Dukes County, Massachusetts - The whole text, 1911 (part 11 of 15)

The marriages of the two brothers, Samuel and Seth Daggett of Edgartown, in 1733 and 1734, to Sarah Chase and Elizabeth West, respectively, brought into the town at that time the first members of that family, and added their names to its annals for the succeeding century. About the same time John Whelden, from the Cape, married a daughter of Abraham Chase and became identified with the small settlement, and in 1745 John Ferguson from Kittery, Me., married another daughter and made his home here. Ebenezer Allen of Chickemmoo, about 1743, married the widow of Samuel Daggett and settled here on the property owned by his wife, and set up housekeeping and innkeeping. In 1748 Bayes Newcomb of Edgartown brought his large family and became a resident. Jonathan Manter of Tisbury married Sarah Chase, one of the co-heirs of Thomas, in 1755, and came here to live on her large landed estate, known since as Manter's hilL At the same time Caleb Rand from Charlestown, a mason by trade, and Shubael Butler of Edgartown, a weaver, were added to the town's population. In 1757 James Winslow, a pilot, came here and married a daughter of Isaac Chase, and in 1759 John Baxter came from the Cape to keep a tavern. Thomas Winston became a resident about this time, and in after years married the widow, Mercy Chase, and succeeded to the business of innkeeping. He left no descendants. In 1 761 Shubael Dunham of Edgartown settled in theTashmoo region of Chickemmoo with a large family of children, the first of the name in this town. John Holmes, a blacksmith, who had been living in Eastville for a few years, made his first purchase of land here in 1765, and became a permanent settler. In 1767 Thomas Manchester of Rhode Island, and in the next year Jabez Downs, from the Cape, were added to the growing town. Some time after, the exact date being unknown, the earliest of our Portuguese settlers, Joseph Dias, came to this place and his descendants remain here at the present time. These names represent the new element which became identified with Tisbury in the first century of its annals, no account being made of the multiplication of the pioneer families, who had by the opening of the Revolution increased and multiplied rapidly.

Hampton, N. H., April i, 1650, the third son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Philbrick) Chase. The family genealogies state that Thomas came from County Cornwall, England, to New England, and was the son of Aquila Chase of the Chesham, County Bucks family, whose pedigree extends back several generations. In what w^ay Isaac Chase came to be interested in this distant island is not known, but the neighboring town of Salisbury, Mass., had already furnished many settlers for Nantucket, men of Quaker faith, and through this source it is probable that his knowledge of the Vineyard was acquired. At the age of 24 he came to Tisbury to settle (1674), but the townsmen refused the privilege to him for some reason at that time. Possibly it was because x)f his religious beliefs, which were of the Quaker doctrinal variety. "The townsmen of Tysbury," so reads the record, "do not give unto Isack Chace of Hampton liberty to settle in the town."^ However he hiust have overcome this refusal before long, as we find him in less than two years making purchases of land in the town limits.

He must have been possessed of more than the average wealth at that time as he became, before 1700, one of the largest landholders on the Vineyard. He began his purchases of Homes Hole neck in 1676, as elsewhere related, and finally became its sole proprietor. His property in the Chickemmoo region was second in extent of acreage. His initial purchase in 1682 became a subject of dispute with the Sachem and the town, and was relinquished; but in 1692 he bought the entire eastern half of Chickemoo of Thomas Tupper, consisting of 1200 acres, and was continually adding to his domain in that region.^ He rarely sold any portion of these acquisitions and all of it, practically, became the heritage of his heirs.

'Tisbury Records, 8. We may surmise that they finally gave him permission to inhabit at Homes Hole, in the uttermost part of the town, many miles from the dwellings of any settlers. He was of Hampton in October 1673 (Norfolk. Co. Deeds).

His occupation, as elsewhere detailed, was that of blacksmith, inn-holder, and ferryman, and these he followed until his death. Although by religion a Quaker, yet he does not seem to have been ultra orthodox in the faith, for he took military office as Lieutenant in the Company of Foot in Tisbury before 1692, and thus broke one of the principal tenets of that sect. In the political upheavals of that time Simon Athearn thus refers to him: '^Mr. Isaac Chase the Leueten't without oath he pleading for the quakers."* During the remainder of his life he was generally called Lieutenant in the records of that period.

He died May 19, 1727, and his will, dated Feb. 12, 1721-2, was proven in July, 1727. By it he bequeathed what lands he had not given away in his lifetime to his widow and surviving children and grandchildren. The Chickemmoo property was mostly deeded to his several sons, 1706-17 18, and the Homes Hole neck was to a large extent, 1 705-1 71 7, similarly disposed of to Thomas, Isaac and Abraham. In 1725 this remained undivided and Lieut. Isaac and his son Abraham entered suit against the heirs of Thomas and Ebenezer Rogers for a partition. This was done, and the division then made by the jury is the basis of all land titles in Vineyard Haven north of the creek in front of the hospital.

Isaac Chase was twice married ; first to Mary, daughter of Isaac Perkins of Hampton, Feb. 20, 1673, by whom he had no issue; second to Mary Tilton, probably sister of Samuel of Hampton and Chilmark, Oct. 5, 1675, by Rev. John Mayhew. By his second marriage he had six sons and six daughters, who left a large progeny here and in Nantucket. He was a man of sterling worth and scrupulous honesty, and his life was singularly free from contentions and litigations with his neighbors.

Edward Cottle, Jr

The eldest son of Edward Cottle of Salisbury, named for his father, was born in that town Sept. 28, 1666, and followed his father in his various wanderings until he came to the Vineyard. He bought land in this town on the west side of the Lagoon, in 1695, of Ponit the Sachem of Homes Hole, and thereafter added to this until he owned a considerable

'Mass. Arch., CXII, 424. This is the only reference to the Quaker proclivities of Chase to be found in the record. The allusion to the oath relates to their objection to swearing, although willing to affirm to an act or statement.

tract adjoining the Presbury and West lands/ There he lived with his half-breed wife, Esther Daggett (22) of the "Bow and Arrow" family, daughter of Joseph and Alice (Sissetom) Daggett. He had wedded her between 1690 and 1698, and one child was born to them, a daughter named Esther, about 1700, who married first a Harding (after 17 18), and second (about 1725) Manasseh Kempton. This halfbreed wife died before 1 702 certainly, and probably sometime earlier.^ He remained a widower until about 1701, when he took as a second wife Abigail, daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Holley) Allen of Dartmouth, Mass.^ By this union another daughter was born, June 6, 1702, and she was called Abigail. This girl married three times, (i) John Presbury, (2) Benjamin Luce, and (3) Samuel Lambert. Besides these matrimonial ventures his career was an uneventful one. He appears in court but once as a plaintiff (1736) and in 1733 he was a juror, and this constitutes his sole record.^ He made his will Nov. 2, 1748, "being grown old & stricken in years," and it was probated Nov. 2, 1751, the proximate time of his decease, when he was about eighty-five years old.^ He bequeaths all his property to his daughter Abigail and her second husband. His wife, who was born April i, 1663, had predeceased him Dec. 25, 1733, aged seventy years. ^

John Crosby

This settler was probably the son of Simon and Mary (Nickerson) Crosby of Harwich, Cape Cod, baptized April 13, 1 701, in that town, He came here about 1732 and married, before 1734, Sarah Luce (53), probably through the family relations between the two families established in 1704 by the marriage of his aunt Ann to William Luce (9). His fatherin-law gave his wife a farm of twenty acres near Tashmoo in Chickemmoo, and they resided there for the remainder of the time covered by our present knowledge of his life. It would seem that his wife died at some time unknown, and

^For proof of this see Bristol Deeds, XIII, 41 and Sup. Jud. Court Mss. No. 29518. Nathaniel Pease testified that he was present at the wedding.

It is beheved that he was the first immigrant of the Portuguese nationahty to come to the Vineyard, and one of the Western Islands was probably the place of his birth.

He was a young man when he arrived in this country, and soon had attracted the attention and won the heart of Sarah Manter (no) of this 'town. They were married, Jan. 4, 1780, and he soon joined the cause of his adopted country in the struggle against England. He was captured and sent a prisoner to that country, but secured a release after "a distressing captivity." Upon his return home he became a convert to the newly-expounded Baptist teachings, in December, 1780, and the incident is thus related by an eye witness: -

By seeing and hearing of these wonders of divine grace his vows in trouble were brought with authority upon his mind; and though the temper set in violently with his suggestions, that there was no mercy for him, and that he had better go and drown himself, in the evening after the communion (December 21st) yet sovereign grace prevented it, and set his soul at liberty so that he was soon after baptized and joined to that church.^

The rest of his brief experience in a land of strangers was tragic, and the whole borders on the romantic. He went forth once again to do battle for his adopted country, and for the second time fell into the hands of the British as a prisoner of war, and was consigned to a living death on the hulk "Jersey," of infamous memory. There he died in 1781 as a patriot and martyr, leaving a widow and an infant son, born the year of his decease.

John Ferguson

He was a master mariner engaged in the West India trade, and frequently made this haven on voyages from his home in Kittery, Maine, to southern waters. As a guest at Abraham Chase's Inn he met Hannah (55), the young daughter of "mine host." Captain Ferguson was the son of Alexander and Elizabeth (Frost) Ferguson, born Aug. 8, 1710, and she was fifteen years his junior. Difference in ages made no difference in their sentiments however, as their banns were pubhshed Nov. 2, 1 745, and they were married soon after. Nothing further is known of him, except that a family of seven children were born to them and baptized here. He was probably occupied in coastwise traffic, and had died before 1769, but the date and place of his death is unknown, probably in the West Indies of some tropical fever, which took the lives of so many of our people in those days. The toll from this cause was a constant drain on the male population.

