USA > Massachusetts > Dukes County > Marthas Vineyard > The history of Martha's Vineyard, Dukes County, Massachusetts, Volume I > Part 7
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Captain John Smith gives us some further light upon this voyage. He says :-
Some of Plimoth and divers Gentlemen of the West Countrey, a little while before I returned from New England in search for a mine of Gold about an Ile called Capawick, Southwards from the Shoules of Cape James (Cod), as they were informed by a Salvage called Epenow." He further adds: "that having deluded them as it seems thus to get home, seeing they kept him as a prisoner in his owne Countrey, and before his friends; being a man of so great a stature and it seems of no less courage and authoritie than of wit strength and proportion. For so well had he contrived his businesse, as many reported he intended to have surprised the ship; but seeing it could not be affected to his liking, before them all he leaped overboard. Many shot they made at him, thinking they had slaine him; but so resolute were they to recover his body, the master of the ship was wounded and many of his company. And thus they lost him; and not knowing more what to do, returned againe to England for nothing." 2
1Briefe Narration, 13-16.
2Generall Historie, VI., 206.
69
History of Martha's Vineyard
This incident remained an unpleasant memory in the minds of the natives of the Cape and the Vineyard for many years. After the Pilgrims had landed at Plymouth, the Indians of that region and to the southward held resentment against the whites for this act. Morton, the secretary of the colony, in his "Memorial," a history of events beginning with the arrival of the Mayflower, says under date of 1621: "This people are ill affected to us because of Hunt, who carried away twenty from this place we now inhabit, and seven from the Nausites, as before observed."1 Nauset is the present Eastham, and the Nausites were the tribe which inhabited that territory. Smith adds the following infor- mation upon this point about the year 1623: "Massasoit, on his sick bed, told Governour Winslow that all the people (Indians) of Powmet, Nawset, Succonet, Mattachist, Mana- met, Agawam, and Capawac were joyned to murder us (i. e., the English at Plymouth)."2
DERMER'S VISIT, 1619.
Another English seaman, exploring the New England coast in 1619, came to the Vineyard in the course of his voy- age, and renewed acquaintance with Epenow, whom it seems he had met in England. In a letter to Samuel Purchase, dated Dec. 27, 1619, this explorer, Captain Thomas Der- mer, says :-
"Departing hence (Manamock, i. e., Monomoy), the next place we arrived at was Capavek, an island formerly discovered by the English, where I met Epenow, a savage that lived in England and speaks indif- ferent good English, who foure yeeres since, being carried home, was re- ported to have been slaine with divers of his country men by Saylers, which was false.">3
The next year Dermer returned to the island and had a narrow escape from death. He was on a trading expedition, and had been at Plymouth, where he took on board the cel- ebrated Squanto, probably as an interpreter, and shaped his course for Nope or Capawack. Morton thus describes the event: "he (Dermer) going ashore among the Indians
1New England's Memorial (1669), 21. 1
2Generall Historie, VI, 238.
3 Among the Indian sachems who came to Plymouth in 1621 and subscribed al- legiance to King James was Appanow, but whether this indian was the Vineyard Ep- enow can not be said with certainty. He was not described as a principal man among the indians by Gorges, but his adventures may have gained him a sachemship. (Mor- ton, Memorial.)
70
Early Voyages of Discovery
to trade as he used to do, was assaulted and betrayed?by them, and all his men slain, but one that kept the boat; but himself got on board very sore wounded, and they had cut off his head upon the cuddy of the boat, had not his man res- cued him with a sword; and so they got him away and made shift to get into Virginia, where he died, whether of his wounds or the diseases of the country, or both, is uncertain."1
THE PILGRIM PERIOD, 1620-1640.
