Paranormal Fort Phoenix 1775-1876 Mystery
Several claim the spirit of Major Fearing roams the fort, and sounds of cannon fire have been heard. Others have claimed to have see a ghost jogger who stops and asks people for the time, only to disappear when they look at their watch.
On May 13-14, 1775, the first naval battle of the American Revolution took place when the local militia, under the command of Nathaniel Pope and Daniel Egery, captured two British sloops in Buzzard’s Bay.
Shortly afterward, the town petitioned for the construction of a fort at Nobscot (or Nolscot Point) for the protection of the harbor. The original fort was built by Capt. Benjamin Dillingham and Eleazer Hathaway between 1775 and 1777. It was outfitted with eleven cannons, several of which had been captured in the Bahamas by John Paul Jones.
On September 5-6 1778 the fort was attacked and destroyed by the British during a raid (known as Grey's Raid). The British landed in New Bedford and marched inland along the west shore of the Acushnet River to Acushnet, then south through Fairhaven to Sconticut Neck. The British drove a group of 34 local militiamen under the command of Timothy Ingraham from the fort, burned the barracks, broke up the gun platforms and smashed all but one of the cannons.
On September 7, 1778, the British troops attempted to destroy the village of Fairhaven but were fought off by a small force commanded by Major Israel Fearing III (1747-1826) of Wareham. With the retreat of more senior officers, Major Fearing, found himself in command. He was supported by men of other militia units in addition to those from Wareham. Fearing's men defended the town with musket fire, resulting in the British retreating to their boats. In late 1778, In honor of Major Fearing, the fort was rebuilt and named Fort Fearing.
Fort Fearing to Fort Phoenix 1784
In 1784 Fort Fearing was renamed Fort Phoenix, after the mythical bird that rose from its own ashes. Shortly before the War of 1812, Fort Phoenix was enlarged under the supervision of Sylvanus Thayer, who later became the “Father of the Military Academy” at West Point. In June of 1814, the fort helped repel an early morning attack by British in landing boats from the HMS Nimrod.
Fort Phoenix was manned throughout the Civil War by troops who rotated duty between the Fairhaven fort and the newer Fort Taber in New Bedford. Eight (8) 24-pound cannons were installed at the beginning of the war, only five (5) remain at the fort today.
Fort Phoenix went out of service in 1876. In 1926, it was purchased for the town by Lady Fairhaven, Mrs. Urban H. Broughton of England, a daughter of the town’s benefactor Henry Huttleston Rogers. Since then it has been maintained by the town as a public park.
"John Paul Jones" Cannon 1777
This 6-pound, iron barreled cannon dates back to 1777 when guns were first installed at the site. The cannon one of a number of British guns captured in the Bahamas by the crew of the ship Alfred. John Paul Jones was an officer on the ship at the time. The captured guns were stored by the Americans in Connecticut and were used to outfit forts throughout the colonies.
The cannon was remounted and set up in the village at Meeting House Hill, near the intersection of Main and Center streets during the War of 1812. Later it was kept at the unofficial “town green” on the property of Wilson Pope near Union and Middle streets. In May of 1882, at the suggestion of Captain Alexander Winsor, the cannon was firmly planted muzzle-down into the sidewalk outside the drug store on the northeast corner of Main and Center streets. In 1885, a bronze plaque was attached to it by the Fairhaven Improvement Association. (The plaque incorrectly says “Placed Here 1883,” though earlier newspaper accounts indicated the gun was mounted in the sidewalk a year earlier than that.) When Center Street was widened in 1950, the gun was moved to the Town Hall lawn. Later, it was moved back to Fort Phoenix. The barrel of the “John Paul Jones cannon” is said to have been cast in England in 1690. It bears the King’s Arrow and a Royal seal, indicating its British heritage.
1812 Field Cannons
These two (2) cannons are mounted on field carriages. These cannons may have been used at Fort Phoenix during the war of 1812, however there is no documents confirming this information. The wooden carriages were mounted at the fort in 2009.
24-Pound Seacoast Cannons
The five (5) large cannons were installed before the Civil War. The trunnions are marked "W.F." on one side and "1818" on the opposite. This marking indicated they were cast at West Point Foundry in Cold Spring NY in 1828. All the cannons fire a 24-pound ball. The fort was originally equipped with eight (8) cannons during the Civil War, but three (3) were transferred to other forts.
