HomeMy WebLinkAboutFerguson Museum 1990 Newsletter Vol. 6, No 1 THE
HENRY U FERGUSON MUSEUM
1990
NEWSLE ER VOL. 6, NO. 1
FISHERS ISLAND, NY 06390
(TEL. 516-788 -7239 - MUSEUM
or 516~788-7293 - CURATOR)
MUSEUM HOURS:
9:30-12:30 (Mon.-Sat.)
11:00-12:30 (Sun.) and by appointment.
SPECIAL SL~ OF 1990 EXHIB1/~ION
"Si~RTING AT FISI~{RS ISLAND"
Opening with a special preview for "FRIENDS" of the
Muset~i~ on FRIDAY? JULY ~ 1990, 5:00-7:00 p.m. will be
the special stonier exhibition, "SPORTING AT FISHERS
ISIAND." On display in the Historical Room will be
photographs and articles relating to the wide variety
of sports that have or are still taking place on the
Island. /he first owner, John Winthrop, Jr. in the
mid-17th century considered his domain not only
productive farm land but also his o~m personal hunting
preserve,
In the late 19th century Scottish gamekeepers come from
"the olde country" to manage the Fishers Island Hunting
Club. From this stemmed the importation of a fine
breed of hunting dogs~ English Springer Spaniels. In
the 1930s Fishers Island hosted the most major Field
Trials in America for the hunting spaniels. Not only
were the first Springers from Scotland~ but during the
'30s the judges for the Trials were also brought over
from Scotland. Henry L. Ferguson~ for whom the Museum
is named~ bec~ne deeply involved in raising and
training Springers in his Falcon Hill ~ennel and in
1932 wrote "1lie ENGLISH SPRINGER SPANIEL IN AMERICAu
[copy in the Muanm~ library).
'Ihe Museum4 has a great deal of material about these
Springer Field Trials in the '30s which has never
before been displayed until now.
Fishers Island is notorious for its sporting
activities~ albeit only its residents know of them.
lha "SPORTING AT FISHERS ISLAND" exhibition includes
such sports as: sailing and motor boating; golfing;
fishing; tennis; swira~ing; jogging; snorkeling;
croquet; flying; and the Fishers Island Free School
sports of soccer~ baseball, basketball~ volleyball~ and
golf. Come and enjoy this special show which will
continue thrangh Labor Day weekend.
Construction of the archeological wing to the Museum
began in early May. Work is being done by the BlUE
WAI%R CONS/RUCTION COMPJ~NY and is scheduled to be
completed by July 1. /he "Indian Room" was made
possible by three major gifts, many individual
contril~]tions~ and with funding from the Museum's
endowment. We are deeply indebted to 3ames Righter!s
Architectural Firm for designing this addition.
/he new room is being added to the north end of the
existing building and the "Indian Room" is 20 x 24'
with a basement storage area and a 10 x 10' space
between the main building and the Indian Room which
will be used for the growing Library and a possible
' SHOP. '
The Indian Room is planned not only for the display of
the collected artifacts, but more importantly for the
educational facts gained frcm the professional
archeological work that the Museum has sponsored for
the past five years. A magnificent financial gift has
recently been received by the Museum which will enable
the lighting, educational exhibits, and other visual
displays to be of the highest quality.
No date has yet been set for the dedication and opening
of the new archeological wing. Please watch for
May 1990 Museum's new "INDIAN ROOM" takes shape.
-1-
ALLONS ~NFANTS
Parlez moi de --- Race Rock? Is that a Winthrop
running for his life down Isabella Beach, pursued by
Pierre Le Pirate? Mort Dieu! Qu'est que c'est?
It has recently come to light that at the beginning
there was a Winthrop, but there were also French
privateers deploying forces against the English from
Fishers Island. Don Malcarne, working with the
archaelogist, John Pfeiffer, has uncovered letters and
records from the late t7th century, and early 18th
century, concerning French attacks on English men-of-
war around Fishers Island.
In lengthy letters, dated July and August 1690 from the
Reverend Gurdon Saltonstall, at that time Minister of
New London, to Fitz-John Winthrop, Saltonstall writes
of skirmishes between the French and English.
"This morning about eight of y clock wee discovered aty
west end of Fishers Island, standing in between that &
L~ng Island, 4 vessels, a ship, a catch & 2 sloops
"There y lay a considerable while with y English
colours flying; at last ,~ put out y French colours,
fired a great shot, . . . He goes on to describe the
attack on the French pirates by English ships.
In another letter several days later, Saltonstall
writes of anchoring at Fishers Island, and sinking and
capturing several ships. In this letter he also tells
Winthrop that his holdings on Fishers Island are in
trouble.
