Veteran's Day: In Service

In 2025, the Spirits Graveyard Tour, our theme was In Service: Stories & Sacrifice, honoring those who served their community and their country in times of conflict. This Veteran's Day, we are sharing those stories with you, paired with archives & collections.

Jedidiah Williamson (1757 - 1837)

Revolutionary War

At just 18 years old, Jedediah Williamson of Setauket signed the Articles of Association in 1775, pledging his loyalty to the Patriot cause and defying British rule on Long Island. Soon after, he joined the Brookhaven Militia and later fought in the Battle of Brooklyn, one of the first and hardest-fought engagements of the Revolution. Facing overwhelming British forces, Jedediah and his fellow soldiers held their ground until General Washington ordered a daring nighttime evacuation—an act of courage that saved the Continental Army and helped secure the dream of independence for generations to come. 

Image courtesy of the National Archives Museum

Charles E. Jayne (1838 - 1915)

Civil War

Lieutenant Charles E. Jayne of Stony Brook joined the Union Army in November 1861 and served with the 102nd Regiment during the Civil War. Through letters home to his parents, he described the daily rhythms of camp life, from tents and rations to the fortifications at Harpers Ferry, where his regiment helped secure a vital position on the Potomac. Wounded in the arm, Jayne returned home before the war’s end, but his words reflect both courage and humility in the face of a nation divided. After the war, he lived quietly in New York, caring for his mother until her death and passing away himself in 1915 at the age of 78 — a soldier, son, and steadfast witness to the price of Union and freedom.

These are the Letters Home from Charles Jayne to his parents, in his own handwriting

Major General John Roe Satterly (1790 - 1865)

Civil War

Major General John Roe Satterly of Setauket embodied a lifetime of service to both country and community. Born in 1790 to Revolutionary War veteran Colonel Isaac Satterly, John followed in his father’s patriotic footsteps, serving as a Captain during the War of 1812 at Sag Harbor and later rising to Major General of the State Militia. A man of integrity and civic duty, he became Setauket’s second Postmaster and served as Commissioner and Inspector of Schools for Brookhaven Town, helping to shape local education in the early years of the Republic. His 1825 home—still standing today just east of the Post Office—was not only a fine example of Colonial architecture but a gathering place for friends like historian Benjamin Thompson and artist William Sidney Mount. Though he never married, Satterly’s legacy endures in the heart of Setauket as a reminder that patriotism can be lived not only on the battlefield, but in steadfast service to one’s own community.

Photo by Kimberly Phyfe, 2025

Corporal Abraham Tobias (1833 - 1898)

Civil War

At 24, Corporal Abraham Tobias, son of Jacob and Rachel Young Tobias, served honorably with the 26th regiment, United States Colored Infantry, from January 1864 until the end of August 1865, when the regiment was mustered out. Cpl. Tobias fought in several key battles in South Carolina where the regiment lost 30 men and two officers killed in action or mortally wounded. Tobias was promoted to Corporal within two months of his service. Tobias’ story, later used as an obituary, was printed in the “The Port Jefferson Echo,” December 24, 1898. It stated: “Setauket – Abram Tobias, a resident of this village and a veteran of the Civil War, we fear is fighting his last battle. He is confined to his bed with little hope of recovery. That he is a colored man detracts nothing in these days from the need of praise due him and all who in those perilous times risked all for home and country.”

Bridget McElwee Deasy (1886-1974)

The World’s War

Bridget Deasy of Poquott was an Irish immigrant from Londonderry who embodied the spirit of service through every chapter of her life. During World War I, she served with the Red Cross, rolling bandages for wounded soldiers, and later raised eight children on Long Island—four of whom would serve in World War II, including her daughter Anna, an Army nurse. When her son Peter Joseph Deasy died at just nineteen after his naval service, Bridget’s personal sacrifice came to symbolize the quiet strength of immigrant women who gave not only their labor, but their children, to the nation they helped build.

Deasy Family photograph, TVHS archives

Annie Rensselaer Tinker (1884–1924)

The World’s War

Born into a prominent New York family, Annie Tinker defied convention and dedicated her life to service and women’s rights. During World War I, she volunteered with the British Red Cross, later directing a hospital in Belgium near the front lines and earning a medal from the French government for her courage under fire. A founding member of the Colony Club and a leader in the Women’s Political Union, Tinker championed suffrage and equality with fierce determination. Her estate, left to benefit working women through the Annie Tinker Association, stands as a lasting testament to her belief that every woman deserves independence, dignity, and purpose.

image courtesy of the John and Betty Evans Collection

Helen Emory Strong Bass (1895–1972)

World War 2

A descendant of Setauket’s distinguished Strong family, Helen Emory Strong Bass carried a legacy of civic duty and compassion into her own era of service. As a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War II, she provided care and comfort to those wounded in battle, embodying the quiet strength and resilience that defined her generation. Her husband, Technical Sergeant Joseph Robert Bass, also served honorably, their shared devotion to country reflecting the enduring values of sacrifice and community. Through her nursing, her faith, and her family’s tradition of service, Helen Strong Bass honored the past while shaping the future of women in uniform.

Theodore A Green (1927 - 2007)

World War 2

Ted was a lifelong resident of Setauket’s Chicken Hill, came of age during World War II in a close-knit Black community that worked hard, rationed what it had, and still found joy in neighborhood dances and shared faith. At eighteen, he volunteered for the U.S. Army, serving proudly in an all-Black unit at Aberdeen Proving Grounds and later in occupied Germany, where segregation was a daily reality—from separate nurses and barracks to lines drawn across swimming holes. Ted returned home determined to build a better life and honor those who served before him, carrying forward the same spirit of endurance, pride, and unity that defined Setauket’s Black community during the war. He was known by his native name Chief Blue Medicine, served faithfully in the Bethel AME Church, and was a trustee for the Three Village Historical Society.

George William Clay (1923 - 1976)

World War 2

Private George William Clay of Stony Brook served as a medic with the U.S. Army’s 34th “Red Bull” Division during World War II, seeing action in Tunisia, Sicily, and Italy. Captured by German forces near San Pedro in 1944, he escaped when Allied bombers struck the train transporting him to Germany and spent five months hiding in the Italian countryside. Sheltered by courageous families who risked their lives to help him, Clay learned their language and survived on faith and resilience until he was rescued by the British 8th Army near Allerona. Returning home later that year, he continued his service as a medical technician, married Jean Winfield, and settled in Stony Brook, where he lived out his life—a hometown hero whose courage and compassion endured long after the war.

Written by Kimberly Phyfe based on the 31st Annual Spirits Graveyard Tour