1308. Documentation for Tristram Coffin (11 March 1604/05 to 02 October 1681) father of Mary Coffin (20 February 1644/45 to 13 November 1717) and father of Stephen Coffin (11 May 1652 to 14 November 1734)

Tristram Coffin born 11 March 1604/05, in Brixton, Devonshire England.(1) He died 02 October 1681, in , .(2) He was the son of Peter Coffin and Joanna Thember.(3) He married Dionis Stevens in 1628/30, in Devonshire, England.(4) She was christened 04 March 1609/10 in Brixton Parish, Devonshire, England.(5) She died between 1681/82 and 06 November 1684 in Nantucket, Massachusetts.(6) She was a daughter of Robert Stevens and Dionis (______).(7)

Children of Tristram Coffin and Dionis Stevens:

i. Peter Coffin was born July 18, 1631.(8) He died about March 21, 1714/15.(9) He married Abigail Starbuck before 1657.(10) She was born about 1634.(11)

ii. Tristram Coffin, Jr. was born in 1632 in England.(12) He died 03 February 1702/03.(13) He married Judith Greenleaf on 02 March 2, 1652/53.(14) She was born 02 September 1625.(15) She died 15 December 1705.(16)

iii. Elizabeth Coffin was born about 1631 in Brixton, England.(17) She died on 19 November 1678.(18) She married Stephen Greenleaf on 13 November 1651, in Newbury.(19) He was born about 1628 in England.(20) He died 31 October 1690, in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.(21)

iv. John Coffin was born in 1637 in Devonshire, England.(22) He died 30 October 1642, in Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts.(23)

v. James Coffin was born 12 August 1640, in Devonshire, England.(24) He died 28 July 1720, in Nantucket, Massachusetts.(25) He married Mary Severance on 03 December 1663, in Salisbury, Essex County, Massachusetts.(26) She was born 05 August 1645 in Salisbury, Massachusetts.(27) She died 28 July 1720 in Nantucket, Massachusetts.(28)

vi. Deborah Coffin was born in 1642 and died in 1642.(29)

vii. Mary Coffin was born 20th, 2 mo. 1645 in Haverhill, Massachusetts.(30) She died 13 November 1717, in Nantucket, Massachusetts.(31) She married Nathaniel Starbuck, Sr. in 1662 in Nantucket, Massachusetts.(32) Nathaniel Starbuck was born in 1636.(32A) He died 6th, 6 mo. 1719.(32B)

viii. John Coffin was born 30 October 1647, in Haverhill, Massachusetts.(33) He died 05 September 1711, in Edgartown, Massachusetts.(34) He married Deborah Austin in February 1667/68 in Essex County, Massachusetts.(35) She was born in 1651 in Edgartown, Dukes County, Massachusetts.(36) She died between 04 February 1717/18, and 04 April 1718, in Nantucket, Massachusetts.(37)

ix. Stephen Coffin was born 11 July 1652, in Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts.(38) He died 14 November 1734 in Nantucket, Massachusetts.(39) He married Mary Bunker on 08 October 1668, on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts.(40) Mary (Bunker) Coffin died in 1724.(41)

July 2 1659, Tristram Coffin and eight others received the deed to Nantucket from Thomas Mayhew for 30 pounds, " and also 2 beaver hats, one for myself, and one for my wife." as Mayhew declares in his deed. The latter retained a share in the island.(42) Indian deed for Nantucket on 29 June 1671.(43)

Tristram Coffyn (as he signed his name), founder of the Coffin family line in America, was born at Brixton, Devonshire County, England in 1605. He married Dionis Stevens, also of Brixton, in 1642 and emigrated to America with his wife, five small children , his widowed mother, and two unmarried sisters. He lived alternately in Salisbury, Haverhill and Newbury, in the colony of Massachusetts, until 1660 when he came to Nantucket, part of which he, along with eight other men, had purchased from Thomas Mayhew, Sr. then under the jurisdiction of , and made arrangements for the purchase of the Island by a group of men whom he organized at Salisbury. Later that year, he brought his family to the Island and remained there until his death in 1681. Tristram Coffyn was the leading spirit among the Islanders at the commencement of the settlement, and the interests which he and his sons and sons-in- law represented gave him power to control to a great degree the enterprises of the Island. Among the sons of Tristram was the Hon. James Coffin (1640-1720) who served as Judge of the Probate Court. Mary (Coffin) Starbuck (1645- 1717), daughter of Tristram, participated in town meetings and was consulted on all matters of public importance. In 1701, she became a member of the Society of Friends and held the first Quaker meeting on Nantucket in her home. Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin (1759-1839), Baronet, was the fifth generation from Tristram. Perhaps his most beneficial and philanthropic act was the founding of the Coffin School at Nantucket. Many of the Nantucket Coffins made whaling voyages; others became involved in local political events and land transactions. Several emigrated to North Carolina, New York and California, drawn by dreams of rich farm lands or gold.

