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Peter DePaolo. Photo courtesy IMS Museum

The month of May has been home to many historical events over the years. Here’s a look at some that helped to shape the world in May 1925.

• “Pink’s War” comes to an end on May 1. The campaign was a British aerial bombardment against the Mahsud tribe in British India’s Punjab Province. The campaign began on March 9.

• King Alexander of Yugoslavia signs a decree to have his brother, Prince George, interned as mentally incompetent on May 2. Prince George remained confined in an asylum for nearly two decades until his release was ordered by German occupying forces during World War II. Perhaps thanks to his internment, Prince George was the lone member of the royal family to avoid being exiled and named an enemy of the state upon conclusion of the war.

• James Naismith becomes a United States citizen on May 4. The 64-year-old Naismith, who invented the sport of basketball, was born in Canada but had lived inn the U.S. for 35 years before becoming an American citizen.

• Biology teacher John Scopes is arrested in Tennessee on May 5. Scopes is arrested teaching evolution, which was illegal in Tennessee. Scopes’s arrest led to one of the most notable trials in American history.

• Two students and a teacher are killed during the Wilno school massacre in Poland on May 6. Two eighth-grade students, one of whom was carrying a hand grenade and a pistol, instigated the massacre by attacking teachers.

• New York Yankees manager Miller Huggins benches Everett Scott on May 6, thus ending the player’s record of 1,307 consecutive games played, a streak that began in 1916.

• African American river worker Tom Lee saves 32 passengers who had been aboard the steamboat M.E. Norman on May 8. The steamboat capsized and sank on the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tennessee, killing 23 passengers and crew.

• The Brooklyn Bridge reopens to vehicle traffic for the first time in almost three years on May 12. The bridge was closed in July 1922 due to problems with two suspension cables.

• American Martha Wise is convicted of murder on May 12. Wise poisoned 17 members of her family, killing three. Wise is sentenced to life in prison, where she ultimately died in 1971.

• Editorials in Japanese news media decry American plans to strengthen the naval base at Pearl Harbor on May 15. Some Japanese suggest the decision to strengthen the base is a harbinger of future American aggression towards Japan.

• Casey Stengel plays in his final Major League Baseball game on May 19, ending a 14-year playing career.

• Malcolm Little is born in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 19. Little would grow up and become a central figure in the American civil rights movement, by which time he was known as Malcolm X.

• Visitors from states along the United States and Canada border flock to Ontario on May 21 after legal 4.4 beer goes on sale in the province.

• The crew of the N25 seaplane, part of the Amundsen Polar Expedition led by explorer Roald Amundsen, is forced to touch down on ice on May 22. An accompanying plane, the N24, witnesses the landing and touches down as well. The explorers were attempting to be the first to fly to the North Pole, but spend weeks after touching down trying to chisel a runway out of the ice.

• Chicago mobster Angelo “Bloody Angelo” Genna is shot numerous times during a high-speed car chase on May 26. The North Side Gang is behind the attack, and Genna ultimately dies from his wounds.

• The Los Angeles police announce on May 30 they had foiled a kidnapping plot that targeted Hollywood stars Mary Pickford, Pola Negri and Buster Keaton.

• Peter DePaolo wins the 1925 Indianapolis 500 on May 30. DePaolo becomes the first driver to complete the course in fewer than five hours.

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File photo

Huntington Town Clerk and Records Management Officer Andrew Raia invites everyone to get a history of Huntington as the town celebrates Municipal Clerks’ Week from May 5 to May 8 with an open house at Town Hall, 100 Main St., Huntington from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. or 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Visitors can view the town’s old records chest, old maps, the statue of American Hero Nathan Hale, the town’s ID dating 1666, Native American deeds, exhibits, memorabilia and other interesting documents during this free tour.

For further information on tours, please contact the Town Archivist, Antonia Mattheou at 631-351-3035, email [email protected] or click on link https://www.huntingtonny.gov/Archives.

Large group tours of 10 or more can be accommodated by scheduling an appointment through Town Archivist Antonia Mattheou.

 

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Revolutionary War era Whaleboat “Caleb Brewster” being built at Bayles Boat Shop in Port Jefferson. Pictured are John Janisek, Walter Saraceni and Bill Meyer. Photo by Bev Tyler

By Beverly C. Tyler

Born in East Setauket in 1747, Caleb Brewster attended the one-room schoolhouse on the Village Green in Setauket. His classmates probably included other members of the Culper Spy Ring, Austin Roe, born 1748; Abraham Woodhull, 1750; and Benjamin Tallmadge, 1754. These friends trusted each other as children, later they would need to trust each other as Patriot spies.

