YALE
UNFV^ERSITY LIBRARY

THE
TANGIER SMITH MANOR
OF ST. GEORGE
ADDRESS DELIVERED AT THE EIGHTH ANNUAL
MEETING OF THE NEW YORK BRANCH
OF
THE ORDER OF COLONIAL LORDS OF
MANORS IN AMERICA
HELD IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK ON THE 24TH
DAY OF APRIL, 1920

BY
REV. HOWARD DUFFIELD, D.D.

BALTIMORE
1921

FACSIMILE (REDUCED SIZE) OF GONER.VOR F.EICHE^'s PATENT OF THE LORD
SHIP AND MANOR OF ST. GEORGE, OCTOBER 9, 1693
From tlie original in the possession of William Tanner •smiil, n „ r-,
M.ss Martha Tunstall Smith and Miss Eugenia SmTtT^f iZ'tht'spli'k^tTg^^^^^^^

THE MANOR OF ST. GEORGE
The Manor of St. George was situated at the heart of Long
Island, and comprised a broad belt of woodland and meadow
stretching from the Atlantic shore to a highroad, which runs
along the backbone of the Island, midway between the Atlan
tic ocean and the Sound. The waters of the great South Bay,
teeming with fish, clams and oysters, were originally included
within the Manorial boundaries. It was constituted in 1693
under a patent granted b)' Governor Fletcher to Colonel Wil
liam Smith. In other meridians the name of Smith is impressed
with no special distinction, but in the annals of Long Island it
is borne by a group of distinguished families and is blazoned
with a dignity similar to that which lends lustre to the Pilgrim
Fathers of New England or the Cavalier founders of Virginia,
the Bradfords, the Endicotts and the Standishs, the Berkleys,
the Randolphs and the Lees. The fact that this Manor does
not bear the name of the Proprietor but a title which is pecul
iarly associated with the royalty of England, wafts over seas
into this new world a peculiar whiff of that feudal atmosphere
of which it was a relic, and hints at the intimate personal rela
tionship which existed between its Lord and the British throne.
William Smith was born February 2, 16,54, at Weld Hall in
the little village of Newton, near Hingham Ferrers. The
names of his parents are given in the record of his christening
which occurred a fortnight after his birth. The entry in the
parish register reads: "William Smith, son of John Smith and
Mary his wife, was baptized the 15th day of February 1654."
The known facts concerning his parentage and childhood are
meagre. Gossip hath it, that his mother was a Maid of Honor
in attendance upon the Queen. If this legend of her associa
tion with court life be correct it would go far to account for the
fact of her son spending his boyhood as a page in the royal
service. This vocation may help to explain why young Smith
failed to receive the schooling customary for young lads and
may indicate that he was regarded as set apart for a career of
active responsibility rather than professional attainment. It
5

is evident that he possessed a native endowment of more than
ordinary mentality, for if such an outlook was entertained for
the child it was emphatically set at naught by the eminent
achievement of his later years, in the attainment of highest
honors in one of the most distinguished of the learned and ht
erary professions. The earhest item of his biography which
shines in unclouded historic light reflects his possession of a
personality of recognized capacity and efficiency. The North
African town of Tangier, the capital city of Morocco, just
across the straits from the rock of Gibraltar at the entering in
of the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, was presented to Charles
II by the King of Portugal, as a wedding gift upon the occa
sion of the marriage of his daughter Catherine to the English
ruler. To the ever open eye of English sagacity the location
of the town marked it as one of the strategic trading posts of
the world. As the agent through whom this inviting possi
bility should be realized the King selected young Smith, who
as an attache of his court had been under the royal observa
tion from his boyhood. A commission as "Mayor of the
Royall Citty of 'Tanger in Africa"* was granted him in his
twentieth year, and gave him that distinguishing title which
he carried throughout his life, and which he rendered so sig
nificant of fine character and distinguished public service that
his descendants cherish it as a proud and priceless heritage.
The dreams of the development of this African seaport were
never realized though large sums of money were invested in the
enterprise both by the crown and as personal ventures by many
of the merchant princes of England. In an official report to
the throne Smith was said to be "the greatest Proprietor in
the Place." Within a few years the project was abandoned,
the little army recalled, the fortifications permitted to fall
into ruin, and the Mayor who had been given military rank as
Colonel, returned to England. But his sojourn in this out of
the way town had not been to him uneventful. On November
26, 1675 in the Enghsh Church he was married to Martha
Tunstall, daughter of Henry Tunstall, of Putney, County of
Surrey, England. Such pivotal incidents of his domestic his
tory are recorded by him with antique forms of speech and the
strangely fascinating old-time fashions of spelling in a personal
journal of most intense interest, both to lovers of antiquarian
research and to those who have a pride in this ancestral story.
* Title as given by Col. Henry Smith in the Tangier Book, page 20.
6

