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Three Village History

Three Village ancestor began a new life on Long Island in 1700s

by Beverly C. Tyler - July 9, 2022

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WB Patchogue circa 1800 — Image depicts what Patchogue looked like circa 1800.

By Beverly C. Tyler

William Bacon, my third great grandfather, left his home in the Midlands of England on June 12, 1794. He booked passage on a ship out of Liverpool on June 22 and arrived at New York’s South Street Seaport on Aug. 23. He then traveled to Patchogue, Long Island, arriving on Aug. 28, 1794. Letters from his father and brothers between 1798 and 1824 and numerous trips I made to the villages of his youth provided the basis for this fictional letter to his father and mother.

A letter from William Bacon’s father Matthew. Image from Beverly C. Tyler

In 1794, England was at war with France, as was most of Europe. The resultant curtailment of trade was having a very negative effect on the British economy. The impressment of American merchant ship crews by the British had brought America and England very close to war again. President George Washington was in his second term as the first president of the United States and had recently appointed Chief Justice John Jay to negotiate a treaty of commerce with England.

On Long Island, Selah Strong was again elected as president of the trustees of the Town of Brookhaven, a post he had held every year since 1780, three years before the end of the Revolutionary War. In Patchogue, the Blue Point Iron Works, run by a Mr. Smith, was in full operation and looking to England, especially the Midlands, for young men like William Bacon who came from a long line of lead miners and iron workers.

July 4, 1794

M. Matthew Bacon
Alderwasley
Parish of Wirksworth
Derbyshire, England

My Dearest Father & Mother,

I am writing this letter at sea. We are twelve days out from Liverpool and expect to arrive in New York before the end of next month. Today is Independence Day in America and as this is an American ship and crew, they celebrated the day with cannon fire and decorated the ship with flags. A special meal was prepared and the other passengers and I were included in the feast. Sitting with these new friends and enjoying their hospitality, I realized for the first time how much I already miss home and family.

Last month, the day before I left, as I sat on the hillside above our home, I realized that there was a part of me that would stay there forever. The green hills of Alderwasley will remain forever in my memory as will your kind smile and patience with me as I prepared to undertake this journey.

My resolve in going has not diminished in spite of my love for my family, for my home, and for the gentle rolling hills I have so often walked. The position in Mr. Smith’s iron works I regard as a chance to flourish in a land of opportunity as many others have done before me. America also offers the chance to live free of the will of the Lord of the Manor. He has been good to you, and generous, but he owns the very hills and valleys where I was born and grew up. In America my opportunities are limitless.

Please write and tell me if any from Wirksworth or Alderwasley have volunteered for the cavalry or infantry and how the war goes. I will send you the prices of pig and bar iron in English money as well as the prices of beef and mutton in the same as soon as I can. If brother Samuel is still in Jamaica after I arrive, ask him to come and see me when he goes through New York. The same for my brother Matthew if he comes to Philadelphia to trade as he plans.

I continue with great hope and anticipation and a deep sorrow at parting.

Your loving son,

William Bacon

Beverly C. Tyler is a Three Village Historical Society historian and author of books available from the society at 93 North Country Road, Setauket. For more information, call 631-751-3730. or visit www.tvhs.org.

A Bit of Setauket Family History and Folklore

by TBR Staff - September 5, 2020

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By Beverly C. Tyler

Stories, anecdotes and tales are the remembrances that add shape and substance to family history. Recording or writing down these bits of folklife can be an enjoyable experience for family members. It is also an excellent way to keep alive the memory of generations past and preserve the interesting details of the lives of ordinary people, who lived in a different time with a different way of life.

I can remember years ago my father told me a story about his father that had been passed down to him by his cousin. My grandfather died when my father was 12, hence the lack of a more personal remembrance.

My grandfather, Beverly Swift Tyler, had been captain of coastal sailing vessels all his working life. After he retired from the sea, he continued to enjoy sailing and being on the water. He built a 31-foot gaff-rigged catboat, named the Madeline, behind the Lake House which he owned and ran as a hotel and summer boarding house, now the Setauket Neighborhood House. The boat was constructed under the critical eye of neighbors and friends, who had no hesitation about making suggestions to improve the work as it progressed. When completed, the Madeline was considered a fast boat and won a number of sailing races against other boats in the area. One individual, who Grandfather beat quite often, was constantly after him to sell the Madeline. Finally, Grandfather agreed, and he sold the catboat to the man.

The next year Grandfather began work on a new catboat which he completed in 1906 and named the Setauket. While he was building the new boat, the same kibitzers came around to make suggestions. He, very curtly, referred them to the Madeline as being their community boat and that he was building the Setauket by himself.

The Setauket, as related by cousin Roger Tyler, “was oak ribbed with pine planking. The original mast was sixty feet, made of strips of wood bound together making the mast hollow in the center. The mast was (eventually) shortened to forty-five feet. The canvas was very heavy and was cleaned by lying (it) out on the beach and scrubbing with water, scrub brushes and sand.”

The Setauket was raced in Port Jefferson and won consistently against all competition (including the Madeline). It got to be so that they would not tell Bev when a race was to be run and a few times he found out about them only just an hour or so before the race but raced and won anyway.

“The Setauket required two to handle it,” Tyler noted. “The canvas was extremely heavy and difficult to raise and control.”

The Setauket was also used by my grandfather to take summer guests staying at the Lake House on excursions around Port Jefferson Harbor and into Long Island Sound. Grandfather installed a two-cylinder engine in the Setauket, probably after 1913. Then, when the mast was removed a sun cover was added. This arrangement was more comfortable for and still gave guests an enjoyable afternoon on the water.

