F 129 .R6 ne Copy 2 % PRESKNTKl) liY • 3HE X IS "I" €> 3E1. "5r OF THE TOWN OF RIVERHEAO Ti "Written by Hon. George Miller, and read by T. M. Griflang, Esq., at tlie Centennial Celebration, July 4, 1876. > ■»♦» < The town of Riverhead embraces all that part of the town of Southold, as Cf)n8tituled by statute, bounded north- erly by the Sound, easterly by the east line of the Albertson farm, so culled, extending from the Sound to the bay, and chiefly b^longi'ig to tlie late Israel Fanning; southeily by Peconio Bay and Pecoiiic River, and wet-terly by the town of Brooktiaven. The origi- nal east line of that town extendeil from a pepperidge tiee stsinding '-'at the head of a small brouk that runnetli into the cre< k called Panquacnnsuck," (which is Wading River cieek.) north to the Sound and south io the ocean. That tree stood nearly opposite the house late of Gabriel Mills, deceased, now of Robert H. Corbelt, and has ever been regarded as the bound be- tween the towns. The territory west of the said north line and east of the Wading River creek belonged to Brookhaven. but that to«?n ceded it to Riverhead, on condiiitju that the latter town should support a pauper that lived there. The patent of the town of Southold was bounded on llie south by u line running from the head of Jied Creek to the head of the said brook at Wad- ing River. It crosses Peconic li'wev at Riverhead in the neighborhood of the present waste gate, and from thence westward. It has always been a known line, and a landmark between the iiivisions of land lying north and south of it. The land on the south was granted by the Colonial Governor to Chief Justice Smith by a patent bound- ed on the west by the Brookhaven line ; on the northeast by thi« Manor line to Red Cieek ; thence southeast- erly by a line extending from Red Greek to the head of Scat'ick It is believed that ihe portion ol thivs patent lying between the Manor line and Pe- conic River was joined to the town of iiouthold by the e;triiest legislative di- vision of the townn, and that people of Southold purchased of Judge Smith the land north of Pecon.c River and allot- ted it. There is nothing in the records of the town of Southold to show that the proprietors under the patent of tlutt town ever made a recorded allotment of" their hinds now within the town of Riverhead But most of the proprie- tors took the lands severally allotted to them without entering the same on record. Il appears that in 1G59 the proprietors granted to John Tooker and Joshua Horton the privilege of building a saw mill on Peconic River, with a little land. Tooker in Hll conveyed 400 acres of land to Jubn Parker, bounded cast by Parker's land, south by Pecotiic River, west by wiJ" ow Cooper's land, and north by tlie Sound. Talker owned ibe land on the south side of the river. In 1726, by deed of jjilt, John Parker conveyed to Joseph Wickham and Abigail Wick- ham, his daughter, all bis land north of Peconic River, to the said Josepii for life and then to his daughter and her heirs. Her husband died iti 1749. His widow died in 1780, and her old- est son, Paiker, inherited her estate, which was confiscated alter the war and purchased by Gen. Floyd, who Bold thn property to Mr, Ja- bard an 1 Wells Gi iffing built the sloop McDonough, the first vessel built in Eiveihead after the war. They run her until 1825 and then sohi her and built the sloop Pacific. Atterwards Oapt. Jmies Horion bought the Mc- Donough. rebuilt her and run her many years and sold her. She is now in Connecticut and was seen in New York last summer in quite good condition. Beiij itnin Brewster liought tiie grist mill of William Alliertson and run it some years after the war of 1812. During this lime it was burnt, Mr. Brewster got his idsurance and fehuilt the mill, "-etting it on an elbow of the dam, which he cirritda cousiderahh; distance northeast from the former site. When he sold his bote}, about 1808, he bnilt the house late of Hub- bard Griffing, decer.sed, which be oo- cnpied until he sold the mill to Ezra Hallock. Ill 1824 the grist mill was overhanh.'d, and greatly iiuproved with new water wheels. In that summer the water was drawn oif the mill pond, causing, as was supposed, C(;nsiderablo sickness and some deaths. In 1825 the village had considerably aJvanced and increased, Moses C. Cleve- land had det up a shoe shop, and Jedediah Conkbn a blacksmith's shop, both of whom were active business men. There were three stores, kept by Llijah Terry, Will- iam