Person Page - 212

305. Samuel Sackett, 1765–1822, of Jamaica, Long Island, and Brooklyn, N. Y., son of (94) Samuel and Mary Betts Sackett, was married Nov. 9, 1786, to Elisabeth Kissam, daughter of Daniel Kissam and his wife Mary Betts. The greater part of the adult life of Mr. Sackett was spent in Brooklyn, where he was interested in many public movements having for their object the commercial, industrial, educational and moral advancement of that ambitious and thriving village, which has since become a great city. He was a member of the first Board of Directors of the Wallabout and Brooklyn Bridge Company, incorporated Apr. 6, 1805. When in 1815 The Society to Prevent and Suppress Vice in the town of Brooklyn was organized, he was made one of its Executive Committee. He was also for many years a trustee of the Brooklyn Select Academy. Stiles in his "History of Brooklyn," written in the year 1816, says: "On the lower side of the turn of present Clinton Street into Fulton was a pretty two story frame dwelling of Samuel Sackett, who was a most excellent man. He was for many years Overseer of the Poor of Brooklyn, to which, as well as to the duties of a trustee of the only public school, he gave his undivided attention. He was a man of polished manners and agreeable address, and was highly esteemed by his contemporaries."

Samuel Sackett worked in poor relief in Brooklyn and was a trustee at the sole public school in the area. His manorlike residence was the site of the first regular hospital in Brooklyn proper (until that point only temporary ones had existed), and he was one of the organizers of the Brooklyn Apprentices Library, which later became the Brooklyn Institute. His son Clarence, a lawyer, state assemblyman, and village trustee, was instrumental in helping secure for the City of Brooklyn its municipal charter and served as alderman to the new city from the Seventh Ward.

307. Augustus Sackett, 1769–1827, founder of the village of Sacketts Harbor, son of (94) Samuel Sackett and Mary Betts, was married at Catskill, Greene County, N. Y., Jan. 19, 1795, to Minerva Camp, 1780-1837. Augustus Sackett was born in New York City. He there acquired his education, studied law and began the practice of his profession. He was also interested in a mercantile business there, and at same time invested largely in unimproved real estate located mainly on and near the eastern shore of Lake Ontario. One purchase, in which he was interested equally with John W. Watkins, a noted real estate speculator of the period, contained fifteen thousand acres; a second tract purchased on his own account contained sixteen thousand five hundred acres, and a third, one half of the township of Houndsfield. He took a lively interest in local military affairs, holding commissions as Lieutenant, Lieutenant Captain, and Captain of State troops.
     In 1801 he disposed of his business interests in New York City and removed to his Lake Ontario estate. He there began a settlement on Black River bay since known as Sacketts Harbor. The founding of that village, by which his name was to be perpetuated, was begun with energy and prosecuted with success. In 1804 his brother-in-law, Elisha Camp, of Catskill, N. Y., joined him, bringing additional capital and energy to the undertaking. In 1805 a considerable company of English colonists of the better class were induced to settle there, and the same year the General Government organized all that portion of the State bordering on Lake Ontario into a United States Revenue District, and Mr. Sackett was appointed its first Collector. In 1806 the town of Houndsfield, which embraced the village and port of entry of Sacketts harbor, held its first town meeting and elected Mr. Sackett its first supervisor. In 1807 Jefferson County organized with Mr.. Sackett as its first County Judge. Two years later Judge Sackett disposed of all his holdings in Jefferson County, mainly to his brother-in-law, Elisha Camp, and removed to Jamaica on Long Island.
     During the War of 1812 Sacketts Harbor was made the Headquarters of the Northern Army and Fleet. Several was vessels were built there and the town was twice unsuccessfully attacked by English fleets. It is still a port of entry, but retains little of the commercial and military importance of the period mentioned.
     In 1812 Judge Sackett moved from Jamaica to Meadville, Penn. where he had purchased several hundred acres of land. But after a short sojourn at Meadville he returned to the place of his birth, New York City. In 1820 he changed his place of abode to Rutherford County, North Carolina, having become interested in a large tract of land located in that vicinity. By a subsequent transaction he became interested in the islands of the St. Lawrence and returned to Sacketts Harbor. His last place of residence was Newburgh, Orange County, N. Y. He died at Albany, N. Y., Sunday, April 22, 1827, from a sudden illness, while enroute from Newburgh to Sacketts Harbor. The Political Index of Newburgh, in its issue of April 24, 1827, contained the following notice:
*Toward the latter part of his life Judge Augustus Sackett dropped the final "t" from his name, and his descendants have very generally followed his example. It is somewhat peculiar coincidence that at about the same time a prominent branch of the family, which for generations had omitted the final "t" in writing their names, again added it.