USA > Massachusetts > Dukes County > Marthas Vineyard > The history of Martha's Vineyard, Dukes County, Massachusetts, Volume II > Part 51
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2There was an impression, although not a very prevalent one that at sometime late in the eighteenth century, Dr. Thomas Coke, afterwards Bishop, stopped in a partially wrecked vessel at Homes Hole, when passing along the coast. But of the correctness of this tradition there is no substantial evidence. Following him in all his nine voyages to America, there is nothing to indicate that he ever came to our island under any circumstances.
3Stevens, Memorials of Methodism, I, 328.
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History of Martha's Vineyard
probably held meetings here, and one of the earliest, if not the first, to embrace the faith and teachings of this sect was Joseph Linton, whose house was used for the public services. In 1821 a "class" was in existence, and the itinerant for that year makes numerous references to meetings which he con- ducted on "the east side of the harbor."1 Private houses continued to be used until about 1840, when a small structure was built on the old road leading to Cottage City.2 The lead- ing spirit in this local mission at this time was "Uncle" Jere- miah Pease who drove up from Edgartown every Sunday for years and preached in this rude structure,"without money and without price." His only reward was a bountiful dinner at "Brother" Linton's, after service. In 1842 the Rev. John Adams notes in his journal a visit to Eastville after an absence of twenty years and adds: "I preached in the little Methodist house to twenty-four hearers." This may be an indication of the numerical strength of the society at that date.
The development of the annual camp meeting services about this time and the growth of the settlement about Squash Meadow pond, which subsequently became known as Oak Bluffs, resulted in the abandonment of the building and the discontinuance of services here. After a fitful career this little meeting house passed into the hands of the Ladies Aid Society of the M. E. Church of Cottage City. In 1888 the disused building was purchased by Mr. T. W. Chapman, who moved it to the Vineyard Highlands, where it forms the main part of the house now occupied by his daughter. It still shows the remains of hand hewn shingles and hand-wrought nails on its roof.
THE BAPTIST CHURCH
From all the information obtainable it is not understood that there was any organized church of this denomination in this settlement. The persons holding that belief, resident here, were members of the societies already formed in Tisbury or Edgartown, and merely joined in a temporary manner for convenience of worship.3 Services were held in private
1John Adams, Autobiography, Vol. I, passin. The meetings in 1821-2 were all held "at Brother Linton's."
2This building had no pretensions to architectural beauty, being without belfry or other ornaments usual in houses of worship.
3One of the earliest members of this church was "Daddy" Richardson. His views were characteristically expressed when he said that "Nobody could be baptized in a pint porringer."
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Annals of Oak Bluffs
houses before 1840, usually conducted by a lay member. About 1845 a small edifice was erected by Mr. Obed Luce from the contributions of the worshippers and their friends, aided by volunteer labor. It was built on the old road leading from Eastville to Cottage City, on land owned by Mr. Shaw Norris, who gave the use of it, free of rent. Itinerant preachers of this denomination held services here from time to time to supplement the regular supply of the laity. Jesse Pease was an early preacher, followed by Tristram Cleveland, Solomon Athearn, and John Mayhew. This chapel was a small un- painted structure without ornamentation. The passing away of these laborers and the improved church privileges at the Wesleyan Grove camp ground caused the abandonment of this primitive structure and the services of these earnest lay exhorters.
The abandoned edifice was sold by the surviving mem- bers to Benjamin A. Norton, who dismantled it and hauled it to North Tisbury, where it forms the main portion of his house.
