Sylvester Manor

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Sylvester Manor
Sylvester Manor Gateway.jpg
The gateway to Sylvester Manor
Sylvester Manor is located in New York
Sylvester Manor
Sylvester Manor is located in the United States
Sylvester Manor
LocationShelter Island, New York, USA
Coordinates41°04′49.4″N 72°20′28″W / 41.080389°N 72.34111°W / 41.080389; -72.34111Coordinates: 41°04′49.4″N 72°20′28″W / 41.080389°N 72.34111°W / 41.080389; -72.34111
Builtc. 1737[2]
NRHP reference No.15000178[1]
Added to NRHPApril 28, 2015

Sylvester Manor is a historic manor on Shelter Island in Suffolk County, New York, USA.

History[]

Circa 1915 postcard of the manor

The land, spanning 8,000 acres on Shelter Island, was acquired by English-born colonist Nathaniel Sylvester in the 17th century.[3] Sylvester and his brother owned two plantations in Barbados and over 200 enslaved Africans.[3] When he died in 1680, the estate and 23 enslaved people were inherited by his descendants.[3]

The manor on the estate was built in 1737 for Nathaniel Sylvester's grandson, Brinley Sylvester.[4] Enslaved Africans and European indentured servants built it.[3] The last enslaved person was freed in 1820.[4] The grounds include a cemetery of unmarked graves for enslaved people.[4]

Later, the manor was inherited by Mary Gardiner, the wife of renowned Harvard University professor Eben Norton Horsford.[3] They entertained often, one of their guests being Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.[3] After her death having their fourth daughter, he married her sister, Phoebe Gardiner, with whom he had a fifth daughter.[5]

In recent years, it was the home of heiress Alice Fiske.[4] More recently, it was inherited by an 11th generation descendant, Bennett Konesni.[4] With his uncle, Eben Fiske Ostby, he co-founded the Sylvester Manor Educational Farm with the help of the .[4]

Architectural significance[]

The manor has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since April 28, 2015.[6]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Weekly list of actions taken on properties: 4/27/15 through 5/01/15". National Park Service. May 8, 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  2. ^ William E. Krattinger (February 2015). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Sylvester Manor" (PDF). New York State Cultural Resource Information System. Retrieved 2015-06-17.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Jennifer Schuessler, Confronting Slavery at Long Island’s Oldest Estates, The New York Times, August 12, 2015
  4. ^ a b c d e f Anne Raver, Life on the Plantation: Sylvester Manor on Shelter Island Returns to Its Roots, The New York Times, April 10, 2013
  5. ^ "Guide to the Sylvester Manor Archive 1649-1996 MSS.208". dlib.nyu.edu. New York University. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  6. ^ Sylvester Manor: Sylvester Manor Placed on the National Register of Historic Places

Bibliography[]

  • Mac Griswold. The Manor: Three Centuries at a Slave Plantation on Long Island (New York City: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2013).
  • Katherine Howlett Hayes. Slavery before Race Europeans, Africans, and Indians at Long Island's Sylvester Manor Plantation, 1651-1884 (New York City: NYU Press, 2013).


External links[]



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