A new historical marker now stands at Aquebogue Cemetery on Main Road, and it names a man most North Fork residents have never heard of: Brister Youngs, who was born enslaved around 1759, was free by 1800, and raised his family in the Town of Riverhead before he died in 1839.

The marker was funded by the William G. Pomeroy Foundation through its NYS Historic grant program, and the Town of Riverhead is listed as the grant recipient. It sits at 729 East Main Street in Aquebogue, close to the grave where Youngs was buried.

What the marker says

The sign itself is brief. It records four facts: Youngs was born enslaved around 1759, he became a free man by 1800, he raised a family in the Town of Riverhead, and he died in 1839 and was buried nearby. The marker is dated 2026 and credits the Pomeroy Foundation.

The foundation's own entry for the marker fills in the rest of the record, drawn from local research into his life.

A life on the North Fork

Youngs was born on the North Fork at a time when slavery was part of daily life on eastern Long Island. According to the foundation, nearly 900 people were enslaved on the North Fork between 1640 and 1827, the year slavery formally ended in New York State.

He is said to have been enslaved by the Reverend Daniel Youngs. By 1800 he had his freedom and was part of a small free Black community in Riverhead that was growing at the time.

The record of his life after that is unusually detailed for a man of his circumstances. He married twice. His first wife, Zipporah, died in 1805. With his second wife, Phillis, he raised six children.

Local store ledgers show him as a regular customer, buying tobacco, cider and molasses. He is also reported to have held shares and a fishing right, which placed him inside the working economy of the town rather than at its edges.

Where he is buried

Youngs died in 1839 and was buried in Aquebogue Cemetery. His grave is near that of Zipporah, and beside the grave of Thomas Austin, a man who had escaped slavery in North Carolina and made his way to Long Island.

The new marker puts a name on that corner of the cemetery for anyone driving Main Road between Riverhead and Jamesport, and it adds Youngs to a growing set of Pomeroy markers on the East End that record people and places from the region's early history.

About the Pomeroy markers

The William G. Pomeroy Foundation is a private foundation based in Syracuse that pays for historical markers across New York and the rest of the country. Its NYS Historic program funds markers for people, places and events in New York State history, with a local applicant, here the Town of Riverhead, putting the research forward. The foundation keeps an online map of every marker it has funded, with the full background for each one.

How to see it

Aquebogue Cemetery is on Main Road (Route 25) in Aquebogue, at 729 East Main Street, Aquebogue, NY 11901. The marker stands near Youngs' grave. The foundation's marker page has the full inscription and a map pin for the location.

Sources