My mother was drawn to the details of lived history —the recruitment incentive of clothing that changed three times in one year, the names of nine Long Island physicians who left their communities to serve in military hospitals, the specific Connecticut towns where 4,000 refugees would soon land. She had the insight to look at what's been overlooked –  overshadowed by the grand narrative of military victories. 

She understood how strategically important Long Island was—its resources, its harbors, its location.  But she also understood our vulnerability.  My mother, a sailor, would have immediately grasped the truth of one historian's observation: "the eastern tip of Long Island posed few obstacles to a sailing army.”

Remember my mentioning "darling sister Puah"? I've hinted about her in previous posts as a mysterious figure mentioned by my grandmother, somehow connected to a house on Main Street.

My new post finally solves the puzzle of ownership of the Federal-style house at 128 Main Street – the one attributed to Samuel and Elizabeth Sherrill when, actually, they never lived there. Who did?

I’ve posted about my mother’s research on Sammy’s Beach, her trail researching the first Sherrill back to Cornwood, Devon, and the romantic story of Sammy Sherrill meeting Elizabeth Parsons in Easthampton. But to me questions remained….what happened to them after they married in 1662? Where did they live? And how did the “Sherrill Pewter” and hope chest end up in my grandparents home?

Introduction: The Bright Hills and Clear Springs of Devon

In my previous post, I shared the romantic legend of how Samuel Sherrill and Elizabeth Parsons met at Sammy's Beach. But that story raised as many questions as it answered. Who was this young sailor? Where did he come from? And how did my mother uncover the truth?

As I sorted through my mother's writings, I came across her essay "Researching the First East Hampton Sherrill c. 1640." I was astounded by the depth of her detective work. I knew she'd traveled to England on a genealogy tour ….

Introduction: a Local Legend and a Romance

Who is Sammy of Sammy's Beach? Did you ever wonder?

We Sherrills all heard the story growing up—it was our family legend about "the first of that name in East Hampton." My grandmother told it to her friend Jeannette Rattray, who included it in East Hampton History (page 544.) For us, it was a charming story.

My mother, Sherrill Foster, was East Hampton's town historian and longtime “Around the Green” columnist for The East Hampton Independent. For decades, she dove into archives, tracked down diaries and letters, weaving together the accounts of our town’s early history. She loved the detective work, the discovery, the piecing together of a puzzle. If you knew my mother, you would remember her excitement at finding something unexpected. For her, history was a quest for truth.