Brookhaven/South Haven Hamlets

Thursday, November 18, 2010

August Belmont and his relationship to The Suffolk Club, a member?, an organizer?, an incorporator?

This email, by researcher Dr. Richard Thomas, are notes on the subject of August Belmont and his relationship to the 19th century Suffolk Club of South Haven, L.I., New York.

Although several secondary sources name August Belmont as an organizer, incorporator, and a member, Richard found little contemporary evidence in support, although on at least one occasion he visited the club, perhaps as a guest.

This is the first of several follow-on emails.

From: Richard Thomas
Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 2010 3:44 PM
To: Van Lith, Marty; Deitz, John
Subject: August Belmont and his relationship to The Suffolk Club, a member?, an organizer?, an incorporator?

Several different secondary sources say that August Belmont organized the Suffolk Club. The authors of Long Island Country Houses and their Architects, 1860-1940, (published 1997), say that the Suffolk Club was organized in New York City on April 6, 1858, by August Belmont "in concert with Walt Sherman, W. Butler Duncan, and others," [p. 1823].

One secondary source, the New York Times of 24 Feb 2001, http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/24/nyregion/blocks-cedar-artifacts-worth-gold-hunting-decoys-outlived-their-usefulness.html?pagewanted=2, says August Belmont organized a Suffolk Club in Wyandanch, New York.

The various editions of Nick Karas's book, Brook Trout mention August Belmont in connection with the Suffolk Club. (The first edition was published in 1997.)

In the latest edition, Brook Trout, Revised and Updated, published in 2003, he states,

These men were forerunners of the club organized by August Belmont in New York City in 1858. This group included John Van Buren, the president's son, Peleg Hall, W. Butler Duncan, Walter Sherman, and Joseph Grafton. Webster was never a member of the club; he died in 1852. The Suffolk Club, as they were called, bought piecemeal, from 20 owners, a total of 1500 acres around the pond and the old mill. [p. 172]

There is no footnote that reveals where Karas got his list of names.

Nick Karas's book is filled with errors, and, as is usually the case, many sentences combine a statement which is true with one that is false.

(For example, he says the South Haven Presbyterian Church was moved to Brookhaven hamlet "to make way for the highway." The South Haven Presbyterian Church was moved to Brookhaven hamlet in December 1960, but the four-lane Sunrise Highway extension had nothing to do with why it was moved. The sentence is, at least, an improvement over the reason Karas gave for moving the church in his Sports Illustrated article on Webster and the Big Fish that was published prior to 1967: "Over the years the congregation dwindled to the point where the church was of little use.")

[The comment that "Webster was never a member of the club" is also misleading. The Suffolk Club surely existed informally, and with that name, long before it was incorporated. This is supported by the Club's purchase of a pew in the South Haven Presbyterian Church. In 1840, the congregation decided to purchase back pews and make them freely available to anyone who wished to worship in the meeting house, so the Suffolk Club almost certainly purchased its pew before that date.]

In Suffolk County, Long Island, in Early Photographs, 1867-1951, [Dover, 1984, p. 102], the authors write, "Groups of monied anglers bought up large blocs of land and built luxurious clubs, such as the Great South Bay Angler's Club, the South Shore Rod and Reel Club, the East End Surf Club and August Belmont's exclusive Suffolk Club in Bellport."

Oddly, one of the most well-known clubs for "monied anglers," the South Side Sportsmen's Club, Oakdale, does not appear on the list. Surely Mr. William Vanderbilt and Bayard Cutting would qualify as "monied anglers."

In 1889, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle Almanac lists these clubs (p. 38) as the largest and most prominent on Long Island: 1) Suffolk Club, Brookhaven; 2) Amagansett Club, 3) North Side Sportsmen's Club; 4) Robin's Island Club, Peconic Bay; 5) Rod and Reel Society; 6) Suffolk Sporting Club; 7) South Side Sportsmen's Club, Oakdale; 8) Olympic Club, Bay Shore; 9) Hampton Club, Southampton; 10) Meadow Brook Hounds, Hempstead; and 11) Rockaway Hunt Club, Far Rockaway.

