USA > New York > Suffolk County > Southampton > The early history of Southampton, L. I., New York, with genealogies, 2nd ed. > Part 11
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9. The present pastor is the Rev. Arthur Newman.
A Methodist church was organized here in 1820 and is now in a flourishing condition.
*W. S. Pelletreau.
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THE EARLY CHURCH.
The first church was erected probably in 1695, when the parish of Bridgehampton was organized. It stood about half-way be- tween the main north and south street of Sagg, and the street leading from Bull Head to the beach. It was situated on a road , now closed up a little south of the present residence of Hon. Henry P. Hedges.
The second church edifice, erected in the year 1737. stood about fifty rods from Francis' corner, eastward on the north side of the street, and half in the street and half in the lot. The stepping stone before the entrance door still remains in situ. It stood un- til 1842 when a new church was erected which is now used. In 1764 Whitefield preached one of his great revival sermons in this second church.
The " New Light" church stood about five rods from the main highway, between South and Bridgehampton, on Rufus Rose's lane, and on the west side of the lane. The building itself was removed to a site near the residence of Dr. Wright, and is now oe- cupied as a dwelling house.
SAG HARBOR CHURCHES.
Sag Harbor began to be settled about 1730. No full history is given of this place, since a work giving its history in detail is already prepared by Luther D. Cook, Esq. The first church edi- fice in this village was Presbyterian, and erected in 1766. John Foster, of Southampton, Wm. Hedges, of East Hampton, and Maltby Gelston, of Bridgehampton, were appointed at a meet- ing of its inhabitants to solicit aid in their several villages. It stood where the present Episcopal church now stands. The sec- ond Presbyterian church edifice was erected in 1816, and afterwards was sold and became the first church of the Episcopal Society. The third was erected in 1843. The ministers of this Presbyterian church have been as follows : John Taylor, 1789; James Rich- ards, D.D .; the first pastor, Daniel Hall, ordained September 21, 1797, removed to Shelter Island in the spring of 1806; Nathaniel S. Prime, stated supply, October 26, 1806, to the fall of 1809; Stephen Porter and Mr. Gaylord stated supply each for some months ; John D. Gardiner, pastor, ordamned October 1, 1812, re-
17
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HISTORY OF SOUTHAMPTON.
signed June 16, 1832; Samuel King from August, 1832, till his death in November, 1833; Ithamar Pillsbury, stated supply, 1834-35 ; Joseph A. Copp, pastor, October, 1835, to 1851 ; John Lowrey, 1863-67; William G. Barnes, 1868-72; Alexander W. Sproule, 1873; Edward H. Camp. There are besides those men- tioned, now in Sag Harbor, a Methodist and a Roman Catholic, and two churches for colored people.
CHURCH MATTERS.
A few of the decrees of the General Court will throw some light both ou ecclesiastical matters and on the constant uncertain- tainty and anxiety, if not peril, of our forefathers while living in proximity to another and a barbarous race.
"Oct. 29, 1645. Ordered by Generall Court that there shall be a cessation of taking armes to the Meeting House on the Lord's day from Nov. 1st to the first of March ensuing.
"Dec. 28, 1669. Whereas there was a contest in the towne about a piece of ground to set the meeting house upon, now at a towne meeting it is staked out for that purpose lying upon the front of Isake Willman's home lot. (Liber A, No. 2, p. 51.) " Ang. 4, 1681. At a Town meeting the building of the gal- leries of the church was postponed till another year."
The salary of the ministers in early times was raised by a pro rata tax as appears by the following order :
" At a towne meeting held Feb. 17, 1687, it is ordered and Coneluded by the generall voate of the towne, that if any pson shall faile to pay his Respective Rates to Mr. Whiteing of his yearly maintenance at or before the first of Aprill next ensu- ing after the said Rates shall become Due that then the Constable for the time being shall take by distress the said proportions for the year past, of the severale persons so Defective for the use of the said Mr. Whiteing which is to be at the proper cost and Charge of those soe behind in their rates.
THE PARSONAGE.
" Whereas the towne of Southampton by unanimous consent did set aparte a Certain parcell of Land lying in the ox pasture unto the quantity of Thirty acres and also soe purchased of John
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THE EARLY CHURCH.
