USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. II > Part 26
USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. II > Part 26
USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. II > Part 26
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Daniel Norman MacRitchie, Lieut. Prov., U. S. N. R. F., died April 7, 1918, of pneumonia, at Baltimore, Md. Appointed Lieut. Prov. March 29, 1917, assigned to U. S. S. "Mars."
Daniel Norman MacRitchie was born in 1876, at Provincetown, son
FIRST PARISH CHURCH. SANDWICH, ORGANIZED 1638
GENERAL BENJAMIN LINCOLN HOUSE, SANDWICH
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FOUGHT ON LAND, SEA AND IN THE AIR
of Daniel (deceased) and Mary (McKensie) MacRitchie (Mrs. Brown of Concord Junction, 1919) ; brother of Mrs. Angie Rodday and Mrs. Catherine Adams, both of Concord Junction, and of William Mac- Ritchie of Detroit, Michigan. Married Mary E. Conrad. Child : Norman E. MacRitchie : Yarmouth, N. C., Canada. Officer Merchant Marine.
Everett Thomas McQuillan, Seaman, U. S. N. R. F., died March 6, 1918, of pneumonia, at Chelsea Naval Hospital. Enl. December 10, 1917, assigned to Na- val Tng. Camp at Hingham, March 1, 1918.
Everett Thomas McQuillan was born January 7, 1897, at Province- town, son of Thomas and Sarah Hopkins (Bickery) McQuillan. Watch- man, N. Y., N. H. & H. R. R.
*Manuel S. Menengas, Private, killed in action, July 19, 1918, (west of Bois de l'Orme). Enl. Feb. 25, 1918, Co. L, 59 Inf., 4 Div. Overseas, May 5, 1918.
Manuel S. Menengas was born August 16, 1898, in Portugal, son of Antone and Mary C. (Rosario) Menengas (both born in Portugal) ; brother of Antone L. Menengas and Mary C. (wife of Frank) Joseph, both of Provincetown, and of John A. and Joseph P. Menengas, both of Valadenho, Olhao, Portugal. Fisherman. Resident of Massachusetts four years.
*Louis Joseph Morris, Private, killed in action, Aug. 10, 1918, (near the Bois de Foret). Enl. Sept. 18, 1918, at San Mateo, Cal., Co. H, 363 Inf., 91 Div .; trans. Feb. 27, 1918, to Co. G, 47 Inf., 4 Div. Overseas, May 10, 1918. Post 71, A. L., named in part in his memory. Credited to California.
Louis Joseph Morris was born April 8, 1896, at Truro, son of Joseph F. and Mary (Rogers) Morris, of Vineyard Haven, Agriculturist.
Lewis Armstrong Young, Machinist's Mate, 1 class, U. S. N. R. F., died Oct. 15, 1918, of influenza, at Pauillac, France. Enl. July 24, 1917, assigned to Rec. Ship at Boston; trans. Sept. 2, 1917, to U. S. S. "Marietta."
Lewis Armstrong Young was born February 8, 1896, at Province- town, son of William H. and Anna M. (Hughes) Young; brother of Josephine Y. (wife of Dr. Ernest J.) McKenna, all of Provincetown. Machinist. Educated at Worcester Academy, Cushing Academy, and Westworth Institute.
SANDWICH
Alden Clark, Corporal, died Feb. 24, 1918, of disease. Enl. Sept. 20, 1917, Co. H, 302 Inf., 76 Div. Promoted corporal Jan. 16, 1917. Post 186, A. L., Sandwich, named, in part, in his honor.
Alden Clark was born March 4, 1895, at Sandwich, son of Robert W. and Emma (Burgess) Clark.
TRURO
Edgar Snow Grozier, Machinist's Mate, U. S. N., died Dec. 9, 1917, of pneu- monia, at Norfolk, Va. Enl. May 12, 1917, Rec. Ship at Boston; assigned May 17, to U. S. S. "Georgia."
