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1700’s and the Revolution

One of the early families of Huntington were the Carll’s, which in the early town

records is sometimes spelt Carle, or Karle. Timothy the son of Captain Thomas Carll and Sarah Halsted, of Hempstead, was the first to move to the area. It is not known just when he came here but it is said that he was not living here when he married Mary Platt of Huntington around 1697. The story that has come down through the family is that he was offered free land by the town if he would train the militia and help protect the people. He was said to be a man of great military skill and tactics, and well versed in politics and the law. Later members of the family researching this story have said they could not find any records, or papers, to document the story of any free land but that he was a military man and all his land deals afterwards are well documented.

In 1701 he purchased Dick’s Hills, next to Whitman’s Hollow and the Winnecomac lands, from Richard and Deborah Soper. The land was named after Dick Beacham a Secatogue Indian who had originally lived in that area. He also bought a large tract of land along the south shore for harvesting salt hay. Then in 1707 he bought the 1200 acre Van Cortland Estate known as Sagtikos Manor from Stephen Van Cortland, a New York merchant who had purchased the land the Indians called Compowams in 1703.

A group of Secatogue Indians were asked to appear before county officials in 1702 to answer some questions as to whether or not they willingly sold their land known as Winnecomac. These meetings were usually arranged by the Government to help make sure the Indians were not unknowingly signing over the rights to their lands, that the gifts they had received were in exchange for land and not just a friendly gesture by some men wishing to hunt on their lands for a few days. Some of those present who had signed the original deed in 1698 agreed that they had willingly sold their land and did not feel pressured, or cheated. With this the governor of New York, Lord Cornbury, issued a patent for the 3625 acres called Winnecomac on May 5, 1703 to a Charles Congrave who was said to be there representing John Whitman, John Skidmore, and Thomas Higbie.

In November of 1703 Mr. Congrave declared that his partners were entitled to half of the land and he himself the other half of which it would be split evenly with a man named Rip Van Dam, a Dutchman who was said to have financially backed the original purchase from the Secatogue Indians. By May of 1707 John Whitman sold his share of the land to Rip Van Dam and then Thomas Higbie sold him half of his holdings in1712.

In 1712 the first full time minister for Smithtown was hired. The Rev. Daniel Taylor and his wife Jemima came to Smithtown where he preached to the community until 1716. That year at the age of 24 his wife died and he was given fifty acres of land by the town in gratitude for his work there. He later married Elizabeth Smith granddaughter of Richard Smith and around 1721 they moved to Orange, New Jersey.

Paul Baily in his book Historic Long Island tells an interesting story of how a young man from Germany named George Frederick Wisser came to live at Winnecomac in 1719. His father Conrad Wisser led over 3000 German immigrants across the sea in boats from England to New York in 1710. When they finally arrived many of the people were so sick that they were all placed on Governors Island in quarantine. After they had recovered

their health Conrad Wisser then led them on a migration North into the wilderness of up state New York and eventually settled in Columbia and Ulster counties.

George Frederick, who was thirteen at the time, for reasons not stated was indentured to a man named Samuel Smith, of Smithtown, by the governor before the migration started. This very well could be Richard Smith’s son Samuel who was then living and raising a family in the Nissequogue area. From the records in Frederick Smith’s The Family Of Richard Smith, Ten Generations he is the only Samuel Smith listed in Smithtown around 1710 who would be in a position to look after a young boy of thirteen.

In 1719 at the age of twenty two George was released from his indenture to the Smiths, changed his last name from Wisser, to Frederick, and is said to have moved to the Winnecomac area. He settled down here, made friends, did well for himself, and married a woman named by the name of Sarah Scudder. They then had a daughter Prudence and shortly after Sarah died. George Frederick later married Rebecca Udall of Huntington and together they had two children Rebecca and George Jr.

When George Frederick traveled to Winnecomac he may have come over the Nissequogue river at the crossing and then taken small trails and paths through the area. It was around this time that the town of Smithtown was beginning to look seriously at the

condition of the paths, most left by the Indians, that they were using to get to the different farms and other parts of the growing town where they needed to talk or do business with people. The paths that were determined to be needed the most, for the good of everyone, were now declared town roads and cleared and widened for carts and wagons.

Then in 1724 the General Assembly of New York passed an act that would help improve road conditions on the hilly twisting turning old Indian trail the settlers called the North Side Road, now 25A, which was the main way of getting around the north shore on land. They also created the Middle Country Road which was straight and level and built inland from the hilly shore line to help make traveling between the island’s two ends faster and easier. The South Country Road, and Montuak Highway, were also improved upon at this time.

