USA > Massachusetts > Dukes County > Tisbury > Records of the town of Tisbury, Mass. : beginning June 29, 1669, and ending May 16, 1864 > Part 1
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Gc 974.402 T52r 1136957
M. L
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
Co.) 3 1833 01104 9027
RECORDS
OF THE
TOWN OF TISBURY. 9
MASS.,
BEGINNING JUNE 29, 1669, AND ENDING MAY 16, 1864.
ARRANGED AND COPIED BY
WM. S. SWIFT, TOWN CLERK OF TISBURY, AND JENNIE W. CLEVELAND, ASSISTANT TOWN CLERK OF TISBURY.
BOSTON : WRIGHT & POTTER PRINTING COMPANY, 18 POST OFFICE SQUARE. 1903.
1136957
TOWN CLERK'S NOTE.
The vote under the authority of which this book of records was printed was passed at the annual town meeting held March 26, 1901, and reads as follows : -
Voted, That the town clerk, with the approval of the selectmen, be instructed to have printed 500 copies of the records of the town, including proprietors' records to the beginning of the town's history, when he shall have completed the copying of the same up to the year 1865, this not to include the records of births, marriages and deaths .*
* The old vital records are complete in a new copy from 1669 to 1844.
1
TOWN CHARTER.
francis Hobelate, Gsq: one of the Gentlemen of his Maties Honble Privy Chamb" and Governo" Gen"1 under his Royall Highness James Duke of Yorke and Albany &c of all his Territorjes in America : To all to whom these Presents shall come sendeth Greeting : Whereas there is a certain Island wthin these his Royall Highss his Territorjes lyeing & being to ye North west of ye Island Nantuckett wch said Island was heretofore granted unto Thomas Mayhew Sen" & Thomas Mayhew Jun' his son by James Forrett Agent to William Earl of Sterling in whom ye Governmt then was and by them a pporcon neare ye middle of ye said Island on ye south side thereof granted to several Inhabitants, Free- holders there for a Towne-ship, who have made purchase of ye Indjan Right, ye said Towne being formerly known by ye name of Middletown, ye p'cincts whereof are bounded on ye East by ye Land heretofore belonging to ye Sachem Towon- quateck, on ye West by Nashowakemmuck, on ye South by Qua-niems & a fresh Pond & on ye North by ye Sound : How for a Confirmation unto ye p'sent In- habitants, Freeholders there & their Associates in theire possession & enjoymt of ye p'misses Anowo ge yt by vertue of ye Commission & Authority unto me given by his Royall Highness upon whom as well by ye resignation & Assignem of ye Heires of ye said William Earle of Sterling as allso by ye Grant & Patent from his Royall Matie Charles ye second ye propriety & Governmt of Long Island, Martins Vineyard, Nantuckett & all ye Islands adjacent amongst other things is settled, I have given & granted & by these p'sents doe hereby give Ratify Confirme & Grant unto ye prsent Inhabitants, Freeholders & their Asso- ciates their Heires Successors & Assignes ye Land whereon ye said Towne is set- tled togeth" wth all ye Lands, Soyles, Woods, Meadows Pastures, Marshes, Waters, Fishing, Hawking, Hunting & Fowling wthin ye Bounds & Limits afore- described and all the other Profitts Comoditjes, Emolumts & Hereditaments to ye sª Town & Land belonging or in any wise appertaining : The tenure whereof is to be according to ye Custom of ye Mannor of East Greenwich in ye County of .
vi
TOWN CHARTER.
