Samuel "Fish Hook" Mulford

Samuel "Fish Hook" Mulford (1644-1725) got his nickname when he went to London in 1704 to protest the tax on whale oil, which he used in farming. Warned beforehand of the sly workings of pickpockets in the great foreign metropolis, the canny and cautious Mr. Mulford lined his pockets with fishhooks to foil the would-be thieves.

The old Mulford farmhouse, which overlooks the Village Green, is one of the oldest in the county of Suffolk. It is owned by East Hampton Historical Society, who bought it for $25,000 in 1957. A fund was started in 1948 to preserve the farm.

Mulford was a legislator in all the governments East Hampton was under during his time. He was also a whale oil merchant. He had warehouses on Northwest Harbor, east side, along with other merchants in his village. Merchants Path is the name of the road to the warehouses.

References

* This information is from The New York Times, Tuesday, June 11, 1957.