TAVERNS
The only public houses in this town, prior to the growth of Oak Bluffs, in the last half century were situated at East- ville. This place was a hamlet made up mostly of taverns and ship chandlers' shops, where the seafaring man was ac- customed to tarry voluntarily, or by force of circumstances. East Indiamen, with their rich cargoes, anchored off this compact village awaiting orders from Boston or Salem, or to recruit their stores with fresh supplies of food and raiment. Beef, mutton, poultry, vegetables, corn, rye and other island produce found a ready sale, for cash, or in exchange for rum, sugar, coffee and other "foreign" luxuries. It was the custom in those early days for the captains and crews of these ships from foreign ports to remain on shore while in the harbor, and these homely taverns gave ample entertainment, with their huge fireplaces, bountiful kitchens and general good cheer. An itinerant tailoress or a cobbler was usually within call to make or repair a depleted outfit, and the housewife, aided by an Indian woman and some of her older daughters, managed this motley household without friction or loss of dignity.
The following named persons were licensed innholders in the precinct of Eastville by the County Court for the years specified :
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History of Martha's Vineyard
Thomas Claghorn 1730-83; who was succeeded by his widow, Susannah Claghorn, 1784-6; John Cunningham, 1731-2; John Cousins, 1731-65; Thomas Pease, Jr., 1751-87; David Davis, 1759-67; who was succeeded by his widow, Sarah Davis, 1768-87; Ebenezer Smith, 1786-1806;1 Malatiah Davis, 1798-1806. Most of these taverns were in one neighbor- hood, convenient for the shipping interests, which furnished the most of their patronage. That they were the scenes of jollity at night when "Jack" came ashore is evident from what we know of their character. John Cousins was indicted in 1733 "for sufering Disorders in suffering fidling, singing
THE CLAGHORN TAVERN, BUILT ABOUT 1730. NOW THE OLIVER LINTON HOUSE.
& Dancing" in his tavern, but the jury acquitted him. The subsequent owners of these houses continued the business of tavern keeping till about the middle of the last century. One still survives, the Eastville Inn (1907), as a last relic of this interesting neighborhood of taverns.
THE FIRST MARINE HOSPITAL, 1798
It need not be said that old "Homes' Hole" is and was the greatest haven for storm- and tide-bound coasters along
1It was at the tavern of Ebenezer Smith, during the War of 1812, that Captain James Lawrence, U.S.N., was a frequent guest. During one of these visits, in 1814, a son was born, who was given the name of James Lawrence in honor of this dis- tinguished officer. It is stated that the gallant sailor made a present to his namesake, besides cutting off a gold button from his coat as a token of the event. This boy was the late Capt. James Lawrence Smith of Vineyard Haven.
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Annals of Oak Bluffs
the New England shores. Then, as now, the sick or disabled sailor was put ashore here for care and treatment, and at the period which we are considering he was "boarded out" at one house or another under the supervision of the local phy- sician. It was often impossible to obtain shelter for them when they were suffering from contagious diseases, for it must be remembered that small pox was then a prevalent scourge, as the practice of vaccination had not become established in this country. The Vineyard had suffered from it in 1738, in con- sequence of an epidemic introduced by a sick sailor who was put ashore at Homes' Hole in December of that year. No shelter could be obtained for him, and he was sent back again to the vessel, which was bound for Boston, where the man was detained at quarantine until he recovered [Records, Selectmen of Boston, 1738, vol. xv., p. 88]. Several persons died in this epidemic, including the local physician, Dr. Mat- thews, and many families had two and three of these cases at one time in their houses. Doubtless this incident was repeated often during the last century, and the danger of promiscuous "boarding out" of sick sailors, the inhumanity of turning them away when sick with contagious diseases, stimulated the leading citizens to meet the necessity of establishing a marine hospital at Homes' Hole. The following memorial was presented to the General Court in January, 1798:
To the Honbl. Senate and house of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts now sitting in Boston:
The memorial of the Subscribers Justices of the Court of Common Pleas and General Sess. of the Peace in Duke's County shows that they from a sence of their Duty and out of Humanity to their fellow men think it Highly Necessary that a Hospitle should be built on the Island of Mar- tha's Vineyard for the Reception of Such Sick Seafaring men as frequently arrive at the harbour of Holms hole with the Small Pox and other Con- tagious Distempers who cannot always git received on Shore by reason of the great Difficulty in gitting houses theefor. We should further Sug- gest that the West side of Holmes-hole Harbour would be much the most Convenient place for such a Building.
