Sources |
- [S96] Shaw, Osborn: History of Brookhaven Hamlet, p. 5. http://brookhavensouthhaven.org/history/OsborneShawP5.htm.
Dayton's Neck is the next neck to the west. It lies between the Head-of-the Neck and the Bay and from Fire Place Creek on the east to Dayton's or Osborn's Brook on the west. It was in later years sometimes called West Fire Place. The neck was named after Samuel Dayton who on 13 Sept. 1678, had 40 acres laid out to him by the Town in lieu of some other land he did not get in a former allotment. At the same time he received "another adition of land aloyning to it of the nor est corner from a lot that was part munces where the tarr mens hous stoode", hence it is evident that Samuel Dayton owned a part of both Tar-men's Neck and the neck that bore his name. However, he did not own the fifteen acre lots with their adjoining meadow shares which extended also along the south of his neck as they did along the south of fire Place Neck as I have previously told you. Dayton came from Southampton to Setauket and finally removed to his neck here on the South Side, probably about 1678 and from an entry in Book B of the town records, it appears that he gave the name of "West Hampton" to some part of the section. On 4 July 1690, the day before he died, he deeded his land to his two daughters, Sarah and Elizabeth, with the proviso that his wife was to have it during her lifetime. He was probably the first white man to live in this section. Just where his house stood is not known, but it probably was somewhere in the vicinity of Clam Hollow, (which some of you may not know is the name of the hollow east of the George Washington property), possibly even nearer to Bellport and he may thus properly be claimed by both villages. As the Bellport School District and Fire District boundary line is at Arter's or the Hollow Road, the western part of Dayton's Neck is consequently in Bellport.
- [S241] Long Island Genealogy: Surname Database, http://longislandsurnames.com/search.php?mybool=AND&nr=50&tree=-x--all--x-&mylastname=dayton&lnqualify=contains&myfirstname=samuel&fnqualify=contains&mydeathyear=1690&dyqualify=.
Samuel Dayton is said to have been the first white resident of Bellport,LI, NY then called Ashford.
While this source indicates that he was the first European resident of Bellport, NY, more properly he should be considered the first European resident of Brookhaven hamlet. At the time of his residency, both future communities were very sparsely settled. His homestead was situated on the "neck" of land along the Great South Bay which became known a Dayton's Neck. The neck is the next neck eastward of the section then known as Occumbomock, which was to become the village of Bellport.
I find no source that indicates that Bellport was ever known as "Ashford." On the other hand, the original settlement of what was to become the Town of Brookhaven, situated on the Long Island Sound on the north shore of Long Island, was sometimes called Ashford, but more frequently was called by it native name, Setauket. While Samuel Dayton apparently resided for a while in Setauket, he was far from being an original founder of that community.
- [S894] Ancestry.com, Pearce Family Tree. http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/12419681/person/27664074.
- [S921] Ancestry.com: Samuel Dayton Biography, http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/2064295/person/-1865664339/story/f8da66bc-0c24-467a-8d6c-315eed259d91?src=search.
- [S922] WMGS: Schirado, Accessed; 22 October 2011; http://trees.wmgs.org/getperson.php?personID=I26547&tree=Schirado.
In 1645 Samuel was in New Haven with his father. He lived briefly in Flushing, LI, before he settled in Southampton, where, on 6 May 1648, the town “ordered that Samuel Dayton shall be accepted as an Inhabitant, & hath A fifty pound lot granted unto him provided the said Samuel (being a stranger to us) weare of good approbation in ye place wehre he last lived at Flushing, and do demeane himself well heare for ye time of approbation namely six months next to come.”
Several accounts of the early Daytons mention a fourth wife “Wilhemina,” by tradition an Indian, but Jacobus could not find evidence for her.
- [S241] Long Island Genealogy: Surname Database, http://longislandsurnames.com/search.php?mybool=AND&nr=50&tree=-x--all--x-&mylastname=dayton&lnqualify=contains&myfirstname=samuel&fnqualify=contains&mydeathyear=1690&dyqualify=.
