Thomas Powell (1641–1721/22) was a land owner in the middle section of
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
in the
Province of New York
The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the Uni ...
during the colonial period of
American history
The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Numerous indigenous cultures formed, and many saw transformations in the 16th century away from more densely ...
. He secured the land transaction known as the
Bethpage Purchase
The Bethpage Purchase was a 1687 land transaction in which Thomas Powell, Sr, bought more than in central Long Island, New York, for £140 (English pounds sterling) from local Indian tribes, including the Marsapeque, Matinecoc, and Sacatogue.
...
with local native tribes on Long Island.
Early life
Powell was born in August or October 1641.
Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...
s Thomas Powell (1616–1681) and Priscilla Powell (
nee
Nee or NEE may refer to:
Names
* Née (lit. "born"), a woman's family name at birth before the adoption of another surname usually after marriage
**The male equivalent "né" is used to indicate what a man was originally known as before the adopt ...
Whitson) are sometimes given as the names of his parents.
Sources disagree on whether Powell was born in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
,
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
or in Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
. Some sources say that Powell's parents were involved with the Reverend John Davenport, who led a group of Puritans to settle in the New Haven Colony
The New Haven Colony was a small English colony in North America from 1638 to 1664 primarily in parts of what is now the state of Connecticut, but also with outposts in modern-day New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.
The history o ...
in present-day New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
. Several sources say Powell's father was involved with the sack and rum trade
Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market.
An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...
.
Court records from 1662 for the Town of Huntington, New York, indicate that thomas Powell indentured servant
Indentured servitude is a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract, called an " indenture", may be entered "voluntarily" for purported eventual compensation or debt repayment ...
in the Jonas Halifax Wood home living with them nine years. After almost nine years of service to Master Good Wood, and Good Higbe, Powell gave written testimony for the inventory books against the estate of Jonas Halifax Wood of Hempstead regarding an unpaid debt for rum and wine at Daniel Whiteheads store following Wood's death.
Records from 1666 show Powell acting as attorney for Matthews in the sale of lands in Oyster Bay. Some sources say Powell married Wood's daughter in 1663 and purchased his first home December 1663;[ while others list Powell's first wife's name as ''unknown''.] after completing his service, Powell lived for several years in Huntington.
Powell filled positions within the administration of Huntington, including town recorder in the year 1658 and is listed as doing so in the Huntington town history timeline., constable, surveyor, overseer, and trustee. In 1682, Powell declined to serve again as constable, because the job required the officer to swear to levy and collect rates for the Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
, and he had, by then, become a Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
.[
]
Historical background
Founded by a group of Separatists
Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...
and Anglicans
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the l ...
, who together later came to be known as the Pilgrims, Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony (sometimes Plimouth) was, from 1620 to 1691, the British America, first permanent English colony in New England and the second permanent English colony in North America, after the Jamestown Colony. It was first settled by the pa ...
(in ) was founded in 1620 by those who sailed aboard the Mayflower
''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...
. The colony was one of the earliest successful colonies to be founded by the English in North America, and the first sizeable permanent English settlement in what is now the New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
region. Soon other colonies were established in New England.
A Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...
minister named John Davenport led his flock from exile in the Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
back to England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and finally to America in the spring of 1637. The group arrived in Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
on the ship ''Hector'' on June 26, but decided to strike out on their own, based on their impression that the Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...
was lax in its religious observances. In April 1638, the main party of five hundred Puritans left Massachusetts under the leadership of Davenport and the London merchant Theophilus Eaton
Theophilus Eaton (January 7, 1658) was a wealthy New England Puritan merchant, first Governor of New Haven Colony, Connecticut, co founder of that same colony and co founder of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. His brother, Nathaniel Eaton, w ...
, and sailed into their ''new haven''. The Quinnipiac Native Americans, who were under attack by neighboring Pequot
The Pequot () are a Native American people of Connecticut. The modern Pequot are members of the federally recognized Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, four other state-recognized groups in Connecticut including the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation, or th ...
s, had sold their land to Eaton and the settlers in return for protection. These settlers established the New Haven Colony
The New Haven Colony was a small English colony in North America from 1638 to 1664 primarily in parts of what is now the state of Connecticut, but also with outposts in modern-day New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.
The history o ...
. In 1662, the colony merged with the Connecticut Colony
The ''Connecticut Colony'' or ''Colony of Connecticut'', originally known as the Connecticut River Colony or simply the River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636 as a settl ...
.
The English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
took place from 1642 to 1651, and England was without a monarch until 1660.
