The fund raising campaign now
being conducted by the South Haven Brookhaven Presbyterian church
for the re-development program adopted by the church calls for
moving the historic old church at South Haven to a new location at
Brookhaven. This church was built in 1828, and the first church in
1740, which was an offspring of the mother church at Setauket.
The
first settlement in Brookhaven town was made at Setauket in 1655 by
six men who were sent out by the New England colonists to locate a
suitable spot on the north shore of Long Island to make a
settlement. They made their purchase of lands from the Setalcott
Indians, then returned to the mainland, and soon the settlers began
to arrive and make their homes in this area.
The first settlement
was called Ashford, after the tow in England by the name and the
adjoining bay, Cromwell Bay, in honor of the puritan leader.
The name
Ashford was later changed to Brookhaven, a name which Gov. Nicolls
gave to the whole town in 1666.It was later changed to Setauket, to
distinguish it from the town name.
The first settled minister in this
settlement was the Rev .Nathaniel Brewster, who came over from New
England in 1665. His salary of 40 pounds a year was raised by a tax
upon the people, and in 1671 William Satterly was appointed to make
the rounds to collect the money. A church building was built on the
"Green" at Setauket in 1671, which was also used to hold town meetings
in, and as a schoolhouse. Only church members in good standing were
allowed to vote at these meetings, which governed the early
settlement.
No denominational title was given to the church at that
time and it was simply called the "meeting house in Brookhaven,"
Here
were decided such questions as to where the people were to sit in
church, the amount of the minister's salary and how it was to be
raised. Since religious matters were handled by the whole
congregation assembled in a town meeting, the early church could
hardly be called Presbyterian.
The Rev. Epher
Whittaker, pastor of the
Southold Presbyterian church, explained the matter in later years
when he said, "All these early churches were neither Presbyterian nor
congregational in the general meeting of the words. They were 'town
churches,' or civil government churches. The bond of union of these
churches was the civil government of the colony over all the
towns."
At any rate, the settlers of Brookhaven town and eastern Long
Island in general were deeply religious and their church was the
first building to be erected and around it were the homes of these
people to whom this was the center of life. There could be no clearer
example of the unity of church and state from which these Puritans
had fled, than here at Setauket but it was the kind of a state
church which they liked. They were in a position to call all who did
not worship as they did "dissenters.'
In October 1665, Mathew Prior
sold his house and lot with glass windows (A luxury in those days)
doors and partitions, all fencing young apple trees and other fruit
trees to the constable and overseers of the town, for the
Rev. Mr. Brewster.
In those days there were no church bells, so to take
their place the drum was used, which was beaten in the church door on
Sabbath mornings to call the worshippers together. In 1668 the town
record states that "Obed Seward is to beat the drum twice on Sabbath
day on the meeting house hill." In 1723 the town trustees engaged
Nathaniel Tooker to perform the office of Beating the drum on ye
Lord's Day and for sweeping ye meeting house for ye year above
written for 30 shillings.
As the years went on and settlement were
made on the south side in the South Haven area it was decided to
build a church there as it was a long trip across the Island to the
town church in Setauket so in 1740 the first church was built at the
going over where the road crossed the river at South Haven.