, to whom the father left all his title and interest in " Martin's Vineyard."
2 An interesting relie of Mr. Leverich exists in the town clerk's office. It is a volume of between six and seven hundred pages, about one hundred of which are occupied by a running commentary on the first fourteen books of the Old Testament, written by his hand, but in part copied from the com- mentary of the learned Piscator. The book seems to have been originally intended by Mr. Leverich as an index to the subjects he should meet with in the course of his study, the pages being numbered and headed with a great variety of subjects, written in Latin and arranged alphabetically. But the design was not carried out, and after the decease of Mr. Leverich the book was given to the town for public records.
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appropriated the previous January "for a minister's lot," situated "between the bridge and Content Titus," the same being identical with the ground on which the building, late the town-house, now stands. Having in mind the controversy about the former town-house, they expressly declared that this house was "not to be anyways sold or given to any man." Yet, for any intimation that appears to the contrary, their pul- pit was vacant for several years, though an ineffectual attempt was made in 1678 to obtain the Rev. Jeremiah Peck, of Water- bury, Connecticut.
The large extent of common land held by the purchasers, and those who had acquired purchase rights, had not been suffered to lie untouched and unproductive. From time to time, as there was need, these met and made grants of land to individual applicants, or authorised the making of new dividends or allotments among themselves, which dividends were always proportioned to the amount of the " purchase right" of each. But, as every one consulted his convenience as to the time of taking possession of and improving his quota of land, the first allotment appears not to have been wholly taken up till 1678. During this year a considerable distribu- tion was made. Early in the spring, the fresh meadow land lying on the west side of the village, and called Smith's Mea- dow, was laid off into lots and apportioned to nine or ten in- dividuals. Late in the season Trains Meadow, which hitherto had also lain in common, was divided into thirty one lots of various sizes, and distributed among the freeholders. And the same year fifty acres of land in Foster's Neck, on " the highway which goes to the salt meadows," were "sequestered and appropriated to and for the use of the minister of said town and his successors for ever." These surveys were per- formed by Jonathan Hazard and Theophilus Phillips, the town surveyors. But these several appropriations were un- equal to the increasing demand; and on Sept. 13th, 1679, it was resolved to have "a second division of the town's land." This allotment was made at the rate of two acres to a shil- ling purchase right.
After a long and serious interruption of public religious worship, it was with great satisfaction that the services of Rev. Morgan Jones were obtained in the spring of 1680.
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After trial, it was resolved, in a town meeting, April 3d, to engage him for a year; and the constable and overseers ac- 'cordingly entered into an agreement with him for the above term, to date from the tenth of the previous March, at the salary of fifty pounds ; the town engaging "to fit the house up" for his residence, and fence the grounds about the same.
Mr. Jones was the son of John Jones of Bassaleg, in Monmouthshire, England, who, there is cause to believe, was nearly related to Col. John Jones, one of the judges of Charles I, and brother-in-law to Oliver Cromwell. From following the plough, Morgan became a student at Jesus College, Oxford, where he was educated, and was by distinc- tion known as Senior Jones. He settled in the ministry at Llanmadock, in Glamorganshire, Wales; but, on the passage of the act of uniformity in 1662, refusing to bend his conscience to its terms, he suffered ejectment from his parish, a noble tribute to his piety. The severer measures which followed, probably led Mr. Jones to take refuge in America. Here he met with a varied fortune. At one time he is found pursu- ing an humble vocation in New England, at another officiating as chaplain under Major General Bennet in Virginia. While in the latter service he met with some curious adventures among the Tuscarora and Doeg Indians.1
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