USA > Massachusetts > Dukes County > Marthas Vineyard > The history of Martha's Vineyard, Dukes County, Massachusetts, Volume II > Part 17
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59
Doubtless many persons from Nantucket who changed their residence to the Vineyard were of Quaker sentiment, and brought with them their "peculiar" doctrines. The Coffin family was a notable instance of this kind. Persons holding this belief were not accorded full civil rights and were not allowed to serve as jurors.2 As time went on those who were attached to this belief by inheritance or family association gradually affiliated with the new sects which began to be formed on the island about the latter part of the 18th century.
There is very little evidence of religious intolerance in Colonial times on the island as shown by the number of pros- ecutions for neglect to attend public worships There were no cases of this kind before 1700, and the first case on record occurs in 1710, when John Steward was fined five shillings for not attending church. From that date up to 1780 there were not two dozen prosecutions for this offence, the last occurring in 1770. : The fine varied from nine shillings to one pound, with the alternative of sitting in the stocks if it was not paid.
1Life and Travels of Benjamin Holme, p. 17.
2In 1763, in a civil case, Richard Coffin, Prince Norton and Samuel Coffin, who were drawn as jurors, were objected to as being Quakers. (Mass. Arch., XIV, 480.)
I72
Annals of Edgartown
MILITIA.
One of the earliest entries in the town records [1651], relates to the training of the citizen for his duties as a soldier. Surrounded as they were by an alien race of scarcely civilized natives, who greatly outnumbered them, it became a matter of common prudence for the settlers to be proficient in the use of arms and accustomed to military discipline. On March 29, 1651, the following vote was passed by the town: -
"Men shall Be Compleat in there armes the last fryday in May next if not to be fined according as the town shall think meat."1
This was probably the first militia organization in the town, and on the same date John Daggett senior was chosen "corperall" of the company, which we may infer was the title of the ranking officer, as the train band was numerically small. On April 1, 1653, it was voted that each man should be "complete in armes," and this was prescribed to include "a Peece a pound of powder & twenty bullets."2 Each mem- ber of the train band was also required to provide himself with a specified number of fathoms of match. The bullets were of home manufacture. By a vote on June 8, 1653, the company was ordered to train five times more that year, and on Feb. 6, 1654, it was provided that ammunition should be kept at Mr. Mayhew's and at the leader's, and that the "leader" should appoint four training days a year. This was the name given to the commander of the town militia, and John Butler was chosen to that office on the date mentioned, for the ensuing year. The town also agreed to reimburse each man of the company for the cost of twenty-five pounds of powder, one hundred pounds of shot and twenty-five fathoms of match. Each of the twenty-five lots was required to furnish one full equipment for a musketeer, and as a penalty for failure to do militia service the following was enacted: -
"He that wilfully neglects Trayning shall Pay five shillings and com- mon ordinary occasions to pay three shillings."3
John Butler was re-elected "Leader" for the year 1655, and in 1656 Thomas Bayes succeeded him in that office.
1Edgartown Records, I, 122.
2Ibid., I, 131. The "Peece" refers to the fire-arm of that period, the match- lock musket, which preceded the flint-lock. This weapon was operated by means of a match, attached to the lock, made of flax fibre in the form of a wick, which was ignited by a hammer and flint, thus communicating with the priming charge.
3Ibid., I, 120.
I73
History of Martha's Vineyard
Absence of further references to military matters for five years following leaves us without knowledge of the personnel and progress during that period. On Dec. 30, 1661, the townsmen apparently were stimulated to increased activity in martial affairs, and several laws were passed on that date as follows: -
Voted: that there shall be six Trayning Dayes the year, that is all the six dayes between the Last of March and the Last of October to be appointed by my self and the company.
1
All men & youths in the town are to Traine except such as are freed by the Pattentees and major part of the freeholders.
