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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBenjamin Franklin's North Fork Milestones by Robert Long 1991 . 5enjamin franklin's North fork r:_ILB8TONESJ H._ A fascinating heritage from 1755 -- Robert P.long ~~"*~"Nm 2 3 -> . . .-. il:::":~-:~ _..~'~~__ "'"'-[----....JIL.:..::-..~~_;.. ..~ :y .~.- -= Copyright @ 1991 tRobi..u ':to. aCo":f-.. 445 Glen Court, Culchogue, NY 11935 This 18th cen~lIry view, looking tKmh. shows the Court House (center) on what is now Mnin Street. Riverhead, where Peconic- Avenue crosses the Peconic River. Note sailing vessel on the river. Today a hronze plaque On lhe facade of an office huilding marli.::f the ('ourt House site. In 1755 a carriage with a strange bell-ringing mileage meter aboard, followed by a wagon load of workmen and stone monuments, was seen rolling along the King's High- way from Riverhead to Oysterponds. The passenger in the carriage reportedly wore a high hat, ruffled shirt, double- breasted cutaway coat with brass buttons, a waistcoat (vest) of a light-figured material, black shoes with large nickel buckles, and an enormous fob-chain. He also carried a well-filled lunch basket in case there were no inns or taverns along the road. 4 5 The man was Benjamin Franklin, whom the English Crown in 1 753 had appointed Postmaster General of the northern col- onies, based in Philadelphia, Col. William Hunter of Virginia jointly was appointed, to oversee the postal system of the south- ern colonies, The two were alloted a total of 600 English pounds per year, and the Postmasters would share any "profit" remaining after all expenses were paid. (By 1761 the system showed a profit). Franklin was measuring mile-by-mile. the distance from Suffolk Court House (later to be named Riverhead. in 1855), to Oysterponds (later Orient), at the east end of Long Island's North Fork. (Horses in those days had no odometers). The carriage which the inventive Franklin had designed. had an odometer device which rang a bell as the carriage traveled each 20 rods. A rod is 16.5 feet, and a little basic arithmetic shows that a carriage wheel with a diameter of 63.03 inches would cover one rod with each revolution. Every 16 rings 01 the bell would equal one mile (320 rods or 5,280 feet). In those times there was a wooden worm gear device called a "weasel", which, upon a set number of revolutions of ih wheel. produced a crack or signal (said to be the origin of the song "Pop, Goes the Weasel", though there are also other legends). Wesley Dickinson of the Southold Historical Society surmised that such a device may have been adapted and used on Franklin's carriage to ring a bell. There is such a weasel on display in the Society's Museum Gift Shop in the Prince Building. The device has wooden gears, and it springs a thin slat to make a sharp crack sound at each 40 revolutions of a rack on which yarn was wound, to measure the length of winding. The number of teeth in the gear, which is turned by a hand-cranked worm gear, determines the frequency of the cracks, At each mile Franklin's carriage stopped, and a wood stake was driven on the south side of the highway, and the workmen unloaded the proper milestone and set it into the ground. It was exactly 30 miles from the Court House (central post office) to the Oysterponds ferry, Today, 21 of these 236-year-old milestones are still in place or accounted for, mostly in good condition, though weath- -~ This "weasel" device at the Southold Historical Society, makes a crack sound at every so many revolutions, to measure the length of yarn wound on the rack. ered considerably, along the Old King's Highway, long since designated as Route 25, Boisseau Avenue, and farther east, Route 48, In today's traffic they are easily overlooked, but are quite prominent once you are aware of them (more on locations later). Why milestones in 1755? They were this local area's part in a broad program of organization of the colonial postal system which was in its infancy, The cost of sending a letter by horse- 6 7 back, ox-wagon or stagecoach was based on the number of miles from the central post office. There was a great deal of controversy among postal authorities, clerks and patrons about fees, services and distances. To improve service as well as com- munications among the colonies, Franklin personally covered as many New England and Middle Atlantic post roads as possi- ble, and ordered mile markers on many, including the Boston Post Road. On Long Island, the King's Highway ran from Fulton Ferry in Brooklyn to the Rhode Island Ferry at Oysterponds. One post road came from the west through Wading River to Suffolk Court House, and some markers were placed on that road also. as well as on Montauk Highway. though perhaps not by Franklin. One source states that Franklin supervised the placing of miles- tones on the Boston Post Road. Running as it did from Brooklyn ferries from New York City, to the Rhode Island ferry at