How Islip unfolded
Timeline
This timeline follows the Town of Islip from Indigenous land and colonial patents to Revolution, local government, community-building, and public history today.
It is not complete. It is a working timeline built from sources currently digitized for the Town of Islip History Project. More dates and events will be added as additional records, photographs, maps, and vignettes are processed.
Before the Town
Before 1683
Indigenous land before colonial Islip
The land that became Islip was Indigenous land before colonial patents and town government. Later colonial records identify Winnaquaheagh as Sachem of the lands in today's Islip Town and describe the transfer of land to William Nicoll.
Why it matters today: The town's history begins before it had a European name. This shapes how the project discusses land, memory, and belonging.
Sources: George J. Munkenbeck, "The Origins of the Town of Islip."
Colonial Land and Local Government
November 29, 1683
William Nicoll's first purchase and Islip Grange
William Nicoll made the first purchase of land that became Islip Grange on November 29, 1683. The annotated 1798 letter describes this as the first deeded land and the beginning of Islip Grange, covering areas connected to today's East Islip, Great River, Islip Terrace, and surrounding hamlets.
Why it matters today: This date appears in Islip's civic identity and Town Seal, but it marks a land purchase, not the full creation of modern town government.
Sources: Nathaniel Conklin, "Description of the Town of Islip in Suffolk County," 1798 (annotated, Town of Islip Historian's Office).
December 5, 1684
Royal patent to William Nicoll
Royal Governor Thomas Dongan confirmed Nicoll's purchase with a royal patent on December 5, 1684. The patent required Nicoll to pay yearly rent to the Crown.
Why it matters today: The patent story explains why land, law, and colonial authority are central to Islip's origins.
Sources: Nathaniel Conklin, "Description of the Town of Islip in Suffolk County," 1798 (annotated, Town of Islip Historian's Office).
1692 / 1697
Beginnings of Sagtikos Manor
The Sagtikos Manor property story begins with Stephanus Van Cortlandt's 1692 purchase of land and a royal patent granted on June 2, 1697. This became the first part of what later developed into Sagtikos Manor.
Why it matters today: Sagtikos becomes one of the project's strongest physical links between colonial Islip, the Revolution, and later Gardiner family history.
Sources: George J. Munkenbeck, "The Origins of the Town of Islip."; Michele Antonio, "George Washington Slept at Sagtikos Manor," Patch, June 26, 2010. Secondary local-history source.
1706
Carll family acquisition of Sagtikos property
Timothy Carll purchased the Sagtikos Manor property from the heirs of Stephanus Van Cortlandt in 1706. His son Ananias later inherited the land and became active in local government.
Why it matters today: This shows how property, family networks, and local officeholding were connected in early Islip.
Sources: George J. Munkenbeck, "The Origins of the Town of Islip."
1710
Precinct government authorized
A colonial act passed in 1710 allowed the Precinct of Islip to elect assessors, a collector, constable, and supervisor. This is a key moment in the development of local government.
Why it matters today: This is one of the strongest dates for explaining the beginning of Islip government, rather than leaning on 1683 too simply.
Sources: George J. Munkenbeck, "The Origins of the Town of Islip."
1720
Early election by freeholders
Town records show that early local elections involved freeholders — male, property-holding qualified voters. This reveals that early local government was limited by property and gender.
Why it matters today: This connects early local government to the exhibit's larger theme: the promise of civic participation was not originally open to everyone.
Sources: George J. Munkenbeck, "The Origins of the Town of Islip."
1731–1742
Ananias Carll and early town duties
Ananias Carll was elected supervisor in 1731, served as an overseer for the poor in the late 1730s, and helped carry out public highway work through the Precinct of Islip.
Why it matters today: Roads, poor relief, and records show the practical beginnings of town government.
Sources: George J. Munkenbeck, "The Origins of the Town of Islip."