Edgar Snow Grozier, was born October 13, 1891, at North Truro,
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son of John Franklin and Sarah Emmeline (Cooper) Grozier; brother of John P., Henry U., William Leslie, Emeline C. and Leroy A. Gro- zier, all of North Truro; Mrs. Maud L. Taylor of Barnstable, Herbert F. Grozier (who served on U. S. S. "Lancaster," U. S. N.) and Ada C. Grozier (died 1921). Machinist. A. L. Post, No. 262, Truro, named in his memory.
WELLFLEET
John Russell Mckay, Seaman, U. S. N. R. F., died Oct. 1, 1918, of influenza, at Chelsea Naval Hospital. Enl. April 15, 1917, assigned to U. S. S. "Comber," from Marblehead Section, 1st Naval District; trans. Feb. 1, 1918, to Mine Force, 2nd Naval District; May 18, to U. S. S. "Comber."
John Russell Mckay was born February 21, 1892, at Wellfleet, son of John Percy and Linnie Higgins (Chandler) Mckay, of Wellfleet; broth- er of Mrs. Myra B. Thompson of North Truro, and Mrs. Mary M. Brown of Wellfleet. Clerk. A. L. Post, No. 287, and square, at Well- fleet, named in his honor.
OLD MILL, CHATHAM
VIEW AT CHATHAM
CHAPTER XLVI OUTPOSTS OF THE COMMONWEALTH
Island Counties Touched by Adventurers, Sea Rovers and Colonizers Before the Mainland Knew the White Men-Nantucket Once Be- longed to New York But Joined the Massachusetts Family in Reign of William and Mary-Governor Thomas Mayhew's Army of Indians Protected Marthas Vineyard From Mainland Redskins in .King Philip's War-Gay Head and Its Legend of The Devil's Den-Be- ginning of the Whale Fisheries in 1690-Only Massachusetts Coun- ty With a Single Town-Present Main Industry in Both Island Coun- ties Entertaining Summer Visitors.
Many intensely interesting books have been written about the island counties of Massachusetts, Dukes and Nantucket. Many other inter- esting books might easily be written concerning them. They were in- teresting and played an important part in the beginning, have continued to do so up through the centuries and are playing their part in the mod- ern stage of life with equal excellence and progressiveness. There has always been a peculiar quality of independence and self-sufficiency con- nected with these outposts of the Commonwealth.
They have been a haven to the oppressed in all ages. They have been inhabited by people so peace-loving that they would have peace if they had to fight for it. They have been more at home on the sea than on the land because there has always been more of it and it has always contributed more to their support and entered into their gen- eral scheme of things. The islands are inhabited by a genuine, depend- able, fearless and hardy race. Of such is the Commonwealth of Mas- sachusetts and Dukes and Nantucket counties in particular.
It was on one or more of these islands that the Norsemen are sup- posed to have made a visit in 1002. It was in early days that they were the abode of pirates who infested these coasts. On Cuttyhunk in Dukes County, Bartholomew Gosnold attempted to found the first Eng- lish Colony. On Nantucket, in the county of that name and island, the Quakers fled from persecution of the colonists. On Penikese in Dukes County the unfortunate victims of that dread disease, leprosy, found refuge in recent years, until provision was made to have a na- tional colony for such afflicted people. Now Penikese has become a bird sanctuary. The counties have spelled freedom for the beasts of the field, the persecuted humans of all races and religious beliefs and now for the fowls of the air.
Many times, in writing the history of Plymouth and Barnstable coun-
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ties, the stories have overlapped into Dukes and Nantucket and some of the interesting occurrences recorded in those earlier chapters in these volumes have been enacted on the stages of these islands, entirely sur- rounded by salt water and with the breath of heaven and freedom blow- ing over and through them.
Dukes County is formed of the islands of Marthas Vineyard, Chappe- quiddick, Elizabeth Islands and Noman's Land, having a combined area of one hundred and twenty square miles. The islands are south of Barnstable County and Buzzards Bay. Noman's Land is the south- ern extremity of Massachusetts. Marthas Vineyard, largest of the is- lands, is nineteen miles in length from east to west, and has an average breadth of five miles. The island was called by the Indians Capawock.