After the fort was decommissioned in 1876, the wooden carriages fell into disrepair and were chopped up and used as firewood. In 1892 Warren Delano II, the grandfather of Franklin Delano Roosevelt offered to purchase the cannons and to keep them in Fairhaven if the Fairhaven Improvement Association would raise funds to construct new carriages to hold the cannons. After two (2) years of fundraising, the Fairhaven Improvement Association raised enough money and in 1894 the Town of Fairhaven accepted the gift of the five (5) cannons from Mr. Delano.
Several claim the spirit of Major Fearing roams the fort, and sounds of cannon fire have been heard. Others have claimed to have see a ghost jogger who stops and asks people for the time, only to disappear when they look at their watch.
On May 13-14, 1775, the first naval battle of the American Revolution took place when the local militia, under the command of Nathaniel Pope and Daniel Egery, captured two British sloops in Buzzard’s Bay.
Shortly afterward, the town petitioned for the construction of a fort at Nobscot (or Nolscot Point) for the protection of the harbor. The original fort was built by Capt. Benjamin Dillingham and Eleazer Hathaway between 1775 and 1777. It was outfitted with eleven cannons, several of which had been captured in the Bahamas by John Paul Jones.
On September 5-6 1778 the fort was attacked and destroyed by the British during a raid (known as Grey's Raid). The British landed in New Bedford and marched inland along the west shore of the Acushnet River to Acushnet, then south through Fairhaven to Sconticut Neck. The British drove a group of 34 local militiamen under the command of Timothy Ingraham from the fort, burned the barracks, broke up the gun platforms and smashed all but one of the cannons.
On September 7, 1778, the British troops attempted to destroy the village of Fairhaven but were fought off by a small force commanded by Major Israel Fearing III (1747-1826) of Wareham. With the retreat of more senior officers, Major Fearing, found himself in command. He was supported by men of other militia units in addition to those from Wareham. Fearing's men defended the town with musket fire, resulting in the British retreating to their boats. In late 1778, In honor of Major Fearing, the fort was rebuilt and named Fort Fearing.
Fort Fearing to Fort Phoenix 1784
In 1784 Fort Fearing was renamed Fort Phoenix, after the mythical bird that rose from its own ashes. Shortly before the War of 1812, Fort Phoenix was enlarged under the supervision of Sylvanus Thayer, who later became the “Father of the Military Academy” at West Point. In June of 1814, the fort helped repel an early morning attack by British in landing boats from the HMS Nimrod.
Fort Phoenix was manned throughout the Civil War by troops who rotated duty between the Fairhaven fort and the newer Fort Taber in New Bedford. Eight (8) 24-pound cannons were installed at the beginning of the war, only five (5) remain at the fort today.
Fort Phoenix went out of service in 1876. In 1926, it was purchased for the town by Lady Fairhaven, Mrs. Urban H. Broughton of England, a daughter of the town’s benefactor Henry Huttleston Rogers. Since then it has been maintained by the town as a public park.
"John Paul Jones" Cannon 1777
This 6-pound, iron barreled cannon dates back to 1777 when guns were first installed at the site. The cannon one of a number of British guns captured in the Bahamas by the crew of the ship Alfred. John Paul Jones was an officer on the ship at the time. The captured guns were stored by the Americans in Connecticut and were used to outfit forts throughout the colonies.
The cannon was remounted and set up in the village at Meeting House Hill, near the intersection of Main and Center streets during the War of 1812. Later it was kept at the unofficial “town green” on the property of Wilson Pope near Union and Middle streets. In May of 1882, at the suggestion of Captain Alexander Winsor, the cannon was firmly planted muzzle-down into the sidewalk outside the drug store on the northeast corner of Main and Center streets. In 1885, a bronze plaque was attached to it by the Fairhaven Improvement Association. (The plaque incorrectly says “Placed Here 1883,” though earlier newspaper accounts indicated the gun was mounted in the sidewalk a year earlier than that.) When Center Street was widened in 1950, the gun was moved to the Town Hall lawn. Later, it was moved back to Fort Phoenix. The barrel of the “John Paul Jones cannon” is said to have been cast in England in 1690. It bears the King’s Arrow and a Royal seal, indicating its British heritage.
1812 Field Cannons
These two (2) cannons are mounted on field carriages. These cannons may have been used at Fort Phoenix during the war of 1812, however there is no documents confirming this information. The wooden carriages were mounted at the fort in 2009.
24-Pound Seacoast Cannons
The five (5) large cannons were installed before the Civil War. The trunnions are marked "W.F." on one side and "1818" on the opposite. This marking indicated they were cast at West Point Foundry in Cold Spring NY in 1828. All the cannons fire a 24-pound ball. The fort was originally equipped with eight (8) cannons during the Civil War, but three (3) were transferred to other forts.