Martha's Vineyard, January, 20th, 1798.
(signed) JAMES ATHEARN, SHUBAEL COTTLE, BENJA. BASSETT, BERIAH NORTON.
In less than a month favorable action was taken by the General Court upon this memorial, and on February 17, the following order was passed:
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History of Martha's Vineyard
Resolved. For the reason set forth in said memorial, that an hospital shall be built on the Island of Martha's Vineyard at or near the harbour of Holmes Hole, for the reception of such sick persons as may arrive there from sea, that the same shall be erected at the discretion and under the direction of his Excellency the Governor of this Commonwealth, and that his Excellency be requested to appoint some suitable agent or agents for the purpose of carrying this resolve into effect, and that there be allowed and paid out of the public Treasury, a sum not exceeding seven hundred dollars, to defray the expense thereof.1
In accordance with the authority vested in him by this resolve, the Governor, Increase Sumner, appointed two agents for superintending the construction of the hospital, viz:
Council Chamber, Boston, Feby. 17, 1798.
In pursuance to the above Resolve, I do hereby appoint James Athearn, Esq., of Tisbury, and Beriah Norton, Esq., of Edgartown, agents for the purpose of carrying this Resolve into effect and the said agents are hereby directed to make a return of their doings to me as soon as they can conveniently. (Council Files, 1798).
Notwithstanding the petition asked the General Court to locate the hospital on the west side of the harbor (now Vine- yard Haven), the agents purchased one half acre of land border- ing on the Lagoon (then a part of Edgartown) of Malatiah Davis, Esq., of Edgartown.2 From the widow Jane Smith and her son Ebenezer they bought a "low double" house then standing on the Highlands of East Chop for the sum of $210, and from the testimony of an aged man, the grandson of Malatiah Davis, we learn that this house was moved across the fields and set in place upon the site selected.
The account printed below gives the complete expenses of the commissioners, and shows that they were a little over a year completing their task. The account is especially remark- able, however, from the fact that the building was constructed within the appropriation. *
DR. THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS IN AN ACCT. WITH JAMES ATHEARN & BERIAH NORTON, AGENTS APPOINTED TO BUILD A HOSPITAL.
1798.
March. To Cash paid for House for Hospital as per apprizal. . $210.00 66 66 Willm. Jernegan & Thos. Beetle for app'g
house 3-50
66 for Land for Hospital as per Deed Treasr. office 25.00 1Mass. Resolves, IX, 402.
2Paying therefor $25.00, and the deed conveying the property to Peleg Coffin, Treasurer and Receiver General of the Commonwealth is recorded in the County registry, Vol. XIII, folio 538.
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Annals of Oak Bluffs
April. To Office paid James Coffin
pr. Receipt
$9.00
66
Ichabod Cleaveland .. 66
4.00
66 Joseph Claghorn
36.22
May.
66 Jonathan Fish
1.00
Benjamin Smith 66
66
19.44
Benjamin Smith, Jr.
26.92
June. 66 66
Thomas Jones
Ebenezer Jones 66
28.33
Augt.
66
66
13.00 Bays Norton for Diging Clay 1.50, Do.rum25 1 -75 James Coffin -pr. Receipt 5.25
16.50
Uriah Coffin
40.20
Timothy Coffin
4.47
66 66
Malatiah Davis
20.00
60 Benjamin Davis יו
9.08
Sept.
66
66 66
Joseph Hammit.
66
3-75
To cash
Joseph Dexter for Iron Bar
I.IO
Nov.
