History of Southold, L.I. : its first century

Front matter

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Preface

The acquisition of the greater part of the knowledge contained in this volume has resulted 'from the duties and necessities of the Christian ministry in the pastoral care of the First Church of Southold for the last thirty years. The preparation of the book for the press has been the rest and recreation of many a weary hour during most of this ministry. Various hindrances have resisted the accomplishment of the undertaking, and caused a less orderly arrangement of the materials of the work, as well as a less vigorous and attractive style, than could be desired ; but the belief is cherished, that the imperfections of the book, however clearly seen by the reader, and deeply felt by the writer, should not forbid its publication. For it is highly desirable, that the early life and worth — the purpose,

VI

HISTORY OF SOUTHOLD.

spirit, circumstances, deeds and sufferings — in a word, the History of the people of this Town should be so presented, that its main features, at least, may be easily known from generation to generation. The field on which labor for this end has been expended is the Past ; but the harvest desired is for the Future. The work aims to supply the wants of posterity not less than to satisfy the requirements of the present time. He who plants a tree that will yield good fruit after the sod has covered him, may render an acceptable service to many, even though not one of his own generation profits by his care and forethought for the welfare and comfort of his successors ; and he who provides the means which will contribute to gratify the wholesome desires and supply the mental and moral wants of those who shall live in coming years, may perhaps not labor in vain. It is altogether fit, that the Christian minister should look forward. The obje6ts of his chief thought and concern have the closest relations to the endless Future ; and it is most reasonable, that he should take the liveliest interest in the wants, the prosperity, the comfort, the virtue and the piety of the generations to come.

PREFACE.

vii

These motives have produced this book. Some parts of it may be found in two Papers, prepared by invitation of the Long Island Historical Society, and read in its meetings, respectively on “ The First Church of Southold,” and on “ The First Pastor of Southold ; ” and in a Paper, prepared by invitation of the New Haven Colony Historical Society, and read before it, on “ The Early History of Southold.” The latter is printed in the Second Volume of the Society’s Papers.

The subjeCt-matter of this History has been drawn from so many sources, both original and secondary, that it is impossible to name them all. Many of them are indicated in the successive chapters ; and it is believed, that the statements based upon them, are in a high degree trustworthy.

Special acknowledgments, justly due, are hereby gratefully tendered, to Mr. George Hannah, Librarian of the Long Island Historical Society, and his Assistants ; to the Rev. Addison C. V. Schenck, of the Presbyterian Historical Society ; and to Mr. Frederick Saunders, of the Astor Library, for the utmost courtesy and kindness. Thanks are also due, and gratefully tendered, to the Rev.

Vlii HISTORY OF SOUTHOLD.

William F. Whitaker, Pastor of the St. Cloud Presbyterian Church, Orange, New Jersey, for his generous aid in conducting the volume through the press.

It is hoped that the book will be all the more acceptable by reason of its several engravings, which are in the highest degree effective as illustrations.

There are abundant materials at hand for an interesting History of the Second Century of Southold ; but whether a second volume shall be prepared for the press, time must determine. E. W.

Southold, July 2, 1881.

Chapter I

The attra£lion of historic sources — First Christian Institutions in America — The Rev. John Youngs comes to Southold, L. I. — His former home in Suffolk County, England — Not Southolt in Hoxne Hundred— Letter from the Rev. Redlor Frederick French — Letter from the Rev. Diocesan Registrar Bonsly — Southwold in Blything Hundred— Youngses in that neighborhood — Rev. John Youngs at Salem, Mass. — His sojourn at New Haven — He comes to Southold — Here he gathers his church anew, 061. 21, 1640 — The fanciful story of thirteen original settlers — Barnabas Horton — William Wells — William Hallock — John and Henry Tuthill — Thomas Mapes — William Purrier, John Cooperand Edmond Farrington — Matthias Corwin — Robert Akerly — Jacob Corey — John

HISTORY OF SOUTHOLD.