Every lott that hath not a person for to train shall pay five shillings for use of the militia.1
On this same date the following officers of the train band were chosen: Thomas Bayes, Leader; Thomas Jones, Clerk of the Band; and James Covell, "Drumer for this yeare." The company consisted of the following named persons in 1662 :- 2
Thomas Daggett
Jacob Norton
Thomas Harlock
Richard Sarson
William Tupman3 John Smith
Robert Codman
John Daggett
Joseph Daggett
Isaac Norton John Pease Nicholas Norton
Goodman Burchard
James Pease William Vinson
James Covell
Thomas Bayes, Jr. Mr. [John] Bland
Thomas Jones
Joseph Codman
Richard Arey
John Eddy
Mr. [Nicholas] Butler
Thomas Layton
This list represents one man for each of the twenty-five lots, as required by town order, and it was not far from being the effective total of persons capable of bearing arms. In 1675 there were "not above 40 men" who could do military service on the Vineyard, and at the same time there were ten times that number of Indians.4 Thomas Bayes was continued as the Leader in 1662 and 1663, but further allusions are wanting in the records for many years following these dates. Doubtless the organization of the train band was kept up with more or less interest from year to year, but the anxieties occasioned by the uprising of the Indians on the mainland during King Philip's war, 1675-6, were sufficient to stimulate the train band to continued activity.
The organization of the government under the Duke of York's regime, in 1671, made no particular provisions for
1Edgartown Records, I, 143.
2Ibid., I, 138.
3This name is probably an error in the old copy of our records. It may be Weeks. 4New York Col. Rec., Council Minutes, II, (2) 57.
I74
.
Annals of Edgartown
a military body, and doubtless it was left to the inhabitants to deal with this question as a detail of local concern. That an organization of those "able to bear arms," was continued from year to year is evident from fragmentary allusions, though not regularly entered upon the several records. In 1684, Matthew Mayhew, in addition to his other offices, was com- missioned by the Governor of New York as "Captain of the Company at Martins Vineyard," possibly a sort of general officer in charge of the combined forces.1
From that time till 1690 there was general peace through- out the colonies, but the symptoms of another outbreak of the Indians were plainly evident. This time they were reinforced by the French settlers in Canada, and these allies began a series of frontier massacres and depredations that continued intermittently for the ensuing half century, and some parts of New England had to be yielded back to these savage hordes. While this terrible situation was not felt on the Vineyard, by reason of its natural barrier, yet in the menaces of French sloops-of-war, on piracy bent, the islanders got some taste of the dangers to life and property which threatened their neighboring colonists on the main. In Edgartown the militia was revived, and on April 13, 1691, the following organization effected : -
At a meeting of all the melisha in general of the town of Edgartown Left. Thomas Daggett Esq. was chosen by them their captain, by unan- imous choice of them; at the same meeting Mr. Andrew Newcomb was chosen Left. at the same time, John Butler had the place of the first or eldest sargent; the same time, Moses Cleveland was chosen the second; the same time Jonathan Dunham was chosen corporal; Jonathan Pease the next corporal; the same time Mr. John Boult was chosen their ensign. This was their choice and agreement."2
Nothing further relating to the militia is found on the town records for many years, and we can only assume that an organization of some sort was maintained as a matter of law and custom. Enoch Coffin was Captain of the militia in 1739, and in 1757 the "Foot Company of Melitia" was under the command of Lieutenant Colonel John Norton, and comprised one hundred and twenty-one privates, with an "alarm list" of fifty-four additional. The officers of the company were Elijah Butler, Daniel Vinson, Benjamin Pease,
1N. Y. Col. Records. Commission dated June 5, 1684. (Vol. XXXIII.) 2Edgartown Records, I, 38.
175
History of Martha's Vineyard
and Solomon Norton, Sergeants, and Joseph Daggett and Matthew Mayhew, Drummers.1
In 1761 there were two companies of militia in Edgartown, the first under John Newman as Captain, Solomon Norton as Captain Lieutenant, Daniel Coffin as Second Lieutenant, and Daniel Vinson as Ensign. The second company was under command of Peter Norton, Captain, Elijah Butler as Lieutenant, and Malatiah Davis as Ensign.2 In 1765 there were two companies of militia in Edgartown; the first under Peter Norton as Captain, Eddy Coffin as First Lieutenant, Matthew Mayhew as Second Lieutenant, and Malatiah Pease as Ensign. The second company had the following officers: Elijah Butler, Captain; Malatiah Davis, Lieutenant; and Ebenezer Smith, Jr., as Ensign.3
The state of the public mind for the next twenty years kept alive the military spirit, and without doubt this "Foot Company" held its organization. Early in 1776, the newly organized government formed a regiment of militia which superceded the town companies,4 but the war resulted in other measures of a military character, which have been de- scribed in the first volume. The abandonment of the island to neutrality had the effect of destroying all military activities for many years after the Revolution.
FORTIFICATIONS.
