History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1620-1890, Part 83

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 83

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).

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TOWN OF EASTHAM.

marriage was with Phebe E. Burroughs. They have two sons-John WV. and William B .- and have lost three daughters-Sarah E., Flor- ence E. and Flora B.

Elkanah Hopkins, son of Elkanah and Sally (Mayo) Hopkins. grandson of Elkanah and great-grandson of Joshua Hopkins, was born in 1827. He has been a carpenter since 1845. He married Sabra A., daughter of Ephraim Doane. She died, leaving two daughters: Paulina (Mrs. N. J. Kidder) and Effie D., who died. His second mar- riage was with Alma S. Herrick, who died in 1882.

Isaiah H. Horton, son of Isaiah H. and Rebecca (Higgins) Horton, grandson of Barnabas and great-grandson of Cushing Horton, was born in Wellfleet in 1835. He followed the sea for twenty-five years prior to 1870, and since that time has been weir fishing and farming. He was for six years selectman of the town. He married Rachel, daughter of Whitfield Witherell. Their children are: Osgood W., Ernest R., Betsey E., Lillian R., Myra S., Isaiah H., jr., Obed W., Reuben W. and Lester G.

Robert R. Horton, son of Isaiah H. and Louisa (Doane) Horton, was born in 1856. He has been station agent at North Eastham since 1877, and postmaster there since 1882. He married Jennie A., daugh- of Isaac W. Landerkin. They have three children: Elwood R., Carroll W. and Edwin W.

Winslow T. Horton, son of Cushing and Mehitabel (Knowles) Horton, grandson of Barnabas and great-grandson of Cushing Horton, was born in 1844. He is a fisherman. He married Betsey H., daugh- ter of Isaiah H. and Rebecca (Higgins) Horton. Mr. Horton served in the civil war eighteen months, in the Fifty-ninth Massachusetts Volunteers.

Freeman Knowles, son of Freeman and Martha (Mayo) Knowles, and grandson of William Knowles, was born in 1822. He followed the sea from the age of seventeen until 1879, and since that time he has been a farmer. He married Joanna, daughter of Freeman and Phebe (Gill) Smith. They have four children: Walter O., Esther A. (Mrs. S. H. Lincoln), Freeman E. and James P. One daughter, Esther S., died.

Josiah M. Knowles married for his first wife Susan Snow. His second wife was Rebecca F., daughter of William F. and granddaugh- ter of William Knowles. She died, leaving three children: Herbert L., Susan W. (now the widow of Walter H. Dill) and Edward E. Mr. Knowles married for his third wife Mary P. Knowles, sister of his second wife. Since his death in 1SS5, his farm has been occupied by his widow and his children, Edward E. and Mrs. Dill. Herbert L. married Carrie K. Baker and has one son, Arthur Herbert Knowles, who was born August 6, 1883.

Seth Knowles, born in 1822, is a son of James H. and Ruth

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HISTORY OF BARNSTABLE COUNTY.

(Knowles) Knowles, grandson of Seth, and great-grandson of Seth, who was a son of Colonel Willard Knowles, who bought the farm where Mr. Knowles now lives in 1742. of the widow of Rev. Samuel Treat. Mr. Knowles is a farmer. He married Abbie, daughter of Francis Kragman. Their children are: Frank I., James G., Seth E. and Abbie MI.

Lewis Lombard, born in 1819, in Wellfleet, is a son of Caleb and Abigail (Higgins) Lombard, and grandson of Oliver Lombard. He followed the sea from 1830 until 1886, fishing and coasting. being sev- eral years master of vessels. He has lived in Eastham since 1862. He married Lucinda C., daughter of Michael and Dorcas (Cobb) Col- lins, granddaughter of Michael and Elizabeth (Atkins) Collins, and great-granddaughter of Benjamin Collins. They have two sons: Oliver C. and James H.

