Michael DeBonis

Michael Mauro DeBonis is a poet and a historian from Long Island, NY. His work has appeared in The Village Beacon Record and The Brookhaven Times Newspapers. Michael’s latest work may be found in the New York History Review; The Lyric Magazine; and New York York Almanack. He is a graduate of SUNY Stony Brook.

RCA Central & Rocky Point’s Hallock Family Homestead

July 20, 2025 by Michael DeBonis 3 Comments

The Hallock Family Homestead and Museum is believed to be the oldest structure in the north-shore hamlet of Rocky Point, in Suffolk County, Long Island. According to Brookhaven architect and historian David Griffin:

“The Hallock family purchased the land to build their somewhat lavish home in 1720. The two-story house is a splendid piece of English neoclassical Georgian architecture. Balance and symmetry are the key to understanding every part and parcel of its harmonious design.” [Read more…] about RCA Central & Rocky Point’s Hallock Family Homestead

Chronicles of the British Occupation of Long Island

December 8, 2023 by Michael DeBonis 1 Comment

David M. Griffin’s Chronicles of the British Occupation of Long Island (The History Press, 2023) probes and explains much of this esoteric history of Revolutionary War-era Long Island, including examples of socio-economic hardship the War imposed on Long Islanders.

Among the stories told here is that of Revolutionary Militia Captain Solomon Davis of Miller Place, who, in the midst of the British Army’s 1776 advance from the city of New York to Eastern Long Island, swiftly buried £500 sterling under a large rock in his backyard, secretly hiding a big chunk of his personal wealth from the British. [Read more…] about Chronicles of the British Occupation of Long Island

Witch, Be Gone! A Witch Trial Set In Long Island

November 15, 2018 by Michael DeBonis 8 Comments

In the year 1658, at the south fork of Long Island, there was a small fishing and farming settlement called Easthampton.

Recently settled by English Puritans (by way of New England), it was governed by a small group of village aldermen, which was headed by Lord Lion Gardiner, a former British military engineer who faithfully served English King Charles 1st during the Pequot War (1636-1638). [Read more…] about Witch, Be Gone! A Witch Trial Set In Long Island

Long Island’s Austin Roe: American Spy

August 22, 2018 by Michael DeBonis Leave a Comment

Our story begins in late April of 1790. A former general and spymaster is traveling a dusty and remote country road through sparsely settled Long Island to a small seaside fishing village called Setauket.

The former military man and espionage leader was the highest-ranking officer in the Continental Army. He travels with a small retinue of armed soldiers and cavalry officers. As the chief magistrate of his government, President Washington is too important to his nation and his people to fall into enemy hands. [Read more…] about Long Island’s Austin Roe: American Spy

Culper Spies: Curse of the Black Letter

August 7, 2018 by Michael DeBonis 8 Comments

I was researching the biography of Dutchess County Revolutionary War Militia Colonel Jacob Griffin. I was having a hard time of it. By sheer accident I came upon an old historical text entitled New York in the Revolution, as Colony and State: Supplement.

The book was compiled and written during the years 1895-1901, by a former New York State comptroller Erastus C. Knight (and others). It’s an incredibly detailed account of the New York State Assembly’s and Militia’s legal, financial and military policies, procedures and activities from the outset of the American Revolution in 1774 through its conclusion in late 1783. [Read more…] about Culper Spies: Curse of the Black Letter

Boxer Carmen Basilio: Thunder from the North

May 6, 2018 by Michael DeBonis 4 Comments

In a stellar career which lasted thirteen years (1948-1961), Canastota boxing champion Carmen Basilio established himself as a multiple world title holder in two different weight classes, and he competed against some of the greatest fighters ever to step inside of a boxing ring: Kid Gavilan, Tony De Marco and Sugar Ray Robinson to name just a few.

Basilio endured truly humble beginnings (his family were poor onion farmers who lived in upstate New York) and long work hours to establish himself as a top-notch athlete. [Read more…] about Boxer Carmen Basilio: Thunder from the North

Dark Eagle: Was Colonel Jacob Griffin A Spy?

February 25, 2018 by Michael DeBonis 10 Comments

The American Revolution forged a nation out of a place where none had existed previously, and in one of history’s truly shocking instances, a modern democracy had created itself and turned on its former master with stunning speed and resolution.

Colonel Jacob Griffin, a tavern keeper from Dutchess County at Fishkill, was a brazen and unflappable American Patriot. He had helped stir anti-British sentiment in 1775 by using his tavern to draft a formidable petition supporting the Continental Congress and openly maligning the Crown. The document demanded the Colonies’ separation from England and mustered 502 signatures.

In the late spring or early summer of 1775, he joined the Dutchess County (New York State) Militia as a Captain and would be promoted to Colonel before War’s end. As a successful tavern owner Jacob Griffin rubbed elbows with the Continental Army’s elite – Steuben, Putnam, the Marquis de La Fayette and Washington. But is there more to Griffin’s role in the Revolutionary War?

A Ghost of American Patriot Colonel Jacob Griffin

February 14, 2018 by Michael DeBonis 29 Comments

He is one of the great patriots of the American Revolution, and he is barely known outside of his native Dutchess County, New York.

Born in the Fishkill area ca. 1729-1730 (sources vary), Jacob Griffin was a staunch Yankee Presbyterian, who wanted a clear and a complete parting of the ways with King George III of England.

From the mid to the late 18th century the Thirteen Colonies of British North America experienced one huge wave of social upheaval after the other… the reasons of these societal changes being many and very subtly related to the other. [Read more…] about A Ghost of American Patriot Colonel Jacob Griffin

Michael DeBonis

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