There was a fortification in this town as early as 1691, of which Andrew Newcomb was the Commander, with a number of men enlisted to man the works; but of its size, strength, or location no evidence is obtainable.5 It was prob- ably situated at or near Pease's Point, the most available site from strategic considerations. Nothing further of its history is known.
In August, 1741, the General Court appropriated the sum of £700 to build in Edgartown "a sufficient Breastwork,
1Mass. Arch., XCV, 209. The full list of members of this company is preserved in this document. The "alarm list" indicates persons available at that time for service in the French and Indian Wars. Vide Appendix, Vol. I.
2Mass. Arch., XCIX, 24. There was also an Indian Military Company in Edgar- town, with Enoch Coffin, Jr., as Captain, Elijah Smith as Lieutenant, and Richard Coffin as Ensign.
3Mass. Arch., XCIX, 25.
"The officers of this regiment of militia were Beriah Norton, Colonel; Malatiah Davis, Lieutenant Colonel; Brotherton Daggett and Mayhew Adams, Majors.
N. Y. Col. Mss., XXXVII, 230.
176
Annals of Edgartown
a Platform & eight guns, six Pounders or others equivalent mounted & all suitable Warlike stores procured." The con- ditions of this grant were that "the same be maintained from time to time in good repair," and upon failure to abide by the covenant the town should repay the amount granted into the public treasury.1 At a town meeting held in December following, the thanks of the people were tendered for the grant, and it was voted "that the fortification shall be erected and built in the most convenient place near the harbor." A committe of five2 were also appointed, "to determine where the fortification should be built and get the work done," but the conditions of the grant were finally deemed to be dis- advantageous, and a sentiment against acceptance prevailed to such an extent that a town meeting was called for March 10, 1741, when it was "voted to reconsider the vote relating to receiving the seven hundred pounds granted by the General Court" and all other votes "relating to agent & committee to draw money, build fort, get guns &c."
John Sumner, Enoch Coffin, Esq., Simeon Butler, Esq., Mr. Tristram Coffin, Ebenezer Norton, Esq., Mr. Matt. Norton, and Capt. Timothy Daggett, were chosen a committee to consider the whole affair and report to adjourned meeting. 3 This was held on March 19, 1741, and the report made by them was as follows: -
"The committee appointed to consider and report what is proper for the town to do in the affair of the seven hundred pounds granted by the General Court to fortify the town are of opinion that the town at present should neither Except or Refuse said money on the conditions it is granted and that a Petission be prepared to the General Court representing the great advantages which will probably acrue from our harbor being well fortified in protecting and securing the vessels which will use it in times of war and praying that the s'd sum of seven hundred pounds be granted to the town, we obliging ourselves to expend the whole of s'd money in erecting a suitable breastwork procuring great guns and necessary warlike stores and whenever the town shall fail of keeping said breastwork and guns in good order and repair to return the guns and what powder and bullets are not necessarily expended to the Province or whenever s'd Province shall call for them.‘
In accordance with this vote, a petition was prepared by a committee who represented to the General Court, that "our
'Acts and Resolves, Chap. 81, Vol. XII, 702.
2Enoch Coffin, Samuel Butler, John Norton, Joseph Jenkins and Christopher Beetle. (Edgartown Records, I, 165.)
3Edgartown Records, I, 170.
"Ibid., I, 171.
177
History of Martha's Vineyard
Indigent circumstances will not at present allow us to receive the s'd money upon the Terms it is granted, (fearing that the Immediate expense of procuring and providing according to the Directions of the Grant and Constant Charge of main- taining the same will exceed our ability.)" They asked that the money be allowed for the fortification, and when the town "should fail of keeping s'd Brestwork and Guns in good order and repair to return the guns and what Powder and Bullets are not necessarily expended to the Province."1
The General Court made answer to this proposition, in a bill prepared by William Pepperrell of the joint committee of the two houses, which was passed April 3, 1741, making provision for the purchase of "five six-pound cannon, with suitable carriages, five half bbs. of Gun Powder, a suitable number of shot & other warlike stores." The provision attached to this was that the town should "erect at their own cost & charges & (keep) in repairs a Breast Work & plat- form suitable for said Cannon & a house to secure the stores."2 Whether this finally resulted in the building of a fort is not known, as there are no further references to it in the records to show expenditures for maintenance or repair.
TAVERNS.
