​by Emily Werner, HHS Curator

​In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, many professional weavers immigrated from Germany, Scotland, Ireland, or England after lengthy apprenticeships in specialized weaving techniques, such as damask or carpet weaving. Known as “fancy weavers,” they settled in small towns along the east coast, including New York, and adapted their specialized knowledge to weaving “bed carpets” or “carpet coverlets.”
 
Professional weavers were almost exclusively men. Although women continued to play a vital role in supporting textile production by preparing the raw materials and finishing the cloth after it was woven, few women actually became professional weavers themselves.
 
Many professional weavers were not only weavers, but also worked other jobs, such as farming, to support themselves throughout the year. They set up workshops at home or at another established location, where customers could bring their design preferences and homespun yarn for the textiles they were commissioning.
 
Professional weavers made coverlets for specific customers, typically women, and wove her name and the date into the corner block or along the border of the coverlet. Occasionally weavers included other phrases as well, such as their name, a town name, or even the name of the pattern. The text was almost always woven lengthwise into the coverlet (in the warp direction). Because of the reversibility of double cloth fabric, the text is legible on one side of the coverlet and appears reversed on the other. The practice of naming and dating coverlets in this manner is thought to have originated on Long Island.
 
Long Island coverlets were woven in a weave structure called double cloth. Double cloth coverlets are created by weaving two layers of fabric simultaneously, each layer intersecting at specific points to produce the pattern. The fabric is reversible, with one side predominantly dark and the other side predominantly light. The dark yarn was indigo-dyed wool, usually provided by the customer, while the light yarn was undyed machine-spun cotton.
 
Because they used twice as much yarn as other types of fabrics and required great skill and technology to weave, double cloth coverlets were some of the most costly and prized textiles in nineteenth-century American homes.
 
Visit our new exhibit, From Farm to Fabric: Early Woven Textiles of Long Island, to find out even more about these beautiful textiles! Open through September 17, 2023 at the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Building at 228 Main Street, Huntington.

This exhibit was part of a collaboration with Preservation Long Island to highlight the importance of Long Island’s early weaving practices and industry. Their exhibit, Blanket Statements: Long Island’s Early Weaving Industry, explores Long Island’s early textile industry and the broader historical events that shaped its growth during the first half of the nineteenth century. Open through October 8, 2023 at the Preservation Long Island Gallery at 161 Main Street, Cold Spring Harbor.



Photo captions: Geometric double cloth coverlet, woven for Phebe Titus, December 21, 1817. Attributed to Mott Mill. Huntington Historical Society, 1987.20 / Figured and Fancy double cloth coverlet, woven for Mary H. Wood, 1839. Huntington Historical Society, 1966.7.1.

Washington was well respected as an orator and author. Of his 14 books, his autobiography “Up from Slavery” (published in 1901) became the most well-known. His writings gained him national influence in education and politics and led him to become an advisor and friend to Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. In 1901, Washington was invited to dine with Roosevelt at the White House, a radical invitation that led to much outcry from southern politicians and press. ​

​​In 2021, a descendent of the Lloyd Harbor Van Wyck family donated three letters from Washington that refer to his stay on the Van Wyck Farm. The letters are now part of the Society's collection and provide insight into his time there. 

While in Huntington, Washington gave several talks at the local Opera House, as well as a commencement speech at Northport High School. He also taught Sunday School at Bethel AME Church.

​Most locals know that Washington purchased a property in Fort Salonga, but it is less commonly known that he also acquired a house in Huntington Village. ​

by Emily Finan, Collections Assistant

In the top left vignette, Santa is riding his sleigh pulled by reindeer who are slipping out of frame under a starry sky along with the words “Santa Claus is coming.” In the top right, titled “with compliments of Santa Claus,” Santa stands on a roof and delivers presents down a chimney. On the bottom left, “All the stockings in the house were hung to be filled by Santa Claus” is written within a scene of three children hanging stockings from the mantle of a fireplace in preparation. On the bottom right, three children play with their new toys—a drum and rocking horse—around their parents’ bed, illustrated by the quote “Santa Claus gave all these toys because we were good girls and boys.” 