April 1739
The annual town meeting at work
The minutes for April 1739 show Islip's precinct government in full routine: George Phillips elected supervisor and clerk, plus assessors, a constable and collector, and overseers “to take care of ye Pore of ye Town.” At the same meeting, Anning Moubray agreed to board Hannah Hulse, a poor resident, at a set weekly rate. Year after year, the first Tuesday of April brought the same civic rhythm: elections, accounts, road work, fence viewers, and rules for hogs and boars running on the commons.
Why it matters today: Decades before independence, Islip already governed itself through an annual meeting of neighbors. Self-government was a local habit before it became a national idea.
Sources: Islip town minutes, April 1739, in Carl A. Starace, ed., Book One of the Minutes of Town Meetings and Register of Animal Ear Marks of the Town of Islip, 1720–1861 (Town of Islip, 1982).
1758
Jonathan Thompson purchases Sagtikos Manor
Jonathan Thompson purchased Sagtikos Manor / Apple Tree Farm in 1758. The property later became central to Isaac Thompson's Revolutionary-era story.
Why it matters today: This purchase sets up Sagtikos as a major Revolutionary site in Islip memory.
Sources: George J. Munkenbeck, "Isaac Thompson — A Man on a Tightrope."
April 1765
The town regulates fishing in the bay
The annual meeting voted that any inhabitant who gave an outsider leave to fish in the bay or creeks would forfeit forty shillings “to the overseers of the poor for the use of the poor of the Said town.” The rule was continued in 1766 with a legal way to recover the fine, and the same instinct lasted: in 1815 the town voted that non-residents could not carry clams, fish, or fowl out of the town.
Why it matters today: Bay access was town politics from the start. One vote ties together Islip's economy, its environment, and its care for its poorest residents.
Sources: Islip town minutes, 1765, 1766, and 1815, in Carl A. Starace, ed., Book One of the Minutes of Town Meetings and Register of Animal Ear Marks of the Town of Islip, 1720–1861 (Town of Islip, 1982).
circa 1765
St. John's / Charlotte Church built
The St. John's Episcopal Church booklet says 1765 appears to be the most reliable date for the church building. It describes the building as the first church in Islip Town and the second oldest in Suffolk County.
Why it matters today: The churchyard and church records preserve early Islip family, religious, and racial history.
Sources: St. John's Episcopal Church booklet (parish history).
Revolution and New Nation
April 4, 1775
Islip's last peacetime annual meeting
At the annual meeting of Islip Precinct on April 4, 1775, the minutes record routine local business: William Nicoll re-elected supervisor, the usual hog rules continued, and the precinct's accounts settled. Among the officers chosen were Benajah Strong and Isaac Thompson as overseers of the highways, with Thompson also serving as an overseer of the poor. There is no sign of the crisis about to arrive; within a year, these same two men would organize Islip's militia company.
Why it matters today: It shows ordinary people living normal lives just before history overtook them, a reminder that upheaval can arrive without warning.
Sources: George J. Munkenbeck, "In the Good Old Colony Day: When We Were Under the King."; Islip town minutes, April 1775, in Carl A. Starace, ed., Book One of the Minutes of Town Meetings and Register of Animal Ear Marks of the Town of Islip, 1720–1861 (Town of Islip, 1982).
April 19, 1775
Lexington and Concord
Fifteen days after Islip's annual meeting, fighting broke out at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. News reached Long Island slowly, often by word of mouth carried by boat.
Why it matters today: The war that would occupy Islip for seven years began far away, but its consequences reached every Long Island town.
Sources: George J. Munkenbeck, "In the Good Old Colony Day: When We Were Under the King."
May 10, 1775
Islip meeting on the Articles of Association
Isaac Thompson attended a May 10, 1775 meeting of freeholders and residents of the Precinct of Islip to discuss whether to support the Continental Congress Articles of Association. He signed the Islip Precinct articles, placing himself and his family at risk because he was also a Crown magistrate and precinct official.
Why it matters today: This event gives Islip a local pre-independence moment tied to the coming Revolution.
Sources: George J. Munkenbeck, "Isaac Thompson — A Man on a Tightrope."
