Raynham Hall is in Oyster Bay, New York. Home of the Townsend family, one of the founding families of Oyster Bay, on Long Island, New York, and a member of George Washington's Culper Ring of spies, the house was renamed Raynham Hall (seat of the Marquesses Townshend) after the Townsend seat in Norfolk, England, in 1850 by a grandson of the original owner. The house is now owned by the Town of Oyster Bay and operated as a public museum by the Friends of Raynham Hall Museum, Inc. Raynham Hall is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a Town of Oyster Bay Landmark, and is a featured site on the Oyster Bay History Walk audio walking tour. It is located at 20 West Main Street, in the heart of Oyster Bay.
Description Built in 1738, Raynham Hall began as a modest "two-by-two"—two downstairs rooms, two upstairs, and a central chimney. After purchasing the property, Samuel Townsend added four rooms, creating a saltbox-style structure with a lean-to addition that he dubbed "The Homestead."
The property remained unchanged until 1851, when Solomon Townsend grandly reimagined it in the Victorian style. He added an entirely new wing and an exterior central tower with a skylight, while filling the interior with plush carpets, ornate wallpaper, and lavish furnishings. Renaming the estate "Raynham Hall," Solomon used the transformation to project his immense wealth, contrasting sharply with the conservative lifestyle of his colonial Quaker predecessors.
By 1941, financial constraints forced the family to deed the property to the local Oyster Bay chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). When the home's maintenance proved too burdensome for the DAR, ownership was transferred to the Town of Oyster Bay. Ultimately, town officials decided to preserve Raynham Hall as a historic house museum, showcasing the distinct Colonial and Victorian eras of the Townsend family legacy.
History
Before the Revolution On May 6, 1738, Samuel Townsend (1717–1790) purchased the property now known as Raynham Hall from Thomas Weedon for 70 pounds.Oyster Bay Town Records, ed. John Cox, Jr., 6 Vols. (New York: Tobias Wright, Inc. 1930) 5:611-613. At that time, the house consisted of four rooms with a large central chimney. It is possible that Weedon, whose trade is listed as a carpenter, may have constructed the original building.
Between 1738 and 1740, Townsend enlarged the property to expand it to eight rooms, making it a story-and-a-half salt box.John Collins, notes from Trustee Simar, Raynham Hall Museum, Spring 1979. Although the rooms may seem small to us today, the house was fairly large by 18th century standards. Townsend was a merchant, as well as Justice of the Peace and Town Clerk, and at least one of the front rooms of the house may have been used both as an office and a store. ()
During the War
The outbreak of the Revolutionary War found Samuel Townsend's sympathies on the side of the Patriots despite the fact that half of Oyster Bay's inhabitants were Loyalists.Oyster Bay Town Records, ed. John Cox, Jr., 6 Vols. (New York: Tobias Wright, Inc. 1930) Vol. II, pp 53-55. Townsend went on to become a member of the New York Provincial Congress, which voted to ratify the United States Declaration of Independence on July 9, 1776.Journals of the Provincial Congress, 1775-1777, Vol. I p. 517-18 cited by Dorothy H. McGee, "Raynham Hall" (Town of Oyster Bay, 1979) p. 7.
Following the British victory at the Battle of Long Island in the autumn of 1776, the Townsend home became the headquarters for officers of the Queen's Rangers, a Loyalist military unit led by Lieutenant-Colonel John Graves Simcoe.John Graves Simcoe, Military Journal, New York: Bartlett & Welford, 1844) pp. 94-95. Townsend and his family were forced to make room for Simcoe and his fellow officers. At this time, those members of the Townsend family living at Raynham Hall probably numbered seven, including five children (two boys - William and David, and three girls - Audrey, Sally, and Phebe) as well as Samuel and his wife Sarah Stoddard."Nassau County Historical Journal" Vol. XIII, p. 49-50 cited by Dorothy H. McGee, "Raynham Hall" (Town of Oyster Bay, 1979) p.13. In addition, a census taken in 1781 shows that Samuel owned eight slaves, one man, three women and four children. Samuel's older sons, Solomon, Samuel, and Robert were all engaged in trade and living away from home.Memorial of John, Henry and Richard Townsend and their Descendants (New York: W. A. Townsend, Publisher 1865), pp. 98 and 101. The Townsend family seemed to get along quite well with the officers of the Queen's Rangers on a certain level. In fact, on Valentine's Day 1778, Simcoe gave Sally a Valentine, and a number of compliments were etched on panes of glass from the officers to two of the sisters.Panes of Glass, Collection of Raynham Hall Museum, Oyster Bay. Even Robert Townsend, who worked as a spy for Washington during the Revolutionary War, remarked when British Major John André was executed by the Americans that he had "never felt more sensibly for the death of a person".Letters from Robert Townsend cited by Corey Ford, A Peculiar Service (Boston: Little Brown, 1965) p. 250.
