USA > Massachusetts > Dukes County > Marthas Vineyard > The history of Martha's Vineyard, Dukes County, Massachusetts, Volume II > Part 33
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whereas we Japhet hannit Isaac wannatta Jacob sokkokkono Joshua seiknout sachim samuell mackkacunit and pautoh. Late sachim of Check- emmo was notified by mr Experience Mayhew or his order that wee are Chosen by mr Nathon skiff and nathon Bassit sellect men of Chilmark: and by simon Athern and John Manter of Tisbury to be a Committy of Indians to goe on monday the seventh day of Feburary and shew the place that is Called weechpooquasset: brook of water and the bounds between the Land Called Cheeckemmo: and the sachimship of Takymmy. and we being met together at the north shore. on marthas vinyerd at the place Called weechpoquasset: with divers others of our adged and Cheif Indian men being preasent & also mr Nathon skiff and nathon basset. sellect men of Chillmark being preasent and mr Josiah Torrey and John daggit. being preasent. and Simon Athern Joseph daggit and John manter men appointed of Tisbury being preasent at weechpooqusset on the seventh
1Tisbury Records, 47.
2Dukes Court Records, Vol. I.
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History of Martha's Vineyard
day of February anno domy 1703-4 we whose names are under written doe Determine that the brook of water that runneth into the sound: being to the Estward of onkkekemmo pond is the only aintient place Called weechpooquasset and the True line and bounds between Checkemmo: and Takymmy as the said brook or run of water lyeth from a sartain spring of water Called ponquatisse which spring is to the north Est of Thomas butlers now dwelling house. and the land on the Est side of the said ponquetissee run or brook of water is Checkemmo land hear to fore belonging to the sachim Towantaquit: and on the west side of the saide ponquetissee and wechpoquassit watter: is the land of Takymmy sachimship now Called Tisbury: here to fore bellonging to the sachm Josias. (signed) Joshua seiknuit Japhet hannit Jacob sokkono patoo Isaac wanata Sam mackkacunit1
Thus was the ancient bound of Chickemmoo finally "settelled" as it had existed to mark the dividing line between the Sachems of Nunpoag and Takemmy.
COMPROMISE REACHED.
Butler acquiesced in the decision and, as a result of a - conference between him and the Tisbury people, a compro- mise was reached. This is best explained by quoting the agreement as it is spread out on the town records : -
For & in Consideration of an Isue of a Controversie depending Between the freeholders of Tisbury in dukes County & Thomas Butler of sd place viz: that sd Butler have and doe by these preasents release and discharge Isaac Chase Simon Athern & Joseph daggit of Tisbury from suffering any loss or damage by vertue of a Judgment of the in- feriour Court held in Dukes County in october 1703 so that no Excicution of any Judgment found for sd butler against sd Chase Athern & daggit at sd court shall be taken out but for Ever bard & stayed as a thing dead in law and also the sd Isaac Chase simon Athern & Joseph daggit do by these presents release & discharge the sd Thomas butler from answering an apeal or renew about sd Judgment: moreover for peace sake the free- holders of Tisbury so far as it Concerns them do grant & it is voted by the maior of the freeholders of Tisbury preasent at a Leagoll Town meet- ing held there the 20th day of march 1703-4 that Thomas Butler is granted to have the feesimple right of all that land which Isaac Chase bought of the sachim Josias at wechpoquasset in Tisbury the deed bareing tate the 15th of august 1682 with his now dwelling house possesion to the south- ward of sd purchase to Thomas Butler to unite with town of Tisbury in peace & love; further more it is voted by the freeholders of Tisbury abovesd that if the inhabitants of chillmarke shall at any Time: destrane upon the aforesd butler on the west of wechpoquassit or ponquatesse by vertue of any rat bill that shall by them from this time forward be made or pro- cured and also provided that sd butler do prosecute against the said In-
1Tisbury Records, 47, 48.