June 26, 1775
Islip census and militia eligibility
A census conducted by John Mowbrey and witnessed by Judge Isaac Thompson counted 375 residents of Islip Precinct and identified 64 men aged 16 to 50 subject to militia service. It was completed days after the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Why it matters today: It gives a concrete sense of scale: a small precinct still had to make political and military decisions.
Sources: Robert Finnegan, "Islip Militia: 250th Anniversary, 1776–2026," The Quahog, Winter 2026.
February 9, 1776
Islip asks for its own militia company
Writing as chairman of the Committee of Islip, Isaac Thompson asked the Provincial Congress to commission officers for a militia company chosen by the precinct, naming Benajah Strong as captain. The company numbered about 36 or 37 men.
Why it matters today: Islip organized itself politically and militarily before the occupation, rather than waiting to be acted upon.
Sources: Isaac Thompson to the Provincial Congress, February 9, 1776, in George J. Munkenbeck, "Isaac Thompson — A Man on a Tightrope."
April 1776
Isaac Thompson becomes supervisor
At the annual meeting in April 1776, the minutes record “Isaac Thompson Supervisor” for the first time, ending William Nicoll's long run in the office. Thompson, who had signed the Articles of Association and asked the Provincial Congress for a militia company, would be re-elected every year through the occupation; his last election as supervisor came in April 1785.
Why it matters today: The man walking the Revolution's tightrope in Islip was not an outsider. He was the town's elected leader, chosen by his neighbors in the very spring the war was closing in.
Sources: Islip town minutes, April 1776, in Carl A. Starace, ed., Book One of the Minutes of Town Meetings and Register of Animal Ear Marks of the Town of Islip, 1720–1861 (Town of Islip, 1982).; George J. Munkenbeck, "Isaac Thompson — A Man on a Tightrope."
April 1776
“A Gun and the accutriments,” town property
On the page following the April 1776 meeting, the clerk recorded that “A Gun and the accutriments” were “paid for at Said Town Meeting which are the property of the towns.” The minutes do not say what the gun was for. The date is suggestive, two months after Islip requested its militia commissions and three months before independence, but the record itself is a single sentence, and this project does not claim more than it says.
Why it matters today: One line in a ledger can carry a whole moment: a small town buying a gun with public money in the spring of 1776. What it meant is a research question the digitized records now let anyone ask.
Sources: Islip town minutes, April 1776, in Carl A. Starace, ed., Book One of the Minutes of Town Meetings and Register of Animal Ear Marks of the Town of Islip, 1720–1861 (Town of Islip, 1982).
July 22, 1776
The Declaration read at Huntington
The Declaration of Independence was read publicly at Huntington. Nearby towns celebrated, but British military movements soon changed the mood across Long Island.
Why it matters today: Independence was proclaimed just as the danger of invasion reached Islip's doorstep.
Sources: Charles R. Street, ed., Huntington Town Records, vol. 3, excerpted in Town of Islip Revolutionary War Resource Guide.
August 27–29, 1776
The Battle of Long Island
British forces defeated the Continental Army at the Battle of Long Island, fought in Brooklyn (Kings County). Suffolk County militia, including men connected to Islip, had marched west after the Declaration was read.
Why it matters today: The defeat opened Long Island to occupation. The battle was not fought in Islip, but its outcome shaped Islip's next seven years.
Sources: George J. Munkenbeck, "The Colonial Flags of Islip Precinct: Part Two, The American Revolution."
September 1, 1776
British occupation of Long Island begins
Following the defeat at Brooklyn, British and Loyalist forces occupied Long Island. Islip Precinct would remain under Crown authority until late 1783.
Why it matters today: For six years, occupation shaped everyday life in Islip: homes, farms, loyalty, and survival.
Sources: George J. Munkenbeck, "What was life like in Islip and the surrounding areas during the occupation?"
1776
American privateers at Fire Island Inlet
Writing in 1798, Supervisor Nathaniel Conklin recalled that “in the late war in the year 1776 there were three American privateers lay within this Inlet,” going out as opportunity offered, capturing British vessels, and bringing them through the inlet into the bay, among them a transport ship of about three hundred tons. His memory, written twenty-two years later, is the main evidence for this activity at Islip's inlet.
