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Genealogical notes of Barnstable families - citizen hylbom blog

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GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 85<br />

dian names, that appertain to places in that vicinity, there is no<br />

reference to mo-nan. The Indian however made no discrimination<br />

between an island and a peninsula. The tract <strong>of</strong> country which<br />

has (Cotacheset) till very recently, been known as Oyster Island<br />

is a peninsula, bounded on every side except at the northwest by<br />

water, if Bumps' river, a branch <strong>of</strong> the Chun-ko-nuck, be considered<br />

its northern boundary.<br />

At the division <strong>of</strong> the town in 1717 into two parishes, the<br />

Skun-ka-mug (Phinney's mill stream) was made a part <strong>of</strong> the<br />

boundary line. It now separates We-qua-quet from Skon-ko-net<br />

(town records,) Skun-ka-mag (Mellen,) or C7iMn-A;o-nei (Cotton.)<br />

These I consider to be only different spellings <strong>of</strong> the same name,<br />

all derived from Chun-koo, the oyster, oh-kee, land, and the termmal,<br />

which means place. The exact definition <strong>of</strong> the name is<br />

"an oyster bed." The terminal qualified the meaning. Instead<br />

<strong>of</strong> meaning the oyster bed itself, it implied a village or place near<br />

to the oyster beds.<br />

Skun-ko-net, or rather Cot-che-set, is bounded on the south by<br />

the Vineyard Sound, called by our ancestors the south sea, southwest<br />

by, including Great and Little Oyster Island, by Oyster Bay,<br />

inlet or river, and northwesterly by Mistic. The early settlements<br />

made by the English were at Sip-nes-set and Kok-a-clio-ise in the<br />

south. In the north part few settlements have been made to this<br />

day, and excepting in the immediate vicinity <strong>of</strong> the mill privileges<br />

it is covered by an unbroken forest, and still retains the old<br />

name.<br />

We-qua-quet. Several Indian names <strong>of</strong> Oyster Island have<br />

been given, apparently different ; but on being analized and examined<br />

are found to be essentially the same. We-qua-quet is a<br />

different name. In this the change <strong>of</strong> a few letters makes a radical<br />

change in its meaning. The town records and the local pronunciation<br />

is Che-qua-quet,* with some unimportant variations not<br />

affecting the meaning. Bourne, Gookin, Cotton, and the colony<br />

records, change the first syllable to We, making another word <strong>of</strong><br />

the name. The second syllable is quite uniformly written qua,<br />

though sometimes koh. The last syllable is written in almost<br />

every conceivable form, qut, quet, quette, quot, hut, hunt, &e.<br />

After much time spent in the examination, my conclusion is<br />

that We-quM-qu is the best authorized spelling <strong>of</strong> the name <strong>of</strong> the<br />

river or harbor, and We-quorqustt <strong>of</strong> the village. Its deviation<br />

and meaning is plain. It is a compound <strong>of</strong> we-ko-ne, sweet, fair.<br />

*In the Coleman article 1 gave the preference to this spelling. Che-qua-kwau, an intelligent<br />

Indian chief from the West, informed me meant "the edge <strong>of</strong> the forest," but<br />

among the great variety <strong>of</strong> spellings <strong>of</strong> the last syllable, I do not recollect one that precisely<br />

corresponds with this. Bourne and Gookin, who were familiar with the language, both<br />

write the name We. I remarked in that article that the authority <strong>of</strong> such men was not to<br />

be disregarded. I think they were right. The town records and the local pronunciation<br />

probably had the same origin, and we and ehe are not so dissimilar as to render it improbable<br />

that they have been confounded.

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