Raynham Hall finds its place in national history through the activities of Robert Townsend. Prior to the outbreak of war, Robert had served as a purchasing agent for his father.Morton Pennypacker. General Washington's Spies. (Brooklyn: Long Island Historical Society, 1939) p.30. However by the late 1770s he was living and working in Manhattan as a merchant and a freelance journalist.Letters from Robert Townsend cited by Corey Ford, A Peculiar Service (Boston: Little Brown, 1965) p. 170. Since his business contacts brought him into close contact with many of the British officers then stationed in the city, Abraham Woodhull, known within the New York spy ring as "Culper, Sr.," asked Robert if he would act as a spy in the city.Morton Pennypacker. General Washington's Spies. (Brooklyn: Long Island Historical Society, 1939) p. 44. With a certain amount of reluctance Robert accepted the position and became known as "Culper, Jr.," thus completing the circle of communication that went from Manhattan to Setauket across the sound to Connecticut and on the General George Washington's headquarters. From August 1779 until May of the following year, Robert provided George Washington with as much useful information as he could gather regarding British plans and troop movements. In May 1780, Culper, Jr. abruptly stopped work only to resume again in July. One of Robert's Oyster Bay cousins, Samuel Townsend (1744–1792) also served the colonial cause as a captain and Paymaster in the New York 5th Regiment of the Continental Line.Saffell, W.T.R, Records of the Revolutionary War (Baltimore: C. F. Saffell, 1894) p. 161.Memorial of John, Henry and Richard Townsend and their Descendants (New York: W. A. Townsend, Publisher 1865) p. 169-171.Davenport, Robert, Original Members and Other Officers Eligible to the Society of Cincinnati, 1783-2008 (Washington, DC: The Society of the Cincinnati) p. 351
The Valentine In the winter of 1779, Lieutenant Colonel John Simcoe gave a Valentine's Day letter to Sarah 'Sally' Townsend, the daughter of Samuel Townsend and Sarah Stoddard Townsend. The museum claims that this letter is the first recorded Valentine's Day letter in America. Fairest Maid, where all is fair Beauty's pride and Nature's care; To you my heart I must resign O choose me for your Valentine!
Love, Mighty God! Thou know'st full well Where all thy Mother's graces dwell, Where they inhabit and combine To fix thy power with spells divine;
Thou know'st what powerful magick lies Within the round of Sarah's eyes, Or darted thence like lightning fires And Heaven's own joys around inspires;
Thou know'st my heart will always prove The shrine of pure unchanging love! Say; awful God! Since to thy throne Two ways that lead are only known-
Here gay Variety presides, And many a youthful circle guides Through paths where lilies, roses sweet, Bloom and decay beneath their feet;
Here constancy with sober mein Regardless of the flowery Scene With Myrtle crowned that never fades, In silence seeks the Cypress Shades,
Or fixed near Contemplation's cell, Chief with the Muses loves to dwell, Leads those who inward feel and burn And often clasp the abandon'd urn,--
Say, awful God! Did'st thou not prove My heart was formed for Constant love? Thou saw'st me once on every plain To Delia pour the artless strain -
Thou wept'sd her death and bad'st me change My happier days no more to range O'er hill, o're dale, in sweet Employ, Of singing Delia, Nature's joy;
Thou bad'st me change the pastoral scene Forget my Crook; with haughty mien To raise the iron Spear of War, Victim of Grief and deep Despair:
Say, must I all my joys forego And still maintain this outward show? Say, shall this breast that's pained to fell Be ever clad in horrid steel?
Now swell with other joys than those Of conquest o'er unworthy foes? Shall no fair maid with equal fire Awake the flames of soft desire:
My bosom born, for transport, burn And raise my thoughts from Delia's urn? "Fond Youth," the God of Love replies, "Your answer take from Sarah's eyes."
From the homestead to the hall: the Victorian Era Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, Raynham Hall was occupied by various members of the Townsend Family. Phebe married Dr. Ebenezer Seely of Norwalk, Connecticut on December 25, 1808, when Phebe was 45 years of age Dr. Seely became the owner of the house in 1812 through a transfer from Sally Townsend. Robert and his sister, Sally, along with the Seelys, spent their adult lives at the "Old Homestead" (Raynham Hall). Robert died in 1838 at the age of 85 and Sally in 1842 at the age of 82. In 1851, Solomon Townsend, grandson of Samuel, purchased the Townsend home and land from Dr. Seely for $1,300 (~$ in ). Solomon transformed the house by adding a rear wing, a water tower and a number of other Victorian architectural features. He then renamed the house Raynham Hall after the baronial great house, begun in 1619, of the famous Townshends in Norfolk, England. Despite some "wishful thinking," the families are not related to one another (Townsendsociety.org). It appears that Solomon had spent summers in Oyster Bay until 1861, when he moved there permanently from New York City at the outbreak of the Civil War. Like his father and grandfather before him, Solomon II was also a merchant and importer. By his early twenties he had begun his own business which would eventually be known as Townsend, Clinch and Dike. In 1849, at the age of 44, he married his first cousin Helene DeKay.Memoriam to Helene DeKay Townsend, Archives, Raynham Hall, Oyster Bay, p. 3. The couple had six children, five boys and a girl, all of whom were brought up in Raynham Hall. By 1860, he was one of the wealthiest men in Oyster Bay with a personal worth of $97,000 (~$ in ).
In keeping with the tradition of public service established by his father and grandfather, Solomon II represented New York Count in the State Legislature and served as a delegate to two State Constitutional Conventions. He also completed two terms as Commissionaire of Education in New York City and after his return to Oyster Bay served as president to the Oyster Bay Board of Education.
Raynham Hall becomes a museum
Solomon died on April 2, 1880. His wife, Helene, died on February 3, 1895, leaving daughter Maria holding the land and house. In one of her obituaries, Helene Townsend was described as "preeminently domestic in her habits,"Memoriam to Helene DeKay Townsend, Archives, Raynham Hall, Oyster Bay, p. 4. a phrase which helps conjure up the busy Victorian household which must have existed at Raynham Hall.