The Suffolk Club was certainly not one of the largest clubs on Long Island, since membership in the Club was limited to 15. So it must have been listed first because of its prominence.

An earlier secondary reference that links August Belmont with the Suffolk Club is in one of Helen Morrow Ewing's "Brookhaven" columns published in the Long Island Advance on 22 Sep 1933. She writes:

Among the members [of the Suffolk Club], over a period of years, were August Belmont, George W. Wickersham, Frances [sic.] Augustus Schermerhorn, Commodore Robert Bourne, Joseph Grafton, William Meyer, Thomas Meyer, John Cadwalder [sic.], Charles Strong, Fred D. Tappan, John Campbell, Daniel B. Fearing, John Schuyler, Anson W. Hard, A. J. Smith, Henry Von L. Meyer, George Von L. Meyer, Dr. George Wheelock, and Evelyn Roosevelt.

Of course, in 1933, the Suffolk Club no longer existed.

August Belmont had his own trout fishing pond, so it seems odd that he would need to go somewhere else to fish. His "great stock farm" of 900 acres was located near Babylon. He called it "The Nursery."

New York Times, 06 Jun 1878
Many of the guests paid a visit to the splendid private trout pond which stretches in front of the house. It covers 50 acres, and has two island in it. It is fed by a brook four miles long. An attempt was recently made to clean the pond, and in transferring the fish the majority of them died; so that it will have to be restocked.

Nineteenth century newspaper articles and books sometimes list a few of the members of the Suffolk Club. The total number of members was quite small, fourteen or so.

August Belmont does appears in two early articles or lists of people who visited the Suffolk Club or who were members of it.

The first is this cryptic article that appeared in an article entitled "Long Island's Trout Ponds" in the New York Times on 28 Jul 1872:

At Fire Place there is the long-famous pond known as Mr. Samuel Carman's. It covers about forty acres, and is valued at $20,000. There is, in conjunction with this pond, a very fine clubhouse, which is used by the New-York Associations, and occasionally by Mr. August Belmont.
At Bellport there is a pond, known as Osborne's, covering fifteen acres, and valued at $15,000.
At Islip there is a well-known pond, which is used by the South-side Club, and a second pond has only lately been finished. The main pond covers thirty acres, and the other about four acres. Both are very find, and are valued at $100,000.
. . . At Patchogue is what has long been known as Swan Creek Pond--a large and very beautiful body of water, which covers twenty acres, and is valued at $20,000. The water is excellent, and the privileged sportsmen who have thrown their fly in it, consider it the "handsomest stream on the South-side."
. . . Babylon is noted for its several private ponds, which are owned by men of presumed extraordinary wealth. Here, in connection with his residence and somewhat famous stables, Mr. August Belmont, the banker, has a very fine small pond, valued at $9,000. Mr. Royal Phelps of New-York, has one on his place, which is valued at $8,000. Both gentlemen have find lodges on their grounds, and also notably attractive improvements.

Contemporaneous sources include these individuals:

Suffolk Club Members (or who fished there)
June 1875
1. Joseph Grafton
2. James N. Platt, partner in the law firm of Platt & Bowers, died 16 Jun 1894

May 1877
1. John M. Bowers, partner in the law firm of Platt & Bowers, died Mar 1918

April 1, 1880 (the following had gone to Yaphank to be present at the opening of the Suffolk Club [for the season])
1. August Belmont
2. Fred Schuchardt
3. Henry Fearing
4. George Fearing
5. Henry Meyer
6. Thomas Meyer
7. Peter Townsend

April 2, 1882. Fourteen total members.
1. Capt. Joseph Grafton, President
2. Henry Fearing
3. James Platt
4. John Campbell
5. Peleg Hall
6. J. L. Cadwalader
7. Thomas Meyer (Suffolk Club also mentioned in letter from nephew in April 1905)
8. Peter Townsend.

