History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1620-1890, Part 80

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 80

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The people of Mashpee are earnest in the work of temperance, and May 4, 1885, a lodge of Good Templars was organized with twenty members, which had increased to ninety in 1889. A lodge of Juven- ile Templars of thirty members is also in successful operation. The hall, library, reading room and the Juvenile organization are all under the control of the elder members of the Good Templars' lodge, and the best results may be expected. The presiding officers of this lodge have been selected from the citizens active in the work, and this com- bination of sociel societies is a strong factor for good.

- :

714

HISTORY OF BARNSTABLE COUNTY.

Co-existent with the march of religious teachings the schools have kept pace. One school had been kept prior to 1831, when the legis- lature appropriated four hundred dollars for the erection of two. school houses -- one at the North village and one at the South. In 1834 the state appropriated one hundred dollars from its school fund, and from 1835 this was made an annual appropriation. In 1855 there were 105 school children in the two districts. The condition of the state's appropriation was, that the inhabitants should raise annually, by tax, seventy-five dollars, to be used for the same purpose; and this sum or more was thus assessed and raised annually. The year's ex- penditures for schools, as reported by the committee on accounts, in April, 1889, was $435.14.

The simple tastes and natures of their fathers were for the wilder- ness and the solitudes, and formerly hunting and fishing were their chief avocations; but since 1834 attention here has been turned to farming, and the fine farms of the proprietors compare favorably with those of other towns. A company was incorporated under the title of the Mashpee Manufacturing Company, with suitable buildings on the Santuit river, through the instrumentality of Rev. Joseph Wood, then pastor of this people. The object was the manufacture of brooms, which did not prove as profitable as was anticipated, and the right to cultivate cranberries was added to the privileges of this company two years later. Others then took stock in the company; the ponds were converted into cranberry bogs, other lands were added for that pur- pose, and the company, under the original title, now cultivates nearly fifty acres. In 1872 Captain S. L. Ames purchased the building which is used as a cranberry house. Cranberry culture has proved very profitable, not. only to this company, composed now wholly of non- residents, but to the people of Mashpee, who, stimulated by this suc- cess, have since largely and successfully engaged in the culture of this fruit in various parts of the town.

This people have been hospitable from their earliest history; and, although owing him fealty, Massasoit, in the war of 1675, 1676, could not induce them to commit any overt act of hostility toward the English. During the revolutionary war the Mashpees were ready and valiant soldiers, doing much service. Rev. Mr. Hawley stated, in 1783, that there were no less than seventy widows in the plantation-the result of that war. A single regiment, raised in 1777 for the continental army, had the following twenty-six warriors out: Francis Webquish,. Samuel Moses, Demps Squibs, Mark Negro, Tom Cæsar, Joseph Asher,. James Keeter, Joseph Keeter, Jacob Keeter, Daniel Pocknet, Job Rim- mon, George Shawn, Castel Barnet, Joshua Pognet, James Rimmon, David Hatch, James Nocake, Abel Hoswitt, Elisha Keeter, John Pearce, John Mapix, Amos Babcock, Hosea Pognet, Church Asher-

Solomon attaquein.

PRINT. E. BIERSTADT, N. Y.

715.

TOWN OF MASHPEE.

and Gideon Tumpum; of whom only three returned. In the war of 1812 but few enlisted. In the civil war, 1861-5, there were many en- listments, among whom, in the army, were Azariah Brown and Lewis F. Mills, brother of William J. Mills. In the navy at the time were John Sylvester Keeter and his brother Edmund, Darius Coombs, James Dennison, Lysander B. Godfrey, Alonzo Godfrey and James M. Godfrey, three brothers; Lewis Attaquin, James and John Coet, Jacob and Samuel Cowett, Thomas L. Hicks, David Robins, Charles Alvis, John H. Spencer and John H. Thompson.

During the present century there have been born in Mashpee some remarkable men. The wonderful genius of the blind preacher, who, for so many years shone in his glorious power, converting hun- dreds by his preaching and singing, and to whom the present church of the town looks as its patron saint, will not be forgotten. His de- scendants, and those of other prominent natives now fill the offices and business positions in the town. Some names have become en- tirely extinct, with the blood. Poppononett was a chief of the south shore Indians, from whom Nathan S. Pocknet was a descendant. Na- than S. lived on the hill northwest of the west end of Ockway bay. None of the name are left.

