275th Anniversary of Southampton | 1915

 

"the place for their descendants to possess both freedom of body and mind--Long Island."

Brooklyn Daily Eagle | 14 March 1915

A Bit of Local History Written by the Late W.S. Pelletreau

Record of the Ownership of the Triangle between Main Street and North Sea Road Southampton Press

The recent burning of the Dawson dwelling and barns recalls an article written by our esteemed historian, the late William S. Pelletreau

--> [1840-1918], and published in the PRESS in May, 1917. The article has much value and interest to all living in that section of the village and is reprinted by request.

In old times, long before the Revolution, the entire triangle between the Main street and the North Sea road was owned by Abner Howell. He was the son of Col. Josiah Howell, and was a man of importance in his day and time. A small, brown tombstone tells us that Mr. Abner Howell died Sept. 16, 1775 in the 76^th year of his age. About 1750 he gave his son, Phineas Howell, the lot where John Cavanagh now lives, and he built a house upon it which was standing in our boyhood days. At the same time there was another house exactly like it and this was owned by Mr. Peter Fournier and was where the Commercial House now stands. They were not only exactly alike in other respects but there was a peculiar style to the chimneys which attracted our attention. Both of these houses were torn down about 1849. Abner Howell seems to have divided the entire triangle between his two sons, Phineas and David, and Phineas had the north part and David Howell had the south portion. In 1788 Phineas Howell sold east part to Annanias Halsey and went to what was the “Western Country” and settled in the town of Tully, in what is now Onondaga County, New York, and he died there at a very advanced age. Annanias Halsey was the father of a family that had been prominent in Southampton. His son, Uriah Halsey, lived on the place now owned by Mrs. Wilmun Halsey and had two daughters. One married John Sherry of Sag Harbor and the other married Capt. Crowell of the same place.

Another son of Annanias was Eli P. Halsey, who was the father Edwin P. Halsey, who lived in the old house, next north of Herrick’s store.

Another daughter married Col. Samuel hunting, whose wealth has been of benefit to many families. Another daughter, Mary (or Polly, as she was generally called) married Mr. Daniel Fordham, whose descendants are numerous and well known. Another daughter, Susan (commonly known in our boyhood days as Aunt Susan Halsey) lived and died unmarried in a little old house that stood just north of Capt. Daniel Jagger’s house, now Mr. Donnelly’s. After her death the house was sold by Capt. Jagger to David Terry, who moved it to Tuckahoe where it still remains.

The part of the lot sold to Annanias Halsey was in later years sold to Capt. Harry Halsey, who is well remembered. The part where the little house stood is now owned by Miss Abigail Halsey, and the homestead by the Rev. Jesse Halsey. The old house and lot of Phineas Howell was sold by him to Ebenezr Jagger in 1772. He had a tan yard on the premises, and was the great-grandfather of Mr. Hubert Jagger. In later years the house and lot belonged to Mr. Aja Halsey, who tore down the old house and built a new one and which, after passing through several hands now belongs to John Cavanagh.

We may add that Abner Howell did not live on that tract. His home lot, which was that of his father’s before him, was where Mr. Livingston Bowden now lives. He was the village blacksmith and the relics of his shop were plainly visible some years ago, when the road was ploughed up on Bowden Square.

The south part of the triangle was given by Abner Howell to his son, David Howell, who built a house upon it about 1750. In 1770, the main street of Southampton was surveyed from the beach to the road at Long Springs and David Howell’s house is there mentioned. Like most houses of that time it was built on the line of the street. The present door yard has been taken in from the highway but no one is any the worse for it. David Howell was a silversmith and learned his trade from Capt. Elias Pelletreau. We have seen spoons made by him and stamped with his name. On May 10^th, 1782, David Howell sold his house and lot to Col. Josiah Smith of Moriches for £400, or $2,00. As the lot included what is now Mr. Donnelly’s property, it is worth as much today. What became of David Howell we do not know but he may have gone West like his brother. Colonel Josiah Smith bought this place for his daughter Hannah, who married Elias Pelletreau, and they lived there many years keeping a store, which did a large business for those days. Flax was a staple article and was raised in large quantities and taken in trade but times have changed and there has not been an ounce of flax raised in Southampton for nearly 100 years. We may as well mention that another article of extensive sales was West India rum. In the latter part of his life Elias Pelletreau purchased a large farm at the south end of the village, with a house still standing and well known as the Hollyhocks.

