Oyou and her husband Tammero  were enslaved at Sylvester Manor in Shelter Island and are listed in the 1680 Last Will and Testament of Nathaniel Sylvester.

They were bequeathed to Nathaniel’s 17 year old son, Peter Sylvester.

Their sons, Obium and Tom, were also enslaved and in the will they were bequeathed to 23 year old Constant Sylvester.

The will also includes  2 un-named children of Tammero and Oyou who were bequeathed to 21 year old Benjamin Sylvester.

In 1680, when the bequeaths were made, all of these people were living on Shelter Island at Sylvester Manor with Grizell Sylvester, Nathaniel’s widow.

Tammero and Oyou were brought to Shelter Island in 1652 from Barbados and probably came from Africa, having survived the middle passage.  They may have been from Nigeria.  

The group of enslaved people brought to Shelter Island in 1652 arrived to find a climate very much colder than their homelands, and the physically challenging work of building the settlement, working the farm for food production and clearing land.

Please see the Sylvester Manor site for a more detailed biography and ongoing research: https://www.sylvestermanor.org/slavery-at-the-manor/tammero-oyou-obium/