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Martha's Vineyard
KNOWLEDGE OF Martha's Vineyard
There is something magic about an island, even one tucked so closely to the skirts of Massachusetts as Martha's Vineyard. This refuge from the chaotic mainland is only seven miles off Cape Cod, yet for those who know and love it, this triangular-shaped glacial remnant is another world altogether. The late island sage Henry Beetle Hough, editor of the Vineyard Gazette for several decades, expressed it well: "Modern yet not modern, ancient but not ancient, the island's contradictions are themselves an elusive but genuine expression of an undefeated insularity." Yet for all its isolation, it has attracted multitudes in the last four and a half or so centuries
The written history begins in 1524, when Giovanni da Verrazzano sailed by and may have landed, for he left a map of the coast off which this island, labeled Luisa, is plainly identifiable. It was Bartholomew Gosnold's expedition for Sir Walter Raleigh in 1602 that left the next written record. Two men from the expedition went ashore and reported on "the incredible store of vine and the beautie and delacie of the sweet soile." They also visited with Wampanoag natives ashore and found "our health and strength…renewed and increased." Gosnold named the island Martha's Vineyard, for the prolific vines and, historians believe, his young daughter. (Gosnold is also given credit for naming Cape Cod.)
Forty years later, in 1641, the Rev. Thomas Mayhew of Watertown, Massachusetts purchased the island, along with Nantucket and the Elizabeth Islands, from two English noblemen for 40 pounds. The next year he sent his son Thomas, Jr. with a group of settlers to establish the town of Great Harbour, which became today's Edgartown. These settlers found a large and economically stable native population of about 3,000 living in permanent villages, led by four sachems (chiefs).
Relations between the first settlers and their Wampanoag neighbors were peaceful and courteous. By 1660 there were about 85 white people living peaceably among the natives, earning their living by farming and fishing. The Mayhew family, which from that time forth became an integral part of island history, wanted to share their religion with the natives, but the Wampanoags were not too interested, having a spiritual faith that was very real to them. However, once it was clear that, though Mayhew was the governor, the sachems remained in charge of their people, some became curious about the white man's God. When a native named Hiacoomes expressed an interest, Mayhew invited him into his home and instructed him in English and Christianity. Hiacoomes, in return, taught Mayhew the native language. As soon as Mayhew could converse with the natives, he would some days "walk 20 miles through uncut forests to preach the Gospel...in wigwam or open field," according to Lloyd Hare in Martha's Vineyard, A Short History and Guide.
The written history begins in 1524, when Giovanni da Verrazzano sailed by and may have landed, for he left a map of the coast off which this island, labeled Luisa, is plainly identifiable. It was Bartholomew Gosnold's expedition for Sir Walter Raleigh in 1602 that left the next written record. Two men from the expedition went ashore and reported on "the incredible store of vine and the beautie and delacie of the sweet soile." They also visited with Wampanoag natives ashore and found "our health and strength…renewed and increased." Gosnold named the island Martha's Vineyard, for the prolific vines and, historians believe, his young daughter. (Gosnold is also given credit for naming Cape Cod.)
Forty years later, in 1641, the Rev. Thomas Mayhew of Watertown, Massachusetts purchased the island, along with Nantucket and the Elizabeth Islands, from two English noblemen for 40 pounds. The next year he sent his son Thomas, Jr. with a group of settlers to establish the town of Great Harbour, which became today's Edgartown. These settlers found a large and economically stable native population of about 3,000 living in permanent villages, led by four sachems (chiefs).
Relations between the first settlers and their Wampanoag neighbors were peaceful and courteous. By 1660 there were about 85 white people living peaceably among the natives, earning their living by farming and fishing. The Mayhew family, which from that time forth became an integral part of island history, wanted to share their religion with the natives, but the Wampanoags were not too interested, having a spiritual faith that was very real to them. However, once it was clear that, though Mayhew was the governor, the sachems remained in charge of their people, some became curious about the white man's God. When a native named Hiacoomes expressed an interest, Mayhew invited him into his home and instructed him in English and Christianity. Hiacoomes, in return, taught Mayhew the native language. As soon as Mayhew could converse with the natives, he would some days "walk 20 miles through uncut forests to preach the Gospel...in wigwam or open field," according to Lloyd Hare in Martha's Vineyard, A Short History and Guide.
Chapi