Jagger and William Griffing, Jr. Since then business and population have greatly increased. There are now some 20 stores, three drug shops, fom dentists, lour butch- er's shops, five physicians, six lawyers, five churches and a largo Union School, Gift Th«» Soaietf' Tlie Long Tshind House still occupies a part of the original hole) owhed by the Grifliugs I'JS years ago.and owned by some o/ the family nearly ever since until it was purchased by John P. Terry, the present landlord. Henry L. Griffin owns a large liotel near the railroad, or part of the Griffing farm, built in 1862. The Suffolk Hotel, kept by John Cor- win, was built on a part of the same prop- erty in the year 1825, first as a dwelling, afterwards greatly enlarged, and kept as a hotel since 1834. The large brick store on Bridge street was built in 1854 by David F- Vail. John Downs built his biick block on the corner of Main street and Griffiag ave. in ]871-2. The Messrs. Hill built their th-ee story double brick siore on Main street in 1874. Dr. Thomas Os orn was the first phy- fiicLm in the village and the only one tor thirty years. He commenced practice very early in this century and died in 1849 Dr. Joseph Doane practu^ed in this village 12 years and died in 1847. Dr. Conk- lin was the Itiist physician in the town. He lived and practiced at Lower Aque- bogue. Kiverhead has two Engine Companies. The first, Red Bird, was organized in 18.33. It has now two hand engines and 40 mem- bers ; Gilbert H. Ketcham foreman. The f^ec^nd, Washington, was organized in 1862. It has one hand engine, and a new steamer purchased ii\ 1875 ; members 36 ; Oliver A. Terry foreiuan. The Kiverhead Savings Bank was organ- ized in 1872 — Richard H. Benjamin then and stid Pr«:sident, with twenty Trustees whose services are gratuitous. It has av- eraged more than one new depositor for every day since, has paid $113,000 to its depositors, and has now invested over $200,000. Its influence has bet u very be neticent. An early individual enterprise was per- formed by the l-ite Isaac Swezey, kSr., by which in 1818 he dug a canal over 80 rods long and moved his grist mill from the dam on Little Biver tu the village at the verge of the Great Uiver. Charles Hallett has contributed much to the growth and materia! prosperity of the village. In 185G he started a planing mill, using to some extent both steam and water power, which finally passed into other hands. In 1860 he built a steam planing mill on tlie north side of the river, which did a large business — th« first year to the amount of $22,000, and in the years 1873 and 1874 the business amouated to $125,- 000 a year, and his pay roll was $3^,000 in 1873 and $.34,000 in 1874. Heha^now rented out the steam mill, which is run by Weeks & MiUard, we believe prosperously fur the times. In 870 Mr. Hallett started a paper mill for making board paper of straw. In 1872 he started a tiounng mill, which he has now fitted for making flour by the newpioccss, and is ruuning the mill with much success, commanding patronage, by the railroad, Irom Queens county. His paper mill has been ujuch improved by new inventions, ada ted to the pressure of the times, so as to make a very superior board that can be sold at a profit. The village of Kiverhead has received great benefit from the improvement of the channel of the river. Congress has made three appropriations, amounting in the ag- gregate to $25,000, and the State has ap- propriated !ji;5,000, all of which has been carefully expended in deepening the chan- nel with a steam excavator. The result has been not only very favorable to navi- gation, but it has caused the water to run off" at low tide nearly a foot lower, while it very unexpectedly prevents as high a rise of water as formerly with an east wind, rendeiing great advantages to the mill stream and making the adjoining lots and gardens, cellais and wharves more com- tortable and valuable. Further appropri- ations are necessary to make the work com- plete. It is believed that $20,>pid]y in agii- cullural wealth as Norlhville. That village and the whole extent of the north road to Wading River, prove that the early hislo riaus of the town miscorceived the charac- ter of a large part of the lands in the town ni)t then brought under cultivation. They are in fact valuable for that purpose and have been much improved within a few years. Wading River more than 50 years ago had a- good deai of enterprise in the coast ing business, and built some valuable ves- sels