USA > Massachusetts > Dukes County > Marthas Vineyard > The history of Martha's Vineyard, Dukes County, Massachusetts, Volume II > Part 14
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When the Duke of York extended his jurisdiction over the island, this requirement, already a dead letter, became by the process null and void. As a part of New York it par- took of the customs and laws of that province, and it has been seen that the ducal government did not encourage popular elections nor town meetings. The principal fruit of this political change was the incorporation of Great Harbor on July 8, 1671, under the name of Edgartown. The charter under which this town now exists is as follows: -
FRANCIS LOVELACE Esqr: one of the Gentlemen of his Maties Hon'ble Privy Chambr and Governor Genll under his Royall Highness JAMES Duke of Yorke and Albany &c of all his Territories in America: To all to whom these Presents shall come sendeth Greeting: WHEREAS there is a certaine Island within these His Royall Highness his Territoryes lyeing & being to the North West of the Island Nantuckett which said Island was heretofore Graunted unto Thomas Mayhew Senr & Thomas Mayhew Junr his Sonn by James Forrett Agent to William Earle of Sterling in whom the Government then was and by them a Proportion at the East end thereof Graunted to Severall Inhabitants Freeholders there for a Towneshipp who have made Purchase of the Indian Right, the said Towne being formerly knowne by the Name of the Great Harbour the Precincts whereof are Bounded on the East by the Eastermost End of a Small Island called Chappo-quiddick; on the South by Teque-Nomens Neck; on the North by the Eastermost Chap of Holmes Neck and on the West by a Line to bee runn between the South and North Bounds: NOW for a Confirmacon unto the prsent Inhabitants Freeholders there and their Associates in their Possession and Enjoyment of the Premises KNOW YE that by vertue of the Commission and Authority unto mee given by
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his Royall Highness upon whom (as well by the resignation & Assignment of the Heyres of the said William Earle of Sterling as also by Grant & Patent from his Royall Matie CHARLES the second) the Propriety & Government of Long Island, Martins Vineyard Nantuckett & all the Islands adjacent amongst other things is settled I have Given & Graunted & by these Presents doe Give Ratify Confirme and Grant unto the present Inhabitants Freeholders and their Associates their Heyres Successors & Assignes the Land whereon the said Towne is settled Together with all the Lands Soyles Woods Meadowes Pastures Marshes Lakes Waters Fishing Hawking Hunting & Fowling within the Bounds & Lymitts afore described & all other Profitts Commodityes Emolumts & Heredi- taments to the said Towne & Land belonging or in any wise appertaining: the Tenure whereof is to bee according to the Custome of the Mannor of East Greenwich in the County of Kent in England in free & Common Soccage & by Fealty only. And the said Towne (which for the future shall bee called by the Name of EDGAR TOWNE and by that Name & Style shall bee distinguisht and knowne in all Bargaines and Sales Deeds Records and Writeings) shall bee held, deemed, reputed, taken & bee an Entire Enfranchized Towneship of it selfe & shall alwayes from time to time have hold & enjoy like & equall Priviledges with other Townes within the Governmt & shall in noe manner or any wise bee under the Rule, Order or Direction of any other Place but in all mattere of Governmt shall be Ruled Ordered & Directed according to the Instructione I have already given or hereafter shall give for the Good and Welfare of the Inhabitants by the Advice of my Councell: TO HAVE AND TO HOLD the said Towne with the Lands thereunto belonging with all and Singular the Appertenances and Premisses unto the said Inhabitants, Freeholders and their Associates their Heyres Successors & Assignes forever. THEY the said Inhabitants & their Associates their Heyres Successors & Assignes Yielding rendring & Paying yearly & every yeare unto his Royall Highness the Duke of Yorke his Heyres & Assignes or to such Governor or Governors as from time to time shall bee by him Constituted & Appointed as an Acknowledgment two Barrells of Merchantable Cod Fish to bee delivered at the Bridg in this Citty. GIVEN under my Hand and Sealed with the Seale of the Province at Fort James in New Yorke on the Island of Manhattans this eighth day of July in the three and twentyeth yeare of the Reigne of our Sovereigne Lord CHARLES the Second by the Grace of God of England Scotland France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith &c & in the yeare of our Lord God One Thousand six hundred seaventy & one.1
It will be noted that the new town was to hold its charter "in free & common soccage,"2 according to the "custome of the Mannor of East Greenwich," county of Kent, England, which was a phrase employed in similar circumstances to describe the tenure as honorable in character, and determined
1New York Col. Mss. (Patents, IV, 71).