The series of events which shook his heart with emotions of joy
or of sorrow may still be read in William Smith's own hand
writing.* This time-worn document also contains a series of
curious recipes and suggestions for the comfortable ordering of
the household, written by "Lady Martha" as his wife came to
be called in later times. "The Tangier Book" is now in the
possession of the Honorable Selah B. Strong of Setauket, Long
Island. During Colonel Smith's stay in Tangier, six children
were born but before his return to England three of them had
died After a not very extended stay in London he turned his
face westward toward that new world where the adventurous
possibilities of life drew as loadstone draws iron, those who
were conscious of leadership and ambitious of a place in the first
rank of humanity's advance. In 1686 he embarked for America
to seek his fortune in that land where illimitable resources were
awaiting development. WhUe in London another child died
and one was born, so he began his voyage with three little ones.
An infant daughter died at sea. She was born at Younghall
in Ireland, from which port he embarked and because of her
nativity on Irish soil was christened Hibernia. The entry in
"The Tangier Book" which recites this sorrow concludes with
the pathetic sentence "The ocean was her grave."
The ship came to anchor in New York harbor August 6th,
1686. The town into which Colonel Smith entered on that long
ago summer afternoon was but a little village pleasantly situ
ated by the water's edge at the lower end of Manhattan Island.
Where the Custom House is now located stood the old Fort.
The spire of the Dutch Church beckoned to him and the arms
of windmill waved greeting. Broad Street, whose great canal
had been closed ten years before, was the main business
thoroughfare. Pearl Street was a waterside promenade. The
present Nassau Street was foretokened by a meadow path
known as "The Path which leads by the Pie Woman's to the
Common." A scattering line of private residences stretched
along the south side of Wall Street. The palisades upon the
north side which Stuyvesant had buUt and from which the
street derived its world-famous name, were either prostrate or
* The record of his marriage was made by him thus:
"Tang', this twentie-sixth Day of Novemb' 1675
This day beeinge fryday I William Smith Borne in Newton neare Hing
ham ferris in Northampton was married to Martha Tunstall of Putney in
the Countie of Surrie By Docctr William Turmer in the Protestant Church
in Tanger" 7

THE TOMBSTONES OP COLONEL WILLIAM SMITH, LORD OF THE MANOR OF ST. GEORGE, AND OF LADY
MARTHA" HIS WIFE IN THE FAMILY BURYING GROUND NEAR THE SITE OF THE
ORIGINAL MANOR HOUSE, SETAUKET, LONG ISLAND

falling and must have seemed strangely reminiscent of the
abandoned defenses at Tangier. The first public work of which
he became a witness was the repairing of this stockade and the
erection of stone bastions for artillery at the corner of William
Street, which involved such a burden of taxation that a rebel
lious contemporary described the undertaking as "a monument
to our folly." Doubtless he joined in the "hunting of the
wolves," with which the Island was infested and for the de
struction of which the community was organized by a special
proclamation of the City Fathers.
The then Governor of the Province was Thomas Dougan — a
man of forceful personality, of large experience in affairs, and a
high-minded politician. Among the Colonial Governors he
stands in the first rank. Dominie Selyns wrote of him "he is
a gentleman of knowledge, politeness and friendliness" and
added that he had received a visit from his Excellency and
could call upon him whenever he chose. The broad-visioned
policy of his administration is evinced by the justly famous
"Charter of Liberties and Privileges" which he secured, and
which not only enriched the City by many commercial advan
tages but established the principle of representative govern
ment and guaranteed freedom of conscience to "all peaceable
people who professed faith in God." In religion he was a
Roman Catholic, a fact which ultimately set in motion a
train of events which seriously affected the career of Colonel
Smith. A common philosophy of life and kindred traits of char
acter inevitably drew these two men into intimate companion
ship, but there was an additional basis for friendship in their
having held similar official dignity under the crown; DoVlgan
having served as Lieutenant-Governor of Tangier. The year
of Colonel Smith's arrival in New York was marked by the
adoption of a new City Seal, which in its heraldic device, pro
claims the atmosphere of growing prosperity and enlarging
influence which pervaded the infant metropoHs in which he had
found a home. To the industrious Beaver of the earlier Dutch
Seal were added a Windmill and a Flour Barrel, emblematic
of industry and commerce. The whole was supported by two
Indian Chiefs, whose presence is not easy to account for, unless
it be that as they cheerfully permitted themselves to be mulcted
of their rich lands for the sake of the grain and the grist, at
such ridiculously small prices, they had come to be not unnat
urally regarded as in some sense rightfully to be numbered among
9

the benefactors and founders of the commonwealth. The
design was encircled by a garland of laurel. At the outset of
his career on this side of the sea Colonel Smith seems to have
played his part in this industrial life of the community. The
records of Brookhaven (April 23d, 1690) contain an entry of a
note given by Governor Dougan to Colonel William Smith for
£293 "for goods" and in the paper Colonel Smith is styled "a
merchant." For the New Yorkers of that day who desired to become land
holders the central and eastern stretches of Long Island pos
sessed magnetic attractions. Not only was the natural wealth
of these districts very great, but they were being largely occu
pied by those of English descent who were impressing upon the
growing communities their ancestral habits of life and thought
and linking the new settlements with the mother country by
christening them with the home names of their native towns.
These lands moreover were purchasable from their Indian
owners at rates amazingly and alluringly low. Among the
most attractive of such holdings was the Town (ship) of Brook-
haven which ranged from the Sound to the Atlantic and from
Islip to Riverhead. An emigration of fifty-five persons, com
ing from the neighborhood of Boston in 1655 were the original pro
prietors. These settlers were well-bred, highly cultivated, versed
in the principles of English law and imbued with the spirit of
Anglo-Saxon independence. The broad, well-wooded, well-
watered fertile tract belting the centre of Long Island they pur
chased from the Indian Chief, Setauket, for "10 coats, 12 hoes,
12 hatchets, 50 eel spears, 6 kettles, 10 portions of wampum,
7 handfuls of powder, one pair of child's stockings, 10 lbs of
lead, 12 knives."
The unlocked for item "one pair of child's stockings" puts a
heart throb into this otherwise somewhat sordid incident of
barter and sale. To know the whole story of which it is the
single sentence would be worth many times the value of the
entire remaining inventory.
Brookhaven soon became a township of great family estates.
At the time of Colonel Smith's residence in New York it was
generally recognized as the centre of the aristocratic conserva
tism of West Suffolk at its best. Naturally drawn toward
such a region by the circumstances of his birth and the experi
ences of his life, Colonel Smith soon decided to make there his
permanent home. Most of the land which he desired was held
10

