Person:Barnabas Horton (11)

BIRTH/DEATH: I (Carole Proctor) personally visited grave in First Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Southold, Suffolk County, New York in 1997. Also, New England Historical & Genealogical Register, Vol. 53, Jan. 1899, p 80, " Ancient Burial-Grounds of Long Island, Southold". (Anita Davis gave me a copy from Family History Library) Transcribed from his tombstone, "Here lyeth buried the body of Mr. Barnabas Horton born at Mouslly in Lestershire in Old England and dyed at South-hold the 13 day of July 1680 aged 80 years. Here slepes my body tombed in its dust till Christ shall come and raise it with the just. My soul's assended to the throne of God where with sweet Jesus now I make aboad then hasten after me my dearest wife to be pertaker of this blessed life and you dear children all follow the Lord hear and obey his publick sacred word and in your houses call upon his name for oft I haue advis'd you to the same. Then God will bless you with your children all and to this blessed place He will you call. Hebrews H & Ye 4 he being dead yet speaketh. Also at his feet lie the remains of his youngest son Jonathan Horton the first Captain of Cavalry in the County of Suffolk. He died Feb. 23 AD. 1707, age 60."

BIOGRAPHY: "The History of the Descendants of the Jersey Settlers, Adams County, Mississippi", Mills, Frances Preston, Vol. 2; pgs 269 & 270. "Barnabas is said to have emigrated on the "Swallow", his brother Jeremy's ship, in 1633. He is mentioned as an early inhabitant of Hampton, New Hampshire, which was founded in 1638, and was in New Haven in 1640. Pope [author of another book] states that Barnabas Horton, baker, sold Ipswich, Massachusetts, property on 12 Jan. 1641. Traditionally, Southold, Long Island was founded on 21 Oct 1640 by 13 heads of families, one of whom was Barnabas.

"In a footnote in the printed edition of the Southold Town Records, J. W. Case states, 'Barnabas was the chief staff of Pastor Youngs and the acknowledged leader of the band on their settlement in their wild and cheerless forest-home--his strict integrity, his indomitable resolution, his devotion and his untiring perseverance made him the foremost man of all the Colony.'

"Dr. George F. Horton, the first to write a comprehensive history of the family, wrote thus of his ancestor: 'Barnabas was a man of deep-toned piety, and a warm advocate of civil and religious freedom. He was many years a magistrate, and several times a member of the General Court at New Haven and Hartford, [CT]. He built the first framed dwelling house on eastern Long Island, that was continuously occupied to after 1875; it was shingled, and had never been re shingled; the roof was re shingled only once in 235 years. Barnabas was large in stature, of a ruddy complexion and of fine social qualities.' (Dr. Horton does not reveal the source of his information.) From the records it is evident that he was one of the few who were able to read and write, as he appears constantly as witnessing the marks of other colonists. Moreover, the spelling, in documents attributed to him is remarkably good--much better than that of most of the town clerks. There are literally scores of references to him in the Southold, New Haven and Hartford records. The New Haven records for 1644-1653 are lost; but as he was a judge at least from 1654 to 1664, and a deputy to the New Haven legislature from 1654 to 1661, it is probable that he held public office from the founding of the colony. On 11 Dec. 1656 he and William Purrier were among the five men appointed to 'order Towne affaires' for Southold; on 29 Oct. 1666 he was appointed one of the seven to oversee the town's lands; in January 1658 he is mentioned as 'constable' (approximately mayor today); and many of the case that came before him in the years 1658-9 are summarized in the town records. Each of the inhabitants of Southold was assigned a home lot of 4 acres, fronting on the town street, but Barnabas had two: 'Jan. 1, 1653 two home lotts conteyninge [containing] ffower acres apeece more or lesse, devided by the highway leadinge towardss the North Sea, lying betweene the whom lott of Lieutenant John Budd west and Mathias Curwin east.'

