Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society

​Noah Mason was born on November 29, 1757 in the town of Dighton, Massachusetts. He was one of four boys and seven girls born to Malatiah Mason and Rebekah Miller, who wed in 1754. There is nothing written in the archives about Noah’s early years. With nine younger brothers and sisters close in age he most likely spent a great deal of his time helping his parents around the homestead, and when of age, accompanied his father as an apprentice mason.

 

Malatiah Mason was a master mason whose reputation as a stone worker was known throughout New England. He assisted in the construction of University Hall at Brown University and several of the stone buildings at Dartmouth College. Noah would follow in his father’s footsteps, becoming a master stone mason himself by the time he was thirty years old. When Noah was eighteen years old his career path was suddenly interrupted by an event that would draw him away from home and family.

 

In late 1775, Noah entered the service of the United States as a volunteer and private in what would later become known as the Revolutionary War. He enlisted at his hometown of Uxbridge, Massachusetts, where his family was then living. Fortunately, documentation regarding his service during the war is abundant, allowing historians to reconstruct his activities and movements during this period of his life.

 

An Act of Congress passed on June 7, 1832 allowed for veterans of the Revolutionary War to apply for pension benefits. However, if government records were not available or deficient, as they were in Noah’s case, applicants had to present written testimony from those who could substantiate their service during the war. On October 30, 1832, Mason personally appeared before the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas of the County of Queens and State of New York to present his case. One of the Judges was Singleton Mitchill, a resident of Cow Neck and a good friend of Noah.

 

Mitchill submitted Noah’s application to the proper United States government authorities. He also submitted supporting documentation attesting to Noah’s service during the war and as an upstanding citizen of the community. Noah located three former Revolutionary War veterans who enlisted with him at Uxbridge and fought alongside him during the war. All three men provided sworn testimony supporting Noah’s pension application.

 

The three men, Baxter Hall, Elisha Murdock, and Frederick Taft, provided detailed written accounts of Noah’s Revolutionary War service. They confirmed that Noah assisted in erecting the fortifications upon Dorchester Heights in March of 1776, which effectively ended the siege of Boston and the withdrawal of British troops from the city. Noah’s company then marched to New York, following the British who fled to the city by sea. When they reached Providence, Rhode Island, Noah was intercepted by his father, who pleaded with his son to return home, on account of Noah’s ill health. Noah received permission to return home with his father, and after a separation of a few months from service, re-enlisted for another term.

 

According to Noah’s testimony, he then marched to Tarrytown, New York, and assisted in the erection of a fort overlooking the Hudson River. He was present when two British frigates fired upon the fort and witnessed the return fire by the fort, which injured one of the British ships. Noah fought under General Horatio Gates at the Battle of Saratoga, the turning point of the Revolutionary War, which resulted in the capture of British general John Burgoyne and his entire army. He noted in his testimony that he received a severe injury to his wrist during the Battle.

 

After the battle Noah marched south to Albany along the Hudson River and then on to Esopus, which was ravished by the British a few days before his arrival. While in Esopus his enlistment terminated and Mason returned home to his family in Uxbridge. The following year, 1778, Mason again re-enlisted and was present at the battle of Rhode Island in August of that year. This was Noah’s last major engagement of the war and he was discharged on September 10, 1778. He probably returned home and picked up where he left off working alongside his father.

 

After reviewing Noah’s application, the Pension Board credited him with only fourteen months and nine days of service. In March of 1834 the Board awarded him a pension in the amount of $47.66 per annum with a retroactive payment of $166.81.

 

After returning home following the termination of his enlistment Noah probably resumed his career as a mason. There is some controversy as to what transpired during the next twenty years of his life. Robert Kassner, in Noah Mason and Sands Point Lighthouse, published in the January 1982 volume of the Long Island Forum, claims that “for the next twenty years Noah engaged in the sea trade out of New London and raised his family.” Kassner also claims that Noah’s son Albert, “like his father followed the sea and was a New York City harbor pilot.” He also notes, that “On December 14, 1786 “Captain” Noah Mason, now aged thirty, married sixteen-year-old Lucretia Kinne, the daughter of Erza Kinne and Sarah Dennison, at the Presbyterian Church at Preston, Connecticut.” These claims were not altogether correct.

 

Noah Mason did marry Lucretia Kinne in 1786. After her husband passed away, Lucretia filed for pension benefits as the wife of a deceased Revolutionary War veteran. As part of the application process Lucretia was required to provide proof of her marriage to Noah, which had, at the time, occurred over fifty years prior to her request. Lucretia submitted not only church records of the event but also sworn affidavits from witnesses present at the ceremony on December 14, 1786 in Preston, Connecticut.  

