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Wednesday

Jul252012

Smithtown's History - Alice Throckmorton McLean

Wednesday, July 25, 2012 at 10:19PM

LIVES, LOVES AND LAMENTS OF THE PEOPLE OF ST. JAMES

“Alice Throckmorton McLean, a remarkable lady whose spirit lives on….”

by Bradley Harris, Smithtown Historian (originally printed in Our Town)

This article is about Alice Throckmorton McLean, a remarkable lady who made St. James her home from 1919 until 1944.

Alice Throckmorton McLean was truly a remarkable lady. She “was a child of the gilded age and lived a privileged life within the wealthiest American social circles.” She spent her childhood in New York City and on her father’s farm estate in South Kortright in upstate N.Y. She was home schooled and taught by tutors. As a young girl, she spent much of her time travelling with her father and learning the ins and outs of the business world. By the time she was in her twenties, she was married and the mother of two boys, helping her father with the running of his upstate farm and carefully nurturing her children. With her divorce at age 33, Alice Mclean moved to St. James where, throughout the 1920’s and 30’s, she led the life of a wealthy socialite spending her time riding, participating in fox hunts, horse shows, and polo matches. Then with the approach of World War II, Alice McLean became the founder, organizer and president of the American Women’s Voluntary Services, a highly successful volunteer organization that grew to include 325,000 women across America dedicated to helping the war effort by providing material aid, assistance and information to the armed forces and civilians during the war years. Her work with the AWVS and the contribution it made during the war is Alice McLean’s legacy to us all, and shows what one “resourceful, energetic and tenacious American patriot” can do to help others in time of need. (“Alice Throckmorton McLean,” Harbor in the News, ttp://www.harborcountrydayschool.org/page.cfm?p=532)

“Born in New York City on March 8, 1886,” Alice was the youngest of the three daughters of an American millionaire, James McLean, and his wife, Sara Throckmorton. (Barbara Van Liew, Head-of the-Harbor: A Journey Through Time, published by Main Road Books, Inc., Laurel, N.Y., 2005, p.162.) James McLean was Vice President of the Board of the Phelps Dodge Corporation, then “one of the three biggest American copper companies,” and he amassed a considerable fortune. Since the McLeans did not have a son, James McLean treated Alice as the son he never had, and arbitrarily decided to make his third daughter heir of the fortune he acquired through the copper industry. For Alice, this meant that she would learn to do many things that young girls would not normally be expected to learn. (“Profiles: Ladies in Uniform,” The New Yorker, July 4, 1942, p.21-29.)

A wealthy man, Mr. McLean was an avid horseman. He loved to ride and play polo, and as his daughter grew up, he taught her to do the same. Alice became such a “dedicated rider,” she not only played polo, but learned “to drive horses in tandem and four-in-hand.” Alice displayed her polo skills when she played with the men of the Smithtown Polo Club, and she displayed her horsemanship skills as a participant in the annual Smithtown Horse Shows. Driving four horses abreast was no mean feat for a woman but she became an expert. (Barbara F. Van Liew, op. cit., p. 164.)

Alice “was educated privately” and “as a young woman, she was her father’s constant companion, accompanying him on trips throughout the U.S. and also to Europe and the Far East. She learned to speak fluent French, German and Italian.” This sophisticated young lady became quite a catch in the marriage market, and at the young age of seventeen, Alice married Edward (Ned) Laroque Tinker, a Poquott lawyer who founded the Tinker National Bank. They had two children named Edward and James. Unfortunately, the marriage did not last, and by 1919, Alice and Edward had separated and divorced. Alice and her two boys moved in with her parents. (Barbara F. Van Liew, op. cit., 163.)

The McLeans owned several homes. James McLean inherited his father’s 1500 acre farm with a “huge handsome mansion” in South Kortright, Delaware County, in upstate New York. In New York City, the McLeans occupied “their New York townhouse on East Fifty-fifth Street,” and on Long Island, the McLeans owned another large house with 50 acres of property in St. James. (“Profiles: Ladies in Uniform,” The New Yorker, op. cit., p.21-29.) The house in St. James that they purchased from William Minott in 1916, was a large wooden frame house, sheathed in white clapboards, that had been built by Mr. Minott as a summer home in 1910. One of the first additions that Mr. McLean made to this house in St. James was a stable with 13 stalls that was constructed in close proximity to the main house, close enough so that Mr. Mclean could look out his bedroom window and see his horses standing in their stalls. It was this house that in 1919 Mr. and Mrs. McLean gave to their daughter Alice with “their love and affection” after selling the house and property to her for “one dollar.” Alice brought her two sons to live in this house in St. James. Alice was determined to regain her independence and her parents helped her to do so by giving her the house. She demonstrated her freedom by re-assuming her maiden name McLean and by legally changing her sons’ names to McLean as well. From 1919 on, Alice McLean Tinker was known as Alice McLean. (Barbara Van Liew, op. cit., 163.)

When her father and mother passed away, Alice inherited the McLean family fortune and the house and farm in South Kortright. She also inherited her father’s string of horses. It is said that she owned over “100 horses at one time, polo ponies, driving horses, jumpers.” In the 1920’s, Alice McLean “was an active member of both the Smithtown and Meadow Brook Hunts and was the only woman on the local polo team.” From 1922 to 1924, Alice was chosen as “Master of the Hunt.” When she rode in the hunts, Alice wore a “Roman habit with a top hat and veil tight across her face.” Her interest in the hunts led her to keep a number of dogs. She had “forty or so dogs – boxers, whippets, greyhounds, and family pets.” She kept these horses and dogs in the “barns, kennels, and stables” on the 50 acres of her estate. “The present-day ‘Barn Yesterday’ was where” Alice kept her many of her animals including her sheep and cows. (Barbara Van Liew, op. cit., p. 164.)