Cooper a house lott of three aeres more or less Cituate or lying against the meeting house and Builte a house thereon which said house and Land is now By Joint Consente of the towne put into the possession of Mr. John Harriman upon termes the towne and he hath agreed on which said house and Lands ware so set apparte Devoted or Dedicated by the towne to be and Remaine for ever to the use of the ministry of this towne that so from time to time for ever here after the said house and Lands may all ways be in Redynes for the Entertainmente and use of such minister or min- isters as being called By the towne shall Come and perform the work of the ministrie in this place or plantation and for as much as the said Lands were with much Difficulty spared and procured By the towne for the said use and if the towne should Be frustrate of theire said end By the said House and Land Being hereafter Disposed of otherwise it is not to be Conceved in the eye of reason that theire should probably be found in this towne an other suply for the ministry that would be acceptable to or convenient for any minister that should come to Inhabite and officnate here, wee the Inhabitants of this said towne of Southampton doe thire- fore heare by Declaire order unanimously agree and ultimately Conclude that the said house and and Lands sequestered or set apparte as afforesaid shall according to the Reall Intente of the towne Be and Remaine from time to time and for ever to ye use of the ministry of our said Towne as the providence of God shall hereafter dispose ministers of the word successively unto us and noe Inhabitante of this place shall ever at any time assume power to Dispose of the said house or Lands or any parte there off from the said use of the ministry without the full Consente of every Inhabitant of the towne that then shall be surviving and this present agreemente and Instrumente to be Binding and of full fource to us our heirs and. successors for ever in witness whereof we have heare unto set our hands this 12 day of Aprill Anno Domini 1675.
" Thomas Halsey, John Cooper, Arthur Howell, James Herrick," (and 46 others.)
The town set apart also land in Sagg for the parsonage, when Rev. Mr. Ebenezer White was called as the first minister of the
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HISTORY OF SOUTHAMPTON.
Bridgehampton parish. Some years later in March 20, 1712 (or 13), the following report was made to the town :
" March the 20th 1712-13.
" Wee the layers out that are hereunto subscribed doe make our return of laying ont the twenty Acres of land granted by the towne to Bridge Hampton for the use of a presbyterian ministry and noe other, and we laid out the land on the west side the high- way that goeth from Mecox to Mr. Wicks and on the north side of the highway that is by James Hildreths lot that he had of Christopher ffoster and wee began at the South east corner and left a highway between James Hildreths and said land sixteen poles wide and run to the westward 50 poles and the highway att the South west corner is eight poles, then we run northward 60 poles and left a highway between John Wieks lot on the North side of East Hampton path eleven rods wide, three poles of it is within Mr. Wicks fence ; then we run Eastward 50 poles, then we run Southward 70 poles and att the south east corner we left a highway between John Wicks and the said land 12 poles wide. " ABRAHAM HOWELL, " THEOPHILUS HOWELL,
" ISAAC JESSUP, "ISAAC HALSEY."
By this it appears the people at Southampton called themselves Presbyterians, and even from the beginning they had ruling elders in the church as witness, Liber A, No. 1, p. 39, where John Cooper is named and styled as such in 1644.
The Presbyterian Quarterly of January, 1859, as cited by Dr. Stiles, in his History of Ancient Windsor, says on this point :
" As to the constitution of the individual church in the early history of New England, it was Presbyterian rather than Congre- gational. This was the case with the mother Church of Leyden, of which Robinson was Pastor, and Brewster a Ruling Elder. They seem to have borrowed their ideas of the proper and scrip- tural organization of an individual church, with searee a modifica- tion from the writings of Calvin. In the French Reformed Church, as is well known, the principles of the Genevese Reformer were more perfectly and constantly carried out than in Geneva itself, and it is to the French Reformed Churches that the Leyden Church refers as the pattern from which they had drawn. In response to certain honorable members of his Majesty's
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THE EARLY CHURCH.