It was at the same time that the Middle Country Road was being laid out and constructed that the first real survey of the Winnecomac lands were made. This may have to do with the fact that the new road was going to run beside the land and would become part of the northern boarder. Prior to the road’s construction the boundary line was just a lose interpretation of what the Secatogue Indians showed to John Whitman and John Skidmore and said was from the side of Whitman’s Hollow to the head of the Nissequogue river. In 1726 Robert Crooke came and marked the boarders according to those mentioned in the 1702 deed. He found out how much land each person claimed they owned in the patent and surveyed the land accordingly. When he was finished the land was divided into three separate lots. Rip Van Dam and his family had the largest tract on the south side which contained almost two thousand acres. The middle land belonged to Charles Congrave, who secured the original patent, and was close to a thousand acres. The last piece of land on the north boundary was that of William Johnson and Thomas Higbie who owned just over 700 acres. William Johnson had purchased John Skidmores share of the patent and became partners with Mr. Higbie.

At the head of the Nissequogue river George Phillips, son of the first minister of

Setauket Rev. George Phillips, had a large house near the road that contained a store in the lower part, this would later be the first Post Office in Smithtown. By 1725 the river was dammed and a number of mills had been built. When the work was done there was a saw mill, grist mill, and a fulling mill. There is a millers house there also that was dated by it’s wood work to be from around 1700-1725. The mills may even date back to around 1700 and George Phillips likely took them over after he was married in 1726. Whether he built them or just improved on them later his name and the mills became well known. People came from miles around with their crops for milling. He did very good business and the area soon became known as Phillips Mills.

Samuel Smith son of Richard Smith gave his son Obadiah a large tract of land along the west side of the Nissequogue river in 1725. A house and farm were built along with a small mill on a stream and pond near the North Country Road. He lived here along with his wife for almost forty years raising his eleven children and ran the farm and mill with the help of his family and their four slaves, Micha, James, Dick, and Judah.

It would seem that Samuel Smith was slowly selling off parts of his land because he had also sold a large tract on the west side of the Nissequogue near the Sunken

Meadow a few years earlier in 1717 to Jonas Platt who lived there with his son Zephaniah.

The house was probably not so quiet later on when his son married twice and had ten children who were all raised there. The original house was later torn down and a much larger one built in its place.

Timothy Carll who had come to Huntington around 1701 and was now living in Sagtikos Manor was a prominent man in both town affairs and the local militia. These interests were picked up by his son Ananias who like his father became a well respected man. Ananias was one of the original land owners when Islip was founded around 1720, a Captain in the military, and a Trustee for the town of Huntington from 1739-41. When he was married in 1728 to Hannah Platt they were given the Manor by his father and eventually all the land Timothy had purchased when he first came here including Dick’s Hills and his holdings on the south shore as well.

Ananias had become quite a wealthy land owner around this time and was said to have been present in 1726 to watch Robert Crooke make his official survey of the Winnecomac patent which shared a large western boundary with the Carll’s land. He would also probably have been very interested in seeing where this new Middle country road was going to run. When the road was finally built through Huntington it followed along the northern boundary of his Dick’s Hills land.

With the new Middle Country Road running through Huntington and crossing the Comac Town Line Road at Whitman’s Hollow the rural cross roads with the small General Store built by Joseph Whitman in 1672 really became Comac Corners. On the south west corner was the Winnecomac Patent, and the north east corner was Whitman’s Hollow, and on the south west corner was Ananias Carll’s property. By now some of these lands were beginning to be passed down through families to another generation. The Whitman’s store was over fifty years old and still being run by them. Ananias had received his fathers land holdings and was now the second Carll to own the family land and was raising his eight children. We are also told that George Frederick’s had been living since 1719, with his second wife and three children.

Rip Van Dam who had financed the purchase of the Winnecomac lands in 1698

had decided by 1731 that it was time to sell off his large share of the patent. A man from Oyster Bay named John Mott along with two brothers Samuel and Michael Weeks paid twelve hundred ponds for the almost two thousand acres. It’s believed that they built two houses on the property and maybe some out buildings, then attempted to start farming the land. But with in three years the new owners for some reason sold, or returned, the land to Rip Van Dam who agreed to take it back. He then leased part of the land along with the two houses in 1734 to a couple of men named Henry Bassett and Josiah Totten who were

to pay their rent to him each year in corn and wheat.

Thomas Tredwell purchased a very large tract of land including Fresh Ponds in 1735 and proceeded to build himself a house then renamed the area Tredwells Neck. His son Timothy was twenty two at the time and married Mary Platt who may have been the daughter of their neighbor Zephaniah Platt who had ten children and lived west of them near the Sunken Meadow Creek. These two families took an active role in politics and were also very well known as strong supporters of the Patriots during the war.

