Island History: Pirates in Our Region by Pierce Rafferty On Block Island On July 12, 1690, the residents of Block Island were alarmed when a small fleet—consisting of one bark, one ketch, two sloops and smaller craft—appeared off their coast. Although the vessels were flying English colors, there was no certainty of their allegiance to
Water surging over Money Pond during the hurricane. From The Henry L. Ferguson Museum Newsletter 2018 The following account of the 1938 Hurricane’s effect on Fishers Island was found in the Museum’s files. It was unsigned. Please contact the Museum if you are able to identify the author. Please note that September 21,
M.V. Islander after conversion for service in World War II. by Polly Edmonds Director’s note: The following account of ferry transportation in the 1940s is from the December 1967 issue of “Polly’s Letter,” a newsletter distributed by realtor, shop owner, and Ferry Commissioner Polly Edmonds. It was sent out semi-annually from 1964 until
Charlie Ferguson posing with Tedwyns Tailagan, Field Trials, Fishers Island, 1931 A Generous Donation from the Charles B. Ferguson Family In the period following Charlie Ferguson’s death on January 7, 2018, his family searched through his many possessions for objects, books and creative works that were a good fit with the Museum’s various
Man standing on south shore of South Dumpling Island, Fishers Island Sound, 1895. Photo by James S. Casey. by Robert P. Anderson, Jr. My earliest memory of the name South Dumpling Island, almost 70 years ago, was hearing my father Robert P. Anderson entertain guests in the main cabin of our ketch Kestrel
The Museum has sought for years to locate details on the shipwreck that gave Isabella Beach its name. . . Henry L. Ferguson’s history of the island, “Fishers Island, N.Y.: 1614-1925,” published in 1925, had only the sketchiest reference to the wreck: “The schooner Isabella Blake, after which the beach is named, went ashore in
by Pierce Rafferty After purchasing the western tip of Fishers Island for fortification purposes in September 1898, one of the U.S. Government’s first tasks was to create a landing dock for supplies. Silver Eel Pond drew immediate attention as a favored site. A letter to the Chief of Engineers, dated December 13, 1898, revealed
Mansion House Cottages on Bell Hill, circa 1913. Postcard published by Brown & Dawson. Museum Collection. Island History by Pierce Rafferty In 1889, two brothers named Edmund and Walton Ferguson, both successful bankers, bought approximately ninetenths of Fishers Island from the Fox family. The new owners immediately began to implement a plan to
by Pierce Rafferty Of all the decades in Fishers Island’s storied history, there are few whose outcome was as unpredictable as the 1870s. The sudden death in 1871 of Fishers Island’s owner, Robert Ralston Fox, derailed his ambitious farm operation and exposed the island to wildly divergent development plans. Robert R. Fox, a wealthy
Two Historic F.I. Leases Purchased by HLFM by Pierce Rafferty It may come as a surprise to many that for much of its fabled history Fishers Island was an absentee-owned rental property. From the mid-1600s until the early 1810s, successive generations of island-owning Winthrops more often than not rented out all of Fishers Island
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F.I. Sketchbook 2005