Privy Council, Robinson and Brewster reply under their own signatures to the effect that 'touching the ecclesiastical min- istry, namely, of pastors for teaching, elders for ruling, and dea- cons for distributing the Church contribution, as also for two sac- raments, etc., we do wholly and in all points agree with the French Reformed Churches, according to their public confession of faith.' They add that some small differences were to be found in their practice, but such only as were 'in some accidental eir- cumstances' and 'not at all in the substance of the things.' Yet in specifying these differences, they say, ' We choose none for governing elders, but such as are apt to teach.' 'Their elders are annual, etc., ours perpetual.' 'Onr elders administer their office publicly, theirs more privately.' These are the only matters of difference between themselves and French Reformed Churches, to which they refer in connection with the form of government or the constitution of the individual church. In accord- ance with such views the Leyden Church was constituted. They were of course reflected in the Constitution of the Plymouth Church in this country. * Bailie says, the settlers did 'agree to model themselves ( ¿. e., the people of Hampton, Mass.,) after Mr. Robinson's pattern,' and Cotton speaks of ' the Ply- month Church helping the first comers in their theory, by hear- ing and discovering their practice at Plymouth.' * * The Cambridge Platform (1648) thus recognizes the Presbyterian Constitution of the Church. It says: 'Of elders some attend chiefly to the ministry of the Word, as the pastors and teachers ; others attend especially unto rule, who are therefore called ruling elders.' Again ; 'The ruling elder's office is distinct from the of- fice of pastor and teacher.' His ' work is, to join with the pastor in those acts of spiritual rule which are distinct from the minis- try of the Word and Sacraments.' Among the specified duties, are admission of members; convening the church ; 'preparing matters in private' for more speedy dispatch, etc. * * * In accordance with these principles the greater part of the early New England churches were established. * Of the im- portance of the eldership, Hooker speaks in very emphatic lan- guage : ' The elders must have a Church within a Church, if they
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HISTORY OF SOUTHAMPTON.
would preserve the peace of the Church. Nor would he allow questions to be discussed before the whole body, till the proper course had been resolved upon in the Presbytery or session of the elders.' "
As this was the forming or transition period in American church history, irregularity in practice might be expected and is certainly found. Lechford (Plaine Dealing) writes that there was great difference in the matter of ruling elders, some churches being organized on the present Presbyterian form with elders and deacons, and some without them. The ministers even in some cases virtually exercised presbyterial authority. Josselyn (Two Voyages) says the governments of the churches were Independent and Presbyterial, and each church has one pastor, one teacher, ruling elders and deacons.
In a MSS. written by Abiel Holmes, discovered in a cabinet of President Stiles, it is stated that the settlers of the east end of Long Island were chiefly Presbyterians. The manner of ad- mission to church membership frequently was by a public exami- nation in church, followed by a vote of the whole congregation upon receiving the candidate ; and in other cases the examination of the candidate was in private by the ministers and elders, after which the party was received by the votes of the whole congre- gation.
MANNER OF SEATING PEOPLE IN THE CHURCH OF BRIDGE- ΗΑΜΡΤΟΝ.
About sixty years ago the pews of the church were free, but occupied according to this regulation : Men, called assessors, were appointed to seat the people in rank of age. The oldest and most venerable in the congregation were seated in the front seats - next the less old, and so on till all the seats below were occupied. In the galleries, by common consent, a similar custom prevailed. The young men held the front and the boys were behind them diminishing in age as they approached the walls. Thus a lad be- ginning with the back seat next to the wall would, if he lived to old age, by gradual promotion, have worked his way through the whole church, sitting in each rank successively as death thinned
135
THE EARLY CHURCH.
the ranks before him. The same regulation obtained with the female part of the congregation. A wife always sat in a seat of equal rank with her husband, but always on her side of the house. It was not till pews were annually rented that the sexes were al- lowed to be seated together in the same seats.
In the Southampton church the old men sat in side seats on each side of the pulpit, with the small boys in their front. It was not uncommon for an unlucky boy at play to be arrested by a vigorous box of the ear by one of the old men behind him.
" At a Towne meeting November the 5 1679 It is ordered that Mr. Justice Topping with the Constable and Overseers attended by Henry Pierson shall appoynt all the Inhabitants of this Towne their proper and distinet places in the meeting house on the Lord's day to prevent disorder."
The order of seating has not been handed down, yet something is known. The pulpit was very high, supported by a shaft and projected in front, leaving directly under it a space large enough for a pew called the deacons' seat, in which these officers were seated in dignity, overlooking the congregation. Directly in front of them was the communion table, between which, and the con- gregation, sat the magistrates.
The clock in the church was made in New Haven about the year 1765.
CHURCH BELLS.
The following correspondence in relation to the first two bells from the Records is given as a enriosity :
EAST HAMPTON July ye 25th 1693.
