History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1620-1890, Part 65

Author: Deyo, Simeon L., ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: New York : Blake
Number of Pages: 1292

USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1620-1890 > Part 65

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The numerous bays and sounds that indent the greater portion of its perimeter, render the town very irregular in contour, and greatly lessen its land surface. One-half of a square mile of its surface is occupied by ponds having no visible outlets. Of these, Goose pond is the largest and covers an area of sixty-six acres; four ponds west of Goose cover sixty-eight acres, their area being respectively fifteen, eleven, twenty-nine and thirteen acres; a pond in the southwest part covers fourteen acres; one southwest of West Chatham, fifteen; two east of Goose pond, fourteen and twenty-five; two southwest of Great Hill, ten and thirty-one; one northwest of Great Hill, twenty-four; and one north of that of thirteen acres. There are also many of inconsid- erable size distributed throughout the town.

In passing along the principal roads of the town the casual observer might conclude that the soil was too sandy for agricultural purposes; but there is much productive land. The wind in many parts has swept away the turf and soil, leaving abrupt specimens of the original

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TOWN OF CHATHAM.

surface, and no considerable portion of the inhabitants are engaged in husbandry beyond the culture of cranberries in suitable places; and to this industry less attention is paid than in towns to the west- ward. It excels in harbors, furnishing within its projecting points more and safer anchorage than any other town; but in no other are the changes from wind and tide greater. (See Chapter I). The har- , bors are free from rocks, but the shifting sands require skill and almost a daily familiarity with them to be safely navigated. Inside the beaches and on the southern side of Strong island are salt marshes, flowed by the tides. The west side of Monomoy, which is virtually an island stretching ten miles toward Nantucket, was formerly a long salt marsh but the wind has filled it with sand.

The streams are short and not available for mill purposes. Mit- chell's river connects Mill pond with the Cove and Stage harbor; west of Stage harbor is Cockle Cove river, connecting Salt pond with the sound. Muddy creek, flowing northeasterly into Pleasant bay, forms in part the northwestern boundary between Chatham and Harwich, and Red river, flowing into the sound, the southwestern.

Peat has been obtained for fuel from the ancient bogs in years past; but cranberry culture in these spots is now of more. profit. The woodland of the town, comparatively less than in towns to the west- ward, is mostly along the western bounds. Hundreds of acres of pines have been planted in the central and northern parts. This planting began about fifty years ago.

The original Indian name was Monomoyick and has been vari- ously written with the same significance. In the territory embraced within the limits of the town the natives, unmolested, enjoyed their customs many years after the English had settled Old Eastham and Yarmouth. Early in the spring of 1665, William Nickerson, men- tioned at page 458, settled here, having purchased of the Indians, in 1656, the first lands for settlement by the whites. The first territory purchased was of John Quason, chief of Monomoyick, and was a large tract north of the road now leading from Chatham to West Brewster, and south of and near to Potanumaquut. June 19, 1672, the same sachem, Quason, joined with Mattaquason in a deed of land, south of the first, which extended east to Oyster pond, the name Mr. Nicker- son gave to that body of salt water and which it now bears. March 29, 1678, August 16, 1682, and at other times he purchased other tracts of the natives, paying valuable considerations of goods as agreed. But Mr. Nickerson had purchased these lands without per- mission of the court at Plymouth, and much legal strife ensued.

The same year that Mr. Nickerson made his first purchase, the court at Plymouth granted to Thomas Hinckley, John Freeman, Wil- liam Sargeant, Anthony Thacher, Edmund Hawes, Thomas Falland,

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HISTORY OF BARNSTABLE COUNTY.

