USA > Massachusetts > Dukes County > Marthas Vineyard > The history of Martha's Vineyard, Dukes County, Massachusetts, Volume I > Part 12
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1Mass. Col. Records, I, 296.
2Massachusetts Historical Collection, 4 VII, 32.
3No papers are preserved in the Mass. Archives on this subject. See Mass. Col. Rec., I, 337.
123
History of Martha's Vineyard
Under date of Dec. 10, 1641, the following record throws some light on the situation: -
Mr. Mayhewe his accounts were referred to the Treasurer & Mr. Duncum & for the bridge by the mill over the Charles River the Cort doth conceive itt to belong to the towne or townes in which itt lyeth.1
In payment, perhaps, or as partial recompense for his investment the General Court granted him 150 acres of land on the south side of the Charles river, "by Watertown weare." The exact status of this transaction is not apparent, but it seems to be a case where money and labor were invested in a public utility and receiving in return therefor a grant of land, probably unproductive and as a consequence denied au- thority to take tolls.2
In the midst of these difficulties came the great event which changed the whole tenor of his future life - an op- portunity to acquire the title and sovereignty of Martha's Vineyard.
How soon he visited his new possessions is not accurately known to us, but that he remained in Watertown as a resident for several years before removing can be readily established. In 1642, he was chosen selectman and re-elected Deputy to the General Court, both of which would be inconsistent with a residence elsewhere, as Nantucket and the Vineyard were not in the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. On Nov. 21, 1642, he was ordered to make the (tax) rates in Watertown. In this year Mrs. Jane Mayhew (his wife), went to England to settle matters connected with the estate of her son, Thomas Paine, and presumably Mayhew waited her return before removal to the Vineyard.3
In 1643, he was chosen selectman and re-elected as Deputy to the General Court. The following entries in the colony records and other documents show that he was still residing in Watertown: -
1643, May 10, Present at the General Court (II, 33) September 7, Fined 2s. for absence (II, 41) September 10, Appraiser in Lynn, and was called "of Watertowne." (Aspinwall, Notarial Record, 136)
October 17, Grant of £3 for loss on corn (I, 337)
October 17, Granted 300 acres on account of bridge (II, 51)
2Mass. Col. Rec. (supplement), p. 346.
3The authority for this was not granted until Oct. 17, 1643. (Mass. Col. Rec., II, 51.)
3Records of Commissioners of the United Colonies, II, 165.
I24
Thomas Mayhew in Massachusetts
The reference to the land grant is in full as follows: -
Mr. Mayhewe is granted 300 ac of Land in regard of his charge about the bridge by Watertowne Mill & the bridge to belong to the Country.
This marks the close of the unfortunate bridge trans- action.1 The "country" got the bridge, and Mayhew got a lot of land in the woods thirty miles west of Boston.
In 1644, he was not chosen selectman, but was re-elected as Deputy to the General Court. His movements in this year at and about Boston are here scheduled from the colony records: -
1643-4, March 7, Present at the General Court, (II, 55)
I644, May 29, Present at the General Court, (II, 66)
November 12, Examined Treasurer's accounts, (II, 79)
December 7, Signed a report at Watertown to General Court, (II, 114)
From this it will be evident that he was still living in Massachusetts and exercising official functions in that colony, which always jealously guarded any outside intrusion.
In 1645, the report of the committee, of which he was chairman, signed in December, 1644, was presented to the General Court in May following, and on Oct. 1, 1645, a sub- stitute was appointed "in the steede of Mr Mayhewe." 2 On Dec. 16 and 17, 1645, he was in Boston with his wife, ex- ecuting a legal document before a notary and acting as a witness to another.3 This last item does not necessarily in- dicate that he still resided in Massachusetts, but the fact that he does not further appear upon the colony records and that his place was filled in an official capacity in the fall leads the author to conclude that he must have gone to the Vine- yard as a permanent removal in the spring or summer of 1645. It had been nearly four years since the purchase of the islands and his failure to utilize, in person, his newly acquired property is not understood. Not until Nov. 23, 1647, are we actually able to state that he lived thereon, as in a document of that date there first appears a statement that he was "of Martin's
1Mass. Col. Rec., II, 51. The next year at his own request he had 300 acres of land "laid out" to him in what is now Southboro and Framingham, an irregular tract of land on the north bank of the Hopkinton river; doubtless this was the grant made the year previous. Considerable litigation occurred in consequence of its sale after 1666.
