The American Revolution on Long Island by Joanne S Grasso

Author:Joanne S Grasso
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Published: 2016-08-14T16:00:00+00:00

Raynham Hall sign. Author’s photo.

As a Quaker, Samuel Townsend did not actively oppose the British, and because he was a Whig, he and his family had to live in their home while it was occupied by officers of the Queens Rangers. Lieutenant Colonel Simcoe developed affection for Samuel’s daughter Sarah, commonly called Sally. Simcoe composed what is considered to be the first valentine to Sally. Lieutenant Colonel Simcoe finally left, and Sally never married. Both Townsend daughters inspired their names to be scratched by a diamond in glass panes in their house at Raynham Hall.

Another person of historical interest who apparently stayed at Raynham Hall prior to his fateful connection to Benedict Arnold and the attempted takeover of West Point was Major Andre.203

THE ARSENAL

The arsenal in Huntington had strong Patriot support prior to the occupation of the British on September 1, 1776. But the men who left from the arsenal to fight in the Battle of Long Island fought valiantly. At the time of the American Revolution, the arsenal was owned by Job Sammis, a weaver who lived and worked in this home-turned-arsenal for forty-one years.

The arsenal was the beginning of the valiant effort by the Suffolk County militia to engage in the Battle of Long Island. It was the staging point for the militia to leave for the Battle of Long Island with the store of weapons and ammunition stored in Sammis’s home.

After the loss of the Battle of Long Island and the takeover of Huntington, among many other towns on Long Island, Job Sammis’s house was occupied by the British, along with many other homes in the area. The quartering of soldiers in people’s homes was allowed by two different British Quartering Acts in the immediate pre-Revolutionary era. Like many Long Islanders, Job Sammis was forced to provide transportation in his wagons for the British supplies and theft of animals and other possessions.

SAGTIKOS MANOR

Sagtikos Manor in Bayshore was built in the early 1690s and has some of the original portion of the house still intact. Judge Isaac Thompson oversaw the Revolutionary era in the house and was active in the Long Island militia, including being chairman of the Islip Committee.

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