The Sylvesters of Shelter Island

 The Sylvesters of Shelter Island came from England and the Netherlands. The map below shows on the far right of Long Island, a tiny name, Shelter Island.

On Ancestry 11) Capt. Nathaniel Gascoigne Sylvester is listed as being born either in 1610 in London City, Middlesex, England or between 1615-25 in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands,
and dying on 13 Jun 1680 in Sylvester Manor, Shelter Island, Suffolk County, New York.

I'm glad to find new information about his life by looking a bit more closely at the Wikipedia information. (I'll just quote it all below)

Impossibly small picture, no idea what the script at the bottom says, I don't know where it came from, sorry!

The Sylvesters were my 7 greats grandparents.

His wife was 11) Grizzell Brinley Sylvester (born 16 Jan 1635 in Datchet, Buckinghamshire, England and died 13 Jun 1687 at Sylvester Island, Suffolk, New York) 

signature of Grissell Brinley Sylvester

 

St Mary the Virgin, Datchet

Datchet Mead and Datchet Ferry in 1686 with Windsor Castle in the background

Where Grizzell Brinley Sylvester was born: 

Datchet (Buckinghamshire, England) was a village on the River Thames, England. which developed because of its close proximity to Windsor and the ferry service which connected it to the main London road across the River Thames.

Dachet Village center

When Grizzell was 17, she married Captain Sylvester, in 1652 on Shelter Island, NY. She had come to the American colonies with her sister, Ann Brinley, who married William Coddington (who became governor of Rhode Island.) Grizzell's sister, Mary Brinley, married Nathaniel Sylvester's younger brother Peter Sylvester. 

In Nathaniel Sylvester's last will and testament he mentions that he owns half of the island originally known as "Nanhansack Ahuquashunamock" now Shelter Island, and all the negroes and livestock on it. He also was half owner of Roberts Island. He left everything to his beloved wife (and here the scribe didn't use any "," comas to separate the names) Grizzell Sylvester Francis Brinley James Floyd Isaak Arnold Lewis Morris and Daniel Gould to have and to hold...[the islands, houses, stock and all...] It was dated 1679, so it's supposed that he died sometime shortly afterward.

He mentions a brother, Joshua, who was very young (maybe 4 years old) to receive his brother Constant's aid through Constant's will, as well as anything else needed by Joshua until he was able to support himself.  His will stipulates that all his sons should equally share the islands and the estate, unless they decide otherwise. His daughters are all to receive one hundred pounds. His will has many details about his slaves, as well as his livestock. 

In his will he mentions how the Dutchmen of New York did invade their island and take much of the things they owned. He also says his brother Constant Sylvester and Thomas Middleton may be part owners of the Mill and Millhouse. He sets aside the house, gardens and orchard for his wife.  But he tries to make his sons and their heirs the only ones who may ever own the island, so when one dies, the rest will divide his portion. Since I know at some point Shelter Island finally was sold away from the family, the last survivor of Nathaniel must have finally died.

I admit that is where I stopped reading the will, written in cursive by a scribe of the court probably...and with many difficult spellings...after I waded through 5 pages of it.  Nathaniel finishes saying he's signing it, and it is dated 19 March 1679 and 80, (that's the way the year is designated.) But the signature is missing because all of this is apparently a transcription from the original, made in the town of Jamaica, New York, 30 Dec 1880.

With all his mention of his negroes, I must say something about the enslaved people on this "manor" or "plantation." There were many who were born and died there. Nathaniel made his fortune from sugar plantations of Barbados. That meant he was part of the Sugar/slave/rum triad of trade probably.  

The Sylvesters also were known as sheltering persecuted Quakers from the Puritan colonies around them. They had 12 children, all of whom saw their 30th birthdays, and at least one who lived to 101 years.

There's a monument on the property, a table, with names inscribed below it of those who are buried in the cemetery, as well as the lineage from Thomas Brinley (Grizzell's father)

Photo of the original Sylvester Manor as it is in modern times.  It was inhabited (and rennovated) by family members for 12 generations, from 1652.

Sylvester Manor as rebuilt in 1737, as it looks today (2016?)  

Ann Sylvester was a daughter of Nathaniel and Grizzell, and Ann married Jonathan Bower of Somerset, MA, and a long long way down the line comes myself.

There's an Ancestry Publication (originally published elsewhere and Ancestry offers it on line to view) about the Sylvesters and Shelter Island.  It covers much of the history, up to it's publication date of 1932.

I looked up Sylvester Manor on Shelter Island, and Google Maps has a few images (copyrighted probably) of the manor house and calls it an educational farm now.

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Week 43 (Oct. 22-28): Dig a Little Deeper