Culper Spies Abraham Woodhull and Caleb Brewster meet at a secret cove in Conscience Bay. 1951 Vance Locke mural in Setauket School auditorium.
Photo by Bev Tyler, courtesy of Three Village Central School District 

At 19, Brewster signed on a whaler bound for Greenland. When they returned, he shipped out on a merchant vessel crossing the Atlantic to London. Sometime in the early 1770s, by now an expert seaman and having trained as a blacksmith, he returned home, joined the Brookhaven Minutemen and took part in the 1776 Battle of Long Island in Brooklyn. With British forces controlling Long Island, Brewster joined the Continental Army and was soon commissioned as a Lieutenant of artillery. As a whaleboat captain, he joined in a couple of raids on Setauket.

 In January 1777, Brewster was able to join an artillery company at Fairfield, Connecticut, directly across Long Island Sound from Setauket Harbor. With available resources and time, he put together a force of three whaleboats to attack British and Loyalist ships on the Sound and to gain intelligence on British activity on Long Island. He was able to report all this activity to his close friend Benjamin Tallmadge, a dragoon officer stationed near Fairfield.

In February 1777, General Washington tasked Tallmadge with running Long Island spy, Major John Clark, who operated on his own and provided good intelligence on the British on Long Island and in New York City. Washington recognized Tallmadge’s ability to gain valuable intelligence and made him second-in-command under intelligence chief General Scott. Tallmadge had Major Clark route his intelligence through  Brewster who regularly traveled between Fairfield and Long Island. When Clark suddenly left Long Island in September 1777, it left Washington with only the intelligence reports from Brewster’s contacts on Long Island. 

On 8 August 1778, General Washington wrote to Brewster,  “Let me entreat that you will continue to use every possible means to obtain intelligence of the Enemys motions…and give me the earliest notice of their Sailing from the hook…this matter may be of great Importance to the French Fleet at, & the enterprize on, Rhode Island..and whether any Troops have Imbarked for Rhode Island or else where within these few days. I am Sir Yr Most Obedt Servt G. W——n.”

Later the same month, Washington agreed to Tallmadge’s plan to organize a spy ring based in Setauket that would route intelligence through  Brewster and his whaleboats, a route already well-established from British Long Island to Patriot Connecticut.  

Caleb Brewster’s gravesite at The Old Burying Ground in Fairfield, CT.

Robert Brush was a Long Island native who lived in Connecticut during the war. Brush wrote in his pension application, “I continued to go with Caleb for three or four years and the number of these expeditions varied from one to four times a month and lasted from two days to a week or more. The object was to get intelligence from the British…At one time we had a skirmish with a boat crew of a Privateer after they had landed on the Island…Another time we were lying on the Island concealed,  a party of horse commanded by one Ishmael Youngs a Tory came in search of us and passed within fifty yards of our concealment but did not discover us.”

After the war, Brewster, as he did for so many of his men, reported that “Robert Brush was a good and brave soldier” and “frequently volunteered his services on different occasions under me during the war on difficult and dangerous services, whilst I was engaged in secret service in Long Island Sound by order of General Washington.” 

Joshua Davis, in his pension application reported, “I remained in the New York Regiment but I was also detached and employed in what was called the whaleboat service. I was serving…on board a whaleboat under Captain Caleb Brewster, who commanded a small fleet.” He served until the end of the war.

Davis’s widow, Abigail, wrote that her husband, under the command of Capt. Brewster, went from Fairfield to Long Island, “for the purpose of getting Information from the enemy which service was performed in a Whale Boat as often as once a Week.” Her husband continued in the whaleboat service until the Peace.” 

Brewster’s crews of sailors were recruited from the ranks of the men he commanded and a number of Long Island men like Davis and Brush. Brewster also had trusted associates including Lt. George Smith of Smithtown and Captain Abraham Cooper Woodhull, a cousin of Setauket’s spy chief Abraham Woodhull, who was captain of one of Brewster’s whaleboats. 

In addition to twelve men, each whaleboat had a small swivel gun on the bow powerful enough to put a hole in an enemy boat below the waterline or disable a mast with a lucky shot when close in. Brewster’s three whaleboats were a potent fighting force, able to attack and capture the sloops, schooners and small British and Tory brigs that patrolled the sound or the plunderers,  who regularly attacked residents on Long Island and along the Connecticut shoreline. 

