John Pease, of Martha's Vineyard & Norwich

Links

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_Bay_Colony

Nauset and the World:

'John Pease

      Sex: M

Individual Information

         Birth: 1639 - Salem, Massachusetts Bay

Baptism:
Death: Abt 1710
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents

        Father: Captain John Pease (1608-Between 1677/1689)

Mother: Lucy Reeves (1611-1643)

'John Pease

• Birth: 1639
• Death: 1711
• Parents: John Pease, Lucy Weston
• Siblings: James Pease, Jonathan Pease

Red Coat and Clam Chowder

There is a traditional story with variations of John Pease as follows: About seven to ten years before the 1641 purchase of the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket by Thomas Mayhew of Watertown, MA, a vessel from England on the way to Carolina landed on the island. (Another account was that the boat was headed for Port Penn in the Delaware). The boat anchored at what is now known as Starbuck’s Neck near the present site of Edgartown. John Pease, a passenger of the vessel, was in the British Military, and was wearing his uniform that consisted of the traditional red coat. A band of Indians greeted the landing party, and Pease, as a sign of peace, offered the Chief, his coat. The Sachem was so grateful, he offered the new arrivals, a large section of land which now includes Edgartown. While the rest of the passengers continued south, John Pease, William Vinson, Thomas Trapp and Malachi Browning decided to settle on Martha’s Vineyard, and built caves for the first winter in a place called Green Hollow. As the settlement grew, and more settlers arrived, John Pease kept all transactions, including the original gift of the land in a book, known as the “Black Book” because of the color of its cover. When John died, two men went into his house, and stole the book, never to be seen again. The present day town records of Edgartown in preserved books contain dates before the record keeper transcribed them. It is supposed that some of these events were copied from the “Black Book” before it was destroyed. Without the records in the book, the Pease family lost the titles to their land. In 1853, George Cleveland, a farmer was tilling his land, and came upon the ruins of three separate underground rooms that were large enough for living quarters. The ruins were a short distance from the center of Edgartown, and near a road which is now called Pease’s Point Way. These sites were supposedly the caves that those mentioned above spent the first winter in. The legend can almost certainly be proven not true because of the dates of the "landing party". Port Penn did not come into existence until after 1682; the early Pease family did not dispute any land claims with any other settler of the island; John Pease himself was in Salem from 1634 until at least 1644, although he may have visited the island after settling in Salem; and there is no evidence that he was in the British military. The earliest settlers of most areas probably did spend at least their first few months in caves or crude shelters, as building lumber was not an available commodity (see John Pease 1.2.1). There were pageants on Martha's Vineyard with scenes of early settler stories put on display by contemporary actors. The "Red Coat" story was one of more popular acts.

There is another legend attributed to John Pease, crediting him with the recipe for New England Clam Chowder. From the Vineyard Gazette editions of August, 1927:

The difference between clam chowder of Europe and of early New England and that of the present day lies mainly in the substitution of the potato for the biscuit or bread and the addition of salt pork, and for this improvement in the recipe the chowder-eating public is indebted to John Pease, the first of his name to settle on Martha's Vineyard. Authorities differ as to where Pease came from or when he arrived at Edgartown. That he did arrive is admitted and that he traded a red army uniform coat to an Indian chief for a piece of land is fairly well authenticated. John was a soldier in the British army and a picturesque adventurer. He had voyaged to the Virginia colonies and cruised along the New England coast, returning to England where he was enticed or pressed into a company of troops that was being sent out to Virginia to aid in the Indian fighting that was going on at the time.

The voyage was long, for the sailing ship was beaten back by contrary winds and driven far to the northward off her proper course. The fresh food and water ran low and then that scourge of early seafarers, scurvy, broke out. Many of the men were taken sick, a number died, and the master made every effort to turn in on the coast, where he could at least procure fresh earth, that being a great aid in the cure of the disease.

It was late fall when the ship made the harbour of Edgartown. All of the affected men were taken ashore and housed in tents or shacks. Most of them recovered in the course of a few weeks, but some died. Pease and a few others did not improve. The disease had taken such a hold upon them that even on the land with such a diet of fresh food as could be obtained, they still remained weak and ill. When it came time for the ship to leave, Pease and his companions asked to be left behind, stating preference for the slim chance of recovery if they stayed ashore, to what they believed would mean certain death if they put to sea again. The ship's commander agreed, stating that they would still remain soldiers, and promising to stop at Edgartown on his return in the spring. Spring arrived and John Pease, with regained health, obtained his release from the army and began to make a home for himself in Edgartown.

Clams were plentiful and easy to obtain. They were the principal food of the Indians during certain periods of the year, especially in hard winter weather when wild fowl hunting was difficult. Patterning after their red brethren, the white settlers ate clams and waxed mightily, especially when the clams were made into chowder. But a problem arose. Great flocks of wild-fowl, notably the wild pigeons, would darken the sky at the season when the grain ripened, and in spite of wholesale slaughtering by white and red men, they would ruin the grain crops so that during the long cold winter the supply of bread often ran low, in fact, ran out. At such times the clam chowder did not seem as appetizing or filling. Pease knew of potatoes, having seen and eaten them in Virginia, and to him came the idea of using them in place of bread when that food ran out.

Trading vessels plied along the coast from Virginia to Cape Cod and whenever they reached the Cape would stand over to the Vineyard to exchange news with the Edgartown colonists. Potatoes were carried as a part of the stores on these vessels and it was from one of these ships that John obtained his first supply. One pot of chowder made with potatoes was enough to convince the family that bread or biscuits were inferior as a "thickening" for the dish. Pease obtained more potatoes, and besides introducing them as a staple article of food on the Island, it is said that he was the first to plant them here. The onion was commonly known, and the presence of salt pork in Vineyard chowder may be accounted for by the fondness of early New Englanders for fat, coupled with the fact that clams are "poor" at certain seasons. Melville mentions the pork in the Nantucket chowder, but mainland people used little if any, nor is much used at the present day.

The addition of milk seems to have come about through the use of clam water as a tonic for the sick. This water, drained from boiled or steamed clams, is very tasty as all know, and was supposed to be strengthening to a person recovering from an illness. The addition of milk when used for this purpose was probably the beginning of its use in preparing chowder. Thus, the fortunate people who have since enjoyed this famous New England dish are indebted first of all to the fishermen of Brittany who invented chowder, to the Indians who taught the white to eat American clams, and to John Pease of Edgartown, who was ambitious enough to strive for something better than he had, and who made clam chowder what it is today, when prepared according to the Vineyard recipe, the chowder par excellence of any known of earth.

http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/1000791/person/-1735016894/media/1?p...

He settled in Norwich, on his home lot, which was at the western limit of the town plot, bearing the date Nov 1659. He was somewhat of a loner as found in the court record for 1672: "John Pease complained of by the townsmen of Norwich for living alone, for idleness, and not duly attending the worship of God. The court orders that townsemen do provide that Pease be entertained into some suitable family. He paying for his board and accommodation and he employ himself in some lawful calling. Which if he reject or refuse to do, the townsemen may put him out to service in some approved family except he dispose of his accommodations and remove out of town." John Pease was still living in Norwich in 1682, where he was found in arrears for town and ministry rates, and a levy was ordered on his estate.

http://history.vineyard.net/pease.htm