Why it matters today: The Revolution at sea touched Islip directly: its own inlet sheltered American raiders. It also shows how much local history survives only because someone later wrote it down.
Sources: Nathaniel Conklin, "Description of the Town of Islip in Suffolk County," January 11, 1798 (annotated, Town of Islip Historian's Office).
1776–1783
British occupation affects Islip
During the Revolution, Islip lived under British occupation. The St. John's booklet says the little shingled church was used as a military outpost and was left in bad shape after the British evacuated New York in 1783.
Why it matters today: This makes the Revolution local: occupation affected buildings, families, worship, and daily life.
Sources: St. John's Episcopal Church booklet (parish history).
September–October 1776
Mary Gardiner Thompson and family under occupation
At the beginning of occupation, Mary Gardiner Thompson was late in pregnancy and caring for a young child. Town Historian material uses this to explain why Isaac Thompson may have remained at Sagtikos, choosing his family's health and safety during danger.
Why it matters today: This shows the Revolution through family life, not only military or political events.
Sources: George J. Munkenbeck, "Isaac Thompson — A Man on a Tightrope."
1777–1783
Town meetings continue under the King's name
Through every year of the British occupation, Islip held its annual April meeting, elected its officers, and kept its accounts. As legal records under Crown authority, the minutes dated each wartime meeting by the reign of King George III, through “the three and twentieth year” in April 1783. That wording was the required official formula of an occupied place, not proof that Islip's people were Loyalists: the same meetings kept re-electing Isaac Thompson, who had signed the patriot Articles of Association, as supervisor.
Why it matters today: The Revolution was not a clean break. Islip's own records show a community holding itself together under occupation, governing under one authority's forms while many of its people hoped for another.
Sources: Islip town minutes, 1777–1783, in Carl A. Starace, ed., Book One of the Minutes of Town Meetings and Register of Animal Ear Marks of the Town of Islip, 1720–1861 (Town of Islip, 1982).
June 30, 1778
New York targets “suspected characters”
A New York law authorized commissioners to summon people considered neutral or of “equivocal and suspected” loyalty and require them to swear allegiance to the State.
Why it matters today: It shows the Revolution was also a civil conflict, where neutrality itself could be treated as dangerous.
Sources: New York State, Laws of the State of New York, vol. 1 (Albany, 1886).
October 1779
New York punishes loyalty and plans for reoccupation
Within two days, New York passed an act forfeiting and selling the estates of people who had adhered to the enemy (naming figures including Sir Henry Clinton), and an act to plan the temporary government of the southern district once the British left.
Why it matters today: Property, punishment, and the difficult return to civil government were all part of the Revolution's local reach.
Sources: New York State, Laws of the State of New York, vol. 1 (Albany, 1886).
1781
Whaleboat raids and the plundering resolution
As armed boats from Connecticut raided occupied Long Island, New York resolved that its residents, though under British control, were still its subjects and deserved protection, not plunder. Newspaper accounts record repeated raids on the Nicoll house in Islip.
Why it matters today: Islip residents were caught between occupiers, raiders, and suspicion from all sides, the “Whaleboat War” at their own shore.
Sources: New York State Senate and Assembly resolution, June 28, 1781; Henry Onderdonk Jr., Revolutionary Incidents of Suffolk and Kings Counties.
1782–1783
Poor relief in wartime: Johanna Hutton and her child
In the middle of the occupation, the town formalized its care for the poor. In 1782 the meeting agreed that the overseers of the poor, with one justice, would set and collect the money needed for poor relief. In 1783 it voted that Johanna Hutton and her child would be supported by the town's families in turn, in proportion to their tax ratings, beginning at the west end of town. The accounts also record payments to “Joanna Hudson,” apparently the same woman under a different spelling.
Why it matters today: War did not pause ordinary hardship. A mother and child supported household by household shows both the roughness and the reality of an eighteenth-century safety net, and that it kept working through occupation.
Sources: Islip town minutes, 1782–1783, in Carl A. Starace, ed., Book One of the Minutes of Town Meetings and Register of Animal Ear Marks of the Town of Islip, 1720–1861 (Town of Islip, 1982).
