Dukes County, Massachusetts - The whole text, 1911 (part 5 of 15)

There was a fortification in this town as early as 1691, of which Andrew Newcomb was the Commander, with a number of men enlisted to man the works; but of its size, strength, or location no evidence is obtainable.^ It was probably situated at or near Pease's Point, the most available site from strategic considerations. Nothing further of its history is known.

'Mass. Arch., XCV, 209. The full list of members of this company is preserved in this document. The "alarm list" indicates persons available at that time for service in the French and Indian Wars. Vide Appendi.x, Vol. I.

'Mass. Arch., XCIX, 24. There was also an Indian Military Company in Edgartown, with Enoch Cofhn, Jr., as Captain, Elijah Smith as Lieutenant, and Richard Coffin as Ensign.

*The officers of this regiment of militia were Beriah Norton, Colonel; Malatiah Davis, Lieutenant Colonel; Brotherton Daggett and Mayhew Adams, Majors.

a Platform & eight guns, six Pounders or others equivalent mounted & all suitable Warlike stores procured." The conditions of this grant were that "the same be maintained from time to time in good repair," and upon failure to abide by the covenant the town should repay the amount granted into the public treasury/ At a town meeting held in December following, the thanks of the people were tendered for the grant, and it was voted "that the fortification shall be erected and built in the most convenient place near the harbor." A committe of five^ were also appointed, "to determine where the fortification should be built and get the work done," but the conditions of the grant were finally deemed to be disadvantageous, and a sentiment against acceptance prevailed to such an extent that a town meeting was called for March lo, 1 74 1, when it was "voted to reconsider the vote relating to receiving the seven hundred pounds granted by the General Court" and all other votes "relating to agent & committee to draw money, build fort, get guns &c."

John Sumner, Enoch Coffin, Esq., Simeon Butler, Esq., A'Ir. Tristram Coffin, Ebenezer Norton, Esq., Mr. Matt. Norton, and Capt. Timothy Daggett, were chosen a committee to consider the whole affair and report to adjourned meeting.' This was held on March 19, 1741, and the report made by them was as follows : -

"The committee appointed to consider and report what is proper for the town to do in the affair of the seven hundred pounds granted by the General Court to fortify the town are of opinion that the town at present should neither Except or Refuse said money on the conditions it is granted and that a Petission be prepared to the General Court representing the great advantages which will probably acrue from our harbor being well fortified in protecting and securing the vessels which will use it in times of war and praying that the s'd sum of seven hundred pounds be granted to the town, we obliging ourselves to expend the whole of s'd money in erecting a suitable breastwork procuring great guns and necessary warlike stores and whenever the town shall fail of keeping said breastwork and guns in good order and repair to return the guns and what powder and bullets are not necessarily expended to the Province or whenever s'd Province shall call for them.*

Indigent circumstances will not at present allow us to receive the s'd money upon the Terms it is granted, (fearing that the Immediate expense of procuring and providing according to the Directions of the Grant and Constant Charge of maintaining the same will exceed our ability.)" They asked that the money be allowed for the fortification, and when the town * 'should fail of keeping s'd Brestwork and Guns in good order and repair to return the guns and what Powder and Bullets are not necessarily expended to the Province."^

The General Court made answer to this proposition, in a bill prepared by William Pepperrell of the joint committee of the two houses, which was passed April 3, 1741, making provision for the purchase of "five six-pound cannon, with suitable carriages, five half bbs. of Gun Powder, a suitable number of shot & other warlike stores." The provision attached to this was that the town should "erect at their own cost & charges & (keep) in repairs a Breast Work & platform suitable for said Cannon & a house to secure the stores."^ Whether this finally resulted in the building of a fort is not known, as there are no further references to it in the records to show expenditures for maintenance or repair.

It is probable that William Weeks was the first taverner at Edgartown, as early as 1680, though no record appears of his receiving a license as such. Under that date he was fined five shillings "for suffering disorder in his house by drunkenness & fighting." In fact, as far back as 1661, he was fined "for selling strong liquor," but neither of these entries would be conclusive that he kept a tavern, but for the following record, which in 1681 shows him to have been the proprietor of a public house : -

The complaint of Arthur Biven against William Weeks "for taking six-pence for two amesho-ogs Sz said Biven caled for a gill of rum & they brought half water and the said Weeks had no lodging for him nor food for his horse. "^ at the March quarterly court, and the complaint against Landlord Weeks was in accordance with the laws of the times, governing the keeping of taverns. His "ordinary" was located on North Water street, about fifty rods above Main street, and it is probable that he had kept it as such long before the records above quoted. North Water street was dotted with taverns in the next century. William Weeks' next neighbor to the north was Richard Sarson, and his house and its successors became famous as taverns. Sarson had licenses to sell "strong liquor" on his premises in 1694, but that does not imply a public house kept for travelers. In 1701, his only son Samuel, who succeeded to the estate, was granted a license to keep "a publike house of entertainment," and after his death, in 1703, his w^idow Anne renewed this in her own name. Here the widow Sarson dispensed hospitality for a year, when she married John Worth for her third husband, and the business of tavern keeping was carried on by them for many years, in the old Sarson house. The licenses were taken out in his name. The location of this ancient hostelry was between Cottage and Morse streets on North Water. Near-by, Thom.as Lothrop kept a tavern for a quarter of a century, 1 715-1740, on a part of this lot. At the same time, on this same home lot, as part of her father's estate, lived Jane Sarson, successively the wife of Lemuel Little and Dr. John Sanderson. Both of these husbands took out licenses to retail liquor (1722) and to be innholders (1726); and as she took a third husband, Duncan Kelley, and they continued to reside on the property, it is probable the i)usiness was continued.

John Norton took out a license as innholder in 171 5, and was given the same privilege for 34 years, from which it is assumed that he kept open his "house of publick entertainment" continuously. It was located on the Bayes home lot, just north of Main street.

In 1699, Samuel Smith, who married Hannah (Mayhew) Daggett, was licensed as innholder, and it is probable that the tavern was situated in the northerly end of the town, at Pease's Point. How long he continued to dispense hospitality to travelers is not known.

Parson Homes of Chilmark, in his diary, speaks of the tavern kept by "Mr. Hamellon" in Edgartown, under date of 1738, and the allusion is probably to James Hamellin (now Hamlin), who resided on Burying Hill, south of the old cemetery.

James Claghorn, whose residence was on the old home lot of Edward Lay (later Isaac Norton's), was licensed an innholder in 1740, an occupation which he followed until his death, ten years later. His house stood a short distance north of the Harbor View Hotel. His successor was his sonin-law, Enoch Coffin, Jr., who kept his license for ten years more.

The Kelley House of today is on the site of a hostelry that is over a century old. It is on the northerly half of the original Bayes home lot, which descended to the Newcombs and was bought of their heirs in 1743, by John Harper. He began keeping a tavern there in 1748, and was succeeded by his son-in-law, Lemuel Kelley, in 1772, and by Kelley's widow (Bathsheba Harper), in 1798. Her son, William Kelley, followed in 1801.

In 1850 it was kept by a Mr. L. Marcy and was known as the Marcy House. Today it is known as the Kelley House, and its landlord, the late William Kelley, was a descendant of the family which first gave its name to the old tavern.

On North Water street is the house in which Major- Gen. Worth, of Mexican War fame, lived when a boy. For many years this house was kept as a hotel, known as the Gibbs House, and it was at this ancient hostelry that Daniel Webster was often a guest. It was later known as the Norton House, and was built by Capt. Thomas Worth, probably about 1800. It is now in the possession of Capt. William H. Roberts, Revenue Cutter Service, as a private residence.

Paths, Highways And Bridges

The earliest action of the town on this important subject, was under date of June 26, 1652, ten years after the settlement, when it was voted that "Mr. Mayhew the Elder and John Daggett shall lay out all highways belonging to this town." At that date it seems probable there were but two highways, exclusive of "paths," for the use of the settlers. Nearly seventy years later, another general vote was taken on this subject (Feb. 7, 1 716 or 171 7), "to lay out convenient highways for the use of the town." Doubtless this action was taken to establish legally the various paths and ways which had grown into accepted streets in the course of time.

Main Street. - The first street of record in this town is the present Main Street, and undoubtedly it was laid out when the home lots were divided. It separated the tenth and eleventh lots, almost the centre of the "five and twenty." The earliest reference to it is as follows : -

Whereas there was a Controversy Between Thos. Paine and Thos. Bayes Concerning the Lott that Lyes next the high way: this Controversy is ended and the said Thomas Paines Lott is to Lye as it did Before, only a high way Between Thos. Bayes & he Two Rods wide: the Verdict of the Court.* [February 6, 1654.]

This street was formally laid out by metes and bounds in 1773, as a part of the road from Edgartown to Homes Hole. It was thirty feet wide from the harbor to the house of John Norton, tertia, and thirty-three feet wide from that point as the street and road then ran. In 1824, upon petition, the bounds were renewed by the Court of General Sessions, and again in 1861 the County Commissioners relocated that portion extending from the Court House to Pease Point Way, and made it thirty-three feet wide.