Grandfather married my grandmother, his third wife, in 1912 at the age of 57. Together they continued to run the Lake House as a hotel and summer resort until 1917, when it was purchased by Eversley Childs and donated to the community.

The Setauket was sold, about 1825, and used to carry coal for a coal company in New Jersey. It was brought back a few years later by Theron and Leon Tyler, cleaned of coal dust and eventually used again as a sailing craft. It finally sunk a number of years later off Horton Point, which is north of Southold on Long Island’s North Fork. My grandfather died Oct. 12, 1926, and is buried in the graveyard of the Caroline Church of Brookhaven in Setauket.

Remembering Kate Wheeler Strong, Storytelling Historian

by TBR Staff - August 16, 2020

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4. Kate & Fan 1899 — Kate Strong and her dog Fan in 1899. Photo take at her home in Strong's Neck. Photo from Three Village Historical Society archives

By Beverly C. Tyler

Setauket’s barrier-breaking and storytelling 20th Century Long Island historian Kate Wheeler Strong was born in Setauket March 21, 1879. She was the daughter of Judge Selah Strong and a descendant of Revolutionary War spy Anna Smith Strong, as well as of Setauket settler William “Tangier” Smith. As Dr. Percy Bailey wrote in Oct. 1977, “As a historian, ‘Miss Kate’ has probably done more than any other in popularizing and humanizing the history of this beautiful Long Island which she loved.”

Kate posed for a portrait in 1897. Photo from Three Village Historical Society archives

At a time when women were not regarded as serious historians or as community leaders, Kate Strong was able to bring an understanding of local history and storytelling to generations of young people and adults on Long Island. Her influence as a respected writer and local historian for almost four decades cannot be overemphasized, especially this year in light of the 100th anniversary of the ratification and adoption of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, giving women the right to vote. Strong broke the barriers that got in her way.

Strong wrote local history articles for the Long Island Forum from 1939 through 1976. Most of these articles she published in small booklets which she sold or gave away to friends over the years. These booklets, called “True Tales” have provided a special look into the past for many generations of Three Village residents. Strong died at her home “The Cedars” on Strong’s Neck July 22, 1977. In 1992, William B. Minuse (1908-2002) wrote about Strong in the 1992 Three Village Historian.

“Miss Kate Wheeler Strong was one of the most remarkable persons I have ever known … Miss Kate loved young people. For many years she told stories to groups of children at the Emma S. Clark Memorial Library. When the Stony Brook School opened, she organized a stamp club there.

“Her chief interest over the years was local and family history … She wrote extensively; most of her articles being based on family papers and information gathered from older residents … Even after she lost her sight she persisted. We will always be in her debt for the wonderful anecdotes and the invaluable accounts she left us of our Long Island communities and people. From time to time she gave me artifacts for the Three Village Historical Society. Among them were a pair of snowshoes her father had used during the blizzard of ‘88. Toward the end of her life her neighbors celebrated each of her birthdays, and I was always invited. I shall always remember her most fondly. She was kind and generous.”

After Strong’s death, her personal papers and her family papers going back to her second great-grandfather were donated to the Three Village Historical Society. The Strong collection contains over 3,000 papers of the Strong family of Setauket, dating from 1703 to 1977. Included in the collection are deeds, diaries, 224 handwritten pages of court cases by State Supreme Court Justice Selah Strong, letters about their daily lives, politics, travels, farm matters, business records, school records, payments, receipts, Setauket Presbyterian Church records and weather bureau records. There are approximately 2,250 photographs of families, friends, relatives, places and scenes.

A virtual bench talk with Margo Arceri on Kate Strong is presently featured on the Three Village Historical Society web site www.tvhs.org. Click on the tab Virtual Programming and then on Bench Talks The conversation takes place in the St. George’s Manor Cemetery on Strong’s Neck.

Kate at her family’s weather station, circa 1950. The family had been maintaining a weather station on Strong’s Neck for more than two centuries. Photo from Three Village Historical Society archives

The Three Village area is not only fortunate to have such a long and varied history but to have so many stories that bring the past to life. In this current climate of protest over the treatment of African Americans, both as slaves and as second-class citizens for almost 400 years, it is important to realize that women have also been treated as second-class citizens in America for virtually the same time period. Women received the right to vote in America following the passage of the 19th amendment to the United States Constitution which was passed by Congress June 4, 1919; ratified August 18, 1920; and its adoption certified on August 26, 1920. We are now only two weeks away from the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the 19th amendment.

The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania reopened to visitors Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020, with free admission through Sept. 5, 2020. Timed tickets for entry are required. They will be welcoming visitors Wednesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Opening Aug. 26, the center’s newest exhibit, “The 19th Amendment: How Women Won The Vote,” will be included with entry.

“The Three Village Historian: Journal of the Three Village Historical Society,” issue of 1992 includes nine of Kate Wheeler Strong’s “True Tales,” and a complete listing of the 38 years of “True Tales” booklets she produced between 1940 and 1976. This 24-page publication is available at the Three Village Historical Society History Center and Gift Shop, 93 North Country Road, Setauket. However, the gift shop is currently closed. A copy of the 1992 “The Three Village Historian” is in the Long Island Collection of the Emma S. Clark Memorial Library in Setauket, along with a complete set of Kate Strong’s “True Tales.”

Three Village History

Three Village ancestor began a new life on Long Island in 1700s

A Bit of Setauket Family History and Folklore

Remembering Kate Wheeler Strong, Storytelling Historian

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