142 



decease of his wife, to his two sons, or the longest liver 

 of them ; and his son Zerobabcl, the survivor, died in 

 1684, leaving it to his own five daughters. From the 

 middle of the seventeenth century to its close, this island 

 remained in the Endicott family. 



If we knew so much and no more, we might readily 

 find a theory to account for the name, without having 

 recourse to Robert Cotta. If we were obliged to derive 

 the name "Cat" from the sound represented by " Cottie," 

 or " Cott} r ," it would be more reasonable to seek its origin 

 in some possible diminutive or term of endearment which 

 might have been in use in the family named Endicott, 

 who owned the estate for many years, rather than to seek 

 it in the name of Robert Cotta, who was not, so far as we 

 know, in any manner nor at any time connected with Cat 

 Island. 



But why indeed, if we knew nothing more, derive the 

 name of the island, any more than the name of Cat Cove, 

 from any other source than the word " Cat? " Cat Island 

 was granted to John Endicott while he was governor, on 

 his own request. It must, therefore, have had a value. 

 For what purpose? Hardly for agriculture ; possibly for 

 its timber ; more probably as a fishing station, or a station 

 for transport and freighting vessels on their way to 

 Boston. In this case, we might well have supposed that 

 it took its name, and perhaps Cat Cove as well, from the 

 craft called Cat, or Cat Boat, a vessel of Norwegian origin, 

 so numerous at one time in the Bay of Plymouth, Eng- 

 land, as to have given to part of that harbor the name of 

 Catwater. 



Unfortunately, however, for all these hypotheses, a 

 close examination of the actual spelling of the early 

 records shows that they are all groundless, and remands 

 the conscientious . antiquary to his original uncertainty. 