The Coffin family in England is traced back to the time of William the Conqueror, when a Norman Knight, Sir Richard Coffyn, accompanied William in his invasion of England. The knight doubtless had his reward, for "Sir Richard Coffyn of Alwington in Devonshire," became an hereditary name for centuries---from the reign of Henry I. to that of Edward VI. Richard Coffyn was Sheriff of Denvonshire in the time of Henry VIII. Curious agreements in relation to boundaries between Sir Richar Coffyn and the Abbot of Tavistock are still preserved. In one of them the Abbot grants the privilege of his church to the Coffyn family. The first of the family in America was Tristram Coffyn, as he still spelled the name, son of Peter and Joanne (Thimber) Coffyn of Brixham Parish, in the town of Plymouth, in Devonshire. They seem to have been people of considerable substance. Tristram married Dionis Stevens, and ater his father's death he came to New England, bringing his mother with him. He was said to have been the first person who used a plow in Haverhill. He was a Royalist, and appears to have come to America to escape the Parliamentary party, of which Cromwell soon after this date became the ruling spirit. And several of Tristram's descendants were also Royalists in the time of the .

Children (Coffin): i. Peter, born 19 May 1666 in England ii. Tristram Jr., born 1632 in England iii. Elizabeth, born about 1631 in England iv. John, born in 1637 in England v. James, born 12 August 1640 in England vi. Deborah, born in 1642 and died in 1642 vii. Mary, born 20 February 1644 in Haverhill, Massachusetts viii. John, born 30 October 1647 in Haverhill, Massachusetts ix. Stephen, born 11 July 1652 in Newbury, Massachusetts

ORIGINAL SOURCE MATERIAL to support the RELATIONSHIP between TRISTRAM COFFIN and his daughter MARY COFFIN TRISTRAM COFFIN and his son STEPHEN COFFIN

1) Starbuck, Alexander, The History of Nantucket, County, Island, and Town, including Genealogies of First Settlers, Charles E. Tuttle Company, Rutland, Vermont, page 698 and 699. 2) Nantucket Vital Records to 1850, Births, page 333, Coffin, Stephen, h. Mary (d. George Bunker and Jane), s. Tristram and Dionis (Stevens), 11th, 5 mo. 1652 [see Newbury Vital Records], P.R. 38. 3) NVR to 1850, Deaths, page 185, Stephen, 14th, 9 mo. 1734, C.R. 4. [h. Mary (Bunker), s. Tristram and Dionis (Stevens), 14th, 11 mo. 1734. P.R. 38. 14th, 9 mo., P.R. 63.] 4) NVR to 1850, Marriages, page 148, Bunker, Mary, d. George and Jane Godfrey, and Stephen Coffin, s. Tristram 1st and Dionis (Stevens), _____, 1669. Intention not recorded. P.R. 38. 5) NVR to 1850, Marriages, page 314, Coffin, Stephen, s. Tristram 1st and Dionis (Stevens), and Mary Bunker, d. George and Jane Godfrey, _____, 1669. Intention not recorded. P.R. 38. 6) NVR to 1850, Marriages, page 318, Coffin, Tristram, s. Peter of Brixton, Co. Devon, Eng., and Joan Thumber [sic], and Dionis Stevens, d. Robert of Brixton, Co. Devon, Eng., _____, 1630, in England, Intention not recorded. P.R. 38. 7) Macy, Obed, The History of Nantucket, , MA: Hilliard Gray, 1835. 8) Folger, William C., “A Record of Births, Deaths, and Marriages on Nantucket, Beginning in 1662”, New England Historical & Genealogical Register, Vol. 7, Apr 1853. 9) NVR to 1850, Births, page 302, Coffin, Mary, w. Nathaniel Starbuck (s. Edward and Catharine), d. Tristram and Dionis (Stevens), 20th, 2 mo. 1645 [see Haverhill Vital Records], P.R. 38. 10) NVR to 1850, Deaths, page 185, Coffin, Stephen, 14th, 9 mo. 1734, C.R. 4. [h. Mary (Bunker), s. Tristram and Dionis (Stevens), 14th, 11 mo. 1734, P.R. 38. 14th, 9 mo., P.R. 63.]. 11) NVR to 1850, Births, page 507, Starbuck, Nathaniel, h. Mary (d. Tristram Coffin 1st and Dionis), s. Edward and Catharine Reynolds, _____, 1636 [? In Dover, N.H.], P.R. 38.

