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

The Algonquian name for the historic isle, as given above, is a compound of Pohqu-etahun-kunnoh, which means an open, cleared (broken up) field, which had been cultivated, a planting field. It may have been bestowed in consequence of the brief cultivation undertaken by Gosnold as related by his journalist, or to similar work done by the natives. It is now abbreviated by the elision of the first syllable and the slurring of the last two, leaving Cutohhunk or Cuttyhunk as now written. Earlier forms of spelling are Catehank (1690) and Cuddahunka (1791).

This island is irregular in shape, enclosing a large fresh water pond with an islet therein, a peculiar conformation not found in any other like situation hereabouts. The land comprises about five hundred acres, some of it very fertile.

'Dukes Deeds, I, 253; Comp. N. Y. Council Minutes, III, 68. ^Ibid., I, 127, 129. They were sons of Henry Tucker of Dartmouth ^From "Fishing in American Waters."

Gosnold's island. The lofty promontory running out from the north end was called Cappiquat. The passage between Cuttyhunk and Nashawena bears the name of Canapitset.

Hither, in 1602, came Bartholomew Gosnold, as already described in detail, seeking a suitable place to begin the foundation of a colony under the patronage of the Virgin Queen.

This little island they chose for their abode, and on this spot Gosnold began the foundation of the first settlement of Englishmen in this region. The description of the place is unmistakable in its accuracy:

On the Northwest side of this island, neere to the sea side, is a standing Lake of fresh water, almost three Enghsh miles in Compasse, in the middest whereof stands a plot of woodie ground, an acre in quantitie or not above: this lake is full of small Tortoises and exceedingly frequented with all plot of ground in the midst of the Lake above mentioned where we built an house and covered it with sedge, which grew about this lake in great abundance; in building whereof we spent three weeks and more.'

Gosnold'S Island Cuttyhunk

and tall, beech, elm, holly, walnut trees in abundance, hazlenut trees, cherry trees, sassafras trees, great plenty all over the island, a tree of high price and profit; also divers other fruit

^On it was erected, in 1903, through the efforts of a number of patriotic men living in this section, a stone tower as a memorial of the first discovery and settlement of Englishmen on our soil.

trees." This seems almost a fairy tale in the light of present day condition. The "stately trees" either existed mostly in his imagination for colonizing purposes, or else they have melted before the devastating axes of former generations. Fifty years ago not a tree was growing on the island and not even a decayed or decaying stump could be seen above the surface. Even now but a few small shade trees are to be seen, the survivors of many planted, struggling for existence through the cold blasts of winter, and the constant wear and tear of the winds from the ocean.

The voyagers worked on their fort and storehouse, as if they intended to remain, and presumably finished both. While here they visited the mainland in the direction of Dartmouth, and went possibly as far as New Bedford. In all this time their intercourse with the natives was satisfactory, agreeable and profitable, and nothing is recorded to explain their brief stay. In less than a month the company had decided to abandon the settlement and return to England. The journalist thus states the alleged reasons for this sudden change :

But after our barke had taken in much Sassafras, Cedar, Furres, Skins and other commodities as were thought convenient, some of our company that had promised Captain Gosnold to stay, having nothing but a saving [i. e., money making] voyage in their minds, made our company of inhabitants (which was small enough before) much smaller, so as Captain Gosnold, seeing his whole strength to consist of but twelve men, and they but meanly provided, determined to return for England, leaving this island (which he called Elizabeth's Island) with as many true sorrowful eies as w^ere before desirous to see it.

Purchase And Settlement

Cuttyhunk remained an uninhabited island after its abandonment by Gosnold for an indefinite period. It came into the possession of Thomas Mayhew, probably by purchase from the Indian Sachem of this region, and in 1668 he sold it to Philip Smith, Peleg Sanford and Thomas Ward, all of Newport, R. I.^ Sanford acquired the rights of the others and in 1688 disposed of one-half of it to Ralph Earle of Dartmouth.^ Earle sold this the same year to his son Ralph

Earle, Jr., who became as far as can be determined the first permanent settler.^ In 1693 Ralph, Junior, sold a quarter of the island to his brother, William,^ and by successive purchases of the holdings of these two brothers and Peleg Sanford's remaining half, all in 1693, Peleg Slocum of Dartmouth became the sole owner. ^ The Slocum family continued to reside here for the next century.

Visitations By Historians, 1 797, 1817 And 1903

The fame of this island because of its first discovery and occupancy by Gosnold has been the occasion for a number of pilgrimages hither by persons interested in the history and antiquities of New England. The first of record is that made by the Rev. Jeremy Belknap, one of our earliest historians, whew in 1797 came to Cuttyhunk for the particular purpose of identifying the locality where Gosnold built his fort and storehouse. He published his findings of which the following is an abstract:

To this spot I went on the 20th day of June, 1797 in company with several gentlemen (foot-note, Capt. Tallman of New York, John Spooner, Mr. Allen, pilot, of New Bedford) whose curiosity and obliging kindness induced them to accompany me. The protecting hand of Nature has reserved this favorite spot to herself. Its fertility and its productions are exactly the same as in Gosnold's time, except the wood of which there is none. Every species of what he calls 'rubbish' with strawberries, peas, tansy, and other fruits and herbs appear in rich abundance unmolested by any animal but aquatic birds. We had the supreme satisfaction to find the cellar of Gosnold's store-house: the stones of which were evidently taken from the neighboring beach: the rocks of the islet being less moveable and lying in ledges. The whole island of Cuttyhunk has been for years stripped of its wood, but I was informed by Mr. Greenhill, an old resident farmer, that the trees which formerly grew on it were such as are described in Gosnold's Journal. The soil is very fine garden mould from the bottom of the vallies to the top of the hills and aflfords rich pasture.*

