A special visit to the History Museum: Family connections and historic chapters
One day last month, three generations of the MacGayhey family, headed by Guy, 85, and his bride of 60 years, Nancy, visited the Shelter Island History Museum and reminisced about their family’s 140-year connection to Shelter Island.
The family marveled at archival documents and photos of their ancestors, both MacGayheys and, on their maternal side, Shermans.
Surprising Guy with a visit at the museum was his cousin Husun “Hoot” Sherman and Hoot’s wife Joanne. “The young MacGayhey generation was amazed by the reunion,” said Jim Gereghty, who serves on the Museum Board and helped lead the tour. “It was as if the cousins were talking about what happened yesterday instead of 50 years ago.”
Mr. Gereghty provided another surprise for the cousins: “To close the circle, Guy and Hoot had a video conference call to another cousin neither has seen in about 40 years, Thomas Lincoln Mack.”
In a note that Guy McGayhey wrote afterward to express his appreciation, he thanked Executive Director Nanette Lawrenson and Board members Lenore Berner and Mr. Gereghty for sharing their knowledge of the historic Havens House at the heart of the museum.
“I am sorry if I interrupted your presentation of the historical information several times during our tour,” he wrote, “but I kept remembering different events as we moved through the house. I had wanted to visit the Havens House for several years and my daughter Shannon made this all possible … Shelter Island is very fortunate to have such a professionally run facility as the Havens Museum.”
Within the Museum’s walls, and its archives, generations of local families are finding their stories intertwined with hundreds of years of the history of Shelter Island.
