A DETAILED HI STORY OF THE ORIGINAL TOWN SHIP OF HUNTI NGTON T— T—F PA S PRESEN UTURE . — 1 65 3 1 8 60 — 1 9 2 5 I 9 3 O Compiled by GU Y . O H N STO N E J , Northport , N . Y . 1 2 6 9 . Auspices O f O RTH P O RT B RV R N O S E E . List o f Contributing Patrons whose contributions have h e lpe d make po ssible the publication of this History and Proposed Civic Improvements . Bleul , Bruno Bittner , Theo . O . Burling , Chas . E . lRe . M ac NichOl v. , W O ik o fe r pp , Katherine . t Burt , Henry W East Nor hport Gildersleeve , L . B Leighton , Roscoe S . M e llstro m , Tage B rower , Ancel Fort Salonga Geissler , Louis F Jackson , Frank B . Kellogg , R . W Scullin , Vincent Swayne , Francis B . Deans , John Baylis , Willard N . Bixby , Henry D . Brink , B . Deane Brush , Geo . E . Conklin , Douglas r Co telyou , Geo . B . Darling , C . P . a Desp rd , Douglas C . Matheson , W . J . ’ I e n dill , W . C Northport Noyes , Harriet P . ’ O B rie n , John Overton , Dr . L . H . Robbins , Mrs . Harry T . M rs M ax Saltz , . Schraeder , Albert H . Scudder , Charles H . Smith , Oliver K . Steers , Henry . Inc . Sullivan , Charles H . 811 Young , J . M . E . R . Wheeler , F . W . h le r \V ee . , H R M Kin n e c . e y , Mrs Loretta F San Mat o , Cali fornia TOWNSH IP OF HU NTINGTON 5 . o n This history , which a great deal of time has been spent in collecting the necessary facts and data , is the direct t o f b outgrow h o f the request a neigh oring paper , for an “ ” o n ORTH P ORT article the subj ect , N 75 YEARS AGO , “ an d and NORTH PORT TODAY , in the search for material for that article the great need w as recognized for a Of connected history of the entire Township Huntington , which included the present Town of Babylon up to March I I 8 2 ! 3 , 7 , and while it aims to cover the entire township it e h deals more sp cifically wit Huntington , Babylon and so e a Northport , and in far as practicabl they h ve been o ever bear in treated separately , though the reader sh uld min d that the early history of Babylon and Northport is l inseparably inked to that o f Huntingt on . The great need was recognized not only for a connected history of the great events th at stand o ut a s land marks I n s the lives o f tho e early pioneers , but for a narrative at an d once readable and entertaining , at the same time inter t esting and instructive , from the very beginning of the whi e ’ t man s appearance in this locality up to the present momen , a history that every family in the entire To wnship including the present Town of Babylon should have one or more a copies o f , in order th t they can thereby , not only trace back their ancestry I U [nose memorabl e days of 1 65 3 but also that they may become familiar with and able to com mun icate to others the true history of the town of which be they have the exalted honor to citizens . o There are of c urse , histories of Long Island , but they deal very largely with individual families and so far as known this is the only history of the Township of Hunting o f i ton , which is course the one in which we are d rectly interested . 6 H I STORY OF TH E ORIGI NAL The period from 1 8 6 1 to 1 9 2 5 has been purposely omit ted , not because those noble heroes who participated in the Civil War , The Spanish American War and the late World War are not worthy o f all the honor we can possibly bestow fo r fo r upon them , they certainly are , but the reason that it would mak e this narrative to o long and too bulky to be n o i corp rated in a volume convenient to handle , and because m every city , town and ha let has its roster of war heroes . An effort h as been made to comply with the original request as to conditions 75 years ago , by listing in all the l p aces in the township including Babylon , Cold Spring , o r Huntington , Melville , Centerp rt , G eenlawn , Northport , o rth o rt n w a d . East N p , Commack Ft Salonga , those who ere and born 75 or more years ago , and who are still living , a second list o f those who have arrived at the go o d old Bible “ ” a e g of three score years and ten , and are now between . 0 a e 7 and 7 5 years , o f g, and it is very certain that those e lists will prov what has often been claimed heretofore , that this is the healthiest section o f the United States . Those lists will be divided into three classes : First : Those born within the j urisdiction o f the original w l To nship of Huntington , and still iving therein . Second : Those born within the j urisdiction o f the original Township o f Huntington and now living outside of that j urisdiction . Third : Those bo rn outside o f the original Township of Huntington , but who are now residing in any of the places heretofore mentioned . It is undoubtedly true that you have to actually live with o pe ple to really find them out , or to thoroughly understand we them , and since cannot live literally with those that blazed the trail of civilization in the new world , the next best way is to consider and study the ordinances and laws c be with which they ircumscri d themselves , for law in all TOWNSH IP OF HU NTI NGTON 7 ages has prescribed the mode of living that at least the maj ority are supposed to abide by in their d a ily walk through li fe . To start with then we must turn time backward in its f o f light to the days the primeval forest , that the Red Man disturbed not except fo r material for his can o es and branches his w o o f for lodges , and through hich the m ccasins so many generations of savages had worn their narrow paths - e or trails until they were often times more than a foot d ep , back to those days when every male w as an archer of almost unerring marksmanship a n d exceedingly dexterous and clever with his spe ar and when deer a n d other wild game were plenti ful on Long Island , when the wealth of our forefathers was measured by produce and the number o f live stock a man possessed , when modern conveniences were e not ven conceived or dreamed of , when it required almost superhuman bravery to push into hitherto unknown terri t lo tory , there to build by means of clumsy ools a gcabin they might call home . In those days their automobile was an o x - cart and cart paths following the old Indian trails their c oncrete high w o ways , while o den plough shares tipped with iron , served t un as their Ford trac or and the old match lock g , the forerunner of the old flint lock served as their magazine rifle . This history will tend to unfold to us a view of the S o f ocial , political , religious and inner li fe our ancestors , n and to our present generation of you g people, many things they done as herein related will seem decidedly queer and out of place in this day and age, and yet it is not only probable but almost certain that our m anner of living and our methods of working and accomplishing things and which we now deem the most wonderful the world has ever known (and indeed they are ) will appear decidedly grotesque and HI STO RY OF TH E ORIGI NAL q ueer and out o f place to our prec o cious posterity of a generation hence , in fact it would not surprise me any , i f s i uch was the case within the next ten or f fteen years . \Vh a t bravery and fortitude w ere displayed by th e women o f that day will never be known , though tribute has be e n and will o f course be paid to them in a general — to way , and while no doubt they o ften times had reason ques tion why some things were done , or why such and such a O move was made , we have no record f any murmuring or o n so complaint their part , it is certain they were then , as ’ so they are now , man s best friend , his guardian angel to speak , and the means whereby the race has continued to n o bilitv ascend to higher planes o f justice , of humanity , o f and of righteousness . It was people of such sturdy traits of character and u n bravery that le ft England for the new world , a world known to them and settling first in New England , then emigrated to Huntington either by boat from Connecticut , or arriving from the west by way of Hempstead or possibly following the Indian trails from the older settlements at S outhold and Southampton .