Corrects Errors

I must now outline for you, the history of your village, but before we do, I want to correct an inexcusable error which may mislead any student of your history. On page 266 of Vol. II of the History of Long Island, written by the late William S. Pelletreau of Southampton and published in 1903, will be found this statement: “West of Connecticut River comes the long extent of territory now known as Brookhaven and Bellport, but originally Fire Place and Occombomack. The earliest deed is dated July 20, 1657 when Wyandance, the Montauk Sachem and Wenecohage sell to Richard Woodhull ‘for himself and the rest of his neighbors at Setalcott two great necks of meadow lying from a river called Coneticott to a river called Wegonthotok'”. I hate to have to contradict such an eminent authority as Mr. Pelletreau, but the facts demand that I do. The deed does not apply to either Fire Place or Bellport at all, but covers the meadows known as Noccomock Meadows on the east side of the Connecticut River and the meadows in Mastic. The “River called Wegonthotok” is what we know today as Forge or Mastic River. Further on in the volume, on page 281, will be found the amazing statement that Fire Place is “entirely a place of modern growth”. We all know this last statement is utterly untrue and I shall disprove it later on in this article. Having corrected, I hope, any misconception regarding the early history of Fire Place, that any of you have gotten from the above statements, I shall now try to present to you the history of your village, taken entirely from authentic sources.

Early History

We shall have to begin by crossing the Island and starting with the first settlement in the Town of Brookhaven at Setauket where, all that is definitely known, is that a small group settled there from New England sometime between the fourteenth day of April 1655 and the first day of August 1657 — the event probably taking place sometime in the Spring or Summer of 1655. The little colony soon became well established and through the foresight of it leaders, but principly (sic) through Richard Woodhull, began to buy up as much of the Indian lands as the red-skins would sell and this is especially true of any land containing meadows which were much prized because of the salt hay and grass that the meadows produced. Very little cleared land existed at the time and what they laboured to clear from the virgin forests was put to such cultivated crops as grain, peas, flax, vegetables and fruits, depending almost entirely on the meadows for hay and for pasturing their cattle. In two years after the settlement began, the Mastic and Noccomock meadows were purchased, but some cloud appears to have hung over the title and it was not until a second or confirmatory deed was secured from the Indians in1675, that the title was cleared and the meadows used. In the mean time, the West Meadows nearer at home, probably not supplying their needs sufficiently, they made two purchases of lands both containing meadows. One was for the “tract of land commonly called the old mans” or Mount Sinai, and the other for a large tract here on the South Side. Both deeds were signed the same day, 10 June 1664.

Old Purchase at South

The South Side tract became known as the “Old Purchase at South”, and on it are located the western part of South Haven, called Little Neck and all of the villages of Fire Place and Bellport.  It was bounded as follows:  Beginning at the mouth of the Connecticut River, at Long Point (Woodhull’s Point it was formerly called) and from thence running up along the west bank of the river to Yaphank Creek (or Barteau Creek it is known today) in the western part of South Haven, thence up and along an imaginary north and south straight line, called the Yaphank Line, to the middle of the Island; from thence west-wardly along the middle of the Island to where it meets a north and south line leading from a certain little fresh pond, now called Pond Ditch, located in the south western part of the meadow on the former Lyman estate in the extreme west part of Bellport; from thence eastwardly along the shore of the Bay to Long or Woodhull’s Point, the place of beginning.  Included in this immense tract of meadow and upland, there are six necks of land each divided by a stream of water.  Naming them from from east to west, the necks are:  Little Neck, Fire Place Neck, Tar-men’s Neck, Dayton’s Neck, Occumbomuck Neck and Starr’s Neck.  Little Neck forms the western part of South Haven; Fire Place Neck, Tar-men’s Neck and the larger part of Dayton’s Neck, are in the village of Fire Place while the western part of Dayton’s Neck with Occumbomuck Neck and Starr’s Neck make up Bellport.  For all this valuable land, it was agreed, according to the deed, to pay the grantor, Tobaccus, the Indian Chief of Unkechogue in Mastic, a sum of money to the value of fifty fathom of wampum — that would be 300 feet.  From the receipt which is dated the 31st of March in the following year — 1665, we learn that four coats were first paid and then at the date of the receipt he was paid £6/10s.  Evidently it was easier to use English money than to make a string of wampum 300 feet long.  While the deed conveys the land described, it reserves to the Indians free liberty for “fishing, fowling and hunting” within the territory.  It might be of interest to you to know that both the original deed and the original receipt are preserved and are in the Town Hall at Patchogue among the priceless collection of ancient papers and documents owned by the Trustees.  Tobaccus’ signature mark looks like a sort of wavy line that might suggest a double m.  The receipt, besides being on interesting old paper, states that it is given for money paid for a tract of lands and meadows “which is alredy layed out and bounded at the South” (sic).  From these words, it is evident that the thirty-nine purchasers lost no time in dividing the meadow among themselves almost immediately after its purchase the previous June.  From Book II and from Books A and B of our Town records, we find that it was only the meadow land that was first divided and that it was divided in 49 shares.  The price of £6/10s paid to Tobaccus (exclusive of the four coats) divided among the 49 share holders would be about 2 shillings and 11 pence per share.  Seven of the 39 buyers owned two shares and one, Richard Floyd, owned three shares, hence in dividing the meadows, these men received two pieces of meadow and Floyd three while the others each received one.

Meadow Shares

From the various deeds recorded in the town and county records, it will be found that the first 32 meadow lots lay between Connecticut River and Osborn’s Brook in the eastern part of Bellport, while the remainder were all in Bellport — the last or 49th lot probably adjoining the fresh pond on the west line of the purchase.  None of the lots included any upland at first and as the meadow extends further back from the Bay in some places than in others, it must have been that the lots were of different sizes and shape so that each would contain an equal amount of meadow.  A list of the original owners will be found in both Books A and B.  All of the owners were the early residents of Setauket and were probably all living there at the time.