for that trade and launched them into the Sound. The railroad, which has done so much for the prosperity of other parts of the town, has rather tended to retard the growth of this place. The village of Jam^sport has come ioto being within the last half of our Centennial period. It is built on Miamogue Point. The wharf was built in l83;i and the hotel in 1836. It has grown to be a considera- ble village and is very pleasantly situated for a su ; rLcr resort, enjoying great advan- tages for the navigation ef the bay. At about 1797 Jeremiah Petty built a F rge for making bar iron, on Peconlc Riv- er at the Forge Pond, where he did busi- ness until his death, after which, in 1799, the property was purchased by Solomon Towcsend of New York, who did business there for a while, and after his death and in 1818 the property was sold by his ad- ministrators to Bartholomew Collins, since which time but little business has been done with the large water power of the mill pond except as a reservoir for the mills below, and since 1870 the water has been drawn off during the summer for the purpose of cultivating cranberries on the bed of the pond. The samn use is now being made of the pond above on Ihe same stream by draining it and yet using the water of the river above by means of a ca- nal The Upper Mills, so called, one mile above Riverhead village, on Peconic river, was the site of a grist mill, ful ing mill and saw mill, all owned by Richard Albertson, the fiither and then the son, and built late ill the past centmy. In 1828 John Perkins became a proprie- tor in the water power and established a woollen fiictoiy, which has been continued ever since. It was ever regarded as very valuable to the people on both sides of the Island, and facilitates the transition from spinning and weaving ch'th at home t3 carrying wool to the factory and taking manufactured cloth in return The factory was run during the life of Mr. Perkins, who died iu 1866, and since his death by his sons, who are merchants in Riverhead. The present woolleft factory was built by Mr Perkins in 1845. LAW. The first Court-house was built in Riv- erhead in 1728. The Couit was first held on the last Tuesday in September, 1728. An order was entered that all process should be returnable at the County Hall, and that is vvhat it was called. Before thai the Courts appear to have been held alternately in the towns of Southold and Southampton. The first term of the Com- mon Pleas was held after the war on the last Tuesday of March, 1784. EzraKHom- medieu and Abraham Skinner were both then admitted to practice as attorneys and there appears on the records no other law. yer. Mr. L'Hommedieu was Clerk of the County, which ottice he held 26 years, dur- ing which time he was for one term a Member of Congress and raauy yeaisa State Senator, besides having a very large practice as attorney, having over 80 writs returnabie in the Common Pleas in one year Daniel Osborn, the father ot Ihe late Hull Osborn and of Dr. Themas Osborn, was a member of the bar and a Member of As- sembly in 1787; he died in 1801. Hull Osborn was a practicing lawyer in River- head for many years until 1817, and was for one year Clerk oi the county in 18 lU. He died iu 1834, very highly respected as a man and a lawyer. The other practicing lawyers in early times were George Smith of Smilhtown — he moved ta Connecticut — Jos Strong of Orange county, wIjo moved into this county and practiced law a number of years, and Silas Wood of Huntington. Eliphalet Wicks of Jamttica, a man of high biauding, practiced law in tbe county many years These are all the members of the bar who i^ad ceased to practice in the coun- ty btfore 1825. The following are the lawyers that were practicing in Suffolk county when tho writer came to the bariu 1825: Abraham Skinner, Chas. A. Floyd, Selah h. Strong, William P. Buffett, Abra- ham T. Kose, Hugh Halsey and Daniel Robert. All these, together with every oflicer who then attended Court, have passed away except Mr. Robert, who is still living in New Utrecht. His office was in New York, but he attended all our courts and was one of the .eadmg advocates until 1831. The first Judges were Selah Strong, the elder, Abraham Woodhull, Thomas S. Strong, Joshua Smith, Jon ithan Conklin, Hugh Halsey, Abraham T. Rose, William P Buffett, J. Lawrence Smith. George Mil- ler, Henry P. Hedges and John R. Reid. The last four are still living. ILe following persons have been Mem- bers of Assembly from this town : Capt. John Wells, Usher H. Moora, who was also a member of the Constitutional Con- vention in 1821 ; C;.pt. Noah Youngs, John Terry, David Warner, George Howell, John C Davis, James H. Tuthill. John S. Marcy and Nathan D. Petty. The three last have been members for two sessiots each The first Clerk's office was built in 1846. The new Courthouse was built in 1856. In 1875 the first Clerk's office was sold and a new building erected for Clerk's and Surrogate's offices. RELIGION. At the time of the Revolution it is be- lieved that the only places of worship in the town were at Lower Aquebogue, Up- per Anuiibogue and Wadmg River, the first Presbyterian and the other two Congrega- tional. At Baiting Hollow a Congrega- tional house of Worship was erected in 1802 and built anew about 1839. In 1815 separate worship was set ud by Swedenbor- giaus and in 1839 a house of worship was erected by them. In Wading River the first house was built about 1750 and a new house was erected in 1837- In Lower Aquebogue the first house was built in 1734; it was repaired in 1830 and rebuilt in 1859. The church some years ago be- came Congregational. At Upper Aque- bogue a house of worship was erected in the fore part of the last century. In 1797 a new church was built. In 183.^ it was remodeled and rebuilt, A new church eu- ifice was built in 1862. This society be- came in a measure the mother oi two other congregations. There was a separation of the congregation in 1829 and the seceders built a house two miles east of Riverhead. In 1834 this new congregation harmoni- owsly divided, and one portion took the ine«!tiug-house and moved it to Northville ; the other portion removed to liiverhead. receiving compensation for their interest in the building, and worshiped in the low- ei room of the Seminary building until 1841, when the present Congregational Church was built, which was enlarged in the year 1868. The Methodist Society in Riverhead was organized in 1833 and their first meeting- house was built in 1834 Their present noble edifice was built in 1870. The Swedenborgian Society was organ- ized in 1839 Jheir houses of worship was built in 1855. Before the erection of their church they occupied a comfortable room as a place of worship, which was also used as a school room. The Episcopalians commenced stated worsLio in Riverhead in 187U, and in 1873 they erected a neat chapel. The Free Methodists erected a meeting bouse in 1872. The Roman Catholic Society held ser- vices for several years in the old Court- house and in a house on East street. In 1870 their present haLdsome church and parsonage were erected. At Jamesport a buildiug was erected in 1839 JiUd has been occupied as a p.ace of worship for the Methodist Society since and sometimes as a school house. The village of Riverhead was in 1825 and always had been a part ef the Congrega- tional Society of Upper Aquebogue. Mr. Swezey, the miaister, statedly preached in the Court house every other Sunday at 5 o'clock, or in the evening. The Method ist circuit rider statedly preached in the Court house every other Friday afternoon or evening, and was entertained at Dr. Os- born's. In March, 1827, a stated weekly prayer meeting was established and ever after maintained. In June following a Sunday School with nearly 100 scholars was established in the Court-house and kept up, except that it was not held in the ■winter. In 1828 or 1829 meetings were held and a sermon road in the Court-house at 1 ! o'clock on the Sabbath and kept up for several years. At some time afterwards meetings were held statedly in the Court- house on Sunday evening';, at which the Congregational and Methodist mmisters preached alternately. So the tHO societies grew up together as the population in- creased. We thought then and we think, still that there was much more moral and religious influence for good exercised than if only one denomination had occupied the wnole ground. EDUCATION. There have been great advances in the caase of education since the Revolution. During that war the Island was in poses- s)on of the British, and the people were great sufferers from their troops and from marauders (plunderers they used to be called), who came from New England, so that the opportunities for schools were small ; and then came up a generation dur- ing the war whose education was very lim- ited, and no considerable public provision was made for education until long after the war. Iv the early part of this century there were two schools