Bartholomew Gosnold landed at Noman's Land, passed around Gay Head and called it Dover Cliff, anchored in Vineyard Sound, and went ashore on Cuttyhunk, which he named Elizabeth Island, in honor of the ruling queen of England. His attempt to found an English colony there and his monument on a little island in a little lake on the island of Cuttyhunk have already been referred to.
In June, 1603, Martin Pring entered the harbor of Edgartown and gave it the name of Whitson's Bay. He anchored under the shelter of Chappequiddick neck and gave it the name of Mount Aldworth, remain- ing in that vicinity about two months and carrying back to England some enthusiastic reports.
In 1619 Thomas Dermer landed at Marthas Vineyard, had a battle with the Indians and left a hatred for white men for the Pilgrims to have as a liability when they arrived at Provincetown and Plymouth the following year.
In October, 1641, James Forcett, agent for William, Earl of Sterling, who had a grant from the king of England under which he claimed all the islands between Cape Cod and the Hudson River, granted to Thom- as Mayhew of Watertown and Thomas Mayhew, his son, Nantucket, Marthas Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands. They were supposed to have the same powers of government which the people of Massachu- setts possessed by charter. These islands had not been included in any of the New England governments.
The elder Thomas Mayhew became the governor of the islands, after sending his son and several other persons over to found a colony and begin a plantation, which they did at Edgartown.
Marthas Vineyard was annexed to the jurisdiction of Massachusetts in 1644, by act of the commissioners of the United Colonies of New England. Nevertheless, in 1664, the Duke of York received from his brother, Charles II, a grant of New York, including Long Island, Mar- thas Vineyard, Nantucket and the islands adjacent. They had pre-
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OUTPOSTS OF THE COMMONWEALTH
viously been purchased of Henry, grandson and heir of William, Earl of Sterling, who had resigned and assigned them to the duke. They were made a county and called Dukes County while they were con- nected with New York. They were left largely to govern themselves and got the habit which has never wholly been given up.
The islands were definitely taken from New York and annexed to Massachusetts by virtue of a charter from William and Mary which was received in 1692.
Nantucket was separated from the other islands in Dukes County in 1695 and made a distinct county of its own.
Being exposed to attacks from the sea and at the mercy of any con- siderable force, the inhabitants of the islands suffered much in the Rev- olutionary War and in the War of 1812. Vessels and all other prop- erty were taken, many of the inhabitants captured and taken away to die on prison ships.
The Elizabeth Islands are separated from Marthas Vineyard by Vine- yard Sound, and from Falmouth by a strait called Wood's Hole. The soil on the islands is good for the most part, but stony, and the surface of the larger islands is rolling. In former years salt was reclaimed from the sea, as it was in Barnstable County. The islands furnished pastures for cattle and especially for superior droves of sheep, including merinos.
· In early days all the islands were inhabited by Indians who were usually friendly to the early white settlers, notwithstanding their en- counter with Thomas Dermer in 1603. When King Philip's War raged on the mainland, the Indians refused to join in hostilities against the whites and proved their friendship toward the English settlers so com- pletely that Governor Mayhew armed the Indians on Marthas Vine- yard and gave them ammunition and instructions how to defend the island against Indians from the mainland.
An Indian church was founded on Marthas Vineyard by the younger Mayhew in 1659 and from this another church arose in 1670.
When the English arrived on Marthas Vineyard the best part of the land, at Gay Head, was occupied by Indians and they have held posses- sion in that vicinity ever since. Gay Head is composed of clay and other substances of various colors which presents a brilliant and color- ful appearance when the sun shines upon it, especially as viewed from vessels sailing past. It was this appearance which gave it the name Gay Head.
The Devil's Den is the name given to a depression in the hill at Gay Head. The depression is in the form of a bowl, open on the side next to the sea, about one hundred feet deep. This was the abode, accord- ing to an Indian legend, of the tutelary deity Maushope, a giant who
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pulled up trees by the roots and roasted whales over a fire in this den. He supplied the Indians with whales and other food.
One day he threw his wife on Saconet Point, where she still remains a misshapen rock; turned his children into fishes, went away and left the den in the control of a malignant spirit which has caused volcanic fires to ascend from the den, throwing out the brilliant colors in the flames which have turned to clay. It is used by the Indians to shape into vases and souvenirs of various kinds to dispose of to tourists who take them in exchange for the white man's wampum, which the present- day redskins thoroughly understand and approve of.
