The Fishing Master of Appledore
Life at best was rugged on the Isles. Missionaries appointed by the Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians and others started visiting the Isles in 1637. A brick church was built on Smuttynose Island in 1640. About the same time, a few permanent homes were being built so the courts set aside the long established rule that there could be no women living on any of the islands. Still, the fishermen and old timers resented laws and taxes. The heads of government in Boston had a problem on their hands.
Mrs. Addie Babb Small of Cornish, Maine (now deceased) wrote me about the legend handed down in her family of Phillip's coming to the Isles of Shoals. As a solution to their problem on the Isles, representatives of the Boston government were sent to Bristol, England where it was said that Phillip Babb, son of a landed Babb in Devon, England was having great success doing humanitarian work among the families of the Bristol fishermen. Since these might be the families of the same fishermen giving trouble on the Isles of Shoales, it was thought that if Phillip could be persuaded to come to the Isles, he might be able to deal successfully with the troublemakers.
Phillip was offered the job of Fishing Master which he accepted. In 1652 he took an Oath of Allegiance at Kittery, Maine, then moved to Hog Island, now Appledore, to set up his base of operations.
At this point fact replaces legend. According to Rutledge, Phillip Babb was one of the earliest of the settlers whose name has emerged from obscurity and that he was one of the most important. He describes Phillip as being a constable, taverner, and general factotum. He kept cattle, sheep and hogs and ran a butcher shop.
After a year on the Isles, Phillip was one of twenty permanent residents to present a petition to the Boston Court requesting that a system of courts be established on the Isles. The Court approved the request and Phillip was named as one of the Magistrates, a position he held until his death.
There are many tales told about Phillip during his early years on the Isles. One tale tells of pirate ships stopping there to replentish their water supply. Tales are also told of buried treasure on the Isles, though no great amount has ever been found.
Still another pirate tale links Phillip
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