USA > Massachusetts > Dukes County > Marthas Vineyard > The history of Martha's Vineyard, Dukes County, Massachusetts, Volume I > Part 47
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Sixth-day, April 9, 1714. Fair Weather: Cold Northerly Wind. Visit Abel's widow. Go to the top of Prospect Hill, from thence to the Sound and by Mr. Thomas Mayhew's direction viewed the River falling into the Sound, and the shoar all along to the end of the 327 Rods which extends South-ward to the middle Line, containing about 1000 Acres which belongs to the Corporation.
April 10, 1714. The wind being excessive high we did not goe to Holmes' Hole, but view'd Watsha neck all over, being conducted by Mr. Simon Athern and B. Haws: find much of it good for Herbage and Tillage. Sat awhile in the Wigwam where Elizabeth, Stephen Spokes' Widow dwells: eat roste Alewive and very good Hasty Pudding. Gave the Widow at coming away Ios. Get to Mr. Worth's between 3 and 4. De- manded rent of Mrs. Worth for the Neck. Went to Mr. Mat. Mayhew for a copy for another Letter of Attorney of his Father.
Seventh-day, April 10, 1714. The last night was very Cold. Plenty of Ice was to be seen in the Road between Mr. Allen's and Cathcarts past Ten a clock in the fair sunshine.
Edgartown: April 11, 1714. Serene Day. Ps 90. 1-6. L. By Mr. Samuel Wiswall, A.M. . .. In the evening visited Mrs. Lothrop. As we went we met Capt. Dogget and Mr. Mat. Mayhew coming to see us. Mrs. Lothrop has 8 children. They are all well. Mr. Wiswall eat with us between 4 and 5 p.m. Their custom is not to dine. Capt. Dogget expresses a great desire Mr. W. may continue with them. fears lest he should be discouraged and remove. Would have me endeavor to persuade him to stay among them. Two sloops sailed yesterday; one for Boston, the other for Woods' Hole.
Second-day April 12, 1714. Major Thaxter and Mr. Dennison go to Mr. Mayhew for the Letter of attorney and an extract of the Deed. Yet our Landlady scruples paying arrears. Thinks I may be able to de- mand only what has grown due since my Lord Lymerick made conveyed his lands and Lordship to the hon'ble Company whereof Sir William Ashurst is Governor.
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History of Martha's Vineyard
Rode to Holmes' Hole, accompanied by Mr. Jno. Worth, Capt. Doggett, Mr. Matthew Mayhew, Benjamin Haws, John Tolman. Came of about 25 minutes past 10, m. To Job Soumauau, Schoolmaster at Christain Town, ten shillings. Had a good passage over with young Mrs. Daggett of Attleborough.1
AMUSEMENTS.
The state of living and the habits of life attendant upon the settling a strange country, almost a wilderness, did not allow of any general relaxation from the work of fishing, trading and tilling the soil. The early settlers left behind the sports and pastimes of old England, and did not renew them here because they did not have the place or time to give to their enjoyment. It is safe to say that few outdoor games were ever played here in the 17th century, and such amusement as they sought was in the pipe and bowl and spinning yarns at neighborhood gatherings. The possession even of cards, dice, and other gaming implements was prohibited in the other colonies,2 and the indulgence in cards in this insular jurisdic- tion may be supposed to have been interdicted, though no laws to that effect are recorded.3 From negative inference we are led to believe card-playing was indulged in by some of the settlers. The games of cards known in those days were Primero, Trump, Gresco, Port, Noddy, Gleek, and others not known to the present generation. Whist, or as it was formerly written Whisk, was not developed till the next century. Matthew Mayhew, in a document dated 1675, showed his familiarity with the game of cards by referring to the tactics of his opponents: "Every card they play is an Ace and every Ace a Trump." Twenty years later, when the "outs" were recommending Simon Athearn for the place of justice, they solemnly averred that he was "no card player,"4 a statement that was probably intended as a covert allusion to Mayhew's liberal views of such things.
CONVIVIAL AND RELIGIOUS TIPPLING.
If drinking liquor can be called an amusement, it is cer- tain that a considerable number of the people, from the clergy
1Diary, II, 432.
2Conn. Rec., I, 289, 527: Mass. Col. Rec., I, 84.
3In England it was forbidden any householder to permit card-playing in his house under the penalty of six shillings and eight pence for every offence. (Stat. Anno II, Hen. VII, Cap 2.)
4Mass. Archives, CXII, 435.