Pease Point Way. - This well-known thoroughfare is next in point of interest and age. It is mentioned in 1660 for the first time.^ It extends from the harbor, at a point near the present location of the Harbor View Hotel, on the southerly side, and near to the house of the late Thomas Adams Norton, a house situated southerly of the house of Judge Braley ; thence westerly by the North schoolhouse, and thence southwesterly by the cemetery, and still continuing southwesterly through what is known as "Cleveland town" (a few houses just out of the village), thence still southwesterly to the Great Pond. It derived its name from the point where John Pease had his house lot, and has retained it to the present day. By its windings it might indicate an Indian trail, but it is in reality the road that intersected the heads of the home lots as far as Slough Hill, where it branches off to the westward. It was the great highway which enabled the settlers to travel from the north end of the town to the Plains.

Planting Field Way. - This road intersects Pease Point Way, north of Main Street, and is of great antiquity, leading as it does to the "planting field" lots, which were laid out in 1653.

Plain Road. - ^This provided an outlet from the Slough, southwards, and is first mentioned in 1662, though a cart path must have been in existence for a number of years.

Swimming Place Path. - Extending from the Swimming Point towards the Great Pond this road was a necessary "cross path" in that section. Mention is first made of it in 1675.

Mashacket Path. - This old path is doubtless of greater antiquity than the first record of it would indicate (1677), and it is one of the names which has survived the two-and-ahalf centuries.

Sanchacantacket Path. - After this region came into the plans for extending the area of settlement, a path was required to reach there, and it became in effect an extension of the main highway leading out of the village. It was first mentioned in 1678.

Mill Path. - The mill at West Tisbury, which was set up before that town was settled, gave the name to an old path which led from Cleveland Town to Takemmy, south of the present road. It is described in the first volume.

Moh Street. - The road or way bearing this curious name received its baptism about 1762, and retained it for many years. It ran from the "Mill Path" to the "Meeting House Way," in an easterly direction towards Tower Hill, south of Cleveland Town, and probably crossed the land once owned by David Gray. Traces of Mob Street may now be observed in this land, but in the land nearer Tower Hill frequent cultivation has obliterated all traces so that it is not possible now to find just where it ended. All that can be learned about the origin of the name is as follows: Many years ago there was a sailors' boarding-house near "Mill Hill," and near the point where "Mob Street" meets "Mill Path" there was a dwelling-house occupied by people of somewhat questionable reputation. At both houses intoxicants were sold in large quantities. The street connecting the two places was so often the scene of drunkenness and rioting that it received the name "Mob Street." This may be the correct story of its origin, unless it refers to some particular outbreak or riotous gathering of drunken sailors which occurred to give it a local significance. South and North Water Streets. - These streets are a part of the same continuous highway, the divisional line being at Main Street. It represents practically the harbor frontage line of the home lots, and was a path or "alley" for many years, before it was formally laid out. South Water Street was called an "alley" in 1703, but this way or path had been in existence long before that date. The appearance of this locality at the time of the Revolution is thus described by Capt. Valentine Pease (born 1764): -

"When I can first remember and for years afterwards there was a swamp near the shore below the bank extending from below the house of Matthew Mayhew, now Joseph Mayhew's, to Uriah Morse's or where the Marine Railway now is. There were then but two ways through it to the shore; one, now the termination of Main street; the other leading from the old Tavern kept by Kelley and others to the wharf now Mayhew's wharf.'"

This street was laid out by order of the Court of General Sessions, by metes and bounds, in March, 1786, from the house of William Mayhew to the house of Enoch Coffin at its extreme north end. The width was "twenty five feet in each and every part," and this survey as approved by the Court represents this street as it now exists.^

Meeting House Way. - ^ In 1768, when the new meeting house was completed on the grounds of the cemetery on Pease Point Way, the need of a public way thither from the water front was apparent, and on February 9th of that year, Matthew Mayhew made a gift to the town of a way one rod wide, extending from the harbor to the meeting-house. It is the present Commercial Street (so-called).

Pilgrim'' s Alley. - The path or way leading from South Water Street, northwest to Pease Point Way, and frequently used as a "short cut" by the people who attended service at Parson Thaxter's meeting-house, was called by this quaint name. After another denomination established a place of worship in Edgartown, the people of that belief called Parson Thaxter's adherents "Puritans" and "Pilgrims," and the straight and narrow path which they trod when going to and coming from the meeting-house, "Pilgrim's Alley."

Penny Wise Path. - There was a locality bearing this title in Edgartown as early as 1734. "Penny Wise" (a place) is mentioned in a deed from Joseph Norton to his grandson John, in that year. "Penny Wise Path" is referred to in 1735, as near the "middle line."^ "Penny Wise Way" was described as near the road from Edgartown to Homes Hole; also near the Claypit.^

The "Penny wise Path" is the first road byond the homestead of the late William Jernegan, on the left side of the old Homes Hole road. It leads by the north side of the Dark woods to and by the south side of the West woods, on the West Tisbury road. A continuation of it meets Pease's Point Way at Great Pond. It was called "Pennywise Path" because it was laid out as a shorter way to Homes Hole than Pease's Point Way. But it proved to be as long if not longer than the old way, so was called Pennywise.

Tarkill {Tarkiln) Path. - There were kilns for extracting tar from wood in the Penny Wise region, and this path ran to that locality as early as 1738.^

Bridges. - There were no bridges in town of any importance, in construction, span or elevation. While there are a number, yet they are scarcely more than culverts over the small streams which run to the sea. A bridge at Mashacket is mentioned in 1653, again in 1676 and 1678. A couple of small bridges span Mile Brook and Menoda Creek, while a considerable pile bridge joins this town to Oak Bluffs, over the Sanchacantacket inlet.

U. S. Government Services Customs Service

This branch of the national government was established in this island in 1789, shortly after the formation of the Union, and Edgartown was made the port of entry, with Homes Hole as the sub-port. There has never been a government building for the accommodation of this department, and from the beginning until about 1850 the Collector of Customs had his office in his own house. It is known that in 1799 the office was located in the 'Squire Thomas Cooke house, corner of Commercial and School streets, when the office was held by that gentleman, and his successor in 1830 transferred it to the Capt. Edwin Coffin house. North Water street. It is therefore probable that the first collector, John Pease, kept the office and records in his own residence. According to the best information now obtainable the building on the northeast corner of Water and Main streets was rented for the customs service during the tenure of Leavitt Thaxter as collector (1849-1853), and it has been occupied ever since that time by this service.

Since 18 18, and probably some years before that, there has been a Deputy Collector of Customs at this port. The following is a list of these officials from the establishment of the service to the present time, with the date and term of service of each: -

Deputy Collectors The Post Office

The mail service was established officially in 1795, when Col. Beriah Norton was appointed the first postmaster. It is probable that there was a post route to the island long before this, though the first postmaster at Homes Hole received his appointment on the same date as Colonel Norton. After the island was united with the Massachusetts Bay Colony (1691) a postal service was inaugurated under patents from the crown/ but the isolated position of the Vineyard prevented its participation in any of the post routes established at that early date. We may conclude that mails wxre brought from Boston overland to Plymouth, thence by Sandwich to Woods Hole, and delivered by ferry to the Vineyard.

In 1830 the Post office v/as on the corner of Water and Main streets, on the lot now occupied by the Vineyard Gazette, but it is not known how long it had been located there prior to this, nor when it was transferred to its present quarters. It is probable that it began the occupancy of the building opposite, where it now is, when the Custom House was installed there. The following is a list of the postmasters:

Lighthouse Establishment

The government maintains in addition to the usual beacons, buoys and bells, two lighthouses in Edgartown for general and local maritime benefit. The first lighthouse was

*The conveyance of a letter from Boston to Salem, at that date, cost three pence; to Ipswich, four pence; to Portsmouth, six pence. In 17 10 the postage between Boston and New York was one shilling; between Boston and any town within sixty miles, four pence. (Mass. Prov. Laws, 117, 123, 263, 420; Comp. 3 Mass. Hist. Coll., VII, 72-79) established at the point of Cape Poge by act of Congress approved Jan. 30, 1801, and the sum of $2,000 was allotted therefor. Jurisdiction of the tract had been ceded by the State the previous year, and the title passed Aug. 10 ,1801, to the United States.^ The tower was completed in 1802 and lasted for forty years, when the inroads of wave action on the sandy soil forced the erection of a new light-tower in 1843. This second structure survived a half century of storms and further encroachments of the sea, when in 1893 the third and present light-tower was built still further back from the tip of the cape. The first keeper was Matthew Mayhew (360), who continued in office until his death in 1834, when he was succeeded by Lot Norton (1019) who held the post about eight years.^ Succeeding keepers have been Aaron Norton, Edward Worth, 1850-53; Daniel Smith, 1853-59;^ George R. Marchant, 1859-65; Edward Worth, 1865; Jethro Worth, George Fisher and George Dolby.

The Harbor light was authorized by an act approved May 23, 1828, and the sum of $5,500 was appropriated for its erection about a quarter of a mile from the shore at the harbor entrance.* Communication with the town was maintained by boats for over a year after its completion, when the sum of $2,500 was allowed "for extending the pier on which the lighthouse is built to the shore." 'J'his bridge was built of wood and eventually cost $7,000 before it was completed;^ and by reason of its box construction it was frequently broken by storms and ice. In 1847 the sum of $4,000 was allowed for a breakwater of rock construction, and the existing stone causeway was built on the lines as it runs to the shore today.