"The highway is today called Horton's Lane, and in a home on this lane we spent a night this summer (1956). On the eastern homelot, the second Meeting House of the First Church was built. The present church and the churchyard are on the opposite side of the main street. As meadows, fields and woodlands were opened up, they were divided among the inhabitants. Thus most of the families of Southold had several holdings, many of only an acre or two, in widely separated places from Oysterponds (now Orient) almost to the present-day Riverhead. To detail Barnabas' holdings would require too much space: they are listed in Southold Town Records 1:15-17 and 64, 134,149,291; 2:30-31. He was awarded the maximum 3 lots when the Corchauge (Cutchogue) divident was opened, each lot being of about 120 acres, and 2 at Occabauk (Aquebogue), totalling between 500 and 700 acres. And in addition to the lots assigned him, he purchased many others, particularly lots adjoining these he already owned. Yet when he was assessed on 16 Sept. 1675, only 37 "acres land" were listed, indicating that that was all he had in cultivation. His total assessment that year follows: 2 heads £36, 37 acres land £37, 9 oxen £ 54, 8 cows £40, 4:3 yr. old £16, 4:2 yr.old £10, 4 yerlings £06, 69 shepe £23, 6 horses £72, 1 yerling £03, 8 swine £08 Total £305. He had by far the greatest amount of cattle. He was one of four overseers of Southold on the patent of 31 Oct. 1676. His will, written 10 May 1680 and proved 18 Nov. 1681, opens, "I, Barnabas Horton of Southold, finding many distempers daily growing upon me....', and refers to Caleb: 'To my third son, Caleb, one horse, and one-half of all my right in Accabauk to what he hath in possession at Corchaug.' Each of the children is mentioned and provided for, although he had distributed much of his real property before his death. The inventory of his personal property totaled about £405."

Barnabus was born about 1600 in Mousley, England. In 1621 he married Anna Smith of Mousley. In 1631 or 1632, he married Mary Langton.

Baranabus came to America between 1632 and 1638 aboard a ship called "the Swallow". Where he was lived is not knows for certain; the first record of his presence in the colonies was in June 1640 when he bought a house lot in Hampton, Mass (Now in New Hampshire). A few months later, he was living with his wife Mary and sons (by his first marriage) Joseph and Benjamin in New Haven, Conn.

According to early histories, Barnabus was a pious man committed to civil and religious freedom. In Sept 1640, the Hortons were part of a band of 13 families led by the Rev. John Youngs who sailed from New Haven, across Long Island Sound. After round the tip of Long Island, the docked at a harbor knows by the Indians as "yennacock" which means stretched our or extended. They renames the area Southold, after the town in England that Rev. Youngs and some in the party had left 2 and 1/2 years ago.

The Hortons were undoubtedly close to the family of John and Katherine (Browne) Budd. The two men, who may have known each other in England, were both passengers on the boat "The Weollow". Both families wre among the 13 that first settled Southold. Two Budd sons and a daughter eventually married three Horton children.

In 1859/60, Barnabus Horton built a home on a lot on Southold's Town Street, next to the home of John Budd. Barnabus lived in this house with his wife for 20 years. Then, for almost 2 centuries after that, Horton families lived in (and were born in) the house, generation after generation.

Barnabus died Jul 13, 1860. His widow Mary lived until at least 1698. Legend has it that he brought to America with him 2 items from England that remain i existance today: his Bible written in 1597 and his tombstone. The stone is made of a hard fine slate called blemstone, which commonly has been used in Memorials in Leicestershire.

Horton's Point Lighthouse stands on the north shore of Long Island's North Fork on land that was part of Barnabas Horton's holdings. On July 14, 1990 the local paper ran the following story:

In 1757 Geroge Washington visited Southold. It was his recommendation that a navigational light be built on a high point on the north shore of the north fork of Long Island. When he was president, he commissioned the light. In 1855 the Horton family was still owned the property could not meet their taxes so the area knows as Cliff Lots was sold at a sheriff's auction for $500. The buyer later sold it to the Federal Government for $600.

Even with the commission of the president, the lighthouse was not built unitl 1857. Not before many ships has wrecked upon the rocky shore in the stormy winds corming off Long Island Sound.

The first oil used was sperm oil, later kerosene which has to come across the sound, carried up 110 feet of cliff and into the lighthouse tower. The light could be seen for 14 miles.

In 1956, the lighthouse was restored as part of the Southold Park District's Bicentenniel. A marine museum is housed on the ground floor.

Will of Barnabas Horton, New York City Wills, 1665-1707

Page 417.--BARNABAS HORTON, Southold. "I Barnabas Horton of Southold, finding many distempers daily growing upon me." Leaves to eldest son Joseph 10 sheep, to what he formerly had as his full portion. To second son Benjamin, 10 sheep, to what he formerly had, as his full portion. To eldest daughter Hannah Trevalle, 10 sheep as her full portion. To Joseph Conckling, son of my daughter, Sarah Conckling, 5 sheep. To my 3d daughter Mary Budd, 5 sheep. To my third son, Caleb 1 horse and 1/2 of all my right in Accabauk to what he hath in possession at Corchaug for his full portion. To my fourth son Joshua, all my house, land, and meadows, orchards, and Commons of pasture which was mine and is now in his possession, and 1/2 of my meadow and upland within the bounds of Accabauk, and all my meadow at Oyster Ponds. To my fifth son Jonathan, all my dwelling house, barn, home lots and meadow and all the rest of the real estate, except that the new house shall be for the use of Mary, my wife, during her life, and she is to have the third bushel of all grain, and he is "to winter and summer for her four cows." To youngest daughter Mercy Youngs 4 cows and bed and bed clothes. Makes wife Mary executor. Dated May 10, 1680. Witnesses, Jonas Holdsworth, Richard Benjamin. Proved at Court of Sessions held in Southampton March 4, and confirmed November 18, 1681. Inventory. Land and Housing €200, 7 oxen, €30, 5 cows, €12, 16 horse kind, €24, 90 sheep, €35. Total amount €405. Taken by John Corwin, John Carey, Benjamin Youngs.