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Life in Vineyard Towns During Colonial Times
down to the serving-man, indulged their spare hours to an appreciable extent. Beer was brewed on the island. There was a malt-house at Edgartown before 1700, and the vessels that touched here in their voyages to and from St. Kitts, Bar- badoes, and Jamaica, furnished the rum and aqua vitae to those who indulged in "strong drink." The use of liquor was well-nigh universal in the 18th century. I need only cite its regular appearance at ministerial ordinations, church raisings, funerals, and weddings, as pertinent evidence on this point.
In the limited sense of games, however, we are without definite information, and yet it is to be presumed that a people who came from "Merrie England" with its storehouse of sports, playful and athletic, did not forget entirely how to relax in innocent and healthful pastimes.
TOBACCO.
Tobacco-smoking, or as it was then called "Drinking Tobacco," was indulged at the Vineyard soon after the set- tlement. Probably the Indians used some kind of a weed before the advent of the whites. Traffic in tobacco is men- tioned as early as 1659, and from that time forth occasional references to it appear. Being a maritime place, where old sea-dogs were wont to congregate, it would have been surprising if the weed were not an article of use and traffic. In 1700 it was stated that smugglers "land Great part of it (tobacco) at Martins Vineyard or at Elizabeth Island where it is Housed, not paying the Collector if they are Discovered above & the Duty of the I penny p. pound Sterl."1 The cultivation of tobacco was also undertaken here about the middle of the eighteenth century. In a suit at law in 1767, Thomas Arey vs. Seth Dunham, the plaintiff stated that he raised this plant on his land at Tom's Neck (Chappaquiddick), and alleged that the defendant carried away "about one hundred Plants of Tobacco. " 2
The taverns of the Vineyard would not have had a natural appearance about them if the pipe and bowl had not found vogue here among the colonists. As a rule, its use was frowned
1Edward Randolph to the Board of Trade, 5 Nov. 1700. (State Papers. P.R.O. V. 48.)
2Dukes County Court Records. Tobacco is raised in Connecticut at the present time in a climate less favorable than our island conditions.
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History of Martha's Vineyard
upon by the Puritans, and laws restricting its use were made in most of the colonies. But it was not the Puritan alone who
"Abhorres a sattin suit, a velvet cloak And sayes tobacco is the devill's smoke."
It will be remembered that King James I had a violent personal antipathy to tobacco, and wrote an extrava- gant pamphlet against it, entitled "A Counterblaste to To- bacco," and his influence and that of his followers at court was employed to prohibit its use.
Of him it was written:
"In quilted doublet and great trunk breeches Who held in abhorrence tobacco and witches."
"BEATING THE BOUNDS."
There is an old English ceremony, how old no man knows, for it was derived from the Romans, of making an annual perambulation of one's property and examining, repairing, and publicly declaring the boundaries of the same. It was the custom of the Romans to erect a statue of their god Ter- minus, at each corner of their property, and in these yearly walks round to decorate the image with flowers and offer liba- tions to him. He was sculptured as a legless person to show that he never moved. In England this annual ceremony is limited to a public procession about the bounds of an estate, parish, or city, headed by some representative of the owner or corporation officials, accompanied by whomsoever chooses to join in the affair. This is known as "beating the bounds," because the boys of the locality are furnished with long willow branches and strike the bound stones with them when they are reached, to point out to all concerned the extent of the property claimed. It is done to this day, even in London, and is the occasion of a jollification, in which the boys partake of a feast at the expense of the municipality. This custom was continued here by our forefathers, but the name given to it was "perambulating the bounds," and was unaccompanied by any form of hilarity. Indeed it was a serious and solemn business, like all their life work, and the selectmen of the towns, which had adjoining division lines, met, soberly walked round the landmarks, saw that they were in place, and "re- newed" them in their respective town records by an entry to
488
Life in Vineyard Towns During Colonial Times
that effect. A sample of this record is here given from the Tisbury book, and is like others in the abutting townships: -
February the roth 1740 Wee the Subscribers being the Selectmen of the Towns of Tisbury and Chilmark, being Mett in Order to Perambu- late & Renew the Bounds between the sd Towns and accordingly Wee agree to Renew a Rock lying in the Wash of the Sea on the North side of the Island; and a Great Rock Lying at the East End of the Midle Line. Commonly known by the Name of the great Rock; and further to a Stake with a heap of Stones round it at a place Commonly known by the name of Cases field And to a black Oake Saplin Markt at the North side of the Road a Little to the Westward of the House of Mr Eliashib Adams. All which we find to be the Bounds Renewed by the Select men hereto
SAMUEL LUMBERT ) Selectmen SILVANUS ALLEN ) Selectmen
SHUBAEL LUCE S of Tisbury ELIASHIB ADAMS S of Chilmark
COMPUTATION OF TIME.
