THE TOWN AND VILLAGE OF FLUSHING.
SETTLEMENT AND ACQUISITION OF LAND.
The best attainable data place the first settlement on Flushing Bay at about 1643, and in the next seven years the number of settlers had increased by additions of Friends from Holland, and several who were accredited as coming from the Massachusetts colony, and who were driven here by the practical operation of the strange interpretation placed on their boasted motto "Freedom to worship God," by the proprietors of that colony. The oldest official document throwing light on the first settlement of this place- Vlissingen, as it was then called, after a village in Holland in which the English refugees had lived, and of which name Flushing is a corruption- is dated in 1645, and is a charter for a town, granted by Governor Kieft and found embodied in a confirmation granted by the State of New York in 1782. The original manuscript, including a renewal granted by English authority in 1685, was lost in the destruction of the town’s records by fire in 1789; and on the 24th of February 1792 an exemplification of Flushing patent was issued by Attorney- General James Graham, which is now on file in the town hall. The English renewal of Governor Kieft’s charter was by Governor Dongan, in the name of James II, the reigning king of England. The tract in question was granted, according to the governor’s announcement, in 1666 to John Lawrence, alderman of the city of New York, Richard Cornell, Charles Bridges, William Lawrence, Robert Terry, William Noble, John Forbush, Elias Doughty, Robert Field, Edward Farrington, John Marston, Anthony Field, Philip Udall, Thomas Stiles, Benjamin Field, William Pidgeon, John Adams, John Hinchman, Nicholas Parcell, Tobias Feakes and John Bowne as patentees, for and in behalf ofthemselves and their associates, the freeholders and inhabitants of the town of Flushing, their heirs, successors and inhabitants, forever, and was described as follows: "All that Certaine Town in the North Riding of Yorkshire upon Long Island called by the name of Flushing, Scituate, lying and being in the north side of said island; which said hath a Certaine tract of land belonging thereto, and bounded westward beginning at the mouth of a creeke upon the East River known by the name of Flushing Creeke, and from thence including a certain neck of land called Tuesneck, to run Eastward from the head or middle whereof a Line is to be run South East; in length about three miles and about two miles in breadth as the Land hath been surveyed and laid out by virtue of an order made at the General Meeting held at the town of Hempstead in the month of March one thousand six hundred and sixty- four; then that there may be the same lattitude in Breadth on the South Side as on the North, to run in two direct Lines Southward to the middle of the hills, as is directed by another order made of the General Meeting Aforesaid; which, passing East and West as the two are now marked, is the Bounds between the said Towns of Flushing and Jamaica; for the greatest parte of which said tract of Land and premissess there was heretofore a Pattent granted from the Dutch Governor William Kieft, bearing date the tenth day of October one thousand six hundred and forty five, Stilo Novo, unto Thomas Farrington, John Lawrence, John Hicks and divers other Patentees, their Successors, Associates and assignes, for them to improve, manure, and settle a competent number of familyes there upon." The document then recites that on the 14th of April 1684 Elias Doughty, Thomas Willett, John Bowne, Matthias Harvey, Thomas Hicks, Richard Cornell, John Hinchman, Jonathan Wright, and Samuel Hoyt, agents of the freeholders of the town of Flushing, to perfect their title, bought from certain Indians who claimed their territory, "all the lands, situate, lying and being on the North Side of Long Island, called and knowne by the name of Flushing, within Queens County, the first bounds whereof begin to the West with Flushing Creeke, to the South by Jamaica Line, to the East by Hempstead Line, and to the North with the Sound, for and in consideration of a valuable sume then received." It is further stated that the inhabitants of Flushing and Jamaica agreed upon their boundaries as follows: "That from the foot or bottome of the hills upon the South side the Town of Jamaica shall have Seven Score Rodd upon a direct and straight point unto the hills in all places from the Eastermost Bounds of Jamaica, being at a marked Walnut tree upon Rockie hill, standing upon the West Side of the Road between Flushing and Hempstead, to the Westermost Bounds of Jamaica and Flushing in the hills;" also that "by another Certaine Writing or agreement, dated the last day of June one thousand six hundred eighty four, made by Elias Doughty, John Seaman, Thomas Willett and John Jackson, the Bounds between the towne of Flushing and Hempstead are to begin at the middle of the bay, where Capt. Jacques runn the line, and to hold the same until it comes to the land Called by the name of the Governor’s Land, and then from the South side of the Governor’s Land towards the End of the plaine to the former markt tree that stands in the Hollow, and to run from thence upon a direct line unto the Rockyhill Westerly, where Carts usually goe to Flushing;" also that the patentees and their associates "have, according to the Custom and Practice in this Province, made several divisions, allottments, distinct settlements and improvements of severall pieces and parcells of the above recited tract," and that application had been made to the governor by Joseph Smith and Jonathan Wright for a confirmation of the patent. In view of these facts Governor Dongan issued the following: "Now, for a Confirmation unto the present Freeholders and Inhabitants of the said Towne, their heirs and Assigns, in the Quiett and peaceable possession and enjoyment of the aforesaid Tract of Land and premises, Know Yee that, by virtue of the Commission and Authority, I have ratified, Confirmed and Granted unto Thomas Willett, John Lawrence Seignor, Elias Doughty, Richard Cornell, Moriss Smith, Charles Morgan, Mary Fleake, Wouter Gisbertson, John Masten, John Cornelis, John Harrison, Denius Holdron, John Hinchman, William Yeates, Joseph Thorne, John Lawrence Junior, Matthias Harveye, Harmanus King, John Farrington, Thomas Williams, Elisabeth Osborn, Joseph Havyland, John Washborne, Aaron Cornelis, John Bowne, William Noble, Samuel Hoyt, Madeline Frances Barto, John Hoper, Thomas Ford, John Jenning, John Embree, Jonathan Wright, Nicholas Parcell, William Lawrence, Richard Townly, Edward Griffin Junior, John Lawrence at the Whitestone, Henry Taylor, Jasper Smith, Richard Wilday, Thomas Townsend, John Thorne, Anthony Field, John Adams, Richard Stockton, James Whittaker, Hugh Copperthwaite, Richard Chew, James Clement, Margaret Stiles, Samuel Thorne, Thomas Hedges, William Haviland, Thomas Hicks, John Terry, David Patrick, James Feake, Thomas Kimacry, Phillip Udall, Thomas Davis, Edward Farrington, Thomas Farrington, Matthew Farrington, John Field, Joseph Hedger, John Talman, William Gael, William White, Elisabeth Smith, Thomas Partridge, William Hedger and Benjamin Field, the present freeholders and Inhabitants of the said Towne of Flushing, their heires and Assignes for Ever, all the before recited tract and parcell or neck of land set forth, limited and bounded as aforesaid by the aforementioned patent, Indian deed of sale, and agreements; together with all and singular the houses, Messuages, Tenements, Fencings, Buildings, Gardens, Orchards, Trees, Woods, Underwoods, Highways and Easements whaesoever belonging or in any ways appertaining to any of the afore recited tract, Parcell or neck of land, divisions, Allottments and settlements made and appropriated before the day and date hereof. And as for and concerning all and every such parcell or parcells, tract or tracts of Land and Meadow Remainder of the Granted premissess not yet taken up or appropriated to any particular person or persons before the day of the date hereof, to the use and behoof of the purchasers above recited and to their heires and assigns for Ever, to be Equally divided in proportion to the above recited Inhabitants and Freeholders aforesaid and to their respective heires and assignes for Ever, without any let, hindrance or molestacion, to be had or reserved upon pretence of joint tenancy or survivorship, or anything herein Contained to the Contrary in anywise notwithstanding: To be holden of his Most Sacred Majesty, his heires and successors, in free and Common Socage, according to the tenure of East Greenwich in the Kingdom of England, Yielding therefore and paying Yearely and Every Yeare an acknowledgement or Quit- rent to his Majesty, his heires and successors as aforesaid, or to such officer or officers as shall by him or them be appointed to receive the same, at New Yorke, in lieu of all services and demands whatsoever, Sixteen bushels of good Marchantable winter wheate on Every five and twentieth day of March." Attached to this is the official indorsement of George Clinton, governor of the State of New York, bearing the date of February 24th 1792 and the great seal of the State; well named, as it is nearly half an inch in thickness and three and one half inches in diameter, made of wax and covered with paper. Subsequent events seemed to prove that the charter granted by Governor Kieft was one which, while it fully guaranteed the freedom of its recipients from any more burdensome exactions than the patent confirmed by the British governor, was a source of annoyance to Kieft’s successor in office, as the sturdy independence of the patentees led them to resist any encroachments of the governor upon their vested rights and to refuse to render to the colony any assistance, other than that nominated in the bond. The Indians mentioned in the above instrument were the chiefs of the Matinecock tribe, once very numerous and whose principal settlements within the town limits were at Little Neck and Bayside, at which places they "dried" oysters and clams for winter use, and engaged in the manufacture of wampum of a very superior quality, which was the circulating medium of the locality for many years. In fact the Matinecocks operated the first mint ever opened on the island, and, though its raw material was not intrinsically valuable, yet the coin, even though made of sea shells, was the natural progenitor of the "fiat money" idea that is now attracting attention among financiers. So full a description of this tribe is given elsewhere in this volume that no more space need be devoted to the subject in this article, further than to say that here as elsewhere the edict "Move on" was early enforced, and that the annals of the period of which we are now writing make but slight allusion to them. It is, however, a credit to the pioneers of Flushing that they conceded to the poor red man some title to the soil; and that though, as Mandeville relates, the price paid for the fee simple was only one axe or its equivalent for each fifty acres, yet the present owners of the soil can trace their titles untainted by the robbery by which so much of the landed wealth of America was wrested from the aborigines. The extensive vlaies or salt meadows were probably among the inducements which led the agricultural people by whom the town was settled to locate here, as within four years after the date of the charter a writer described the town as a handsome village, tolerably stocked with cattle.CIVIL TROUBLES
The earliest date of any event of importance to the new town is January 17th 1648, when John Townsend, Edward Hart, Thomas Styles, John Lawrence and John Hicks were summoned to appear before Governor Stuyvesant and council on January 23d as "the principal persons who resist the Dutch mode of choosing sheriffs, pretending it is against the adopted course in the fatherland, and who refuse to contribute their share of the maintenance of the Christian, pious Reformed minister, and if they refuse, to be apprehended and prosecuted by the attorney- general." This was the first symptom of resistance to Stuyvesant’s bigotry and oppression. Another entry from the court records is as follows: "April 8th 1648.