Shelter Island History Museum
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  • From Our Archives
    • The Soap, The Salesman And The Sailor
    • Historic Women of Shelter Island
  • Calendar
    • 2025 Events & Programs >
      • May 24-August 30: Havens Market
      • June 28 - October 11: Generations of Shelter Island Impressionists Exhibit
      • July 25: ArtSea Art & Science
      • July 28-Aug 15: Summer Children's Theater Program
      • August 13: Basket Weaving Workshop
      • August 14: Children's Basket Weaving Workshop
      • August 19: ArtLab Workshop
      • September 6: 3rd NY Regiment Encampment
      • September 27: Oysters 'R' Here Event
      • October 11: Harvest Festival Market
      • November 29: Holiday Farmers Market
  • Contact
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colonization Timeline of Shelter Island, NY

Pre-Colonial Times: The Manhanset Indians lived on the Island. They called it: Manhansack Aha Quash A Womak which translates into "Island Sheltered by Islands."
1620: King James I of England granted a large territory of land in North America, including Long Island and Shelter Island, to the Plymouth colonists.
1635: William Havens of Wales settled on Conanicut Island, Rhode Island.
1637:  Charles I of England (son of James I) gave Long Island and adjacent islands to 
William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, who was an early developer of Scottish colonization on Long Island.
1638: James Farrett (an agent for the Earl of Stirling) accepts the Island as payment due to him from the Earl. Farrett made a "bargain" with the Manhanset Indians, claiming to have bought their rights  to the Island.  During the three years Farrett owned the Island it was known as "Mr. Farrett's Island." 
1641: James Farrett sold the Island to Stephen Goodyear of New Haven. Goodyear owned it for ten years, during which time it was known as "Mr. Goodyear's Island."
1651: Part of the infamous Triangle Trade, four sugar merchants with plantations in Barbados (Thomas Middleton, Thomas Rouse, Nathaniel Sylvester, and his brother, Constant Sylvester) purchased the Island using 1,600 pounds of sugar. They were interested in the Island because of its many white oak trees which were used to make ships used during trading.
1652: Nathaniel Sylvester married Grissel Brinley and built their home on the Island. He settled here to run a farm that provided supplies for the sugar cane industry in the Caribbean. From this time on, the Island became known as "Shelter Island."
1652: The Manhansets disputed the "agreement" with James Farrett, saying they only relinquished the rights to a certain portion of the Island, not the entire thing. Therefore, the four sugar merchants (Thomas Middleton, John Booth (took the place of Thomas Rouse), Nathaniel Sylvester, Constant Sylvester) purchased the land a second time, this time from the Indians themselves. This left the for men in complete possession of the Island.
1656: John Booth sold his portion of ownership to the other three men.
1673: Nathaniel Sylvester bought out his partners and became the sole owner of the Island.
1695: William Nicoll of Islip bought a large track of land at Sachem's Neck (now known as Mashomack Preserve) from the Sylvesters. William Nicoll II later settled on the Island and became the town's first supervisor.

1699: George Havens (son of William Havens of Rhode Island) purchased 1,000 acres in the center of the Island from the Sylvesters.
1730: Twenty families lived on the Island by this time. Shelter Island formally became a town. Before Shelter Island became its own township, it was  under the management of Southold Town on the north fork of Long Island.
1743: William Havens (son of George Havens) built his home on the property his father owned just in time for the birth of his son, James.
1761: James Havens married Elizabeth Bowditch and they became the owners of the 1,000-acre farmstead. They named it "Heartsease."
1776: James served as a delegate at the New York Provincial Congress.
1776-1783: During the American Revolution the British anchored their war ships in the bay and ravaged the Island and its residents for goods.
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  • Home
  • About Us
    • Leadership
    • Partners
    • Our Timeline
    • Annual Reports
    • The Havens House >
      • Construction
      • Renovation
  • Support
    • Donate Now
    • Elizabeth Pedersen Educational Fund
    • Volunteer
  • Online Exhibits
    • History of Shelter Island
    • A Day in the Life
    • Digital Tapestry
    • "The Lords of Menantic" Companion Exhibit
    • "The Prospect of Summer" Companion Exhibit
    • See Their Names Exhibit
    • This Land is YOUR Land
    • The DNA of Shelter Island
    • Voices from the Vault
    • Then & Now
    • Witness the Manhansett
    • Walter Cole Brigham
    • Alan Shields
    • Helena Hernmarck
    • British Woolworks
    • "Connecting from a Quarantine Kitchen"
    • Havens DIMONscape
  • Havens Store
  • HAVENS FARMERS MARKET
  • PROGRAMS AND EVENTS
  • Education
    • The Shelter Island History Project
    • Race, Ethnicity & Class on SI, 1652-2013
  • Living History Project
  • The Collections
    • Digital Collections
    • New York Heritage Digital Collections
    • Donate to the Collections
    • Finding Aids
    • Film Collection
    • House/Building Registry Project
  • From Our Archives
    • The Soap, The Salesman And The Sailor
    • Historic Women of Shelter Island
  • Calendar
    • 2025 Events & Programs >
      • May 24-August 30: Havens Market
      • June 28 - October 11: Generations of Shelter Island Impressionists Exhibit
      • July 25: ArtSea Art & Science
      • July 28-Aug 15: Summer Children's Theater Program
      • August 13: Basket Weaving Workshop
      • August 14: Children's Basket Weaving Workshop
      • August 19: ArtLab Workshop
      • September 6: 3rd NY Regiment Encampment
      • September 27: Oysters 'R' Here Event
      • October 11: Harvest Festival Market
      • November 29: Holiday Farmers Market
  • Contact
  • Directors' Log In