The Steamer Wharf in Oak Bluffs circa 1870 Photo courtesy Chris Baer of Thomas Mayhew, Jr. The ordained pastor of his flock, this young man, by example and precept, instituted a policy of respect and fair dealing with the natives that was unequaled anywhere. One of the first Mayhew rulings was that no land be taken from the Wampanoags without consent and fair payment. From this time on, the colonial settlers and the Wampanoags lived without the terror and bloodshed that marked other areas in American history. Within a few years, a congregation of “Praying Indians” was established at what is still known as Christiantown. The Island also acted as a safe haven for people of African descent. One of the earliest mentions of African home ownership on-Island was in the 1763 will of a Wampanoag man named Elisha Amos. The will, 1/272 Dukes County Probate, provides that his “beloved wife Rebecca” receive livestock and his house for as long as she lived. Rebecca Amos was an enslaved woman origi112 Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce nally from Guinea, West Africa, who survived the cruel journey of the Middle Atlantic Passage. The described house was located about five miles from the farm of her enslaver, Colonel Cornelius Bassett, in Chilmark, where she co-resided until she regained freedom upon his death in 1779. The abolition of slavery in 1783 and the egalitarian nature of the whaling industry have made Martha’s Vineyard a nurturing place where all people have owned land and successfully built strong, supportive, and closelyknit communities. This colonial period Summer revival meeting in the MVCMA, c.1870. Photo courtesy Martha’s Vineyard Museum was marked by prosperity as well as peace. The sea provided fish for both export and Island use, and the Wampanoags taught the settlers to capture whales and tow them ashore to boil out the oil. Farms were productive as well; in 1720, butter and cheese were being exported by the shipload. The American Revolution, however, brought hardships to the Vineyard. Despite the Island’s declared neutrality, the people rallied to the Patriot cause and formed companies to defend their homeland. HISTORY
115 Publizr Home