THE OWNERSHIP OF THIS LAND AND RESIDENCE UPON THIS SITE HAS NEVER
PASSED FROM THE DIRECT DESCENDANTS OF COLONEL SMITH
From the original in Ihe Frontispiece of the Ne-u, Yorlz Magazine, October 1792

11

by a handful of owners who were involved in bitter litigation
over title rights. Thanks to the Irish-like wit of Governor
Dougan, the tangle was cut by the suggestion that all their
difficulties would be readily and permanently settled if they
should all alike sell out to Colonel Smith. In consequence of
this Socratic advice Little Neck, with much adjoining territory
came into his possesison October 22d, 1686. Five years later
(May 25, 1691) Colonel Smith made another extensive pur
chase from an Indian named John Mayhew who concluded the
sale for £35. The details of the deed strikingly indicate the
somewhat vague and indeterminate methods of marking bound
ary lines which were then in vogue. The conveyance contains
such descriptive items as these: "from a river, a line to the
middle of Long Island" — " to a marked tree at the country road"
—"at the usual going over of Peconic River." "South line to
the main sea until you come to that part of the beach that hes
directly north of said river" — "East side of a certain house
which Stephen Bagley and company used when they went
whaling." There would seem to be an excellent chance for
decided differences of opinion as to the exact lay of the land
thus indicated. The deed is signed "John Mayhew, his -|-
mark." Following the purchase of this tract Colonel Smith filed an
application with the Governor and the Council setting forth that
the holdings which he had acquired "compass about five miles,
600 acres of upland, some meadows and thatch beds" and form
ally petitioned that this estate be erected into a manor to be
known as "The Manor of St. George."
The habit of life in the Province of New York was always
colored with aristocratic leanings, while the New England colo
nies were pervaded with a spirit of democracy. In New Eng
land the lowest stratum of society was far above the peasantry,
and there were few, if any, great landed estates, or large
accumulations of wealth. In the adjoining Colony of Con
necticut the relation of landlord and tenant was seldom found.
Education was general. The squire was a man of breeding.
Clergymen were men of letters. In New York throughout the
rural districts, there was a decided stratum of peasantry, and in
the City a populace, between which classes and the merchants
and the social and political leaders a wide gulf existed. In the
lowest ranks few were extremely poor, but among the well-to-do
immense fortunes were being accumulated. Landlord and
12

tenant was the ordinary rule of relationship. Great manorial
estates came into existence, miles in extent, cultivated and
cared for by armies of tenants. Lord Bellomont describing
the Manor of St. George said "Colonel Smith's grant runs fifty
miles in extent on Long Island with an infinite number of
goodly pines for pitch, tar and resin." The proprietor was
known as the Lord of the Manor. The title did not signify that
he was a member of the peerage, but denoted an ownership of
land invested with ancient and extensive privileges. He had an
ex officio seat in the Governor's Council. He had authority to
hold "Courts leet and baron." In some instances it lay within
his power to inflict capital punishment. On rent days, twice
annually, the tenants flocked to the Manor House and after
settling their rentals in coin or produce were entertained by
general feasting and merrymaking. These estates were en
tailed by the law of primogeniture, which, however, was usually
qualified by specific legacies to younger sons or daughters.
The holdings of Colonel Smith were surveyed by the Surveyor
General of the Province, an office, the necessity for which, and
the importance of which, the conditions of the time render em
phatically apparent. The official return of the Surveyor was
made September 19, 1693. The Petition was filed October 5,
1693. The Patent was granted by Governor Fletcher October
9, 1693. The opening sentence of this instrument states that
it is executed in the name of William and Mary by Benjamin
Fletcher " Captain General and Governor-in-Chief of the Prov
ince of New York and all territories depending thereon at the
request of your loving subject, Coll. William Smith, one of the
Members of Council and Chief Justice of said Province." The
Patent states that the holding is located in the district "for
merly called Long Island and now the Island of Nassau, which
was formerly purchased of ye native Indians." It recites
that "the Lordshipp or manor of St. George's" is erected for
"the future encouragement of our said loving subject." It
further declares "that wee, reposing especiafl trust and confi
dence in the loyalty, wisdome, Justice, pruedence, and cir
cumspection of said loveing subject doe * * * give and grant
full power and authority at all tymes forever hereafter in the
sd. lordshipp and mannour one court Leet and Court Baron to
hold and keep." It concludes with the statement that "the
said lordshipp and manor shall be and forever continue free
and exempt from the jurisdiction of any town, township or
manor." 13

A VERY OLD HOUSE ON THE SITE OF THE BUILDING REFERRED TO IN COLONEL SMITH'S WILL: "l LEAVE 10 MY
S(_)N WM. HENRY SMITH MY HOUSE ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE ISLAND ON THE MANOR
OF ST. GEORGE WHICH STANDS ON THE SEBOMUCK NECK."
The porch is a modern addition. Tlie house lias been occupied by an unbroken line of CotoncI Smith's descendant.