REFERENCES

1. Starbuck, Alexander, The History of Nantucket, County, Island, and Town including Genealogies of First Settlers. Charles E. Tuttle Company: Rutland, Vermont; Savage, James, A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, Vols. 2-4, Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1990 (originally published Boston, 1860-1862); Philbrick, Nathaniel, Away Off Shore, Nantucket Island and Its People, 1602-1890, Mill Hill Press: Nantucket, Massachusetts; Database of the Eliza Starbuck Barney Genealogical Record, Nantucket Historical Association (created from records collected by Eliza Starbuck Barney (1802-1889)); Macy, Obed, The History of Nantucket, Boston, MA: Hilliard Gray, 1835; Folger, William C., “A Record of Births, Deaths, and Marriages on Nantucket, Beginning in 1662”, New England Historical & Genealogical Register, Vol. 7, Apr 1853. See also, Greenleaf, James Edward, Genealogy of the Greenleaf Family, (Boston: Frank Wood, 1896.), 78-79; Walter G. Davis, Sybil Noyes, and Charles T. Libby, Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New , 189; Dr. Charles Banks, The History of Martha's Vineyard, (1925), Volume III Family Genealogies: pp. 96-103, The Coffin Family.

2. Nantucket, Mass., Vital Records to 1850, 5 vols. Boston, 1925-28, 5:188, (Hereafter Nantucket VR), Coffin, Trustram, Mr., Oct. 2, 1681. [Tristram, "came to New England in 1642 with five children" (Peter, Tristram, Elizabeth, James, John) [see also Haverhill and Newbury Vital Records], "of Haverhill, Mass., Nov. 15, 1642; removed to Newbury abt. 1648; thence to Salisbury, in 1664 or 1665; removed to Nantucket in 1660," h. Dionia (d. Robert Stevens of Briston), s. Peter [see birth record] and Joan Thumber [sic], 2d, 10 mo. [dup. Oct. 2] 1681, P.R. 38. 2d, 10 mo., P.R. 63.] (P.R. 63 = private record, from a copy of a manuscript kept by Hon. Isaac Coffin, Judge of Probate, in the possession of the Nantucket Atheneum.)

3. Ibid.

4. NVR to 1850, Marriages, page 318, Coffin, Tristram, s. Peter of Brixton, Co. Devon, Eng., and Joan Thumber [sic], and Dionis Stevens, d. Robert of Brixton, Co. Devon, Eng., _____, 1630, in England, Intention not recorded. P.R. 38. 5. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

6. Ibid.

7. Ibid.

8. Starbuck, History of Nantucket, page 698.

9. Ibid.

10. Ibid.

11. No source found.

12. Starbuck, History of Nantucket, page 698; Greenleaf, James Edward, Genealogy of the Greenleaf Family, (Boston: Frank Wood, 1896.), 78-79.

13. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah; Greenleaf, Greenleaf Family.

14. Ibid.

15. Ibid.

16. Greenleaf, Greenleaf Family.

17. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

18. Ibid.

19. Ibid.

20. Ibid.

21. Ibid.

22. Starbuck, History of Nantucket, page 699.

23. Ibid; NVR to 1850, Deaths, page 162, Coffin, John, s. Tristram and Dionis (Stevens), 30th, 10 mo. 1642, “young,” in Haverhill, P.R. 38.

