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The island of Martha's Vineyard has had a turbulent and tragic modern history, from Chappaquiddick to JFK Jr. But the origins of this playground to the rich and famous date all the way back to the early colonial era. According to an unofficial history of the island from the Vineyard Gazette, Martha's Vineyard was named in 1602 by an English explorer named Bartholomew
Gosnold. He founded a nearby colonial settlement just across the Vineyard Sound on the island of Cuttyhunk. So why did Gosnold go with "Martha's Vineyard"? Well, aside from knowing "Bartholomew's Vineyard" wasn't as catchy, it was probably because he had an infant daughter named Martha, and the island was covered with wild grapes at the time. The Martha's Vineyard Historical Society notes that Gosnold also had a mother-in-law named Martha, who helped finance Gosnold's expeditions. So perhaps some family diplomacy came into play.
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