Edward Coleman, of
Boston, and Margaret, daughter of
Thomas Lumhard, of Barnstable, were married at Eastham by Mr. Prence,
Oct. 27, I648. He was of Boston in 1655, and probably came to Barnstable
soon after that date. He was admitted an inhabitant Oct. 3, 1662, and was
living 26th March, I690, when the town granted 25 acres of land at "Yannows"
to his son Edward, "on the condition that he do his utmost for the
maintenance of his father and mother and the rest of the family." This
grant was at the south-east corner of the town, bounded easterly by the
bounds of Yarmouth, "south by the harbor at Yannows," west by the Hallett
land, and north by the commons. Margaret Coleman was living Nov. 12, 1714;
but Edward Senior and Junior were then both dead.
Children of Edward Coleman, born in Boston.
Children of James Coleman.
By his second wife,
Mr. James Coleman died April 16, 1781, aged 77, and his widow Feb. 29, 1784, aged 80.
Nathaniel of this family was insane the latter part of his life.
He believed the land had
everywhere become soft and miry. He carried a very long cane with
a rams horn on the upper end, and his hat was ornamented with
feathers of various colors stuck under the
band. Notwithstanding his constant fear of sinking, he was good
natured, cheerful, and inoffensive. As he walked thro' the streets,
feeling his way, with his left foot always in advance of his right,
he would sing these words,
The town records respecting this family are defective. The deficiencies,
I presume, may be supplied from the Church and Probate records.
Edward Coleman built the first house at Hyannis. At that time all
the southerly part of Barnstable was called "South Sea," and the Indians
resident there, "South Sea Indians." The earliest settlers at South Sea
were John Thompson, who sold his land to John Lovell, Roger Goodspeed,
Jona Hatch, Thomas Bumpas, and Joshua Lumbert. The first building
erected by the whites was a warehouse by Nicholas Davis, near
where Timothy Baker's store now stands, and on land presented to him by
the Sachem Hianna.
In 1697 the "South Sea men" were Thomas Macy, John, Benjamin;
and Ebenezer Goodspeed, sons of Roger; John Lovell, and his sons John,
James, William, and Andrew; John Issum, Thomas Bumpass, Dollar Davis,
Thomas Lewis, Joshua Lumbert, John Linnell, John Phinney, Jr., Edward
Lewis, Joseph Lothrop, Jr., John Lewis, and Edward Coleman.
Soon after this date the Hallett, Crowell, Bearse, and Claghom families
settled at South Sea. Jonathan Lewis, who, according to tradition, was
the first settler in the present village of Hyannis, probably did not
build his house before his marriage in 1703. The foregoing statement
shows that Edward Coleman was the first settler at Hyannis. His house
was at the south-east corner of the town, not far from Baxter's wharf.
The Indian villages at South Sea, beginning at the south-west comer
of the town were,
This was the name of the brook, now known as Baxter's Mill Pond and
River. The lands in the vicinity were probably known by the same name.
This was the uniform practice of the Indians, and it was not probably
departed from in this case. The name being a long one, and difficult
to pronounce was dropped, and the name of the Sachem adopted. As I
intend devoting an article to this name, I will here make only one
remark, In writing this name all the early writers, excepting Thacher,
dropped the aspirate H at the beginning and wrote the name Iyanough,
Yanno, or Janno. The proper pronunciation of the name Indicates
that the orthography of Mr. Thatcher's Hianno, is the best.
All the Indian names that I have succeeded In translating are descriptive
terms, suggested by some physical peculiarity of the region to which they
were applied. Cotuit or Satuit means "cold brook" and was so named
because there are many springs of cool water in the vicinity of the pond
and brook of that name.
There is a brook of the same name in Scituate, from which that town
derives its name. Mistic is a name that is forgotten and lost, by
the
people who reside in that vicinity. Marston's Mills is not an
improvement
on the Indian name, Cot-o-che-set. The manner In which this name is
written on the town records, has probably had an influence in bringing
it into disuse. For more than half a century it was the popular name
of Oyster Island village. The island was so named on account of the
abundance of Oysters found in its vicinity-- very appropriate name for
the island; but not applicable to the main main land. When the
post-office was established in the village, about thirty years it was
called Osterville, for what good reason is unknown. The old name
Cot-o-che-set, is a better one, more expressive, and at the time of the
change, was familiar to many of the aged.
Skon-ko-net, perhaps a derivative of Kong-kont, the crow, and so called
because those birds frequent that region. This name Is now
incorrectly written and pronounced Skunknet. Only the northerly and
westerly part of the tract formerly so-called is now so designated.
The western branch of the Skon-ko-net river is now known as Bump's river,
and the easterly as Phinney's mill brook.
The changing of a few letters in an lndian name, often makes a radical
chage in the meaning of the word. Che-qua-quet signifies "the edge of
a forest." The large knurls on the oak were called by the same name.
As these abound more on the edge than In the center of a forest, it is not
surprising that In a language containing so few words as the Indian, that
both should be called by the same name. The termination "et," was applied
to places near the water, so that the literal meaning of Che-qua-quet
seems to be "a village situate on the edge of the forest and by the
sea-shore." This is descriptive of the place and probably the true
signification of the name.
The village was by Bourne, as quoted by Gooken, called Wee-qua-keet, a
different name, Wee-koh-quat, is "fair weather," and with the terminal
"et," instead of "at," the
meaning would be fair weather harbor or river. Mr. Bourne's
authority is not to be rejected for slight reasons. In the records,
where the name frequently occurs, it is uniformly written Che-qua-quet,
with some unimportant variations to the orthographynever Wee-qua-keet.
This popular pronunciation of the name is uniformly Che or Cha, not
Wee-qua-quet. This Is not conclusive; but taken in connection
with the records, I think it settles the question In favor of
Che-qua-quet as the best authorized spelling of the name.
When the post-office was established, the old name was dropped and the
French Centreville adopted. This is not so objectionable as
Osterville, yet it is no improvement on the old. There is, however,
one objective; there are many post-offices of
that name, and for that reason mail matter is now liable to be mis-sent.
This objection would not be applicable to the name Che-qua-quet.
*For the definition of the Che-qua-quet and many other Indian names,
I am indebted to an intelligent Indian
Chief from the West. He had a perfect knowledge of his native
tongue which is a
dialect of the language spoken by the Massachusetts Indians.
He could read without
much difficulty Eliot's Indian bible, and Cotton's vocabulary.
He was very
cautious in giving his opinion. The names of places were often spelled so
differently from the manner in which he was accustomed to write the equivalent
words that he did not always recognize them. He asked me several times if the
pronunciation of the first sylable of Che-qua-quet was Che or Tche, not Wee,
because the meaning of the name depended on that pronunciation. The meaning of
the name of a pond in Mashpee, which he gave me, is confirmed by Mr. Marston, the
Indian superintendent, as its true meaning. I have also attempted to obtain
information from the members of the Penobscot tribe, but with little success.
Last Modified : 9/12/98
"Bacon's got home and brought me
a new ram's horn, a new ram's horn,
a new ram's horn."