Orient. the King's Highway was a principal route to New England. In 1757 Col. George Washington stopped at the Constant Booth Inn in Sterling (Stirling, now Greenport). on his way to New London and Boston. In fact, that was the year he recommended that a lighthouse be erected at Horton Point. Southold. So it would not be unusual for Franklin and others to pass this way on occasion, as they did. Postal services were haphazard, with letters often left with tavern-keepers to be given to the addressee when and if he or she stopped there. Under Franklin's genius for organization, communications among the colonies greatly improved, accounts were systematized, roads, fords and ferries designated and im- proved. The improvement was such that soon a letter could be sent from Philadelphia to Boston, and a return letter received, within three weeks. Up to that time, all newspapers were handled free by the postal service, but Franklin thought this unfair, and decreed that all newspapers, including his own Gazette, must pay postage. Augustus Griffin's Journal. published in 1857 in Orient, a history of the first settlers of Southold Town, has this to say about the milestones: "About two years previous to this, (viz. 1755,) Dr. Benjamin Franklin passed through this island, from The 7-mile marker on Franklinville Road, Laurel, is the westernmost of the surviving stones. Brooklyn to Southold Harbor, and in a carriage of his own construction. It was so contrived, with clock work or machinery of peculiar make, that a bell would be struck at the termination of every twenty rods. By this means, the Doctor measured the distance accurately - his object, no doubt, being to ascertain the lenqth of the island; and it seems a little strange that he did 8 9 i I 1 ! I I j not proceed to the end. He stopped at the inn of my grandfather, Samuel Griffin, at the Harbor, (one hundred miles from Brooklyn, as the road was at that day) and who took him, the following day, across the Sound to New London. The Doctor was on his way to Boston to visit his widowed mother." It is somewhai puzzling that Griffin says that Franklin did not proceed to the end. However, the milestones do proceed all the way to today's Orient ferry. Another source states that Dr. Franklin "waved his hat while inspecting the King's Highway," thus showing his enthusiasm for the project. Yet another historic record places Franklin in Southold somewhat earlier. Following is an excerpt from a letter written by Franklin on October 25, 1750, from Philadelphia, to Jared Eliot: "I request you to procure for me a particular account of the manner of making a new kind of fence we saw at Southold, on Long Island, which consists of a bank and hedge. I would know every particular relating to this matter, as the best thickness, height, and slope of the bank; the manner of erecting it, the best time for the work, the best way of planting the hedge, the price of the work to" laborers per rod or perch, and whatever may be of use for our information here, who begin in many places to be at a loss for wood to make fences with. We were told at Southold, that this kind of fencing had been long practised with success at Southampton and other places, on the south side of the Island, but was new among them. I hear the minister at Southold is esteemed an ingenious man; perhaps you may know him, and he will at your request favor me with an explicit account of these fences." The milestone project came about five years later. In spite of Franklin's superb organization of the colonial postal system, it is not surprising that he was dismissed from his post by the Crown in 1774, as he became involved in the Colonies' move toward independence. However, the following year,'the new Congress appointed him to the same office, with his son-in-law, Richard Bache, as deputy Postmaster General. The mile markers were regarded as highly important, as shown by a 1788 ordinance "Protecting and Regulating of Mile Stones... that disturbing a mile stone would cost the guilty Party 14-mile stone In Cutchogue, on Route 25, Main Road, east of Skunk Lane. two years in jail and a thousand dollars in fine." This was a serious penalty, and illustrates the importance attached to the markers, and perhaps partially accounts for how well they have survived. The stones became important reference points, as inns, taverns and other places could be accurately located as being near, or a certain distance from, a certain marker. Later, persons 10 11 ". ".\ :.... '" 'i.'