Displayed in a variety of manners—as a banner, a handkerchief, a scarf, a table cover, a decorative textile hanging—additional examples of this print can be found in other museum collections, such as the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum. [https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18669979/] Another edition, now in the collection of New York Historical Society, was designed by Peck as a make-your-own Santa Claus doll; the same patriotic Santa is printed with its reverse on one textile which allowed users to cut each out and sew them together to fashion a doll. [https://emuseum.nyhistory.org/objects/6630/santa-claus-doll?ctx=35019b47c703c699e3e4137815d21bc7d7ee13cc&idx=15] ​

We wish you a very happy holiday!

Article by Emily Finan, Collections Assistant

​Each Thanksgiving Day from 1904 into the 1920s, Stimson—who served as Secretary of War under President Howard Taft, and Secretary of State under President Herbert Hoover—invited his friends, family, and neighbors to Highhold estate, through postings in The Long-Islander, to compete in a series of games including trapshooting, spar fighting, barrel racing, novelty racing, flat racing, and steeplechase. Originally held as a gesture of appreciation to his neighbors for their hospitality in allowing him to traverse their lands while foxhunting, Stimson’s games became an annual tradition that exemplified generosity and fostered community. Hundreds of people—young and old—gathered to compete, enjoy cider, coffee, and donuts at the refreshments tent, and warm themselves by the bonfire before returning home for their own holiday dinners. 

​Hulsen competed in the games as a child and fondly recalled standing alongside Teddy Roosevelt during a trap shooting event one year. The first two trophies he earned are mugs in the shape of barrels. The first is made of brass encircled by copper bands, and indicates Hulsen’s success in the 1915 trap shooting event; the second is made of pewter overlaid with copper bands, and notes that Hulsen won the 1916 spar fight event. The third trophy, a pewter stein awarded for the 1919 spar fight event, is notable in that 1919 marked the return of the Highhold Games after a two-year intermission caused by World War I. 

If you enjoyed reading this, please consider making a donation to the Huntington Historical Society. Your support will help us continue to share and preserve Huntington's history for future generations!

​In this photo from 1908, the white building to the left was the First Union Free School. Built in 1858, it served all grades through high school. The brick building to the right was built in 1900 and served elementary grades, while the original school was used for high school students only.  Eventually this would become the site of Huntington High School located at 100 Main Street.

A high school was built in 1910. This photo shows the building around 1925. It was later enlarged in 1928 by a portico connecting it with the former elementary school building and an auditorium was also added.  In 1979 the high school became Town Hall, which it remains today.

Below: ​Interior main entrance of Huntington High School, circa 1930.

Below: Huntington High School Girls Basketball Team, 1914.  Standing left to right:  Helen Lowndes, Vera Williamson, Ethel Sammis, (captain).  Sitting left to right:  Esther Funnell, Dorothy Burne, Jane Fleet.

By Toby Kissam, with Barbara LaMonica

Shortly after the Civil War, baseball’s popularity rapidly spread throughout Long Island. Many towns, including Brooklyn and Queens, (Nassau County was part of Queens until 1899), formed their own baseball clubs.  Rival clubs would challenge each other, with many games played at county fairs.  Most of the teams consisted of farmers, merchants, and students, although they often had semi-pro players in their lineups.  

One of the most famous teams was the Huntington Suffolks. The team was formed in 1866.  Their organizational meetings were held at the Suffolk Hotel that was located on the south side of Main Street between New York Avenue and New Street.






​Later, other clubs were formed including the Young Suffolks, the Huntington Base Ball Club and teams from different parts of town like the Northport Base Ball Club and the West Side Boys.

Huntington Suffolk Baseball Club, 1893

The match was played near the home of David Woodhull Conklin. His house still stands on the west side of West Neck Road near Tanyard Lane.  Conklin’s lot was on the east side of the road about where the Methodist Church stands today. 

Tintypes of the early Suffolk Base Ball Club  

In April of the following year, the Suffolk Base Ball Club held an inter-club match between the 1st Nine and the Field, to select the team for 1867.  The following month they called for a meeting to be held on Friday evening at the Suffolk Hotel on Main Street to ready them for the up-coming season.

By William H. Frohlich
Trustee, Huntington Historical Society

The Long Island Atlas published by Beers, et al, in 1873 shows the new town boundary line clearly, even though the survey work had been done in 1871 and 1872 before the new town had been established.  When the atlas was published in 1873, it was correct!

