Historical and descriptive sketches of Suffolk County, New York by Richard Mather Bayles

Author:Richard Mather Bayles [Bayles, Richard Mather]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Geschichte
Publisher: Jazzybee Verlag
Published: 2018-03-13T23:00:00+00:00

Mount Misery is the name given to that peninsula which lies between the harbors of Port Jefferson and Mt. Sinai.

The surface is elevated and considerably broken. Much of the soil is good, and the timber abundant and thrifty. The greater part of this peninsula is owned by the heirs of Thomas S. Strong, Esq., ancestor of the late Hon. Selah B. Strong of Setauket. Much of the land is covered with timber. Oakwood is the local name of the estate.

Mount Sinai, formerly called Old Man's, is a scattered settlement near the head of a harbor bearing the same name, about three miles east of Port Jefferson. It contains three small stores, a windmill, two churches, a handsome district school building, erected two years since, and a population of 280. Rocks are abundant in the neighborhood, and the surface is extremely ragged and broken. Its present name is a very appropriate one. A person might with some show of reason suppose that the mighty convulsions which troubled the ancient Mount when Moses received the Commandments from the hand of the great Lawgiver, had at some time in the past visited this its modern namesake, in a similar manner.

The former name, "Old Man's," is said to have originated in the circumstance that many years ago, in the early stage of the settlement, a small house was fitted up and kept by an old man for the accommodation of travelers who happened to be delayed in the vicinity by night or storm or fatigue.

The guests of the little inn when asked where they stopped would reply; "With the old man;" a:id from that, tradition says, came the name of the locality. Its Indian name was Nonowantuck.

The harbor is shoal, and is frequented only by vessels of the smaller class. An artificial channel extends across it from the entrance. Ship building has been carried on here in a small way. Large tracts of meadow adjoining, and numerous small islands in the harbor are covered with salt grass.

Immense quantities of clams are dug from the extensive flats of this harbor, and taken by the cargo, to markets along the Connecticut shore besides supplying the wants of the neighboring and interior villages of this town. Scallops, fish, and eels are also among the products of the harbor. From the great quantities of shells found upon its banks it is supposed that the neighborhood was once thickly populated by the Indians.

The first church in this neighborhood was erected about the year 1720. It appears to have been occupied for several years as a branch or mission station connected with the original church at Setauket. A distinct organization, under the care of the Suffolk Presbytery was formed here Sept. 3, 1760, under the pastoral administration of the Rev. Ezra Reeve, who had been ordained and stationed over this congregation Oct. 10, 1759. The continuance of this minister extended to Oct. 25, 1763, after which the organization here lost its original form, and Dec. 23, 1789 the "first Congregational church of Brookhaven" was organized in its place.

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