Lion Gardiner (1599-1663) was an English colonist who founded the first English settlement on Long Island, New York. In 1639 he purchased an island from the Montaukett tribe on the eastern end of Long Island (today known as Gardiners Island).    He was a soldier who fought in the Pequot War, and military engineer.

A fragment of the original deed is held in the Brooklyn Historical Collection:

http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/bhs/2016_009/

See wikipedia for more information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_Gardiner