USA > Massachusetts > Dukes County > Marthas Vineyard > The history of Martha's Vineyard, Dukes County, Massachusetts, Volume I > Part 30
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 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50
1Acts and Resolves, Province of Mass. Bay, III, 884, Nov. 5, 1755.
305
History of Martha's Vineyard
man, who determined upon a campaign directed against the enemy in his own territory, at Crown Point, New York, be- tween Lakes George and Champlain. Acting in conjunction with the governor of Massachusetts, a call was issued for levies, from the local militia in the several counties. Brigadier John Winslow of the provincial forces, accordingly sent the following letter to Colonel Mayhew, directing him to prepare his contingent for immediate service: -
Boston, April 15, 1756.
Sir His Excellency Governor Shirley having Directed me to require an officer Commissioned for Crown Point Expedition to attend at the Impres on the 22d inst and to take such Persons as are Fit for that service under his care and Conduct them to the Place of Rendezvous,
In obedience to Those orders I have Directed Capt Peter West of Colo Thachers Regiment to repair to your District and to Take under his Command both volunteers and Impresses men and march them to this Place by the fourth Day of May next that they may Receive their arms and Blankets. Am with regards your very Humble servant
JOHN WINSLOW.1
The colonel set to work at once to accomplish the order, and after a month's time despatched the following reply, showing the difficulties he had met with in the performance of his duty: -
Chillmarck May the 15, 1756.
May it pleas your Excellency :
Imediately upon the Receipt of your warrant I caused the Enlistments of souldiers In the severall companies within my Regiment for the present expidition against Crown Point to be returned to me which appeared to be but five, viz four out of Capt Cathcarts Company in Tisbury & one of my Company in Chillmarck, to which number I added forty & then apportioned the whole upon the several Companies according to the num- ber of souldiers they severally contained & ordered Col Norton to rais twenty men out of his company in Edgartown & to Capt Cathcart to rais Eleven out of his company in Tisbury & ordered nine to be raised out of Chillmarck Company which with the five before enlisted would have com- pleated the number sent for & although I have done the utmost of my Power I have yet one man from Edgartown which is their whole propor- tion makes but eighteen in the whole which I have delivered to Capt Peter West as I was directed.
I am with due Regard your Excellencys Most Humble Servt ZACK. MAYHEW.2
It will be noticed that Captain West was already attached to the regiment of another colonel, on the mainland, a circum- 1 Mass. Archives, XCIV, 148. 2Ibid., 228.
306
Military History, 1645-1775
stance which makes it difficult to follow always the military history of the Vineyard soldiers. The same condition existed during the Revolutionary war, when a large number enlisted from towns on the cape and in Plymouth county to swell other town quotas. In a letter dated two months later, Colonel Mayhew gives us further particulars of his difficulties, ascrib- ing the blame to the absence of available men, in general, and to the apathy of Edgartown in particular. The following is his letter:
Marthas Vineyard, July 5th 1756. May it pleas your Honour
Upon the receipt of a warrant Isued from His Excellency Will'm Shirley Esq., Capt General & Comander in Chief &c., I imediately as therein Directed sent for Enlistments of souldiers in the several Companies within my Regiment for the present Expedition against Crown Point to be re- turned to me & found them to contain five in all one out of Chillmarck Company & four out of Tisbury to which number I added forty & then proportioned the sum total amongst the several companies according to the numbers of the souldiers they formerly contained & then Lessened the proportion of each Company by the number that had Enlisted out of it & then Imediately sent a warrant to Colo John Norton requiring him to Impres twenty men & to Capt Gershom Cathcart for Eleven men out of his Company in Tisbury & nine out of my Company in Chillmark which nine I procured & received of Capt Cathcart eight & of Colo Norton but one, which eighteen men I delivered to Capt Peter West as I was ordered all which I gave yr Honour an account of before but am Informed that My Letter miscarried although I sent it (as I thought), by a safe hand the Reverend Mr .... And upon receipt of your Honnours warrant of the 24th of May last I Imediately sent warrants to Col Norton and Capt Cathcart Requiring the number of them that was wanting to Compleat the number first sent for & to make Returns to me as soon as Posable that I mought send the men as I am Directed but I have had no return from them as yet but am informed they have had pres warrants out ever since but can by no means procure them men. There being so many in the Coste service & attsea upon the whailing desine & so in that have bin imprest have paid their fine & so having to the utmost of my endeavor to procure the men sent for I now dispare of procuring of them untill such time as our men com back from sea. I am with Due Regard
Your Honrs
Most Humble Servt ZACCHEUS MAYHEW.1
As stated by him, he had been able to get together eighteen men, ten of whom were Indians, and the following pay roll gives us the names of the men who marched from the Vine- yard the first week in May, 1755, to the rendezvous at Boston :-
1Mass. Archives, XCIV, 265.