- Thomas Hall, an inhabitant of fflishingen, in New Netherland, being accused that he prevented the Sheriff of ffiishingen to do his duty and execute his office in apprehending Thomas Heyes, which. Thomas Hall confessed that he kept the door shut so that noe one might assist the Sheriff, demands mercy and promise he will do it never again and regrets very much that he did so. The director general and Council doing Justice condemn the said Thomas Hall in a fine of 25 guilders, to be applied at the discretion of the council." On the 22nd of April 1655 Thomas Saul, William Lawrence and Edward Farrington were appointed magistrates from a list of persons nominated by the town; and Tobias Feake was appointed sheriff. The sentence of Henry Townsend (who had been a highly respected resident of the town, then living in Jamaica, or Rudsdorp as it was called by the Dutch) on the 15th of September 1647 for having called together conventicles aroused the freedom-loving people of both towns to unite in a remonstrance, dated December 27th in the same year, and resulted in the arrest of Sheriff Feake, Magistrate Farrington and Town Clerk Edward Hart. Feake was degraded from office and sentenced to banishment, or to pay a fine of two hundred guilders. Farrington sued for and obtained pardon, and on a petition from Hart, who showed that he was only acting in the matter as a scrivener, he was excused on payment of costs. Town meetings were then forbidden "except for highly interesting and pressing reasons," and in an order of March 26th 1658 Governor Stuyvesant, after bestowing his formal pardon on the town for its "mutinous orders and resolutions," says: "In future I shall appoint a sheriff acquainted not only with the English and Dutch languages, but with Dutch practical law; and in future there shall be chosen seven of the most reasonable and respectable of the inhabitants, to be called tribunes and townsmen, whom the sheriff and magistrates shall consult in all cases; and a tax of twelve stiver sper morger is laid on the inhabitants for the support of an orthodox minister, and such as do not sign a written submission to the same in six weeks may dispose of their property at their pleasure and leave the soil of this government." This was in direct violation of the town charter, which gave the people the right of choosing their own civil officers, and full liberty of conscience; yet so obstinate had the sturdy old Knickerbocker become, in his attempt to establish a State church, that he did not allow that trifling circumstance to affect his course in the least. His enmity toward the English settlers, dating back to the protest of 1653, in which John Hicks and Tobias Feake represented the town, led to an arbitrary exercise of his power. This, although unsustained by the home government, destroyed the sympathy for and loyalty to the States- General on the part of many who were inclined to be grateful for past favors; and in 1662 Flushing became one of the English towns which in convention at Hempstead offered their allegiance to the British colony of Connecticut. It was accepted by that colony, and steps were taken to protect the newly acquired territory from the claim of its late masters. The new association proved, in many respects, unsatisfactory. The authors of the Blue Laws seemed inclined to regard their new friends rather in. the light of vassals than equals; and the enforcement of the Duke of York’s claim on Long Island, by its capture by the British in 1664, was welcomed by the English- born residents, and tolerated by the Dutch and French, as an epoch that must restore their chartered rights. The tyrannical theories that proved the ruin of the Stuarts were then in full force, and the instruments of their power in America were chosen to carry them into effect. The inhabitants of Yorkshire, as the island was then called, saw no reason to congratulate themselves on a speedy recognition of their rights, but were soon in a position of passive hostility to the governor; in 1666 the wealthy and scholarly William Lawrence was arrested and fined heavily for seditious language, and four years later Governor Lovelace ordered the protest of the town against the unauthorized exactions of his government publicly burned on the court- house square at Jamaica.GROWTH OF POPULATION AND BUSINESS
An important event of this period was the settlement here of a small number of Huguenot families, who, driven from France by the revocation of the edict of Nantes, had found a temporary refuge in Holland, and, at the advice of the authorities there, made part of a cargo of emigrants who located in different parts of the Dutch possessions. There are no traces of their participation in local politics, but to this day their old homes are marked by the bell pear and lady apple trees set out by them, and their introduction of these and other fruits from sunny France gave an impetus to horticulture that has led to results of the greatest importance. Love of their native land was their peculiar characteristic; and when, after a residence of some twenty years, a change of administration made their return safe, they, with but few exceptions, took advantage of the earliest opportunity to dispose of their estates here, and once more turn their faces toward their own vine- clad hills. The only names of these settlers that have come down to us are Jean Apree, Jean Gienon, Fre Braton, De Wilde, Esmond and Embre, the last of whom was the founder of the Embre families of Flushing and of Chester county, Pa; the others not appearing in the annals of this locality at a later date than 1690. In 1672 Flushing, by a vote of its town meeting, refused to assist in the repair of the forts on the coast, giving as a reason therefor that any such concession heretofore made by the people had been claimed as a right by the governor, whose excessive taxation and disregard of the good of his Majesty’s subjects had become intolerable. The year 1673 witnessed the recapture of New York by the Dutch, and the acquiescence of Flushing in its results. Francis Bloctgoct was chosen magistrate, and in March 1674 a commission was given by the governor- general to him as chief of the inhabitants of the Dutch nation residing in the villages Vlissingen, Heemstede, Rusdorp and Middleburgh, and the places belonging to these districts; by which he is commanded to communicate to said inhabitants that they on the first notice of the enemy’s arrival, or on the arrival of more ships than one, shall at once march well armed toward the city. The peace of 1674 restored Flushing to the British, and up to 1680 no important political events transpired. In that year the town voted to Governor Dongan a gift of land adjoining a tract that had been given to him by one of the neighboring towns. In 1690 occurred the usurpation of Leisler, whom the people of Flushing refused to recognize, despite a display of force made by him with a view of intimidating them. The closing years of the century were, except for religious difficulties, unmarked by any event of especial interest. Trade had been opened with New York, by means of large boats, the first of which was owned by a man who started a small barter store at the landing. It was a large canoe, purchased from the Indians at Bayside, and it is said to have been able to carry a hogshead of molasses and eight or ten persons at one time. The early products of the locality were wheat, tobacco, Indian corn, and live stock; while the oysters and clams that abounded in the bays and inlets proved a godsend to a class too unsettled in character to devote themselves to the pursuits of agriculture. Business alliances were being formed in the city that laid the foundation of some of the most noted commercial and monetary interests of New York, and the seventeenth century closed on a people alive to their own rights, enterprising and sagacious, and successful in a pecuniary point of view to an extent rarely witnessed in the first half century of a colony’s existence. One reason for this was that the first settlers were not poor in the sense in which the word usually applies to immigrants. It was not penury but persecution that drove them here; and the fact that the Lawrences, Bownes, Hickses and others were what in those days were termed wealthy men aided largely in building up, the young settlement. Two of the landmarks of that century remain carefully guarded by the citizens of the village- one the old Bowne house, a solidly built frame house, erected by John Bowne in 1661, the other the Friends’ meeting house, built in 1695. Besides the names of the patentee Henry Onderdonk jr. furnishes the following list of heads of families in the town at different times from 1645 to 1698: Poulas Amerman, Thomas Applegate, Derrick, John and Elbert Areson, Anthony Badgley, Cornelius Barneson, William Benger, Rudolf Blackford, George Blee, John, Elizabeth and Francis Bloodgood, Bernardus Bevon, Dirick Brewer, Moses Brown, Lyman Bumptill, Francis Burto, Widow Cartright, William Chadderton John Clement, Rebecca Clery, Nathaniel Coe, William Danford, Obadiah Dewitt, Lawrence Douse, Sarah and Francis Doughty, Deborah Ebell, John Esmond, Edward Feake, John Firman, William Fowler Weaver, William Fowler Carpenter, John Furman, John Forbosh, John Genung, John Gelloe, John Glover, Lorus Haff, Thomas Hall, Garrit Hansom, Edward Hart, John Harrington, John Harrison, Matthias Haroye, John Heeded, Gerrit Hendricks, Powell Hoff, Benjamin Hubbard, Nathan Jeffs, Josiah Jenning, John Jores, . George Langley, Madalin Lodew, John Man, Michael Millner, William Owen, Elias and Joseph Palmer, Mary Perkins, Arthur Powel, Edward Rouse, Abraham Rich, Thomas Runbey, John Ryder, Walter Salter, Henry Sawtell, William Silsbee, Nicholas and Robert Snether, Mary Southick, Thomas Stevens, William C. Stiger, Richard Stocton, Samuel Tatem, Dr. Henry Taylor, John and Robert Terry, Simon Thewell, Richard Tindall, Edward Van Skyagg, Ellen Wall, William Warde, Richard Weller, Richard Wilday, Thomas Willde, Martin Wiltse. The population of the town in 1700 could not have been far from five hundred, including slaves, of which there were about forty. The settlements were Flushing, Whitestone, Lawrence’s Neck and Bay Side. A blockhouse had been built at what is now the corner of Union street and Broadway in Flushing village; it was known as the Guard- house, and was used as an arsenal and for the temporary detention of criminals on the way to the county jail. Grist- mills were built on several of the streams. A regular disciple of Esculapius, Dr. Henry Taylor, had settled here. A road to Brooklyn by the head of the vlaie through Jamaica was opened and used to some extent, but for general purposes canoes and pirogues down the East River were the connecting links with. New York, and a taste for commercial ventures by water was growing which has since led to important results. During the first half of this century several small potteries were established. The Prince nursery was opened, and in 1745 an Episcopal church was founded, which was chartered by Governor Colden as St. George’s Church in 1761, and a church edifice erected in the following year.RELIGIOUS PERSECUTIONS AND CONTROVERSIES.
The pioneers of Flushing, having felt the keen blasts of proscription and outlawry for their religious views, sought Long Island as a permanent refuge, relying on the known liberality of the government of Holland, which had purchased for its subjects the prize, of religious liberty at a terrible cost of blood and treasure, and was inclined to accord the privileges it had gained to the oppressed of every nation. It was therefore with surprise and alarm that the people of Vlissingen found that within three years after the grant of their charter the Dutch governor sought to enforce arbitrary and uncalled for restrictions upon them, as well as to force on them the maintenance of a Reformed clergy. The governor having arranged for the support of a State church- that of Holland- by the taxation of the people, the Quakers refused to submit, urging the plea that the law was one binding their consciences; and, seeing in this rebellion against his authority, the arbitrary Dutchman, despite the fact that his country had always allowed the largest liberty to the consciences of its people, commenced a system of proscription and persecution. The arrest of John Townsend, Edward Hart, Thomas Styles, John Lawrence and John Hicks, in 1648, was followed by a series of petty persecutions, culminating September 15th 1657 in the arrest and punishment of Henry Townsend, who was condemned to pay a fine of £8 Flanders for having called together Quaker meetings. This aroused the indignation of the people of Jamaica and Flushing, and at a large assembly they adopted the following spirited remonstrance to Governor Stuyvesant: "Right Honorable- You have been pleased to send up unto us a certain prohibition or Command that we should not retaine or entertaine any of those people called Quakers, because they are supposed to be by some seducers of the people. For our part we cannot Condemn them in this Case, neither can we stretch out our hand against them to punish, banish or persecute them; for out of Christ God is a Consuming fire, and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Wee desire therefore in this Case not to judge, least we be judged, neither to Condemn least we be Condemned; but rather let every man stand or fall to his own Maister. Wee are commanded by the Law to do good unto all men, Especially to those of the household of Faith. And though for the present we seem to be insensible of the law and the Lawgiver, Yet when death and the law assault us, if wee have our advocate to seeke who shall plead for us in this case of conscience betwixt God and our own souls, the powers of this world can neither assest us neither excuse us; for if God justifye who can condemn? and if God Condemn there is none can justifye. And for those Jealousies and suspicions Which some have of them, that they are destructive unto Magistracy & Ministerye (this) Can not bee; for the magistrate bath the sword in his hand and the minister hath the sword in his hand- as witnesse those two Great Examples which all magistrates and ministers are to follow, Moses and Christ, whom God raised up, maintained and defended against all the Enemies both of Flesh and Spirit, and therefore that which is of God will stand and that which is of man will come, to nothing. And as the Lorde hath taught Moses, or the Civil Powers, to give an outward liberty in the state by the law written in his hearte for the good of all, and can truly judge who is good, who is evil, who is true and who is false, and can pass definite sentence of life or death against that man which rises up against the fundamental law of the States- General; Soe he hath made his ministers a savour of life unto life and a savour of death unto, death. The laws of Love, Peace and Liberty in the State extending to Jews, Turks, and Egyptians, as they are considered the sonnes of Adam, which is the glory of the outward state of Holland, soe Love, Peace and Liberty extending to all in Christ Jesus Condemns hatred, War and Bondage; And because our Saviour saith it is impossible but that offences will come, but woe unto him by whom they Cometh, our desire is not to offend any of his little ones in whatsoever form, name or title hee appears in, whether Presbyterian, Independent, Baptist or Quaker, but shall be glad to see anything of God in any of them, desiring to doe to all men as wee desire that all men should do unto us, which is the true law both of church and state, for our Saviour saith this is the law and the prophets. Therefore if any of these said persons come in love unto us we cannot in conscience lay violent hands upon them, but give them free egresse and regresse into our Town and houses as God shall persuade our consciences. And in this we are true subjects both of Church and state, for we are bound by the law of God and man to doe good unto all men and evil to noe man. And this is according to the pattent and charter of our Towne, given unto us in the name of the States- Generall, which we are not willing to infringe and violate, but shall hold to our pattent and shall remain your humble subjects the inhabitants of Vlissingen.- Written this 27th of December in the year 1657 by meeEdward Hart, Clerk.