John Holmes

The family tradition that this settler came from Plymouth seems the probable truth, though extended search among the records of that county fails to find confirmation.^ The age given on his gravestone practically tallies with the birth record of John, son of John and Mercy (Ford) Holmes, born June 22, 1730, in Plymouth. If this be the solution of the problem his father was later of Kingston, died there in 1746, and in his will mentions his minor son John.^ Our John first appears in the Vineyard ten years after this, and is enrolled in 1757 as a private in the militia company of Edgartown. He was a blacksmith by trade, and made his first purchase of land Jan. 8, 1760, in the village of Eastville, at Quaise neck.^ He resided there about five years, and on Oct. 30, 1765, bought half an acre of land in Holmes Hole neck, where the Thomas Dunham tavern formerly stood.* Thenceforth he was identified with this town, and his descendants continued to reside here until the present day. He was chosen constable in 1776 and 1 79 1, the only town offices held by him. Here he became a sound pilot, an occupation which he followed to the end of his active life, and*for which he was commissioned in 1783 by Governor Hancock. He died Oct. 29, 181 2, in the 84th year of his age, leaving a widow and two married daughters. His son John, also a pilot, had predeceased in 1795, and through him the present family descends.

^The author has examined all the wills and administrations of Holmes decedents in Plymouth County, and abstracts of each are in his possession.

Thomas Manchester

This settler came here from Rhode Island, and probably was a relative, if not a son, of the Nathaniel Manchester of Portsmouth, R. L, who married Elizabeth Norton (56) of Edgartown in 1716, or of William Manchester, who married Bethiah Norton (55) the year previous.

Stephen Presbury

He was probably the son of John Presbury, a shoemaker, sometime of Salisbury and later of Saco, Maine, where in 1670 he had bought a tract of land.^ This John died in that Province before Nov. 3, 1684, leaving three sons, of whom one was Stephen, and the name is so unusual and without recurrence at that period, that we can assume the relationship fairly established.^ This Stephen was a witness to a deed in Kittery, Maine, in 1686, and the next we learn of him is in 1704 when he was called "of Chilmark, " meaning that part of it known as Chickemmoo.'* It is not known where he had resided in the eighteen years intervening, but it can be surmised that he may have gone to Sandwich, Cape Cod, where he married, about 1693, Deborah, daughter of Stephen and Lydia (Snow) Skiff e of that town. His homestead was at the head of the Lagoon within the boundary line of Edgartown, but his closer proximity to the settlement at Homes Hole, where he lies buried, makes his classification as an early settler of this region the natural one.^ His residence here was absolutely without incident of any kind, as he held no offices, appeared in court once as a plaintiff (1729) and in all the twenty-five years of his life on the Vineyard he did not so much as witness a deed or document of any kind, an unusual fact, His will, dated April 6, 1730, was proved June 30, 1730, and disposes of his property to "my seven daughters" and the children of his only son John, deceased.^ He had died May 17, 1730 in his 58th

'York Deeds, III, 42. John of Saco was probably the son of that John of Sandwich, Cape Cod, whose death in May, 1648, is recorded. 3Ibid, V(I), 35.

Dr. Thomas West

The first of the name of West to come to the Vineyard was Thomas, a son of Francis West of Duxbury, and from him have descended many of his name who became noted in succeeding generations in the ministry and learned professions, and distinguished in colonial military affairs. Francis West, his father, was born about 1606 and lived in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. He was a carpenter by trade, and is said to have come to Duxbury as a single man, upon the invitation of Nathaniel Thomas of Marshfield, and after his arrival in his new home, married Margaret Reeves, Feb. 27, 1639, by whom he had five children, Mary (1640), Samuel (1643), Thomas (1646), Peter (1648), and Ruth (1651). He died Jan. 2, 1692, aged 86 years. The descendants of Samuel are mostly found in Connecticut, and those of Peter in Plymouth Colony.^ Few traces of Thomas are found in the Massachusetts records prior to his emigration to the Vineyard. He witnessed a deed in 1667,^ and is mentioned in the county Treasurer's accounts of June, 1671.* Between that date and Sept. 30, 1673, he came to this island, probably through his association with the Skiffes, as his sister Ruth became the wife of Nathaniel in later years. It is possible that West resided in Newport, R. I.^ prior to his removal hither. On Sept. 30, 1673, he entered suit against the townsmen of Tisbury respecting his property rights, and his lot, mentioned the following year, was situated on the west side of Old Mill river to the north of the old cemetery, next that of James Skiffe, Sr.^ Thomas West was evidently a man of education and superior ability, and the first known practitioner of medicine and surgery on the Vineyard. In addition to this qualification

'These are the gravestone records, but both seem to be incorrect. The birth of Deborah Skiffe is recorded in Sandwich on July 14, 1668, and thus she was in her 74th year. The age given on his stone would make his birth year 1672-3, but in 1686 he was a witness in Maine. He was probably older than his wife.

^See N. E. Gen. Reg., LX, 142. The claims made in print and private that Thomas West was the son of Admiral Francis West of the well known English family have no bases in fact.

he must have been learned in the law, for he was the "Kings Attorney" in June, 1681, and is mentioned in 1687 and the three following years as the King's Solicitor and "Their Majesties Attorney." It is probable he held this office continuously from the first recorded date. He prosecuted the first trials for murder held on the island in the years mentioned.^ Thomas West also has some further distinction in his religious affiliations. With his wife he became a member of the Third Sabbatarian (Seventh Day) Baptist Church of Newport, R. I., at some time prior to 1692, and various West descendants were attached to that communion for many years after. ^ His daughter and their children in other names are to be found among the members of this church. In 1702, however, he was excommunicated for disobeying the tenets of the communion, but his wife and othef members of his family continued in good standing.'

In the spring of 1682 he sold his lot in West Tisbury and made the first of a series of land purchases at Homes Hole, which from that time to his death became his residence.* This property, by continued acquisition extended from the Lagoon on the north to the Cottle property (head of Lagoon) on the south, and his house was situated near the site of the U. S. Marine Hospital. After his death it descended to his sons in shares and "set offs," but in time his eldest son, Abner, acquired the most of it by purchase from the other heirs.

During his life he had the usual experiences observed among his neighbors as respects his business and social relations. He was indicted and fined in 1678 for "unsavourie speeches" and sued for defamation in 1687 by Simon Athearn.^ He was elected "townsman" of Tisbury in 1678, and in 1679 was on a committee to "make rates."*^ Beyond these references other mention of him in the records is incidental. He

^Records Sabbatarian Baptist Church. At the same time Peter and Ruth West are found in the list of members 1692, and it is probable they were his brother and sister of these names.

^The order is as follows: "At a General meeting of the Church at Westerly Sept. 19, 1702, at Thomas Burdicks house, upon debate of the case of Thomas West of Martha's Vineyard, who having been several times admonished for his breach of the Sabbath, the church did proceed to a rejection of said West and appointed Bro. Wm. Gibson to draw up sentence of the congregation relating thereunto in writing to be sent to said West."

made his will on Jan. 15, 1698, and died Sept. 6, 1706, in the sixtieth year of his age. In this document he bequeaths to his "eldest son" Abner the estate as far south as ''Chunckes" swamp. To son Thomas certain land next southerly, and to son Peter a tract adjoining the previous bequest; to son William ''all that creek stuff or meadow land which I bought of Mr Sam" (Indian). "Nextly" it continues, "I will and bequeath all my books and surgery instruments unto my son Thomas, a gun to my son Sackfield and a sword to my son Judah." His movable estate was left to the widow Elizabeth, ''for bringing up the children," and he mentions his "four" daughters in this connection. "My will is," he directs in conclusion, "that none of my children be disposed of without the advice of Brother Nathaniel Skiffe and my son Abner, whom I do make overseers to this my will."^

The name of one of his younger sons, Sackfield, is of curious coincidence, as Sackville is one of the family names of the noble West family. Lords De la Warr of the peerage of England.^ It is not to be supposed, however, that the Duxbury carpenter had any connection whatever with this armigerous family. Diligents earch has failed to disclose the maiden name of his wife, Elizabeth, who was born in 1653 or '4, and survived her husband many years. She died Feb. 16, 1728, "in the 75th year of her age," and the gravestones of both the Doctor and his wife are in good preservation at West Tisbury. At least six of their descendants were graduates of Harvard College before 1800, and were men distinguished in the annals of the New England pulpit.

John Wheldon

Marriage with one of Abraham Chase's daughters, Abigail, brought John Wheldon to Homes Hole. He was probably the son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Marchant) Wheldon of Yarmouth, Cape Cod, born July 21, 1707, in that town. He was a seafaring man and followed the particular occupation of a Sound pilot in these waters. He came here about 1730-40,

^Dukes Co. Probate, I, 8. The property was not finally divided until April 3, 1722, when the children who did not receive landed bequests by will were given their shares (ibid. I, 125).

^No emigrant to New England of the name of Sackfield or Sackville in the 17th century has come to the notice of the author, and it does not seem, therefore, to be the name of the wife of Thomas West whose name was thus perpetuated. It should be said that the Sackville connection with the Wests is of comparatively recent date, and no importance can be attached to it as relates to our Sackfield West.

and he and his wife received from her father, May 29, 1741, a large tract of land extending from the harbor to Tashmoo/ His death occurred about 1755, as administration of his estate was granted to the widow December 18 that year. Three sons, John, Joseph, and Timothy were lost at sea in 1769 in one vessel.

James Winslow

He was born about 1732-3, and came to Homes Hole some time before Oct. 30, 1765, the date of his first purchase of land in the town.^ He was married here to Rhoda Chase (131), Nov. 3, 1757, which may be taken as the probable time of his settlement. His occupation was that of a Sound pilot as early as 1769, and he followed this throughout his active life.^ He was twice married, his second wife being Elizabeth, daughter of John Holmes, and two sets of children were born to him. His death occurred Aug. 26, 1805, in the 73d year of his age. Nothing certain is known of his former residence or parentage. There were Winslows in Rochester and Freetown who had business dealings with the Vineyard before 1750, and it is probable that he came from that section.

