Polaris--The North Star

Polaris--the Polar Star--our North Star--was the guiding light of the Pilgrim world. It did not rotate with the other stars but held steady at the core of their universe while the others circled it. Centering on this star in the northern sky opened a sweeping perspective of the heavens.There's no question that astronomy was a fundamental source of knowledge that bolstered their religious beliefs. http://vimeo.com/4330429. The Pilgrims were men of the New Testament taking their script from the Old. They held monotheism as sacred-- the belief in one God reigning supreme. Polaris fit the part perfectly. Adventurers of the enlightenment had their "lonestar."

The Pilgrims knew when they observed a magnetic compass that the needle pointed to a place in the sky slightly west of their alignment with the North Star. Astronomical measurements calculated this "degree of variation" at 13º west longitude in the 1630's. This variation then floated down from 13º west to 6º west by the 1800's but slowly rose again to 17º by the 1970's. The degree of variation on Cape Cod has now crested and is on its way down now ranging near 15º.

Geologists think that the change in variation is related to the shifting in the molten core in the earth. The theory is that a mass of iron near the North Pole is rotating and causing this shift in variation in a cycle of about 400 years. The Pilgrims would have relied on 13º west longitude for their compass readings as evidence by the first land survey of Cape Cod undertaken in the mid-1630's.

Former W.Va. lawyer works to preserve Pilgrim history

July 10--CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A lawyer who once practiced in West Virginia is now working to preserve the early history of the Pilgrims and Cape Cod in Massachusetts.

Michael Farber works with people who recently built an exact replica of the Elizabeth Tilley, a shallop used by Pilgrims after they landed on Cape Cod back in 1620. Read more

History buffs recreate slice of Pilgrims' progress

ORLEANS — Of all the beautiful boats lining Rock Harbor on Saturday, none looked better than the richly oiled, wooden Elizabeth Tilley, which arrived under tow from Plymouth to commemorate a voyage made by the Pilgrims 385 years ago. Read more

Pilgrims Land in Orleans

The ship that serves as the rock of much of the country’s identity is the Mayflower, but most of those who made the trip across the Atlantic were in much smaller boats, such as the Sparrow-Hawk, that wrecked off Nauset in 1626.
Many find it easier to base the spirit of America on the stalwart souls who made the trip in 1620, rather than the “bunch of drunken entrepreneurs” who came across later, said Mark Wilkins, executive director of the Chatham Historical Society, but the 45-foot Sparrow-Hawk has an intriguing place in the history books, co-starring Mayflower passengers, which will be brought to life this month.

Read more: Pilgrims to land in Orleans - - Wicked Local - Cape Cod http://www.wickedlocal.com/capecod/archive/x1534029089/Pilgrims-to-land-in-Orleans#ixzz1U5YKPEwd

The Eastham Transcription Project is now up and running

Michael Farber wants Eastham folks to be aware that the Cornerstone Project last fall launched an initiative to transcribe the ancient town records from 1659 to 1710.

Read more: Cornerstone project - - Wicked Local Eastham http://www.wickedlocal.com/eastham/archive/x2022449451/Cornerstone-project#ixzz1U5XrUFs5

Exciting Re-Discovery of Cape Town Boundaries

Three members of the Cape Cod Genealogical Society--Bebe Brock, David Martin, and Robert Ward-- spent the morning of Wednesday, December 8, 2010 traipsing through the woods of Dennis and Yarmouth seeking the ancient surveyors marker stones which were laid out to define the boundaries of the Cape Cod towns of Barnstable, Yarmouth, Dennis, and Brewster. They joined a group led by Michael Farber, a retired lawyer and surveyor, who has made it his interest to find these stones which demarcate the bounds of the towns. Read more.

Group will retrace Pilgrim William Bradford's steps

Close to 400 years ago, Native Americans delivered Governor William Bradford a letter, written in the passengers’ own hand, that said the Sparrow-Hawk, which had sailed from England, was in trouble on the backside of Nauset.


Read more: Group will retrace Pilgrim William Bradford's steps - - Wicked Local - Cape Cod http://www.wickedlocal.com/capecod/archive/x291607657/Group-will-retrace-Pilgrim-William-Bradfords-steps#ixzz1U5amvKds

Exploring ancient mysteries: HCT program focuses on historical cornerstones Read more: Exploring ancient mysteries: HCT program focuses on historical cornerstones

In December 2008, after much research and a little guesswork, volunteer explorers located a large flat granite boulder nestled in the mud behind Anthony’s Cummaquid Inn on the border between Yarmouth and Barnstable. Scraping away vines and old growth, they uncovered old roman lettering; a “Y” and a “B” with a small “x” in between, chiseled clearly on the flat of the rock.

Read more: Exploring ancient mysteries: HCT program focuses on historical cornerstones - - Wicked Local - Cape Cod http://www.wickedlocal.com/capecod/archive/x228083066/Exploring-ancient-mysteries-HCT-program-focuses-on-historical-cornerstones#ixzz1U5c07l2z

Morse Payne Cornerstone Project

At the December 4, 2009 Cape Cod Astronomical Society meeting Guest speaker Mike Farber presented an overview of the Cornerstone Project in which through the auspices of the Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School (CCLCS) he is documenting the surveying techniques used by early settlers of Cape Cod to establish town and property boundaries. He highlighted the original work done by Morris Paine tracking the settlers’ creation of a natural compass rose site in Cape Cod Bay with reference points on Race Point in Provincetown and Yarmouth. Mr. Farber is seeking additional team members from the CCAS community to locate boundary historic markers that the settlers established in the 1640 timeframe and thereafter. Read more...

History uncovered at Orleans windmill site

By Susan Milton
smilton@capecodonline.com

ORLEANS - The Jonathan Young Windmill looks at home on Town Cove in Orleans, but the historic landmark has moved around since its construction in the early 1700s.

