General Notes

The Town Records show that Joseph Carpenter was an inhabitant of the town of Warwick where he had a "corne Mill." "and where stood his dwelling house in the South side of the Pautexet River at the wading place near the falls on said river." This property was purchased by his father from Matthias Harvey and given to him, probably at the time of his marriage. Here he appears to have remained until 1667, although as early as 1663 he was at Long Island making negotiations with the Indians for the purchase of land at Oyster Bay.  On May 24, 1668, the Indians sold about 3,000 acres at Musketa Cove to Joseph Carpenter - he having on November 5, 1667, obtained from Governor Nicholl's permission to occupy said land. This land was in much dispute as the settlers claimed ownership but on April 6, 1668, the following order was issued by Governor Lovelace to the constable and Overseers of Hempstead: "Whereas request was long time made unto me on the behalf of Joseph Carpenter that he might have a certain piece of land on each side of the river at Muskitoe Cove, where he proposes to settle two or three plantations and to erect a saw mill and a fulling mill which may prove very advantageous and be much to the welfare of the inhabitants in general within this government, with which you have been made acquainted and themselves have made some objections against it, yet have given me no reasonable satisfaction therein, and having ground to suspect that said land thereabouts is not as yet within your bounds nor was ever really purchased by you, you having made no improvement thereupon though you pretend to have laid it out into lots for some inhabitants of your town. These are therefore to require you that after the sight thereof with all convenient speed you cause to be laid out for the use of the said Joseph Carpenter a sufficient quantity of land on each side of the said Cove fir for the purposes and intents proposed by him, and that you make immediate return of your proceeding herein unto me which if you neglect to do I shall without more ado take care to dispose thereof for the pubic good as I shall see cause. Given under my hand the 6th day of April, 1668. On November 24, 1668, Joseph received as equal shareholders with him Nathaniel Coles, Abia Carpenter (his brother-in-law), Thomas Townsend, and Robert Coles. Following the example of their Rhode Island people, they styled themselves "The Five Proprietors of Musketa Cove Plantations,' which name and style continued until the Revolutionary War. In 1677, official land patents were issued to the Proprietors for Oyster Bay and Musketa Cove. The saw mill which Joseph built provided wood for the "fort" which stood at the lower end of Manhattan -Fort Amsterdam.