The Carman Family

Thomas Carman
1668 - 1761
Grandfather of Our Dutch Cousins

a new group - the Americans - are emerging from the Dutch and the English---
Colonial Period Family line: John (1) John (2) Thos. (3)

Dutch
Change
Marriages
Thomas Carman's Mill
Family
Carman Family Milling

Thomas Carman was a farmer, mill operator, and a dealer in whalers' supplies, living a portion of his adult years at Bethpage, L.I. , on Carman's River, a tributary to the Atlantic ocean. He was born about 1668 and as noted in his father's will, one of the younger sons. He died at Hempstead about 1760/61. His first wife, and possibly mother of all his children was named Mary (thought by family historian Tredwell to be Mary Stites, daughter of Richard Stites), but otherwise unidentified. Tradition mentions a second wife, but with no details. His will made in 1759 was proved in 1761.

He had nine children, born during the years, 1695 - 1720. Joseph, Mary, Hannah, Sarah, Ruth, Phebe, Abigail, Samuel and Thomas. We have a record of him in 1686 of buying eight acres of land from Samuel Bedell and of serving as the Assessor of freeholders and sojourners in the Hempstead boundaries in 1709.
Citizen

A more specific record of his public service is found in the Hempstead Town Record of 1 April 1718. At that meeting Edward Tredwell was chosen assessor, "But three months thereafter, Thos. Carman was elected in his place." Perhaps experience had helped!

From Thompson's History of Long Island we learn that he became involved in whaling, "as early as 1704 he was in the business of selling whale bone and oil here Hempstead)." Werner in his "Long Island Families" refers to "Thomas Carman as being called 'Dumb Tom'", the meaning of this nickname has, of course, been lost in time. Several of the early Carmans were mutes, but this approbation may have stemmed from another source.

Thomas with his brother Caleb was in Captain Hick's Company, Colonial Militia (1672), although the Indian menace was greatly reduced by his time. In addition to being the father of our next-in-line Carman ancestor, Joseph, his daughter Hannah married into a Long Island Dutch family.
Dutch

In November, 1727 at St. George's Episcopal Church at Hempstead, Hannah married Barent (Barentse) Van Wyck. Van Wyck was a grandson of Cornelius Barentse Van Wyck, (m. Anna Polhemus) who had come from Holland to Long Island in 1660. (Assessment List of 1709, Cornelius Van Wyck lad 108 Acres of land; 12 beste; 2 Negers and 69 lambs. In 1687, he was assessed at 482 Guilders). Barent, 1703 -1750, was a farmer and a member of the Dutch Reformed Church (protestant.). Hannah lived a good long life, dying at age 86 in 1790. They had seven children.

This marriage gave our line of Carmans their first "Dutch" cousins and a distinguished line at that. The Van Wycks were related to many Dutch families on Long Island and upper New York State. They have had many outstanding members, which is well documented genealogically. It can be traced back to 1400 in Holland. Since Thomas Carman was of the third generation of Carmans; Hannah was therefore of the fourth generation in America. Barent being a third generation Dutch-American, the traditional barriers were breaking down. Already by the time of this marriage, there was a conflict in the Dutch church, where many of younger members were demanding that the services be conducted in English.

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Change

Soon after Barent died in 1750, Hannah took most of her family, several of them adults, into St. George's Episcopal Church at Hempstead, the principal Carman church at that time. The new Dutch-Americans were finding it easy to become Anglicans.

By this time, the mid-1750's, a new breed of people were emerging, our first true Americans. It is not to be assumed that this was the only Carman-Dutch marriage. By this date, the Carmans were numerous on Long Island and there are records of many such marriages giving rise to unusual combinations of English and Dutch family and given names. For example, Hannah and Barent named their children: Samuel, Thomas, Theodorous (in English, Theodore or Ted. This was a traditional Van Wyck name), Abraham, Mary, Sarah and Abigail. Only a study of the voluminous Carman records can show the impact of this amalgamation.

While the have Van Wyck has an exclusive sound, it comes from a practical origin. Van means from or of. Cornelius, the family immigrant was from the city of Wyck in Holland. Some family members write the name as van Wyck. In a listing of the descendants of Cornelius Van Wyck published in 1913, the name Carman is given as one of the collateral branches of the Van Wyck family, along with many other prominent Dutch and English families associated with early New York history. (there were six or more Carman-Van Wyck marriages in early days).

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Marriages

Of Thomas' family, the marriage of Joseph, our ancestor is discussed in the next chapter. The daughter, Abigail, never married, but the rest of the children were. marrying into other English-descended families.

From the Registry of St. George's Church of Hempstead, L. 1. (from 1726) we find the following marriages, all by the Rev’d Robert Jenny. D.D., the rector:
Hannah Carman. to Barent Van Wyck 12 Nov 1727
Anne Carman to John Langdon 29 Jun 1729
Ruth Carman to Solomon Powell 11 Oct 1730
Phebe to John Townsend 30 July 1732

Sarah Carman married James Smith, 1705-1?65, of the well-known James (Rock) Smith family of Long Island which had some distinguished participants in the Revolutionary War. They named a son Carman Smith! Sarah’s second husband was her uncle, Samuel Carman.