John Baxter

In 1759 this person was licensed as a tavern keeper. He was probably an uncle or near relative of the Malachi Baxter of Yarmouth, Cape Cod, who settled here after the Revolution.* He does not appear as a grantor or grantee of property, and doubtless was a tenant only during his stay here. His inn was destroyed by fire in 1762, and after that no more is heard of him in town.

Manasseh Kempton

The identity of this transient is not satisfactorily established. He appears here in 1725 as the husband of widow Esther (Cottle) Harding, whom he had married in that year

*There were Baxters here before that date. In the muster roll of a New York company of troops, French and Indian war, 1762, appears the name of Simon Baxter, carpenter, aged 46, whose birthplace is given as Martha's Vineyard. (Rep't N. Y. State Historian, Colonial Series, II, 726-7.)

probably (Court Records). He remained here perhaps four or five years, as traces of him are found in 1726, 1728 and 1729, his wife having died before the latter date, but whence he came or whither he went resolves itself into guessing, after much search/ It is probable that he is Manasseh Kemp ton of Plymouth, who had married Mehitable Holmes of that town about 1715 and bought land same year. Two children were born to him, and he sold his property in 1721 and apparently removed elsewhere.^ The dates permit migration to the Vineyard, where he married a second time and, after a short stay, again changed residence to Southampton, L. I. In 1733, in a deed, he calls himself a "gunsmith" of the last named place, "formerly of Plymouth" and refers to his uncle Manasseh Kempton of Dartmouth, and his cousin Ephraim of Plymouth.^ As no wife signs with him these conditions fit the conclusion that he was the above described Manasseh, son of Ephraim of Plymouth. Our court records indicate that a child was born to him here, but its sex or survival is not known. He was neither grantor nor grantee while resident in town.

Jacob Perkins

He was the son of Isaac and Susanna Perkins of Hampton, N. H., baptized May 24, 1640, in that town and his younger sister, Mary, was the wife of our Isaac Chase. He came to the Vineyard about 1674, with his brother-in-law probably, and perhaps also in company with Samuel Tilton, bringing a wife and one child. While here a second child was born to them.* By occupation he was a tailor, though it would seem that little of this class of work would occupy his time here with so few settlers. His stay here was brief and troublesome, because of the enmity of the official ruling family, arising from hisUestimony against one of its members in the slander suit off Daggett vs. Skiffe, as related elsewhere.^ Like a considerable number, who at this time were leaving the Vineyard on account of the petty persecutions following the "Dutch Rebel-

*He was sued in 1726 (Dukes Co. Court Records) ; gave evidence in 1728 (Sup. Jud. Court Mss. 21403), and was sued in March, 1729, in our local court.

*His first purchase here was February 10, 1674. (Dukes Deeds, I, 336). He was called "Jacob Perkins (late of Hampton) now of Holmeshole on the Hand of Martyr's Vineyard." 24-12 mo. 1674 (Norfolk Co. Deeds, III, 20).

lion," he concluded to remove to a more congenial location, and removed across the Sound to Falmouth, where on Oct. 31, 1677, he bought a homestead of Vv^illiam Weeks, Senior.* His stay in Succanessit was also brief, for on Feb. 8, 1678, he sold this property, and on May 8, 1679, he repurchased an estate in Hampton, and ever after resided there. He was living in 1693 with his wife in that town.^

Caleb Rand

This transient came here in 1755 from Nantucket, and lived on the West Tisbury road, just outside the present village of Vineyard Haven. He was the son of John and Mehitable (Call) Rand of Charlestown, born Dec. 6, 1703, and had married, Aug. 4, 1726, in that place, Katherine Kettell, by whom he had eleven children. The five eldest were of age and unmarried when he came here, and they all married here. He remained until about 1761, and returned to Nantucket, where he died in 1768, aged 65 years. The sons and daughters removed to Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, about 1760, and their descendants still reside in that province.

He was a transient resident here before 1676, and removed to West Tisbury and later to Chilmark, where he ended his days. A sketch of him appears in the annals of the latter town.

The Constablewick Of Homes Hole

Although a part of old Tisbury for purposes of taxation, yet the people of Homes Hole and the place itself occupied very little time and space in the consideration of the freemen of West Tisbury. The name of Homes Hole is not mentioned in the town records from 1673 to 1737, nor is there any reference to it indirectly. From the latter date it occurs irregularly every few years to 1780, when it begins to be recognized in the bestowal of some of the minor offices, such as tithingman, surveyor of highways or warden. In 1783 it is spoken of in the records of Tisbury as "that tract of Land Called Homeshole." Not until 1788 was a selectman chosen from this section

[Samuel Look] but from that date it had a representative annually. In 1 804-5-6 two residents of Homes Hole were on the board of selectmen. The first town meeting was held in Holmes Hole in March, 1807, at the Proprietors' meeting-house, and thenceforth the annual meetings were holden in West Tisbury and Homes Hole alternately.^

For the first time in the records, in 1763, it was called the Constablewick of Homes Hole, a title signifying a district within the jurisdiction of a constable, similar to a parish in ecclesiastical law.^ It was treated as a separate community and place by the rest of the inhabitants of Tisbury, and beyond according it certain school privileges required by law, it was left to shift for itself in all other things. This reached a formal culmination in 1782, when the townsmen voted that all persons and estates to the Eastward of a Line Drawn from the Stepping Stone (A Place known by that Name at the head of the Lagoon or Cove of Water Dividing Said Homseshole from the Town of Edgartown) To Cuteshmoo Spring [be exempt] from paying any Taxes in the Town of Tisbuary for the future Except Common Wealth Taxes, As also that Said Inhabitants Recieve no benefit or Assistance from the Town of Tisbuary for any charges that may Arise on Said Inhabitants for the future, Said Vote Passed in the Affirmative without one Dissenting Vote.3

This practically left Homes Hole without obligation to pay any rates except state levies. The interests of the two places were antipodal, not only in ecclesiastical affairs, which we shall learn, but in secular matters as well. The "Hole" was given over to maritime business, the outfitting of ships, the haven of weather-bound craft, and the home of Sound pilots. The west parish was occupied solely in agricultural pursuits.

The church affiliations of the first settlers were so diversified that it might be said each one had a different religion from his neighbor, Isaac Chase was a Quaker, Thomas West

'In 1838-9 and 1841 the town meetings were held at the taverns kept by Thomas Dunham. In 1843 and 1845, at the Union Wharf store, 1847 to 1852 at the school house, South District, 1852 to 1864 at Capawoc hall. The office of selectmen was removed to Homes Hole before 1852, and in 1857 an effort was made to bring the office of town clerk from West Tisbury, but it failed at that time.

^Tisbury Records, 183. The "Liberty of Tisbury" occurs in a document of 1730, signifying a place having special privileges. (Athearn Mss. Cong. Library).

a Sabbatarian Baptist, Edward Cottle a Congregationalist probably, Samuel Tilton an Antipedobaptist and so on. It is evident that there could not be any important events relating to ecclesiastical affairs under such conditions, and it is probable that in the absence of a minister and meeting-house, each one acted as priest in his own household for the first half century after the settlement. Thomas West, who was a member of a congregation of his faith in Newport, may have acted as a lay preacher or missionary in this vicinity during his life. A Quaker traveler on a visit to Nantucket in 1704 had a dispute with one Thomas West on religious subjects and he records in his journal a "paper" written by VVest in their controversy.^

This faith was held by some of the "Wests for two or three generations and was adopted by persons intermarrying with them. His grandson, Thomas West (20), a graduate of Harvard, 1730, was "statedly employed to preach the Gospel to the Indians" here before 1745, and in contemporaneous documents is called a "Preacher of the Gospel."^ It is not to be supposed that he exercised ministerial functions here solely for the Indians, and left a large body of English people without the "benefit of clergy." There is no violation of probabilities in assuming that a small meeting-house was built here by the contributions of the settlers of Homes Hole at this early date, or that services were held in a school-house. Nothing definite is known, however, on this subject, and we can only infer that traveling missionaries of various denominations came here from time to time, by chance or design, and supplied an irregular form of religious "exercise" to them.^

Payment Of Ministerial Tax Refused

Under the laws and customs of the times they were taxed for the support of the "orthodox" ministry, and the meetinghouse at West Tisbury, which they could not attend because of the great distance and difficulties of traveling. This was borne by them for many years without protest, though the

'In 1779 Mr. Damon, the pastor at West Tisbury, was granted liberty to preach one-fourth part of the year at some part of the Northward & Eastward part of this Town" (Tisbury Records, 231).

burden was growing more obnoxious to them at every assessment. Accordingly, after much consideration, they agreed, in 1780, to resist further collection of such taxes, and the townsmen of West Tisbury assembled in special session to deal with the crisis, on June 6, 1780, passed the following vote: -

Tisbuary ss: At A Town meeting Legally warn'd & held at the Townhouse in Tisbuary on Tuesday the 6th of June A D 1780 Deacon Stephen Luce being Moderator, and then it was put to Vote to See whether Said Town of Tisb 'r would Chuse a Committee to Treat with the People of Homseshole to know what the Cause is that they Refuse Paying Taxes to the Ministree, and what would be Satisfactory to them and the Vote passed in the Affirmative and then it was put to Vote to See whether Mr Benjamin Burges & Ezra Athearn Should be Sd Committee and the Vote passed in the Afirmative, and Also it was Voted they Should Make report of their doeings at the next Town-meeting'

Whatever came of this found no record in the town books, and it evidently was an unsuccessful effort at a compromise. The reason for this situation is to be found in the establishment that year of a new sect here, the Calvinistic Baptist, and its adoption by a large proportion of the residents of Homes Hole. The question at issue was not a theological one, but related to the more important one of church and state, the settlement of which involved the whole policy of public support for the clergy.