307
308
[MASS. ARCHIVES XCIV, 304] MUSTER ROLL OF CAPT. PETER WEST'S COMPANY 1756 COL. MAYHEW'S REGIMENT."
NAMES
AGE
BORN
LAST PLACE OF ABODE
OCCUPATION
INLISTED
EMPRESSED
HIRED
Peter West, Capt.
·
38
Tisbury
Dukes
Mariner
Jeremiah Mayhew, Lieut.
5I
Chilmark
Dukes
Yeoman
Israel Butler, Clerk
59
Edgartown
Dukes
Weaver
James Helman
23
Chilmark
Dukes
Yeoman
Inlisted
Joseph Ray
2I
Chatham
Dukes
Seaman
Inlisted
Thomas Burgess
42
Chilmark
Dukes
Weaver
Empressed
Daniel Norton
24
Falmouth
Dukes
Laborer
Empressed
John Daggett
22
Edgartown
Dukes
Laborer
Inlisted
Jeams Butler
19
Barnstable
Dukes
Laborer
William Armstrong
.
28
Dublin, Ire.
Dukes
Weaver
Empressed
and
(8 Indians)
·
History of Martha's Vineyard
Hired
·
Military History, 1645-1775
This was the second expedition to Crown Point, the first having been undertaken the previous year under General Sir William Johnson, and had been unsuccessful. A battle was fought on Sept. 8, 1755, at Lake George, which "Fild the Cuntry with So Much Discorce," writes a diarist of the period, because of its disastrous results. The success of our arms had not been all that could have been wished. Braddock had been defeated on the Monongahela, and when the spring of 1756 opened the present expedition was started to retrieve the fallen fortunes of British armies. This campaign in its turn proved fruitless. The Marquis de Montcalm began his American career by destroying the English forts at Oswego. The Earl of London also came over this year to take charge of the war for the English, but he did nothing effective. The home government sent out reinforcements frequently, yet the men generally accomplished but little practically. "I dread to hear from America," exclaimed Pitt, as the news of dis- asters followed in these years. The raw levies marched back wearily, through the November snows, many of them pock- marked from the epidemic of small-pox, which invalided scores, and the French still held their positions of vantage. In the following year, nothing daunted by previous failures another assault on the intrenched camps of the soldiers of France was projected, and the following soldiers are credited to the Vine- yard early in 1757 :-
[Mass. Archives, XCV, 172.] Pay Roll of CAPT. PETER WEST'S Company. Boston February 14, 1757.
Peter West
Captain
Tisbury
Robert Manter
Lieutenant
Tisbury
Jeremiah Mayhew
Lieutenant
Tisbury
James Hilman
Sergeant
Chilmark
Thomas Burges
Sergeant
Chilmark
Joseph Ray
Sergeant
Tisbury
Israel Butler
Clerk
Tisbury
David Chapman
Private
Chilmark
John Daggett
Corporal
Tisbury
Isaac Lewis
Corporal
Tisbury
Daniel Norton
Corporal
Chilmark
Edward Crowell
Corporal
Chilmark
Wm. Armstrong
Drummer
Chilmark
James Butler
Private
Chilmark
James Bunker
Private
Chilmark
309
History of Martha's Vineyard
[Mass. Archives, XCVI, 16.] Pay Roll of CAPT. PETER WEST'S Company, 1757. February 12, to Octo. 21.