After the death of Elias Pelletreau, the David Howell, house and lot was sold to Benjamin Howell and after passing through one or two hands it came into possession of Capt. Austin Herrick and is now owned by his descendents who are well known to us all. The house which still remains, was built originally after the standard style of those times, with a long sloping roof on one side, but at some later period it was changed, and by making gambrel roof with dormer windows, it was made practically a two-story house. In old times, when land was cheap, houses were built large on the ground, the upper part was a necessary evil, and it was not necessary to put one house on another. It has stood the storms of more than 160 years and will outlast many of the flashy houses of the present time.

The person who sees Mr. Dawson’s place would hardly believe that it is a hundred years old. So much has been added that it looks like a new house, but the original house has passed its 100^th mark long years ago, and hereby hangs a tale.

In the early part of the last century, the farm at the north end, now owned by Mr. James E. Foster, was the homestead of John Bishop and his wife Jerusha, both models of short-sighted penuriousness. The story goes, and we have heard it repeated by those who evidently believed it, that they were left this farm and much other land, with the condition that they were to support two maiden sisters until their death or marriage. They seem to have been well convinced that the former would happen first and they might have to wait a long time for that, and they worried about certain sharp individuals, and there were sharp people even in those virtuous days, and they were Squire William Herrick, Rufus Sayre, and Joel Jacobs, made them the offer to take the girls off their hands and support them until they were dead or married, in exchange for their farm and some other lands, among which we believe was a lot at Halsey’s neck, now owned by Edward. H. Foster, Esq. They accepted the offer and congratulated themselves on their grand stroke of luck. One of the characters in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” says, “Gals is mighty on certain things. If you think they have gone one way they are sure to be gone the other.” With that perversity, so peculiar to the female sex, these girls, who were expected never to marry, were both married within a year. The Bishops then repented in sackcloth and ashes, that they had parted with their land so easily. The house on the farm was sold to Paul Sayre, the grandfather of our well-known townsman, Mr. Rufus Sayre, and he moved it to its present site where he purchased a small piece of land of the proprietors. This is the 100^th anniversary of its moving and it is certain that it was of some age at the time. Here Paul Sayre lived and died, and his daughter, Miss Nancy Sayre, with a sister lived there within our recollection.

As for the Bishops’ story we hardly know what to say. There are some things which make us doubt it, but as the Italian saying is, “If it is not true, it is well made up.”

The Jesse Halsey Manuscript Collection. Special Collections, Princeton Theological Seminary Library. 

“Phyrrhus”

By Lizbeth Halsey White | Southampton Press | c1931

Our attention has been called to a copy of the Seaside Times of 1897, in which we find an article from the pen of Historian Wm. S. Pelletreau, entitled “Phyrrhus.” We find an interesting reminder of events which have made history in our community as well as a pleasant reminder of one, who though of humble station, enjoyed the regard and respect of all who knew him.

“Phyrrhus Concer was born March 17, 1814, a slave in the family of Captain Nathan Cooper. When five years old, he was purchased by Mr. Charles Pelletreau for the sum of $25.00; the purchaser receive a bill of sale as for any other article of personal property, but between the owner and the owned there was a strong feeling of personal regard that ended only with the death of the former. When he arrived at boyhood he worked on the farm during the Summer and in the Winter attended the village school in the ancient school house, and had practically the same advantages as other boys in the neighborhood. A few years later when whaling was in its glory he was shipped, at the age of 18, on board the ship ‘Boston,’ under the command of Captain Edward Sayre, who sailed from Norwich, Conn., and cruised in the South Atlantic, returning in seven moths and ten days, with a full cargo. His second voyage was in the ‘Columbia,’ with Captain William Hedges. According to the law of that time he would have remained a slave till the age of 28 years, but the day that he was 21 Mr. Pelletreau gave him a complete sailor’s outfit and some money and told him that he was a free man. He then went to sea, making several voyages on his own account.

