While Mr. had the meeting house to himself without one solitary soul to accompany him.
Even the deacons of the church were attending our meetings & enquiring into these things &
& calling upon us to visit them, & the sound went abroad to other Islands of the
sea with rapidity, & they came over in their ships & boats to hear for themselves. On
Sunday the 3rd Sept. I preached to a Large congregation assembled together from different
Islands after I closed a very wealthy, respectable & his came
foreward & wished to be baptised. We repaired to the waters of the & Elder
lead them down into the sea & baptized them. These are the first baptized upon the Islands
of the sea (to my knowledge) by the , & they are the first fruits of our min-
istry here. & On last Sunday the 10 th of the month, I met a large congregation at the same
place from different Islesands, & & preached to them from Math 16 ch 17, 18, & when I closed
another a member of the Baptist church came forward for baptism & also a
young . We repaired to the sea shore, & while the people throng'd the beach I lead
them forth into the ocean & baptized them both for the & & they received the & were made glad. On the Tuesday
following three others wished to be baptized & the ordinance was administered unto them
by Elder Hale which makes seven we have baptized. Thus you seae the Lord hath not
sent us here in vain. There is many on our right & left ready as it were to step into
the waters of Baptism. Calls begin to salute us from the different Islands come &
preach to us, come & preach to us. We have visited & held five meet-
ings with them, they came out by hundreds & filled the homes. South Fox Island is 10 miles
long & 5 wide containing 1000 inhabitants with 6 school houses no meeting house but a methodist
church, & a in their midst. They have 3 saw mills & one grist mill these are all tide
mills fits out rising of 100 vessels for fishing & mostly from this Island.
The inhabitants of Vinalhaven are wealthy, healthy, industrious, intelligent, generous & very hospitable
to strangers notwithstanding they are mostly fishermen. pop 1,800. Vinalhaven includes both of . is rather rocky & rough have some fine farms, rase good wheat, barley, & potatoes, which is the staple pro-
ductions, but little stock excepting sheep which are numerous. they have but just finished haying and are now
in the midst of wheat harvest. There is an aboundance of raspburies and gooseburies on these Islands, but are
now mostly gone. not much of any other fruit. The timber is spruice, fir, & hemlock. Their is one Post Office &
store on this Island. one tide grist mill, &c.
South Fox Island is as near without any form or void I think as
any think I ever saw. It is almost impossible for the best historian to give an exact description of it. it is a universal
mass of ledges & shelves of rocks formed into hills & valleys cut up into necks & points to make room for the
coves and harbours that run through & through this Island. One may form some faint idea of it, on learning that it is
supposed to be rising of 100 miles round the Island to follow the beach in all its crooks & angles. There is some small parts
of this Island under cultivation but it is at the expens of great labour & toil. The hills are timbered with pitch pine and
spruce, the timber & bushes principly grow out of the cracks of the rocks, while the valleys are timbered in the same
manner with fir & birch. this people procured their wealth & living wholey by fishing, perhaps their is no people that supply
greater quantities of fish than they of this Island. many of them fish at & prepare them for sale here. their is
many kinds of fish here around these Island such as Whale, Blackfish, shark, ground shark, Pilot fish, Hors mackerel,
stergeon, Holloboat, Salmon, Cod, Pollock, Hake, Haddock, Shad, Mackerel Tom cod, Bass, Alewives Herren, Pohagen, Dolphin
Frost fish, Flounders, Smelt, Scate, Shrimp, Skid, Cusk, Bluebacks, Dogfish, Muttonfish, Lump fish, Squid, Five fingers,
Munkfish, Nurs fish, Sunfish, Sword fish, Tharsher, catfish, whiting, scuppog, Tootog, Eyefish, Minney's, cunner, Ling, Eels,
Lobsters, clames, scollops, Mussels, Wrinkles, seal, & Porposes &c &c. & many others not named. I have stood on the
shore & seen large schools of Mackerel come up to us so that we could catch any quantity of them with hooks that we
wished, also the beach is supplyed with clames in almost any part of the Island. The adjoining Islands are more fertile
than these. In a clear day I can view with the naked eye about fifty Island of the sea many of which are inhabited, & sometimes
20 or 30 gallant ships are passing by us at once &c. I have not givien this brief history of these Islands because my mind is more
While Mr. had the meeting house to himself without one solitary soul to accompany him.