The reckoning of time among our ancestors was accom- plished by rather crude means. It is doubtful if there was a clock or watch on the island for the first fifty years of the set- tlement. None appear in the inventories at that period. Sun dials, hour glasses, and noon-notches cut on window and door sills on the southern side of the house were the only means they had of knowing the hour or measuring the time. Oc- casionally the hours would be cut on the window sill, so that the house-wife could tell when to expect the men to return from the fields. This would be of service only on sunshiny days. Hour-glasses were used for the pulpit, to mark the length of the sermon, and give the parson a hint that his sands were fast running away. Calendar time, as they reckoned it, requires particular explanation.
From 1607, the practical beginning of the colonial period, up to March 25, 1752, "Annunciation" or "Lady's Day," just after the Vernal Equinox, was New Year's day. March 24 was the last day of the year, and the months ran from March as the first month to February as the twelfth month. The prefixes to names of months Sept-ember, Oct-ober, Nov-ember, and Dec-ember indicate this respectively for the seventh, eight, ninth, and tenth months; July and August, likewise, were anciently denominated Quintilis and Sextilis, fifth and sixth, their present names having been bestowed in compli- ment to Julius Cæsar and Augustus.
For a part of this period, from 1607 to 1752, double dating was the common practice for the months between January I
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History of Martha's Vineyard
and March; this was an attempt to try to give dates for a year beginning March 25, and at the same time for a year begin- ning January 1. This had led to much confusion, and a great many times to much embarrassment; and, where double dat- ing was not used, the reading and recording of dates has often been very erroneous and misleading. The change was made to January 1, or rather the change, which had been made long before in some of the European countries, was finally adopted and became the universal practice for Great Britain and her colonies, in 1752.
Almanacs were also very scarce, until the 18th century, and then one copy would answer for the whole neighborhood. Just how they kept sure reckoning of the days and months, without these aids to calculation, is hard to understand. As many of the months were named for pagan deities, the Puri- tans would not use those names, and called them by number, March being the first as already stated. This lasted during the 17th century. Our records abound in allusions to this system of enumeration, "because they would avoid," says Lechford, "all memory of heathenish and idols names." The Quakers still use this method of designating the months, as well as the days of the week.
AGRICULTURE.
While modern machines for the use of the farmer have robbed "haying" of its most picturesque features, yet now as then the scythe was the first implement in the hands of the tillers of the soil.1 A scythe was valued at about ten shillings on the Vineyard in 1663; a sickle at two shillings in 1669; and a pitchfork at a shilling the same year. The ploughing and all heavy farm work was done by oxen, while the hand implements have not been altered to any extent at the present time, except in the combination of lightness with strength,
1It may not be generally known that the most valuable improvement made upon this implement for centuries was by one of the first iron-workers of Massachusetts, more than two hundred years ago, in the very infancy of the colony. In the year 1646 the general assembly of that province granted to Joseph Jenckes, of Lynn, con- nected with the first iron-works in that colony, the exclusive privilege for fourteen years "to make experience of his abillityes and inventions for making," among other things, of "mills for the making of sithes and other edge-tooles." His patent "for the more speedy cutting of grasse" was renewed for seven years in May. 1655. The improvement consisted in making the blade longer and thinner, and in strengthening it at the same time, by welding a square bar of iron to the back, as in the modern scythe, thus materially improving upon the old English scythe then in use, which was short, thick, and heavy, like a bush-scythe.
490
Life in Vineyard Towns During Colonial Times
since the introduction of steel. The regular crops on the farm consisted of hay as the principal product, with necessary sow- ings of "Turkey wheat" (corn)1, rye and oats. Here and there barley was preferred. Salt grass was a great desideratum for the cattle, and meadow grass of this kind was highly prized by the early settlers.
DOMESTIC ANIMALS.
There is considerable misapprehension as to the time when domestic animals were brought to the Vineyard. It is generally supposed that they were not found on the island for many years after the arrival of the first settlers, but the records are the best evidence of their use quite early, and the following instances of their first mention shows when each kind appears in chronological sequence: Cattle in 1651; hogs in 1652; horses in 1653; sheep in the same year; goats in 1668; and domestic fowl, such as hens, ducks, and geese, before 1660. Dogs are referred to in 1661, and this must have been a native breed of canine, belonging to the Indians, and raised by them for hunting purposes.