- [S922] WMGS: Schirado, Accessed; 22 October 2011; http://trees.wmgs.org/getperson.php?personID=I26547&tree=Schirado.
- [S974] Southhampton Town Records, First Book, 1639-1660, pp 49-50 (page 52 of original records).
PAGE 52 By the towne May ye 6th 1648 ....lt is further ordered that Samuel Dayton shall be accepted as an lnhabitant & hath A fifty pound lot granted vnto him provided the said Samuel (being a stranger to vs) weare of good approbation in ye place where he last lived at Fleshing, and do demeane himselfe well heare for ye time of approbation namely six months next to come.
- [S974] Southhampton Town Records, First Book, 1639-1660, p. 56 (p. 63 of original volume).
Samuel Dayton is listed among the twenty-six "tounsmen" of the Town of Southampton May 10, 1649. Immediately preceding this list is a list of sixteen "perfect freemen" inhabiting the Town March 8, 1649. Those named in the freeman list do not appear in the townsmen list, and visa versa. My understanding is that freeman had the privilege of voting in town affairs, and of holding office, while townsmen had merely been granted the privilege of residency. But I caution I am not an authority on this.
- [S96] Shaw, Osborn: History of Brookhaven Hamlet, p. 5.
- [S527] Brookhaven Town Records: 1798-1856, http://brookhavensouthhaven.org/history/RecordsTownOfBrookhaven/Page0010.htm.
While Samuel Dayton was awarded parcel 13, which were chosen by lot, it appears that he never took possession of it. Speculation is that he did not meet some requirement of the Town. It was not until 1668 that he was accepted as a full proprietor. Later (1678), he was granted a forty acre parcel, "in lieu of some other land he did not get in a former allotment." Most assume the "former allotment" was of the meadow lot.
- [S921] Ancestry.com: Samuel Dayton Biography, http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/2064295/person/-1865664339/story/f8da66bc-0c24-467a-8d6c-315eed259d91?src=search.
"On leaving Southampton, Samuel went to Matinecock, NY where in 1666 he did not fulfill the town requirements for land. He apparently contemplated going to Killingworth, Conn. where four lots had been assigned him before 19 Apr 1667. He was still of Matinecock when he obtained a license to marry Mary Dingle of Brookhaven, NY 14 May 1667."
The location "Matinecock, NY" in this account is confusing.
Mattinecock is in the Town of Oyster Bay, in modern Nassau County. While the first permanent European settlers in this region were from New England about 1640, the new settlements were in disputed territory claimed by the Dutch as part of New Amsterdam. In 1664, the English effectively gained control of New Amsterdam, Long Island, and the New York Province. In 1667 the settlement at Oyster Bay received its charter from the new English governor of New York, becoming the Town of Oyster Bay.
While it is possible that Samuel Dayton sought to establish a presence in Oyster Bay about 1667, it seems more likely that the writer confused the locality name Matinecock with Mattituck which is in Southold on the North Fork of Long Island where the Dayton family was known to have lived and have had property interests.
- [S922] WMGS: Schirado, Accessed; 22 October 2011; http://trees.wmgs.org/getperson.php?personID=I30987&tree=Schirado.
Abraham appears with his father [Samuel] on the Brookhaven rate list of 1675, and he again appears in 1681.
- [S96] Shaw, Osborn: History of Brookhaven Hamlet, p. 5, also p. 2. http://brookhavensouthhaven.org/history/OsborneShawP5.htm.