2Mass. Col. Rec., II, 139.
3Aspinwall, Notarial Records, 8, 9. There is no statement of residence in these documents.
I25
History of Martha's Vineyard
Vineyard."1 Henceforth his life and work are so interwoven with the political and social conditions of the island that to continue this biographical account would be to relate its history, and this phase of his career will be told in the regular course of events.
"Aspin wall, Notarial Records, p. 92. Rev. Thomas Prince speaks of Mayhew's "first access to the island, being then about fifty five Years of age." This would take us to 1647. (Indian Converts, p. 297.)
2
THE "GREATE STONE HOUSE," MEDFORD. Built for Matthew Cradock, 1631, And occupied by Thomas Mayhew.
I26
Thomas Mayhew, Junior
CHAPTER IX.
THOMAS MAYHEW, JUNIOR.
When brought to New England by his father in 1631, the younger Mayhew was about ten years old, and for the dozen ensuing years intervening between that and his majority he can be pictured as attending the village schools of Med- ford from 1631 to 1635, and at Watertown from the time his father removed there till he had finished with the common branches taught in the primary and grammar schools. Noth- ing in contemporary accounts of him indicates that he was "designed" for the profession of theology, or that he was to become a religious teacher. That this was his natural leaning appears evident from later developments, and he was given special instruction in languages, at least, after he had finished with the public schools. He was "tutored up," states Edward Johnson, an author of that period, from which we infer not a college education, but private instructors.1 The Rev. Thomas Prince says on this topic: -
He was a young Gentleman of liberal Education, and of such Repute for piety as well as natural and acquired Gifts, having no small Degree of Knowledge in the Latin and Greek Languages, and being not wholly a Stranger to the Hebrew." 2
Doubtless he found time or made the opportunity, while assisting his father, to study evenings with tutors. His usual occupation we may assume was assistant to his father in the management of the mill and farm at Watertown, and other enterprises in which the elder was engaged. The turning point in his career, however, was the purchase of this island in 1641, just after the young man had entered his majority, and his assumption, in 1642, of the charge of this venture as one of the patentees. Being thus related to the proprietor- ship of the soil and the management of its temporal affairs, he was the leader of the small band of his Watertown neigh- bors who came hither that year, and for the following four years, until the father finally came, he was the local governor of the new settlement. At this time he was still a bachelor
1Wonder Working Providence.
2Indian Converts, 280.
I27
History of Martha's Vineyard
and we have no means of knowing what were his domestic associations during that period, but when in 1646 the elder Thomas came with his family he made his home with them. With them, as we know, came the step-daughter, Jane Paine, and in the following year he made her his bride.
The life of the younger Mayhew, during his residence of fifteen years on the Vineyard, is so interwoven with the story of the Indian missions which is elsewhere treated, that it is not designed here to do more than briefly outline his personal and family history in this sketch. The details of his life outside of his missionary work are very meagre, and his ab- sorption in it so complete that he apparently gave no time to other pursuits, and rarely left the island on secular business. His name is scarcely ever to be found on documents of the period, even as a witness to deeds or wills, and no letter of his is known to be in existence though a number that he wrote were printed in the Indian missionary tracts during his life- time.1 In but one instance do contemporary writings, diaries, and other documents of the period mention him. The Rev. John Wilson of Boston, in a letter dated Oct. 27, 1651, says: "There was here some few weeks since the prime Indian at Martha's Vineyard with Mr Mahewe (Humanequin)."
Of the personality of this young "Apostle" there are a few pen pictures drawn by contemporaries which give us an insight into his zealous character. The Rev. Henry Whit- field visited him in 1651, as we shall read in another portion of the history, and as an observer for the society which sup- ported him in the missionary work, the comments are inter- esting and significant. After writing of the state of the mission, he goes on to say: "I made some enquiry about Mr. Mahu himself, and about his subsistence, because I saw but small and slender appearance of life in any comfortable way; the man himself was modest and I could get but little from him; but after I understood from others how short things went with him; and how many times he was forced to labour with his own hands, having a wife and three small children which depended upon him to provide necessaries for them; having
1The Massachusetts Historical Society has no letter of his in its vast collection of manuscripts, including the famous Winthrop Papers, which contain a number from the elder Mayhew. About 1850, in a Boston newspaper, there was advertised for sale, "the property of a widow lady who is in needy circumstances," consisting of a lot of autograph letters, including one of "Rev. Thomas Mayhew (rare) - $3." which was an absurdly low valuation for what is now known to be the value of such letters.