24. Ibid.

25. NVR to 1850, Deaths, page 160, Coffin, James, h. Mary (d. John Severance and Abigail of Salisbury), s. Tristram and Dionis (Stevens), 28th, 7 mo. 1720, P.R. 38. [Judge of Probate, 1st, 6 mo., P.R. 63.].

26. NVR to 1850, Marriages, page 274, Coffin, James, s. Tristram and Dionis (Stevens), and Mary Severance, d. John and Abigail of Salisbury, 3d, 12 mo. 1663, in Salisbury, Intention not recorded, P.R. 38; Allen, Orrin Peer, Descendents of Edward Allen of Nantucket, Mass, (Fiske & Co., Massachusetts: 1905), 103-104, James Coffin, b. in England Aug. 12, 1640; m. Dec. 3, 1663, Mary dau. of John and Elizabeth (Kimball) Severence of Salisbury, Mass. He d. at Nantucket July 28, 1720. He spent the last fifty years of his life at Nantucket, where he was judge of the Probate Court. He had fourteen children, all of whom, except two, married and had families. From him descended some of the most noted members of the Coffin family. Among these may be mentioned Admiral, (Sir Isaac8 Coffin, Nathaniel7, William6, Nathaniel5, James4, Tristram3, Peter2, Nicholas1). "He was b. in Boston, Mass., May 16, 1759. Entering the English Navy in 1773, he was commissioned a Lieutenant 1778, Captain 1781; Rear Admiral of the White Squadron, 1804; Baronet and also granted a coat of arms the same year; Vice Admiral 1808, and in 1817 Admiral. He d. at Cheltenham, England, in 1839 without issue." In 1826 he visited Nantucket, when he gave œ1000 for founding a high school there. Afterwards he added to the sum, which now amounts to $50,000.

27. NVR to 1850, Births, page 464, Severance, Mary, w. James Coffin (s. Tristram and Dionis), d. John and Abigail of Salisbury, 5th, 8 mo. 1645 [see Salisbury Vital Records], P.R. 38.

28. No source found.

29. NVR to 1850, Births, page 256, Coffin, Deborah, d. Tristram and Dionis (Stevens), 15th, 11 mo. 1642 [see Haverhill Vital Records], P.R. 38; NVR to 1850, Deaths, page 150, Coffin, Deborah, d. Tristram and Dionis (Stevens), 8th, 12 mo. 1642, in Haverhill, P.R. 38.

30. NVR to 1850, Births, page 302, Coffin, Mary, w. Nathaniel Starbuck (s. Edward and Catharine), d. Tristram and Dionis (Stevens), 20th, 2 mo. 1645 [see Haverhill Vital Records], P.R. 38.

31. NVR to 1850, Deaths, page 545, Starbuck, Mary, 13th, 9 mo. 1717, in 74th y. [w. Nathaniel (s. Edward and Catharine), d. Tristram Coffin and Dionis (Stevens), P.R. 38. W. Nathaniel, a. 72, P.R. 63.].

32. No source found.

32A. NVR to 1850, Births, page 507, Starbuck, Nathaniel, h. Mary (d. Tristram Coffin 1st and Dionis), s. Edward and Catharine Reynolds, _____, 1636 [? In Dover, N.H.], P.R. 38.

32B. NVR to 1850, Deaths, page 547, Starbuck, Nath[anie]ll, 6th, 6 mo. 1719, in 85th y. [Nathaniel, h. Mary (Coffin), s. Edward and Catharine Reynolds, P.R. 38. S. Edward, 6th, 8 mo. P.R. 63.].

33. NVR to 1850, Births, page 287, Coffin, John, h. Deborah (d. Joseph Austin and Sarah), s. Tristram and Dionis (Stevens), 30th, 10 mo. 1647 [see Haverhill Virtal Records], P.R. 38.

34. NVR to 1850, Deaths, page 162, Coffin, John, h. Deborah (Austin), s. Tristram and Dionis (Stevens), 5th, 9 mo. 1711, [see Edgartown Vital Records] P.R. 38.

