Land Bank acquires Chappy land for agriculture use

The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank is purchasing more than 12 acres of land on Chappaquiddick Island, with plans to eventually restore it to farmland. The acquisition adds to the Land Bank’s already extensive list of holdings on the remote Island, and the property is connected to a man with history on Chappaquiddick. 

The Land Bank purchased the 12.6-acre parcel on 3 Jeffers Lane on Chappaquiddick from the representatives of the estate of Gerald Jeffers — Gerald Jeffers Jr., Geraldine Jeffers, and Lolita Jeffers Beauboeuf — for $3 million on June 11. Gerald Jeffers Sr. was of Wampanoag descent, and opened the Chappy Service Station, which later included the seasonal Chappy Store. 

With its latest acquisition, the conservation organization now owns nearly a quarter of Chappaquiddick.

While this purchase is just over 12 acres, the Land Bank plans to purchase additional parcels close by.

“It’s a multi-phase project to buy and conserve the land owned by the heirs of Gerald Jeffers [Sr.],” James Lengyel, Land Bank executive director, told The Times. “Once the project is completed, the conservation area will comprise 23 acres, and will include a beach along Cape Poge Bay.” 

The remaining portion is under consideration for $4 million, according to the deed. 

The Land Bank’s newest acquisition on Jeffers Lane is near the southwestern portion of Cape Poge Bay, and Lengyel said the conservation group plans to restore the property to be “active agriculture.” 

“It was historically a farm — and [quite a] productive one,” Lengyel said. “The property was suited to it, and the Land Bank tries whenever possible to revive farming on such properties.”

Once ready, the property will be leased to someone to farm. The Land Bank has opened up properties to farmers on other properties it owns on the Vineyard. 

Lengyel said that the Jeffers Lane property will also connect to the Land Bank’s new property, called Trentfield Farm, which is a portion of the old Pimpneymouse Farm. Trentfield Farm hasn’t opened yet, and the former Pimpneymouse Farm is a property the Land Bank purchased last year in cooperation with Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation. The Land Bank got about 87 acres from the deal, more than half of which was folded into Poucha Pond Reservation. 

The Jeffers Lane property adds to the Land Bank’s large swaths of conservation and farmlands on Chappaquiddick, including the 2.9-acre Chappy Point Beach and the 210.8-acre Poucha Pond Reservation. All together, with the newest 12.6-acre property, Lengyel said, the Land Bank now owns 713.4 acres on Chappaquiddick. That’s 18.77 percent of Chappy’s 3,800-acre landmass. 

There are also other organizations, like the Trustees of Reservations and the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, that own conservation lands on Chappaquiddick. It’s been estimated that nearly a third of the small island is in conservation.

The sellers weren’t immediately available for comment, but the conservation agency’s latest purchase has connections to a man who was a large figure on Chappaquiddick. The obituary of Gerald Jeffers Sr. who died in 2017, states he was “affectionately known by many as the ‘mayor’ of Chappaquiddick.” Born in Madison, Wis., the senior Jeffers was of Wampanoag descent, and “returned in his early years to his ancestral home of Chappaquiddick.” He also served in the U.S. Army. 

Over his years on the Vineyard, according to the obituary, Jeffers Sr. would wear many hats: car mechanic, school bus driver, Chappy Ferry deckhand, volunteer firefighter, and Dukes County deputy sheriff. He was also a successful businessman, opening the Chappy Service Station, which later included the seasonal Chappy Store, and establishing a year-round UPS pickup location on Chappaquiddick. 

“He could be found on the property,” the obituary reads, “usually under the hood of a truck, or carrying an engine with his brute strength, distinctive blue Dickies pants laced with the grease of a mechanic’s expertise, fingers oily dark with the proof of hard work and grit, disarming customers and friends alike with his ready smile and Vineyard tales.” 

The Jeffers Lane property deed states the area cannot be used as any person’s primary residence. Additionally, the deed gives the Land Bank “perpetual right and easement” to use Jeffers Lane, and also provides “indemnification against any damages arising out of the discovery of hazardous waste within the conveyed premises.”