On the eve of this unconventional Fourth of July, we decided to look back on a time when waistcoats were the fashion and horses were the primary mode of transportation, and to explore the history of Shelter Island and its role in the American fight for freedom.
In our virtual DeLorean, let’s travel back to 1730 when Shelter Island — settled by Europeans in 1652 — had its first town meeting. Twenty men, including six with the surname Havens, organized the town, according to Jacob E. Mallman’s “Historical Papers on Shelter Island and its Presbyterian Church”.
Shelter Island was a farming and seafaring community then; the town fathers collected funds to accomplish common purposes, like building a meeting house and paying a minister. In his book, published in 1899, Mallman recounts no discord in these earliest colonial days.
Colonists rebel
But in 1764, the British Parliament instituted the Sugar Act, the first of many acts aimed at raising money for the Crown using the colonies. It was followed shortly by the Quartering Act, the Stamp Act and in 1733, the Tea Act, which prompted the Boston Tea Party. (See a full timeline of events leading to the revolution at the Library of Congress website.)
We couldn’t find specific records of how Shelter Islanders responded to these and other oppressions, but tensions were rising between Great Britain and the Colonies. In 1774, 12 of the 13 colonies (all but Georgia) sent representatives to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
In 1775, the New York Provincial Congress was established to serve as a provisional government and create a state constitution. At its first session, there were eight representatives of Suffolk County, including James Havens of Shelter Island, John Foster of Sag Harbor, and Ezra L’Hommedieu of Southold. L’Hommedieu was a great-grandson of Shelter Island’s first European settler, Nathaniel Sylvester, and went on to become one of the East End’s leading statesmen.
Thomas Dering, then the squire of Sylvester Manor and related to L’Hommedieu by marriage, participated in the third and fourth sessions of New York’s Provincial Congress, as did Daniel Brown of Shelter Island, according to Frederic Gregory Mather, author of “The Refugees of 1776 from Long Island to Connecticut.”
Paul Bailey’s “Long Island; a History of Two Great Counties, Nassau and Suffolk” states that John Nicoll Havens of Shelter Island, a brother-in-law of L’Hommedieu, went on to serve as a member of the State Convention in 1788 which ratified the Federal Constitution, among other offices.
British ships in Gardiner’s Bay
After the Battle of Lexington in 1775, tensions in Suffolk County rose to an all-time high when British ships used Gardiner’s Bay as a rendezvous. Mallman wrote there were as many as 21 ships in Gardiner’s Bay with most being heavily armed. For instance, the London and the Grand Duke both had 120 guns onboard.
“The Eastern End of Long Island, in consequence, suffered from predatory excursions after stock and other supplies,” Mather wrote.
It appears that the inhabitants of Shelter Island were diehard patriots. When the Provincial Congress sought support for the Continental and Provincial Congresses from each New York county, 43 Shelter Islanders signed a copy of a widely-circulated document, known as The Association, in support of the two entities.
‘The Association’
Entitled “A General Association, agreed to and subscribed by the Freeholders and Inhabitants of the County of Suffolk,” the document is dated May 1775. A copy is in the collection at the East Hampton Public Library. It reads as follows (capitalization and punctuation are from the document):
“Persuaded that the Salvation of the Rights and Liberties of America depends, under GOD, on the firm Union of its Inhabitants in a vigorous Prosecution of the Measures necessary for its Safety; and convinced of the Necessity of preventing the Anarchy and Confusion which attend a Dissolution of the Powers of Government; We, the Freeholders, and Inhabitants of the County of Suffolk, beign greatly alarmed at the avowed Design of the ministry, to raise a Revenue in America; and, shocked by the bloody Scene, now acting in the Massachusetts Bay, DO, in the most solemn Manner resolve, never to become Slaves; and do associate under all the Ties of Religion, Honour and Love to our Country, to adopt and endeavor to carry into Execution, whatever Measures may be recommended by the Continental Congress; or resolved upon by our Provincial Convention, for the Purpose of preserving our Constitution, and opposing the Exectuive of the several arbitrary, and oppresive Acts of the British Parliament; until a reconciliation between Great Britain and American on Constitutional Principles, (which we most ardently desire), can be obtained: And that we will, in all Things, follow the advice of our respective Committees respecting the purposes afroesaid, int he Preservation of Peace and good Order and the Safety of Individuals and private property.”
The Shelter Island signers were: The Rev. William Adams; Issac Barns; Samuel Booth Jr.; Joel and William Bowditch; Daniel and William R. Brown Jr.; Joseph, Samuel and Samuel Jr. Case; Shadrack and Thomas Jr. Conkling; Benjamin and John Daval; Sylvester and Thomas Dering; Nathan Hand; Thomas Harley; Ebeneezer, James, John, John Jr., Jonathan N., Joseph, Joseph Jr., Obidiah, Peter, Walter, William and William Jr. Havens; Joshua and Moses Horton; Jonathan Howell; Johnson Leach; Oliver Norris; Elisha Paine; Abraham and Phineas Parker; Benjamin, Moses, Moses Mabel and Richard Sawyer; and Nathaniel Tuthill.
War is on
News of the signing of the Declaration of Independence reached New York on July 9, 1776, and fighting broke out on Long Island soon after, focused on the western end of the island. Out East, the British continued to raid for provisions lands that were thinly populated.
By August, state leaders called upon the citizens of the East End to flee, if possible, to Connecticut, taking with them anything that might aid the enemy if left behind. Read about the evacuation of refugees, coordinated by Thomas Dering and others in this Gazette post. By the end of 1776, the British had complete control over Long Island and retained possession until 1783.
“Long Island was under threat by the constant presence of the Redcoats for seven years, but Shelter Island for eight, since ships of Redcoats had been moored off of our shores since 1775,” said Moriah Moore, research assistant for the Shelter Island Historical Society.
Find traces all around
Many Revolutionary War-era records were lost over time. As a result, some facts are a little murky. But it is clear that multiple residents of Shelter Island played a role in the founding of our Nation and that traces of Shelter Island’s Independence Day history are all around.
Today, you can visit (well maybe not physically) the Shelter Island Historical Society which was home to James Havens. You can also visit the graves of nine Island patriots who declared themselves for the Revolution in 1775 and/or fought in the war. The Shelter Island Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in recent years undertook the restoration of some of the graveyard monuments.
At the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church south burial grounds find: James Havens (1741-1810), Obadiah Havens (1747-1786), Joseph Havens (1745-1827), Thomas Updike Fosdick (1754-1811), Jonathan Nicoll Havens (1747-1799)
In the north burial grounds, find the grave of Thomas Dering (1720-1785). At Sylvester Manor’s Quaker Cemetery, find the grave of Daniel Brown (1710-1786) There are no stones for Thomas Conklin Jr. (1733-1783), and Abraham Parker Jr. (1720-1796).
Lastly, in the spirit of the current day activism here, we will leave you with a quote from Mallman’s “Historical Papers”:
“Let the present and future generations of this place enshrine it in undying affection, for what the Declaration of Independence is to the nation, this instrument is to Shelter Island, namely, its Magna Charta.”
Editor’s note: In the old normal, Islanders and visitors would be gearing up for the annual fireworks show. Members of the Shelter Island Fireworks board would be running around like crazy holding fundraisers and basically working their butts off to ensure a fun time for all. In the new normal, the Gazette checked in with Brett Sureus at Shelter Island Fireworks and we are pleased to share his simple message: “The fireworks committee and fundraising campaign have taken a full step back to let others non-profits fundraise, we are standing by our message — see you in 2021.”
