During the weekend of Sept. 5 and 6, the Avery Homestead house was broken into and several pieces of “significant” history were stolen from a display case.
The items taken included:
“We are asking the local community to help in any way they can in retrieving these items. The items taken may not have great monetary value but their historic value, especially in relation to the Avery family history, is great,” wrote Jim Roselle, the administrator of the Greater Patchogue Historical Society social media group.
Community members expressed outrage at the post with comments about how incredulous that anyone would steal the historical items that do not hold much market value.
One community member remarked, “Stealing Bibles and anything framed with Jesus is another level.”
Another, “I guess the recent publicized events cause idiots to invade something historic and well revered.”
The county was contacted for comment, but did not respond by time of print.
The Suffolk County Police Department said in a statement that they are actively “investigating antique items that were stolen from Avery Homestead.”
The police estimate that the robbery took place at approximately 12 p.m.
Museum thefts have been in the news recently with a heist of four Renoir paintings occurring on Tuesday, Sept. 8, at Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer on the French Riviera. The thieves dropped two of the canvasses while being pursued by the police after they activated the alarm system.
In addition, the Louvre in France, Italian Villa Museum, and the Regional Museum of Messina, in Italy, were all robbed in the past 18 months of items totaling approximately $100 million, $90 million, and $10 million, respectively.
The Avery Homestead County Park is an 11-acre historic property located at 29 South Country Road in East Patchogue. The family and property of the Avery Homestead have deep colonial heritage. As patrilineal descendants of Connecticut man Humphrey Avery, the homestead land was purchased from John Still Winthrop in 1752, with most of what is now Patchogue and Blue Point.
This East Patchogue property is bordered by South Country Road, Robinson Avenue, and Montauk Highway. It is already along a historical gateway, passing Patchogue and its Lakeview Cemetery, the Carnegie Library and Patchogue’s Main Street, with Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts. The Swan River Schoolhouse, built in 1858, is walkable, off Roe Avenue.
According to Preservation Long Island, “The Avery Homestead’s oldest structure is a 1820 house with a gambrel frame roof built by a family ancestor, where generations of Averys were born and raised, including Barbara’s grandfather, Charles W. Avery, and her father, Humphrey R. Avery (1894–1983).”
After Charles Avery moved an 1880s Queen Anne-style house to the property in 1901, the 1820 building was repurposed as the nursery office.
The homestead also features a 1921 hexagonal concrete fountain with a central spout and a large Dutch Colonial Revival-style barn built for the nursery in 1930.
“I am deeply concerned with burglary. Since hearing about what happened, we have increased patrols by Suffolk County park rangers as well as the Suffolk County Police Department to ensure this never happens again,” said Suffolk Country Legis. Dominick Thorne.
Thorne said he would be meeting shortly with the inspector on the case to discuss further measures to be taken to surveil the property.
“I ensure that we will protect it. [The Avery Homestead] is a jewel of Suffolk County,” said Thorne.
Please contact the Avery Homestead at (646) 375-6709 if you have any information regarding the theft of the six items.