Dukes County consists of the towns of Chilmark, Edgartown, Gay Head, Gosnold, Oak Bluffs, Tisbury and West Tisbury. In 1925 the combined population numbered 4,862 and the number of registered voters was 2,052. Tisbury, with a population of 1,431, is the largest town, although Oak Bluffs is the most densely populated in the vacation season.
The county was incorporated in 1695. The shire town is Edgartown and the county officers in 1927 were: Judge of probate and insolvency, Everett Allen Davis of West Tisbury; register of probate and insol- vency, Mary W. Wimpenney of Edgartown; sheriff, Thomas A. Dexter of Edgartown; clerk of courts, Arthur W. Davis of Edgartown; county treasurer, Herbert N. Hinckley of Tisbury; register of deeds, Philip J. Norton of Edgartown; county commissioners, George L. Donaldson of West Tisbury, Frederick W. Smith of Oak Bluffs and Francis A. Fos- ter of Edgartown; associate commissioners, John D. Bassett of Chil- mark and Herbert N. Hinckley of Tisbury; master in chancery, Abner L. Braley of Edgartown.
Honor Roll in World War-Of the boys from Dukes County who served in the World War, two died in service, one of them, a Gay Head Indian who died overseas; the other a native of Cuttyhunk who was ensign in the Navy, son of the postmaster of Gosnold.
DUKES COUNTY GAY HEAD
George L. Belain, Private, died Feb. 13, 1919, of pneumonia. Enl. March 28, 1918, 8 Co. 2 Btn., 151 D. B .; trans. to Btry. B, 306 F. A., 77 Div. Overseas, April 24, 1918.
George L. Belain was born in February, 1894, at Gay Head, son of John W. and Naomi P. (Sylvia) Belain; brother of Sophia (wife of Thaddeus) Johnson of Granville, Maine, Daniel W., Bessie, Mildred, Edna M., Morris S., and Dorothy N. Belain, all of Gay Head; and of Mrs. Bertha (wife of Lawrence C.) Jeffers of Edgartown. Farmer. Vi- tal records show family of this name as Indians.
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GOSNOLD (Cuttyhunk Island)
Harold Stetson Veeder, Ensign, U. S. N., died Aug. 19, 1917, of disease, at Naval Station, Newport, R. I. Appointed March 23, 1917, Ensign (E) Prov., assigned April 11, 1917, to Comdt. 2nd Naval Dist.
Harold Stetson Veeder was born April 29, 1885, at Cuttyhunk Island, son of Frederick Allen and Annette Briggs (Stetson) Veeder of Cutty- hunk Island; brother of Ernest Gray Veeder of New Bedford, and Elsie (wife of George R.) Hoffser of Seattle, Washington. Fisherman.
IN FOREIGN SERVICE
EDGARTOWN
Neil McLaurin, reported "killed in action." O. C. L., Lynn, "Item," Sept. 17, 1917, p. 5.
Neil McLaurin, Private, C. E. F., "of Montreal, P. Q." killed in action, Aug. 16, 1917. Enl. Oct. 22, 1914; served in France in 16th Btn. Ottawa War Office Records.
Nantucket County and Town-Several years ago there was no cable connection between Nantucket and the mainland. The harbor was ice bound, so that the boat which plies between Nantucket and Wood's Hole was locked in the embrace of the frost king and unable to make its regular calls. The island was thrown entirely upon its resources. When the ice broke up and water communication with the mainland was resumed, a non-Nantucketer visited the island and remarked to one of the native citizens :
"Well, captain, it must have been tough for you people not to have any connection with the people on the mainland for such a long time."
"It wasn't any worse for us than it was for them," was the reply; and, in that reply, was expressed a conviction which the native Nan- tucketer has that his "right little, tight little island" is just as good as any other part of the world and, in fact, just as good as all the rest of the world put together.
Nantucket, to a Nantucketer, is a continent in itself, a nation, a divi- sion of the world which asks odds of nobody and is sufficient unto it- self. From the land which constitutes it and the water which sur- rounds it the inhabitants believe they can derive their "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness" even if all the rest of the world goes hang.