March 31, 1894 (The NYTimes confuses the location of the Suffolk Club with the baseball club of the same name in Huntington.)
1. C. H. Horsman
2. Charles E. Strong
3. John Cadwalader
4. H. Fearing

Aug and Nov 1901.
1. Frederick Augustus Schermerhorn, died 20 March 1919. ("He never married although his tastes were distinctly domestic.")

April 1905
1. Thomas Meyer (in George von Lengerke Meyer: His Life and Public Service, p. 145.)

Also, in 1908, Augustus Haviland was the attorney for the Suffolk Club. (The Suffolk Club was one of the "objectors" to New York City's application to take water from Suffolk County.)

There was a very exclusive Wyandanch Club on the Nissequoque (the Willow ponds) near Smithtown. However, it seems to have adopted that name after 1892.

The New York Times reported on the opening of the trout fishing season on 02 Apr 1882. About halfway through, the article reports on the Suffolk Club, saying:

The Suffolk Club, a very exclusive association, which has a membership of 14, owns a charming sylvan retreat at South Haven near Yaphank. The club-house is snugness itself, and the cellars and cuisine are praised by those who have been so fortunate as to be entertained as guests. It has two tree-embowered lakes in which the trout grow very large. The water is exceedingly pure and so full of nourishment for the Fontinalis that they are, to all intents wild trout as they are never fed. The current through the lake to the east is Carman's River. It takes its source at Virgin Springs, on the pine forest plain, and after crossing the highway below the lakes broadens into a wide, lively, pleasant brook terminating in the Great South Bay two miles from the club-house. Recently the Suffolk Club obtained control of Carman's River, and grand fashioning for estuary trout is looked for. The river will be improved and stocked, and will be in the near future the main attraction of the club. It is navigable from the Great South Bay for a long distance, partly under a thick growth of timber, and where the trees are it is cool in the hottest weather. The country is sparsely settled in the neighborhood and only one house is seen from the club-house to the mouth of Carman's River. Capt. Joseph Grafton is President of the club, but be is now in Europe. The opening day was observed by Messrs. Henry Fearing, James Platt, John Campbell, Peleg Hall, J. L. Cadwallader, Thomas Meyer, and Peter Townsend. The members are not limited to any number of trout to be caught in one day. The amount of their "catch" is regulated by their consciences and their skill.

That same article then goes on to report on an estate at Sayville, then says about Mr. Belmont:

Mr. August Belmont will probably fish on his preserve near Islip. Some of his friends have been invited to go there.

An article published in the New York Times, 31 Mar 1894, mentions the South Side Club at Oakdale, the Wyandank Club, at Smithtown, (a Brooklyn organization, formerly, the Brooklyn Gun Club), and the Suffolk Club. It then mentions August Belmont, whom the reporter supposes will be fishing at his famous private preserve on his estate.

August Belmont Sr. was never a member of the South Side Sportsman's Club either. His son, August Belmont Jr., was admitted as a member of the Southside Sportsman's Club in May 1900.

The Southside Sportsman's Club developed out of the property of Eliphalet 'Litt' Snedecor on the banks of the Connetquot River. He ran a tavern and inn there. George Lorillard (tobacco magnate), William K. Vanderbilt, and William Bayard Cutting fished at Snedecors and decided they wanted it for themselves. They purchased his property in 1866 and created the South Side Sportsman's Club.

http://www.ihff.com/connetquot_history.html
Over the years, they continued to purchase land along the river, eventually totaling 3,473 acres. Their main interest was hunting and fishing so they maintained the land and water for the protection and propagation of game, birds and fish. The Club established a trout hatchery in 1870. Although it has had two prior locations, its present location has been propagating fish successfully since 1890.

