The Dr. Daniel Fisher house next to the Methodist Church in Edgartown, a noble Greek revival mansion which has been for many years one of the landmarks most closely associated with the character of the town, has been sold by Alfred Hall to the Strock family. Dr. Alvin E. Strock told the Gazette yesterday that there were no immediate plans for the future of the property other than that it will be preserved in its present dignity and tradition. Mr. and Mrs. Milton Wend will continue to be tenants.
 
The big house was built by Dr. Daniel Fisher in 1840. Dr. Fisher, whose rather stern, strong face looks out of a portrait in the rooms of the Dukes County Historical Society, was a graduate of Harvard Medical School in 1842. His medical diploma turned up in an old harness room in 1957.
 
He practiced as a physician and also became a merchant and factor in sperm and whale oil, amassing a large fortune. At one time he owned the largest sperm candle factory in the United States, situated at the wharf which he owned, now the Memorial Wharf of the town. His warehouse near the present jail was known as Dr. Fisher’s oil fort.
 

Friend of Daniel Webster

 
He was a friend of Daniel Webster whom he entertained at the big house, as well as of other dignitaries. The first bath tub on the Vineyard was installed in this house, and since Dr. Fisher was more than six feet tall, the tub was proportioned accordingly.
 
The timbers and boards for the house were soaked in lime solution in vats at Dr. Fisher’s oil fort, and copper and brass spikes were used exclusively in construction.
 
A directory of the state’s wealthy men at one time said of Dr. Fisher that he “started poor...Since, an oil manufacturer. A go-ahead, businesslike man. Great perseverance and fair benevolence. Once a candidate for Congress.” The Gazette in 1855 reported: “Dr. Fisher is considered the boldest operator in the purchase of oils in the market; and buyers are probably as much or more influenced by his opinions in their operations than by any other person. As an evidence of this, we would state that at one time he was in possession of 28,000 barrels.”
 
Later the house was acquired by William M. Butler, son of a chaplain of the New Bedford Port Society, who became a successful cotton manufacturer and, eventually, United States Senator. Senator Butler enlarged and improved the grounds and carried on the tradition of the times of Dr. Fisher. For many years he was Edgartown’s most important and helpful summer resident.
 
After he moved, first to Windy Gates, and then to Mohu at Lambert’s Cove, the house was bought by the late W. D. Faris who named it Fanwilton. Mr. Faris died in 1926 and his widow, Mrs. Fanny Bell Faris, in 1936. The property was passed to their sone, Martin B. Faris, who had his own summer home, Kedron Meadow, at East Chop. For some years the Edgartown house was empty.
 
In 1946 Martin B. Faris presented it to the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, and John G. Mackenty and Mr. and Mrs. Henry B. Hough negotiated its purchase from the hospital trustees in order to prevent it from being turned into a restaurant. Mr. Faris approved cordially and gave his support to this venture.
 
In July, 1946, Mr. and Mrs. Roger S. Robinson bought the property and after many years it once again became a year round home. The next sale was to Alfred Hall whose ownership continued until this week.