Sometime around 1924, Alice McLean purchased the Lawson House on the corner of Three Sisters Road and North Country Road with the hope that the Prince of Wales would stay there during his official visit to America in 1924. To make her own home more attractive and appealing to the Prince of Wales, Alice had her house remodeled, “adding a brick exterior to give it the appearance of ‘an English country house.’” She even had “a ballroom constructed south of her mansion” to provide the Prince with a suitable place to dance. Unfortunately, Alice was disappointed and the Prince of Wales never did come to St. James. (Barbara Van Liew, op. cit., p. 163.)

Even though she was keenly disappointed that the Prince of Wales did not visit her in St. James, Alice McLean made an annual pilgrimage to England, often taking her horses and grooms with her. It was on one of these trips, with war looming in Europe, that “Ms. McLean was inspired to organize the American Womens Voluntary Services (AWVS).” Patterned after the British effort of using women volunteers to assist in the war effort, the AWVS taught its volunteers how to administer First Aid, how to take photographs, read maps, practice conservation, salvage materials, operate military canteens, help with soldier rehabilitation efforts and drive motor transport. All of these activities were designed to prepare women volunteers for active participation in the coming war effort. “By the time Pearl Harbor was attacked, Mrs. Mclean’s volunteer organization had 18,000 members with chapters across America.” Mrs. McLean became the President of AWVS and directed the formation of a local branch of AWVS in Head-of-the-Harbor in St. James. (Barbara Van Liew, op. cit., p. 164.)

During the course of the war, women volunteers served as “cryptographers and switchboard operators 1942 New Yorker Magazine - Alice Throckmorton McLeanand served as fire watchers and crop pickers. AWVS workshops turned out more than one million new and reconditioned articles of clothing for servicemen, hospitals and other users.” The AWVS also published booklets and taught classes “on clothing repair,” conservation techniques, victory gardening, on salvaging war material and a host of other subjects designed to help the war effort. The AWVS helped sell war bonds and stamps, and by the end of the war, had sold over “one billion dollars worth of war bonds and stamps.” By 1945, “the AWVS numbered 325,000 members.” (Barbara Van Liew, op. cit., p. 164.)

Much of the work of the AWVS was not funded by the federal government and Mrs. McLean, who remained President throughout the war, “spent much of her personal fortune keeping the AWVS afloat.” By 1944, “unable to maintain her holding in St. James,” Mrs. McLean relocated to South Kortright in upstate New York” to the property she had inherited from her father’s estate. (Barbara Van Liew, op. cit., p. 165.) Her English country house and 25 acres surrounding it went on the market “at a price of $85.000, but was never sold.” The brick mansion was vacant for a number of years until the house “was purchased by the Christian Brothers of Ireland as a training school.“ Then in 1956, “several families” from “surrounding North Shore villages from Head of the Harbor to Port Jefferson” joined together to create a local private day school in Mrs. McLean’s former mansion. Thirty-eight founding families “raised almost $20,000 toward the purchase” of the estate and raised the balance of the purchase price “through pledges and grants.” In the fall of 1958, the Harbor Country Day School opened its doors to its first 38 students. (“Harbor Country Day School: A Look Back,” article on the background and history of the school in the Commemorative Journal and 2009-2010 School Calendar that was published in 2009 to commemorate the 50^th Anniversary of the school.)

Mrs. McLean lived on the estate in South Kortright until 1948, when “she donated her estate house there to a foundation established to aid Europe’s displaced children.” She “then moved to Baltimore to live with one of her sons. She died there on “October 25, 1968 still the President of AWVS.” (Barbara Van Liew, op. cit., p. 165.)

Mrs. McLean’s English country house in Head-of-the-Harbor has a new life today as the home of the Harbor Country Day School, a private school that serves some 130 children living throughout Suffolk County. It is a day school that has nursery, kindergarden, and first through eighth grade classes which meet in the rooms of the mansion. The original rooms of the house have been expanded and modified to meet the needs of the school children and classrooms occupy the first and second floors of the original house. In 1967, wings were added to the back of the house adding a gymnasium and a library. With class sizes that are never larger than 16, Harbor Country Day School offers a warm, homelike setting for the students, and they become much attached to Mrs. McLean’s former home. Alice McLean would have been pleased to know that her house is now a day school, filled with happy school children. But she probably knows this, since her ghost has been sighted in various rooms of the mansion watching over the activities that continue in the house today.

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Saturday

Jul072012

“R.H. Handley, the man who owned San Remo before San Remo existed….”

Saturday, July 7, 2012 at 12:21AM

By Brad Harris

One hundred years ago, the little waterfront community that we know today as San Remo did not exist. A glance at the map showing the mouth of the Nissequogue River, from the 1909 E. Belcher Hyde Atlas of Suffolk County, shows that the 187 acres of property that make up today’s San Remo was then owned by one man, R. H. Handley. Who was R. H. Handley and why did he acquire the 187 acres of property in Smithtown on the Nissequogue River?

Richard Hochman Handley was ”born on December 23, 1848, in New York City” but he grew up in the Handley family home in Hauppauge. The Handleys had a large estate that was located south of Veteran’s Memorial Highway, and encompassed the land between Northern State Parkway and Old Willets Path. The Handley home was located on what is today the southeast corner of the intersection of New Highway and Veteran’s Memorial Highway. Richard’s father died in 1857 when Richard was nine years old, and Richard inherited his father’s estate. Richard continued to live with his mother in the large Handley home. Richard was home schooled since he “received his education through private tutors.” His favorite subjects “were English literature, history and music.” It was his love of history that led him to collect historical materials throughout his life. As a youth he collected stamps, coins and Indian arrowheads. As an adult, he became interested in collecting books and documents relating to Long Island History, and during the course of his lifetime, he collected over 800 books and 1,200 manuscripts that pertained to Long Island’s history. This collection of books and manuscripts is the backbone of the unique historical material that can be found in the Long Island Room of the Smithtown Library. (Jean Leonard, “The Richard H. Handley Collection of Long Island Americana at the Smithtown Library,” Master’s thesis submitted to the Graduate Library School of L.I. University, Brookville, N.Y., 1965, p. 10-13, on file in the Long Island Room of the Smithtown Library.)

