Newsletter Philanthropy in the Community
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
-MORR ST O O W Post-Morrow Foundation P EWSLETTER FOUNDATION, INC. Nvolume 22, number 1 Spring 2019 Board of Directors and Officers Bruce T. Wallace POST-MORROW FOUNDATION President, Director Thomas B. Williams Vice-President, Director CELEBRATES 50 YEARS Thomas Ludlam Chairman, Director Ginny Everitt Treasurer, Director Lynn Brown Secretary, Director Dorothy Hubert Jones Trustee Emerita Staff Florence Pope Administrative Assistant James Hazard Facilities Manager Scott Budny Stewardship Assistant History of Post-Morrow The Post-Morrow Foundation, Inc. is located in the Hamlet of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York. Its principal office is at 16 Bay Road, Brookhaven, NY 11719. Sailing from Squassux Landing to Old Inlet in 1903 Conceived by Thomas and Elisabeth Post Morrow and established in 1969, the Foundation is dedicated to the preservation of This year the Post-Morrow Foundation celebrates 50 years dedicated to preserving the rural countryside character of the Hamlet and the surrounding the environmental and cultural history of Brookhaven Hamlet. areas. Through the acquisition of properties, either by gift or purchase, the Foundation seeks to establish a nature preserve and sanctuary for the benefit and enjoyment of the immediate community. The preservation of 50th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION Beaver Dam Creek, where the Foundation owns over 100 acres, Saturday, September 14, 2019 • 3PM - 6PM is a priority. The Post and Morrow families have had a long tradition of Make your reservation now by mailing the form at the back of the Newsletter philanthropy in the community. James H. Post purchased the land along Carmans River, now known 50 WORDS FOR THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY FOR $50 as Squassux Landing, which was later donated to the Brookhaven In 50 words or less, tell us what Post-Morrow means to you. Submit your entry via Village Association for use as a email to: [email protected] All entries are welcome; everyone has a marina. The land upon which the Brookhaven Free Library is situated chance to win. The winner will be announced at the party. was another gift. Elisabeth Post Morrow continued the tradition of her father by donating various gifts to community groups, mostly anonymously. It was the hope of the Morrows that this legacy be continued through the Mission Statement of the Post-Morrow Foundation: establishment of the Post-Morrow To preserve and conserve the rural, cultural and historical character of the hamlet of Foundation, Inc. Brookhaven and surrounding areas in Suffolk County, New York. THE POSTS AND MORROWS IN BROOKHAVEN HAMLET – THEIR STORY Elisabeth Post Morrow Thomas Irwin Morrow Conceived by Thomas and Elisabeth Post Morrow and established in 1969, the Foundation has dedicated itself to the preservation of the rural countryside and historic character of the hamlet of Brookhaven and surrounding areas. The Post and the Morrow families have had a long tradition of philanthropy in the community. James H. Post purchased land along Carman’s River, now known as Squassux Landing, named for a Native American pot maker who worked on that site. It was later donated by Post’s daughters to the Brookhaven Village Association for use as a marina. The Brookhaven Free Library and the land upon which it was built in 1923 was another gift to the community. Elisabeth Post Morrow continued the tradition of her family by donating various gifts to community groups. It was the hope of the Morrows that this legacy be continued through the establishment of the Post-Morrow Foundation, Inc. The Foundation has devoted itself as well to the project of protecting Beaver Dam Creek, a tidal stream running through the heart of our designated Fire Place Historic District. Over the last several decades the Foundation has continued this legacy by preserving other properties including The Edgar Avenue Preserve, Long Meadow Farm, the Burnett Lane Preserve, the Sam Newey boatyard (aka Tookers Marina) and part of the headwaters of Beaver Dam Creek across from the Brookhaven Fire House. Two farms have also been preserved by the Foundation; Longmeadow Farm that supports the Hamlet Organic Garden (HOG) and Lohman’s farm, now Deer Run Farm. The Foundation has also partnered with the Town, the County and the Federal government to preserve other properties in the area, including Southaven Properties now a part of the Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge and the Hedges Creek Preserve, now a county park in East Patchogue. The Foundation was also involved in the protection of the Peat Hole in Bellport Village, a historic pond known for providing area residents a place to ice skate. Nine acres and the historic Washington Lodge was also