The Children of My Brother Nathaniel Sylvester
Dublin Core
Title
The Children of My Brother Nathaniel Sylvester
Subject
United States—History—Colonial period, 17th century, Shelter Island (N.Y.)—History, Sylvester Manor (Shelter Island, N.Y.), Plantation life—New York—Shelter Island, Sylvester, Constant, Sylvester, Grizzell, Sylvester, Nathaniel, Genealogy, Birthdate lists
Description
Grizzell Sylvester (née Brinley) (1636-1687)
The English-born Grizzell Brinley was only 16 years old when she married the 43-year-old Anglo-Dutch sugar merchant Nathaniel Sylvester in 1653. They were the first European settlers on Shelter Island, where they established a provisioning plantation to provide food and livestock to Barbados sugar plantations. As evidenced by the wills of both Grizzell and her husband, the Sylvesters were a slaveholding family.
Compared to her male counterparts, there is little surviving archival evidence which provides direct insight into Grizzell’s time at Sylvester Manor. Most of what we know about her life there is common to what we know about the lives of most women of this time and place; namely, that pregnancy and childbirth played a central role. Grizzell gave birth to twelve children, eleven of whom survived into adulthood. It is highly likely that a wet nurse was needed to aid in the breastfeeding of so many infants. This role may have been filled by Hannah, or other enslaved women Grizzell brought to the plantation with her; or, by the indentured Irish and Indigenous servants who were additionally part of the household.
This undated document, authored by Nathaniel’s brother Constant, lists the birthdays of the eldest nine Sylvester children. Especially considering the likelihood that she experienced one or more miscarriages, Grizzell would’ve been nearly constantly pregnant from the time of her late adolescence until the birth of her youngest child, Mary Mercy, in 1675. She died 12 years later, at the age of 51.
The English-born Grizzell Brinley was only 16 years old when she married the 43-year-old Anglo-Dutch sugar merchant Nathaniel Sylvester in 1653. They were the first European settlers on Shelter Island, where they established a provisioning plantation to provide food and livestock to Barbados sugar plantations. As evidenced by the wills of both Grizzell and her husband, the Sylvesters were a slaveholding family.
Compared to her male counterparts, there is little surviving archival evidence which provides direct insight into Grizzell’s time at Sylvester Manor. Most of what we know about her life there is common to what we know about the lives of most women of this time and place; namely, that pregnancy and childbirth played a central role. Grizzell gave birth to twelve children, eleven of whom survived into adulthood. It is highly likely that a wet nurse was needed to aid in the breastfeeding of so many infants. This role may have been filled by Hannah, or other enslaved women Grizzell brought to the plantation with her; or, by the indentured Irish and Indigenous servants who were additionally part of the household.
This undated document, authored by Nathaniel’s brother Constant, lists the birthdays of the eldest nine Sylvester children. Especially considering the likelihood that she experienced one or more miscarriages, Grizzell would’ve been nearly constantly pregnant from the time of her late adolescence until the birth of her youngest child, Mary Mercy, in 1675. She died 12 years later, at the age of 51.
Creator
Constant Sylvester
Source
Sylvester Manor Archive, MSS 208, Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University Libraries
Publisher
Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University Libraries
Date
Undated, circa 1671-1749
Rights
Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder. Please contact the Fales Library and Special Collections, fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.
Type
Research writing
Files
Citation
Constant Sylvester, “The Children of My Brother Nathaniel Sylvester,” Sylvester Manor, accessed September 17, 2026, https://aphnyu.org/creatingdigitalhistory/2024/sylvestermanor/items/show/4.