This town has never been a manufacturing centre, and but few records are to be found relating to the production of finished articles of merchandise from the raw material. The

^U. S. Statutes, II, 88; III, 405; comp. Mass. Laws, 1800, p. 70. The consideration was $36 for four acres. It was the twelfth hght erected by the government on the Massachusetts coast.

sea and its wealth gave a distinctive feature to such industries as grew into being here from time to time. The whale and other fisheries have constituted the chief occupation of the people from the earliest times to the last quarter of the past century. The whaling industry has already been described.^ Second in importance were the general fisheries and the byproducts of marine sea foods. In 1850 the largest single industry of this character was the oil and candle works of Daniel Fisher & Co., with a capital of $40,000 invested in the business, and the annual product for that year was 118,000 pounds of candles, 13,200 barrels of strained and refined oils. With other minor products the annual value of this business was reported to be $284,370, an industry far exceeding in direct cash income to the town the whale fishery interests. The general government was supplied with oil and candles for the lighthouses by this firm, and this business grew in importance in later years till the time of the Civil War. Whole cargoes of oil were contracted for at one time, involving values of over $100,000 at a purchase, and the industry gave employment to many men.

The general fisheries in 1850 yielded a value in product of $15,325, of which $4,500 is credited to the Mattakeeset herring fishery, the latter representing a catch of 1,250 barrels. At the present time the shell fisheries are an equally important industry, and rival in value the other sea foods collected in these waters for the metropolitan markets. It is impossible to give an accurate account of the yield, financially considered, of these several industries, but the value may be estimated by a "catch" made in the first week of January, 1908, when about 10,000 of fish were taken by five boats, having a market value of $2,000.

In the years preceding the Revolution the manufacture of salt by the process of evaporation of sea water in large wooden vats or pans was an important industry, and it was followed up as late as 1840. This business, at one time so valuable in the state, has entirely disappeared as an occupation hereabouts since the development of salt mining in other sections of the country.

'Vol. I, pp. 430-451. The annual value of the whaling business to Edgartown in 1850 was $83,267, but this was only the product of one vessel owned in the town at that time, the ship Vineyard. (U. S. Census Report, 1850.)

existence in the town for brief periods in the past, but were of ephemeral importance and are only worthy of incidental mention/ The only mills operated in town have been propelled by wind power and were local grist mills only. Before the days of the great manufactories of cloth the limited production of hand looms from wool was an occupation of the women in their spare hours, but of no great importance.

The earliest mention of the subject of education in the town records occurs under date of 1652, when the "school house" is referred to, showing the establishment of schools prior to that year. Peter Folger was the first school-master, and the building where he taught was on the Old Mill path near the Sarson lot on Slough hill. He probably kept school until his departure from town in 1662, but it is not known who was his successor, nor what arrangements were in existence prior to the beginning of the next century. In 1687 Thomas Peat was " skoollemaster of Edgartown," and the school was then held in the house of Richard Arey.^ Not until 1710 is there further reference to the subject, when a committee was chosen to procure a schoolmaster, to be paid at the rate of ;^3o per annum ''for learning of children for to read, right and learn arithmetick," with the privilege of "taking of six scolers for the learning of Latten" outside of his school hours.' In 1 71 2 Josiah Bridge, "now resident in Edgartown," was chosen schoolmaster at the rate of ;^25 per annum, and two years later the town voted "to hire him as reasonably as they can." In 1723 Thomas Cathcart was called "schoolmaster of Edgartown." From this time forward the records contain almost yearly reference to the subject of schools, and the manner of maintenance. Committees were chosen yearly to hire masters, and an annual appropriation was made, varying from ;,^45 in 1738 to ;^6o in 1747, for the support of education. After this the amount dropped to ;^i3 in 1750 and £S in 1760, but this decrease may be explained by the fluctuations of the provincial currency, in old and new tenor.

'Dukes Court Records. The identity of this person is not established. It is possible the name should be read Peac (Pease), as the writing in the records at this date by the clerk of courts is execrable and often undecipherable.

The growth of the town northward, and the development of the Farm Neck settlement, necessitated, as early as 1750, the division of the school funds and separate schools for these widely separated districts. The expedient of "moving" schools was first adopted, meaning the holding of sessions alternating in time and place between the districts. In 1760 the old school-house was sold, and in May, 1765, the town voted that "there should be but one school house built in the town and no more." This was located by a vote of 14 to 8 on the "road that leadeth to the meeting house," about fifteen or twenty rods to the southward of Silas Marchant's, "a spot near the center of the inhabitants," now Cleveland town.^ In the following month, however, two school-houses were authorized, one of which was for the northern district in Farm Neck, and ;^ioo was voted for this combined object. Before the Revolution the town was divided into four districts.^

The names of the school-masters do not appear in the records, and only occasional collateral documents reveal them to us. Ichabod Wiswall, a cousin of the pastor, was one in 1746 and doubtless was such before and after this date.'

The growth of population in the next century necessitated new district divisions, and schools at Pohoganut, the Plains, and on Chappaquiddick were maintained in addition to those in the village. The "old red school house" of song and story, on Pease Point way near the meeting house, was a landmark and a childhood reminiscence for the older generation now living, but it gave up its primacy before 1850, and new buildings took its place in other sections. The North school was situated on Planting Field way and accommodated two grades, grammar and primary, for scholars on that side of Main Street. The South School followed in point of time, being dedicated in 1850, and was located on the corner of School and High streets. It contained what corresponds to the modern high-school grade, besides the grammar and primary. At the present time the North school

*The north-west section was to draw its "proportionable" share, and a committee of residents there appointed to locate the building. This arrangement was observed ever after. In 1771 Chappaquiddick was granted a separate school with "their proportion of money they pay" (Ibid, I, 295).

^Probate Records, III, 206. He was born in Newton, Mass., 1709, and was graduated at Harvard. He married Jerusha Norton (404) of Edgartown and died here in 1782 aged 78 years. He came of a family of teachers and ministers.

Hon. Leavitt Thaxter Founder Of Thaxter'S Academy

Sometime before 1850 an additional school was built on the corner of Summer and Thomas streets, and was in operation for a number of years. The following named persons have taught in Edgartown schools, and will be remembered by the older residents: Frances E. Mayhew, Harriet R. Fisher, Caroline Arey, Emeline Marchant, Eliza A. Worth, Maria L. Norton, Eliza F. Pease, Hannah Davis, Eunice Lambert, and Emily Worth. The masters have been George A. Walton, Constant Norton, Joseph B. Gow, Richard L. Pease, John J. Leland, Smith 13. Goodenow, and Henry Baylies.

Thaxter Academy

A complete survey of the subject of education in this town could not be made without devoting adequate space to the life and work of Hon. Leavitt Thaxter, a noble scion of a worthy sire. Born here, March 13, 1788, the second son of Parson Thaxter, he was trained for the duties of life by his distinguished father. Although he had prepared for Harvard College, which he entered at an early age, he did not complete the course, but was led like so many of his youthful companions by the lure of the sea, and apparently began the life of a sailor. He made a number of voyages to the East Indies, and during our second war with Great Britain, although not a belligerent, he was made a prisoner at Calcutta, and experienced the discomforts of a British prison in that climate. After several years of the seafaring life, for which he was not fitted, he turned to the work better suited to his temperament and training. Gifted with a superior mind, his father had encouraged him to use it for the benefit of others and urged the occupation of a teacher as one best fitted for his talents. A letter addressed to him by his father, bearing date New Year's day, 1819, says: "I early devoted 3^ou to God. I have spared no pains or expense to qualify you to act your part gracefully as a man and a Christian. By my advice you have devoted yourself to the instruction of youth. The office is the most important and useful in which man can be employed. That ought to be esteemed the most honorable which is the most useful; it is so in the sight of God."

latter place found a wife in the person of Martha White Mayhew (741), whose grandfather, Paine Mayhew (201), had emigrated in 1786 from Chilmark to that town. Thence Thaxter went, in 18 19, to Sparta, Georgia, where he remained three or four years in charge of a large and successful academy. Returning to Edgartown in 1823, he decided to make this his permanent home, and at once engaged in teaching. With the aid and influence of his father he erected a school building for his work on the northwest corner of Davis and Maple streets, in 1825, and it was dedicated as Thaxter' s Academy,, November 29th, by public exercises, in which an oration was delivered by the principal.^ Here for the best part of a long and useful life he followed the occupation of guide, philosopher, and friend of the youth of his native town. One of his pupils in an appreciative review of his career wrote as follows concerning this school and its head : -

The school room where he presided was to those pupils who had caught his spirit and imbibed his principles, a place of delight and not an irksome prison house. Strict in his discipline, that was the place for vigorous application and toilsome study; a paradise for those thirsting for knowledge, but a hard and thorny way to the idle and obdurate. And then the recess! Indoors and out what teacher ever more sought the comfort and happiness of his pupils, or more bountifully provided for them the means of amusement.

His life however was not all devoted to this special work. He was eminently a leader of thought in all the things that make for the development of the moral and material welfare of a community, and his fellov/ citizens honored him with their places of public trust, until the close of his life. He was representative to the General Court (1830), senator from this district (1836,-1847), and Governor's councillor (1839). Under the National government he held numerous commissions, including judge of the Court of Insolvency, and collector of customs at this port. He was the first president of the Dukes County Educational Association (1848), and the first president of the Martha's Vineyard Agricultural Association (1858), and in this latter capacity his abilities as a practical horticulturist made him something more than a parliamentary head of this body. Not a few of the ornamental flora of

'This was published under the title "An Oration Delivered At The Dedication of Thaxter's Academy in Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard, November 29th, 1825. Also, A Hymn Composed For The Occasion, By Leavitt Thaxter, New Bedford, 1825." A copy is in the author's collection of the printed literature of the Island. The hymn was probably composed by Parson Thaxter.