Timothy Tredwell then began looking to buy his own tract of land to raise his family on made a deal with Rip Van Dam to purchase his share of the Winnecomac land. Around 1740-45 he purchased over a thousand acres and moved into the house that was said to have been built by John Mott when he owned the land in 1731. After two owners and some ten years of farming the land was probably becoming well established now with many cleared fields as well as some barns and out buildings. The owners before them were known to have done well growing corn and wheat there for the last eight years.

Charles Congrave had a friend named Sir Jeffrey Jeffrey’s of England from whom he would borrow money saying he could have his Winnecomac lands if he ever was not able to repay his debt. Around 1737 it seems Sir Jeffrey may have died and his family asked that Mr. Congrave to please pay his debt. Unable to raise the money at the time he was forced to sign over his land. The family, wanting the money, later sold it to Isaac Levy who was probably a land dealer and a short time later the land was sold to Elnathan Wicks, c.1740.

With the two largest tracts of land in the Winnecomac patent being sold at the same time by Rip Van Dam and Charles Congrave it was decided that a new survey would be taken in 1744. Since Ananias Carll was present with Robert Crooke when the first survey was made, over twenty years ago, he was asked to help. He appointed Samuel Willis to carry out the second survey with him. When they had finished it was found that the original survey was wrong and the entire patent extended further east. This added a

good deal of land to both Timothy Tredwell and Elnathan Wicks new properties. But Elnathan Wicks questioned the southern boundary line between him and the Tredwells saying it was over too far on his side. He claimed a strip of the land now in their borders. At first the two families worked it out and there were no more problems. However when Timothy Tredwell died in 1749 it was stated in his will that the land be sold. Again the issue arose with Elnathan Wicks and the border and so the land could not be sold immediately. There followed many years, and lots of money spent on court battles both here on the island and in Connecticut.

When Richard Smith’s granddaughter, Deborah, married Joseph Blydenburgh they eventually settled on some land her father had given her called The Branch, named for the northeast branch of the Nissequogue River that ran near by. They moved into a house that may have already been twenty years old. Some additions were made and the home later become known as a famous inn. When the Middle Country Road was built it ran right in front and this may have been about the time they started the inn, c.1724.

Twenty five years after the new road was built travelers who were crossing the island regularly used this route instead of the hilly twisting Old Country Road. It took at least three days to get from one end to the other and numerous inns were springing up along the way. By 1750 houses were being built centering around the new road running through The Branch and it was decided that the local center of Smithtown would be moved from down near the Nissequogue up to the main road. The original church building was then moved from near the river and placed on donated land where the Presbyterian Church stands today. At this same time Epenetus Smith, who had just gotten married, built a tavern west of the land he had donated to the church. With the tavern a church and a few inns along with Phillip’s mills this area became The Village of The Branch and the new business center of Smithtown.

In 1750 at the age of forty nine Capt. Ananias Carll died at his home, the Sagtikos Manor. It must have been known he was ill because the will was made up a year earlier. His wife Hannah was given the right to live in two of the rooms on the west side of the house for the rest of her life. She was to be given food and supplies to live on by the family plus two fields and three cattle along with a Negro man laborer and a Negro woman. If it was found the woman’s services were no longer needed then she was to be sold for fifty pounds. Timothy and Mary each received a horse and some money. John and Phebe received money while Ananias Jr. was given all of the sundry lands east of Jeremiah Platt’s and south to Whitman’s Hollow, and a tract of land and meadow on the south shore near the creek. Both Platt and Samuel were left the homestead but it was written that they were not to infringe on their mother’s privileges. Silas was to have all of the Neck at South where the salt hay was gathered.

Phebe was the youngest daughter. By the time she was five her mother had married the Rev Ebenezer Prime, a well respected man in the Presbyterian church. She

grew up in the Prime house and was well educated, and very religious. Her company was always sought out by both clergy and the well educated when they were passing through the area.

Ananias Jr. took possession of Sagtikos Manor the same year and sold the estate to his brother Silas who was fifteen at the time. Eight years later in 1758 at the age of twenty three Silas sold the manor and bought some of the land from Ananias Jr. along the

Commack road south of Whitman’s Hollow. He then spent the next two years cutting and clearing trees from a heavily wooded area and built the first house starting what would become known for generations to come as the Carll farm of Commack.

Not much is known about the original house and later family members stories seem to vary as to just where it actually stood on the old farm. Some say it was built just behind the new house near where the garage is today because there are remains of an old Dutch oven and a large kitchen there. Others say it was further back by the out buildings and that part of an original wall can still be seen in one of the cribs. The only real description comes

from John Howard Carll a great grandson of Silas who remembers being told that the house had a very large kitchen with doors on both ends and that they would open them up and drive a team of oxen through with large logs behind them that were then rolled into

the fire place where they were said to burn for days. The sheep barn that is standing there today is said to be one of the last original farm buildings from c.1760.

