The history of the MacNish family is compiled from oral history, family photographs, family records and documents (Including these pages from the family bible), grave markers, and government censuses and is most definitely a work in progress. What has further complicated the search is the names Andrew, William and Isabelle occur 5 times in different generations; Mary, Walter and Madeline occur twice.


William MacNish in a portrait circa 1890. This portrait
hangs on the front wall of the livingroom in Andrew's Legacy.


William MacNish was born in Massachusetts on August 2, 1838. William’s father and mother were born in Scotland. Family lore claims he sold his scotch distillery and used the proceeds to come to America. Since William was born in America, it is not possible that he did this, but it could be possible that his father did. Owning a Scotch distillery in Scotland was not uncommon at the time, but my research shows it was clearly not the Grand McNish distillery that is still producing Scotch for the global market to this day. (Unfortunately another family legend debunked.) It was also said that William would vacation to the eastern end of Long Island to hunt wild ducks and stay at a grand hotel on the North Fork called the New Suffolk Hotel. (This link takes you to family photos of the Macnish's and friends hunting ducks around the turn of the century.) It is a matter of record that in the 1860’s he purchased the hotel from Ira Tuthill. In an excerpt from the scrapbook of Edna Foster it was stated, “… the MacNish Hotel was large enough to accommodate 100 guests and was filled from July through August.” In an 1885 article in the Suffolk Times it was written, “…the New Suffolk Council issued a mandate against old men and boys appearing barefoot on the piazza of the New Suffolk Hotel.” 1 William lived there with his wife (married June 23, 1858), Ellen Bishop (March 16, 1838- March 31 1877) and their daughter Agnes. Later came Robert (who died age 4), Andrew (January 16, 1865), Mary (1867) and William (1871). The 1880 Census listed William as a widower (Ellen would have been dead almost three years at the time of this census) and lists his occupation as a hotelkeeper.

A daguerrotype circa 1845. This example was found in the attic
amongst some of William's things. Daguerrotypes of this time
were commonly mounted in a composite book-like container,
under glass surrounded by a gilt frame facing velvet on the other
side or another picture. Based on the date, and where it was found,
it is assumed to be a picture of Jane Hutcheon.


It also listed him as living with his mother, Jane Hutcheon who was born in Scotland in 1810. (Nothing is currently known of his father except that he was born in Scotland as well.) Other members of the household are recorded as his 4 children, including Agnes’ husband Frank T, Acker, a Sea Captain and their daughter Elanor at 11 months. (Agnes had 5 children who died in infancy or childhood). When Andrew was old enough, William sent him to a French cooking school in Canada to become a chef for the hotel. His specialty was confections and cake decoration.
Andrew was a chef at the New Suffolk Hotel and the Robin’s Island Club until 1898, when his father sold the hotel to Maria Tuthill of Riverhead. In 1930 the building was split into three parts, one was destroyed by fire, one demolished and the one that is on the north west corner of King and Second street still stands and is a private home.

