USA > Massachusetts > Dukes County > Marthas Vineyard > The history of Martha's Vineyard, Dukes County, Massachusetts, Volume II > Part 22
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Monawquete. - "A place called by the Indians Monaw- quete being at the Easternmost end of that Great Pond called Taukemey Pond," according to a description in 1735, probably refers to the lower end of Peanaskenamset. It means the "fertilized land," in allusion to the fact that it had been artificially enriched by the whites.
Moohow's Neck. - This is probably a name derived from an Indian of the place. Samuel Manter sold a tract of land at the North shore in 1740 called "Moohow's Neck" bounded southeast by Great James pond (Deeds, VII, 400). It is written Moohoe's Neck and there was a Little Moohoe's Neck, both being "within the bounds of a deed that Experience
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Luce had of Samuel Cobb and Samuel Manter, being to the N. E. of sd Luces bounds" (Ibid., VIII, 84).
Mossoowonkwonk (alias Mossoonkhonk, Mossoounkwonk, Mussoo-onk-sumkeh). - This is the neck now known as Scrubby neck, and is referred to as such in deeds (II, 244, 317; III, 105, 130). An alias in the Indian tongue was Peanaskenamset (Ibid., II, 245), and another was Wache- pemepquah (Ibid.).
Nepissa. - This is a pond at the north shore. In 1699 it made the northwest bound mark of Christian town, "a pond at the north shore called Pissa," (Sup. Jud. Court files, 72,789). This is the contracted form of the word, and in that form gives no indication of its meaning. In the report of the Committee on the Indian Lands in Christian town, in 1762, the full orthography appears, "the Pond called Nepisse" (Records, General Court, XXIV, appendix). It means "a little pond," - isse being the diminutive form of the locative case, the same as -es, in some names. Literally it is "the little water place." In the testimony of some Indians in 1714, relative to the meeting of the Indians when Josias gave the Praying Indians the "mile square," for a town, it is stated that "all agreed that Wonamonhoot should have all the land to the westward of a place called Neppessieh." Another form given in 1717 was Neppessoo (Sup. Jud. Court files, 72,248).
Newtown. - The name applied generally to the settle- ment in Tisbury in distinction to Old Town at the east end of the Vineyard. It is more particularly applied to North Tisbury and occurs as early as 1750 (Newman, Mss. Account Book, p. 82).
Nittowouhtohquay. - In the record of the landed posses- sions of Simon Athearn (1672) is the following entry: "fifteen acres "which lyeth at the turn of the brook on the north side of the brook, which land is caled in indian Nittowouhtohquay, & is bounded by the old mill river on the south side & a small run of water on the west" (Deeds, I, 306). In 1701 James Allen sold to Simon Athearn a parcel of land "near to a place called Nictowouhtoquoh by Wampache" (Ibid., I, 324). This land is near the present farm and mill of R. W. Crocker in North Tisbury. The meaning of the word is "land sought for use," in allusion to the desire of the Pro- prietors to extend their purchase to cover the territory to the east of their post line.
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Nohcouwohwoothuktack. - This is by far the longest place name on the Vineyard, and is used to describe certain land on the north shore sold Dec. 9, 1703, by Josias the Sachem to Experience Luce (Deeds, III, 19). It is a boundary desig- nation, signifying "the right hand understood tree," in allusion to some boundary mark.
Onkakemmy. - This was a pond described a's "on the East side of the Indian town between the Indian line and the line of this town" (Town Records, 1711), at a place now called Okokame, or Christian Town" (Indian Converts). "At Ohkonkemme, within the bounds of Tisbury" (Report, Commissioners of the Society for Propagating the Gospel, 1698. Variations of this name are Onkkokemmo, Uncakem- mo. It is derived from Ong-kone-amaug, which is defined as "beyond the fishing place," and refers probably to Ashap- paquonset, as the great fishing station of the Indians on the North shore. Uncacame is a form existing in 1745 (Deeds, VIII, 71).
Papamek's Field. - This is a tract of land, which is now represented by a portion of the farm of R. W. Crocker, Esq., on the north side of the road leading to the North Shore. It was referred to in ancient documents as the field where Papameck planted and where he died.
Paul's Point. - This was probably named for "Old Paul," one of the pious Indians of Christian town, who died about 1676 (Indian Converts, p. 131).
It is mentioned in a deed of 1730 (VI, 303), and again in 1738 Ebenezer Rogers and others convey land at Paul's Point, bounded west by the Indian line; then east to the brick kiln, or run of water. The grantee was Experience Luce (VII, 400).