This is not stated in any spirit of criticism or attempt to make a joke at the expense of the worthy citizens of a delightful island. Rather it is in recognition of a sterling quality and in admiration of those people who inhabit the village unafraid, people who meet the world four- square, men and women who stand like the angel in the Apocalypse "with one foot upon the dry land and the other foot upon the sea," rec- ognizing a God-given dominion over both, thankful that their lot has
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been cast in such a pleasant place and without envy toward all creation.
Nantucket has always been at the mercy of every hostile force and has always held its own or recovered from its temporary defeats. It may have been conquered but has never been defeated. The storms have beat against it since the dawn of creation and it has stood fast. At the time of the Revolutionary War, when Nantucket had one hundred and fifty vessels and 2,200 men employed in the whale voyages, the British reduced the number of vessels to thirty by seizing and burning them. The British took away the property, carried away the young men to die on prison ships, after unspeakable treatment, and committed outrages as long as there was anything to destroy or confiscate. Again in the War of 1812, such recovery as the people of Nantucket had been able to make after the terms of peace, was given another setback by other visits and outrages from British fleets. But, in 1882, there were eighty-eight whaling vessels, averaging three hundred tons each, be- longing to Nantucket, and the whalemen extended their voyages to the coast of Brazil and frequently to the Pacific Ocean, sometimes being ab- sent two or three years, but bringing back the oil.
Any place in the world, where there was land or water, was always a hunting ground satisfactory to the men of Nantucket but when the vessel lay low in the water with barrels of oil, and a duty well done, the vessels were pointed toward Sancoty Head which rises eighty feet above the town of Peter Folger which they called home.
Peter Folger was the grandfather of Benjamin Franklin. Of him the following notice was given by Zacheus Macy in "A Short Journal of Nantucket," which is in the "Collections of the Massachusetts His- torical Society," Vol. III, page 159:
"When the English first came to Nantucket, they appointed five men to divide and lay out twenty acres of house-lot land to every share, and Peter. Folger was one of the five. But it appears by the records, that any three of that five might do the business, provided the said Peter Folger was one of them, from which it is plain the people saw some- thing in him superior to others. It is observable also that the old deeds from the Indian sachems were examined by Peter Folger, and he wrote at the bottom of the deed and signed in addition to the signature of the justice; for he understood and could speak the Indian tongue. Thus it is evident that both the English and the Indian had a great esteem for Peter Folger, who was grandfather to the famous Benjamin Franklin, the Printer, Statesman and Philosopher. His mother was the daughter of Peter Folger, and it seems that the whole of North America prides itself as much in Benjamin Franklin as the people of Nantucket did in his grandfather, Peter Folger."
The whale fisheries began at Nantucket in 1690, when Ishabod Pad-
OLD HOMESTEAD OF GOVERNOR PRENCE, EASTHAM
HOME OF JOSHUA CROSBY, WHO COMMANDED A QUARTER-DECK GUN ON THE FRIGATE "CONSTITUTION" IN HER FIGHT WITH THE 'GUERRIERE"-ORLEANS
FRENCH TRANS-ATLANTIC CABLE STATION, ORLEANS Courtesy of W. G. Smith
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OUTPOSTS OF THE COMMONWEALTH
dock of Cape Cod came to the island and instructed the fishermen in the art of killing whales from boats. The business flourished in neigh- boring waters till about 1760, when whales practically left the coast. When whales were obtained by going after them short distances in small sloops and schooners of from thirty to fifty tons, the blubber was brought home and tried out in try-houses on Nantucket. When longer voyages were required the trying out process was at sea and the oil brought home in barrels. At the time of the Revolution about 30,000 barrels of oil were brought home annually.
Ninety years ago the population of Nantucket was 9,048. The popu- lation in 1925 was 3,152, occasioned largely by the change in industry from whaling to growing cranberries and entertaining summer visitors.
Just one hundred years ago the Coffin School was established by Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin of the British Navy who visited the island the year before he found he was remotely related to most of the inhabitants and had a desire to confer some benefit upon the rising generation. The Nantucket Athenæum was incorporated in 1834, with a library and mu- seum.