As a young man, Richard “represented his mother” in a number of “real estate dealings” that involved New York City property that his mother had inherited from her family, the Hochmans. Richard was successful in his real estate transactions and “increased his real estate holdings in New York City properties” and acquired additional “holdings on Long Island from Hempstead to the Hamptons. In later years he became greatly interested in stocks and bonds and maintained an office in New York City.” This financial success gave Richard Handley an independence which made it possible for him to live comfortably in his family’s home in Hauppauge. (Jean Leonard, op. cit., p. 10-13.)

And a grand house it was that he shared with his mother. While his mother was alive, Richard Handley remained single and didn’t get married. Three years after his mother’s death, in 1890, at the age of 42, Richard “married Mary Lavinia Osborn … from California.” He brought his bride to live in the big house in Hauppauge. Downstairs Richard Handley had his library that was overflowing with the books and manuscripts he was collecting. The kitchen, dining room, and parlor completed the downstairs. Upstairs the house had six bedrooms on the second floor, each with a wood burning fireplace. On the third floor there were three servants’ rooms, a study room for the children, and later a darkroom where Mr. Handley printed and developed his own photographs. The estate even had gas lanterns that lit up the grounds at night. It was here that the Handleys lived for the next 24 years and raised their family. (Jean Leonard, op. cit., p. 10-13.)

It must have been sometime after his marriage in 1890 that Richard Handley purchased the 187 acres of land on the Nissequogue River. Why he chose to do so at this time is not known but it may have had something to do with his interest in bicycling. Among the many interests that Richard pursued during his life was a lifelong interest in sports and outdoor activity. Before his marriage, he made “numerous hunting trips to the Adirondacks,” he made many “fishing trips,” and he loved iceboating. His marriage did not end these pursuits since his wife loved the outdoors and seemed to enjoy physical activity as well. No doubt, she accompanied him on some of these forays. One sport they both enjoyed was bicycling and the Handleys were often described as “enthusiastic bicylcists.” To ensure they would have a suitable bicycle path to ride on near their home in Hauppauge, Richard Handley had a bicycle path built. (Jean Leonard, op. cit., p. 10-13.)

The first section of the bicycle path was built in 1892 and connected the Handley estate in Hauppauge with the town of Smithtown. To create this path, Richard must have been in the market to purchase land for his bike path. In 1897, Mr. Handley had his bicycle path extended to Brentwood. Using the Handley Path it became possible to ride from Brentwood to Hauppauge and from there to Smithtown, or if one followed a west fork in the path, the cyclist could travel to Comac and on up to Northport. The Handley Bicycle Path became one of Long Island’s most beautiful and popular bike paths on Long Island. Its popularity increased when the Brentwood Wheelmen got together in 1899 and extended the bicycle path further south to Bay Shore. That made it possible to bike from the south shore to the north shore through some of the most scenic terrain on Long island. It is a ride that Mr. and Mrs. Handley must have frequently taken. (Information taken from articles found in a scrapbook that belonged to Richard Handley. These articles appeared in local papers and only one is dated and labeled: Bay Shore Journal, August 14, 1897. The originals are on file in the Long Island Room of the Smithtown Library.)

We know that Richard Handley purchased the 187 acres of land sometime before 1909 since he appears as the owner on the 1909 atlas. The property that he purchased apparently had only one dwelling on it, the house known to historians as the Lawrence House. The house was built in 1821 on the farmland owned by Elias Smith. Elias Smith built the house “for his daughter Phebe Tredwell Smith (1801-1889) on her marriage to Leonard W. Lawrence.” Leonard Lawrence (1795-1887) who came to Smithtown in 1820 was “a descendant of Major William Lawrence and the Patentee’s daughter Deborah Smith.” Elias Smith’s own home was nearby on the Northside Road not far from the farm and pond of James B. Harned. (Colonel Rockwell’s Scrap-book, edited by Charlotte Ganz, Smithtown Historical Society, Smithtown, N.Y., 1968, p. 114.)

Phebe and Leonard Lawrence lived in the house that Elias built for most of their lives. They had a son named William Charles Lawrence (1827-1888). In 1851 he married Elizabeth H. Smith, a daughter of Major Ebenezer Smith of Hauppauge. He lived in his grandfather Elias Smith’s house, and “undertook the management of the 187 acres of his father’s farm.” William turned out to be a “successful farmer” and, according to J. Lawrence Smith, he had “a large area” under “cultivation.” When Leonard Lawrence died at 92 in 1887, and his son William C. died at 61 a year later in 1888, the Lawrence farm was occupied by William’s daughter Anna Willis Lawrence and her husband, Charles Hilton Brown. But “owing to the peculiar conditions of the will of Elias Smith, it became necessary to sell the place under a suit of partition, and it was purchased by James W. Phyfe, Esq. who was the owner in 1898.” (Colonel Rockwell’s Scrapbook, op. cit., p. 114.)