SOLOMON ATTAQUIN .- The ancestors of this aged native were born in Mashpee, and were counted in the number of Christian Indians. His father, Ezra, and grandfather, Solomon, were prominent in the affairs of their people and have long slumbered in the Attaquin bury- ing-ground, west of Mashpee pond. His mother was Sarah Jones, an earnest member of the Baptist church. He was born January 28, 1810, in the southwestern portion of the town, near Waquoit, and at the early school in the latter place acquired the rudiments of reading and writing. At the age of twelve he shipped as cook on a fishing voyage to the Grand Banks, serving in this capacity two seasons. At fourteen he shipped on board a whaling vessel, making two long voyages, and at the age of twenty was able to go before the mast in a merchant- man. He visited Europe, the West Indies and many southern cities in his voyages, and rose to the rank of mate. In 1834, when Mashpee was incorporated as a district, he retired from a steady seafaring life and assisted the people in their municipal affairs. He was elected one of their first selectmen, an office which he filled, at various times, a period of twenty-two years.

In 1836 he married Cynthia Conant, of Plymouth county, who still survives. Of their two children, one died in childhood, the other mar- ried Samuel Jones, and died at the age of thirty-nine.

In 1840 Mr. Attaquin erected the building which, with suitable additions, has since been known as Hotel Attaquin. Several years after this hotel was built, the best of fishing, in close proximity,

716

HISTORY OF BARNSTABLE COUNTY.

induced sportsmen to visit the town, and the Hotel Attaquin became a favorite resort. This property he sold in 1888.

After his retirement from long voyoges he, for several years, coasted during the summer between Boston and Albany, as master or mate. In the winter seasons he was often sent to the general court in the interest of his people. While the territory was a district and after it attained the rank of a town he served as town clerk and treas- urer, and in other positions wherein his superior judgment and mature years would benefit his people. He is a republican in matters of state, and was appointed the first postmaster of Mashpee in 1871, which position he filled until 1889. While active in secular life, he has been mindful also of the interests of the Baptist church of which he and his wife have been members for the past twenty years. Venerable in his four-score years, he of all others of his people now living, has passed through their comparative slavery, then along the line of their improvement to the full enjoyment of the rights of citizenship. The present generation in their prosperity may well revere the name of Solomon Attaquin.

Sixteen years after Mashpee was incorporated it was, as it still is, a part of the first Barnstable district. In 1885 Watson F. Hammond, a native of Mashpee, was nominated by the republicans, and was elec- ted to represent this district in the legislature, taking his seat as the first one of his people ever elected to the general court of this Com- monwealth. He was born here May 24, 1837, and is the son of John Hammond, whose father, John, was originally of Sag Harbor-prob- ably descended from a Montauk Indian. Mr. Hammond's wife is Rebecca, a daughter of Joseph Amos, the blind preacher. Their six children are: Charles H., Nellie W., Alice C., Lorenzo T., Edith L. and Carrie F. The oldest son, Charles H., was born in 1861, and when twenty-one years old began teaching in the South district, and has taught also in the North district. In 1883 Charles H. was elected town clerk, an office which he continues to ably fill. His wife, Mary E., is a daughter of John H. Pompey.

The longest line of descent accurately traceable here is in the Coombs family. Two brothers, now living, both substantial citizens of the town, are George R., born in 1843, and Darius, born in 1845. Their father, Oakes A. Coombs, was a son of Isaac and a grandson of Joshua Coombs-all born in Mashpee. George R. engaged in the farming, cranberry and oyster business. He was elected clerk of the district and served until after the town was incorporated. He has been a member of the school committee about three years, also town treasurer. His wife, Elizabeth S., is a sister of William J. Mills of this town. Darius Coombs has been chairman of the selectmen since 1885. He served in this capacity a period of four years, prior to this.

717

TOWN OF MASHPEE.

He has run the daily mail stage from Mashpee to Sandwich since 1877. He was tax collector from 1871 to 1877. His wife, Martha A., Mye, is the daughter of John and Lydia (Pocknet) Mye.

Deacon Matthias Amos, who died in 1885, was all his life a resident of this town, where his father Israel, a seafaring man, was born and lived. The deacon left a snug property for his widow and children. His two sons-Horatio H., born in 1852, and Lysander Z., born in 1858-are enterprising and substantial citizens of the town. Horatio H. went to sea at fourteen years of age, and continued until 1886. Since then he has been selectman, as his father had been, and also town treasurer, two years. His wife is Ella F. Gardiner. Lysander Z. Amos, at twenty-two years of age, was elected collector of taxes and has held the office to the present time. In 1883 he was commissioned by Gov. Benjamin F. Butler as a justice of the peace of the Common- wealth for seven years. In 1887 he was one of the school committee of the town and for the last two years has been treasurer and clerk for the parish. His wife is Flora E., daughter of Nathaniel D. Bearse.