William Merry
pr. Receipt 66
6.00
Malatiah Davis
61.63
Thomas Jernigan 66
2.00
for Duck for a cot made by Thos. Jernigan 1.83
66
66 Black Sam,for clearing & cleaning Hospitle, &c
1.50 James Athearn, 4 Days attending Business 8.00
1612 Days Myself overseing & assisting, &c., &c., at $2
33.00
" Cash paid Samuel Smith, Regester for Record'g Deed -50
Im. Laths $2, to Elijah Daggett, 38ct., to Elijah Hill- man 46. 2.84
" Cash paid Joseph Hammitt for Jos. Dexter pr.Receipt I-75
$674.52
To Commission Rec'g & Paying Money & settling, &c.,
CR 1798. March.
By Cash recd. of Peleg Coffin, Treasurer, by Warrant from the Governor Agreeable to a Resolve of the Gen- eral Court Past in Febury Last -$700.00 By an overcharge, pd. Jos. Hammett Rect. once & charged a second time without a voucher 1.75
The aforegoing is a true acct. Errors Excepted
(signed) JAMES ATHEARN, BERIAH NORTON.
.
.63
Jany. I, '99. To
66
66 David Coffin, Jr.
1.34
Rufus Davis.
5.25
Joseph Holley
I-75
Joseph Dexter
28-33
Thos. Jones, $19.83 pr. Do. Do. Ebenr. Jones39.66 Thomas Pease for Building Chimney
66
66
Jethro Worth
51
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History of Martha's Vineyard
This building was put to immediate use, and adjoining it a little cemetery was early begun by a local physician who had the charge of the institution. A well preserved slate stone records the following epitaph to the memory of probably the first sailor who died in the hospital: 1
IN MEMORY OF SAMUEL LOCKWOOD OF ST. JOHN, NEW BRUNSWICK, who departed this life October 28, 1801, Aged, 42 yrs., 5 mos., 15 dys.
Unfortunately no records of the hospital are known to be extant, and nothing remains of a period so far back, except- ing some few accounts and letters about the years 1826 to 1830 in the files of the Custom House. By that time, however, the old hospital had been abandoned as such, according to the memory of an old resident (Mr. Ichabod Luce), who thinks that it was occupied as far back as 1824 by an old fisherman (one "Daddy" Richardson), as a residence. Others confirm this evidence that it was abandoned as a hospital after a number of years, and after the death of Richardson it remained un- occupied and later was razed to the ground.2 An old cellar, which still marks its site, and near by a few grave stones, moss covered and out of plumb, are the only existing memorials of the first hospital for sailors built upon the Vineyard, and the second in the United States, specially designed for the sailor in his days of sickness, the pioneer of the system of Marine Hospitals which, for nearly a century, has ministered to his wants.3
1There is also a stone in this enclosure to the memory of John Gates, of Portsmouth, N. H., "who died at sea April 30, 1828, aged 44." It bears a masonic emblem.
2George ("Daddy") Richardson was remarkable for his memory of the Scriptures, and many believed he could repeat the whole Bible as he never hesitated to give without error any chapter called for. He knitted seines and presumably acted as nurse in the hospital.
3The honor of its possession belongs to the State of Virginia, which, Dec. 20, 1787 passed a law establishing a marine hospital and authorizing the appointment of a com- mission by the Governor to select a site in the town of Washington, County of Norfolk, Virginia (Hening's "Statutes at Large," Vol. XII, p. 494). In the "New Hampshire Spy" of Nov. 4, 1788, there will be found a letter from Norfolk, under date of Sept. 24, 1788, which contains a paragraph relating to the laying of the corner-stone of this hospital. It was completed the next year and in 1801 sold to the United States.