November 23, 1783
The British evacuate; Islip rejoins the state
The last British forces left New York City, and Continental troops entered. After more than seven years, the occupation of Long Island ended and Islip returned to the State of New York.
Why it matters today: Independence, declared in 1776, only became reality in Islip at the end of 1783.
Sources: Office of the Town Historian, Town of Islip, "Abbreviated Time Line for Islip Precinct in the Revolution."
1783
St. John's name change and a mixed-population record
After the Revolution, parishioners voted to rename Charlotte Church as St. John's. The 1783 marriage record of York, a Black servant to William Nicoll, and Elizabeth, a free Indian woman, gives a rare glimpse into the small but ethnically mixed population of Islip Grange.
Why it matters today: This connects the new nation to the unfinished promise of belonging and racial inclusion.
Sources: St. John's Episcopal Church booklet (parish history).
April 21–22, 1790
Washington's Long Island tour and Sagtikos Manor
George Washington's diary describes stopping at "Squire Thompson's" house on April 21, 1790, and leaving "Mr. Thompson's" the next morning. The Town Historian annotation identifies this house as Sagtikos Manor on today's Montauk Highway.
Why it matters today: Washington's visit links Islip's occupied Revolutionary landscape to the new republic.
Sources: Nathaniel Conklin, "Description of the Town of Islip in Suffolk County," 1798 (annotated, Town of Islip Historian's Office), quoting Washington's diary.
April 1796
School commissioners elected
The annual meeting elected commissioners of the schools for the first time in the minute book: Richard Udall, Nathaniel Conklin, and Nehemiah Higbie, after New York State passed an act to encourage common schools in 1795. Conklin's 1798 description fills in the picture: five small schoolhouses, teachers hired by the quarter, and, in one year, twelve schoolmasters and 11,814 days of instruction. In 1799 the meeting ordered the school money collected in 1797 and 1798 paid into the town treasury.
Why it matters today: Public education in Islip begins in these records, handled at the same meeting that elected fence viewers. Schools started here as a neighborly, local responsibility.
Sources: Islip town minutes, 1796–1799, in Carl A. Starace, ed., Book One of the Minutes of Town Meetings and Register of Animal Ear Marks of the Town of Islip, 1720–1861 (Town of Islip, 1982).; Nathaniel Conklin, "Description of the Town of Islip in Suffolk County," January 11, 1798 (annotated, Town of Islip Historian's Office).
January 11, 1798
Nathaniel Conklin describes Islip
Supervisor Nathaniel Conklin wrote a description of the Town of Islip on January 11, 1798, to defend the town's bounds in a dispute with Huntington. Along the way he described the whole town: farms and “necks” divided by creeks, houses along the South Country Road facing the bay, the pine plains covering about four fifths of the land, the bay's oysters and clams, crops and cattle, churches, five schoolhouses, two grist mills, six sawmills, five taverns, one physician, and about 120 dwelling houses, twenty-five of them lived in by “Indians, Mustees and free Negros.”
Why it matters today: This is the fullest portrait of Islip in the first generation after independence that the project has found, and the anchor for asking who the town's promise actually included.
Sources: Nathaniel Conklin, "Description of the Town of Islip in Suffolk County," January 11, 1798 (annotated, Town of Islip Historian's Office).
1790–1800
Early population and people of color in Islip
The annotated Conklin publication states that Islip's population was 609 in 1790 and 958 by 1800. It also notes that about 21 percent of 120 dwellings were occupied by people of color, estimating roughly 128 to 201 people in that category.
Why it matters today: This is crucial for showing that early Islip was not only a story of white landholding families.
Sources: Nathaniel Conklin, "Description of the Town of Islip in Suffolk County," 1798 (annotated, Town of Islip Historian's Office).
Civic Identity and Institutions
1883
Abraham Gardiner Thompson designs the Town Seal
In 1883, Town Clerk Seth Clock asked Abraham Gardiner Thompson to design a seal for the Town of Islip. Thompson's design used an "eye" and a "slip" of a plant as a rebus and connected the symbol to the town's unusual origins.