Conklin — Isaac Arnold — Thomas Moore — Capt. John Underhill — Barnabas Wines — John Budd — Purchase from the Indians by the New Haven Government, August, 1640 — Lease from James Farrett to Matthew Sunderland, June, 1639 — Deed from Lord Sterling's agent to Richard Jackson, August 15, 1640 — Planting of Southold, Southampton, New Haven — Purchase of Indian titles by Englishmen in New England — In Plymouth, Wethersfield, Hartford* New Haven, New York — On Long Island in Southold, Southampton, Jamaica — Southold the first Town settled on Long Island — Older than Southampton in all essential points — Hon. Henry A. Reeves’s statement— Southold’s Indian name — Its early “ freeholders and inhabitants ” — Chara6ter and work of the early settlers— Their names — Their religious life — Some remove to other places — Thomas Baker, Jeremiah Meacham and George Miller to Easthampton — John Tucker, William Fanley, lohn Budd, Arthur Smyth, Robert Akerly and John Frost to Brookhaveh — Capt. John Underhill to Oyster Bay — Letter from him — His wife’s sister, Hannah Feke, marries John Bowne — Thomas Stevenson moves to Newtown — Thomas Benedict to Huntington, to Jamaica, and lastly to Norwalk, Conn.— John Bayley to Jamaica, and perhaps to Elizabeth, N. J. — William Cramer, John Dickerson, John Haines, William Johnson, Jeffrey Jones, Evan Salisbury, Barnabas Wines, Jr., and Thomas Youngs to Elizabeth, N. J.— Eminent descendants of the early settlers— Youngses, Wellses, Hortons, Dickinsons, Wineses— Letter from the Rev. Dr. E. C. Wines — Corwins, Swezeys, Sewards — Some of the early inhabitants restless— Most and best planted for Religion Rev. Dr. Leonard Bacon’s statement — Southold’s

first church and cemetery— Southold’s choice of the New Haven Jurisdiction — Southampton and Easthampton join Conneaicut— Southold’s purpose— Determination to maintain its rights— Injuries to the Puritans

CONTENTS.

threatened — Puritans often reproached and slandered — Imaginary code of “ Blue Laws ” — Falsehoods of the Rev. Samuel Peters — Southold’s love for freedom, virtue, piety — Hardships and toils of the settlers — Their beneficent labors for posterity — The Puritans the authors of civil and religious freedom in England and America — Constitution of the New Haven Towns — New Haven united to Connecticut in 1665 — Removal of Branford to Newark, N. J. — Rev. John Davenport from New Haven to Boston — Early laws of the Jurisdiction — Times of the planting — Thirty years' war — Spain loses Brazil — Makes acquisitions in Italy — Persecution of Galileo — Scientific discoveries — Fruitfulness in Literature and Art — Advance in statesmanship — Progress in Civilization — Great changes in England — Eminent writers — Age of enterprise— Maritime activity and exploration — England a swarming hive Page 17-78

Chapter II

Southold’s choice of its site — Features of the place — Increase of the inhabitants — Allotment of lands — Home-lots of the chief men, Rev. John Youngs, William Wells, Barnabas Horton, John Budd, Capt. John Underhill, Thomas Mapes, Barnabas Wines, Thomas Terry, Philemon Dickerson, Thomas Moore, Benjamin Moore, Henry Case, Charles Glover, Joseph Youngs, Col. Isaac Arnold, Col John Youngs — Chief men of the second generation, Col. Arnold and Col. John Youngs — Town Records before 1651 lost — Earliest history fragmentary — Life and local legislation of the place — Division and allotment of Calves' Neck, 1658 — Firing o^f woods to improve pasture — Protedlion against burning of buildings — Regulations for watching and warding — For keeping

HISTORY OF SOUTHOLD.

