Show 7 e I 1 1 t 0 j fort foft I 1 hamiltons I 1 X old house 0 0 10 A a 0 the second oldest house on long island Is sald said to be that standing on the shore road adjoining the military reservation at fort hamilton it Is believed to have been built in 1699 years ago by simon cortelyou I 1 a huguenot refugee A year am ago in consequence of a rumor that it was waa to bo be torn down the historical society of boston made an effort to obtain possession of the structure and have it demov removed ed to boston the rumor was untrue as there is more of the building being torn down by relic hunters than by the united states authorities the house figured in the revolutionary war it served as a fort for the patriots when they opposed the landing of a party of hessian and scotch troops under cornwallis from lord howes fleet on aug 22 1776 amerl american troops garrisoned the house and picked riflemen of army occupied the hill at the back of the house e just about the spot now occupied by the military barracks the Amer cican riflemen were under the command of col hand and so vigorous said and effective was the resistance they offered that the british lost a large number of officers who were picked off by the sharpshooters as they led the invading forces up the beach to the attack on the cortelyou house the hessians were repulsed six times and the american troops were driven out by overwhelming numbers only when a large cannon was brought to bear upon them the house still bears marks of the conflict the holes where bullets entered the woodwork being plainly discernible on all sides of the building on the following day aug 23 I lord ird rd howe took pcs possession session of the house bouse and made it his headquarters tor for about four months when the british had wrested the colony from the dutch and col richard nicholls had become its first governor he gave to jacques Corte cortelyou lyoM and others the whole of the township of new utrecht cortelyou getting for his portion the land including the site of the old house jacques according to the legends of the cortelyou family 1 I 1 I 1 i Y 6 I 1 I 1 L Z I 1 1 iak t Z ka I 1 1 1 z 1 e L I 1 1 1 I 7 t 2 F 17 K 5 ai I 1 M I 1 I 1 k k I 1 1 JL F I 1 I 1 1 1 I 1 I 1 10 F am A A I 1 I 1 E THE OLD ST ONE OE HOUSE i was a brother of simon emigrated to this country in 1652 and was among the first settlers in new utrecht he occupied a farm arm where port fort hamilton now stands his house was afterward torn down to make room tor for fort Ha hamilton railton jacques was a private tutor and died about 1693 his wife who was neelee van duyn daughter of garrett cornelius van duyn died in december 1695 when lord howes troops landed on long island tories were plentiful the simon cortelyou of the day was one of them while lord howe and his staff were making simons house their headquarters according to a legend of the family catherine the daughter of I 1 simon fell in love with a young british I 1 officer simon appos opposed the match ch and the couple eloped on horseback after getting married they returned to simon and asked to be forgiven but their pleadings were in vain the officer went down to the beach fronting the house and put a bullet through his brain the bride became insane after the revolution the h house ouse fell into the hands of a man named napier who turned the place into a tavern band and it was the scene of prizefights prize fights cocking mains badger drawings and dog fights on one of the doors today d y i IE r the impression made by br brass ass knuckles knuck 1 es other marks show where b lows blows struck with bludgeons chair legs and similar weapons landed on the woodwork the house fell into the hands h 11 ads of the united states government go v ern and is now being used by the engineers department new york sun |