35. NVR to 1850, Marriages, page 41, Austin, Deborah, d. Joseph and Sarah (Starbuck), and John Coffin, s. Tristram and Dionis (Stevens), _____, 1668. Intention not recorded. P.R. 38.

36. No source found.

37. NVR to 1850, Deaths, page 150, Coffin, Deborah, w. John, 4th, 2 mo. 1718. [d. Joseph Austin of Hampton and Dover, P.R. 38.].

38. NVR to 1850, Births, page 333, Coffin, Stephen, h. Mary (d. George Bunker and Jane), s. Tristram and Dionis (Stevens), 11th, 5 mo. 1652 [see Newbury Vital Records], P.R. 38.

39. NVR to 1850, Deaths, page 185, Coffin, Stephen, 14th, 9 mo. 1734, C.R. 4. [h. Mary (Bunker), s. Tristram and Dionis (Stevens), 14th, 11 mo. 1734, P.R. 38. 14th, 9 mo., P.R. 63.].

40. NVR to 1850, Marriages, page 314, Coffin, Stephen, s. Tristram 1st and Dionis (Stevens), and Mary Bunker, d. George and Jane Godfrey, _____, 1669. Intention not recorded. P.R. 38.

41. NVR to 1850, Deaths, page 170, Coffin, Mary, w. Stephen (s. Tristram 1st), d. George Bunker and Jane Godfrey, _____, 1724, P.R. 38.

42. Philbrick, Away Off Shore, page 24.

43. Macy, Macy Genealogy, page 52.

HistoricNantucketSpringFinal:Layout 1 3/27/09 11:26 AM Page 10

Nantucket Real Estate: 1659 A Semiseptcentennial [350th] Edition

BY MARK AVERY

As the bow of their heavily laden boat hauled up named Daggett, who agreed to guide them across the treach- on the beach at Madaket, an overwhelming sense of relief erous shoals. Finally,they headed east to Nantucket Island, ar- must have embraced the travel-weary landing party.Safe de- riving sometime around the end of October. liverance from the sea and the comfort of arrival in a home Standing on Nantucket after that ordeal, the travelers port are universally understood sensations, and were no must have taken pause, to survey the mostly barren, mildly doubt experienced at this journey’send, but here in this dis- rolling landscape just beyond the curved ribbon of white tant haven, “home” was yet to be secured. sand beach. The crossing, according to tradition, was not entirely calm, The view was not much different from what we see today which, owing to the lateness of the fall season, seems plausi- in the area now known asWarren’sLanding—a few clusters of ble. (The journey and arrival were romanticized in John diminutive trees scattered about to the north; a large wet Greenleaf Whittier’s poem The Exiles.) Their vessel was most meadow just to the south; to the east, endless hummocks likely an open, utilitarian type of craft called a shallop. About covered in golden grasses and green underbrush. A necklace twenty to thirty feet in length, shallow-draft, and having of dark-blue ponds, running north to south, occupied many both a sail and oars, it was common transport in coastal of the low points in the undulating terrain. For their intended New England throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth purposes, Macy and Starbuck must have hoped this distant centuries. The shallop was designed primarily for use in pro- land would be perfect. They had come to settle, to build a tected inlets, bays, and rivers, not the famously rough At- new community, to farm, raise livestock, to fish, and make an lantic waters beyond. entirely new life for themselves and their families, a scene re- Stepping gratefully onto Nantucket sand that day,now 350 peated countless times throughout the seventeenth century years ago, were Thomas Macy (51 years of age); his wife Sarah all along the coasts of New England. As in most instances, the (47); their five children (ages 4 through 13); Thomas’spartner location chosen for this new settlement was not entirely un- in this endeavor, Edward Starbuck (55); Isaac Coleman (aged occupied, and when they arrived, Nantucket was already 12); and by some accounts, James Coffin (18), the son of Tris- peopled by more than a thousand native inhabitants. tram Coffin, as well. The voyage began at Salisbury on the Indeed, the English settlers and their families had been Merrimack River—then part of the northern reaches of the through a similar course before, some twenty-four years ear- Massachusetts Bay Colony—through Cape Cod Bay and lier, as part of the “Great Migration” to America. Departing in around the Cape over Nantucket Sound to Martha’sVineyard, 1635 from Chilmark, part ofWiltshire County in southwest where they were joined by another passenger, aVineyard man England, Thomas Macy became one of the first settlers of Newbury, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and a few years And yet that isle remaineth A refuge of the free, Free as the winds that winnow As when true-hearted Macy Her shrubless hills of sand, Beheld it from the sea. Free as the waves that batter Along her yielding land.  | Historic Nantucket HistoricNantucketSpringFinal:Layout 1 3/27/09 11:26 AM Page 11