records — For collecting taxes — For assigning seats in the Meeting House according to rank, age, office, &c. — For making vice and crime pay expenses — For keeping Town streets in good condition — For the wharf at the Head of the Harbor — For pasturing cattle — For building a wind mill on Pine Neck — Adjustment of boundaries with Southampton — Sale of a vessel — Price of grain and provisions — Bequest of children — Laws for boats, canoes, skiffs — For prohibiting sale of dogs, rum and arms to Indians — For paying premiums to destroyers of wolves, foxes and other “varment'’ — Election of Selectmen — Conditions of selling real estate — Mildness of the criminal code — Superiority to old abuses — The Bible the general law — Less than twenty crimes punished by death here instead of hundreds in England — Popular knowledge of the general law — Bill of Rights — Provisions for public education — For public worship — Penalties for disturbing it — Conviction and punishment of Humphrey Norton — Sales of property must be recorded — Register of births, marriages and deaths — Records open to inspection and transcript — All legal proceedings to be put on record — Distribution of property among heirs — Two causes for divorce — Justice and kindness towards the savages— Hostilities and suffering from national wars — Military regulations — Burdens of the people born for others— Attempts to invade their liberties — Character of Charles II. — Character of the first settler and pastor of Southold — His death and that of William Wells — The first pastor’s grave — Inscription on his tomb-stone — Inventory on his property — Order of administration to his widow — His children — His theology — Monuments of early settlers, Youngs, Horton, Wells, Dickinson, Conklin, and others — The original cemetery — Site of the first Meeting House — Structure of this building — Its various uses — Its hallowed associations. . . Page 81-126

CONTENTS.

Chapter III

Wars and governmental changes — New Haven united to Connecticut — Connecticut’s Committee in Southold June 1664 — Col. Richard Nicholl subdues the Dutch of New Amsterdam, 1664 — Claims Long Island for the Duke of York — Southold and Southampton protest, but submit — Order for the Towns to elect deputies— Southold elects William Wells, Esq., and Col. John Youngs — Petition of the Town to Col. Nicholl — Deputies of all the Long Island Towns meet in Hempstead, March 1665 — The Duke’s Laws imposed — Formation of Yorkshire— Suffolk County its East Riding — Southold’s dissatisfaction— Character of the Duke of York — Union of the East End Towns in 1672 to maintain their rights — Measures that oppressed them — Their protest burned by the Governor and Council — New troubles — Conquest by the Dutch, July 1673 — The East End summoned to submit — These Towns ask Connecticut for protection — Their appeal to the king in Council, especially in consideration of their whaling trade — Petition of the East End to the Dutch Gov. Colve, August 14, 1673 — Reply to the petition — Features of the petition and reply — Connecticut gives notice to the Dutch that the United Colonies of New England will protect Long Island east of Oyster Bay — The Dutch appoint officers for Suffolk County — Col. Isaac Arnold of Southold appointed chief officer of the County — The Dutch require an oath of fidelity— The Dutch Governor sends Commissioners — They visit all the Towns — None willing to take the oath — Southold had already, September 29, assigned reasons against it — Southampton, Oct. 1, follows Southold ; Easthampton, 061, 2; Setauket 061. 4; and Huntington, 061. 6 — The Commissioners report to the Governor, 061. 20 — Answers of the Towns to the Dutch demand^ — The

l

HISTORY OF SOUTHOLD.

“Dutch send no force, but a second Commission — Huntington and Setauket yield, 061. 28 — Most worthy Commissioners sent to the East End and important abatements made — Adventures of these Commissioners — They meet on the voyage Conne6\icut Commissioners — Both come to Southold — Their reception here— ^Their proceedings in this place — The difficulties of the Dutch Commissioners— They determine not to visit the other Towns — They return to New Amsterdam and report — The Dutch Governor’s bold letter to Conne6licut — Treaty of peace between the Dutch and English nations signed Feb. 9, 1674 — New Amsterdam surrendered to the English Nov. 10, 1674 — Southold thus subje6t again to the Duke of York — He becomes king in 1685 and his Province royal — Religion and liberty maintained here through all these changes — Possessions of the people here — Their trades and occupations — Their household furniture and style of living, food, dress, &c. — Their social and kindly disposition — Their hardships and sicknesses— Their burial of the dead in tenderness, sobriety and seriousness without funeral solemnities — Their public and household worship. . . . Page 129-164