After the fort was decommissioned in 1876, the wooden carriages fell into disrepair and were chopped up and used as firewood. In 1892 Warren Delano II, the grandfather of Franklin Delano Roosevelt offered to purchase the cannons and to keep them in Fairhaven if the Fairhaven Improvement Association would raise funds to construct new carriages to hold the cannons. After two (2) years of fundraising, the Fairhaven Improvement Association raised enough money and in 1894 the Town of Fairhaven accepted the gift of the five (5) cannons from Mr. Delano.
Paranormal Charles White House Mystery Is the house haunted? Some have claimed the house is haunted by the Dr. White. Although they admit Dr. White's accidental death is less of a worry than the Fairhaven Police Chief's suicide.
The house located at 14 William Street, known as the Charles White House has very unique, yet sad history. Dr. Charles White Jr. (28) came to Fairhaven from Boston in April 1888 at the invitation of Henry H. Rogers. After arriving in Fairhaven he built the house at 14 William Street and married Rogers School teacher Eliza Childs.
In December 1889 the house made history by being the first privately owned home in Fairhaven to be connected to electricity. Dr. White died in the home in 1904 at the age of 44. Dr. White had been suffering from gallstones and died during surgery that was being performed by another doctor. In 1907 Henry H. Rogers built the "White Home For Nurses" at St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford in memory of Dr. White.
The house was later occupied by Fairhaven Police Chief Walter H. Francis, the town's first police chief. Chief Francis resigned from the Fairhaven Police Department in February 1933 and six (6) weeks later, on March 23 1933, he committed suicide by slashing this throat with a razor.
The house located at 14 William Street, known as the Charles White House has very unique, yet sad history. Dr. Charles White Jr. (28) came to Fairhaven from Boston in April 1888 at the invitation of Henry H. Rogers. After arriving in Fairhaven he built the house at 14 William Street and married Rogers School teacher Eliza Childs.
In December 1889 the house made history by being the first privately owned home in Fairhaven to be connected to electricity. Dr. White died in the home in 1904 at the age of 44. Dr. White had been suffering from gallstones and died during surgery that was being performed by another doctor. In 1907 Henry H. Rogers built the "White Home For Nurses" at St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford in memory of Dr. White.
The house was later occupied by Fairhaven Police Chief Walter H. Francis, the town's first police chief. Chief Francis resigned from the Fairhaven Police Department in February 1933 and six (6) weeks later, on March 23 1933, he committed suicide by slashing this throat with a razor.
Paranormal West Island Ghosts Mystery
One of the oldest ghost stories in Fairhaven is the tale of the "Women in White" In the late 1970's. As the story goes, several people were present the night she emerged from the waters at the West Island Town Beach. She first appeared in the 1960's and usually appears around the beginning of June, mostly on foggy nights.
The largest group of witnesses to her appearance was in 1971 or 1972 when she appeared during a Fairhaven High Class party on the east side beach known as Crescent Beach. She walked down Crescent Beach from Monastery Rock, barely noticed at first. When she reached the small dirt road connecting the parking lot and the beach some of the group began to see her, not giving much thought to her presence.
Wearing all white, she was dressed in a flowing sort of robe. The story also claims supposedly she drowned, or WAS drowned at Crescent beach and would leave the scene of her demise (the sea), perhaps in search of her lover who committed the act.
There is also the supposed Marsh Men who appear farther down towards Bass Creek in the marsh between Monastery Woods and the woods on the West side of the marsh. They travel back and forth between the two woods toiling away the night. It has never been known why they carry out their tasks or what they were carrying, if anything, and which way they were moving their goods, east to west or west to east, as no one was ever successful in sneaking up close enough. They can be seen on any random night in the summer as dimly glowing silhouettes when the fog rising up through the marsh grass cloaks their endless drudging, back and forth and if you get close enough, you can hear their feet sloshing through the mud.
One of the oldest ghost stories in Fairhaven is the tale of the "Women in White" In the late 1970's. As the story goes, several people were present the night she emerged from the waters at the West Island Town Beach. She first appeared in the 1960's and usually appears around the beginning of June, mostly on foggy nights.
The largest group of witnesses to her appearance was in 1971 or 1972 when she appeared during a Fairhaven High Class party on the east side beach known as Crescent Beach. She walked down Crescent Beach from Monastery Rock, barely noticed at first. When she reached the small dirt road connecting the parking lot and the beach some of the group began to see her, not giving much thought to her presence.