“The most remarkable episode in his life was his visit to Japan. When Captain Mercator Cooper, in the ship ‘Manhattan,’ was cruising in the North Pacific, he rescued the crew from a waterlogged Japanese junk, just ready to sink. This led Captain Cooper to exclaim, ‘Now I have a good excuse to visit Japan.’ At that time this was about the same as if a man should congratulate himself as having a good excuse to visit the crater of a raging volcano. He would undoubtedly see things he had never seen before, but whether we would ever return to tell of them was another thing; but such a trouble as that did not disturb the mind of Captain Mercator Cooper. The story has been so often told that it is needless to repeat it here. It is sufficient to say that they entered the harbor of Yeddo, but every precaution that the jealous mind of the Japanese government could devise was used to prevent any of the ship’s crew from putting their foot on shore and the common people from visiting the vessel. One thing that Phyrrhus especially noticed was that every Japanese that came on board was armed with two swords.

This is now sufficient evidence that none but the highest officers were allowed the privilege. The ship was very fortunately permitted to return in safety, but the captain was given to understand in the plainest manner that he must never attempt to repeat the experiment.

“At the time of the excitement caused by the discovery of gold in California in 1849, Phyrrhus was one of the crew who worked his passage to San Francisco in the good ship ‘Sabina,’ carrying 83 men from Eastern Long Island—Southampton, Bridgehampton, East Hampton and Sag Harbor—sailing around Cape Horn to the gold fields of California.

“Among his fellow sailors was the late Hon. Stephen B. French of Sag Harbor, and between them sprung up the strongest feelings of mutual respect and esteem. As Phyrrhus said, ‘When Stephen B. French was on the ship’s yard, there was a man there who knew exactly what to do and how to do it, and was afraid of nothing.’ Mr. French once told the writer that Phyrrhus Concer was one of the few men he had known who never did anything to be ashamed of, and that he never heard from his lips any word or expression that would bring a blush to the cheeks of modesty. Upon one occasion when Phyrrhus was a witness in a suit at Riverhead, and applied for a room at a hotel, the uppish clerk refusing in an unpleasant manner with the pretext of ‘all full,’ was speedily brought to his sense, when Mr. French exclaimed in a tone that commanded instant attention: ‘Put him in my room.’

“Returning from California with a modest competence the remainder of his life was employed in honest industry; as his former owner and friend expressed it, “There is no lazy blood in Phyrrhus,’ a fact that was fully demonstrated. During a religious revival he joined the Presbyterian Church and was ever after on of its most consistent members. One of his strongest characteristics was the utmost regard for the Sabbath. To him the fourth commandment meant all that it said. On Sunday his place was in the church and the pretext that Sunday was the only day in the week when there is time for recreational enjoyments, found no response from Phyrrhus. His Sabbath belonged to his Maker, to be used for spiritual improvement and no inducement of either business of pleasure could turn him from his purpose.

He passed away leaving behind him an honorable reputation, and if his life had no other moral, he was a living proof that a colored man can command respect when he deserves it.”

To Mr. Pelletreau’s tribte we may add that after many years spent on the seas, Phyrrhus and his good wife Rachel made their home in the little cottage, still standing near the head of Lake Agawam. Just opposite, on the lake, was the tiny wharf or “dock” from which he sailed his boat up and down the lake to the bathing beach for a ten-cent fare, children half price. There were few cottages along the lake at that time, but there were several boarding houses in the village and these with the few villagers who could find the time to go to the beach, kept the little ferry busy. The odd jobs he could pick up between times gave a competence sufficient to supply the simple needs of the old couple, who were so warmly regarded by all who knew them.

In the southwest corner of the old North End Burying Ground we find a stone placed there by his friend and next-door neighbor of “the Ox Pasture,” the Hon. Salem H. Wales, bearing this inscription:

            Phyrrhus Concer

            Born March 17 1814

            Died August 23 1897

            Though born a slave, he possessed those virtues without which even kinds are slaves.

Text courtesy Lizbeth Halsey White Files, Southampton Historical Museum Archives and Research Center

Southampton Library

Rev. Samuel Herrick D.D. in his paper made before the 250^th anniversary celebration, when in making a shaming plea for a library for Southampton he turned to his contemporaries from the platform and said “Mr. Howell and Mr. Pelletreau, How much do you and I owe to that old Historical Library which used to be kept in Capt. Harry Halsey’s [c 1835?] back kitchen? It did not do as much perhaps to fit us for college examinations perhaps but that back kitchen was the portal through which we entered into a knowledge of good literature.” This was in 1890 and years later the Rogers Memorial Library was dedicated.

Mr. Edward Huelling writes us that as a boy he distinctly remembers being sent by his father to Capt Harry Halsey’s to retrieve a library book for his father.

--Lizbeth Halsey White, author, suffrage leader, town historian