Footnotes to Long Island History
Town Meeting Day Popular
by
Thomas R. Bayles
The voters of Brookhaven town held their annual spring elections in open
“town meeting” at Coram on the first Tuesday of April for nearly 100
years until 1885. This was at the old Davis homestead, now the home of
Justice of the Peace Lester H. Davis.
Town Meeting
day was the event of the year, and was looked forward to as much as was
the county fair at Riverhead in more recent years. Every kind of
horse-drawn vehicle was drafted into service to bring the voters to
Coram. The old box wagon with boards for seats was the real thing, and
the man who came in a buggy was looked on as an aristocrat.
The wagons
filled with voters came from every direction to the town capital at
Coram, and arriving at the polling place a crowd would be found and each
wagon surrounded by “workers.”
During the
early years the town government was located at Setauket, where the first
settlement was made, but as the population increased and settlements
were made, in other parts of the town, the capital was changed to Coram,
which was more centrally located.
The office of
town clerk was at the home of the elected official from the time the
town was first settled until 1901. For 42 years Mordecai Homan of Middle
Island was town clerk and held the office in his home until 1848.
Benjamin Hutchinson and
his son Henry held the office at their home in Middle Island from 1860
until 1890. In 1891 it went to Yaphank, and while there, the town
trustees adopted the following resolution “Resolved that it is the
opinion of the Board of Trustees that the town clerk’s office should be
permanently located at Yaphank, as it is a central part of town.”
George L.
Chichester of Patchogue was elected in 1901 and took the office to
Patchogue where it has been since located. Apparently the trustees did
not abide by their resolution.
Town meeting
day in Coram was a sort of clearing house and debts matured on “town
meeting day.” Horses were swapped, old acquaintances renewed, the
condition of the crops and farm animals discussed, and a social good
time enjoyed by all. In the road were the baker wagons, oyster stands,
song and dance men, farming implement salesmen and the like. The
Riverhead peanut man was always on hand with his: “here you go, your
three legged, hump backed, double jointed peanuts, five a pint.” Dinner
was served in the town house for 50 cents, but the thrifty farmers
brought their lunch along.
The west
front room of the house was used for voting and the upper rooms for
counting the votes. The justices of the peace acted as inspectors and
also canvassers. The voting lasted until sundown, and on the justices
would step on the porch and call out, “Hear ye; hear ye; these polls are
now closed.” The ballot boxes were then taken upstairs and the work of
canvassing commenced, which often lasted until the early hours of the
morning before being completed. The shaded oil lamps threw a light over
the table and the interested candidates stood looking over the shoulders
of the workers.
In the spring
of 1884 a proposition to vote in election districts was carried, and
this was the end of the “Town Meeting” days in Coram.