When Wauwinet had thus spoken, the two chiefs grasped each other by the hand in mutual affection, and, before they parted, they amicably arranged between them the land which had caused their dispute, and while pledging themselves to enduring peace, Wauwinet gladly sanctioned the union of Wonoma and Autopscot. From that day to this Peace has reigned over and blest the island of Nantucket. The Settlement and the Natives The story of the transfer of the Island of Nantucket from the English Government to Thomas Mayhew, and from him and the Indians to the white settlers, has so often been told that a mere summary is all that is required here, in order to preserve the continuity of the narrative. Nantucket was included in the Royal grant to Plymouth Company in 1621, and Lord Stirling and Sir Ferdinand Gorges were the Commissioners deputed to promote the colonization of the territory, including the islands south of Cape Cod. Lord Stirling appointed James Forrett as his agent in New York for the sale or other disposal of the Colony, and Forrett sold the island of Nantucket, in 1641, (when it was under the jurisdiction of the Province of New York), to Thomas Mayhew, an Englishman, who emigrated to New England in 1631, and who first settled at Watertown. Mayhew not only purchased Nantucket, and the adjacent islands, but became a part proprietor of Martha’s Vineyard and Governor of that island. He is said to have been a good colonizer—always a friend to the Indians—and was the means of preventing them from engaging in Philip’s war. He founded Edgartown in 1647, and from him were descended numerous missionaries to the Indians, amongst whom they had much influence, and spoke the Indian language fluently. The islands remained in the possession of the Mayhews (father and son), until 1659, when they were transferred to ten purchasers, including Mayhew himself, (as he reserved to himself and his heirs one-twentieth part of the property for his own use.) From a reliable genealogy of the Coffin family[6] it appears that in the spring of 1659 “Tristram Coffin proceeded upon a voyage of inquiry and observation—first to Martha’s Vineyard where he secured Peter Folger, the grandfather of Benjamin Franklin, as an interpreter of the Indian language; and thence to Nantucket, his object being to ascertain the temper and disposition of the Indians, and the capabilities of the island, so that he might report to the citizens of Salisbury what inducements for emigration thither were offered.” [6] =Vide= Godfrey’s =Island of Nantucket=, p. 169. He was evidently impressed favorably by what he saw and heard, for, when he returned to Salisbury, Mass., a company was formed, and the purchase of the island determined. In the autumn of 1659 Thomas Macy, Edward Starbuck, James Coffin, Isaac Coleman and some of their wives and children sailed in an open boat for Nantucket, where they arrived safely, and spent the winter of 1659–60 on the island.