Manor St. George

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Manor St. George or St. George's Manor was a large tract of land purchased by William "Tangier" Smith in the 1600s on Long Island, in central Suffolk County, New York. Parts of the original parcel, which was approximately 64,000 acres (259 km²) of land, are preserved in bits and pieces: 127 acres (0.51 km²) and the main house and buildings are called the Manor of St. George and located in Mastic Beach; 35 acres (0.14 km²) and another house are called the Longwood Estate and located in Ridge; and 35 acres (0.14 km²) became part of the William Floyd Estate. Both Manor St. George and the Longwood Estate (alternately called the Smith Estate) are maintained by the Town of Brookhaven, and the Floyd Estate is maintained by the National Park Service. The hamlet of Manorville also derives its name from Manor St. George [1].

Manor St. George originally stretched from Carman's River (then called the Connecticut River) in the west to the edge of Southampton Town in the east, and from the Atlantic Ocean in the south to around present-day New York State Route 25 in the north [2].

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] British Colonial New York

The patent for Manor St. George was granted to Col. William "Tangier" Smith in 1693 in recognition of Col. Smith's being mayor of Tangier in Africa. Further patents issuing more land were granted in 1697 and annexed to the first patent. Col. Smith already owned a homestead in Setauket, New York, and it was from there that he administered his land early on. An additional patent was also issued to Col. Smith in 1697, the Moriches Patent, but not annexed to Manor St. George. In time, the northwestern section of the estate was known as "the Swamp" or "Longswamp."

On Col. Wm. "Tangier" Smith's death in 1705, the Setauket estate was inherited by his eldest surviving son, Col. Henry Smith, and Manor St. George was inherited by another son, Major William Henry Smith, who built the manor seat on Mastic Neck.

In or around 1718, 4,000 acres (16.19 km²) of the estate on the eastern side of Mastic Neck were acquired by Richard Floyd, who gave it to his son Nicoll. In 1755 the Floyd Estate was given to son William Floyd, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

On Major Wm. H. Smith's death in 1743, his son Judge William Smith inherited Manor St. George.

[edit] America Revolts

During the American Revolution, British soldiers occupied the manor house on Mastic Neck and built a fort there. It is possible that Judge Smith, a patriot, fled to Longswamp during the occupation, but this is not documented. In 1780, Major Benjamin Tallmadge landed his dragoons at Cedar Point on the north shore of Long Island and led them on a march to the manor, burning it and the fort to the ground and capturing the British soldiers therein. Major Tallmadge's march, a twenty-mile journey, is survived in the form of the Tallmadge Trail.

[edit] After the American Revolution

After the Revolutionary War, the manor house was rebuilt. Also, Judge Smith had a house built for his son, Gen. John Smith, in Longswamp. Gen. Smith decided not to move into the new house, though, staying at Manor St. George. Longswamp was given to Judge Smith's seventh son, William, in 1790. On July 8, 1817, Longswamp was handed down to William Smith's son, William Sydney Smith, who changed the name to Longwood.

Throughout the following time, Manor St. George and Longwood would be divided many times as parts were sold and parts were divided amongst children of the Smiths.

In 1955, Manor St. George was donated to Brookhaven Town by Eugenie Annie Tangier Smith. In the same year, the Longwood Estate was given to Elbert "Burt" Clayton Smith of Berkeley, California who moved his family to the estate immediately. Burt Smith donated 51 acres (0.21 km²) of the estate to the local board of education to build Longwood High School, six acres (24,281 m²) to Middle Island Presbyterian Church (which moved to the plot in Ridge, but kept "Middle Island" in the title), two acres (8,094 m²) to St. Mark's Lutheran Church (which no longer exists), and several acres to Suffolk County for the greenbelt. When Burt Smith died in 1967, Longwood was bought by real estate developers and destined for destruction. After another real estate developer, Wilbur F. Breslin, proposed a huge residential, industrial, and commercial complex on the site, public outcry was enough that the house and 35 acres (0.14 km²) were donated to Brookhaven Town for preservation in 1974.

[edit] Current Uses

Both the Manor of St. George and the Longwood Estate are used as parkland, open to the public, and contain museums. The Longwood Estate is also used for the annual Brookhaven Town Fair.

[edit] Resources & External Links