2Free and common soccage is to be distinguished from villein soccage. The former was definite in conditions, as by fealty and the payment of a certain nominal sum as annual rent. Villein soccage was of a base or menial quality, such as rendering labor for the proprietor, and was equivalent to what is now called copyhold tenure.
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History of Martha's Vineyard
solely by fealty to the crown without service or other subor- dination. It was also specially prescribed that it was to be "Ruled, Ordered & Directed according to the Instructions" of the Governor and Council of New York, having at the same time "Equall Priviledges with other Townes within the Gov- ernm't" of that province.
It seemed to make but little difference with the affairs of this community whether the freemen lived under Mayhew's personal rule or under a charter. Not much remains to show that they exercised many or few "priviledges" afterward. In 1676 occurs the first indication of participation in town business. On that date, Thomas Bayes, John Pease, and Philip Watson were "put in by the town to see all orders put in execution,"1 and this may be interpreted as three chosen or select men to administer its affairs, though they were not so designated. The title of selectmen was then a peculiar one in New England, and was not adopted by New York. In 1682, Joseph Norton and Thomas Butler were chosen "overseers," the first use of that title, and under various phraseology certain men were chosen to "act" for the town each year. We may suppose that they were equivalent to our selectmen. This title was not used until March, 1692, immediately following the con- solidation of the island government with Massachusetts, under the charter of William and Mary. In 1693 they were called "townsmen", and in 1694 "overseers," but in 1696 the name "selectmen" was applied and has been borne ever since by those chosen to manage our town affairs.
ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS
In considering the inception of ecclesiastical matters in the town it seems necessary to eliminate Thomas Mayhew, Jr., as originally migrating hither in a ministerial capacity. That he served the handful of people who came with him as a spiritual leader, conducting the usual weekly services and performing such other functions of a kindred character is quite within the probabilities. The necessities of the situation imposed this duty on him, which was undoubtedly agreeable to his inclinations as well as befitting his temporal leadership. But that this relation of pastor and proprietor was not regarded by the settlers as more than one of temporary expediency seems clear from the statement of Governor Winthrop in 1643,
1Sept. 11, 1676. Edgartown Records.
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when recording the migration of "divers families" from Watertown to the Vineyard. He says: "they procured a young man, one Mr. (Henry) Green,1 a scholar to be their minister, in hopes soon to gather a church there. He went not."2 It is probable that this was an effort to secure a regu- larly educated clergyman for the little congregation of settlers, and it is scarcely probable that it did not have the sanction of both the elder and younger Mayhew, whose interests were paramount in all that pertained to the welfare of the infant colony. In consequence of the failure to secure the services of Mr. Henry Green, a continuation of the lay ministrations of young Thomas Mayhew became not only the most expedient but a mutually satisfactory arrangement. Daniel Gookin, writing in 1674, says of the young Thomas: "being a scholar and pious man after some time was called to be minister unto the English upon that island."3 Rev. Thomas Prince, the New England chronologist, writing in 1723, says of Thomas Mayhew, Jr., that "soon after their settlement on the Island the new Plantation called him to the ministry among them."4
It may, therefore, be fairly concluded that this pastoral relation borne by the younger Mayhew was determined by accident rather than by design, and was the natural outcome of the isolated situation in which the dozen families here found themselves, unable to induce an educated young clergyman with prospects, to a far-off isle, or to offer sufficient pecuniary profit to tempt one to this seclusion. Although Johnson5 and Gookin state that he was "called" to the "Church of Christ gathered at the Vineyard," yet for reasons above given the author doubts if he was ever ordained in the usual way by a council of ministers or regarded as more than a "teacher."
1Green, Rev. Henry, scholar, minister, Ipswich, freeman, May 13, 1642; was paid in 1643 for service against the Indians. Was invited to be minister at Martin's Vineyard in 1643, but "went not." He was ordained pastor at Reading May 9, 1645, and died in May, 1648. (Pope, Pioneers of Mass.)
2Journal, II, 152.
3Mass. Hist. Coll., I, 141.