Peter West
Captain
Tisbury
Michael Dormont,
2d Lieutenant
Tisbury
Robert Manter
Sergeant
Tisbury
John Daggett
Corporal
Tisbury
Daniel Butler
Private
Tisbury
James Bunker
Private
Chilmark
Daniel Luke
Private
Tisbury
John Luke
Private
Tisbury
-
In the campaign of 1757 the English troops garrisoned at Fort Edward were attacked on July 6, and it is probable that during the fighting at this place the Vineyard company, under the command of Captain West, took part in the defence of the frontier stronghold against the assaults of the soldiers of France. A contemporary picture of life at home at this time during these hostilities, is afforded in a letter written by Solo- mon Athearn to his son-in-law, John Pope, then living in Lebanon, Conn.
Dear Children:
After my immovable regards to you & your little daughters these may inform you I am in parfect health blessed be God: your brothers & sis- ters are all well: saving Hanna who was delivered in child bed four days ago, of a desirable son but I hope will be raised up again. I have nothing to right but wars & rumors of wars & great broils (?) .... Lydia re- mains .... & no help to her .... Tisbury is in an unsettled order & we know not when 'twill be better: It is a time of health in general here. Ant Skiff is yet alive and remains in same state of body as in years past. I remain (in) single life and know not if ever (it) will be otherwise: children and grandchildren looking to me for my helpe continually: I greatly desire to see you but know not the time when: Taxes are very (hard) because money is very scarce. Our men are called into the war & many are taken by war; the sword of the wild men is against us; but our hope is in God.
May the God of peace be with you & carry you thru all your afflic- tions is the prayer of your affectionate Father till Death.
SOLOMON ATHAN.
Tisbury on Marthas Vineyard, Sept 27th 1757
Early in the spring of 1758, another campaign was in- augurated under the leadership of General James Abercrombie, with the same objects in view, and the same points to be at- tacked. The following soldiers were credited to our island contingent: -
310
Military History, 1645-1775
[Mass. Archives, XCVI, 18.] Pay Roll of CAPTAIN PETER WEST'S Company,
March 17, 1758.
Peter West
Captain
Tisbury
Michael Dormont,
2d Lieutenant
Tisbury
Robert Manter
Ensign
Tisbury
John Daggett
Corporal
Tisbury
Daniel Butler
Private
Tisbury
James Bunker
Private
Tisbury
Daniel Luke
Private
Tisbury
John Luke
Private
Tisbury
It will be noted that all are given as residents of Tisbury.1 The campaign of 1758 was in two parts - Amherst captured Louisburg, July 27, while Abercrombie directed his operations against the fort at Ticonderoga, called Carillon by the French. The army under General Abercrombie made a combined attack on July 8, but the defenders successfully withstood it, and it remained in their hands for another year. Among those who took part in this expedition, not named in the muster rolls, was Barachiah Bassett of Chilmark. Doubtless there were a number of others as the rolls are of one company only. Robert Manter got his promotion through the death of the lieutenant of his company, but failed to secure the pay of his new rank. He thereupon preferred the following petition to the General Court: -
He recites that he was in the service of the province as sergeant under the command of Captain Peter West in the regiment commanded by Col. Joseph Frye, "and in the month of July last The Twentyeth Day Michael Dormet our Lieut was kill'd by the Enemy and on the 18th Day of August fol- lowing by Regimentall orders" he was appointed "Ensigne in s'd Company but has never received the pay of his rank." This petition was dated on March 13, and granted on the 18th of the same month. The town of Tisbury reimbursed him for poll taxes that year as he "was in service in the Quality of a Left in the Crown Point Expedition."
As a curious picture of the time, the experience of Bara- chiah Bassett, on his way home from this campaign, related
1In a list of soldiers supposed to belong to a company under Major Richard God- frey, of Col. Timothy Ruggles' regiment at Lake George, this year, are the names of Ep(hrai)m Pease, Barnabas Allen, and Ezra Allen, but it is not known that they were the Vineyard men of those names. (G. R., LVIII, 142.)