John Rogers and Nathaniel Bacon the right to purchase of the Indians lands at Monomoyick and places adjacent. This invalidated Mr. Nickerson's title to the lands; but he, with his numerous sons and sons-in-law, appealed to the court for the adjustment of their rights. The court was willing to allow him one hundred acres near his house, with some other divisions in the commons, which was not satisfactory. July 3, 1672, Mr. Hinckley and his associates conveyed their rights in the territory, together with what they themselves had purchased under it, to Mr. Nickerson, which made his title indis- putable, and which the general court subsequently confirmed. The settlement of Monomoyick was thus commenced by this family, to whom were subsequently added the families of Hugh Stewart, Samuel Smith, William Cahoon, William Gross, George Godfrey, Ed- ward Small, Joseph Harding, Benjamin Phillips, William Eldred or Eldridge, Lieutenant Nicholas Eldred, Joseph Eldred or Eldridge, Moses Godfrey, Nathaniel Tomlon, William Stewart, William Covel and John Ellis. Later, after 1700, we find as residents the names of Roland Paddock, Robert Nickerson, Caleb Lombard, Richard and Daniel Sears; and still later came Thomas Atkins, William Griffith, Nathaniel Covel, Daniel Hamilton, Edmund Howes, Ebenezer Howes, John Atkins, Samuel Taylor, Thomas Howes, Paul Crowell, Thomas Doane, and many others of similar family names. The histories of the villages contain the names of subsequent settlers.

In 1686 Monomoyick was ordered by the court to send grand jurors, and in 1691 to send a deputy to the general court. By this it would seem that when the county was organized this community was recognized as a town. Several pages of the first records of the town, if ever kept, are lost, for there are no records of the first deputies or grand jurors sent. May 12, 1693, in the proceedings of a regular town meeting, the records commence with that assurance and fullness that would indicate prior proceedings. The absence of proprietors' records is noticeable in this town, as the so-called proprietors early sold their franchises to William Nickerson, from whom and his heirs and assigns all deeds have been received.

But little of interest is found in the town records, beyond the elec- tion of officers, for many years subsequent to 1693. June 11, 1712, Monomoy was incorporated a township by the name of Chatham. The people required frequent special town meetings to regulate their church, which, with all municipal affairs, was under the close surveil- lance of the Plymouth court. In 1718, for the simple omission to elect a hog constable, the town was presented, and Thomas Atkins was sent to answer for the dereliction; and about this time the first pound was erected.

The town received its share of the provincial bills of the issue of

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TOWN OF CHATHAM.

1721, and sent Captain Jonas Atkins and Thomas Doane to receive the sum. they to bring it by land or water, as they chose. The settlement in 1722 had become important and the inhabitants of the east portion of Harwich wished to be set off to Chatham, which was effected the next year, enlarging the town substantially to its present area. The bounds between the two towns were renewed in 1728.

An almshouse was not erected very early, but the town voted assistance to families in need, and cared for them with ample and rigid supervision. In 1724, in open town meeting, it was voted that Captain Joseph Harding and John Nickerson be appointed a commit- tee " to take care that Nic'los Eldredge and his wife be kept to work for an honest livelihood." This procedure might seem peculiar to the reader. but tradition explains that in those days. prior to the es- tablishment of a proper house, the labor and maintenance of those not willing or able to work were sold at auction to whoever would relieve the town of the expense and care of such persons. Later an almshouse and adjacent lands were acquired in the western part of the town, but were sold in 1878, and the old building that had stood on the former site of the Methodist Episcopal church was removed to Chatham village, to the lot next north of the Baptist church, to be used for a poor house. In 1889 this important institution was closed until again needed.

The citizens of the town had no town house until 1849, when the church site of the Methodist Society, near their cemetery, was pur- chased and a town house provided. In 1877 the present commodious town hall, forty-five by sixty-five feet, was erected at a cost of $5,000. The building committee were Hiram Harding. George Eldridge and Erastus Nickerson. It stands just north of Oyster pond, near the rail- road depot. Prior to the purchase of this meeting house site the town meetings were held at the church there, and in the old academy hall, and still earlier the first meeting house was used.