It is probable that William Weeks was the first taverner at Edgartown, as early as 1680, though no record appears of his receiving a license as such. Under that date he was fined five shillings "for suffering disorder in his house by drunkenness & fighting." In fact, as far back as 1661, he was fined "for selling strong liquor," but neither of these entries would be conclusive that he kept a tavern, but for the following record, which in 1681 shows him to have been the proprietor of a public house: -
The complaint of Arthur Biven against William Weeks "for taking six-pence for two amesho-ogs & said Biven caled for a gill of rum & they brought half water and the said Weeks had no lodging for him nor food for his horse."3
Arthur Biven was a resident of Tisbury, and had probably driven to Edgartown on court business, where he was a suitor
1Mass. Archives, LXII, 561, 562.
2 Acts and Resolves, Chap. 186, Vol. XII, 742. The Captain General of the Forces of the Province was directed to carry out this law.
3Court Records, Vol. I. "Amesho-ogs" is the Indian word for eels.
178
. 4
Annals of Edgartown
at the March quarterly court, and the complaint against Land- lord Weeks was in accordance with the laws of the times, governing the keeping of taverns. His "ordinary" was located on North Water street, about fifty rods above Main street, and it is probable that he had kept it as such long before the records above quoted. North Water street was dotted with taverns in the next century. William Weeks' next neighbor to the north was Richard Sarson, and his house and its suc- cessors became famous as taverns. Sarson had licenses to sell "strong liquor" on his premises in 1694, but that does not imply a public house kept for travelers. In 1701, his only son Samuel, who succeeded to the estate, was granted a license to keep "a publike house of entertainment," and after his death, in 1703, his widow Anne renewed this in her own name. Here the widow Sarson dispensed hospitality for a year, when she married John Worth for her third husband, and the busi- ness of tavern keeping was carried on by them for many years, in the old Sarson house. The licenses were taken out in his name. The location of this ancient hostelry was between Cottage and Morse streets on North Water. Near-by, Thomas Lothrop kept a tavern for a quarter of a century, 1715-1740, on a part of this lot. At the same time, on this same home lot, as part of her father's estate, lived Jane Sarson, succes- sively the wife of Lemuel Little and Dr. John Sanderson. Both of these husbands took out licenses to retail liquor (1722) and to be innholders (1726); and as she took a third husband, Duncan Kelley, and they continued to reside on the property, it is probable the business was continued.
John Norton took out a license as innholder in 1715, and was given the same privilege for 34 years, from which it is assumed that he kept open his "house of publick entertainment" continuously. It was located on the Bayes home lot, just north of Main street.
In 1699, Samuel Smith, who married Hannah (Mayhew) Daggett, was licensed as innholder, and it is probable that the tavern was situated in the northerly end of the town, at Pease's Point. How long he continued to dispense hospitality to travelers is not known.
Parson Homes of Chilmark, in his diary, speaks of the tavern kept by "Mr. Hamellon" in Edgartown, under date of 1738, and the allusion is probably to James Hamellin (now Hamlin), who resided on Burying Hill, south of the old cemetery.
179
History of Martha's Vineyard
James Claghorn, whose residence was on the old home lot of Edward Lay (later Isaac Norton's), was licensed an innholder in 1740, an occupation which he followed until his death, ten years later. His house stood a short distance north of the Harbor View Hotel. His successor was his son- in-law, Enoch Coffin, Jr., who kept his license for ten years more.
The Kelley House of today is on the site of a hostelry that is over a century old. It is on the northerly half of the original Bayes home lot, which descended to the Newcombs and was bought of their heirs in 1743, by John Harper. He began keeping a tavern there in 1748, and was succeeded by his son-in-law, Lemuel Kelley, in 1772, and by Kelley's widow (Bathsheba Harper), in 1798. Her son, William Kelley, followed in 1801.
In 1850 it was kept by a Mr. L. Marcy and was known as the Marcy House. Today it is known as the Kelley House, and its landlord, the late William Kelley, was a descendant of the family which first gave its name to the old tavern.
On North Water street is the house in which Major- Gen. Worth, of Mexican War fame, lived when a boy. For many years this house was kept as a hotel, known as the Gibbs House, and it was at this ancient hostelry that Daniel Webster was often a guest. It was later known as the Norton House, and was built by Capt. Thomas Worth, probably about 1800. It is now in the possession of Capt. William H. Roberts, Revenue Cutter Service, as a private residence.