Kent in England, in free & comon soccage & by fealty only : And ye sd Towne wch for ye future shall be called by ye name of Tisbury & by that name & Style be distinguisht & known in all Bargaines & Sales, Deeds, Records & Writeings shall be held deemed reputed taken & bee an Entjre Enfranchised Towneship of itselfe & shall always from time to time have hold & enjoy like & equall privi- ledges wth other Townes wthin ye Governmt & shall in noe manner or any wise be under ye Rule Order or Direction of any other place, but in all matt's of Gov- ernmt shall be Ruled ordered & Directed according to ye Instructions I have already given or hereafter shall give for ye good & welfare of ye sª Inhabitts by ye advice of my Councill : To habe and to hold ye said Town wth ye Land thereunto belonging wth all & singular ye Appertenances & p"misses unto ye said Inhabits Freeholders & theire Associates their Heires Successors & Assignes to ye pper use & Behoof of ye said Inhabits Freeholders & theire Associates their Heires Suc- cessors & assignes forever : They ye said Inhabitants & their Associates theire Heires Successors & Assignes yielding rendring & paying yearly & every years unto His Royall Highness ye Duke of Yorke his Heires & Assignes or to such Governor or Governors as from time to time shall be by him constituted & ap- pointed as an Acknowledgment Two Barrells of Good Merchantable Cod-fish to be delivered at ye Bridge in this City. Biber under my Hand and Sealed wth my Seale & wth ye Seale of ye Province at Forte James in New Yorke on ye Island of Manhattans this eighth day of July in ye three and twentyeth yeare of ye Reigne of our Sovereigne Lord Charles ye Second by ye Grace of God of England Scotland France and Ireland King Defender of ye Faith &c & in ye yeare of or Lord God One Thousand six hundred seaventy & one.
Recorded by Order of ye Governor MATTHIAS NICOLLS Sec
FRANCIS LOVELACE [SEAL PENDANT
A true copy of the town charter, taken from the original parchment now on file in this office.
Attest :
WM. S. SWIFT, Town Clerk of Tisbury.
TISBURY, MASS., Jan. 18, 1902.
[SEAL. ]
PREFACE.
The custom of keeping town records, as undertaken by the founders of New England, was a development of the system in vogue in Old England at the time of the Puritan emigration to our shores. In Eng- land the unit of organized communities was the parish, and the records required by law to be kept for this parochial unit related only to the vital statistics of marriages, baptisms, burials, and a few other matters of an ecclesiastical character. The rector or vicar of the parish was the clerk, who had custody of these books or registers, and they were in effect nothing more than the records of the established church, its clergy, officials and its parishioners in that particular community. No such thing existed as records relating to the material interests of the parishes, excepting in towns having a mayor and corporation, such as London, Exeter, Bristol, which were required to keep municipal records.
The social system devised by our forefathers was based on the sepa- ration of the church and state, whereby the unit of the community was the town, which cared for the material interests; and the church, as subordinate, was concerned only in the spiritual welfare of the citizens. No matter how small the town at its beginning, it was a political entity in the colony, independent in its functions under the laws established for its government. The first duty of the freeholders or proprietors who had been incorporated into a body politic as a town was to procure "a suitable book," and keep therein a true record of the acts of the townsmen in their meetings legally assembled by warrant. In making these records a new departure in the matter of vital statistics was developed, - that of recording the births and deaths of the residents, rather than the baptisms and burials. This latter plan, as in operation
viii
PREFACE.
in the English parishes, was continued by the churches here, and thus there exists with us a double record of the coming in and the going out of the world of the individual of a community, each record supplement- ing the other.
The people of the Vineyard, who came largely from the Massachu- setts Bay and Plymouth colonies, brought with them this custom, and although for many years outside the jurisdiction of either colony, yet the keeping of town records was established here with the first settle- ment at Edgartown. Although Tisbury was not settled till a quarter of a century later, yet its records are the oldest original volumes of town records on the Vineyard now extant. *
These ancient records which follow in this volume consist of two folio books. The first in point of age is a thin volume of 50 pages, bound loosely in paper, and was recently recovered by the town clerk, and remains in a fair state of preservation. It measures 8 by 13 inches, and its earliest entries are in the handwriting of Thomas & Mayhew (grandson of the governor), the first town clerk of Tisbury whose name has come down to us as acting in that capacity. The earliest record in this book is the deed of Benjamin Church, the noted Indian fighter, to Joseph Merry, dated Nov. 19, 1669, conveying the mill and its privilege, then situated on the Tiasquin or New Mill River, in the present town of West Tisbury, where for many years after the Look family owned and operated a grist mill. The last entry in this book is dated March 11, 1684, and appears on page 17 of the printed volume.