The industries of the town have been varied; rye, corn and English hay are staple products, and have been from its incorporation. Fish- ing had been its principal source of revenue until the middle of the present century, and it yet furnishes a livelihood for many. The first fishing station established was by Daniel Greenleaf, who came from Yarmouth in 1711 and purchased land, the town voting " his land, men and boats to be free from rates." Monomoy point was formerly a favored spot, from its facilities for curing and packing fish. About 1847 Thomas Sparrow, Joseph Reed and Isaiah Lewis, as Sparrow, Reed & Lewis, began fishing at Monomoy. Ten years later, Timothy V. Loveland and his deceased brother, Isaac H., formed a partnership with the late Antony Thacher, as Loveland & Thacher, who also car- ried on an extensive fishing business here. During the civil war

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HISTORY OF BARNSTABLE COUNTY.

Joseph Reed, David Lewis and Myrick N. Kent were prominent fish and weir men in Chatham. The weir business there now is owned by Mr. Kent, T. V. Loveland, Joseph S. Reed, and seven others, under the firm name of Reed & Loveland. In 1837 the town had twenty- two vessels in the fisheries, yielding annually fifteen thousand quint- als of cod and twelve hundred barrels of mackerel. The latter part of this century the culture of cranberries has been advanced, meas- urably filling the decline of the fisheries. Early in the present cen- tury the freight business by packets and vessels was of great import- ance. It is believed that more freighting was done from Chatham than from any other town in the county.

Soon after 1800 the manufacture of salt from sea water com- menced in the north part of the town, and the entire shore line from Pleasant bay around to the Harwich line at Red river was inter- spersed with the works. The owners' names and the location of these plants will be found in the history of the villages. The industry was at its height in 1830, and in 1837 the product from eighty establish- ments was twenty-seven thousand, four hundred bushels.

Sheep husbandry commenced as early as 1700, and became the subject of a town vote for its regulation. March 19, 1712, the town meeting voted that no sheep should be driven for shearing before the last Monday of May, the penalty for violation of the rule to be twenty pounds. Many years subsequently various laws were passed by the town in advancing and systematizing this industry-now long ex- tinct.

Of the ills and accidents of life Chatham has had its share. The smallpox caused the death of many of its citizens in 1766, and the prevalence of this loathsome epidemic caused the removal from town of many families for the succeeding three years. Among the many losses by sea was the mysterious murder, November, 1772, of Captain Thomas Nickerson, Mr. Elisha Newcomb and William Kent, jr., on board the vessel sailed by them. The Massachusetts Gasette of Novem- ber 23d gives a detailed account of the finding of the schooner back of the Cape by Captain Joseph Doane, who, on boarding her, found bloody decks, plundered chests and one man alive. This man was tried for the murder of the officers and crew, and was acquitted. The resolves against the embargo act, the church actions and annual elec- tions are the only matters found in the records during the first quar- ter of this century.

The population of the town of Chatham under the colonial census was, in 1765, 678; and in 1776, 929. Under the United States census of 1790 it had reached 1,140; in 1800, 1,351; in 1810 it was reduced by some unknown cause to 1,334; in 1820 the population was 1,630; in 1830, 2,130; in 1840, 2,334; in 1850, 2,439; and in 1860, 2,710. After the

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TOWN OF CHATHAM.

decline of its salt and fishing industries, the census of 1870 gave 2,411; that of 1880 gave 2,250; and the last state census in 1885 only enu- merated 2,028 souls. Of this number there were 612 voters in 1857, 603 in 1875, and 601 in 1885, indicating a gradual removal of the heads of families to seek homes and employment elsewhere.

Manufacturing forms no part of the occupation of the present generation. In 1800 considerable attention was paid to this, as we find at that date a tannery at Old Harbor, owned by the Crosbys, who ground bark by a wind mill; it was abandoned about 1830. A rope walk, built by Cobb Nickerson, near his homestead in the north part of the town, did good service during the first quarter of this century. The wind mills have naturally declined, and of the seven in town in 1800 only one is now in use. This is owned by Zenas Nick- erson and stands on the knoll north of the marine railway. It was built in 1796, and was owned successively by Colonel Godfrey, Chris- topher Taylor and Oliver Eldridge. About 1883 it was purchased of Eldridge's heirs by the present owner. Of the older ones Chatham Port had one, South Chatham one, Old Harbor one, which was moved to Orleans, and the point at the Light had one. Isaac Bearse, at South Chatham now has one not in use, and another, equally worthless, adorns the knoll, north of Oyster pond.