Tisbury Agrees To Release Homes Hole

In the fall of 1782 they presented a verbal request to the town as follows: '' Requesting that they may be Exempted from Paying any Tax for the Support of the Presbeterian Ministers for the future in the Town of Tisbuary by Reason they are of the Baptist Perswasion."^ and at Said Meeting James Athearn Esqr was chosen Moderator And then A Vote was Call'd to See Wheather Shobal Cottle Esqr Deacon Stephen Luce & Mr Ransfoid Smith Should be a committee to hold A Conferance with the Inhabitants of Homseshole and Some Persons Adjacant Relative to the Above Request or Pettion and to make Report of their doeings at the Adjornment of this Meeting, and the Vote passed in the Affirmative and then Sd Town Meeting was Adjorn'd.'

As a result of this conference the town at the adjourned meeting directed the Moderator to "aquaint the Said Inhabitants of Homseshole that they Pettition this Town for their being Dismissed from Paying Ministeral Taxes (if they see cause)." The following petition was then prepared : -

To the Inhabitants of the Town of Tisbuary in the County of Dukes County in Legal Town-meeting to be assemble'd on Tuesday the 19th Day of October 1782.

The Memorial of us whose Names are under writen being Inhabitants of that Part of Said Town Commonly Call'd Homseshole beg Leave to Represent that Notwithstanding our great Desire to Promote Religion and attend the Publick Worship of God at all Times must needs say that Considering our remote Scituation from the Meetinghouse or Place of Worship in Said Town and being Attended with Such Conspiscious Inconveniencies that need not be Enumerated, Desire that wee may be Released from paying any Part towards the support of the Gospel in Said Town Except among our Selves in Such a A Manner as will be most for our Religious profit Or otherwise releas us Agreeable to Justice & Equity as to you may Seem fit all which is Humbly Subitted*

Homes Hole Set Off As A Parish

On Nov. 25, 1782, the town voted unanimously to release them in accordance with this petition, but it is evident that such an action was beyond the power of the town, and the good intentions were frustrated.^ The collection of this tax went on for several more years. In July, 1790, the people of this settlement again started a movement to be made independent of Tisbury. They made the following request to accomphsh this: -

That the Said Homseshole Should be Sett off as a Precinct, and after Due Consideration it was Movd and Seconded and put to Vote and passed in the Affirmative that it Should be Sett off for a Precinct as far to the Westward as the Line Called Savages Line and So continu'd the Same Course from the Sound to the Line of Edgartown to be Sett off from Said Tisbuary as a Seperate District, Provided they Support their own School and the Poor within the Same District and all other charges arising within the Same District, Except the Taxes due to the Commonwealth*

'At a town meeting held November 25, 1792, this was reconsidered and it was voted "that the former Vote be nul and Void and of no effect any more" (ibid. 288). ^Tisbury Records, 276-7.

That the Select Men of Tisbuary be Impowr'd to give an Order on the Treasurer of Tisbuary to Pay the Several Persons Taxed to the Ministers Tax in Tisbuary Living to the Eastward of Teshmoo Spring So Called that are Inhabitants in Said Districts of homseshole Taxed in the Rate bills David Look Constable of Tisbuary for the year 1790 has to Colect, May the i8th AD 1791'

But this did not meet the desires of the people here, the repayment of taxes, as they wished for separation, and having failed to obtain satisfaction at home, they preferred a petition, in 1793, to the General Court asking for the establishment of Homes Hole as the East Parish of Tisbury.^ James Athearn, Joseph Athearn and William Case were chosen as ''Sutable Persons as a Comitte to Respond to the Pettition of the Inhabatants of Homes hole."^ Nothing came of their request at this time and the residents of Tisbury made them the following offer: future Such part of the preaching by the Settled minester in Tisbury, Carried on in homes hole in proportion to the taxes they may pay towards the minesters Sallery in S'd Town." Samuel Look and Thomas Cottle, who were the leaders of this movement, joined in a petition to the County Court for relief from the ministerial tax. The petition is dated Oct. 28, 1794, and recites that they ''have been Induced to join with the Inhabitants of homses hole to build a meeting house where we can attend with our families," and that they paid more at Homes Hole than they are taxed for in Tisbury for the support of Mr. Asarelah Morse, the minister. Having petitioned the selectmen without result, they now pray the Court for relief.* Ezekiel Luce was appointed to answer this before the Court. Further consultations and efforts at a peaceful conclusion of the controversey were in order, and the following record of a meeting held on Dec. 22, 1794, brings the issue forward: -

Voted by the Voters then present that Ezekiel Luce Benjamin alien Cornelus Dunham on the part of the town of Tisbury westward of Savages hne and Samuel Look Thomas Cottle John Homes on the part of Said town Eastward of Said line be 'a. Committe to meet at Some time and place by them to be agreead upon in order to Settle any disputes

'This petition cannot be found in the Massachusetts archives. ^Town Records, 290. The answer of this committee cannot be found. County Court Files.

Subsisting or that may arise with regard to Minestearil Taxes in Said town and in Case the Said Committe Should not agree they are to Call in the assistance of Mr Matthew Mayhew J'unr of Chillmark the Determination of them or the major part of them to be for the future regulation of minesteril Taxes upon both Sides of the before discribed line as well as any other disputes with regard to back taxes.*

This committee, or a majority of them, for Cornelius Dunham and John Holmes did not sign it, made a report to the town on Jan. 12, 1795, and after reciting a preamble respecting the general character of the dispute, make the followinor recommendations : - haveing a real desier that peace truth & Equity may at this and all times take place. We hereby agree to the following articuals hereafter named Viz that the taxes of all those persons to the East of the aforsaid Saveges line have there taxes remitted in the bills in which they have been taxed to pay to the Rev'd Mr Morses Sallery as far back as the year of our Lord 1787 this intends no more then those persons who are now living between the aforsaid Saveges line and Cuteshmoo Spring and So on the west Side of the pond to the Sound and no more.

And we further agree that the people on the East Side of the aforsaid Saveges line forthwith petition the general Court that they may be Sett off as a precinct or parish and that the town Join with them in this petition.^

Nothing was done about the petition for a year, and on Jan. 6, 1796, Nathan Smith, Benjamin Allen and Elijah Look, Jr., were appointed a committee to "Join a Committe of the to the General Court that said Inhabitants might be incorporated into precinct or parish." This was done, and the law creating the East Parish of Tisbury, from the inhabitants living east of Savage's Line, was passed that year by the General Court.

The need of a house of worship for this settlement became urgent after the organization of the Baptist society in 1780, but there was nearly an equal number of adherents of the ancient Congregational society established in West Tisbury, and it was impracticable to build a meeting-house for the use of any particular denomination by general taxation. Therefore- the expedient was devised of erecting one J3y voluntary contributions from members of all varieties of belief, which should be open to all ministers and sects in an equitable division of time. Those who gave towards its construction became thereby shareholders in its management, and the building came to be known as the "Proprietors' Meeting House." It was probably erected in 1788, as on Jan. 3 of that year, Peter West for the sum of £f) sold a tract of land to John Holmes, Jonathan Manter, Isaac Daggett, Samuel Look, and Abraham Chase, "as a committee for the proprietors of a meeting house to be built at Holmes Hole." This committee represented the Baptists and Congregationalists, and the proportion of proprietors was about two thirds of the first-named sect and the rest of the orthodox church, or those without religious preference. The occupancy of the building was divided in that proportion. The clergyman at West Tisbury held services for his third of the time in consideration of the payment of the ministerial tax, but after its abolition this incentive was lost, and the "orthodox" element gradually dwindled to the vanishing point. Parson Thaxter of Edgartown also held services here after this time, giving regular "lectures."

This Proprietors' meeting-house was located on the highway, on what is now the northwest corner of Main and Spring streets. The architectural features comprised a simple building with four straight walls, unpainted, and a pitched roof, without steeple, belfry or blinds. Three doors opened on Main street and within could be seen a gallery above, high-back box pews below, over which the tithing man would prod his long stick to curb the mischievous pranks of youth or arouse the aged from their slumbers. A sounding board formed a resonant background for the preacher in the tall pulpit.^ A traveler who visited this place in 1807 called it " a small neat church."^

For about half a century this meeting-house served its purpose as a shelter for all kinds of theology and its expounders. In 1832 the Methodists withdrew and built their own meetinghouse and the control of this one fell into the hands of the Baptists by heritage and possession. It lasted until 1837, when it was no longer fit for occupancy and was taken down to make way for another.^

The earliest schism from the orthodox body on the Vineyard comprised persons who had adopted the doctrines of the Baptist rehgion, or, as it was then called, the Anabaptist. Peter Folger is supposed to have held this belief, and about 1675 he joined the Baptist church in Newport, though this was after he had become a resident of Nantucket.^ It is stated by a religious historian "that Baptist ministers had preached among the English on the Vineyard at times ever since 1753," but there is no record of these persons, times nor places.^ The beginning of this denomination as an organized religious association, in definite numbers, is thus described by the same writer : -

By afflictive providence and private means of grace four persons near Holmes' Hole were awakened to a sense of their sin and danger, and in the Spring of 1780 they experienced a happy dehverance of soul. And no sooner was light granted to them than they endeavored to hold the same forth to others, which brought them to set up religious meetings and a number were hopefully converted by these means. ^ And about the last of June they sent for Elder Lewis of Freetown, who went over in July, and preached and baptized a number of them. He did the like in August and October, as Elder Hunt also did in November, and by particular request I [Isaac Backus] met them there in December when a careful inquiry was made into their sentiments and views and the order of the gospel, with the solemn nature of the Christian profession was publicly laid open and inculcated. After which on December 21, 1780 we saw fifty persons solemnly sign covenant together, to whom six more were added on the 24th, and all of them sweetly communed together at the Lord's table. The high sheriff of the county* was a leading member of this church which contained some persons of every rank among them.^

'Backus Church History of New England, III, 167. It is said by the same authority that the Indians became converted to this creed by Folger's preaching.