Chapter IV

The second pastor, Rev, Joshua Hobart— His ancestry— His father, Rev. Peter Hobart, in England, in America, at Hingham, Mass —Rev. Peter Hobart’s sons in the ministry— Letter from the Hon. Solomon Lincoln,

CONTENTS.

historian of Hingham — His memorandum — Charles B. Moore’s account of the second pastor before his settlement in Southold — The Town’s arrangements after the first pastor’s death to obtain a Minister — Their provision for the Rev. Joshua Hobart in lands, dwelling, salary, May 22, 1674 — Increase of his salary from ^80 to ^100, May 13, 1678 — The greatness of his settlement and salary — Payments of his salary — Respective parts paid by the East End and the West End of the Town- — Tetters from him to the Town Meeting April 3, 1685 — His request for an exchange of landsgranted — The beautiful site of his dwelling— He sells the place to the Town in 1701 — After his death the home of his successors, the Rev. Messrs. Benjamin Woolsey, James Davenport, William Throop and John Storrs — Tax payers at his settlement — Comparative value of their property. . . . Page 167-187

Chapter V

Another attempt to rejoin Connecticut — ACtion of the Town, Nov. 17, T674 — Rev. Mr. Hobart and Mr. Thomas Hutchinson chosen with power — Cause of this aCtion — Sylvester Salisbury sent hither by Sir Edmund Andros, the oppressive Governor of New York and of Massachusetts— Salisbury’s notice to the Town — The Duke of York’s acknowledgment of its reduction to obedience by Andros — Southold’s last vain effort to rejoin Connecticut, June, 1689 — Events abroad — Changes in England — Condition of New England— Indian wars — Great mortality— Southold appoints Richard Benjamin to be grave digger — Benjamin Youngs chosen Recorder in 1674, to succeed Richard Terry, chosen in 1662 to succeed William Welles, the first Recorder — The Town accepts a Patent from Gov. Andros — The Patent carefully drawn — The Patentees convey their patent rights to th.e Free-

HISTORY OF SOUTHOLD.

holders Inhabitants of the Town — No change of the religious liberties of the people — Gradual enlargement of the territory of the Town by purchase from the savages— Indian Deed for the whole territory of the Town- Town Patent-Deed of the Patentees to the Freeholders Inhabitants — Law for the incorporation of the Commoners— Amendment thereto — The second pastor prominent in civil, industrial and medical affairs — The first medical pradtitioner — Privileges granted to the chief men — A new Meeting House built in 1684 — The old House made a County Prison — The Horton house enlarged for a County Court House— Picture of the Horton house — The site of the former church edifices — Changes indicated by the tax list of 1683 — Names that disappeared between 1675 and 1683 — New names — Comparative permanence of family names — The rich more enduring than the poor — Purchase of John Herbert’s land in 1697 for the use of the Minister — John Herbert and his father John Herbert — He makes in 1699 a deed for the land on which stand the present Church and parsonage— This land in the hands of the Trustees of the First Church by virtue of their incorporation in 1784 — Hon. Ezra L’Hommedieu, a member of the Southold Church, probably the author of the State law for their incorporation — Provisions of the law — Election of the first Board — Certificate of incorporation — The earliest on Long Island — The attesting judge, Thomas Youngs, of Southold — The Board perpetual — The property used for its proper purposes — Galley built in the east end of the Meeting House in 1699; in the west end in 1700 — Carpenters’ bills — Bills for care of the Meeting House — The Town’s purchase of the pastor’s homestead in 1701 — Probable reasons therefor — This house repaired in 1702 — Puritans in the Province compelled to be cautious — Lord Cornbury’s government — Attempt to establish the Episcopal church — Trinity church, New York, opened in

