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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAS-1 AS 1 HISTORIC AND NATURAL DISTRICTS FOR OFFICE USE ONLY INVENTORY FORINT UNIQUE SITE NO.L310,"/Z 6 7 DIVISION FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION QUAD, NEW YORK STATE PARKS AND RECREATION SERIES ALBANY,NEN' YORK (518)474-0479 NEG. NO. YOUR NAME: Town of Southold SPLIA DATE: April 1987 YOUR ADDRESS: Town Hall, Main Road TELEPHONE:(516 ) . 765-1892 Southold , L.T . , N.Y. 11971 ORGANIZATION (if any): Southold Town Community Development Office 1. NAME OF DISTRICT: Arshmamoque 2. COUNTY: SUffQlk TOWN/CITY: SouthQ1d__ _VILLAGE: Arshmamoque 3. DESCRIPTION: Arshmamoque is a swampy locality lying about two miles east of the hamlet of Southold . It is bounded on the south by Southold Bay end on the north by Tong Island Sound ,v ith Hashamomuck (note various spellings ) pond ex- tending the length of its western boundary. The land here is less than two miles in width. It is a. low-density agricultural area. 4. SIGNIFICANCE: Hashamomack wars the first place of English occupation in Southold Town. Bricks were manufactured here from the days of earliest settlement. Clay which lay under the marshes was easily available . The re- sulting pits filled with water and are today' s inlets and marinas . The narrow outlet of Hashamomack Fond at its southern extremity was the site of a tide mill during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries . Hence the name Mill Creek. No evidence of the mill is known to remain. continued 5. MAP: See attached HP-2 AS 1 6. SOURCES: Guide to Historic Markers . Southold Historical oci.ety. 1960 Richard Mather Bayles. Sketches of Suffolk County. Henry Isham Hazelton. The Bourou hs of Brooklyn and Queens , Counties of Bassau and SufFolk. 1925 . page 712 U.S . Coast Survey. T-55 . 1838. 7 . THREATS TO AREA: BY ZONING ❑ BY ROADS ❑ BY DEVELOPERS BY DETERIORATION ❑ OTHER ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: 8. LOCAL ATTITUDES TOWARD THE AREA: 9 PHOTOS: See AS 2 through AS 12. AS 1 #4 . continued . 4 . SIGNIFICANCE: In 1777, during the Revolutionary War when Long Island was occupied by British troops , T.A. Col . Meigs led a raid of 170 men from the Continental army in Connecticut . They dragged their whale boats across the beach into Arsha.momaque Creek and proceeded to Sag Harbor where they success- fully attacked the enemy. The Hashamomuck Pond area is notable for its wildlife . The New York Department of State has proposed it for designation as a "Significant coastal fish and wildlife habitat ." In 1€374 the area had a school ( see form AS 5 ) and about thirty houses in that school district. f - AS 1 a 1 d94c ,4o .'2 1 $ycr� 1�,.rf. COQUE b Q p II a Arrizzhope Ly�rr Xy-67-9r _esl . A C Feeney M F i L01 Ix , s ' A A t fi+-,Vd O h4 x Q ry f , xn \ c hh I 0fQ %% BRICK YwRQ CO. i.: C +a ■RICK TA'_1wD '',1 El (30 i \ r � � Y 1 `�- �� E. Belcher-Hyde. Atlas of Suffolk County,. Vol. 21 North Side. Soun�d_Shn. 1909 J-1 or rG„ church • ,; t cemetery ter= 1 war monument site of windmill y1. `'�♦ site of tide mild.'; = ♦` !' Indian village '. milestones with mileage from Suffolk' �i+i ,RV y , 1 Court House, 1756 JML, -o the Kir%g's Highway 1 ,, ►' 1 -----other reads before 1858 os d • I roads since JJ S play 'f d'e M 'y �..}�i�r+ � ♦ �/ it , " Iry J 2z Wa nU �a ruS Ji Trotter Qp Op 13Ctl s1 Y s • p , 1 ti© L � y � fid+/ `� v'�I �'f�Hl1Y',o c"11 'j C' i Ike-yZ,/ `/ r� . i r✓ r_ - C f 54 ��„`� •� y, Aj �-•f � j; 1_._{L'- + 11 J' /I,' r 1 , F•el� �U ,. .+,/ F + TRENPO RT `ek {ARiCRSDuTHOLD C5R 5- 4-4 Q r� TowN HARCior� 4 -10,6wti of o�`t►�04d Summer of History. 1965 . e i • f -� rt. � @.f� � -�� rf' ,�•�- r _fM+. 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'i _ .we `.�-}-��� � • � �# �,'Lrr��rr+.t~vim+ — _ - <. sY�• Mr ' H�t 1 • a • f f • f Boisseau, Nat L'Hommedieu, Stephen Baily and Joshua Horton— charged Burts with being a turncoat. He denied it and took to his heels. When they gave chase, he shot and killed Horton, then took protection with the British. His accusation of Mrs. Moore was ob- viously an attempt to retaliate,true though it may have been. There was nothing martial or sensational about the achievements of Phebe Moore,another of Mrs. Moore's newsworthy offspring. She was a Sunday School founder. The Rev. Craven says Phebe established one of the country's first Sunday Schools in Mattituck in 1791, and then, after she had married Joseph P. Wickham founded three more in towns to which they moved, "She was genuinely and deeply converted at the age of 11," wrote the author, "and throughout her life displayed the graces of a beautiful Christian character. She was a remarkable woman." By and large, those Ledyard-Moores all sound rather remarkable. There were skirmishes aplenty in every part of Southold but only once did real military warfare brush close enough to make its presence felt: It was close to sundown when they arrived off Hashamomock Beach, the strip of sandy shore now known to summer bathers as Southold Town Beach.There was a whole flotilla, 13 whaleboats under the convoy of two armed sloops. The date, not soon to be forgotten, was May 23, 1777 Lt Col Return JonathanMei s and 174 picked men