Editing Nantucket (section)

===European colonization===
The earliest European settlement in the region was established on the neighboring island of [[Martha's Vineyard]] by the English-born merchant [[Thomas Mayhew]]. In 1641, Mayhew secured Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, the [[Elizabeth Islands]], and other islands in the region as a [[proprietary colony]] from [[Ferdinando Gorges|Sir Ferdinando Gorges]] and the [[William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling|Earl of Stirling]]. Mayhew led several families to settle the region, establishing several treaties with the [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|indigenous inhabitants]] of Nantucket, the [[Wampanoag people]]. These treaties helped prevent the region from becoming embroiled in [[King Philip's War]]. The growing population of settlers welcomed seasonal groups of other [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American tribes]] who traveled to the island to fish and later harvest whales that washed up on shore. Nantucket was officially part of [[Dukes County, New York|Dukes County]], [[Province of New York|New York]], until October 17, 1691, when the charter for the newly formed [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]] was signed. Following the arrival of the new Royal Governor on May 14, 1692, to effectuate the new government, Nantucket County was partitioned from [[Dukes County, Massachusetts]] in 1695.<ref>
{{cite book
 | last = Philbrick
 | first =  Nathaniel
 | title = Abram's Eyes: The Native American Legacy of Nantucket Island
 | publisher = Mill Hill Press
 | year = 1998
 | location = Nantucket
 | page = 308
 | isbn = 9780963891082}}
</ref>