HISTORICAL REFERENCES: MASSACHUSETTS. 729 



making from the shore of this and neighboring towns, now afford large quantities of alewives, bluefish, ami in fact 

 most of the varieties found in the hay." 



CHATHAM. 



HISTORY OP THE CHATHAM FISHERIES. The fisheries of Chatham, which at the time of the Revolutionary war 

 had grown to very considerable importance, suffered severely during that conflict. From a description of Chatham in 

 the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, vol. viii, 1st series, we learn "that in 1774 Chatham had '27 

 vessels in the cod-fishery. lu the year 1783, four or five vessels only were left in the harbors, but the 'town was 

 filled with widows mourning the loss of their husbands and sons.' With the return of peace, however, the fishery 

 revived and the tears of the wretched were wiped away." That this recovery from the effects of war was very rapid, wo 

 may learn from the fact that " in 1790, 40 vessels, a number of them from other places, cured their fish in Chatham 

 Harbor." 



In 1802, according to the description above quoted, the condition of the fisheries was as follows: "A few of the 

 young and middle aged men are engaged in mercantile voyages, and sail from Boston ; but the great body of them are 

 fishermen. Twenty-five schooners, from 25 to 70 tons, are employed in the cod-fishery. They are partly owned 

 in Boston and other places but principally in Chatham. About one-half of them fish on the banks of New- 

 foundland, the rest on Nantucket Shoals, the shores of Nova Scotia, and in the Straits of Belle Isle. On board these 

 schooners are about 200 men and boys, most of whom are inhabitants of Chatham, and they catch one year with 

 another 700 or 800 quintals to a vessel. Besides the fishing vessels there are belonging to the town 5 coasters, 

 whieh sail to Carolina and tho West Indies. Fish are plenty ou the coast Shell-fish are found in 

 great abundance on the shores, particularly quahaugs and clams. Great quantities of bait are dug for the use of the 

 fishermen. There are excellent oysters in Oyster pond, hut they are scarce and dear, selling for $1 a bushel. In no 

 part of the county can wild fowls be obtained in such plenty and variety. Food can so easily be procured either on 

 the shores or in the sea, that with the profit which arises from the voyages, in which it must be confessed they labor 

 very hard, the people are enabled to cover their tables well with provisions." 



In Freeman's History of Cape Cod, it is stated that " there were, in 1837, when the population was much less 

 than at present, 22 vessels owned here and engaged in the fisheries, yielding that year 15,500 quintals of codfish, then 

 worth s 1(1, 500; and 1,200 barrels of mackerel, worth $9,600." 



Prior to 1845 almost or quite all of tho Chatham vessels were engaged in the Bank fishery for cod. They 

 frequented to a large extent tho Grand Banks, Green, and Western Banks. They would make one long summer trip, 

 and then lay up. If a man made $200 in those days he was considered to have done well. 



From this time the bank cod-fishery began to decline and the mackerel fishery to increase. This was largely 

 due to the fact that the harbors of Chatham gradually filled with sand, and in time precluded the use of the large 

 vessels necessary for the bank fishery. 



As early as 1840 or 1845 the fisheries were carried on at the southern extremity of Monomoy, where at that time 

 a good harbor existed, both by Chatham fishermen and those of other towns. Fish stores, wharves, and temporary 

 dwellings for summer use were built here. About 1850, or perhaps a few years later, more than fifty vessels were 

 owned here by two Chatham firms. The majority of these vessels were mackerelmen. But this harbor, like the 

 others, soon filled with sand, and tho vessels one after another were sold and went to other ports, and the business 

 here gradually died out. Many of the vessels, however, still remained until the time of the late war, and many that 

 were twelve or fifteen years old were sold at prices which equaled their original cost. 



In 1866 the business of the off-shore fishery was transferred to Harding's Beach, where at first two firms, and 

 later one, have carried it ou to a limited extent up to the present time. 



When the vessel fishery had seriously declined, weirs began to be introduced, and at first were very profitable. 

 The fish were sold to smacks which came from Connecticut. 



In 1842, as many as 100 boats from Monomoy employed nets for the capture of shad. At that time shad were 

 commonly salted for market. 



Seines for bluefish and bass were introduced into Chatham about thirty-five years ago. 



"The manufacture of salt," says Freeman, "once prominent, has declined here as in other Cape towns, and 

 from similar causes. There were, in 1837, no less than 80 establishments for the manufacture of salt here, vieldin"- 

 27,400 bushels, valued at i$8,220." 



DENNIS. 



DENNIS FKOM 1844 TO 1876. It is stated 1 that in 1844 the capital invested in the fisheries in the whole town of 

 Dennis was $36,300. 



In 1845 or 1846 the first wharf was built in Denuis Port. Prior to this time there were curing establishments at 

 Herring River in Harwich, and the fish were brought from the vessels, anchored at some distance from shore, in 

 scows. The business rapidly increased for ten or twelve years after the building of the wharf. Between 50 and 

 70 vessels were theu owned here, about one-half of which fished for mackerel and one-half for cod. Hand-lines 

 exclusively were used in the fisheries. Seines and trawls were introduced about ten years ago. 



1 A Complete Descriptive im,l Statistical Gazetteer of the United States of America, etc., by Daniel Haskel and J Calvin Smith New 

 York, 1844, p. 175. 