[Mary Elizabeth Giddings from 2787254.ged]

REFN2513

Puritan Baker Was one of the most prominent and influential men of Southold. 11 Dec 1656 - appointed to "ordert the affairs of the town until the new election". 31 May 1654, 1658, 1659 - Appointed one of two constables by the General Court of New Haven May 1658 - Appointed receiver of customs and excise on wines and spirits for the town of Southold. 1654, 1656, 1658, 1659, 1661 - Appointed one of two deputies representing Southold at the General Court in New Haven. 14 May 1663, 12 May 1664 - Appointed Commissioner for Southold by General Assembly of Conn (Southold had switched from ties to New Haven to Connecticut) [See John T. Horton, NYGBR - Documentary Evidence of Life of Barnabas Horton, (102:69-77, 1971).]

"Came to America in the ship 'Swallow', Captain Jeremy HORTONmaster, to Hampton MA, owned land there. Moved to CT in 1640 and settled permanently" WorldConnect Hammonnd

Torrey p 388: notes a "fake record" regarding this marriage

TOMBSTONE OF BARNABAS I. It is said that Barnabas Horton I. brought his tombstone with him from England. It is of English blue marble, five feet long and about three feet wide. It is placed horizontally over the grave. The stone was relettered about 1825 by Johnathan G. Horton. It is elevated about 18 inches from the ground, on a stone base. The original base was of brick, but it has all crumbled down many years ago. The present base was put under the stone at the time it was relettered. The inscription surrounds the border of the stone, and reads as follows: "Here lieth the body of Mr. Barnabas Horton, who was born at Mousely, Leicestershire, Old England, and died at Southold, on the 13th day of July, 1680, aged 80 years." In the center of the sone we find the Epitaph, as follows: "Here lies my body tombed in dust Till Christ shall come to raise it with the just; My soul ascended to the throne of God, Where with sweet Jesus now I make abode; Then hasten after me, my dearest wife, To be partaker of this blessed life; And you, dear children, all follow the Lord, Hear and obey His sacred word; And in your houses call upon his name, For oft I have advised you to the same; Then God will bless you with your children all, And to His blessed place He will you call." Heb. xi:4 -- "He being dead, yet speaketh." It is said the epitaph was written by himself, and that it, together with the inscription, date of his death excepted, was all put on the stone before he died. He was the only one of the original thirteen who brought his stone with him, and this fact seems to indicate a commendable desire to see that his name and memory should not perish from the earth. From the book: The Hortons of America . Sent to me by Jessica Lowney, jess4tigers@@yahoo.com------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 IGI.
2. ↑ Digital image of Transcirption of Will of Mary Langton, pp. 338-339, from Dinan, Jaqueline, In Search of Barnabas Horton, From English Baker to Long Island Proprietor, 1600-1680. (Brooklyn, New York: Pynsleade Books, 2015)
   attached to Mary (ID 9XBL-CZX), Family Tree, FamilySearch.org, with permission of author.

   Extraction:
   1639 the 6 day of Januarie
   I Mayrie Langton widow
   My boddie to bee buried in the Church yarde of Allhallowes in Wigston Magna
   to my eldest sonn William Langton
   and unto his wiffe Isabell
   unto William Langton the eldest sonn of my sonn William Langston
   Rodger Langton second sonn of my sonn William Langston
   Elizabeth Langton sister of the said Rodger Langston
   Mayrie Langton
   Jeese Langton
   Sara Langton
   Katherin Langton
   Rodger Langton my second sonn
   his wiffe Jane
   his children Josief and Mayrie and Zara
   my daughter Mayrie Orrton
   her husband Barnabee Orrton
   John Langton my sonn
   his two children
   Robbert Langton my sonn
   his wife Mayrie
   his two children
   I make my daughter Ales Langton my executor
   [Signed] Mayrie Langton her mark
   --
   Proved at Leicester 19 Nov 1641 before Master Angel clerk, official of lord John, Bishop of Lincoln