Tobias Feake, William Noble, Nicholas Parsell, William Thorne signior, Michael Milner, William Thorne junior, Henry Townsend, Nicholas Blackford, George Wright, Edward Terk, John Foard, Mirabel Free, Henry Bamtell, John Stoar, Nathe Cole, Benjamin Hubbard, Edward Hart, John Maidon, John Townsend, Edward Farrington, Philip Ed, William Pidgion, George Blee, Elias Doughtie, Antonie Field, Rich’d Horton, Nathaniel Coe, Robert Field sen., Robert Field jr., Tobias Feake, the Sheriff. The governor, not disposed to listen to such Scriptural admonition, caused, as has been stated, the arrest of the supposed leaders in the meeting and continued his course. Henry Townsend was fined £100 Flanders for lodging Quakers again and again, which he unconditionally confessed; the town government was changed and for five years the arbitrary course was continued, culminating in the arrest of John Bowne for attending Quaker meetings. He refused to pay the fine of £25 Flanders, was thrown into prison, and after being kept there for about a year was transported to Holland for the welfare of the community and "to crush as far as possible that abominable sect, who treat with contempt both the political magistrates and the ministers of God’s holy Word, and endeavor to undermine the police and religion." On presenting his case to the West India Company at Amsterdam they declined to favor such arbitrary measures, and treated him in the, most conciliatory manner; and in their next dispatch rebuked Stuyvesant as follows: "Although it is our desire that similar or other sectarians may not be found there, yet, as the contrary seems to be fact, we doubt very much whether rigorous proceedings against them ought not to be discontinued; unless indeed you intend to check and destroy your population, which in the youth of your existence ought rather to be encouraged by all possible means. Wherefore it is our opinion that some connivance is useful, and that at least the consciences of men ought to remain free and unshackled. Let every one remain free as long as he is modest, moderate, his political conduct irreproachable, and as long as he does not offend others or oppose the government. This maxim of moderation has always been the guide of our magistrates in this city, and the consequence has been that people have flocked from every land to this asylum. Tread thus in their steps and we doubt not you will be blessed." This message had the effect of moderating the governor’s zeal and rendering inoperative his orders dated in 1661, wherein he forbade the holding of any religious services other than those of the Reformed Church, on penalty of a fine of fifty guilders on each person attending- the fine to be increased with each violation and the fourth conviction to be visited with exemplary punishment. The change from Dutch to British rule in 1664 brought no relief, and in 1667 we find that William Bishop had "spoken seditious words at a publique meeting of ye Inhabitants of the Towne of Fflushing on ye 3d of this instant month." The complainant was one Captain Richard Betts, who declared that, after the governor had offered to furnish the people with powder and take firewood in exchange for it, he heard Bishop say that there was "another cunning trick." Bishop confessed the discourtesy, and was sentenced to be made fast to the whipping- post, "there to stand with rodds fastened to his back during the sitting of the court of Mayor and Aldermen, and from thence to be carryed unto the Common Goole (jail), until further order." On the 30th of October 1701 Samuel Haight, John Way and Robert Field petitioned in behalf of themselves and other Quakers of Queens county, setting forth that they were refused the right to vote in local affairs because they would not take the oath. It is not known what effect this petition had, but it is certain that the Duke of York, in his instructions to Governor Dongan, gave most explicit instructions to molest no one by reason of differing opinions on matters of religion. It was not until a much later date that this bigoted persecution ceased; for we find that on the 29th of November 1702, at a half-yearly meeting of the Quakers at Flushing, the missionary preacher, Samuel Bownas, was arrested and required to give bail in the sum of two thousand pounds, the court expressing its willingness to accept his own recognizance for one- half the amount. He refused, saying, "If as small a sum as three halfpence would do, I should not do it," and was consequently sent to jail. On the 28th of December the court met, and his case was presented to the grand jury, who returned the bill "indorsed, ‘Ignoramus’." The presiding judge was very angry and uttered severe threats against the jury, when James Clement, of Flushing, promptly administered a scathing rebuke. They were sent back to reconsider the case, and again returned the same reply. They were then dismissed and the unfortunate Quaker remanded to prison. A Scotch shoemaker living near the jail, although a churchman himself, sympathized with Bownas and taught him to make and repair shoes, and thus afforded him a means of securing many comforts by his own exertions; for he succeeded, as he relates in his diary, in earning fifteen shillings a week. During his imprisonment he was visited by the Indian king and three of his chiefs, who were puzzled to know why he should be so punished if he worshiped the same Great Spirit as did the other pale- faces, and why they should shut him up and leave bad white men at large. In the autumn of 1703 the court again assembled and the case was presented to another grand jury, who returned the papers indorsed, as before, "Ignoramus." On the next day he was liberated and "a large body of dear friends had him with them in a kind of triumph!" He had spent eleven months in jail. It was not until the stirring events of the French wars drove petty interference with the rights of the people out of the minds of the English governors that those who refused to favor the Episcopal mode of worship were allowed much peace. Fines, illegal assessments, imprisonment and banishment were the arguments employed, and finally a plan was adopted the cool malevolence of which was worthy of a Machiavelli. No marriages were to be recognized save those performed by the Church of England, and persons married by other forms were to be arrested for adultery, which was actually done in some cases; so that in the court records of those days an indictment or charge of adultery is more likely to be an evidence of the accused’s membership in the society of Friends than of his moral obliquity. Mandeville, in his "Flushing, Past and Present," has a list of sums taken from Quakers Decembere1st 1756, pursuant to two acts of the Assembly of the province of New York. It includes the following names and amounts: John Thorn, £2; James Burling, £2; James Bowne, £2; Benjamin Doughty, £2; Stephen Hedger, £2; Daniel Bowne, £2; James Person, £2; Daniel Lathum, £2; Samuel Thorn, £2; Caleb Field, £2; John Thorne, £1. The result of the persecution was what has been the case for all time; the proscribed sect grew and has never been without a place of meeting and the means of grace, while the churches upheld be the sword of man failed to find a hold on the hearts of the people until after that sword had been withdrawn.INCIDENTS OF TRADE AND AGRICULTURE.
The old account book of John Bowne, commenced in 1656 and carried down by his son Samuel to 1702, affords and amusing and instructive view of the primitive habits and simple wants of the people of their day, and a few extracts form its pages will at least serve as a contrast to some of the extensive monied operations with which may of the citizens of Flushing at the present are familiar. Bowne was an enlightened and thrifty farmer, served as county treasurer in 1683, and in 1691 was elected to the Assembly. He is believed to have acted as a sort of agent for his neighbors, or as a merchant on a small sacale, keeping up a correspondence with merchants in "Manhattans," as New York was then called; and he make and sold cider extensively for the times, shipping it to his old friend William Penn, the founder of Philadelphia, who once paid him a visit here. When this account book was commenced paper money was unknown and coin very scarce. Wampum or "se want," as the Dutch called it, was the measure of values, and payments were also make in labor, beaver skins, produce (called "country pay") and the like. Tobacco, however, seemed to have a cash value, and was eventually adopted as the medium of exchange. Weights, measures and values were given in Dutch. Henry Onderdonk, jr. has explained them as follows: "A guilder, maked g., seems to be about 6 pence; a stiver, marked st., a farthing. The precise value is not very clear, but 20 stivers make a guilder. The skepel was about 3 pecks; the anker, 4 gallons; the much, about a gill. The Dutch and English weights and measures differed though sometimes called by the same names." The most striking entries in this old business record, with their dates, are as follows: 1656.- R. Stockton dr., Salt I lent you, 2 of our little kettlefuls. 1658, May 5.- John Ford dr. for 1 ½ bushels peas, 3 days work at harvest, when I shall call for him. 1659.- Nich. Parcells dr., 117 good substanstial 5- hole chestnut post; also the rending out of 200 rails. 1668.- Dr. for a scythe I sold him for the leave me out 400 good rails, I finding the timber. 1660, Dec. 5.- Due me from father, £2 14s. to be paid in threshing of wheat at 7d. a bushel, and stubbing of ground at 16d. an acre, or as I think it worth. 1661, May 30.- Sarah Cornwellish (Cornelius) hired with me to do one year’s service for 70 guilders in wampum pay ($8.40). Humphrey Trimble cr. On day’s work, 30 stivers; 1 day at harvest, 2 guilders, due him in wampum. 1663, June.- Wm. Orins has 3 lbs. sheep’s wool for shoeing ad bleeding of my mare one whole year; one pint of liquor, 1s. 6d. Saml. Mills, dr. one day’s mowing for 2 combs; 2 combs at 2 pecks wheat. A. Cornelius, dr., half b. wheat for 2 combs. 1667.- I sent to Govert by Joseph, the boatman (Feb.) 3 skepels of peas for brother Underhill and one for myself. 1668.- I bo’t at Govert’s 8 lbs. of sugar, at a guilder a lb. In 1667 I owed Govert within a few stivers of 100 guilders. 1668.- Bought of David the turner, one winch for a wheel, 2g.; 6 chairs and a bottom for an old chair at 58g., to be paid at the crop in peas at 5g. a skepel, or Indian corn at 4g. a skepel at York; or in hogs, fat or lean, if we can agree. Agreed with David for what chairs I will at 4g. apiece for the bigger, and 50 st. for the children’s, to be paid in lean hogs before winter (as they are worth with us) upon sewant account. John Sprong being to act for them. If we can’t agree he is to choose one man and I another to make the price between us. 1670.- Two quarts liquor at 3 pecks wheat, 3s. 9d. Rum at harvest, 3s. Load of thatch at half a day’s work. Henry Gardner owes for a can of vinegar 10s. John Sprong’s hogshead of tobacco is paid for by 6 loads of hay. 1672, Dec.- John Marston, dr. Three loads hay fro the south; for the hay, carting and stacking, in all, £4. July.- Bought a deerskin from the shoemaker at 2 skepels of peas; cotton wool at 10d. a pound; sugar at 10d. a pound. (It will be noticed that the accounts are now kept in English money.) Jane Chatterton dr., 9 lbs. sugar at 6d. a lb.; wheat, 4s. a bushel. John Feke dr., by 3 days riding in the woods to seek his stray mare, 15s. if ever she be found. In 1668 there is a memorandum of his account as collector of taxes. As they were usually paid in produce there was either a town barn, or the collector furnished storage, charging for it. In 1684 he sums up an item of his business as county treasurer, as follows: "Waste of corn (by shrinkage), 7s. 6d.; Indian corn lost in measure, 20s.; carting corn in Flushing, 7s. 6d.; to chamber- room for corn, 20s.; collector’s salary, 14s. 4d." 1674, March.- Hay- dust sold Dr. Taylor, 12 bush. at 1s. a bush. May.- A fat cow, £4 3s. 4d., to Mynard, the shoemaker. 1675, Oct.- John Baylie, 8 lbs. wool for so much flax, Dutch weight. 1676.- N. Sneden dr., 8 good cider barrels, with broad hoops, for a cross- cut saw; a washing tub for a file. 1678.- Abm. Ogden cr., weaving 31 yards of linen, at 8d. a yard; 29 yards woolen, at 7d. a yard; 3 days reaping, at 2s. 6d. a day. 1680, Nov. 27.- Dorothy Bowne went to Mary Willis’s. Her things are: 8 handkerchiefs, 3 white and one black hood, 8 caps, 3 pair sleeves, 5 headbands, 4 aprons, 2 pair stockings, 2 new shifts, 4 petticoats, 2 waistcoats. 1680.- Account of charges for John Clay in his sickness and at his burial; 2 oz. cloves and mace, 4s.; 1 ¼ oz. nutmegs, 2s. 2d.; 6 lbs. currants, 4s. 6d.; 25 lbs. sugar 9s. 4 ½ d.; 2 galls. rum, 6s.; 6 lbs. butter, 3s.; coffin, 6s. 1681.- Due Edw. Burling, 6 bush. Indian corn or one barrel cider, which he pleaseth. Due John and Elias Burling, cr. by ringing pair of wheels, 15s. August.- I sold Geo. Lambert a mare for £5 in money and a mustard bowl; and a grey mare to John Newbold for £3 5s. Old England money. 1683.- Wm. Penn dr., 4 barrels boiled cider, at 30s. each; 3 barrels raw cider, at 15s. each; 36 bush., hay dust, at 2s. a bush. 1683.- Martha Joanna’s 30 weeks’ schooling and what else is paid for by a red petticoat to E.C. (Elisabeth Cowperthwaite?) 1685.- John Adams cr. by making 28 rods of stone wall at 1s. 6d. a rod; 4 days cutting thatch, 10s; 2 ½ days walling, 6s.; dressing 2 cows, 4s.; for 30 shingles, 9d. 1687.- Maria Feake, dr., canoeing and carting home 3 loads hay, 16s.; cr., making 10 shifts, 15s.; 3 petticoats 10s.; 2 weeks spinning, 10s.; making 5 shirts and knitting 2 pair stockings. (This woman was the deserted wife of Tobias Feake, the ex- sheriff, who ran away to Holland with another woman, to the great scandal of the community. She kept a farm, tried to pay his debts and raised a family of his children, retaining the respect of all her neighbors. It will be seen that the prices paid for her work were large, compared to the prevailing rates of men’s wages. It was probably the good old Quaker way to cover up a charitable act and relieve her from the humiliation attending a direct gift.) April 20- Jona. Wright, for cart hire, 1 day reaping or mowing. For 6 pecks oats, in reaping to satisfy me in reason; 3 days mowing for one pair worsted hose. Chas. Mordan, dr., for hay and fodder, one good day’s mowing or reaping. A doz. almanacs, 4s.; neck of veal, 6d. 1687.- Dr. Simon Cooper, cr., for letting Daniel’s blood, 1s.; .wormseed, 1s.; two journeys, from Oyster Bay to Flushing, 24s.; 5 plasters, 5s.; 7 doz. pills, 14s. 2 bottles cordials, 10s.; salve and cere- cloth, 3s.; a purge, 2s. 6d.; drawing a tooth, 1s. Paid Dr. Taylor for coming to let James’s blood, 3s. 6d. 1690.- Declined Ri. Stockton’s proposal for all his housing lands and conveniences thereto belonging (at Bay Side), 70 acres or more at home and 2 ten- acre lots and 2 twenty- acre lots at a mile or two distance, with so much meadow as may yield 20 or 25 loads of hay a year, price £300. 16 half- ankers of boiled cider for half of 2 oxen. I bought of Wm. Dearing a negro girl Betty for £23 in silver, £12 in hand and £11 next month. 1691.- Account of linen in John Bowne’s house: New diaper, 4 tablecloths, one doz. napkins, one doz. towels, fine sheets 6, and 2 cotton sheets, 4 coarse linen, 2 fine tow, 2 bolster cases, 9 fine pillow- biers, 4 coarse ones; small linen: 4 cravats, 5 handkerchiefs, 5 neck cloths, 8 caps, 7 bands; woolen, bedding, &c.: 8 coverlets, 12 blankets, 3 feather beds, 5 bolsters, 4 large do., 4 pillows, other pillows, 9 in all; six good chaff beds, 2 sets of curtains; pewter: 9 platters, 4 new basons, 8 plates, 5 porringers, 4 salts, one flagon, 2 tankards, one pot, 2 chamber- pots, 2 doz. spoons, 2 saucers; 3 brass candlesticks, 2 pair scales. 1693.- Dinner and wine for 7 men (in N.Y.), 10s. 6d.; one best pair yarn hose, 4s.; pair mittens, 1s. 3d. 1694.- The cooper is to make me 60 good barrels for cider, tight and sizeable, at 20d. each, the timber already got, he providing what is yet wanting, to be paid 1/3 in cash and 2/3 in cider at 12s. 6d. a barrel now, and 10s. a barrel from the press, he finding casks. In 1695 a school bill is stated as follows: Wm. and Thos. Richardson, dr. to John Urquhart for 4 weeks diet, £1 17s. 6d., and for writing and cyphering, 8 weeks at 1s. 3d. a week for both; teaching John to read, 10 weeks at 6d. at week; leather for his breeches, 9s. 8d.; 54 yard osenbrigs, 10d.; one ounce silk, 4s. 6d. So large a number of entries have been reproduced that the reader can gain a general idea of the prices of nearly all classes of mechanical, agricultural and professional labor that found a market in those primitive times.THE FRENCH AND REVOLUTIONARY WARS.