We are now arrived at the time of the Pilgrim landing at Provincetown and Plymouth in the last months of the year 1620, when it may be said that the period of exploration closed and that of colonization was inaugurated on these New Eng- land shores. There is no record of any visitation of these new comers to the Vineyard during the twenty years fol- lowing, as they were fully occupied in caring for their own little settlements, and could have no time to devote to curious expeditions on contiguous shores. About 1630, the region about Boston began to have its great influx of settlers, and five years later they overflowed into the territory now com- prised in Connecticut. Probably many of them went by land, but doubtless numbers sailed round the Cape and sought their new homes by coasting vessels. In their way they must have made harbor in our numerous havens, as now the mer- chantmen seek them to-day, but they left no trace of their comings or goings. The savage was then too much of a prob- lem for them to try the experiment of isolating themselves on an island populated with them, and thus be out of the reach of help in time of hostile attacks, so the Vineyard and Nantucket were passed by for the present by these seekers of new homes in the newly crowded settlements on the sea coast of Massachusetts.
The Council for New England, which had for thirty years been in active operation for the development of this great region, now comprising the six states, found that it had reached the maximum of its powers and usefulness, and after dividing the territory among themselves, as best they could, with their limited knowledge of the geography of the place, surrendered their charter to the king. This division has an interest to us, for two of the members "drew" shares covering the islands on the south of New England, and be-
'New England's Memorial.
71
History of Martha's Vineyard
cause of their hazy knowledge of the region, conflicting claims arose, as will be detailed later on. Sir Ferdinando Gorges was given that portion of the province of Maine from the Piscataqua to the Sagadahoc, "and hereunto is to be added the North halfe of the Isles of Shoals & also the Isles of Cap- awock, Nautican &c near unto Cape Codd." Lord Stir- ling was granted certain territory adjoining to Gorges in Maine, and "hereunto is to belong the Island called Matta- wack or the Long Island."1 This division was effected on Feb. 3, 1634-5, and it was confirmed three years later. On April 3, 1639, King Charles granted a charter to Gorges, conferring extraordinary privileges in the government of this territory, and by its terms "the Isles of Capawock and Nautican, near unto Cape Cod" were specifically included. This charter gave to Sir Ferdinando, therefore, undoubted sovereign rights over Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. From this it may be seen that the title to this island and Nan- tucket was surely vested in Gorges, and that the later preten- sions of Lord Stirling to any propriety were utterly unfounded.
These islands were yet virgin soil, in the sole possession of the savage. Captain John Underhill, in his account of the settlements in this country in 1638, says:
"Nahanticot, Martins Vineyard, Pequeet, Narragansett Bay, Elizabeth Ilands, all these places are yet uninhabited, and generally afford good accomodation, as a good soyle, as we have expressed; they are little inferiour to the former places."2
or
Ax
ARMS OF CAPT. BARTHOLOMEN GOSNOLD.
1Records of the Council for New England, 69, 70, 83.
2Newes from America (London, 1638), p. 20.
72
What is the Correct Name of the Vineyard?
CHAPTER IV.
WHAT IS THE CORRECT NAME OF THE VINEYARD?
"Martin's Vineyard . some call it Marthaes Vine- yard:" thus wrote Whitfield in "The Light Appearing" (1651), and it is a strange fact that there was great uncertainty in the 17th century, even among the inhabitants of the island, as to its correct name.
An examination of contemporary literature of that period, printed books, letters, public records, legal documents, etc., confirms this curious fact; and as a result of an extended search the author feels safe in saying that in the public and private records of the 17th century, the name Martin's is ap- plied to the Vineyard, to the practical exclusion of Martha's, and this phenomenon has the repeated sanction of Mr. Thomas Mayhew himself, the Governor and "Lord of the Isles," in public and private papers. Our first book of land records, kept by Mathew Mayhew as Register, has on the title page the statement that it is the Record of Lands "Upon Martin's or Martha's Vineyard," and doubtless this legend was en- grossed by the Register himself.1 With such eminent au- thority as the proprietor and his family in doubt as to the name of the territory they owned, it is small wonder that the general public elsewhere became mixed on the subject.
