USA > Massachusetts > Dukes County > The Wampanoag Indian tribute tribes of Martha's Vineyard : the story of the Capowacks of Nope, the Takemmy-Wampanoags, the Nunpaug-Wampanoags, the Aquinnah-Wampanoags of Catachukutcho (Gay Head tribe), the Chappaquiddick-Wampanoags > Part 5
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
Mr. Paul Cuff
Mr. George David
Mr. Patrick Devine
Miss Betsy Dodge Miss Caroline Dodge Mr. John Devine
Mr. James Diamond
Mr. Philip Dodge Mr. Jonathan Francis
Mr. Samuel Haskins
Mr . Zaccheus Howwos wee Miss Ester Howwoswee Mr. William Holmes Mr. Amos Jeffers Miss Lydia Jeffers Mr. William Jeffers
{ 63 ]
Gay Head-Wampanoag (continued)
Mr. James Jeffers Mr. Thomas Jeffers Mr. Josiah Jerard Mr. Joel Jerard Mr. Simon Johnson Mr. Simon Johnson, 2nd Mr. Prince Johnson Mrs. Diana Madison Mr. Thomas Manning Mr. Alvan Manning Mr. Daniel Nevers Mr. Absalom Nevers Mr. Johnson Peters Mr. Samuel Peters
Mrs. Serena C. Randolph Mr. Robert Morton Mr. Abraham Rodman Mr. Isaac D. Rose Mrs. Eleanor Sylvia Miss Maria Sewell
Mrs. Clara Shepherd Mr. Joseph Stevens Mr. John Terry Mr. John Thompson Mr. William A. Vanderhoop
Mr. Hebron Walmsley Mrs. Jane Walmsley Mr. Tristram Weeks Miss Triphosa Thomas Mr. Thomas Green Cooper Mrs. Sophronia Williams Bathsehba Aucoouch Mrs. Mary A. Deming Miss Catherine Francis Mrs. Jane E. Henry Mr. William P. Powell Miss Catherine Ockray Miss Amelia Lewis
Asa Peters Mrs. Lovisa Simpson Mr. John H. Spencer
Within the vein toward the factual content of this work, we note that the compiler of the 1861 Wampanoag Indian Census of Massachusetts, the Honorable Mr. John Earle in his Senate Report #96, had the follow- ing to say: " ..... it is safe to assume that there is not one person of unmixed Indian blood. There are a few who claim it, but their claim does not seem to have any satisfactory basis.
" When it is considered that the intermixture, both with the whites and blacks, commenced more than two hundred years ago, and, that in the course of ten or twelve generations there has been an opportunity, from intermarriages among themselves, for the foreign blood early intro- duced to permeate the whole mass, and when it is considered, that the intermixture has been constantly kept up, from the outside, down to the present time (March 1861), it would be a marvel indeed, if any Indian of the pure native (Wampanoag) race remained. "
Nevertheless, present day Indian descendants of the Martha's Vineyard Indians do live within the area of their ancestors. For many years these Wampanoag Indian descendants have been known as the "Gay Headers" from Gay Head which is the literal English translation of "Catachukutcho", THE GAY HEAD (hill), or "the high place of the colored soil. "
Indeed a trip to Martha's Vineyard is a visit to all that is and was America -- and, a trip to Gay Head and its people is a step into America's traditional beginnings.
The Indian descendants of the Capowacks of Nope are rightiously proud of their heritage, and their efforts to maintain their tradition deserves recognition.
[ 64 ]
O
-
Courtesy New Bedford Standard-Times
Pottery and vases made of clay from the Gay Head Cliffs by Mrs. Wilfred O. White, former chairman of the Advisory Committee of the Gay Head Indian Museum. At lower left is shown Empetrum or Crowberry Plant, believed to be the oldest plant known to man and which was transported to Martha's Vineyard by Ice Age Glaciers.
[ 65 }
Photo Courtesy of Vineyard Gazette
Mr. Leonard Vanderhoop, a prominent member of the Gay Head - Wampanoag Indian Council, posed in 1959 for this excellent photo taken by Katherine Tweed Robertson.
Photo Courtesy The Vineyard Gazette
{ 66 ]
o
Photo Courtesy N. B. Standard Times
Amos Smalley, Gay Header, displays the form and harpoon that won for him the distinction as the only known person to have killed a white whale similar to the famous "Moby Dick" of fiction and movies.