The hostilities between the French and English attracted much attention, and Queens county was called on to furnish a regiment of militia, to which, of course, Flushing contributed her quota. During the administration of Governor George Clinton this place was his residence, and that fact brought the most prominent of its citizens into a more close relationship with the surroundings and associates of a high official of the British government than they would otherwise have been, and may have had much to do in shaping their policy at a later date. The transfer of the scene of conflict to the Canadian frontier and the successful termination of the French war brought relief and joy to the people of this vicinity, whose location made them particularly exposed to danger had a French fleet entered the sound. A newspaper clipping reads as follows: "November 17th 1759.- A great celebration was held at Flushing over the reduction of Quebec, that long- dreaded sink of French perfidy and cruelty. An elegant and sumptuous entertainment was served, at which the principal inhabitants of the town were present. Toasts celebrating the paternal tenderness of our most gracious sovereign, the patriotism and integrity of Mr. Pitt, the fortitude and activity of the generals, &c., were drunk with all the honors. Every toast was accompanied by a discharge of cannon, which amounted to over 100. In the evening a bonfire and splendid illuminations." Lieutenant Governor Cadwallader Colden owned and occupied the place now known as the Brower property, called by him Spring Hill. He retired to it on the appointment of Andros, and died there, September 20th 1776. His son David figures somewhat in the events of the Revolution, as a strong and active loyalist. The people of Flushing united with their fellow colonists in resenting and protesting against the aggressions of the mother country, but when rebellion was decided upon by the colonies many felt that nothing could be gained and much lost by precipitate action. The opening act of the Revolutionary drama was the pursuit of one Zacharias Hood, a stamp officer, to the residence of Lieutenant Governor Colden, where he had taken refuge, by a party of Liberty Boys from New York, accompanied by their sympathizers in this vicinity. The badly frightened revenue officer was ordered out, placed in a carriage, escorted to Jamaica, and made to take an oath of loyalty to the colonies, and then with three cheers the party disbanded. This was on December 5th 1765. The events of 1776 and 1777 were peculiarly trying to the inhabitants. Families were divided, some of the younger members joining Woodhull’s Continentals, while the older members clung to the cause of King George. Marriages with families in England, the large property interests involved, the long stretch of unprotected seacoast, and the non- combative principles of the Quaker population, are all to be considered in judging, at this day of the causes which led to the toryism of a great portion of the people of Queens county, and should have their weight with the unprejudiced reader. The abortive campaign of 1776, resulting in the defeat of the colonial forces at Brooklyn, led to the occupancy of this portion of the territory by a part of General Howe’s army, DeLancy’s brigade being quartered in a district extending through Jamaica and Flushing, and so placed as to guard the roads and protect the island from invasion from Connecticut. A large body of Hessians was quartered in this town, many of them being billeted at the houses of the citizens, who were not entirely unacquainted with foreign soldiers, as some of them had boarded French prisoners of war in 1656- 58. The head- quarters of the quartermaster were at the Aspinwall homestead; other officers were quartered at the old Bowne house, a stone house south of the cemetery, and the Bowron place on .Whitestone avenue. The old Quaker meeting- house was used at various times for a hospital, for a guard- house, and for storing hay. Troops were encamped at Fresh Meadows, near the Duryea place, on the Bowne property near the Manhasset road, and in a barn on the Hoagland farm. Loyalists from the mainland flocked here in considerable numbers as refugees, and, in turn, any one suspected of strong sympathy with the cause of the colonists soon found it advisable to leave. During the early years of the war but little loss was sustained by the well- known predatory proclivities of the Hessians, and the inhabitants soon learned to make good such losses by reports to the proper quarters. The influence, however, of the forced association with the degraded mercenaries was deeply felt, and did much to weaken the sympathy with the royal cause; and there is but little doubt that the people of Flushing were heartily glad to speed, the parting guest when the evacuation of New York withdrew the British army from their soil. In a pecuniary sense the British invasion was probably a profitable one, as the officers paid promptly and liberally in gold for their requisitions, and the increased dew and for farm products for the army here and at New York was a source of considerable revenue. There were, however, many individual instances of rapine; not all, however, chargeable to the enemy, as the Connecticut whaleboats made frequent incursions by night and, under the protection of letters of marque from the federal authorities, degenerated at List to mere pirates, robbing friend and foe alike. A few of the more interesting incidents of the five years experience of Flushing with a foreign army have been gleaned from the records of those days, published works and the recollections of old settlers. On the 4th of April 7775 an annual town meeting elected John Talman a deputy to the convention which was to form a Provincial Congress. He was present at the convention and acquiesced in its action; On May 22nd of the same year .a county meeting at Jamaica elected Thomas Hicks, of Little Neck, and Nathaniel Tom, a captain of militia, deputies to another colonial convention. Hicks, who was chosen to represent Hempstead, declined to serve, as he was "informed that the people wished to remain in peace and quiet." Captain Tom afterward joined the continentals. The county committee appointed as a sub-committee for Flushing John Talman, John Engles, Thomas Rodman, Thomas Thorne, Edmund Pinfold and Joseph Bowne. In November 1775 a county election was held to decide the question of sending deputies to Congress, and Flushing decided against the measure, as did the county at large. Next followed the raid of Colonel Heard in January 1776, for the purpose of disarming loyalists and seizing the ringleaders. He visited this town and seized some arms. The Flushing committee were, although in the minority, not entirely idle; for when Rev. C. Inglis, rector of Trinity Church in New York, found it necessary to retire to this place after Washington’s entry, a meeting of the committee discussed the propriety of seizing him; and so alarmed his friends that they removed him to some more retired quarters, and kept him secluded for some time. Capt. Archibald Hamilton was summoned by Congress to show cause why he should be considered a friend of the American cause; he expressed his love of country, but said he could not unsheath his sword against his king, or against his brother and other near relations in the British armies. He was paroled, and, violating his parole, became an active tory officer. June 24th 1776 Cornelius Van Wyck of this town was elected one of the representatives in the Provincial Congress, and Congress granted £200 to Flushing for the care of Whig refugees who had been driven from New York and had become objects of the town charity. The first entry of British troops was about 2 o’clock on a fine day in the last of August 1776, when a body of light horse galloped into the village and inquired at Widow Bloodgood’s for her sons. On being told they had already fled one of the troop seized a firebrand and threatened to burn the house, but was prevailed on to desist. Thomas Thorne, James Burling and one Vanderbilt were arrested and carried off to the prison ship, the first named dying there. Congressman Van Wyck was also seized and sent to the new jail. Most of the leading Whigs had already fled on hearing of the battle of Brooklyn. Many of them afterward returned and accepted the protection of the British. Capt. Nathaniel Tom accepted the captaincy of a company of continentals raised at Kingston, and fought through the war, afterward dying at Kingston at the age of 73 years. The 71st Highlanders were the first troops quartered at or near the village. Before the battle of White Plains one wing of the army passed through Flushing to Whitestone, and on the 12th of October crossed over to the mainland. It is said to have occupied half a day in passing a given point. The road from Hempstead and Jamaica was constantly traversed by bodies of troops carrying supplies from the landing at Whitestone, and it was in opening a lane to shorten the distance that the name Black Stump was given to the locality, the intersection of this improvised route with the highway being marked by the charred and blackened stump of a tree. The farmers were impressed as cartmen, but usually fairly paid for their services. After the occupancy of the town a system of signals was established by which alarms were transmitted from Norwich Hill to Beacon Hill; thence to Whitestone and so on to New York. An alarm pole was set up where the old Methodist church stood. It was wound with straw and terminated in a tar barrel. Some idea of the profitable market for farm produce can be gained from a general order of Howe, which fixed the price of fuel and food to prevent extortion, and also made offers for forage. Walnut wood, was made £5 per cord; all other wood £4. The wood of proprietors refusing to sell to boatmen at moderate prices was to be seized and confiscated. The price of wheat was fixed at 12 shillings per bushel of 58 lbs. wheat flour, 35 shillings per cwt.; rye, 20s.; corn, 17s. Farmers were ordered to make a return to the commanding officer of the quantity they had and how much they required for their own use. In a requisition for forage September 10th 1778, the prices, delivered at Flushing or Brooklyn, were .stated as follows: Upland hay 8s:, salt hay 4s., straw 3s. per cwt.; corn 10s., oats 7s. per bushel; carting or boating 2s. 6d. per ton. Forage of delinquents to be taken without pay. In the last month of 1778 Archibald Hamilton was appointed commandant of the militia of Queens county, and aide- de- camp to Governor Tryon, despite his parole of two years previous. It was to this perjured official that many of the indignities suffered by the people were due. The officers of the regular army had been careful to avoid offense, and had punished depredations severely. Under Hamilton there were a body of Maryland loyalists and what was known as the Royal American regiment quartered in, this vicinity, and their depredations were in many instances unnoticed if not even sanctioned by him. He was a passionate, ill- bred tyrant, and within a short time after his appointment a number of respectable citizens entered complaints to Governor Tryon against him. Among the complainants were the following: Thomas Kelley, who alleged that Hamilton entered a house where he was, and, because he did not remove his hat, beat him over the head and repeated the offense soon after; John Willet, who remonstrated with him for sending a negro to steal his fence rails, and was chased into his yard by the gallant officer, who endeavored to run him through with his sword, and called God to witness that he would cut-in pieces any one who opposed him; James Morrel, who was wounded by him; Walter Dalton, who, having been arrested for no offense, was knocked down twice with a. heavy club, and after being put under guard was followed to the road by the colonel and struck "with about thirty blows, which disabled him from labor for some weeks"; and eight others who made affidavits to similar outrages. The governor ordered David Colden to investigate the matter, but no punishment was inflicted, and Hamilton had the impudence, at the close of the war, to petition for the privilege of citizenship. It was refused, however, and he set sail for England in 1783. Benedict Arnold’s legion lay for a time near Black Stump. The Hessians were from the Jager corps- a higher order- and were quartered on the north side for three winters. Sir Robert Pigot’s 38th regiment was quartered at Fresh Meadows. Mandeville relates that civilians when passing the officers quarters were required to dismount and proceed on foot until a certain distance had been passed. Samuel Skidmore, near Black Stump, was shot through a window. No traces of the perpetrator were found. Some of Fanning’s tories entered the house of Willet Bowne at night, and, tying him to his bed- post, tortured him by holding a candle to the tips of his fingers, to induce him to disclose where his money was hidden. He however, remained firm, and, fearful of discovery, they were compelled to leave without having attained their object. The old Quaker recognized his assailants, but out of mercy for them never revealed their names. James Bowne was awakened one night by a disturbance at his barnyard, and on raising his window received a musket ball in his arm. Recruits to a tory regiment, "the Prince of Wales’s, Loyal American Volunteers, quartered at the famous and beautiful town of Flushing," were given £5 bounty and promised 100 acres of land on the Mississippi, and were thus drawn in squads of twenty or more from the New England colonies- many of them jailbirds and desperate characters. In 1780 Yankee whaleboats from New Rochelle visited Bay Side, and plundered several houses, among the rest that of John Thurman, a New York merchant. In 1781 Thomas Hicks, of Little Neck, was robbed of his law books and a large amount of personal property and later in the summer eight of these boats made a landing at Bay Side, but, finding the tory militia on the lookout, the crews re- embarked without a contest. On the 20th of April 1782 a party of soldiers with their faces blackened attacked James Hedger, shot him dead in his bedroom, and robbed him of £200 in coin and a large amount of clothing and silver plate. Col. Hamilton offered £100 reward for the detection of the criminals, and £100 and free pardon to any accomplice who would give the necessary evidence. It was this offer probably that induced a soldier named Perrot to confess that the crime was committed by himself and five other members of the 38th and 54th regiments. The other guilty men, suspecting Perrot, attempted to escape, but three