That an island south of Cape Cod was called Marthaes Vineyard by someone connected with the expedition under command of the explorer Gosnold in 1602, is well known (3 Mass. Hist. Coll., VIII, 75), and it seems certain that it was applied to the small isle, now called Noman's Land, lying directly southwest from the Vineyard of to-day. That this cognomen was finally transferred to the present Martha's Vineyard seems equally certain; but that the name Martin's was used up to about 1700, even by the residents of the Vine- yard, by local historians and cartographers, by public officials throughout New England and New York, must be accepted by the reader upon the array of authorities which follows. What gave rise to this confusion in the 17th century, for in
1In most of the jurats on legal documents before 1700 Matthew Mayhew dodged the issue, and dated the acknowledgments at "Mart. Vineyard," which can be read either way.
73
History of Martha's Vineyard
the next it was settled by the Colonial government of Massa- chusetts as "Martha," is not easily explained. Such a dif- ference of names, so long persisted in, must have had some substantial basis in fact, for it is not credible that accident or chance or mistake will account for all this mixture.
The question naturally arises, who christened this small island "Martha's Vineyard?" Why should such an insig- nificant place as Noman's Land be marked by Gosnold him- self for distinction in honor of any female member of his family, especially when it was given only a temporary visit by members of his party? Naturally he would reserve such a mark of courtesy for the place he might select as an abode. Unfortunately, the theory advanced that some Martha Gosnold, mother, wife or daughter of the explorer, was so honored, fails of realization because a careful search among the females of this family at that period does not reveal a Martha in any remote generation, who could be available as the patroness of Noman's Land. If any Martha was thus complimented, she was not a Gosnold, and in view of the existing customs and observances of that period, it is doubtful if the name of any woman other than the sovereign or some princess, would be selected for such purposes in a semi-official expedition.
In the following tables is appended a list of references to documents, etc., which show when, where and how the two names were used:
"MARTIN'S" VINEYARD.
Date. Author.
Book or Document.
Reference.
1638
Underhill, John
Newes from America
passim.
1642 Lechford, Thomas Plaine Dealing
107
1643 Winthrop, John Journal
ii. 151
1644
Commissioners of United Colonies, Records
passim.
1647
Paine, Thomas Suffolk Deeds
i. 86
1647
Mayhew, Thomas, Sr.Power of Atty. Aspinwall
III
1647
Davison, Nicholas
Suffolk Deeds
i. 91
1648
Mayhew, Thomas, Sr. Middlesex Deeds
ii. 17
1648 Winslow, Edward
Good News from New England
1649
Winslow, Edward
Glorious Progress of Gospel, etc.
1650 Williams, Roger Letter to John Winthrop, Jr.
1651 Whitfield, Henry
The Light Appearing
1651
Bessey, Anthony
1651 Endicott, John
Letters of, in Further Progress of
1651 Allen, Rev. Thomas
the Gospel, etc.
1652 Butler, Nicholas
Suffolk Deeds
i. 196
1654 Johnson, Edward Wonder Working Providence
226
1654 Massachusetts Colonial Records
iv. (i.) 199.
74
What is the Correct Name of the Vineyard ?
Date. Author. Book of Document.
Reference.
Johnson, New York Colonial Documents
i.565,ii.134.
1656 1656 Deed, Thomas Burchard, Saybrook Deeds ii. 99 1658 Plymouth Colony Records x. 209 1659 Suffolk Co. (Mass.) Prob. Records, G.R. x. 88 1660 Nantucket Deeds, History of 20 1660 Maverick, Samuel Description of New England 1660 Folger, Peter Deed, in N. E. Hist. Gen. Reg. xii. 33
1662
Plymouth Colony Records
X. 275
1663
Plymouth Colony Records X. 293
1164
Royal Commissioners, 2 Maine Hist. Coll. iv. 300
1665 I666 1666 [Eliot, Rev. John] Roxbury Church Records
1667
New York Colonial Documents
iii. 169
1667
Plymouth Colony Records
x. 330
1669 Morton, Nathaniel New England Memorial
1670 Norfolk Co. Records
1671 Commission of Thomas Mayhew as Governor issued by Lovelace
1672 Plymouth Colony Records X. 356
1674 Andros, Edmund Commission of, N.Y. Col. Doc. iii. 215
1675 Josselyn, John Two Voyages, etc 157
1677 New York Colonial Documents iii. 248
1678 Hubbard, Rev. William History of New England passim.
vi. 48
168I Plymouth Colony Records
vi. 65
1682 Dongan, Thomas
Commission of, N.Y. Col. Doc. iii. 328
1688 New York Colonial Documents
iii. 552
1689 [E. R. and S. S.]