{ .67 ]
----
---
-
ROOM
Photo Courtesy of Dukes County Historical Society
These three Gay Head Indians, Aaron Cooper, Mrs. Attaquin and Deacon Jeffers, and their three vacationists in the ox cart posed for this charming photo outside the Pavilion that once stood at the Gay Head Landing.
{ 68 ]
Gay Head Light
This group of excursionists posed for this picture before the famous landmark in the year 1889.
Mode of transportation from the old steamship wharf to the Gay Head Light in the "good ole days."
A view of the Gay Head Light and Cliffs taken in 1888.
Cutting clay for souvenirs at the foot of the Gay Head Cliffs in 1888.
Photos Courtesy Dukes County Historical Society
[ 69 ]
---
Courtesy New Bedford Standard-Times
The Famous Gay Head Light
Photo by author, courtesy of Dukes County Historical Society
Mr. H. Franklin Norton, Curator of the Dukes County Historical Society, is pictured here with his wife in front of the original lens of the Gay Head Light now a permanent display on the grounds of the Dukes County Historical Museum.
{ 70 }
"City of Columbus" before the wreck
A great feat stands to the credit of the Gay Head Indians for their heroic effort in rescuing twenty survivors from the wreck of the "City of Columbus" on January 18, 1884. The tragedy occurred when the ship went aground off Gay Head.
Emma Mayhew Whiting wrotes this about the event: "It was the great drama in the lives of the Indians and all things, both before and after, were reckoned in reference to that tragedy."
In his excellent history of the Island, Mr. Charles. Banks recorded the following comment; " A life-boat was successfully launched by a crew of Gay Head Indians consisting of Joseph Peters, captain, Samuel Haskins, Samuel Anthony, James Cooper, Moses Cooper, and John Vanderhoop. After battling an hour they were able to bring seven men ashore rescued from the rigging. A second crew manned another boat, all Indians, except the captain, James T. Mosher. They were Leonard L. Vanderhoop, Thomas C. Jeffers, Patrick Divine, Charles Grimes, and Peter Johnson. They had res- cued thirteen men when the U. S. Revenue Cutter Dexter arrived to render assistance."
Photos Courtesy Dukes County Historical Society
"City of Columbus" after the wreck
[ 71 }
[ 72 }
SAVED THIRTEEN PERSONS FROM WRECK OF "CITY OF COLUMBUS." SECOND CREW GAY HEAD INDIANS.
SAVED EIGHT PERSONS FROM WRECK OF "CITY OF COLUMBUS."
FIRST CREW GAY HEAD INDIANS.
Imfoffer
unknown
Revi s heils
unknown
Sempre Devin
Patrick Devin
Charles Stuvres
FREDERIC Porle
In Copia
James Moster
by David F. Vanderhoop of Gay Head.
This photo shows the entire Gay Head Rescue party during the "City of Columbus" tragedy. The names inscribed on this photo were furnished
Photo Courtesy of Dukes County Historical Society
-
THE "CITY OF COLUMBUS" SUNK OFF GAY HEAD.
SIMON JOHNSON, Chief of the Tribe of Gay Head Reservation. THIRD CREW GAY HEAD INDIANS. .
Photo Courtesy of Dukes County Historical Society
In the center, resting between the two Indian baskets, this photo shows an Island Indian's Killick (anchor) once used at Squibnock- et. Note the stone weight and con- trast in design of primitive in- genuity and early white man's in- fluence.
Photo by the author, Courtesy of The Dukes County Historical Society
{ 73 ]
---
-
Photo Courtesy The Vineyard Gazette
This group of Gay Head-Wampanoags recently posed for this picture at a pow-wcou. From left to right: back row: Rachel Jeffers (Mrs. Lorenzo D.), Alberta Jeffers. Mrs. Amos Smalley, Napoleon B. Madison, Lorenzo Jeffers. Leonard Vanderhoop. Helen Vanderhoop. Seated: Ronnie Francis, William Kestenbaum, Maysel Vanderhoop (Mrs. Curtis).
{ 74 ]
Bibliography
Apes, William.
Adams, James T.
Abbot, John C.
History of King Philip 1857
The History of Martha's Vineyard
1911
History of New England Towns
1841
The History of Massachusetts Sowams
1908
Bulletins of the Massachusetts
Archaeological Society
Cotton, Josiah
Vocabulary of Massachusetts 1829
Dexter, Henry M.