Sometime before 1909, Richard Handley bought the 187 acres of farmland from James W. Phyfe. Why he chose to do this is not known. The property certainly must have been a desirable piece of farmland but Handley wasn’t interested in farming. The waterfront property was valuable for the docks that were located where Landing Road came down to the river’s edge, but by the turn of the twentieth century, the traffic of sloops and schooners in and out of the Nissequogue River had come to an end and the docks were rotting away. Perhaps Richard Handley bought the property on speculation figuring that in a few years’ time he would be able to flip the property and make a great deal of money. But that doesn’t explain why he purchased an additional 80 acres of property that was to the south of Landing Road. This property, located on both sides of Landing Avenue, was the land owned by Aaron Smith II (1741-1794). The John Vail House is still standing on the southwest corner of the intersection of Landing Avenue and Landing Road, and on the river front below the house, was Aaron’s Landing. When Handley purchased this property sometime between 1909 and 1914, it was owned by Mrs. K.V.K. Hale. The addition of these 80 acres to the 187 acres of land he already owned, gave Richard Handley 267 acres of land at the north end of Landing Avenue. Perhaps Richard Handley acquired this property so that anyone cycling north on the Handley Bike Path would have a private park where they could stop to rest and relax, break out the picnic baskets and eat lunch while enjoying the views of the Nissequogue River and Smithtown Bay. We actually have a photograph of the Handley family enjoying a picnic lunch on this property in the files of the Smithtown Historical Society so the suggestion that he might have wanted the property for a park may not be so far- fetched.

What he intended to do with this land will never be known because Richard Handley met a tragic and untimely end when “on July 16, 1914, Richard Handley died from injuries he sustained as a result of a fall from a favorite polo pony which had grown fractious and which he was endeavoring to subdue.” Richard Handley was 66 and apparently still enjoying horseback riding and polo when a fall from his pony resulted in his death. The 267 acres of property he purchased from James Phyfe and Mrs. K.V.K. Hale was still part of the Handley Estate in 1917 and it would be a decade after Handley’s death before the land was sold to others and the development of San Remo began. R.H. Handley Obituary - NY Times

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Wednesday

May302012

Smithtown's History - Horse Talk

Wednesday, May 30, 2012 at 9:03AM

By Rita Egan

From time to time, Smithtown residents will spot a horse grazing at its home or being led by its owner to a local park. However, in our town’s past, these beautiful animals were part of equestrian events that took place right in our township.

photo - Smithtown Historical SocietySmithtown was even once home to a racehorse considered a champion in our country. According to Colonel Rockwell’s Scrap-Book, a trotter named *Lady Suffolk was the first to beat the record of one mile in 2:30 minutes. Foaled in 1833 on a farm in Smithtown, her first two years were spent as a work animal. After being sold to a member of the Blydenburgh family, the horse pulled a butcher’s truck for another two years. It was a David Bryant who discovered her and brought the horse to his farm in Commack. In 1838 at the age of five, Lady Suffolk ran her first race and at 12 years old ran one mile in 2:29 ½ minutes. According to Smithtown Historian Brad Harris, during her career, she raced 169 races, won 89 and placed second in 53. In 1854 after a successful 16-year career, Lady Suffolk died at the age of 21.

When it came to attending horse races in the late 1800s, local residents didn’t have to travel far to spend the day at the track. A popular race track, a result of the Burr family’s tradition of horse breeding, was located right in Commack where we find Commack High School today.

According to Harris’s Commack…a beautiful place: Commack Public Education, 100 Years — 1899-1999, hotelphoto - Smithtown Historical Society owner Smith Burr began breeding light harness horses, and was one of the first trainers to use a sulky. The light cart, as opposed to wagons, allowed the horses to move at faster speeds. In 1857, Smith’s son Carll bought a 350-acre piece of property, which became known as Indian Head Stock Farm. Once found on the south side of what is now Burr Road, the farm had a half-mile track. Carll, who specialized in raising Hambletonians, started the Burr Equine Educational Institution. Throughout his career, known as the Grand Old Man of Commack, he worked with the horses of prominent figures such as President Ulysses S. Grant and J.P. Morgan.

photo - Smithtown Historical SocietyIt was with his son Carll Burr Jr. that the Grand Old Man of Commack built a race track on the east side of Town Line Road. A popular spot in the 1890s, the one-mile oval race track with its regular weekend trotting races drew people from all over Long Island as well as the state. However, in 1900 an anti-betting law was passed, and the days of horse racing at the Burr race track started to become a part of history. According to Harris, the track was used again in the 20s and 30s, but this time around for motorcycle, bicycle and automobile racing.

While anti-betting laws may have deterred early residents from attending the horse races, another equestrian event became popular in Smithtown. According to Harris, Lawrence Smith Butler, a descendant of town founder Richard Smythe, proposed the idea of a horse show to friends. Simply called the Smithtown Horse Show, the first show was held in 1909 at Fifty Acre Field located at the southwest corner of Edgewood Avenue and Moriches Road.

Fifty Acre Field proved to be a perfect spot with a race track right on the property. It was once the vicinity ofphoto - Smithtown Historical Society the St. James Driving Park, which had been owned by Butler’s uncle James Clinch Smith. While not much is known of the driving park, Harris said an 1877 Long Island Rail Road brochure called it a popular resort. Smith sold the property in 1905 to an opera singer, who eventually sold the property to Butler and his brother Charles. With his land purchase, as well as additional land that was deeded to him by his mother, Butler not only held the horse shows on the property but also started a country club.

The Smithtown Horse Show included local residents and their horses competing in categories such as saddle, harness, hunting, roadster and racing. Among the impressive participants and committeeman were members of the Smith family including golf architect Devereaux Emmet, who was married to Smith descendant Ella Smith. Other participants included the likes of family members of William J. Gaynor who resided at Deepwells Mansion and served as New York City mayor from 1910 to 1913.

photo - Smithtown Historical SocietyHarris said bleachers, benches and a spectators pavilion could be found at Fifty Acre Field for the annual event. In the early days, there was no admission price charged or cash prizes for entrants. Attendees would bring their picnic lunches, and men could be seen in suits and bowlers and women in gowns with parasols. The shows would include work horses as well as ponies, and the various categories provided opportunities to compete for not only men, but women and children also.

