Maj. Richard Smythe (1613-1692)
Major Richard "Bull" Smythe/Smith, Founder of Smithtown, Long Island
His parents are unknown but he is said to have born in England at Myreshaw, Yorkshire, and by 1643 he was living at Southampton on Long Island, New York. In 1666, according to legend, he rescued the daughter of an Indian chief from a hostile tribe and in gratitude the chief begged him to accept a reward, but try as he might Smythe could not be induced. Eventually, the chief persuaded him to mount his black bullock (used in those days instead of horses for plowing) and riding it from sunrise to sunset the following day, whatever land lay within the circle of his trail would be his. Smythe drove the bullock so hard that it died of exhaustion, but the chief was good to his word and gifted him the land. However the Crown forbade Indians from handing out land grants so a compromise was reached: On a good portion of the land, Smythe would establish a hamlet settled by no less than ten families. Having nine children of his own, this was a very favorable outcome and on founding Smithtown they changed the spelling of their name to "Smith". But, as there were already two other Smith families on Long Island, they became popularly referred to as the Bull-Smiths in memory of the bullock.
Although the statue of a bronze bull has been erected in Smithtown to commemorate the story, historical documents tell a somewhat similar but entirely different story. Smythe was well-known on Long Island as a shrewd, hard-nosed businessman who was often involved in boundary disputes. The principal part of what became Smithtown was originally the property of Lion Gardiner and he was given it by Grand Sachem Wyandanch after he negotiated the ransom of the chief's daughter, Heather Flower, who had been captured on her wedding night by a raiding band of Narragansett Indians and carried off to Connecticut. A deed dated 1659 that is now in the possession of the Long Island Historical Society and was witnessed by one Richard Smith, states that in the last year of his life Wyandanch transferred the lands that would become the most part of Smithtown to his friend and benefactor, Lion Gardiner. Before Gardiner's death in 1663, he in turn transferred all his rights to this land to Smith who two years later (1665) obtained a patent from Governor Nicolls of New York, and so Smithtown came into existence.
Although the statue of a bronze bull has been erected in Smithtown to commemorate the story, historical documents tell a somewhat similar but entirely different story. Smythe was well-known on Long Island as a shrewd, hard-nosed businessman who was often involved in boundary disputes. The principal part of what became Smithtown was originally the property of Lion Gardiner and he was given it by Grand Sachem Wyandanch after he negotiated the ransom of the chief's daughter, Heather Flower, who had been captured on her wedding night by a raiding band of Narragansett Indians and carried off to Connecticut. A deed dated 1659 that is now in the possession of the Long Island Historical Society and was witnessed by one Richard Smith, states that in the last year of his life Wyandanch transferred the lands that would become the most part of Smithtown to his friend and benefactor, Lion Gardiner. Before Gardiner's death in 1663, he in turn transferred all his rights to this land to Smith who two years later (1665) obtained a patent from Governor Nicolls of New York, and so Smithtown came into existence.