774 map of Long Island, Long Island Sound and New England. Digital copy by Bev Tyler from “The Refugees of 1776 from Long Island to Connecticut” by Frederic Mather

On December 7, 1782, Brewster and several of his whaleboats chased and attacked three enemy boats about mid-sound and captured two. Brewster was wounded when a musket ball went through his chest. He continued to fight until the enemy was captured and then collapsed. Every man on the enemy’s boats was either killed or wounded. Brewster spent many months recovering in the hospital in Black Rock. In February and March 1783, he took part in a battle off Stratford Point and commanded a Fairfield sloop which captured the British armed vessel “Fox”. Still not recovered from the boat fight, he returned home to convalesce. Brewster married Anne Lewis of Fairfield, Connecticut in  1784, and purchased a home and farm in Black Rock, Connecticut in 1788.

In 1793, Brewster was commissioned Lieutenant of the Revenue Cutter “Active”. He later became commander. In 1809, Capt. Brewster took a party of dignitaries, including the governor, on a pleasure cruise around Long Island and was later presented with a silver trophy cup which is now at the Fairfield Historical Society. Brewster retired from active service in 1816, and died in 1827 at the age of 79. Anne died in the cholera epidemic in 1834.

The story of Caleb Brewster, his whaleboats and crews, should be the subject of more stories that talk of bold actions and swift attacks, of boats and crews that appear and disappear into Long Island coves and across Long Island Sound, all the while providing vital intelligence to General Washington on British forces. The British never laid hands on Brewster, although he gave them plenty of opportunity. 

Brewster was never officially recognized for his actions. Yet his trips across Long Island Sound occurred much more frequently than is recognized by the extant intelligence reports. Brewster became the linchpin for the Culper Spy Ring as he brought both verbal and written reports from British-held Long Island and New York City through Patriot-held Connecticut to General Washington. 

Brewster and his crews were as vital to the American victory as the few U.S. Naval vessels and Continental Congress-authorized privateers, who gained lasting fame for their exploits up and down the Atlantic coast. 

Beverly Tyler is Three Village Historical Society historian and author of books available from the Three Village Historical Society, 93 North Country Rd., Setauket, NY 11733. Tel: 631-751-3730. Website: TVHS.org 

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The Battle of Yorktown stamp unveiled by the USPS on April 16.

Together with the U.S. National Park Service, the U.S. Postal Service held a ceremony at Minute Man National Historical Park in Concord, MA on April 16 to dedicate its new Battlefields of the American Revolution stamps.

“These stamps celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation and pay tribute to the heroes who fought and sacrificed for American independence,” said Judy de Torok, the Postal Service’s corporate affairs vice president, who served as the stamps’ dedicating official. “We are proud to partner with the National Park Service to commemorate and honor the enduring legacy of these historic battlefields.”

“The National Park Service is honored to host the U.S. Postal Service’s first-day-of-issue ceremony for the Battlefields of the American Revolution stamps,” said Simone Monteleone, Minute Man National Historical Park superintendent. “Having the ceremony at the site of the opening battle of the American Revolution provides another opportunity for visitors to participate in the 250th anniversary.”

Other participants at the ceremony were Paul O’Shaughnessy, master of ceremonies and Friends of Minute Man National Park board president; Kerry Lafleur, Concord, MA, town manager; Steve Bartha, Lexington, MA, town manager; Lt. Col. Geoffrey Love, Massachusetts National Guard historical services director and curator of its museum; Donald Hafner, historian, author and former Boston College professor; Liza Stearns, National Parks of Boston deputy superintendent; and Lauren Roberts, Saratoga County, NY, historian and Saratoga 250th American Revolution Commission chair.

Background

On farm fields and town greens, along countryside byways and city lanes, the people of a new nation — some famous, others forever unknown — committed their lives to American independence. As the United States prepares to commemorate its 250th anniversary next year, the Postal Service honors the battlefields where so many sacrificed to make independence possible.

With photographs and historic sites alongside dramatic illustrations of pivotal moments in the American Revolution, this pane of stamps focuses on five turning points in the war: the battles of Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill, Trenton, Saratoga and Yorktown.

Many of the places and buildings associated with these battles have been preserved or restored as museums, monuments, and national, state, or local parks. As part of the multiyear celebration of America’s 250th birthday, the Postal Service hopes these stamps will inspire the public to visit these and other sites from the Revolutionary era and contemplate the long threads of history that connect us to the first generation of Americans.

