Slavery & the Underground Railroad on Long Island

The earliest organized opposition to slavery in the American colonies came from the Society of Friends, commonly called Quakers. Between 1754 and 1776, Friends throughout the colonies strengthened their commitment to pacifism and began to denounce slavery. John Woolman, a Quaker minister, traveled throughout New York preaching that slavery was against the beliefs of the Society of Friends. He was also the first to argue that the use of goods produced by slaves was as bad as slave holding itself.  The slave population on Long Island had gown to one slave for every five settlers by 1773. In 1773, the members of the Flushing Monthly Meeting urged members not to purchase slaves. Elisa Hicks attended that meeting and reminded members that the Quaker community would disown anyone who continued to buy or sell slaves.

In 1776, the Long Island Quakers freed one hundred fifty-four slaves. By 1791, 154 slaves freedom were recorded in Queens County. The antislavery movement achieved significant momentum in 1831 with the publication of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator. The formal founding of the abolitionist movement came with the inauguration of the American Anti-Slavery Society in Philadelphia in 1833.

Newspaper notices for runaways began to appear as soon as newspapers became regular publications in the early 1700s. From 1750 to 1770, notices for runaways were very common and they were usually clustered in small paragraphs with a notice for a reward.

One well used route on the Underground Railroad for New York was the home of George Jackson. Jackson was born in Bethpage in 1781 and purchased a farm in White Pot (which is now Forest Hills). Small boats traveled out of Flushing Creek to Westchester County, were the connections could be made. Another stop was the home of Valentine and Abigail Hicks in Jericho, which is now the Maine Maid Inn. Between 1815 and 1865, at least five families in Jericho assisted escaped slaves to their freedom. It was a custom for slaves to come to Long Island, especially Westbury, because it contained a sizable community of freed Africans.

In 1835, twenty-seven fugitives were sent to New York from North Carolina. They were brought to Jericho under the care of Valentine Hicks. There were so many of them that Valentine decided to separate the family members into different homes until connections were made. One of these homes was the Thomas Powell farm, now located in the Old Bethpage Restoration Village. The most detailed accounts of Quaker assistance to fugitive slaves on Long Island come from the writings about the Mott family. The Sands-Willet house is reported to be a stop. The Plandome Manor estate had an ice house and was observed to have a secret escape tunnel. There are also frequent references to Motts Point as a station.

In 1878, Isaac T. Hopper settled in Philadelphia and began to develop a program for the systematic assistance of slaves escaping from the South. The clandestine nature of the Underground Railroad prevents any accurate estimate of the number of slaves who found their way to freedom. Estimates fall between 50,000 to 100,000.

Sources:

Driscoll, James. Angels of Deliverance: The Underground Railroad in Queens, Long Island, and Beyond. The Queens Historical Society, 1999.

Vahey, Mary Feeney. A Hidden History: Slavery, Abolition, and the Underground Railroad in Cow Neck and on Long Island. Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society, 1998.

Velsor, Kathleen G. The Underground Railroad on Long Island: Friends in Freedom. The History Press, 2013.

Liberty Products Corporation

Liberty Products was originally established as the Kirkman Engineering and Manufacturing Corporation in 1932. In 1936, the plant operations were moved to the former Sperry plant on Motor Avenue in Farmingdale. The aircraft division was established in 1938. This division fabricated wings, control surfaces, pontoons, and strut assemblies for Grumman.

In 1940, the firm became Liberty Aircraft Products Corporation. Liberty became the prime subcontractor in the East making aircraft parts for Grumman, Republic, Martin, Curtiss, Fairchild, Brewster, Vought, Skirorsky, and others.

In 1941, Liberty acquired stock control of the Autocar Company of Philadelphia. After Pearl Harbor, Liberty produced the parts for the world famous Wildcats, Hellcats, Bearcats, and Avengers planes. During the war, they were the first plant in Nassau County to subscribe one hundred percent for payroll participation of war bond purchases. Once the war ended, Liberty acquired the Highway Trailer Company of Wisconsin and the Davisbilt Company of Cincinnati. The company designed the Phillips Starting Gate for the Roosevelt Raceway.

The company changed names once again, in 1947, becoming the Liberty Products Corporation. Liberty Aircraft had its last year of independent operation in 1954. Penn-Texas acquired Liberty in 1955 and sold “certain assets” in 1958. Metal plating and fiberglass product manufacturing were carried out from 1957 to 1984.

