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SWIFT STREAM FARM, INC. Moriches, LI, NY
Narrated by John Robert II born 11-2-1910
and written down by his daughter Andrea Robert Raby of
Center Moriches.
photos from the Titmus family archives
Don't miss, also on this
site, The
Story of our "Long Island Duckling"
Baby Ducks at Swift Stream Farm, Moriches - 1929
Swift Stream Farm
Inc., was a partnership between Joseph Allen Titmus and
Josiah Smith Robert. Joseph had worked at duck
farms in East and Center Moriches. Josiah owned a garage in
Center Moriches, first on the west corner of Lake Avenue and
Main Street, then he had a brick garage built by Ernie
Barber in 1914 on the west corner of Canal and Main
Street. That property had been owned by his wife,
Marie Bishop Robert. Josiah, already friends with
Joe, decided that one way to make a better living was
to go into raising ducks…a very profitable venture at that
time…and he asked Joe to go into business with him. The duck
farm was built on land which was owned by my grandfather
John Robert and inherited by my father Josiah Robert.
Josiah owned the controlling half (51%). (See note below)
The stream
was already there, flowing east from under Mastic Road
to Forge River. The property went from Forge River to
Herkimer Street in Mastic, south to just before the railroad
tracks. The buildings were built from lumber brought
from Camp Upton when it was being dismantled. They
built brooder houses and homes on the west end of the
property. On the east side of Mastic Road, they built
homes for some of the workers: Jimmy Quinichet, Tom Manson,
Jimmy Plumber and Jake Husak (Carey's father). Also,
down the road a little, near where Herkimer Street comes in
and across from Charlie Monte's house, on that little
triangle, was a house lived in by Gus Wilson, and then by
Joseph MacGregor Titmus and his family. The big house on
Montauk Highway, where Joe Titmus
and his wife lived, was also built from Camp Upton lumber,
as were the store (with apartment over it) and the "little
house." The little house was built for John Rose Sr.
and his wife Lavisa (nee Howell). John was in charge
of the incubators. When he and Joe Titmus had a run in
about how to do something on the farm, John Rose left.
The
big house on Montauk Highway, January 1944
where Joseph Allen Titmus and his wife Gertrude
lived
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Homes for some of the
workers: Jimmy Quinichet,
Tom
Manson, Jimmy Plumber and Jake Husak (Carey's
father)
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Original Home of Gus Wilson - 1119 Mastic Road
Latter belonging to his daughter Betty and husband
Joseph MacGregor Titmus.
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When John left,
Jake Husak moved into the little house, and was put in
charge of the incubators, the brooder houses (keeping them
warm enough), as well as feeding the ducklings. He was
very good at his job, and quickly made himself indispensable
for many years. Unfortunately, when technology
provided Joe and Josiah a means of installing incubators
which would automatically turn the eggs and keep them at
proper temperatures, Jake was faced with the extinction of
his job. When Dad and Joe noticed that the ducklings
from the new incubators were not as large and healthy as the
ones that were being done by hand by Jake, they thought at
first the equipment was at fault. Cliff Bowditch
suggested to my Dad that he secretly mark some of the
ducklings from the new incubators by using a leather punch
between their toes. They did this, and found that
these were the ones that Jake was saying came from his
brooder house. Jake had been switching the batches to
make it look like the new incubators were not functioning as
well as the human touch. Needless to say, Jake was
asked to leave. After he and his family moved out, we
(John and Doris Robert) lived in the little house from 1941
or 1942 to May of 1944.
George Miscenski September 1943
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All the work of building
the farm was done by hand. They had trucks, but no
bulldozers or any heavy equipment. There was clearing
the land, building the many buildings, feeding the ducks,
mixing their own feed, (an incredible process in it's own
right), breeding ducks, hatching the eggs, slaughtering the
ducks, picking them, packing them for market in apple
barrels layered with ice chips to be taken to the city to
market, as well as processing the feathers (which was as
lucrative as the ducks themselves.)
From the Notebook of
Gus Wilson
The field up the
hill to the south of the stream was used for planting
vegetables. The field on Mastic Road across from the
firehouse was used by a cement factory to dig sand.
The farm used the sand to re-layer the "beaches" where the
ducks were when the waste was scraped clean on a regular
basis. Because the work was "24/7" Joe and Josiah had many
of the workers living right on the farm. There were
other workers hired from "Mastic Park" as well, but they
didn't have the skills of those who lived on and were
a part of the farm itself.
Early Forties on the farm
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feeding Time - Gus Wilson
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Winter on the farm
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Ducks ready to be shipped to South America
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Fire on the
farm - May 1944
Dr
Daniel Robert of New York City spent years in the
Caribbean making money. Upon his return to the states in
1786. he heard about fantastic bargains on Long Island and
went to Smith Point and bought 3000 acres William "tangier"
Smith. At that time he met William's daughter,
Mary. Having lost his wife to disease on the voyage to New
York he married her. The land was that formerly owned by
members of the Floyd family who fled to Nova Scotia when
their Tory sympathies resulted in seizure of their
property. Several generations later the old hospital at Mastic
beach was sold and the Duck Farm property was all that was
left. In the meantime a marriage to a daughter of
Capt Smith (Bull Smiths) brought the second Smith to us in
1854 + or - (Gil Smiths not until 1909). Consequently my
grandfather Josiah Smith Robert, in about 1918, had property
and money (his father Died 1914 +or-). After realizing
that his ford dealership in Center Moriches wasn't making much
money, and having endured the tales of duck farming success by
has neighbors as long as possible, he set about to find
a partner who had what he lacked ....duck farming skill and
experience. .Joe Titmus (his obituary and
information can be found on this site) fit the bill and
my grandfather also found a man who could mesh with his
personality and his deafness (had a virus at 23 and was quite
deaf). Joe Robert was an only child born in
Mastic 2 yr business degree at Brooklin's Julliard
business school. The material for the buildings came
from Camp Upton (now where Brookhaven Lab is located) which
after WWI failed to have a reason to continue. Joe
Munsell was the contractor who supervised all
construction. Joe Titmus would go to auctions at the
farms in Nassau County which wire failing in the twenty's
,...to buy all things mechanical,,,tractors boilers (for the
incubators) etc......