taught by native teachers that were very commendable for those times, and many young men received an education there which well fitted them for active life. We allude to the schools kept at Upper and Lower W^qiiebogue. the former by Josiah Reeve, afterwards Sheriff of the county, and the latter by Judge Da- vid Warner. No special efforts for extra edncatiou were made until the Franklin- ville Academy was erected in the year 1832. That soon became a prosperous and efficient institution and many young men were educated there It continued to flour- ish for many years and constituted a new era in education in this part of the connty and drew many pupils from other towns. The standard of female education im this branch of the Island was very low up to this time. Indeed it had been so through- out most parts of the county. When Dr. Beecher preached at East Hampton his wife taught quite a class of female schol- ars from difleient parts of the county. The influence of those scholars told very favor- ably upon the communities where they were afterwards located. With that ex- ception we know of no schools in the coun- ty for the speciiil education ot ff-males. The oppoiluuitics of girls in the two academies of East Hampton and Hunting- ton were in those dnys very secondary. Indeed academics afforded inferior oppor- tunities forthoiough education They were generally taught by young men who had little primary education, but had devoted their efforts to the classics and msilhemat- ics suffijientiy to pass through college, and during theii ; rogle^s to a profe;siou taught academies and high schools, imparting chiefly such learning as they had acquired. Female education had been overlooked or neglectea, and thoiougb primary instruc- tion nearly as much so In view of this state of things Dr. Josh- up- Fanning and the writer undertook to orgiuize a Female Seminary, and in the year 1834 we erected the present seminary building in the village of Riverhead. In the spring of 1835 the school was begun rtit'i good success. Its object was to give thoiough instruction in all the priir.ary branches of an English ediication, with Latin and Mathematics. The effect of tiie school was almost magical upon the com- munity. The ideas of people in regard to female education were rai:ed more than one bundled per cent, in a short time, and the ditference in the estimate of people in legard to thorough primary education soon became great and told upon the academies of the county, and the examination day at the close of the terms were lor years among the proudest days of Iliverhead.* At the b?giunuig it was s-upposed that young ladies must be educated in exclusive schools, but this was after a while lound to be a mistake with us, and it is now gen- erally conceded that schools of both sexes can be best governed and instructed. This stmmary and nearly all other schools in Riverhead have been supersedtd by the Union School, established iu 1871, which has been a great success. A school of this kind acts under the sanctiou of the law and is amenable to the judgment and * When this was read at our Centennial our neiglibors were nut entirely satisded, and request- ed that it sliouid appear lliat Miss Leonard ot Mas- sacliu etls taught the Seminary in its tirst years, an.i afterwards as Mrs. Miller taujjlitit at different limes, iu all uventy one years. , good sense of the whole ommunity, and lias advantages for oiscipline and eood gov- ernment which can never be enjoyed by a private school. HEALTH, Riverhead is believed to be remarkable for the healthi'uluess of its climate. There have been no prevailing climatic diseases iu the village in 52 }'ears. The make of the earth is such that there can be no stag- nant water above or below ground, and water for use is dniwn Irom pure white sand, yhich makes it perfect in quality, while it is as cool as persons in poor health should dii'sire. Summer diseases, which ai times prevail in almost every village, have never been prevalent here. At the south of Riverhead there is a pilch pine barren seven mile's in extent, over which the ocean breezes pass, often loaded at the start with log and dampness, which are absorbed by the dry country over which they pass. Fogs are very cora'- mon on the south side but rare at River- head In the spring the aroma Irom the pine growth is often perceived in the south- erly breeze by strangers. This dry pine country is probably little inferior to the pine barrens at the South, which are often sought