Onset Island

Onset Island Photo 2010…

Written by Ron Barber on 10/18/2010 and updated 10/18/2010.

Is there a place that you always feel good, when you’re there… Well, Onset Island is that place for me. Many of my favorite photos are of Onset Island. Because you’re surrounded by water, there is a beautiful sunset almost every night and a beautiful sunrise almost every morning.

This is a photo that a friend has taken. If you can tell that it’s Onset Island, the you are a true Islander.

And please check out some of these links:

• Introduction to Onset Island – Onset, Ma…
• The Only Native of Onset Island – Onset, Ma…
• History of Onset Island – Onset, Ma…

• Ron’s Blog – My Blog
• BettyAnn’s Blog – My Friend’s Blog
• the Cobb – My Friend Jethro’s Blog
• BarberSoftware.com – Barber Internet Software and Marketing
• People77.com – Photo & Family Tree Website
• OnsetIsland.com – Onset Island – Onset, Ma
• twMafia.com – Twitter Tool

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History of Onset Island – Onset, Ma…

Introduction

Onset Island is located in the area of Massachusetts called Cape Cod. The 12 acre island sits in OnsetBay, off the village of Onset, Ma. In the year 2010, fifty plus summer cottages are now located on the island. I will attempt to introduce you to a unique world only known to a small subset of the population – Onset Islanders.

Onset Village 

Whether you call it OnsetVillage, Onset Ma, Pine Point, Old Pine, Onkowam, or Pine Neck, OnsetVillage is rich in history. Onset really started to flourish in 1848 when trains arrived from Boston to carry industrial goods to market, and thus introducing Bostonians to Onset. Cottages were built, hotels constructed; and as the tourist population grew, the tourists arrived daily by train, sailboat, and steamers. Onset was once a major terminus for the old side wheeler steamboat ferries. The route included New Bedford, Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket. OnsetVillage was known as Pine Point, bought by the Spiritualists in the late 1800’s. It was not until they named their Association the Onset Bay Grove Association that Pine Point begins to be thought of as Onset.

History of Onset Island

The name Onset is said to mean “landing place” OnsetIsland had its name in pre-revolutionary times. Before the white man came, Indians use the island during the summer as a place to harvest shell fish. The earth around a number of cottages is blackened by several feet of deposits of shells. In the early 1880’s until the memorable storm of 1815, as told in a book titled “Early Life in Buzzards Bay”, Squire Fearing of Wareham would grow and harvest corn on an island in Agawam (OnsetIsland).

During most of the 1800’s the island was used as oyster grants and ownership was transferred several times. In the late 1880’s the island was sold to Blanchard, Blanchard, and Johnson of Brockton, who divided it into 124 house lots. The map drawn by C.G. Humphrey, civil engineer and a pamphlet describing the island were given to prospective buyers.

Eleven Cottages of the early 1900’s

In 1907, when the Bassett family arrived to buy a house owned by the Andrews family, they found 11 cottages and 3 boathouses. Miriam Bassett recalls arriving with her father, William and mother, Mary and sisters, Inez & Helen. Starting on the south-west corner, the first of the eleven cottages was owned by Charles Perkins (the oldest cottage) on the site of Nana Browne’s cottage. Next, back from the water was John Baldwin’s house (the oldest standing house, Williams Caunt’s in the 1970’s, the John F cottage now). Next was Orville Raymond’s cottage, now an empty lot between Richards and Dennison’s. Going to the east of the Perkins, back one lot from the sea wall, was another Victorian house owned by Charles Perkins, later by Ed Fanning, now the site of the Barber cottage. Farther north-east along the wall was the house of Clarence Puffer, once the site of the Wiggin and F Johnsons cottage, now only the Johnsons cottage stands. Next along the wall was the Rankin cottage, now the site of the Chimets’ cottage. The Rankin cottage, now the Ventura’s cottage, sits on a new site. Next was the Andrews cottage, which the Bassett family purchased. On the corner was the Edward Haywood house. Turning the corner on what is an empty lot next to the Alder cottage was the boathouse of the Whittemore Estate. Next to that (another empty lot) was the Charles Perkins boathouse. These boathouses were not small. Back between the Ventura’s and Alder’s cottages was a boathouse owned by the Rankin and later by Roy Haywood. Continuing along was empty beach until the twin houses of the Whittemore Estates, built for their help, now the Daynes and DeRosiers. That’s what the island was like in the early 1900’s.

Stella Landers tells us that in the 1921 or 1922 her father tore down the Whittemore boathouse and built their first cottage. In the 1938 Hurricane, it floated away and landed on the mainland in the Parkhurst boatyard. He cut it up and rebuilt. The Landers sold that cottage to the Woodwards in 1944 and their cottage floated to the mainland in the 1954 hurricane.

