Background
Lion Gardiner was born in 1599. He was of English stock.
(Excerpt from A History of the Pequot War, or a Relation o...)
Excerpt from A History of the Pequot War, or a Relation of the War Between the Powerful Nation of Pequot Indians, Once Inhabiting the Coast of New-England, Westerly From Near Narraganset Bay, and the English Inhabitants, in the Year 1638 Lion Gardiner was sent over by Lords Say and Seal and Lord Brook to construct a fort at the mouth of Connecticut river, to command it, &c. He was said to be a skilful en gineer, and on that account was selected. He had seen some service in the Low Countries under Gen. Fairfax. He came into this Country about the year 1633 or 1634 and erected the fort at Saybrook in Connecticut, which was so named in honour Of Lords Say and Seal and Lord Brook: but how long he contin ued to command the fort I do not recollect. He commanded it when Capt. John Mason conquered the Pequots, for Mason in his history, you recollect, says, 'he, Lt. Gardiner, compli mented or entertained him with many big guns,' on his arrival at the fort after the conquest of the Pequots. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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Lion Gardiner was born in 1599. He was of English stock.
In 1635, Gardiner was serving in the army of the Prince of Orange in the Low Countries, with the special work of designing fortifications. While on that service he met and married Mary Wilemson of Woerdon, Holland, and became friendly, at Rotterdam, with the Rev. Hugh Peter, John Davenport, and others interested in New England colonization.
By them he was persuaded to emigrate to Connecticut under a contract with the patentees of the Earl of Warwick, proprietors of the new colony to be planted there. He was to remain four years, to design and erect the defenses for the settlements, and apparently to have charge of the military protection of the colony.
In return, he and his family were to have free transportation and he was to receive a salary of £100 a year. The group interested in the project included Lord Brooke, Lord Saye and Sele, and George Fenwick.
Gardiner and his wife arrived in Boston November 28, 1635, and his knowledge was at once requisitioned by the Massachusetts Bay government, which employed him to design and build a new fort at the harbor.
Early in the spring of the following year, he took his wife and went to Saybrook, the settlement of the Warwick patentees at the mouth of the Connecticut River, where, as called for in his contract, he built a fort and remained four years.
During his stay and while responsible for the safety of the small settlement, the Pequot War broke out. Gardiner was not at all in sympathy with the somewhat stupid course pursued by Massachusetts which brought on the war.
The fort was attacked by the savages in the spring of 1637 and well defended by Gardiner.
When a joint expedition set out against the Indians in May he was given authority with Mason and Underhill to plan the campaign, which culminated in the great fight at Mystic, May 26, the razing of the Pequot fort, and the extermination of the greater part of the tribe.
In order, probably, to provide for his family, he bought the Isle of Wight, now called Gardiner’s Island, from the Indians, and moved his family there upon the termination of his contract with the proprietors of the Saybrook Colony.
Later, he received a grant from the agent of the Earl of Stirling and Gov. Nicoll confirmed the title to the island to Gardiner’s son David in 1665 and in 1686 Gov. Dongan erected it into a manor, with full legal manorial rights. The property remains intact in the family to-day.
In 1649, Gardiner was one of the purchasers of a tract of about 30, 000 acres on which Easthampton now stands, and in 1653, he moved over to Long Island and settled on the main street of the new village.
There with his family he lived a peaceful life until his death at the age of sixty-four, exerting a most important influence over the Indians, largely through his close friendship with Wyandanch.
(Excerpt from A History of the Pequot War, or a Relation o...)
Gardiner was married to Mary Willemsen Deurcant, the daughter of Dericke Willemsen Deurcant and Hachin Bastiens, who was born at Woerden about 1601. She died in 1665 in East Hampton, New York. They were the parents of three children: David, Mary and Elizabeth.
Their only son, David Gardiner, was born on April 29, 1636, at Saybrook.
Mary Gardiner was born on August 30, 1638, at Saybrook, Connecticut. She married in 1658, Jeremiah Conkling, the son of Ananias Conkling, who was from Nottinghamshire, England.
Elizabeth Gardiner, was born on September 14, 1641, at the Isle of Wight, New York. She married in 1657, Arthur Howell, a son of Edward Howell of Southampton, Long Island. Her death led to the witchcraft trial of Elizabeth Garlick.
Died in December 1599.
9 June 1601 - April 1665
14 September 1641 - February 1657
30 August 1638 - 15 June 1727
May 4, 1820 – July 10, 1889
29 August 1636 - 10 July 1689