Stamp Design

The pane of 15 stamps is arranged in five rows, with each row dedicated to one of the five battles. Each row features a photograph of a site linked to the battle, complemented by a watercolor illustration depicting a scene from that battle.

The Battle of Lexington and Concord is represented by a modern photograph of the Old North Bridge and an illustration showing American militia members retaking the bridge from the withdrawing British on April 19, 1775.

The Battle of Bunker Hill is represented by an illustration showing the second British assault on Breed’s Hill on June 17, 1775, from the perspective of the defending Americans, alongside a photograph of the Bunker Hill Monument in modern-day Boston.

The Battle of Trenton is represented by a recent photograph showing the Old Barracks Museum, which housed Hessian and British soldiers in Trenton, NJ, before the Dec. 26, 1776, battle, and an illustration showing George Washington and some of his officers during their daring crossing of the Delaware River prior to the battle.

The Battle of Saratoga is represented by an illustration showing British Lt. Gen. John Burgoyne handing his sword as a symbol of surrender to Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates on Oct. 17, 1777, with men from both sides looking on. Alongside the illustration is a modern photograph of a replica of a British howitzer on the lawn of the visitors’ center at Saratoga National Historical Park in Stillwater, NY.

The Battle of Yorktown is represented by a modern photograph of two British defenses taken by Americans and their French allies during the autumn 1781 siege in Virginia and reconstructed by the National Park Service — Redoubt 9 in the foreground and Redoubt 10 in the background. Alongside the photograph is an illustration depicting the formal surrender of the British on Oct. 19, 1781.

The title “Battlefields of the American Revolution” appears at the top of the stamp pane. The names and dates of each battle, which encompass the dates of the two British surrenders, appear on the selvage to the right of each row of stamps. In the top right corner of the selvage are the opening words of the first pamphlet in Thomas Paine’s series, “The American Crisis.” Published in December 1776, the pamphlet was read aloud to George Washington’s troops on Dec. 23, 1776, three days before the Battle of Trenton. Inspired to write “The American Crisis” by low civilian morale and the grim state of the Colonial army that winter, Paine hoped to bolster American resolve. He had previously written “Common Sense,” a pamphlet that decried monarchy and made a clear and forceful case for American independence.

Derry Noyes, an art director for USPS, designed the stamps, with illustrations by Greg Harlin and photographs by Jon Bilous, Richard Lewis, Tom Morris, Gregory J. Parker and Kevin Stewart.

The Battlefields of the American Revolution stamps are being issued as Forever stamps and will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail 1-ounce rate.

Customers may purchase the stamps through the Postal Store at usps.com/shopstamps, by calling 844-737-7826, by mail through USA Philatelic or at Post Office locations nationwide. For officially licensed stamp products, shop the USPS Officially Licensed Collection on Amazon. Additional information on stamps, first-day-of-issue ceremonies and stamp-inspired products can be found at StampsForever.com.

 

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By Luciana Hayes

Recently, a trunk belonging to Captain Joseph Tyler was returned to Smithtown after being stored in Minnesota for the past three decades.

In an interview with TBR News Media, Cemetery Committee Chair for the Three Village Historical Society Robert von Bernewitz spoke about the significance of the artifact and its return. 

Captain Joseph Tyler’s trunk.

Bernewitz grew up in Smithtown along with his friend Scott Peirce, who lived on a farm known as the Peirce Farm, which is where his family acquired the trunk that belonged to Tyler, who was captain of the Mary A. Tyler ship, which was built by Nehemiah Hand in the Setauket shipyards and named after his wife, Mary A. Tyler. Throughout its career, the ship went up and down the eastern seaboard before meeting its fate around 1890 off the coast of Cape Cod. It is believed the ship sank on a sandbar and according to legend can be seen at certain times of the day where it sank.

Around 35 years ago, Peirce moved to Minnesota, bringing the captain’s trunk with him. In the trunk, there lies the captain’s log, which contains abundant information about the ship’s travel history. When Peirce explained to Bernewitz that he wanted him to have the trunk he said, “Rob, I want you to have this trunk because it doesn’t belong in Minnesota. Find a good home for it, wherever it — the history of it — belongs.” Shortly after that conversation, Peirce drove the artifact from Minnesota to Smithtown where he met Bernewitz and some other friends to find a new home for the trunk. Bernewitz explains how one of his friends mentioned the Tyler family house, a historical farmhouse built in 1790 in Smithtown. 