Even the deacons of the church were attending our meetings & enquiring into these things &
& calling upon us to visit them, & the sound went abroad to other Islands of the
sea with rapidity, & they came over in their ships & boats to hear for themselves. On
Sunday the 3rd Sept. I preached to a Large congregation assembled together from different
Islands after I closed a very wealthy, respectable & his came
foreward & wished to be baptised. We repaired to the waters of the & Elder
lead them down into the sea & baptized them. These are the first baptized upon the Islands
of the sea (to my knowledge) by the , & they are the first fruits of our ministry here. & On last Sunday the 10 th of the month, I met a large congregation at the same
place from different Islands, & & preached to them from Math 16 ch 17, 18, & when I closed
another a member of the Baptist church came forward for baptism & also a
young Lady. We repaired to the sea shore, & while the people throng'd the beach I lead
them forth into the ocean & baptized them both for the & & they received the & were made glad. On the Tuesday
following three others wished to be baptized & the ordinance was administered unto them
by Elder Hale which makes seven we have baptized. Thus you see the Lord hath not
sent us here in vain. There is many on our right & left ready as it were to step into
the waters of Baptism. Calls begin to salute us from the different Islands come &
preach to us, come & preach to us. We have visited & held five meetings with them, they came out by hundreds & filled the homes. South Fox Island is 10 miles
long & 5 wide containing 1000 inhabitants with 6 school houses no meeting house but a methodist
church, & a in their midst. They have 3 saw mills & one grist mill these are all tide
mills fits out rising of 100 vessels for fishing & mostly from this Island.
The inhabitants of Vinalhaven are wealthy, healthy, industrious, intelligent, generous & very hospitable
to strangers notwithstanding they are mostly fishermen. pop 1,800. Vinalhaven includes both of . is rather rocky & rough have some fine farms, rase good wheat, barley, & potatoes, which is the staple productions, but little stock excepting sheep which are numerous. they have but just finished haying and are now
in the midst of wheat harvest. There is an aboundance of raspburies and gooseburies on these Islands, but are
now mostly gone. not much of any other fruit. The timber is spruce, fir, & hemlock. Their is one Post Office &
store on this Island. one tide grist mill, &c.
South Fox Island is as near without any form or void I think as
any think I ever saw. It is almost impossible for the best historian to give an exact description of it. it is a universal
mass of ledges & shelves of rocks formed into hills & valleys cut up into necks & points to make room for the
coves and harbours that run through & through this Island. One may form some faint idea of it, on learning that it is
supposed to be rising of 100 miles round the Island to follow the beach in all its crooks & angles. There is some small parts
of this Island under cultivation but it is at the expens of great labour & toil. The hills are timbered with pitch pine and
spruce, the timber & bushes principly grow out of the cracks of the rocks, while the valleys are timbered in the same
manner with fir & birch. this people procured their wealth & living wholey by fishing, perhaps their is no people that supply
greater quantities of fish than they of this Island. many of them fish at & prepare them for sale here. their is
many kinds of fish here around these Island such as Whale, Blackfish, shark, ground shark, Pilot fish, Hors mackerel,
stergeon, Holloboat, Salmon, Cod, Pollock, Hake, Haddock, Shad, Mackerel Tom cod, Bass, Alewives Herren, Pohagen, Dolphin
Frost fish, Flounders, Smelt, Scate, Shrimp, Skid, Cusk, Bluebacks, Dogfish, Muttonfish, Lump fish, Squid, Five fingers,
Munkfish, Nurs fish, Sunfish, Sword fish, Tharsher, catfish, whiting, scuppog, Tootog, Eyefish, Minney's, cunner, Ling, Eels,
Lobsters, clames, scollops, Mussels, Wrinkles, seal, & Porposes &c &c. & many others not named. I have stood on the
shore & seen large schools of Mackerel come up to us so that we could catch any quantity of them with hooks that we
wished, also the beach is supplyed with clames in almost any part of the Island. The adjoining Islands are more fertile
than these. In a clear day I can view with the naked eye about fifty Island of the sea many of which are inhabited, & sometimes
20 or 30 gallant ships are passing by us at once &c. I have not given this brief history of these Islands because my mind is more