Local Historian Featured on History Channel Show Tonight

During the Revolutionary War, a secret spy net operated along the north shore of Long Island in Port Jefferson and Setauket and all the way in to Brooklyn, keeping track of British troop movements for General George Washington.

Hundreds of years later Dr. Robert Sisler, former village historian for Port Jefferson, was called upon to recant those daring tales of old for a cable television program on the History Channel called Brad Meltzer’s Decoded.

"They came to the village with two big vans asking about the Culper Spy Ring," said Dr. Sisler.

A team of producers from the History Channel went to the looking for information and Parks Director Ron Carlson sent them over to local expert, Dr. Sisler.

Sisler he brought them over to the restored Phillip Roe House to talk about the Roe family’s role in the spy ring and they started filming away.

A resident of Port Jefferson for more than fifty years, Sisler settled in the area in 1953 relocating from Yonkers, NY. He married his wife, Patricia in 1956, who was born and raised in the village.

They both settled into their careers, he as a Spanish teacher at Port Jefferson’s and she at Brookhaven National Lab. Mrs. Sisler left her job to raise three children. Sisler went on to head up the language department at the school.

"I taught for 30 some-odd years," he said.

Sisler joked that he wasn’t much for commuting, having lived next door to the same school he taught at. He also served as trustee in the village.

He served as village historian for years, giving up the role to Ken Brady in 2010. No slouches, the Sislers researched and wrote several books on local history since retiring.

"She is 50 percent of my historical research," said the octogenarian of his wife.

His love of history is what led him to be featured on Brad Meltzer’s Decoded on History Channel. The episode, titled "The President’s Inner Circle," explores the workings of the Culper Spy Ring established by George Washington after losing the area to the British.

"Washington was outmanned by the British and he lost the battle of Long Island," said Sisler in a phone interview. "This became a Tory area."

According to Sisler, the Roe family was very active in the patriot cause, first in the colonial militia then as minutemen.

"They were intending to go in to help Washington in battle of Brooklyn but it was too late," he said. "The British outmanned and outgunned them but Washington needed help in the spy ring."

Nathan Hale was a member of the Continental Army and uncovered as a spy by the British in 1776. He is known for supposedly uttering the famous last words, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country" before being hanged.

"Hale was Phillips Roe’s cousin through Roe’s wife," said Dr. Sisler. "That’s probably why they were interested in joining the spy ring."

At that time in New York City ladies who served in restaurants and ale houses had their ears to the ground and added information to spy ring. Another cousin of Phillip Roe–Setauket tavern owner Austin Roe–would ride into New York City to retrieve the information from these ladies and brought it back to Port Jefferson.

"The reason he used Port Jefferson was that nobody ever expected it," said Sisler. "Information was rowed across the Long Island Sound to Connecticut."

In a complex game, a woman named Anna Strong would send messages across Setauket harbor to members of the spy ring telling them where to pick up secret information by using coded signals in the form of clothes hung on a laundry line on her property.

The messages were taken across the Long Island Sound in a whaleboat by Caleb Brewster and his crew. They would exchange messages with Washington’s number one man in the spy ring, Major Benjamin Tallmadge who would then transmit the troop movements to West Point.

The spy ring was successful in a variety of actions, most notably according to Sisler, unmasking the man who lends his name to all traitors since: Benedict Arnold. Arnold was going to turn over West Point to the British. The spy ring saved George Washington’s life when they alerted him to an ambush lying in wait for him.

"This information was not known in this area," said Sisler.

For many years the involvement of the Roe family in the Culper Spy Ring was virtually unknown.

"Spying is a dirty business," Sisler said. "They kept it quiet."

Fortunately a researcher found information in records linking the Roe family to the spy activities and the rest is history.

See Dr. Sisler talk more about the Culper Spy Ring tonight in "The President’s Inner Circle" episode on Brad Meltzer’s Decoded airing on the History Channel at 10 p.m.