Wearing all white, she was dressed in a flowing sort of robe. The story also claims supposedly she drowned, or WAS drowned at Crescent beach and would leave the scene of her demise (the sea), perhaps in search of her lover who committed the act.
There is also the supposed Marsh Men who appear farther down towards Bass Creek in the marsh between Monastery Woods and the woods on the West side of the marsh. They travel back and forth between the two woods toiling away the night. It has never been known why they carry out their tasks or what they were carrying, if anything, and which way they were moving their goods, east to west or west to east, as no one was ever successful in sneaking up close enough. They can be seen on any random night in the summer as dimly glowing silhouettes when the fog rising up through the marsh grass cloaks their endless drudging, back and forth and if you get close enough, you can hear their feet sloshing through the mud.
Paranormal Millicent Library 1893 Mystery
Milicent "Millie" Rogers, the daughter of Henry Huttleston Rogers died in 1890 at the age of seventeen (17). The Rogers family sought an appropriate means of memorializing her life, drafted a plan to erect a library.
Land for the library was purchased after Millie's death in 1890. The groundbreaking was held on June 6 1891. The cornerstone was laid on Monday September 1891 at 6AM. The event only had family and clergy present. Inside the cornerstone, set by her brother, Harry Rogers, was a sketch of Millicent, a tracing of the Rogers’ ancestry, and a copy of the Fairhaven Star carrying a picture of the proposed building.
The library was dedicated on January 30, 1893, the anniversary of Millie's birth, in two separate ceremonies. There was a private memorial service in the morning when the memorial window was unveiled. The memorial window is sixteen (16) feet in height and was constructed in 1891. The window contains a likeness of Millie's face. The second dedication ceremony, for the public, was held in the Congregational Church. The first book was taken from the library by her grandmother, Mrs. Roland Rogers, mother of Henry.
When the Rogers family created the Millicent Library they didn't give the library to the Town of Fairhaven. It was set up as a private enterprise, operated by a Board of Trustees. Henry H. Rogers then created the private Fairhaven Water Company and installed the Town's water/sewer system. The stock of the Water Company was held by the Trustees of the Millicent Library. It was all private and separate from Town government from 1893 to 1968.
In 1968, the Town of Fairhaven petitioned the State Legislature for permission to take over the Fairhaven Water Company and make it a municipal department. The State approved that, but with a special provision requiring the Town to fund the operation of the Millicent Library using a formula the legislature set up. This sum each year must be allocated to the library with no interference by any Town board or committee. The Library Trustees, who serve for life, are the people in charge of running the Millicent Library.
The Millicent Library has functioned under the direction of a board of trustees serving for life unless removal from town, voluntary resignation or incapacity to function have interrupted tenure. Henry H. Rogers was the first president of the board, and since his death, there has always been at least one member of the Rogers family in service as trustee. After the water company surrendered stock to the town in 1968 — four trustees were appointed by the Board of Selectmen. A fifth trustee is the chairman of the Board of Selectman.
Mystery : Many of the stories originate with the myth that Rogers buried his daughter in the foundation of the library.
Millicent isn't buried in the building's foundation, she is buried in the Rogers Tomb in Riverside Cemetery. Fueling that myth is that the dedication ceremony for the library’s cornerstone took place at 6 a.m. on a Monday with only the family and a clergyman present. Also when the library officially opened and the stained-glass window that bears Millicent’s portrait was unveiled again it was only the family present.
Some of the stories that have circulated over the years include the ghostly figure of Millicent Rogers walking through the library luminated by a bright blue light. People also have claimed to hear her laughter reverberating through the building.
Some have claimed to have seen a woman dressed all in black running her fingers across the books on the shelves and others suggest that a man with a tweed jacket purple bowtie and small round glasses is often seen mopping the basement floors. The legend is that he’s the ghost of a janitor who died after slipping on a wet floor and that his footsteps can also be heard on the spiral staircase that extends from the basement to the library’s tower.
Milicent "Millie" Rogers, the daughter of Henry Huttleston Rogers died in 1890 at the age of seventeen (17). The Rogers family sought an appropriate means of memorializing her life, drafted a plan to erect a library.
Land for the library was purchased after Millie's death in 1890. The groundbreaking was held on June 6 1891. The cornerstone was laid on Monday September 1891 at 6AM. The event only had family and clergy present. Inside the cornerstone, set by her brother, Harry Rogers, was a sketch of Millicent, a tracing of the Rogers’ ancestry, and a copy of the Fairhaven Star carrying a picture of the proposed building.