· . . Mr. Smethurst . . . speaks as much of y loss you
have sustained there as we know· When I got home, I
found all your Islanders but Jonathan in a very great
fright hurrying to Boston . . ."
In the same letter to Winthrop, the Minister of New
London discusses a battery of "great guns" to be
brought to the Island from "Say-brook" and a proposal
for a beacon to be placed on "Mt. Prospect."
Things had not improved by June of 1712. In a meeting
of "The Governour and Council, June 2, 1712: upon the
consideration of the hazard of the coast and coasters
by reason of the French privateers . . . Ordered, that
a beacon be erected on Fishers Island, in the usual
place on the western point, and an out guard of seven
men maintained there . . ."
So it seems that only a few gallant men prevented
Fishers Island, as we know it, from becoming a French
colony in the New World. Perhaps today, addition and
restoration could be in progress at the Bonaparte
House, not far from the ninth fairway.
(Written by Robert K. White)
science teacher from the F.I. school, is Curator of
collections. Ed's knowledge of the flora and fauna of
the Island is phenomenal and he keeps daily field
notes.
The Osprey nesting is always of interest. In May 1989
there were 20 osprey eggs in all the nests. On July
10, 1989, ~ young were counted in four nests. In April
1990, Ed Horning reports five active nests but as of
mid-May, no egg or young count has been taken.
The following are highlights from Ed Horning's 1989/90
Field Notes:
JULY: Golden Plover; 2 Least Terns (becoming rare);
Black Skimmer; Xerxes Society Butterfly count - 12
species; 1 Piping Plover (becoming rare); Baird
sandpipers; sharptailed sparrow.
AUGUST: Wilson Phalarope; Royal Terns.
SEPT~ER: Hawk migrations, all varieties; parasitic
jaeger.
OCTOBER: 1st - 54 Bob Dewire group - 43 species of
birds. Oct. 3-10 11 Peregrine falcons seen; Lincoln
sparrow; vesper sparrow.
NOVEmbER: 35 Gannets; Ipswich Sparrow; Fox Sparrow.
DECMV~ER: Island Pond (or Oyster Pond) 2 Bonaparte
Gulls, 75 ducks, including Mallards, Blackducks,
wigeon, pintail and redhead.
DECMMBER 30~ 1989 CHRIS2MAS BIRD COUNT: 40 species
including a record number of 200 Blackducks near Oyster
Pond.
JANUARY 1990: Grey seal; Coopers, Goshawks and
Redtailed Hawks on Island; Bird feeders and Otis Horn's
pigeon coop attacked by Coopers and Goshawks.
FEBRUARY: 7th - Redwings and grackles returned; 20
seals; Woodcock calling; Skunk cabbage up.
MARCH: Oyster catcher beck; robins; 15th Male Osprey
returns Hooded Mergansers; Woodduck; 23rd Double
Crested Cormorants return; 40 Harbor Seals at Pine
Island; Ipswich Sparrow; 23rd 2 female Osprey; 26th
Barred Owl back to same nest.
MID-MAY: To support the TERN colony on GREAT GULL
ISLAND, N.Y., the Museum pledged $1.00 per species of
bird that Ed Homing could identify in two days. Ed
spotted 89 species. Thank you Curator Horning for your
profesionally scientific observations on the Island.
MAY 1990 AR(~LOGY
Although the Museum has the necessary permits required
for the collection of bird specimens~ it bes not been
used since 1964. Birds that are found dead and in
presentable condition are sent to the Museum's
taxidermist, Scott Sansone, for mounting. The rare
GLAUCOUS GULL is one of the recently received mounts.
A Whip-poor-will, Night hawk~ Indigo Bunting, and
a very rare Connecticut warbler also join thi~
distinguished ornithological collection.
Fishers Island is most fortunate to have Edwin Horning
and his wife Catherine as year-round residents.
Catherine is the Museum's attendant and Edwin, retired
-2-
The Museum was most grateful to the Sanger Fund for its
financial support in 1989 of three areheological
programs: one, the partial funding for the two weeks in
May of professionally led work at two sites - TWO
SPRINGS and TUR%LE POND, two, the completion in August
of 1989 of the productive TWO SPRINGS SITE, and~ three,
the funding of Historic investigation of the earliest
settlement of Fishers Island by its first White
inhabitants. We are most thankful to the Sanger Fund
for supporting this important work which has nearly
been completed and half of the Historic Report has been
received from Donald Malcarne of Essex, Connecticut who
was commissioned by the Museum to investigate the early
land records pertaining to Fishers Island and to
attempt to establish the history of the Island's
supposed earliest houses, The Winthrop, Fox Mansion,
and Brickyard. Robert White's humorous article "Allons
Enfants" in this newsletter was besed on the research
done by Don Malcarne.
following four objectives were set in 1988 for the
continni~ archeological work GO Fishers Island:
To trace the prehistoric cultural ecology and
cultural change in relation to the changing
postglacial environment on and around Fishers
Island.