John Howard was also told that there had been a small old house by Daly Road that had been used by slaves to live in and that some of the family along with a few slaves and farm hands had been buried in a small cemetery on the farm. Later just the family members, along with their head stones, were moved up to the Commack cemetery.

He said the grave mounds could still be seen when he was a child and were located behind one of the barns under some trees. The pigs were always rooting them and the spot later

grew over and was forgotten about. There is also a large Carll family cemetery from the 1700’s located south of the farm in Dick’s Hills.

Slavery was a large part of life by this time in the Colonies with boat loads of new slaves arriving daily from the east coast of Africa. Before this Indians were being captured and enslaved and a Road Island town counted 300 in its population. This practice was being strongly protested in England and soon ended. The new slave labor would have to come from Africa. By 1750 almost half the population of Virginia was made up of black slaves, and they accounted for 2/3 of the inhabitants of South Carolina. Most slaves ended up in the south and their numbers declined as you came north, but even here almost every one had one or more depending on their wealth and land.

The town of Smithtown took a census of all the slaves in the township in 1755. It seemed from the list that almost every one had some. Obadiah Smith’s farm had 3 men and a woman. Jonas Platt and his son had 5 and George Philip had one female. Over on the Winnecomac lands it’s listed that Elnathan Wicks had 1 and that his neighbor Thomas Tredwell’s widow Mary had at the time 5 men and 1 women as slaves. There are many people on the list including the Smiths themselves and for the 35 families listed they had almost 100 slaves amongst them in 1755.

In Huntington, at about the same time, a census was taken that showed slaves were owned by many people throughout the town too. Records show there were over eighty slaves, of which more than half were men.

Another family that would become as well known in the area as the Carll’s were the Burr’s who came to Commack and purchased 166 acres in c.1756. Issac Burr was born in Hempstead and at the age of twenty came to Commack. He married Mary Baldwin in 1763 and began a family. Mary’s father, Silvanus Baldwin, was said to be one of the largest land owners in Huntington at the time. Issac Burr became a well respected man and for many years he was the overseer of highways and the executor of estates.

For some forty years Obadiah Smith lived in his house along the west bank of the Nissequogue where he died in November of 1765. He lived to be almost 90 and left behind a large family, land, and farms, which the grandson of Richard Smith now passed on to his sons. Obadiah II was given all the land he now lived on, and any buildings contained there on, along with a Negro named James. Philetus received all the eastern part of his farm, some other fields, and a Negro named Dick. Stephen inherited the house and land on the east side of the river where his father lived before building this new home. He then divided up the Indian Head land east of Bread and Cheese Hollow Road with the three sons, Obadiah and Philetus receiving equal shares on the western part, and Stephen was given the east and of the land. Susanna his wife was to have three rooms in the house and a boy

and girl slave, Micha and Judah. She is also given three good milk cows that were to be cared for by the sons. They were also to give her 10 good fleeces of wool and six pounds New York money each year.

By now Elnathan Wicks was growing tired of all the court cases that were dragging on over his land dispute with Mary Tredwell and her children. For over twenty years both sides fought it out in the courts on Long Island, and in Connecticut. Back and forth they went, spending more and more money. Finally with money getting tight Elnathan had had enough and made a deal with the Tredwells in 1768 that if he were given

a certain half acre where he had been getting his fresh water from before the second survey was taken then they could have the other 100 acres in dispute and the boundary would stay where it was laid by Ananias Carll and Samuel Willies. The Tredwells agreed to this deal and the case was then closed for the last time.

Jacob Harned, who’s wife was Mary Nichols, a grand-daughter of Governor Nichols, purchased the Tredwells Winnecomac land around 1782 when they were married. They moved in to the house that was built in 1740 and raised their sons John, Joel, and Amos.

With the legal cases over Elnathan Wick’s and his wife Miriam Whitman along with their family having now owned their Winnecomac land for some 25 years his son John decided it was time to build a new house. This building is still standing today as part of the original Hoyt farm house and is said to have been built by John Wicks sometime

around 1770 but this date may be closer to 1775-76 since he was given the land in 1774 by his father when it was divided between himself and three of his five brothers, and he was married on January. 4, 1776 at the age of about 20.

Around this same time a hotel was established across from the Whitman’s General Store down at the crossroads. It is not known just when the hotel was built but it was said to already be standing during the revolution. With the creation of The Middle Country road in 1724 and the sudden growth of Smithtown’s Village of the Branch around the main road by 1750, including two hotels, it’s construction could very well date back to around that time, or earlier.