The interesting interrelationship between the powers of the
throne and the prerogatives of the citizens, which was the burn
ing issue of the day and which was bye-and-bye to start Paul
Revere on his world-awakening ride, is signally illustrated by the
fact that before the issuance of this instrument and its going
into effect it was twice submitted to the vote of the Town Meet
ing. On March 28, 1693, five months in advance of the official
filing of the Surveyor's report, a meeting of the Trustees and
Freeholders of the Town of Brookhaven was held at which the
proposed acquisition of land and the proposal for the erection
into a manor were rehearsed, and the question was put "Does
the Town object?" After full conference and free discussion the
Meeting unanimously adopted a resolution, which after reciting
the boundaries of the desired Manor and the privileges of owner
ship to be conferred, concludes vnth a formal civic sanction of
the proposed transaction, declaring in set terms that "it was
voated and agreed that the above saide Coll. Smith may pur
chase and peacably enjoy as aforesaid." On November 27,
1693, at a similar meeting the manorial patent as issued by
Governor Fletcher was read and the question again proposed
"did the Trustees object to any of its provisions" and again they
"voated" their unanimous approval. In May, 1694, at a Gen
eral Election Day, after due notice, the patent was once more
publicly read and similar action was taken.
In common with the Manorial Grants of the day, this Instru
ment invested the Lord of the Manor of St. George with au
thority to exercise certain judicial functions, known in legal
parlance as the holding "courts leet and baron." The powers
thus conferred have been popularly explained by John Fiske in
his luminous discussion of the conditions of manorial life in his
"Virgima and her Neighbors." The two phrases signify, he
states, certain methods of formally organizing the manorial
communities for freedom in self-government. The Court-leet
resembled a town meeting. All freemen could take part in it.
It enacted laws, elected constables and other local oiScers, set
up the stocks and pillory and sentenced offenders to occupy
them. It impanelled its jury and with the Steward of the
Manor as presiding judge it visited with fine or imprisonment
the vagrant, the poacher, the fraudulent dealer. The Court-
baron was an institution in which all freehold tenants sat as
judges to determine questions of law and fact. This Court
decided ah disputes between the Lord of the Manor and his
15

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AT SETAUKET, LONG ISLAND, ERECTED IN 1811 ON
THE SITE OF THE ORIGINAL BUILDING WHICH WAS ERECTED IN 1671
The Church stands upon an eminence but a short distance from the site of the original Manor
Bouse and ¦within easy walking distance. 16

tenantry concerning such matters as rent or trespass. Actions
for_ debt and the transfer of land were here tried with all tra
ditional formalities. In virtue of these chartered rights, the
great landed estates of those early proprietors, according to
Woodrow Wilson, "kept alive throughout the countrysides a
form of liberty very ancient and very vital." They constituted
"a school of sturdy self-assertion transplanted out of the feudal
law of Old England into an air never breathed in the Middle
Ages, and men of the lesser sort were heartened in their democ
racy accordingly."
The extent and character of the property rights bestowed
upon the Lord of the Manor of St. George can be best under
stood by a quotation from the Patent. The itemized inventory
of his holdings is partially detailed in the following paragraph:
"This patent doth give, grant, ratify and confirm unto said Coll. William
Smith, his heires and assignes, all and every the forecited necks, tracts and
parcells of Land and meadow within the respective limitts and bounds
before menconed and expressed, together with all and every messuages,
tenements, buildings, barnes, houses, outhouses, fences, orchards, Guard-
ings, Pastures, meadows, marshes, swamps, pooles, poundes, waters, water
courses, woods, underwoods, trees, timber, quarryes. Rivers, Runs, Rivo-
letts, Brookes, Lakes, Streames, Creeks, Harbors, beaches, bays, inlands,
fferyes, ffishing, ffowling, hunting, hawking, mines, mineralls, (silver and
gold mines only excepted) and all rights, members. Liberties, Privileges,
Jurisdictions, Royaltyes, Hereditaments, profits, benefits, advantages, and
appurtenances whatsoever to the aforesaid severall and respective necks
and tracts and parcells of Land and meadow, Bay, Beach and Inlands, with
the bay belonging or in any ways appertaining or accepted, reputed, taken,
known or occupying as part, parcell or member thereof"
This is not all, but it is amply sufficient to make it apparent
that if there was any sort or condition of material thing vnthin
the boundary lines of the grant, over which the Lord of the
Manor was not expressly given control, it was because the
lenses of the surveyor's theodolite were not powerful enough to
discern it, the vocabulary of the dictionary ample enough to
express it, or the imagination of the attorney sweeping enough
to conceive of it.
In 1689 Colonel Smith removed from New York to Brook
haven. Soon after its occupancy a social function of happy
omen was celebrated in the Manor House. The marriage bells
rang for Miss Martha Smith. The bridegroom was Caleb
Heathcote, son of the Mayor of Chester, England, and after
ward himself Mayor of New York and Lord of the Manor of
17

GENERAL JOHN SMITH, BORN 1756, DIED 1816

GREAT GRANDSON OF COLONEL WILLIA.M SMITH
From an engrailing by St. Menin in the possession of Miss Eleanor J . Smith

