From the July 20, 1928 edition of the Vineyard Gazette:

Few visitors to the Island fail to have the “Great House” in Chilmark pointed out to them or to hear a tale or two from its interesting history. Situated high on the hill to the westward of Chilmark village, the house attracts attention even before its unusual size is noted.

Looking closely the observer can see the marks by the framers as the fashioned each piece and fitted it to another, designating the mortises and tenons that belonged together by chopping small numbers into the sides of the timbers. Looking at these 1s, 2s and 3s cut into the old oak one can but wonder what sort of a man made them, how he looked and dressed and of what he gossiped with his fellow workers as he fashioned these joints so long ago. Could this man and his friend have been foreseen that their work would survive them for so long? Probably not, yet having put the best of their skill and material into it they might not be surprised if they could know it.

Much Island history has been made in the old house since these timbers were hoisted into place and covered in. Invaders of two wars have visited it and have sat in the long kitchen dining of Vineyard provender. And these same raiders have been thwarted in their designs on at least two occasions by the occupants of the old house.

At the time of Gray’s raid a detachment of British marines was sent to Chilmark to gather stock and munitions of war. The Great House, being the most pretentious, was selected by them as a lodging place for the officers. There was in the house, a keg of powder which may have belonged to the owner of his neighbors. At all events, these people were determined to prevent the seizure of the explosive at all costs and this is the plan that was successfully carried out. The keg was rolled into one end of the great kitchen fireplace and Polly Lumbert, one of the young girls of the family, was ordered to sit on it as long as the raiders were about. This she did, quietly knitting as she sat there all through the afternoon and evening, ignoring the fact that a wood fire flaming within a few feet of her highly explosive seat. The powder was not discovered.

On another occasion British raiders appeared as the family were sitting down to dinner, and the officer in charge was invited to eat with them. Having done full justice to the corned beef and cabbage, he thanked the Lumberts and asked if there was anything he could do for them. The mother of Polly spoke up and said that a certain cow and calf on the place had been given to her by her father and that she would ask that the raiders leave it. The officer not only ordered this done but gave her another cow, doubtless obtained from some other Vineyard farm.

These and many more tales are told of the Great House and its occupants, but the house is particularly famous for the births and marriages that have taken place within its ancient walls. There have been scarcely any deaths, and this strange fact is explained in the following manner.

At a certain stage of its history the population of Chilmark increased rapidly. Opened up to settlers by the acquisition of land from the Indians, people came from other parts of the Island and from the mainland as well. Many of these were young people, and, as young people do, they fell in love and married. These young couples had to have homes but building a house was a large undertaking. The lumber had to be cut and seasoned, ironwork had to be made by the blacksmith and a great deal of this work had to be done in the winter when labor could best be spare from other industries.

As there was always room to spare in the Great House, it became almost a custom for young people to marry and live there until they had a home of their own, in a year or two or more. So many couples followed this plan that it is said that there is not one Vineyard family which has not had some relative born in the Great House and in very many cases the parents were married in one of the parlors.

With so much happiness woven into its history it is not strange that the Great House is a cheerful place. The old walls that looked on the joyous wedding ceremonies of the past and witnessed the happiness of so many young people are covered now, it is true, but they are still standing and the same whip-sawn boards that have sheltered generations from the weather are still sheltering others today. Young people, too, who do not know the history of the fine old house, but who instinctively catch its charm and of the lofty hill where nothing breaks the force of the sea breezes nor prevents the sunlight from pouring into the windows at all hours of the day. Aloof from the village the old house sits like an aged grandsire beautiful in his age, who is oblivious to the passage of time and people as he dreams of the happy past and smiles upon the scenes as they are reviewed in his memory.

Compiled by Hilary Wall
library@mvgazette.com