MIDDLE
ISLAND:
A
HISTORICAL SKETCH
by Mr.
Donald Bayles
In 1655 a party of six men
met with the representatives of the Setalcott Indian
tribe near the present community of Setauket and
negotiated the purchase of the first tract of land in the
Town of Brookhaven. The settlement in Setauket was the
principal settlement of Brookhaven Town for many years.
The area in the middle of the Island was referred to as
"the plains" and remained unsettled for 75
years. In 1720 action was taken by dividing large tracts
of land among the 54 proprietors of the Town.
On Jan. 16 1720 land on the
East Side of the Connecticut River from Yaphank north was
divided into 54 lots. On April 17 1728 the land north of
Middle Country Road was east of Miller's south path was
divided into 54 lots beginning at the eastern boundary of
the Town. This was called the Wading River Division of
Great Lots. On May 4, 1731 fifty-five lots were laid out
on the south side of Middle Country Road beginning at the
Smithtown Town line and running eastward to the
Connecticut River. These lots were bounded on the south
by land of Winthrop's patent. On Dec. 10, 1733 the Town
laid out two divisions of 55 lots each on the south side
called the East or Great Division and the West or Little
Division. These were bounded on the east by Major Smith's
land and on the west by Governor Winthrop's land. They
ran north to "the middle of the island". On
March 10 1734 two divisions of 55 lots each called the
West and East Division of Long Lots were laid out on the
north side of Middle Country Road beginning at the
Smithtown Town line and ending at the Wading River
Division. A second division of lots between the
Connecticut River and Yaphank Line was made April 14,
1739. This was north of the earlier division and ran
north to Middle Country Road.
The above divisions of land
completed by 1739 together with Major Smith's land
covered all of what over 200 years later would become the
Longwood Central Schools.
In 1738 the Town laid out 14
acres to Captain Robert Robinson on the south side of the
Country Road just east of the house of Daniel Brewster,
and west of the "great pond" (Artist Lake).
This is the first record I have found of a house in
Middle Island. Daniel Brewster's father was Daniel
Brewster Sr. who was Town Clerk from 1712 to 1737? His
grandfather was Nathaniel Brewster who was minister for
the Town (at Setauket).
In 1745 Stephen Swezey of
Southhold bought 150 acres in this wilderness. Stephen
was the grandson of John Swezey who was one of the six
men that bought land in 1655 from the Indians in the
Setauket area.
The Swezey (swazey) family
is descended from John Swesye who was born in France in
1474 in France where a son William was born in 1496. They
left Normandy in 1524 and settled in Weymouth,
Dorsetshire, England. John Swezey of Southhold was born
in England in 1600, the son of Israel Swazey of Wales.
John emigrated to Salem Mass. In 1629 with two sons
Joseph and John. In 1652 John moved to Southhold and in
1661 received an allotment of land in Aquebogue where he
settled.
Within twenty years after
purchasing his first 150 acres in Middle Island, Stephen
had increased his holdings to 1000 acres, which would
cover much of the West Middle Island area. His homestead
was located just north of the upper Swezeytown pond. The
land was divided among his five sons, Stephen,
Christopher, James, Daniel, and Abel.
The son Stephen received
land from Half-Mile Pond north and built a dwelling 40
rods north of the pond. Christopher's land was about 1000
ft. west of Half-Mile Pond. James received land in 1747,
which extended north from the Country Road to the upper
Swezeytown pond. He built a house about 150 feet
southwest of the Half-Mile Pond. Most of his descendents
moved to Huntington. Daniel'' land was west of the above
three brother's and many years later became the
Wellington Farms. Abel received his father's dwelling
just north of the upper pond. After Abel's death his
family moved to East Patchogue. The last owner of this
land was Elbert J. Swezey who sold it in 1923.
Middle Island
Middle Island - 1873
From "Atlas of Long Island" by Beers, Constock
& Cline - 1873
Middle Island in the 19 th century
Before the 20 th century Middle Country Road through
Middle Island was a dirt road and a traveller entering
from Coram by horse and wagon would see only a few
houses. With the exception of 3 or 4 all of these houses
would be on the north side of the road. The descriptions
that follow uses the names shown on the 1873 atlas
reproduced on the preceding page to identify these
houses. Dates after a name and in parenthesis are the
birth and death dates of that individual.
Immediately upon entering
the West Middle Island School District the home of Samuel
Buel Swezey (1823-1917) appears on the left. Samuel was
the son of Isaac Swezey (d.1856 ) who was the son of
Isaac (d.1807 ) who was the son of James ( 1720-1786).
The house was at the southwest corner of what became the
Wellington Farm of Arthur W. Teele by 1917. That land
extended east to Swezey Lane.
Just east of Swezey Lane was
the home of Oscar F. Swezey (1806-1874) which passed to
his son Sylvester M. Swezey (1827-1904). Oscar was the
son of Stephen Swezey (1756-1833). It was the location of
the C.H. Hagen hotel and store by 1900. In the 1930s
Frank Hines built a tavern at this location which later
was owned by Tim Cronin and then in the 1960s became the
Island Squire restaurant for several years.