His human sympathies led him to entertain a practical interest in the remnants of the tribe of Indians living in the town, and in 1836, having been made their legal guardian, he devoted nearly twenty years' service to their welfare. Such was the confidence inspired by his execution of this apparently thankless task, that he was always after regarded by them as their trusted friend and counsellor, to whom they constantly came for advice and encouragement. This distinguished son of Edgartown died at his residence on Davis street, Nov. 27, 1863, in the seventy-fifth year of his age, and he lies buried beside his parents, whose name he bore with increased honor. The portrait of Mr. Thaxter, which illustrates this, now hangs in the office of clerk of courts, having been placed there as a public memorial by "a number of his former pupils." The sittings were given at their request in 1862, and the artist, Cyrus Worth Pease (1091) of this town, succeeded in painting an excellent likeness in his best style.

Davis Academy

Another institution for the higher grade of education was established by David Davis of Farmington, Me. He v^as of Vineyard ancestry, being the son of Sanford and Mary (Coffin) Davis of Eastville, born Dec. 23, 1802, and returned to this town in his early manhood. This school which prospered under his management was unfortunately destroyed by fire in 1836 after a few years of existence, but by the aid of contribution from friends and patrons here he rebuilt. This new academy building is still in existence On the corner of Maple street, diagonally opposite the building formerly known as Thaxter's Academy. Owing to ill health which followed shortly after these events, Mr. Davis was obliged to suspend teaching, but continued to reside here in the upper story of this building. The schoolroom was used by other teachers during the day and in the evening lectures, concerts and similar public meetings were held in this room, generally called ** Davis Hall." Mr. Davis was a highly esteemed resident and citizen and was honored by his neighbors in 1855 by an election to the council, and when Governor Henry S. Gardiner, his chief, visited Edgartown, he was tendered a public reception in the schoolroom of his councillor. Mr. Davis died Nov. 6, 1868, at the age of 66 years, generally lamented.

Miscellaneous Annals The Masonic Order

Free Masonry had some following in this town about 1800 though no lodge was in existence here as early as that. Several residents of Edgartown were members of King Solomon's Lodge in Perfection at Homes Hole at this date and others became affiliated later with Union. Lodge of Nantucket. Thomas Cooke, Benjamin Smith and John Pease were members of the former lodge, while Thomas M. Vinson, Jared Coffin, James Banning and Valentine Pease were of the Nantucket lodge. On Aug. 16, 1819, the Edgartown members just named, with three others, laid before the lodge a petition to the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts to establish an independent lodge in Edgartown, to be known by the name of ''Seven Stars," and requesting Union Lodge to recommend the granting of their petition. The lodge took the following action : -

Voted: - That we recommend to the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts the following brethern to establish a Lodge in Edgartown Martha's Vinyard : -

The Grand Lodge acted favorably upon the recommendation and the new lodge was chartered Sept. 13, 1820. The Worshipful Master, Col. Thomas Melville Vinson was not of the Edgartown family of this name, but a native of Newport, R. I., where he was born in 1784 and his military title came from service in the War of 181 2 under General Samuel McComb on the northern frontier of New York.

Colonel Vinson married Hepsibah Young Marchant (160) of this town April 5, 1814, and later removed to Dorchester, Mass., where he resided until his death. He was an employee in the customs service at the port of Boston, and falling on the steps of the Custom House, March 4, 1852, received fatal injuries from which he died four days later. His widow survived twenty years, dying in Dorchester.

The Senior Warden, Dr. Samuel Wheldon (i 765-1841) was a native of Edgartown where he married, but he removed late in life to Coventry, Conn. Samuel Worthman, the Junior Warden, was a transient resident, "a Scotchman by Birth," but he married here. It will be seen that the officers of the lodge were not associated by birth with this town and that fact may account for the entire absence of further knowledge concerning its existence, if it had any, after the above quoted records of its establishment

A lodge of Master Masons, under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, was chartered June 25, 1867, by the name of Oriental Lodge, and it has been in existence for over forty years and is now in a flourishing condition. The first officers elected were: John Pierce, Worshipful Master; Grafton N. Collins, Senior Warden; James M. Coombs, Jr., Junior Warden; William L. Lewis, Secretary; and Jonathan H. Munroe, Treasurer.

The first lodge-room was over the store of Frederick E. Terrill, on North Water street, which was occupied until removal to the present room over the store of Jonathan H. Munroe on Main street. The first installation of officers, after some brief existence under dispensation, was a public ceremony held in the Methodist Church. The Grand officers of the Grand Lodge of the State were present, and installed the officers above enumerated in the presence of a large audience of interested friends.

The following is a list of Worshipful Masters to the present time: David J. Barney, Francis P. Vincent, Joseph W. Donalson, Richard G. Shute, Jason L. Dexter, James C. Sandsbury, John E. White, Zenas D. Linton, John N. Pierce, Jeremiah Pease, Elmer E. Landers, and Thomas A. Dexter.

The practice of medicine in the early days has been elsewhere described as carried on by the clergy, mid wives, and often by lawyers. Besides those referred to the followingnamed persons have followed this profession in the town in the past two centuries: Solomon Bacon, 1720; John Sanderson, 1724; Daniel Crittenden, 1747; Nathan Smith, ^ 1767- ^775? John Wright, 1782; Joseph Thaxter (during his ministry), John Pierce, Samuel Wheldon, W. T. S. Brackett, E. Maybury, Ivory H. Lucas, Daniel Fisher, Clement F. Shiverick, G. B. Cornell, Thomas J. Walker, Theodore P. Cleveland, and E. P. Worth.

The long services of Dr. John Pierce in this community, covering nearly half a century (1836- 18 79), deserve special notice. He was a native of Lebanon, Conn., where he was born Nov. 25, 1805, and he received his preliminary education in Monmouth, Maine. He was graduated from Bowdoin Medical School in 1833, and practiced for a few years in Maine prior to his settlement in this town. While there he served as surgeon to the troops called out to quell the disturbances over the northeastern boundary. During his residence here he was for eight years in charge of the U. S. Marine Hospital Service at Homes Hole, and the medical examiner for Dukes county from the establishment of that office till his death. He became a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society in 1840, and held various offices in that organization. He was a valued town official in various lines of work, a prominent Mason, and an active member and officer in the Methodist Church. He died Nov. 25, 1885.

'He was not of the Vineyard Smith families. He was born in 1730 and practised at Stamford, Conn., before he came here. He removed to St. John, N. B., where hedied in 1818.

Dr. John Pierce

The first tract set apart for the last resting place of the dead was the acre on Burial Hill. It was on the home lots of John Bland and John Eddy, adjoining the harbor end, an equal part being taken from each, and probably was dedicated to its purpose before the division of lots. In 1849 it contained seventy-five stone memorials, all of slate, but this number has been reduced in the last half century by breakage and other causes.^

The second cemetery was a gift to the town in 1768; the donation being made by Deacon Matthew Norton, "in consideration of the love, good will and regard that he hath toward the public worship of almighty God."^ It was an acre in extent, and was situated on Pease Point way, adjoining the lot on which the then new meeting house was being erected. It has since been enlarged by subsequent acquisitions. The first burials were in 1782, when six men of Edgartown, drow^ned at Gay Head, were interred in the new ground.^

There was a burial place at Aquampache used by the residents of that locality, some time prior to 1836, but how long it had been in existence is not known. In that year an addition was made to it by Elihu P. Norton as guardian of an estate.^

As happened in all communities there were private burial places used by families on their own farms or homesteads. The most important of these is the Mayhew graveyard on South Water street, in the Collins lot, just north of the old Mayhew house. This is doubtless the place where Governor Mayhew was buried, also Major Matthew Mayhew and his

^Dukes Deeds, IX, 758. Dated Feb. 8, 1768. See also deeds from estate of Rodolphus W. Coffin, April 29, 1842 (XXVII, 352) and Elijah Norton, Jan. 25, 1847 (XXXII, 150) to the town of Edgartown. In 1765 the town had voted to enlarge the old burial ground by the purchase of an additional acre.

*This wreck was the subject of a contemporaneous poem, of little merit except as an historical narrative. The eighteenth stanza reads as follows: -

" Six men belonged to Edgartown, They left four widows in distress; And parents for their sons did mourn, And twenty-six little children fatherless." Deeds, XXVI, 7.

family.^ Several slate stones are now standing, but being in private property in alien possession no care of this sacred spot can be bestowed on the place by an interested public.

The Old Mayhew House

The most picturesque object of interest in the town to strangers, is the ancient Mayhew homestead on South Water street. Situated on the ''entailed lot," which was originally owned by the Governor, its weathered appearance, unpainted walls and huge square chimney lend aid to the common belief that it was the home of the famous head of this family. Such is not the case, however, as the first house stood about one hundred feet to the northward of the present "old" house. ^ It cannot be stated with any accuracy when it was built. The present owner, Charles Mayhew (9) (Joseph, 8; Wilham, 7; Matthew, 6; Micajah, 5; Matthew, 4; Matthew, 3; Thomas, 2; Gov. Thomas, i), has no definite knowledge of its age, beyond the fact that his grandfather. Deacon William (351) told him that at the age of twelve he assisted his father, Matthew (150), in shingling this house. Deacon William was born in 1748, and this shingling was therefore done in 1760, but whether he referred to the original shingles or to their renewal is not known. This date would make the building about one hundred and fifty years old now, and beyond this, guessing may add any further antiquity to it.