later, one of the founders of Salisbury just to the north, across by them sold unto Mr.Thomas Mayhew of Martha’sVineyard these the Merrimack River. Starbuck originally came from Leices- after mentioned Did purchas of Mr.Thomas Mayhew these rights; tershire in theWest Midlands. He immigrated to America in namely the pattent Right belonging to the Gentleman aforesaid & the same year as Macy, settling about twenty miles farther also the piece of Land which Mr.Mayhew did purchass of the Indi- north, in Dover, on the true frontier of the colony.Dover is ans at the west End of the Island of Nantucket as by their grant or now part of southern New Hampshire, on a branch of the bill of Sale will largely appear with all the privileges and appurte- Piscataqua River. From early records, both men appear to nances thereof—the aforementioned Purchasers are Tristram Cof- have been successful and key members of their growing fin Senr., Thomas Macy, Richard Swain, Thomas Barnard, Peter communities. Coffin,Christopher Hussey,Stephen Greenleaf,John Swain,William By the end of 1658, however, it appears that both Macy and Pile [or Pike], had the whole and Sole Interest Disposal power,and Starbuck had come into some conflict with increasingly op- privilege of said Island and appurtenances thereof. pressive Puritan authorities; both had been summoned to ap- pear before the court for unrelated reasons, and both had been On the same date, the second of July 1659, a deed was fined for what were called“great misdemeanors.”Whether as a granted by Thomas Mayhew, in which the now famous pay- result of this friction with local power, a search for better eco- ment sum of “30 pounds sterling and two beaver hats” was nomic opportunities, or simply chafing at the swelling popula- agreed. Mayhew also reserved for himself “the neck of land tions of their towns,Thomas Macy,Edward Starbuck,Tristram called Masquetuck”(Quaise), “or the Neck of land called Coffin, John Swain, and several other friends and relations en- Nashayte”(Polpis), and a “twentieth part of all lands and privi- deavored to purchase the island of Nantucket fromThomas leges” in the affairs of the island. Mayhew.Mayhew had purchased the islands of Martha’sVine- On October 10, at just about the same time the Macy clan yard, Nantucket, and the in 1641 from James was making its way to Nantucket, Thomas Mayhew deeded Forrett, agent toWilliam, Earl of Sterling, and had moved to the island of Tuckernuck, a small island just west of Nan- Martha’sVineyard shortly thereafter, founding the town of tucket, to Tristram Coffin Sr., Peter Coffin, Tristram Coffin Jr., Edgartown. (He also had to purchase it again from the gover- and James Coffin, for the sum of five pounds. nor of Maine, Sir Fernando Gorges, after he had made a claim At another meeting, held at Salisbury in February of 1660, it of ownership of the islands, and a third time from most of the was agreed that each of the ten owners should take a partner, local Indian sachems.) and that these ten partners should have all the rights and It is unclear how the island of Nantucket became the focus benefits of the original ten. At that meeting it was voted that: of interest for the Salisbury/Dover group. Thomas Macy was probably related to Mayhew, having described him in a letter Tristram Coffin Sr.partnered with Nathaniel Starbuck, a few years later as “my honoured cousin,” and may have Christopher Hussey partnered with Robert Pike, heard about his interest to sell. Although fifteen years older Thomas Barnard partnered with Robert Bernard, than Macy, Mayhew was born in the adjoiningWiltshire Stephen Greenleaf partnered with Tristram Coffin Jr., hamlet of Tisbury, and documents recently discovered show Peter Coffin partnered with James Coffin, that at age 27, Thomas Mayhew completed an apprentice- Richard Swain partnered with Thomas Coleman, ship for a man named Richard Macey, also of Chilmark, Eng- John Swain partnered with John Smith, land. Richard may have been Thomas Macy’sgreat uncle. William Pile [Pike] partnered with Thomas Look, In the spring of 1659, Tristram Coffin, Edward Starbuck, Thomas Mayhew Sr.partnered with Thomas Mayhew Jr., young Isaac Coleman, and others not named, set out to visit Thomas Macy partnered with Edward Starbuck. Nantucket and inquire about the possibility of purchase, sail- ing first to Martha’sVineyard to meet with Thomas Mayhew. Obviously, some of these men were not present at the Terms were negotiated, and the party then sailed to Nan- meeting; we know of course, that Thomas Macy, Edward tucket, bringing with them Peter Folger, to act as an inter- Starbuck, and James Coffin were on Nantucket that winter, preter and to negotiate an agreement with the local Indian and the Mayhews were presumably on Martha’sVineyard. population. Apparently, a survey of the island proved satis- This arrangement may have been made through discussions factory, and upon returning to Salisbury in the summer, they the prior summer, but not recorded until February. held a meeting that resulted in the following agreement: English title to Nantucket now assured, a separate deed was sought from the local Nantucket sachemsWanackmamack These people after mentioned did buy all right and Interest of the Is- and Nickanoose. Although negotiations had taken place the land of Nantucket that Did belong to Sir Ferdinando George previous summer, a deed was granted to Thomas Mayhew by [Gorges] and Mr.James Forrett Steward to Lord Sterling,which was God bless the sea-beat island! Than hers, at duty’s summons, And grant forevermore, No loftier spirit stirs, That charity and freedom dwell Nor falls o’er human suffering As now upon her shore! A readier tear then hers. From The Exiles, John Greenleaf Whittier, 1841 Spring 2009 |  HistoricNantucketSpringFinal:Layout 1 3/27/09 11:26 AM Page 12

