Category: History Publisher: The History Press
ISBN-10: 1626193150
Type: Non-Fiction
Pages: 158
Copyright: Mar 11, 2014
ISBN-13: 9781626193154
The Cape Cod hamlet of West Barnstable has an illustrious and unique past. In a fifty-six-year span in the eighteenth century it produced James Otis Jr, "the Patriot"; Mercy Otis Warren, early writer and historian; Capt. John "Mad Jack" Percival, skipper of "Old Ironsides"; and Mass. Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw - all contributors to the nation's development.
West Barnstable is unique among historic colonial Cape Cod hamlets. A quartet born in the little village in a fifty-six year span in the eighteenth century marked this village on the map forever. James Otis Jr., "the Patriot," led the intellectual aspects of the independence movement in New England. His sister, Mercy Otis Warren, broke free of the defined roles for women of her time to become a significant political activist, dramatist, poet and historian. War hero John "Mad Jack" Percival rose to the highest ran in the U.S. Navy and saved the USS Constitution from the scrap heap before sailing her around the world. "America's magistrate" Lemuel Shaw influenced the country from his seat as chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Few villages shone so brightly for their size. This is the story of the place.
Excerpt
...[W]hen he facts are reviewed, it is apparent that West Barnstable has a unique and exemplary past largely due to four important people born in the village. All four reached the pinnacle in their fields. All four made major contributions to the nation's early development. James Otis Jr., a prominent lawyer, became the intellectual head of the American independence movement in New England. Much of his thinking made its way into our founding documents. His sister Mercy Otis Warren became an early and influential political activist, satirist, poet and historian, roles unheard of for a woman of the period. John Percival rose to the highest rank in the U.S. Navy, served in five wars, nurtured a host of future naval leaders and, for good measure, saved "Old Ironsides" from the scrapheap. Lemuel Shaw became the country's magistrate, interpreted the common law for years to come and set the highest standard for American jurists. There may be another little village somewhere able to match this crop, but one does not come to mind."
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Reviews for "Luminaries of Early West Barnstable: The Stories of a Cape Cod Vilage"
Reviewed by Jacqui Bally
11/22/2020
I really enjoyed this book. My in-laws live on the Cape but I trace my lineage back to Barnstable County before the revolution. I really enjoyed reading about people from the past and places that are all still there virtually unchanged. The Cape is a unique place, one kind of place at the height of summer and something much different, moody and quiet in the wintertime. This is a wonderful book to help get you into that Cape Cod frame of mind to imagine life there that existed so long ago. Good read, well written and researched. Jax
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