Goals of the Cemetery Survey at Sylvester Manor's Afro-Indigenous Burial Ground

Cemetery landscape in the 19th century. Courtesy of New York University's Fales Library.

Using geophysical methods in the area of the Afro-Indigenous Burial ground at Sylvester Manor, our survey this fall aims to accomplish three things to help establish the approximate number of burials and the extent of the burial ground, expanding what Sylvester Manor already knows based on physical and documentary evidence. The technique that we will be using is ground penetrating radar (GPR) which uses radar waves to map the location of the burials without disturbing the ground.

Mapping at the burial ground site, during a preliminary survey conducted several years ago.

The main questions that this survey hopes to answer are:

1) What is the extent of the burial ground?

2) How many people are buried here?

3) Are there additional burials located down the hill from the currently understood edges of this space?

Gaining a better understanding of the landscape of the Afro-Indigenous burial ground helps us to connect documentary evidence that details who is buried here, with physical data of the number of graves and distribution of these within and outside of this space. This information will help us to continue to better forefront and understand the lives of those who are buried here. The process of this survey will also include the participation of descendants of those who are buried here. Their participation and insight enriches how we come to understand the memory of those who lived and labored at Sylvester Manor.

The above boulder with shells and stones atop it was installed by Eben Horseford in the late 19th century to commemorate the Afro-Indigenous burial ground which dates to the 17th c colonial settlement of Shelter Island. The boulder is inscribed with the words “Burying Ground of the Colored People of the Manor from 1651” and is located along the driveway to Sylvester Manor.

Images:

Mapping at the burial ground site, during a preliminary survey conducted several years ago.

Cemetery landscape in the 19th century.

Boulder commemorating the Afro-Indigenous Burial Ground.