The second book is much larger than the first, and is the "new boock " referred to in the vote of Dec. 4, 1689 (vide page 22), which the freeholders procured in order that "all records of or in ye old books and loose papers of consarnment sutch as they shall see convenant" might be entered by the town clerk. This qualifying clause, italicized, leaves to our imagination the anxious task of estimating how much
" The town records of Edgartown are a copy of the original, which have disappeared. The oldest book dates from about 1730, when the transcribing was undertaken by the town clerk. It is probable that the early records were in small books and "loose papers," as in Tisbury, and were destroyed after the copy was made. The Chilmark records begin in 1704.
ix
PREFACE.
interesting and valuable matter was discarded by the committee as not of sufficient "consarnment " to be transcribed. That much was left out is certain, for this second volume does not contain anything from the older volume above described. It is bound in vellum, measures 8 by 12 inches, and has been entirely filled from cover to cover by the economical clerks of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The records were at first entered at both ends indiscriminately, without chronological order; and this double-headed plan, with duplicate pagi- nation, makes a resulting confusion of dates, sequences and subjects, that renders an examination of it for a special object a tedious task. In the printed copy the chronological sequence has been wisely restored, for purposes of convenient reference, without in any way diminishing its record value. This book, hitherto regarded as our oldest record, until the recovery of the other, was begun in 1690 by Benjamin Skiffe, then " toun clarck," and its earliest entry is under date of March 17, 1687, recording his election to that office. Thus it will be seen that a hiatus exists between the last entry of the first book, March 11, 1684, and March 17, 1687, indicating that the records of three whole years are missing from one of the two books, probably the first. That much of value has disappeared becomes evident to one who has had occasion, as the writer has, to search these volumes for material that should be there. As an example of an important record not to be found in either book, is the following copy, certified as " taken out of the toune ritinges this 14 of Martch 1684 by me Nathan Skiff Clark of Tisbury." This was found by the writer recently among the archives of the Supreme Judicial Court at Boston, where it probably had figured in some early law suit. It is here inserted for preservation, on account of its historical value : -
[SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT FILES, NO. 4974.]
Wheras 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 willi: 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
X
PREFACE.
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 on 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 meadow land allreddy purchased or to be purchased alwayes pvided that the persons 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 whereof we the above named william pebodie, Josias Standish, James Allen and James Skiffe, doe admit of Isaac 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 : allsoe we have admitted of Thomas Mayhow Juner who is to pay five pounds to his brother Matthew Mayhew for and in con- sideration of a parcell of lande 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 purchase of takimmy.
May 20 1671
witness hereunto
THOMAS BONI The mark N of NATHANIEL BRUSTER
WILLIAM PABODIE
JAMES ALLEN
JAMES SKIFFE
JOSIAS STANDISH
To this legalized depletion of the records of our town, sanctioned by the early freeholders in 1689, must be added subsequent losses, which have in all probability further reduced the completeness which we should much desire to find. In 1716, under the clerkship of Robert Cathcart, a portion of the records in his custody were stolen, and had not been recovered as late as 1754, as appears by the following affidavits : -
[SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT FILES, NO. 72789.]
The Deposition of Mr. Abner West of Homeshole in Tisbury of seventy years old. Testifieth and Saith that About the year A. D. 1716 he Living then Near Mr. Robert Cathcart of said town of Tisbury he Understood that Said Cathcarts Shop was Broken Open and the book in which Records were was Stolen and Never after all found " &c &c. July 17. 1754
S
S
xi
PREFACE.
