Editing Dartmouth, Massachusetts (section)

=== Old Dartmouth ===
{{Main|Old Dartmouth}}
[[File:A_Deed_Appointed_to_be_Recorded_(Dartmouth_Purchase)_1652.pdf|thumb|Purchase deed from November 29, 1652, for Old Dartmouth.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Deed Appointed to be Recorded. |url=https://www.gilderlehrman.org/collection/glc02924002 |access-date=August 22, 2021 |publisher=Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History}}</ref>]]
[[File:Wôpanâak_Nation_c_1620-01.svg|thumb|Territories of the [[Wampanoag]] people around 1620, between the first European explorations of the Acushnet River in 1602 and the establishment of Old Dartmouth in 1652.]]

On March 7, 1652, English colonists met with the native tribe and purchased [[Old Dartmouth]]—a region of {{convert|115,000|acres|km2}} that now contains the modern cities and towns of Dartmouth, [[Acushnet, Massachusetts|Acushnet]], [[New Bedford, Massachusetts|New Bedford]], [[Fairhaven, Massachusetts|Fairhaven]], and [[Westport, Massachusetts|Westport]]—in a treaty between the Wampanoag—represented by Chief Ousamequin '''('''[[Massasoit]]) and his son [[Wamsutta]]—and high-ranking "Purchasers" and "Old Comers" from [[Plymouth Colony]]: [[John Winslow (1597–1674)|John Winslow]], [[William Bradford (governor)|William Bradford]], [[Myles Standish]], Thomas Southworth, and John Cooke.<ref name="gilderlehrman.org">{{Cite web |title=A Deed Appointed to be Recorded. {{!}} Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |url=https://www.gilderlehrman.org/collection/glc02924002 |access-date=August 22, 2021 |website=www.gilderlehrman.org}}</ref><ref name=":9" /> John Cooke had come to America as a passenger on the [[Mayflower]], a [[Baptists|Baptist]] Minister, he was forced to leave Plymouth due to religious views that differed from the rest of the Plymouth Colony. He would settle in Old Dartmouth.<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last=Comiskey |first=Kathleen Ryan |title=Secrets of Old Dartmouth |publisher=Reynolds-DeWalt |year=1976 |edition=Revised |location=New Bedford, Massachusetts |pages=31}}</ref>

<blockquote>30 yards of cloth, eight moose skins, fifteen axes, fifteen hoes, fifteen pair of breeches, eight blankets, two kettles, one cloak, £2 in wampum, eight pair of stockings, eight pair shoes, one iron pot and 10 shillings in another commoditie [sic].<ref>[[Nathaniel Philbrick|Philbrick, Nathaniel]]. ''[[Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War|Mayflower]]''. Penguin, 2006. p.171 {{ISBN|978-0-14-311197-9}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-02-03 |title=The Old Dartmouth Purchase|website=New Bedford Whaling Museum |url=https://www.whalingmuseum.org/explore/exhibitions/harboring-hope-in-old-dartmouth/old-dartmouth-purchase |access-date=2022-10-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203160505/https://www.whalingmuseum.org/explore/exhibitions/harboring-hope-in-old-dartmouth/old-dartmouth-purchase |archive-date=2020-02-03 }}</ref><ref name="town.dartmouth.ma.us">{{Cite web |title=A Brief History |url=https://www.town.dartmouth.ma.us/about-our-town/pages/brief-history |access-date=2020-01-05 |publisher=Town of Dartmouth MA}}</ref></blockquote>

While the Europeans considered themselves full owners of the land through the transaction, the Wampanoag have disputed this claim because the concept of exclusive [[land ownership]]—in contrast with hunting, fishing, and farming rights—was a foreign concept to them.<ref name=":422">{{Cite web |date=March 12, 2021 |title=Evolution of Old Dartmouth |url=https://www.whalingmuseum.org/learn/research-topics/regional-history/evolution-of-old-dartmouth/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210821032344/https://www.whalingmuseum.org/learn/research-topics/regional-history/evolution-of-old-dartmouth/ |archive-date=August 21, 2021 |access-date=August 21, 2021 |publisher=New Bedford Whaling Museum |language=en-US}}</ref> According to the European interpretation of the deed, in one year, all Natives previously living on the land would have to leave. This led to a lengthy land dispute as the deed did not define boundary lines, and merely referred to the ceded land as, "that land called Dartmouth"<ref name=":1" /> and the younger son of [[Massasoit]], [[Metacomet]], began to question the boundary lines of the purchase. [[Metacomet]] stated that he had not been consulted about the sale, and he had not given his written permission. The situation culminated with new boundaries drawn up by referees. Chief Massasoit gave his final permission to the changes in 1665.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Glennon |first=Beverly |title=Dartmouth: The Early History of a Massachusetts Coastal Town |publisher=American Printing |date=October 2001 |isbn=978-0971459106 |location=New Bedford, MA |pages=86–87 |language=en}}</ref>

About six months after the official purchase, Dartmouth began to be settled by English immigrants around November 1652, and it was officially incorporated in 1664.<ref name="town.dartmouth.ma.us" /> While the Europeans considered themselves full owners of the land through the transaction, the Wampanoag disputed this claim because the concept of [[land ownership]]—in contrast with hunting, fishing, and farming rights—was a foreign concept to them.<ref name=":9" />

The town was purchased by 34 people from the Plymouth Colony, but most of the purchasers never lived in Dartmouth. Only ten families came to reside in Dartmouth. Those ten families were the Cooks, Delanos, Francis', Hicks', Howlands, Jennys, Kemptons, Mortons, Samsons, and Soules.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Comiskey |first=Kathleen Ryan |title=Secrets of Old Dartmouth |publisher=Reynolds-DeWalt |year=1976 |edition=Revised |location=New Bedford, Massachusetts |pages=35}}</ref>