"The Rev. Experience Mayhew in his preface to the ordination sermon preached by him at the settlement of the Rev. John Newman, in 1746, places the establishment of the Church in the year 1642, and adds: "in the same year that the first Inhabitants came to this Island your Church was gathered and a Reverend and worthy Person, (Mr. Thomas Mayhew) was ordained Pastor of it." While this distinguished grand- son should be a competent witness on this point, yet writing as he did a century after the events he narrates, he is not entitled to the same credence as one writing contem- poraneously like Gookin, who got his information direct from the younger Mayhew, "being well acquainted with him," as he states.
5Wonder-working Providence, c. 10.
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History of Martha's Vineyard
FIRST MEETING-HOUSE.
It is not known when or where the first meeting-house was erected. There could not have been much demand for one of great size to accommodate the few people, and it is more than likely that services were held in dwelling houses, or per- haps the scohol-house, until such time as the settlement increased in numbers, and this temporary shelter ceased to be adequate. The "English Meeting" is referred to in 1643.1 The first notice in the town records is under date of Feb. 6, 1653, and is as follows: -
"Ordered By the town that upon the first day of March the town is to come together at the Pastors house to Begin to build a meeting house. The Leader is to order the Company and Set every man to his worke."?
Probably this first house was then built, and we may ac- cept 1653 as the date of its erection. Thus far no clue to the proximate spot selected by the settlers for this primitive house of worship has been found. The records are absolutely silent on the subject, and it has even escaped the uncertain aid of tradition to help us fix the site. In this predicament a sur- mise is allowable and may pass for what is it worth. The author regards it as highly probable that this first building was placed in the acre on Burying hill, set aside for the dead in the little town. This was the usual custom in other New England towns, to set the meeting-house next the cemetery, and it may be concluded that our ancestors followed this ar- rangement.
DEATH OF THE YOUNGER MAYHEW.
When the young missionary left the Vineyard in the late fall of 1657 to go to England, never to return as it unfortu- nately proved, he left the care of the church to Peter Folger, the schoolmaster.3 This young man had been an assistant to Mayhew in his religious work among the Indians, and was familiar with the duties devolving upon him. When the pro- longed absence of the young pastor made it certain that he had been lost at sea, Folger undoubtedly served in the capacity of "teacher" or "elder" for a number of years, until about 1663, when he removed to Nantucket. He had become a
1Mayhew, Indian Converts, 2.
2Town Records, I, 125.
3Letter of Experience Mayhew to John Gardner, 1694.
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Annals of Edgartown
Baptist, and it is more than probable that his departure from the settled doctrine of the Puritan sect was the cause of his leaving the Vineyard. Meanwhile the bereaved governor was searching about for a settled successor to his lost son. He sought the assistance of Governor John Winthrop, Jr., of Connecticut, in the selection, and among others endeavored to induce the Rev. Abraham Pierson of Branford to take up the fallen thread. Mr. Pierson was an A.B. of Trinity College, Cambridge, England, 1632, and had been the minister of Branford, Conn., since 1647.1 This expectation proved futile.
MINISTRY OF JOHN COTTON.
The opportunity to secure a suitable candidate presented itself later, doubtless through the agency of Governor Winthrop. John Cotton, Jr., son of the celebrated Boston preacher of that name, was living in Wethersfield, Conn., and preaching occasionally in that town and also at Haddam and Killing- worth. He was born in Boston in 1640 and was graduated at Harvard College when but seventeen years of age. Going to Connecticut soon after graduation, he pursued theological studies under Rev. Samuel Stone of Hartford. He married Joanna, daughter of Dr. Bryan Rossiter of Killingworth. His son Josiah writes as follows of the young clergyman and his bride: "He could hardly have made a more suitable Choice on account of age & other Qualifications. She was born July, 1642. And by consent of all Parties they were Married November 7, 1660. My Father remained unsettled Several years after & I suppose might preach at those Places above mentioned & elsewhere occasionally till Providence opened a Door at Edgartown or old Town on Marthas Vine- yard."?
The young clergyman came here with his equally youthful wife about 1664-5, he twenty-four and she twenty-two years of age, bringing with them their first born child, also named John. Shortly after their arrival a daughter, named Sarah, born Jan. 17, 1665, was added to their household. Probably this was during his probationary term of preaching, customary in those times, and he proved satisfactory, as a scion of the famous Cotton family could not help proving. On Feb. I, 1664-5, the town voted: -
1Savage, III, 433.
2Diary, Josiah Cotton, part 2, loc. cit.