(After the business closed, Andrew, another avid duck hunter, used the pitcher and washbasins from the hotel for target practice, only three of which survive today.) When his father sold the hotel, Andrew went to work at the Nassau Point hotel (pictured in the top right side of the title of this article.). From numerous family photos, it appears that he and his wife Isabelle (aka Isabella) Berand (1865-1926) lived at the hotel and raised their children from 1898 to 1921. (Pictured in front of the Nassau Point Hotel are Isabelle (L) and Walter (R) possibly holding his sister Madeline.)
In 1872 William MacNish and John Scott acted as agents for James Wilson in what was apparently a negotiation for the sale of Robins Island. For a short while, Wilson owned Robins Island and this arrangement seemed to begin a 3 generation relationship with the MacNish family and Robins Island. While Andrew worked in his father William’s hotel and later at the Nassau Point Hotel, he was also engaged (“for many shooting seasons”) as a chef for the Robins Island Club. By 1898 a Suffolk Times article names him as steward of Robin’s Island. For many years his son Walter was a caretaker of the Island. James Wilson also owned Nassau Point in its entirety. In 1883 he published an elaborate 40 page projection of his plan to create a vacation utopia called “Peconic Park.” This plan included a magnificent mammoth hotel with many turrets and a railway going across the Nassau Point Causeway as well as a bridge for horse and carriage complete with gate house. The plan never came close to fruition and Wilson lost both Robins Island and Nassau point through a series of bankruptcies and forclosures. It is not clear the MacNish family’s involvement in the plans for Peconic Park, but we own the original manuscript and copies of the printed proposal. Another vague connection is the mansion that Wilson lived in on Nassau Point (complete with bowling alley annex) later became the Nassau Point Hotel where Andrew and his wife Isabelle worked as chefs. The Hotel burned down in 1928. In 1976, the Nassau Point Property Owners Association reprinted 500 copies of the 1883 publication at the suggestion of Roslind Case Newell from a copy she had loaned them. In the preface it states “The kitchen (of the Nassau Point Hotel) was presided over by Mr. & Mrs. Andrew MacNish whose reputation for savory meals extended throughout the area.” In the prologue date December 1976, George Case recalled “the incomparable meals served at the hotel by the Andrew MacNishes.” And swore “there was no distinction between luncheon and dinner, either as to the number of courses or the size of the portions.”

Isabel and Walter MacNish in a protrait that was probably
taken close to the time of thier wedding.


Andrew and Isabelle had three sons and a daughter, Walter Vaughn (1888- 1964), Gordon (1896-1956), William B. who died in childhood (1889) and Madeline (dates unknown). Andrew had invented a mechanisms that perfected hedge clippers and used the proceeds of the sale of the patent to set his two sons, Walter and Gordon up in the plumbing and heating business (MacNish Bros. Plumbing and Heating) and to build them neighboring homes. (I remember as a child finding the prototypes for the hedge clippers in the shop in the back of the house but was unable to find them when I cleaned out the shop as an adult.)

Uncle Gordon and Aunt Peg


This all happened soon after Gordon had returned from the World War I. (Both American and Canadian patents are displayed in the enclosed book case in the living room). The business was run from the out buildings in the back, a four-car garage, storage shed (both no longer standing) a shop and a tool shed. S. Edgar Tuthill, from whom Andrew also purchased the land, built the house. It was in association with S. Edgar Tuthill that McNish Brothers Plumbing and Heating helped to build many of the large and stately homes on Nassau Point during the ‘20’s, ‘30’s and ‘40’s. (S.Edgar Tuthill also built the MacNish home at 35995 Main Road, and Gordon's house next door.) During that period and into the ‘50’s Walter Sr. was a member of the “Old Crows” and was known for his Clam Chowder. (Walter, pitching horseshoes with other members of the Old Crow. Pitching Horseshoes was a favorite pastime of the MacNish men and posts were permanently installed in the back yard for over 70 years.). (An odd MacNish custom- a steel garbage pail (new and clean) would be waterproofed with solder and set up on cinder blocks. A charcoal briquette fire would be built underneath. Custom made steaming racks would hold many cheesecloth packages filled with clams, muscles, lobster, chicken, corn and potatoes for a driveway style backyard clambake. This custom still continues.) After the house at 35995 Main Road was built, Andrew and Isabelle moved out of the Nassau Point Hotel and lived with Walter and his wife Isabelle and their 4 children;

Walter Junior, Madeline, Beatrice and Richard. Cica 1932

Walter Jr. (b. 1916-?), Madeline (b. 1921), Beatrice (b. 1924) and Richard (1931-1999); Gordon and his family (wife Margaret and daughter Ruth) lived in the neighboring Dutch colonial. To this day the properties have an adjoining driveway even though the house went out of the family’s hands upon Gordon’s death in 1957.

