Setauket Presbyterian Church and Burial Ground, also known as First Presbyterian Church of Brookhaven, is a historic

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

and

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

at 5 Caroline Avenue in the hamlet of

Setauket Setauket is a hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Brookhaven, New York, Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United States, on the North Shore (Long Island), Nort ...

Suffolk County, New York Suffolk County () is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of New York. It is mainly located on the eastern end of Long Island, but also includes several smaller islands. According to the 2020 United States census, the county's populatio ...

History

The church was built in 1812 in the

Federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

style and is a three-by-five-bay, heavy timber framed, building sheathed in wood shingles and covered by a gable roof. The center bay features an

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex ...

. The burial ground was established in the 1660s and contains approximately 800 gravesites. ''See also:'' The church grounds were the site of a

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

fortification that was attacked by

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

forces from

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 ...

in August 1777. Prior to this, existed an earlier presbyterian church on the village green, which was later burned down after being struck by lightning. The present church was rebuilt in 1812. The burial ground contains the remains of some of the earliest pastors of the church including Nathaniel Brewster (1600-1690), George Phillips (1660-1739) (grandson of Rev. George Phillips), and Benjamin Talmadge (1723-1786) (father of

Benjamin Tallmadge Benjamin Tallmadge (February 25, 1754 – March 7, 1835) was an American military officer, spymaster, and politician. He is best known for his service as an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He acted as leade ...

), among others. Also many of the founding families of the area are buried here including the Bayles, Davis, Dickinsons, Floyds. Hawkins, Jaynes, Jones, Satterlys, Smiths and Woodhulls, including the resting place of

Abraham Woodhull Abraham Woodhull (October 7, 1750January 23, 1826) was a leading member of the Culper Spy Ring in New York City and Setauket, New York, during the American Revolutionary War. He used the alias "Samuel Culper" (later "Samuel Culper Sr."), which was ...

, leader of the Culper spy ring against the British during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

. The church and burial ground were added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1996.

Images

File:Setauket Presbyterian Church in 2015.jpg, Setauket Presbyterian Church in 2015, from Caroline Street

References

External links

Setauket Presbyterian Church official site
{{National Register of Historic Places in New York Presbyterian churches in New York (state) Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Federal architecture in New York (state) Churches completed in 1812 Churches in Suffolk County, New York Protestant Reformed cemeteries Cemeteries in Suffolk County, New York National Register of Historic Places in Suffolk County, New York