The following named persons were licensed innholders in the town of Edgartown by the County Court, for the years specified: - Samuel Smith, 1699-1704; John Worth, 17II- I723; Thomas Lothrop, 1715-1740; John Norton, 1715-
I749; Lemuel Little, 1722;
John Sanderson, 1726-1728; James Hamlin, 1733-1740; Christopher Beetle, 1734-1746; James Claghorn, 1740-1748; John Dikes, 1743-1744; George Stevens, 1743-1752; Daniel Cruttenden, 1745-1746; Bayes Norton, 1746; John Harper, 1748-1771 ; Enoch Coffin (suc- ceeded James Claghorn), 1749-1759; Abner Coffin, 1751-1758; Thomas Arey, 1752-1759; Lemuel Kelley (succeeded John Harper), 1772-1787; Bathsheba Kelley (widow of Lemuel Kelley), 1798-1800, who was succeeded by William Kelley, 1801-1807; Matthew Mayhew, 1776-1787; Richard Whelden, 1782; Timothy Coffin, 1786-1787; Beriah Norton, 1798- 1804; Jonathan Pease, 1800-1806.
180
Annals of Edgartown
PATHS, HIGHWAYS AND BRIDGES.
The earliest action of the town on this important subject, was under date of June 26, 1652, ten years after the settlement, when it was voted that "Mr. Mayhew the Elder and John Daggett shall lay out all highways belonging to this town." At that date it seems probable there were but two highways, exclusive of "paths," for the use of the settlers. Nearly seventy years later, another general vote was taken on this subject (Feb. 7, 1716 or 1717), "to lay out convenient highways for the use of the town." Doubtless this action was taken to establish legally the various paths and ways which had grown into accepted streets in the course of time.
Main Street .- The first street of record in this town is the present Main Street, and undoubtedly it was laid out when the home lots were divided. It separated the tenth and eleventh lots, almost the centre of the "five and twenty." The earliest reference to it is as follows: -
Whereas there was a Controversy Between Thos. Paine and Thos. Bayes Concerning the Lott that Lyes next the high way: this Controversy is ended and the said Thomas Paines Lott is to Lye as it did Before, only a high way Between Thos. Bayes & he Two Rods wide: the Verdict of the Court.1 [February 6, 1654.]
This street was formally laid out by metes and bounds in 1773, as a part of the road from Edgartown to Homes Hole. It was thirty feet wide from the harbor to the house of John Norton, tertia, and thirty-three feet wide from that point as the street and road then ran. In 1824, upon peti- tion, the bounds were renewed by the Court of General Ses- sions, and again in 1861 the County Commissioners relocated that portion extending from the Court House to Pease Point Way, and made it thirty-three feet wide.
Pease Point Way .- This well-known thoroughfare is next in point of interest and age. It is mentioned in 1660 for the first time.2 It extends from the harbor, at a point near the present location of the Harbor View Hotel, on the southerly side, and near to the house of the late Thomas Adams Norton, a house situated southerly of the house of Judge Braley; thence westerly by the North schoolhouse, and thence southwesterly by the cemetery, and still continuing southwesterly through what
1Edgartown Records, I, 119.
2Ibid., I, 110. It is there called three rods wide.
18I
History of Martha's Vineyard
is known as "Cleveland town" (a few houses just out of the village), thence still southwesterly to the Great Pond. It derived its name from the point where John Pease had his house lot, and has retained it to the present day. By its windings it might indicate an Indian trail, but it is in reality the road that intersected the heads of the home lots as far as Slough Hill, where it branches off to the westward. It was the great highway which enabled the settlers to travel from the north end of the town to the Plains.
Planting Field Way .- This road intersects Pease Point Way, north of Main Street, and is of great antiquity, leading as it does to the "planting field" lots, which were laid out in 1653.
Plain Road .- This provided an outlet from the Slough, southwards, and is first mentioned in 1662, though a cart path must have been in existence for a number of years.
Swimming Place Path. - Extending from the Swimming Point towards the Great Pond this road was a necessary "cross path" in that section. Mention is first made of it in 1675.
Mashacket Path. - This old path is doubtless of greater antiquity than the first record of it would indicate (1677), and it is one of the names which has survived the two-and-a- half centuries.
Sanchacantacket Path. - After this region came into the plans for extending the area of settlement, a path was required to reach there, and it became in effect an extension of the main highway leading out of the village. It was first mentioned in 1678.
Mill Path. - The mill at West Tisbury, which was set up before that town was settled, gave the name to an old path which led from Cleveland Town to Takemmy, south of the present road. It is described in the first volume.
Wintucket Path. - This road, leading to Wintucket from the old Mill Path, is mentioned in 1708.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.