This people had the facilities of a mill for grinding corn as early as the people of plantations adjoining. Papers in the hands of the state's Indian commissions in 1870 show that in 1684 Shearjashaub Bourne purchased of Quitchatassett, the principal chief and others, all the swamp land from Great pond (Mashpee pond) southward to Coleman's bridge, including the present bogs in the Mashpee river valley for one-half mile southerly from the pond. For this grant of land Mr. Bourne agreed to build a meeting house for the Mashpees. After the purchase of the lands Mr. Bourne built a grist mill south of the road, near where stands the ice house of O. M. Holmes, and the present dam north of the road was constructed for the use of this mill. Still later a saw mill was erected on the same dam, which mill was abandoned early in the present century. The grist mill was used until after 1820. Hezekiah Coleman had a mill for grinding corn, situated on the river where the road crosses it north of W. R. Mingo's. This mill was erected before Mr. Bourne's, for tradition says Coleman was compelled to discontinue grinding because the water was held back by Bourne.

The business of the town has recently grown rapidly in import- ance. Cotuit was a former trading place; but the wants of the people are now supplied within its own borders. Virgil B. Collins prior to his death in 1875, also Captain Seth Collins, his brother, of Waquoit, kept stores. Among the active merchants were George R. and Darius Coombs. Lysander Z. Amos began his store, now the only one here, in September, 1883; he had been engaged in making cran- berry barrels for the four years previous.

718

HISTORY OF BARNSTABLE COUNTY.

There has been a post office at Mashpee since 1870, mail being supplied by a stage line from Sandwich. It was run tri-weekly for three years by James Amos, and for four years by Seth Collins, and since 1877, daily by Darius Coombs. Solomon Attaquin served the public as the faithful agent of the government until the spring of 1889, when he was succeeded by O. M. Holmes, who added a nice set of mail boxes to the office. The hotel kept by Mr. Attaquin so long, now by Mr. Holmes, is a famous resort for sporting parties. There are two halls at the north village; the finished one was built in 1888 by a company composed of George R. Coombs, Watson F. Hammond, Alexander Booker, Charles H. Hammond, W. R. Mingo, W. H Simon and J. H. Thompson. The library reading room was opened June 2, 1889. The officers of the hall and library association are: W. F. Hammond, pres .; C. H. Hammond, sec .; W. H. Simon, treas.

The excellent fishing in the ponds, bays and streams has given the town preference for real sport. Pickerel, eels, bass, bluefish, flound- ·ers, cunners, smelt, frost-fish, scup, clams, and other fish are plenti- fully caught. The Mashpee trout frequently sell for one dollar a pound, when those from other places in New England are quoted at ·only one-fourth that price. Oysters are a specialty on the southern borders of the town.

The Popponesset bay, between Mashpee and Barnstable, contains some of the finest oyster ground on the southern shore of Cape Cod. The oysters known as " Pells' Best " are grown here. The proprietor of the beds is Silas P. Pells, who was born here in 1838. Besides being a successful business man, he has served acceptably in his town as school committee, constable, and several years as selectman. His wife, deceased, was Lydia Thompson. His present wife, Annie Mye, is of Mashpee.

Oliver M. Holmes was among the Boston people who were attracted to Mashpee by the hunting and fishing as early as 1860. In 1870 he, with his uncle, Levi Morse of Boston, invested quite largely in a cran- berry enterprise here, now representing about twenty-seven acres. His house-" Hotel Attaquin " -- is a well kept resort, headquarters for the fishing parties frequenting the trout streams and ponds of Mashpee.

William J. Mills was born in Nantucket in 1842, where his father, Joseph Mills, resided. His mother was Dorcas Webquish of Mashpee. He followed the sea, coasting and fishing, from boyhood until 1880. His wife is Adaline B. Gardner. His business is farming and fishing, at which he has acquired a fair property.

WALTER R. MINGO .- As a representative factor of the agricultural importance of Mashpee, this citizen is one of the most prominent. His beautiful residence is located on the rise of land just south of the

---

س۔۔

FMG

RESIDENCE OF WALTER R. MINGO,

MASHPEE, MASS.

719

TOWN OF MASHPEE.

village. William Mingo, his ancestor, went to California in 1849, where he died in 1851. He was an active valuable man in the affairs of the plantation prior to his removal.

