USA > Massachusetts > Dukes County > Marthas Vineyard > The history of Martha's Vineyard, Dukes County, Massachusetts, Volume II > Part 12
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Robert Wickes of Staines, gentleman, also left a bequest to another son reading thus: "To my son William, £300, as follows, £30 in three months and the remainder in three years and he to have fro paid him every half year in the meantime, and if he should die, or never come to claim it, then to be di- vided between my sons John and Robert and their children."4 In absence of direct proof it cannot be stated positively that this is the William Weeks whose name first appears in 1653 on the Vineyard records, but who must have been there at an earlier date to have participated at that time in a division of land. One son of Robert Wickes had already gone to New England as above stated, and it is evident that William was either going away or was absent from England, creating a doubt about his return to claim the bequest. It is a fair presumption that one brother followed the other, and as our William was a sea-faring man, and did a packet business between Rhode Island and the Vineyard, it seems that we have here a presumptive connection established for William of Edgartown.5
As before stated, William Weeks participated in the first recorded division of lands in this town, May 8, 1653, indicating
1Savage, Gen. Dict., IV, 538. It is believed he is the same person who embarked at London in September, 1635, aged twenty-six years, with a wife and a daughter Ann. His daughter Ann married William Burton of Rhode Island.
2The whole story may be read in Winthrop Journal, II, 140-149; Compare Mass. Col. Rec., II, 52. He must have personally known John Pease of the Vineyard.
3Savage, Gen. Dict., IV, 539; comp., Lechford, Note Book, 188, and R. I. Hist. Coll., II, 86.
$Prerogative Court of Canterbury. Lee 145.
5 John Wickes of Rhode Island could not have been the father of our William, in all probability, as William must have been born before 1620 to take part in the business he did in later years.
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History of Martha's Vineyard
a prior residence of some duration, and on April 10, 1655, was granted land "near the pines in the middle of the island." That he was married at this time is indicated by a deposition of Goodwife Weeks, dated Dec. 25, 1655, and it is probable that his children were either brought here when he settled or were born shortly after. His name occurs in 1656, 1657, 1659, and 1660, in which year on February 22, he was sued by one William Lambert. This same year he is mentioned as a proprietor of one share in the town and was elected con- stable. That he kept an ordinary or inn seems to be indicated by the following entry on the town records, as well as a later one to be referred to: -
William Weeks is fined for selling of strong liquor: paying ten shil- lings: to Thomas Mayhew 14 s. & t(w)o bottles of liquor to the townsmen and further he doth promise for himself and family that they shall no more be sold by him or them. [28 January 1661] 1
The next year William Weeks had some lawsuits on his hands, suing Thomas Jones for his passage from Rhode Island,2 and in turn was sued by Jones for weaving done. In both cases he received the verdict. His name is not in the train band list of 1662, perhaps he was exempted on ac- count of his occupation, but he took part in the division of Quanomica the next year, and was plaintiff in a number of suits against Robert Codman, Richard Arey, Nicholas Norton, and William Vinson.
His name occurs in the records each year following in minor connections till 1667, when on November 18 of that year, while making a trading trip from the Vineyard in his "vessel of 15 tunnes, laden with corn, pork, hides, tobacco, wheat, vegetables and other miscellaneous freight," he was wrecked at Quick's Hole and his vessel was seized and looted by the Indians of the Elizabeth Islands. His son William was on board, and according to the story of their experiences testified to by them they were very badly treated. "They tooke away a new hatt and a new paire of shooes from my sonne," he said, and "a suite of cloathes from me, 2 pre of shooes (and) all my tooles."3 John Dixey "brought the deponents with his sloop out of their bondage" and carried the news to the Governor of New York, who wrote back to
1Edgartown Records, I, 145. His "family" must have been sufficiently grown to be included in a proceeding of this kind.
?This indicates that Weeks was engaged in coastwise traffic with Rhode Island. 3New York Col. Doc., III, 168.