ELIZABETH (wOODHULl) SMITH, WIFE OF GENERAL JOHN SMITH;
BORN 17()2, DIED 1839
From a photograph in the possession of Miss Eleanor J . Smith

19

Scarsdale. Together with his distinguished father-in-law he
served as a member of the Council. In this same year Chief
Justice Smith was appointed to command the Suffolk militia.
The date (1689) at which Colonel Smith went into residence
at St. George's Manor, was made famous by the Revolution in
England which resulted in the dethronement of the Roman
Catholic James II, and the establishment of the Dutch Protes
tant Princes William and Mary as the English sovereigns. The
proclamation in the Colonies of this change of succession,
which had been brought about by intense religious feeling,
produced serious agitation. The excitement culminated in
New York in the Leisler outbreak with which Colonel Smith
became involved and which exercised a marked influence upon
his subsequent career. During tbe agitations in England the
City of New York was haunted by a fanatic and hysteric
dread of popery. To have risen to eminence or influence under
James, to have been loyal to the British crown, to be consid
ered as belonging to the aristocratic class, to be possessed of
land or of money, put one under popular suspicion of affiliation
with Roman Catholicism and as being at heart hostile or indif
ferent to the new social order which the popular imagination
fancied would follow from the enthronement of Protestantism.
A tense situation developed throughout the Colonies. The
officials felt themselves surrounded with stealthy foes. The
well-to-do classes realized that they were the targets of a grow
ing and irrational popular hatred. The common people were
obsessed with the idea that they were the objects of fiendish
plots. In Boston a popular uprising led by the celebrated Dr.
Cotton Mather overturned the government and lodged Sir
Edmund Andros in prison. By private messenger he appealed
to Governor Dougan to send from New York without delay a
special commission, of whom William Smith should be one, to
demand his release. So virulent and menacing was the anti-
papal excitement that his request could not be complied with.
Under date of "New Yorcke, 1689, May the 22^" it is recorded
in the Minutes of the Council that
Coll. Smith shewed and declared his willingnesse to serve his Excellency
Sr Edmond Andros, .... Butt hee living att Zealtalkett, the mid
dle of Long Island, ware the people already shoocke off this government
and taking him to be a papist or a frind off them, fears if hee should goe to
Boston that the people in his town would rise and plunder his house, if
not offer violence to his family 20

In New York the most grotesque rumors became rife. Staten
Island was said to be infested with papist conspirators. Gov
ernor Dougan was believed to be the instigator of an infernal
plot to destroy New York. The Lieutenant-Governor, a sin
cere Episcopalian, was charged -with being a papist in secret
and it was alleged that he was involved in a conspiracy to
cooperate with the landing of King James on the Jersey beach,
accompanied by an army of the French, for the purpose of
restoring Romanish rule in the province. The inevitable reac
tion of mob mentality to such abnormal conditions of social
excitement and confusion soon took place. There arose in the
minds of the masses the vision of a judgment day for the rich
and a millennium for the poor, when the populace should
mount to the top round of the ladder and the aristocracy
should be brought down to earth, to guide the plough and to
wield the hammer. Such a situation is the historic cue for the
demagogue. Enter, Jacob Leisler. Leisler was a man of great
native force but of small breeding. He was a good hater, and
the crown and Church of England were his pet antipathy. In
conversation he was loud and coarse, and when angered swore
like a porter. By refusing to pay revenue duties on the
ground that the collector was a papist, he flung the match into
the magazine. In the explosion which followed he was lifted
into the leadership of a popular revolt against constituted au
thority. The Fort was seized. The government of the city
was usurped. Such civic and social leaders as Phillips, Van
Cortlandt and Bayard were maltreated and imprisoned.
Whoever challenged the rightfulness of his rule were chris
tened "dogs," "traitors," "hellish rascals." A group of city
officials who at the house of Colonel Bayard, were celebrating
the coronation of William and Mary, were insolently ordered
to the Fort to join with Leisler and his crew in drinking the
health of the newly crowned majesties. To avoid giving an
excuse for outrage they complied, but as they passed through
the streets the mob gathered about them with riotous threats.
Physical violence was inflicted. Some were kicked and
pounded with fists. One was hit with a musket and another
was struck with a sword. Colonel William Smith was vocif
erously saluted as "a devil and a rogue" and was threatened
with such serious mishandling that he was compelled to flee
for his life. After a dazzling flare the Leisler rocket was quickly
spent and came crashing down to earth. The first official act
21