Quakerism was founded by George Fox
George Fox (July 1624 – 13 January 1691) was an English Dissenter, who was a founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers or Friends. The son of a Leicestershire weaver, he lived in times of social upheaval and ...
(1624–1691) in England in the late 1640s.
The first Quaker missionaries arrived on America in Boston in 1656, and 1657 on Long Island.
Quakers were officially persecuted
Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these terms ...
in England under the Quaker Act (1662) and the Conventicle Act 1664
The Conventicle Act 1664 was an Act of the Parliament of England (16 Charles II c. 4) that forbade conventicles, defined as religious assemblies of more than five people other than an immediate family, outside the auspices of the Church of E ...
. This was relaxed after the Declaration of Indulgence
The Declaration of Indulgence, also called Declaration for Liberty of Conscience, was a pair of proclamations made by James II of England and Ireland and VII of Scotland in 1687. The Indulgence was first issued for Scotland on 12 February and t ...
(1687–1688) and stopped under the Act of Toleration 1689
The Toleration Act 1688 (1 Will & Mary c 18), also referred to as the Act of Toleration, was an Act of the Parliament of England. Passed in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution, it received royal assent on 24 May 1689.
The Act allowed for f ...
. Peter Stuyvesant
Peter Stuyvesant (; in Dutch also ''Pieter'' and ''Petrus'' Stuyvesant, ; 1610 – August 1672)Mooney, James E. "Stuyvesant, Peter" in p.1256 was a Dutch colonial officer who served as the last Dutch director-general of the colony of New Net ...
, the Dutch Director-General
A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals''
) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a government ...
of New Netherland
New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the East Coast of the United States, east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territor ...
, had also banned Quaker worship despite the 1657 Flushing Remonstrance
The Flushing Remonstrance was a 1657 petition to Director-General of New Netherland Peter Stuyvesant, in which some thirty residents of the small settlement at Flushing requested an exemption to his ban on Quaker worship. It is considered a precu ...
. Many Quakers settled further east in Oyster Bay, which was near the boundary between Dutch and British land. George Fox later visited Oyster Bay in 1672.
Until 1664, Long Island was split, roughly at the present border between Nassau County and Suffolk County, between the Dutch in the west and Connecticut claiming the east. The Dutch did grant an English settlement in Hempstead (now in Nassau), but drove settlers from Oyster Bay as part of a boundary dispute.
In 1664, all of Long Island became part of the Province of New York
The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the Uni ...
within the Shire of York
The Shire of York is a local government area in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, covering an area of just beyond the eastern fringe of Perth's metropolitan area. The Shire's seat of government is the town of York.
History
The Shir ...
. Present-day Suffolk County was the East Riding of Yorkshire, while present-day Queens and Nassau were just part of the larger North Riding. In 1683, Yorkshire was dissolved and Suffolk County and Queens County were established. (Nassau County was not formed until 1899, when it split from Queens County.)
Land purchases
In 1686, Governor Thomas Dongan
Thomas Dongan, (pronounced "Dungan") 2nd Earl of Limerick (1634 – 14 December 1715), was a member of the Irish Parliament, Royalist military officer during the English Civil War, and Governor of the Province of New York. He is noted for hav ...
of New York urged the Town of Huntington to complete the purchase from the local Native Americans of any lands not already purchased. Powell, who had substantial holdings of land in Huntington, was chosen by the town to offer to buy more lands from the Native Americans.
The Bethpage Purchase
The Bethpage Purchase was a 1687 land transaction in which Thomas Powell, Sr, bought more than in central Long Island, New York, for £140 (English pounds sterling) from local Indian tribes, including the Marsapeque, Matinecoc, and Sacatogue.
...
was a 1687 land transaction in which Powell bought more than (about 10,000 acres) in central Long Island, New York for £140 (English pounds sterling) from local Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans, also known as American Indians, First Americans, Indigenous Americans, and other terms, are the Indigenous peoples of the mainland United States ( Indigenous peoples of Hawaii, Alaska and territories of the United State ...
tribes, including the Marsapeque, Matinecoc, and Sacatogue. It is approximately east to west and north to south.
This land covers both sides of the present-day border between Nassau and Suffolk counties all or parts of present-day Bethpage, Farmingdale, Old Bethpage
Old Bethpage is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located on Long Island in the Town of Oyster Bay, Nassau County, New York, United States. The population of the CDP was 5,283 at the 2020 United States Census. It is served by the Old Be ...
, Plainedge
Plainedge is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 8,817 at the 2010 census.
The area was once known as Turkeyville.
Geography
Ac ...
, Plainview, and South Farmingdale
South Farmingdale is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population of the CDP was 14,486 at the 2010 census.
