BioElijahPiersonRaynor  

 
 

 
 

by
Stuart Payne Howell



      Elijah Pierson RAYNOR was notable for having fathered seven sons (no daughters), for having started several businesses in Westhampton Beach, Long Island, New York, and for being the true patriarch of a large extended family. His descendants on eastern Long Island, and elsewhere in the United States, are numerous, and include many current members of the Raynor Family Association (RFA).

      Elijah Pierson RAYNOR was born 21 October 1833 in Westhampton Beach to William and Harriett (JAGGER) RAYNOR. William RAYNOR was a farmer and large landowner in Westhampton Beach (then known as Ketchabonack), in the early mid 1800s. His farm stretched from Main Street to the Atlantic Ocean. At the early age of 17, Elijah Pierson RAYNOR, the youngest of William RAYNOR's seven children, struck out on his own, going to Greenport, Long Island, to learn to become a ship's carpenter. Following a three year apprenticeship in shipbuilding at Greenport (1850 1853), he worked in Connecticut for eight months, then went to New York City, where he plied the trade of ship's carpenter for two years, returning in 1856 to Greenport. Sometime between 1860 and 1865, Elijah moved with his family back to Westhampton Beach, where he lived for the remainder of his life, residing in the homestead, built by either his father or grandfather (both named William RAYNOR), on the southeast corner of Library Avenue and Main Street. Elijah Pierson RAYNOR died in Westhampton Beach 30 May 1911.

      When he was only 17 years old, Elijah Pierson RAYNOR married a local Greenport girl of 14, Harriet N. CARPENTER, in November 1850.

      Elijah married again, in November 1856, to Harriett N. GOULDER (or GOLDER). Elijah Pierson RAYNOR's oldest child, Franklin Carpenter RAYNOR, was born 26 September 1856  - two months before Elijah's marriage to Harriett GOULDER. I conjecture that Harriet (CARPENTER) RAYNOR may have died in childbirth in September or October 1856, and Elijah remarried almost immediately, as he needed a mother for his infant son, Franklin, whose middle name was Carpenter, his mother's maiden name.

      In 1875, Elijah Pierson RAYNOR founded E. Raynor's Sons, Building Contracting and Real Estate, in Westhampton Beach. He also started a lumber and coal company, owned a drug store, and was a Trustee of the Westhampton Beach Methodist Episcopal Church, which he helped to build.

      Franklin ("Frank") Carpenter RAYNOR, Elijah Pierson RAYNOR's oldest son, moved with his family to Southampton after the Ketchabonack House, a boarding house he built and operated on Beach Lane, Westhampton Beach, was destroyed by fire about 1892. He was a carpenter in Southampton. Both RFA Treasurer, Laurie Dunwell COLLINS, and Diane Topping HOWE, RFA Hospitality Chair, are Franklin RAYNOR's great granddaughters.

      Charles Edward RAYNOR, the second oldest of Elijah Pierson RAYNOR's seven sons, built and operated a general store, which also housed the Post Office and telegraph office, on Main Street, Westhampton Beach. He was the first Postmaster in the village, and was also in the insurance business. Charles E. RAYNOR's home was on the corner of Main Street and Beach Lane, in Westhampton Beach.

      Genealogist William Randall HULSE, who has been active in the RFA since its inception in 1992, is Charles E. RAYNOR's great grandson.

      William S. RAYNOR, Ehjah Pierson RAYNOR's third oldest son, was referred to as "Bachelor Bill". He was a carpenter, and lived in the RAYNOR Homestead on the corner of Main Street and Library Avenue in Westhampton Beach.

      Elijah RAYNOR's fourth oldest son, Augustus Hiram ("Gus") RAYNOR, operated the lumber and coal company founded by his father, and he started Raynor's Garage, on Library Avenue, Westhampton Beach, which was later owned and operated by his two sons, Clifford and Norman RAYNOR. Augustus Hiram RAYNOR's granddaughter, Marion RAYNOR VAN TASSEL, is RFA Publicity Chair.

      Frederick ("Fred") RAYNOR was Elijah Pierson RAYNOR's fifth oldest son. He and his family lived at various times in the Long Island communities of Sayville, Islip, Bay Shore, Sag Harbor, Westhampton Beach, and in New York City. He engaged in a number of business ventures, including a mustard and pickle company, a clam bullion factory, and a realty company. Eventually, he returned to Westhampton Beach, where he was a painting contractor. Several of Fred RAYNOR's grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great, great grandchildren reside on the south shore of eastern Long Island. His descendants also include yours truly.

      John Mitchell ("Much") Burns RAYNOR, Elijah Pierson RAYNOR's sixth oldest son, took over the operation of E. Raynor's Sons building and contracting, and real estate businesses, on Library Avenue, Westhampton Beach from his father. J. Mitchell RAYNOR had two sons, J. Madison and Emerson RAYNOR, who owned and managed the building contracting and real estate operations upon retirement of their father. Emerson RAYNOR's two daughters, Carol and Priscilla, currently reside in Florida. J. Madison RAYNOR's grandchildren live in various locales in the United States.

      The youngest of Elijah Pierson RAYNOR's seven sons, Dwight Elijah ("Doc" ) RAYNOR, was a carpenter in Westhampton Beach. He was married to Nellie L. WHITE, of Sag Harbor. They had no children.

      At one time or another, almost all of Elijah Pierson RAYNOR' s sons lived on Library Avenue, in Westhampton Beach, on land deeded, or willed, to them by their father. Elijah Pierson RAYNOR, and six of his seven sons are buried in the Westhampton cemetery within about thirty yards of each other. His other son, Franklin Carpenter RAYNOR, is buried in Southampton.

      Although Elijah Pierson RAYNOR and his seven sons are deceased, and their business enterprises are no longer extant, their influence continues to be in evidence in Westhampton Beach, and elsewhere on eastern Long Island, through the many buildings they constructed and through their numerous and noteworthy descendants.

Note from Stuart: For years, I had searched for a photograph of my great grandfather, Elijah Pierson RAYNOR - without success. Then recently, when I was in Westhampton Beach, LI) New York, I had the good fortune of locating a photograph of him, thanks to my cousin, Harold (Buddy) Foust. Although I never knew my great grandfather (he died seventeen years before I was born), I always considered him to have been the patriarch of our RAYNOR clan.
 

Raynor Shine, pp.4-5
May, 2004