Footnotes to Long Island History
Town Holdings Swelled
July 7, 1955
by
Thomas R. Bayles
(This is
the third in a series of articles being written in conjunction with the
Setauket-Brookhaven town tercentenary by Advance historical writer
Thomas R. Bayles.)
Beginning
with the original purchase in 1655, the proprietors of the town
gradually added to their holding by additional purchases from the
Indians.
On June 10,
1664, Tobaccus, sachem of the Unkechaug’s, (sometimes called the
Patchogue tribe) who inhabited the south side of the town, sold to
Governor John Winthrop of Connecticut the whole tract west of Bellport
to the Islip town line at a creek called Nampkee, in the western part of
Blue Point. On this tract are the villages of Patchogue, East Patchogue
and Blue Point. This lay undeveloped for many years and was not annexed
to Brookhaven town until 1773 by an act of the colonial assembly. From
that time on the section grew rapidly, especially after the Revolution.
The same
day Masseteuse and the Sunke-Squaw, together with Mayhew, sachem of
Setalcott, sold to the town the tract of land from Mount Sinai or
Nonowantuck to Wading River. Old Field was bought from Wyandanche some
time prior to 1659. All these deeds and others confirming them are
recorded in the town records at Patchogue.
The town
was first incorporated by a patent from Governor Nicolls on March 7,
1666, confirming the title to all lands which had been bought or should
afterwards be purchased from the Indians within the territory bounded on
the west by a line running across the Island at Stony Brook, and on the
cast by a line running across the Island at Wading River. The names of
Capt. John Tucker, Daniel Lane, Richard Woodhull, Henry Perring and John
Jenner appear as patentees in this document.
On November
19, 1675, the Setalcott sachem, Gie, with four other principal men of
the tribe, confirmed to Richard Woodhull, acting for the town, all
former grants, and conveyed to him all the unsold land within the limits
named in the patent as far south as the middle of the Island. The same
month Woodhull transferred his title to these lands to the inhabitants
of the town. This grant and confirmation of former grants appears to
cover all the land claimed by the Setalcott tribe from Stony Brook to
Wading River.
A tract of
land on the south side extending eastward from the Connecticut river to
the Mastic river, and north to the middle of the Island, was purchased
from the Indians by Col. William Smith in May, 1691, and a patent was
granted by Governor Fletcher in October, 1693. This included all the
South bay and islands in the by between the mainland to and including
the beach, from a certain inlet called Huntington East Gut (now Fire
Island) to a place called Cuptwauge, the west bounds of Southampton
town. The lands included in this patent were confirmed under the title
of the Manor of St. George.
The tract
of land extending from the eastern bound of Col. Smith’s former patent
to the line of Southampton town was confirmed to him by another patent
from Gov. Fletcher in 1697. This whole section in the southeastern part
of the town included the Manor of St. George, Halsey’s Committees were
appointed to investigate the character and reputation of proposed
settlers, and if they did not prove satisfactory to the townspeople,
they were directed to leave within a specified time. No individual
inhabitant was allowed to sell of lease real estate to a stranger not
accepted by the town as a proper person to become a member of the
settlement. By enforcing these restrictions, the society of the first
settlements was kept measurably free from undesirable persons.