The Tyler House has been home to many generations. For more than 100 years, this was a farmhouse on an active farm with many out-buildings. In the Tyler House, there is a desk from Benjamin Tyler, Joseph Tyler’s brother. Bernewitz speaks about the reunion of the relics saying, “These two pieces of furniture were repatriated together after 175 years.”

The graves of Captain Joseph and Mary Tyler.

Joseph and Mary Tyler are buried in the Smithtown Cemetery, while Captain Tyler’s trunk sits on the balcony of the Smithtown Landing Methodist Church. The church is also a historic landmark built in 1834 and is right in the neighborhood where the Tylers lived. Bernewitz closes by saying, “I’m just very happy that it came back from Minnesota and it’s where it belongs in the same neighborhood that it came from.”

Bernewitz dedicates his time to restoring gravestones and cemetery grounds. He has actively worked to address conditions of 20 cemeteries in the area. This includes correcting leaning or fallen gravestones and using professional methods to clean gravestones. In addition to his role as committee chair for the TVHS, Bernewitz is also vice president of the Davis Town Meeting House in Coram, a circa 1750 house which was a town hall in the 1800s where citizens voted.

For more information visit the TVHS website: www.tvhs.org.

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Shipbuilder Nehemiah Hand (1814-1894)

This spring, the Three Village Historical Society and Museum (TVHS) and The Reboli Center for Art and History are inviting the community to step into the world of nineteenth-century shipbuilding with a new exhibition titled Built by Hand: The Shipbuilding Legacy of Nehemiah Hand. 

The exhibit, which opened on April 16 in the Englebright Gallery at the Reboli Center, 64 Main St., Stony Brook, sheds light on the craftsmanship, culture, and community that once thrived along the shores of Setauket Harbor.

A mid-nineteenth-century branding iron once owned by Nehemiah Hand will be one of the artifacts featured in the exhibit.

Curated by Scott Ferrara, Curator at TVHS, and Chris Ryon, Historian for the Village of Port Jefferson, Built by Hand tells the story of Nehemiah Hand, a prolific shipbuilder whose work helped define a maritime era in East Setauket. Through original tools, artifacts, photographs, and personal items, the exhibit offers visitors a rare look at the daily life and lasting impact of the shipbuilders who shaped the region’s history.

Among the highlights are a ship caulking mallet and caulking irons that once belonged to Benjamin Risley, a ship caulker who worked along Shore Road in the late 1800s, along with Hand’s own personal branding iron. Additionally, original artwork, maps, and photographs trace the outlines of the now-vanished shipyards that once lined Setauket’s shores.

This exhibition also marks a milestone in local collaboration: although TVHS has partnered with the Reboli Center on lectures in the past, Built by Hand is their first full-scale joint exhibit—one that highlights not just history but the spirit of cooperation between cultural institutions in the community.

Running alongside Built by Hand is Getting There, a transportation-themed art exhibition that delves into the artistic exploration of various modes of transportation, such as cars, trains, boats, and beyond and featuring work by Joseph Reboli, Mike McLaughlin, Nelson Medina, Peter Nettesheim, Doug Reina, Marshall Buck, Chris Kelsch and more. 

As a lively addition to the experience, visitors can also enjoy a rotation of classic motorcycle and car shows in the Center’s parking lot throughout the spring and early summer months.

An opening reception for both exhibits will be held on Friday, April 18, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., welcoming guests to explore the exhibit and connect with the curators behind it.

Built by Hand and Getting There will remain on view through July 6. For more information, call 631-751-7707 or visit www.rebolicenter.org.

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Fischetti site excavations during the summer of 1981. Three Village Historical Society photo

By Beverly C. Tyler

For over 8,000 years, indigenous people, Long Island’s original settlers, have lived here. Today Native Americans still live in Brookhaven, where their ancestors settled in coastal villages.

Setalcott Indigenous People village, Vance Locke mural at the Setauket School.
Courtesy of TVHS

According to what we know today, the first settlers reached North America at least 13,200 years ago, possibly coming across the land bridge from Asia to Alaska; these Asiatic people were the first humans on the continent. However, there are now a few other sites in North and South America, including one near Pittsburgh, PA that indicate that humans were here earlier. 

