Hello stateside mapsters (particularly the NY ones), 

I had the following enquiry from Adelphi Uni on Long Island, regarding English radical journalist/pamphleteer William Cobbett who lived in exile on Long island in the 1810s. 

There is a Cobbett's Lane on Shelter Id. at the eastern end of Long Id., and the question is when it weas named, and whether it was named for him, or for another Cobbett (if so who)?

Can anyone suggest leads (if not answers?), whether map one or otherwise.

Please reply direct to Elayne, (and do copy me in!)

Thanks!

Brendan Whyte

National Library of Australia

and corresponding member of the William Cobbett Society.

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Here on Long Island, NY we have a large Cobbett collection at Adelphi University, just a few miles from the farm in New Hyde Park where he lived from 1817-1819. Some eighty miles east, there is a road sign "Cobbett's Lane" on Shelter Island. Despite inquiries to the archivist at the Shelter Island Historical Society and to Stony Brook University's Special Collections, I cannot seem to find out when Cobbett's Lane first appeared on local maps nor if there was a connection to William Cobbett. 

To the best of my knowledge, Cobbett did not travel to eastern Long Island during his New York sojourn. Historical newspapers have not mentioned it. There is a "word of mouth" story that Cobbett visited Henry Packer Dering (1763-1822) on Shelter Island and Dering Farm is located on Cobbett's Lane. However, Henry Dering left for nearby Sag Harbor in the 1790s, appointed as postmaster by George Washington. The earliest property owner map at the Shelter Island Historical Society dates much later, from 1858. 

 

As a map expert, despite the many miles, is there any stone remaining to turn? Many thanks for your interest. 

 

Best regards, 

Elayne 

 

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Elayne Gardstein, M.A., M.S.L.S.
Senior Adjunct Catalog and Metadata Strategies Librarian  
Swirbul Library
Adelphi University
1 South Avenue
Garden City, NY 11530
email: [log in to unmask]