of them were arrested at Lloyd’s Neck and brought back to Flushing village, where their regiments had been stationed. They were then taken to Bedford- the quarters of their regiments at that time- tried, and two of them hanged on a chestnut tree in the presence of the entire brigade, the notorious Cunningham and his mulatto acting as executioners. Hedger was the proprietor of the grist- mill located on the J.P. Carll property, about four miles east of Flushing village, and lived with his sister, a Mrs. Palman, in a house near the mill. He had once before been awakened by a noise, and found two men choking his sister. In a hard fight he beat them off, killing one and marking the other in the face with shot. The wounded man was arrested at Southold, found to be a British soldier, and punished by the infliction of 999 lashes; and the body of his companion was hanged in a iron frame on a gibbet on the Hempstead Plains. The people of the town, despite the murder of Hedger, seem to have been pleased with the conduct of the regiments named above, as on their departure an address was presented to Lieutenant Colonel A. Bruce, of the 54th regiment, who was in command, thanking him for his vigilant attention, the honor and politeness of his officers, and the orderly behavior of the men. This paper was signed by forty- seven of the prominent citizens. The house of Benjamin Areson, at Fresh Meadows, was robbed by some of Simcoe’s tories, who beat Areson severely and kept Benjamin Nostrand and his father under guard until the house was rifled. Three of them were afterward identified, but Simcoe declined to punish them. Mr. Areson had a new house unfinished when the Jagers encamped at Frame’s farm. They tore it down to use in building their barracks. Fences were destroyed without mercy, and when the army left there were but few fence rails to be found for miles around their encampments, and the loss inflicted by the reckless waste in felling tracts of timber was a serious one; as, although some compensation was received, it was by no means adequate. The 7th of August 1782 witnessed the only visit ever made to Flushing by a royal personage. On that day Prince William Henry, afterward King William IV., in company with Admiral Digby, presented a stand of colors to the king’s American dragoons, under Colonel Thompson, at their camp on the James Lawrence place, not far from Bay Side. The young prince was at that time a volunteer on board the Admiral’s flagship "Prince George." The old guard- house at Flushing was torn down by the soldiers and burned for fuel. Perhaps the most satisfactory fire that occurred was the burning of Colonel Hamilton’s residence, on the place now owned by the Mitchells on Whitestone avenue, on Christmas eve, 1780. Everything it contained was destroyed- "elegant furniture, stock of provisions, various sorts of wine, spirits intended for the regalement of his numerous friends, the military, and other gentlemen of the neighborhood, at this convivial season". It might have been saved had not his folly in storing a cask of cartridges and a lot of loose gunpowder in the garret been known, and prevented any exertions to save it. It is believed that some one who had been wronged by his brutality took this method of avenging himself. If so it was quite effectual, as Hamilton suffered severely by the loss, and when he was compelled to emigrate his farm was found to be heavily mortgaged. In 1780 the Hon. Mrs. Napier, wife of Captain Napier, who was absent with the fleet on the Charleston expedition, died at the residence of Jeremiah Vanderbilt, aged only twenty- three years, leaving two infant daughters. Her remains were deposited in a vault on Governor Colden’s place, attended by the officers of three regiments. She was said to have been an estimable lady, and loved by all who knew her. This is the only record attainable of any of the families of British officers at this place, although it is understood that many of the officers were accompanied by their wives and children; while a certain number of the privates and non-commissioned officers were allowed to be accompanied by their wives, who acted as laundresses and in other capacities about the officers’ quarters. The fort at Whitestone was an important strategic point It was located east of the creek, on a bank at Bogart’s Point, and the redoubt, which Mandeville attributes to Washington’s troops, was probably a part of the defenses. There is no evidence that any fortification of this locality was attempted by the American commander. The exit of the troops was as sudden as their entrance. A writer says: "In the morning the place was crowded, and barns all full; now all are gone, and it seems quite lonesome." There followed the usual day of reckoning. Every insolent act, harsh word or instance of treachery had been treasured by the Whigs, and no sooner had the courts opened, in 1784, than they were thronged with suitors seeking damages against the tory residents. David Colden, to whose influence more than that of any other was due the ill- timed loyalty of the town, petitioned for the rights of citizenship, but in vain; his beautiful estate was confiscated, and he joined the tory hegira to Nova Scotia. A large number of farms and residences changed hands, and a new class of settlers took the place of those who, although they had enriched themselves in many instances, had done so at the expense of their country. One of the most serious blows which befell the farmers here and elsewhere at the time of the Revolution, and thought to be traceable to it, was the almost total destruction of the wheat crop by the ravages of the Hessian fly, which is believed to have been brought to the island in grain imported for the British troops from Germany. Flushing had become famous for its wheat, and the loss was keenly felt here, That it was serious can readily be seen from the fact that, while in wheat flour was rated at 35s. per cwt., the price list made out by the commanding general in December 1779, which contained the prices at which farmers must sell their surplus produce, rates it at 80s. per cwt., and offers 26s. per bushel for wheat. When the pest was at its worst one of the Burlings, who at that time owned a grist- mill and farm, saw some southern wheat on board a coasting vessel at New York, and, actuated by a desire to experiment with it, purchased a few bushels, and sowed it. Of the success of his experiments the New York Packet of July 20th 1786 says: "The insect that has destroyed the wheat many years past continues to spread, but it has no effect on the white- bearded wheat raised on Long Island. This wheat was brought here from the southward during the war, and a few bushels sown by a Flushing farmer grew well, and afforded a fine crop. He kept on, and has supplied his neighbors. It grows twenty bushels to the acre, and weighs over sixty pounds. It is of a bright yellow color, and makes fine flour. The straw is harder, and resists the poison of the fly, and supports the grain, while bearded and bald wheat were cut off." Thus it will be noticed a Flushing farmer makes discoveries that save the wheat culture of the entire country. Apropos of this, the writer, when a child, heard his grandfather relate how, after the close of the war, he was sent by his neighbors, central New York farmers, from the Genesee valley to Long Island, to test the truth of the story that had reached them, that the farmers on the island had found a wheat that would ripen in spite of the "fly;" and that on his return he took with him a quantity, which he believed to be the first amber winter wheat ever sowed in central or western New York. The most important event of the closing years of the last century was the destruction of the town records by the burning of the residence of the clerk, Jeremiah Vanderbilt. It was set on fire by Nellie, a slave girl belonging to Capt. Daniel Braine, who had been hired to won in the family, and who, conceiving a dislike for her new mistress, took this way to revenge the fancied injury She was arrested in company with Sarah, one of Vanderbilt’s slaves, and on their own confession they were sentenced to be hanged. Sarah was afterward reprieved or condition that she be removed from the island. Nellie was hanged at Jamaica, after having been in jail fifty weeks. Aaron Burr, then attorney- general for the State, conducted the prosecution. The celebration of the adoption of the Constitution, held August 13th 1788, was another interesting incident, participated in by many prominent men from New York, and lasting an entire day and evening. In 1790 General Washington dined here, and was enthusiastically received, and in 1792 the people cooperated with the citizens of Jamaica in raising funds to found an academy at the latter place. No untoward event marred the peace and prosperity of the people, and the tide of improvement had set in that was destined to make of the little hamlet an important village, and to found thriving villages where but an isolated farm house then stood. The population had grown to an aggregate of 1,818, and commercial ventures with foreign parts, as well as a coastwise trade with Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore, had been carried on to some extent.OLD FAMILIES AND PROMINENT CITIZENS.
The Van Zandts.- Walter Barrett’s "Old Merchants of New York" contains so complete a history of the several generations of this substantial Knickerbocker family that any mention of the progenitors of the last Wynant Van Zandt would be superfluous here. Intermarried with some of the best of the old Huguenot families in the last century, the survivors of the Van Zandts possess the sterling qualities of both the Hollandish and Huguenot stocks. The first of the name to reside in this town was Wynant Van Zandt, born in New York, August 11th 1767, and for many years a member of the mercantile house of Lawrence & Van Zandt. He served as an alderman of the first ward from 1802 to 1806, and, as one of the building committee who erected the City Hall, protested against the use of colored stone in the rear of that building, urging upon his colleagues the belief that in a few years the city would extend far beyond the hall, and that then their parsimony would be ridiculed. His "wild ideas," as they were called, were laughed at by the other aldermen, and the brown stone was used. When it was proposed to make the width of Canal Street sixty feet he pleaded for one hundred feet, and it is due to his efforts that this important thoroughfare is wide enough to render traffic on it possible. He married Maria Allaire Underhill, of Westchester county, by whom he had eleven sons, several of whom are still living. Although he had been for many years an attendant at the old Dutch church, under which lie buried nearly all the Van Zandts for generations, later in life he became attached to Bishop Hobart, purchased a pew in Trinity church, and had a vault built near the McDonough monument, in which were buried his father, the old alderman, who died in 1814, his business partner William Lawrence, and several others. He became a vestryman in Trinity, serving from 1806 to 1811. About the year 1813 he purchased the Weeks farm at Little Neck, and, erecting on it a handsome mansion, removed there with his family, and in this beautiful home passed the remainder of an active and useful life. His residence here was marked by acts of liberality and public spirit; and his death, which occurred November 3rd 1831, when he was sixty- three years old, deprived the town of Flushing of one of its most valued citizens. He is buried in a vault under Zion’s church, where also lie his wife and several of his children; and, although no memorial stone was erected for him, the church itself is a sufficient and enduring monument. One of his sons, Henry, resided on a part of the old homestead until his death, since which time his widow has continued to make it her home. The only other representatives of the family here are Wynant Van Zandt’s widow and his youngest daughter, who married the late Peter Munford, a New York merchant, and who occupies a pleasant place in Flushing, and with whom her mother makes her home. Francis Lewis, the only one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence who was identified by residence with the people of Queens county, was a native of Landaff in South Wales, and was educated at Westminster. Born in 1713, he decided on entering mercantile life when of age, and in 1735 converted his patrimony into money and sailed for New York, and from thence went to Philadelphia, where he engaged in business. Two years later he returned to New York, and he became one of the great ship- owners of his time, whose successful ventures were the real groundwork of Great Britain’s jealousy of her colonies. Led by his business interests to travel, he visited Russia and other parts of Europe, and was twice shipwrecked off the coast of Ireland. As a supply agent for the British army he was taken prisoner at Fort Oswego when it was surprised by Montcalm, was carried to Montreal, and from there to France. After his liberation he returned to New York to find the conflict between the colonies and the mother country already practically commenced; and, joining heartily in Revolutionary movements, he was in1775 unanimously elected a delegate to the Continental Congress, where his business experience, executive talent and knowledge of commerce made him a valuable member. At the next session he with his fellow patriots signed the paper to the maintenance of which they pledged "their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor." Having some time previous purchased a country seat at Whitestone he removed his family to it in 1776, and then entered actively upon the performance of duties of importance with which he had been entrusted by Congress, one branch of which was the importation of military stores, in which he expended the bulk of his large fortune, and for which he was never repaid. Hardly had his family been settled at their home in Whitestone before they were visited, in the fall of 1776, by a body of British light horse, who plundered his house, wantonly destroyed his extensive and valuable library, and, taking Mrs. Lewis a prisoner, retained her several months, without a change of clothes or a bed to rest on. Through the influence of Washington she was released, but with her health so broken by the abuses she had suffered that she drooped and died- another victim to English chivalry in the eighteenth century. Mr. Lewis resided here until 1796, when he disposed of his property and retired to New York, where he died December 30th 1893, in his 90th year. Cadwallader D. Colden, the