Thomas Dresser - Hidden History of Marthas Vineyard

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2017 by Thomas Dresser

All rights reserved

First published 2017

e-book edition 2017

ISBN 978.1.43966.028.7

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016950697

print edition ISBN 978.1.46713.595.5

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

To the memory of Susan Gamble, whose cheerful manner and indomitable spirit were an inspiration to all who knew her. May she rest in peace, among the flowers.

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

There are ten thousand years of stories on Marthas Vineyard, and yet we know so few of them.

We know the legend of Moshup, who strode across Noepe like a giant when the world was new and pulled whales from the sea by their tails to feed his people. We know that Bartholomew Gosnold sailed here in the name of his dying virgin queen, that he sought gold but found wild grapes and sassafras instead and that he left behind the name of a woman who would never see (let alone set foot on) the island that has borne it ever since. We know the nineteenth-century Methodists and Baptists revival meetings begatto their surprise and, perhaps, dismaya thriving secular resort where bathhouses lined the beaches and dance bands played late into the summer night. And we knoweven if we do not know their namesthe whalers, the Edgartown masters, Gay Head harpooners and Tisbury deckhands who chased their prey to the far corners of the world and retired (if they were lucky) to the shops and farms and fine new homes that whaling money built.

We tell those stories to one anotherin newspapers and town meetings, with wall-spanning murals and bronze plaques by the roadsideas part of our ongoing conversation about who we are as a community. We tell them to visitorsin guidebooks, on bus tours and in posters on the ferriesas we try to convey a glimpse of what the Vineyard is like. We tell them to our children and grandchildren, so that they might one day do the same, beginning with a ritual incantation that is probably as old as language itself: Now, when I was your age We tell them to the worldin books and articles, music and movies, posters and playsso that they might be woven into the vast, neverfinished tapestry of stories that is the history of humankind.

We tell those storieskeep and cherish and hold them in commonbut even as we do, we realize (if we are honest with ourselves) that they are only a tiny fraction of the stories that have unfolded across ten thousand years, on this one-hundred-square-mile triangle of wind- and wave-swept land. Every marker in every island graveyard, every oak timber peeking from the sand after a storm and every stone wall or tumbled foundation hidden in the deep woods points to a new story, waiting to be told. Every packet of letters or box of long-forgotten keepsakes uncovered in a forgotten dresser drawer or dusty attic trunk can be a treasure-trove of new stories or new chapters of familiar ones. The Marthas Vineyard Museum holds thousands of objects and tens of thousands of documents, images and mapsthe tangible traces of countless unrecorded and half-remembered stories, waiting to be told.

Discovering new stories, adding new dimensions to old ones and sharing the results with others are among the great joys of being a historian. Some of us share our discoveries in museum galleries, some behind microphones, some on movie and television screens and some in conversations across library desks. Tom Dresser shares hisin words and carefully chosen imagesin books like this one. There are ten thousand years of stories on Marthas Vineyard, and Tom knows more of them than almost anyone youre likely meet, in person or in print. So turn the page, settle in and let him tell you some.

A. BOWDOIN VAN RIPER

Reference librarian, Marthas Vineyard Museum

Editor, Dukes County Intelligencer

Former adjunct professor of history, Southern Polytechnic State University

PREFACE

An intriguing aspect of living and writing on Marthas Vineyard is the fount of endless avenues of historical research to explore. Marthas Vineyard offers a vista of the grand historical panorama; it truly is a microcosm of the road Americans have traveled. The island presents a panoply of cultural contrast, a diversity of customs and standards comparable to those writ large across our country.

Hidden History of Marthas Vineyard explores five prime topics of historical relevance that share comparative aspects over in America, as Vineyarders speak of the mainland. People who live on Marthas Vineyard realize that life on the Vineyard mirrors what happens on the mainland, with a slight twist. We like to say, Its an island thing to explain or justify why and how life on the Vineyard is a little bit different from life over in America.

An exploration of the derivation of names across the Vineyard, from towns and places of interest to streets, incorporates our Native American past, our colonial heritage and our sense of self.

The Underground Railroad was a small but integral aspect to the abolition of slavery. Escape routes wove across the North, guiding fugitive slaves to freedom. Slavery was an American dilemma, and the Vineyard played a role in that drama.

Like any seaside community, the Vineyard, as an island, has been susceptible to disasters at sea. Shipwrecks off the Vineyard have been numerous, dramatic and memorable.

Buildings offer a place to play and pray, read and sleep, gather and perform, as well as protect and promote us. Structures in the six Vineyard towns secrete histories and mysteries worth exploring. Many buildings with stories concealed in their past are prominent and public.

Finally, we step into Vineyard graveyards, similar to rural settings across New England. Family names repeat, indicating generations who remained in the same area. Native American burial grounds are unnamed and protected, preserving the spirits of the past. Grand monuments share the pride of our forebears while worn gravestones mark the ravishes and weathering of time.

Feel free to dabble in this Hidden History of Marthas Vineyard. Consider the present as we uncover the past. Weave historical relevance into whats happening now, for the past improves our grasp of the present.

This book can be read straight through, though it might be fun to dart from one topic to another. The theme is historical relevance; it is neither sequential nor plot-driven. Read what you want to enjoy first; savor the rest on a revisit.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It takes a village to raise a child; it takes a community to write a book. My gratitude to those who assisted in my effortsand there were manyis sincere.

Perusing the microfiche files of the Vineyard Gazette in the Vineyard Haven Library was an enjoyable task. Hilary Wall at the Vineyard Gazette provided assistance on locating specific archival information. Charlie Kernick permitted reprinting of images from his Marthas Vineyard Antique Photos collection. Bow Van Ryper and Bonnie Stacey of the Marthas Vineyard Museum assisted with images. And Connie Sanborn gave me her trove of old photographs. To you all, I extend my appreciation.