Received then one bord the good shipe friends Adventure of Mathew Howell a small Church Bell waighing about sixty five pound. By order and for the proper accompt and Risque of the Town of Sonthampton aforsaid which I promise to deliver to Mr Walter Mico marcht In London he paying for fraight the danger of ye Seas and winds only excepted having given two Re- cepts of this tenure and deate the one being accomplished the other is voyed. I say Received p mec.
CYPRIAN SOUTHALK.
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HISTORY OF SOUTHAMPTON.
LONDON, Feb. 25, 1693-4.
MR. MATTHEW HOWELL,-
Sir according to your Desire I have caused a New Bell to be cast & itt prones of a good sound but when I came to enter itt I found itt to be prohipetted wth I could not ship wthout ye Lord Tresurers warratt wch wil be chargeable. There is now a Bill in the house of Parlamett for ye free Exporteing of Bells & I be- leave itt will be enacted if not I will find a waye to hang itt in Som Ship & send it you that way. * *
WALTER MICO.
LONDON, May 19, 1694. Mr. Walter Mico writes to Matthew Howell that according to his order of July 25, 1693 for a new bell, he had one east and ready to ship in November, 1693 but could not, it being prohibited by law. But an act for exportation of bells having since passed, he shipped it on that day May 19, 1694 on board the European, John Foy, Master. The bell weighed 173 lbs. and the bill was as follows :
Bell weighing 173 lbs 14d per lb
£10 01 10
Clapper & Screw 11 lbs 7d per lb
00 06 05
All other charges
01 04 11
11 13 02
Credit for old bell 54 lbs 9d per lb
02 08 00
09 05 02
The bell was hung in the church in 1695. It was carted from "Northwest " near East Hampton, by Samuel Cooper.
The bell in the old church in 1843 weighed between 300 and 400 pounds.
In 1843 a bell was purchased for the new church, but broke with- in two years, and another was then obtained weighing about 800 pounds.
A Mr. Boyer came over from Havre in France, with or after Elias Pelletreau, and lived in Southampton. He was a merchant, and boarded with the Pelletreau family. In the year 1729 he had made and presented to the church two heavy communion cups of silver with the simple inscription engraved upon them, " S. church, 1729." Ten years later two others were made with the follow-
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THE EARLY CHURCH.
ing inscriptions : on one "Sought Hampton Church;" on the other, " For the church of Songht hamton, 6 Decembr 1739." The inscription on the tombstone of Mr. Boyer in the Northend burying ground is as follows : "Here lyes ye body of Mr Stephen | Bowyer of Arver in France who | came to this place in ye year 1686 | Departed this life Oct ye 24 | 1730 aged 73 years."
"1645. Ordered by General Court that each family by turns shall sweep out the Meeting House every week, and also from the 1st October to 15th April, make a fire in it on Sabbath morn- ing. A failure to do this to be fined 2s and 6 pence.
" May 14, 1649. It is ordered by Generall Court that the inhabitants of this towne being by the clarke of the band divided into two parts shall accordinge to the sayd Clark's appoyntment, bring their armes to the Meeting House every Lord's day, that is to say, the one half the one Sabbath, & the other half the other next after & that every man shall be provided with 4 charges of powder & shot or balles, hee that fayleth after due warning is to pay to the clarke six pence for every fault accordinge to the for- mer order 3rd July 1648."
SCHOOLS.
From the earliest period of the settlement to this day, a deep interest has always been felt in sustaining the public schools. The character of the original settlers itself secured this in their genera- tion, and their descendants appreciating the importance of eduea- tion, have always sustained the teacher. Some of the earliest records discovered, together with others, are here presented.
Richard Mills who was here as early as October 7, 1650, when he was made freeman, and removed March, 1631-2, writes himself " schoolmaster " once on the town records, in January, 1650-51, showing there was a school here as early as this date.
" 1663, Sept. 22. Jonas Holdsworth is engaged to keep school for two years at 35 lbs. per year.
"1664, Sept. 5. Ordered to build a school house 20 feet long and 15 feet wide before winter at the town's charge.
" 1694. John Mowbray engages to teach six months from the 1st of May to the 1st of November, for 12 shillings per 'scholler,' 18
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HISTORY OF SOUTHAMPTON.
teaching from 8 o'clock till eleven in the morning and from one o'clock till five in the afternoon."