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History of Martha's Vineyard
"there shall be forty Pounds Raised yearly to maintain the Ministry: the way is to Rate the yearly sum By Rating of Kine, houses & Lands,"
And they supplemented this necessary preliminary basis for negotiation with a "joynt vote ..... for calling of Mr. Cotton to the Ministry of this Island."1
The town records contain his reply, short and to the point : -
"May 24, 1665. I do accept of the Call of the town so far as to continue Preaching of the gospel amongst them whilst god in his orderly Providence continues me hear."?
SECOND MEETING-HOUSE ERECTED.
As a regularly educated clergyman was now settled amongst them, the townsmen made immediate arrangements to build a new meeting-house to accommodate the growing population and on the same day of the acceptance of the call the following vote was passed: --
"There shall be a meeting house Built with all convenient speed: the place where the Meeting House is to be sett is at the West end of Mrs. Searles Lott upon the Common Land: the Dimentions of the house is thirty three foot long; nineteen foot in Breadth and eight foot Stud.""
No plan of this house remains, nor is any view of it ex- tant. The subjoined sketch of the floor plan and elevation is presented for the purpose of indicating approximately the interior and exterior of this modest meetinghouse, whose "dimentions" did not exceed that of the ordinary dwelling of the present day. The location of this new structure can be more accurately fixed. The "Searles Lott" passed into the possession of Richard Sarson, and for over two centuries has been known as the "Sarson Lott."4 On the east side of this lot was the "Ministerial Lot," so called, but never used as such, probably owing to the lack of settled clergymen after the death of the younger Mayhew. Near by it lived the Rev. Jonathan Dunham, when he came to assume pastoral charge here, and in the early days, when the first owner, Edward Searles, occupied it, the schoolhouse stood on adjoining land. It was therefore the intellectual centre of the town. Burial
1Edgartown Records, I, IIO.
2Ibid., I, III.
3Ibid., I, III.
4Its present owner (1907) is Clement Norton, who derived title through the heirs of Edmund Lewis and Christopher Beetle. It is just north of "Cleveland Town."
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Deacon's Pew
PLAN AND VIEW OF SECOND MEETING-HOUSE, EDGARTOWN.
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History of Martha's Vineyard
hill was out of the way as a convienent location. The popu- lation of the town was then mostly housed between Cleveland Town and Meshacket, and this new location was intended to accommodate the majority of the settlers. It is of course hazardous to attempt locating the exact spot on the "Common Land" where they erected this second house of worship, but we can guess that it was on the old path that bounded the north side of the Sarson lot and near the great swamp.
The young clergyman immediately began to apply him- self to his duties as pastor to the town and teacher of the Indian mission. Cotton Mather, his uncle, says of him: "He hired an Indian after the rate of Twelve pence per day for Fifty Days to teach him the Indian Tongue; but his Knavish Tutor having received his Whole Pay too soon, ran away before Twenty Days were out; however in this time he had profited so far that he could quickly preach unto the Natives."1 In this dual capacity Cotton labored for over two years, when he fell under the displeasure of the old Governor. The cause of it is not known. Cotton was then twenty-five and Mayhew seventy-five years of age, and doubtless the young man re- fused to submit to the dictations of the elder in the perform- ance of his duties, and a rupture resulted. The governor re- ported the matter to the Commissioners of the United Colonies, by whom Cotton was paid as a missionary to the Indians, and in September, 1667,
"Mr. John Cotton appeared before the Comissioners and was seriously spoken too To Compose those allianations between him and Mr. Mayhew: otherwise it was signified to him that the Comissioners could not expect good by theire laboure wheras by their mutuall Contensions and In- victives one against the other they undid what they taught the Natives, and sundry calles (as he said) being made him by the English to other places ..... he was left to his libertie to dispose of himselfe as the Lord should Guid him."2
The young man considering his usefulness at an end promptly decided to leave the Vineyard, and on Nov. 30, 1667, removed to Plymouth, one of the places which desired his services, and there under happier conditions he served a use- ful pastorate for twenty years, finally removing to Charleston, S. C., in 1697, where he died two years later.3
1Magnalia Christi Americana.
2Records, Com. United Colonies, II, 329.
3Davis, Landmarks of Plymouth, 98.
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INTERREGNUM, 1667-1680.
