Members of Assembly from Long-Island, during the Colony Administration, from 1691 to 1775. Daniel Whitehead, John Robinson, FOR QUEENS COUNTY. from 1691 to 1705, 14 years. 1691 to 1693, 2 * David Jones esquire was a son of Major Thomas Jones, of Fort Neck, in Oysterbay. He was for some years one of the judges of Queens county. He was elected a member of the assembly for that county in 1737, and was successively elected to the same station till 1758, and was speaker of the house during 13 years of that period; and, during the chief part if not the whole of the time, conducted the correspondence with the agent of the colony at the court of Great Britain, on behalf of the assembly. In 1758, he was appointed a judge of the supreme court, and continued to hold a seat on the bench till his death, October 11th, 1775, aged 76. Judge Jones sustained the reputation of a man of solid parts, and discharged the duties of the various stations which he held with ability and success. Col. Henry Pierson, from 1691 to 1695, 4 years. Speaker Representatives for Long-Island in the first Convention-in the Provincial Congress-in the Senate and Assembly of the State of New-York, and in the Continental Congress, during the Revolutionary War. The deputies for Long-Island to the convention which met at the city of New-York April 10th, 1775, to choose delegates to the Continental Congress, were as follows: Suffolk.-William Floyd, Nathaniel Woodhull, Phineas Fanning, Thomas Tredwell, and John Sloss Hobart. Queens.-Jacob Blackwell and John Tallman. Kings. Simon Boerum, Richard Stilwell, Theodorus Polhemus, Denise Denise, and John Vanderbelt. Soon after the convention was dissolved, on a recommendation from New-York, the several counties appointed delegates to meet and form a Provincial Congress to co-operate with the Continental Congress in such measures as they should devise for the public good. These delegates met at New-York, May 22d, 1775, and continued with some new appointments to meet from time to time at different places, till the adoption of the State Constitution in April 1777. During this period, or the greater part of it, the colony government was dissolved; the whole powers of sovereignty devolved on the people, and were exercised by their representatives in the Provincial Congress. The Provincial Congress by virtue of their representative capacity merely, without any constitution, guide, or control, but their own views of the public interests, performed all the duties and exercised the powers of a regularly constituted legislature. The members of the Provincial Congress for Long-Island were as follows: Suffolk.-Nathaniel Woodhull, John Sloss Hobart, ThomasTredwell, John Foster, Ezra L'Hommedieu, Thomas Wickham, James Havens, Selah Strong, William Smith, David Gelston, Mr. Dering. Queens.-James Blackwell, Samuel Townsend, Jonathan Lawrence, Joseph Robinson, James Townsend, Walter Smith, Mr. Van Wyck, Abraham Kettletas, Kings.-Henry Williams, Jeremiah Remsen, Mr. Polhemus, Mr. Lefferts. After the 30th of August 1776, when the Island was abandoned by the American army, such of the members only attended as had left the Island. By an ordinance passed by the convention who framed the state constitution April 20th, 1777, it was provided that that part of the state which had fallen into the hands of the enemy should be represented in the Senate and assembly by a proportional number of members selected from those who had retired from those counties within the American lines. The following persons were selected for this purpose from the several counties ou Long Island, and held their seats till the end of the war: Senators.-William Floyd, William Smith, Jonathan Law rence. Assemblymen for Suffolk.-Burnet Miller, David Gelston, Ezra L'Hommedieu, Thomas Tredwell, Thomas Wickes. For Queens.-Philip Edsell, Daniel Lawrence, Benjamin Coe, and Benjamin Birdsell. For Kings.-William Boerum and Henry Williams. The members of Congress from Long-Island during some period of the war were William Floyd, Simon Boerum, Ezra L'Hommedieu. A. D Population of Long-Island at different periods. 1731 1771 1786 1790 1800 1810 1820 Kings, 2150 3623 3986 4495 5740 8303 11187 Queens, 7895 10980 13084 16014 16983 19336 20519 Suffolk, 7675 13128 13793 16440 19444 21113 24272 Total-17820 27731 30863 36949 42167 48752 55968 Population of the several towns. KINGS COUNTY. Brooklyn, Bushwick, Flatbush, Flatlands, Gravesend, New-Utrecht, 1810 4402 1820 7175 QUEENS COUNTY. Newtown, 2437 * The Deputy who took the last census, omitted to distinguish the population of the several towns in Queens County. |