The only description of the inside we have is a short note that many important meetings were held here and that some of the local citizens gathered in the upstairs meeting room once to discuss the need for a school. Most hotels then had a large room for

gatherings, usually upstairs, a few simple rooms each with a wash stand and towels, maybe a mirror, some coat hooks, and a small wood frame bed with a stretched rope box spring and a thin feather mattress that you may have had to share with a few strangers for the night. There also would likely have been a tavern area where one could usually get some food and drink, and perhaps a sitting room, or parlor, with some chairs and tables.

An old Brooklyn Eagle newspaper article from October of 1895 tells of a very old hotel in Commack that was built by some early settlers from Southold and later kept by Ezekiel Wicks during the war. The building was constructed entirely from wood and bricks brought over from England. Only the frame of the house was made from local timber. It is described as having guest rooms, a tavern, kitchen, and large meeting room upstairs that extending the whole width of the east side of the house.

The hotel is said to have stood on the corner formed by the old turnpike and East Northport Road, which would be Larkfield Road today. Even though it was standing until 1895 when an old Locust tree fell on it doing major damage know body remembers it and there are no pictures. Could this description acutely be of the old hotel that stood across from the general store and was destroyed by fire in c.1895.

Up until this time most of the people in Smithtown and Huntington were just doing their best survive in the new growing towns and paid little attention to what was going on in the colonies. But for the past two or three years everyone listened to his neighbor for any bit of news about the increasing tensions between the colonists and the British government over new taxes and acts. They talked about how in Maryland the Colonists burned some ships, and in Boston dressed as Indians they dumped ship loads of tea into the harbor, the forming of the Continental Congress, and British troops fighting with townspeople in Lexington and Concorde. Then there was the news that England had hired German Hessians to go over to the Colonists and stop the rebellion, and how an army was being formed and George Washington was leading it.

Both towns along with numerous others throughout the island signed resolutions

and declarations of rights in 1774 agreeing to appoint committees to help out New York

City and to elect somebody to attend the General Congress. Thomas Tredwell, grandson of Timothy Tredwell and now living at Tredwells Neck, was chosen in 1775 to represent Smithtown. He was just over 30, a graduate of Princeton, becoming more involved in politics, and now a staunch Patriot. He was part of the Provincial Congress in 1775, and would take part in the 1777 Constitutional Convention in New York City, then go on to become a State Senator.

From the Provincial Congress meetings came the call for Militias to be formed and leaders elected. On May 2, Huntington Town voted to raise 80 men and form two Companies to be led by Captain’s John Wicks, and Nathaniel Platt. Huntington, Smithtown, and Brookhaven were asked to join together under Colonel Josiah Smith of Moriches. Together they all elected William Floyd to be Colonel and were mustered in around April 1776. Then in early July came the word that William Floyd and others had signed a Declaration of Independence.

A month later the soldiers saw their first action during the August 27, 1776 Battle of Long Island, or Brooklyn. When it was over George Washington had lost to the British and fled Long Island. Some of the men returned home to their farms hoping to get back to their regular lives, but the British having won the battle decided they were going to stay on the island. The Provincial Congress gave notice that all should gather their family, belongings, and slaves and flee to Connecticut, or elsewhere, rather then face the wrath of British occupation.

In August the towns were notified that they were to bring all their wagons and cattle to certain areas to be collected by the British. The men were to sign a roll of submission and lay down their arms and cooperate with the soldiers who were only coming to help, and protect them. The Militias were to be called together before the Kings Captains to surrender their arms and sign an oath of loyalty to the crown, and refuse the orders of any Committees or Congress. It closed with a reminder that without delay any disobedient persons property shall be laid to waste. These notices were usually hung on store fronts and anywhere people met so one can easily imagine a small group of

Winnecomac residents standing on the front porch of the Whitman’s General Store or the hotel at the crossroads reading this notice and talking about it.

On September 1st the Queen’s 17th Light Dragoons landed in Huntington and quickly took over. With in a month British Navy ships sat in the bay, while smaller transport sloops were busy traversing the harbor, and hundreds of soldiers and cavalry camped all around the town. The people here, and in Smithtown, were treated harshly by the soldiers and considered to be aiding the rebel cause and thus treated unjustly. Even though many did sign the oath of submission most did it to just to save their lives and remained Patriots inside. Samuel Phillips now running the mills at Head of the River may have helped supply the rebels with food and cloth. While Zephaniah Platt, now an old man, hid boats on his Sunken Meadow property for the rebels to cross the sound with. Four of his sons were also fighting in the Revolution. Down the road was Thomas Tredwell’s house, but being part of the Committee and Congress he had fled for safety and was living in Connecticut for the time.