^A document dated June 10, 1780, certifies that the subscribers "are of the minds to have a Baptist minister to preach the Gospel to us, ' ' and it is signed by Jonathan Manter, Zephaniah Chase, Abraham Chase, Levi Young, Timothy Chase, Ephraim Norton, George Hillman, James Winslow, David Merry, Andrew Newcomb, Shubael Butler, Benjamin Benson and Malachi Baxter. These may be reckoned as the earliest Baptists in this town.

'Backus Church History, II, 375. He adds: "The husband of one of them was born am.ong the Portuguese and was now newly returned from a distressing captivity in England. ' ' This probably refers to Joseph Dias, who married Sarah Manter [no].

employed, although an effort was made to hire one.* Elders Hunt and Burroughs and other missionaries continued to make periodical visits. during the first years of the establishment of the sect, and efforts to secure a settled minister were renewed whenever an opportunity seemed to offer. "When we have no preacher" say these zealous adherents of the new creed in 1791, "and the weather permits, we still assemble and worship God by singing reading and praying."^ This situation continued for the ensuing decade, and notwithstanding these discouragements the society grew and flourished. Incorporation was determined upon by those of the Baptist faith from all parts of the Vineyard, to settle the question of taxes for jninisterial support.

r In 1803, John Davis and seventy-five others addressed a petition to the General Court, praying for incorporation as the Baptist Society of Tisbury. The town of Tisbury at its April meeting instructed the selectmen [Ezekiel Luce, William Athearn and Rufus Spalding] and Benjamin Allen "to consult and draw a remonstrance to a petition Sent by a number of the Inhabatants of Tisbury, Chillmark & Edgartown praying to be incorporated into a religious baptiss Society," but a year after (1804) the town reversed itself and instructed its representative to the General Court to "aid and assist to have the Said incorporation established and enacted into a law."^ This was accomplished June 28th that same year.*

^An act to incorporate a number of persons in the towns of Edgartown, Chilmark and Tisbury, into a religious society by the name of the First Baptist Society in Tisbury.

Of these about thirty resided in the present limits of Tisbury, and the entire list shows what an extensive schism had been made in the Congregational society.

On Feb. 20, 1804, Ezra Kendall was called to the pastorate and accepted, and the society at last secured their first settled minister. He was characterized by Parson Thaxter as "a man of small education, warm temperament and great zeal," but he lasted only a short five months. He was succeeded, after an intermission of two years, by Abisha Samson of Providence, who was ordained in June, 1806, and his term of service was very successful. During this term he received permission to engage in business to eke out his scanty income, and in 181 1 resigned because "his preaching was not profitable," according to his letter requesting dismissal. For the next ten years a succession of Elders, Bartlett Pease (398), Samuel Nelson, Simeon Coombs, Samuel Abbott, and Simeon Crowell supplied the pulpit without formal settlement. In 1820 Rev. William Hubbard became pastor and remained five years, serving both the newly organized independent branches at Edgartown and West Tisbury It is probable that the pastors at Edgartown, Henry Marchant (1826-7) and William Bowen (1828-9), with the assistance of Jesse Pease (397) supplied this pulpit until 1830, when Rev. Seth M. Ewer was settled as fourth pastor.^ He remained three years and was followed by Rev. Flavel Shurtleff (1833-4) for five months, and David Pease (1836-7) for ten months.

'A townsman living contemporaneously thus characterizes this clergyman :-" The Baptist minister employed here is Mr. Seth Ewer, a man of about 50 years of age. Very resolute and determined in whatever he undertakes, but is not generally well received by the people. Should not think him to be a man of very extensive information, or much of a scholar, but has a great degree of confidence and a faculty of showing what he has to the best advantage. His sermons, though usually long, are for the most part meagre and uninstructive and often quite irksome to hear on account of the emphasis put upon almost every word, which is altogether misplaced. He has now been here almost two years, and on the whole should fear that little good had been effected by him, as that society has appeared to be on the wane ever since he came among us, besides some members of the church are so much disaffected toward him that they will not hear or support hini." (Diary Dr. L. M Yale, January 6, 1833)

New Meeting-House Built

The old "Proprietors'" house of worship had passed into the hands of this denomination, and for about fifty-two years altogether, as previously related, had served its purpose, until beyond repair. In 1837, at a cost of about $4,500,^ the first Baptist meeting-house intended for that use was built on the site occupied by the older structure. It was a building somewhat different in style from those heretofore constructed on the Vineyard for religious worship, and a view of it, drawn from contemporary sketches and descriptions, is here shown.

It survived for forty-three years, and was destroyed in the great fire of Aug. 11, 1883, the only denomination in town to suffer in that conflagration.

Succession Of Pastors, 1838-1908 Second Baptist Meeting-House

Following the loss of the old house of worship, the Society occupied Association hall until another church home should be prepared for them. On May 30, 1884, a building com-

'The one hundredth anniversary of this church was celebrated during Rev. Mr. Coker's pastorate, December 15, 1882, and he delivered an historical address which was published as ' ' Historical address delivered on the one hundredeth anniversary of the Baptist Church, Vineyard Haven, Mass., by Rev. J. Coker, pastor" 8vo paper cover, pp. 14, Press of E. H. Manter, Vineyard Haven, Mass., 1882.

mittee consisting of Lorenzo D. Smith, John F. Robinson, Bayes F. Norton, Mrs. Myra W. Wade, and the pastor, was chosen, and funds soHcited and collected for the purpose. A new site was purchased on the corner of William and Spring streets, on which were erected a handsome church building and parsonage. They were completed in 1885 at the cost of $6,500, and dedicated the same year.

The story of the foundation of Methodism in this town is a part of the annals of its beginning upon the Vineyard, for the pioneers of this new sect did not confine their labors to any one locality. This town, however, has the distinction of being the place where the doctrines of Wesley were first expounded. Rev. Jesse Lee, the founder of Methodism in New England, preached his first sermon on the Vineyard in 1795 in the Proprietors' meeting-house on Main street. His journal makes this reference to the event : - to Mr. I. Daggett's tavern at the head of the harbor at Holmes' Hole. I was kindly received and gladly entertained. The next day I gave them a sermon in the meeting house. We had a small congregation and not much life. At night I preached again with more freedom and faithj'than in the morning, and the word seemed to make some impression on the minds of the hearers; perhaps I am the first Methodist preacher who has visited this place for the express purpose of preaching, and even now I have visited the place sooner than I intended.'

Two years later, 1797-8, Joshua Hall came as the first stationed missionary.^ He had previously been engaged in this work at Sandwich, Mass., with great success, and at the close of his term here he was able to report as the result of turning over this virgin soil on the Vineyard, hitherto unbroken, thirteen members of his " class. "^ The next was Joseph Snelling, 1798-9, also from Sandwich in turn, and he adopted the nautical style of preaching to the people, which was so successfully followed in later years by "Father" Taylor. One of his hearers said to him: ''If you had been preaching in Vermont perhaps they would not have understood you; but this is the preaching we can understand." He reported twentyfour members at the close of this conference year.' His successor was Epaphras Kibby, who came from New Rochelle, New York, but he did not long remain, as the presiding elder transferred him before the close of the year. He was the last assignment for a decade.

The "converts" were either unconverted or had gradually drifted back to older moorings, and by 1810 the sect was almost extinct. Two women only remained as evidence of the faith at that date. Erastus Otis, stationed at Falmouth, made frequent visits here and kept the dying embers from total extinguishment. William Hinman, 1811-12; Edward Hyde, 1812-13; Wlliam Frost, 1813-14; John W. Hardy, 1814-15, Benjamin Hazelton, 181 5-1 6, followed as general missionaries, but records are wanting to show the nature or results of their labors. Evidently it was all foundation work, as it was not till 1816-17, during the assignment of Shipley W. Wilson, that the first "class" was organized in this town.^ The members of it were Edmund Crowell and wife, Mrs. Sarah Parsons, Mrs. Polly Hillman, Mrs. Annie Claghorn, Hannah Hammett, and two sisters, Betsey and Cynthia Grinnell. The "class leader" was Hiram Chase, a hatter, who had come from Sandwich to follow his trade. Thomas M. Tucker followed, 181 7-18, and Mr. Wilson had a second pastorate immediately after. Eleazer Steele served here with considerable success, 181 9-20-2 1, and then came "Reformation [John] Adams," famous for his revival work. His two years' labor, 182 1-2-3, was a continuous round of personal pleadings week days and collective exhortations on Sundays. The results were a great numerical increase of converts, and a tribute to his zealous methods.^ When he left the Vineyard, a farewell ode composed by him expressing his sentiments of regret at parting, contained this verse: -

At Holmes' Hole theres some grown cold Oh Lord revive them down the Neck; The harbour round with blessings crown With power the devil's kingdom shake!

'This number probably includes all the Methodists in his jurisdiction on the Vineyard. It is not possible to say how many are to be credited to this town.

^During his sfay here Wilson wooed and won Miss Rebecca Mayhew (665) daughter of Deacon William Mayhew, against the strenuous opposition of her parents. Religious sentiment in those days was militant.

^His Autobiography, edited by his son, published in 1847, gives minute details of his life here during this first pastorate, and the second five years later, pp. 92-164 and 202-284. It is a picture of conditions on the Vineyard eighy-five years ago.