. A << Z < ~ ~ ~ W C. '" <l: '" w :c cl. l1J :0- CL z: D Do! lI- - -- :"~.:. . .. ....: <H)r ~::.:;~~ .::.1, ~ ~ ''j ..... :~ ~~.: ,:'y ':;'; ..J OJ "" ::> <t ..J -- VI Y.I ..J L I lI) W Z o .... V> I1J J ~ It) \I) r-- '" - M - IS-mile stone. Route 2S, Peconic, one--tenth mile east of Peconic Lana. l6-mi1e stone, Route 25, Soutbold, two-tenths mile east of South Harbor Lane, opposite Triangle Park. serving on juries, had accurate points of reference as they were paid by the number of miles traveled. The King's Highway pushed eastward into Southold village (now Route 25, Main Road) and turned north on what is now Boisseau Avenue, into the North Road (now Route 48), as there was no road or bridge at that time across the swampy tidewater inlet, Mill Creek. An 1882 map of Southold village shows the Main Road as "Town Street", and Boisseau as "Road to Oyster- ponds." At one time, the "oldest house in Southold village" was the Case House on Boisseau Avenue, said to be built in 1640, but later determined to have been erected in 1652. It became an 14 15 Milestone Locations inn, known as Moore's Tavern, which was the site of several historic footnotes. Franklin is said to have stayed there during his road-measuring sojourn on Long Island. Alexander Hamilton stayed there later on, according to his diary. The above-men- tioned map shows the Moore property on the east side of Bois- seau (Road to Oysterponds). both north and south of the railroad. As an interesting sidelight. in 1777, Moore's Tavern was the center of the only battle of the Revolutionary War to be fought in the village of Southold. The Town Historian of the 1930s, Wayland Jefferson, reported "that a number of British boats lay at anchor off what we now refer to as 'The Landing'. Capta in Ayscough and a detachment of men from the boats were at Moore's Tavern for refreshments. The word reached Captain Hart of Cutchogue. He and a company of his men ambushed the British in the Tavern and a running fight ensued, during which the remnants of the British force succeeded in making its way down what is now Maple Lane to their boat. The records show that eleven British were killed in the brush." Later, a somewhat contrasting event occurred at Moore's, where Mrs. Abigail Ledyard Moore kept a shop. It was on her invitation that the first gathering was held there of a group which led to the organization of the Southold Methodist Church in 1794. The old house-tavern was moved in the 1890s, and de- molished in 1936, according to an account in the Long Island Traveler-Watchman at that time. The surviving milestones are fairly well standardized in form and size (except for a couple of replacements). Each is 121:, inches wide by five inches thick, and stands about 36 inches above ground level, although a few are shorter, perhaps having been broken and reset. Most have recently had a coat of white paint applied by the Town Highway Department. The chiseled inscriptions are somewhat crude, in the configuration shown by the accompanying rubbing. The starting point for the 30 miles to Orient was at the original Court House, in what is now Riverhead, and a historical 19-001. ,toDe, Route 48, North Road, Southold, opposite the North Fork Beach Motel. bronze plaque on a brick building on Main Street, facing Peconic Avenue, across from the Riverhead Savings Bank, marks the spot where the old court house stood. The first six markers have not been found in many years. Around 1970, Dr. Lawrence T. Waitz, then Southold Town Historian, said there were still 22 in place, the one nearest Riverhead being at Laurel (7 miles). 16 17 The author doing a rubbing of Milestone 18, on Boisseau Avenue in Southold. Photo by DOrulld Turhill. A rubbing of Milestone J 2, Route 25, Culchogue. <tholll 50 yards cast of Praity Lane, west of the Presbyterian Church. A typical in'icriplion. author was pleased to discover one marker reported missing since 1950, Mile Number 27 in Orient. It lies flat, almost entirely buried under dirt and grass at the edge of a fjeld, near where it ought to be. It is damaged with chips off each side, but the inscription that remains is readable. So, starting with Mile 7 eastward, there are now 21 surviving, according to the author's survey, and this includes at least two replacements. They are located as follows, all on the south side of the highways. Mile No.7. Laurel. On the old section of Route 25, now called Franklinville Road, just east of Aldrich Lane. The present Route 25 by-passes south of this. No.8. Mattituck, Route 25. Missing. It was just east of the LI RR overpass, but was shattered in recent years in an au- tomobile accident. No.9. Mattituck, Route 25. About 30 yards west of the Blue Water Fish Market, west of the Marine Ship Chandlery. He surmised that the missing markers between there and Riverhead may have been mile boards nailed to posts, rather than stone monuments, and thus would not have survived over two centuries. He found town records authorizing the erection of such mile boards along the Riverhead section of the post road, according to an account in Newsday in 1972. The present 18 19 No. 10. Mattituck, Route 25. One-tenth mile west of Mar- ratooka Avenue, just west of service station. No. 11. Mattituck, Route 25. Top of Manor Hill (or Moore's Hill). about two-tenths mile east of Manor Hill Lane. No. 12. Cutchogue, Route 25. About 50 yards east of Praity Lane, west of the Presbyterian Church. No. 13. Cutchogue, Route 25. One-tenth