Walter R. Mingo was born in Mashpee, July 6, 1838, and at the age of fourteen engaged in coasting between the cities of Boston, New York and Philadelphia. He followed the sea thirteen years, before his retirement in 1865. He married, January 20, 1856, Frances C., daughter of John and Catherine Hammond, and sister of Hon. Watson F. Hammond, of Mashpee. Their children are: George H., Walter R., jr., Ella F., Herbert C., Katie M., Russel B., Thomas S. and Laura A. Mingo. Mr. Mingo's fourth child, Nelson D., died before attaining his majority. The eldest daughter, Ella F., was married July 4, 1883, to Isaac Simon, son of W. H. Simon, one of the largest landholders in the town. Isaac Simon, the grandfather of William H., was the last of the natives who could speak the original language. By this mar- riage of his daughter, Mr. Mingo has four grandchildren: Edward R., Nelson D., Eva M. and Zephaniah E. Simon, who reside near the Mingo homestead.

Although he has the personal supervision of a large farm, and several acres of cranberry bog, Mr. Mingo has found time to serve the town as selectman eleven years, during a period in the history of his town that covers its emergence from a plantation to a corporate body, -and in the spring of 1889 he was elected to the office of treasurer. He was one of the original members of the Mashpee Manufacturing Com- pany for the first four years of its incorporation, and his name is found among those who desire the advancement of the best interests of the town. Politically he is a strong element in the republican ranks and in the full tide of life is in every manner the representative man of to-day for his progressive people.

David Lovell was born in Mashpee in 1825. He is a son of David Lovell, also born here, and a grandson of Silas Lovell, who was born in Osterville. David Lovell married Mary A., daughter of Prince P. Gifford. They have had six children-four of whom are still living: .Gideon, Abram L., Mary and Almira W.

Captain S. M. Godfrey, born in 1821, came to Harwich when nine years of age. He early in life went to sea in a privateer. In 1841 he ·settled in Mashpee and married a Mye. He was a partner of Solc mon Attaquin in vessels, and has been an active business man. He had -eight children, three of whom were in the navy during the war of the rebellion and one since. Lysander, Alonzo and James were the first to .enlist, and later Samuel. .

CHAPTER XXII.

TOWN OF EASTHAM.

Territory of the Nausets .- Purchase of the Lands .- Settlement and Incorporation of Nauset .- The Present Town of Eastham .- Natural Features .- Early Settlers .- Growth and Progress .- Industries .- Civil History .- Churches .- Burying Places .- Schools .- Villages .- Biographical Sketches.

T THE territory of the Nausets, of which the present town of East- ham forms a part, was familiar to the Pilgrims, and its lands had been favorably considered since their visit in November, 1620, when exploring the Cape. In 1622, and years subsequent, they resorted to this territory for means of subsistence, of which the na- tives had a surplus. In 1640, Mourt says, some of the Pilgrims became dissatisfied with the barrenness of the soil in the vicinity of Plymouth, which presented the seeming impossibility of building up an opulent capital, and they naturally turned their attention to Nauset, from whence had been furnished ample supplies. At this time the pur- chasers had surrendered to the court the lands embodied in the grant of 1629, as set forth in Chapter IV., and in 1643 a committee of seven, who subsequently became the first settlers, with Governor Bradford at their head, repaired to this territory with a view to determine the feasibility of removing the entire church and seat of government from Plymouth to Nauset. This committee reported, as also had one that was sent in 1640, that Nauset was not as extensive as desired, and was also too remote from the center of the colony to be a suitable location for the seat of government.

The church, while relinquishing the idea of removal as a body, re- solved to give those who desired liberty to remove and commence a new plantation. The grant obtained was as follows: "The Court doth grant unto the Church of New Plymouth, or those that go to dwell at Nauset, all the tract of land lying between sea and sea, from the pur- chasers' bounds at Namskaket to the Herring brook at Billingsgate, with said Herring brook and all the, meadows on both sides the said brook with the great bass pond there, and all the meadows and islands lying within the said tract." This grant was for a tract of land about fifteen miles long, extending from Pleasant bay northerly to the south bounds of Truro, bounded east by the ocean, west by the bay and the

721

TOWN OF EASTHAM.

reservation of the purchasers, since comprising the towns of Harwich and Brewster. The seven mentioned as a committee settled here in April, 1644. having purchased of Mattaquason, sachem of Monomoy- ick, the land at Namskaket, Pochet, and all lands extending north- ward to the territory belonging to the sachem George, the successor of Aspinet, except Pochet island, which the sachem reserved; and of George they purchased all the land belonging to him, extending still further northward. The indians reserved a small neck lying by the harbor on the east side of the tract, which neck the settlers promised to fence that the natives inight have a separate corn field; and the privilege was also granted them for digging shellfish in the cove and that they should have a share of the blubber of the whales driven ashore, their proportion of the latter to be determined by the English.