The library was dedicated on January 30, 1893, the anniversary of Millie's birth, in two separate ceremonies. There was a private memorial service in the morning when the memorial window was unveiled. The memorial window is sixteen (16) feet in height and was constructed in 1891. The window contains a likeness of Millie's face. The second dedication ceremony, for the public, was held in the Congregational Church. The first book was taken from the library by her grandmother, Mrs. Roland Rogers, mother of Henry.
When the Rogers family created the Millicent Library they didn't give the library to the Town of Fairhaven. It was set up as a private enterprise, operated by a Board of Trustees. Henry H. Rogers then created the private Fairhaven Water Company and installed the Town's water/sewer system. The stock of the Water Company was held by the Trustees of the Millicent Library. It was all private and separate from Town government from 1893 to 1968.
In 1968, the Town of Fairhaven petitioned the State Legislature for permission to take over the Fairhaven Water Company and make it a municipal department. The State approved that, but with a special provision requiring the Town to fund the operation of the Millicent Library using a formula the legislature set up. This sum each year must be allocated to the library with no interference by any Town board or committee. The Library Trustees, who serve for life, are the people in charge of running the Millicent Library.
The Millicent Library has functioned under the direction of a board of trustees serving for life unless removal from town, voluntary resignation or incapacity to function have interrupted tenure. Henry H. Rogers was the first president of the board, and since his death, there has always been at least one member of the Rogers family in service as trustee. After the water company surrendered stock to the town in 1968 — four trustees were appointed by the Board of Selectmen. A fifth trustee is the chairman of the Board of Selectman.
Mystery : Many of the stories originate with the myth that Rogers buried his daughter in the foundation of the library.
Millicent isn't buried in the building's foundation, she is buried in the Rogers Tomb in Riverside Cemetery. Fueling that myth is that the dedication ceremony for the library’s cornerstone took place at 6 a.m. on a Monday with only the family and a clergyman present. Also when the library officially opened and the stained-glass window that bears Millicent’s portrait was unveiled again it was only the family present.
Some of the stories that have circulated over the years include the ghostly figure of Millicent Rogers walking through the library luminated by a bright blue light. People also have claimed to hear her laughter reverberating through the building.
Some have claimed to have seen a woman dressed all in black running her fingers across the books on the shelves and others suggest that a man with a tweed jacket purple bowtie and small round glasses is often seen mopping the basement floors. The legend is that he’s the ghost of a janitor who died after slipping on a wet floor and that his footsteps can also be heard on the spiral staircase that extends from the basement to the library’s tower.
Captain Joshua Slocum Mystery
The boulder was installed in 1958 to mark the place approximately where Captain Joshua Slocum rebuilt an antiquated oyster boat, Spray. The small vessel had been given to Slocum by Poverty Point resident Capt. Eben Pierce. Slocum began his rebuilding of the Spray in 1891 and launched his fully overhauled vessel on June 21,1892. Slocum began living aboard the Spray.
On April 24 1895, Slocum set sail from Boston on a three-year voyage around the world. When landed in Newport, R.I. on June 27 1898, Slocum became the first man to have sailed around the world alone. On July 3 of that year, he sailed the Spray back to her birthplace in Fairhaven. Slocum’s book Sailing Alone Around the World, first published in 1900, is still in print.
In 1901 he purchased a small farm in West Tisbury on Martha’s Vineyard, after a year and half he didn’t like the quietness and went back to sailing. By 1909 Slocum’s funds were very low and he prepared to sell off the house on Martha’s Vineyard. On November 14 1909 Slocum set sail for the West Indies for his usual voyage. He was never heard from again, In July 1910 his wife informed the media that she believed he was lost at sea. Joshua Slocum was declared legally dead in 1924.
The boulder was installed in 1958 to mark the place approximately where Captain Joshua Slocum rebuilt an antiquated oyster boat, Spray. The small vessel had been given to Slocum by Poverty Point resident Capt. Eben Pierce. Slocum began his rebuilding of the Spray in 1891 and launched his fully overhauled vessel on June 21,1892. Slocum began living aboard the Spray.
On April 24 1895, Slocum set sail from Boston on a three-year voyage around the world. When landed in Newport, R.I. on June 27 1898, Slocum became the first man to have sailed around the world alone. On July 3 of that year, he sailed the Spray back to her birthplace in Fairhaven. Slocum’s book Sailing Alone Around the World, first published in 1900, is still in print.