Mourt's Relations 1865
1857
King Philip's War
1906
Indians of the Commonwealth
1861
Earl, John Milton Easton, Emily
Roger Williams, Prophet, etc.
1930
Fiske, John
The Beginnings of New England
1929
Fletcher, A. C.
Indian Games and Dances 1915
Indian Events of New England
1934
History of Cape Cod
Historical Collection of the Indians 1805
1927
Histories and Biographies of the First
Settlers and older families of the
locality -- Town Libraries ....
Handbook of the American Indians
....
Hubbard, Rev. William
History of New England ....
Hubbard, Rev. William
The Present State of New England .... Nonantum and Natick 1853
Massachusetts State Archives 1859-61
Massachusetts Senate Report #96
1859
Joselyn, John
Account of Two Voyages into New England
...
Miller, William J.
Notes concerning the Wampanoag
Tribe of Indians 1880
Mckenzie
History of the Fur Trade
..
Parley's, Peter Tales
Lives of Celebrated Indians
1843
Pierce, Ebenezer W.
Indian History and Genealogy 1878
Indian Biography 1848
Trumbull, Henry
History of the Discovery of America 1830
Indian Narratives
1854
Travers, Milton A.
The Wampanoag Indian Federation
1957
Vanderhoop, Mary A.
The Gay Head Indians -- New Bedford
Public Library
Weeks, Alvin G.
Massasoit of the Wampanoags 1919
Williams, Roger
A Key to the Language of America 1643
Willoughby, Charles C.
Antiquities of the New England Indians
1935
Dexter, Henry M.
History of King Philip's War 1865
Drake, Samuel G.
Biography of the Indians
Ellis, George W.
Forbes, Allan
Freeman, Frederick
Gookin, Daniel Hart, Albert B.
Commonwealth History of Massachusetts
Hodge, Frederick W.
Jacobs, Sarah S.
A Son of the Forest 1831
The Founding of New England 1921
Banks, Chas. E. Barber, John W. Barry, John Stetson Bicknell, Thomas W.
1855
Thatcher, Benjamin B.
Tracy, and Brothers
{ 77 }
Acknowledgments
This work could never have been attempted without careful reading and reference to the volumes listed previously. Careful reading and study of the erudite recordings of the early explorers, original settlers, and later arrivals who reported their associations with the natives of the Island of Martha's Vineyard were also necessary.
The persons and organizations to whom I am indebted are so numerous that a complete listing of acknowledgments is impossible. I am grateful to all those who have assisted me in any way.
It was indeed a privilege to have access to the records and information contained therein at the Dukes County Historical Society and at the Gay Head Museum and its Associates. Old clippings filed away through the years from the Vineyard Gazette, The Falmouth Enterprise, and records and photographs from the library of the New Bedford Standard-Times were great assets.
And, to Mr. Alan G. Alcock, a Falmouth school teacher, for his patience and assistance in editing the manuscript, this author is especially grateful.
Milton A. Travers
{ 78 ]
Brayton Photo
MILTON A. TRAVERS
The author, Milton A. Travers, is shown here holding a perfect specimen of a Wampanoag Indian Battle Ax. The frame at his lower left contains a collection of arrow heads each representing a different American Indian Tribe. Significant of his equestrian interest is the oil painting depicting him and his thoroughbred hunter, Robin Hood, taking a wall at his farm, Hawkswawney, in South Dartmouth. Ship model is the famed Cutty Sark. Mr. Travers is a New Bedford, Mass. businessman who has acquired the reputation of being the leading authority on the history of the Wampanoag Indians of Southeastern Mass. and R. I. His book, The Wampanoag Indian Federation of the Algonquin Nation, was published in 1957 and has been widely publicized as a worthy historic and cultural contribution to the locality. His articles on local Indian lore have appeared in many publica- tions. Mr. Travers is a member of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society, Old Dartmouth Historical Society, Dukes County Historical Society, The Gay Head Museum Associates and the Honorary Advisory Restoration Com- mittee of the Old Indian Church at Mashpee, Mass. He is an avid hunter and an accomplished horseman, holder of many ribbons and trophies for riding and a competent horse show judge.
5/3/2010 DT 196854 1 29 00
HF GROUP- IN
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.