Manor St. George or St. George's Manor was a large tract of land purchased by

William "Tangier" Smith William "Tangier" Smith (February 2, 1655 – February 18, 1705) was a governor of English Tangier, Tangier, on the coast of Morocco, and an early settler of Province of New York, New York who owned more than of Atlantic Ocean waterfront property ...

in the 17th century on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, in central

Suffolk County, New York Suffolk County ( ) is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of New York, constituting the eastern two-thirds of Long Island. It is bordered to its west by Nassau County, to its east by Gardiners Bay and the open Atlantic Ocean, to its no ...

. Parts of the original parcel, which was approximately of land, are preserved in bits and pieces: 127 acres (0.51 km²) and the main house and buildings are called the Manor of St. George and located in Shirley; 35 acres (0.14 km²) and another house are called the Longwood Estate and located in

Ridge A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...

; and 35 acres (0.14 km²) became part of the William Floyd Estate. The Museum Manor of St. George is in a testamentary trust set up underneath the last will and testament of the late Eugenie A.T. Smith. The management of the manor rest with the trustees. The purpose of the private trust is to promote the Smith family history dating back to 1683. The Longwood Estate (sometimes called the ''Smith Estate'') is maintained by the Town of Brookhaven, and the Floyd Estate is maintained by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

. The hamlet of Manorville also derives its name from Manor St. George. Manor St. George originally stretched from

Carmans River The Carmans River is a long river in Brookhaven, New York in Suffolk County on Long Island. It is one of the four largest rivers on Long Island and is similar to other Long Island rivers in that is totally groundwater generated (e.g., no lake ...

(then called the Connecticut River) in the west to the edge of Southampton Town in the east, and from the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

in the south to around present-day

New York State Route 25 New York State Route 25 (NY 25) is an east–west state highway in downstate New York in the United States. The route extends along the central parts and North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island for just over from east ...

in the north.Map of Col. Smith's patents
/ref>

History

British Colonial New York

The

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

for Manor St. George was granted to Col.

in 1693 in recognition of Col. Smith's being mayor of

Tangier Tangier ( ; , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the capital city, capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah Prefecture of Moroc ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. Further patents issuing more land were granted in 1697 and annexed to the first patent. Col. Smith already owned a homestead in

Setauket, New York Setauket is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the 2010 United States census, the CDP population, which at the time included ...

, and it was from there that he administered his land early on. An additional patent was also issued to Col. Smith in 1697, the Moriches Patent, but not annexed to Manor St. George. In time, the northwestern section of the estate was known as "the Swamp" or "Longswamp." On Col. Wm. "Tangier" Smith's death in 1705, the Setauket estate was inherited by his eldest surviving son, Col. Henry Smith, and Manor St. George was inherited by another son, Major William Henry Smith, who built the manor seat on Mastic Neck. In or around 1718, of the estate on the eastern side of Mastic Neck were acquired by Richard Floyd, who gave it to his son Nicoll. In 1755 the Floyd Estate was given to son

William Floyd William Floyd (December 17, 1734 – August 4, 1821) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father, wealthy farmer, and political leader from New York (state), New York. Floyd served as a delegate to the Continental Cong ...

, a signer of the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

. On Major William Henry Smith's death in 1743, his son Judge

William Smith William, Willie, Will, Bill, or Billy Smith may refer to: Academics * William Smith (Master of Clare College, Cambridge) (1556–1615), English academic * William Smith (antiquary) (c. 1653–1735), English antiquary and historian of University C ...

inherited Manor St. George.

American Revolution

''See also Battle of Fort St. George, for more information'' During the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

, British loyalist soldiers occupied the manor house on Mastic Neck and built a fort there. It is possible that Judge Smith, a

patriot A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot(s) or The Patriot(s) may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American R ...

, fled to Longswamp during the occupation, but this is not documented. In 1780, Major

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 lead ...

landed his

dragoons Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat wi ...

at Cedar Beach in Mt. Sinai on the north shore of Long Island and led them on a march to the manor. The raid began around 4 a.m., and the Americans under Tallmadge captured the fort relatively quickly. Seven British soldiers were killed, but only one American was injured. Major Tallmadge's march, a twenty-mile (32 km) journey, is survived in the form of the Tallmadge Trail. Then called the Medal of Merit, the first Purple Heart in American history was earned by Sgt. Elijah Churchill of the 2nd regiment of light dragoons.

After the American Revolution

After the Revolutionary War, the Smith family returned to the Manor. Also, Judge Smith had a house built for his son, Gen. John Smith, in Longswamp. Gen. Smith decided not to move into the new house, though, staying at Manor St. George. Longswamp was given to Judge Smith's seventh son, William, in 1790. On July 8, 1817, Longswamp was handed down to William Smith's son, William Sydney Smith, who changed the name to ''Longwood''. Throughout the following time, Manor St. George and Longwood would be divided many times as parts were sold and parts were divided amongst children of the Smiths. In 1955, Manor St. George was set up in a testamentary trust by Eugenie Annie Tangier Smith. In the same year, the Longwood Estate was given to Elbert "Burt" Clayton Smith of

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

who moved his family to the estate immediately. Burt Smith donated 51 acres (0.21 km²) of the estate to the local board of education to build

Longwood High School Longwood Central School District covers in central Brookhaven Town, Suffolk County, New York, United States. It serves the hamlets of Ridge, Gordon Heights, Middle Island, Coram, and Yaphank, and parts of Rocky Point, Shoreham, Shir ...

, to Middle Island Presbyterian Church (which moved to the plot in

, but kept " Middle Island" in the title), to St. Mark's

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

Church (which no longer exists), and several acres to Suffolk County for the

greenbelt A green belt or greenbelt is a policy, and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or gree ...

. When Burt Smith died in 1967, Longwood was bought by real estate developers and destined for destruction. After another real estate developer, Wilbur F. Breslin, proposed a huge residential, industrial, and commercial complex on the site, public outcry was enough that the house and 35 acres (0.14 km²) were donated to Brookhaven Town for preservation in 1974.

Current uses

The Museum Manor of St George is open to the public free of charge from May 1 to October 30. The Longwood Estate is used as parkland, open to the public, and contain a museum.

References

Resources and external links

The Manor of St. George
by John B. Deitz

by Van and Mary Field

by Jean Lauer

from a website about the Carman family
Things to Do in Brookhaven
* {{Coord, 40, 45, 21.9, N, 72, 52, 50.9, W, display=title Pre-statehood history of New York (state) Historic sites in New York (state) Museums in Suffolk County, New York Brookhaven, New York Historic house museums in New York (state) Houses in Suffolk County, New York Parks in Suffolk County, New York 1693 establishments in the Province of New York