Apparently Checkley was educated at Oxford, and thus lived abroad until around 1710. King Philip's war club was known to be in the possession of his descendants by 1842. The club is made from the ball root of a maple tree. The ball root develops when the root system of a tree hangs over a stream bank in such a way as to expose the roots and cause them to grow at an angle. The club is inlaid with white and purple wampum.
White wampum is made from the central column of a whelk shell.
Purple wampum is made from quahog shell. There are also several triangular horn pieces inlaid along one side of the club. The holes were made to fit individual beads. There are two lines of wampum along the top width of the club, most of which are missing. Then on one side there are 15 triangular inlaid horn pieces, two of which are still there.