I28
Thomas Mayhew, Junior
not halfe so much yeerly coming in in a settled way, as an ordinary labourer gets there amongst them. Yet he is cheer- ful amidst these straits, and none hear him complain. The truth is he will not leave his work in which his heart is engaged."
No words of comment can add to the strength of this delineation of the personality of the young missionary, and it will only be fitting to quote the statement of his aged father made shortly after the disaster which caused his death: "the work was followed by him when 't was bare with him for foode and rayment, and then indeede there was nothing in sight any waies but Gods promises."
Of the temporal concerns of the younger Mayhew there is a singular absence of any definite record in the town, land, and probate volumes. There is no record of any grant of land to him, or of any sale made by him, nor are his lands referred to as the bounds of any other man's land, except on Chappaquiddick, where the lots were used for the grazing of cattle. No settlement of his estate is to be found on the town or probate books; and while it is known that he did not leave much, yet he must have had some property which would or- dinarily require the action of an administrator to distribute, or use for the benefit of creditors, but he is to all intents and purposes totally eliminated from all such considerations in the existing records. This is nothing short of extraordinary, in the light of his position and connections, and the known fact that he did own some land, must have lived on it, and his children were entitled to legal record of their inheritances. In only one brief mention is it evident that he sold land, where Thomas Bayes refers his own property, part of it being "that upland adjoining up to the old highway Some I bought of Mr. Mayhew the Younger." While he was one of the pa- tentees and so owned a moiety of the Vineyard, yet the home lot of his father is described in the usual way by metes and bounds, and only incidentally do we learn that he owned one. In a formal document drawn by Matthew Mayhew in 1685, disposing of the Lordship and Manor of Martha's Vineyard to Governor Dongan, certain exceptions of property are made, including land belonging originally to Rev. Thomas Mayhew, which is the first and only time that any definite realty hold- ings are referred to in any extant or known records. The document, after enumerating a number of tracts exempt from transfer, continues thus: "and also those two lots of land
I29
History of Martha's Vineyard
with their appurtenances in the town called Edgartown the one late the land of the aforesaid Thomas (Mayhew), the grandfather; and the other land of the aforesaid Thomas Mayhew (Junior) father of the said Matthew Mayhew: both lots containing about eighty acres."
His wife bore him six children in all, of whom five reached adult life, married, and three perpetuated the name in the male line. In 1651, he had "three small children," probably Matthew, Thomas, and another, perhaps a daughter (to whom the name Abiah has been given, but it is unconfirmed), who probably died young. After his death, the Governor, in 1658, speaks of "my daughter and her 6 chilldren." Their names are as follows: -
I. Matthew b. 1648
II. b. 1649; d. young.
III. Thomas b. 1650 -
IV. John b. 1651 or 2
V. Jerusha b. about 1654. m. (1) Joseph Wing of Sandwich 12 April 1682. (2) Thomas Eaton of Shrewsbury, N. J. before 1688.
VI. Jedidah b. 1656; m. Benjamin Smith, before April 1685.
ARMS OF MAYOW OF DINTON, WILTSHIRE.
Argent, on a chevron sable between three birds [sea mews ?] of the last five lozenges of the first. (Berry's Dictionary, Papworth and Morant's Dictionary, and Burke's Armory.)
I30
Independence of the Vineyard, 1642-1665
CHAPTER X.
INDEPENDENCE OF THE VINEYARD, 1642-1665.
By virtue of his purchase of the proprietorship of Martha's Vineyard from Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Lord Stirling, the elder Mayhew succeeded by reasonable implication at least to the powers of the late Lords Proprietors and, in accordance with the terms of the sale, he was to establish a government similar to that of the Massachusetts Bay. For reasons best known to himself and perhaps from the impracticability of launching a complete civil establishment on an island peopled with a scant hundred souls, no attempt appears to have been made by him to create "freemen" or provide for a suffrage. The elder Mayhew kept the reins in his own hands and that of his family. Naturally, he acted as the chief executive of the Vineyard at first, and soon came to be regarded as "Gov- ernor" de facto, as he was indeed proprietor of the soil de jure. How soon he came to be known as "Governor" is not of record, but certainly before 1657, when the Quakers visited the island and referred to him as the "Governor."1 Doubt- less this designation had been assumed by him and became of common acceptation for years before that date, due pri- marily to his proprietary rights, but largely to his strength of character and commanding personality.