CONTENTS,

1697— Obtains the King’s farm in 1703 — Infamous oppression of the Presbyterians in Jamaica by Gov. Cornbury — He repays good with evil — Seizes the property of Presbyterians — Imprisons their Ministers — His shameful profligacy and imprisonment — His father dies, and he becomes an English Peer, a member of the House of Lords — Better government under Hunter — Southold builds a new Meeting House — The roof unsatisfactory — “A flatter roof ” ordered in 1711 — The people increase and spread east and west — New houses of worship desired at Mattituck and Orient — Supply of Ministers increasing— James Reeve gives land in Mattituck about 1715 for the site of a Meeting House and Burying Ground — Rev. Joseph Lamb ordained Minister— David Youngs gives, January 1, 1818, a deed for the site of a Meeting House in Orient — The building ereCted in 1718 and 1719 — Amid these changes the Rev. Joshua Hobart dies, Feb. 28, 1717 — The Town orders his tomb-stone — Accounts rendered for building his tomb with stone lime — Common lime then made of burnt shells — Inscription on his tomb-stone — The poetic part by the Rev. Mather Byles, D. D., of Boston— Rev. Dr. Byles — Copy of the Inscription — The grave of the Pastor’s wife near his own — Their descendants unknown. . . Page 1 91-245

Chapter VI

Third Pastor, Rev. Benjamin Woolsey— Relation of Yarmouth, England, to Southold — Mr. Woolsey’s ancestry— Their relations to Rev. Dr. Ames, Rev. Messrs. Hugh Peters, of Salem, Thomas Hooker, of Hartford, to

HISTORY OR southold.

and others — Some of them come to Salem — Mr. Woolsey’s grandfather becomes a resident of New York — Moves to Jamaica — Chosen Town Clerk, 1673 — Mr Woolsey’s father, George, Jr., becomes prominent in Jamaica— George Woolsey, 3d, moves to Pennington, New Jersey — His descendants there — Our third Pastor born in Jamaica— His education at Yale College— His marriage— Early years of his Ministry in various places— Complaint against Gov. Hunter for allowing him to preach in the Episcopal church, Hopewell, N. J. — His installation in Southold, July, 1720 — Fruits of his Ministry— Rev. Abner Reeve — His education at Yale — His Ministry — His sons, Rev. Ezra Reeve and Judge Tapping Reeve — Rev. Simon Horton — His education at Yale — His Ministry in Newtown, L. I. and elsewhere — Rev. Azariah Horton — His education at Yale — Missionary to the Indians — His mother Mary (Tuthill) Horton and her family — His relations to the Edinburgh “ Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge ” — Extrafts from the Minutes of this Society — His Journals — His preparation of the Indians for the Rev. David Brainerd at Easton, Pa. — His complaints against “the Separates ” — He becomes the first Pastor of Madison, N. J.— His death— His grave and epitaph— His descendants— Judge Thomas Youngs— His education at Yale— His civil and judicial services— His death— His ancestry— His marriage— His home— His large possessions of land— His son Thomas— His later posterity— Rev. David Youngs— His education at Yale— His pastorate at Brook- Haven— His death— Migration from Southold— To Chester, N. J., for example— Historic sketch of that place— Public worship in Orient— Mattituck Church organized, 1715— Its first pastor, Rev. Joseph Lamb— His removal to Basking Ridge, N. J.— His relations to the Hon. Henry Southard— a Long Islander— to Hon. Samuel L. Southard Historical sketch of Basking Ridge —

CONTENTS.