In 1963, the Club sold the property to New York State for $6.2 million. The Club leased back the property for an additional ten years. In August of 1973, the facility officially became a New York State Park

Frederick G. Bourne joined the South Side Sportsman's Club in September 1890. See: http://books.google.com/books?id=NOA-AAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Next, I checked the New York State laws, hoping to find a charter for the Suffolk Club. I found that the New York State legislature had chartered many clubs and companies, including:

Suffolk Co. Steamboat Company - c. 90, 1839.
Suffolk Co. Society - c. 272, 1860.
Clever Fellows' Club - c. 383, 1864.
Izaak Walton Fishing Club, De Ruyter, c. 184, 1864.
Southside Sportsman's Club, Long Island, c. 346, 1866.
Cortland Co. Sportman's Club - c. 675, 1866.
Sportsman's Club, Kinderhook - c. 811, 1866.
Long Island Club - c. 156, 1871.

None of these appeared to be The Suffolk Club, but that was not the case. See next e-mail.

Richard

Note on Peter Townsend: Peter Townsend was born on the Sterling Iron tract, a huge iron deposit in Orange and Rockland Counties that runs down into New Jersey. The tract was owned by the Sterling Iron Works that had been founded by his grandfather. He was born on 13 May 1803 and later lived at 32 E. 23rd St. in Manhattan where he died on 26 Sep 1885. "Mr. Townsend had a striking figure. He was tall and powerful and weighed over 240 pounds." according to the New York Sun, 27 Sep 1885.

August Belmont and his relationship to the Suffolk Club

This email, sent Wed 11/17/2010 3:44 PM, is a collection of notes by researcher Dr. Richard Thomas on the purported connections August Belmont had with the 19th century Suffolk Club of South Haven, L. I., New York.

Except for several secondary references, he has not been able to find any contempory references to August Belmont being a founder, organizer or incorporator, although he definitely visited the preserve, perhaps as guest, and likely was of the same social circle as the Club's members.

The various editions of Nick Karas's book, Brook Trout mention August Belmont in connection with the Suffolk Club. (The first edition was published in 1997.)

In the latest edition, Brook Trout, Revised and Updated, published in 2003, he states,

These men were forerunners of the club organized by August Belmont in New York City in 1858. This group included John Van Buren, the president's son, Peleg Hall, W. Butler Duncan, Walter Sherman, and Joseph Grafton. Webster was never a member of the club; he died in 1852. The Suffolk Club, as they were called, bought piecemeal, from 20 owners, a total of 1500 acres around the pond and the old mill. [p. 172]

There is no footnote that reveals where Karas got his list of names.

Nick Karas's book is filled with errors, and, as is usually the case, many sentences combine a statement which is true with one that is false.

The Suffolk Club was certainly not one of the largest clubs on Long Island, since membership in the Club was limited to 15. So it must have been listed first because of its prominence.

An earlier secondary reference that links August Belmont with the Suffolk Club is in one of Helen Morrow Ewing's "Brookhaven" columns published in the Long Island Advance on 22 Sep 1933. She writes:

Among the members [of the Suffolk Club], over a period of years, were August Belmont, George W. Wickersham, Frances [sic.] Augustus Schermerhorn, Commodore Robert Bourne, Joseph Grafton, William Meyer, Thomas Meyer, John Cadwalder [sic.], Charles Strong, Fred D. Tappan, John Campbell, Daniel B. Fearing, John Schuyler, Anson W. Hard, A. J. Smith, Henry Von L. Meyer, George Von L. Meyer, Dr. George Wheelock, and Evelyn Roosevelt.

Of course, in 1933, the Suffolk Club no longer existed.

New York Times, 06 Jun 1878
Many of the guests paid a visit to the splendid private trout pond which stretches in front of the house. It covers 50 acres, and has two island in it. It is fed by a brook four miles long. An attempt was recently made to clean the pond, and in transferring the fish the majority of them died; so that it will have to be restocked.

Nineteenth century newspaper articles and books sometimes list a few of the members of the Suffolk Club. The total number of members was quite small, fourteen or so.

August Belmont does appears in two early articles or lists of people who visited the Suffolk Club or who were members of it.