Oliver Mayo®, son of Timothy' and Lydia (Doane) Mayo (James®, James5, Joseph*, James3, Jolin', Rev. John Mayo'), was born in 1817. He followed the sea for twenty years prior to 1847, and has been a farmer since that time, with the exception of ten years, during which he was in the oyster business in Boston. He married Rebecca F., daughter of Joshua Knowles. She died leaving two children: Ella L. and George O., who has one daughter, Sophia C.

Reuben Nickerson, born in Provincetown in 1814, is a son of Reu- ben and Keziah (Young) Nickerson, and grandson of Seth Nickerson. who was a native of Chatham, removing from there to Provincetown. Mr. Nickerson has been a farmer and salt maker. He has been rep- resentative one term, senator one term, selectman several years, and a member of the school board several years. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Beriah Doane. She died leaving two children: Isabelle and Alpheus, who died. His present wife is Sarah, sister of his first wife. They have had two children: one who died and Herbert D.

Thomas K. Paine, son of Elkanah K. and Mehitable P. (Knowles) Paine, grandson of Ebenezer, and great-grandson of Isaac Paine, was born in 1833. He followed the sea several years, was sixteen years keeper of Billingsgate lighthouse, and since 1884 has been a farmer, occupying the homestead of his father. He has been selectman of Eastham five years. He married Deborah S. daughter of Joshua and Deborah (Sherman) Paine. They have two children: Edwin C. and Ruth E.

CAPTAIN EDWARD PENNIMAN .- In the upper towns of the Cape are several captains whose sea life has been spent in the capture of whales, but in passing along down the towns of the county we find that Captain Penniman, of Eastham, is the only surviving captain in the northern part of the Cape who has attained special prominence in Arctic whaling. In 1842, when eleven years of age, he first went to

Edward Pensiman

enman

....

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TOWN OF EASTHAM.

sea as a cook on board a schooner bound for the Grand Banks, and on this voyage he experienced the only shipwreck of his long career. The vessel was cast away on the back of the Cape, near the Three Lights, but the crew and cargo were saved. He followed fishing until he was nineteen years old, when Thomas Knowles, of New Bed- ford, a former resident of the Cape, and one who knew the worth of the young man, asked him if he would go whaling, to which he re- plied that he would when he was twenty-one. He continued fishing with his father until he was twenty, and soon after, in 1852, shipped for his first whaling voyage to the North Pacific in the bark Isabella. His strength and merit enabled him to ship as boat steerer on this first voyage, and in his second, in 1855, he took the position of second mate of the bark Minerva, in which, with Captain Swain, he went on a cruise of four years to the South Pacific. In 1860 he took command of the bark Minerva, and in this third whaling voyage went again to the South Pacific for sperm. His return from this voyage, during the war of the rebellion, was fraught with dangers from rebel priva- teers. One of the vessels encountered near the West Indies, and which he was dodging, proved to be commanded by a friendly cap- tain and acquaintance from Provincetown, who was as watchful of rebel privateers as he, and equally suspicious of his craft, and who ran a narrow risk of personal injury from Captain Penniman and his men, who were prepared to give him a volley.

Captain Penniman sailed in the same vessel upon his fourth voy- age, and his wife accompanied him to the Arctic. The war was vir- tually ended, and he certainly feared no interruption from rebel cruisers in that direction; but one day while his vessel lay in a field of ice in a high latitude, the captain of a passing French ship, flying the American flag, asked him to come aboard, and gave him the un- welcome information that a pirate was at a port not far off, where several vessels were in flames by his act. The whale boats were out of sight, and the captain was compelled to fire a cannon before he could recall them. Anxiety to have his men hear the report and re- turn to the vessel induced him to load the old gun too heavily, and the concussion broke the glass of the lights, which in falling so cut the faces of his wife and son, who were in the cabin below, that they looked as though they had themselves been the target of the shot. The boats came in, and Captain Penniman made all sail to a safe an- chorage, where he remained a month, until all danger was over from rebel privateers. He subsequently learned from good authority that the enemy was the Shenandoah, and that his vessel-the Minerva -- was the special object of the cruiser's search. He also learned that the enemy's craft had passed near enough to have discovered him had not a fog prevailed.

