The Town of Huntington, New York, Celebrates Its 250th Anniversary of the Town Receiving a Copy of the Declaration of Independence, July 22, 1776

This week in history, Huntington’s story reminds that 250 years ago, a copy of something as life changing as the Declaration of Independence, did not reach Huntington’s news hungry citizenry until nearly three weeks after it was signed. Huntington was one of the few towns in the country that received a copy to read to its citizens. What followed the reading was an enthusiastic formalizing of the official Huntington Liberty Flag by ripping the British logo and King George’s name from the town’s Liberty Flag and burning King George III in effigy.

For the numerous Scudders then residing at Huntington, events had been unfolding for at least two years that were beginning to impact their otherwise quite peaceful existence. In April 1775 a number of Huntington Scudders signed the Articles of Association and at Huntington’s General Town meeting on May 2, 1775, Lt. Henry⁵ Scudder was appointed as a 2^nd Lieutenant to prepare a company of 80 men to be ready to fight the British if the British military came to New York as they had to Boston.

Colonial Cannon

A reenactment of the reading of the Declaration of Independence to the townspeople of Huntington was held on July 19, 2026, as part of Huntington’s celebration of America’s 250^th anniversary.

[1]
Scudder History Association Board member Warren Scudder, our man in the field on Long Island, attended the event. Warren shared these photos he took at the event:

A Minute Man

Learn more about the history of the Huntington’s reading of the Declaration to the townspeople of Huntington and the town’s reaction after they heard and contemplated the bold, new principles for self-governance from the Declaration of Independence as recounted by these three Huntington history groups:

For the full story about the flag, see The Huntington Historical Society

https://huntingtonny.gov/filestorage/13747/99540/16499/Huntington_Liberty_Flag.pdf

Order of the Ancient and Honorable Huntington Militia

https://www.huntingtonmilitia.com/liberty-flag.html

Huntington’s Town Historian

https://huntingtonhistory.com/2025/08/07/liberty-endures/

Read more about this event from the Scudder family of Huntington’s perspective and its consequences in the Scudder Family Historical & Biographical Journal (Winter 2026) issue.

The Price of Liberty: Examples from Suffolk County Scudders

https://scudder.org/003-v-8-no-1-the-price-of-liberty-suffolk-scudders/

What caused such joy and motivation for self-determination among citizens of Huntington when they heard the reading of the Declaration of Independence with its bold, new vision for America?

To honor America’s 250^th anniversary, we invite you and your family to read, identify and contemplate six major principles in the Declaration that outline fundamental, inalienable rights that people are born with and principles upon which government should be founded for the benefit of the people rather than for the benefit of the rulers.

Transcript of the Declaration of Independence:

https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript

Among the names of the Declaration’s signers listed, can you find the two signers who married Scudders?[2]

[2] https://scudder.org/006-v-8-no-1-scudders-or-their-spouses-who-were-in-the-2nd-continental-congress-during-1776-1781/