The first is this cryptic article that appeared in an article entitled "Long Island's Trout Ponds" in the New York Times on 28 Jul 1872:

At Fire Place there is the long-famous pond known as Mr. Samuel Carman's. It covers about forty acres, and is valued at $20,000. There is, in conjunction with this pond, a very fine clubhouse, which is used by the New-York Associations, and occasionally by Mr. August Belmont.
At Bellport there is a pond, known as Osborne's, covering fifteen acres, and valued at $15,000.
At Islip there is a well-known pond, which is used by the South-side Club, and a second pond has only lately been finished. The main pond covers thirty acres, and the other about four acres. Both are very find, and are valued at $100,000.
. . . At Patchogue is what has long been known as Swan Creek Pond--a large and very beautiful body of water, which covers twenty acres, and is valued at $20,000. The water is excellent, and the privileged sportsmen who have thrown their fly in it, consider it the "handsomest stream on the South-side."
. . . Babylon is noted for its several private ponds, which are owned by men of presumed extraordinary wealth. Here, in connection with his residence and somewhat famous stables, Mr. August Belmont, the banker, has a very fine small pond, valued at $9,000. Mr. Royal Phelps of New-York, has one on his place, which is valued at $8,000. Both gentlemen have find lodges on their grounds, and also notably attractive improvements.

Contemporaneous sources include these individuals:

Suffolk Club Members (or who fished there)
June 1875
1. Joseph Grafton
2. James N. Platt, partner in the law firm of Platt & Bowers, died 16 Jun 1894

May 1877
1. John M. Bowers, partner in the law firm of Platt & Bowers, died Mar 1918

April 1, 1880 (the following had gone to Yaphank to be present at the opening of the Suffolk Club [for the season])
1. August Belmont
2. Fred Schuchardt
3. Henry Fearing
4. George Fearing
5. Henry Meyer
6. Thomas Meyer
7. Peter Townsend

April 2, 1882. Fourteen total members.
1. Capt. Joseph Grafton, President
2. Henry Fearing
3. James Platt
4. John Campbell
5. Peleg Hall
6. J. L. Cadwalader
7. Thomas Meyer (Suffolk Club also mentioned in letter from nephew in April 1905)
8. Peter Townsend.

March 31, 1894 (The NYTimes confuses the location of the Suffolk Club with the baseball club of the same name in Huntington.)
1. C. H. Horsman
2. Charles E. Strong
3. John Cadwalader
4. H. Fearing

Aug and Nov 1901.
1. Frederick Augustus Schermerhorn, died 20 March 1919. ("He never married although his tastes were distinctly domestic.")

April 1905
1. Thomas Meyer (in George von Lengerke Meyer: His Life and Public Service, p. 145.)

Also, in 1908, Augustus Haviland was the attorney for the Suffolk Club. (The Suffolk Club was one of the "objectors" to New York City's application to take water from Suffolk County.)

There was a very exclusive Wyandanch Club on the Nissequoque (the Willow ponds) near Smithtown. However, it seems to have adopted that name after 1892.

The New York Times reported on the opening of the trout fishing season on 02 Apr 1882. About halfway through, the article reports on the Suffolk Club, saying:

The Suffolk Club, a very exclusive association, which has a membership of 14, owns a charming sylvan retreat at South Haven near Yaphank. The club-house is snugness itself, and the cellars and cuisine are praised by those who have been so fortunate as to be entertained as guests. It has two tree-embowered lakes in which the trout grow very large. The water is exceedingly pure and so full of nourishment for the Fontinalis that they are, to all intents wild trout as they are never fed. The current through the lake to the east is Carman's River. It takes its source at Virgin Springs, on the pine forest plain, and after crossing the highway below the lakes broadens into a wide, lively, pleasant brook terminating in the Great South Bay two miles from the club-house. Recently the Suffolk Club obtained control of Carman's River, and grand fashioning for estuary trout is looked for. The river will be improved and stocked, and will be in the near future the main attraction of the club. It is navigable from the Great South Bay for a long distance, partly under a thick growth of timber, and where the trees are it is cool in the hottest weather. The country is sparsely settled in the neighborhood and only one house is seen from the club-house to the mouth of Carman's River. Capt. Joseph Grafton is President of the club, but be is now in Europe. The opening day was observed by Messrs. Henry Fearing, James Platt, John Campbell, Peleg Hall, J. L. Cadwallader, Thomas Meyer, and Peter Townsend. The members are not limited to any number of trout to be caught in one day. The amount of their "catch" is regulated by their consciences and their skill.