p. 5
Dayton's Neck is the next neck to the west. It lies between the Head-of-the Neck and the Bay and from Fire Place Creek on the east to Dayton's or Osborn's Brook on the west. It was in later years sometimes called West Fire Place. The neck was named after Samuel Dayton who on 13 Sept. 1678, had 40 acres laid out to him by the Town in lieu of some other land he did not get in a former allotment. At the same time he received "another adition of land aloyning to it of the nor est corner from a lot that was part munces where the tarr mens hous stoode", hence it is evident that Samuel Dayton owned a part of both Tar-men's Neck and the neck that bore his name. However, he did not own the fifteen acre lots with their adjoining meadow shares which extended also along the south of his neck as they did along the south of fire Place Neck as I have previously told you. Dayton came from Southampton to Setauket and finally removed to his neck here on the South Side, probably about 1678 and from an entry in Book B of the town records, it appears that he gave the name of "West Hampton" to some part of the section. On 4 July 1690, the day before he died, he deeded his land to his two daughters, Sarah and Elizabeth, with the proviso that his wife was to have it during her lifetime. He was probably the first white man to live in this section. Just where his house stood is not known, but it probably was somewhere in the vicinity of Clam Hollow, (which some of you may not know is the name of the hollow east of the George Washington property), possibly even nearer to Bellport and he may thus properly be claimed by both villages. As the Bellport School District and Fire District boundary line is at Arter's or the Hollow Road, the western part of Dayton's Neck is consequently in Bellport.
p. 2
... Francis Muncy "before he died", exchanged his meadow share at the Fire Place with Samuel Dayton for the meadow at Sebomack (near Smith Point). [Francis Muncy received lot 22 of the original distribution of meadow shares "at South." If Sebomack was "near Smith Point" as suggested by Shaw, then it likely was not included in the original distribution of shares "at South." ]
24 May 1676, Samuel Dayton sells to William Rogers of Southampton, his parcels of meadow "lying on the west of the brook by the fire place" [i.e., Beaver Dam Creek] that he got by the trade with Francis Muncy.
- [S417] Brookhaven Town Records: Book A., p. 58.
13 Sep____1678
Samuel Dayton had forty acres of Land laid out at the South in the Neck now Called Daytons Neck Running from River to River excepting the Meadows that is laid out by Mr Woodhull as also another addition of land adjoyning to it of the Northeast Corner from a lot that was part Muncys where the tarr mens house Stood from the River to his former lot and So South wards of what lands and Swamps there is Excepting Meadow laid out this was for what was wanting of a lot laid out Number 13 adjoyning to Zakery hawkins lot.
We can be thankful that today's grammatical conventions make it much easier to parse the meaning of paragraphs.
Most historians, including former Brookhaven Town historian Osborne Shaw, have interpreted this entry in the Brookhaven Town records to mean the Samuel Dayton acquired from the Town forty acres on the necks (Dayton's and Tar Men's necks) defined by the creek now known as Motts creek on the west (essentially the eastern boundary of the Village of Bellport) to Beaver Dam creek on the east, excepting out the meadow lots and their upland portions along the Great South Bay that had been previously granted to other Town proprietors. Since the meadow/upland lots would have stretch from the Great South Bay to approximately modern South Country road, Daytons grant was likely north of South Country road.
See also http://brookhavensouthhaven.org/history/HNDistrictsInventoryForm.aspx?InventoryCode=Br15.2-S
- [S417] Brookhaven Town Records: Book A., p. 58.
Samuel Dayton has given unto his Son, Isaac Dayton a piece of land that is of the Rear of his home lot lying eastward as it is Staked out by Andrew Miller and Walter Malven and the land is given for part of his portion lying in the Town.
This entry in the records of the Town of Brookhaven immediately follows the entry for the forty acres acquired by Samuel "at South"( that is, on Dayton and Tar Men's necks). That it was "given for part of his portion lying in the Town" suggests that it was done to meet some requirement imposed by the Town upon Samuel enabling him to acquire the forty acres at South.
- [S96] Shaw, Osborn: History of Brookhaven Hamlet, P. 5, http://brookhavensouthhaven.org/history/OsborneShaw.htm.
- [S418] History of Long Island: Ross, LI Ref 974.721 R-LI-4., Volume 2, p. 267.
Samuel Dayton, Sr., gives to his wife Elizabeth "and my two daughters which God has given me by her, viz Sarah and Elizabeth. All my now dwelling house, and all land and meadows thereto belonging, that I have upon this Neck which was laid out to me, with the swamp, and also serveral parcels of land which I have purchased. To my said wife for life and then to my two daughters, that they may be incouraged to be loving and helpful to their mother." This is dated "at my dwelling house in Brookhaven South July 4, 1690." Witness, Jonathan Rose, Jane Rose, Samuel Terrill. Samuel Dayton was the first settler in Bellport.
