Captain Cuffe was now slightly beyond middle age. Instead of a small open boat, trading with the neighboring townsmen, he had obtained a good sized schooner. "In this vessel," to quote from the funeral oration, "he enlarged the scope of his action, trading to more distant places, and in articles requiring larger capital, and thus, in the process of time, he became owner of one brig, afterwards of two, then he added a ship, and so on until 1806, at which time he was possessed of one ship, two brigs, and several smaller vessels, besides considerable property in houses and lands."[9] FAMILY AFFAIRS In the Cuffe manuscripts there is a laconic note chronicling this important event in Paul's life. Bristol, Dartmouth. February 25, 1783. There personally appeared Paul Cuffe and Alice Pequit both of Dartmouth and was joined together in marriage by me. BENJ. RUSSEL, _Justice of Peace_. Other than that she was an Indian girl, little is known of this bride. She, like the groom's mother, probably belonged to the Wampanoag tribe. Paul's sister Mary married an Indian and there is reason for believing that his brother Jonathan also wedded an Indian. Certain it is that it was not uncommon for Negroes and Indians of this vicinity to intermarry. For several years Captain Cuffe lived in a rented house. But in 1797, when he had such a successful venture in importing corn from Vienna, he purchased a $3500 farm on the shore of the Westport River, a few miles below Hip's Bridge. He soon built a wharf and a store house. At Westport Captain and Mrs. Cuffe made their home and reared their family of two sons and six daughters. At the time of the purchase of the new farm the neighborhood was without educational facilities. There was neither school house nor tutor. This situation was displeasing to Cuffe. He called a meeting of the neighbors and proposed that steps be taken for adequate educational equipment. So much difference of opinion resulted that no agreement could be reached at this initial meeting. Subsequent efforts were alike unsuccessful. At last Cuffe built a school house with his own funds on his own farm and offered its use to the public.[12] One wonders what books were read in his own home. Among his papers a few items relate to the purchase of books. A representative one reads: Taylor's Concordance $1.25 Perry's Dictionary 1.00 Clerk's Magazine 1.25 Bowditch Navigators 4.00 Paper .53 $8.03