Some of the earliest North Americans are called Clovis people. Clovis refers to the Clovis Point that was used as a spear point to hunt and kill the elephant-like Mammoths and Mastodons that populated North America at that time. The Clovis point is unique to North America. It, apparently, was not developed until humans crossed into North America. During a 300 year period Clovis people spread all over North America, including Long Island, and hunted the Mastodon and Mammoth to extinction. The Clovis culture existed from about 13,200 to 12,900 BP (Before Present), coming to an end at the same time that the last Mammoth disappeared from North America. A number of Clovis points have been found on Long Island.

There are three recognized periods of Native American culture. The earliest is Paleo-lndian culture. Paleo means “of ancient origin” (Webster’s New International Dictionary). This period extends from about 12,500 to 8,000 BP. The second period is called  Archaic culture. This is the hunting & gathering period which extends from about 8,000 to 3,000 BP. The third period is called Woodland Culture, the period when Native Americans first practiced agriculture and provided the first indication of the use of clay pottery.This period extends from about 3,000 to 1,000 BP.

The period that ended the isolation of Long Island Indians is called Late Woodland culture. This second part of the Woodland period extends from about 1,000 to the calendar year 1600. Native Americans reached their highest level of art and culture during this period, which also includes the first contact with European explorers, hunters, trappers and settlers.

First residents

We don’t know all the details about life on Long Island before the Europeans came because the people living here did not leave us a written or photographic record of their lives.

Fischetti site artifact – clay pot sherd. Three Village Historical Society collection/photo

Archaeological excavations have given us most of the details of how people lived in this area as early as 5,000 years ago. One of the most famous sites in New York State was a shell midden, along Aunt Amy’s Creek, named The Stony Brook Site, excavated by State Archaeologist William Richie, in 1955. From archaeological digs by Richie and others, we know that between 5,000 to 3,000 years ago, the native people were hunters and gatherers, dependent upon hunting local animals and gathering plants, stones and clay for food, shelter, tools, clothes and medicines.

The Fischetti Site is a prehistoric Native American site that was discovered during a cultural resource investigation (evaluating the building sites to see what, if anything, is there that might be of cultural/historical significance) of a proposed residential development in November of 1980. Salvage excavations (a more intensive archaeological dig because of the press of time) continued through October of 1981.

Artifacts from the Fischetti site in Setauket, along West Meadow Creek, are from what appears to have been a site for manufacturing stone tools and spear points. 

Fischetti site artifact – stone tool. Three Village Historical Society collection/photo

The site was probably selected by the Native Americans due to the availability of drinking water and food and shelter from the elements. It was occupied by Algonquin Indians about (circa) 3300-1000 B.P. We know the Algonquian used this location then because of the type of arrow and spear points and blades recovered. The major activity here, on the edge of Stony Brook creek, was making stone tools. We know this by the large quantities of stone flakes and roughed-out stones. Although native Long Island quartz was utilized, some flints (darker, almost black in color) from upper New York State and Connecticut were recovered, indicating some trading with other native groups.

The almost total absence of food remains at the site shows that this was not the location of a village. However, a village site–The Stony Brook site–existed approximately 700 meters (765 yards) to the south, along what is now known as Aunt Amy’s Creek, during the same time period.

This stone tool manufacturing site (Fischetti Site) was an area separated from the village, since the making of stone implements involved the hazardous work of chipping stone, resulting in flakes of sharp stone pieces flying all over the area. This area was still in use by Woodland Native Americans (circa 3000 B.P . To 1600) as pieces of clay pottery appear in the upper layers of the site. (From a report by Edward J. Johannemann and Laurie S. Billadello-Long Island Archaeological Project)

The artifacts taken from the Fischetti Site are part of the collection of the Three Village Historical Society. Artifacts from the Richie Site are a part of the collection of the New York State Museum.

Fischetti site artifacts – projectile point. Three Village Historical Society collection/photo

For thousands of years the Indians used natural resources, wood, stone and animals, to make their housing, tools and clothing. About 3,000 years ago, their way of life changed with the introduction of three things: pottery, the bow and arrow and horticulture. Like the earlier American Indians, the Woodland Indians continued to rely on natural resources.

Vance Locke pictures a Setalcott village along the shoreline of Setauket in what archaeologists call the Late Woodland Period from about 1,000 years ago to about the year 1600. 

There is a hunter, a woman making wampum and women grinding corn. Men are smoking fish and spearing fish from a trap. There are many other details in this scene that can be observed. The Setalcotts relied on the use of local trees and plants in their daily lives. Many of the native trees and plants can be found along the nature trails in the Frank Melville Memorial Park and Sanctuary in Setauket. Many are listed in the book Native and Near Native by Albert Hostek.

