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THE MANHANSETS — SHELTER ISLAND’S ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

America is celebrating its 250th anniversary this year. But long before our Revolutionary ancestors set foot on Shelter Island — some 4000 years ago, in fact — the Manhanset Indians had settled here. One of Long Island’s many tribes, this branch of the Algonquins occupied about 25 sites on Shelter Island, which they called “Manhansack-aqua-quash-awamock,” or an “island sheltered by islands.” 

According to Muriel Porter Weaver’s Where They Go By Water, “In spring, summer and fall, small family groups of Manhansets established residential hunting and fishing camps…They clammed and fished the bays, creeks and salt marshes. On wooded uplands men hunter deer, bear, wolves and raccoons. Women gathered, dried and preserved acorns, hickory nuts, wild cherries, sumac, elderberries and mustard. They fashioned moccasins, breech clothes, and skirts from deer, rabbit and bear skins.”

To accomplish this, they used a variety of tools, which are described in the SIHM exhibit, “Our First Inhabitants – the Manhansets.” We’ve highlighted two types of tools — Atlatl Weights and Antler Flakes. Some of the tools were excavated by Roy Latham, who detailed his findings in a report on Shelter Island’s Native Americans. On one site close to the Mashomack Preserve — the Smith site — Latham found “artifacts such as axes, celts, pestles, mortars, projectile points, and pottery,” as well as the “presence of hearths, [and] two house structures,”…“indications of an established settlement,” according to Porter Weaver.

The head of the Manhansets was its Sachem. In his 1932 The History of Shelter Island, author Ralph Duvall noted that, when Europeans first came to our Island, the Sachem at the time was Pogatticut. “Pogatticut was not only the Sachem of the Manhanset tribe, but was the Grand Sachem of most if not all of the tribes of Long Island,” wrote Duvall. Today’s Shelter Island travelers can actually visit a site frequented by Pogatticut — Sunset Rock. The SI Chamber of Commerce’s 2022 guide to the little-known historic places of Shelter Island described Sunset Rock as the “throne of Sachem Pogatticut, king of the Manhanset native peoples.”

Pogatticut was getting on in years by the time the first Europeans arrived on Shelter Island. That was in 1637, when James Farratt, an agent for the Scottish Earl of Stirling, was sent to colonize Long Island. For his efforts, he was compensated with Robins Island and our own “rock.” Farratt claimed to have bought rights to Shelter Island from the Manhansets, but there were some doubts about that “bargain.” Nonetheless, he sold his interest to four sugar merchants, among them, Nathaniel Sylvester. Finally, in 1653, Porter Weaver writes, “the aging Pogatticut deeded away Shelter Island, delivering the traditional ‘turf and twig’…to Sylvester…and ‘did freely and willingly depart the aforesaid island.’…[S]hortly thereafter, Pogatticut died. Befitting his sachem status, he was carried to Montauk for burial in the traditional upright seated position.”
 
For more information on the Manhansets, visit the SIHM exhibit. And while here, check out the Havens Store for Where They Go By Water and other books on Shelter Island’s rich history.

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ELIZABETH HAVENS

Built in 1743, Havens House, now home to the Shelter Island History Museum, was also once home to our Women’s History Month celebrant, Elizabeth Havens (1742-1828). In her 85 years, she experienced colonial life on Shelter Island, marriage, motherhood, and widowhood, as did many women of that era. But when her husband, Captain James Havens, went to fight for America’s freedom in the Revolutionary War, Elizabeth became a storekeeper, and later, a landowner in her own right. This is her story.
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Elizabeth Havens from the SIHM Digital Tapestry exhibit. 
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In the Digital Tapestry exhibit here at the SIHM (this is an innovative, interactive, Augmented Reality experience which tells the Havens’ story through characters based on the real James and Elizabeth Havens), Elizabeth explains that she grew up just down the road on the Bowditch farm. Her father, Joel Bowditch, was a signer of the Shelter Island Declaration of Independence, and her mother was Bethiah Case. James Havens had a Case relative in his ancestral line, too, making he and his eventual bride distant cousins. Elizabeth and James married in 1760, moving into the house they called “Heartsease” the following year. Here, Elizabeth birthed 11 children; 6 of them predeceased her, which was not uncommon in colonial life.
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Drawing of Heartsease and floor plan. From the SIHM archives.

Genealogy of Elizabeth and James Havens' 11 children. From the SIHM archives.

​Heartsease was the main building on the Havens’ farm, and it also housed Shelter Island’s general store. Archive material tells us it sold dry goods, such as wheat flour, supplies like iron nails and bolts of cloth, and luxury items from rum to silver buckles. Shelter Islanders could pay for their purchases by bartering goods or their labor, or, of course, in coins. In addition to being a home and store, Heartsease was also a schoolhouse for all the Island children. In colonial times, community was an extension of family, and here on Shelter Island, the community was strong.

Then came the Revolution. James left to become a militia leader and later, a privateer in the Colonial navy, leaving Elizabeth to look after the farm, the store, the school, and the family. At one point, she also had to deal with the enemy. A company of British Royal Marines disembarked from one of their warships. Knowing James was a militia member, the Redcoats ransacked Heartsease, stole a watch, a warm coat, and a gun used for hunting. They also robbed other neighbors, threatened to burn down a widow’s house, and beat several colonists.

After the War, which left eastern Long Island “devastated,” according to author Patricia Shillingburg in her 2003 essay, “The Settlers of the East End,” “the folks took up life where they had left it and in many cases started over.” James passed in 1810 at the age of 68. Elizabeth once again ran the store, this time as the Widow Elizabeth Havens, keeping the same kind of neat bookkeeping ledgers her husband had.
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General store records kept by the "Widow Elizabeth Havens." From the SIHM archives.

Later documents, like this tax assessment list from 1815, and copy of the First Pew List from the Presbyterian Meeting House on Shelter Island, give a glimpse into Elizabeth’s later life.
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Tax roll from 1815 showing Elizabeth Havens with 140 acres and a payment of 3500 dollars. From the SIHM archives.

​She died in 1828, and is buried in the Presbyterian Church cemetery. Her gravestone reads, “In memory of Elizabeth Bowditch, Widow of James Havens. Born November 12, 1742 Died March 15, 1828 ae 85 ys. 4 mo. 3 ds. While I lie buried deep in dust, my flesh may be in God's care. These withered limbs with him I trust. To raise them strong and fair."
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Elizabeth Havens' gravestone. From the SIHM archives.