Of the many old wharves on the east and south borders of the town but little remains beyond tradition; three of recent date, two at Stage harbor and one at Harding's beach, supply the fishing of 1889 as well as several did when this business was active and lucrative.

The town at large, especially along the central road where the first churches stood, had its " ordinaries." Perhaps that term should not be applied; but away back in the dim aisles of tradition, the widow Knowles kept some sort of an institution where, after election, the town officers and their friends ordinarily adjourned for the purpose of swearing in and lengthening the day into the evening. "Esquire Crowe" also had, in the same neighborhood, a store, or ordinary, that in this century has been voted entirely away. Before there was any village of Chatham, and while " Esquire Crowe " was selling to that part of the town, Richard Sears had a general store of necessaries on the spot now next to the hall of the A. L. of H. in the village. The only hotels-the more modern name-are now in the village.

Within the limits of the town, besides that of the village, are two lighthouses-one on Harding's beach and the other on Monomoy point. These are strong iron towers with appropriate lights for the safe guidance of mariners over the shoals. Each has a comfortable residence for the keeper. On the beach east of Morris island is the U. S. life saving station, and near the lighthouse of Monomoy is another. These stations have one man-the captain-during the summer, and

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HISTORY OF BARNSTABLE COUNTY.

eight in winter; and each is supplied with all the apparatus needed in the humane and hazardous duties of the men.

The facilities of this town in express and mail matter are 110W second to none. The early packets to and from Boston afforded re- liable sources, and Barzilla Harding and Heman Smith were thus engaged prior to 1829. Later, stages connected with the old Plymouth line, and later still, when the railroad was extended along the Cape. more frequent and rapid accommodations were received. In 1861 Rufus Smith started a stage from Chatham to Yarmouth, which, in 1866, was displaced by the railroad to Orleans; but Chatham contin- ued to receive the mails and express by his stage. In 1879 this express was consolidated with the New York & Boston Despatch Express Com- pany, which continues the business; but since 1887 the transportation of goods to this town is by the Chatham railroad.

There are several burying places in the town, of which the Nicker- son ground, at Chatham Port, is the oldest, and is said to have been an Indian burial place. The oldest of the church yards, in the center of the town, was first used as a separate ground for the whites; the sec- ond is east of this. The others near by are known as the Baptist burying ground, the Universalist, and the Methodist. South Chatham also has a sinall burial place called the Bethel.

The town rapidly grows in wealth, the increase in the valuation of real estate exceeding that of personal. The present valuation of the real estate is about half a million. The taxes for state, county and town purposes average $12,000 yearly. The taxes for 1889 in- cluded $1,900 for the poor and $1,700 for highways. Guide-boards are maintained at the intersections of important roads. While by the decline of its fishing interests many are compelled to seek employ- ment in other channels, and perhaps elsewhere, the energy of the Chatham people is marked by the continued improvement and growth in commercial and agricultural interests.

CHURCHES .- Although the settlement of the town dates from 1665, the church records must commence with a date nearly thirty years subsequent. That a meeting house had been erected prior to any record is evident from the language of the first town meeting: "that Wm. Nickerson and Joseph Harding be appointed agents for the re- pairs of the Monomoy meeting house." No record is given of the regular service of a pastor until 1699, when the assessment of rates indicates that Rev. Jonathan Vickery must be paid for pastoral duties. From historical and traditionary sources, it appears that the first Wil- liam Nickerson was a religious teacher, and that for the first years after a place of worship was erected he performed these important duties.

ـم عملى

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TOWN OF CHATHAM.