 

However, there is no evidence that “Captain” Mason ever participated in the sea trade. Noah was a stone worker, not a sea captain, and could not have been more fully grounded to the land. The title of “Captain” was not bestowed upon Mason until over ten years later when he was one of twenty-five Captains appointed by the State of New York to serve in the Suffolk County militia.

 

Sometime before 1790, and for reasons unknown, Noah, Lucretia, and their daughter Sally, who was born in 1788, relocated to Sag Harbor, New York. The 1790 U.S. census lists Noah and three females living in the Township of Southampton, which included Sag Harbor. By the year 1800 the Mason family included two additional daughters, Mary and Lucretia, and a son Albert who was born in 1798. A fourth daughter, Catherine, born in 1790, appears to have died as an infant. The Masons occupied the old “Tyler Havens” house in town. He continued to be employed as a master mason and was a well-respected resident of the community. In 1796 Noah was listed as one of the three Trustees of the School of Sag Harbor. Sally is listed under the names of scholars who attended the 1795 – 1796 school year. Other evidence confirming Noah’s status as a master mason while in living in Sag Harbor are articles of agreement dated December 29, 1790, between John Paine of Southold and Noah Mason of Sag Harbor, by which John’s son David was apprenticed to Noah to learn the trade of a mason.

 

Sometime after his son Albert was born, Noah relocated his family to New London, Connecticut and would never return to Sag Harbor. The 1800 U.S. census confirms Noah’s New London residency listing nine household members, which most likely included household servants and possibly apprentices. The family had to abruptly leave New London after Noah was presented with an offer to undertake a monumental project; the construction of the Sands Point Lighthouse in Sands Point.

 

In 1805, Samuel Latham Mitchill, a resident of Cow Neck and a member of the U.S. Senate, submitted a petition to Congress to build a lighthouse at Sands Point. On January 26, 1806, Mitchill’s Bill was enacted by Congress “for the erection of a good and sufficient light-house at this place, for the maintenance of a keeper, and for the permanent support of the same.” The State purchased five acres of land from Benjamin Hewlett on what was formerly known as Watch Point. The property was described in the 1811 edition of the Port Folio as “a beautiful beach of white sand [that] lies between the water’s edge and the upland, presenting to the eye, a noble curve. The bank is bold, and its side and summit are skirted with trees, many of which are oak and cedars. The elevation varies from ten to forty feet, above the level of tide-water.” It was the perfect location for a Light.

 

However, construction on the lighthouse did not begin until 1808 due to the contentious negotiations with Hewlett over the purchase of the property. Hewlett initially refused to sell the property, forcing Congress to pass a second Act in early 1808 authorizing the Governor of New York, D.D. Tompkins, to purchase the property directly from the owner. If the owner still refused, Tompkins was instructed to force the sale through court intervention. Hewlett acquiesced and the sale was consummated.

 

Supervision of the construction of lighthouses fell under the Collector of the Revenue for the port of New York, who at the time was David Gelston. Gelston solicited proposals for the lighthouse and surrounding buildings and issued specific plans for their construction. He awarded the contract to the team of Mason and Way of New London. It is unclear what Way’s involvement was in the project but it is speculated that he was involved in the construction of the light at the top of the structure. When completed the lighthouse would stand about fifty feet tall and sixty-five feet above the water. It was constructed of brown octagonal-shaped stone blocks, four feet thick at the base with four windows on the south side of the structure. The lighthouse was completed and ready for the reception of oil by November 1809.

 

It is unclear when Noah and his family relocated to Sands Point and many questions remain unanswered. His daughter Sally wed Joseph Coit in 1807 at Sands Point and their first daughter Sarah was born there on September 15th of the following year. The Coit family would later relocate to New London, Connecticut. Noah was not awarded the contract to build the lighthouse until 1808. It appears then that Noah uprooted his family from New London and relocated to Sands Point before the land for the lighthouse was acquired and before he was awarded the contract for the construction of lighthouse. William M. Hyde, in a 1927 article about the early history of the Town of North Hempstead in the Port Washington News, hints at this possibility. He stated “Governor Tompkins purchased five acres of land for the purpose from Benjamin Hewlett on January 15, 1808 upon which the lighthouse was built by Noah Mason, then owner of what was known as Masons’ Island.” It is possible that the relocation to Sands Point was contemplated before Mason was aware of the lighthouse contract or maybe he had some information leading him to believe that he would be the keeper of the light.