This territory is now substantially embodied in the towns of Or- leans, Eastham and Wellfleet. The settlement of the plantation began with Mr. Thomas Prence, Edward Bangs, John Smalley, John Doane, Nicholas Snow, Richard Higgins and Josias Cook, who, with their respective families, constituted a colony of forty-nine persons. In 1646 the entire tract received from the court an incorporation as fol- lows: " June 2d, Nauset is granted to be a township, and to have all the privileges of a township as other towns within the government have." Town officers were elected and in 1647 the first deputy from Nauset appeared at general court. In 1651 it was ordered by the court " that the town of Nauset be henceforth called and known as Eastham;" which name the entire territory bore until the erection of Wellfleet in 1763 and Orleans in 1797; and which name the central portion of the original purchase still bears. In the dismemberment of old Eastham the retention of the name to the middle portion was most appropriate, for here the first settlement of the tract was made by white men, and here for more than 150 years, before its present limits were defined, was the seat of the town government. The old training ground is still pointed out, southwest of the present Eastham depot.

The territory of the present town six miles in length by three in width, has Wellfleet on the north, the ocean on the east, Orleans on the south and Cape Cod bay on the west. Its surface as a whole is a continuous plain, with undulations of hills and valleys, the seashore on the east containing sand bluffs of considerable height. The Indian name, Nauset, still designates the northeastern portion; Silver Spring was the former name of North Eastham; the central portion north of the ponds has been known as Half-way ponds, and to that portion south of the ponds the term Great neck is still applied. A small harbor is on the southeast, one branch extending northerly inside of the beach and the other terminating in the Town cove.

722

HISTORY OF BARNSTABLE COUNTY.

The surface and soil of the town have been, and still are, better than would be supposed by the casual observer. Successive crops of wheat, corn and other grains are produced, furnishing a large amount for export. The sandy tract between Great pond and Town cove, now planted to pines, was once fertile farming land.

Several fresh-water ponds dot the surface, around which the soil is alluvial. The largest of these, Great pond, embraces 112 acres; Long pond, east of that, covers 39 acres; Meeting-house pond, north of the center, contains 17; Herring pond, south of Great pond, has 45 acres, and others of less magnitude swell the aggregate pond surface to more than 225 acres. One salt pond in the southeast part is connected with the harbor.

A tract of oaks and pines in the north part of the town constitutes the principal wood land, although tracts elsewhere about the town are being planted with trees. Along the west shore, from the Orleans line to the bounds of Wellfleet, stretches a sandy flat nearly a mile wide and quite dry at low water, along which are evidences of a once larger growth of timber than now is found anywhere on the Cape. Great Meadow river empties into the bay on this side, and just south is Boat Meadow river, with its marsh extending nearly to Town cove. It is said that high tides have flowed across here from bay to ocean. Some inconsiderable brooks are found that connect with the waters of the bay in the north part of the town, of which the largest are Grape Swamp brook, Snow's, Cook's and Indian brook, in part the boundary between this town and Wellfleet.

Billingsgate point is on the extreme northwest point of the town- ship, on an island three miles from the main land, with which it would seem to have once been connected. In 1822 a lighthouse for the benefit of Wellfleet harbor was erected here; but subsequently the washing away of the remaining beach compelled the removal of the lighthouse to a larger island north, and the lighthouse is now just within the bounds of Wellfleet.

In the south limits of the present town of Eastham six of the orig- inal settlers of Nauset erected their first dwellings, Nicholas Snow, of those mentioned, having located on Skaket, now in Orleans. Mr. Prence had two hundred acres of the most fertile land, which is still pointed out as his home farm, also the site where grew the first pear tree planted in Old Eastham. John Doane occupied two hundred acres north of the harbor, which farm is also pointed out by the descend- ants, and the other settlers were each located on the same number of acres to the westward. They were joined by others from Plymouth and from the older settlements on the Cape, and ten years subsequent to its incorporation as Eastham we find the old town contained these heads of families: Henry Atkins, Stephen Atwood, Richard Booshop,

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1620-1890, Part 80

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