During the 1660s the settlement was temporarily renamed "Ashford". This change was facilitated by Captain John Scott, a swindler who had convinced wealthy patrons in England to invest in land he did not own, who briefly served under the title of "President of Long Island". A crafty land speculator, Scott claimed at one point to own a third of the island including the Setauket area. Despite the questionable nature of many of his claims, John Scott had enough power and support to rename Setauket for his ancestral homeland in England prior to his schemes being discovered, Ashford, Kent, and to construct a stately home named "Egerton".