Town Hall

The public meetings of the citizens for the transaction of town affairs were held in the church buildings at first, and in the Court Houses. Such was the custom throughout New

"In 1838 Deacon William Mayhew (351) in his 90th year, deposed as follows: "Gov. Thomas Mayhew and his wife according to the best of my knowledge were buried in the west corner of Grafton Norton's lot about ten feet from the street, and a little to the north-west of the graves that are now visible. I think there is a rock near the head of the graves of the said Thomas and wife; there are also several other persons buried near the same place and I believe the whole number to be eight." Excavations would probably confirm this statement of the aged Deacon, who was greatly interested in the lives of his ancestors and wished to preserve for posterity his knowledge of their place of sepulture. The eight graves would include Thomas Mayhew and wife, Matthew and wife, besides those known by existing stones. It should be a public duty to disinter these bodies and place them in a public cemetery.

^Information given by Mr. Charles Mayhew. He states that he had heard his grandfather, (Deacon William, 1 748-1840) say that the original house stood on the site of a house built 75 years ago, and of late years when more cellar room was desired the workmen in digging came on evidences of a former building, such as bits of broken crockery, etc., and part of a wall which he is satisfied was the cellar wall of the original house.

England in the early days, when the meeting-house was considered as much for secular as for religious purposes. When the Methodists abandoned, in 1843, their house of worship (built by them about 1828) on. the south side of Main street, the town acquired it by purchase for use as a public hall. It was remodeled for the convenience of the town officials and later afforded room for the fire extinguishing apparatus of the volunteer firemen. It served these purposes for over sixty years and in 1908, by popular subscription and town grant it was enlarged at a cost of over three thousand dollars and reopened to the public Aug. 19, 1908, with appropriate dedication services. It has a stage and a new and handsome set of scenery for theatrical exhibitions.

The Vineyard Gazette

The first newspaper to be published in Dukes County was established in this town in the spring of 1846 by the late Edgar Marchant (148). The first issue, on May 13th, was a small sheet printed on a hand press, and he was not only the editor but its printer and publisher. In 1850 it had reached a circulation of 600 copies, and by his prudent management and intimate knowledge of the wants of his patrons, he built up a weekly journal that maintained a high standard of excellence from the first with a steady growing clientele. About 1868 he sold the property and removed to Salem to continue a similar business. At the end of five years he returned to Edgartown, repurchased the Vineyard Gazette and continued its publication until his decease in 1878. His successor, Charles Henry Marchant, a grand nephew, has since then carried on its publication with success. It is now an eight page paper and is held in increasing favor each year by Vineyarders scattered over the world. It is a model country newspaper.

In 1850 there was a Lyceum Library of 150 volumes and a School Library of 275 volumes for public uses. The present Public Library was established in 1892, and its collection first kept in a small room in the Pierce building, where it remained for six years. Then it was removed to a room over W. E. Marchant's store, and continued there for six years more. Mr. Andrew Carnegie, of New York, presented to the town a library building which was erected on a lot on North Water street, donated by Mrs. Frederick Warren. The building was completed for occupancy in 1904 at a cost of $5,000, and the library has grown to a collection of 2,400 volumes.

The town has now been settled two hundred and sixtysix years and it may be of interest and worthy of preservation to incorporate at the close of our annals the following statistics to show its present growth from the humble beginnings at Great Harbor. From the assessors' lists the following figures regarding the valuation in Edgartown on May i, 1908, have been furnished: Personal estate assessed, $177,530; real estate assessed, $831,810; total, $1,009,340. Total tax assessed, $18,259.67; acres of land assessed, 12,169; number of dwelling houses, 458; horses, 126; cows, 123; sheep, 95; polls, 358; residents assessed on property, 411; non-residents assessed on property, 808. Increase in assessed valuation over 1907, $83,630.

Methodist Church

For the purpose of preserving the individuahty of this insular part of Edgartown, it will be considered as a separate section and given special treatment. From the earliest times it has always borne the name by which it is now known. It is an Algonquian word, compounded of Tchepi-aquiden-et, which is translated as "the separated island," because it was divided from Nope by the narrow strait of water that sometimes is a continuous run and at others only a closed inlet. ^ The Massachusetts dialect requires the ending in -et, but it has become softened into -ick.^

While separated physically, it has always been a legal part of Edgartown since 1646, when the township grant included ''also all the Island called Chapaquegick." When the whites first came here it was under the dominion of a sagamore named Pahkepunnassoo, who for many years remained an opponent of the religion brought to his people by the missionaries. Following out his plan of purchasing the aboriginal "rights" to the soil, Mayhew bought of this Indian head man, in 1653, "the Neck that lies over the river for the which land the town is to give the Sachem twenty bushels of corn a year for three years; also his son is to have two lotts when it is devided."^ This form of quit-rent was doubtless a concession to the dignity of the chieftain, and was renewed in another form in 1663, when Mayhew agreed to pay him "one Good Goat Ram yearly or as much in Good yarde round every whale. "^ It is significant of the scrupulous spirit which actuated Mayhew in his dealings with them, that this agreement was in effect and presumably observed as late as 1724, when the great grandson of this chief man, named Seiknout, also a sachem, commuted his quit-rent for ;^5 in money to the successor of the old Governor.

'From this changing condition Chappaquiddick is often called a neck in the early records, and such was probably its state at the settlement of the Vineyard.

^The pronunciation, Chabbaquiddick, now used by the older people is equally correct, as P and B are interchangeable consonants in the Algonquian dialects. The early spelling was always with a P and that is the more correct sound.

*Dukes Deeds, IV, 72. In 1654 Thomas Paine was granted permission "to buy of the Indians the lot lying upon Chapequidick which hath the graves in it, provided the said Thomas Paine do not exceed the value of three bushels of corn in his pay for it."

Survey Of Chappaquiddick, 1795 Cattle And Grazing

The value of this island to the settlers was its excellent grazing facilities, a place where cattle could be safely pastured without the need of fences to restrain their ranging. Each of the "five and twenty" lots had its share in the division of the land, with rights of pasturing a specified number of great cattle and small stock to a commonage. This has already been explained (p. 35) and was held as one of the most valuable rights of proprietorship. These rights of grazing were subsequently rented out by those who had no cattle. In 1703 there were nearly two hundred and fifty "great" cattle, besides sheep, entered for that year by the proprietors or their tenants. The "great" cattle, horses, oxen, cows, were taken over every fall, about October 5th and brought back in the spring, about April 25th, by the way of the Swimming place. At slack tide of low water the animals were driven in and made to swim across the "river."

Such was the extent of this business that the proprietors held annual meetings to regulate the affairs of the "separated island." Elaborate regulations were drawn up to guard against trespassing and overloading the quotas of each share, and the lists are an interesting, as well as at times amusing, evidence of their methods of conducting affairs. One puts over "one steer upon Dorcas Bayley," another "a young horse upon his grandfather Bayes" and a third "for his wifes former rights he put over 13 head."^ To add to these complicated privileges there was great uncertainty among the proprietors themselves as to what they owned, either in severalty or in common. There had been a division of the meadows about 1668, but "the certain bounds were not known except of some particulars," and a second division was made in 1679, "which though the writings thereof are lost, yet have generally (been) improved and acknowledged."^ Such a condition naturally caused confusion and trespassing on the lands reserved to the Indians, who lived in considerable numbers on this island, as one of their settlements.^

^A portion of the land owned by the whites was fenced, and in 1700 a pound was erected by the proprietors to impound stray cattle without marks or suspected of belonging to trespassers. Field drivers were chosen to carry out the directions of the trustees. In that year Matthew Mayhew, Samuel Sarson and Jacob Norton acted in that capacity.

This reservation assigned to the Indians was on the north side of the road leading from Collop's pond eastward, and comprised all the land to the shore bordering the harbor and bay.

