So, when they needed to entice craftsmen to the island, they offered them half-shares in the corporation. John Gardner, for instance, was recruited to fish for cod. In order to bring him here, the town fathers offered him some half-shares in the corporation. For a while, this was an amenable arrangement.

In 1677, however, troubles sprouted. Coffin and the other full-share men wanted all future land to be divvied up by other full-share men. The half-share men disagree. They feel the island should be run as a town, where everyone is equal. For a while, there is an uneasy truce. The Gardners control town meeting, barely.

1677 was a fairly itchy time in general. The Dutch had just recaptured New York City, so the New York Governor was a little pre-occupied. Of more concern, King Philip’s War was in full swing. The Natives were loyal and peaceful, but they still outnumbered the English 20 to 1. The settlers were understandably worried about outside agitators coming to the island and awaking the sleeping giant.

The Natives were not doing so well. When they gave Coffin winter grazing rights on the island, they created a monster. The natives wanted horses. When they got them, naturally they grazed them. Coffin et al confiscated the horses for grazing on their land. Moreover, the Natives had acquired a taste for rum and the settlers were of two minds. The Coffin camp was against selling the rum, while the Gardners were all for it. In fact, John Gardner paid his Native fisherman with “a dram of rum before they out to fishing in the morning.”

On February 10, 1677, the storm clouds opened. Peter Folger, the translator for John Gibbs and the town clerk, was in hot water. The town constable, William Bunker is after him and the town records. Peter is legitimately afraid that Coffin and his cronies are going to cook the books. Folger ducks the cop, leaves his house on the Madaket Road, scoots up Crooked Lane and to Gardner’s house on Westchester. The town records get stashed before Bunker comes and arrests Folger. When the natives hear of their great hero getting arrested, a “great disturbance arises.”

There are a lot of complicated issues in the half-share revolt; most of them involve money. However, the major conflict came from the two men: John Gardner and Tristram Coffin. Both of them were very powerful, charismatic men. Tristram Coffin wanted the island to run in a feudal system, where he was the lord and the working men were vassals. John Gardner wanted the island to be more democratic, where each received his own due. Between the two of them fell Peter Folger, who was trying to do his job.

Then, in September of that year, Tristram Coffin finds himself in very hot water. A French ship wrecked itself on the shoals and Coffin had supervised the salvage operation. After all the gear was grabbed from the boat, it needed to be stored and guarded. Coffin botched the job and was brought before the Admiralty Court. Faced with possible jail time and a steep fine, Coffin appealed to John Gardner to help him. Gardner weighed in on the Coffin side and Tristram was set free. One year later, Tristram died.