The Carll’s were one of many families deeply touched by the war. Most of Annanias’s children, now grown, were affected in some way. The most notable was Timothy Carll who being a Captain stayed with some of the militia in Huntington, while

his brother, John, a Sergeant, fled to Connecticut during the war. Even with sons in the militia Silas eventually lost his teams and wagons. Platt Carll was hung inside his Dick’s Hills Inn on the Middle Country Road by British soldiers looking for his money, but cut down before he died. Of his two sisters Mary was the Widow Mary Platt who ran the tavern on the Huntington Green where the rebels would often meet. While Phebe, who had been raised by The Rev Prime, married Lt. Henry Scudder of Crab Meadow.

At their home Phebe became a well respected host and entertainer. When the British came to the house looking for her husband he hid in the fire place, and when Phebe was threatened with death she still claimed not to know where he was. Captain Coffin after searching the house said if he did not find Lt. Scudder he would be dead. A few days later while Captain Coffin sat at a table playing cards and drinking at The Inn at the Cedars a group of rebels led by Lt. Henry Scudder surrounded the inn, burst in, shooting the Captain dead at his table and taking 16 prisoners.

Scudder was known by the Loyalists to be assisting Captain Tallmadgea and his men cross the sound from Connecticut and harass British troupes. For this his Crab Meadow property was laid to waste, and all buildings except the house were burned along with his stock being driven off, except for some cattle an old slave was said to have hidden somewhere away from the farm.

Of all the Carll family, Timothy seems to be remembered the most for his actions while under British occupation. As the Captain of the Dicks Hills Militia he was forced to take his men, with shovels and picks, and clear the Huntington town cemetery for the construction of a new British fort named Golgotha that was to be built on the sight. Refusing the demand to desecrate the graveyard, Captain Carll was finally forced to take his men and do the job even many British soldiers seemed reluctant to get involved in.

To add to the insult of having destroyed the local burial ground, the men were then made to take the old tombstones and build fireplaces with them for the soldiers, or even use them as front steps leading to the entranceways of some of the buildings located in the new fort.

When the work was finally done, in just under two weeks, never a day passed that the soldiers were not reminded of what they had done. All the bread that was made in the tombstone ovens came out with peoples names baked into the bottoms of the loafs from the headstones. It’s said that many of the British soldiers were not amused by this end result.

The people of Smithtown received similar treatment from the British as their neighbors. Since the soldiers were being quartered in Huntington they often only passed through, but each time they came they filled the local Inns and Taverns eating and drinking all night long. Then when leaving they often took anything that was to their fancy, including clothes and linen. With Smithtown having three Inns this was always a good place for the soldiers to stop relax for awhile.

The widow Ruth Blydenburgh was the wife of Joseph Blydenburgh’s grandson

Benjamin who had died just before the war in September of 1775 and was now running the Inn by alone with her six children. She was known for keeping an eye out for the soldiers and when they came to her place she would act very humbly and beg them to please spare a widowed woman and what little she had and go to Epenetus Smith’s Tavern because it was always kept well stocked.

By the time of the Revolutionary War Smith’s Tavern had already become well know on the island. The stage coach from Fulton Ferry to Sag Harbor had been running past here for a few years now and this was one of the scheduled stops. The cost to ride from Smithtown to Brooklyn at that time was 4 shillings. Since this was one of the stops where people often took their meals Epenetus always kept a well stocked larder and it did not take long for the British to realize that they too should make this tavern a regular stop when passing through. On many nights the place was said to be full of hard drinking hungry soldiers who would take their fill of food and drink, and then usually leave with out paying.

Just down the road east of the tavern, past the Widow Blydenburgh’s, was the Hallock Inn which is said to have been a favorite place for British Officers to stop and dine. Mr. Hallock came to Smithtown when he was just a boy and through hard work became a respected citizen and innkeeper. Many early town meetings were held here as well as the first public Library in the town, being at the time a single wooden bookshelf. Later on this would become the stopover for the stage from Brooklyn to Sag Harbor.

Besides pillaging the local tavern and inns whenever in town, the British also tormented the citizens as well. Many of them were known to be Patriot sympathizers and so treated harshly by the soldiers. There was Dr. John Howard who was taken prisoner for giving medical assistance to the rebels. William Arthur who was under contract to supply provisions to the Continental Army and once hid ducks in his storage cellar. Samuel Phillips, proprietor of the mills at the Head of the River, was likely accused by the British of using his mills to help supply the rebels with food and cloth.

Caleb Smith was very out spoken against the British occupation of Long Island and openly refused to sign any oath of allegiance. Whenever in the area the British always paid a visit to his house to try to persuade him to stop his rebel ways. The front door of the home still shows the marks from an Officer’s sword that was swung at his head as he stood in his doorway repeatedly refusing their demands. Even after being shot at and then

tied to a tree and whipped he would not give in to them. Because of his firm stance against the soldiers he became well respected among the locals and looked up to.