Great Harbor was again left without a pastor, and the town records do not afford any information relative to the means employed to fill the vacancy for many years. At the departure of Cotton in 1667, the young sons of Rev. Thomas Mayhew, Jr., Matthew and John, were only nineteen and fifteen years of age respectively, and of course not old enough then to fill the breach. As the Indians were then conducting two or three meetings of their own at the time and had "teachers" of their race presiding, the English would avail themselves of the services of the native preachers. Experience Mayhew says: "when there was no English Pastor upon the Island some of our godly English People very cheerfully re- ceived the Lords supper administered by him," referring to John Tackanash.1 This was only a return for "bread cast upon the waters." It is probable also that the Governor acted in the capacity of lay pastor during such times as occasion required.2 In this instance it was a long period. John May- hew, who later preached at Tisbury, may have begun his ministerial work in Edgartown during this time, probably as soon as he was of age in 1673, as it is only thus that we can account for the long period between 1667 and 1680, when the next reference to religious matters occurs in the records.
THIRD MEETING-HOUSE BEGUN. PASTORATE OF
Derdas Larsson,
It would seem that the interregnum of thirteen years had not been fruitful for the state of religion, as on July 3, 1680, the town voted to build another meeting-house with dimen- sions smaller than the first. The following is the record: -
"Voted that there should be a meeting house built of twenty foot square with four cross Galleries with ten feet stud; this house is to be finished by the last day of March next Insewing."3
The occasion of this vote is not clear; perhaps the second building of 1665 had deteriorated from disuse or was con- sidered beyond repair. It is suspected however that a new candidate in the person of Mr. Deodate Lawson was preaching
1Indian Converts, 15.
2Ibid., 301.
'Edgartown Records, I, 24.
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a probationary spell, and this action was taken to encourage his settlement. Deodate Lawson, the son of Rev. Thomas Lawson of Denton, County of Norfolk, England, was a late comer to New England. He took the oath of allegiance in 1680, and is next heard of in our records under date of May 12, 1681, as follows: -
Voted that "Mr. Lawson hath a Call to this town and that this town will Bye him half Commodation Providing that he Lives and preaches for the Term of seven years."1
It is not known whether Mr. Lawson accepted or how long he preached, but it is certain that he did not stay "seven years" nor half that time. It is probable that he may have remained for a year. As a child born to him is recorded in Boston in 1682, it is probable that he had by that time severed his short connection with this town. He afterwards lived at Danvers and Scituate in a ministerial capacity, but it seems that he left the latter church in an unaccountable way.2 The brief residence of Mr. Lawson here probably resulted in dampening the enthusiasm for a new meeting-house, and doubtless the plan to build began to languish when the new minister failed to show indications of settling down. Indeed, it would appear from the following vote passed under date of Aug. 5, 1685, that the meeting-house was begun in 1680, in accordance with the former vote, and that operations were suspended when he took his departure.
"Voted that Thomas Daggett, James Pease Sr. & Isaac Norton are Impowered in behalf of the town to Treat with Richard Ellingham about finishing the Meeting house and to conclude with him or any others according to their Discression for finishing said House, finding Timber and all the Necessarys about the same and what they shall do In the Towns Behalf shall sattisfie and Be obliged to Perform."3
Whether this was "finished" on the plan laid out in 1680, of twenty feet square, is not known, but it is presumed that a larger building was found to be necessary as a new clergyman had been engaged the previous year.
MINISTRY OF JONATHAN DUNHAM.
Negotiations had been in progress during 1684 between Matthew Mayhew, as agent for the town, and Mr. Jonathan Dunham of Falmouth (Cape Cod), relative to his settlement
1Edgartown Records, I, 27. The earliest publication relating to Salem Witch- craft, was a little pamphlet by Deodate Lawson, issued in the summer of 1692.
2Deane, History of Scituate, 196.
$Edgartown Records, I, 35.
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as pastor in this town, but the townspeople evidently tiring of the long delays which ensued passed the following vote on Oct. 27, 1684: -
Voted, "that if Mr. Mayhew cannot Prevail with Mr. Dunham the Town desire him to Treat with some other man whom he shall think fitt and is ordered to give thirty-five pounds a year."1
This brought the hesitating parties to the bargain to a rapid conclusion, as appears by the following statement in the town records: -
"I, Matthew Mayhew being employed by Edgar town in the year of our Lord 1684 to procure Mr. Dunham or some other Minister for them did agree with Mr. Dunham as minister of the gospell in said Town viz: to allow Thirty Pounds per annum was excepted by them which I now for there Better satisfaction do declare to said Town to have been my return to them."2
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