Martha's Vineyard Museum

Table of Contents

Summary Information

Biography/Historical Note

Scope and Content of Collection

Administrative Information

Related Materials

Index Terms

Collection Contents

Descriptive Summary

Repository	Martha's Vineyard Museum, Gale Huntington Research Library 59 School Street P.O. Box 1310 Edgartown, MA 02539 (508)627-4441
Call Number	RU 418
Creator	Paint Mill (Chilmark, Mass.)
Title	Paint Mill records
Date	1865-1880
Extent	1/2 box (4 volumes)
Language	The materials are in English.
Abstract	Record books of the Paint Mill of Chilmark include shipping records, merchandise inventories and payroll records, dating from 1865 to 1880. The mill produced powder pigment for paint from clay extracted along the north shore.

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use and Reproduction Restrictions

Requests to reproduce material from this collection should be directed to the library's staff. Reproduction fees may apply.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Mrs. Everett D. Whiting in 1948. (Accession no. 1948.004)

Bibliography

Flender, John O. "Chilmark's Paint Mill, An Ancient Manufactory." In Dukes County Intelligencer 47:1 (August 2005): 3-19.

Publication Information

Martha's Vineyard Museum

Gale Huntington Research Library
59 School Street
P.O. Box 1310
Edgartown, MA 02539
(508)627-4441

Processing Information

Finding aid prepared by Insley Julier October 2012. Machine-encoded by Nathaniel Janick April 2014.

 Processing of this collection and creation of this finding aid was sponsored by the towns of Aquinnah, Chilmark, Oak Bluffs, Tisbury, and West Tisbury through the Massachusetts Community Preservation Act. Machine-encoding of the finding aid was sponsored by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Related Materials

Related Materials

See also, the Martha's Vineyard Museum's Photograph Collection for images of the Paint Mill.

Biography/Historical Note

First established by Franklin King of E. & F. King and manager, Lindley Moore Wing around 1864, the Chilmark Paint Mill was located off North Road on the Vineyard Sound. The mill had its own wharf where schooners landed to be loaded with paint destined for the mainland. The paint was manufactured as a dry powder of finely ground clay in a range of white, red, yellow and ochre colors. The clay pigment would later be mixed with oil to create paint. Workers dug clay from the pits with shovels. The clay was then hoisted from the pits with buckets and carted to large drying sheds. It dried for several days and then the workers would bring it to the mill where they were paid according to the dry weight of the clay. The mill employed water and later steam power to grind the clay. Once ground, the pigment was packed into barrels for shipment. Shipments were sent to Woods Hole, Boston and New Bedford, Massachusetts and Hallowell and Portland, Maine.

The mill's primary employee was Eben Norton of Vineyard Haven who worked there for 30 years, however other islanders were periodically employed at the mill including; John Allen, James Arnold, Albert Look, Elijah Mayhew, James Mayhew, Elihue Mosher, Moses Norton, Richard Norton, Francis Reed, Rodney Reed, Mayhew Stuart, George Tilton and George Wicks.

Scope and Content of Collection

Record books of the Paint Mill of Chilmark include shipping records, merchandise inventories and payroll records, dating from 1865 to 1880. Laborers were paid according to the number of tons of paint that they carted and records document the number of tons and pounds carted per day, as well as the number of hours worked. They also note how much employees were paid and when the wages were disbursed. Merchandise inventories indicate the number of tons of clay in particular buildings. Shipping records track the vessel, captain, tonnage and destination of inventory.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged chronologically.