Frederick Upham succeeded this flaming sword, 1823-4, and after him came the world-famous Edward T. Taylor, known in the annals of this denomination and in Boston, where he ended his unique career, as "Father" Taylor. His pastorate, 1824-5, l^^t its deep impression upon the people of the town and island, as it did elsewhere in the later stages of his noted career. He was then about thirty years old and the atmosphere of the place well suited his idealism, and he readily adapted his preaching to this environment. The sea and its language, the deck and its manners, the forecastle and its sentiment, gave him constant inspiration, and he became the ''sailors' preacher"^ on this sea girt isle. He held services on vessels in the harbor, and on one of these occasions uttered the oft-quoted aspiration which has been paraphrased in verse, expressive of his love of the ocean : -

I do not want to be buried in the ground when I die. But bury me rather in the deep blue sea where the coral rocks shall be my pillow, and the seaweeds shall be my winding sheet, and where the waves of the ocean shall sing my requiem for ever and ever.

First Vineyard Camp-Meeting

David Culver, 1825-6, and John Adams, 1826-7, followed in succession. In this second pastorate of '^ Reformation Adams" the first known camp-meeting held on the Vineyard occurred in July and August, 1827, in a grove near the West Chop lighthouse. Of this event the preacher speaks as follows : -

To prepare the ground for camp meeting has required labor and fatigue. July 28, 1827 I preached on the camp ground. About 150 were present, and we had the shout of a King in the Camp. August i, 1827 our camp meeting commenced and more than twenty preachers were present, and not far from thirty tents were on the ground. The people came from different islands, and many from the Cape, New Bedford and Boston. All parts of the Vineyard were represented. Good order was generally observed. In the first part of the meeting but few were converted, but the meeting grew more powerful and interesting, and it was hoped that more than forty experienced religion, while many backsliders were reclaimed, old professors quickened young converts strengthened and imperfect beUevers sanctified to God. Our meetings continued a week and we had a solemn parting. We think the meeting will prove a blessing for years to come.^

Following Adams came William Barstow, 1828-9, who was assisted by Caleb Lamb; Hezekiah Thatcher, 1829-30; Thomas G. Brown, 1830-2. During Mr. Brown's pastorate a Sunday school was organized, and the church, in 1830, numbered thirty-five members.

First Methodist Meeting-House

x\s already stated, the services of this denomination had been held hitherto in the Proprietors' meeting-house in rotation with the Baptist and others, but during the succeeding pastorate of Louis Janson (1832-3), a movement for a separate house of worship was consummated.^ It had been talked about for some time, but an incident associated with the joint occupancy of the Union meeting-house precipitated the result. Members of all creeds were accustomed to attend services conducted by the others, if they desired. On one Sunday, at a Baptist service, when the communion was to be celebrated, the invitation to partake of the Lord's Supper was given in such a manner as to leave no doubt that none but Baptists would be welcome. This was the cause, according to tradition, of the efforts immediately begun to build a Methodist meeting-house where they would be independent. In the movement Capt. William Daggett was a leading spirit and liberal contributor, and others lent services, if they were unable to give funds. As a preliminary to perfecting their independency and the right to hold property for religious uses, the members were incorporated March 7, 1833, as the "First Methodist Episcopal Society in Tisbury." The building was completed at a cost of nearly $2,000 in July following, and dedicated July 1 1 , that year. It is still standing on Church street, known for years as Capawock hall, and now occupied as a Masonic Temple, the property of that order.

'A contemporary thus characterizes the preacher:-" The Methodist Minister that is now occupieci here is Mr. Louis Janson, an Englishman by birtli, young, say 27 or 28, active, possessed of some natural talent, but not a very thorough education and his sermons are mostly addressed to the passions of his hearers, without being very instructive and this is true of most of the preachers of that denomination, that I have heard. There has been, however, a good deal of religious excitement under his preaching and a number give good evidence of having met with a saving change and have united with the class, which I understand to be a state of probation for six months previous to joining the church, during which time if they walk orderly, they are afterward admitted, but if not, rejected." (Diary of Leroy M. Yale, M. D., January 6, 1833.) During Mr. Janson's term the Seamen's Prayermeeting was inaugurated, and for twenty-five years it continued its meetings on the first Thursday of every month. They were non-sectarian, and sailors at sea who had attended it were expected to remember the time and hold like services wherever they might be. Mr. Janson in 1836 became an Episcopal clergyman.

Mark Staple, 1833-5; Aaron Josselyn, 1835-6; Joseph B. Brown, 1836-7;^ Abram Holloway, 1837-8; Mark Staple (second time), 1838-9; Onesiphorous Robbins, 1839-41;^ Henry H. Smith, 1841-2;^ J. G. Goodrich, 1842-4; Nathan Paine, 1844-5; ^^^ A. B. Wheeler, 1845-7. During the terms of these ministers the society prospered greatly in numbers, and increased its influence in the community.

Second Methodist Meeting-House

As a result of the growth of the membership, the old building which had been in use but twelve years was found to be too small to accommodate the congregation, and the building of a new house of worship was determined upon by the society. A lot of land opposite the existing meeting-house, on the northeast corner of William and Church streets was donated by Captain William Daggett, and a larger and more pretentious structure built thereon and dedicated Nov. 13, 1845, with appropriate ceremonies. This new house had cost $6,500, and was surmounted by a tower which now carries a clock. A pipe organ, costing $1,200, was installed in 1865, to replace a small instrument worked by hand. The building has had a few additions and trivial changes inside and out and remains today substantially as originally designed.

The Congregational Church

The first meetings of a religious society organized under the Congregationalist denomination were held about 1825, in the small one story building, occupied for a long time after as an undertaker's establishment, and since 1903 by Sea Coast Defence Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. The building was then used as a school during week days, and on Sunday for religious purposes. This school-house for years after was known as the "Chapel." It had a small cupola, within which was suspended a triangle that called the people to worship, and the scholars to struggle with the rudimentary R's. It continued to do this double duty until 1844, when members of the society felt that they should outgrow its temporary shell, and build a larger edifice devoted exclusively to their uses.

Nathan Mayhew, the school-teacher, was one of the prime movers in the establishment of the Congregational church, and became one of its Deacons.^

Another associate with the late Deacon Mayhew was Dr. Leroy M. Yale, and from his diary the following notes of the beginning of this society are taken : -

In 1844, after much deliberation, Mr. James L. Barrows, Nathan Mayhew and myself formed the design of organizing a Congregational Church in this place and we obtained the services of Rev. Wm. Gould of Fairhaven who commenced preaching in a small school house and after a few weeks, a small church of ten members was organized, which was soon increased by the addition of five or six more.

Having thus made a beginning and not having a suitable house for worship, we determined on building a meeting house and in the course of that season erected one at a cost of nearly five thousand dollars, in which we have since held our meetings having settled as our first minister Rev. Samuel S. Tappan, who is still with us. This step, viz, the organization of the church and building of the meeting house has called out the most violent opposition by the Baptists and Methodists, so much so that they, or individuals of the Baptist society have advanced money to the amount of 3 or 4 hundred dollars to set up a physician in opposition to me and the Methodists have built them a new house, which they did not previously design.^

Rev. Mr. Tappan remained until 1849, ^^^ was succeeded by William Fyvie, who remained one year (1850) only. The next and last settled minister was William H. Sturtevant, who held the pastorate until 1859, when he accepted a call to the West Tisbury church and the society gradually dissolved. The church building was occupied by the Universalists, and they were in turn followed by the Unitarians, but it was abandoned for church worship about 1866, and used for secular purposes as a public hall, and by the town for a town hall. It is now known as Association hall, from its former ownership by a number of shareholders. It now contains the town offices and fire apparatus.

Unitarian Church

Seamen's Chapel. - In 1867 Rev. Daniel Waldo Stevens was sent to Homes Hole by the American Unitarian Association as a missionary. He was a Harvard graduate, class of 1846, of the Divinity school in 1848, and from 1850 to 1862 was settled in Mansfield, Mass. For a number of years he had been doing unattached mission work for the association, and when he came to Homes Hole he saw an opportunity to serve the multitudes of seafaring men who came annually into the harbor as a port of call. A man of strong intellect, unconventional in his methods, and full of enthusiasm, he soon had established a chapel and reading room for sailors, on a commanding bluff midway to the head of the harbor. Through the aid of friends and the support of this denomination, he maintained a unique establishment where he dwelt and ministered to "Jack" at all times for nearly twenty-four years. In this way he was quite as well known to mariners on the coast as the famous "Father" Taylor, who had in earlier years carried on the same work at this place. His rooms were a veritable museum of curios, interesting and valuable, for he was a collector of historical and natural relics and knew their worth, and a splendid collection of stone implements made by the aborigines, was one of the important portions of this treasure house.* The author recalls this venerable man in the last years of his ministry, when after acting as sexton and ringing his own bell on Sunday morning he would continue

'This collection of Indian implements was removed from the Vineyard by his son after the death of Dr. Stevens, and was placed on deposit with the Bristol, R. I. Historical Society. It is a matter of great regret that this unique collection was not donated to a local museum.

the service, somewhat short of breath from his exertion. He was at his beloved chapel until his last sickness put an end to his labors. He died Oct. i, 1891, aged 71 years, having been born Jan. 18, 1820, at Marlboro, Mass.* After his death the building passed into private hands, and has been remodeled into a summer residence.

Church of the Unity. - The residents who had attended Dr. Stevens' services for a considerable time desired to continue the skeleton organization that had existed in his day, but for a number of years the project of reviving his work languished. The matter was finally taken up by an association of Unitarians, called the Channing Conference. A neat building was erected by it on the West Chop road, on a picturesque knoll in the grove, in 1896, and in 1898 the ''Vineyard Haven Unitarian Society" was organized to maintain services therein. Since that date a regular ministerial supply has been had, beginning with W. C. Litchfield, 1898-1903; W. H. Johnson, 1905-07; 1. P. Quimby, 1907 (present incumbent). The meeting-house is generally known as the Stevens Memorial Chapel.