That same article then goes on to report on an estate at Sayville, then says about Mr. Belmont:

Mr. August Belmont will probably fish on his preserve near Islip. Some of his friends have been invited to go there.

August Belmont Sr. was never a member of the South Side Sportsman's Club either. His son, August Belmont Jr., was admitted as a member of the Southside Sportsman's Club in May 1900.

http://www.ihff.com/connetquot_history.html
Over the years, they continued to purchase land along the river, eventually totaling 3,473 acres. Their main interest was hunting and fishing so they maintained the land and water for the protection and propagation of game, birds and fish. The Club established a trout hatchery in 1870. Although it has had two prior locations, its present location has been propagating fish successfully since 1890.

In 1963, the Club sold the property to New York State for $6.2 million. The Club leased back the property for an additional ten years. In August of 1973, the facility officially became a New York State Park

Frederick G. Bourne joined the South Side Sportsman's Club in September 1890. See: http://books.google.com/books?id=NOA-AAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Next, I checked the New York State laws, hoping to find a charter for the Suffolk Club. I found that the New York State legislature had chartered many clubs and companies, including:

Suffolk Co. Steamboat Company - c. 90, 1839.
Suffolk Co. Society - c. 272, 1860.
Clever Fellows' Club - c. 383, 1864.
Izaak Walton Fishing Club, De Ruyter, c. 184, 1864.
Southside Sportsman's Club, Long Island, c. 346, 1866.
Cortland Co. Sportman's Club - c. 675, 1866.
Sportsman's Club, Kinderhook - c. 811, 1866.
Long Island Club - c. 156, 1871.

None of these appeared to be The Suffolk Club, but that was not the case. See next e-mail.

Richard

Note on Peter Townsend: Peter Townsend was born on the Sterling Iron tract, a huge iron deposit in Orange and Rockland Counties that runs down into New Jersey. The tract was owned by the Sterling Iron Works that had been founded by his grandfather. He was born on 13 May 1803 and later lived at 32 E. 23rd St. in Manhattan where he died on 26 Sep 1885. "Mr. Townsend had a striking figure. He was tall and powerful and weighed over 240 pounds." according to the New York Sun, 27 Sep 1885.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Update on our Historic Cemeteries Restoration Project

The following article originally appeared in the Brookhaven Village Association Fall 2010 Newsletter

I would like to thank the more than 50 people who have contributed to the BVA’s cemetery restoration fund, which, coupled with Caithness grant money, has so far allowed us to repair six of the seven historic cemeteries the Fire Place History Club felt could be restored.

The history of Brookhaven and South Haven, historically known as Fire Place, lives on in such irreplaceable sites as these family cemeteries that cradle the settlers who populated Fire Place for the first 200 years – farmers, fishermen and artisans. There are 18 such cemeteries in Brookhaven and South Haven, nine of them with ten or more graves (unfortunately, one, the Nathaniel Hawkins cemetery, is vandalized beyond repair). No generals or heads of state rest here, just ordinary people, but at least 13 fought in the American Revolution.

Here’s a breakdown of the work that has been done over the past two years.

• Rose Family Cemetery. The Rose family was the first to settle Fire Place Neck; their family cemetery is located off Jared’s Path. This was the first one restored, at a cost of $2,885. In this cemetery lie several veterans of the Revolution, including Lt. Thomas Rose, who, in 1780, gave his life during the war.