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Annals of West Tisbury
habitants of Chillmark for sd money so distraned then said inhabitants of Tisbury to stand by and defend sd Butler in sd sute or sutes so proso- cuted to afect and make up to sd Butler all his damages sustained if any be in sd prosocutions by and if at any Time the sd Thomas Butler for with within the bounds of Chillmark by vertue of any lyne fairly made then we the Inhabitants of Tisbury to Reimburs all the money heretofore Taken by Distrant by any Constable belonging to Tisbury from sd Thomas Butler Consented by me THOMAS BUTLER1
From this interesting treaty of peace we learn the location of Butler's house among other things and can be reasonably certain in placing it not far from Old House pond, which was the limit of the Chase purchase.
AGREEMENT WITH THE PRAYING INDIANS.
Butler thereupon endeavored to satisfy the chief Indians of Christiantown, who were abuttors on the west side of Chickemmoo, and on May 15, 1705, he reached the following agreement with Isaac Ompanit, trustee, Asa Howwanan, minister, Thomas Paul and Zachariah Papameck concerning their dividing line because of the "many years of contest and discord," viz .:-
Beginning at a Swamp wood tree standing on the beach about four or five rod from the pond, being the Eastern side of sd pond called Auke- kemmy pond, and from thence extending southwardly into the island to a white oak tree marked and a heap of stones laid at the root thereof for a bound mark: near the head of the pond about the middle between two springs at the head of sd pond; and from thence to a stick pitched into the ground and heap of stones laid thereto for a boundary being at the east side of the fielde commonly (called) White Pockets field; which foremen- tioned boundary said parties have set and made. .and as for the western 'bound of sd Chickemoo; between sd Chickemoo and said lands called Christiantown
This divisional line was more definite than any of the preceding general "testimonies" of Indians and the subject may now be better understood by further reference to the accompanying map of this region.
Although Butler had legislated himself out of Chilmark and into Tisbury, yet he was between two fires and still a lawful denizen of an outlying section of Chilmark. This latter town "rated" him as did Tisbury, owing to the fact of one community holding jurisdiction over a portion within
1Tisbury Records, 149.
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History of Martha's Vineyard
the bounds of another.1 To add to the anomalous situation Chilmark was not an incorporated township under the Massa- chusetts law. It was still the Manor of Tisbury doing busi- ness as a town. Consequently Butler refused to pay taxes to Chilmark and did pay the assessments laid on his property by the Tisbury tax gatherers. In order to free himself of legal or financial consequences he made a further agreement with the townsmen of Tisbury: -
it is voted at a Legal Town meeting held this 14th day of May 1708. that whereas Captain Thomas Butler having been Rated divers years to Two towns to witt Tisbury and Chilmark to his grate detrement & and damage and now the saide thomas butler doth freely put himself under this Town Tisbury for the futter in the payment of all publique Taxes, wherefore it is now voted that the saide Thomas butler shall sit Rate free in this Town for the space of three years and halfe after the date of these preasents provided that Chilmark doth wholly omit Rateing the said Butler till such time as the bounds be setled between Tisbury and Chil- mark on the Est side of Tisbury2
EARLY SETTLERS.
With the advent of the century there were two known families resident in Chickemmoo, John Daggett's and Thomas Butler's, comprising twenty souls. The next person to acquire property here was Ebenezer Allen (7) of Chilmark, who bought out' the entire homestead holdings of John Daggett "esteemed to be worth £300," in December, 1705, and several years later Daggett removed to Attleborough, Mass., where he thenceforth resided. It is not believed that Ebenezer Allen came here to live, as he was a land speculator in all the Vineyard towns. Isaac Chase (22) purchased in ·1706 a portion of his father's tract and probably settled there, as his widow and children occupied the premises after his death. In 1711 James Cottle (10), who had lived in the Keephigon district of Chilmark, made the first of a number of purchases here including land adjoining the Black Water brook and
1In observance of advice from her Maiesties Court of quarter sessions held at Edgertown in March 1707 to the sellect men of Tisbury to chuse and nominat men of this Town to Joyne with men Chosen and appointed by the Town of Chilmark to setle the bounds between Tisbury and Chekemoo being part of Chilmark it is voted at a Town meeting that Joseph daggit and John Manter Junier shall serve and act in that affaire for this Town Tisbury (Tisbury Records, 55).