2. To generate a radiocarlxm-dated sequence of dates
on Fishers Island.
To map the distribation of sites of all perbsts in
relation to microenviromments on the Island.
To reconstruct the postgladal ecological history
of the Island, including the effect of risiI~ sea
and htman settlement.
ibc nearly total concentration of archeologica 1
investigation in May of 1990 was done at the S~RRF
S]!'E. It was the opinion of the professionals that
with the exception of ~f3 a~Jve, many of the obiectiv<s
stated above co~!d be furthered. S~RRP'S is a shell
midden~ an Indian garage deep which was used for
approximately 3~000 years {the Woodland Period, 1~000
BC~iS00 AD). 7hat Indian collecting of shellfish
food is evident in the three to four foot layer of
shells that extended do~ to 95 centimeters. Mixed
with the she]] and dirt was found: pottery~ projectile
[~ints~ ~xme awls, a fieh hook~ fragments of a ceramic
pi pe ~ ~naize kernels ~ nut f~ragments, chenopc~i~n
(goosefoot family) and ~nes. ~e rich calcium from
the shell depsit preserves the Prunes of animals whicb
the Indians killed and ate. ?ne following t~}nes have
~-en identified: Black ~%~ale~ deer~ birds sea] a
variety of s~ll m~als~ turt~es~ tautog {b~ackfi~)
sturgeon~ fish~ and animal teeth, and even fish scales!
Ihe professional scientists now have a rid variety of
subsistence ~terial fr~ the S~P site to process.
Ail of this will enable the archeologists and
anthropIogists to generate a picture of pre-historic
existence in the Fishers Island area. This evidence
will form part of the Ferguson Musem~'s archeological
collection and will be a major contrilmtion to New York
State's kn~4edge of Indian life on a New York State
is]and.
I~e ~ard of Governors of the Mus~,um exte~ds to Grog
and Penni Sha~ sincere thanks for pen~itting the very
h%~rtant "dig" on their ~ck ]a~a in May. Their keen
interest in this scientific undertaking made possible
new discoveries which will contribute to furthering om
knowledge of the first inhabitants on Fiehers Island.
Because of scattered surface finds of "arrowheads" and
~'chips" on North Hill in the su,nmr of ~8% test holes
~'rz. dug and two sew Indian occupation sites wer~
discovered. ~ey are ~o~ as "FIDUNDER iN NORII{" and
"F~DUNDRR IN SOU~t." A nuFn~r of one meter squares
were excavated in '89 and in one~ more than 200 quartz
chips ~ charcoal ~ maize~ and pottery were found ~
indicating an Indian habitation and manufacturing
location of the Iz~te Woodland PerR}d (c.
F;esh water was dose ~y and twenty yards from the
NORTH site was an abundant supply of quartz cobLle
stones on the beach. Dr. Funk and his assistant~ Beth
Wellman, mapped the two newsites in May of 1990 which~
although small, confim~ the theory that Fishers Island,
over a 10~ year period, maintained many small,
scattered fmnily or extended f~ily-sized groups of
Note: It is anticipated that the Turtle Pond Site :t
mid-Island with a possible wiRw&m remains may be
~xcavated later this year. That would be a "first" fo~-
ti~e ITs land.
Two of the professional ~rcheologists: Dr. Robert
General view of the Woodland Period (1,000 BC-1500 AD)
SHARP SITE Indian shell midden lookffng south across
West Harbor with Yacht Club dockage to left. This
midden was identified by Henry L, Ferguson in his N.Y.
State 1935 Monograph "Archeological Exploration of
Fishers Island, N.Y." The site was referred to then as
"BAYVIEW," named for the early hotel of that name which
overlooks the Sharp's house. Ferguson listed the
midden as 150
-3-
ARC~IEDL(]GY 1990 - 'I}~ SI~Z~P SITE
lifting off light, floating material from the midden.
the charcoal will determine tile fairly precise dating
of the shell layers.
Left to right: John Pfeiffer, Roger Moeller, President
N.Y. State Archeological Assoc., and Dr. R. David
Drucker, 'Mesoamericanist' and member of KRUEGER
ENTERPRISES (specialists in radiocarbon dating). John
P. Pretola (not pictured), Curator of ~nthropology,
Science Museum, Springfield, Mass. also participated.
