Journal of History of Martha’s Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands THE DUKES COUNTY INTELLIGENCER VOL. 52, NO. 1 FALL 2010 WRECK & RESCUE: The Mertie B. Crowley by HERBERT R. WARD INVENTIVE ISLANDERS U.S. Patent Records Tell A Tale of Creativity by CHRIS BAER PLUS: Student Essays: Early Vineyard Medicine This advertisement for Luxemoor leather products, produced in Vineyard Haven, appeared in the 1905 edition of The Craftsman. Wrote the magazine: “‘Luxemoor’ leather is a genuine article of unquestioned artistic merit History on Main Street combined with exclusive decorative effects which cannot be obtained elsewhere.” (See story, page 15) The Remarkable Polly Hill From the Executive Director Membership Dues Student ..........................................$25 Following in the footsteps of the late Ann Allen (see below), the Individual .....................................$55 MuseumTHE has opened DUKES these pages to welcome COUNTY the papers of students (Does not include spouse) assigned to research Island history. Family ...........................................$75 This is the second edition featuring student work and we are hopeful Sustaining ...................................$125 thatINTELLIGENCER this new tradition will become a fixture in the growing collaboration Patron .......................................$250 between the Museum and the Martha’s Vineyard Public Schools. Benefactor ..................................$500 OneVOL .of 52, the N objectivesO. 1 of the Museum© 2010 is to strengthen our relationshipFALL 2010 President’s Circle .....................$1000 with the schools, to have a more active participation in curriculum development, and to be a greater resource for all grades and subjects. The Memberships are Rescue on Skiff’s Island Shoal, 1910: tax deductible. Museum’s collections are an unparalleled asset to scholars of all ages and The Heroism of Capt. Levi Jackson and His Crew educational levels, and we especially enjoy having the youngest scholars For more information on membership by Herbert R. Ward ................................................................ 3 levels and benefits, please visit delve into our archives. Indeed, I am here partly because of a formative www.mvmuseum.org experienceInventive Islanders I had with of aYesteryear: painting in a museum while I was in junior high school From in western Annals Massachusetts. of the U.S. Patent Office Students bybenefit Chris by Baer understanding .......................................................................... how their Island connects to the 15 greater world.Student The Museum Histories, benefits by a being Special a partner Section: in the excitement ofMedicine their discoveries. on Martha’s Vineyard To Our Readers by Carter D’Angelo .............................................................. 31 Main Street, Vineyard Haven, Through the Years This issue of the Dukes County Intelligencer especially fulfills one of by Dana Jacobs ........................................................................ 41 the key tenets of the mission of the Martha’s Vineyard Museum: to add ....David Nathans Polly Hill and Her Arboretum to the historic record. Two articles cover new ground as Herb Ward by Clare Boland .................................................................... 49 writes about the wreck of the Mertie B. Crowley with passion and a In Memoriam personal connection and Chris Baer, a frequent contributor to these Ann Coleman Allen pages, brings to light the unusual number of inventors who have had a Founding Editor:1934 Gale Huntington–2010 (1959-1977) Vineyard connection. We are delighted to be able to again offer three George W. Adams, Editor (1978-1979) pieces of student work, on three very different topics: a history of Main Ann ColemanEditor Allen Emeritus: served Arthuras Librarian R. Railton and Archivist (1979-2006) of the Martha’s Street, Vineyard Haven; the evolution of medicine on Martha’s Vineyard; Vineyard HistoricalJohn Society W. Walter, (now MVM) Editor from (2006-2008) 1988 until 1993. During and, a short biography of Polly Hill. her years with the Museum she worked to share her passion for Vineyard history.The DukesThrough County the Intelligencer Regional High is published School by Historical the Martha’s Essay Vineyard Contest, Submissions to the Intelligencer are welcome. For guidelines, please whichMuseum. called Subscription for “research is a benefit to be done of membership to a significant in the degree Museum. in the To join,Gale or contact [email protected]. Letters to the editor intended for Huntingtonto renew your Library,” membership, she encouragedplease visit www.mvmuseum.org many high school students and click to on find the publication are also welcome and