preserved through a partnership with Brookhaven Town, Suffolk County and local residents. (A map of all Post-Morrow properties in Brookhaven may be found towards the end of this newsletter.). The hamlet of Brookhaven has a long history. Originally home to the Unkechaug tribe of the Algonquin Nation, the land was purchased from the tribe in 1664 by a group of thirty-nine buyers. The hamlet was originally known as Fire Place for its tradition as a Native American pottery kiln site. In 1871 residents voted to change the name to Brookhaven. Among the original European settlers were Richard Woodhull, forefather of Revolutionary War hero Nathaniel Woodhull, and Richard Floyd, grandfather of William Floyd, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. In 1735, what is now Beaver Dam Road became the first dedicated road in the hamlet. In the 1800’s fishing and farming were a major part of the life of the community. Salt-hay (Spartina patens), an important source of food for cattle and packing ice for the summer months, was harvested by farmers from the North Shore. They came to Brookhaven via the historic Old Town Road, which leads from Setauket in the north to Brookhaven Hamlet in the south and is still a busy road to this day. It is this heritage and cultural history that the Foundation hopes to preserve. CALEB POST – THE POST FAMILY COMES TO BROOKHAVEN Caleb Post, James H. Post’s grandfather, (1785-1872) was a carpenter descended from New England settlers who arrived in the country around 1650. He and his family moved to Brookhaven Hamlet from Southampton and built the Post’s house, in 1823 on South Country Road. The house still sits next to the land that now holds the Old South Haven Presbyterian Church which was moved there in 1961. Caleb married Mary Smith (1790-1869) of Moriches. James Post’s father, William was the youngest of five children. William Post (1828-1888) was born in Brookhaven. He is listed in the census of 1850 as being a carpenter and living in Brooklyn. In 1859 he married Eleanor Cornelia Sackett (1836-1866) from New Rochelle where the family lived until her death. They had three children; James Howell Post (1859-1938) was the eldest. His sister, Mary Post (known as ‘Aunt Mollie’) (1861-1939), also lived in Brookhaven on South Country Road. Cornelia died of consumption five days after the death of her youngest son who was only two years old. At 7 years of age after James’ mother died he moved to Brookhaven where he lived with his grandfather Caleb and attended the Fire Place School. He lived in Brookhaven until his grandfather died in 1872 when he moved back to Brooklyn to live with the B. H. Howells family. He started working at B.H. Howell Co. at 16 as an errand boy. Caleb Post William Post died of scarlet fever during the famous blizzard of 1888, known as the “White Hurricane”, with winds over 80 miles per hour and 21 inches of snow. James H. Post inherited the house in Brookhaven known as the Homestead from his father William Post. BROOKHAVEN HAMLET’S GOOD FORTUNE: THE GENEROSITY OF JAMES H. POST “Philanthropy was always in his blood”, according to Dorothy Post Hubert Jones, granddaughter of James Howell Post. She remembers him well she says. “He was a very kind, dear man”. Often when he came out to Brookhaven, he would give his grandchildren a $20 gold piece. He received them from his service on some of the boards on which he served. Dorothy said that the family sold all of them when the Country went off the gold standard and so there are none remaining. He lived and worked in Brooklyn but kept the Homestead. Dorothy remembers his coming out from Brooklyn on weekends to be here in the summer. They would motor in their launch to Old Inlet where he would spend time with his children and grandchildren. Post, as well as many other residents, kept his boat at what is now Squassux Landing. When around 1906 he learned that the owner of the property wanted to charge residents a fee for having their boats there, he was able to purchase the land and assure residents that they could tie up their boats at no cost. Post was also a founding member of the Brookhaven Village Association in 1906. He was always devoted to the whole community. “He would rather give to an undeserving person than not to give to a deserving person,” Dorothy said. As John Deitz reports on his Brookhavensouthaven.org website, (a source of much information for this) “Dorothy Hubert Jones, in her commentary, indicated that the move out to Brookhaven every spring was a major excitement, as all the necessary accoutrements, dinnerware, etc., were packed up and transported, pretty much simultaneously between both the Post and Hubert (on the adjacent property) families. After the main house was closed up, the Posts sometimes used a smaller cottage on the James H. Post continued on next page THE GENEROSITY OF JAMES H.