only son of David Colden, was born at the family mansion, "Spring Hill," in Flushing, April 4th 1769, and attended school at Jamaica. Only 15 years of age when his father’s estate was forfeited for treason, he was too young to have taken any very decided stand on the political opinions of that day, but not too young to feel an ardent love for his native country. Although he accompanied his father to England in 1784, where he attended a classical school near London, he found means in 1785 to return to New York, and entered the office of Richard Harrison, a prominent lawyer. He was admitted to the bar in 1791, practiced at Poughkeepsie five years, and then returned to New York, where he was soon after made district attorney. Young as he was he soon became a prominent rival of such men as Harrison, Hamilton, Livingston aid Jones, and for many years he was at the head of his profession in the specialty of commercial law. In 1812 he commanded a regiment of volunteers, and was active in assisting in building the forts and harbor defenses about the city. He served a term in Congress, and was afterward in the State Senate, where he became one of the most efficient promoters of the Erie Canal and a warm and faithful friend of De Witt Clinton. Mr. Colden died in 1834, at Jersey City. He was a descendant of the Willett family of Flushing, and one of whose birth within their borders the people of the town have a right to feel proud. Dr. John Rodman was one of the pioneer physicians and for more than forty years his broad brimmed hat and Quaker costume were familiar to the people of this and adjoining towns. His charges were moderate, but by combining agriculture with the practice of his profession he was enabled to leave his family comfortably endowed. At his death, in 1731, the Society of Friends entered on their records a eulogy of his consistent deportment and fidelity. The Lowerree Family are supposed to belong to the old Huguenot colony, who settled here about 1660. The name occurs infrequently in any of the early records, and family traditions are indistinct. It can, however, be traced by continuous residence for more than one hundred and fifty years. During the present century one of the family was a prominent merchant. Lowerree was the first president of the Flushing Gas Company, and Frank G. is proprietor of the Broadway stables. There are many persons of that name in the town. The Embree name is also identified with the Huguenot settlements, the first of the name coming first to New Rochelle, and then to Flushing. Never very numerous, the representation of the family has been worthy of its sires. In past generations they intermarried with the Lawrences and Bownes, and became Quakers in faith and practice. The only representative of the name now known to the writer as a resident of- Flushing is Robert C. Embree, a gifted New York lawyer. Colonel Isaac Corsa was a gallant soldier of the French and Indian wars. He served as lieutenant- colonel of the Queens county troops, and by his shrewdness in advising and gallantry in building and manning a battery at a particular point was chiefly instrumental in securing the surrender of Fort Frontenac. Retiring to his farm in Flushing he resigned his commission. In 1776, having been accused of loyalty to the cause of King. George, he was arrested by a committee of Congress, and paroled; ‘He remained at home a quiet spectator during the war, and died in 1807, at the age of 80 years. His only daughter married John Staples, of New York city. The Valentines were early settlers in Queens county, none, however, appearing in Flushing until after the time of the Revolution. Jeremiah settled on the Black Stump road, near Jamaica village, in 1800, and twelve years later removed to the farm in this town now owned by his son Thomas. He was a native of Suffolk county, married Sarah Brooks, of Flushing, and had seven children, but two of whom are now living- one a daughter, who married John M. Stearns, of Brooklyn, the other Thomas, who married Cornelia Cornell, of Flushing. Jeremiah Valentine was for many years a magistrate and justice of sessions in the county, superintended the building of Christ’s Church, Brooklyn, and was a director of the Williamsburg Savings Bank. Captain John Valentine was born on Long Island about 1740, and was a soldier in the Revolution. He was at one time a prisoner in a house that stood where the Main Street depot now stand in Flushing. He was the father of the mother of Edwin Powell. The last named, the oldest resident of Whitestone, was born on his farm in 1809; where his father, William Powell, was born in 1783. John Powell jr., father of William, was born on Long Island in 1740. John Powell, father of John Powell jr., born in 1705, was also born on Long Island. John Powell jr. in 1780 moved onto the farm now owned by Edwin Powell. The Havilands, Benjamin, Joseph and William, settled here prior to 1680, the names of the last two appearing on the list of patentees of 1685. But little is known of the families, except that in some instances they became prominent in wealth and mercantile enterprise. The best known member of the family in this town during the present century was William, who for about fifty years was a farmer at Little Neck, and died there about 1840, leaving six children. Mrs. Maria Smith is the only representative of the eldest, whose name was Roe. The Walters brothers, Henry, Samuel and John; were settlers in the east end of the town, in the Little Neck district, prior to the Revolution, and Henry served in Young’s militia, under Hamilton. John had a son Benjamin, born February 22nd 1755, who married, Elizabeth Valentine. They had eleven children. One of their sons; Charles, was born in 18o1, and married in 1832 to Elizabeth Roe. They had a son and daughter, Charles W. and Mary (now Mrs. Hendrickson), who are the only representatives of that branch of the family now here. Samuel WaIters, a brother of Benjamin, enlisted from Flushing in the war of 1812, served at Fort Greene, and was honorably discharged and pensioned. The Farringtons, once prominent in Flushing, descended from Edward Ffarrington, a brother- in- law of John Bowne. Mandeville relates that in his will, dated April 14th 1673, he bequeaths, after the decease of his wife Dorothy, to his "eldest son John all his housing, land, orchard, gardens in the town of Fflushing, etc, to returne to ye newt heire male of the blood of ye Farringtons and soe from generation to generation forever." It seems that even Quaker humility did not wipe out the pride of race, and prejudice in ‘favor of primogeniture, and it is a somewhat singular proof of the greater efficiency of American habits and customs that the writer fails to find a single person in Flushing of that name even remotely interested in the old estate that was to be so carefully kept in the family. The Thornes trace their ancestry on the island back to William Thorne jr., who was the original owner of an estate at what is now Willett’s Point, which for many years was called by his name. His family, large and respectable, were prominent citizens of Flushing many years; some of them, settling in adjoining towns, became active patriots during the Revolution, and Thomas Thorne, who was one of the Whig committee of Flushing, was seized by the British on their first visit here and ended his days in the prison ship. The Hicks Family descend from Robert Hicks (a descendant of Sir Ellis Hix, who was knighted by the Black Prince at the battle of Poictiers, in 1356), who came to America in the ship "Fortune," landing November 11th 1621 at Plymouth. He settled in Roxbury, Mass., and in 1642 two of his sons, John and Stephen, came to Long Island, the former being one of the original patentees of Flushing, and active in public affairs. His son Thomas drove out the Indians from Little Neck, and settled there. The family were early identified with the fortunes of the Society of Friends, to which, many of them still adhere. Elias Hicks, the famous preacher and founder of the Hicksite branch of that body, is a prominent instance. In 1880 Miss Anna L. Hicks and Mrs. A.W. Cock, of Flushing, were among the most prominent representatives of the family in the town. The Cornell Family.- This name is variously written. We meet it in early records as Cornhill, Cornwell and Cornell, according to the ignorance or indolence of the scribe. Onderdonk classes the family under the name of Cornwell, and is probably correct. The progenitors in this country seem to have been three brothers, who joined one of the early Massachusetts expeditions, and afterward scattered; one settling in Connecticut, another in Dutchess county, N.Y., and the third, Richard, coming to Flushing about 1643 and being one of the patentees here, and for many years a magistrate. His descendants became numerous, scattered throughout the country, and seem to have evinced a taste for public life both military and civil. The Old pioneer was a consistent Quaker, and so were many of his descendants. William Hallet, one of the first sheriffs of Flushing, had a singularly checkered career. In 1655 he was a planter near Hell Gate, and was driven from home and his house and plantation laid waste by the Indians. He fled to Flushing, and was appointed sheriff; but lost his position the following year, and was fined £50 for allowing a Baptist preacher to hold meetings in his house. The people petitioned for and obtained a remission of the fine. He seems to have been a builder, as the records show that he was the contractor, on the first "session house" or court- house built in Jamaica. The family afterward became prominent in Newtown. S.J. Hallet was the only known representative of the family in Flushing when this sketch was written. Michael Millner was the pioneer, inn-keeper of this town, and it was at his house town gatherings were held. Hare the people met to protest against Stuyvesant’s proscription of the Quakers, and for allowing what it would seem he could not well prevent, were he so disposed, Millner was punished. The Bloodgoods are of purely Knickerbocker origin, Francis Bloctgoct being the earliest settler of the name in Flushing, and, being recognized by the Dutch authorities as "chief of the inhabitants of the Dutch nation residing in the villages of Vlissingen, Heemstede, Rudsdorp and Middleboro," was made their commander and ordered to march with them toward the city should a hostile fleet appear in the sound. This was in 1674. In the year previous he was made a magistrate, was one of the privy council who advised with the governor on the surrender of the territory to the English, and was appointed a commissioner to visit the Sweedish settlement on the Delaware. Of his immediate descendants but little can be learned, although it is reasonably certain that some one of the name has ever since resided in Flushing. Two of his grandchildren, Abram and James, were left orphans under the care of a relative; but preferring to make their way in the world for themselves emigrated to Albany, where they became successful business men and amassed handsome fortunes. Abraham was born in Flushing, in 1741. He became also a merchant in Albany, and married Mrs. Lynott, one of whose daughters by a former husband became the wife of the celebrated Simeon De Witt. Abraham Bloodgood was for years a councilman of the city, was a member of the convention that accepted the constitution of the United States, and one of the famous ten who, in the old Vanden Heyden house, founded the Democratic party of the State. He left four sons, the younger of whom, Joseph, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1806, and was appointed trustee of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York in 1811. Invited by a large number of the most prominent citizens of Flushing to settle here, he came to this village in 1812, and was for many years an eminent physician and a public spirited citizen. He died March 7th 1851, aged sixty- seven years. He had twelve children, four daughters and eight sons. Isaac, a prominent merchant, is now living in Flushing. Mrs. G.R. Garretson is a descendant of the branch of the family claiming continuous residence here, and resides on the old home farm, now in the heart of the village, in a house dating back to the early part of the last century. The Lawrence Family trace their patronymic back to the ancient Romans, claiming that from some of the Laurentii of that noble race descended their English ancestry; of whom the first named in the Doomsday Book was Sir Robert Lawrence, of Ashton Hall, who in 1119 planted the banner of the Cross on the battlements of St. Jean d’Acre, and received for his gallantry the honors of knighthood and a coat of arms from Richard the Lionhearted, the latter of which was in use (as a seal) by the family in, America for many years. Three brothers of this family, William, John and Thomas, came to Long Island about the year 1643, and the first two were among the patentees of Flushing recognized by Governor Kieft in 1645. John, although an owner of land here, removed to New York, where he became an alderman, mayor, judge of the supreme court and member of his Majesty’s council. William became the largest landed proprietor in Flushing, settling at Tew’s Neck (afterward called Lawrence’s), now College Point. He was a magistrate under the Dutch government in 1655, held a military commission under the British, and was in the magistracy of the "north riding." He was a man of marked ability, active in public affairs, and a fair type of the old fashioned country gentleman. His second wife was Elizabeth Smith, of Mishaquaked, L.I., whom he married in 1664. He died in 1680, and his widow married Sir Philip Carteret, governor of New Jersey. She was a woman of more than ordinary endowments; she was acting governor during Sir Philip’s absence in Europe, and many of the important acts of that period were "passed under the administration of Lady Elizabeth Carteret." Elizabeth, New Jersey, is named after her. From this and a previous marriage of William Lawrence’s descended the Flushing family of that name. Bernard Strong was an early resident of Jamaica, where he was born in 1727, and where he died in 1779, leaving three children, the oldest of whom, his namesake, entered the employ of John Jacob Astor. The second son, Daniel, married Ida Van Law and settled in Flushing, where he became a farmer. Of his five children David was run over and killed while a student of Union Hall; two daughters died without issue, and John married Elizabeth Robinson, by whom he had seven children, of whom Mrs. Ida A. Foster was the oldest, and is now the only one on the island.THE COLORED POPULATION.