In 1901 he purchased a small farm in West Tisbury on Martha’s Vineyard, after a year and half he didn’t like the quietness and went back to sailing. By 1909 Slocum’s funds were very low and he prepared to sell off the house on Martha’s Vineyard. On November 14 1909 Slocum set sail for the West Indies for his usual voyage. He was never heard from again, In July 1910 his wife informed the media that she believed he was lost at sea. Joshua Slocum was declared legally dead in 1924.
John Cooke 1607-1695 Mystery Poverty Point
Oxford Village, also known as Poverty Point. Bounded by Pilgrim Avenue, Lafayette, Oxford, North, Cherry, and Main Streets, along with Castle Avenue and Massasoit Avenue, Poverty Point was anything but during the 1700s. The neighborhood overlooks New Bedford Harbor and contained large homes, primarily lived in by sea captains during the times of the bustling whaling industry.
Some believe, got its nickname sometime after 1797 when a narrow drawbridge connecting Fairhaven and New Bedford was built. Shipbuilding was a strong industry, but after the bridge went in, it cutoff the shipyards to the north along Oxford Village. Several shipyards packed up and moved operations south of the bridge, eventually settling in what would become Fairhaven Center where whaling and shipbuilding again prospered. With shipbuilding gone from Oxford Village the area wasn’t as prosperous and that is how some believe Poverty Point got its name. According to the book Old Time Fairhaven: Erstwhile Eastern New Bedford, by Charles A. Harris in 1947, that part of town possibly got its nickname after two events in the very early 1800s.
The book states the term Poverty Point was used in real estate deeds as far back as 1810. It seems Robert Bennett suffered a great financial disaster at the time. Then the sloop Thetis with 34 men aboard, wrecked off the coast of Cape Hatteras – only five survived. The books says while only three of the dead were from Oxford Village, urban legend contends the wreck left behind “many widows with children” and that’s how the neighborhood came to be called Poverty Point.
Who was John Cooke (1607-1695) ?
In July 1620, John Cooke sailed from Leyden, Holland on the Speedwell, the smaller of two ships bound for America. The Speedwell sprung a leak and was deemed unseaworthy, he as transferred to the larger ship, The Mayflower.
Cooke was one of the 36 people who purchased the Old Dartmouth territory in 1652 and finally moved from Plymouth to Dartmouth around 1662. Cooke was one of the most prominent men during the early days of Dartmouth. In 1667, he was authorized to perform legal duties, such as officiating marriages, issuing warrants and administering oaths. He was appointed twelve times as Representative to the Court at Plymouth between 1666 and 1686 and also served as a selectman nine times between 1670 and 1683, with consecutive years broken only by the destruction of town during the King Philips War.
He was the last known surviving male Pilgrim of the Mayflower when he died in 1695.
The Cooke Homestead
The Cooke homestead was on the hill north of Oxford where the new brick school house has been built and extended north to the Woodside Cemetery and south to the Riverside Cemetery. Between his homestead and the Acushnet River, Cooke built a garrison as a defense against attacks by Native Americans. In July of 1675, the town was raided by Wampanoag warriors who were followers of King Philip. Cooke’s garrison became a refuge for local settlers. All thirty houses in Dartmouth, including Cooke’s, were destroyed. The town was abandoned for about three years following the attacks. Walls from the garrison remained visible into the late 1850s. An excavation of the site around that time yielded arrowheads, spoons, cooking utensils and other artifacts which were eventually donated to the Old Dartmouth Historical Society. John H. Howland donated the garrison lot on Howland Road to the Town of Fairhaven in 1903. The marker was installed by the Fairhaven Improvement Association in 1908.
The wording of the plaque has two errors. Cooke was the last male passenger of the Mayflower, but another original Pilgrim, Mary Allerton Cushman, was still alive after Cooke’s death. Additionally there were other men living and paying taxes here before Cooke’s arrival; he was not Fairhaven’s first white settler.
Cooke’s house was rebuilt after the King Philips War and was the house later occupied by his grandson Bartholomew West when the British burned it 103 years later during the Revolution in September 1778. The house was never rebuilt. At that time the family Bible was stolen and today it is on display in England.
John Cooke's Burial Mystery
John Cooke is buried at Burial Hill, better known as the Cooke Memorial Park, on Pilgrim Avenue. Or is he?