Peanaskenamset. - This was the Indian name for Scrubby Neck (Deeds, II, 245). In the proper orthography it should be Uppeanashkonameset. (See under Scrubby Neck.)
Pepekonnoh .- This was a small pond on Scrubby Neck. In 1715 Samuel Nahommon sold to David Paul (Indian), a tract of land on Scrubby Neck, and on the "westward side of neck, bounded southerly by the beach, westerly by Ta- kemmy pond, easterly by the beach, untill it meeteth with a small pond caled pepekonnoh" (Deeds, III, 109).
Seconquet. - This was a neck of land "known to the English by the name of Charls his neck," as recited in a deed
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(Vol. I, 271). In the town records under date of 1707, Secon- quet, alias Charles' neck, is mentioned and the "thumb" was included as part of this neck (p. 42). The meaning of this is "at the mouth of a stream," or "emptying out," of which variations in the Delaware dialect are Sakunit, Sacunk and Saquit.
Seekaquatwaupog. - This is the pond between Charles' Neck and Scrubby Neck, and while the word means "the spoiled, deserted or broken-up spring," the word was used in connection with the cove that extends up between the necks in 1735.
Squemmechchue. - This was the name for Cedar Tree Neck, as appears in a deposition of Jonathan Luce, made in 1718, and this date is the earliest mention of the name Cedar Tree Neck (Sup. Jud. Court Mss., 24,769). It is derived from M'squ-mechch-auke, meaning "the red fruit land." This may refer to the cranberry, or some similar fruit or vege- table food.
Tahkenshahakket. - This was the name of a small neck of land "lying within" Scrubby Neck, on the southern side, "near or next the fence of Robert Cathcart" (Deeds, II, 60, 218).
Tequanoman's Neck. - In June, 1692, this is referred to in a document as "on the south side of the Island" (Mass. Arch., CXII, 422). It is there spelled Tickanoman. It also is referred to in the charter of Edgartown, dated July 8, 1671, as the southwest bound mark of that town. It was probably Watcha Neck.
Tiasquin. - This early Indian name for the New Mill river is of uncertain origin. This stream was crossed by a bridge, probably constructed by the settlers soon after their occupation, and it is referred to often, as in 1664, a deed from the Sachem Pamehannet to Thomas Mayhew, recites certain bounds as "from the bridge of the river called Tyasquan" (Deeds, I, 83). The Algonquian word Tooskeonk, means a fording place, ford or bridge, and while it may be accidental yet it can be the source of this name - the ford or bridge river. Another possible origin is Tisashg-om-(uck), "where we go to cut grass," meaning the meadows along the lower parts of this stream.
Tississa. - This was a neck of land lying between "Tyers" cove and Deep Bottom cove, and was generally
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History of Martha's Vineyard
known in the records as "Copeck alias Tississa" (Dukes Deeds, I, 301). It was purchased by Simon Athearn of the Indians in 1674, without the formal approval of Thomas Mayhew, and became in consequence a source of prolonged litigation (Deeds, I, 305). The meaning of Tississa is not known, but Copeck is a compound of two words, Kuppi-ack, signifying "land or a place shut in," being from the same root as Cap-o-ack. The modern abbreviation of the neck is "Sissa." John Manter sold land on Tississa, "in the Point called Sepiessa, alias Manter's Point," bounded east by Deep Bottom pond and on the west by Copeck, Sept. 17, 1736 (Deeds, VI, 137).
Wampache. - Josias the Sachem sold to Simon Athearn certain land "neer to Simon Athearns house and land at Wampache" in Tisbury, the land being Josias' "planting feild for many years," November 18, 1685 (Deeds, I, 299). James Allen sold to Simon Athearn in 1702, "a little parcel of land near to a place called Nictowouhtoquoh by Wampache," with "liberty to dig earth to use to dam the water and drown the swamps there" (Ibid., I, 324). This is believed to be in North Tisbury at or near the site of Mr. R. W. Crocker's mill, where in early days a mill formerly stood.
In the Massachusetts dialect Wompasg, or Wompasket, means a marsh, swamp or bog, a definition which seems to apply to the locality conveyed in the last-named deed. Another later form is Wampatchey, 1735 (VI, 23-4).
Waskosim's Rock .- This is the well-known landmark, now as of old forming one of the boundaries between Tisbury and Chilmark. It is first mentioned in the town records under date of Feb. 9, 1681-2, as "a place called Wasqusims," and again in 1702 as "Waskosims" (pp. 10, 274). It may have obtained its name from some Indian who had a wigwam in that vicinity.
