Lion Gardiner
| Region | Occupation | Born | Died |
|---|---|---|---|
| North America, New England | Settler, Architect, Engineer | 1599 | 1663 |
English Protestant with military service in Holland in 1620s; came to New England in 1635 (with a Dutch wife) at request of Connecticut settlers to build a fort at Saybrook, on mouth of Connecticut River, to protect against Dutch raids. While doing so, took part in the Pequot War, about which he later (1660) wrote an account. In May 1637 began negotiations with emissary of the Montauket and Shinnecock Indians residing on eastern Long Island, Wyandanch, who, no longer tributaries to the defeated Pequots, wished to have peaceful relations with the English.
Gardiner agreed to move to Long Island in 1639 upon being offerd an island at the mouth of Peconic Bay (later Gardiners Island), which he purchased from the Indians and secued a patent to from the local representative of the Englsh patent holder Lord Stirling. There he lived with his family in peaceful relations with the Indians and the English settlers of Southampton and Southold who followed in his wake. Gardiner himself moved to Easthampton in 1650s, where he died in 1663.
Sources
Robert A. McCaughey Crossing the Sound; The Rise of Atlantic American Communities in 17th C. Eastern Long IslandRelated People
Sachem WyandachRelated Locations
Gardiners IslandCompiler
Peter Richards