by invalids. It undoubtedly has a lavorable effect upon the health of the vil- lage. The same causes, we think, render Jamesport equal if not superior to any wa- tering place en the north side of Peconic Bay. It is easy to chronicle events but not al- ways si) easy to relate with accuracy the moral state of a people or community as it bears on past and present times. The state ot things now and fifty years ago iu regard to morals and good government is vastly different, and the question is have we ad- viinced? Are there proportionally more happy families, and more children trained to kuowleuge, yiitue and industry? The truth is, that if we would have advance- ment in the right direction we must go still further and higher. There must be great reforms iu every department of the govern- ment, and the people must hold ti.eir serv- ants to a responsibility not thought of here- tofore. There can be no doubt tha^ there have been great changes iu some of the moral and Social relations of the people. In re- gard to intemperance the change is great. In 1828 the liquor drank iu the town was live times as much as it was two j^ears af- terwards. The first temperance meeting in lliverhead was held lale in January 1829, when 17 signed the pledge. At the * next meeting a fortnight later tlie signers •were doubled and the consumption ot liq- uor was undoubtedly lessened one half in three months. Before that liquor was al- most everywhere. Every merchant and man of Imsiness kept his open bottle. On every public occeision drunkards abounded. But as soon as the principles of total absti- nence was adopted a change came over the community. At the very next town meet- ing the people all went home before night sober. At the next launchii'o^ of Capt. Henry Horton's vessel no liquor was used. Fishermen abandoned it ; nierchauts who sold other goods quit the sale of it. The people soon saw clearly, what fifty years lias proved to be true, tliat even the mode- rate use of liquor is not necessary but hurt- ful, and that sound morals and good gov- ernment require that its ha: itual use should be abandoned. It would be hard to esti- mate the amount of temporal blessings this great leformation in principle and practice has caused to houseliolds and individ als. O if some of our temperance Iriends would only get the foulisli crotchet out of their heads that no man is fit for any office if he ■will not at once vote for total prohibition, we might soon prove by the laws we liave "whether we are in a condition to have laws more efficient than tlie Local Option Act If they would join in oue party or the oth- er the' great body of honest voters of llie State in the present struggle to elevate the standard of official duty and purify the pol iticsof the country, they will find them- selves standing on a much firmer basis for further assistance from the laws. Let us be sure, if possible, that men are honest and capable whom we support for office, but never let us reject such because ihey are not for prohibition where such a law is not in question. Our advantages for educatioa and llie training ol children are vastly greater than they were 40 or 50 years ago, but do we improve lliem as we should? Are children and boys just passing to manhood restrain- ed as they should be? The foundation and corner stone of gO(jd government is that boys should never be sufl'ered to run at large in the streets in the night time. Lax- yess in lliis matter is preparing children tor the si (Ughter. Above all things, if pos- sible, make your family a happy liome for your children. In no point of view have I for 35 years looked upon tlie young ladies educated at our Seminary with so much in- terest as with the hope that they would ac- quire knowledge and training that would tlie better fit them to make their homes happy, with the more skill to control chil- dren and youth under their care. We looii with L'reat hope for the good influence of our Union school in this matter. We could not well say less in regard to moral questions which have afiecled us bo deeply i n time past and must for lime to come. \Ve enter upon the second century of our national existence under very aus- picious circumstances and iu nothing so much as the feeling that has arisen among thoughtful and true men ot all paities that tlie standard of morals iu politics, and iu the conducting of our National and State goverunieuts, must be greatly elcvattd. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 014 205 249