Originally purchased by Samuel Townsend for his wife Sarah and their eight children, the house played an important role in the American Revolution. The house was taken over by the British during the American Revolution as a headquarters. It housed the Queens Rangers which was a regiment headed by Lt. Colonel John Graves Simcoe.
The house has historic periodic room displays. Included in the displays are stories of The Culper Spy Ring. The Culper Spy Ring and more specifically Robert Townsend was responsible for the thwarting of Benedict Arnold's plan to surrender West Point to the British. Information was passed y by Robert Townsend in numerical codes. On display in the yard of the house is a piece of the chain that was used to keep the British at bay.
The Townsends were a very political community involved family. The original emigrants, John and Henry Townsend were among the first signers of the Flushing Remonstrance, a document that was the first declaration of religious freedom by a group of private citizens in the New World. Samuel Townsend was Justice of the Peace in Oyster Bay. As Justice, hearings were held in his dining room. Samuel Townsend was elected to the New York Provential Congress. He was at the Assembly of July 9th when the Declaration Of Independence was ratified.
As you stand in front of Raynham Hall today, it is easy to transpose yourself back to the 18th century and imagine persons coming to the house for Town business and to see him in his role of Justice. The exterior of the house is today as it was then, an attractive white Colonial farmhouse.
Raynham Hall is also written up in several books about ghosts. The story is that the house has been haunted by the ghost of Dorothy Walpole. She was the sister of Sir Robert and the wife to the second Viscount Townshend. Having died of smallpox in 1726, the story is that she returns to the house to look for her children. She is called The Brown Lady because she walks the halls in a brown brocade dress.
Raynham Hall was dedicated in June of 1953 as a Town of Oyster Bay Historic Site. This occurred as part of the Town's Tercentenary Commemoration of the First Purchase of Oyster Bay. Organized in 1953, The Friends of Raynham Hall, Inc., raised funds and restored the home with authentic periodic furnishings and an 18th century garden and an archives collection.
Raynham Hall, located on 20 West Main Street, Oyster Bay, New York is open Tuesday - Sunday, 1:00 -5:00 p.m. Admission is $2.00 for adults and $1.00 for students and seniors. Children under 6 are admitted free of charge. The museum offers tours, children's workshops and has a museum gift shop. For further information call (516) 922-6808.
Sources:
Internet sites: Click here for a great resource.
and
Click here for an equally great resource.
Groh, Lynn. The Culper Spy Ring. The Westminster Press,
Philadelphia, 1969.
Luke, Myron, editor. Raynham Hall. Town of Oyster Bay New York, 1961.