3II
History of Martha's Vineyard
by himself, is here inserted to show how much the idea of paternalism was a part of the life of the colonists: -
To his Excellency Thomas Pownall Esq. Capt Gener'll & Gov- ernour in Chief in and over his Majesties Province of the Massa- chusetts Bay in New England.
The Humble Petition of Barachia Bassett of Chilmark on Marthas Vineyard sheweth that your Petitioner in the year past [1758] was in the Expedition under the Command of his Excellency General Abercromby and your petitioner hopes he was not an unprofitable Soldier, but so it happened that your Petitioner in his return home from the army having with others Hired a Vessel at Albany to Return home was obliged to Take into s'd Vessel a man then Indisposed and who it afterward proved had the Small pox and by Taking s'd man into s'd Vessel your Petitioner un- happily Took the Small pox whereby your Petitioner beside undergoing much Pain danger & loss of Time has been out much charge and cost an account where of your Petitioner hath herewith Exhibbited. Now your Petitioner prays that your Excellency and Honours would consider of your Petitioners case and order him pay for such expenses as he has been out in his sickness out of the Treasury or other wise to relieve your Petitioner as you shall in your great Wisdom think fit and your Petitioner as in Duty bound shall ever pray.
BAR'IAH BASSETT.1
Among the soldiers engaged in other expeditions to Canada in 1758, from the Vineyard, were John Megee, Jr., and William Armstrong of Chilmark, James Butler and Shubael Harding of Tisbury, John Holley and Ansel Norton of Edgartown. It is not known where they served - possibly under General Amherst.
THE SIEGE OF QUEBEC.
The year 1759 opened with the conditions remaining in favor of the French, who, under Montcalm, had held all their outposts. It was to be a year pregnant with results. The British armies had been placed in the command of General James Wolfe, a young and frail soldier, a subordinate under Amherst at Louisburg, who undertook the task which had staggered his predecessors, while high on the rock of Cape Diamond the citadel of Quebec towered proudly under white banners of New France. On the Vineyard the system of impressment for the campaign was continued, and the follow- ing roll shows the soldiers in Colonel Mayhew's regiment in the spring of that year: --
1 Mass. Archives, LXXVIII, 231. Petition dated March 3, 1759.
312
Military History, 1645-1775
[Mass. Archives, XCVII, 140.] Muster Roll of COLONEL ZACCHEUS MAYHEW'S Regiment, April 13, 1759.
John Megee, Jr.
20
Chilmark
Benjamin Skiffe, Jr.
22
Chilmark
Hillard Mayhew
I7
Chilmark
William Armstrong
30
Chilmark
Silvanus Pease
30
Chilmark
Jeremiah Manter
28
Tisbury
Bethuell Luce
I8
Tisbury
Timothy Luce
55
Tisbury
Abijah Luce
2I
Tisbury
James Butler
2I
Tisbury
William Weeks
I8
Tisbury
Shubael Harden
37
Tisbury
Gershom Dunham
23
Tisbury
Samuel Chase
25
Tisbury
Peter Whelden
26
Edgartown
John Holley
42
Edgartown
Jonathan Pease
52
Edgartown
Samuel Steward
30
Edgartown
Ansel Norton
2I
Edgartown
Robert Hamit
2I
Edgartown
William Bridge
57
Edgartown
Thomas Norris
29
Edgartown
Cornelius Ripley
23
Edgartown
The campaign in New York was under the leadership of the victorious Amherst, who besieged the French at Ticon- deroga, no longer under Montcalm's military skill, and on July 27, he surprised the defenders and captured that cele- brated stronghold. Meanwhile General Wolfe, on July 31, delivered an attack on the Gibraltar of America, the fortress of Quebec, defended by Montcalm, who had transferred his post thither, and the youthful British general suffered defeat, but he had found his quarry, and he was not daunted by this reverse. It is not known whether any men from the Vineyard were in this last and glorious campaign, at the final scenes at Quebec. The following letter shows what was done here in providing our quota of men: -
Sir
Chilmarck April the 15, 1759.