"Tisbury Records, 56. The Chilmark records contain only a brief reference ralative to this controversy, but they do not begin till 1704, and therefore subsequent to its inception. In March, 1708, Pain Mayhew and Ebenezer Allen were chosen "to run a line between Tisbury and Thomas Butler" (p. 9).
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Annals of West Tisbury
bordering on the Sound. This land has been identified with the Cottle family ever since, through its occupation by his descendants. Henry Luce (7), next in point of time, bought in 1718 one hundred acres east of Savage's line bounded south by the Homes Hole path. In 1720 Ichabod Allen (9), younger brother of Ebenezer, also of Chilmark, bought all of the John Daggett purchase made by his brother fifteen years previously, and thenceforth became a resident of this section. The same year William Swain of Nantucket acquired two hundred acres bordering on Tashmoo pond, part of the Chase
HOME OF CAPT. NATHAN SMITH (CHICKEMMOO). IN REVOLUTIONARY DAYS.
property, but it is not known that he came here to reside. Samuel Merry (8) came next in 1723, purchasing a tract adjoining Ichabod Allen, and his descendants occupied it for several generations. In the next three years came Samuel Hatch (44) and his brother Zaccheus (47) from Falmouth, and they were owners of a large tract bounded east by Savage's line and extending from the Neconaca Head line to the Sound.
Samuel died in 1739 and his brother had removed, prob- ably before this. Next in order of time came Joshua Weeks, a miller, who in 1726 bought sixty acres, just south of the
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History of Martha's Vineyard
Hatch's tract. Whence he migrated is not known, but he had married before 1710 Abigail West (II), daughter of Dr. Thomas, of Homes Hole, and they were members of the Sab- batarian church in Newport at that time. Samuel Coffin of Nantucket bought two hundred acres of the Chases, bordering on the Sound, but he is believed to have been a non-resident owner. Joseph Parker came from Falmouth in 1730 and purchased the land previously owned by the Hatch brothers. He sold it to Thomas Smith (355) of Edgartown in 1734 and it was occupied by the descendants of the latter for several generations. It was the home of Deacon Ransford (410) and Capt. Nathan Smith (415) of the Revolutionary period. Jonathan Dunham (60) in 1735 bought thirty acres of Thomas Smith's lot and remained until 1743, when he removed to Sharon, Conn. In 1737 Bryant Cartwright, son-in-law of Joshua Weeks, bought a part of the Weeks' property and resided on it for about forty years. He was also a Sabbatarian Baptist and before 1767 removed to Hopkinton, R. I. Na- thaniel Pease (140), long a resident of Edgartown, bought the Jonathan Dunham house and farm in 1743, but it is not certain that he removed to Chickemmoo to reside. In 1745 John Lewis, perhaps of Yarmouth, Cape Cod, came here and purchased a shore lot in the eastern half of the Chase property. In 1747 the brothers Eliakim (420) and Peter Norton (421) made the first of a number of purchases here and Eliakim became a resident. With his brother he owned 120 acres jointly, and 400 acres individually. John Mayhew (120) was a purchaser in 1748, but it is not believed that he removed hither from his home in Chilmark. This property was deeded in 1756 to his son Malatiah (270), who disposed of it six years later.
These were the proprietors and settlers of Chickemmoo up to 1750, and at that date, reckoning the known families resident in this district, there was a population of about 150 persons.