Yesterday about 15 people walked through the woods to see the windmill's likely first home on a hill in South Orleans. Marking the spot is a circle of large foundation stones rediscovered recently by amateur historian Michael Farber of Chatham.

"Everything fits," said miller and historian James Owens of Eastham, among those who came to see Farber's rare discovery in the town's watershed off Route 28.

Even the stones in the middle of the circle were historically correct, Owens said, describing how four to five-ton millstones "floated" in a support on a central foundation to keep weight off the walls of the mill. Read more ...

Michael Farber moves closer to solving windmill mystery

ORLEANS -- Michael Farber was in possession of a brick, an unusual brick, from a breezy site near what was once called the Namskaket River. He showed it to Jim Owens, who is locally famous as a font of windmill knowledge. Read more ...

Cape boundary hunters get lesson in archeology

From the April 16 2009 issue of the Cape Cod Times
Cape boundary hunters get lesson in archeologyBy Susan Milton
smilton@capecodonline.com
April 16, 2009

BREWSTER - There were no tractor-trailer trucks and cars whizzing by Sam Higgins, Jim Rogers and Tim Doane in 1803 at the Orleans-Brewster line.

But the 1803 trio left enough clues to guide another band of boundary hunters yesterday as they narrowed their search for the same large boulder, marked with an "S" more than 300 years ago.

"I think we're real close to it right in here," Steve Ellis of Orleans said yesterday, as he stood on Route 6A with Lighthouse Charter School students and teachers, historian Michael Farber of Chatham and other searchers. Read more...

Web Exclusive: Pilgrim’s Progress

In 1620, the Pilgrims rounded the north tip of Cape Cod and anchored at what is now Provincetown Harbor, Mass. During the next few days, explorations were made from this harbor by Myles Standish and company culminating in the discovery and subsequent theft of corn at what we now call Corn Hill in Truro. That theft caused the “first encounter” with the Native Americans at First Encounter Beach in Eastham, Mass. Much of this is taught in our history classes and is common knowledge. What isn’t so well known is that William Bradford of the Mayflower noted that “The bay is so round and circling, that before we could come to anchor we went round all the points of the compass.” Read more...

History lives in classic rock

CUMMAQUID — Michael Watson knew his family's restaurant property straddled the Yarmouth-Barnstable town line. But he had no idea it might be playing host to an ancient Cape Cod landmark.

Last week, members of a group investigating how the Pilgrims established the boundaries of the first Cape Cod towns found a large, flat granite boulder nestled in the marsh mud behind Anthony's Cummaquid Inn. Engraved on the top of the rock are the letters Y and B, with a small x in the middle.

Chatham historian Michael Farber and Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School teacher Daniella Garran believe the boulder may have been etched by Pilgrims in the early 17th century to mark the Yarmouth-Barnstable boundary line. Read more.

Tracking history in Pilgrim's footsteps

A group of Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School history students and a Chatham historian are hot on the trail of William Bradford's first perambulation of Cape Cod. Read more ...

Michael Farber presenting at Dennis Yarmouth School

On December 4th, Mike Farber will talk about how the Pilgrims used a sophisticated blend of surveying techniques to subdivide our lands. Our fore fathers knew the importance of the night sky for navigation and getting a bearing. Read more ...

December 13 Cornerstone Forum with Michael Farber and the Lighthouse Charter School

The Cornerstone Forum is returning to town after 375 years! By the 1630s, the Pilgrim Elders knew that Cape Cod was their New Promised Land. Boxed in by Massachusetts Bay Colony to the north and barren ground to the south and west, they could only head eastward! They came to Bound Brook at Quivet Creek to establish the Cape's first land survey. Read more...

Students search for the 'first Plymouth Rock'

From the August 24, 2008 issue of The Cape Cod Times
Students search for the 'first Plymouth Rock'

By Robin Lord
rlord@capecodonline.com
August 24, 2008

ORLEANS - It's a mystery that could prove how the Pilgrims set the boundaries for the first Cape Cod towns.

Called "The Cornerstones Project," the effort has already paid dividends for a Chatham man and a group of Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School students, who this spring discovered a boulder etched with a giant "X" in Orleans Town Cove. The rock may have been placed there by Pilgrims as a marker for the southernmost boundary of the town of Eastham.

"It just seems so top secret," said Joey Benedict, 13, of Dennis, who chose the Cornerstones seminar last spring. Read more...

Chatham man helps students unlock history's mysteries

From the August 24, 2008 issue of The Cape Cod Times
Chatham man helps students unlock history's mysteries

By Robin Lord
rlord@capecodonline.com
August 24, 2008

ORLEANS - Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School graduate Henry von Thaden was intrigued when he heard about an eight-week seminar last spring about trying to find the boundary markers the Pilgrims laid for the first Cape Cod towns.

"It was searching for stuff nobody thought would be down there," said the 14-year-old from Orleans during a recent visit to the class' most exciting discovery - a boulder in Town Cove with a giant "X" carved in it. The seminar, von Thaden said, "went over my expectations."

His classmates, their teachers, Daniella Garran and Paul Niles, and their community partner, Michael Farber of Chatham, believe the rock was placed there as a marker for an underwater site that pinpoints Eastham's southernmost boundary. Read more...

Chatham Man Spearheads Effort To Find Cape Cod Cornerstone

A map of Cape Cod and a portion of the South Shore covers one wall in Michael Farber’s Main Street apartment.  Different colored ribbons crisscross the wall, dividing the peninsula into a series of puzzle pieces.

            That’s fitting, because Farber, an attorney from West Virginia with long-standing ties to the area, is trying to solve a puzzle.  He’s looking for The Cornerstone.  Read More