Why it matters today: The Town Seal still appears in government and civic life today, making this one of the most visible links between past and present.
Sources: Town of Islip Historian's Office material on the Town Seal.
Communities and Belonging
December 10, 1897
Bay Shore United Hebrew Benevolent Cemetery Association recognized
The Jewish Community booklet states that the Bay Shore United Hebrew Benevolent Cemetery Association became legally recognized on December 10, 1897. This helped establish Jewish burial and religious community life in Islip Town.
Why it matters today: This shows how immigrant and religious communities built institutions that made belonging visible.
Sources: Mollie Sebor, "The Story of the Jewish Community of Islip Town."
1918
First synagogue purchased in Islip Town
The Jewish Community booklet says the Bay Shore United Hebrew Benevolent Cemetery Association purchased the first synagogue in Islip Town from the Knights of Columbus in 1918.
Why it matters today: This marks a major institutional step in Jewish life in Islip.
Sources: Mollie Sebor, "The Story of the Jewish Community of Islip Town."
1933
Jewish organizations merge into the Bay Shore Jewish Center
The Bay Shore United Hebrew Benevolent Cemetery Association merged with the Bay Shore Jewish Alliance, Ladies Aid Society, and Junior League to become what is now known as the Bay Shore Jewish Center.
Why it matters today: This shows how small community groups became lasting institutions.
Sources: Mollie Sebor, "The Story of the Jewish Community of Islip Town."
Post–World War II
Holocaust survivors find refuge in Central Islip
After World War II, Jewish refugees came through Ellis Island and some made their way to Islip Town. Adasse Farm in Central Islip served as one sanctuary, including for Samuel Sitko and at least three other known survivors.
Why it matters today: This connects Islip to global history, refuge, rebuilding, and immigrant belonging.
Sources: Mollie Sebor, "The Story of the Jewish Community of Islip Town."
August–September 1958
Brentwood Jewish Center organized
About 30 people met at the home of Ruby and Doris Hodus on August 29, 1958, to discuss forming a Jewish sanctuary in Brentwood. On September 1, the name Brentwood Jewish Center was chosen.
Why it matters today: This shows how residents created institutions to serve changing community needs.
Sources: Mollie Sebor, "The Story of the Jewish Community of Islip Town."
July 1964
B'nai Israel Reform Temple founded
The Jewish Community booklet says B'nai Israel Reform Temple was founded in July 1964 after community organizing among families in the East Islip and Sayville area.
Why it matters today: This connects family life, children, faith, and local institution-building.
Sources: Mollie Sebor, "The Story of the Jewish Community of Islip Town."
Public History Today
2022
Town Historian internship and apprenticeship program
The 2024 Vignettes issue says that since 2022, an intern and apprentice program has been part of the Town Historian's Office. The program teaches research, writing, document handling, preservation, interpretation, and public presentation.
Why it matters today: This connects the project itself to a living tradition of public history in Islip.
Sources: Town of Islip Historian's Office, Vignettes, 2024 special issue.
2025–2026
Town Historian's Office expands public history work
The 2025 Vignettes issue describes the Historian's Office entering its eleventh year and continuing efforts to open Islip's unique history to residents through staff, volunteers, agencies, organizations, events, and publications.
Why it matters today: This is the institutional context for the website: the project is part of a larger effort to make Islip's history public, accessible, and useful.
Sources: Town of Islip Historian's Office, Vignettes, 2025 special issue.
2025–2026
Patriot markers and the 250th commemoration
With the Sons of the American Revolution, the Town Historian's Office researched and marked the burial places of Islip's known patriots, and a historic “Islip Militia” marker is planned near Islip Town Hall. These are among the first steps in the Town's 250th commemoration.
Why it matters today: The Revolution is not only in old documents. It is still being researched, marked, and remembered in Islip today.
Sources: George J. Munkenbeck, "Islip Patriots Honored this Summer"; Robert Finnegan, "Islip Militia: 250th Anniversary, 1776–2026."