CHICKEMMOO ANNEXED TO TISBURY
The incongruous isolation of this section from the parent town of Chilmark became a source of great inconvenience to the people of Chickemmoo as the settlement here grew in population, and in 1736 they prepared a petition, headed by David Butler, Ichabod Allen and others,
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Annals of West Tisbury
shewing that they live Eight Miles from the Meeting House in said Town, and but four from Tisbury Meeting House, which they must pass by in their Travell to Chilmark; And therefore praying That the whole Tract of Land called Checkamo with their Inhabitants and their Estates may be sett off from Chilmark and Annexed to the Town of Tisbury.
This was heard by the General Court, "together with the Answer of Payne Mayhew Esqr,"1 and the matter being fully considered, the following law was enacted Dec. 30, 1736:
Ordered that the prayer of the petitioners be so far granted as that the pet'rs with their Estates lying in the place Mentioned be and hereby are to all Intents and purposes Set off from the Town of Chilmark and Annexed to the Town of Tisbury for the future; provided the pet'rs be and hereby are held and subjected to the payment of all Rates & Taxes what soever which have hitherto been Assessed on them by the Town of Chilmark, or otherwise by Order of Law.2
The separation was probably a relief to Chilmark, and if we may judge from the town records, Chickemmoo oc- cupied very little space in the calculations of the townsmen. The name does not occur half a dozen times up to the transfer of jurisdiction.
From this date the history of the Chickemmoo district is a part of the annals of Tisbury and it will not be further considered separately from the town at large. In the division of the old town of Tisbury in 1892 this ancient district was bisected and it has consequently come to be a part of three towns in its existence, Chilmark, Tisbury and West Tisbury.
1The Chilmark records have no reference to this matter.
2Province Laws, Chap. CXVIII (1736). As showing the slow rate of dissem- ination of news at that time a deed dated in Oct. 20, 1737, nearly one year after recites that the land is "in Checamoot late of Chilmark but now Supposed to be of Tisbury" (Deeds, VI, 200).
OLD CURB WELL, WEST TISBURY.
147
.
ANNALS OF CHILMARK
:
ANNALS OF CHILMARK.
NASHOWAKEMMUCK.
This was the Indian name for Chilmark, although the bounds of the section known to the Indians as Nashowakem- muck do not entirely correspond to the present limits of this town. This name of the greater part of Chilmark is formed of two Algonquian words, Nashowa- and kemmuck, meaning "the half way house," the significance of which is not clear. It may have referred to a school house, or an Indian house or stockade.
BOUNDARIES.
As defined in the charter of Tisbury Manor, in 1671, this region was bounded as follows: "beginning at a Place called Wakachakoyck & goeth to the River Arkspah, running from the said Wakachakoyck by a straight line to the middle of the Island, where is the middle line that divides the Land of Towtoe and others & the Land sold to the said Thomas Mayhew and from the Place that line meeteth the middle Lyne soe dividing the land as aforesaid to goe to the Harbour on the North side of the Island called Wawattick."
On May 12, 1685, Matthew Mayhew gave the following description of Nashowakemmuck: "The land called Nasho- wakemmuck, bounded easterly by the bounds of line between Takemmy or Tisbury and the said Nashowakemmuck; south- erly by the sea; northerly by a line called the Middle Line, beginning at a rock which parteth, or is bound between the north and south partition of that part of the said Island of Martin's Vineyard, and from thence extending westardly, as the line hath been run or set until it meet with a line to be drawn from the harbour on the north side of the Island, called Waweaktick, to the westermost part of the fence, now standing on the south side of the Island, called Wesquobscutt now or late in the tenure or occupation of Nathaniel Skiff; which
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History of Martha's Vineyard
said line so to be drawn is the western bounds of the said lands."