Revolution in New England 42
Justified
1690 New York Colonial Documents
iii. 752
1691 New York Colonial Documents
iii. 798
1692 Cadillac, M. de la Mothe I Maine Hist. Coll. vi. 288
1693 New York Colonial Documents
iv. 2, 8, 10
1701 Braintree Town Records
P. 742
It is also desirable that such books and documents as disclose the name "Martha's" should be cited, and they are herewith appended:
"MARTHA'S" VINEYARD.
Date. Author. Book or Document. Reference.
1610 Strachey, William Travaille into Virginia
1641 Vines, Richard Hough's Nantucket Papers 4
1663 Winthrop, John, Jr. 3 Mass. Hist. Coll.
1678 Gookin, Daniel, et als 2 Maine Hist. Coll.
iv. 383
1676 Sewall, Samuel Diary
i. 26
1689 Briefe Relation of the State of New England
19
1692 Acts and Resolves of the Province of Mass. Bay
1693 Phips, William New York Colonial Doc. iv. 6
1696 Mayhew, Matthew Triumphs and Conquests of Grace, etc.
75
1679 Plymouth Colony Records
Patent to Duke of York, 2 Maine Hist. Coll. iv. 191
Mayhew, Thomas, Sr. York County Deeds iii. 161
History of Martha's Vineyard
The maps of the period are disappointing as a rule, but they give corroborative evidence in the same proportion as the documentary and printed authorities, viz: -
Martin's.
Martha's.
1670 Ogilby.
1610
[Brown, Genesis i. 475.]
1675 Seller.
1624
West Indische Spiegel.
1677 Hubbard.
1626
Speed.
French (Mass. Arch. ii. 61).
1671 Novi Belgii, etc.
I688 Blome.
1690
Thornton.
1702 Mather.
As to the probability of evidence in favor of either name, the case for "Martin" must overcome the statement of John Brereton, the historian of Gosnold's voyage, that an island, Noman's Land, received in 1602 the title of "Marthaes Vine- yard." It is known that a Capt. John Martin was with Gosnold in this voyage, who later figures as an associate of Gosnold in the early settlement of Virginia.1 The suggestion that it was this companion's name, John Martin, which was intended to be honored by the baptism, may be entertained; as much so as Point Gilbert, which was named by him for Bartholomew Gilbert, another companion, and Tucker's , Terror, which he applied to a shoal or reef for another voyager. Brereton's relation is not above criticism, for many errors as to sailing courses, longitude and other kindred subjects, are to be found in his book.
We have already noted the names of the island as given to it by various discoverers - Straumey by the Norsemen, Luisa by Verrazzano, La Soupçonneuse by Champlain, and Martha's Vineyard by Gosnold according to the accounts just given. To these must be added another bestowed on it by the Dutch voyagers, probably Block and Christiaensen. Their maps of 1616 (Carte Figurative) and 1621 (West Indische Paskaert), show two names engraved: Texel on the western end and Vlieland on the eastern. These names appear later on Dudley's Arcano del Mare Map of 1646, the Novi Belgii of 1671, and Blaeu's (1685), and for the last time Texel appears alone in 1695 on the Jaillot map. It is probable that these early Dutch cartographers intended to apply Texel to the main island and Vlieland to Chappaquiddick, although the crude drawings could be interpreted so as to apply the latter name to
Brown, The First Republic, 33. He was son of Sir Richard Martin, Master of the Mint.
76
1
What is the Correct Name of the Vineyard?