I I

Changes produced by the formation of the Mattituck Church and public worship there and in Orient — The Town Meeting in* 1720 votes to divide the parish lands that each Minister may improve the same in proportion according to the first purchase — Time unknown when the Town ceased to pay the Minister’s salary — No means of warming the church in winter — Isaac Conklin permitted in 1722 to build on the Town-lot a convenience-house, in which persons attending public worship may warm themselves before and after the divine service in the church— The first Meeting House, used as a prison from 1683 to 1727, ordered to be sold — The Courts met in Southold and Southampton during these years and afterwards in Riverhead. . . . Page 249-282

Chapter VII

Rev. Benjamin Woolsey moves to Dosoris — Description of that place — His Ministry for twenty years while living there — He preaches at his own house — His generous hospitality — He supplies Hempstead — His gratuitous services — His devotion to his sacred duties — His death, August 15, 1756 — His character and attainments — His style of preaching — His conspicuous virtues — His excellence in all the relations of home life and of society— Visit to his former home — Part of his residence nc^ standing — Place of his burial with his father and many of his kindred — Inscription on his tomb-stone — Genealogy of his descendants — Many of them greatly distinguished— His son, M. T. Woolsey — His grand-son, M. L. Woolsey — Letter from Henry Lloyd relating to the mar-

HISTORY OF SOUTHOLt).

riages of John Lloyd and Sarah Woolsey — M. T. Woolsey’s daughter Rebekah marries James Hillhouse — James Hillhouse and his descendants — M. L. Woolsey’s services in the Revolutionary War and thereafter — His marriage, and connections thereby — His son M. T. Woolsey in the U. S. Navy — Our third Pastor’s second son, Benjamin — His education at Yale — His marriages — His children — Their connexions and posterity — Rev. Timothy Dwight, D. D., President of Yale College — William W. Woolsey — His daughter Elizabeth, mother of Major Theodore Winthrop — His son John M. Woolsey, father of Sarah Chauncey Woolsey, “ Susan Coolidge ” — Our third pastor’s great grandson, Theodore Dwight Woolsey, D. D., LL. D., President of Yale College, son of W. W. Woolsey — President Woolsey’s son Theodore S. Woolsey, Professor of International Law in Yale College — Rev. Benjamin Woolsey’s granddaughter Elizabeth, daughter of Benjamin, marries William Dunlap, the artist — Other descendants in the female lines, Lt. Gov. John Broome, Chancellor William T. McCoun, Rear Admiral S. L. Breese ; Hon. Sidney Breese, Chief Justice of Illinois, U. S. Senator; Sarah Elizabeth Griswold, wife of Prof. Morse, Inventor of the Telegraph; Arthur Breese, U. S. Navy; Mary Welles Davenport, wife of James Boorman ; George Welles McClure, U. S. Army; Henry Welles, Judge of N. Y. Supreme Court; Abigail Woolsey Welles, wife of the Rev. Dr. Henry G. Ludlow and mother of the well known authors Fitszhugh Ludlow and Helen W. Ludlow — Rev. James Davenport becomes Pastor of Southold after Mr. Woolsey’s resignation— His ancestry — His birth in Stamford, Conn.— His education at Yale — His studies for the Ministry — His ill health — His Ministry in Southold, 1738-1739 — His call in 1738 to Maidenhead and Hopewell, N. J. — His preference for Southold — His remarkable career in thei erratic period of his Ministry — His excellent character

CONTENTS.

in his iatest years — His death in Hopewell, N. J. — Visit to the place of his burial — Description of the scene — Inscription on his tomb-stone — Grave of his wife — Inscription on her tomb-stone — Their children — Ministry of his son, the Rev. John Davenport — Southold’s civil relations in. the later periods of its First Century — Governors of the Province — Members of the Assembly from Suffolk — The County Judges — The County Surrogates — The County Sheriffs — The County Clerks — Shelter Island ceases in 1730 to continue a part of Southold Town — Names of its twenty voters — Meeting House built on Shelter Island in 1733 for a Presbyterian Church — The congregation incorporated April 26, 1785 — Names of the Trustees — The church organized in 1808 — Brindley Sylvester of Shelter Island — His Chaplain, William Adams — Mr. Sylvester’s dwelling, built in 1737, now the summer residence of Prof. E. N. Horsford — Mrs. Horsford’s kindred— Purchases on the Island by William Nicholl and George Havens — The Supervisorship becomes in 1694 the chief civil office of the Towns in the State of New York — Names of Southold’s Supervisors in the last half of its First Century — Condition and character of the people at the close of the First Century of the Town Page 285-327