from the Continental Army were on their way to Sag Harbor (they spelled it Sagg Harbor then) to attack the British. "A more successful and brilliant affair," wrote one historian, "does not grace the annals of the Revolution," It was also Southold's main claim to Revolutionary fame. The weather was raw for late spring. What light remained from the setting sun was dimmed by clouds, traces of the two-day storm that had held these men restlessly on the opposite shore of Long Island Sound, cursing their luck and hoping the gale wouldn't spoil everything. This was no spur-of-the-moment venture.It had been in the planning stage for almost a month, ever since the British attack on Danbury and Ridgefield in Connecticut on April 26.Both towns had been burned despite the bravery of General David Wooster,the idol of Oysterponds (Orient), who had been killed, and of Gen. Benedict Arnold, whose rough Hashamomock Pond horse had been shot from under him. Gen. Samuel Parsons, in charge and on to Sag Harbor. of Continental forces in southern Connecticut, had vowed to retaliate. Spies who operated on Long Island (Nathan Hale, hanged the year _ �- before, had been one of the best) brought word that the British were amassing stores at Sag Harbor and Gen. Parsons decided that would be the spot to hit. But how? x A land attack was out of the question. He might send a detachment M,n..r,�..r �l in sloops around Orient Point but they would be sighted and there was little likelihood of a surprise. He took another look at his Long Island 4 map and saw that an arm of Peconic Bay called Mill Creek or Tom's Creek (now Hashamomock or Arshamomoque Pond) almost cut the Y North Fork in half, coming very close to the Sound at Hashamomock ��—- - - - �• Pawns Puritans and Patriots, arren Hall. 1975 ^4 MMMM AS 1 gc 'i It was close to sundown Beach. And then he remembered the whaleboats that had been dart- when the whaleboat raiders ing out from Connecticut for months to harass British shipping in the reached our beach. Sound. The general sent for Col. Meigs, a 43-year-old Connecticut officer who had been in the war since the Battle of Lexington, had been captured at Quebec and had recently raised his own regiment after _i being released in an exchange of prisoners. Parsons pointed out the possibilities and the colonel was enthusiastic. They evolved a plan. On May 21 Meigs embarked from New Haven with 234 men in whaleboats, hoping to cross the Sound that afternoon. By the time they reached Sachem's Head, near Guilford, where the two armed sloops were waiting to escort them, the seas were getting rough. Reluctantly, the colonel decided to wait. Not until 1 p.m. on May 23 did the weather begin to clear. He selected 174 of the youngest and strongest of his men and set out. Thirteen whaleboats. Thirteen men to every boat except two. Ill omen? Col. Meigs wasn't super- stitious. The landing maneuvers at the beach were carried out with a minimum of noise or commotion. It had been reported that the enemy's troops on this part of the North Fork had marched to New York three days earlier but British sympathizers were known to live in the area and the purpose of the foray could easily be guessed, As each boat ran up on the sand, a rope was attached to the prow and men began to drag it toward a path that others were cutting through the underbrush to the pond, the water of which glistened some 240 yards away. It wasn't easy.These were heavy boats, each capable of carrying 24 fighting men. Not an ounce of energy could be wasted. Already there had been 20 miles of rowing and there was almost that much ahead. Up through the sand. Across The King's Highway-only east-west road on the North Fork. Over the new-cut path. Into the water again. Pagans, Puritans and Patriots . Warren Hall. 1975 . ;.f 25 HOURS OF GLORY 85 Down the length of the pond and out the narrow inlet into Southold Bay, Pipe down, men! You over there, douse that glim! On through 0 1, the night, prow to stern, past Paradise Point, through the stricture of '"' `i` Shelter Island Sound, along the length of North Haven peninsula. Easy, men, we're almost there. There were only 130 men now. Col. Meigs had left 40 back at the beach. He knew he would need fresh hands at the portage and on the oars for the last leg of the return trip.We are acquainted with only two }11 of the,final party—a sergeant named Gennings who performed with y outstanding valor and John White, who returned to Sag Harbor after _ the war and became a deacon. When the Rev. Nathaniel S. Prime published his History of Long r Island in 1845, he had talked to Deacon White, whom he described as } "a man of observation and sterling integrity." This is the way the deacon and the reverend described the rest of the venture,almost as if Col. Meigs had carried it out single-handedly: "He arrived at Sag Harbor after midnight and landed at the foot of the beach about two miles above the village. There concealing his boats in the bushes, and leaving a few men for a guard, he proceeded d been dart- toward the harbor. At the house now (1545} occupied by Mr. Silas pping in the Edwards, which was used as a hospital, he seized two men who were taking care of the sick, whom he used as guides, and whom he ticut officer