Nantucket. Texel and Vlieland are two contiguous islands off the Netherlands, forming a part of the chain known as the West Friesian Islands, which separates the North Sea from the Zuyder Zee, and the Dutch navigators were undoubt- edly reminded of the similarity of arrangement of the group composed of the islands south of Cape Cod. No attempt was made by the Dutch authorities when in power in New York to give official sanction to the name of Texel for our island. As a further curiosity in nomenclature we find "Maer- tens Wyngert" applied by Blome, a cartographer, in his map of 1688. This is a Dutchman's attempt to reduce Martin's Vineyard to his own tongue - Wyngert being a wine garden or Vineyard! All this does not seem so absurd when we have seen our own people calling it indiscriminately Martin's and Martha's Vineyard, and if uncertainty prevailed among the residents, the outside world might well join in the confusion. But at length Martha, whoever she was, triumphed over them all, and for two centuries the Vineyard has had her name as a prefix unchallenged, and without a rival.
CARTOGRAPHY OF THE VINEYARD.
The maps and globes of Zeno (1400?), La Costa (1500), Ruysch (1508), Stobnicza (1612), Portolano (1514-20), Thorne (1527), Verrazzano (1529), Orontius (1531), Munster (1540), Ulpius (1542), Cabot, Mappemonde (1542), Allefonsce (1543), Dauphin, Henry II (1546), Hohiem (1558), Ruscelli (1561), Zaltieri (1566), Porcacchi (1572), Gilbert (1576), Hakluyt- Martyr (1587), DeBry (1596), Linshoten (1598), Quadus (1600), Champlain (1612), Joliet (1674), Franquelin (1684), Hennepin (1684), Lescarbot (1690), and Champlain (1632), do not show anything beyond nameless dots, which might pass for any of the islands to the south of New England.
Claudia, or properly Luisa, appears in the Loks (1582) map as a triangular island to the south of Norumbega, having previously been indicated on the maps and the charts of Mercator (1569), Ortelius (1570), and Dees (1580). In the" Molineaux Globe (1592) and map (1600) it appears as a point and dot respectively, and in the Botero map (1603) it is similarly reproduced.
The voyage of Gosnold and the baptism of our island in 1602 bore fruit in the next map,. chronologically speaking, that comes to our attention, the Simancas Map (so-called),
77
History of Martha's Vineyard
a manuscript chart of the entire Atlantic coast of the present United States, made about the year 1610 in England, and pro- cured by the Spanish Ambassador in London for his master Philip Second. It is the most elaborate and correct map of the regions delineated, and was doubtless based upon the voyages of all the English explorers up to that date. Upon this map first appears our island with its present title, and although the small scale of the map precludes attention to topographical details, yet the reproduction of this region re- veals better drawing than is shown in maps of fifty and seventy- five years later.
Elizabethas fle
Whitfons bay
whitsons hed C+ Skole
Marthays
Viniard
EARLIEST MAP OF REGION SHOWING MARTHA'S VINEYARD AND THE ELIZABETH ISLANDS. DATED 1610.1 (FROM THE ARCHIVES OF SIMANCAS, SPAIN.)
The Figurative Map (1614), a Dutch production, and the result of the active efforts of the West India Company of Amsterdam in exploration, shows Nantucket, or Chappa- quiddick, and the Vineyard joined together as one island, and this arrangement is repeated in Dudley's Arcano del Mare (1646), and in Blaeu (1662 and 1685). Successive maps showing the Vineyard are in order of sequence, the West- Indische Paskaert (1621), Alexander (1624),-which is the map prepared for the Council for New England, and delineates the islands of this region, though without name,-Briggs (1625), shown in Purchas' Pilgrims, DeLaet (1630), Wood (1633), which only shows the Elizabeth Isles in the shape of a devil- fish, Jansson (1636), French map (1650), in the Massachu-
"The island called "Marthays Viniard" is the present Nomans Land, and the Vineyard proper may be noted just north of the later island. It is shown as a part of the main land, but the outlines are fairly delineated, and we can make out the Homes Hole of the first settlers, and the irregularities of South beach, a much better representation of the island than appears in later charts. The location of "Whitson's Bay" within Cape Cod on this map, makes it certain that Martin Pring, in his voyage of 1603, did not give that name to Edgartown harbor, as has been thought by some writers.