Sources:

Long Island: A History of Two Great Counties: Nassau and Suffolk. Volume III. Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1949

“Penn-Texas Sells Liberty Aircraft.” New York Times. January 2, 1958

Major Thomas Jones

Major Thomas Jones was born about 1665 in Straubane, Ireland. His family was Welsh, but they lived in Ireland for some time. Major Jones served in in the Battle of the Boyne under James II.  He eventually gave up his seafaring life and settled in Warwick, Rhode Island. A prominent family, the Townsends, also lived in Warwick at the time. Thomas Townsend obtained a considerable amount of land on Long Island, including several hundred acres of land in what is now Massapequa. Thomas Jones met Thomas Towsend’s daughter Freelove and married her. On October 30, 1696, Thomas Townsend gifted Jones and Freelove a large tract of land in Massapequa.

Major Jones and his wife moved to the Fort Neck area of Massapequa. He built a home at the head of a creek on Merrick Road, near Biltmore Boulevard. The creek became known as Brick House Creek (It is now Massapequa Lake and Preserve). Thomas Jones enlarged his holdings until he had approximately 6,000 acres (Part of that land is now Jones Beach State Park). He was granted a commission of Captain in the Queens County Militia in 1702. In 1710, he was appointed Ranger General of the Island of Nassau by Governor Hunter.

Major Jones died in December 1713 and was laid to rest in a small family burial ground not far from the house. He wrote the inscription for his own headstone. It reads, “Here Lyes Interd the Body of Major Thomas Jones Who Came From Straubane In The Kingdom of Ireland Settle Here and Died December 1713. From Distant Lands To This Wild Waste He Came This Seat He Choose and Here He Fixed His Name. Long May His Sons This Peaceful Spot Injoy and No Ill Fate his Offspring Here Annoy.”

He and Freelove’s graves were moved to the graveyard at Old Grace Episcopal Church on Merrick Road. The two original tombstones mark the graves. His grave is the oldest historic object in Massapequa.

A few legends have emerged about Thomas Jones and his seafaring life. He was a privateer before settling on Long Island. Legend says that he buried some treasure near his house in Massapequa. As the story is told, he asked a young boy to guard the treasure and when the boy agreed, Jones supposedly killed the boy and threw his body upon the chest as he buried it. Residents spoke of hearing the boy’s cries in the swamp where the treasure was supposed to be laid. Legend has it that when Jones died, a big black bird flew into the room and perched upon his pillow. The bird remained in the room until Jones passed away and flew out of an oval window in the house.

After his passing, strange goings-on began to occur. The oval window which the bird flew through could not be closed and sightings of his ghost were seen entering the window and taking a walk. Jones’s sons and grandson did everything they could to close the window, to no avail. The family eventually gave up and moved out of the house for good.

Sources:

Massapequa Post. An Illustrated History of Massapequa. Massapequa Publishing Co., 1968.

Panchyk, Richard. Hidden History of Long Island. History Press, 2016.

Police Commissioner Francis Looney

Francis Looney was born in the Looney farmhouse in 1916, the eighth of nine children. He attended St. Ignatius Parochial School from 1923 to 1931 and then went to Farmingdale High school from 1931 to 1935.  Francis Looney was drafted into the Army in November 1941. In 1942, he was assigned to military intelligence. Before he was drafted, Francis graduated from St. John’s Law School. He was the first Nassau County Police Officer with a law degree in the history of the department. After extensive training in counter-intelligence and espionage detection, he was ready for his first overseas assignment.

In February 1943, he was assigned to the Army Counter-Intelligence Crops in Algiers, North Africa. When he arrived, the American armies were engaged in battled with the Italian army and the German Afrika Corps. While there, he ferreted out spies and counter-intelligence agents whose activities were damaging the allied war effort.

His most exciting case was the Carla Costa affair. Carla Costa was on to the best spies in the German spy network. She was one of the most difficult spies to get information from.  She was captured enroute to Rome to gather intelligence. After five days of intensive questioning, she would not confess. She referred to her parents briefly and Francis was sent to Rome to find them. His report broke the case. It contained information from her parents and the confession of another spy, a friend of Carla’s. Upon hearing this, she gave a detailed account of German intelligence and several spies were arrested.