The early growth of material wealth in this part of the island was marked by the accession of considerable property in slaves, and historians agree in the conclusion that the pioneers of Queens and Suffolk made kind and indulgent masters, and that, in fact, the kindheartedness of the Hollanders and Quakers was rather a bar to the maintenance of a state of discipline sufficient to make slavery a pecuniary success. Instances of cruelty there were; but they are rare, while the fact remains that any elements of discord to which we may allude were sown among the faithful slaves by a class of idle, dissolute freedmen from other localities, who were drawn here by the supposition that the well- known sympathy of the Friends for their race would show them the means of securing the blessings of liberty without its cares and responsibilities. The emancipation of the slaves left them, in the main, residents of their old homes, and where they were worthy of the confidence of their former owners the relation of master and servant was practically unchanged. The Friends, under the teachings of Fox, were led by their fine sense of justice and humanity to be the pioneers it the matter of schools for the negroes, and funds were early contributed for their education, and the lady members of the society were active in the work. Churches of the denominations whose devotional exercises best comported with the emotional nature of the race were established early in the century, and Flushing at that time offered special inducements for the retention of a class of people fond of gaiety, and not ambitious to become either wealthy or famous. Old residents relate that from 1820 to 1825 this element of the population had grown so numerous and become so aggressive that the streets were filled with them at night, and a system of out- door dances equivocal serenades and barbecues became so frequent that they proved a serious annoyance to the staid citizens who believed that "nights were made to sleep in." Town ordinances and the mild expostulations of their Quake friends proved alike unavailing; but ingenuity will overcome all obstacles, and the spirit that was to restore peace to the streets of this ancient village was moving not in the placid bosoms of the russet- clad Quaker, but in the restless brain of Young America. Parties of young men gathered on the outskirts of these noisy conclaves and nightly disturbed their harmony with volleys of stale eggs and other disagreeable missiles, gaining the name of the "Rotten Egg Club," The remedy was effectual peace reigned in Flushing, and the dusky orgies were transferred from the public squares to the shanties of Crow Hill and Liberty street. From that time to the present the colored population has in the main proved quiet and orderly, and supplied place in domestic service. A few have become clergy men, lawyers and small dealers, while a considerable number have found employment in minor positions in the New York, custom- house and post- office. They have two churches, Methodist Episcopal and Baptist; and, although poor in this world’s goods, evince that keen interest in devotional exercises that is to so great an extent a race characteristic. Education not being a prerequisite f the performance of pastoral duties, their preachers are often found following the Pauline practice of working with their own hands in humble avocations. The institution of slavery antedated, the earliest settlements on the island, and not only were African servants brought from Holland, but families who came from New England imported Indians, who were either prisoners of war or the children of those who had been. The earliest mention of slaves found in any of the old historical works is, however, in the Colonial History of New York, Vol. II, page 158, where it is written that this part of the island "produces from the servants’ labor corn, beef, pork, butter, tobacco and staves, which they exchange for liquors and merchandise." On the court records of 1726 is an account of the execution of "Samuel, a colored man of Flushing, for burglary committed in that place." Although nothing in the general conduct of the slaves in this locality had indicated any feeling of insubordination, yet the year 1741 was a period of anxious uncertainty and general suspicion. The "negro plot" in New York had been discovered and many slaves executed; and in Kings and Queens counties a number of arrests were made, but no sufficient cause was found to imperil the colored people or their masters in Flushing. On the 20th of May 1756 two slaves belonging to Bernardus Ryder and Benjamin Fowler were drowned in Flushing Bay while fishing. An advertisement, in the New York Postboy of April 14th 1760 reads as follows: "Ran away from Bernardus Ryder, Flushing, a negro man named Caesar, aged twenty- five; this country born, not a right black- has a little of the yellowish cast; a pretty lusty fellow; talks good English; if frightened stutters very much; has lost one of his front teeth; had on a light- colored Devonshire kersey coat, a soldier’s red jacket, breeches and hat, and a pair of old shoes. 40s. reward if taken on the island, or £3 if taken off the island." In 1788 a New York paper contained the following non- committal item: "Michael, a negro man slave of John Allen, of Flushing, died by chance- medley and misadventure from a correction he appeared to have from some person unknown." Onderdonk appends this note: "Allen had lost money, and severely flogged the negro, but could not extort a confession." This is the only instance of brutality recorded in the annals of Flushing. During the last years of the eighteenth century the stand taken by the Quakers against slavery, and the visits of free negroes, many of whom were at that time employed on American vessels, had stirred up a desire for freedom which led to many attempted and some successful escapes. On May 10th 1791 the Daily Advertiser contained the following: "$20 Reward. Ran away from Flushing two negro men! One Aaron, the property of Jeremiah Vanderbilt, who had on fustian trowsers, and wool hat, and is a good boatman; the other, Polydore, the property of Francis Lewis, who wore a blue cloth jacket and breeches, woolen stockings and wool hat." They stole a boat and went up the sound, as was supposed. Although they were well treated, and perhaps better off in that respect than their fellow serfs in other States, the desire for personal liberty had become to some extent general among the slaves, if we may judge from advertisements which were published from time to time. How far this feeling rendered them insubordinate we find little besides the instance just stated to prove, but it must have had a powerful, influence in securing the acquiescence of the masters in the steps taken by the State toward emancipation. Freed from slavery they have generally remained in the locality, and their descendants become orderly members of the working classes, with an occasional instance where genius has risen superior to caste and the unfortunate tyranny of circumstances, and become, to some extent, prominent. There are still living in the place some who were held in bondage when young.RISE AND GROWTH OF THE NURSERY BUSINESS.
The Prince Nurseries.- The climate and the soil of this town being peculiarly adapted to the propagation of trees and plants, the success attained by the Huguenot settlers in introducing the fruits of their native province led English gardeners, who had settled here, to experiment in horticulture, with such results that William Prince in 1737 laid out a tract of land in the village and devoted it first to the propagation of fruit trees, afterward extending his efforts to the growth and introduction of shade trees, of which the Lombardy poplar is believed to have been one. The lack of forest trees on the island made his venture a popular one, and we find him circulating the following notice, dated September 21st 1767: "For sale at William Prince’s nursery, Flushing, a great variety of fruit trees, such as apple, plum, peach, nectarine, cherry, apricot and pear. They may be put up so as to be sent to Europe. Captain Jacamiah Mitchell and Daniel Clements go to New York in, passage boats Tuesdays and Fridays." This is believed to have been the first nursery in the country. At the time of writing this a part of the old grounds was still open to the school children, who have termed the field "the wild nursery," and who roam there during the summer, gathering stray blossoms from plants once rare and choice, or weaving garlands from the parti- colored foliage. The extension of Prince’s business to the culture of shade and ornamental trees is first noticed in. an advertisement in the New York Mercury of March 14th 1774: "William Prince at his nursery, Flushing landing, offers for sale one hundred and ten large Carolina magnolia flower trees, raised from the seed- the most beautiful trees that grow in America- 4s. per tree, four feet high; fifty large catalpa flower trees, 2s. per tree; they are nine feet high to the under part of the top, and thick as one’s leg; thirty or forty almond trees, that begin to bear, 1s. and 6d. each; fifty fig trees, 2s. each; two thousand five hundred white, red and black currant bushes, 6d. each; gooseberry bushes, 6d.; Lisbon and Madeira grape vines; five thousand Hautboy Chili large English and American strawberry plants; one thousand five hundred white and one thousand black mulberry trees; also Barcelona filbert trees, 1s. The Revolutionary war put a stop to the conduct of any business requiring free communications, and we find Mr. Prince advertising for sale 30,000 grafted cherry trees for hooppoles. A return of peace brought with it increased trade to make good the depredations of the soldiery, as well as to the orchards of those who for seven years past had paid more attention to the science of war than the pursuits of horticulture, and in 1789 the nurseries had obtained a reputation that induced General Washington, then President of the United States, to visit them. In his diary for October 10th of that year is the following: "I set off from New York, about nine o’clock, in my barge, to visit Mr. Prince’s fruit gardens and shrubberies at Flushing. The vice- president, governor, Mr. Izard, Colonel Smith and Major Jackson accompanied me. These gardens, except in the number of young fruit trees, did not answer my expectations. The shrubs were trifling and the flowers not numerous." It should be remembered that General Washington’s estimate was that of a man familiar with the more luxurious vegetation of Virginia. The first notice of the Lombardy poplar occurs in 1798, when Mr. Prince advertises 10,000 of them, from ten to seventeen feet in height. They grew rapidly and became for years a popular shade tree, long avenues of them being planted in all parts of the island, and their leaves gathered for fodder for sheep and cattle by many. In 1806 they, however, received their death blow, as it was then claimed that they harbored a poisonous worm, and they were cut down in many cases and burned for fuel. Thompson, in his History of Long Island, relates that when the, British troops entered Flushing in 1777 General Howe ordered a guard to be stationed for the protection of these gardens and nursery. Originally confined to an area of eight acres the Linnaean Botanic Gardens, as they have been termed, were enlarged by Mr. Prince in 1792, to cover the space of twenty- four acres; and under the management of his son during the early part of the century to more than sixty acres, employing a force of about fifty men in their best days. Thus from a small beginning has grown up what has been for the past half century the most important industry of Flushing, employing a considerable force of intelligent men, and, what is perhaps of still more importance, deserving the credit of having, educated a ‘large number of the best landscape gardeners and horticulturists in the State. The great value of the lands used for nursery purposes here, and the springing up of the ‘forest tree business in western New York, has led the nurserymen of Flushing to abandon that branch of the business for the more lucrative one of ornamental shrubbery, plants and cut flowers. No better view of the business as it now exists can be given than by sketching ‘the history of such nurseries and greenhouses as are now in operation. The Parsons Nurseries.- Among the marked men of Flushing in the generation now passed away was Samuel Parsons, of whom De Witt Clinton once remarked that he had never met another man so truly courteous without compromising a single Christian principle. The mental training given by his classical education was supplemented by a knowledge of French, his fluency in which was gained by constant association with the French emigrees, who were welcome guests at his father’s house. Retiring from business with a liberal income, his benevolence abounded to the full extent of his ability, and in conferring a favor he made himself the one obliged. Although a minister in the Society of Friends, his liberality in thought to all denominations was well known. His sincere and fervent piety, earnest and continual desire for the spiritual improvement of those among whom his lot was cast, and the whole tenor of his life make his memory valued among those now living who recollect him. Foremost among the advocates of public improvements, his fondness for trees induced him to commence a system of street planting, which, continued by his sons has made Flushing noted for the beauty of its streets The same taste led him to fix upon the nursery business for his sons, and in 1838 to commence the business, which, with some changes, has been continued since his death, in 1841. Passing at that date into the hands of his sons Samuel B. and Robert B. it was continued until 1872, during which time it had grown steadily. When the greatest demand for grapevines sprang up, in 1862 lasting until 1865, they increased their facilities for cultivation until their annual production in this one branch of the business amounted to over 800,000 vines annually. They became the only growers in this country of rhododendrons and hardy azaleas and went largely into the culture of camelias. When the demand for dwellings made large inroads upon the nursery, and a single one of its acres sold for $10,000, Samuel B. Parsons, seeing no future, in that village for the proper extension of the business for which his sons had been trained, decided in 1872 to remove his share of the firm’s stock to some lands which he owned on Kissena Lake, the picturesque character of which particularly fitted them for an ornamental nursery. He hoped also to prove, as he has successfully done, that plants grown in an exposed locality, open to all winds, possess, in their hardiness, an additional value. At the same time he reserved for himself the southern part of the old nursery. To this new land there accompanied him, his two sons and J.R. Trumpy, the successful propagator for the old firm, whose genius and skill are well known. The Kissena Nurseries, as they are called, are managed as a limited company, under the name of the Parsons & Sons Company, of which Samuel B. Parsons is president. Continuing the propagation of the class of specialties fox which the old house was noted, they commenced gathering from foreign countries all the ornamental plants and trees which could be obtained; especially from Japan, whence by the aid of Thomas Hogg, the, well known collector, they were furnished with a variety rich, perfectly hardy, and containing many sorts unknown in Europe. Of these the Japan maples are conspicuous by their beauty, dwarf- like character, and thorough hardiness. One or two of these are grown elsewhere in this country and several in Europe; but the entire collection of twenty- four varieties can only be found in Japan and in the Kissena Nurseries. The great variety of this general collection is described in a catalogue just issued. Some idea of its extent can be gained from the fact that an order recently filled for an arboretum being made at Menlo Park by ex- Governor Stanford, of California, includes over sixteen hundred varieties. As a writer for the press Mr. S.B. Parsons has since 1840 attained a reputation for both literary ability and a knowledge of landscape gardening that has made his pen sought for by such publishers as the Harpers, and led to the republication of his articles in some of the best European magazines. His first published volume, "The Rose, its History, Culture, etc.," was issued in 1856, by Wiley & Halsted, and met with so favorable a reception that it was reissued in an enlarged and improved form in 1869, by Orange Judd & Co., as "Parsons on the Rose." It has found its way to thousands of American homes, and done much to aid the growth of a love for the beautiful. His son Samuel has also become known as a writer for Scribner and others, and becoming a partner with Mr. Calvert Vaux in the profession of landscape gardening carries to it a knowledge of trees rarely found among landscape artists. The other son, George H., whose education like that of his brother has been practical as well as classical, has recently been engaged by the Denver and Rio Grande Railway Company to organize a system of improvements on their lands in Colorado. The junior member of the old firm, Robert B. Parsons, retained the northern part of the old grounds, including the office and greenhouses on Broadway, and since the dissolution has conducted a large business in the specialties of the old house, to which he has recently added the extensive culture of roses and cut flowers, for which, owing to the large number of greenhouses, the nursery is well adapted. Located in a convenient portion of the village, the nurseries of R.B. Parsons & Co. will well entertain a visitor, who will find there some curiosities, among them a magnificent weeping beech, unequaled in the country. The writer has been inclined to devote more space to the histories of these nurseries and those who are and have been identified with them than he would have done did not every step in their progress mark the value of proper training and refined tastes in this as in other business enterprises. At present they represent the combined taste and skill of three generations, and the influences that have gone out from them and educated the tastes of others cannot be overestimated. John Henderson’s Floral Gardens, occupying some sixteen acres on Parsons avenue, were opened in 1867. The owner, a native of London and descended from two generations of English florists, came to America in 1854, commenced business in a small way in Jersey City, became part owner of The Oaks, and is now the most extensive cultivator of cut flowers in the vicinity. His extensive establishment comprises twenty- four greenhouses, averaging one hundred feet long, warmed by four- inch hot water pipes, of which there are two and three- fourths miles, heated by fifteen large furnaces, consuming annually four hundred tons of coal. Twelve men are employed and the sales for 1880 comprised some 700,000 choice flowers, of which more than 400,000 were roses. The products of these greenhouses are all handled through the New York city agency at 940 Broadway, and sold in bulk to retailers and bouquet makers. Among the specialties originated by Mr. Henderson are the Bouvardia Elegans, Tuba Rose Pearl, the new dwarf camelia and Carnation Snowden, the new dwarf white carnation. The Exotic Gardens, on Broadway near the Town Hall, were opened by John Cadness, and purchased by Leavitt & Lawlor. Their greenhouses are devoted to the culture of cut flowers, and the firm supplies the local demand for bouquets and funeral and bridal pieces. The gardens and hotbeds are also devoted to supplying the local demand for early plants, and a fair business is done in potted flowering plants. The location of the grounds is convenient, and the new proprietors are young men of enterprise and ambition. G.R. Garrettson, seedsman, has the only seed farm in Flushing. It comprises about one hundred acres, and is on the Jamaica road, about a mile from the village. Mr. Garrettson was a pupil of Grant Thorburn, and was afterward with Prince & Co. He established his present business on a small scale in 1836, and for many years did a large and flourishing trade. Increased competition has, however, induced him to curtail its dimensions, and it is now confined to the supply of his old customers, and the sale of seeds in bulk. Mr. Garrettson married a daughter of Daniel Bloodgood, and lives on the old Bloodgood homestead, which has been in the family since 1673. The Oaks, at Bayside, was first opened as a nursery by a member of the Hicks family, and was afterward owned by Lawrence and since his proprietorship by Henderson & Taylor. The estate has an area of three hundred and twenty- five acres, on which are twenty- four greenhouses, covering an acre, warmed by hot water "pipes, employing fourteen men, and with a trade in plants and cut flowers of about $12,000 annually. The present owner, John Taylor, is a native of England, and the estate, aside from the value of its hothouse products, is one of the finest in the town, if not in Queens county.BURIAL PLACES.