The headlines in the 1902 edition of The Constitution: Atlanta Georgia “Cooke’s Body Badly Wanted. Remains of Youngest Member of Pilgrims is Missing.” The article, written by Russell Hathaway Jr., crafted the headlines as sort of a spoof advertisement calling for the return of Cooke’s body after it supposedly went missing. In the article, Hathaway claims that Cooke’s body was dug up and somehow wound up wrapped in sail cloth and hidden high in the rafters of a fisherman’s shed, who apparently had stored the body while he was out at sea.
Disputing the claim that Cooke was buried at Burial Hill, Henry B. Worth wrote in 1911, that "Without some record there can be no certainty where John Cook’s grave is located, but judgment cannot be rendered in favor of the Oxford tradition." Worth, pointing to several land deeds, and Cooke's own will, notes that Cooke owned burial ground property in Acushnet. "In the light of this record there is strong reason to suppose that Cooke was laid in the point purchased by him and transmitted to his descendants. Opposed to this is the tradition that he was buried at Oxford on a lot which he never owned and in which he is not known to have had any interest, and where there was never an inscribed stone marking any grave,"
John Cooke's Burial Mystery Continues
Just what really happened to Cooke's body and where his remains are buried ? Around 1902, when the town decided to build a memorial to Cooke at the Oxford burial site, the grounds were dug up to make way for a large boulder that would bear a plaque in his honor. During the excavation, four (4) decaying coffins were dug up – two (2) held the skeletons of men and the other two held the skeletons of children. The area of Burial Hill was a graveyard, however, many of its interred were not documented. The Fairhaven Star interviewed Ruth M. Boomer in 1888. She was 89 years old at the time and told the newspaper she lived in the area as a little girl. She remembered there were about 20 graves in the cemetery including Fenno Winslow who drowned in 1810, an “Indian” girl, and the infant son of Seth Allen. The bodies of the two children uncovered during the excavation for the Cooke memorial were never identified and were said to have been reburied that same day elsewhere on the site.
John Cooke Memorial Park (1903)
This land was purchased in 1895 by the Fairhaven Improvement Association and was renovated and graded. A boulder drawn from the river was located on the knoll and on a bronze tablet is the inscription, “Sacred to the memory of John Cook who was buried here in 1695."
A ground penetrating radar survey found numerous anomalies across the entire park that were interpreted as possibly being evidence of an extensive burial ground. If all of the anomalies are in fact graves, the GPR appears to show that people forgot where earlier burials were located when later ones were dug, resulting in the pell-mell appearance of the burial ground with graves everywhere and every which way. One of the things that noticed about the orientations of the anomalies was that they are predominantly aligned north to south, as opposed to the more traditional east to west consistent with most Christian burials.
Oxford Village, also known as Poverty Point. Bounded by Pilgrim Avenue, Lafayette, Oxford, North, Cherry, and Main Streets, along with Castle Avenue and Massasoit Avenue, Poverty Point was anything but during the 1700s. The neighborhood overlooks New Bedford Harbor and contained large homes, primarily lived in by sea captains during the times of the bustling whaling industry.
Some believe, got its nickname sometime after 1797 when a narrow drawbridge connecting Fairhaven and New Bedford was built. Shipbuilding was a strong industry, but after the bridge went in, it cutoff the shipyards to the north along Oxford Village. Several shipyards packed up and moved operations south of the bridge, eventually settling in what would become Fairhaven Center where whaling and shipbuilding again prospered. With shipbuilding gone from Oxford Village the area wasn’t as prosperous and that is how some believe Poverty Point got its name. According to the book Old Time Fairhaven: Erstwhile Eastern New Bedford, by Charles A. Harris in 1947, that part of town possibly got its nickname after two events in the very early 1800s.
The book states the term Poverty Point was used in real estate deeds as far back as 1810. It seems Robert Bennett suffered a great financial disaster at the time. Then the sloop Thetis with 34 men aboard, wrecked off the coast of Cape Hatteras – only five survived. The books says while only three of the dead were from Oxford Village, urban legend contends the wreck left behind “many widows with children” and that’s how the neighborhood came to be called Poverty Point.
Who was John Cooke (1607-1695) ?
In July 1620, John Cooke sailed from Leyden, Holland on the Speedwell, the smaller of two ships bound for America. The Speedwell sprung a leak and was deemed unseaworthy, he as transferred to the larger ship, The Mayflower.
Cooke was one of the 36 people who purchased the Old Dartmouth territory in 1652 and finally moved from Plymouth to Dartmouth around 1662. Cooke was one of the most prominent men during the early days of Dartmouth. In 1667, he was authorized to perform legal duties, such as officiating marriages, issuing warrants and administering oaths. He was appointed twelve times as Representative to the Court at Plymouth between 1666 and 1686 and also served as a selectman nine times between 1670 and 1683, with consecutive years broken only by the destruction of town during the King Philips War.
