A Magical History Tour

On a trip on horseback to New England in the summer of 1744, a 32-year-old doctor from Annapolis, Md., named Alexander Hamilton got a good taste of colonial Long Island:

He ate moldy cheese in Jamaica ... got lost in the Hempstead Plains ... met a man in Huntington who was both a shoemaker and a doctor ... was entertained in Brookhaven by a 75-year-old sailor who stood on his head ... was turned off by the desolation of the pine barrens ... was charmed by pretty Long Island waitresses.

The Scottish-born Hamilton later wrote a journal about the trip, published as ``Hamilton's Itinerarium.'' The Long Island section began on Tuesday, July 10, when, in the company of two Boston merchants, Benjamin Parker and Henry Laughton, he crossed the East River on the ferry:

We arrived a quarter after ten at Jamaica ... We stopped there at the sign of the Sun, and paid dear for our breakfast, which was bread and mouldy cheese, stale beer, and cider.

They set out for Hempstead, and here follows a good description of the Hempstead Plains:

At four o'clock, going across this great plain, we could see almost as good a horizon 'round us as when one is at sea, and in some places of the plain, the latitude might be taken by observation at noonday. It is about sixteen miles long. The ground is hard and gravelly; the road very smooth but indistinct, and intersected by several other roads, which make it difficult for a stranger to find the way. There is nothing but long grass grows upon this plain, not above a foot high.

Hamilton then tells a story about getting lost.

We lost our way here, and blundered about a great while. At last we spied a woman and two men at some distance. We rid up towards them to inquire, but they were too wild to be spoke with, running over the plain as fast as wild bucks upon the mountains. Just after we came out of the plain and sunk into the woods, we found a boy lurking behind a bush. We wanted to inquire the way of him, but, as soon as we spoke, the game was started and he ran away.

The trio arrived at Huntington about eight o'clock in the evening, putting up at an inn called the Half-moon and Hart, run by an Irishman named Platt.

We had no sooner sat down, when there came in a band of the town politicians in short jackets and trousers, being probably curious to know who them strangers were who had newly arrived in town. Among the rest was a fellow with a worsted cap and great black fists. They styled him doctor. Flat [Platt] told me he had been a shoemaker in town, and was a notable fellow at his trade, but happening two years ago to cure an old woman of a pestilent mortal disease, he thereby acquired the character of a physician, was applied to from all quarters, and finding the practice of physic a more profitable business than cobbling, he laid aside his awls and leather, got himself some gallipots [small vessels used to hold medicines], and instead of cobbling of soales fell to cobbling of human bodies.

Leaving Huntington at 6:30 the next morning, they arrived at Brookhaven, or Setauket, about 2 p.m., where they had dinner at a place run by a man named Buchanan.

While we were at Buchanan's an old fellow named Smith called at the house. He said he was a-traveling to [New] York, to get a license or commission from the Governor to go a-privateering, and swore he would not be under any commander, but would be chief man himself.

He showed us several antic tricks, such as jumping half a foot high upon his bum, without touching the floor with any other part of his body. Then he turned and did the same upon his belly. Then he stood upright upon his head. He told us he was seventy-five years of age and swore damn his old shoes if any man in America could do the like.

At 5:30 p.m. they were off again, arriving at 8 o'clock at a house called Brewster's, where they put up for the night.

Thursday, July 12th. -- When I waked this morning I found two beds in the room, besides that in which I lay, in one of which lay two great hulking fellows, with long black beards, having their own hair, and not so much as half a nightcap betwixt both them. I took them for weavers, not only from their greasy appearance, but because I observed a weaver's loom at each side of the room. In the other bed was a raw-boned boy, who, with the two lubbers, huddled on his clothes, and went reeling downstairs, making as much noise as three horses.

At 6 a.m. Hamilton set out again, riding 16 miles through what is now known as the pine barrens.

Here we passed thro' a plain of six or eight miles long, where was nothing but oak brush or bushes, two feet high, very thick, and replenished with acorns; and thinly scattered over the plain were several old naked pines at about two or three hundred feet's distance from one another, most of them decayed and broken. In all this way we met not one living soul, nor saw any house but one in ruins. Some of the inhabitants here call this place the Desert of Arabia.

Passing through Riverhead, he rode in the rain another 18 miles up the North Fork to Southold, where he put up at the home of a Mrs. Moore.

We ordered some eggs for dinner and some chickens. Mrs. Moore asked us if we would have bacon fried with our eggs; we told her no. After dinner we set out to inquire for a boat to cross the Sound.

At night the house was crowded with a company of patched coats and tattered jackets, and consequently the conversation consisted chiefly in damn ye Jack; and here's to you, Tom.

One of the crowd, ``a comical old fellow,'' was asked what sort of entertainment the group might find at its next stop, Oyster Pond -- now Orient -- where they planned to take a boat across the Sound.

``Why truly,'' said he, ``if you could eat such things as we Gentiles do, you may live very well, but as your law forbids you to eat swine's flesh your living will be but indifferent.'' Parker laughed, and asked him if he took us for Jews or Mahometans. He replied: ``Gentlemen, I ask pardon, but the landlady informed me you were Jews.'' This notion proceeded from our refusing of bacon to our eggs at dinner.

At Oyster Pond, they stopped for breakfast at a place called King's.

Here we saw some handsome country girls, one of whom wore a perpetual smile in her face, and prepared the chocolate for our breakfast. She presently captivated Parker, who was apt to take flame upon all occasions ... We put our horses on board ten minutes before three, and set sail with a fair wind from the Oyster Pond.

Related topic galleries: Alexander Hamilton, New York, Maryland, Long Island, Medical Research, Town of Brookhaven, North Fork