Wechekemmipihquiah or Wechepemepquah. - This was one of the Indian names of Scrubby Neck, known also as Pasquanahomman's Neck, one of the planting fields of the Indians before the advent of the white settlers. The meaning of this word is "cornfield," from Wachimin, corn, and pequ- auke, clear place, or field. This is mentioned in a deed dated 1700 (Dukes Deeds, I, 46), under that designation, but it has had several aboriginal titles. It is mentioned in the town records, under date of 1700 (p. 35), as Pasqunahammans
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Neck, and later (1743) it had been shortened to Nahamons, and at the present day it is curtailed to Homers, and the name is given to the adjoining pond. Another alias was Mossoo- wonkwonk (Mossoonkhonk, Mosoounkwonk, Mussoo-onk- sumkeh), as recorded in the County books (Deeds, II, 317, 244; III, 105, 130). Another alias was Peanaskenamset (Deeds, II, 245), occurring in 1693. In its full form this should be written as Uppeanashkonameset, meaning "a place where flags grow," or literally, "at the covering-mat place," designating a low marshy spot where the cat-tail flag (Typha Latifolia) grows in abundance. This plant was used by the natives for covering their wigwams, in making mats, baskets and such like articles, while the down which surrounds the fruit was used for the filling of cushions for the head. The same name designates other Indian localities in New England. Mossoonkhonk (1693): a field in Tisbury where meadow grass was cut and which became the subject of a dispute with the Indians as to proprietorship. Mos-soon-khonk, means "that which is sheared, or made bare" hence "a mowing meadow."
Weechpoquassitt. - This name is commonly written and spoken Eachpoquassit. It is a boundary designation, probably, as the word means, "as far the opening out," from Wekshe- "as far as, or extending to," and pocasset, "the open out or widening." Weechpoquasset was the natural boundary line between the sachemships of Takemmy and Nunnepoag, at that part of the island. It was also the west bound of Chick- emmoo.
SKETCHES OF THE EARLY SETTLERS.
JAMES ALLEN.
Jamof Allan The only one of the original purchasing proprietors of this town who remained as a settler, except James Skiffe, was James Allen, the progenitor of the Vineyard Allens now scattered over this land from Maine to California. He was the son of Samuel Allen of Braintree and Anne his wife, and was probably born in that town in 1636, the year after his father was made a freeman. Of his early years we have no knowledge, as the records of Braintree and Suffolk county are entirely silent about him, and it is more than likely
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that, after 1657, when he became of age, he may have removed to some other town in the colony. His sister Sarah married Lieut. Josiah Standish of Bridgewater about this time, and possibly he might be found in that town where his brother Samuel lived, or in that vicinity. About 1662 James Allen married, his wife's name according to family tradition being Elizabeth Perkins, who was born about 1644, and therefore eight years his junior.1 It is believed that about this year he removed to Sandwich, Cape Cod, where the births of three children known to be his are recorded, 1663 to 1667, and where he probably formed his personal and business connection with James Skiffe of the same town.2 In the summer of 1668 he was here making the preliminary arrangements with his partners and Mayhew about the purchase of Takemmy, and in the summer of 1669 the bargain with the Indians was consummated. His coming here is almost coincident with the death of his father, which occurred in Braintree in 1669, where he had been town clerk for many years.3 By his will, dated Sept. 16, 1669, Samuel Allen bequeathed to his son James five pounds to be paid "within three years after my decease," and to his "sonn in Law Josiah Standish" he devised double that amount. James Allen's settlement here can be assigned fairly to that year, as no more births of children are recorded in Sandwich. From this time on for forty-five years he was the leading spirit in the towns of Tisbury and Chilmark, and one of the largest land holders. At one time or another he owned seven of the original home lots on the west side of Old Mill brook, besides all the dividends accruing to them, and there are no less than thirty conveyances from him recorded on the county land records. The first home lot drawn by him is thus described :-
Thes are the Lands of James allin Lieng In the tounship of tisbury one Lot containing forty 8 ackers bounded on the south by nathannil skiffs Lot and on the north by Jaremiah whittons Lot Lieng in bredeth forty 8 pols by the reiver and runeth westward from the reiver 8 skore pols in lenght with one Lot in the gret neck bounded on the est by the middel of the watar which partth the neck and on the west by goodman
1The printed Perkins genealogies fail to mention any Elizabeth Perkins suitable to correspond with the above facts.