Another person who became well known in the area for challenging British authority was the Reverend Joshua Hartt, better known as the Marrying Minister since he was said to have married over 500 couples. His fiery sermons from the pulpit against the evil oppressors often landed him in prison. During one of his detentions by the British he became so sick that he might have died if not for the care he received from a fellow prisoner, Ethan Allen.

Ezekiel Wicks hotel in Commack was another gathering place for British soldiers who had a camp on the south side about a mile and a half down the Comac Road. It was written in a Brooklyn Eagle article that there was a large open field with a 12” well and what appeared to be about a dozen burial mounds that were still visible over one hundred years later.

The hotel was already a regular stop for the stagecoach and travelers by this time and it’s said that the paymaster always stayed here when in the area. Ezekil Wicks had become friends with the man. One evening while staying there Wicks talked him into leaving the money in his care while he slept and the paymaster agreed. The next morning he was found murdered in his bed and Ezekil Wicks was gone. The soldiers quickly went in pursuit catching him a short time later with the money. He was brought back to the inn in chains and locked up in his own kitchen. The large meeting room upstairs was then converted into a courtroom and a door was taken down and made into the judges bench. The next day Wicks was lead up the stairs to the courtroom and tried for robbery and murder, found guilty, and was hung by the soldiers.

A few miles away on the corner of the North Country Road and Bread and Cheese Hollow Road a sign was posted by Loyalists to warn any persons in the area of Huntington and Smithtown that they should beware of Rebels in the area and not to associate with them. They named Nathaniel Platt, Platt Carll, Thomas Tredwell, and Samuel Phillips. It was noted that the rebels had secret meeting places in the area where they gathered when on raids from Connecticut. Loyalists were warned that there was little protection for them in the area and should take cautions while traveling through here.

Zephaniah Platt, the neighbor of Thomas Tredwell, lived a few miles east of the sign posted on Bread and Cheese Hollow Road. He owned 2000 acres of land in the Sunken Meadow area and his house was located near the creeks. The British had

suspected for sometime that he had been allowing rebels to land their boats on his property when coming over from Connecticut. In December of 1777 cracking down on the raiding parties soldiers came to search his farm. They found a number of whale boats hidden and quickly set them on fire. We are told his cattle and live stock were driven off since that was the common punishment for rebel sympathizers. He was then taken and chained along with forty other prisoner to a large Dutch Elm in his front yard until they could be taken to the prison ships in New York Harbor.

Zephaniah, already an old man, soon became very ill while on board the ship. The Rev. Joshua Hartt also came near to death while being held so we can see that conditions on these floating prisons must have been very harsh. Knowing that her father was very ill his daughter Dorothy, from his second wife Anna Smith, came to beg his freedom. His

release was granted to her but soon after returning home he died from the Small Pox he

had contracted while on the ship. His sons and grandsons would continue to fight through

out the rest of the revolution.

The British decided that one way to deal with the rebel raiding parties in the area was to build another fort closer to the border of Huntington and Smithtown from which they could keep watch over the sound. They picked an area down from Bread and Cheese

Hollow road near Fresh Pond. As with all the other forts built in Huntington signs were probably posted in the area telling all the local men to show up for work each day at eight with a team and wagon, and any carpenters tools they have. Soldiers would be sent to find anybody who didn’t show up and arrest them. The construction usually took many days working from sunrise until dusk the entire time. Men were forced to stop tending to their farms and fields whenever they were called to work, but by now the thought of the prison ships must have made many a man reluctantly give in to the British demands for laborers.

The fort named Salongo consisted of stockade walls with pickets along the top and bottom and an open trench around the outside. Inside where barracks that could house up to ninety soldiers. There was also a magazine stocked with a cannon, guns, and powder.

With forts spread out along the shore from Huntington Harbor to Smithtown, and ships patrolling the sound, the British had successfully slowed down the rebel raids from Connecticut. Then in October of 1781 Lt. Henry Scudder, whose Crab Meadow farm had been burned by the soldiers, quietly came across the sound and landed his boat in the grassy marshes of Sunken Meadow. He walked through the woods until he got to the bluffs of the Nissequogue where he met with one of his neighbors. They talked about Fort Salongo for awhile and then he was given a rough drawn diagram. When the meeting was over the two parted and he began heading back down the trails towards the boat hidden in the grass. While walking he suddenly heard British soldiers coming his way on the same path. Quickly jumping off the trail into the trees he rolled himself up against a dead log and laid still. He could hear the horses riding by first and they seemed to be staying on the path. Then came a number of foot soldiers behind them, but they never noticed him. After they had passed he waited awhile and then finished making his way back to the boat

and returned to Connecticut.

Upon his return he presented the map of the fort to Captain Tallmadge who was under orders from General George Washington to distract British troops leaving New York to back up Cornwallis in Virginia while he was fighting. It was decided that they

would attack Fort Salongo in Smithtown to help give Washington the time he needed so the men were chosen and the boats prepared.