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Annals of Edgartown
Governor Mayhew to deal with the piratical Indians for their unlawful acts and require restitution of the vessel and all the stolen cargo.1 It was not until 1671 that he had his lands recorded on the town books, and the following is a copy of his estate as then held by him: -- 2
Desember the 11th 1671 The Petickelers of the parcells of Land Granted unto William Weeks by the Inhabitance of Edgartown at the Great Har- bour of Marthas Vinyard and Ordered to Be Recorded the Day above writen
one whole Comonage of the thirty seven Shears with all preveledges there unto Belonging as fish and whale: one house Lott of Twenty Poles Broad Bounded By Thomas Bayes on the South and Richard Sarson on the North Being Ten acres More or Less: to the Line Ten acres eleven Poles and a half Breadth Bounded By Thomas Baves on the West Richard Sarson on the East: Land Bought of Peter Foulger one Neck Lying West to the Planting feild Being Eight acres More or Less: with one acre and a half of Meadow at Sanchacantackett one shear of Mea- dow :- one Shear at Felix Neck: another Shear at Meachemus feild: one Shear at Quanomica: one Shear at Cracketuxett: One Devidant Lying at the Great Neck Being Twenty five acres more or Less Lying betwixt Thomas Peases and Mrs Blands: with one thach Lott ajoyning Part upon my said Devidant at the Neck: at Chapequideck one Lott of three acres More or Less Bounded By John Pease on the North and young Mr. May- hew on the South: two acres of Meadow Lying on the South East Side of Chapequideok More or Less: one acre of Meadow on the East Side of the Planting feild Lying Northward of Thomas Doggetts Be it More or Less: These all Granted By this Town and Purchased of Indians and one twenty fifth part.
He had acquired some land at Homes Hole before the first record of it appears (Feb. 9, 1680), as that is the only way to account for his appointment on a committee in Tis- bury on Jan. 16, 1678, to view every man's lot and equalize it in the matter of swamp lands.3 It is likely he was on the committee as an outsider, with Isaac Chase and Thomas Mayhew, to deal impartially as arbitrator. The next year he was juryman at Nantucket, and was plaintiff in a suit against John Daggett for trespass.4 In 1680 he served again as a juror, and in 1681 Arthur Biven entered a complaint against Weeks as follows: The "said Buiven caled for a gill of Rum & they brought half water and the said Weekes had no lodge-
'The name is spelled Weexe. Ibid., III, 169.
2Edgartown Records; I, p. 10.
3Tisbury Records, 10; compare Dukes Deeds, I, 227, where he bought land of the Sachem Ponit and I, 377, a sale of land at Homes Hole, Feb. 9, 1681, by Thomas Mayhew. This is the only reference to him in the Tisbury Records.
"Nantucket Records, I; Dukes Court Records, I.
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History of Martha's Vineyard
ing for him nor food for his horse."1 This complaint shows that Weeks was still keeping a tavern. The town and county records give evidence of his activities in business and litiga- tion in 1684, 1685, and 1687, not necessary here to enumerate. He sold to Isaac Chase on July 25, 1688, his real estate in- terests at Homes Hole, and his last appearance on the records is another sale on December 29, same year. Between that date and Aug. 3, 1689, he had died, as his widow Mary sold the home lot and he is referred to as then deceased .? This sale of her interest to Simon Athearn resulted in litigation with the sons, William and Richard, who claimed ownership, and the court gave them possession.3 There is no record of a will or administration of William Weeks' estate. His son Samuel had a grant of land in the town in 1681, consisting of ten acres on the north side of the old mill path, but he sold it in 1688 to Benjamin Smith, and is not further known as a resident here.4
With the death of William, Senior, the family name ceased on the island until 1710, when Joshua Weeks came here and brought the house lot formerly owned by George Martin of Edgartown and Newport. Joshua later settled in Tisbury, and his descendants resided there and in Chilmark until within recent years.
