In olde New York; sketches of old times and places in both the state and the city . ampton at the entrance-^ ^ to the Sound Hes a small island as peculiar in itssocial and political history as in its physical conforma-tion. It is known as Gardiners Island. Once it wasa long tongue of land jutting out from the main bodyof the island, but the strong currents of the Atlantichave eaten away the connecting portion, leaving anoval-shaped mass of gravelly hills and dales, someseven miles in circumference and containing somethirty-three hundred acres. Its history is Gardiner, a soldier of
In olde New York; sketches of old times and places in both the state and the city . ampton at the entrance-^ ^ to the Sound Hes a small island as peculiar in itssocial and political history as in its physical conforma-tion. It is known as Gardiners Island. Once it wasa long tongue of land jutting out from the main bodyof the island, but the strong currents of the Atlantichave eaten away the connecting portion, leaving anoval-shaped mass of gravelly hills and dales, someseven miles in circumference and containing somethirty-three hundred acres. Its history is Gardiner, a soldier of fortune from the LowCountries, bought it of the Indian owners in afterward he received a patent of it from LordStirling, for which he paid a little more, and agreedto give a yearly annuity of five pounds, if 1640 he removed to the island with his young wifeand child, and, dying in 1663, bequeathed it to hiseldest son, and this example being followed by thosewho succeeded him, the estate has remained in thefamily name unbroken for ten generations.* < o o Sc < o An Island Manor 191 The social order on the island is quite proprietor is the social and political head of thedomain. Though grazing is the chief business of theestate, large quantities of hay, grain, and roots areraised, and this necessitates the employment of somethirty farm hands, nearly all of whom were born onthe island. Some have grown gray in the servicewithout ever having left the island except for briefvisits to the mainland. Many have married there,and have families of their own, so that there is a littlecommunity of between fifty and sixty souls for whomthe proprietor must provide food, clothing, shelter,school, and chapel. A personal visit to the island is attended with somedifficulty. The nearest point on the Long Islandshore is a sand pit, known as The Fireplace, somefour miles distant. The nearest settlement is TheSprings, a little hamlet of two stores,
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectnewyorkstatehistory
