Myths, Tall Tales and Half Truths of Cape Cod

Name: Myths, Tall Tales and Half Truths of Cape Cod
Author: James H. Ellis

Cape Cod, one of the nation's oldest regions, can claim many firsts, but not as many as some want you to believe.

Boastfulness, tall tales and plain stretching the truth about history is widely practiced in this tourist mecca. Even esteemed institutions such as churches and historical societies are nimble in the art of gilding the lily. Discover where The Wizard of Oz film really premiered, whether Mercy Otis Warren had a hand in writing the Bill of Rights and who invented the hole in the doughnut. Along the way, you'll find out where the country's oldest Congregational meetinghouse is located, and whether "Mad Jack" was a thieving scoundrel.

Local author and historian James Ellis separates fact from fiction.

James H. Ellis

James H. Ellis--a native of West Barnstable, Massachusetts, and descendant of some of the leading first English settlers of Cape Cod--spent a career in government and civic affairs. A U.S. Air Force veteran of the Korean War, he graduated from the Honors College, Michigan State University. He is the author of Mad Jack Percival: Legend of the Old Navy (2002); A Ruinous and Unhappy War: New England and the War of 1812 (2009); and Luminaries of Early West Barnstable: The Stories of a Cape Cod Village (The History Press, 2014). He is a regular contributor to regional magazines and newspapers, as well as professional journals.