FROM THE ARCHIVES:
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 peoples, 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.”
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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.”
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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.
FROM THE ARCHIVES:
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.
Elizabeth Havens from the SIHM Digital Tapestry exhibit.
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.
Drawing of Heartsease and floor plan. From the SIHM archives.
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Genealogy of Elizabeth and James Havens' 11 children. From the SIHM archives.
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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.
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."
Elizabeth Havens' gravestone. From the SIHM archives.
FROM THE ARCHIVES:
THE SHELTER ISLAND DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
Many Shelter Islanders have heard of the “Shelter Island Declaration of Independence,” but fewer know its story. In the spring of 1775, more than a year before the signing of our nation's Declaration of Independence, the sparks of revolution were just beginning to grow in New York. That was until the Battles of Lexington and Concord.
Boston was ground zero for the rising tensions against British tyranny. In response, the British government appointed General Thomas Gage as Governor of Massachusetts in 1774. Through the implementation and enforcement of the Intolerable Acts, Gage punished colonists for acts of defiance against the crown. In April of 1775, he ordered a seizure of all weapons and powder being stored in Concord.
Boston was ground zero for the rising tensions against British tyranny. In response, the British government appointed General Thomas Gage as Governor of Massachusetts in 1774. Through the implementation and enforcement of the Intolerable Acts, Gage punished colonists for acts of defiance against the crown. In April of 1775, he ordered a seizure of all weapons and powder being stored in Concord.
Stand Your Ground, a National Guard Heritage Painting by Dom Troiani, courtesy of the National Guard Bureau.
Patriot spies caught wind of his plan, and on the evening of April 18th, patriot riders, like Paul Revere, raised the alarm that the British were on their way. American forces assembled during the night to stop the British before they reached Concord. What followed on April 19th in Lexington and Concord was the first armed engagement of the Revolutionary War. More than 5,000 men were involved, and after approximately 400 casualties, the Americans won. Although “the shot heard around the world” was fired more than 140 miles north of Shelter Island, its reverberations were certainly felt by all its residents.
By April 23rd, news of the event had reached New York, and shortly thereafter, a Form of Association pledging support to the Continental Congress and to the Provincial Convention was circulated to all the counties in the province of New York. Only free, white, landowning men were allowed to sign, and those “freeholders” who did not sign were therefore known as “non-associators” or “recusants,” and often assumed to be loyalists.
Shelter Island’s Association was signed by 43 freeholders. These men were farmers, mariners, privateers, and patriots. Many of the family names on this document are still familiar to us today.
By April 23rd, news of the event had reached New York, and shortly thereafter, a Form of Association pledging support to the Continental Congress and to the Provincial Convention was circulated to all the counties in the province of New York. Only free, white, landowning men were allowed to sign, and those “freeholders” who did not sign were therefore known as “non-associators” or “recusants,” and often assumed to be loyalists.
Shelter Island’s Association was signed by 43 freeholders. These men were farmers, mariners, privateers, and patriots. Many of the family names on this document are still familiar to us today.
Copy of the 1775 Association of Shelter Island published in Historical Papers on Shelter Island and its Presbyterian church (1899) by Rev. Jacob E. Mallman.
Unfortunately, no one living today has ever seen the original of this historic document. What happened to it, you may ask?
Forms of Association from New York townships, along with other historic material from this time period, were compiled into a collection known as the “Papers Laid Before the Provincial Congress” and stored in the New York Capitol Building in Albany.
Tragically, on March 29th, 1911, a fire broke out in the Assembly Library of the Capitol. The fire is said to have destroyed over 725,000 books and historic documents. Our 1775 Association was among the casualties, completely destroyed in the blaze. It remains one of the most significant library disasters in modern history.
Forms of Association from New York townships, along with other historic material from this time period, were compiled into a collection known as the “Papers Laid Before the Provincial Congress” and stored in the New York Capitol Building in Albany.
Tragically, on March 29th, 1911, a fire broke out in the Assembly Library of the Capitol. The fire is said to have destroyed over 725,000 books and historic documents. Our 1775 Association was among the casualties, completely destroyed in the blaze. It remains one of the most significant library disasters in modern history.
Photos of the 1911 Capitol Fire, courtesy of the Empire State Plaza collection.
Our “Declaration of Independence”—our “Magna Carta”—was thus lost to history. Fortunately, prior to the fire, copies of our 1775 Association were published. This has allowed us to preserve its image and the historical signatures it contains despite the tragic loss of the original.
To learn more about the 43 signatories, their families, and those who were excluded from signing the Association, visit the “Havens House: Witness the American Revolution” exhibit at the Shelter Island History Museum, open now through December!
To learn more about the 43 signatories, their families, and those who were excluded from signing the Association, visit the “Havens House: Witness the American Revolution” exhibit at the Shelter Island History Museum, open now through December!
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