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Spring 2009 |  HistoricNantucketSpringFinal:Layout 1 3/27/09 11:26 AM Page 14

nantucket real estate: 1659

the sachems, and a separate deed for the twenty proprietors Vineyard. It appears that Daggett had returned to Martha’s was obtained on May 10, 1660, at a meeting on Nantucket. In Vineyard by then, and James Coffin left for Dover shortly after it, the sachems agreed to sell to the English the portion of the his father and other family members had settled on the is- island described as follows: land, though he returned to Nantucket several years later. After that first winter, it became obvious that Madaket was All yeWest end of ye afores’d Island unto ye Pond commonly called not suitable for a permanent settlement, and the families Waquitttaquay,and from ye Head of that Pond to ye North Side of began to relocate at a more hospitable location on the north ye Island Manamoy; Bounded by a Path from ye Head of ye afore- shore at Capaum. said Pond to Manamoy: as also a Neck at ye East End of ye Island The growing need for homes and services was addressed by called Poquomock. the new group of proprietors, who engaged Peter Folger,Tris- tram Coffin Sr., Thomas Macy,and Edward Starbuck to meas- Today,this would be described as all land west of Hum- ure and lay out all of the land, and ordered that new owners mock Pond (Waquittaquay), and all land north of a line, from choose their house lots within the limits of the plantation, Head of Hummock Pond to Nantucket Harbor, at the Creeks other than those already chosen. Each of the lots was to be in Monomoy,and the Pocomo Neck, at the east end of Nan- sixty square rods in size (22.5 acres), and the areas that were tucket Harbor. Also included in the deed was the right to best left as common land were to be determined. Land held graze, hunt, and gather from the rest of the island in the non- in “common”ownership was popular in New England as a planting seasons. way of allowing all owners equal access to the land area, It is clear that at the time that document was written, many mainly for grazing animals but used in some cases for grow- more English were present on the island. The original group ing crops, cutting timber, access to ponds, etc. of arrivals from the previous fall had apparently fared well It was also decided that the proprietors would sell ”half- over the winter, due in part to the assistance and cooperation shares” in the interests of the island to needed tradespeople of local Indians. Shortly after landing, they set about con- and other laborers (or mechanics, as they were called) re- structing shelters for themselves, possibly making use of ex- quired by the community,such as carpenters, fishermen, isting dwellings built by the Indians or byVineyard men who millers, weavers, and so forth. The first of these was granted in had been sojourning on Nantucket intermittently for a num- 1662, toWilliamWorth, a sailor. Over the next few years an- ber of years to preach, trade, hunt, and graze livestock. other fourteen of the half-shares were granted, including Thomas Macy installed his family just to the south of their those to Peter Folger, Captain John Gardner, and his brother landing point, where he had found a good spring. Starbuck Richard Gardner.These men and their families were required located some distance away, perhaps sharing accommoda- to reside on Nantucket for three year as part of the contract. In tion with James Coffin and Daggett, who stayed the winter to due course, many fairness issues arose from this arrangement hunt game, which was plentiful. References were made in of power and financial sharing, and tensions did threaten the later town records to “the cellar built by Edward Starbuck,” harmony of the island, quite famously in the mid-1670s. which indicates that his early abode may have been a partial Early relations with the Indian population, however, were dugout with a peaked wooden or thatched roof above. This generally cordial