I have in obedience to the Law & his Excellencys warant & Direction to me given don the utmost of My Indeavor to procure the men sent for yet when the Day appointed for Mustering the Men com som of the men re-
313
History of Martha's Vineyard
turned by the officers appeared infirm & in no maner abel in body for the service which I could not except of so that there is yet nine men more wanting to complet the number sent for viz seven out of Colo Nortons Company in Edgartown & two out of Capt Cathcarts Company in Tis- bury & whereas there was the names of som men returned to me by Colo Norton which did not appear I therefore Imediately sent him Expres order to serve those who had Deserted & to Complet the Number assigned him.
I also ordered Capt Cathcart to procure two men to complet the num- ber assigned him & I hope they will be procured but I fear Not soon anuffe to go with the Rest for Capt Mayhew I hear designes to March tomorrow with the men he has already received.
There is one man viz ben toby who was Inlisted by Capt Cathcart & past muster & has received his bounty of Me but Col James Otis De- manding of him as belonging to his Regiment under his Command there- fore I directed Capt Cathcart to procure a Man in his room otherwise Capt Cathcart would have wanted but one man to Compleat the number assigned him to rais.
We are under a grate Disadvantage heer by Reason the most of our old able bodied Efective men ware gon to sea before the Order came to warn the training.
I am sir Your humble servant ZACH. MAYHEW
To Col Willm Brattle Assistant Governour.1
As usual there were men from the island who enlisted elsewhere this year. In the roll of Massachusetts soldiers landed at Halifax on May 11, 1759, occurs the name of Corpo- ral John Daggett of the Vineyard, in Captain Josiah Thacher's company, of Col. John Thomas' regiment, and doubtless this is but one of a number similarly attached to other companies.
It is not known, as above stated, that any troops from the Vineyard were in the army of Wolfe before Quebec.2 The only company that went from here, whose rolls have been preserved, did garrison duty at Annapolis Royal, in Colonel Hoar's detachment. The captain was Jeremiah Mayhew of Chilmark, and the muster roll of his soldiers shows the fol- lowing names of Vineyard men, in addition to a number of Indians: -
1Mass. Archives, LXXVIII, 440.
2It is a matter of common knowledge that soldiers who fought in these wars are credited by descendants with service "at Quebec," usually under Wolfe, as his vic- tory closed the long campaigns of several years, and "Quebec" gave the name to the general struggle in that sense. Similarly, soldiers of the Revolution are said to have been in Washington's "Body Guard," irrespective of any evidence showing in what capacity they served.
314
Military History, 1645-1775
[Mass. Archives, XCVII, 277.] Pay Roll of CAPT. JEREMIAH MAYHEW'S Company. March-November, 1759
John Mege
Ensign
Chilmark
'Jeremiah Manter
Sergeant
Tisbury
Hillyard Mayhew
Sergeant
Chilmark
Benjamin Skiffe
Corporal
Chilmark
Gershom Dunham
Corporal
Tisbury
Abijah Luce
Corporal
Tisbury
Ansel Norton
Private
Edgartown
Bethuel Luce
Private
Tisbury
Cornelius Ripley
Private
Edgartown
Charles Parker
Private
Edgartown
James Butler
Private
Tisbury
Robert Hamit
Private
Tisbury
On the night of September 12, Wolfe's army crossed the St. Lawrence several miles above the city of Quebec, and on the morning of the next day were drawn up in battle formation on the Plains of Abraham. Montcalm committed the error of leaving his fortress to give battle. In the fortunes of the struggle between the contending forces both of the gallant commanders fell, mortally wounded, and the demoralized troops of the defender of the fortress were put to rout, and Quebec fell before the victorious charges of the British ranks. With the fall of Montcalm and Quebec fell the French power in North America, except in the distant and almost unknown regions of the territory of Louisiana. In this definite result the men from Martha's Vineyard contributed their share of blood and treasure in battle, sickness, and death. Perhaps the finest figure during this long series of campaigns to gain the mastery over the French was that of Captain Peter West of Tisbury. He was the fifth son of Abner and Joan (Look) West, born at Homes Hole, July 21, 1718, and as he grew to
1The Humble Petition of Jeremiah Manter of Tisbury, in Dukes County, sheweth That your Petitioner Did Enlist himself in to the Province service in April in the year 1759 under the Command of Capt Jeremiah Mayhew & Did Duty as a Sergt att the Garrison att Annopolis Royal In Coll Hoars Detachment And there Continued in the Service of the Province Untill the 26th Day of February last when he was Dismissed But did not Receive the Bounty granted by the Government for the Soldiers before he came home & upon application to the Treasurer was Informed That The Grant made for that Garrison was all sent Down For them before he came away: Now your Peti- tioner Prays That This Honourable Court will Take the Above Petition into consider- ation & order him the Bounty by Law Granted And your Petitioner as in Duty Bound shall Ever Pray
Tisbury December 1760. (Mass. Archives, LXXIX, 299.)
