Q2 STATEN IsLAND INSTITUTE or ARTS AND SCIENCES 
1. Shooters Island: This is mentioned as Schutters Island nine 
years later by Danckaerts in his Journal of a Voyage to New 
York, 1679-80. The name was given because the Dutch went 
there to shoot wild geese, so Danckaerts states. In recent years 
the island has been so enlarged and changed that the early settlers 
would not recognize it. 
2. Seal Banks: This is now called Robbins Reef, and is to all 
who visit Staten Island familiar by its lighthouse and flashing light 
as St. George is approached. Local histories state that the old 
Dutch name was Robyn’s Rift, meaning Seal Banks.t (In the 
Dutch language rob or robben means seal or seals, and rif or rif- 
fen, reef or reefs.) Ryder, who was of English descent, evi- 
dently had a preference for English rather than Dutch names. 
3. Palmers: John Palmer was one of a number of men promi- - 
nent in the affairs of the colony who resided for a time on Staten 
Island. He was an assessor of Westchester in 1675 and owned 
property there.’ Brodhead states that Palmer was an English law- 
yer who had recently come to New York from Barbados.® 
On May 3, 1676, Palmer’s proposition to take the mill on Staten 
Island was agreed to’ and thereafter he resided here for a num- 
ber of years. The mill, located near Palmers Run and Richmond 
Terrace, was begun by Col. Francis Lovelace, the governor of the 
colony, but when the Dutch took possession in 1673 it had not 
been completed and they authorized the contractor to finish his 
contract. When the Dutch retired and Andros became governor, 
2 Danckaerts. Journal of Jasper Danckaerts, 1679-1680, p. 75, 173. 
(Original Narratives of Early American History.) Charles Scribners Sons, 
INS Wo TOUR, 
3 Danckaerts p. 92. 
4 Morris. Memorial History of Staten Island 1: 373. N. Y. 1808. 
Bayles. History of Richmond County p. 3, 681. N. Y. 1887. 
> Col. Doc. Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of 
New York 13: 488. 
Sisicorloeerel, I, Is lahisworny? Or we Sue or iNew Work 23 Aeo, IN. WV. 
1853-71. 
7 Hist. Bulletin. .New York State Library (History No. 6) Bulletin 
58: 25. 1902. (Calendar of Council Minutes 1668-1783.) — 
8 Col. Doc. 2: 580. 