He was the last known surviving male Pilgrim of the Mayflower when he died in 1695.
The Cooke Homestead
The Cooke homestead was on the hill north of Oxford where the new brick school house has been built and extended north to the Woodside Cemetery and south to the Riverside Cemetery. Between his homestead and the Acushnet River, Cooke built a garrison as a defense against attacks by Native Americans. In July of 1675, the town was raided by Wampanoag warriors who were followers of King Philip. Cooke’s garrison became a refuge for local settlers. All thirty houses in Dartmouth, including Cooke’s, were destroyed. The town was abandoned for about three years following the attacks. Walls from the garrison remained visible into the late 1850s. An excavation of the site around that time yielded arrowheads, spoons, cooking utensils and other artifacts which were eventually donated to the Old Dartmouth Historical Society. John H. Howland donated the garrison lot on Howland Road to the Town of Fairhaven in 1903. The marker was installed by the Fairhaven Improvement Association in 1908.
The wording of the plaque has two errors. Cooke was the last male passenger of the Mayflower, but another original Pilgrim, Mary Allerton Cushman, was still alive after Cooke’s death. Additionally there were other men living and paying taxes here before Cooke’s arrival; he was not Fairhaven’s first white settler.
Cooke’s house was rebuilt after the King Philips War and was the house later occupied by his grandson Bartholomew West when the British burned it 103 years later during the Revolution in September 1778. The house was never rebuilt. At that time the family Bible was stolen and today it is on display in England.
John Cooke's Burial Mystery
John Cooke is buried at Burial Hill, better known as the Cooke Memorial Park, on Pilgrim Avenue. Or is he?
The headlines in the 1902 edition of The Constitution: Atlanta Georgia “Cooke’s Body Badly Wanted. Remains of Youngest Member of Pilgrims is Missing.” The article, written by Russell Hathaway Jr., crafted the headlines as sort of a spoof advertisement calling for the return of Cooke’s body after it supposedly went missing. In the article, Hathaway claims that Cooke’s body was dug up and somehow wound up wrapped in sail cloth and hidden high in the rafters of a fisherman’s shed, who apparently had stored the body while he was out at sea.
Disputing the claim that Cooke was buried at Burial Hill, Henry B. Worth wrote in 1911, that "Without some record there can be no certainty where John Cook’s grave is located, but judgment cannot be rendered in favor of the Oxford tradition." Worth, pointing to several land deeds, and Cooke's own will, notes that Cooke owned burial ground property in Acushnet. "In the light of this record there is strong reason to suppose that Cooke was laid in the point purchased by him and transmitted to his descendants. Opposed to this is the tradition that he was buried at Oxford on a lot which he never owned and in which he is not known to have had any interest, and where there was never an inscribed stone marking any grave,"
John Cooke's Burial Mystery Continues
Just what really happened to Cooke's body and where his remains are buried ? Around 1902, when the town decided to build a memorial to Cooke at the Oxford burial site, the grounds were dug up to make way for a large boulder that would bear a plaque in his honor. During the excavation, four (4) decaying coffins were dug up – two (2) held the skeletons of men and the other two held the skeletons of children. The area of Burial Hill was a graveyard, however, many of its interred were not documented. The Fairhaven Star interviewed Ruth M. Boomer in 1888. She was 89 years old at the time and told the newspaper she lived in the area as a little girl. She remembered there were about 20 graves in the cemetery including Fenno Winslow who drowned in 1810, an “Indian” girl, and the infant son of Seth Allen. The bodies of the two children uncovered during the excavation for the Cooke memorial were never identified and were said to have been reburied that same day elsewhere on the site.
John Cooke Memorial Park (1903)
This land was purchased in 1895 by the Fairhaven Improvement Association and was renovated and graded. A boulder drawn from the river was located on the knoll and on a bronze tablet is the inscription, “Sacred to the memory of John Cook who was buried here in 1695."
A ground penetrating radar survey found numerous anomalies across the entire park that were interpreted as possibly being evidence of an extensive burial ground. If all of the anomalies are in fact graves, the GPR appears to show that people forgot where earlier burials were located when later ones were dug, resulting in the pell-mell appearance of the burial ground with graves everywhere and every which way. One of the things that noticed about the orientations of the anomalies was that they are predominantly aligned north to south, as opposed to the more traditional east to west consistent with most Christian burials.