M. (1) 1660 in (probably) Long Island2
Wife: Sarah Stratton
M. (2) before 17 May 1688 in East Hampton, New York1
Wife: Rebecca ________
D. 15 Apr 1693 in South Hampton, New York1
Stephen Hand left his legacy all over the region where he lived on Long Island with a road that bears his name in a somewhat unique style.
Stephen’s family was from Kent, England, where he was likely born in about 1635.1 This isn’t certain because that is also the year his parents John Hand and Alice Gransden migrated to New England,3 and some researchers believe he was born after his parents left. Whatever the case, Stephen earliest memories were in the town of Lynn, Massachusetts, the second child in a family of at least nine children.
Lynn is located on the coast of New England north of Boston, and many men, including Stephen’s father, were involved in the whaling industry. This was what brought the family to settle on eastern Long Island in about 1644 in a new settlement called Southampton. In about 1660, Stephen married Sarah Stratton,2 the daughter of John Stratton, who was one of the founders of East Hampton. Eventually they settled at a place at the head of a creek which would be called “Hand’s Creek,” in the present-day community of Wainscott.4 Sarah passed away before 1684,3 and Stephen remarried to a woman named Rebecca.1 Stephen had at least eight children, but it’s uncertain if they were from different wives.
Settling at a creek in East Hampton. (AI-generated image)
As a Puritan settlement, East Hampton men were expected to perform civic duties, and Stephen served as town constable in 1674 and again in 1680.4 He was one of a handful of men assigned to choose who would represent them in the first Colonial Assembly in 1683 in Albany.4 And his name is listed on the official patent for East Hampton issued in 1686.4
Stephen’s claim to fame comes from a document dated November 3, 1668 establishing the location of a new road.3 When English colonial settlements were formed up and down the East Coast, they usually started out as patchworks of farms, with no plan for how people traveled between places. So roads were an afterthought, and some landowners were asked to sacrifice a bit of their property for the good of all. The order regarding Stephen’s land was as follows:
“Stephen Hand hath grant that the town shall have a highway for one cart to go through his lot in the woods lying on the west side of George Miller’s lot by the mill plain. The highway is to be 12 feet in breadth and the length of the lot, and it is only to drive carts and oxen in the yoke, and to ride or lead a horse through, and not to drive cattle out of the yoke. And for that highway the town doth grant that Stephen Hand shall have one acre of land, which acre it was said lay by John Osborne’s land at the end of Thomas Osborne Sr.’s addition which Stephen should have.” 3
As a result, Stephen gained immortality, at least for future residents of Long Island. The road was designated “Stephen Hand’s Path,” and the name remains to this day.
Stephen passed away on April 15, 1693 at South Hampton.1 He is the direct ancestor of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt and all of his illustrious descendants.3
Children of Sarah Stratton:
1. Stephen Hand — B. about 1661, (probably) East Hampton, Long Island;5 D. 13 Nov 1740, Wainscott, New York;5 M. Esther Osborn (1666-1738), about 16865
2. Joseph Hand — B. about 1664, (probably) East Hampton, New York;6 D. 26 Jan 1713, New Jersey6
Children of an unidentified mother:
1. (probably) Sarah Hand — B. about 1666, (probably) East Hampton, New York;7 D. 1735; M. Thomas Howell7
2. (probably) Alice Hand — B. about 1670, (probably) East Hampton, New York;7 M. William Shipman, 16907
3. Samuel Hand — B. about 1672, (probably) East Hampton, New York; D. 1735, (probably) East Hampton, New York; M. Elizabeth ______
4. (probably) Esther Hand — B. about 1674, (probably) East Hampton, New York;7 M. Samuel Mulford7
5. (probably) Abigail Hand — B. about 1676, (probably) East Hampton, New York;7 M. Jacob Griswold (1675-?), 30 Nov 16967
6. (probably) Elizabeth Hand — B. about 1678, (probably) East Hampton, New York;7 D. 1711; M. Daniel Osborn7
Sources:
2 Marriage record of Stephen Hand and Sarah Stratton, U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900, Ancestry.com
3 Genealogy of the Hand-Bradley-Churchill and Related Families, B.G. Richmond, 1982
4 Longhouse Reserve (website)
5 Find-a-Grave listing of Stephen Hand (younger)
6 “Records of Marriages, Baptisms, and Deaths in Easthampton, L.I., from 1696 to 1746,” recorded by Rev. Nathaniel Hunting, New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, V. 34, p. 143
7 Hand, Sisson and Scott: More Yeoman Ancestors, Carol Clark Johnson, 1981