He was discharged in 1946 and rejoined the Nassau County Police Department. He began as a patrolman in a radio car.  By the end of his first year, he made Detective and passed the Sargent’s test a year later. .In 1948, he was made legal adviser to the Chief of Staff.  He was the Chief Inspector from 1961 to 1964.When Commissioner James J. Kelly resigned in 1964, Looney became the Commissioner. He served as Commissioner for five years. His proudest accomplishment was offering college training to all Nassau County Police Department personnel. The Police Department was the first one in the United States to require a two-year college degree for appointment and a four-year college degree for promotion.

During his time as Police Commissioner, Francis Looney recommended the creation of the Police Cade Program, created the Scientific Advisory Board, started the bi-monthly police publication Signal One, and opened a police library at the headquarters.

After his tenure, he served as Assistant to the New York City Police Department and then as Deputy Police Commissioner. In 1993, he served as a consultant advisory to the New York State Director of Criminal Justice. Francis Looney passed away in August 2003 at the age of 96.

Francis Looney served as President of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Chairman or the Nassau County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council.

His awards include: Fellow of Adelphi University, Niagara University’s President’s Medal, Law Enforcement Man of the Year by the Nassau County Detectives’ Association, Nassau County Municipal Police Chiefs Association, and the Nassau County American Legion.

Sources:

Francis B. Looney, Nassau County Police Commissioner 1966-1971.

Thompson, Ed. Farmingdale Biographies: A Look at the Lives of Some Prominent Citizens.

Victor Page Motors Corporation

Victor Page was born in 1885 in Massachusetts before his family moved to Rhode Island. When he was 19, he became part of the Page Motor Vehicle Company of Providence with Arthur Page and J.H. McHardy. They built a 10-horspower air-cooled car that sold for $750. A total of 25 cars were sold before the company folded.

Victor Page was a prolific writer of books on automotive and aviation construction and repair. By 1922, he had written fourteen textbooks and numerous articles on the topics. During World War I, he became the chief Aeronautical Engineering Officer of one of the largest aviation instruction centers in the world, located in France. When he returned home, he formed the Victor Page Motors Corporation. It was a Delaware corporation with a capital stock of 5,000,000 shares at a value of $1.00 each.

In his report to the stockholders, Victor spoke about the production of two models: the Aero-Type Four and Utility Four. The Corporation’s goal was to produce an improved car engine of the air-cooled type. These cars were built between 1921 and 1924 in the Liberty aircraft factory. During the Automobile Show on January 7, 1922, the Corporation exhibited two-coupe sedans, two convertible speedsters, a display chassis, and a body for its Aero-Type Four. The cost ranged from $1250 to $1750.

The Aero-Type Four was a nice car for its era. It had steel disc wheels, contoured shell, hood, and fenders. The engine was air cooled and featured an extensive use of aluminum. It had a four cylinder engine with overhead valves and camshafts and produced 30 horsepower. The fuel consumption was 25 to 30 mpg with a 119 inch wheelbase. The dashboard was made of black walnut. The interior featured tilt steering and the clutch and brake pedals were adjustable to fit the driver.

In 1922, the Corporation bought nearly four acres of land in Connecticut. Within a year, three building were completed, but there was no further construction after that. When he formed the company, Page made an arrangement with Charles Beadon to sell the stock. Unfortunately, some of Beadon’s salesmen were less than honest and when dividends and profits were not forthcoming, some of the stockholders travelled to Connecticut to get their money back. As soon as Page learned about the methods being used to sell his stock, he terminated his agreement with Beadon. Beadon brought a Bill of Complaint against him in federal court. Page won the case, but at a cost. Due to the money put into the legal proceedings, there was not enough money to begin commercial production of the cars. They tried selling stock, but sales were still below what was needed.

At a 1926 stockholder meeting, the Deputy Attorney General of New York began to question Page and eventually charged him with fraud. The judge ruled against Page and issued an injunction against the corporation, prohibiting it from selling stock anywhere in New York. Liquidation proceedings of the company were carried out and the land and buildings were sold on August 11, 1927.  During the proceedings, it was mentioned that although the cars had been made, none had been sold. At the liquidation, all the assets were sold off, including the cars.