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HISTORY OF BARNSTABLE COUNTY.

In 1874 the captain made his fifth voyage, in command of the Cicero, from New Bedford, making a short voyage to the South Pacific. In 1876 he went to the coast of Patagonia in command of the Europa, completing a long and successful voyage. His last and seventh voy- age, on which he started in 1881, was in the Jacob A. Howland, to the Arctic regions, from which he returned in 1884, leaving his vessel at San Francisco and returning home across the continent, accompanied by Mrs. Penniman, who had taken three long voyages with him. A singular fact may be stated: he never lost a vessel, but every one in which he sailed has since been destroyed or condemned. The Isabella was burned by Captain Semmes; the Minerva was lost on the coast of Africa; the Cicero was condemned; the Europa was wrecked at Japan, and the Howland was lost on Johnson's island in the Pacific.

Of the ancestry of Captain Penniman little is known. Scammel Penniman, his grandfather, was a heavy grocer in Boston early in this century, where he died November 12, 1836. He had three children: Fannie, Maria and Daniel-the father of Captain Penniman-who, early in life came to the Cape, where he died in 1872. He married Betsey A., daughter of Samuel Mayo, of Eastham, and had nine chil- dren: Elvira, born November 10, 1829, is now the widow of Solomon Mayo, of Eastham; Maria, now Mrs. George H. Sanborn, of New Hampshire, was born September 3, 1833, and first married William H. Tendler,to whom two children were born; George Penniman, of Eastham, born September 18, 1835; James, also of Eastham, born January 24, 1837, married Caroline Dill and has three daughters and one son; Daniel, born March 22, 1840, lives in Maine, and has five chil- dren-two sons by his first wife, Phebe Thompson, and one son and two daughters by his second wife, Minnie Johnson; Silas, born Janu- ary 31, 1842, after serving through the war settled in Maine, where he married and has one son; Charles, born January 6. 1844, was also in the federal army during the rebellion and now lives at Franklin, N. H., where he has a wife, two daughters and a son; Francis W., born January 6, 1846, enlisted in the civil war, passed through many battles, and was fatally wounded at Kenesaw Mountain, and died at Chatta- nooga, July 8, 1864, aged eighteen years.

Captain Edward Penniman, the second child in this family of Daniel, was born at Eastham, August 16, 1831. His education was limited to the common schools of his native town, but in the forecastle and the cabin he completed the education which has since enabled him to take an honorable rank among the most successful shipmasters of the Cape. The most of his life has been spent upon the sea and the greater part of thirty-two years as master of whale ships through those experiences already alluded to. In 1868 he engaged in business in Chicago, where he spent the winters of four years, and during the

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TOWN OF EASTHAM.

time passed the summers at Eastham where he was erecting and beautifying his present fine residence. He was married in 1859, to Betsey A., daughter of William F. Knowles, a descendant of that old family name. Their children are: Eugene B., born September 11, 1860; Bessie A., born September 2, 1868; and Edward D., born March 25, 1870.

The captain, now in the meridian of life, is passing his days pleasantly in his home overlooking the sea, to both of which he is devotedly attached. He has never shirked his duty as a citizen, but has preferred to see his neighbors and friends fill the local political offices, himself preferring his retirement amid his pleasant social relations. Of the Universalist church he is a strong supporter and an earnest and liberal friend to all good works. In his kindness and firmness he lives respected by all who know him

His oldest son, Eugene B., was married in 1890, to Carrie S. Hard- ing, and at this writing is on a whaling voyage as first officer of the bark Reindeer.