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Annals of Oak Bluffs
THE STRANGE STORY OF JOHN COUSENS
Over the early settlement of this hamlet the mysterious advent of John Cousens, and his selection of the Vineyard as his permanent home, casts a romantic shadow. To begin with his antecedents and progenitors we must go far away to the Spanish main for a background, and as far back as 1667, see the beginning of his complex ancestry. Capt. William San- ford, an English master mariner, commanding the Pink "Susannah," lay at anchor in the River Surinam, Dutch Guiana, and on March 27 of the year mentioned, married Sarah Whartman on board his craft. The next year he came to New Jersey, bought a large tract of land at New Barbadoes and settled down to the life of a gentleman planter. Here was born to him a daughter, Grace, who grew to womanhood, and when this period arrived there came to the Province of New York to rule it as the Royal Governor, Richard Earl of Bello- mont, sent over by King William and Queen Mary. In his suite of officials was Barne Cosens of London, who came as secretary to the Earl and served as Clerk of the Provincial Council. He was the second son of John and Mary (Barne) Cosens of the parish of St. Clement Danes, London, born about 1674, and while it is not known that his father's people were specially prominent, it can be said that the Barnes were of high social standing in the English metropolis. Three of them had served as Lord Mayor of London within the century before the birth of Barne Cosens, and a number of them enjoyed the honors of knighthood. On April 28, 1697, this favored member of the Royal Governor's entourage led Grace Sanford to the altar, and we may assume for the present that there was the usual domestic bliss following the union. At all events three children were born to Barne and Grace (San- ford) Cosens, Mary, John (1700), and Sarah, and then trouble ensued between the parents. What it was we cannot say, but Barne Cosens evidently considered it necessary to leave on public record his last words of condemnation of his wife and the mother of his offspring. After the death of Bellomont, in 1701, Barne Cosens remained in office under his successor and served as Escheator General for three years, and then shortly after returned to England, never to revisit these shores. Before he sailed away he drew up his will, Dec. 5, 1706, as "about to take a voyage to England," and after making bequests to his three children added the provision regarding his wife that she
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History of Martha's Vineyard
"shall not on any acco't whatsoever have or obtain Letters of Administration of my will or of my estate or have anything to doe with the education of my children or any of them."1 Barne Cosens left this stigma on his family escutcheon and went home to die. He deceased between that date and late in 1709, when the widow Grace, "of the Cittie of New York widow and Relict of Barney Cousens," made her last will and testament. In it she bequeathed to her daughters "all that my one Third part of my Late husbands estate which ought of Right to belong unto me;" and to her son John is devised the sum of £50, besides other amounts to relatives.2 She survived until 1721, when her will was probated, and the only son had arrived at his majority. Shortly after he had left the oppor- tunities and advantages of the American metropolis, and before 1725 we find him hidden from the world in the little hamlet on the west shore of Homes Hole.3 Why did this scion of these gentle families so closely associated with the official court circles of England come to this distant isle of the sea and make it his home? Was it to obtain forgetfulness and oblivion for some family skeleton? We may never know, but the rest of his life is an open book. He married, about 1725, Jemima (102), daughter of Thomas and Hepsibah (Skiff) Norton, and thereafter the couple lived at Eastville, where three daughters were born to them. John Cousens kept a tavern, as was the fashion in those days, for over thirty years, until his death, which occurred Nov. 1, 1765, in the 65th year of his age, and his wife survived him scarcely four years. His daughter Mary married Moses Ogden of Elizabeth, New Jersey, and from her descend many distinguished families of New York, including Pierrepont Edwards, Governor and Senator Edwards of Connecticut, the wife of Eli Whitney the inventor, and John Cosens Ogden, the author and divine. The next daughter, Anne Frances, married Colonel Beriah Norton, and Sarah the third daughter, married David Davis of Eastville. John Cousens was not a tavern keeper nor a wrecker by birth or association, and his life of exile on the Vineyard, away from kith and kin, doubtless conceals some strange secret. It is doubtful if anything more definite will ever be known which can throw further light on the subject. The moss-grown slate over his grave tells us but little, but
1N. V. Surrogate Records, VII, 555. 2N. Y. County Deeds, XXX, 178. 3Dukes Deeds, IV, 222.