The Sachem Contests Herbage Rights

These encroachments, as they became more flagrant, were resented by the sachem and his tribe, and the proprietors in 1708 appointed a committee "to treaty with the present Indian Sachem (Joshua Seeknout) that therein may be accord agreement and confession as they shall think meet." This plan effected a temporary truce in the hostile camp of the natives, but four years later, failing to obtain the redress which he thought due them for trespasses, he resorted to the courts and appealed to the agents of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. He entered a test suit against Thomas Pease and others at the October term, 171 2, in an action of trespass "on the southeast part of it (Chappaquiddick) at a place called Wassaechtaack alias pocha."^ The proprietors joined issue and appointed Matthew Mayhew and Thomas Lothrop to represent them. The sachem had for his attorney Benjamin Hawes of Edgartown and the case was tried before a distinguished tribunal. Lieutenant Governor Tailer with Samuel Sewall the Younger and Col. Penn Townsend of the Governor's Council sat in judgment on the case with the local magistrates. Sewall thus records the incident: -

[Oct. 8, 1 712.] Had a great dispute about Chappaquiddick, the Sachem appearing before us and Mr. Haws his Attorney for him. Mr. Turner plead for the EngHsh for their right in the Herbage, the Island right over against the Harbour.^

Subsequent suits were brought on the same grounds in March and October, 1713, and the March term of the next year against various parties.^ At this time the old sachem, Joshua, died and was succeeded by his son, Jacob Seeknout, who took up the prosecution in behalf of his people with

'Seeknout complained in January, 1713 of "Undue Proceedings in a Suit brought by John Norton against Nicholas and Phinehas Norton for Trespass for Driving a Mare of the said John Nortons off the said Island by Direction of the Petitioner, And in which Suit he was admitted Defendant." (Mass. Resolves, IX; appendix IV, 268; comp. Legislative Record of the Council, IX, 255.)

continued zeal/ The Justices required the proprietors to ''give in to them a particular account of their interest and present claim" and the proprietors at once raised the sum of ;!{^ioo for "the just and lawful defence of their rights." As a result of all this litigation the matter was finally submitted by agreement between Thomas Lothrop as agent and Seeknout the Sachem, Oct. 29, 1713, to the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, Samuel Sewall, Penn Townsend and John Gushing as arbitrators. They were requested to hear and determine all their differences "and give resolve thereon." The General Court authorized these officials to act in the capacity of arbitrators as they had "manifested their willingness to undertake the compromising & Issuing of that unhappy Difference." An order was passed setting the hearings for May, 1 7 14, "and all Quarrels & Suits depending relating to the Island are hereby stayed in the mean Time."^ The findings were not made, however, for over eighteen months. Under date of Dec. 19, 171 5, the referees made the following decision: (i) The English should have the undisputed fee of the neck called Menechew, saving one share to the sachem; (2) The Indians should have the sole possession of the Island of Chappaquiddick for themselves and posterity, never to be sold without the consent of the Provincial government; (3) The English should have the right to mow the salt marshes (saving the "wobshaw grass" for the Indians, use in making mats), paying therefor one shilling per acre annually; (4) The winter herbage should be shared in common by both English and Indians "as stented for the number of grate catle goats and sheep between October 25 and March 25th yearly," the English paying Seeknout " the fifteenth goat and for every fatted Beast one Shilling & Sixpence" annually; and (5) the proprietors were restricted to a total of one hundred head of great cattle for grazing purposes. This decision afforded the usual loophole for the English and payment was refused to the sachem in many cases on the question of what constituted a "fatted beast." Several years more of contest followed before the end was reached. After the case was settled the Sachem sold in 1718 to Benjamin Hawes "one eight of all the herbage on Chappaquiddick that shall ever

'The Sachem Jacob made his last will Sept. 25, 1734, and it was probated March 5, 1735, between which dates he died. This document mentions wife Elizabeth and daughters Hepzibah and Dorcas. Samuel Norton and Thomas Lothrop were made executors.

hereafter grow from the 20th of October till the 25th of March every year forever however it may be stented."^ This was the last of the famous herbage case.

Capoag (Capawack, Cape Pogue). - The earliest known aboriginal name attached to the Vineyard. It has already been discussed and explained (Vol. I, 34-6). It applied to the pond properly and became identified with the point or cape.

Micenuckchuwat. - The pond now known as Caleb's pond. The spelling of this name in 1726 was "Collops" and it may be regarded as the correct form (Deeds, IV, 163).

Natick. - This was, in the first eighty years after the settlement, an island at the northern tip of Chappaquiddick, sometimes called Capoag island. The narrow and shallow channel which separated it from the main portion of the island was closed up during a great storm, about 1725, and it has ever since remained a part of the peninsular formation (Deeds, I, 388; IV, 153, 328; VI, 401, 520). See Great Neck.

Pocha. - This is one of the earliest place names of the island and marked the southeastern point, as early as 1665, having also an alias, Wassaechtaack. The word is derived from Pok-sha-muk, signifying "where there is a breaking in," as a pond formed by the inrush of the sea. There is a Potchey or Pochey in Eastham on the Cape.

Wasqiie. - The southermost point of Chappaquiddick was early called Wasque, an abbreviation of Wannasque, meaning "the ending or point." Wasqua hill is mentioned in 1742 (Deeds, VI, 401).

For the first hundred years after the settlement, this island was occupied solely by Indians, and their numbers had fluctuated during and since that time, through epidemics and immigration. In 1698 there were 138 Christianized natives, perhaps two-thirds of the entire population. In 1765 about 80 were left and in 1790 there were 75, "not more than one third of whom are pure."^ In the next century enumerations taken at irregular times give the following figures: In 1807, 65; in 1828, no; in 1849, 84; in 1861, 74, and at the close of the last century, 7.^

The Des Barres map of 1781 shows twenty-three houses on the island, both English and Indian, indicating a population of about 175 of the combined races. The census of 1790 makes no separation of those resident here, but counting the families known to have lived on the island, it is estimated that about 190 constituted its population.

The Early Settlers

It was not until about 1750 that the whites began to take up the land for residential purposes, and it is believed that Captain Thomas Arey (35) was the first one of the Edgartown people to settle there. ^ He was born in 1 716 and followed the sea in his younger days. He died in 1787 and was, in his

'Benjamin Bassett in ist Mass. Hist. Coll., I, 206. The Edgartown records note the death of Bethiah Moses in 1818 aged 92 and gtate that she "Left only Ruth Maqud of Clear Indian about the Same age on Chappaquiddick to Survive her."

.^Concerning their condition in 1849 an official report states: "Twenty years ago [1829] they were preeminently a degraded people, unchaste, intemperate, and by consequence, improvident; now they are chaste, not a case of illegitimacy, so far as we could learn, existing among them; temperate, comparing, in this respect, most favorably with the same population, in the same condition of life, in any part of the state."

time, undoubtedly the largest landed proprietor of Chappaquiddick.^ The next settler was Joseph Huxford, about 1755, and following him in probable order was Thomas Fish (31) about 1758; Henry Fish (34), Benjamin Pease, Jr. (311) about 1760; Thomas Smith (45) in 1774; Matthew Butler (53) in 1778; and about 1782, Joseph Swasey, Jr., was added to the growing white settlement. Before 1790, besides the sons of the above-named pioneers the residents of the island included Seth Dunham, Elisha Dunham, George Daggett, William Covell, John Clark, Cornelius and Ephrairn Ripley, and two of the first Portuguese immigrants to our shores, Emanuel Silvara and Antony Chadwick.^ These aliens had married two of the Fish(er) girls, Sarah (51) and Anna (61) respectively, and became identified with the church of their wives.

The Indian Meeting

Chappaquiddick was one of the 'Spraying towns" of the Vineyard established by the Mayhews as a result of their mission work, and in 1670 Joshua Momatchegin was ordained as one of the ruling elders of the native church, gathered by the elder Thomas in his capacity of religious instructor. The converted Indians on the east side of the Vineyard were gathered into one congregation at first, but after the death of Hiacoomes in i6go the Chappaquiddick tribe were set off as a separate body and continued under the charge of Momatchegin.^ This elder dying in 1703 was succeeded by Jonathan Amos, who survived but three years. The condition of this church at this period is thus described; "And now the Indians at the said Chappaquiddick were in a miserable State, the Candlestick which had been there being removed out of its Place. The Place being thus unchurched, was filled with Drunkards instead of the Good People who had before inhabited it."^ What became of the church organization after this date is not known. None of the maps of that century (i 700-1 799) show the existence of a church structure on this

^Chadwick was probably an adopted name as it is of English origin. Thaxter notes the death in 1820 of Anthony Chadv/ick, "a Portugee a state Pauper" aged 67 years. Descendants now reside in Edgartown.

island and it is doubtful if there was one. The absence of records and the disappearance of the tribe contribute to our lack of information. Doubtless they were cared for by the societies which supported missionaries here. The state map of 1830 shows a meeting-house on the Indian reservation, but it is not known where it was erected nor how long it was in use. In i860 the Indian Commissioner made the following report on this subject: "The Chappaquiddicks have no religious organization, nor have they any religious services or instruction, distinct from their white neighbors. They attend meeting at the 'Marine Church' at Sampson's hill, across the line, whenever there are services there, which is at irregular intervals."^ These services were held by ministers of all denominations from time to time. Such is now the case. The old meeting-house has been recently repaired, and during the summer months the Edgartown clergy supply the pulpit in turn in the present century.

'State Senate Report, No. 96 (1861), p. 21. The Rev. John Adams in his Autobiography in 1840 tells of preaching "in the new church in Chappaquidick" (I, 420).

Annals Of West Tisbury

The present limits of West Tisbury represent the old township of Tisbury as it was originally laid out, and the history of this town, though the latest creation in our corporate galaxy, begins actually two and a third centuries ago. West Tisbury occupying as it does the original settlement once called Middletown is therefore the historic Tisbury, though bearing a modified title. The Algonquian name of this locality was Takemmy, as it is generally written in English by the first settlers.

Taacame and Taukemy are variations of the Indian name for the territory mostly comprised in the present town of West Tisbury. Through this section flows the largest stream on the island, and this big "river" when the whites first purchased Takemmy in 1669-70 was called "Old Mill River" giving evidence that some sort of a mill had been erected there by previous settlers or residents of the island long before its purchase from the natives, possibly soon after the settlement of Edgartown. This first mill was, probably, a primitive affair, but quite sufficient for the wants of the settlers. It is possible that it was merely a large wooden mortar and pestle run by an undershot wheel, enclosed by a temporary structure.