In 181 7 another party composed of members of the Massachusetts Historical Society made a pilgrimage to examine the site of the Gosnold settlement. Their report states: cedar stood near the shore, and we brought home a piece of it as a remembrance of our expedition. On the Northern bank of the islet, about ten yards from the water, we found a small excavation overgrown with bushes and grass, on one side of which were three large stones in a row at the distance of three feet from each other, having under them other stones of the same size l}ing in the same direction. Between these were smaller stones, which appeared by their form and smoothness to have been taken from the beach. In another excavation tv^enty yards south of the former, near the centre and highest part of the islet were similar stones, but very few in number and not disposed in any apparent order. On digging in other parts of the islet we found more of the same kind. We conjectured that the first excavation was all that remained of Gosnold's cellar and the latter a part of the trench dug for the purpose of forming the fort.*

In the early part of this century these remains, as described, were to be seen, but unfortunately since then the ground of the httle island has been ploughed up and cultivated, so that scarcely a vestige remains of Gosnold's work of three centuries ago. Careful excavation might restore it.

The tercentenary of Gosnold's settlement and occupation of this island, occurring in 1902, a number of gentlemen interested in historical research, formed an association to erect a memorial of the event. This took definite form in the shape of a design for a stone tower to be placed on Gosnold's island in the pond, and it was completed and dedicated with appropriate ceremonies in August, 1903. It is a round tower built of rough stone, with circular steps inside to the look-out deck at the top, and it makes a commanding landmark for mariners approaching the Vineyard sound from the west.

This island is three miles long and a mile wide. It was originally bought, in 1674, by Peleg Sanford, Philip Smith and Thomas Ward, the latter two owning the eastern half.^ By various purchases of the heirs of these first proprietors, about 1743, it came into the possession of Holder Slocum and remained in the tenure and occupation of his descendants for the next hundred years. ^

The earliest form of this name is Puanakesset (1670), and it is also written Penemakeeset (1696), varied with Penekesset, Penuasset (1731), and a modern form is Pune (1870).

The island contains about forty acres, and was bought of the Mayhews, in 1670 by Daniel Wilcox, who sold it to Peleg Slocum and Abraham Tucker.* It gradually became the possession of Holder Slocum and his heirs. In 1873 the late Prof. Louis Agassiz appealed to the public and the General Court for the funds to establish a summer school of comparative zoology, and the then owner of this island, Mr. John Anderson of New York, a wealthy tobacco merchant, offered him the use of Penekese and a fund of $50,000, as an endowment for the school. The offer was accepted, work on the buildings was begun, and when complete it was called the Anderson School of Natural History. It was in operation for two summers when a fire destroyed it, and the school was never rebuilt.^ In 1907 the state acquired the island, and has erected thereon an establishment for the isolation and treatment of patients afflicted with leprosy.

Egg Or Gull Island

This very small island, just east of Penekese, was first in the possession of Ralph Earle, Sr., of Dartmouth, and in 1693 he transferred it to William Ingraham, a shipwright of Swansea w^ho sold it in 1734 to Holder Slocum, and it became an inheritance in this family during the following century.^

Lighthouse Establishment : - One of the earliest lighthouses on this coast was erected on Naushon at Tarpaulin cove. It was built in 1759 by Zaccheus Lambert, a tavern keeper resident there, "at his own Cost & Charges .... save that the People of Nantucket have found him Oyle out of their meer Courtesy." It was established to the satisfaction of the General Court in 1762 that it had "been a means of Saving many Vessels from being lost & found to be of great advantage to Navigation," and this enterprising citizen was granted a sum out of the Province treasury for his expenses.* Ever since that time a light has been maintained there, but it was not till 181 6 that the general government assumed control and erected the present building.

^" Origin and Progress of the Anderson School of Natural History at Penekese Island," 1874, with illustrations. The trustees were Louis Agassiz, Thomas G. Carey, Alexander Agassiz, Martin Brimmer and Theodore Lyman.

Six years later the lighthouse on Cuttyhunk was built by the government (1822), and with its mate at Gay Head forms the beacons to the mariners entering Vineyard Sound from the west.

Life Saving Service. - The reefs that make off from the western extremity of the Elizabeth Islands, with the "Sow and Pigs" as a first danger, have made this a disastrous point for ships in bad weather. Many a vessel has gone to destruction hereabouts. This caused the demand for the establishment of a station of the Life Saving Service of the United States, and on Feb. 14, 1890, it was placed in commission, bearing the name Cuttyhunk, on which island it is located.

Present Condition Of Town

The town of Gosnold is nearly fifty years old, and in that time has made gratifying material progress. Its first appropriation of $400 for town expenses, in 1864, looks small in comparison with the money raised this year (1909). In 1869 the taxes had more than doubled, $872.92, while in 1883 they had risen to $1,445.81. In 1890 they raised $1,678.30, and ten years later $1,850.06, with a little larger balance to their credit each year. The present year (1909) the totals are: receipts, $2,994.35; expenditures, $2,201.15; ^ seven-fold increase which is an indication of the thrift and prosperity of this little island settlement.