of Governor Sloughter, newly appointed by King Wilham, was
to arrest Leisler as "having been found in actual rebellion."
A special court was summoned for his trial. Colonel Wilham
Smith, whom Governor Sloughter also appointed a member of
his Council, was one of the distinguished and scholarly men
selected to sit upon this commission. A contemporary writes
of this bench of judges, "they were gentlemen most capable of
discerning the truth and least prejudiced against the prisoners."
The ablest lawyers in the Province conducted the case, which
resulted in the condemnation and execution of Leisler and his
associates as being the ringleaders of a treasonable conspiracy.
During this same year (1691) the Assembly abolished the old
Court of Assizes and instituted a new Supreme Court consist
ing of five Judges; the Chief Justice was granted a salary of
£130, the Second Justice £100, while the remaining three were
to ser\e without compensation. The first appointees were
Dudley, Chief Justice; Johnson, Second Justice; with Colonel
Smith, Van Cortlandt and Pinhorne, Associate Justices. In
1692 Dudley vacated his office by change of residence and
Colonel Smith was designated as his successor in the Chief
Justiceship. Throughout his long incumbency in this most
responsible and exacting office the Colony was shaken with
embittered political and social strife but he achieved an envi
able record for dignity, ability and impartiality.
When Lord Bellamont became Governor of the Province
(1698) circumstances led him to favor the adherents of Leisler.
The course of his administration was so shaped as to penalize
those who were responsible for Leisler's death and to bring to
pass at least some of the theories of social reform which Leisler
ad\'ocated, by imposing all possible checks upon the accumula
tion of wealth. This policy led to an immediate clash with
Colonel Smith, who was one of the Judges by whom Leisler had
been condemned and was also the proprietor of a great manorial
estate. The Governor promptly removed him from the Chief
Justiceship and appointed in his stead Stephen Van Cortlandt.
Had it been expedient the Governor would have removed him
from his seat in the Council, but his known loyalty and the
high favor in which he stood with the throne stayed his hand.
With reference to the land grants which had been constituted
into Manors, Lord Bellamont formulated a radical policy.
These enormous landed estates haunted his thought. To his
mind all the wealth of the New York aristocracy had been
22

gained dishonestly. In his opinion great tracts of Government
land had been granted away to feudal lords without compen
sation and in contradiction to the best interests of the com
monwealth. He determined to strike a deadly blow at these
landholders. A bill was prepared to be submitted to Parlia
ment which should prohibit any one person from becoming
proprietor of more than one thousand acres under any circum
stances. The ardor with which he embarked upon this pro
ceeding may be inferred from the fact that among the first group
of holdings which he sought to "shatter" were two of Dominie
Dellius; one of Trinity Church and one of Chief Justice Smith's
son-in-law, Caleb Heathcote. Another of his principal objec
tives was St. George's Manor. That a high official should be
an extensive landowner, that any proprietor should exercise
feudal rights over a territory alleged to stretch along fifty
miles of seacoast, and to belt the fairest region of Long Island,
was adjudged by the Governor to be a glaring illustration of a
system which was destructive of popular rights and one which
he resolutely set himself to overthrow. In the Lord of this
Manor he instinctively recognized a formidable antagonist and
remarked to the Attorney-General of the Province that "Colonel
Wifliam Smith seemed very much averse to the proposed bill."
Rejecting the advice of the Attorney-General that the passage
of the measure was well-nigh impossible, and that even if
enacted into law it might produce civil war, the bill was laid
before the Council. Three were for it and three were against
it. Bellomont cast the deciding vote in its favor. Dominie
Dellius at once set sail for England to appeal to the King.
Trinity Church invoked the aid of the Bishop of London. The
Rector of Trinity, the Reverend Mr. Vesey, omitted mention
of the Governor and his family in the Sunday prayers and
substituted a petition for Dominie DeUius, imploring God to
grant him a safe voyage and give him success with the King.
The Governor retorted by petitioning the Bishop of London
to deprive Mr. Vesey of his benefice. The upheaval was wide
spread and intense. The Clergy were aroused. The well-
to-do classes were up in arms. The merchants openly aligned
themselves against the reformatory measures. The London
Lords of Trade were so bombarded vnth angry petitions, remon
strances and memorials that finally, to Bellomont's discomfiture,
they laid upon the table his proposal for the destruction of the
manors, and the King whispered in his ear a friendly caution to
beware of over-encouraging the Leisler faction.
23

LITH BY SNYDER & BLACK

PAINT? 8Y S./* MOUNT.

From a print in the possession of Miss Eleanor J. Smith

24

JgS/

GREAT GRE.VT GRANDSON OF COLONEL WILLIAM SMITH
From a print in the possession of Miss Eleanor J . Smith

25

When the death of Lord Bellamont occurred, March 5, 1701,
the Lieutenant-Governor was in the Barbados and the gov
ernment of New York was left for the time being without a
head. Colonel Smith hastened from the Manor of St. George
to the City and asserted his right to act as President of the
Council in virtue of being its oldest member, and therefore
acting Governor of the Province during the interregnum. The
four gentlemen present vehemently disputed his claims, their
ardor being due not only to their theories of the law, but to the
circumstance that they were devoted adherents of Leisler.
Before the debate was issued, Robert Livingston and Peter
Schuyler, who had been detained by ice in the Hudson, arrived
upon the scene and sided strongly with Smith. The walls of
the Council chamber reverberated with stinging sarcasm and
eloquent invective. The clamor became so strident that
people in the neighborhood raised an alarm. Before a parlia
mentary decision of the dispute could be arrived at, the matter
was laid to rest by the return of the Lieutenant-Governor.
By Lord Cornbury, Colonel Smith was reinstated in the Chief
Justiceship of the Province which office he continued to admin
ister until within two years of his death.
Whatever justification Bellamont may have had for his em
bittered opposition to the creation of vast landed estates, (and
his attitude was not without reason) and however clearly appar
ent it might have been that the maintenance of manorial rights
must, and should, inevitably lapse with the later and larger
development of the commonwealth, there are certain facts which
ought to be remembered in connection with the bestowal and
the exercise of these exceptional powers. The group of men in
whom they were vested were endowed with rare gifts of a leader
ship which was singularly essential in those pioneer days. Uni
formly they rose to the eminence which they enjoyed by the
exercise of disciplined intelligence, wide-eyed vision, devoted
patriotism, high ideals of political and social order backed by
sterling character and fine breeding. The noblest possibilities
of the Colony in its formative period could scarcely be more
fully and more surely realized than by enlarging the sphere of
their influence. The exceptional resources with which they were
entrusted were devoted to exceptional service for the State.
The Government required and benefited by their talents and
their wealth. Civil and military duty was performed by them
with unstinted sacrifice of personal devotion and financial re-
26