78
What is the Correct Name of the Vineyard?
setts Archives, d'Abbeville (1656), Creuxius (1660), and not until we come to the map of Ogilby (1670) do we see the early name of the island resumed, although in this instance it ap- pears as "Martin's Vineyard." The Novi Belgii (1671) adheres to the Dutch nomenclature adopted in the Figurative map (1614), and names it "Texel al. Elizabeth Eylant." In Blome's L'Amerique traduit de l'Anglois, published at Am- sterdam in 1688, a good representation of the island may be seen under the name of "Maerten's Wyngart," considerably better than the map which appeared in Hubbard's book on New England (1677), where it is called "Martin's Vineyard." The Rev. Cotton Mather's map in his "Magnalia Christi Americana," (1702), continues the "Martin's Vineyard" of his predecessors, notwithstanding the gradual evolution of Martin into Martha during the previous decade.
The map of Cyprian Southack (1714) is worthy of note as a distinct advance in the features relating to soundings and sailing directions, and he first shows the peculiar tides and shoals about the Vineyard Sound and Nantucket, noting churches on the island. But by far the finest map of the Vineyard is the large one executed under the direction of Mr. J. F. W. Des Barres, and published in his "Atlantic Neptune," 1781, accompanied with views of Gay Head, Noman's Land and Cape Poag. In the English edition of "Lettres d'un Cultivateur Americain, par Hector St. Jean de Crevecoeur," (London, 1782), may be found a map of the Vineyard, shown on the opposite page. In the state archives of Massachusetts can be seen two surveys, covering the entire island, made in 1795, by order of the General Court, one em- bracing Edgartown and Tisbury, and the other Chilmark and Gay Head.
fond called Marthaes Uine Varo.
THE MARGINAL TEXT IN "BRERETON'S RELATION," SHOWING FIRST USE OF NAME, "MARTHAES VINEYARD," 1602.
79
History of Martha's Vineyard
CHAPTER V.
PURCHASE 'OF MARTHA'S VINEYARD BY MAYHEW.
In 1640 the Earl of Stirling was Secretary of State for Scotland under Charles I, and being high in the councils of the kingdom he had excellent opportunities for exploiting his share in the division of the territory of the New England Council. This he undertook to do, and took into his employ Mr. James Forrett, whom he sent over to act as his agent on the premises. Forrett evidently made his headquarters in New Amsterdam, where he could be near the most valuable of Lord Stirling's property, Long Island. In September, 1641, Forrett appeared in Boston to remonstrate with Governor Winthrop about the unwarranted entry of some people of Lynn upon the lands of Lord Stirling on Long Island, and to assert his title thereto. Incidentally he was there to encourage further migration thither under proper acknowledgment of proprietary rights, and this he succeeded in doing. While on this business he met, perhaps by chance, Mr. Thomas Mayhew of Watertown, who was then in the depths of financial troubles, and it is presumed laid before him the desirability of seeking his fortune elsewhere. He represented, possibly and probably, in glowing terms the advantages of colonizing the unsettled islands of Nantucket and Martin's Vineyard, which he claimed as part of his master's domain. Whether Mayhew had ever seen these islands may be doubted, and in the despair of mind due to business troubles, as it had "pleased God to frown upon him in his outward estate," he accepted this opportunity of restoring his fortunes and beginning again under different conditions. Sach may be the process by which Mayhew's . attention was brought to these distant isles of the sea, "as yet uninhabited" wrote Underhill several years before, and the elder Mayhew, then in his fiftieth year, determined to purchase them and start a new home, perhaps found a new colony, for they were situated without the lawful bounds of the territory of the Massachusetts Bay.
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