The oldest burial grounds known in the town are those of the : Lawrence family, at Bayside; Skidmores, at Fresh Meadows, and Friends’ meeting- house. We have some trace of the date of the Friends’ ground being set apart, as a record of that society shows that in 1695 they raised money by a subscription for the purpose of fencing in their burial ground. On this no stone was allowed to mark the graves, and when one sister evaded the rules in spirit by planting a tree at the head of her husband’s grave a stern old Quaker dug it up and destroyed it. Besides these the : Parsons and Loweree families have private grounds. An old cemetery is connected with St. George’s, and the Catholics have a consecrated ground connected with St. Michael’s church. The rapid growth of population at Flushing made it necessary to agree upon some site for a village cemetery large enough to meet the wants of the locality for generations to come, and capable of improvement to any extent deemed advisable. An association was incorporated in 1853, and purchased a plot of twenty- one acres in a pleasant part of the town, about one and a half miles from the village, in the vicinity of Kissena Lake. Here the funds received from fees and from the sale of lots have been largely expended in beautifying the place, and added to this the large expenditures made by the owners of burial plots have been sufficient to make the cemetery one of the finest on the island. The association will take entire charge of a funeral when desired, furnishing carriages and attendants, and has a scale of prices for such funerals. This course has been adopted to prevent exorbitant charges by undertakers and liverymen, as well as to prove of service in cases where the deceased has no near friend capable of assuming such charge.WHITESTONE.
This village- one of the earliest settled points in the town of Flushing- has a name of equal antiquity; it having been named from a large white stone or rock which lies off the point where the tides from the sound and the East River meet. During the popularity of De Witt Clinton a vote of the citizens at a public meeting named the village Clintonville; but the old name still clung to it, and when, in 1854, a post- office was established it was given the old familiar title. A. Kissam was the first postmaster. The present incumbent of the office is Oliver Taff. The place was one of no business importance up to 1853, and in the year 1800 there were but twelve houses within a circuit of a mile. The date at which the village first took any decisive advance was, as has been said, 1853, at which time John D. Locke & Co., a firm of eastern manufacturers, established a manufactory of tin, japan and copper ware, which employed several hundred hands, and is still the most important business enterprise in the place. Here was the home of Francis Lewis, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and on his farm here, General Morgan Lewis, afterward governor of New York, passed his youthful days. During the early years of the present century a ferry was established here- its other terminus being Throgg’s Neck and the principal business done the transfer of cattle. It was under the charge of Henry Kissam for fourteen years. Sailboats were employed. In 1856 an unsuccessful attempt was made to revive the ferry. The rapid increase in population rendered necessary prompt and liberal action in educational and religious matters, and John D. Locke, who took up his residence here at the time of founding his factory, has been foremost in good works, and a public spirited citizen, without whose assistance the progress made would have been impossible. The shore at this place presents many attractions as a place of residence, and since about 1825 a considerable number of elegant mansions have been erected by gentlemen from New York city and from the southern States- some of which are now the homes of prominent business and professional men whose offices are in New York. The first store in the town is said to have been near the landing here, and at this place watchmen were stationed by order of the colonial authorities during the French war. Beds of potter’s clay were found here, some of sufficient purity to be used in the manufacture of tobacco pipes, which industry was carried on to a small extent during the first half of the last century. An advertisement dated March 31st 1835 reads: "The widow of Thomas Parington, offers for sale her farm at Whitestone, opposite Throgg’s Point. It has 20 acres of clay ground fit for making tobacco pipes." Another of May 31st 1835: "Any person desirous may be supplied with vases, urns, flower pots, etc., to adorn gardens and tops of houses, or any other ornament made of clay, by Edmond Annely at Whitestone- he having set up the potter’s business by means of a German family that he bought, who are supposed by their work to be the most ingenious that ever arrived in America. He has clay capable of making eight different kinds of ware."LOCKE’S FACTORY.
John D. Locke began business November 17th 1827, in the manufacture of plain tinware, japanned ware, toys, planished ware, stamped ware and trimmings, the factory being located in Brooklyn. In 1845 the business was removed to Whitestone. There are 18 buildings devoted to the various branches of the enterprise, and the works occupy a block. The average number of employes is from 300 to 350. The business has increased almost constantly from the date of its establishment, and is now growing rapidly. Mr. Locke has a very large domestic and a considerable export trade, most of the goods exported being shipped to Germany. A South American trade is about being established, and the reputation of the products of the factory is such that they will in time be introduced in most of the leading markets of the world. The goods are manufactured for the trade. The business is carried on under the personal supervision of the proprietor, and the affairs of the office and the accounts are managed by his son Frank M. Locke. The New York office and salesrooms, at 44 Cliff street, are under the supervision of Aubin G. Locke, another son of the proprietor.NEWSPAPERS.
The initial number of the Whitestone Herald was issued by the Whitestone Herald Publishing Company, with John Steren as editor, May 24th 1871. A few months later Mr. Steren was succeeded by Charles W. Smith, the present editor of the Flushing Journal, who continued at the helm until February 1875. The Whitestone Printing Company was then formed; the paper changed hands and was controlled by George W. Van Siclen until March 1878, when it was purchased by W.S. Overton, under whose control the paper entered upon an era of prosperity and has become a valuable property. It is Democratic in politics but is chiefly devoted to local interests. The College Point Mirror, published at Whitestone by W.S. Overton, was established in the spring of 1879 by the present publisher, with C.B. Westervelt as editor. In the fall of the same year Mr. Overton assumed editorial charge of the paper. The Mirror is independent politically, with a leaning toward Democratic principles. Its aim is purely to aid the best interests of the villages and the town whence it derives the greater part of its patronage.GRACE CHURCH.
The services of the Protestant Episcopal church were first held in Whitestone, regularly, about 1840, in a building erected by Samuel Leggett and others, members of the Society of Friends. All religious denominations were allowed’ the use of this building, and, accordingly, soon after its erection several members of the Protestant Episcopal church and others residing in the place who preferred the services of that church requested the rectors of the neighboring parishes to hold services in the new building as often as practicable. Among the clergymen who united in maintaining the services of the Episcopal church for several years succeeding the above date were the rectors of St. George’s church, Flushing, Rev. Henry M. Beard, D.D., of Zion church, Little Neck, the late Rev. W.A. Muhlenberg, D.D., at that time president of St. Paul’s College, at College Point, and other clergymen who were professors in the institution, among whom we may mention Rev. Mr. Van Bokelyn, and Rt. Rev. J.B. Kerfoot, D.D., late bishop of the diocese of Pittsburgh. Several students of St. Paul’s College, who were preparing for the university, also rendered very efficient service at this place as lay readers and teachers in the Sunday-school. In 1855 the same building in which services had been previously held was rented of the executors of Mr. Leggett, and, Whitestone became a regularly organized mission of St. George’s Church, Flushing. Services were now regularly held by Rev. William Short, assistant minister of St. George’s Church, with the understanding that his field of labor should be especially within the limits of the village of Whitestone. The building in which the congregation worshiped was occupied for a period of nearly six years. The connection with the parish of St. George’s, Flushing, was dissolved September 6th 1858, when the parish of Grace Church, Whitestone, was duly organized and the following officers elected: Abraham B. Sands and John D. Locke, wardens; Abraham Bininger, A.H. Kissam, Henry Lowerree, Henry Smith, Peter F. Westervelt, Griffith Rowe, Charles H. Miller and John Barrow, vestrymen. At a meeting of the vestry, held September 12th the same year, the Rev. William Shortt, the minister in charge, was chosen rector. Owing to an increased prosperity of the parish a very eligible site was purchased, and the corner stone of a new church edifice was laid with the usual ceremonies May 1st 1858. The new church, handsomely and tastefully built of brick, and estimated to have cost about $6,000, was completed and opened for service November 8th 1860. Rev. William Shortt continued his ministrations in the parish until May 31st 1865, when failing health compelled him to resign. In June following a call was extended to Rev. B.H. Abbott, of’ Carbondale, Pa., who accepted and soon entered upon the rectorship of the parish. The same year two additional lots adjoining the church property were purchased and a Sunday - school building was erected. Rev. Mr. Abbott continued his services as rector until April 3d 1877. In the following December Rev. Joseph H. Young was called to the parish, and at once entered upon the duties of the rectorship. He resigned April 28th 1879. In July of the same year a call was extended to the Rev. William F. Dickinson, M.D., rector’s assistant to the Rev. J.R. Davenport, D.D., New York city, who entered upon his duties August 1st 1879 and is the present incumbent.THE METHODIST CHURCH.
The M.E. church of Whitestone was organized March 28th 1850, and the building was erected the same year, at a cost of $1,200. The first pastor was Rev. A.Y. Abbott. From 1855 to 1857 Rev. Mr. Fitch, principal of public schools at Flushing, preached here on Sunday evenings, and Orange Judd, of Flushing, had charge of the Sunday- school. In 1858 Rev. David Tuthill was appointed pastor, but he left Within the year, going to Arizona as a missionary. In 1859 Rev. D.A. Goodsell was appointed. Since that time the history of the church has been that of a struggle for maintenance against adverse circumstances.ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.
There is a Catholic church in Whitestone, which is under the charge of Father Connolly. The house of worship was formerly used by Protestant denominations. These facts are all the writer has been able to learn regarding this church.FIRE DEPARTMENT- OTHER ORGANIZATIONS.
The Whitestone Hook and Ladder and Bucket Company was organized July 21st with Thomas A. Harris as foreman, John D. Scott as assistant foreman, Charles Garrison as secretary and Nicholas Doscher as treasurer. There were sixteen members. The present membership is about thirty- five. James L. Coffin is foreman, James Murphy first assistant foreman, Charles Unger second assistant foreman, Wilbur Whittaker secretary and Alfred Wilmot treasurer. A.G. Montgomery is chief engineer, of the department. J.G. Merritt and Joseph Winkler are assistant engineers. Captain Thomas A. Harris, who was prominent in the organization of the company, was for many years a member of the old New York volunteer fire department. The German Rifles, is a military organization, Captain A. Martens commanding. It has been in existence seven or eight years. The first captain was C. Ommanheiser. The Liederkranz, a German musical society, was organized in the fall of 1880 and has about a dozen members. John Seitz is the leader.COLLEGE POINT.
This village is on the northwestern part of the tract of land known on the early charts as Tew’s Neck, afterward as Lawrence’s Neck, and which for more than a century formed the estate of the celebrated William Lawrence and his descendants. Here the elder Lawrence maintained