Some Carpenter Glen Cove History >Dear Carpenters , > > >A bit of the Hamlet of Musketa Cove, Town of Oyster Bay (now known as the >City of Glen Cove) early history concerning a young Rhode Island inhabitant >named Joseph Carpenter who purchased 2,000 acres of land on May 24, 1668 in >the then northwest section of the Town of Oyster Bay from the Matinecock >Indians in order to erect a saw mill. > > >"On May 24, 1668, a young Rhode Island inhabitant named Joseph Carpenter >purchased 2,000 acres of land to the northwest of the Town of Oyster Bay from >the Matinecock Indians. His intention was to erect a saw mill and furnish New >York City with lumber desperately needed for the construction of housing. > >Carpenter took in as partners in his venture three brothers: Robert, Daniel, >and Nathaniel Coles, who were also former inhabitants of Rhode Island living >in Oyster Bay; and Nicholas Simkins, also of Oyster Bay. > >These five businessmen chose to retain the place-name by which the Matinecock >Indians had known the area, and therefore styled themselves "The Five >Proprietors of Musketa Cove Plantation." Musketa (also spelled "rnusquito") >translates from the Matinecock's language to roughly mean "the place of >rushes." > >Within a rather short time, the "Five Proprietors" had dammed a small stream >that ran through the valley, whose course is roughly paralleled by Glen >Street today. This dam was located near the foot of Mill Hill, slightly >northeast of the present fire department on a spot marked by a memorial >plaque. > >On the dam was erected the saw mill, which by an early. covenant between the >"Five Proprietors" was jointly owned by each of them, and a small grist mill >which was constructed by Joseph Carpenter under the condition that he grind >the grain of the other proprietors "well and tolle free for ever." (Millers >were remunerated for their services by receiving a percentage of the finished >flour as payment... usually about 10 per cent). > >The lumber produced by the saw mill found a ready market in New York City, >which had used up most of the indigenous trees on Manhattan Island rather >quickly. By l679, just two years after Carpenter's purchase from the Indians >was officially ratified by the colonial New York govemment, the mill was >producing nine different thicknesses of boards and timber, as well as tile >laths, shingle laths, wainscott, "feather-edged" boards for panelling, and >custom-cut walnut for cabinet-making. > >A small portion of the mill's accounts were recorded in the "Musketa Cove >Proprietor's Book," a hand- written record of the early settlers' land >transactions and agreements. The accounts indicate that one of the major >purchasers of Musketa Cove lumber was Jacob Leisler, a prosperous New York >City merchant who would, in 1689, overthrow the colonial government of the >colony and, in 1691, would be executed for treason. > >However, it appears that Leisler did not forget his acquaintances in Musketa >Cove during his reign as ad-hoc governor in New York, he appointed Robert >Coles as Captain in the Oyster Bay Militia." > >. Early History of Glen Cove >. City of Glen Cove Web Site > > >I obtained the above information while perusing the City of Glen Cove web >site: > ><A HREF="http://www.glencove-li.com/">City of Glen Cove</A> > >If your clicker does not work that well, type in: > >http://www.glencove-li.com/ > > >While perusing, I wandered over to government section that has information on >the early history of the City of Glen Cove and clicked on: > ><A HREF="http://www.glencove-li.com/channels/Government/index.cfm?id=13">City >of Glen Cove - Government</A> > >If your clicker does not work that well, then type in: > >http://www.glencove-li.com/channels/Government/index.cfm?id=13 > > > >L'Shannah Tova, > >Walter Greenspan > > > > > >----------------------- >