mile west of Har- bor Lane east of the King Kullen shopping center. No. i 4. Cutchogue, Route 25. About 30 yards west of Ted's Auto Body shop, two-tenths mile east of Skunk Lane. No. 15. Peconic, Route 25. One-tenth mile east of Peconic Lane. No. 16. Southold, Route 25. Opposite Triangle Park, two- tenths mile east of South Harbor Lane. No. 17. Southold, Route 25. In front of the Presbyterian Manse, east of church. A shorter replacement of the original, placed around 1970. . . No. 18. Southold, Boisseau Ave. Just south of intersection with Route 48, on vacant lot adjacent and south of Donald Tuthill house. No. 19. Southold, Route 48, North Road. Just west of Sound View Avenue and Town Beach, opposite North Fork Beach Motel. No. 20. Greenport, Route 48. Just east of Albertson Lane. No. 21. Greenport, Route 48. Missing. No. 22. Greenport, Route 48. About 20 yards east of Madi- son Street, behind farm stand. No. 23. East Marion, Route 25. East of where Route 48 ends and Route 25 comes north from Greenport center. East of Wiggins Lane, west of Cleaves Point Estates. No. 24. East Marion, Route 25. Directly in front of East Marion Chapel. No inscription, a replacement. No. 25. East Marion, Route 25. Missing. No. 26. Orient, Route 25. East of Orient Causeway, about 100 yards west of Latham Farm Stand. No. 27. Orient, Route 25. Six-tenths mile west of Narrow River Road. Reported missing in earl ier surveys, now found lying flat, mostly buried, sides chipped but part of inscription readable. No. 28. Orient. Route 25. Earlier reported moved from Old Road to new road by-pass. and now in possession of Ralph Williams, awaiting resetting. No. 29. Orient. Route 25. One-tenth mile west of Greenway East. a private road. No. 30. Orient. end of Route 25. Shortened marker adjacent to ferry ticket office. on grass median between driveways. leaning toward the sea. Missing Stone Located As a result of this milestone article published in The Peconic Bay Shopper. Southold. NY. March 1991. missing Milestone No. 25 was located. Doug Rogers of East Marion. reported that he had it in his backyard. as a result of rescuing it from being discarded about 30 years ago. He spotted it. broken in half. in a pile of debris at a highway repair site. and asked if he could have it. The crew said he could. and loaded it into his truck for him. Upon reading the article. he called. and said he would like to have the stone repaired and returned to its original location, which was on Route 25 east of the causeway between Greenport and East Marion. At this writing, plans are evolving for having this done. This leaves only No. 21 unaccounted for. 20 21 Notes Bibliography Around the Forks, Edna Howell Yeager The Autobioqraphy of Benjamin Franklin Beniamin Franklin, Carl Van Doren, 1938 Griffin's Joumal, 1857, Orient History of Southold United Methodist Church 1794-1971. Alice B. Wells Lonq Island Forum, Feb. 1986 Lonq Island Traveler-Watchman, 1936 Newsday, Oct. 4, 1972 The Old Boston Post Road, Stephen Jenkins The Story of the Boston Post Road, Stewart H. Holbrook Southold Town Records, Liber C, Vol. II. 1884 The Suffolk Times, Sept. 5, 1985 The Works of Benjamin Franklin, Jared Sparks. Vol. VI, 1838 An idea concerning care and maintenance of the milestones came out of the 1990 350th Town Anniversary committee (at- tributed to Harry Fagan). It was suggested that local youth groups, such as Boy I Girl Scouts, 4.H Clubs, Church Youth, etc.. or perhaps historical societies, "adopt" specific milestones in their area. The group would be responsible for trimming weeds or brush around the marker. making sure it is standing straight. and generally look after it. Missing stones perhaps could be duplicated and put in place through donation of funds and skills. Some markers are on town (or county or state?) road rights-of- way, and some are on private property. Anyway, it seems like an idea that would enhance appreciation and help preserve an important part of the East End's heritage. il II I II II I' ~ , ili ~ Acknowledgments Much of the above information is based on published work done by numerous persons over the years. including: Joy Bear. Frank Coyle. Magdaline Goodrich, Elisabeth S. Lapham, Virginia Rusch, Dr. Lawrence T. Waitz, Virginia Wines, Edna Howell Yeager and Archie Young. Thanks also to the following individuals and organizations: Winifred Billard. Antonia Booth. Helen Case, Wesley Dickinson, Frances Franke, Terry O'Shea. William Peters, John Stack. Elinor Williams, Cutchogue Free Library. Cutchogue-New Suffolk His- torical Council. Landmarks Commission Town of Southold. Southold Free Library, Southold Historical Society Archives, Suf- folk County Historical Society Library, and Riverhead Free li- brary. Most of this material was published in The Peconic Bay Shopper, South~ old, March, 1991. but several illustrations, including the map, have been added for this booklet. All photos and illustrations are by the author, except as otherwise noted ~. -; 22 23