This Petition was granted April 8th, 1761. £10. 0. 0.
315
History of Martha's Vineyard
manhood, he is described as possessed of a splendid physique and became an ideal officer of dauntless courage. It is prob- able that he was a soldier in the Louisburg campaign of 1745, but we first know of his military service of a certainty in 1755, when he was attached to a regiment raised on the mainland for the early campaigns in this long struggle. His services were mostly in the New York expeditions, Crown Point and Ticonderoga, but his fortune was not to die in battle, where his military valor would have led him. He fell a victim to the scourge of smallpox at Fort Edward, near Lake George, Oct. 3, 1757, at which time he was acting major of the regi- ment.1 He left a widow and seven children, of whom the son, Jeruel, followed in the father's footsteps and fought in the Revolutionary war. Captain West married, Dec. 16, 1740, Mrs. Elizabeth, widow of Thomas Chase, and daughter of Jabez and Katherine (Belcher) Athearn.
Jeremiah Mayhew, captain of another company, was the youngest son of John and Mehitable (Higgins) Mayhew of Chilmark, and was born in 1705. He married Deborah, daughter of John and Hannah (Pease) Smith, by whom he had nine children; and a second wife, in his old age, Fear Hillman, by whom he had a daughter, named after her mother. He died June 14, 1790.
Barachiah Bassett, another officer, was likewise a Chil- mark man, the son of William and Anna (Mayhew) Bassett, born in 1732. He married after the war Mercy Bourne, and left three daughters. He served as colonel in the Revolutionary war, and died June 13, 1813.
John Megee was a resident of Chilmark, and followed the occupation of weaver. His brother Thomas was a tailor, and had resided there from 1725, having married in the town. Probably they were Scotch-Irish emigrants.
MISCELLANEOUS SERVICE IN CANADIAN GARRISONS.
From this time the principal military service to be per- formed by the provinces was in garrison duty at the various forts captured from the French, and to form the outposts in the territory lately held by them. This was principally in Nova Scotia and the other eastern provinces. In 1760, with a captain's commission, Barachiah Bassett left the Vineyard
1Vineyard Gazette, April 1, 1853. This is the only definite statement of the place of his death, but there is some doubt of its accuracy, in the matter of date.
316
Military History, 1645-1775
with five men, and Lieutenant John Megee with thirty-three more, for Nova Scotia.1 The muster rolls of Captain Bassett's men show the names of Ebenezer Daggett, Silvanus Hamlin, and Abijah Luce of Edgartown; Jeremiah Mayhew and Ed- ward Davis of Chilmark, in March of that year, at Lunenburg, N. S. The rest of his men were recruited from other towns in the province. In May he had besides these Timothy Luce, Zaccheus Luce, and Peter Tobey, all Tisbury names.2 The roll of the company under the command of Megee is not known to be in existence. One other soldier is known, George Look, son of Thomas, who "Died in the Army" this year, aged about twenty-one years.3 The following soldiers also participated in the military operations of the army this year: --
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.