1938 and 1954 Hurricanes

Many cottages were moved or destroyed in the 1938 and 1954 hurricanes. I will cover these in a little more detail at another time.

Social Activities

In the 1920’s and 1930’s the population of the island grows. Social activities have always played a large roll in making the island such an enjoyable place. The island had its own, very active, Social Activities Committee. In the 1930’s, talent shows were held in the Bete’s cottage, with a large piano & recital hall and bingo was held in the big Hayward cottage. The 1938 hurricane destroyed the piano & recital hall in the Bete’s cottage, the Hayward cottage, and the well kept tennis courts.

The Social Committee was quiet following the 1938 hurricane during the 1940’s. But in the 1950’s & 1960’s a new generation of Islanders joined the group. This time was filled with Bazaars, scavenger hunts, treasure hunts, Bridge & Whist parties, and the popular Pot Luck Dinners & Field Days. One summer, the teenagers even had a penny sale to raise money for playground equipment.

The 4^th of July, with the flares lining Onset beach and OnsetIsland and the Fireworks has been a memorable summer event for a long time.

And please check out some of these links:

• BarberSoftware.com – Barber Internet Software and Marketing
• People77.com – Photo & Family Tree Website
• OnsetIsland.com – OnsetIsland – Onset, Ma
• twMafia.com – Twitter Tool

 

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The Only Native of Onset Island – Onset, Ma…

On July 14, 1933 twins were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ralph E. Staples on Onset Island unexpectedly.

Ralph W. Staples (2 ½ lbs.) and Russell E. Staples. (3 lbs.). The babies were delivered by an aunt of the babies and it was over 3 hours before a doctor from the mainland was brought to the island to see the twins.

Russell died a day or two later on the island. Ralph was wrapped in handkerchiefs and fed by an eye dropper. He was transported to the family home in Stoughton in a model T Ford.

The Staples cottage washed away during the 1938 hurricane. (The cottage washed across the bay in one piece and it broke up when it hit the ground at the Onset Mariner.) What was left of the cottage was taken by Ralph Staples to Stoughton where the materials were used to build a barn. The government did not allow the cottages that were washed away to be rebuilt. As far as I know, the only part of the Staples cottage that remained on the island was a set of cement steps.

Ralph E. Staples was brother of Myrtle Mosman. Myrtle and Nahum Mosman owed a larger cottage on Onset Island for many years.

So, consequently, I am the only living native of Onset Island, which I am very proud of.

I would very much like to return to the island someday and search to see if the cement steps are still there. I remember, fondly, of spending many summers fishing in Nahum Mosman’s rowboat and catching many flounder. I also remember walking the waterfront on the island and picking up oysters with my grandmother. We would open them and eat them raw. (This is a good memory for me).

I also remember as a very young child that we would go to the canal side of the island to watch the New York Boat come out of the canal. It was all lit up with many rows of lights. (It is still clear in my memory, what a sight).

I am going to be 74 years old on July 14, 2007. It is my hope that someday I might return to the place of my birth. I also have a book called Onset Island. It has a map of the island and a page dedicated to my birth on the island.

I am married to Lillian H. (Jennison) Staples for over 47 years. We have two wonderful daughters and 5 wonderful grandchildren. Our oldest grandchild just graduated from Attleboro High School and is going to The University of Connecticut to become a doctor to work with children. (Bio-Medicine). She wants to someday work at the Children’s Hospital with children with prosthetics.

Our oldest daughter, Susan is a math professor at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth Texas. She has one daughter and one son. Susan comes north for a month during the summer months. We spend a lot of the time that she is here at our cottage in Northwood, New Hampshire.

Our other daughter, Carol is a Physical Therapist and lives in Attleboro, Massachusetts. She has three daughters.

I worked for many years as a printer at the Christian Science Monitor in Boston where I now receive a pension from. I have been retired over 10 years and have been active in Freemasonry in Massachusetts for over 40 years. I have been secretary of Blue Hill Lodge in Canton for over 11 years.

One of my treasures is the baby book that my mother kept the records of my birth on Onset Island in. It is small, but she wrote in it mostly every day during the first few years of my life. (I was a very sickly baby), but now I am sorry to say that I have grown from my 2 ½ pounds at birth to over 250 pounds at the age of 74!

I have wondered for years if it would be possible to someday go to the island and meet some of the current residents. (That would require being met on the mainland and rowed across). I have always wondered if the residents of the island today actually knew that a baby was born on Onset Island.

I came across the Onset Island website and am sending this note to some of the names that were on the list on that site. If this interests any of you, please drop me an e-mail or give me a call.

Sincerely,

Ralph W. Staples

And please check out some of these links:

• BarberSoftware.com – Barber Internet Software and Marketing
• People77.com – Photo & Family Tree Website
• OnsetIsland.com – OnsetIsland – Onset, Ma
• twMafia.com – Twitter Tool

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