Sometime after dark they started out from Connecticut in their whale boats slowly quietly rowing across the sound. Going undetected they reached the shores of Crab Meadow by four in the morning and regrouped. Still dark out the rebels made their way through the woods to the fort where they waited for morning to come. As the first rays of light came up over the east Captain Tallmadge gave the order to charge. Suddenly the men sprang from the tree line with a yell and rushed towards the front gates where the guard nervously fired a shot then turned to run inside, but they were already upon him and rushing into the fort. Soldiers ran from the barracks with their rifles and were shot down in the initial fighting, the rest soon surrendered. On this Sunday morning there were only a small group of twenty five men in the fort and they were quickly captured.

Captain Tallmadge ordered that the soldiers be taken away and the buildings set on fire. As Fort Salongo lay burning they rowed with their prisoners, seventy rifles and cannon, back to Connecticut. The plan had worked well the ships never left New York harbor leaving Cornwallis to be defeated. For this Captain Tallmadge was personally promoted to Major by General Washington.

Within two years the Revolutionary War was finally over and the Patriots had won. Congress disbanded the Continental army in November 1783 and the British soldiers left. Families could now return to long Island from Connecticut and start their lives again. Many Loyalists fled after the soldiers were gone and their Patriot neighbors let them know they were not welcome here anymore.

One particular Englishman though was asked to stay behind after the war and live in the area. He was John Philips who tailored clothes for the British soldiers during their occupation of Huntington. When not mending uniforms he was a Methodist Preacher and often spoke at Cow Harbor were he had a slowly growing flock. One of these followers was James Hubbs of Comac who asked him if he would be interested in coming there to visit and lecture to some of the local residents. He agreed to Mr. Hubbs request and a

meeting was set up at a house. John Philips came on the day he was asked and gave his sermon to the small group of people from Comac. By the time he had finished they all asked him to stay and form a society with them.

In the beginning, during the early years, they joined with other people in their

homes for meetings, then in 1789 the first Methodist Church on Long Island was built in Comac. James Hubbs and his relations, along with the Brush’s, Wheeler’s, Burr’s, and others gathered together to build the meeting house. It was a simple structure like the first

churches in Huntington and Smithtown. The walls were shingled but not plastered and foot stoves were needed if you wanted to keep warm at all. Later there was an upper level gallery placed over the doors where the slaves sat during service.

Samuel W. Smith built his home on the Indian Head Road near by the old pond, it’s thought that the stone head may have still been there at the time. Just when he settled here is not known and the first mention of the farm is in his will dated 1823.

Smith married Sarah Smith and had their first child in 1789 which may be about when the house was built if they lived here right away. By the time of his death in 1828 he seems to be quite attached to his farm at Indian Head and requests that family set aside one quarter

acre just north of the house near the road for a family burial ground. His family buried their father as he had wished but later sold the land. Except for a great grandchild the

cemetery was never used and only recently in the early 1960’s was the headstone uncovered. It is doubtful, with all the development today, the grave is still anywhere to be

found. The farm was purchased by Samuel Paul Smith who was the son of Caleb II’s brother Paul.

In 1790 Caleb Smith II moved from his fathers house near Willow Pond to a new house he built in Hauppuage for his wife Elizabeth. His new home was were the 4th Precinct is today on Old Willetts Path and Veterans Hwy. Here they began to establish a respectable farm that would be passed on to their daughter Sarah when she later married.

One day a visitor came to the Smith house carrying a small baby. The women turned out to be the maid of Caleb’s sister Martha who lived in the city. She and her husband John Conklin had both recently died of Cholera about the same time. The maid was then instructed to gather all the family silver in a pillowcase, wrap their daughter in blankets, and go out to Smithtown where they would be taken care of. The girl Martha

Elizabeth was taken in by Caleb II and said to have been raised just as if she were one of his own children.

By the end of the century more mills were needed to meet the growing demands of the population in Smithtown and in 1798 Caleb Smith II, his cousin Joshua Smith II, and Issac Blydenburgh, all having land adjoining Bushy Neck decided to dam up the part where their lands met and build the mill. They set out cutting down the trees on the land that was to be flooded. The dam was to be built of stone, dirt, and logs, and wide enough for two ox carts to pass, the Harneds were hired to build it and still have the original papers. After completion of the dam the new pond with hundreds of tree stumps sticking out of it became known to the locals as stump pond and they could still be seen a century later.

Issac Smith was hired in 1801 to run the mill and was given some land nearby to build his house. He died two years later before the house was finished and his family, in debt., gave the land back to Caleb Smith and Issac Blydenburgh. Soon after Joshua Smith sold his interest in the mill to his partners and Issac then employed his two sons Richard and Issac to operate the mill.