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Annals of Oak Bluffs
we can believe that it marks the last resting place of a descendant of the Lords Mayor of London.1 Surely a strange story for this sedate island.
THE WENDELL-DAVISES
Another family of New York origin, possibly related to the Cousens of the same state, became settlers of Eastville about 1750, and for several generations were identified with it. The first of the name in this country is said by family tradition to have been Barné or Barney Davis, a surveyor, who settled in Albany, N. Y., and left a son, Thomas. The further tradition is that this Thomas married Catherine Wendell, but it is evident that the tradition is partially wrong, as the records do not bear out the statement. Catherine, daughter of Evert Jansen and Maritje (Abrahamse) Wendell of Albany, born 1667, married Thomas Millington in 1699, and had among others Mayeke (Mary), baptized April 28, 1700, and she is the one who probably married Thomas Davis. This merely places Catherine Wendell one generation back. Thomas and Mary (Millington) Davis had two sons baptized in Albany, Thomas, Aug. 26, 1722, and David, Sept. 13, 1724, and shortly after the family of seven children removed to North Carolina. They settled at Yeopim on Albemarle Sound in that state, where the two boys, Thomas and David, lived until they were brought North, about 1737, to Plymouth, Mass., to be educated. Thomas remained in Plymouth, married there and became the ancestor of a distinguished family, including Judge John Davis and William T. Davis, the historian of his native town. David later settled on the Vineyard at Eastville, where he engaged in the occupation of pilot until his death in 1768, being lost in Boston bay in a storm. He married Sarah, daughter of John Cousens, Oct. 3, 1750, and two of his children, bearing the names of Wendell and Sanford, and their descendants perpetuate the names of their paternal and maternal ancestors to this day.
Descendants of the sons and daughters who remained in North Carolina are to be found in that State, as well as in Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. The name, however, has become almost extinct upon the Vineyard.
1The town clerks, parsons and stonecutters of Edgartown, and all who had to record the unusual name of his grandson, Barne Cosens Norton, struggled hard to make it Barnabas, thinking it was a contraction of the biblical name. It is probable the name was pronounced in two syllables.
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History of Martha's Vineyard
COL. MALATIAH DAVIS
Melatrah Davis The second family of this name in Eastville, of which Mala- tiah was the progenitor, is not related, as far as known, to the Wendell-Davises who settled here about the same time. It is said that Malatiah came here before 1740 from Falmouth, but it is possible that Falmouth, England is meant, and that he entered the employ of Thomas Butler in the tannery business of the latter. Davis was then about twenty-three years old (born about 1717), and soon after this he married Jemima Dunham (131), by whom he had eight children. He was prosperous and thrifty in business and became a man of prominence in the community, a large land holder and a leader in town affairs. He was identified with the militia, Ensign in 1761, Lieutenant 1765, and was known as "Colonel" in later life, probably through his pro- motion to that rank. He died Jan. 9, 1795, in the 79th year of his age. His son Malatiah married Mary Cousens Davis of the other family, and thus united the two houses of Davis in Eastville.
SAMUEL NORRIS.
The first known ancestor of this family, long distinguished in the annals of Eastville, was Samuel Norris, a carpenter of Freetown, 1715, Dighton, 1720, and Bristol, 1721, whose wife was Rebecca [Howes?]. She died in the latter place March 3, 1745, leaving a son Thomas (b. 1726) among others. This Thomas married Patience, daughter of Thomas Harlock, August II, 1751, in Bristol, and soon after removed to the Vineyard, settling at Edgartown. He was in the French and Indian wars, 1759-60 and died April 10, 1775, aged 49 years. He left eight children of whom Samuel, born 1753, settled in Eastville, married Lucy, daughter of James and Rebecca (Butler) Shaw, and is the ancestor of one of the ablest men ever credited to this town in its recent public life, the Hon. Howes Norris, thrice senator from the Cape District.
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