This account of the
Moriches bay
area history is the start of a series of articles which will view
the past present and future of the area Mr. Bayles' articles which
appears below tells of those who played a part in the beginning of
the area later articles will cover those now engage in the current
growth of the area and the part these effort will play in its
future.
Hasley's
Manor was a territory
of about 14,000 acres bounded on the north by Peconic River on the
west by Brookfield on the south by the Moriches patentship and the
east by the Town of Southampton This land was included in the col.
William Smith patent of 1697 and was sold by major William Henry Smith to Isaac
Halsey of Southampton in 1716. Hasley's Manor was under
the political jurisdiction of the Manor of St. George until about the
time of the Revolution, when it was annexed to the town of
Brookhaven.
South of Hasley's Manor and surrounded by the Manor of St George,
except on the east where it joined Southampton Town, was the
independent patentship of Moriches. The earliest purchased from the
Indians in this section was made by Dr. Henry Taylor and Major Thomas
Willets of Flushing and Capt. Thomas Townsend of Oyster Bay when they
purchased from the Indian John Mayhew the neck called Watshauge in
1679. This was called Watchogue and contains the eastern section of
East Moriches.
The land lying between Terrell's River and Mastic River
was taken up by the settler at an early period as early as 1703.
Samuel Terrell was in possession of a neck called Warratta, lying on
the west side of the river named in his honor. His possession of that
land was acknowledged by Col. William Smith, and he appears to have
been an active pioneer in the purchased and improvement of land. In
1738 he was admitted by the trustees of the town as a proprietor and
tenant in common. The manor of St. George, Brookfield, Hasley's Manor and
the Moriches patentship were annexed to the Town of Brookhaven about
the time of the Revolution, and in 1797 the trustees ordered that a
survey of town and a map should be made by Isaac Hulse who was then
clerk of the town.
A large tract of land on the south side, extending
east from the Connecticut River to the Mastic River and north to the
middle of the island was purchased by Col. William Smith from the
Indians in 1691. This also included the Great South Bay the islands
in it
and the ocean beach and was known as the Manor of St. George. A
patent for this immense tract was issued by Gov. Fletcher in
1693, and Col. Smith later purchased most of the land east to the
Southampton town line at Eastport for which he received a patent
from Gov. Fletcher in 1697