and respectful. Some of the community’s type of dwelling was quite common in the early years of the leading individuals—Edward Starbuck, Thomas Macy,Tris- Massachusetts Colony, usually a temporary structure until tram Coffin Sr., John Gardner, and especially Peter Folger— lumber could be obtained and a proper English timber- were very well thought of by the sachems and their people. In framed house could be erected. (In Boston, at about the the early years of the English settlement, cooperation be- same time, and only thirty years after its founding, records tween the two groups is well documented. Over the next few suggest that the many abandoned early abodes and dugouts years, some of the original twenty purchasers passed on their dotting the town presented problems that needed urgent at- interests to relations or sold them on Nantucket, and some tention.) Just as the first settlements of New England bor- never relocated to the island.Within a decade, about a hun- rowed place-names from their hometowns, the houses the dred and fifty English called Nantucket home, and the new pioneers would build for themselves were based entirely on community was fairly well established and continued to grow. designs and construction methods that they brought with The new town, named Sherburne, was incorporated in 1671. them, slowly evolving variations in their techniques, adjust- It would remain part of NewYork until 1692, when at the re- ing to different materials and climatic conditions. Still, even quest of the proprietors it was formally made a part of Massa- in the mid-eighteenth century, a hundred years later, house chusetts by an act of Parliament. construction in the colonies had changed very little. Beginning around 1700, what had been an open harbor at Edward Starbuck left Nantucket in the spring of 1660, trav- Capaum Pond, began to silt up and the settlers set their eling back to Salisbury and Dover to report on conditions on course eastward for the shores of the Great Harbor, where the island, and returning to Nantucket with his family and at Nantucket Town would be founded, and so named in 1795. least ten other families, before the May 10 meeting with the sachems. mark avery is the NHA’s manager of historic properties. He has prac- Among others present were Tristram Coffin and family,with ticed architecture and preservation on Nantucket for over two decades, Thomas Mayhew and Peter Folger having come from the and served on the Historic District Commission for twelve years.

 | Historic Nantucket

Tristram Coffin report by Sandra Lassen - May 30, 2006

TRISTRAM COFFIN, FATHER OF MARY COFFIN

This is the file that contains many slashes (/) in odd places, as well as a few in good places (such as 1681/82). Perhaps you had material in the file and later removed it, but not the slashes. I would suggest going through and removing the ones that don’t belong. I believe I counted seven in all.

Again, in the first paragraph, I would leave out the commas if the word “in” appears directly after the dates. (An exception would be if you start a sentence with something like “In June 1864, John Smith enlisted.” When beginning a sentence with a clause, you would need the comma.)

You can also leave out the comma in paragraph one after November 6, 1684.

I have a few questions about the references. In reference 1, what sources are cited in the 1924 book? Are they vital records? I tried to access the nantucketonline.com articles, just to take a peek, and found that they are no longer available per that URL.

Again, you cite vital records for the death of Tristram. Presumably, Carol Clark Johnson used vital records in her book?

Do you have some specific source for Mary Coffin? She is the most important child, for sure!

Value of the Alexander Starbuck book and the one by Carol Clark Johnson depends on what their sources were. I would be more comfortable with this source for the parentage of Mary Coffin, if some specific reference were listed for her in the list of children.