re: Southold Town Founder Jeremiah Vail

By Dan McCarthy

Early East Hampton settler Jeremiah Vail was born in the west of England. The ship upon which he came as an unmarried emigrant to Salem, Massachusetts is not known. He married circa 1643 in Salem to a Katherine. They had three children that were all born and baptized in Salem. Daughter Abigail was born in 1644; Sarah was born in 1647; and a son, Jeremiah, was born in 1649. It was about 1660 when the children were 16, 13, and 11 that Jeremiah Vail moved permanently from East Hampton to Southold. Katherine died before 1660. On May 24, 1660, Jeremiah married Mary, the widow of Peter Paine who had died in 1658. A son John was born to them in 1663. Daniel was born circa 1665. It is recorded that a daughter named Mary was possibly also born to them. They lived at the former Peter Paine homestead plot in Southold. Jeremiah married a third time to a Joyce (or possibly Rejoice) after the death of Mary who had died some time before 1685.

Blacksmiths were in short supply. A town would offer incentives to persuade a change in locale. Mention of a Thomas Vail of Southampton who was possibly related to Jeremiah Vail had been made as being such a blacksmith. However, blacksmith Jeremiah Vail and an Anthony Waters ended up taking charge of the farm of Lieutenant Lion Gardiner. Rumor has it that on June 13, 1655, Jeremiah Vail had a falling out with Lion Gardiner. There is also a story dealing with a cow and debts that arose that involved Indians. Moving to another town might not have been a cure of avoiding former debts but Jeremiah Vail was lured from East Hampton to Southold because his services were needed when the town needed a new blacksmith craftsman. One of the names of the men associated with the early settlement of Southold was Jeremiah Vail.

In the Summer of History Town of Southold 325th Anniversary Celebration official program from 1965, then Town Historian Mary Haldane Chapman shared that in the early years of Southold in the 1600s, the town and church were one. She went on to say that “To live in the town and vote, a man had to be a member of the church.” When Jeremiah Vail came to Southold, he did not wish to join the church. He said he would pick his own church. History was made from that time on that the occasional vote would go to non-believers.

According to the Town of Southold Landmark Preservation Commission booklet in the Whitaker Historical Collection titled: Town of Southold Register of Designated Landmarks 1983-1996, when “(Jeremiah) Vail consented to move to Southold, he was given part of the land formerly owned by John Budd on Tucker’s Lane. In the 1850s, the land was purchased as part of Tucker’s farm by Barnabas Horton, a descendant of the early settler. It is approximately at this time that the house was purchased for $100 by John Booth, who brought it to its present location where he owned a large tract of land. The western section of the house is mysteriously known as the ‘Eel Pot.’”

Jeremiah Vail worked on the farm of Lion Gardiner. Jeremiah Vail's daughter Abigail married Barnabas Horton's son Joseph. The story is that she was Joseph's second wife.

Download the link below and scroll down until you come across the item I cut-and-pasted below the link:

https://familysearch.org/photo...

i ABIGAIL, {VAIL} baptized at First Church, Salem, Mass., 18 May 1644; m. at Southold, L.I., Joseph Horton.

The Jeremiah Vail House that was built in 1656 was beautifully restored by its present owner Robert Lang. Just imagine. Fresh white curtains were placed at windows having nine panes on the top and six panes at the bottom on the Jeremiah Vail House in the late 1900s, according to the Old Southold Town’s Tercentenary book by Ann Hallock Currie-Bell. It is considered one of Southold’s oldest houses. Originally it stood near Tucker’s Lane in Southold and was moved eastward to its present site on Laurel Lane. {around the sign reading BEIXEDON ESTATES}

According to Augustus Griffin in his Griffin’s Journal, the day succeeding that on which the British burnt New London in September 1781 and massacred the garrison at Fort Griswold, a British fleet passed over the Sound to Long Island. Many on board landed at Oysterponds and traveled up the road to Southold. It is recorded that a certain Jeremiah Vail from that time period had just heard of the British and their merciless cruelties. This particular Jeremiah Vail being discussed here had a wife named Elizabeth that was called Betsy. Betsy saw the troops approaching the house. She emptied jugs in the basement that had contained cider which flooded the ground floor. “Like madmen…with swords…they demanded her reasons of depriving them of refreshments.” Mr. Griffin goes on to say that the British troops “seized and bound Mr. Vail and confined him in the garret {the top room of the house}.” The troops wondered why they weren’t getting anything to eat or drink. Mrs. Vail did her best to prevent them from getting anything. The troops left soon after complaining, mind you, but they did leave. The Jeremiah Vail mentioned here was the fourth in succession in the family who died January 8, 1798. His wife died around 1818 at more than 80 years of age.