The formal European history of Huntington dates to April 2, 1653 when three English settlers from Oyster Bay—Richard Holbrook, Robert Williams and Daniel Whitehead—secured a deed from Raseokan, Sachem (i.e. leader) of the Matinecocks for six square miles of land stretching from Cold Spring Harbor to Northport Harbor and from the Long Island Sound to what is now Old Country Road. Most of the early settlers were English. They arrived in Huntington by way of Massachusetts and Connecticut. In 1664, the English gained control of the Dutch colony of New Netherland. The Duke of York became proprietor of the area and the colony was renamed New York. The Duke’s representative, Governor Richard Nicholls, asserted control over all of Long Island and summoned representatives of each town on Long Island to meet in Hempstead early in 1665. During the colonial period, Huntington became an established community. Consisting mostly of farms, the community also included a school, a church, flour mills, saw mills, brickyards, tanneries, a town dock and a fort. Shipping was also an important part of the economy with vessels traveling not only to and from other ports along the Sound but also as far as the West Indies.