The Deposition of Mrs Jane West of Tisbury being seventy two years old. Testifieth and Saith that She living near Mr. Robert Cathcart of Tisbury The Common talk was that said Cathcarts Shop was Broken Open and many things Stolen and Particular the Town Book of Records & that she always Understood he was Town and Proprietors Clerk and that some part of said book was found and Never heard that the other part of said book was ever found " &c &c. July 17. 1754
What records are involved in this loss may never be known. Possibly it was an early "Proprietors " record, for it was customary to have separate volumes for the minutes of proceedings of the townsmen and freeholders, the business of each being conducted independently. It may be surmised that the theft occurred in connection with the suit at law which arose between Joseph Briggs, plaintiff, and the Proprietors of Takemmy, alias Tisbury, and was first heard March, 1716-17, in our local courts (see pages 64, 65), and by the plaintiff appealed to the Superior Court at Plymouth (page 67). It was an important suit, in- volving the validity of the divisions of the common land into sixteen shares, and many interests were at stake .*
So far as known, these are the only vicissitudes, accidents and losses to which our early records have been subjected; and when it is remem- bered that for two centuries they have been in the official keeping of so many persons, often unsafely stored in private houses, it is matter for
* The property involved was the proprietor's "share " in the "home lot" of William Pabodie, which he had sold in 1672 to George Russell of Scituate, and which was laid out on the west bank of the Old Mill River, on the north side of the "Scotchman's Bridge " road. Through the early deaths of Russell and his only son Samuel as heir, and the remarriage of Samuel's widow to Cornelius Briggs, all being non-residents, the ownership became dormant, but was finally revived thirty years after, in 1716, by Joseph Briggs, son of Cornelius, who laid claim to the one-sixteenth, or the proprietor's share, belonging to the Pabodie lot. It appears that in 1683 Simon Athearn had bought of Cornelius Briggs a quit-claim of his and his wife's interest in the lot, together with the proprietor's "share " thereto belonging in the undivided lands in the town. The " home lot " was sold the next year, but the "share " was retained by Athearn, and he participated in all the land divisions on its account until his death in 1715, when it descended to Samuel Athearn, his son, which accounts for his connection with the suit as the principal person affected (see pages 67, 68) . It will thus be seen that much depended on the issue of the case, and the early records became an important factor to the litigants. This probably explains the loss described.
.
xii
PREFACE.
congratulation to our citizens that these priceless volumes are now to be placed forever beyond the reach of loss by theft, fire, and that equally destructive, though slower, agency, "the gnawing tooth of Time." This satisfaction must be felt not only by the present citizens of Tis- bury, but by that innumerable body of descendants of her early settlers who are now scattered all over the land.
To the patriotic interest of one of her loyal sons, the present town clerk, Mr. William S. Swift, must the credit for the inception and com- pletion of this splendid work be given. The deciphering of the difficult and almost illegible writing of that early period was begun by him in 1894, and continued carefully and zealously during the spare hours of a busy life, until he had completed the labor of transcription. To any one who has not been familiar with such work this statement may convey slight significance of the toil and patience involved in securing a correct copy of these ancient records. Having had special opportuni- ties for examining them in connection with my work upon the history of Martha's Vineyard, I can testify to the accuracy of his work, and stu- dents and readers may be assured of the correctness of the copy as printed. The town owes its efficient clerk a debt of gratitude for this " labor of love," which he has now so admirably concluded in the fol- lowing pages.
Nor would this reference to his work be entirely accurate if it failed to mention a joint laborer who has been from the early beginnings of the greatest service in the work of transcribing and comparing, - Miss Jennie W. Cleveland, the assistant town clerk. To her must be granted a share of the acknowledgment which we, as citizens of the old town, feel is due for this permanent preservation of its records. These books, together with the old parchment charter, granted by Lord Lovelace in 1671, - the only one surviving of the three then granted, - constitute the oldest original historic muniments of the Vineyard, and it is of more than local concern that they should be made available for future generations.
CHARLES E. BANKS, M.D.
JAN. 20, 1903.
TISBURY TOWN RECORDS.
THIS IS THE TOWN BOOKE OR RECORDES OF TYSBURY WILLIAM PEA- BODY JOSIAH STANDISH JAMES ALLIN AND JAMES SKIFF BEING PURCHASERS DOTH CHUSE THEM ASOTIATES TO SETTELL THE TOWN TYSBURY
me
Know all men by these presents that I John Eddy of the town of great-harbour upon ye Vineyeard 'do for myself my heires and assignes sell unto William Pebody Josias Standish and James Allin I say I do sell my whole accomodations lying at holmes his hole being on sixth part of that which was bought of ye Indians by thomas Layton of Rode Island and this I do for and in consideration that ye for s'd William Pe- body Josias Standish and James Allin are to lett me ye said Eddy have five pounds worth of Land at Takemmy at the same Rate as they bought it of ye Indians provided that ye sd Eddy demand it within two years after the date hereofe as also they shall let me have one Lote among them to live upon I ye sd Eddy paying for it at ye rate yt they buy of ye Indians the fores'd five pounds worths to be part of the Lote if I do not demand ye Land and live upon it then to pay me five pounds at ye end of ye s'd 2 years the payment to made in current pay at prices current and in wittness of ye premises I have hereunto set my hand this 29 of June 1669
Memorandum - yt the lote mentioned is to be one whole accomoda- tion of ye town now to be setled and yt if ye town be not settled then ye fores'd land at holmes his hole to be returned to me ye s'd Eddy in witt- ness to all ye premises I have set hereunto my hand the day and year above s'd
JOHN EDDY
Entered October 20th 1690 AD
witness MATHEW MAYHEW. JOHN ROGERES
2
TISBURY TOWN RECORDS.