A short distance south of the highway opposite to Swezey
Lane is shown as the home of T. Longhing about whom I
know nothing. This is about where William Wycherly lived
in the 1930s and 1940s.
Also about half a mile south
of the highway just passed Swezeytown Road was the home
of Azel R. Swezey. He was the son of Isaac (d.1856) who
was the son of Isaac (d.1807) who was the son of James
Swezey (1720-1786). This property passed to Azel's son
Christopher (1844-1926) and then to Edward F.
(1872-1942).
The next home on the north
side of the highway was the residence of Mrs. Nancy King
located at the northwest corner of Church Lane. Nancy was
born Feb.10, 1812 and was the daughter of Christopher
Swezey of Yaphank. She was left the home by her husband
Thomas J. King (1812-1871) whom inherited it from his
father Rev. Ezra King (1784-1867). Rev. King was born in
East Marion and became pastor of the Presbyterian church
in 1810. After the house burned Nancy King lived with her
daughter Lydia whom had married Joseph H. Randall in
1871. Another house was later built on the site which was
the home of Lawrence Kaminski in the 1930s and later Mrs.
Martha Wissman.
On the east side of Church
Lane (then called the Road to Half Mile Pond) was the
Presbyterian church about which much has been written by
Thomas R. Bayles (my father).
A few feet east of the
church and close to the highway was the school house of
District # 16 (see articles by T.R.Bayles).
About 500 ft. east of the church was the home of Edward
A. Swezey (1820-1890). He was the son of Joshua
(1789-1876) who was the son of Joshua (1763-1843) who was
the son of Daniel Swezey ( 1725-1777). Daniel probably
built the house about 1750. Richard M. Bayles was
Edward's nephew and made this his home until he was
married in 1893. The 1917 atlas shows H.C. Swezey as
owner. Later it was owned by Charles Diffenbach and in
the 1950s and 1960s by Emil Lengyel. The house finally
burned about 1997.
The road then turned to the
north to skirt a swampy area which drained into
Bartlett's Pond to the south. Just around the bend on the
left side was the Presbyterian parsonage.
A couple of hundred feet
east of the parsonage was the junction of a road which
ran south to Bartlett's pond. Before reaching the pond
houses are shown belonging to H.W. Swezey and M.E.
Swezey. At the south end of the pond was a house which
had belonged to Buchingham before the land was acquired
by Judge Willard Bartlett. Judge Bartlett built a home
several hundred feet south of the pond between two very
small ponds.
Back on the north side of
the Middle Country Road and opposite the Bartlett Road
junction the map shows homes of N. Hudson and Mrs. M.
Hudson. One of these became the home of John Butler,
later Sophia Butler and later in the 1930s was the
residence of Fred J. Zimmer. In the 1940s Mr. Lymber and
family lived there.
The next property to the
east was the George W. Ritch (1825-1889) estate and
residence. This passed to his son Lewis E. (1869-1966)
who in turn left it to his son Raymond (1904-1971).
Raymond moved from the house in the late 1960s after
selling the property and for the next 25 years the
property became overgrown.
The next property to the
east was the Daniel Petty farm with the house located
about 2,000 ft. north of the highway. This is described
later.
Adjoining the Petty farm on
the east was the Henry P. Hutchinson (1795-1894) farm
which is also described later.
In December of 1892 Richard
M. Bayles bought a half acre from Mr. Hutchinson where he
built a home the following year. This is described later.
Opposite the above property
on the south side of the road Joseph H. Randall built a
home after the 1873 Beers atlas was published. This is
described later.
Further to the east on the
north side of the road at the bottom of the hill was the
homestead of Benjamin T. Hutchinson which is described
later.
On the south side of the
road opposite the B.T. Hutchinson home was the home of
P.S. Thompson.
Just east of the Thompson
house and about 500 ft. south on the road to Yaphank was
the East Middle Island school house.
A couple of hundred feet
east of the school house on the north side of the highway
was the store of Horace G. Randall which is described
later.
A short distance east of
Randall's store was the home of H.D. Petty which was
acquired by Marion Van Horn in the early 1900s. In the
early 1930s the house was moved a hundred feet or so to
the northwest and became part of a new house that Mr. Van
Horn built. Shortly after 1995 the widow of Mr. Van Horn
went into a nursing home and the property was sold to the
Middle Island Fire Dept. In about 1998 the house burned.
East of the Van Horn house
was the home of J.W. Rose. I believe that this was the
house occupied by Charles Campiche in the 1930s which
stood just opposite the west part of Artist Lake.
A little further east was
the home of Dr. Abner Van Horn which was located on the
northwest corner of Middle Country Road and Corwin's (
later spelled Curran's ) Road. By 1940 this house was
pretty well deteriorated and eventually succumbed to old
age.
On the south side of the
road at the east side of Artist Lake was the home of E.D.
Carpenter.
Just east of the foregoing
home was the home of H. Balling which may be the home
later belonging to Bosch.
Back on the north side of
the road and overlooking Artist Lake was the home of
Alonzo Chappell.
A short distance east of the
Chappell home was the home of J.R. Crawford about which I
know nothing. On the atlas it appears to have been a
short distance north of the highway.
East of the above house was
the house of J. Risley.
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