THOMAS WOLLEN.
This settler was a late comer and is another of the sons-in- law of Nicholas Norton, attracted to a residence here by one of his daughters. Where he lived before 1681, when his land is mentioned, is an unsettled question.5 There was a Thomas Wallen or Walling of Providence (1645), who died in 1674 leaving a wife Mary and son Thomas with other children. This Thomas Junior, married in 1669, Margaret Caldwell, and he may be the one who came to this town and took a second wife, as above. He lived near the Mile Brook, on the Sanchacantacket Path as late as 1722, but nothing further is known of him. His only known son Elisha, continued the family name in Edgartown to the middle of that century.
1Dukes Court Records, I. June 28, 1681.
2Dukes Deeds, III, 41.
3These sons were then living in Falmouth, where children are recorded to William and another son John.
4Edgartown Records, I, 29. See also Dukes Deeds, I, 81, 255 and 259, where he disposes (1686) of the interest he had in his father's lot bought the year before. 5Ibid., I, 29.
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Annals of Edgartown
EARLY TRANSIENT RESIDENTS.
As distinguished from the settlers who made permanent homes here, lived their lives and reared families; whose de- scendants developed what the pioneers had opened to the settlement of white men, there were a goodly number of tran- sient residents who remained but a few years and then sought homes elsewhere. These men have their place in our history, but the interest in them does not call for extended notice beyond the record of their brief doings while here.
EDWARD ANDREWS.
This person was one of the early "transients," of whom we know but little. He was, possibly, a settler at Newport in 1639, later admitted as freeman at Warwick, in 1655, but before Feb. 13, 1656, he had acquired from Thomas Layton the property of Philip Tabor at Mashakommukeset, and called himself a "now inhabitant on Martin's Vineyard." 1 He had been in possession of the property but a few months when he sold it on the last mentioned date to William Vincent, and left the island, soon after in all probability. He was sued in the town court, June 24, 1656, by John Burchard. He removed to Portsmouth, R. I., and later to Warwick in the same colony. He was a shoemaker by occupation, and his wife's name was Bridget.2
JOSHUA BARNES.
This person was an early resident of Boston, and on Sept. 4, 1632, he was apprenticed to Mr. [William] Paine "for five years from his landing," and we may presume that he was sent over, by his parents perhaps, for that purpose.3 Upon the expiration of his service he removed, probably, to Yarmouth, as we find him named on a committee, March 5, 1639, with Philip Tabor, to divide the planting lands in that town, and on June 1, 1641, he was entered as an applicant for citizenship.4 In 1642 he was fined for scoffing at religion and disturbing public worship.5 His connection with the
1Dukes Deeds, I, 325. He bought this after August, 1655.
2Austin, Gen. Dict. of R. I., 3; comp., Savage, art. Andrews.
$Mass. Col. Records, I, 99. William Paine was a great merchant in Boston.
4Freeman, History of Cape Cod, I, 135, 142, 144. II, 17, 29, 31, 36, 41. 5Plymouth Col. Rec.
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History of Martha's Vineyard
Vineyard is of a transient nature. It is inferred that he came hither with his fellow townsman, Peter Tabor, who was here before 1647, and the date of his acquiring a lot may be placed anywhere after 1644 when the township was established. As to the location of this lot we way suppose it to be the har- bor lot on Starbuck's Neck, later owned by Thomas Daggett, who had succeeded before 1660 to the possessions of Barnes.1
It requires some adjustment of facts to place this person as a settler at Southampton, Long Island, before 1642, as the author of the history of that town classifies him in his lists, in view of previous residence known at Yarmouth.2 He may have gone there from Yarmouth following his court experience at Plymouth, and returned to the Vineyard to ac- quire a lot here. However, he finally became a settler at Easthampton in 1649, and continued to reside in that locality till his death, sometime after Sept. 13, 1696, and his descend- ants remained there.3
WILLIAM ELLISTON.