Francis M. Smith, born in 1852, is a son of Heman and Louissana C. (Crosby) Smith (both lost at sea in 1875), grandson of Myrick, and great-grandson of Sylvanus Smith. Mr. Smith has been a harness maker since 1872. Since 1886 he has kept summer boarders. He married Mary A., daughter of Hinckley Lincoln. They have one son, Ivan G., and lost one, William M.

Francis W. Smith, son of Nathaniel and Hannah (Cole) Smith, and grandson of Elkanah Smith, was born in 1858. He is a fisherman and farmer. He married Sarah, daughter of George and Amanda (Snow) Doane, and granddaughter of Barnabas Doane. They have one daughter, Amanda D.

Heman Smith, 2d, born in 1839, is a son of Lewis and Mehitable Smith, and grandson of Lewis Smith, who was a native of Orleans and a farmer. Mr. Smith has followed the sea as cook since he was twelve years old, and since 1883 he has been cook on a yacht. He married Olive M., daughter of Franklin and Lucy (Cummings) Free- man. Their children are: Charles W., Frank R., Emma O. and Joshua F.

Philip Smith, born in 1821, is a son of Freeman and Phebe (Gill) Smith, and grandson of Philip and Sarah Smith. He is a fisherman and farmer. He married Esther, daughter of Richard F. Smith. Their children are: Luther B., Sarah P. and Nathan S., who died.

Luther B. Smith, son of Philip and Esther Smith, was born in 1845. He was in business in Worcester, Mass., from 1869 to 1SS9, and is now a garden farmer at his native place in Eastham. He married Mercy H., daughter of Daniel Cole. They have two children: Philip M. and Florence M.

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HISTORY OF BARNSTABLE COUNTY.

Wallace A. Smith, born in 1857, is a son of James and Thankful L .. (Hopkins) Smith, and grandson of Asa and Polly Smith. He is a farmer, occupying his father's homestead. He married Olive A., daughter of Freeman Snow. Mr. Smith has one brother, Earnest L.

Agnew F. Toovey was born in England in 1849, came to America in 1875, and since 1879 he has been engaged as operator at the French Atlantic Cable station in North Eastham. He married Betsey S., daughter of Isaiah H. Horton. They have one son, Sidney E.

William Wareham, born in 1836, in Yarmouth, is a son of William and Jedidah (Cole) Wareham. He followed the sea from 1845 until 1884, twenty-three years as master of vessels. He has lived in East- ham since he was two years old, with the exception of twenty-three years, during which he was in Provincetown. He married Alice, daughter of Elijah and Lydia (Smith) Doane, and granddaughter of Nehemiah Doane and Freeman Smith. Their children are: William M., Bessie M. (Mrs. Abealino E. Doane), Augustus W. and Alice L.

Samuel S. Sparrow, son of Abner and Polly Y. (Harding) Sparrow, was born in Chatham. He was a master mariner until within one year of his death, which occurred in 1882. By his first marriage he had two children: one who died in infancy and Paulina F. (Mrs. Rich- ard S. Myrick). She died in 1881. Mr. Myrick is a son of John Q. and Mercy (Lincoln) Myrick, and is a carpenter. Mr. Sparrow's sec- ond wife, who survives him, is Mary S., daughter of Haskell and Fanny (Atwood) Crosby, and granddaughter of Isaiah and Betsey Crosby.

CHAPTER XXIII.

TOWN OF ORLEANS.

Orleans before its Division from Eastham .- Incorporation .- Natural Features .- Wreck of the Sparrowhawk .- Roads .- Early Settlers .- Various Events .- Industries .- Churches .- Cemeteries .- Schools .- Civil History .- Villages .- Biographical Sketches.

T HE territory embraced within the present town of Orleans was chiefly included in that valuable tract known first to the Puri- tans as Nauset, and was therefore included in the first grant of 1640, as noticed in the history of Eastham, and for 154 years after its settlement was a part of that ancient town. Southwest of the Nauset ter- ritory was the Potanumaquut lands on which, until their extinction, the remnant of the Nausets remained. A part of these lands now comprise the southwestern portion of the town of Orleans, while the remainder belongs to Harwich and Brewster.