Part I

PERIOD OF THE MINISTRY OF THE REV. JOHN YOUNGS.

1640-1672.

Chapter I

There is a peculiar attraction which draws the thoughts and affeClions of men to the sources of any stream, that having continued to flow from age to age, still spreads its benign influences far and wide, with ever-increasing volume and usefulness. And the explorations of the Nile or the Amazon are not more charming to some minds than the investigation of the places, conditions, circumstances and causes of the fountains and currents of those historic movements which have contributed to shape the destiny and promote

the welfare of our country and our race.

The origin, direction and character of the smallest streams are full of interest to every man who would thoroughly understand the life and wealth which the broader and deeper river of our national and Christian history now bears and carries forward upon its ample and generous bosom.

It may be superfluous to remark, that the history of permanent Christian institutions, in this country, before the close of a third of the seventeenth century, presents only

“ The baby figures of the giant mass Of things to come at large.”

It is at this point that we come upon a record which diredlly pertains to the early history of Southold, Long Island. It is in these words :

“The examination of John Yonge, of St. Margaretts, Suff, minister aged 35 years and Joan his wife aged 34 yeares with 6 children John, Thomas, Anne, Rachel, Marey and Joseph are desirous to passe fo Salam in N England to inhabit

“ This man was forbyden passage by the commissioners and went not from Yarmouth,”

JOHN YOUNGS MIGRATES.

*9

For this record of the royal Commissioners of Emigration, see Massachusetts Hist. Society’s Col. — Fourth Series, vol. i., page ioi.

This is a record of 1633, if the record correctly gives his age 35 years, and if he was 74 years of age at his death in 1672, as the inscription on his tombstone relates. But in the “ Indexes of Southold,” by Charles B. Moore, Esq., it is held, that Mr. Youngs’s attempt to emigrate from Yarmouth occurred May 11, 1637, as stated in the copy of the English Record made for Mr. Savage. The Commissioners of Emigration were appointed, it is believed, in 1634. See the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, vol. 4, p. 16. The minister, whose passage from Yarmouth to Salem the Commissioners forbade only a few years after the organization of the earliest church in New England, seems to have had no desire to return to St. Margaret’s in Suffolk.

But where was this St. Margaret’s ? For there were more than one St. Margaret’s in Suffolk. We should perhaps most naturally refer this record to St. Margaret’s of Southolt in the Hundred of Hoxne, Suffolk. The name of the place is printed Southold in Camden. In Lewis’s Topographical Didtionary of England, fifth edition, 1842, it is described as follows: “ SOUTHOLT, (St. Margaret) a parish in the union and hundred of Hoxne, E. Division of the County of Suffolk, 5 miles (S. E. by S.) from Eye; containing 21 1 inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy, endowed with the great tithes, and annexed to the redtory of Worlingworth : the tithes have been commuted to a rent-charge of ,£237.10. A school is supported out of the rents of town lands, the proceeds of which, amounting to about .£100 per annum, are applied to the repairs of the church, and to the general purposes of the parish.” Investigation seems to show, that Mr. Youngs never had charge of this church and parish. In reply to a letter making inquiry as to Mr. Youngs’s incumbency of this St. Margaret’s, previous to his emigration to this country, the Reverend Redtor of Worlingworth most courteously gave the following evidence, that Mr. Youngs was not at any time during the seventeenth century an incumbent of that parish :