An English, and a Scottish Gentleman, MacNish and Edwards. Circa 1940
around the time they were both living at 35995 Main Road, Cutchogue


.Later Isabelle Edwards’ (Walter Sr’s wife) father moved in with them as well. Andrew’s wife Isabelle died in 1927, (Isabelle on the back porch, probably tired after cooking a big meal) Andrew died in 1946.
Walter Sr.’s son Richard grew up hunting ducks with his father and brother and raised game birds in the back yard. (Richard, circa 1939 picking up stray potatoes behind a tractor in the back field) After he married his wife Elizabeth Montgomery, they made an apartment of the second floor. When Walter and Isabelle died, Richard and Elizabeth took over the plumbing and heating business and moved into the whole house where they raised their four children Mark, (Mark pictured with grandfather Walter on the original front porch of the house) Rory, Tamee and Melissa. Richard died in 1999. The house opened as the Bed and Breakfast “Andrew’s Legacy” in the summer of 2004.
Much of the furniture and many of the design elements in the house are original or duplicate what was once there. The house was built in 1920 and Isabelle, the first lady of the house was responsible for its décor. Married in the beginning of the 20th century, she was a woman of the Victorian era and brought her Victorian sensibilities into the interior design. Like many middle class homes of the time, much of the furniture was passed down from previous generations, and style may have been more influenced by your ancestors than by the trends of the current day. But Isabelle went one step further and maintained her preference for the Victorian look into the 1960’s long after it had fallen out of favor. The Victorian influence in the current restoration would have made Isabelle very happy.
The oak wainscoting in the kitchen is a nod to what was originally on the walls. Pictures show wooden rockers on the front porch. The slag glass rack lamp on the library table, under the stairs, is original to the house and was an inspiration which led to the collection of over 10 rack lamps including a rare reverse painted lamp and a lamp with a lit base. Sepia- toned family photographs decorate the walls and include daguerreotypes that date to the mid 19th century (Most of the people pictured in the photos are accounted for, but a few still remain a mystery. The children pictured in this photo are unknown but their adventures on this "goat-cart" are too interesting to discard). The dining room had an oak table and chairs, which inspired the oak motif that is in the room today. Elaborate oak furniture was common in middle class homes of the late 19th and early 20th century. The convertible oak highchair (there is a lever in the back that when pulled converts the highchair into a rocker) has held 5 generations of MacNish children. The silver plated flatware was Isabelle’s pattern. She collected it by sending in coupons that were in crates of oranges to redeem individual pieces. There are many unusual utensils including a “spork” a combination of a spoon and a fork used for eating ice cream. The glassware represents patterns that were popular in the mid 19th to early 20th centuries and includes a large collection of Rock Crystal from the Mckee glass company that was introduced in 1905. The new Kohler and Campbell baby grand piano replaces a 1903 Doll and Son baby grand that was beyond repair. The children’s books that are in the bookcase in the living room are family heirlooms as well, many belonging to Andrew and Walter. In particular, the enclosed oak bookcase in the living room holds many original items that help tell the story of our family: glasses, beaded bags, evening gloves, christening caps, handkerchiefs, dolls, a daguerreotype, two family bibles, prayer books. It includes many other everyday things that were cherished by our ancestors and help us personalize the past.
Other than minor alterations to accommodate bathrooms for the B&B, the main part of the house is almost as it was when it was built. The architectural style of the wrap around porch is modeled after the original front porch, the details of which were taken from the blue prints, which still exist. Much of the shrubbery and trees (including the triple-trunked cherry tree in the center of the property, the white lilacs, Rose of Sharon and blue hydrangea) were planted by Andrew himself. The back Victory garden, which was started during World War II, has been in continuous cultivation for almost 60 years. Most of the family heirlooms that fill the house are still in use as is the woodshop in the cellar. Decoys that were hand carved by William, Andrew, Walter and Richard can be seen throughout the house.
Although it was William who brought the MacNish family to the North Fork, the house at 35995 Main Road in Cutchogue is Andrew’s legacy.



Footnotes:
1. From “A History of Robin’s Island” by Betty Wells
2. From Suffolk Times”75 Years ago today”
(Note: I use the modern spelling “MacNish” for some reason the original spelling “McNish” was changed in the 30’s and 40’s, but was always spelled as two separate words, or the “ac” were made as superior letters. The current spelling as one word is a recent concession that was made to accommodate computerized forms.)


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