Old-Time Spirit on the Fourth

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A Fourth of July photo, at right, from 1910 provides a peek into the life of a Long Island family.

The photo below shows the Raynor family and their home at 127 Morris Ave. in Rockville Centre decked out for Independence Day. The house was built in 1899 and purchased in 1900 by Bergen T. Raynor, a village banker.

The Raynors were part of a family that settled in 1659 in an area that became known as Raynortown; the name was changed to Freeport in 1853. Bergen Raynor grew up in Freeport. One of his children, Miriam, was born in the house and lived there until she sold it in 1979 to Michael and Kathleen Blass. According to Kathleen Blass, who still lives there, the Raynors had a live-in maid and a butler. She said that Miriam, who did not marry, was a social worker in New York City, and that Bergen Raynor died in 1967 at 97.