Interestingly, Nassau County didn’t exist either at the time and is also a relatively “new” invention.  (Early on there was an attempt made to call Long Island the “Island of Nassau,” but it didn’t stick.)  Before Nassau County was established in 1899 it was all part of Queens County, which extended from the East River all the way to Huntington. (New York City, as we know it with its five boroughs, which included Queens County, wasn’t established until 1898.)

What many may not know is that Lloyd Neck remained part of Queens County until the early 1880s.  Then, it finally joined Huntington and Suffolk County.

The original settlers that occupied the Town of Huntington bought the land from the local Indian tribes through several purchases in the mid-1600s.  Our Town was criss-crossed by many Indian trails which the settlers then used as well.  Many of these still exist, but today we know them as Main Street, 25A, Jericho Turnpike, Montauk Highway, among others.

The area that we now call Babylon was unpopulated at the time (sometimes known as Huntington South).  That part of Huntington was used mostly as grazing land and for ocean fishing.  The first resident was Jacob Conklin, born in Huntington in 1675.  He built a house in the Half Way Hollow Hills in 1710 on, it is said, 3,500 acres of land.  This original name for the area was chosen for its location: half way between the sound and the sea.

Legend has it that he was an impressed seaman on Captain Kidd’s ship.  When the Captain put in to Cold Spring Harbor, Jacob jumped ship and ran south.  According to "The Human Story of Long Island," by Verne Dyson, 1969, “One of the numerous Conklin legends, (is that) his mission was to bury treasure for Kidd; instead he escaped with the chest and from the proceeds bought the estate (land) in the Half Way Hollow Hills.”  Some say he hid out in the hollow of a tree for years afraid Captain Kidd would find him!  

Eventually, he built a house in what is now the Wheatley Heights area on the line between Huntington and Babylon off Bagatelle Road, and married Hanna Platt of Huntington.  Unfortunately, the house burned down in 1918.  The cemetery where he and his family are buried is still on the property of the the Henry Kaufman Camp Grounds.

​It is a common misconception that slavery was rare in New York state. 
​
According to The Long Island Museum's 2019 exhibit "Long Road to Freedom: Surviving Slavery on Long Island," in 1749 14% of the population of Suffolk County was comprised of enslaved persons.

The first U.S. Census, conducted in 1790, records approximately 3,260 people living in the Town of Huntington, of which 221 were enslaved, and 74 were free people of color. 

The document pictured here, just acquired by the Huntington Historical Society, is a transactional record of the sale of two enslaved persons by Philip Platt of Huntington to John Mulford in "Easthampton."   

Document Transcription
(Please note: This is a direct transcription and includes errors or variations in spelling. Blanks denote a word that is indecipherable.) 

Know all men by thes presents that I Philip Plat of Huntingtown in the County of Suffolk and Colony of New York for and in consideration of the sum of forty nine pound paid before the ensealing of these present have bargained and sold unto John Mulford of Easthampton in County and Province above said one ______ Negro woman known by the name of Rosean and a negro boy named Dago.
To have and to hold the said Negro woman and child unto John Mulford of Easthampton a ganest the claim of any persons or person whatsoever as slaves unto the said John Mulford to him, his heirs and __________ for ever.
As witness my hand this sixth day of April in the year of our Sovereign  Lord one thousand seven hundred and forty two signed sealed and delivered in the presence of us 

James Harries                                            Philip Platt             
Abraham Gardiner

​First Christmas Cards
​The Christmas card tradition began in England in the 1840s when socialite Henry Cole found answering his stack of holiday mail a daunting task.  Therefore, he asked his artist friend, J.C. Horsley, to design and print holiday cards with a salutation. By the end of the century, printed holiday greetings were commonplace in Britain and the United States.
 
Christmas cards were imported from England and Germany to America until 1874, when printer and lithographer Louis Prang printed the first American holiday greeting cards in Roxbury, Massachusetts.  Initially the cards were scenes of woods and nature, but over the years, he included images of Santa and Christmas trees.  By the 1880s, he printed about 5 million Christmas cards annually.

​Christmas Postcards
The U.S. Post Office was the only agency allowed to print and produce postcards until 1898, when congress passed the Private Mailing Card Act allowing publishers to produce cards for mailing by individuals. It was stipulated that the back could not be divided into space for both address and message.  In 1907, the Post Office allowed postcards with a divided back, where the message was written on one side and the address on another. This is one way to date early postcards that don't have a dated postmark!