It is probable that domestic animals of all kinds were brought here still earlier than those dates. Doubtless the settlers had horses, cattle, and sheep within the first year or so of the landing and beginning of the plantation. Otherwise the necessary cultivation of the soil and the clearing of land could not be accomplished. They were driven down from Boston by the "Bay Path" so-called, through Plymouth and Falmouth, thence to be ferried over the sound in the little sailing vessels of the period. Small stock, such as sheep, hogs, and goats, may have been brought here by sailing vessels from the Bay towns.
Values on domestic animals at that period are found to be ranging as follows: 1665, horses, £4; 1715, a mare and colt, £12; 1718, horse, £9; 1719, horse, £7; 1680, oxen, per pair, £5; 1703, £6; 1715, £10; 1718, £6; 1669, cows, £3 to £4; 1715, £3.10; 1680, sheep, per score, £3; 1703, £4; 1715, £6; 1665, goats, per score, £5.10; 1665, turkeys, 2s. 6d .; geese, each, Is. 6d .; and hogs, Ios. each. Money
1" There grows in several parts of Africa, Asia, and America a kind of corn called Mays, and such as we commonly call Turkey wheat. They made bread of it which is hard of digestion, heavy in the stomach, and does not agree with any but such as are of robust and hail constitution." Lemery, "Treatise on Foods" (1704), p. 71.
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History of Martha's Vineyard
was valued in those times at about four or five times its present purchasing power, and by multip'ying these figures that much the value of farm animals to the settlers may be ascertained.
EAR MARKS.
In connection with the subject of domestic animals may be mentioned the system of identification employed by the settlers to indicate ownership. All cattle ran at large as there were few fences. Not until 1664 was there a "general fence" to corral their herds. It became necessary therefore to pro- vide some way of telling one's own animals. The device em- ployed in England of cutting the ears was resorted to, and the private "ear marks" of the owners were registered in the books of each town. As examples of these "marks" may be men- tioned, slits, crops, ha'pennies on one or the other ear or both. Crops were cuts across the tip of the ear; ha'pennies were half circles cut on the edge, and slits were longitudinal cuts which divided the free portion into two parts. The poet Spencer thus alludes to it: -
"For feare least we like rogues should be reputed, And for eare-marked beasts abroad be bruted."
The lack of fences to corral cattle was made up in part as time went on by the growth of hedges, in some places, and by the digging of ditches in others. Cattle, however, strayed for miles, and often were lost in the woods or swamps. Indeed, some went wild for lack of care and long absence from their homes, and it became necessary to kill them.
CURRENCY AND EXCHANGE.
There was very little actual money in circulation among our ancestors, and it commanded a high premium. It is probable that the salary of Thomas Mayhew the younger, of fifty pounds yearly, as missionary, was the largest amount of specie accumulated by anybody in the course of a year. The medium of exchange was corn, which was rated at a certain price per bushel, and in addition to this any article of mer- chandise was accepted at current values in the settlement of accounts. Wampum, the money of the Indians, would be accepted under certain conditions. Robert Pease, the town
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Life in Vineyard Towns During Colonial Times
weaver in 1656 was to have "such pay as the town can raise among themselves, except wampan."1 In 1659 a verdict was rendered to be paid "half in wampam current and halfe in corne."2 Again the next year, a verdict specified "any pay wampon excepted."3 Another required settlement with "In- dian corne at 3s. per bushel." The first body of laws passed by the General Court of the Vineyard in 1672 decreed that "all charges of the Court shall bee paid in Money, corne or feathers."" At that date goose feathers ranked high as mer- chandise. Simon Athearn was fined in 1674-5 for his part in the "Dutch Rebellion," of which one half was to be paid in "produce," all indicating the scarcity of coined money : t that period. References in the early records to "crowns," "shillings" and "pence" doubtless mean the English coinage of the time, which was brought over here by the emigrants, to which may be added the "Pine Tree" shillings, issued by the colonial authorities of Boston. This same condition of trade and barter existed in all the new settlements for many years, until the beginning of the next century, when the freer communication between the Mother country and the colonies resulted in the larger circulation of actual money. There was also added the Spanish pillar dollar, in silver, which became quite as much of a standard as the coinage of the realm. In- deed, by the time of the Revolution, it was the basis of com- parison of values of the Continental currency, issued as paper money. It was called a "piece of eight," because it had the value of eight reals, Spanish coin.6 The depreciation of the paper issues of the provincial authorities during the Revolu- tionary war became the cause of constant appeals upon the subject by the clergymen of the three towns, who were paid in that currency. It is made a part of the ecclesiastical history of each town, and will not be separately discussed here. It is, however, the place to explain the financial situation de- pendant upon that circumstance, which affected all alike, and it will only be necessary to present a table to show the relative value existing between the paper issue of the province and
1Edgartown Records, I, 137.