The hamlet is a ...
(all in Nassau), and East Farmingdale
East Farmingdale is a hamlet and a census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, on Long Island, in New York. The population of the CDP was 6,484 at the 2010 census. Located in the Town of Babylon, the residents are served by the Farmingda ...
and Melville (both in Suffolk). Nassau County was not a separate county until 1899, and was, at the time of the purchase, part of Queens County. Most of the Bethpage Purchase is in the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau. The portions in Suffolk were all then within the Town of Huntington. In 1872, the Town of Huntington was subdivided, and East Farmingdale became part of the Town of Babylon.
Almost eight years later, on October 18, 1695, Mawmee (alias Serewanos), William Chepy, Seurushung, and Wamussum made their marks on the sheepskin deed
In common law, a deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, affirms or confirms an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered, and in some jurisdictions, sealed. It is commonly associated with transferring ...
for the purchase. The deed, which recognizes Powell had already been in possession of part of the land for more than seven years, is recorded in the Queens County Clerks office, and in it, the Native Americans reserved the right to pick berries and hunt on the property sold.
Powell called the land he purchased "Bethphage", because it was situated between two other places on Long Island, Jericho
Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Gove ...
and Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, just as the biblical town of Bethphage
Bethphage ( grc, Βηθφαγή, Bēthpagḗ; arc, בֵּית פַּגִּי, Bêt̲ Paggî, lit=house of unripe figs) or Bethsphage, is a Christian religious site on the Mount of Olives east of Old City of Jerusalem, historical Jerusalem.
Bethp ...
(meaning "house of figs") was situated between Jericho
Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Gove ...
and Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
in Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. Today, the Long Island place formerly called "Jerusalem" is known as Wantagh
Wantagh ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, New York, United States. The population was 18,871 at the time of the 2010 census.
Wantagh is known as "The Gateway to Jones Be ...
and Island Trees, while the placename
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...
Jericho, also a Quaker settlement at that time, still has that name. Over time, the second "H" was dropped from the name, to spell "Bethpage".
Sources also mention he made a second purchase, in 1699, called the "Rim of the Woods Purchase", which includes land to the west of the original Bethpage Purchase; including most of present-day Bethpage and all the land in the northern section of present-day Plainedge
Plainedge is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 8,817 at the 2010 census.
The area was once known as Turkeyville.
Geography
Ac ...
(Boundary Avenue, north to Old Motor Parkway, and Hicksville Road east to Cedar Drive). By 1700, very little of Long Island had not been purchased from the Native Americans by the English colonists, and townships controlled whatever land had not already been distributed.
Later life and legacy
Powell and his first wife Abigail Wood had eight children, including another Thomas Powell (1665–1731), the fourth Thomas Powell.[ His first wife died before 1688 in Westbury, after which Powell married Elizabeth Phillips, of Jericho, Long Island, February 9, 1690, in Westbury. They had seven children.] Most sources, when mentioning where Powell himself resided, state Westbury. Powell sold pieces of Bethphage to other Quaker farmers. His sons did live in the Bethpage Purchase.[ One of two houses Powell built in the area (]circa
Circa is a word of Latin origin meaning 'approximately'.
Circa or CIRCA may also refer to:
* CIRCA (art platform), art platform based in London
* Circa (band), a progressive rock supergroup
* Circa (company), an American skateboard footwear com ...
1700) still stands on Merritts Road in Farmingdale, just north of the Bethpage-Hempstead Turnpike.
Powell died , in Westbury, New York
The Incorporated Village of Westbury is a Village (New York), village in the North Hempstead, New York, Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York (state), New York, United States. It is located a ...
, another Quaker settlement.[ He is buried in Bethpage Cemetery, Farmingdale, N.Y.] His remaining property was split among his children and their heirs
Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officia ...
, in accordance with his will. Children mentioned in the will are Thomas, Abigail Willets, John, Jonas, Caleb, Wait, Elisha, Solomon, Elizabeth Titus, Sarah, Amey, Mercy, Hannah Willis, Phebe Willis, and Rachel Willets. As a result, several farming communities developed. Three separate communities within the original Bethpage Purchase have, at one time or another, been named Bethpage. The first community was centered in present-day Farmingdale around Merritts Road, just north of the Hempstead-Bethpage Turnpike; the second was present-day Old Bethpage; and the latest is present-day Bethpage.
Bibliography
Annotations
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Thomas
1641 births
1722 deaths
American Quakers
English Quakers
Converts to Quakerism
History of New York (state)
People from Oyster Bay (town), New York
People from Westbury, New York