The road leading from Edgartown to Takemmy was and is still called the "Mill Path," and the road from Chilmark running east to Takemmy was also called the "Mill Path" as early as 1 664. These facts are strongly corroborative of our study of the name. The full etymology of it is Tackhum-min-eyi, of which -hum is a special affix, and implies exertion of strength, as he forces him or it after the manner expressed by the root Tack, i. e., to pound, grind, strike the object which is -min, (Grammar of the Cree, 86, 87). Min was the generic term for any small berry, nut or grain. Here it denotes the grain, par excellence, corn, (Trumbull). In the Narragansett and Massachusetts dialects Mayi, May or Meyi, signifies a path, road, which is formed from the suppositive (subjunctive) of the verb au, aui, meaning he goes to or towards (a place), with the indefinite m' prefixed, where anybody goes (Trumbull), neare the middle of the said Island on the south side thereof granted to several Inhabitants, freeholders there for a Towne-ship, who have made purchase of the Indian Right, the said Towne formerly known by the name of Middle-Town, the Precincts whereof are bounded on the East by the Land heretofore belonging to the Sachem Towonquateck : on the West by Nashowakemmuck: on the South by Qua-niems & a fresh Pond & on the North by the Sound:

When West Tisbury was incorporated, May i, 1892, it was given the following division lines, as shown by the several bound marks between the towns adjoining to her limits : -

West Tisbury had no known population before 1670, when the four proprietors made their first purchase of the soil and opened it up for settlement. From a computation based on the genealogies of families known to have been living here ten years later (1680) we can enumerate about 120 souls resident then. The map of Simon Athearn (1694) shows twenty-two houses in the town, and as families always exceed houses in numbers, we may reckon 25 families of five each at that date, or a total of 125 souls. Removals and the opening up of Chilmark to settlement took away in the intervening time what would be the normal increase. In 1700 there were probably about 150 people here. No further basis of computation until 1757 has been found. In a list of members of the ''Foot Company" for that year, 132 men are listed for military service, and - using the accepted multiple - a total of 660 souls can be reckoned as then living in the town.

The first Provincial census of 1765 shows the following figures relating to Tisbury: - families 100, comprising a total of 81,8 souls, living in no houses. Of these there were 226 males and 233 females above sixteen years of age; 165 males and 166 females below sixteen; 9 negroes (4 male and 5 female) and 39 Indians (15 male and 24 female). Tisbury was then the smallest town, numerically, on the Island, though second excluding negroes and Indians. In the census of 1776 there were 1033 persons resident in the town.

The first federal census of 1790 gives us an enumeration by names; and from this the following statistics are drawn: total population, 1,135 (whites), of which number there were 287 males above sixteen years, 238 below sixteen, and 609

Note. - This interesting and valuable plan of Tisbury in 1694, is the first one of its kind known to the author, and is a part of a sketch of the entire island. It is here printed with the east to the top for the convenience of reading the written descriptions made by him on the map. These legends are as follows, beginning at the top: -

The plan shows two houses in the Chickemmoo district, and twentytwo houses in the town of Tisbury, besides the meeting-house, in 1694. The position of the meeting-house bears out the views of the author as to its location at that date. It was the first house of worship built, and occupied the present site of Agricultural Hall. The "farm claimed by two patants" is, undoubtedly, the Quinames property, a part of the Manor of Tisbury.

''free white" females and seven "other free persons," presumably negroes. Tisbury was then the second town in population on the Vineyard. All computations, however, do not make any distinction between the two sections (Homes Hole and West Tisbury) which then made up the whole town.

The population of Tisbury reached the maximum in 1850 and showed a gradual decrease to 1900, when the population was but fifty- seven above^ that of the census of 1800. The town of West Tisbury, which was formed from Tisbury in 1892 had a population of about 450, and the loss in the census of 1900 is thus accounted for to the parent town.

Tisbury was the first in population of the three original towns, 1 860- 1 890 inclusive, as shown in the three decennial censuses. The state census of 1905 showed a population of 1 1 20.

First Settlement

The settlement at Great Harbor had continued for tvv^entyfive years to be the sole settlemicnt on the island, but by 1666 the necessity for an extension of their territorial occupation became more apparent, and it is probable that by this date some persons had taken up land here, or occupied it for tillage purposes. Doubtless the attraction to this place was the fine water courses and the fertile meadows, which have made this the garden spot of the Vineyard. In what way the original proprietors of Tisbury were induced to invest in this territory is not known. They had no previous association with the Vineyard as land owners, nor were they connected by marriage with any of the existing families on the island. Surmises on the influences which caused them to turn their faces hither would be useless. It is sufficient to state that on the first day of July, 1668, as a result of previous negotiations, Thomas Mayhew gave authority to William Pabodie and Josiah Standish of Duxbury, and James Allen of Sandwich to enter into agreement with the Sachem of Takemmy to buy what land they wished within his bounds, and confirming previous purchases made by them. The following is the grant to the three purchasers : -

Foreasmuch as I have a grant of this Island both from the agent of the Lord Sterling, and alsoe from the agent of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, Knight, for this Island, the Vineyard, this doth witness that I, Thomas Alayhew, doe grant unto William Pabodie, Josias Standish, and James Allin, liberty to buy land, I say liberty to buy what land they can uppon this Island, within the compass of the bounds of Takemmy, of the Indian Sachims, the right owners, and to enjoy all such lands, themselves, heirs and assigns, forever, uppon the same terms and conditions, that that I have it from the Lord Proprietor: but for the people that are to be brought on, they are to bee, not only approved of by the said William Pabodie, Josias Standish, and James Alhn, or the major part of them, & their heirs and assighnes, but also by mee, the said Thomas Mayhew, my heirs and assighnes-; And for the government of the inhabitants that shall bee there uppon said land, it is to be carried on by myself, & the major part of the freeholders thus, that is I, the said Thomas Mayhew, cannot act without them, nor my heirs nor assignes; nor they, the said William Pabodie, Josias Standish, and James Alhn, nor their heirs nor assighns, shall not doe nor act without mee, the said Thomas Mayhew, or my successors. This is also an approbation of what land they have bought alreddy, so far as concerns mee, I doe heerby allow of it, and this I doe in consideration that they, the grantees, are to pay mee six poundes, thirteen shilHngs and four pence, at Boston, to Captain Oliver, or Peter Oliver, at Boston. Witness hereunto my hand and seal the first day of July, 1668.1

Thomas Mayhew

It is not known what was confirmed to them in "land they have bought already," as no transfers appear of record, though it may possibly refer to purchases for the mill and a few lots within the greater territory which they soon acquired. Negotiations with the Sachem were finally consummated on Aug. 2, 1669, when in consideration of £80, four associates, James Skiffe, Jr., of Sandwich having later been admitted to partnership, received title to the following described land: -

From the mouth of Tyasquan River to the Bridge and from the Bridge in the path that goeth to the school house till it doth meet with the Bounds of Nashowakemmuck, from thence in the Bound line to the Sound: secondly from the mouth of Tyasquan to a tree in the vally by the house of papameek marked and from that tree to another tree marked tree westerly marked and from that parellell with the bound line between Nashowakemmuck and Takemmy: and also from the tree in the valley aforesaid near paapameks house in the winter 1668, it is to run Eesterly one mile and from that miles end it is to run Southerly unto the water that comes into the vally where Titchpits house and his sonnes were in the winter

The Sachem also granted by this same deed for a further consideration of ;^65,-all "the meadow upon all the neckes of land on the South side of the Island in his bounds." It is not possible to plot out this last indefinite territory, but the bounds of the other portion are shown in the accompanying map.

This tract of land is known as the "First Purchase," and it will be seen that it excluded the flexible "mile square" on the Sound, granted previously by Josias and Wanamanhut to the praying Indians and elsewhere described. The four partners endeavored to have this included in their grant, "but the said Josias refused to let us have any land further Eastward of the said bounds," as James Skiff e said some years later, "alledging that he had already granted it to the praying Indians."^ It appears that the subjects of the Sachem were displeased at this purchase, by which so large a tract became alienated to the control of the whites, and as a result of the agitation the bounds of the Christian town were definitely determined in May, 1669,^ and a written agreement about further sales was made by the Sachems and chief men, as related in the chapter dealing with the affairs of the Indian town.^

On June 17, 1670, about one year after the purchase, the planters finding the restrictions regarding the herding of their cattle impracticable or unnecessarily vexatious obtained from Josias an instrument in consideration of five shillings providing for a removal of this condition, in which he gave their cattle "liberty lawfully and peaceably to greas within the Commons of Tackemy without any molestation."^ This permission of free ranging for their cattle required the marking of each man's live stock, and the methods adopted by them are described elsewhere. It is not known who, at this time, had undertaken actual residence within the "first purchase" limits. There are no records extant showing grants of land or transfers of real estate to establish priority of settlement for any person. Benjamin Church of Duxbury, the famous Indian fighter, had erected a grist mill "on the westermost brook of Takemmy"

^Dukes Deeds, I, 33. One of the conditions of the sale was that the EngHsh should herd their cattle, and not allow them to roam at large; a proviso inserted by them because the cattle would destroy their corn fields and squash meadows.

sometime before Nov. 19, 1669, when he sold it to Joseph Merry, with "one eighth part of the first purchase of land," showing that he had become interested in the speculation early. The consideration was ;;^i2o "by Bills" and the transfer was made in person. This division into eighths was probably in the nature of an undivided allotment. The later divisions were on a different basis as will be seen.