The principal harbor at Nantucket is on the north side of the island. The village of Siasconset, situated at the southeast extremity of the is- land, has for years been popular with theatrical people for their sum- mer homes and in more recent years many other people have estab- lished vacation-time residences there as well as elsewhere on the island.
The county officers are : Judge of probate and insolvency, Henry Rid- dell; register of probate and insolvency, John J. Gardner; sheriff, Jo- seph A. Johnson, Jr .; clerk of courts, John C. Jones; county treasurer, Edwin S. Tirrell; register of deeds, Lauriston Bunker; master in chan- cery, Walter H. Burgess.
The selectmen of the town of Nantucket have the powers and perform the duties of county commissioners. The treasurer of the town is also county treasurer. The medical examiner of the county is Dr. Frank E. Lewis. The justice of the district court is Reginald T. Fitz-Ran- dolph and the special justice, Emilie Genesky. Arthur W. Jones is the representative in the General Court of Massachusetts and a member of the legislative committee on ways and means.
World War Honor Roll-As has already been stated in connection with the list of those who were killed in action or otherwise died in the World War, credited to the counties of Plymouth, Barnstable and Dukes, so, in the case of Nantucket, the honor roll is included in the general copyright of this work and is not to be re-published without permission of the writer. He acknowledges much assistance in its compilation from those engaged in preparing a history of the Common- wealth of Massachusetts in the World War.
Plym-57
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NANTUCKET
Howard Folger Coffin, Mechanic, died April 15, 1918, of pneumonia, at Boston Homeopathic Hospital. Enl. Nov. 13, 1917, 151 D. B .; trans. to Co. G, 302 Inf., 76 Div.
Howard Folger Coffin was born June 8, 1888, at Nantucket, son of Albert Russell and Caroline Smith (Andrews) Coffin; brother of Edna Tibbetts Coffin of Nantucket; married Effie Lewis Lake of Nantucket. Carpenter.
*Byron Leroy Sylvaro, Private, died July 21, 1918, of wounds received in action. En1. Nov. 13, 1917, 151 D. B .; trans. Feb. 17, 1918, to 1 Co., I Inf. Tng. Regt .; April 4, to Co. M, 103 Inf., 26 Div. Overseas, Feb. 27, 1918. "Recommended for Div. citation for meritorious conduct while advancing on Belleau, July 21, 1918, during which operation he was killed."
Byron Leroy Sylvaro was born April 27, 1894, at Nantucket, son of Charles R. (deceased) and Nellie M. (Cassidy) Sylvaro; brother of Alban K. Sylvaro. Fisherman.
Nathan Leroy Thurston, Surfman, U. S. Coast Guard, died Feb. 10, 1920, of pneumonia, at Nantucket. Enl. Feb. 13, 1917, U. S. N., assigned to Coast Guard Station 45; trans. Nov. 6, 1917, to Coast Guard Station 46; Dis. Feb. 12, 1918; reën1. Feb. 13, 1918; dis. Sept. 18, 1918; reënl. Sept. 19, 1918.
Nathan Leroy Thurston was born in October, 1891, at Nantucket, son of Frank H. and Clara J. (Fish) Thurston; married Abbie Gertrude Curley. Surfman.
Francis LeRoy Wilkes, Seaman, U. S. Coast Guard, drowned Sept. 26, 1918, in Bristol Channel, while attached to Coast Guard Cutter "Tampa." Enl. March 9, 1918, assigned to Coast Guard Station 45; trans. N. Y. Div. Coast Guard; Coast Guard Cutter "Tampa."
Francis Leroy Wilkes was born February 19, 1897, at Nantucket, son of Edgar W. and Emma F., (Phenix) Wilkes of Nantucket; brother of Isabelle F. Wilkes of Boston, Mrs. Villa W. (wife of Joshua) Wright, Mrs. Sarah Booth, Phyllis Wilkes and Roger Wilkes (who served in U. S. Coast Guard), all of Nantucket; married Ilda May Silva of Nan- tucket. Florist.
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