source. Taxes were slow, often impossible of collection.
Again and again the monies from the Manors saved the credit
of the State. Business operations were limited, facilities for
commercial interchange were but poorly established and New
York is largely indebted for her present-day mercantile suprem
acy, her social, prestige, her political importance, to the re
markable energy, to the wise and tireless activity of that little
group of Lords of the Manors whose spirit Governor Bellamont
impugned and whose rights he vainly challenged.
William Smith died at St. George's Manor February 18,
1705, aged fifty-one years.* About two years before his death
he had voluntarily laid aside some of his more burdensome
dignities, but he continued to sit as a member of the Gov
ernor's Council until the end of his life. His grave is in a family
burying ground at Setauket, Long Island, near the site of the
original Manor House and is marked by a stone bearing the
following inscription:
Here lyes intered ye body of ye Hon. Coll. William Smith Chiefe Justice
and President of ye Councill of ye Province of New Yorke. Born in Eng
land at Higham Ferrars in Northampton Feb. ye 2 165i and died at the
mansion of St. George Feb. 18 170f in ye 51st yeare of his age
The tombstone contains only his titles and the dates of his
birth and death. In lieu of any formal obituary it is interest
ing to recall the fact that Governor Bellamont, his pronounced
antagonist, testified that "Smith has more sense and is more
gentleman like than any man I have seen in the Province."
The Will, which opens with the injunction "I direct my
body to be buried without any manner of pomp," reveals the
extent of his holdings in real estate, by disposing not only of
the extensive tract in the Township of Brookhaven, but also
of lots "near the road to Old Man's Farms," (Port Jefferson)
lands near Southampton and Southold and of houses in New
York (at the present site of No. 1 Broadway). The New
York property was bequeathed to his "daughter provided she
* The record of his death in "The Tangier Book'' was written by his
eldest son, as follows:
eiaesi son, ^^^^ ^^ ^^ GeorgesFeb^y 18 170^f
Then Almighty God was pleased (after sixteen days sick-
Lord day ness of a Rheumatism &c) to take to himself our bond &
3 a clocke Deare Father Col°: William Smith, who ye 21st of said inst.
afternoon was intered in the Evening where he had directed: & Mr
Geo: Phillips preached his funeral sermon.
27

do not marry without her mother's consent." In connection
with the will, the following inventory of his estate is given:

Wearing apparel

£109

Silver Plate

£150

11 embroidered belts

£100

104 Silver Buttons

£ 5/ 10s
Silver watch
£ 10
Coat of Arms
£ 2
Silver headed Cane
£ 2
Fine Fishing Rod
15s
Velvet Saddle and Side Saddle
£ 10
Turkey Scimiter
£ 5/ 10s
Three Swords
£ 8
12 negroes
Oxen, Steers, Cows
Two-year-olds, Yearlings,
Bulls-
Total
£2589
The value of his wearing apparel compared with the worth of
the family silver-plate, together with the ample equipment of
belts and silver buttons significantly suggests that the Lord of
St. George's Manor was by no means indifferent to his personal
appearance, but took pains to array himself in a fashion properly
bespeaking the dignity and responsibility of his rank. The
"Turkey Scimiter" was doubtless a souvenir of the sojourn in
Tangier. The mention of the negroes in juxtaposition with the
barnyard animals is illustrative of the opinion of that day which
regarding them as chattels naturally bracketed them with
cattle. The total value of the estate, even taking into account
the larger worth of money at that time, is singularly modest and
would seem to conclusively rebut the idea that the Lord of St.
George's Manor was using the high station in the Colony to
which he had been exalted to accumulate a personal fortune.
When the offices and opportunities that were his are remem
bered, the value of his estate is singularly and most honorably
small. The Lady of the Manor outlived him four and a half years,
dying September 1, 1709, after a residence at St. George's Manor
of twenty years. Grace and force were happily blended in her
character and the eminence of her station was worthily main
tained with mingled dignity and aff abihty. Sharing to the fuU
all the interests of the life which came within her touch, she
never descended from the position which she was caUed to
occupy. With kindly respect and with neighborly pride she
was universally spoken of as "Lady Martha." In the Meet-
28
ing House she was assigned a unique place among those of
highest rank. At the close of the Sunday services the congre
gation remained respectfully standing as she withdrew from the
Church. Among the family traditions it is whispered that upon
occasion she donned her old-time court dress and walked the
porch of the Manor House, as though in the royal presence, in
order that the fineness of her breeding might not be forgotten
and blurred. The Tangier Book contains many a page in
her handwriting of curious and forgotten lore showing her
knowledge of simples and that she was a past-mistress in the
housekeeping craft of her day.* A single excerpt from an old
business journal proves her possessed of a canny thrift and
executive ability which well qualified her to carry the respon
sibilities which devolved upon her when left in solitary control
of the estate. She writes
Jan ye 16, 1707, my company killed a 3'earling ("whale") which made
27 barrels. Feb ye 4 Indian Henry with his Ijoat struck a whale and
could not kill it and called for my boat to help him. I had but a third
which was 4 barrels. Feb 22 my two boats and my son's and Floyd's boat
killed a yearling whale of which I had half which made 36 my share IS
barrels. March 13 my company killed a small yearling made 30 barrels.
March 17 my company killed two yearlings in one day. One made 27 the
other 14 barrels.
Every glimpse of this Colonial gentlewoman which flashes
through the misty years moves with warm pride the de
scendants of the grave and genial chatelaine of St. George's
Manor. A very interesting sideHght upon Manorial life as well as the
conduct of things in general at that period, is furnished by cer-
tain.'^happenings in connection with the building of the Meeting
House and the organization of the congregation. The original
house of worship was a small and simple structure only twenty-
eight feet square. "After forty years" so runs the record
* Here is a handful of samples taken at random: • , „ r-
"to make a Boyled puden" or a " superexcellent Cack" ' to Pickell Cow
Cumbers" "to make a good ffrigasee of Chickens" "a Quakmge pud-
dinge" "for a Blasted face or pysoned by any ill herb or wend" "for a ffelon"
ufQj defness" "Oyle of Charety to be taken outwards or inwards"
"a paist to make ye hands white and smooth" "to wash ye head to make
hare grow" "to keep your Teath Sounde" etc., etc.
29

