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On Apr. 3, 1645, John was apprenticed by Samuel and Elizabeth Eddy to Francis Goulder and his wife Katherine of Hobbes Hole, Plymouth, or as it was sometimes called, Wellingsley. They were near neighbors. John must have finished this apprenticeship in which he learned the trade of a blacksmith in 1658. In the records of Edgartown, Marthas Vineyard, under date of Dec. 28, 1659 is the following record.
The Town (then called Great Harbour) voted to pay the charge of the Smiths Transportation hither if he desires, this is John Edy of Plymouth. (Edgartown Records, I, 133.) On Oct. 22, 1660, he was the owner of one of the shares of land which was given him by the town (Edgartown Rec. I, p. 147). On May 1, 1663 it was voted that John Edy, having remained three years in town should have a lot of 10 acres and a commonage with two acres of meadow - the meadow lies about the pond at Miles Brook (Dukes Co. Deeds, VI, 115).
From these records it would seem that John went to Great Harbour in the spring or summer of 1660, and remained there from the time of his arrival. In the Plymouth Colony Rec. (Vol. 11, p. 37) is a deed dated August 27, 1660, in which
"Aron Knapp of Taunton within the government of New Plymouth, husbandman sold to John Eedey of Hymn, blacksmith, ten acres of land, bee it more or less Scittuate and lying Neare unto the land of Nicholas White in the plantation of Taunton aforsaid hounded by the land of John Eddway, Carpenter on the Northwest side: by the Comons on the southeast side and the Mill River on the end of it. At the end of this deed after the signature and the names of the witnesses is the statement "I John Eedey doe by these presents make over this my deed to Daniell Makenny of Taunton."
Thus it is probable that soon after the date of this deed Aug. 1660 and before Oct. 22, 1660 John went to Marthas Vineyard and became the blacksmith of this new settlement. John Doggett, his wife's father, had purchased land in Martha's Vineyard, and one of her brothers was there. It seems likely that this was another inducement for the young man to go to the Island. The records of Edgartown show that he became one of its prominent men and took an active part in its life.
He bought of John Dogget a plot of six acres for a homestead lot. The exact location of this has not been ascertained, but it is supposed to have been on the "Line" (Sup. Judicial Court Files 4974 also Edgartown Rec., 1, 4, 7). In 1662 he was chosen constable and became a member of the train band. During the period of dissatisfaction with the government of Mayhew, he, together with Thomas Dogget and a few others would not sign the paper showing disapproval (Banks Hist. of Marthas Vineyard, Vol. I).
On Jan. 29, 1663, the neck or land called Quanomica was divided and John Eddy, the following year, came into possession of one of the twenty-five shares.
The following account is taken from "The History of Marthas Vineyard" by Col. Charles E. Banks. He has made an exhaustive study of all the early families on the Island, and is an authority on all matters pertaining to the early history of the place.
This lot was one of the five and twenty, just south of the cemetery on Tower Hill, having a frontage of 142 rods on the harbor. As proprietor he participated in all the divisions of land during his residence in Edgartown, and in 1667 was granted one sixth of the West Chop Neck by Governor Mayhew (Dukes Co. Deeds 1, 239). At this time the project for the purchase of Takemmy was under consideration, and he entered into negotiations with the three partners for admission as a proprietor in the proposed new settlement. Accordingly he offered his lands at Holmes Hole as an exchange for this right, as is shown by the following document:
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1637 - 1715 (77 years)
