Place: Shelter Island - Manhansack-aha-quash-awamock (“an island sheltered by islands”)

Founding Name
Schuil Eyland

Manhansack-aha-quash-awamock (“an island sheltered by islands”) was originally home to the (link is external)Manhanset People.  Their Sachem, (link is external)Pogatticut,  was  the Grand Sachem of most of the tribes on Long Island.

Shelter Island was included in the original (link is external)Plymouth Company land grant made by (link is external)James I of England in 1620. On April 22, 1636, (link is external)Charles I of England, told that the colony had not made any settlements yet on Long Island, gave the island to (link is external)William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling. The grant gave Alexander all of Long Island and adjacent islands. Alexander gave James Farret power to act as his agent and attorney in colonizing Long Island. In reward Farret was allowed to choose 12,000 acres (49 km2) for his personal use. Farret chose Shelter Island and (link is external)Robin's Island for his use. Farret in turn sold the islands to Stephen Goodyear, one of the founders of the New Haven Colony.(link is external)[9]

In 1651 Goodyear sold the island to a group of (link is external)Barbados sugar merchants for 1,600 pounds of sugar. (link is external)Nathaniel Sylvester (1610–1680), one of the merchants, was the island’s first white settler.(link is external)[10] He was among a number of English merchants who had lived and worked in Rotterdam (where he was born) before going to Barbados. His connections there and with the Netherlands helped him establish a far-flung trading enterprise.

On March 23, 1652, he made the purchase official by agreement with Youghco (called (link is external)Poggatticut), the sachem of the Manhanset tribe. The other owners, Sylvester’s brother Constant, and Thomas Middleton, never came to Long Island. In 1673 (link is external)Nathaniel Sylvester claimed ownership of Shelter Island, (link is external)Fishers Island, and other parts of Long Island.(link is external)[11] By that time the Manhansett had declined in number and power.(link is external)[12]

See some documents about Shelter Island here and use the Timeline Button to see more:   
(link is external)https://encyclopedia.nahc-mapping.org/document/grant-shelter-island-nathaniel-silvester
(link is external)https://encyclopedia.nahc-mapping.org/document/patent-nathaniel-silvester-shelter-island

Read more here:  (link is external)https://www.shelterislandtown.us/history-of-shelter-island

Maps

(link is external)https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/4e549c70-bd6e-0133-40a8-00505686a51c  - perhaps the best map to show people in 1889

(link is external)https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/a6539e0c-ec45-fdb2-e040-e00a18061a2e

(link is external): https://mapcollections.brooklynhistory.org/map/southold-and-shelter-island-suffolk-co-l-i/

(link is external)https://www.etsy.com/listing/1063686452/shelter-island-1855-greenport-ram-head

 

Date
1636-Present
Chosen Name
Shelter Island
Full Name
Schuil Eyland
Founding Date (text)
1639-03-10
End Date (text)
9999-12-31
Date of Establishment (text)
1666-06-01
Notes
Area of nominal Dutch control
Jurisdiction Type
unchartered area
State
Nieuw Nederlandt
Boundary Events
Name at the time Change Start Date End Date Boundary Event
Schuil Eyland Under nominal control of Nieuw Nederlandt 1639-03-10 1640-08-15 Shelter Island_Schuil Eyland_1639-03-10_1640-08-15
Shelter Island Under nominal control of Southold 1640-08-15 1650-09-15 Shelter Island_Shelter Island_1640-08-15_1650-09-15
Shelter Island Claimed by Connecticut by Treaty of Hartford 1650-09-15 1662-04-23 Shelter Island_Shelter Island_1650-09-15_1662-04-23
Shelter Island Claimed by Connecticut by royal charter. 1662-04-23 1664-03-12 Shelter Island_Shelter Island_1662-04-23_1664-03-12
Shelter Island Assigned to Yorkshire shire 1664-03-12 1666-06-01 Shelter Island_Shelter Island_1664-03-12_1666-06-01
Shelter Island Recognized as a town by patent. 1666-06-01 1683-11-01 Shelter Island_Shelter Island_1666-06-01_1683-11-01
Shelter Island Assigned to Suffolk County 1683-11-01 1789-04-01 Shelter Island_Shelter Island_1683-11-01_1789-04-01
Shelter Island Recognized as a town by state law. 1789-04-01 1887-10-12 Shelter Island_Shelter Island_1789-04-01_1887-10-12
Shelter Island Maritime limits extended to Shelter Island Bay & Gardines Bay 1887-10-12 9999-12-31 Shelter Island_Shelter Island_1887-10-12_9999-12-31
Source Images

Citation
History of Long Island, Vol. 1, Ross, Chap. LXX p. 1014