may be emailed or mailed to: the“Membership” excitement button. of exploring Island history using the resources of the Susan Wilson, Editor, Dukes County Intelligencer. P.O. Box 1310, Back copies of the Intelligencer are available for sale in the Museum library. Museum archives. The contest became a part of the American Heritage Edgartown, MA 02539. Authors’ queries and manuscripts for this journal should be emailed to [email protected] at the High School.or addressed When to Annthe Editor, left the Dukes Museum, County she Intelligencer worked , withP.O. Box high 1310, school Edgartown, juniors onMA the 02539. Community History Project, “CHiP,” researchingArticles in localthe Intelligencer history. She do also not necessarilytaught a popular represent course the opinions on Island of the historyMuseum to or adults. its officers. She will Every be remembered effort is made for to her confirm passion dates, for collecting names and events in published articles, but we cannot guarantee total accuracy. Vineyard history. ISSN 0418 1379 Martha’s Vineyard Museum Board of Directors, 2010-2011 Elizabeth Beim, Chair Nathaniel Benjamin • Jonathan Blum • John Botts Eve Vincent Codding • John R. Ettinger • Gail Farrish Sheldon Hackney • Charlotte Hall • Mark Charles Lapman Douglas Leavens • Mark Alan Lovewell Christopher J. Morse • Mark Snider Samme Thompson • Berta Welch • Dirk Ziff Honorary Directors Thomas Hale • John A. Howland Staff David Nathans, Executive Director Jessica Barker, Administrative Coordinator Anna Carringer, Assistant Curator Nancy Cole, Education Director Katy Fuller, Marketing, Membership & Events Manager Linsey Lee, Oral History Curator Betsey Mayhew, Finance Director Alana Pagnotti, Weekend Visitor Services Supervisor Bonnie Stacy, Chief Curator Dana Costanza Street, Assistant Librarian Susan Wilson, Development & Publications Coordinator Editor, Dukes County Intelligencer Rob Hammett, East Chop Lighthouse Keeper Wade Johnson, Edgartown Lighthouse Keeper Richard Skidmore, Gay Head Lighthouse Keeper Catherine Merwin Mayhew, Genealogist* Chris Murphy, Vanity Skipper* Dawna Phaneuf, Housekeeper Charles Tucy, Caretaker * Volunteer Androids, Aeroplanes & Ears Chronicles of Early Island Inventors by CHRIS BAER hen you imagine nine- teenth-century Martha’s Vineyard, whaleships and Wwidow’s walks might come to mind; or perhaps fishermen and farmhands. Androids may not. Yet an android was patented in 1883 by an Edgartown inventor, as was an “artificial ear” in 1902, and a cigar-smoking automaton in 1904. And in 1910, an Island Broad- way actor filed a patent for a one-seat- ed “aeroplane.” The Vineyard has long been home to eccentric tinkerers, base- ment experimenters, ingenious artists, ambitious dreamers, and even corpo- rate engineers. Here are a few stories Elmer Bliss’ 1904 cigar-smoking, of the Island’s first patented inventors. humanoid “advertising device.” The Chandlers: Holmes, West, Eldridge, & Chadwick During the late 1700s and early 1800s, the principal landing terminal and business center in Vineyard Haven was not at our familiar wharf at the bottom of Union Street, but rather an ancient pier and store at the bot- tom of what is now Grove Avenue (formerly “Horton’s Lane”) on the road to West Chop. Here is where steamers from the mainland tied up for many decades, together with whalers, mail packets, and European and Carib- bean freight ships, met by ox-carts loaded with wool from up-Island and the horse-drawn stage to Edgartown. This vital wharf and ship chandlery were operated by several generations of the Holmes family, from which Chris Baer teaches art, design and technology at the Martha’s Vineyard Re- gional High School. He maintains an online archive of Vineyard genealogy and historic images. Visit http://[email protected] and http://oldtimeislands.org. All images in this article are from the author’s collection. 15 the village of Holmes Hole inherited its spelling.1 “At this store,” according to a 1933 Vineyard Gazette retrospective, “a vessel captain could purchase provisions, cordage, sails, anchors and cables, and a thousand other ar- ticles necessary aboard ship. … People from all parts of the Island came to Holmes’ store to trade farm produce, knitted woolen goods and other items for groceries.” Or as a 1926 Gazette ar- ticle put it, “Everything necessary for the maintenance of mankind ashore or afloat could be purchased there.” A telegraph office received dispatches upstairs, a Notary’s office processed paperwork in the back, a busy repair shop mended sails in the loft, and the store itself sold cigars to the new steamer arrivals and served as a popu- lar hangout for local men and boys. This shop also housed the first pat- ented inventors of Martha’s Vineyard: John Holmes, Esq., and