Mattaquason, sachem of Monomoyick, sold to the original pur- chasers the land known as Pochet, with the two islands lying before Potanumaquut and the beach and the islands upon it; also the terri- tory known as Namskaket, extending northward to the territory owned by the sachem George; but excepted Pochet island, which the sachem reserved. In 1662 this island was purchased by the settlers, and now forms part of this town. Of the original seven families who settled old Eastham, only one can be traced to the present territory of Orleans. The homestead sites of Governor Prence and others are easily traced in Eastham, but that of Nicholas Snow, at Namskaket, is the only one definitely on the Orleans side of the division line of 1797. That subsequently there were many more, and that this part of the ancient town rapidly grew to importance, will be gathered from this history.

The early history of the town is inseparable from that of Eastham in the records of that ancient town, as all was under one local govern- ment prior to the incorporation of Orleans. The feeling of unrest and neglect to attend the several town meetings of the year, began as early as 1700, and was increased by the vote of a town meeting in 1705, at which the people of Eastham "ordered that every person qualified to vote, dwelling within seven miles of the meeting house,

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HISTORY OF BARNSTABLE COUNTY.

who shall not attend at the time appointed, or by the time the meet- ing is called to order, shall be fined 6d." This proceeding was sub- mitted to the court of quarter sessions at Barnstable and allowed. From this the spirit of the division of old Eastham into another town began. The confines of the town contiguous to Harwich were defined in 1705, leaving a strip upon which the Indians resided. This in 1712 was divided between the two towns and now forms the southwest part of Orleans.

The appropriation of six hundred pounds in 1718 for the erection of a new church, and the resolve to build it near the old one, caused the residents of this part of the ancient town to ask for a separate parish, the dividing line to be determined by Messrs. Joseph Lothrop and John Baker, of Barnstable, and Elisha Hall, of Yarmouth. In 1723 the South precinct of Eastham, as a parish, controlled its ecclesi- astical affairs independently of the other parish. This was the wedge that eventually severed the old town in twain.

In 1772 the line between the territory of Old Eastham and the town of Harwich was declared to be: "From the north bounds of Namskaket, thence southerly to a black-oak tree near Baker's pond, with a stone there placed; thence to the southwest part of the pond to a heap of stones in the edge of the pond; thence easterly to a stake and stones near the Chatham road; thence southerly following the road; thence to the southeast in the bay by a rock at the edge of the water; thence to Potanumaquut harbor, as the channel now runs," which is substantially the present boundary.

In 1797 the South precinct, after nearly three-fourths of a century of independent ecclesiastical powers, was incorporated into the town of Orleans, Joseph Pepper being the only selectman left in Eastham by the division, and Hezekiah Higgins and Heman Linnell, the remain- ing two, resided in Orleans. The act of incorporation of March 3d, authorized Isaac Sparrow, justice of the peace of the old town, to issue his warrant to some principal inhabitant of the new for its first town meeting, and Hezekiah Higgins was selected. This town meeting was held March 16, 1797, at which all arrangements for a separate corporate body were settled, and the bounds defined on the north and south. The boundary between Eastham and Orleans was as follows: "Beginning at the mouth of Rock-harbor river, thence southeasterly by the road that leads by Nathan Smith's dwelling until it comes to the parsonage land; thence northerly on the westerly line of said parsonage lands until it comes to Joshua and Isaac Smith's land; thence easterly in the range between said Joshua and Isaac, and Josiah and Elisha Smith's land until it the line comes to Boat meadow; thence a due east course into the middle of Boat-meadow river; thence up the middle of said river to its head; thence running southerly through the

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TOWN OF ORLEANS.

center of the meadow and swamp, along Jeremiah's gutter (so called) into the middle of Town cove; thence down the center of said cove to Stone island; thence an east southeast course into the Atlantic."