According to a September 26, 1930 Long Islander article, two horse shows were held in Smithtown that year due to a difference of opinion among members. The North Shore Horse Show was held on the same days only a half a mile away from the Smithtown Horse Show. According to the article, the original show drew around 2,000 attendees which included the usual locals, while the new show was attended by around 500 people who were mostly out-of-towners.

Despite the split in 1930, the Smithtown Horse Show remained a popular event for decades, and in 1939 a young Jacqueline Bouvier (Kennedy) even participated in the show. According to Images of America – St. James by Geoffrey K.Fleming, the last horse show to be held in our township was in 1981.

The days of equestrian events may be a part of the town’s past, but with plenty of land and parks, residents are still fortunate to enjoy these beautiful animals right here in Smithtown.

Editors Note * Found this in The NY Times written in 1962 -

By Louis Effrat – Special to The New York Times

“WESTBURY, L.I., SEPT, 7 – Nowadays ——-and nights———trotters race a mile a half minute or so faster than Lady Suffolk did more than 100 years ago. However, when the mare became the first to trot that distance in a tick or two under 2:30, she was the talk of many a town.

In fact, Lady Suffolk, who was foaled at Smithtown, L.I., was the one who inspired the song, “The Old Grey Mare.”

Lady Suffolk, who dominated the harness racing scene from 1838 to 1853, will be honored tomorrow night at Roosevelt Raceway. The feature event will be the Lady Suffolk Trot, in which eight 3-year-old filly trotters will go to the post in quest of the winner’s share of the $27,723.25 purse.” The New York Times Published September 8, 1962

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Monday

Apr232012

Titanic Passenger James Clinch - Part Of Smithtown's History

Monday, April 23, 2012 at 9:40AM

1912 - Titanic And Smithtown

By Rita Egan

All photos courtesy of the Smithtown Historical Society

With the recent re-release of the movie Titanic, the 1912 tragedy is brought to the big screen once again. With a storyline revolving around passengers from both the upper and lower social classes, movie goers can get a glimpse of what life was like a hundred years ago.

James Clinch SmithTo get a sense of Smithtown and its residents in the early 1900s, one can look at the lives of Titanic victim, James Clinch Smith, and his sisters. Descendants of town founder, Richard Smythe, the siblings were prominent local citizens, and their lifestyles and homes brought a sense of high society to our area.

Children of Judge J. Lawrence Smith, James, Bessie, Cornelia, Kate and Ella all maintained homes in our township that still stand today. Despite their father’s career as a lawyer turned judge, the Smiths had a humble upbringing. In herBessie unpublished manuscript written in May of 1926, Bessie described their post-Civil War childhood as being a poor one. Like many during that era, they experienced rations where meat could only be eaten on Sunday and most of their food came from the farm.

However, in 1886, the Smith siblings and their mother Sarah inherited a significant amount of money from Sarah’s aunt. According to a November 2, 1886 The New York Times article, their Aunt Cornelia was the widow of the wealthy A.T. Stewart, who was the owner of the first department store in New York City. Besides being the recipients of the generous inheritance, the Smiths married impressive spouses.

James Clinch, a lawyer like his father, married a musician and composer, Bertha Ludington Barnes, in 1895. According to Portrait and Biographical Record of Suffolk County, (Long Island) New York, Bertha worked primarily in Paris, France, and James would travel regularly between Europe and New York. The young Smith inherited his father’s homestead in 1889 and was on the Titanic to return to Smithtown and prepare the home for the couple’s return to the states. This structure remains today in its original location on the property of the Smithtown Historical Society.

Smithtown Historian, Brad Harris, said James had a great interest in horses. He owned the St. James Driving Park, a horse racetrack that was located at Edgewood Avenue and Fifty Acre Road from 1888 to 1905, and he was a member of the Smithtown Hunt Club, which was established in 1900. James and his wife also enjoyed the lifestyle of high society in New York City. The resident of Smithtown was well liked by many and was remembered fondly in the Book The Truth About the Titanic written by his friend Archibald Gracie.

Gracie, who watched helplessly as James was engulfed by a wave on the ship, wrote of his friend, “He never showed the slightest sign of fear, but manifested the same quiet imperturbable manners so well known to all of his friends.”

Bessie’s HouseWhile James may have added the spirit of horse racing and the hunt to our area, the Smith sisters added the feel of the Long Island Gold Coast with their country estates. This was mostly due to Bessie’s marriage to prominent architect Stanford White in 1884. To this day, all of the sisters’ homes exist in Head of the Harbor as private residences.

In her manuscript, Bessie wrote of the couple’s home at Box Hill. It was the spot that she and her sisters would pass on their way to the beach at the harbor when they were younger. Whenever their buggy would reach the hill, the young Bessie would get out and run across the fields to take in the view.

The Whites acquired Box Hill in 1892 and quickly expanded the once simple Carman’s farmhouse. According to the AIA Architectural Guide to Nassau and Suffolk Counties, Long Island, White added many personal touches to the home. The structure features walls covered with split bamboo, a staircase of green tiles and 16h century Italian spiral pillars. Box Hill is also known for its pebble-dashed exterior that was accomplished by submerging pebbles in wet cement.

When the Whites moved to Head of the Harbor, Cornelia Stewart and her husband, lawyer Prescott Hall Butler, already owned the estate By-the-Harbor. According to Images of America: St. James, White’s architecture team of McKim, Mead and White designed the casino and playhouse on the property that is now used as a private residence. The structure included a large ballroom where the Smithtown Hunt Balls were held and also a squash court in the north wing.