Chilmark was a unique town, territorially, for many years, as it comprised three outlying tracts, widely separated, viz: Chickemmoo, which was within the corporate limits of Tisbury, Nomans Land and the Elizabeth Islands. In 1736 Chickem- moo was made a part of Tisbury, and in 1864 the town of Gosnold was formed from the Elizabeth Islands. Including Nomans Land, which still remains to her of her ancient possessions, the town boundaries on the east, adjoining Tisbury, have not changed. The western boundaries are at Menemsha creek, thence by a line drawn through the Menemsha pond to the narrowest part of Nashowaquidset neck where it joins Gay Head; thence across in a straight line to Squibnocket pond; thence southerly across to the point near the old house of Abner Mayhew; thence northerly to the northwest corner of the pond; thence across the beach to the sea in a south- west direction, as marked by stones.
CHILMARK.
This name is first given to the Manor of Tisbury in a deed from Thomas Mayhew to Daniel Stewart, March 26, 1680, where Mayhew calls himself "of the town of Chilmark in the Manor of Tysbery." It is mentioned in another deed under date of April 1, 1693, and appears on Simon Athearn's map of 1694. The reason for the bestowal of this name is found in its relation to the Mayhew family at the time Thomas Mayhew lived in the adjoining parish of Tisbury. It was undoubtedly found that confusion arose from the use of the names of Tisbury Manor and Tisbury, a condition which Mayhew remedied by reviving the old familiar title of one of the ancestral homes of his family.
THE ENGLISH CHILMARK.
The earliest record of this parish is in the Saxon Chart- ulary of Wilton Abbey, in which King Athelstan makes a grant of the place called "Childmearc." In the Domesday Book it is designated as Chilmerc, and is placed among the lands of the church of Wilton. It then contained fourteen ploughlands, fifteen villagers, twelve borderers and twelve freedmen, occupying twelve ploughlands. The mill paid
4
8
VILLAGE STREET, CHILMARK, ENG.
Łi
Annals of Chilmark
twelve shillings. "Here are," it records, "five acres of meadow and ten acres of thorns."
In "Nomina Villarum" it is mentioned as belonging to the Abbey of Wilton, until the 35th year of King Henry VIII (1545), when it, with the site of the monastery of Wilton and divers other manors, was granted to William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, and his wife. The church living is still a gift of the Earls of Pembroke.1
The church is dedicated to S. Margaret, and is an inter- esting example of early ecclesiastical architecture. It is cruciform in shape, with a steeple, having a clock, rising from the junction of the nave and transept. The doorway is or- namented with curious effigies carved in stone, supporting the arches. The rector has as a residence a beautiful stone house of Elizabethan architecture, situated on the glebe of the parish. The village is quiet and picturesque, apparently devoted to bucolic pursuits. Its population in 1800 was 406 and in 1886 was 554, about the same general size as our own New England Chilmark. It was the birth place of Thomas Macy, the well known settler of Nantucket, and a cousin of our Thomas Mayhew. Macy stones are to be seen in the church-yard now.2
POPULATION.
Chilmark was the last of the three original towns to become settled, and it is not until toward the end of the 17th century that any appreciable population resided in its limits.3 By reference to the genealogies of the families known to have been living here in 1700, a total of 73 persons can be counted at that date. This makes no account of "others" who may have been here in the capacity of teachers, servants or laborers on the farms, exclusive of Indians. Perhaps ten or a dozen more, at the outside, would cover this class of transient resi- dents. That Chilmark increased more rapidly than the other towns in population in this century is known from taxation and valuation lists, but no definite statistics are available
1Hoare, History of Wiltshire, IV, 124.
2A will of Thomas Maycie of Chilmark, dated 1575, was found by the author during his visit to England. It mentions sons Thomas, John, Philip and William, . one of whom was probably the father of the Nantucket settler.
3In 1692 there were about twenty families residing in Tisbury and Chilmark, the exact number in each not known. It is not far from the actual truth to divide this number in two and thus give twelve and eight respectively to these adjoining settlements. We can thus estimate about 40 persons living in Chilmark at that date.