The school-house in use for the latter half of the eighteenth century, and even later, was a large one-story building with a wide, open fireplace in each end. Capacious as the fire places were in the cold winter days, they were piled high with hickory logs, and under the genial influences thus diffused, our grand- fathers and grandmothers played, or studied the old school books that now lie dusty and mouse-eaten in strange nooks and corners, in ancient houses with other garret trumpery.
About the year 1786 the people began to agitate the question of building an academy here, as one was much needed for all the surrounding country. At that time there was not a high school on the island, at which boys could be fitted for college, and they were comparatively few in New England. To undertake this enterprise so soon after the close of the war, when this town like the whole country had been drained of its resources, certainly shows a high appreciation of the importance of learning. But the undertaking was thwarted by a spirit of rivalry in the sister town of East Hampton, and by the superior enterprise of Dr. Bnel, who, learning the purposes of the Southampton people, raised his subscriptions, and promptly obtained a charter from the State Legislature for the Clinton Academy. This was in 1787. The academy at Flatbush was chartered on the same day, and Clinton Academy was one of the first two incorporated academies in the State of New York.
However, the growth of the town at last made it necessary to erect a suitable building for a high school, and in the year 1831 such a one was erected, and for the most has met with a fair degree of prosperity. Since its erection it has exercised a marked and most beneficial influence on the community.
This academy met with a remarkable accident in the summer of 1853. A thunderstorm was passing over the village, and a heavy bolt of lightning struck it about seven o'clock in the morn- ing. The charge divided, part passing down the chimney at one end, and on the steeple at the other. The chimney rested on two tough white oak posts on the ground floor ; one of these posts was
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THE EARLY CHURCH.
riven and split into whips, which were scattered over the room. The charge which struck the steeple also divided - part passing directly downward, tumbling the greater part of the steeple to the ground, tearing holes in the floors of the second and first stories and thence passing into the cellar - the other part of the charge running down the roof, hurled shingles at least twelve rods, and pushed off by main force at the north-east corner, the upper por- tion of the north side of the building for a little space. In the upper room now called the Academy Hall, nearly all the panes of glass in the windows were burst outward by the rarified and expanded air.
Since its establishment about fifteen young men of the village have received their preparatory course within its walls, most of whom have graduated at various colleges ; many other young men from other villages on the Island have also been fitted for college here.
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HISTORY OF SOUTHAMPTON.
CHAPTER IX.
VARIOUS LOCALITIES - RESIDENCES OF SETTLERS - CHANGES OF RESIDENCE - RESIDENCES IN 1865.
Ir is to be lamented that the language of the aborigines, the Shinnecock tribe of Indians, passed away and was forgotten be- fore some one arose to perpetuate it on record. However, it is perpetuated in the names of various localities, though their sig- nification is lost. Other local names on the town records are now no longer heard, and still others exist whose origin is ob- scure. Some changes too in the laying out of streets and the configuration and state of the land have taken place, since the first settlers erected their houses in the forest. The ocean has made considerable encroachments upon the land during this period, variously estimated from forty to eighty rods. The town pond extended as a creek and swamp, at least as far as Huntting's lane. One lane or street has been opened, and another closed - the former Job's lane, or the Academy lane, which was originally a portion of the Sayre homestead, and was given to the town for a public highway by Job Sayre, the son or grandson of Thomas Sayre, the first settler of that name. The only way of reaching the fertile land of the " Necks " was originally around the corner opposite the house where Harriet Reuben Halsey formerly resided ; then, very soon after the settlement, Huntting's lane was laid out as a highway, and finally the grant of Job Sayre succeeded for the same purpose. The first settlers seem to have occupied chiefly the land in the south part of the village, in order to place the barrier of a pond between them and the Indi- ans. In 1884 a new road from the railroad station to Gin lane was laid out and opened, which has not been formally named, but which is being generally called the East road.
The island has been known under various names. By the Delawares it was called Matowacks, and is so named in the grant
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THE SETTLERS.
of New Netherlands, by Charles II., to James of York, and in various other documents. It was sometimes called on the main by the name of Sewanhacky, or the Island of Shells. By the Montanks and Shinnecocks it was known as Paumanake. From Ogilby's America we learn that the town of Southampton had then the musical name of Agawam. March 20, 1692-93, Gov- ernor Fletcher requested the Council to call the island Nassau Is- land, in honor of the King, William Prince of Orange, as he said " that the King's name may dwell among you." This change was decided upon by the Council April 10, 1693 .*
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