The Butler property was once the spot of the highest wooden windmill. According to Colonel Rockwell’s Scrap-Book, the four-sided structure was 28’ in diameter and 150’ above the bluffs. Overlooking Stony Brook Harbor, the windmill was designed by White in 1893 and completed in 1895. The windmill that once supplied spring water to the houses on the property burned down in 1964.

Sister Kate also chose to live in the Head of the Harbor right by Bessie and CorneliaKate’s Home in a home designed by White. According to Noel Gish’s Smithtown, New York, 1660 – 1929: Looking back Through the Lens, Kate moved back to our area when her husband Reverend J.B. Wetherill passed away. The Wetherill Mansion was completed in 1895, and is described by the AIA Architectural Guide to Nassau and Suffolk Counties, Long Island, as octagon in shape. With the look of Maltese Cross, each face of the structure is surrounded by a gable with alternating round-headed Palladian windows.

Ella lived in the old family homestead of Sherrewogue on Harbor Road with her husband noted golf architect Devereux Emmet. White also worked on the designElla of Ella’s home to convert it into a country estate, and by 1912 she had acquired 600 acres of land in the area. According to Colonel Rockwell’s Scrap-Book, Sherrewogue most likely was built before 1688, and due to Ella, it remained in the family until 1935.

Ella’s HomeThe Smith sisters not only contributed beautiful estates to the area. Visitors to St. James Episcopal will find the family’s involvements in the early days led to White designing three of the stained glass windows in the church. According to the church’s brochure, oak choir stalls were donated by Bessie in 1901.

According to the website Antiques and the Arts Online, the family also contributed to the Episcopal chapel in Stony Brook that is now All Souls Church. The original baptismal font and communion service were donated by Cornelia and Kate, while White contributed architectural plans as well as the gold leaf in the ceiling decoration.

Harris said it was Cornelia who contributed the most to our town. Among her financial backings were a school in St. James in 1880 and the first permanent library structure in Smithtown. In 1911 Cornelia donated property for the building. Located on the north side of Middle Country Road where we find Route 111 today, the town’s first library was designed by Cornelia’s son, Lawrence. The building was moved across the street in 1950, and the original structure has remained as the children’s wing.

Taking a closer look around town, present residents can feel the effects of the lives and contributions of the Smith siblings; their influences allowing a bit of the early 20^th century to be carried into modern times in Smithtown.

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Sunday

Mar182012

History of The Commack Volunteer Ambulance Corps

Sunday, March 18, 2012 at 8:51PM

By Rita J. Egan

After the tragic loss of a child in 1964, local residents joined together to create the Commack Volunteer Ambulance Corps (CVAC).

Richard RafleRichard Rafle, one of the founding members, said up until the mid 1960s there was no ambulance service in the area. Many times a hearse owned by a local funeral parlor had to be used when an emergency occurred. When a child on a tricycle was hit by a developer’s truck, residents waited almost three hours for an ambulance and watched helplessly as the child died.

Even though she was only four years old, Doreen Murphy still remembers that day. After the tragedy her father, Hank Magnani, joined Rafle and other men in the community to develop an ambulance corps. The new volunteers began going door to door in the Commack Fire District to collect donations.

Murphy said she remembers the whole family getting involved with the fundraising efforts. On Wednesday nights her parents would pick up hamburgers at Buddy Burgers, located where Boston Market is today, and bring them to the first garage at Christ the King Church on Indian Head Road. She said the children would help the woman record the donations on index cards, and working together gave everyone a sense of community.

“I have wonderful memories of all that,” said Murphy.

Rafle said the ambulance corps became official in 1966 with their first call. In the first three months the volunteers answered 140 calls, according to a June 15, 1967 Long Islander article.

The first ambulance used was an old Cadillac model that the volunteers needed to buy an engine for, according to Rafle. After a short period the group moved their ambulance from the Christ the King Church property to a potato barn on Veteran’s Highway where today we find Catz of Long Island. The garage remained at this location until the early 70s.

As for uniforms, Rafle said the volunteers would wear white jumpsuits that they ordered from a mail order company. Murphy also remembers those white jumpsuits and her father coming back from his first call covered in blood.

The August 31, 1967 Commack News reported that the company was waiting for its second ambulance at the time. The “disaster rig” was a 1967 Cadillac and would cost $15,000.

While not their original ambulance, CVAC still possesses a 1967 Cadillac. Assistant Chief Mike Hoddinott said the old ambulances could hold up to four patients and hooks on the roof of the car enabled two cots to hang. Rafle said the old ambulances didn’t leave much room for the crew.

In 1973 still located on Veteran’s Highway, the organization became a 24 hour residence crew, according to a June 14, 1973 Long Islander article. It made them the second on Long Island, and their number was 864-8484. Prior to this, residents would call the Suffolk County Police. In the article, then CVAC president Jack Cotter said it would save between five to ten minutes.

Volunteers were alerted of emergencies by phone in the early days, according to Rafle. He also said that once a volunteer was out on the road, the only way to stay in touch were CB radios.

Rafle, who spent a decade as an active member with the corps, said, “Every one of those calls you never forget.”

The former ambulance volunteer remembers many tragic scenes, but the one call that stands out most to him occurred on a New Year’s Day when a woman was in labor. In the ambulance ride, Rafle delivered twins who were premature. Later he was informed that both survived, and 20 years later he ran into the mother, who remembered him as the man who delivered her babies.

It was in September of 1974 when the volunteers finally broke ground at their current location on Burr Road, according to a September 19, 1974 Long Islander article. The property was given to CVAC from the Commack School District. According to Hoddinott, the structure has been added on through the decades. The front with a dispatcher’s office, crew lounge and kitchen is the original part of the building, while the meeting rooms, bunk rooms that sleep eight and two back bays were added after the 80s.