2 James Allen's sister Abigail married John Cary and lived in Bridgewater and later in Taunton. Benjamin, son of James, preached in Bridgewater after his gradu- ation from Yale.
$James Allen signed as witness to a deed in Sandwich, Nov. 13, 1669 (Plymo. Col. Deeds, III, 163).
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of with a sixtenth part of all undevided Lands and Meddo ...... to the said town the devided Lands being more or les as thay are Laid out
This is the [Record] of the Landes and inharitanc of [James Allen] in the town of tisbury1
This land, which is now the property of Everett Allen Davis, Esq., was doubtless the location of his residence for twenty years until his removal to Chilmark. He sold it in 1692 to John Pease, Jr., of Edgartown, whose heirs deeded it to Gershom Cathcart in 1723, and it remained many years in the possession of the latter's descendants.2 When he removed to Chilmark is not definitely known. He began his purchases of the large estate he finally owned there early in February, 1677-8, a tract bounded south by the pond, and he is called "of Tisbury." In 1686, when making another purchase, he is called "of Nashowakemmuck," and this may be the probable date of his change of residence.3
His estate or home farm amounted to about 250 acres, by successive purchases, and this he gave to two of his sons before his death. Ebenezer received one half of the entire property in 1698, to be available after the decease of his father and mother,4 and Samuel received the Keephiggon lot in 1705 near the Tisbury line.5 Ichabod had acquired large holdings in Chickemmoo and John and Joseph were probably provided for, through their mother's inheritance. Benjamin was the youngest son and not of age till just before his father's death. This probably accounts for the absence of a will or adminis- tration on such a large and valuable estate - these ante- mortem transfers of property.
His public services were characterized by quality and not quantity. In 1675 he was an Assistant under the Mayhew regime, equivalent to a justice on the bench. How long he held this is not known." Besides this he held possibly one town office and but one other county office during his long life. He was appointed on a committee "to procure a new charter" for Tisbury in 1687 (a thing that was never done), and after the inclusion of the island in Massachusetts he was one of the first three justices of the peace.7 He was recom-
1Tisbury Records, 8.
2Dukes Deeds, I, 155; III, 446, 509.
3Ibid., I, 277; II, 277.
4Ibid., II, 41.
5Ibid., I, 299.
6N. Y. Col. Mss., XXIV, 159.
7Council Records, II, 207. He had served but once as a juryman in all his twenty years of residence up to this date, an unusual record. James Allen was Selectman of Chilmark in 1704, but it may have been his son.
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mended for his appointment by Simon Athearn, who stated that Allen was "reputed wealthy and having such Influence in the people there," and at the same time he advised that Allen be made captain of the military company.1 It is evident that he had no taste for arms, as he had petitioned the court two years before on the subject, as appears by this record :-
Whereas James Allin of Chilmark did apere before the Coart in order for a dismission from trayning: The Coart hath granted him a dismission provided he doth apere in time of mustering: and doth help Sufficy.2
His standing in the community as stated by Athearn was that of a man of influence, wielding more power than if he had held a score of minor offices in the course of his life. Now he was in the most exalted one to which men in those days could aspire, a justice on the King's Bench, and in this capacity he served the people for at least six years at the Quarterly Sessions of the Peace. As the first one to hold any considerable office of honor or profit on the Vineyard since its settlement, not connected either by blood or marriage with the Mayhew family, Mr. Justice Allen had some distinction beside that of the position itself.
In 1701 he gave to the town of Tisbury its first "God's Acre" for the burial of the dead and as a location for the new meeting-house under contemplation, and within this enclosure lies his body marked with a well-preserved slate stone. His declining years were passed in Chilmark, where a large family of a dozen children were reared, married and half of them settled in homes of their own. All the daughters left the island, but seven sons have perpetuated the name of James Allen their honored father and the parent of sons who main- tained his splendid reputation.
He died July 25, 1714, aged 78 years, and his wife Eliza- beth survived till August 7, 1722, being of the same age at the date of her death.
Imon Alhoorn SIMON ATHEARN.
Nothing less than a separate chapter would enable the author to give an adequate portrayal of the strenuous life and fruitful career of this unique character among the early settlers of the Vineyard, Simon Athearn of
1Mass. Archives, CXII, 424.
?Dukes County Court Records, July 10, 1690.
