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Petty House, north of Middle County Road. Photo by Albert Bayles, 1914.
From the collection of Mr. Donald Bayles
Petty Family. Back row, left to right, Smith Petty, Daniel Petty.
Bottom row, left to right, Nancy Rider, Mary L'Hommedieu, Susie L'Hommedieu.
Courtesy Suffolk County Historical Society.
In 1825 Daniel Petty deeded to Daniel Petty Jr. about 350 acres between George Ritch and others on the west and Victor Edwards and Edgar G. Swezey ( later Joseph H. Randall ) on the east. This land extended north beyond Whiskey Road. Later it was owned by Edgar G. Swezey who died in 1900 and on Feb. 22, 1906 his widow Mrs. Ann Swezey sold it to Peter Wenner of Hicksville for $ 9,000. One week later Charles S. Miller from Nassau County arrived on the farm ( I believe that Mrs. Miller was the daughter of Peter Wenner who left it to her). The Millers worked the farm until about 1950.
In the 1906 deed Ann Swezey retained about 3 acres at the southwest corner of the farm. She died in 1922 but had a daughter Flora who inherited this plot with house. Flora married Thomas Dixon in 1908 and after his death married Edward Pfeiffer who was postmaster and had the general store in Middle Island. They lived in this house part of the time and about 1950 sold it to Lawrence Barnes.
The farm and Mr. Barnes house was acquired by Robert Rowehl in the 1950s. Mr. Rowehl and family lived in the Swezey/Pfeiffer house and worked the farm.
About 2000 feet north of Middle Country Rd. and near the east side of the property was the old house pictured below. In the Bayles photo album it is labelled "the old Swezey homestead". It is actually the homestead of Daniel Petty. The two women in the photo are not identified. The last family to occupy this old house was the Gagnon family in the late 1930s. After Rowehl acquired the farm the house was demolished and several acres of woodland and a small pond south of the house were turned into farmland.
Written by,
Mr. Donald Bayles
August 2000
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