As the area’s needs grew, so did the need for up-to-date ambulances. Jamaica Savings Bank donated a fully-equipped 1976 Dodge van ambulance to CVAC, according to an April 24, 1976 L.I. Reporter article.

Chief C.W. Schwalbe said over the decades their fleet has grown to four ambulances, two first responder cars and four chief vehicles.

A youth group was started in the 80s and still exists today. According to Schwalbe, the group consists of 40 teenagers ranging from ages 14 through 18. At 15 members can dispatch calls and at 16 ride an ambulance. Through the decades many members of the youth group have gone on to volunteer with CVAC or work in the health field. Former volunteers also make up a support group where members help with filing and setting up for events.

The sense of community experienced in the past still remains with Rafle and Murphy. Rafle returned to CVAC as a member of the support group, while Murphy and her mom still go to the corps annual dinner.

A few years ago when Murphy’s father became ill before his death it was the Commack Volunteer Ambulance Corps that came to his home and brought the former volunteer to the hospital. For Murphy who cherishes those early years, knowing that CVAC was there for her father brought comfort. She said she felt as if everything came full circle for her father.

The ambulance corps now receives 3,500 to 4,000 calls a year, according to Schwalbe, and the volunteers are planning for their future. Covering the Commack Fire Department area, as well as parts of Hauppauge, Smithtown, Elwood and East Northport, CVAC is hoping to expand the garage’s bays and build another bunking area above them. Schwalbe said they also hope to renovate the electrical services and fix the pot holes in the parking lot.

With almost 50 years in the hamlet, the Commack Volunteer Ambulance Corps continues to remain a staple in the community.

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Friday

May282010

Richard Smythe acquires Smithtown from Lyon Gardiner in 1663….

Friday, May 28, 2010 at 5:03PM

By Bradley Harris

Legend has it that Richard Smythe rode a bull on a jaunt around the boundaries of Smithtown when he staked out his claim to the land. To ride this bull a distance of some 35 miles through an untracked wilderness, in one day’s time, would have required a superhuman effort on the part of Richard Smythe, to say nothing of what would have been required of the bull. The most ardent supporters of the legendary ride look for ways in which Richard Smythe could have accomplished such a superhuman feat. Some say Richard Smythe wisely chose the longest day of the year, carefully plotted his course, trained his bull, built up his endurance and then made his mad dash. But the legendary account never provides an explanation of how ownership of the land passed from the Nesaquakes to Richard Smythe. For that explanation one has to look at the historical record.

The historical record of deeds and conveyances involving the Nesaquake lands show that Richard Smythe went through an involved and protracted struggle to legally acquire the land that is Smithtown today. His struggle began when he approached Lyon Gardiner about buying land that Gardiner had been given by the Montauk Chieftain Wyandanch. That land was owned by the Nesaquake Indians who lived along both banks of the Nissequogue River. Sometime in 1663, Richard Smythe got a conveyance for the Nesaquake lands along the Nissequogue River from Lyon Gardiner. Unfortunately we don’t know what this deed said because the deed has been lost. But we do know how Lyon Gardiner came into the possession of the Smithtown lands.

Lyon Gardiner of Gardiner’s Island fame, was the first Englishman to settle on eastern Long Island in 1639, and he was given the lands along the river as a gift from the Montauk chieftain Wyandanch. As the chief or sachem of the Montauks, the largest tribe of Indians on Long Island, Wyandanch was recognized as “the acknowledged ruler of all other sachems on the east end of Long Island. All the smaller tribes paid tribute to him, and it was generally understood that no conveyance of land was valid without his concurrence. In many instances, he held title to the lands by gift or purchase from the subordinate chief, and conveyed those lands to whites in his own name.” In 1659, Wyandanch did this with the Nesaquake lands when he presented them to Gardiner as a gift. Why he chose to do this is interesting. (William S. Pelletreau, A History of Long Island, New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1903, p. 200.)

According to William Pelletreau, after settling on Gardiner’s Island in 1639, Lyon Gardiner had been a friend to Wyandanch and the Montauks and had served as a “counselor in all their troubles.” (Pelletreau, op.cit., p. 201.) One of the troubles that the Montauk tribe encountered happened in 1653 when Narragansett Indians paddled across Long Island Sound in their war canoes to attack the Montauks. The Montauks were celebrating the marriage of Wyandanch’s daughter, Princess Momone – the “Heather Flower” – to a Shinnecock Indian chief and were not prepared for the vicious attack that followed. In the ensuing battle that took place in “Massacre Valley” in the hills north of Fort Pond Bay in Montauk, half the Montauk tribe, estimated to have been about 1000 Indians, were killed and Wyandance’s daughter, the “Heather Flower,” was kidnapped and taken across the Sound. Wyandance sought Lyon Gardiner’s help in getting his daughter back from the Narragansett Indians.

Lyon Gardiner appealed to the “British to pressure the Narragansetts into returning the Princess Momone. The Narragansett chief ‘Ninigret’ agreed to release the Heather Flower … in exchange for a huge pile of wampum.” Lyon Gardiner helped Wyandance gather the required wampum. (Barbara Marhoefer, Witches, Whales, Petticoats, and Sails, Port Washington, New York: Ira J. Friedman Division of Kennikat Press, 1971, pgs. 7-9.) The “ransom was sent to Ninigret in Montauk war canoes” only to be intercepted by agents of John Winthrop, governor of the Connecticut colonies.” Again Wyandanch appealed to Lyon Gardiner to intercede on his behalf and Lyon “intervened with Winthrop” who “saw to it that the wampum was delivered to Ninigret.” (Barbara Marhoefer, op. cit., pgs. 7-9.) The Heather Flower was finally released by Ninigret and “tradition has it that the restoration of Wyandanch’s daughter to her father … took place at “Richard Smythe’s residence at Setauket.” (Frederick Kinsman Smith, The Family of Richard Smith of Smithtown, L.I., Smithtown, New York: Smithtown Historical Society, 1967, p. 21.)

