Person:Grisell Brinley (1)

Introducing Grisell Brinley of Datchet, Buckinghamshire, England_______________________

Who Was Grissell Brinley?

Brinley, Grissell (1635/36 - 1687)

b. 6 JAN 1635/36, Datchet, Buckingham, England

d. 13 JUN 1687, Sylvester Manor, Shelter Island, Suffolk, New York

webpage: http://www.shelter-island.org/history.html

Father: Brinley, Thomas

Mother: Wase, Ann

Spouse: Sylvester, Nathaniel (1610 - 1680) m. 1653

• -----child: Sylvester, Grissel (1654 - ??)
• -----child: Sylvester, Giles (1657 - ??)
• -----child: Sylvester, Nathaniel (1661 - 1705)
• -----child: Sylvester, Peter (1663 - ??)
• -----child: Sylvester, Patience (1664 - 1719)
• -----child: Sylvester, Elizabeth (1666 - 1734)
• -----child: Sylvester, Mary
• -----child: Sylvester, Ann (1669 - ??)
• -----child: Sylvester, Constant (1671 - ??)
• -----child: Sylvester, Benjamin (?? - 1689)
• -----child: Sylvester, Joshua (?? - 1706)

Citations

NEHGR, "unknown short article title", vol 37 pg 381.

NE Marriages Prior, Torrey, Clarence A. , pg 725.

Two Versions of the Shipwrecked Honeymoon

When Nathaniel Sylvester, a young sugar merchant, married 16-year-old Grissell Brinley in England in early 1652 and sailed for America, neither could know the adventures ahead. Their marriage would start with a shipwreck, see them open their wilderness home to cruelly persecuted Quakers, and end with their legacy as the founders of the Town of Shelter Island.

The Sylvesters were shipwrecked off Connecticut on their honeymoon trip, where they stopped first to visit family in Barbados, then headed for Newport, R.I., to prepare to move to Shelter Island before their boat accident. They survived and became the first white settlers of what was to be named Shelter Island.

Shelter Island’s first inhabitants, the Manhanset Indians, called their home Manhansack-aha-quash-awomack, which means “an island sheltered by islands”—or, in other words, “take a boat or swim.” At least since the days of Nathaniel Sylvester and his teen-age wife, Grissel, who survived a shipwreck on their way from Barbados in 1652, travellers to the area have been content to rely on the former method of conveyance, which, while not free or available at whim, claims the advantages of dispatch and dryness. Comers and goers have their choice of two ferries, one to Greenport and the other to North Haven. Each shoves off every fifteen or so minutes and costs around ten dollars.

Dig at the Manor House

Research being conducted in conjunction with the Sylvester Manor dig strongly suggests there is a new understanding of the dates for the settling of Shelter Island. The records show that Nathaniel Sylvester and his partners purchased the Island along with Robbins Island in 1651. The Articles of Agreement between four partners, including Nathaniel, were signed in 1652. Grissell Brinley was single in early July 1653 when her inheritance of 100 pounds a year was conveyed to her by her guardian, William Coddington, Governor of Rhode Island and husband of Grissell's sister, Anne. Nathaniel and Grissell were married by early August 1653, when he wrote to a friend relating that news.

1,500 Documents at the Manor House

The 1,500 documents at Sylvester Manor and another 500 examined so far at other repositories on Long Island, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Barbados and England and the relics found on the property show Nathaniel Sylvester and his wife, Grissell, enjoyed a cosmopolitan lifestyle when they arrived in 1652 after their house was completed. The property was designed as a northern "provisioning plantation" where slaves grew food and made supplies for the family's larger sugar plantation on Barbados.

Mentioned in Will of Husband, Nathaniel Sylvester

The Will of Nathaniel Sylvester Late of Shelter Island Deceased. – I Nathaniel sylvester of Shelter Island in America being sickly but of sound and Perfect Memory ... now these Presents Wittneseth that I the said Nathaniel Sylvester hereby doe give and bequeath unto my Indeared Wife Grizzell Sylvester Francis Brinly James Floyd Isaak Arnold Lewis Morris and Daniell Gould all of the said Moyetie or half part of Shelter Island and Roberts Island as also the Moyetie or halfe part of the Joynt Stock and increase of such Negros with their increase that is to say Tammaro with his Wife Ayers and all their Children the Negro black John with his Daughter Priscilla the Negro Jo with Maria his wife and the Negro Jenkin ... That the Negros Jacquero and hannah his Wife with their Daughter hope being my Wifes owne is to be at her my said Wifes Disposall forEver ... and I doe give and bequeath unto my sonn Giles two of my Negros that is to say Tony and Nannie his Wife Item I give and bequeath unto my sonn Nathaniell twoe of my Negros that is to say Japhet and Jenine his wife ... I doe therefore give and bequeath my said Negro Tammero and His Wife Ayers unto my sonn Peter, Item I doe give and bequeath unto my Daughter Patience ... my negro girle hester being the Daughter of Tony and Nannie his Wife Item I do give and Bequeath unto my Daughter Elizabeth ... My Negro girle Isabell being the Daughter of Jaquero and hannah his Wife, Item I doe give and bequeath unto my Daughter Mary ... my Negro Girle abby being the Daughter of Tony and his wife, Item I doe give and bequeath unto my Daughter Ann ... my Negro girle Grace being the Daughter of Tony and Nannie his Wife Item I doe give and bequeath unto my Daughter Marcie ... my Negro girl jenine being the Daughter of Tony and Nannie his Wife ... and whereas Tammero the negro hath four children belonging in Partnership, I do Give and bequeath ... unto my sonns Constant and Benjamin they shall Come to the age of twentie one yeares my sonn Constant taking first his choice ... In Testimony whereof I have hereunto sett my hand the nineteenth of the Month Called March in the yeare sixteen hundred seaventie nine and eighty ...

After the death of Nathaniel Sylvester in 1680, the plantation was maintained by his wife Grissell and their eldest son Giles. A reading of the will indicates that Nathaniel considered himself sole owner of the island at that time; though the document states that he owned half part of the island and all joint stock, including the Africans, it also stated that due to outstanding financial obligation on the part of both Constant Sylvester and Thomas Middleton, Nathaniel assumed the right to convey the entire estate to his wife and children. Therefore, upon his death the property was divided among them, with his wife Grissell maintaining control over the manor house and much of what today represents the core of the estate. Upon her death the property was inherited by her son Giles Sylvester, who himself died childless. After a court contest, Brinley Sylvester, Giles' nephew, gained possession of the manor and is thought to have directed construction of the second manor house in 1735, which still stands today.

Will of Grissell Brinley Sylvester

One of the key documents is Grissell's three-page will, in which she leaves her 11 sons and daughters articles of property within the original house-whose location on the estate is still a mystery the researchers hope to solve. In the will, Grissell describes the rooms where the articles are located, "so you start to get some idea of the size of the house," Griswold said. "Any house that was big enough to have 36 chairs is probably a considerable 17th Century house. We know from another document that there were probably as many as six or seven rooms."