This person first appears in Edgartown, in 1663, when he was "freed" from a bond and his "master." He was plaintiff in actions for debt against Nicholas Norton in 1663 and William Weeks in 1665, and defendant in similar action brought in 1663 by the widow of John Folger. He had a lot between the "line" and "home" lots which came into possession of Isaac Norton before 1681.
JOHN FREEMAN.
John Freeman was a blacksmith, and lived here, in Cleve- land Town, in 1677, but the time of his coming or going or his antecedents are not known.4 He was fined, in 1678, for "an unseemly act in the governour's house," during a trial.
SAMUEL GOODMAN.
He served as a juror in 1684, the only time his name is mentioned.5 .
1Edgartown Records, I, 147.
2Thompson, "History of Long Island," pp. 205, 207.
3Chronicles of Easthampton, pp. 16, 17. Records of Southampton, II, 278, 325. "Dukes Deeds, I, 37.
5Dukes Court Records, Vol. I.
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Annals of Edgartown
HENRY GOSS.
He is first mentioned in 1659, when he was chosen as referee in a land dispute between John Daggett and Thomas Bayes, and the same year he sued Nicholas Norton for some dispute about a "cure" for "Gousses" child. The next year he sued the Indian Sachem Cheeshachamuck, and in 1662, accounts between him and Edward Leader are presented for trial. A John Goose was witness in 1681. Nothing is known of either of them beyond these items, and no land is credited to their name.1
EDWARD HATHAWAY.
In 1689, and for some time previous, this person held the tenure of the home lot at the north side of Jones' Hill. There is no record of the manner in which he acquired it nor of the disposal of it by him after the date mentioned. It may have been a forfeited grant.2 We may suppose that this per- son was that Edward Hathaway, b. Feb. 10, 1663-4, the son of John and Hannah (Hallett) Hathaway of Barnstable.
EDWARD LAY.
This settler was one of the Connecticut contingent which furnished several additions to our island population between 1650 and 1660. He is first heard of at Hartford in 1640, and later at Saybrook in 1648, where he was living on the East side of the Connecticut river in the present town of Lyme. He was associated there with our Robert Codman, as appears by the following record of a court held Aug. 12, 1657: -
The Court considering the ingagement of Edward Lay to this Juris- diction of Robert Codmans Estate, that the said Lay should appear several years since at Hartford to answer at the Courte his abusive carriage and expressions before several of Seabrooke, which to this time he hath not attended, they order that upon the payment of £5 to the Treasr by said Codman, hee shall be free from the aforesaid seizure of Robert Codmans estate in his hands; and the said Edward Lay shall be free from the for- feiture of bond and contempt therein, which £5 being paid by Codnam for Edward Lays disappearance according to ingagement, the judge that Edward Lays estate should satisfy Codnum for the same.3
1Egdartown Records, I, 125, 130, 132, 142; Dukes Deeds, I, go.
2Dukes Deeds, I, 366; II, 464.
3Conn. Col. Records, I, 302. He was brother of Robert and John Lay of Lyme and Saybrook. (G. R., LXII., 172.)
