Fairhaven Chronology: The 1600s

During the 1600s, the land in Plymouth Colony east of the Acushnet River, which later became the towns of Fairhaven and Acushnet, was part of the town of Dartmouth. Because Fairhaven and Acushnet were linked until 1860, this Fairhaven chronology includes some properties and events from what is now Acushnet.

1600: It is estimated that between 60,000 to 100,000 Native People are settled in southern New England. In the area around the Acushnet River, the Acushna group of Wampanoags lives, clearing land and farming, growing corn, beans, and squash. They also fish, hunt, and gather wild food from the forest, including berries, nuts, and plants.

1602, May: Bartholomew Gosnold and his crew of the bark Concord explore the New England Coast from Maine to Rhode Island, coming ashore and trading with Wampanoag men, women, and children in what later became the Dartmouth township.

1620: Passengers of the English ship Mayflower begin the first permanent European settlement in Massachusetts at Plymouth.

1652, November 29: Thirty-six Plymouth colonists buy the territory that makes up present-day Fairhaven, Acushnet, New Bedford, Dartmouth, Westport and parts of Tiverton, RI, from Wampanoag Grand Sachem Ousemequin (commonly known as Massasoit) and his son Wamsutta. The property is paid for with ‎"thirty yards of cloth, eight moose skins, fifteen axes, fifteen hoes, fifteen pair of breeches, eight blankets, two kettles, one cloak, £22 in wampan [wampum], eight pair of stockings, eight pair of shoes, one iron pot, and ten shillings in another commodite." The tract is divided into thirty-four shares. Each share equals more than 3,300 acres. One of the purchasers is John Cooke, who came to America with his father Francis aboard the Mayflower in 1620. For several years the territory, known as “Cushena,” remains unsettled. 

1660: Three men pay taxes in “Cushena”--Arthur Hathaway, James Shaw and (probably) Samuel Cuthbert. Arthur Hathaway, a son-in-law of John Cooke, settles on the east side of the Acushnet River in present-day Acushnet. 

1661: Arthur Hathaway buys one-half share of land from Samuel Cuthbert. Around this time Wampanoag leader Ousemequin dies. Wamsutta becomes sachem.

1662: Taxes are paid by Arthur Hathaway, James Shaw, Samuel Cuthbert, William Spooner, Samuel Jenney, John Russell and (probably) Ralph Earle. Samuel Jenney is appointed constable of “Acushena.” It is probably in this year that John Cooke, his wife Sarah and three unmarried daughters move here from Plymouth. Wamsutta dies. His brother Metacom, who took the English name Philip, becomes sachem.

1663, February: An agreement is made between John Howard and John Cooke to lay out a road from the “Great Indian Road,” now south Main St., Acushnet, to Howard’s Neck on the Acushnet River. It is speculated by historian Henry Worth that a meeting house was built on the neck and later records confirm a burial place was located there.

1663: It is likely that by this year Lt. Jonathan Delano, son of Philippe De La Noye, has settled in the Naskatucket area, where he built a mill on the Nasketucket River. He is a cousin of John Cooke, Cooke’s mother and Delano’s grandmother being sisters.

1664: Samuel Jenney, son of Sarah Jenne who had purchased one of the original shares of the territory, divides his properties between his sons Samuel, John. Mark, and Lettice. The property granted to Lettice was east of Sconticut Neck on the west side of the Nasketucket River.

1664, June 8: The territory is incorporated as the township of Dartmouth.

1666: William Palmer is appointed constable. He is said to have lived in the vicinity where Fort Phoenix was later built. John Cooke is appointed Representative to Plymouth Court, a position held by either Cooke or John Russell during the town’s first twenty years.

1667, June 2: Arthur Hathaway, John Russell and Samuel Hickes are elected selectmen. Hester Cooke, daughter of John and Sarah Cooke, marries Thomas Taber.

1669: John Cooke purchases the island east of Sconticut Neck then known as Mackatan or Nokatay (West Island) from Wampanoag sachem Metacomet. The deed stipulates that if a whale were to wash ashore on the island, each of the two parties was to receive an equal share.

1670: John Cooke is elected selectman and will serve in this office nine times between now and 1683, with consecutive terms broken only by the destruction of the town during the King Philip War.

1671, April 17: Hester (Cooke) Taber, first wife of Thomas Taber, gives birth to their second child, Esther. Sometime shortly after this Hester Taber dies and Thomas Taber marries Mary Tomson in 1672.

1672: By this year, Thomas Pope and his wife Sarah (Jenney) have moved here, settling near Sconticut Neck. John Cooke is given Ram [Pope’s] Island by the town in return for services.

1673: Jacob Mitchell, son-in-law of Thomas Pope, is appointed as constable and is named an ensign-bearer of the militia.

1675, June 20: The King Philip War begins when Native People aligned with Wampanoag sachem Metacomet, known by his adopted name Philip, raid the town of Swansea. In July, Dartmouth is attacked and all thirty homes within the township are destroyed. William Palmer, Jacob and Susannah Mitchell and John Pope are killed. The town is abandoned for about three years. Lt. Jonathan Delano serves under Benjamin Church during the war.

1677/8, February 28, Lt. Jonathan Delano marries Mercy Warren, a descendant of Pilgrim Richard Warren. They are ancestors of both President Ulysses S. Grant and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

1678, June 20: Dartmouth holds its first Town Meeting since the beginning of the King Philip War. 

1678: About this time, Thomas Taber builds a house, about 16 feet by 20 feet, with the south end made up of a huge fieldstone fireplace and chimney. The location is to the east of present-day Main Street, north of Massasoit Avenue. The chimney will stand until the late 1800s and part of the fireplace remains to the present day.

1685: Plymouth Colony is divided into three counties. Dartmouth is part of Bristol County. 

1686, July 8: John Cooke deeds the island called Mackatan to his son-in-law Stephen West, who later conveys it in his will to two of his sons, John, who received the north half, and Stephen Jr., who got the south half. It becomes know as West Island.

Ca. 1686-1690: Stephen West builds a house on the east side of the road near the narrows on Sconticut Neck with a huge stone fireplace and chimney. It would stand until 1885.

1690, July 31: Bartholomew West is born to Stephen and Mercy (Cooke) West.

1691: Plymouth Colony is merged with Massachusetts Bay Colony.

1694, November 9: John Cooke writes his will, mentioning a "Burying place" on land in what is now Acushnet, which he leaves to his daughter and son-in-law Sarah and Arthur Hathaway.

1695, November 23: John Cooke, the last surviving male passenger of the Mayflower dies at the age of 88. Cooke’s grandson, Thomas Taber Jr., inherits Ram [Pope’s] Island. Cooke’s homestead, near the modern intersection of Adams Street and Howland Road, is inherited by his daughter Mercy and her husband Stephen West. His burial place is unknown.

1696, December 7: Sarah Cooke, the wife of the late John Cooke, presents an inventory of her husband's estate. It is the last known record of her. Her date of death and place of burial are unknown.

*Nasketucket is the official spelling of the name of the river in East Fairhaven, but is sometimes spelled Naskatucket, as in Naskatucket Cemetery.

SOURCES for all historical articles by Christopher J. Richard and all Fairhaven Office of Tourism 1996-2024 historical materials: https://fairhavenhistory.blogspot.com/p/historical-sources_12.html

© COPYRIGHT 2003, 2011, 2019, 2023, 2026 by Christopher J. Richard. All rights reserved.