Luminaries of Early West Barnstable:: The Stories of a Cape Cod Village

by James H. Ellis

Overview

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 revolution and helped shape American independence. 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 rank in the U.S. Navy and saved the USS "Constitution "from the scrap heap before sailing it around the world. America's magistrate Lemuel Shaw influenced the country from his seat as chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court. Few villages shone so brightly for their size. Join author James H. Ellis as he traces the stories of West Barnstable's luminaries and their profound village legacy."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626193154
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	03/11/2014
Series:	American Chronicles
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

James Ellis is past president and past vice-president of the West Barnstable Historical Society. He served as a trustee of Tales of Cape Cod and West Parish Memorial Foundation, is a member of the Barnstable 350th Anniversary Committee and chair of the Town Poor Farm Study Committee for historic preservation. He wrote Mad Jack Percival: The Legend of the Old Navy with Naval Institute Press and A Ruinous and Unhappy War: New England and the War of 1812 with Algora Publishing.

Table of Contents

Preface 9

Acknowledgements 11

Chapter 1 The Great Marshes 13

Chapter 2 People of the First Light 27

Chapter 3 The First Comers 39

Chapter 4 West Parish Separates 49

Chapter 5 James Otis the Patriot 59

Chapter 6 Mercy Otis Warren: Activist Author 77

Chapter 7 Mad Jack Percival: Naval Legend 89

Chapter 8 Lemuel Shaw: Lion on the Bench 111

Chapter 9 The Following Years 129

Notes 143

Bibliography 149

Index 155

About the Author 159