When was the first bath tub brought to Martha’s Vineyard? Nantucket had a bath tub, weighing more than 800 pounds, in 1881. A Nantucketer reports having seen another as early as 1861 on that island. Commenting editorially on the question of bath tub priority, the Boston Herald on Wednesday morning challenged Vineyarders to adduce proof of the earlier existence on this Island of a receptacle designed solely for bathing the human form.
The trustees of the two-year-old Martha’s Vineyard Preservation Society have begun a campaign - low-key, by mail - for funds and something besides.
“At the moment we are preparing a federal tax exemption application requesting tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service,” says a letter signed by trustees Paul R. Anderson and C. Stuart Avery. “In making this request we are anxious to show the Internal Revenue Service that what started out as an interest of a group of people does have public support and is likely to continue to do so.”
The Daniel Fisher House, a highly regarded historic Federal house on Main street in Edgartown, will undergo significant renovations in the coming weeks.
In addition to the roof being re-shingled with thick red cedar shingles, the chimney tops will be taken down and rebuilt. New ornamental woodwork that hasn’t been seen on the building for years will be installed. The ornamental trim that ran around the eaves of the roof and dates back to the house’s origin already was removed by crane last month.
The noble Georgian mansion on Edgartown’s Main street changed hands last weekend and is now the property of Mr. and Mrs. Roger S. Robinson of Miami, Fla. The sale, which was made through Avery and Company, includes the large grounds and the furnishings. A summer house, garage, pool and orchard are among the perquisites of the place.
An agreement was signed early this week for the purchase of the Roger S. Robinson house on Main street, Edgartown, by Alfred Hall, representing a group interested in maintaining the character and traditional values of the town. Mr. Hall said that this was his only concern as to the property.
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.
More memories of Dr. Daniel Fisher, whose place in Vineyard life was interestingly told in an article by Martin B. Faris, present owner of the beautiful Dr. Fisher House at Edgartown, published in a recent issue of the Vineyard Gazette, are contained in a letter written to Mr. Faris by Henry Franklin Norton. By permission of Mr. Norton and Mr. Faris the letter is presented here as a postscript to the earlier article.
One of the most beautiful and perhaps the most imposing of the Vineyard’s old houses is to be presented by its present owners, Mr. and Mrs. Martin B. Faris of East Chop and New York, to the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, whose trustees voted last week to accept this handsome gift.
