The story about
how Whiskey Road received its name has been handed down that a young
man by the name of Jeffrey Randall, a son of one of the first
settlers in Ridge, who lived on the farm owned by the late John G.
Randall, had a girl friend at Swezeytown, by the name of Swezey.
This little settlement was located north of Middle Island on what is
now called Church Lane, about a mile north of the Middle Country
Road, and was about three miles west in a direct line from the home
of the Randall family in Ridge.
Most of the
farmers had slaves in those days, (the late 1700’s) so Jeffrey
decided it was long way round to go and see his Swezey girl
sweetheart, (who he later married) by way of Middle Country Road,
which was a distance of over six miles. So a line was struck
through the woods almost straight west to Swezeytown and the slaves
were ordered to clear a trail which was not very wide, as people
rode on horseback in those days.
A jug of whiskey
was placed a short distance a head of the men, who were told that
they could stop and have a drink when they had cleared a trail to
where the jug was placed, and then the jug was taken ahead again and
the same process repeated. Tradition has it they each time the jug
was changed a different course was made so the trail was very
crooked, and in later years when the road was opened on this trail
it became one of the most crooked roads in Brookhaven Town.
The little
settlement called Swezeytown has a small overgrown cemetery in which
are located several graves of the Swezey families who lived there in
the 1700’s. There are none left by this name now, and the oldest
farm is that of Edwin Edwards, across from the pond, which has been
in the Edwards family for about 150 years.