The first meeting house must have been a primitive structure, for February 15, 1700, the people, in town meeting, voted to have a new one, twenty by thirty-two feet; and it was arranged among the men of the town that each should go two days with his team to secure timber, and William Eldred (or Eldridge) was to go for planks and boards with which to line it. In October, 1700, Thomas Atkins was appointed sexton, at ten shillings per annum.

In April, 1702, Mr. Vickery, the preacher, was drowned, and in January following Mr. Gershom Hall was hired to preach. Mr. John Lattimer came in May, 1706, and was retained until 1709. Mr. Mat- thew Short was made pastor in 1710, and in 1711, after strong and binding conditions had been accepted by the town, Mr. Hugh Adams began his labors, which were closed by dismissal in 1715. Mr. Hall and Rev. Joseph Lord preached until 1719, when Mr. Lord was set- tled. In 1721 they built him a parsonage, with a chimney of brick made from the clay on the premises. In 1729 the town voted to build another meeting house, and ten years later the pews were first put in and sold. Mr. Lord died early in 1748, and in October Stephen Emery was called, who died in May, 1782, after thirty-three years of ministry. In 1755 a town meeting was called to see if certain relig- ionists called "separatists" should be excused from church taxes- but the majority voted in the negative.

The meeting house, when enlarged and repaired in 1773, was still the only one in the town. The succeeding pastors were: Thomas Roby, 1783; Ephraim Briggs, 1796; Stetson Raymond, 1817; Mr. Scovel and Mr. Fletcher, 1829; John F. Stone, 1831; John A. Vinton, 1833; Charles Rockwell, 1838; E. W. Tucker, 1846; Noadiah S .. Dickinson, 1852; Cal- vin Chapman, 1858; E. B. French, 1860; A. C. Childs, 1862; George Ritchie, 1865; Ogden Hall, 1868; Hiram Day, 1870; P. B. Shier, 1878; Isaiah P. Smith, 1880; L. P. Atwood, 1884; and S. B. Andrews, in Octo- ber, 1889.

We have given a history of this ancient church for several years prior to the date of the ministry of Rev. Joseph Lord, at which time the Conference dates the organization of the Chatham church. The town records furnish the early history, and the organization of 1720 was doubtless a closer religious union of the old parish. The first real meeting house, erected in 1700, was by the old burying ground; the second was near the later ground of the society; and the present edifice in the village was erected in 1866, the frame of the old one being used. The records of the church were burned with the parson- age, September 29, 1861; but from the assistance of Levi Atwood, who has been superintendent of the Sunday school for the past forty years, and from the records, well preserved since 1866, this sketch is pre- pared.

....

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HISTORY OF BARNSTABLE COUNTY.

: For several years the scattered adherents of the Methodist faith were included in a circuit with Harwich, and in the early days of Methodism the towns of Truro and Wellfleet were included. In 1807 Rev. Joel Steele traveled from place to place and preached, and in 180S Rev. Erastus Otis came. Joseph A. Merrill was on the circuit in 1809-11. In 1812 Benjamin F. Lumbard received the quarterly col- lections from Chatham, and in July of the same year Pliny Brett was the pastor. In 1814 the traveling minister was Rev. Noah Bigalow, succeeded by Philip Munger in 1815. In 1816 this charge was joined with Sandwich, Barnstable and Harwich. In 1817 Benjamin R. Hoyt preached, and in 1818 Moses Fifield alternated with him. In 1820 Ben- jamin Hazelton, and in 1821 I. Jennison, were the preachers of the circuit. In 1822 Benjamin Brown and Edward T. Taylor preached. In 1824-5 we find Mr. Bates, E. Hyde and Mr. Bennett receiving the contributions of Harwich and Chatham.

The first class formed here was in the fall of 1816, when Moses Fifield was in charge. The first annual meeting recorded was held March 5, 1821, at which Christopher Taylor was made secretary of the society, and Micajah Howes, William Hamilton and Henry Gor- ham were chosen a general committee. Soon after this a meeting house was erected near their present burying ground. In 1838 we find a vote to sell the parsonage and grounds, which fact indicates the existence of this valuable appendage, and that ministers had been settled. The minutes of the society from 1825 to 1837 are not to be found. In 1838, at the annual meeting, it was voted that the class leaders circulate a subscription " to see what amount they can raise for support of preacher the coming year."