At first it made but little difference, practically, who con- stituted the official family, because the entire population was hardly more than a corporal's guard. Prior to 1650 it is probable that there may have been twenty men able to bear arms, and under circumstances of this character no large list of officials was required to transact the business affairs of the community. It is impossible to separate the general concerns of the Vineyard in respect to government at this period from the local affairs of Great Harbor, as there was but one set- tlement of whites on the island, and all were within this town- ship to the east of a line drawn from Watcha to Weahquit- taquay. The laws and regulations made for one covered the other.
1Bishop, "New England Judged," 123.
I3I
History of Martha's Vineyard
Prior to 1650, the management of the local affairs, the ending of "controversies" and adjustment of legal questions, must have been by a sort of common consent, with Thomas Mayhew, Senior, acting as arbitrator and in a general ad- visory capacity. It is a matter of doubt whether there was such an official as a notary or justice on the island whose jurat would be recognized. It is to be remembered that Martha's Vineyard belonged to no chartered province, as then understood, except its relation as an integral part of the territorial grants of Sir Ferdinando Gorges. Practically, at this time it was No Man's Land, and Mayhew could say with much truth,
"I am monarch of all I survey. My right there is none to dispute."
The Commissioners of the United Colonies, at their session begun Sept. 5, 1644, authorized Massachusetts to "receive Martin's Vineyard into their jurisdiction, if they saw cause." 1 But this absorption was not undertaken, and the island re- mained what it was, an independent, self-governing entity.
THE FIRST GOVERNMENT.
The first semblance of a form of government of record is found in the year 1653, when Thomas Mayhew, Sr., Nicholas Butler, John Bland, Richard Smith, John Smith, Peter Folger and Edward Searle were appointed to or chosen to "stand for a year," but in what capacity is not clear.2 It would seem a fairly sizable body to govern the little community, but it was a beginning. Doubtless, it was a sort of court of as- sistants to Mayhew as chief magistrate. The next year there was "chosen by the town to end all controversies by the same manner & way as did the last year, only if any one of the said number be wanting the rest are to choose another to fill up the number."3 Thomas Mayhew, Sr., Thomas Burchard, John Daggett, and Philip Taber were selected.
The manner of electing officers was probably by the use of corn and beans as ballots. In the Massachusetts Colony
1Hazard, Collections, II, 18.
2Edgartown Records, I, 122.
3Ibid., I, 121. It will be noticed that this reference particularizes the members as justices, and not as executives like selectmen.
I32
Independence of the Vineyard, 1642-1665
in 1643, whence came all of our early settlers, the following method was prescribed: "the freeman shall use Indian corn and Beanes, the Indian Corn to manifest Election, the Beanes contrary; and if any freeman shall put in more than one Indian Corn or Beane he shall forfeit for every such offence Ten Pounds,"1 An allusion to this custom is found in a Nantucket election which is thus described in 1676 by Peter Folger: "In the like uncivil manner they chose two young men more, the sayd Stephen [Hussey] bringing his corn which betoken Choice in his hand and called upon others to Corn this man and that man." 2
At this time Mayhew was following out in good faith the limitations or provisions of his patent from Stirling in respect to conducting the government like that of Massachusetts. Whether it was modelled after it in all particulars cannot be said with surety, but from a perusal of the records it appears that freemen were made, town meetings held, courts estab- lished and the franchise exercised by those entitled. The fol- lowing oath was administered to the Assistants of the Court :--
You do hear swere By the Great Name of the Living God that you shall as Assistants unto the Magistrate execute justice on all cases that shall come Before you according to your Best understanding agreeably to the Law of God for the time you are chosen so help you God.3
On June 6, 1654, it was ordered that the seven men elected had power "to end all controversy except member, Life and Banishment," and were to sit as a quarterly court. Next year the number of assistants was reduced to five and the records are more explicit upon the powers delegated to them. On June 5, 1655, Mr. Thomas Mayhew was chosen "Magistrate" and Thomas Burchard, John Daggett, Peter Folger and Mr. Nicholas Butler were chosen assistants, and the following law was made regarding their functions: -
These men are to attend all Controversies that shall arise in the town for this year and they all to agree upon the Determination of every thing and if they cannot all agree then such cases are to be referred to the town to end, that is such as are admitted to be townsmen and the Magistrate hath power to end all Controversies not exceeding the value of five shillings.4
1 Mass. Col. Rec.
2Letter Peter Folger to Sir Edmond Andros, in N. Y. Col. Mss.
