We’re very excited to welcome you to Island Farm on Elihu Island, a historically significant and breathtakingly beautiful island which has been a backdrop in Lindsay’s life,  growing up boating around  Little Narragansett Bay, and will now be a special place for both Lindsay & Matt as they spend time on the water in Stonington, CT  in the future.

History of Elihu

The 30-acre island was originally granted to Mr. William Chesebrough, an English immigrant and one of Stonington’s founders, who settled in the area in 1649. For more than 220 years, the Island was held in the singular ownership of the Elihu Chesebrough family. The name Elihu comes from this family in which six generations of sons named Elihu Chesebrough successively owned the Island.

In 1870, George Ledward of neighboring Westerly, Rhode Island, acquired the Island and fulfilled his dream by constructing an elegant summer residence along with developing a working granite quarry. It was Ledward who built the causeway. The Ledwards graciously allowed the Chesebrough family to continue their tradition of an annual family picnic on the Island. Elihu Island remained in the Ledward family until 1924, when it was purchased by the gregarious Robert Johnstone from New Jersey.