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History of Martha's Vineyard
Edward Lay's "disappearance" from the Connecticut "several years since" is accounted for by his migration to Martha's Vineyard. He removed to this town some time prior to May 8, 1653, when he had been here long enough to be one of the proprietors and participate in the division of the Planting Field.1 He owned at this time the sixth lot from Pease's Point, fronting the harbor and, presumably, lived there.2 He is mentioned with his wife, whose name was Martha, in connection with a neighborhood slander case early in 1655, and on Feb. 1, 1656, is one of those who entered into an agreement with Robert Pease about his settlement.3 In June, 1656, Lay and his wife had a case against John Pease for slander, in which he recovered damages.4 He was fined for leaving town meeting before it was adjourned in August, 1659, and the next year, Oct. 22, 1660, is rated as a proprietor and drew lots on his share.5 In 1661 or 1662 he removed to Rhode Island and took up a residence at Portsmouth, where he became an important citizen. He sold on Oct. 18, 1662, the following described property, which represented his real estate holdings acquired here in ten years: -
I Edward Lay inhabitant in portsmoth upon rhoad Island and in the Colonny of providence in america . .... . Bargain and sell unto thomas Layton (of Portsmouth) these parcells of Land with all the housin upon them first: a Lott of Eight acres of Land more or less with a Dwelling house upon the same which Land and house as all other parcells in this Deed and Sale lyeth upon the Island called Marthas Vineyard: as also I sell twenty acres of Land more or less Lying near the path Going (to) Me- shackett and adjoyning to a parcell of Land of thomas Bayeses in the same Neck: as also one acre and half acre of Land Lying upon Chappa- quiddick neck a Lott there be the Land more or Less and Lying between John Daggetts Land on the one side and thomas Mayhews on the other: as also ten acres of Land more of less Lying between the Land of thomas Harlock and the Land of Robert Codman Butting upon the highway to the plain: as also two acres of meadow more or Less Lying Between the land of John Pease Butting upon Mortles neck from the Sea: as also one acre of Land more or Less Lying att Crackatuxett att the going in of the next to the Land of thomas Burchards there: as also one thach Lott Joyn- ing to peter folgers Land on the South Beach: all those above mentioned parcells of Land together with all my write of Commonage fish and whale.6
1Edgartown Records, I, 172. 2It was sold by him with a dwelling house on it in 1662. (Ibid., I, 98.)
. 3Ibid., I, 124, 138. 4Ibid., I, 114. 5Ibid., I, 147, 156. "Ibid., I, 98.
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Annals of Edgartown
After settling in Portsmouth, he was of the Grand Jury in 1663, Constable 1665, Deputy to the General Court 1667 and 1677, besides holding minor offices in the town. He was licensed to keep a public house in 1675.1 His wife Martha died in 1682, and he died in 1692, aged eighty-four years. No descendants of his are known to have lived here.
THOMAS LAYTON (LAWTON.)
This person who bought the property of Edward Lay, in 1662, was from Portsmouth, R. I., where he was first set- tled in 1638, and in 1655 was made a freeman.2 He is found in this town on Aug. 16, 1662, when he appears in the list of members of the train band, and a few months later he made his purchase of the Lay estate.3 It seems probable that there is a confusion of the names Lawton and Layton in the records, as it appears there were two men of similar names in Ports- mouth, Thomas Lawton and Thomas Layton. both of whom had property interests here. This Thomas Layton did not long remain here, but sold all he had purchased from Lay, as previously detailed, on June 26, 1664, when he became once more a resident of Portsmouth. He became interested . with Peter Tallman of Newport in purchasing the Indian rights of Homes Hole Neck about this time, and it caused a vast amount of trouble to Governor Mayhew to disestablish the tenant whom Tallman and Layton had put there. It is here that confusion exists as to the names of Lawton and Layton. Isaac Lawton, who had married the daughter of Tallman, bought three of the shares of Homes Hole Neck and later disposed of them, while Thomas Lawton of Ports- mouth, by his will of June 6, 1674, proved Sept. 29, 1681, bequeathed to his son Isaac "all rights at Marthas Vineyard."4
GEORGE MARTIN.
The first reference to him is under date of April 14, 1681, when he was granted "ten acres of land between the line of the ten-acre lots . . . with the privilege of firewood and
1Portsmouth Town Records, passim.
2Savage Gen. Dict., III, 44.
3Edgartown Records, 98, 138.
"Austin, Gen. Dict. of R. I., art. Lawton. There were no "rights" belonging to a Thomas Lawton on this island, but there were speculative "rights" vested in Thomas Layton, unless some Rhode Island record contains a sale of such from Lay- ton to Lawton.
