Bull Legend Dismounted by Historical Society

Many Smithtown residents are familiar with the legend of the famous Richard Smith, the man who made a deal with the local Native Americans and rode around Long Island on his trusty bull, Whisper, to claim the 55 square miles of property that would become Smithtown. 

Though this over 200-year-old tale makes for a great story, the truth behind Richard Smith and the founding of Smithtown in 1663 is less fantastical and laden with controversy, according to the latest Smithtown Historical Society exhibit at the Caleb Smith House.

In the exhibit "Running of the Bull: Smithtown's Origins, Real and Imagined," the public can take a stroll around the home of Richard Smith's great-great-grandson and examine artifacts and histories of the town's most prominent families to learn how Richard Smith actually came to acquire this land, as well as what life was like in the early days of Smithtown. 

As guests enter the exhibit, they can read the true (and in some parts speculated) history of Richard Smith.  Smith (or Smythe, as it was spelled in most documents) was a mysterious character whose first recorded existence on Long Island was found in a Southampton town record dated October 26, 1643, in which another resident was ordered to pay Smith for an unknown case of "controversie." 

Although he was a leader in the community, Smith found himself a lightning rod for discord and was later banished from the town. Before his banishment, Smith luckily made the connections that would lead him to obtain the land deed for his renowned settlement in 1663.

In fact, Smith never actually rode around on a bull to obtain the land.  He instead got the deed from his friend, Lion Gardiner, who obtained it from the Montauk sachem.

After this, Smith was plagued by border skirmishes with Huntington until his death, a battle which his descendants continued through the 1700's.

"We came from those people, good or bad," said exhibit curator Joshua Ruff. Ruff's goal for the exhibit is to "try to give [the public] a sense of how the town came to be."  He notes that many people who come into the exhibit have misconceptions of both Smith and the town's origins, and some still choose to believe the legend even after viewing other evidence.

In the first floor rooms of the Caleb Smith House, an eclectic collection of old and modern paintings, photographs and maps adorn the walls, while astounding preserved artifacts fill the rooms.  Visitors can see furniture that was actually owned by the Smith family, the plaster model of Whisper the bull that would become Smithtown's famed landmark, as well as a purple bull rider's costume worn by one of Smith's descendants at a celebration of Smithtown in 1936. 

The exhibit even includes a piece of a Smith descendant's gravestone and the string used to measure the circumference of Smith's skull when it was dug up by his descendants in 1900.

The exhibit's viewing period has been extended until Oct. 1. It is open to the public on Tuesdays and Thursdays from noon - 4 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Smithtown Historical Society's next exhibit, "Smithtown in War," is due to open on Nov. 11.