Background
Nathaniel Sylvester was born in 1610 in England.
Nathaniel Sylvester was born in 1610 in England.
Sylvester used both local Native Americans and enslaved Africans from Barbados in his operation. He died in 1680.
Shelter Island families descended from Sylvester include Dering, Sprague, L"Hommedieu, Havens and Hudson. A contemporary archaeological dig, the Sylvester Manor Project, a project overseen by the University of Massachusetts Boston, seeks to shed light on the Sylvester estate as it existed in the 17th and 18th centuries.