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History of Martha's Vineyard
to Live [thereon] four years."1 The next important reference to him is as follows: Dec. 15, 1685, he was ordered to take into his possession all goods "belonging to Marget lord alias Rainer late desesed," as administrator .? What significance this has is not apparent by any further search, as this is the only reference to Margaret Lord. Whether she was born Lord and married Rainer, or vice versa, is to be construed according to facts which may develop. Neither name appears on the Vineyard Records before or after this, and where Martin got his authority is a mystery. It is possible she was Margaret, daughter of William and Jane Lord of Salem, born 1660, who on Jan. 23, 1683-84, conveyed property to her brother-in-law, and of whom no further trace is found.
On April 28, 1687, the town of Edgartown agreed with George Martin as to the keeping of "Widow" Jones, the widow of Thomas Jones. This transaction may have been without significance of relationship, a "farming out" of the town's poor.
Following this chronologically is a deposition of George Martin of Newport, under date of Sept. 18, 1690, relative to certain facts in a case then pending, together with one on same subject by Abigail Martin of Newport.3 On Nov. 3, 1690, George Martin and Abigail, his wife, both of Newport, sold the house lot granted to him in 1681, and as far as known this ends his relation with the Vineyard.
In the second decade of the next century a Thomas Martin, or Martain, appeared at Edgartown, married and raised a family, living on the lot granted to George Martin. How he acquired it is not known. perhaps by redeeming a mortgage on it. The bounds of it were run in 1722, entered on the Proprietor's Records as belonging to Thoma's Martin, "being a grant of ten acres from the town to his father, George Martin deceased."
Thomas (2) had six children recorded, of whom five were sons - Peter, Brotherton, Thomas, Lemuel, Benjamin. In 1773, Thomas (3), "gentleman," was of Lebanon, Conn., and Brotherton of Horton, Kings County, Nova Scotia. Thomas (2) was living in 1736, but died intestate before Oct. 1, 1739, when he was styled "gentleman," an unusual title on the
1Edgartown Records, I, 30.
2Court Records, Vol. I.
3Court Records, Vol. I; comp., Dukes Deeds, III, 126.
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Annals of Edgartown
Vineyard records. The family name became extinct on the island in 1746, when Peter (3) died.
As to the origin of George Martin, he may have been son of George and Susanna (North) Martin of Salisbury, born 1648, several inhabitants of that town having gone to the Vineyard before 1700. Or he may be that George Martine who came to New England in the Hannah and Elizabeth, arriving at Boston, Aug. 10, 1679.1
PETER NASH.
He was the son of William Nash of Charlestown, Mass., born about 1632, and he appears to have been a mariner. The author finds him as witness to a deed of Edward Cottle in Salisbury, 1660, again at Haverhill in 1662, and a witness to a deed here in 1665 in connection with Stephen Codman.2 Later, in 1671, he bought a ten acre lot on the "line" of Cod- man, which he held for many years, though probably not residing on it, and it became a part of his estate at his decease, Sept. 3, 1695, in Charlestown.3 This lot was sold in 1709 to Thomas Trapp by Elias Brigden and wife Margaret, of Charles- town.1
FRANCIS NEWCOMB.
In 1681, a person of this name was granted ten acres of land "near the pond" which was later "changed," and he obtained thirteen acres adjoining the grant to Andrew New- comb, which later became the homestead of Mr. Jonathan Dunham.5 What relation, if any, he bore to Andrew is not known. A Francis Newcomb lived at Braintree, 1635 to 1692, and had eight children of record, but no Francis appears as his son. Our settler remained here about four years and sold his house lot on Aug. 11, 1685, and we hear no more of him on the island or elsewhere.6
HUGH ROE.
This person was a currier of leather residing in Weymouth as a neighbor of our Nicholas Norton, before both removed to
1Essex Antiquarian, IV, 137.
2Essex Antiquarian, II, 182; III, 108; also Dukes Deeds, I, 354. Savage finds him of Rowley, in 1660. Probably he was a mariner.
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