A grateful father and sachem then decided to give Lyon Gardiner a token of his appreciation for all that Lyon Gardiner had done for him. At East Hampton on July 14, 1659, in a very unique deed called the “deed of friendship” that has a unique drawing of two stick figures shaking hands, Wyandanch conveyed the Nesaquake lands along the Nissequogue River to Lyon Gardiner. What is interesting about this particular deed is that Richard Smythe’s name appears on this document as a witness to the deed. And four years later, Lyon Gardiner sold these very same lands to Richard Smythe.

The question that arises is whether Richard Smythe’s interest in the Nesaquake lands was awakened by his witnessing the signing of this deed or whether “he may have had something to do with bringing about the transaction” in the first place. (Frederick Kinsman Smith, op. cit., pg. 11.) William Pelletreau felt that there was “little doubt but that the whole affair had been prearranged between Gardiner and Smith.” (Pelletreau, A History of Long Island, op. cit., p. 201.)

So it would seem that Richard Smythe may have been the instigator of the famous “deed of friendship” between Wyandanch and Lyon Gardiner and that his interest in the whole affair was to gain title to the Nesaquake lands from Lyon Gardiner. When the Nesaquake lands were conveyed to Richard Smythe by Lyon Gardiner in 1663, Richard Smythe set about securing undisputed possession of the land. This was to take him the next 12 years of his life. More about Richard Smythe’s struggle to secure the Nesaquake lands as his own next time….

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Saturday

May012010

Saturday, May 1, 2010 at 6:55PM

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Saturday

Mar132010

“Here’s to the Bull and Richard Smythe….”

Saturday, March 13, 2010 at 12:17PM

by Bradley Harris, Smithtown Historian

Newcomers to Smithtown always ask about the statue of the bull that stands in the Head-of-the River Park. What does the bull have to do with Smithtown? The answer is: everything!

For “Whisper,” as the bull is affectionately known, has become the symbol and trademark of the Town of Smithtown. People who visit Smithtown for the first time may not recall anything else about our town but they do remember the town with a statue of a bull in it. And rightfully they should remember “Whisper” because his statue is a constant reminder of the history of the founding of Smithtown.

“Whisper” got his name years ago when a local newspaper ran a contest for elementary school children and asked them to submit a name for the statue of Richard Smythe’s bull. “Whisper” was chosen because he never makes a sound.

Legend has it that “Whisper” was the bull that Richard Smythe, the patentee of Smithtown, rode on his jaunt around the boundaries of Smithtown as he staked out his claim to the land. Although accounts of this legend vary according to the embellishment given by the teller, the most succinct is to be found in J. Lawrence Smith’s book, The History of Smithtown. It is only appropriate that a descendant of the “bull-rider,” as Richard Smythe is known, tell the tale:

“Tradition says that he (Richard Smythe) purchased of the Indians as much land as he could ride around on a bull in a day, and, having a trained bull which he used as a horse, he started early, reached the valley between Smithtown and Huntington at noon, rested and took his lunch (thereby giving the valley the name of Bread and Cheese Hollow which it still retains), and completed the whole circuit of the township by nightfall – much to the astonishment of the natives.”

Could Richard Smythe have done this? No one will ever know for sure and I for one would not like to debunk such a colorful legend. Richard Smythe could have owned a bull and it is possible that he could have ridden this bull just as other colonists did in the absence of horses. But to ride this bull a distance of some 35 miles through an untracked wilderness in one day’s time would have required a superhuman effort on the part of Richard Smythe, to say nothing of what would have been required of the bull.

The most ardent supporters of the legendary ride look for ways in which Richard Smythe could have accomplished such a superhuman feat. Some say that he wisely chose the longest day of the year, carefully plotted his course, trained his bull and built up his endurance, and then made his mad dash. I think Paul Bailey, Islip’s town historian for many years, has the best explanation for how Richard Smythe managed to get his pet bull to “scout” round the boundaries of Smithtown. This is his poem written in 1956 and entitled:

You’ve heard of Sheridan of course

Who rode to glory on a horse,

And Paul Revere who won renown

Galloping out of Boston town.

You’ve heard the tale of Austin Roe

Riding old Dobbin past the foe,

And many other daring deeds

Performed by heroes on their steeds,

But only Smithtown did provide

A wild and wooly bullback ride,

And be it history or myth,

Here’s to the Bull and Richard Smith.

This Richard Smith, I understand,

Was looking for a piece of land

On which to found a sanctuary

Only for Smiths (and those they’d marry)

So on his pet bull, in riding togs

He went to see the Nissequogs

Who, being gamblers, made a bet

That he couldn’t ride his bovine pet

Twixt dawn and dark around the zone

That he had said he’d like to own.

The prize was all the land in full,

But should he fail, they’d get the Bull.

Richard agreed, but on the side

The night before he made his ride

He marked the boundaries with a plow

Hitched to a most alluring cow

And when next day he rode the route

My how that Bull did up and scout

With Richard clinging as it went

Hot on the trail of Bossy’s scent

O’er hill and dale, thru briny bogs,

And in pursuit the Nissequogs,

Not knowing as they ran behind

Just what was on the big Bull’s mind.

Altho the branches scratched his face

Smith didn’t try to halt his pace;

Altho the briers ripped the stitches

From out his homemade riding breeches

Smith thought but of his future town,

He cared not that his pants came down,

Nor did the Bull mind branch or bough

For he was thinking of the Cow.

You know the rest, ere sun had set

Bold Richard had won his bet

Without an arm or leg disjointed,

But my! That Bull was disappointed.

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