Of the four purchasers, but two became residents, or remained to settle the tract they had bought. Peabody and Standish were land speculators, the former being interested in land "booms" in Rhode Island, and the latter in lands about Norwich, Connecticut. Pabodie was the oldest partner, being 49 years of age in 1668. He had married Betty, a daughter of John Alden of the "Mayflower." He is the lineal ancestor of the author of this history, through the maternal side.

The name was early written Pabodie and so spelled by him, but it was gradually evolved into the modern form Peabody, though the early spelling has been retained by some branches.

Josiah Standish was the son of the redoubtable Captain Miles of Plymouth and Duxbury, and he had married Sarah, sister of James Allen of Braintree, and hence was brother-in-law of his partner.

James Skiffe, Junior, came from Sandwich also, and was the son of James Skiffe, of that town. Prior to his coming here he had probably resided at Sherborne, Nantucket.

The Additional Purchase

It could not be said that there was necessity for additional land to accommodate purchasers, actual or in prospect, but for reasons satisfactory to themselves, perhaps because land was cheap, the four proprietors for the sum of fifteen shillings bought more land of Josias the Sachem, Jan. 31, 1671, which is known as the "Additional Purchase," and was thus described: - *

I Josias Sachem of Tackkomy do sell and Inlarge the Lotts of the English further on the East side unto the East sid of the deep woody valiy in the cart way goeing to the town 'and so to run upon a straight line unto the mille from the marked tree & from the marked tree by papemikes field and so taking in all the Land and neckes westwardly as appeareth by trees marked on the east sid of the woody vally, by me Josias, James Allen and John Eddy.

No formal name was adopted by the proprietors for the new settlement, as they were not yet incorporated, but it was generally known as Middletown, because of its relative position between Great Harbor and Nashowakemmuck.

Having obtained all the available property from the Sachem, the partners proceeded to the next step of admitting inhabitants and associates. It will be remembered that Thomas Mayhew reserved the right to supervise this feature of the programme and approve of all who applied for the right of admission. The following document records the first admission and the division of the land. May 20, 1671, into fifteen shares, and should be read in full: - ^

Whereas we whose names are under writen have obtained liberty of Mr Thomas Mayhew to buy & purchas land within the bounds & limits of Taakimmy upon the Vinyard this may signifie unto men that we WilU: Pebodie josiah Standish, James Allen and James Skiffe have made purchas of certaine Lands within the above saide bound with a purpos to people or plant the same and in order thereunto have devided the whole into twelv partes or shares payable to the charges of the whole purchas besids one lott for the mill one for a minister and one lott for John Eddy if he com according to Compacicion and further we have admitted of several persons to have thar severall shares both upland and medow land allreddy purchased or to be purchased alwayes P'vided that the parsons admited shall pay or cause to be payed their just proportion of cost and charg justly arisin thereupon unto the above named Willi Pebodie Josias Standish and James Allen or their assignes and in consideration thereof we the above named Wilham Pabodie Josias Standish James Allen and James Skiffe doe admit of Isack Robinson, James Skiffe Sinour, Simon Athearn, Jeramiah Whitne and John Rogers to be full and joynt parcherais with and to have full Right and title to the whole with our selves: allsoewe have admitted of Thomas Mayhew Juner who is to pay five pounds to his brother Matthew Mayhew for and in consideration of a parcell of lands purchased by Willi: Pebodie Josias Standish and James Allen of Matthew Mayhew about holmes hole as may apere by a deed under his hand which parsall of land is to belong unto the whole purchas of takimmy.

'Supreme Jud. Court Files, No. 4974. This paper was probably drawn up in Duxbury, as Thomas Bonney and Nathaniel Brewster, the two witnesses, were residents of that town, unless they came to the island on a prospecting tour at that time.

he did settle here soon after, it raised the shares to that number. The "lott for the mill" seems never to have come into the subsequent transaction of the proprietors, as far as the writer is aware, and may be dismissed from further consideration. The number of proprietors' shares was soon increased to sixteen, at which number it stood in 1673,^ although in 1685 Pabodie sold ''one whole share or lot of land or fifteenth part" of the Takemmy purchase to Henry Luce."^

Incorporation Of The Town, 1671

We are now brought to the time and event, elsewhere described, when the elder Mayhew was summoned to New York by Governor Lovelace to arrange for the future government of the Vineyard. This was in July, 1671, and as one of the results of that journey he procured a to^vn charter for the territory lately purchased in Takemmy. For this new settlement commonly called Middletown, he recommended to Lovelace that it be called Tisbury, in honor of the little Wiltshire parish where he was born and baptised, and whose green lanes and rolling downs filled his recollections as he was called upon to suggest a proper name for the infant town raised up under his assistance. The original charter of incorporation is still in existence among the archives of the town, the only one of the three that has survived the two and a third centuries intervening, and it is a in fair state of preservation, minus the wax seal.^

Under its terms the new town of Tisbury was accorded identical privileges, and the same requirements as to government were imposed as those given to Edgartown. As in the case of the other places incorporated at the same time the quit rent was tw^o barrels of cod fish payable in New York.*

The inclusion of the West Chop or Homes Hole Neck in the town limits of Tisbury was a matter of subsequent arrangement, as will be seen when we deal with that precinct. It was not considered a part of the original corporate town.

^The present seal of Tisbury bearing representations of two barrels and codfish is an oflScial recognition of this ancient tribute, on which our existence as a town depended.

Division Of The Home Lots

Within the few years succeeding the purchase and the incorporation, the original and admitted proprietors' shares were divided and bounded. How they were assigned is not known, as no ]*ecord remains touching this point, but the territory bordering on the Old Mill river, north from the Tyasquin, was selected for the location of the "home lots," and these were declared to be limited to forty acres each, measuring forty rods on the brook and "eaight skore polls" in length, east and west. This forty acres represented one share and twenty acres half a share. The location of these original lots is shown on the map accompanying this, to which reference should be made for a more particular representation. It will be seen that most of the lots were on the west side of the brook where all the prominent shareholders located, which seems to indicate that the selections made were by mutual consent rather than by lot. The only important exception is the location of Simon Athearn on the east side, without any near neighbor, a lot which he had occupied before 1672.

The proprietors of Tisbury were now in possession of all the present bounds of West Tisbury, except the Christian town and the meadows or necks eastward of Tississa to the bounds of Edgartown and to the south of the Mill path. The original purchases had taken in Great Neck, Little Neck and "the neck by John Eddys," leaving Tississa in dispute. The townsmen determined to acquire these valuable meadows and necks eastward to the bounds of Edgartown, and empowered James Allen and John Eddy to effect a purchase from the Indians. On Dec. 24, 1681, they bought of John Papameck a tract as follows: - a certain neck of land lying within the sachemship of Takemmy, commonly called Mussoowonkwhonk, being next to Sekonquit eastward: and bounded by the uppermost end of the west cove of water: and from thence upon a square line to the vally which runs from the east cove of a certain neck of land lying in the town of Tisbury and commonly called Wachekemmihpickquah Neck bounded with water eastward and westward: the northern bounds to begin at the line which bounds the land late sold by John Papameck to said Allen and Eddy: from thence it is to run on a straight Hne to the northern end of the swamp at the end of a cove which parts the said neck from a neck of land called Washusade.'"

It was not until two years after that the remaining neck, Seconquit or Charles', was acquired. On March 29, 1683, Josias with the consent of some "parties concerned," local native magnates, sold to the townsmen this neck, which was thus described: - a certain Neck of land called Seconquet, known to the English by the name of Charles his Neck: bounded Westerly by a cove of water and by the Deep Bottom unto the highway: and Easterly by a cove of water called Seconquet: and from said cove upon a straight line unto the aforesaid highway.^

This property lay in common for several years until Oct. 19, 1687, when it was "agreed and voted by the town that the neck of land called Charles is neck shall be devided and eatch mans proportion shall be layed out as allso the medoe one the above said neck of land and the two next neckes ajoyning eastward from said neck."^ But there w^as trouble and delay when this proposal was undertaken. There were Indians who claimed rights on these necks which had not been satisfied by the purchase from their Sachem, and the town left the matter in abeyance for five years, when it passed, on Feb. 2, 1692, the following vote: -

Voted that James Allen & peter Robinson are chosen and impowered by the town of tisbury to goe and discors the Indians Steeven and Joseph Skeetup & theire company who have dwelt in Seconquit & the necks agasint And to a gree with said Indians so that the said Indians do quit Claim of said necks To the town of tisbury And yeld peasable possesion to the English as Reasonable as thay cann: to be understood to agree with Steven Joseph Skeetup sam nahommon & Joseph potobppan as Reasonable as thay Cann.* that peter robinson and John Manter be constituted and apoynted this towns Atorneys to use theire cuning in defending this towns right of the medow gras and hay on Seconquit, peanaskenamset and mossoonkhonk effetully to prevent any Indian or Indians directly or indirectly to have any improvement by Confedryce or otherwise for the space of three years: now from this day above mentioned having to themselves all the mowing grass and hay on the premisses for the term of three years afore said upon Condition that peter robinson and John manter doth make use of the law also for the defence of the premisses as the caus may require from time to time untill three yeares be expired."^

Ten years had now elapsed since the completion of the purchase of these necks, and from the deliberate manner in which the proprietors proceeded we may infer that they had entered upon the slow process of "freezing out" the red men by the aid of time.