Footnotes to Long Island History
Timber Made Big Industry
by
Thomas R. Bayles
By Thomas R. Bayles
At the time
Brookhaven town was settled by the white men, the greater part of the
land in the town was covered with a heavy growth of timber.
Pine was the
most common and the cutting of cordwood was begun at an early period.
The wood growing upon “common” lands was freely used by the individual
owners and perhaps by others. There was danger of abuse in this
practice, and to prevent it, the town trustees in 1813 forbade any
person cutting or selling cordwood in the common lands without first
obtaining a license from the trustees or the majority of the land
proprietors.
Some timber
was used in the early years in the manufacture of pipe staves, and the
manufacture of tar was carried on to some extent. Reference to it is
made as early as 1678 regarding a house occupied by men engaged in this
business which stood upon a piece of land on Dayton's neck, now
Brookhaven. From this the locality gained some reputation as Tarmen's
neck. The industry was of sufficient importance in 1716 that the
trustees levied a tax upon it of nine pence for every barrel made.
Officers were appointed to collect this tax, Col. Floyd on the south
side and Selah Strong on the north side.
The most
important use made of the timberlands was for cordwood, and this
industry grew up in the early days due to the superior transportation
available by boats, and the business flourished until coal was brought
into general use.
Long before
the railroad was built there were numerous landings on the shores of the
town from which wood was shipped to market. On the south bay where the
water is shallow near the shore, piers were built far out into the bay
and small boats were used to carry the wood from shore to them, where it
was reloaded on larger boats. In 1812 the trustees granted the right
for such a pier to Smith Mott. It was to stand a little west of the
Connecticut (Carman's) River, and was to be 25 rods from the shore of
this land, and to be 16 by 45 feet in size.
Previous to
the erecting of any mills for grinding grain in the town the settlers
had to send their grain by boat to Connecticut to be ground into flour.
To relieve this situation Daniel Lane, with the assistance of the
townspeople, was the first to undertake establishing a mill in the town,
and in 1664 18 of the principal inhabitants of the town made an
agreement with Mr. Lane that if he would build a mill and keep it in
repair, for the grinding of the grain of the town, they would erect a
strong dam and besides pay him 20 shillings a lot for the rights they
represented. Also they agreed to pay him two quarts of every bushel of
grain he ground for them.
This first
mill was located at Setauket. As the years went on mills were
established at various places in the town where water power was
available. In 1701 the trustees notified Arthur Futhy that if he did
not put his mill in good condition with in a few months the privilege of
the water power at that point would be sold at public auction.