threatened with instant death for the least failure in executing his i, had been requirements. f , iment after "Under their direction he was led to the quarters of the com- ated out the manding off icer whom he arrested and secured while lying in his bed. d a plan. On At this juncture an alarm was given and a single shot was fired from whaleboats, an armed vessel,which,however,was not repeated,from the inability ?' to determine the cause of the alarm. i, where the "An outpost was immediately carried with fixed bayonets and the sere getting land forces secured. He then proceeded to the shipping at the wharf, - il 1 p.m, on t where,after being exposed to the fire of an armed schooner of 12 guns he youngest and seventy men for nearly an hour, he completely effected the object ts. Thirteen of the expedition. In a short time 12 brigs and sloops, one of which isn't super- carried 12 gens, were enveloped in flames and with them 120 tons of hay, ten hogsheads of rum and a large quantity of grain and mer- i �'-- out with a chandise were completely destroyed. } -d that the "Of the enemy six were killed and 90 taken prisoners. The same day J' :hed to New Col. Meigs embarked for Guilford where he arrived after an absence '/ - nown to live of only 25 hours, during which he had transported his troops alter- ssed. nately by land and water a distance of 90 miles without the loss of a to the prow man." rere cutting Five days later Gen. Parsons received this letter: itened some "I take occasion not only to give you my hearty approbation of your ach capable conduct in planning the expedition to Long Island, but to return my I be wasted. sincere thanks to Lt. Col. Meigs, and all the officers and men engaged almost that in it. This enterprise,so fortunate in its execution, will greatly distress - the enemy in the important and essential article of forage, and y east-west - - nater again. - — - - - _ -- Pagans , Puritans , and Patriots. Warren Hail. 1975 AS 1. WICKHAM VS. L.ANDON $6 87 reflects much honor upon those who performed it. I shall ever be happy to reward merit when in my power, and therefore wish you to enquire for a vacant ensigncy for Sergeant Gennings, to which you will promote him,advising me of the same and time. I am,Sir, &c. "G. Washington." Congress forthwith directed that a sword be presented to Col. Meigs for his "prudence, activity, enterprise and valor." A granite monument was erected in 1902 in Sag Harbor saying: "A British fort But near this spot was captured by the Americans under Lt. Col. Meigs at hotbed the Battle of Sag Harbor, May 23, 1777." (Only it couldn't have been foot a May 23 if he got there after midnight.) An historical marker was put left a up at Southold town beach in 1960 by the township and the Southold "I h4 Historical Society. cursiot After the war Col. Meigs spent some time in Ohio and then was an oatl appointed Indian agent among the Cherokees, residing in Georgia good i until his death in 1823.His son became Governor of Ohio and served as Revolu Postmaster General under Presidents Madison and Monroe. "Ma The raid on Sag Harbor'was, without any doubt, a glorious success the ligl from every angle. But it does seem as though the inscription on that after h sword the Congress gave the colonel might well have read: "For Tryon persuading a half-trained band of tired, thirsty and wildly exuberant big tre young Colonials to burn ten hogsheads of rum." of his f, (Ma jot The most savage struggle in Southold during the Revolution was not him ar military. It was between the scions of two leading families —Parker "Joh `• Wickham, the elected supervisor, who, unlike most of his kin, was an `I )4 outspoken Tory, and Jared Landon, son of a judge and later the first I ' `Y( surrogate of Suffolk County, who was an active and effective patriot. " Landon spent two terms in Provost Prison in New York. The first, of 4. WN' comparatively short duration, was because Captain Ayscough of the "Wh Presby British Navy granted him, for a bribe, a safe-conduct to the city and 44 iW then had him arrested--at least, that was the story circulated at the time. The second term, much longer and tougher, was attributed to away.' information supplied by Wickham that Landon had piloted the Meigs Tryo ft raiders through town.For this leak Parker Wickham suffered the rest Your York tl of his life. On a Bill of Attainder filed by Ezra L'Hommedieu but j presumably inspired by Landon, Wickham was later declared a cheek- n traitor, his estates were confiscated and he was banished from the cheek The state forever. Southo Landon's imprisonment as Col. Meig's guide had more serious we are ramifications. Governor-General Tryon decided the whole town respec, needed a lesson and personally led a small army of 1,000 men to an The RE encampment near Founders' Landing. All churches were shut. Ultima, Business cased:Peoop a stage to eit homes to avoid the arrogant, Tryo i insulting redcoats who were everywhere. The dates of the incursion, menac i otherwise somewhat in doubt, are also established by John Pain's cause(' i diary. "Th, "1778 August the 9th day. General Tryon with his army came to Septe, Southold and August the 25th day the army wente away." Grata Pagans , Puritans and Patriots. arren Hall. 1975 .