The bounds established the same year between Orleans and Chatham were: " Beginning in the southeasterly corner of the town of Harwich in Pleasant bay; from thence running easterly to the northward of Strong island to a stake on Pochet beach, which stake bears S. 75° E. from a black rock situated in the edge of the waters of said bay; and from said stake due east to the sea."

Thus we have defined the limits of Orleans as recorded in its town books, and they remain substantially the same at this date. More plainly, the town is bounded north by Eastham, east by the ocean, south by Chatham and pleasant bay, and west by Harwich, Brewster and the bay. In length it is five miles, and from bay to ocean from three to four. It is twenty-five miles from the court house of the county and ninety from Boston, byland.

The face of the town is quite uneven, but contains no high hills. Its landscape, diversified with uplands, vales, small bodies of water, and numerous inlets of the sea, presents a pleasing appearance. The necks of land between the coves are fertile, and nearly the entire town is under cultivation, yielding corn, rye, vegetables and large quantities of English hay. No large streams have their source within the town, and the most of its rivers and coves are influenced by the tides. Of these a stream west of Barley neck is the largest, being at its mouth one-half mile wide, and emptying into Pleasant bay. On the east of Barley neck are coves communicating with Pleasant bay, and which separate the latter neck and Pochet neck from Nauset beach. Another neck, northeast, nearer the ocean, unites with the others, in forming what is generally called Tonset. A long beach, terminating opposite Chatham, is called Nauset beach. This beach is skirted in- side with salt marsh, which is slowly being filled with sand. The islands within Pleasant bay add beauty to the scenery, and of these Pochet, east of Barley creek, is the largest. Sampson's, southwest of the latter, contains thirty acres and much good land. South of this is Hog island, of ten acres, and southerly of this is Sipson's, of twenty acres. Namequoit neck has Higgins' river on the north, and a creek of the same name as the neck on the south. Potanumaquut is the Indian name of the south part of the town. Namskaket creek is in part the dividing line from Brewster, and forms a small harbor. There are salt marshes fringing all these harbors, bays, creeks, and even the islands. These shores and coves are productive in shell- fish, sea clam, bass, tautog and eels.

In the town are no less than sixteen ponds of fresh water, of which five aggregate 213 acres; Baker's pond, 88; Fresh pond, 43; pond

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HISTORY OF BARNSTABLE COUNTY.

southeast of the last, 53; pond east of the village, 11, and in the south- ern part of the town one of 18 acres.

Besides Pleasant bay and its anchorage, the town has Nauset har- bor on the northeast, containing several islands, the largest of which is Stone island. Town cove, a harbor for small craft, extends from the last-mentioned harbor southwesterly into the town, forming one of the most beautiful sheets of water in the town. The distance across from this cove to Namskaket is less than two miles. Across this neck, in 1627, was the historical transportation of the crew and goods of the Sparrowhawk by the Indians and Pilgrims. Laden with pas- sengers for Virginia, she was stranded on Nauset beach, south of the present life saving station, and the Indians, by runners, at once noti- fied the people at Plymouth that some of their countrymen were here in distress. The Pilgrims came across in boats to Namskaket, and the unfortunate voyagers were carried to Plymouth. The stranded vessel subsequently was covered by the drifting sand, and for two centuries was hidden; but in 1863 the hulk was unearthed, taken to Boston and other cities for exhibition, and is now to be seen in Mem- orial Hall, Plymouth.

New roads were laid out directly after the incorporation of the town, and pains taken to improve the old ones. For the first ten years this was the principal business of the town meetings. One main road had previously been laid out-the one from Eastham to Satucket -- which, in 1668, was made to connect with the road along the Cape, and was subsequently the regular county road, being now so known and used, as it runs along the northwest side of Town cove.

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History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1620-1890, Part 83

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