The Episcopal Church

On Dec. 25, 1862, the first public service of this church was held at Capawock Hall by the Rev. John West of New York, and as a result of the interest manifested, that clergyman was appointed missionary for Martha's Vineyard. Services were held for several years, but were discontinued owing to the ill health of Mr. West.

In the summer of 1866 services were held by the Rev. Benjamin Gifford, who baptized five persons. During the following winter services were held monthly by the Rev. Hiram Carleton of the Church of the Messiah at Woods Hole, with which parish this Mission had been incorporated. The removal or death of many of the communicants caused the services to be discontinued, except such as were held in private houses, as the membership was not large at this time. In this pioneer work the late Mrs. Ellen Louisa Richardson, who was one of the earliest members of the "Summer colony," was a conspicuous leader. She was a devout and devoted member of the church in another part of the state, and brought with her the zeal to carry on the mission work for her church in her adopted home. Services were again held in Association hall in the summer of 1881, by the Rev. Benjamin Gifford, the Rev. John J. Roberts, D.D. and the Rev. Arthur B. Conger. During the summer of 1882 services vi^ere held in Association hall by the Rev. Thos. G. Addison, D.D., the Rev. F. S. Harraden, the Rev. Samuel Edwards and the Rev. J. S. Beers. As a result of this renewed interest in the church a meeting was held July 17, 1882, and an Association formed for the purpose of raising money to build a chapel. Gen. Benjamin Alvord, U.S.A., was chosen Chairman; Col. Asa B. Carey U.S.A. and Laura, his wife, gave a lot of land, 50 x 100 feet, on Main street, opposite the Grove Hall house, on which to build the edifice. On Sept. 25, 1882, another meeting was held, at which articles of association and by-laws recommended by the Diocesan Convention of Massachusetts were adopted, and a permanent organization known as Grace Episcopal Church Congregation was formed. Dr. W. D. Stewart, U.S. Marine Hospital Service, was elected warden, Mr. Thos. H. Tuckerman was elected treasurer, and Miss Martha W. Daggett, secretary. It was announced by the treasurer that the sum of $1,000 had been subscribed. A building committee consisting of Dr. W. D. Stewart, Mr. T. H. Tuckerman, and Mr. H. W. McLellan was appointed.

On Tuesday, Sept. 26, 1882, the corner-stone of Grace Church was laid by the Rev. John J. Roberts, D.D., of New York. During its construction cottage services were held at the residence of Mr. Thos. Tuckerman, from Oct. i, 1882, to June 3, 1883, by Dr. R. A. Ottiwell, lay reader. The Church was opened for divine service June 3, 1883, and on Friday, June 15, the building was duly consecrated by the Rt. Rev. Benjamin H. Paddock, D.D., Bishop of Massachusetts, assisted by the Revs. E. M. Gushee, B. R. Gifford, and John S. Beers. At this service a class of four persons was confirmed, and Holy Communion administered to fifty persons.

The records show that after this the following clergymen conducted the services in the next few years ; the' Rev. John J. Roberts, D.D., the Rev. H. H. Neales, the Rev. Jno. S. Beers, the Rev. Wm. S. Chase, the Rev. Jos. Dinsey, and in October, 1894, the Rev. Wm. Cleveland Hicks was appointed the first permanent resident clergyman in charge of the church. The Rev. Mr. Hicks resigned in September, 1898, to accept a call to St. Agnes' Church, New York. During the rectorate of Rev. Mr. Hicks the church building was moved from its original site on Main street to the corner of William and Woodlawn streets. The Rev. H. S. Habersham succeeded to the charge March, 1899, and served until September, 1900. The Rev. Harland H. Ryder was appointed to the charge in May, 1902, and resigned in January, 1904. Various clergymen and lay readers continued the services until Oct. i, 1906, when the Rev. Wm. Doane Manross was appointed to the charge, and is the present Rector. The whole island of Martha's Vineyard is now incorporated into one parish, and the rector of Grace Church, Vineyard Haven, has charge of all matters within the jurisdiction of the Episcopal church. The church building was remodeled in 1901 by the addition of transepts and lengthening the chancel end of the nave, making the whole of cruciform shape. The enlarged church was dedicated on the tenth Sunday after Trinity of that year by the Arch-Deacon of New Bedford, the Rev. Samuel G. Babcock, assisted by a former rector, Rev. WiUiam C. Hicks. There were seven memorial gifts, one of which, a beautiful chancel window by Tiffany, was the gift of the family of Ellen Louisa Richardson and George Morey Richardson. It is the finest piece of stained glass work on the Vineyard, and represents, in life size, the risen Christ, in white vestments, coming forth from a garden of green and tinted foliage, with raised hand and finger pointing upward, as bearing an Easter message to his flock. Soft blue sky and distant hills in faint atmospheric haze complete a picture of singular impressiveness. The bell, prayer desk and chancel chairs were presented by Judge and Mrs. William H. Arnoux, in memory of their deceased children. The altar cross of polished and ornamented brass is a memorial to Rev. Henry Huntley Neales. An oaken font, a replica of the ancient stone font in the church of St. John the Baptist, Tisbury, England, in which was baptized (1593) Governor Thomas Mayhew, was presented by the family of the author of this history as a memorial to a deceased relative, Mrs. Hester Nash Myers, a devoted communicant of the church. A representation of it may be seen in Vol. I, p. 116, of this work. The communion rail, of moulded oak and ornamental brass standards, is a memorial to Emily Norwood de Forest Hicks and Lucy Cleveland Hicks, and the altar, of beautiful Gothic construction with carved columns and traceried panels, is a memorial to Emma Sheldon Strahan. In addition to these memorials, two mural tablets adorn the walls, one to Gen. Benjamin Alvord, U.S.A., and the other to Surgeon W. D. Stewart, both identified with the early foundations of this parish.

The first record of the granting of a license for a tavern on the Vineyard is found under date of March 26, 1677-8, when Lieut. Isaac Chase of Homes Hole was granted a license to keep ''A Publike house." The following is the full record:

Isaack Chase of Holmses hole is admitted to keep a publike house of Entertainment & to sell liquor &c by Retail except to the Indians and this to continue for two years at ten shillings per annum.

This house, situated in Vineyard Haven, then Homes Hole, was the residence of the progenitor of the Chase family on the Vineyard. The location of it is not accurately known, but it was about fifty yards north of the old Company Place barn, near which, in early days was the ferry stage for the boats that plied between Falmouth and Tisbury. Following the custom of so many elsewhere. Landlord Chase combined the calling of an inn-keeper with that of a ferryman.

Thomas Chase, who succeeded his father, as eldest son, and in the course of time, Abraham Chase, who probably built the "Great House," were inn-keepers at Homes Hole. Thomas was the ferryman, following in his father's wake, and with his sloop "Vineyard" piloted travelers to his inn by the beach. At the same time, Thomac West was granted a license in 1722 to be an innholder at Homes Hole; his tavern was the house in which he lived near the Marine Hospital.

In 1722, Thomas Chase having deceased, his widow Jane was licensed the next year in succession to her deceased husband, and the energetic widow maintained the inn until her second marriage in 1724, to Thomas Cathcart. Thomas Cathcart died in 1732, and in his will calls himself an "innholder," which indicates that he continued the business until his decease. The widow Jane survived till 1750, and presumably maintained the inn, where we may surmise that the dispenser of spiritual comfort to her guests and general factotum was her mulatto servant, Ishmael.

The "Great House" was doubtless the tavern kept by Abraham Chase. Among the patrons of the house were the sailors who came into Homes Hole, storm-bound, to find good cheer while waiting for fair weather. One of this class found here a bride, the inn-keeper's daughter, Hannah. The happy "Jack Tar" was Captain John Ferguson of Kittery, Maine, and probably they were married in that house in 1742. Their son John became a captain when he came to manhood. The "Great House," remaining in the hands of Abraham Chase, passed to his widow, who, marrying again, with her husband, Thomas Winston, transferred it in 1777 to Elijah Smith, Senior, and the latter sold it in 1796 to his son, Elijah. It remained a public house, it is believed, under the last named owner.

Thus it will be seen that the business of tavern keeping on the Vineyard in early days descended in family succession. The former generations of travelers to the Vineyard were thus able to return to familiar hearths and the convenient taprooms of Chase's at Homes Hole and Sarson's (later Worth's) at Edgartown, with a feeling of homecoming.

It may be safely believed that' 'Chase's" was not the only tavern, for the business of tavern-keeping was not confined to one or two persons. Very few of the old houses in our village have not been at one time or another a "licensed inn," and the occupation of bum-boating, fishing, and keeping tavern were combined by many. It will only be feasible to speak of the more prominent.

Another "innholder" of Homes Hole was Ebenezer Allen, son of Ichabod of Chilmark, who had married Sarah Chase. In 1745 he was first licensed as "innholder" of the constablewick of Homes Hole, and this fact should be interesting, because Maria Allen, one of the three "liberty pole" heroines, was his daughter, and we may easily suppose that this dashing young girl was the moving spirit in the life of the tavern kept by her father. Its location is not definitely known, but it was undoubtedly on the land set off to his wife in the division of the Chase property.

In 1759 John Baxter kept an ordinary in this town. Its location is not known, and as he was not a property owner, he presumably hired a house of Jonathan Manter for the carrying on of his business. The only reference to it is found in the Boston News Letter, issue of May 5, 1762. It says: -

We hear from Marthas Vineyard that on the 29th of last month the house of IVIr John Baxter, Tavern keeper at Holmes' Hole, was consumed by fire with most of the household furniture and goods that was therein. It was occasioned by a defect in the Chimney. The whole was consumed in eight minutes.