• South Haven Presbyterian Church Cemetery. Interred here in one of the oldest cemeteries in our community are several prominent community leaders, including the Revolutionary War leader, Doctor and Reverend David “Priest” Rose, minister of the South Haven Church. The cost to repair this cemetery was $2,600.

• Carman Cemetery. The Carman family, after whom the river is named, operated the Fire Place mills, an inn, store and post office in South Haven, circa 1780 to 1870. Cost of repair was $2,250.

• Corwin Cemetery. Richard Corwin, a farmer whose house still stands along South Country Road, was present at the battle of Yorktown and at Cornwallis’ surrender. George Washington once tested Corwin’s fidelity as a guard by attempting to pass him in the night. But Corwin would not allow Washington to pass and afterward received commendations for his fidelity. The Corwin family cemetery is located between Chapel Avenue and Beaver Brook Drive and cost $950 to repair.

• David Hawkins Cemetery. Located on the west side of Old Barto Road, this cemetery contains 22 headstones, all with the surname Hawkins. Several generations of this family farmed the peninsula between Yaphank Creek and Little Neck Run. Cost for repair was $2,600.

• Selah and Azel Hawkins Cemetery. The Hawkins’s were some of the earliest settlers in our area and were church and community leaders. Azel Hawkins built many of the houses here. The cemetery off Stillwood Road was repaired using $1,000 of the BVA fund to repair the broken headstones and $826 of the fund to install a fence around it.

We also purchased 8 interpretive signs for these cemeteries with $726 from the BVA fund.

The next cemetery to be repaired will be the Barteau Cemetery, which contains 40 headstones. We are waiting for Brookhaven Town to clear the access road to the cemetery so that our stonemason, Hollis Warner, can get in with his equipment.

--Marty Van Lith, BVA Historian

Friday, October 15, 2010

Saving The Carman's River

Video: Saving the Carman's River
now available online

Produced by the Long Island Pine Barrens Society. Used by permission

View

Hosts:
Richard Amper
Kathleen Nasta

Featuring:
Martin Van Lith

Guests:
Karen Blumer
Marilyn England
Mary Ann Johnston
Kevin McAllister
James T. Tripp
Thomas Williams

Film is 30 minutes long. Requires Windows Media Player or similar software installed on your computer.
Original DVD has been reformatted for web viewing and is a wmv file.
© 2010 L.I. Pine Barrens Society.
This video is also available from the L.I. Pine Barrens Society web site.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Dr. Richard E. Watson Dies

Richard E. Watson

Richard E. Watson of Brookhaven, New York, died on Monday, September 13 in his home after a long fight against Parkinson's disease and post-polio syndrome. He was surrounded by his wife and sons at the time of his death.

Born in New York City, September 30, 1931, to Philip and Helen Watson, Dick was an excellent student and a talented scientist; He graduated from Putney School in Putney, Vermont, and Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts. In 1958, he received his Ph.D. in Ohysics from the Massachusetts Institute of Techology.

Following postdoctoral work in Harwell, England, and Uppsala University, Sweden, he spent several years at Bell Labs in New Jersey. In 1965, he joined the Department of Physics at Brookhaven National Laboratory, retiring as a senior research physicist after 37 years in 2002.

He served on the original Town of Brookhaven Landfill Committee and Technical Advisory Committee, and was a member of the Town of Brookhaven's Conservation Advisory Committee since 1981. He was President of the Brookhaven Village Association in 1974 and active with Boy Scout Troop 4 for 15 years, serving as scoutmaster for many years.

Dick was an avid gardner and sailor, and lover of classical music.