- [S214] Brookhaven Town Records, up to 1800, http://historical.library.cornell.edu:80/Dienst/UI., p. 103.
February 24, 1714.
Then Laide to Elias Bayles, upon his request, the Land formerly granted by the towne to Samuel Dayton, att the South, in a neck called Dayton's Neck, the Home land where Dayton formerly lived, extending west to Dayton's Run [now known as Mott's Creek], and from said home land extending East to east side of Tarmen's Neck, leaving a sufficient Waye to the medows in said Neck next to ye Bever dam River.*
* Dayton's Neck, West Fireplace from Beaver Dam to Osborn's Brook. The Meadow with 15 acres of upland each share, was laid out before. [Note by Compiler, the Brookhaven Town Clerk.]
What is not entirely clear from this entry in the Town Records is whether the land included in the former Dayton parcel conveyed here to Elias Bayles in 1714 included the meadow shares and associated 15 acres of upland that had been long before (1664) been variously granted to town proprietors.
The 13 Sep 1678 grant to Samuel Dayton of forty acres on Dayton's Neck and Tarman's Neck clearly excluded these meadow lots. Since these meadow lots and their upland component extend approximately to modern South Country road, the forty acres granted in 1678 likely was land north of South Country road, at least on the Dayton's Neck portion.
It is also noted that Samuel Dayton deeded to his daughters Sarah and Elizabeth all his lands on Dayton's and Tarmen's Necks shortly before his death. This entry in the Town records may be intended to confirm for the record Bayles' ownership.
- [S927] Early Long Island wills of Suffolk county, pp. 55-57.
By the Honoble Col. William Smith Judge of their Matyes Perogative Court within the County of Suffolk on Long Island in ye Province of N. York in America. To all whom these presents shall come Greeting Know ye that whereas Samuel Dayton late of Brookhaven in ye County of Suffolk abovesd Husbandman departed this life the fifth day of July Anno Dom 1690 leaving no Executor & Ralph Dayton ye eldest son of the deceased for certain causes him thereunto justly moving hath prayed that ye administration of the goods & chattels of ye sd deceased may be granted unto him ye sd Ralph Dayton—I therefore by virtue of ye power & authority to me given reposing special trust and confidence in you Ralph Dayton abovesd have nominated constituted & appointed & and be these presents do constitute & appoint you Ralph Dayton abovesd administrator of all and singular goods & chattels & credits of sd Samuel Dayton deceased with full power to ask receive demand & recover all & singular ye goods chattels & credits whatsoever to ye deceased aforesd belonging or in anywise appertaining by all lawful ways and means whatsoever in the first place paying those debts whereby sd deceased stood obliged in ye time of his death as far as ye lawful goods & credits of ye sd deceased may to this Extend, you taking your oath truly to administer the same and to make or Cause to be made a true & perfect inventory of all & singular the goods & chattels debts rights & credits to ye sd deceased belonging which shall or may come to your hands possession or knowledge & further to give a just & true account in & concerning the sd administration before me or such Judge or Judges as may be thereunto appointed at or before the first day of June next ensuing the date hereof. Witness my hand & seal at Brookhaven this nineteen day of November Anno Dom. 1691William Smith Thomas Helme Cler.
- [S922] WMGS: Schirado, Accessed; 22 October 2011; http://trees.wmgs.org/getperson.php?personID=I26550&tree=Schirado.
"Ralfe Drayton and Alice Tritton widowe both of this p[ar]ish were mar"
- [S894] Ancestry.com, Pearce Family Tree. http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/12419681/person/27664075.
- [S921] Ancestry.com: Samuel Dayton Biography, http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/2064295/person/-1865664339/story/f8da66bc-0c24-467a-8d6c-315eed259d91?src=search.
Abt 14 May 1667
- [S922] WMGS: Schirado, Accessed; November 2011; http://trees.wmgs.org/getperson.php?personID=I33136&tree=Schirado.
14 May 1666 (license)
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