Sources:

Derato, Frank. “Victor Page & His Automobile.” Bulb Horn. July-Sept., 1988

Gosden, Walter E. “Victor Page Aero Type Four.” Long Island Forum. October, 1978

Page, Victor W. “President’s Report of Progress to Stockholders of the Victor Page Motors Corporation.” October 21, 1921.

The Cross-Island Trolley Line

In 1886, Herman F. Rogers spoke to a railroad promoter while on a train from Santa Fe. Mr. Rogers was so enthusiastic about this idea that he spoke to Mr. E.D. Davidson, a local contractor about the possibility for a horse car line in Huntington. Mr. Rogers agreed to find financing for the road and Mr. Davidson would secure a franchise from the Town Board. In January of 1887, the Huntington RR was organized.  The route was to be along New York Avenue from the harbor through the village to the local LIRR station three miles away.  It would take another three years before it would begin to be built.

On June 10, 1890, grading commenced between Linden Street and Tuthill Avenue on the east side of New York Avenue. On June 26, the first car arrived and the railroad was open to the public on July 19. An incredible 1100 people filled and refilled the three cars that shuttled back and forth all day long. The railroad operated in two divisions, the harbor branch and the depot branch. Before the summer ended, the officials of the road secured permission from the LIRR to run a track across New York Avenue.

In the annual report of the directors of the LIRR in 1989, the road committed itself to another innovation: the construction of trolley roads. On April 21, the work began with the old light rails and ties being dug out and standard ties and rails being placed.  The first electric trolley car crossed Main Street on June 14.

In January 1906, the LIRR gave the first public intimation of its intentions to build a trolley road from Huntington Station through Melville and Farmingdale to Amityville. The LIRR bought a two-acre tract from John Mullins opposite the Huntington Station in April. That summer, the LIRR embarked on the process of securing franchises for the trolley from all the regulatory bodies involved. The Highway Commissioners granted the franchise on October 6. In December, cross ties arrived at Farmingdale and Huntington and preparations were made to being work in February if weather permitted. Difficulties created a postponement of the line, but work finally resumed in October of 1908. The line officially opened on August 25, 1909.

Source:

Seyfried, Vincent F. The Cross-Island Line: The Story of the Huntington Railroad. 1976.

Jesse Merritt - A Brief Biography

Jesse Merritt was born on September 4, 1889. The house he was born in was built in 1699 by Thomas Whitson, one of his ancestors.

He attended the Farmingdale Grammar School before attending Friends Academy and Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. From 1917 to 1924, he was the clerk of the Nassau County Board of Supervisors.

He served as part of the 7^th New York Infantry Regiment, Company C 1916 and did a tour of duty on the Mexican border. During World War I, he was attached to the 27^th Division and served in France and Belgium. His regiment was with the British when they broke through the Hindenburg Line. He received the Victory Medal, the Cross of Honor, and the Mexican Border Medal.

Jesse became Official historian Village of Farmingdale in 1920 and the historian for Nassau County in 1936. As part of his job as Nassau County Historian, he visited the White House and interviewed President Herbert Hoover. He has written three books: Two Hundredth Anniversary of Mattituck Meeting, Locust Valley, Long Island, 1724-1924, Essays on Walt Whitman, and Story of Nassau County, New York.

He was a lifetime member of the New York State Historical Society. Jesse was a member of the Mortin Lodge in Hempstead and became President in 1921. Was a charter member of the Bethpage Lodge in Farmingdale.

He was married Mabel Elva Witte on April 3, 1917 and they had two daughters. In 1920, he founded The Farmingdale Post. The village designated it as the official village newspaper. On April 9, 1923 the Women’s Club of Farmingdale met with representatives from various organizations of the village at Jesse Merritt’s home for the express purpose of forming a library. Jesse Merritt was elected the first President of the Farmingdale Library Association. He wrote a request for a library charter to Albany and it was granted in May of 1923. The library’s name was then changed to the Farmingdale Free library.

In 1932, Jesse suggested the name Bethpage State Park of the park recently built to Robert Moses, who agreed. Jesse Merritt died in 1957.

Sources:

Farmingdale’s Story: Farms to Flights. Junior Historical Society of Farmingdale, 1956

Halpin, James R. History of the Farmingdale Public Library. Master’s Thesis for Long Island University, 1965

Long Island: A History of Two Great Counties, Nassau and Suffolk. Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1949