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History of Martha's Vineyard
until 1757 in an "alarm list" of males which numbers 91 able to respond. Using 5 as a multiple we have a total of 455 souls at this date. The Provincial census of 1765 is more accurate and from this we obtain the following figures :- families, 114, comprising a total of 546 souls living in 90 houses. Of these 159 were males and 179 females above sixteen years of age; 152 male and 156 female below sixteen ; 17 negroes (9 male and 8 female) and 188 Indians, of whom 72 were male and 116 female.
This mePuder lands is confir? un jostled but is in property Er a fore made a Gróf gland by the people of Chilmark and Charmante is Fenced by the fame undown ,Que peculiar improvements
This included is by pattant Called y mannow of liffury and names Chilmark and) includes ChilRomeo and to nathan Ilsommm mmm m
ANCIENT PLAN OF CHILMARK, 1694. DRAWN BY SIMON ATHEARN
It was the second town in population at that date, though the large proportion of Indians living here accounts for this lead over Tisbury. Ten years later, in 1776, the population is estimated at about 700, or about one quarter of the entire enumeration of the island.
The first national census of 1790 gives us the enumeration by names, and from this the following statistics are drawn: total population 770 (whites), of which number there were 199 males above sixteen years, 157 below sixteen and 404 "free white" females. There were ten "other free persons," presumably negroes.
6
Annals of Chilmark
The following figures show the population of Chilmark as enumerated in the decennial censuses of the United States from 1800 to the present time :-
In 1800 it was 800; in 1810, 723; in 1820, 695; in 1830, 691; in 1840, 702; in 1850, 747; in 1860, 654; in 1870, 476; in 1880, 494; in 1890, 353; and in 1900, 324.
Chilmark has had an irregular but steady decrease in population since 1800, although the two towns of Gosnold and Gay Head were formed from this population, which in a large measure accounts for losses since 1860. The state census of 1905 showed a population of 322.
The crude but valuable sketch plan of Chilmark in 1694 (on the preceding page) is the earliest one of its kind known to the author, and it is a part of a rough map of the whole island. The legends on the plan are as follows :-
This included lands is considrd unsettled but is in propr(ie)ty by a fenc(e) made a Cross the Iland by the people of Chilmark and Chilmark is fenced by the same under their peculiar improvement.
This. included is by pattant Called the mannor of tisbury and named Chilmark and includes Chikkemoo and the Nashan Ilse.
Seven houses are shown on the south road, one near the present Middle road, and two in the Keephiggon district, ten in all. The houses on the south road can in part be identified as the residences of James Allen, Nathaniel Skiff, Benjamin Skiff, Nathan Skiff, Rev. Rodolphus Thatcher, and probably Thomas Mayhew and Nathan Bassett. The house in the region of New Mill river is that of Richard Ellingham, and in Kephigon of Samuel Tilton.
ANCIENT LANDMARKS. ALGONQUIAN PLACE NAMES.
Arkessah-Arkspah. - In the grant of the Manor of Tisbury, dated July 8, 1671, the "river Arkspah running from the said Wakachakoyck" is mentioned, as one of the bounds of Nashowakemmuck. As far as known this is the only occurrence of this name as applied to a place in Chilmark. As written in the patent of the manor it is probably an error for Arkessah made by the clerk or copyist who engrossed the document, due to ignorance of Indian names. In the opinion of the author it is an abbreviation of Wachap-Arkessah, the Algonquian name for Pease's brook.
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History of Martha's Vineyard
Keephikkon. - This place is mentioned in 1663 (Dukes Deeds, I, 93). This word has a great variety of forms, Keep- hickon (1671), Keipheigon (1675), Cephecand (1678) and Ciphecan (1684). The modern spelling, Cape Higgon, is a blunder, similar to the error made in Cape Poge. It means "an artificial enclosure," and the word refers to the land purchased by Thomas Mayhew of the Indians in 1663, which was enclosed by a fence. In the Delaware dialect it is Kup-hei-gan, and in Otchipwe it is K-pah-i-kan, all meaning "something that shuts in."
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