It is important for me (personally) to say, “I wish to acknowledge that I am sitting on the land of the Setalcott Indigenous people in Setauket and I pay respect to the Setalcott people whose land is where I live.” 

Beverly C. Tyler is Three Village Historical Society historian and author of books available from the Three Village Historical Society, 93 North Country Rd., Setauket, NY 11733. Tel: 631-751-3730. WWW.TVHS.org 

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The Reverend and Mrs. H. W. Floyd Allen, minister of the Allen A.M.E. Church, Church Street circa 1950. Photo courtesy of NHSM

By Tara Mae 

More than merely a necessity or form of self-expression, throughout history fashion has been a means of storytelling, a type of communication. The Northport Historical Society (NHSM) and Museum’s newest exhibit, In Fashion, which opens on April 5, examines local sartorial dialect and how it is part of a communal language. 

A photograph of female impersonator Julian Eltinge. Photo courtesy of NHSM

“In Fashion explores identity through historic fashion and fashion movements, and what it means culturally for those groups,” said NHSM curator Elizabeth Abrahams Riordan. 

The exhibit showcases multimedia items: textiles, archival pieces, digital and print photographs, recorded oral histories, etc. A focal point of the collection is church hats on loan from local residents, many of whom have ties to the Northport African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, which closed in 1955. 

In Fashion is part of an ongoing discussion about the different communities and cultures that comprise the larger Northport enclave: part of the exhibit’s run will correspond with Pride month in June and complement it.

“[This] is a way for individuals to access history about how people share their identity and life through fashion: what they are wearing can be a sort of spiritual connection, an extension of community and cultural groups as well as an indication of what was [socially] permitted,” Abrahams Riordan said. “The exhibit is hopefully opening dialogue in the community for people to have a better understanding of communities within the Northport community.”

Style is a statement without speech, but a purpose of In Fashion is to inspire conversation. Personal objects and archival items weave together a narrative of truths less told. 

In an effort to highlight Northport voices, Abrahams Riordan sought the contribution of Thelma Abidally, author of African American in Northport, an Untold Story (Maple Hill Press 2000) for insight into how articles of clothing are emblems of different identities.

“Fashion can teach us several lessons about our ancestors. In particular African American women culturally were known to wear their Sunday best to church. My ancestors believed that this is how a woman should dress in going to church,” Abidally explained. 

Magazine from 1904 promoting the work and life of female impersonator Julian Eltinge. Photo courtesy of NHSM

Such cues were, and remain, both a celebration and a means of connection, solidifying heritage while affirming clothing’s ever evolving contextual message. Fashion is another entry into assessing the past and how it affects the present. 

“I really want to tell histories, but I also really want to bring people together in a way that they have their own personal perspective and also humanize other experiences. It is all about making personal connections and wanting to come back and learn more,” Abrahams Riordan said. 

The Northport Historical Society and Museum, 215 Main St., Northport presents In Fashion through June 30 on Wednesdays to Sundays from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $15 per person, $12 for members. 

The exhibit is one of several events planned at the NHSM for the month of April. Other programs include a Doll Tea Party on April 5 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Volunteer Open House on April 12 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; and a Historical Main Street Walking Tour on April 27 at 1:30 p.m. For more information, call 631-757-9859 or visit www.northporthistorical.org.

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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel 'The Great Gatsby' is published on April 10.

The month of April has been home to many historical events over the years. Here’s a look at some that helped to shape the world in April 1925.

• King Yeta III of Barotseland and the Lozi people in what is now Zambia abolishes the corvée on April 1 in the British colony of Northern Rhodesia. The corvée is a system of forced labor that is considered the last vestige of slavery in the colony.

• On April 2, Harry Pierpont is arrested in Detroit for a string of bank robberies across Indiana and Michigan. Pierpont escapes from prison eight years later and ultimately joins John Dillinger in committing numerous additional bank robberies.

• Henry Ford begins running a private air freight service between Detroit and Chicago on April 2.

• On April 4, Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg agrees to run in the second round of the German presidential election in place of Karl Jarres, who had won the first round. Jarres withdrew his name prior to the second round, paving the way for Hindenburg’s candidacy and ultimate victory.

• Several men working for criminal Al Capone severely assault investigative reporter Robert St. John on April 6. St. John had previously authored several pieces exposing Capone’s criminal empire in Cicero, Illinois.

• Adolf Hitler formally renounces his Austrian citizenship on April 7. Hitler would remain stateless and ineligible for public office until being granted German citizenship in early 1932.