A grandson, Thomas, married Sarah Brinckerhof in 1738, indicating that the Dutch cousins were multiplying at a rapid rate during colonial times on Long 1sland. (another source of Dutch cousins)

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Thomas Carman's Mill

In 1966 a local Long Island historian wrote of Thomas Carman, the Miller:
“On Long Island there is a creek, called Carman's Creek that runs into the Great South Bay (on the Atlantic Ocean). It is fed by Carman's River which once furnished Thomas Carman with the waterpower to operate the mill. Not of significance today, this stream was important in colonial times.”

"Thomas Carman moved into the area prior to 1700. The stream was to furnish the water for his mill. having dammed the stream to form a good-sized pond, he built a grist mill and was soon grinding grain for others as well as himself. An old Indian trail became Carman's lane and later Carman's road. It is still today known by that name.” (some area maps showing landmarks have been filed by the writer.)

"Among his neighbors was a Quaker, Thomas Powell, founder of the village of Bethpage, L.I. At the ;junction of various roads leading to the mill, Thomas Carman built his, home, part of which later became the so-called Carman Mansion, which was moved to Bethpage in 1966 for a colonial village restoration --- it was later destroyed by fire. Carman's corners a loca1 landmark was once the site of the first post office in that area.”

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Family of Thomas Carman
all generation (4)
Joseph Carman (Tredwell?) (Mott?) 1694/5 - c.1775
Mary Carman (Langdon) 1702 -
Hannah Carman (Van Wyck) 1704 - 1790
Sarah Carman (Smith) (Carman) 1706 -
Ruth Carman (Powe11) 1709 -
Phebe Carman (Townsend) 1711 -
Abigail Caiman 1713 -
Samuel Carman (Ellimor) 1715 -
Thomas Carman (Wood?) 1720 -

(family researchers interested in other family branches should examine the genealogical information. in I1l. State Hist. Library.)

The fact that the sea played a large part in the lives of Thomas Carman and his son, Joseph, should be noted. After all, they lived on an island!

Today, whaling no longer exists in the area in which they lived, although on occasion stray whales may be found. Thomas' brother, Caleb, followed the whaling industry to the extreme southern end of New Jersey - Cape May.

This generation of Carmans were established Long Island residents, marrying into families three and four generations away from the original immigrants.

At this time, family members were fanning out over Long Island, although they were still concentrated at the western end of the island.

It cannot be established that the author's family line contains Dutch blood although some of the later family members of the Illinois group tbought that they did. It is assumed that we do not although we have many. many cousins of that ancestory.

What's in a Name?

Alexander Robertson Carman, 1863 - 1939, was born in Canada came to Chicago, Illinois where he was a successful manufacturer and involved in the development of a Summer Resort in Michigan and sponsored a number of charitable activities. He was a son of Alexander Carman who in turn was descended from: John Van Wyck Carman! (as reported in the Federal works Project.)

Searchers

Mrs. Alex Kiser, Grand Island, Neb., and Laverne Carman Milligan, Salt Lake City, Utah have long been searchers in the field of Carman family history. Both are Carman descendants.

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Carmans, and Early Long Island Milling

From the Records of the Town of Jamaica, Long Island, New York, 1656 - 1761 we learn that on February 24, 1775/6,
'Caleb Carman and Joseph Carpenter are granted -"liberty to build a saw mill and a water mill" where the ould mill stood and to take the lumber needed.'

At the same time, Caleb Carman and Joseph Carpenter, ‘made a covenant with the people of the Town of Jamaica on the use of the saw and corn mill.’

From: Early Mills in the American Colonies; Early American Mills, M&M Zimiles, Porter Press, N.Y.1973.
'Since the population of colonial America was small and labor in short supply most communities were anxious to attract men skilled in the technology of mill building to provide their citizens with work saving machines.'

Because of his special privileges the miller was also restricted in many of his activities, principally against overcharging. Towns view up around mills, and many millers became men of prominence in their communities, serving as Mayors and on Town Boards. Some eventually became bankers and merchants in their communities.

As noted above, when Caleb Caiman and Joseph Carpenter were granted mill rights, they were also given a monopoly for milling in a certain area. Thus, their covenant with the townspeople.

This early interest in milling, very likely led many Carmans away from farming and land ownership as will be discussed later; they also became craftsmen in other fields. Their trades also may have been an important factor in their moving into regions away from Long Island.

From the date of the above record, the Caleb Carman cited may have been the son of John (2) Carman's brother, Caleb. His nephew, Caleb, remained on Long Island after his father, John's brother, moved to Cape May, New Jersey.

The writer has placed in ttie Ill. Sate Historical Library, Springfield. a late 19th century photo of Carman's Sawmill, located at Valley Stream, Long Island (the mill since destroyed). The photograph was obtained from the Nassau County Historical Museum.





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