3Edgartown Records, I, 125. Dated Dec. 17, 1652. 4Ibid., I, 119.
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History of Martha's Vineyard
Of course there was no higher authority for appeals, and this arrangement practically constituted the body of freemen as an appellate court, a most unusual example of democracy.
MAYHEW IN SOLE AUTHORITY.
In 1658, a change was made in the form of the governing body which was significant. Mr. Thomas Mayhew was chosen magistrate, but no assistants were elected and it was provided that "all cases are to be Ended this present year by the magistrate with an original jury which shall be chosen by the term consisting of such a number as the Town shall Judge needful," and town meetings were to be held quarterly for the purpose of electing jurymen.1 This had the effect of leaving Mayhew untrammeled in the management of affairs save as jurors came in quarterly to sit on cases, not as ad- visors, but arbitrators.
The next year (1659) another change was made and again it was one that took the control of matters out of the hands of the freemen. Mayhew was chosen magistrate and it was provided that "the form of government is the same that it was last year saving the claws touching appeals is laid by for this year." 2 The next year (1660), Mayhew was re- elected as usual without any assistants and it was again voted that "the Government shall be carried on the same manner as it was last year and with the same exception concerning appeals."3
THE PEOPLE DISSATISFIED.
By this time a number of new settlers had added to the numerical strength of the body of freemen, and it became necessary for Mayhew to fortify himself in his position with these people. Accordingly the next year, he drew up a curious form of "submission" for their signatures, which is here printed in full: -
[DECEMBER 23, 1661]
" These whose names are hereunder written do submit to the Govern- ment of the Pattent and do own it, that is, that it doth consist in the major
1Edgartown Records, I, 157.
2Ibid., I, 158.
3Ibid, I, 147. It was provided that "all meetings (of the court) are to continue till they are dissolved by the major part of the freemen."
I34
Independence of the Vineyard, 1642-1665
part of the freeholders and a single person, most thinking Thomas Mayhew to be the single person according to the pattent: some there nott thinking Thomas Mayhew to Be the Single Person according to Pattent yet willing to own him to govern according to pattent: and Thomas Mayhew before the town did promise that when the major part of the freeholders shall question whether he be the Pattentee within the town bounds or themselves that he will defer that to equal judges for to determine that case between himself and them.
Wee all own the Liberty the King Grants [ ... . illegible. .. . ] confirms in his letter 1
This was signed by the following persons: -
John Daggett Thomas Bayes
John Gee
Nicholas Norton Thomas Jones
James Pease
Thomas Trapp
John Edy
William Weeks
Edward Sale
John Blan(d)
Robert Codman
Joseph Codman
Richard Arey
Thomas Daggett
Richard Sarson James Covel
Willm X Vinson
It is apparent from internal evidence that the settlers must have begun to chafe under this personal government of the patentee, and the eighteen men who "submitted" included those who in later years openly rebelled against him and his government. Those who did not sign this submission were known to be adherents of his through family connection or for other reasons, and included Thomas Burchard, Nicholas Butler, Thomas Daggett, John Eddy, Peter Folger, Thomas Harlock, Richard Sarson, and John Smith. This submission placed the responsibility of government on a two-legged au- thority, the "major part of the freeman" and a "single person" and Mayhew as patentee claimed that he was the individual intended. But "most" of them did not agree to this inter- pretation, and on what it was based is not clear from any document yet come to light, but they were willing he should fill the position during their pleasure. This was doubtless the germ of Mayhew's plans to acquire absolute personal con- trol of the government of the Vineyard, and keep it in his own hands under guise of vested patent rights. The provision for arbitration of his ownership of the patent was a harmless concession as that right could not be successfully assailed. It was the claim of jurisdiction over persons and property under it that was of concern to the freeholders. The suc- ceeding entries in the records now take a new form: "it is agreed by the pattentees and freeholders" etc.,2 when votes
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