2Ibid., 134.
$Ibid., 147.
4Ibid., 145. 5N. Y. Col. Mss. (Deeds, I, 78).
6When Sewall visited the island in 1702, he "gave Japhet two Arabian pieces of Gold and Stephen two pieces of 8-8 to buy corn." (Diary, III, 397.)
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History of Martha's Vineyard
the Spanish milled dollar at the dates mentioned in the fol- lowing table: -
VALUE OF 100 SPANISH MILLED DOLLARS IN CONTINENTAL CURRENCY.
I777
1778
Jan. I
$100
July I
$425
Feb. I
107
1779
Mar. I
109
Jan. I
742
Apr. I
I12
Feb. I
868
May I
II5
Mar. I
1000
June I
120
Apr. I
IIO4
July I
125
May I
1215
Aug. I
150
June I
I342
Sept. I
175
July I
1477
Oct. I
275
Aug. I
1630
Nov. I
300
Sept. I
1800
Dec. I
310
Oct. I
2030
1778
Nov. I
2308
Jan. I
325
Dec. I
2593
Feb. I
350
1780
Mar. I
375
Jan. I
2934
Apr. I
400
Feb. I
3322
May I
400
Mar. I
3736
June I
400
Apr. I
4000
There was also an earlier form of paper money issued by the provincial authorities, which received the names of old, middle, and new tenor, from the dates of which it was put into circulation. Old tenor dates prior to 1737, middle was issued 1737-40, and new tenor was currency of any date sub- sequent to 1740. Each bill bore a declaration that it should be equal in sterling coin to the amount named on the face of the bill, but they became depreciated in value, in the course of time, and contracts for salaries were drawn up upon the basis of old or new tenor, according to agreement. It became the source of endless bickering between the ministers and the people in the settlement of their salaries, in the middle of the 18th century, as will be noted in the ecclesiastical history of each town.
PRACTICE OF MEDICINE.
In a letter dated Nov. 18, 1647, the younger Mayhew tells us of an incident in his work of Christianizing the Indians. "A Sagamore," he says, "called Towanquattick, had his eldest sonne, whose name is Sachachanimo, very sick of a Feaver: this young man sent for me to come to him and when I came
494
1
Life in Vineyard Towns During Colonial Times
his father and himself desired me to pray for him, the which I did in their owne language, and promised to come againe unto him shortly if he mended not, and use some other means also for his recovery: When I came againe unto him, I found him very ill, asked him (together with his friends) whether they were willing I should let him blood? acquainting them that we used so to do in such cases. After some consideration they consented thereto, notwithstanding the Pawwawes had told them before that he should dye, because he sought not unto them: so I bound his arme, and with my Pen-knife let him blood, he bled freely, but was exceeding faint, which made the Heathen very sad, but in a short time, he began to be very cheerfull, whereat they much rejoiced, &c. So I left them, and it pleased the Lord the man was in a short time after very well."1
We find Governor Mayhew writing to Governor Winthrop of Connecticut in regard to the illness of one of his grand- daughters, in 1662, and asking him for further directions about a powder that had been sent by the latter to the child, adding "my daughter doth desire your worshipp to know whether you are willing shee should com to Conectacute, where shee may be neare you."2 Before this, in 1658, an item appears in the accounts of the Commissioners of the United Colonies, regarding the Indian missions here, of a payment to Mrs. Joanna Bland, "for healpfulness in Phisicke and Chirurgerie."3 This was because there were no physicians on the Vineyard at that time, nor until the last quarter of that century. There were few educated professional practitioners in those days anywhere in New England, and the clergymen usually added this knowledge and function to their principal calling, and endeavored to heal both the souls and bodies of their flocks. The first known practitioner here was Thomas West, who came to Tisbury about 1673, and whose will disposed of "books and Surgery Instruments." He also combined the profession of law with this medical skill, which was not an unusual circumstance. In the same way, Pain Mayhew and Thomas Little, both of Chilmark in the first part of the next century, are found healing the sick, and if so desired it they would draw up wills or attend to other necessary legal business
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