Huntingtonians were quick to react to the first battle of the American Revolution when the local militia in Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts successfully repulsed a British attempt to seize their arms on April 19, 1775.
A week later in New York City, the Committee of Sixty, which had been created the previous November, expressed its opinion “That at the present alarming Juncture, it is highly adviseable (sic) that a Provincial Congress be immediately summoned.”[1] On April 29, 1775, the Freemen, Freeholders and inhabitants of the city and county of New York adopted Articles of Association and transmitted the same to all the counties in the Province to be adopted by them. Through the Articles of Association, New Yorkers expressed their support for measures recommended “for the Purpose of preserving our Constitution, and opposition the Execution of the several arbitrary, and oppressive Acts of the British Parliament.”
In Huntington on May 8, 1775, 403 men signed the Articles of Association, while 37 refused to sign. Most of the signers were from Huntington, but some Islip residents signed as well.[2] Six days earlier, at a General Town Meeting, “it was Voted that there should be eighty men chosen to Exercise and be ready to March.” This is considered the first recorded preparations by Huntington for potential hostilities with Great Britain.
The text of the Articles is set forth below:
Persuaded, that the Salvation of the Rights and Liberties of America, depends, under GOD, on the firm Union of its Inhabitants, in a vigorous Prosecution of the Measures necessary for its Safety; and convinced of the Necessity of preventing the Anarchy and Confusion, which attend a Dissolution of the Powers of Government; We, the Freeholders and Inhabitants of [Huntington] being greatly alarmed at the avowed Design of the Ministry, to raise a Revenue in America: and, shocked by the bloody Scene, now acting in the Massachusetts Bay, DO, in the most solemn Manner, resolve, never to become Slaves; and do Associate under all the Ties of religion, Honour, and Love to our Country, to adopt and endeavor to carry into Execution, whatever Measures may be recommended by the Continental Congress; or resolved upon by our Provincial Convention, for the Purpose of preserving our Constitution, and opposition the Execution of the several arbitrary, and oppressive Acts of the British Parliament; until a Reconciliation between Great-Britain and America, on Constitutional Principles, (which we most ardently Desire), can be obtained; And that we will in all Things follow the Advice of our General Committee, respecting the Purposes aforesaid, the Preservation of Peace and good Order, and the Safety of Individuals, and private property.[3]
Substantially similar wording was adopted by the 98 delegates to the New York Provincial Congress on May 26, 1775. One of the six representatives signing for Suffolk County was John Sloss Hobart of Eatons Neck.
The widespread adoption of the Articles of Association indicates the strong support in Huntington for the Patriot cause. However, there are some who have questioned Huntington’s commitment to the Revolution, pointing to the later occupation of the town, and indeed all of Long Island, as well as the later signing by Huntington residents of the Oath of Loyalty to the crown.
In an attempt to get a better understanding of the extent of Huntington’s support for the Continental Congress, it is necessary to know how many households there were in Huntington during this period. Various lists of oath takers, assessments, and censuses gives some idea of the number of households in town, but not the total population because these records were generally limited to heads of household. During this tumultuous period, the population was in flux. After the American loss at the Battle of Long Island in August 1776, many fled Long Island. Others moved here. Young men came of age; old men died. Record keeping was inconsistent (for example, Samuel Bennet, 30-year-old weaver, appears twice and the list of men who signed the 1778 Oath of Loyalty as recorded in the Town Records contain 549 names, while the list on file at the Public Records Office, Colonial Office in England[4] includes 560 names).