 

The light glowed for the first time on September 9, 1809. An article in the Boston’s Columbian Centinel on September 16, 1809 announced, “this new light was finished and first improved on Saturday last; when a civic festival was held on the point by the citizens of North Hempstead.” Samuel L. Mitchill was present to perform the lighting of the first lamp at the inauguration ceremony. Noah Mason and his family were surely at the inauguration as not only was he the builder of the Sands Point, but also appointed as its first lighthouse keeper.

 

The appointment of lighthouse keepers was under Federal jurisdiction. Appointments were often based on political connections and returned favors. Why was Noah Mason named the first keeper at the Sands Point Lighthouse? There were surely numerous men navigating the political field for the position. To find the answer we must circle back to David Gelston, the man who granted Mason the contract to build the lighthouse. In a letter dated August 29, 1809, less than two weeks before the inauguration of the lighthouse, Gelston wrote to Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury, recommending Mason for the position. Gallatin passed Gelston’s letter on to President James Madison with the following note:

 

                                                                                    5 Septer. 1809

 

   Noah Mason appears to be the best qualified and recomd. If the President

   Approves, he will be pleased to signify the same by endorsement on this

   Paper. No commission issues in those cases; a letter from the Secy. of the

   Treasury announcing the appointment being sufficient. Respectfully submitted

                                                                                      Albert Gallatin

 

Madison approved Mason’s appointment by returning Gelston’s letter to Gallatin with the following endorsement on the cover: “I approve Noah Mason for keeper of the Light house at Sand’s Point./James Madison/Sepr. 5. 1809.” Four days later Noah would attend the inauguration of the Sands Point Lighthouse as its first keeper.

 

Noah’s duties as keeper of the lighthouse included trimming the wicks and replenishing the whale oil reservoirs that fueled them. He was also responsible for general maintenance and repairs to the lighthouse including polishing the reflective lenses. The light had to be visible every day after sunset and on stormy days. Lighthouse keepers were often the first to sight shipwrecks and were responsible for reporting them to local authorities.

 

According to the 1816 Register of the Officers of the United States, Noah was earning $250 per year as the keeper of Sands Point Lighthouse. As light keepers usually had an abundance of free time, especially during the day, many had other sources of income. Ships wrecked off the coast of Sands Point presented Noah with an excellent opportunity to supplement his income by salvaging shipwrecks. On September 29, 1817, Mason placed an advertisement in the National Advocate which read: “Taken up on the 15th day of September, A.D. 1817, near Sands Point, a large cedar clinched work BOAT, white bottom, red and black streak, with weather boards. The owner may have her by proving property and paying charges, by applying to Noah Mason, Sands Point.”  Apparently, in spite of the lighthouse, there were often shipwrecks near Sand Point, which enabled Mason to supplement his income as a light keeper.

 

In 1834, the Governor of New York appointed Noah Mason the Wreck Master for the Town of North Hempstead, along with seven men for the Town of Hempstead and one man for the Town of Oyster Bay. Wreck Masters were given the authority to board vessels and legally conduct salvage operations. They often had to contend with scavengers who were quick to arrive at distressed vessels.

 

Another more substantial wreck was that of the Schooner Washington Packet which was lost off the coast of Sands Point in 1836. The Washington Packet was insured by the Ocean Insurance Company, which contacted Warren Mitchell, Esq. to coordinate salvage operations with Noah Mason.  On November 36, 1836 the company sent the following letter to Mitchell:

 

                                                                           Sands Point Novr. 5. 1836.

Warren Mitchell, Esq.

 

                Dear Sir

 

                Having been engaged in stripping the Schooner Washington Packet and saving her cargo for the last few days, and being under the necessity of having immediately for New York, I have left directions with Captain Noah Mason relative to making arrangements with you, as to the sale of the hulk, for the coming week.

 

I think it would be best to advertise her for sale, by handbill,

for the coming week. Any proceeds that may be left in your hands after

deducting charges, you will please pay to Captain Mason as per order left

him.                                                                                                                                                                                  Respectfully

                                                                            James Bergen

 

Noah provided the following receipt to Mitchell seven days later:

 

Cow Neck Nov 12th 1836 – Received of Warren Mitchell 25 25/100 dollars the neat proceeds from the sale of the Packet Washington a wreck

– Noah Mason

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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