The small material sorting table at water's edge. Left
to right: Dr. Drucker, Paula Weintraub, volunteer,
Professor Gould. Missing is Dr. Gordon C. Tucker,
visiting Botanist from N.Y. State Museum, Albany.
Curator Edwin Morning was showing him the Island's
flora.
-4-
ARCHEOIDGY 1990 - '~{E SHARP SITE
The SHARP SITE midden trench, approximately 20' long,
39" wide with a depth of 95 centimeters. Indian
artifacts, shells, charcoal~ and food remains were
found to this depth. Below that was sterile glacial
till.
John Pfeiffer in trench and volunteer, Middletown, CT
high school sophomore, John Merrill. Pfeiffer is
kneeling in the mud and shells at 95 centimeters.
Several hearths were discovered at this depth with
projectile points, pottery, charcoal, and bone
fragments. Note the hose behind Pfeiffer which led to
a pump to help keep the water level down. It was dirty
work in the trench and doing the water screening.
May 10 at 60 centimeters and Indian hearth (cooking
area) circled with stones shows large 'scapula'
(shoulder blade) bone, probably deer or seal and ill
cetlter under date on sight to left of small white
arrow, pottery fragments. Nearly half of this vessel
may have been recovered.
-5-
At the west e~d of the trench, in a meter square
excavation, pottery was found (center of photograph)
surrounding cracked shells possibly cooked in the
broken vessel. Note: Most of the pottery rim sherds
were decorated either by a scallop shell indented into
the soft clay before firing or by the 'brush'
'paddle' method.
AR(iHI~0LOGY 1990 - %]~E SHARP SITE
Nine days after the SHARP SITE was opened, part of ti~e
trench had been excavated and screened to a depth of 95
centimeters. Note the shell refuse extending down into
the rising water and mud. Evidence of Indian
Occupation reached down to 95 cms. Samples of charcoal
from this level will be radiocarbon tested to determine
the approximate date. Core samples from different
levels when analyzed for pollen will provide evidence
of the flora in existence durin9 the Indian occupa
at SHARP'S.
TWo professionals~ Dr. Robert Funk and his assJstant~
Scientist Beth Wellman, both from the N.Y. State
Museum, Albany, N.Y, at the newly discovered Indian
site (1989), FLOUNDER IN NORTH. This was a living and
manufacturing of projectile site.
Quohog shell ornamental object found while screening
the mud and shells from the trench at 85 cms. Shaped
like a projectile point, it is 1 3/4" long, slightly
curved and indented with an ornamentalpattern of dots.
The professionals had never seen such an object and
think that it might have been a necklace pendant or
have some ceremonial purpose. It was a major and
The hand belongs to Rick Ahman. He is ho]ding left
to right: quartz Laurentian point (late Archaic
Period, c. 1500 B.C.); NEVIL/STARK point c. 2000 B.C.
quartz and R.I. Green Stone "chips.'~ They are surface
finds from mid-Island.
-6-
On Septembr~r 17, 198% the Museum sponsored a "State"
visit to the "Independent" Island of North Dumpling~l/,
~lhe Island is now owned by a Lord Dean Kamen, a young
and successful inventor of medical paraphernalia.
Twenty persons from Fishers Island paid its neighbor an
official pre-summit meeting and pledged supl>ort of
North Dumpling in the event of any threat to that
Island. North Dunpling warmly received its visitors
and when North Dumpling was ,lade an Honorary "FRIEND"
of the Museun~, the President of the Henry L. Ferguson
was declared to be the Fishers Island Aslbassador for
Cultural Affairs to North Dumpling.
It was a treat to see her Navy (Old Aluminun Sides, a
rettred U.b. Army Duck ), her moue5 in dencrnlnat,ons
of ten thousand "Dumplings," and her postal system with
the express stamp a TURTLE and regular mail a SNAIL.
It is hoped that a second pre-s~nit reunion can be
arranged for the s~n~mer of 1990~
1~/ Purchased from the Winthrop Family in 1847 and
house erected thereon.
~Y{~J
'DLqNK YOU %bm and Bunty Armstrong for the fund raiser
on May 5, "D~H~FODILS ~ COCKTAILS" and thank you Mary
Russell and your helpers who raised $900 for the
Museum!
ll~e three major wildlife sanctuaries that the Museum
maintains are: the H. LEE FERGUSON~ JR. SANL'DIARy~
fou~ acres with pond bebied the Muse~; the L. F. BOKFR
DOYI~ BRICKYARD SANCFUARY, i5~ acres; and the BETIY
~ITNIESSEN WILDLI~7.'] SANCllIARY of 8 acres. Nature
trails are marked and a Guide Book for the BETTY
~12TNIESSEN SANCglIARY is available at the Museun~.