• In conjunction with the British Colonial Office, the Australian government announces a plan on April 8 to encourage nearly half a million British citizens to relocate to Australia. The government offers low-interest loans and skills training to entice people to move.

• A demonstration against Lord Balfour in Damascus ends with two people dead and 11 wounded on April 9. The protests were a response to Balfour’s promotion of Jewish interests in Palestine. Balfour would depart Damascus in haste a day after the demonstration.

• F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby is published on April 10.

• Police in Denver, Colorado, carry out a raid on Good Friday on April 10. More than 200 people, including bootleggers and gamblers, are arrested. The raid was ordered by Denver Mayor Benjamin F. Stapleton, a member of the Ku Klux Klan. The KKK had benefitted from many of the institutions targeted during the raid, which prompted the organization to strip Stapleton of his membership months later.

• The James Simpson-Roosevelt Asiatic Expedition departs New York City on April 11. The expedition aimed to collect wildlife species from mountainous regions in Asia, and would ultimately return with thousands of specimens.

• Women are granted the right to vote in the Dominion of Newfoundland on April 13.

• Anarchists open fire on the vehicle of Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria on April 14. Though King Boris is grazed by a bullet and two of his companions are killed, the assassination attempt fails.

• The Caterpillar Tractor Company is founded upon the merger of Holt Manufacturing Company and the C.L. Best Tractor Company on April 15.

• After consuming an excessive amount of hot dogs and soda, Babe Ruth undergoes surgery on April 17. Ruth had collapsed on a team train 10 days earlier and is treated for what doctors characterized as an intestinal abscess.

• The Communist Party of Korea is founded in Japanese-ruled Korea on April 17.

• The use of a sign shaped like a shield is standardized as the way to identify federally funded highways in the United States on April 20.

• The entire crew of the Japanese cargo ship S.S. Raifuku Maru perishes when the ship sinks in a storm on April 21. The ship was transporting wheat from the U.S. to Germany but rescue efforts failed due to stormy conditions.

• Franz Kafka’s novel, Der Prozess (later translated in English as The Trial), is published posthumously on April 26. Kafka, a relative unknown at the time of the book’s publication, died of tuberculosis roughly nine months earlier.

• France begins air raids on Morocco as part of the Rif War on April 27. The raids would continue intermittently for the next nine years.

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From left, Thomas Ronayne, Ray Meyer, Robert Misseri Paws of War Co-Founder, Councilman Sal Ferro, Town of Huntington Historian Robert Hughes and Robert Renna at the check presentation on March 21. Photo from Paws of War

Paws of War held a formal check presentation at the Burr Family Cemetery, Home Depot Shopping Center, 5025 Jericho Turnpike, Commack on Friday, March 21 at 11:30 p.m.

Huntington Town Councilman Sal Ferro and The Ferro Foundation made a generous donation in the amount of $5,000 to Paws of War, a 501(c) nonprofit organization, in support of the Burr Family Cemetery restoration project. This initiative will help preserve an important piece of our community’s history while honoring those laid to rest at this historic site.

Burr Family Cemetery – Two of the family members were
veterans in the War of 1812.

This important project honors the memory of two War of 1812 veterans laid to rest there while preserving a significant piece of local history.

The restoration effort, spearheaded by Paws of War, will include the installation of a new fence, landscaping enhancements, the resetting and replacement of headstones, a new flagpole, a picnic area, and an informational plaque to educate visitors about the cemetery’s historical significance.

“The Burr Family Cemetery is a part of Huntington’s history, and I am honored to support Paws of War in their incredible work to restore and preserve this site,” said Councilman Sal Ferro. “This project ensures that the sacrifices of those who served our country are never forgotten while also creating a space for the community to reflect on our past.”

Paws of War, widely recognized for their work in rescuing and training service dogs for veterans and first responders, has expanded their mission to include projects that honor and support those who have served. Their dedication to the Burr Family Cemetery restoration underscores their commitment to preserving the legacy of American veterans.

“This restoration is about respect, remembrance, and ensuring that history is not lost to time,” said [Paws of War Representative, Tom Ronayne. “We are incredibly grateful to Councilman Ferro and The Ferro Foundation for their generous support in making this possible.”

The restoration project is expected to be completed in the coming months, providing a renewed space where the community can honor and learn about the local heroes who played a role in shaping our nation’s history. A ribbon cutting ceremony is slated to take place this summer.

For more information on Paws of War and their initiatives, visit pawsofwar.org

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