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Tisbury. Amid the settings of a most peaceful and bucolic life he managed to stir up more contrary breezes than any man of his time, and was a continual thorn in the flesh of the ruling family on the island. It is a matter of regret that the author has not been able to ascertain his antecedents. Indeed, his name is unique, and nowhere has it been observed in the scores of volumes containing the records of English parishes; and a professional genealogist of London stated that he had never seen the name in his long experience. No other family of this name emigrated to New England in the 17th century, and as far as known he was the sole and first bearer of it in this country. It has been suggested that the name is of similar origin to Attwood, Att-water, Att-well, being originally Att-hern. Sewall spelled it Atturn in his Diary in 1712.
His gravestone at West Tisbury records the name Attharn and the only early English instance with a spelling approaching it - Atturn - occurring before 1600, seems to bear out this theory rather than the supposition of its identity with Atherton. It may be identical with Hathorn, now Hawthorne. But whatever the mystery attaching to his antecedents, and it covers as well his previous residence if any in this country before his appearance at the Vineyard, his subsequent life and doings after his settlement are an open book.
If the record on his tombstone is correct he was born about 1643, and the first mention of his name in the town records of Edgartown is under date of 1659, when he served on the jury. This presupposes an error somewhere; either on the gravestone or the Edgartown records, which are a transcript, not too carefully made, for he would have been at that date a minor sixteen years of age, and therefore ineligible for that duty. The occasion of his first appearance, however, on the record seems to be plausible as well as characteristic, for he spent most of the remainder of his career in court, as he had begun. He stated in a deposition that he was aged about 56 years in 1698, which carries us back to 1642. It is the belief of the author that he came to this country as a boy in the employ of Nicholas Butler of Edgartown, who was a man of property, and kept a number of servants. According to tradition he selected his future wife as she was romping with her playmates near her father's house, having about her dolls and other childish evidences that her thoughts were far away from matrimony. The girl was Mary, daughter of John Butler, and according to Judge Sewell "his wife was not
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History of Martha's Vineyard
fourteen when he married her." The young husband had probably taken up land at Tississa in the present limits of West Tisbury, by a purchase from the Indians before the settle- ment of Tisbury, contrary to the rights of Thomas Mayhew, the patentee, who had prohibited the purchase of Indian titles without his consent. Athearn thus began his long course of opposition to the Mayhews and their official control of affairs on the Vineyard. Out of this Tississa incident endless litigation arose. As soon as Peabody, Standish, Allen and Skiffe made their purchase in Tisbury Simon Athearn purchased a lot of land in 1670 and was admitted, May 20, 1671, as an associate proprietor. In 1672 his dwelling house was located on Great Neck on the east side of the Old Mill river on a lot of land comprising twenty acres. He also owned fifteen acres "at the turn of the brook" where the well-known Dr. Fisher mill property was afterwards developed. Here on his home lot were born to him and his wife nine children, all of whom married save one, and the sons maintained the high standing and distinction in Vineyard affairs that their father had set.
When in 1671 Thomas Mayhew came back from New York with town charters for Edgartown and Tisbury, a mano- rial grant for Tisbury Manor, and a commission as governor for life, the spirit of Simon Athearn rose within him as he saw the destinies of the island confined to the personality of one man and the government of one family. He felt that there was no place in the Massachusetts system for governors for life. The details of the abortive rebellion against this undemocratic form of government have been elsewhere related, and it will only be necessary to explain the part played by Athearn. His growing estate, comprising his sole worldly possessions, constrained him after its failure to throw himself on the mercy of the legally established government, however distasteful it may have been to him personally, rather than to accept the full consequences of his act, and seek or be driven to a new home elsewhere. So he cleared himself as best he could, as appears by the following record :-
At his Majesties court: held at Edgartown uppon Marthas Vineyard Jan: 8: 1674-5.
Simon Athearn desiring by way of petition that whereas himself was by the Authoritie Reputed one of the Ringleaders in the late Resisting of the Govourment that being lead and induced thereunto by others the Governour and Associates would so looke uppon him and Judge him accordingly and testified uppon oath that Thomas Burchard was a principall instigator of him whereby he was induced to act in the opposition of Authoritie.
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The Court fined him twenty-five pounds, one half to be paid "forthwith," five pounds and ten shillings in money and seven pounds in cattle or corn. And for speaking against the fine and sentence of William Vincent he was fined ten pounds, one half "forthwith" as above and the other half in produce. "And (the Court) doe take from him his freedom during the pleasure of the Court And doe revoke the former sentence against him of sending him to New Yorke." But Athearn, though defeated, was not conquered in spirit.
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