I~D TRU S~p
Dt~r~ng ]989, two additJonal parcels of land were
given to the M~me~un, making a total of nine under
L~ND TRUST manag~nent. David F. Narris gave an
easement for a plot of 0.75 of an acre and Albert
8t]ckney III and Susan K. Stickney donated 2.38 acres.
We thank them both sincerely for these worthy donations
of ]and and hope that other Fishers Island landow~ers
will consider similar gifts of precious land. (Please
see lAND TRUST MAP. )
Sig~ at entrance to BETTY MATTHIESSEN WILDLIFE
SANCTUARY (at the Oyster Pond)
-7-
1990 SUMM~ EV~FfS AND ~
Saturday, June 30:
Friday, July 6:
Tuesday, July 24:
Museum officially opens (Daily 9:30
a.m.-12:30 p.m., Sundays il:OO
a.m.-12:30 p.m. and by appein~,ent
7293)
5:00-7:00 p.m. Preview opening for
Special Summer of 1990 Exhibition"
"SPORTING AT FISHERS ISk~ND"
7:30 p.m. Union Chapel; Slide
Lecture: "A YF3%R IN AN ESKIMO
VILLAGE" by David and Annie Burnham
PUBLIG~TIONS AT THE MUSEUM
1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990 NEWSLETTERS
FISHerS ISI;~ND IJkND TRUST pAMYHLET
BETTY bt~T~HIESSEN WILDLIFE SANCTUARY TRAIL GUIDE
OCEAN PONDS OYSI~RS pamphlet by Carey Matthiessen
FISHERS ISLAND CL~M FARMING by Steve Malinowski
'FHE INDIANS OF FtSHE~S ISLAND (MUNNATAWiKEq') by Marion
Ferguson Briggs
VICTORIA AND ALBERT'S HIS~DDRY OF FISF~qlS ISLAND by
Charles B. Ferguson
NATURAL HISIORY BOOKS available for study in the
Museum. Gifts of books and pamphlets are welcome.
PERMANENT FfiHIBITIONS
ORNITHOLOGICAL: Mounted specimens of many birds of the
Island.
ARCHEOLOGICAL: Artifacts fr~n the Island dating back
to 8,000 B.C.
AND FAUNA of the Island.
HISTORICAL: Memorabilia, photographs, articles,
documents, and paintings reveal the past and present
life and look of Fishers Island.
BE(I~ A
"FRIt~ND OE ~LE [H~NRY L. FERGUSON MUSEUbf'
Ihe b~seum has been and is financially supported by its
interested friends and modest endo~raent. ~he Musecun
has an obligation to become the center for Island
ecology as well as to collect, educate, preserve, and
display its collections. ~
Help the Museum to acquire land on th~ Island for the
preservation and protection of its natural resources
and open spaces for future generations. (See the Nenry
L. Ferguson Museum Land Trust brochure with
preservation options for the landokmer.)
Life Friend $1,000 or more
-- Sustaining $ 500 - $999
-- C~ntributing $ 100 - $499
Family $ 25 - $ 99
-- Individual $ i0 - $ 24
-- Junior (under 18) $ I - $ 9
Additional Contribution $
Name
Address
City
State Zip
Checks should ~ payable to the "Friends of the
'iltE BOARD OF GOVERNORS
Richard S. Baker, Secretary
Martha F. 8u] ler
Charles 8. Ferguson, President
Marie Gaillard
Edwi~J H. Homing, Curator
Elizabeth F. Husband, Vice President
Robert J. MilDar, Treasurer
Elizabeth N. Cook
Jean Leuchtenburg
Steven Malinowski
G. Carey Matthlessen
Mary F. Russell
Penn~ Sharp
Robert K. ~nite
Katherine H. Sturtevant (Honorary)
bfuseum Attendant: Catherine Horning
BECOME A "FRIF~D OF /]-IE HENRY L. ~iRGUSON MUSEU~f'
GLAUCOUS GULL: Larus hyperboreus hyperboreus (mounted
specimen) 26 to 32". A large pale Gull (without dark
wing-tips. Range: Arctic, s. in winter to New Jersey~
(p. 110 A Field Guide to the Birds, Roger Tory
Peterson, 1973). Rare specimen found by Ellen and Bob
NATURE WALKS
Ju]~ and August. Start 2:53 p.m. from the Museual.
Conducted by Curator, F~win Homing. Tuesdays for
children, Wednesdays for adults. (Sponsored by the
Island People's Project.)
-8-