r

r/ // ^/zv • / ///////

y-

THE TANGlEIi SMITH ASMS

30

ti Another committee was appointed to order and proportion a
ew buildijig and to determine the place of its setting up." Dif-
erences of opinion so deadlocked this committee that for four
years they were unable to make any report, even of progress.
At the end of that time, a Town Meeting "at which" to quote
the Minutes "Colonel Henry Smith, Colonel R. Floyd and all
the principle inhabitants and seigniors being present, — agreed
that the site might be determined by a providential lot, which
being truly and impartially executed, directed the place to be
near and adjoining the old Meeting House." It may be doubted
whether the practical politician of the present day, either in the
church or out of it, would consent to stake the success of his
cause upon "a providential lot," but aU then concerned ac
cepted this solution of their differences and the Meeting House
was erected at the spot thus indicated and upon that same site
within a gunshot of the location of the original Manor House
stands its successor, the present church edifice.
In connection with the locating of the Meeting House, the
following order was taken concerning the " Minister's Sallery."
The amount was fixed at £40, which was to be raised "after the
same manner as the County Rate is and to be paide by Coll.
Smith his mannor. The Towne of Brookhaven and Smithtown."
Before the arrangements for the new Meeting House were com
pleted circumstances made it necessary to adopt an official
plan of seating the congregation. The scheme decided upon
strikingly reveals the distinguished position in the community
which was occupied by Madame Smith. The documentary
statement of the seating problem and its solution runs as follows:
Whereas there hath several rude actions happened in our church by
reason of the peoples not being duly seated, which is much to the dishonor
of God and the discouragement of virtue, it is ordered that the inhabitants
be seated after manner and form following:
That all householders that have or shall subscribe within a month to
pay 40 shillings to Mr. Phillips for his maintenance as minister, are seated
at the Table and that noe wimmen are permitted to sett there, except
Coll. Smith's Lady — nor any women kinde.
The President was seated at the right; the "Clarke" to the
left; the Justice and Justices "at the Table, whatever they
paid." The pews from 1 to 5 were allotted in order of the
number of shillings paid toward the expenses of the Church.
The roster continues: 31

7 for young men; 8 for ye boys; 9 for ministers, ministers' widows and
wives and for those women whose husbands pay 40 shillings to sett there
according to their ages [Trulj' a most ungallant arrangement and doubt
less difficult of execution] 15 for maids; 16 for girls; 17 free for any.
The Tangier Smith coat of arms is thus described in the
quaint phraseology of the herald:
Argent — a Chevron between three Griffins' heads — erased sable — langued
gules. Crest — Griffin's head, erased ermine. Motto — "Semper Fidelis."
To those skilled in heraldic lore these hieroglyphics publish
in emblematic form, the biography of the Lord of the Manor
of St. George. The Chevron was given to those who aided in
successfully defending a town against a siege. The three
Griffins' heads show that a victory had been gained beyond
the sea at which the warrior to whom the arms were granted
had served as third in command. The Griffin's head in the
crest has the same significance, the ermine showing that a
sovereign prince had been in command of the army.
This Coat of Arms has been the heirloom of a long and dis
tinguished line, who have imposed no bar sinister upon its
quarterings, who have played an influential part in the develop
ment and direction of American character and affairs from the
days of the Colonies until its present expansion into a world
power, who are occupying posts of honor in the state, in the pro
fessions, in letters and arts and in social circles; who are marked
in high or humble station by the high breeding which is their
cherished heritage; who are characteristically loyal to govern
mental order and constituted authority and conspicuously de
voted to the promotion of the common good, in that fine spirit
of "noblesse oblige" which is their heritage; who are grateful
with a just pride for their ancestral dignity, and by the pur
suit of the highest ideals both in the discharge of their public
responsibilities and in the culture of their personal character, are
ever seeking to exemplify their ancestral motto:
"Semper Fidelis."

32

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

3 9002 06990 1701