| List | Number |
| 1764 Town Assessment[5] | 363 |
| 1775 Articles of Association (includes five men from Islip)[6] | 440 |
| 1778 Oath of Loyalty[7] | 560 |
| 1782 Town Assessment[8] | 406 |
| 1783 List of Inhabitants[9] | 224 |
| 1790 Town Census[10] | 382 |
| 1790 Federal Census (Total population 3,260) | 360 |
The 1778 Oath of Loyalty list includes 96 men between the ages of 15 and 20. Assuming these young men were not heads of households, the number of households would be 464. The greater number of signers of the Oath of Loyalty is most likely due to the coercion involved in regard to the second list. The Governor of New York, William Tryon, came to Huntington on September 2, 1778 to compel allegiance to the crown. All men between the ages of 15 and 70 were forced to sign. Those who did not sign on that day were ordered to “wait on [the governor] at New York on or before” September 10. Failure to do so would result in a fine of £5 and the refusers would be “Obliged To Quit The Island with Their families.”[11] One hundred and nineteen men who did not sign the oath on September 2, later signed the oath before Justice John Hewlett, apparently without having to travel to New York.
Of the 403 men who signed the Articles of Association in 1775, 269 also signed the Oath of Loyalty to the Crown three years later; but 132 did not (5 of those, however, appear on the Islip list). Those who did not sign, including Patriot leaders John Sloss Hobart and Gilbert Potter, had fled the Island; other may have died. Those who remained had no choice but to sign.
The percentage of men in 1775 who signed the Articles of Association compared to those who refused to sign was be 91.5%. If one takes an average of four of the late eighteenth century lists[12], the population of the town would number 423 households. If we take that number, the percentage of Huntington households signing the Article of Association would be 95%. If we take the total number of households from the 1778 Oath of Loyalty, Patriot support would be either 87% (based on the number excluding those under age 21, 464) or 72% (based on the total number of 560).
In other words, it is clear that support for the Patriot cause was very high in Huntington, at least seven out of ten and perhaps as many as nine out of ten heads of household supported the Patriot cause.
Beyond providing an indication of local sentiment, this exercise also reveals that Huntington’s population was in a state of flux. A list combining the names on the Articles of Association list, the Oath of Loyalty List and the 1782 assessment contains 924 names. Of these, there are 71 duplicate names, which may or may not refer to different people. For instance, on the Articles of Association list, there are four men named Isaac Ketcham. Since they are on one list, we know they are different people. When combining lists, it is not always possible to make that determination.
What this demonstrates is that while the number of households may have been around 400-500, the residents of those houses changed during the war years. The population was in a constant state of flux. It is possible that many Loyalists came to Huntington, increasing the population from 440 to 560 households. At the end of the war the population fell sharply from 406 households in 1782 to 224 households a year later. The population then recovered by 1790 to the level it had been in 1764.
This analysis was made possible by the work of Brett Lafemina, a student at Syracuse University, in assembling and analyzing the data.
[1] The Refugees of 1776 from Long Island to Connecticut, by Frederic Gregory Mather, 1913, page 1049
[2] Five names from the Association list later appear of the list of those taking the Oath of Loyalty in Islip in 1778: Stephen Kelly (or Keley), Joseph Ketcham, Anning Moberry (or Mowbray), Samual Oakley, and James Smith.
[3] Mather, page 1049-1050
[4] Photocopy of handwritten list created in 1779 available from the Long Island Collection at the East Hampton Public Library, “A list of persons in Suffolk County, on Long Island who took the following oath of allegiance and peaceable behavior before Governor Tryon 1778: Public record office, colonial office, class 5, 1109.”
[5] Huntington Town Records Vol. II, page 467
[6] Mather, Refugees Page 1062
[7] See footnote 2
[8] Huntington Town Records, Vol. III, page 85
[9] Huntington Town Records, Vol. III, page 105; this is the number given by Henry Clay Platt in his 1876 Centennial address, Old Times in Huntington.
[10] Huntington Town Records, Vol. III, page 147
[11] Huntington Town Records, Vol. III, page 33
[12] The four lists are the 1775 Articles of Association (440), the 1778 Oath of Loyalty (56-minus 96 men under 21 for a total of 464), the 1782 assessment (406) and the 1790 local census (382). The 1783 list of inhabitants was left off because it is not in line with the other lists. Including that list would lower the average to 383.
Huntington History 
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