"Wherever whales were to be found they were very sure to feel the harpoon thrust to their vitals by a Vineyard arm. Fifty ships were fitted out at Edgartown at one time. In those days the Port of Edgartown was one of the most important on the coast, having its own custom house and doing thousands of dollars worth of business. Ships from all parts of the world came there for clearance papers and to pay the duty on cargoes."-Henry Franklin Norton and Robert Emmett Pyne, Martha’s Vineyard