The early Methodists who had become members between 1815 and 1822, were Lemuel Hunt, Henry Gorham, Obed Harding, Calvin Hammond, William Hamilton, Micajah Howes, L. Loveland, Joshua Nickerson, jr., Tully Nickerson, Reuben and John Rider, Christopher Taylor, Isaiah Nye and Joshua Atkins. These were followed in 1823 by the membership of David Bearse, Solomon Howes, Thomas Hol- way, Stephen Hammond, E. Rider, Isaiah Rider, Abner Sparrow, Zenas Taylor and D. Tripp. Many followed these in 1824 and the succeeding years; but our aim is to mention the first who, perhaps, assisted in the organization of the society and erection of the first meeting house.

Mr. Paine, Mr. Gould and Hezekiah Thacher preached here more or less in 1826-7-S. In 1829 Mr. Thacher received the moneys as pas- tor, and in 1830 and 1832 Rev. G. Stone was pastor. Rev. Joseph B. Brown preached in 1835, and in 1837 we find J. Steele came for two years. In 1839 Thomas Dodge preached. In 1841 Israel Washburn was pastor, and again in 1846. E. D. Trakey filled the desk in 1845.

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TOWN OF CHATHAM.

After the reorganization of the church society under the act of 1847, a meeting house was erected in 1849, and in 1851 a deed of the present site was obtained. Since the erection of the present edifice the minutes are well preserved by Thomas Holway, clerk. The pas- tors have been: John E. Gifford, in 1854; Asa N. Bodfish, in 1856; Samuel W. Coggshall, 1858; W. H. Stetson, 1859; John W. Willett, 1860; W. H. Richards, 1863; John W. Howson, 1865; William F. Far- rington, 1867; Thomas S. Thomas, 1869; Edward Edson, 1870; Ed- ward A. Lyon, 1873; Samuel Mckeown, 1875; John D. King; 1877; V. IV. Mattoon, 1879; Warren Applebee, 1881; Archibald McCord, 1884; Walter J. Yates, 1887; and Nathan C. Alger in 1889.

The Universalist society was organized August 1, 1822, by twenty- nine members. A meeting house was erected in 1823, near their cemetery, northwest of Chatham village. In 1850 a second edifice was erected on the site of the academy, bought February 14, of that year. This was burned in 1878, and the society erected the present edifice in the village, dedicating it November 19, 1879. In 1831 a church organization of sixteen members was established. Calvin Monroe preached from 1824 to 1827; the church was supplied through 1828; Charles Spear came in 1820, remaining until July, 1832; Abra- ham Norwood and others supplied in 1833-34; A. P. Cleverly, June, 1835, until August, 1837; H. Chaffee and W. S. Cilley, in 1837; G. Hastings and others, supplies to 1839; W. S. Clarke, September, 1839- 42; Gamaliel Collins, 1842-43; Joshua Britton, May, 1844-49; Alvin Abbott, May, 1850-51: E. M. Knapen, 1851-54; M. E. Hawes, July, 1854- 58; Benton Smith, November, 1858, to May, 1865; Franklin C. Flint, 1865, to May 1867; W. W. Wilson, October, 1867, to May, 1869; William Hooper, July, 1869, to June, 1871; supplies; George Proctor, March, 1872-74; N. P. Smith, July, 1874-76; B. L. Bennett, April, 1877, to December, 1880; Thomas W. Critchett, January, 1881, to March, 1882; Collins and other supplies; Henry M. Couden, April, 1883, to date. Of this society and church Ziba Nickerson has acted as clerk and treasurer since 1850.

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History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1620-1890, Part 65

Author: Deyo, Simeon L., ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: New York : Blake Number of Pages: 1292

Author: Deyo, Simeon L., ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: New York : Blake
Number of Pages: 1292