He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Joan; his son, Phil and his wife, Jill, and their daughters Kate and Leah; his son, Gavin and his wife, Barbara, and their children, Mark, Katherine, Stephen and Paul; his son, Jamie and his wife, Lorena and their daughters, Camille, Paulina, Emily and Lili; and his son, Jay and his wife, Jodi, and their sons Zack and Sam. In 2007, he was predeased by his first grandson, Matthew Winter Watson.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on November 26 at St. James Parish Hall in Brookhaven. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Brookhaven Hospice or the American Parkinson's Disease Association.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Brookhaven Hamlet Cemetery Update

After the Fire Place History Club’s victory in getting specific historic gravesites maintained by the town via a lawsuit and subsequent New York State Supreme Court decision, this statement was issued by Brookhaven Town: “The Town respects the decision of Justice Tannenbaum and at this time does not plan an appeal. We currently maintain a number of cemeteries throughout the Town and will now review our schedule, prioritize for the additional needs and commence work as soon as possible.”

This statement is disingenuous. That the Town maintains a few abandoned historic cemeteries within the Town was never in dispute. The Fire Place History Club in its court filings pointed to at least two cemeteries within the hamlets of Brookhaven and South Haven that received some maintenance from the Town as examples of the Town conceding that it had maintenance authority and responsibility. They were but a small fraction of the burying grounds that required attention. Members of the Fire Place History Club when it was attempting to get additional cemeteries maintained, asked how the the Town determine their priorities for maintenance? A Town official responded, "Is the cemetery on a parade route?" The implication being that if the site was not highly visible, the Town was not going to do anything.

At least with respect to those cemeteries named in the suit, the Town has lost its ability to prioritize. They have been ordered by the court to resume maintenance on the cemeteries listed. Failure to do so will make the Town in violation of the court order.

The principals enunciated in by the court in its interpretation of State law would not seem to give any ability to prioritize the Town's maintenance duties toward abandoned cemeteries. All one hundred or so such cemeteries within the Town require Town maintenance. While we might concede that some prioritization is needed while the long abandoned work is re-instituted (and the Fire Place History Club consciously prioritized its cemeteries named in the suit from the twenty or so found in the two hamlets), basing priority on visibility is certainly not the most important.

Working with the many local civic organizations and historical societies within the Town would certainly seem a better approach in developing consistent, rational work priorities.

Friday, September 10, 2010

L.I. Advance newspaper editorial supports Fire Place History Club's Cemetery Maintenance Lawsuit

There's no doubt that Brookhaven Town's Parks Department has their hands full In November 2008, when the Long Island Advance did a story on the Fire Place History Club and their quest to get help in maintaining their historic gravesites, a statement was issued that the parks department was responsible for maintain- ing 114 cemeteries in addition to 200 ball fields, more than 100 parks and other recreational facilities.

That being said, this local Brookhaven group who are fighting to keep the area's historically significant stamp evident, attempted many different ways to work things out with the town so that they didn't have to haul lawnmowers in their cars to preserve the gravesites of significant Revolutionary War participants as well as founding families. All they wanted was some help twice a year at 10 gravesites; they received help at one of them.

We are told that after a while, phone calls were not returned and there was no communication on the parks department end. We can't speak for the parks department on this because they haven't responded to our request to hear their side.

So the Fire Place History Club filed an Article 78, via Bellport resident and lawyer Reggie Seltzer known for her pro bono work when she feels passionate about a cause—she did about this. Seltzer takes American history classes at Stony Brook University and is aware, as are Fire Place History Club members, of our significant heritage.

Acknowledging history doesn't just entail attending parades. When you tour Europe, there are ancient cemeteries tended and still standing, not to mention statues, walls from Roman times, plaques and other reminders of moments in time that will never be Seen again but Were important nevertheless in creating a country.

Also, people made sacrifices. Those aren't just headstones. These folks whose bodies are in- terred underneath, migrated here, faced a land- scape that was basically woods and animals, didn't know if they were going to live through a philosophy that became a mantra, a war, and then a democratic example for most of the world.

Councilwoman Connie Kepert said basically, it would have been nice if this could have been worked out in the fust place and agreed with the court ruling. Now the town must mow the lawns of these gravesites, which do have right of ways, three times a year.

The Fire Place History Club only asked for that support twice a year. .