Know all men by these presents that I Benjaman Church Mill wright of the towne of duxburie ine the colonie of Newplimouth have for my selfe my heirs executors Administrators and assighnes bargained for and sold unto Joseph Merry of the towne of Hampton in the county of Norflek in the Massachusets in new england unto him his heirs Executors administrators and Assighnes to have & to hould for ever to say one mill with all the Rights titles and privelledges therunto Belong- ing the which Mill standeth uppon the westermost Brook of Takemmy uppon marthas Vineyard as also one Eighth part of the first purchas of land at the Beforesaid Takemmy Bought of Josias sachim with all Rights titles and priveledges to the said land Belonging : which Mill and Land aforesaid I the Abovesaid church have sould as abovesaid unto Joseph Merry for and in consideration of one hundred and twenty pounds the which summe I the said church doe acknowledge to have Re- ceved of the abovesaid merry to my satisfaction by Bills and in witnss of the abovesaid sale I the said Benjamin church doe by thease presents deliver unto the Beforesaid Joseph Merry the beforesaid Mill and land as aforesaid and for the Ratification of the premises I have caused this my deed to be made and in witness heerof have set heerunto My hand and seall in the year of our Lord one Thousand six hundred sixty and nine And the nineteenth of november
BENIAMIN CHURCH
Sighned Sealed and delivered in presence of us HIRHAM SARSON MATTHEW MAYHEW
This Is a true coppy taken By me THOMAS MAYHEW clark
ffor as much as I Josias alias Katanummin Sachem of Tackamy have formerly sold a tract of Land in tackamy unto william Pebody Josias Standish and James Allin that there might be a town of English seated now whereas I Josias bound the fors'd persons in purchas of ye s'd Lands to herd their catle wherefor be it known unto all men by these presents that I Josias Sachem of tackemy on the Vineyeard do sell unto william Pebody Josias Standish and James Allin that my priviledge also yt from this day foreward I do make them free from herding their
3
TISBURY TOWN RECORDS.
catle so yt their catle shall have liberty lawfully and peaceably to grass within the commons of tackemy without any molestation I say I Josias do sell and sett free as affors'd and delivere over from mee my heires an assignes unto william Pebody Josias Standish and James Allin them their associats heires or assignes to have and to hold from and against me or my heires forever and for surty of ye same I do bind me my heires or assignes to defend the same rights and priviledges from all Lawfull claimes by any person or persons from befor the date hereof being this present June 17th 1670 and this I do for and in consideration of five shillings already received in wittness of ye premises I have hereunto set my hand and seale Signed sealed and delivered in ye presents of
Mr: BUTLER The mark 4.1.4. +.
of JOSIAS
The mark
- of ISRAEL ROBINSON
Entered upon the record october 20th 1690
me BENIAMIN SKIFF Clark
ffor as much as I Josias sachem of tachkemy did formerly sell a tract of Land in Tachkemmy unto William Pedbody Josias Standish and James Allin and James Skiffe wich Land was bounded on ye east side begining a full mile from a marked tree neare Popemikes field and so to run southerly unto a vally and road near where tichpitts house was and so taketh all ye neckes westwardly as appeareth by deed beareing date 1669 wherefor be it known unto all men by these presents that I Josias sachem of Tachkemy do sell and inlarge the costs of ye English further on ye east sid unto the east side of ye deep woody vally in the cart way goeing to ye town and so to run upon a straight line unto ye mille from the marked tree & from ye marked tree by popamikes field and so taking in all the Lands and neckes westwardly as appeareth by trees marked on ye east sid of ye woody vally by me Josias James Allin and John Eddy I say I do sell and deliver over this my Land from me my heires or assignes forevere unto the town of Tisbury James Allin & his associats them their heires or assignes to have & to hold from and against me or my heires forever and this I do for and in consideration of fifteen shillings allready recieved and for ye security of ye same I bind myself my heires or assignes to defend the same from all Lawfull claimes
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