Footnotes to Long Island History
by
Thomas R. Bayles
The town of
Huntington originally covered the whole width of the Island at the west
end of Suffolk county. The first settlers made their purchase of lands
from the powerful Matinecock tribe of Indians, who occupied this
territory.
This tract,
covering six square miles in the northwest corner of the present town,
was known as the “Old Purchase.” The price paid for it was six bottles,
six coats, six hatchets, 30 eel spears, 30 needles, six shovels, 10
knives and 10 fathoms of wampum.
The town plot
where the first settlement was made, was located on the present site of
Huntington village. This was divided into house lots and distributed
among the settlers to be occupied and improved by them individually,
while the remaining lands were held and used in common.
Early Church
Upon
one of the beautiful hills in the neighborhood of the original town plot
stands the First Presbyterian church, the lineal successor to the first
church established within the bounds of this town. Its history completes
the chain by which the present is bound to the first settlement. The
first church organization was formed about the year 1658, and the first
minister was the Rev. William Leverich, who came to Salem, Mass., in
1633 from England. He was followed by the Rev. Ebenezer Prime, who spent
his life among this congregation, and it fell to his lot to be head of
this church during the troublesome years of the Revolution. He died in
1779, after having seen the British soldiers take possession of his own
house and while the invaders were still making havoc of his property.
The first
church was built in 1665 in a valley a short distance west of the
present church, and remained in use until 1715 when the frame of a new
one was raised in its place. The site did not agree with the wishes of
the congregation so the frame was taken down and moved to the top of the
hill, where it was completed and remained in service until Long Island
fell into the hands of the British at the beginning of the Revolution.
The British soldiers stripped the church of its inside equipment and
used it for military purposes.
Bell Taken
The bell,
which had been an object of admiration and pride, was carried away,
broken and finally returned. The church itself was finally torn down by
the same hands and the timbers used in construction of barracks for the
soldiers quartered in the town.
During the
latter part of the Revolution an earthwork fortification was thrown up
in the center of the old “Burying Hill,” which contained the graves of
the first settlers. The graves were leveled down and the tombstones used
in the construction of rude ovens and fireplaces for temporary use, and
many of them were broken. These acts of desecration to the memories of
the dead were directed by one Benjamin Thompson. a Massachusetts Tory,
who had command over British troops stationed there.
In addition
to the outrage already mentioned, Dr. Prime in his history states, “It
would seem that during the whole war no stone was left unturned to annoy
the persons and injure the property of the inhabitants. Their orchards
were cut down, their fences burned, and the scanty crops they were able
to raise were taken by a lawless force for the use of the soldiers.”
When the
troops first entered the town, the officers housed their horses in the
pastor’s stables, and cursed the “old rebel,” as they called him. They
took his house for their quarters, broke the furniture and tore leaves
from his most valuable books so as to make them worthless. This was a
sample of the treatment accorded the residents of Long Island during
those seven long years when the British were in possession of the
Island. The present church in Huntington was built in 1784.
Boilers
abroad the Navy’s new aircraft carrier Forrestal provide steam for a
plant of more than 200,000 horsepower.