The tavern kept by Joseph Claghorn (b. 1753, d. 1805), in the house now owned by Deacon Holmes Athearn, was a famous one in its day, and the sign of it is still in existence, covered with paintings of various sizes of receptacles for liquids. After viewing the wide choice of measures, the traveler would hardly need the invitation of "Walk In," which accompanied these pictorial representations of the kind of cheer dispensed there. The only problem that might arise in his mind, after investigating these generous tankards, would be whether he could walk out.^

This Claghorn Tavern is also interesting because at one time Polly Daggett Hillman, another of the "liberty pole" heroines, lived there. Joseph Claghorn followed in the foot-

*The author has been told that this sign was suspended 'from an iron arm swung from a tall pole, after the manner of tavern signs, and not from the house.

steps of his grandfather, Thomas, who was an innkeeper at Eastville. The Branscomb house on Beach street was an inn before 1800 to about 181 2, being the residence of a village factotum, Dr. Rufus Spaulding, who was doctor, postmaster, justice, village librarian, inn-keeper, and Master of the lodge of Masons. The adjoining lot was occupied by Jane, wife of Timothy Luce (1016), who also kept open house for w^ayfarers, a business that has been maintained for a century at the same place; the present Mansion house, our most pretentious modern hotel, rises over the cellar hole of the modest inn of Mistress Luce. It was later kept by Matthew Butler. Forty years ago "Porte Crayon," the famous artist of Harper's Magazine at that period, visited our island and thus speaks of the Mansion house, then kept by the late Mrs. Nickerson: "A civil porter" he says "takes charge of our baggage and conducts us to the house of entertainment, kept by Mrs. Captain Leander West, an old-fashioned country inn, and as full of comfort, tidiness and snugness as all the old fashioned places are supposed to be."

In the olden times it was customary for captains, supercargoes and passengers to come ashore and put up at the taverns, sometimes for weeks, while their vessels rode at anchor, wind-bound, in Homes Hole. Frequently these vessels carried persons who in later years became prominent, and it has been stated that Commodore John Paul Jones was a visitor to our haven under the above conditions, and was well remembered by '^A.unt Sally" Claghorn.

"Smith's Tavern" was first kept by Silas Daggett (1757- 1825), and afterwards by Captain David Smith (i 757-1818). The house lately owned by Dr. William Leach was a tavern

From The Dbs Barres Chart

Space will not allow of the particular enumeration of other and later taverns, the Dexter House on the beach, the Thomas Dunham house (where Joseph Chase follows the occupation of his ancestor as "mine host," nor of our latest creations, the Tashmoo Inn and The Cedars). The historian of the future must preserve their traditions.

Beach Street. - This highway, usually called the ferry road, was the first to be officially laid out in February, 1763, and again in May, 1776, though it had been a town way since the beginning of that century. The ferry landing on Bass creek was at the foot of Beach street, and probably it was the first and only public street into the settlement at that time. The following record describes the way as laid out on the last named date : -

The Southmost Cart Way that runs from sd Gate to the Harbour: said way to be Forty feet from the Furthermost Rut of sd Cart Way untill it comes to a heap of Stones near the Cherry Trees that stand to the Eastward of Mr. Abraham Chases Barn, and from that to the Harbour or water, as the Road or way now Runs: and from that to the Crick where the ferry boat now Lyes at the Stage Forty feet wide from high water mark.^

In 1 801 this street was resurveyed, and it was determined at that time where the landing stage of the ferry was formerly situated. "Which place," the committee stated, "is North 54° East from the top of the Chimney of Jedidah Coffin's dwelling House, and N. seventy degrees East from the Top of the Chimney of Robert Cottle's dwelling house. "^

^Abraham Chase was given liberty to set up a gate across said way, "near where the Try House stood formerly, if he see cause." He was awarded two pounds damages. (Dukes Co. Court Records, May term, 1776.)

*Ibid., April term, 1801. These chimneys are yet standing, the Coffin house being now known as the Cromwell house, and the one next west (Crowell) was the West- Cottle house.

Main Street. - As the settlement grew northward a way was made by carts parallel to the shore. It was the usual ''path" blocked by gates and bars at each cross fence, while at the junction with Beach street the Great Gate, so called, was erected, which shut off the entire Neck. This way was laid out in October, 1798, and the official record of its course is as follows : -

Beginning at North side of the Old Highway that leads from the Head of Homes Hole Harbor to the town of Tisbury the East Corner Post of Peter Butlers frunt Inclosure and from thence North 25 Degrees East till it comes to the Divisional Line between the Meeting House Lot thence North 10 Degrees East to the East corner of Silas Daggett's frunt yard and to continue northerly by said Daggett yard to the North Corner

The above described line thus far to be the Westerly Bounds of said Road, and from said Line to take its breadth Easterly full twenty-seven feet in all its parts and windings.

And from the last described stake and stones to pass over said road Eastward to another stake and stones standing at Right Angles and twentyseven feet Distant which is the easterly bounds of said Road, and from thence to continue Northerly as the Old Cart Way now goes, and parallel thereto, and three feet to the Eastward of the Eastermost Cart Rut, until it comes upon the land of John Holmes to a large crotched black oak to the Northward of where the Path that leads to the house of the sd Holmes turns out of the sd Cart way and then from said black oak tree to continue on the same course on a straight hne to a stake standing on the Beach at the Hollow (so called) and so to the Water or Harbor and to continue Northerly by the Harbor till it meets with the Head of the Point Pond (so called) and southerly till it comes to the foot of the Upland and to be in Breadth forty foot in all parts.*

No changes have been made in this layout since that date, but in 18 18 there was a petition to the Court from the property holders for permission "to maintain a Gate across the County highway that leads from the head of Homes Hole harbour towards the West Chop . . . . .in the lands of the late Timothy Chase at or near the house of John Cleveland." This was granted and maintained for many years. It was not till 1889 that the road from the Slough to the Lighthouse was cleared and graded, its width marked and. the surface dressed with shells. It is now a splendid highway its entire length.

Wharf Street, - Some time prior to 1834 the way leading from Main street to Union wharf was laid out. It began according to the record, "at the South westerley corner of Capt Charles Smiths lot and runing by said Smiths and Jonathan Luce Jr Land to high water mark the course to be S 89° E distance twenty three rods & Eight feet to a bound there Sett Making said road forty feet wide at the High water line and thirty feet wide at the head."^

William Street. - This street received its name as a compliment to Captain William Daggett, prominent in town and church affairs. It was officially laid out in 1864, as far north as the lane leading by the old "Chapel" school house.

The Post Office

The first representative of the general government to be established here was the Post Office department, which appointed Isaac Daggett, on Jan. i, 1795, as postmaster of Homes Hole. At that early time the office was in the residence or store of the occupant of the position, and it is probable that it was then in his store and tavern on Wharf street. He held this appointment only a brief time, and was' succeeded

Capt. William Daggett

Apirl I, 1796, by Joseph Claghorn, who then Hved in the Hillman house on Water street, where the office was probably carried. The position was held by Claghorn for exactly two years, and he was succeeded by Silas Daggett (115), who kept the tavern on the corner of Main and Centre streets. After him came Dr. Rufus Spalding, who was appointed Jan. I, 1803, and took the office to his residence on Beach street. His successor was Theodosius Parsons, appointed March 23, 18 1 2, and he held the office for sixteen years, keeping it in his house on Main street, opposite Spring street.^ Capt. William Cottle (105) was- the next postmaster, commissioned Jan. 28, 1828, and the office was located in his store adjoining his house on Main street, opposite Centre street. He died 1830, and it appears that the Postmaster General wrote to the people here to select a successor. The town records contain the following entry : -

Voted by ballot for a suitable man to keep the post office in holmes hole in answer to a Request from the Postmaster General. Votes being brought in & counted for Charles West seven for William Downs one^ [November 24, 1830I.

This town meeting of eight voters had no effect upon the matter, for before they had solemnly met to vote, a successor was already appointed, Nov. it, 1830, in the person of Capt. Shubael Dunham (257), who lived on the spot now occupied by the present post office, corner of Church and IMain streets. He held the office till his death, in 1835, when he was followed by his son George Dunham (425), who was commissioned March 2, 1835, and held the office for over twenty-three years, the longest tenure of any of our postmasters. His successors have been as follows: Eliakim Norton, appointed Sept. 15, 1858; James Norton, Feb. 14, 1861; James D. Peakes, July 25, 1861 ; George N. Peakes, Nov. 7, 1881 ; John F. Robinson, Sept. 18, 1885; Horton Johnson, 1900- 1902; Stephen Cary Luce, 1902 (present incumbent). After the fire of 1883 the office was located in Lane's block till the appointment of Mr. Luce, who removed it to the corner of Main and Church streets, where it now is.

'He was from Greenwich, Conn., and had served as a soldier in the Connecticut troops. He was in the Lexington alarm list, 1775, and served as a gunner in Col. Lamb's regiment of artillery. His enlistments covered the war from start to finish.

Customs Service

In 1 817 Homes Hole was made a sub-port of entry for Edgartown, in consequence of the growth of this place as a maritime centre. Prior to that, Capt. William Worth (65), was acting as customs officer here, until his removal in 181 4 to Charlton, Mass. His nephew, Henry Pease Worth (72), was the first Deputy Collector, under appointment dated Nov. 29, 181 7, and he held this position nearly fifty years. His office was in a building where the Public Library is now located, on Main street. He was succeeded, June 17, 1861, by^Capt. Henry W. Beetle, a native of New Bedford, who held the office for nearly thirty years, until his death. The present incumbent, Lorenzo F. Luce, was appointed Aug. 16, 1890, and it will be noted as an unusual circumstance that for a period of over ninety years (181 7-1908) there have been but three persons to occupy this office in succession.